Belgian Grand Prix Tag

Kimi Räikkonen led a Ferrari one-two in final practice for the Belgian Grand Pric, beating team-mate Sebastian Vettel by just under two tenths of a second. Vettel, though, was just one thousandth of a second clear of third-placed Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes. A relatively low key first half of the session saw Räikkönen lead the way on supersoft tyres with a time of 1:45.422. That put ahead of Vettel with Hamilton third. Shortly after the half hour mark, driver began to make the switch to ultrasofts for their qualifying runs,Read More

Lewis Hamilton took over at the top of the timesheets at Spa-Francorchamps, beating first practice pacesetter Kimi Räikkonen by almost three tenths of a second. Valtteri Bottas was third in a session disrupted late in the session. The quickest times of the session arrived just after the half hour mark, when the teams bolted on ultrasoft tyres for qualifying simulations. Vettel was first to show, grabbing P1 with a lap of 1:45.235. However, that was swiftly eclipsed by Bottas, the Mercedes driver edging ahead with a time of 1m45.180s. Raikkonen,Read More

Kimi Räikkönen set the quickest lap of opening practice for the Belgian Grand Prix, the Finn edging title contender Lewis Hamilton by five hundredths of a second. Räikkönen, who earlier this weekend was handed a new contract with Ferrari for the 2018 season, set a lap of 1:45.502  to beat Hamilton by 0.053s, though the Finn had to bolt on a set of ultrasoft Pirelli tyres to shade Hamilton, whose best time was set on the soft compound tyre on offer this weekend. Räikkönen’s championship-leading team-mate Sebastian Vettel was thirdRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Sergio Perez wants his seat for the 2018 Formula 1 season secured after the upcoming summer break when the series heads to Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgian Grand Prix. The 27-year-old Mexican sits seventh in the overall standings with a best finish of fourth coming at the Spanish Grand Prix in April. The first all drivers from Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari, Perez is also nine points ahead of Force India teammate and Mercedes junior driver, Esteban Ocon. Perez is in his fourth season withRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Kevin Magnussen has passed medical checks, but will require one final assessment on Thursday prior to racing in the Italian Grand Prix. The 23-year-old Dane lost control on lap six of the Belgian Grand Prix at Eau Rouge before suffering heavy impact into the barrier at Raidillon. The Renault driver sustained a heavily bruised left ankle, which have forced him to undergo a series of checks to indicate that he is fit to race at Monza this weekend. Doctors from the FIA will make the finalRead More

Nico Rosberg closed the points gap to title rival Lewis Hamilton with a comfortable Belgian Grand Prix win but the championship-leading Briton limited the damage with a sparkling drive from P21 to third and a podium finish behind Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo. The race began in dramatic fashion. Rosberg made a good getaway from pole to take the lead but Max Verstappen making his first career front-row start began slowly from P2. He was passed by the fast-starting Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel, but Red Bull driverRead More

Nico Rosberg took his sixth pole position of the 2016 Formula One season at Spa-Francorchamps ahead of Max Verstappen who became the youngest driver to claims a front-row start at a grand prix. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was third and will line up on the second row with team-mate Sebastian Vettel. With championship leader Lewis Hamilton set to start at the back of the grid due to penalties incurred following a host of power unit changes, Rosberg put himself in the perfect position to claw back some of the 19-point deficitRead More

Kimi Raikkonen topped the timeheets in final practice for the Belgian Grand Prix as he edged Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo by two tenths of a second at Spa-Francorchamps. Raikkonen’s Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel was third. Mercedes Nico Rosberg set the early pace with a lap of 1:48.880 set on soft tyres and that stood until almost the half way point in the session. Ferrari then sent both its drivers out on supersoft tyres and Raikkonen promptly jumped to the top of the timesheet with a lap of 1:48.406. ThatRead More

Max Verstappen went quickest in the second practice session ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix, as Red Bull Racing turned a low key morning session into a headline-making afternoon outing with Daniel Ricciardo taking second spot. In the first session Verstappen finished in seventh position, behind Ricciardo. Part of the reason for that was Mercedes’ decision to run the supersoft tyre in FP1, while their rivals chose to stick with tradition and leave their performance runs until the afternoon. With Mercedes leaving the red-banded tyre alone in session two, theRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Fernando Alonso will have to start from the back of the grid for this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix after requiring an engine change following first practice. The Spaniard suffered a water leak in the ERS in FP1 in the wake of Honda spent seven tokens for a major power unit upgrade that debuted at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. The Mclaren-Honda F1 Team confirmed that the two-time Formula 1 world champion will need new ICE, MGU-H, MGU-K, turbo, energy store and control electronics. With it being Alonso’s sixthRead More