Canadian Grand Prix Tag

Sebastian Vettel led a Ferrari one-two in final practice for the Canadian Grand Prix with the Drivers’ Championship leader finishing just under three tenths clear of team-mate Kimi Raikkonen. Lewis Hamilton was third for Mercedes 0.354s adrift of top spot. The early pace in the session was made by Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo, with the Australian straight into the action in a bid to make up for time lost in FP2 due to an engine issue. However, Vettel was soon in control and on ultrasoft tyres he quickly workedRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor With the rumors swirling around McLaren-Honda like vultures, Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg has gone on record saying he would welcome Fernando Alonso back to Renault should the two-time World Champ leave McLaren at season’s end. Speaking to Speed Week ahead of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, the German driver was very excited at the possibility of Alonso considering a Renault return. “I think it would be great,” said Hulkenberg. “It would be great not only for the whole team, but for me as well to compete with one ofRead More

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time of opening practice for the Canadian Grand Prix, beating Formula One Drivers’ Championship leader Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari by two tenths of a second. Hamilton set a best time of 1:13.809s in the second half of the session after switching to Pirelli’s ultra-soft tyres. The Mercedes driver’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas was third quickest, just four hundredths of a second behind Vettel. Kimi Raikkonen was fourth in the second Ferrari and the top five order was rounded out by Force India’s Sergio Perez. TheRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief There is a lot of debate on Fernando Alonso’s future in Formula One, but he remains content on not making any decision until later this year. The 35-year-old Spaniard enjoyed a solid outing in the Verizon IndyCar Series for the 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500 under a McLaren-Honda Andretti entry, leading 27 laps before falling victim to an engine failure and finishing 24th. However, he did manage to win Rookie of the Year honors for the event and hasn’t ruled out a potential return. SpeakingRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The Russian and Canadian Grands Prix have signed contract extensions prolonging deals already in place. Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dimitry Kozak broke the news to Russia’s state news agency Tass that the Sochi race now has a contract in place through 2025. It is a five year extension of the original deal that ran from 2014, when the Winter Olympics were held at some of the same facilities, through the year 2020. Canada too has announced a contract extension, an even longer one that will seeRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief A return to Manor was in the mix for Rio Haryanto, but recent events have put a major hit on a chance for a race seat for the 2017 Formula 1 season. The 23-year-old Indonesian’s main backer Pertamina, a state-owned oil and natural gas corporation, has decided to pull its sponsorship, leaving the country’s first F1 competitor without substantial funding for next season. “This year there will not be a continuation of participation by Pertamina in F1,” spokeswoman Wianda Pusponegoro said in a statement. “Of courseRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Daniel Ricciardo was left disappointed once again in an underwhelming finish of seventh in the Canadian Grand Prix. The Aussie was optimistic after qualifying fourth on Saturday, but from the start of the race found himself falling behind of Red Bull Racing teammate Max Verstappen right from the opening lap. Ricciardo then went into a two-stop strategy and fell victim to a slow second pit stop that dropped him further down the running order. Meanwhile, Verstappen enjoyed a fourth place result and has now bettered RicciardoRead More

Lewis Hamilton took his fifth career Canadian Grand Prix win to close the gap to championship-leading Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg to just nine points as the German finished fifth. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel managed to take the lead at the start but could not make a two-stop strategy work and he finished second ahead of a hard-charging Valtteri Bottas who scored Williams’ first podium finish of the season. Hamilton began the race from pole position but when the lights went out he bogged down slightly, as did fellow front-row starter Rosberg,Read More

Lewis Hamilton beat Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg by just six hundredths of a second to claim a fifth career Canadian Grand Prix pole position, putting him just one adrift of Michael Schumacher’s record at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. After setting an impressive lap of 1:13.076 to top the list at the end of Q2, Hamilton ramped up the pace even further with his first run in Q3, lowering the benchmark to 1:12. 812. Rosberg followed almost immediately and while the German’s lap was similarly outstanding, he could not outpace hisRead More

Sebastian Vettel proved the value of the updates brought by Ferrari to this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix by claiming top spot in final practice at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The session was ended early, however, when Renault’s Kevin Magnussen crashed out with eight minutes remaining, resulting in red flags. Key to the updates Ferrari has added to its car in Canada is a new turbocharger and its effect were felt this morning when four-time champion ended the abbreviated session as the only man to dip under the 1:14s mark. VettelRead More