daniel ricciardo Tag

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Formula One’s bigger, wider cars of 2017 produced the most downforce the sport has ever seen. That, coupled with the wider, more durable Pirelli tires lead to a massive decrease in overtaking which plummeted 47% compared to 2016 according to Pirelli. The excessive turbulent air of the high downforce cars is well known and Ross Brawn is working on a solution with the 2021 regulations, but it along with the rather dull season finale in Abu Dhabi have lead to an increased focus on the circuitsRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Kimi Raikkonen topped the time sheets for Ferrari on the first day of Pirelli’s Abu Dhabi tire test, where all 10 Formula One teams are evaluating the prospective 2018 tire compounds. The Finn clocked an impressive 1:37.768 on Pirelli’s new hypersoft compound, just three tenths ahead of Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull, and nearly a second ahead of World Champion Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton, who qualified and finished second behind team mate Valtteri Bottas on Sunday, hailed Pirelli’s hypersoft tires as the best tire Pirelli has made sinceRead More

Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo set the quickest time of second practice for the Mexican Grand Prix, edging championship leader Lewis Hamilton by just over a tenth of a second. In a tight session in which just 1.021 seconds separated first place from 10th, Ricciardo ran quickest early on, using soft tyres to top the order ahead of team-mate Max Verstappen. The two Red Bull drivers dropped down the order when Hamilton and Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas bolted on ultrasofts after half an hour but Ricciardo was soon back onRead More

Lewis Hamilton moved one step closer to a fourth Drivers’ Championship title with a convincing sixth career US Grand Prix win at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas. The win, ahead of the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen, allied to a fifth place for Valtteri Bottas also handed Mercedes their fourth Constructors’ Championship crown in a row. Hard-charging Vettel took the lead into Turn 1 at the start, but when Hamilton grabbed first place with a good overtake of the German on lap six and quickly opened a two-secondRead More

Listen to “Drafting The Circuits October 19, 2017” on Spreaker. Frank Santoroski and the Drafting the Circuits panel – Joey Barnes, Gray Warren, Richard Youden, Christopher DeHarde and Seth Eggert – report on the carnage at Talladega, previews the F1 USGP in Austin, and has a healthy discussion about driver development, race series schedules, and the latest Indycar driver news. Credits: Host – Frank Santoroski DTC Panel – Joey Barnes, Seth Eggert, Christopher DeHarde, Gray Warren, & Richard Youden Producers – Anthony Arnold & Keith Hayes Special thanks to Whoobazoo for hosting the DTC Podcast. SocialRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Victory in the Japanese Grand Prix wasn’t much of a contest for Lewis Hamilton after Sebastian Vettel retired his Ferrari with a spark plug issue, but it nevertheless served up an abundance of fascinating statistics. Chief of which is the incredible nature of Hamilton’s pole lap time and the time in which he finished the Grand Prix the next day. His lap record in qualifying on Saturday of 1:27.31 matches up exactly with the 1 hour 27 minutes and 31 seconds he took to finish theRead More

Lewis Hamilton took his 71st career pole position and his first at Japan’s Suzuka Circuit as he beat Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas by three tenths of a second with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel third. However, title contender Vettel will start alongside championship leader Hamilton on the front row as Bottas is set for a grid penalty due to an unscheduled gearbox change. Hamilton set the pace in Q1, rising to the top of the timesheet around 10 minutes into the session with a lap of 1:29.047 on soft tyres. He wasRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The Japanese Grand Prix was first held all the way back in 1963 as a sports car race, it did not become an official Formula One Grand Prix until 1976 on and has been held 30 times since. The first two grands prix were at Fuji speedway near Tokyo, including the dramatic 1977 title decider where James Hunt won the World Championship over Niki Lauda. The race then dropped off the calendar for 10 years before it moved to its spiritual home of Suzuka Circuit inRead More

Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen set the quickest lap of a weather-disrupted opening practice session in Malaysia, as heavy rain led to a delayed start and a shortened outing for F1:s teams at the Sepang Circuit. Verstappen posted a time 1:48.962s on intermediate tyres late in the session to finish 0.757 seconds clear of teammate Daniel Ricciardo, with third place going to Fernando Alonso, though the McLaren driver was a further second behind. The session was due to start at 11am local time but intermittent showers in the morning gaveRead More

Lewis Hamilton opened up a 28-point lead over Sebastian Vettel at the top of the Formula One Drivers’ standings with a measured driver to victory ahead of Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo and Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas. It was a disastrous evening for Ferrari, however, with Vettel and Räikkönen crashing out of the race moments after a dramatic start in wet conditions. Rain began to fall across the circuit in the hour before the race and though it stopped as the drivers steered their cars towards the grid, it began again 15Read More