F1 2016 Tag

 By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Fernando Alonso, gracing the cover of the newest edition of Motor Sport Magazine, proudly proclaims that he wants to win the Indy 500 and Le Mans. It is not the first time the Formula One veteran has made this claim. As his number of competitive years in F1 dwindle, or more accurately; go squandered by McLaren Honda, the once heir apparent to Schumacher is seeking new opportunities to cement his legacy and rediscover the joy in racing. I like this, a lot. Though I haven’t beenRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The organizers of June 19th’s upcoming European Grand Prix in Baku, Azerbaijan have unveiled some of the newest photos and footage of the nearly completed circuit, including the first onboard film of the new track which winds its way through the historic streets of the capital city. The circuit features several very long straights, book-ended by 90 degree turns, but also features a very, narrow section that twists around a castle and some of the ancient city walls. This section will be the narrowest on theRead More

Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo claimed the maiden pole of his Formula One career with a superb lap of the Circuit de Monaco that left him over a tenth of a second clear of Mercedes Nico Rosberg and three tenths ahead of third-placed Lewis Hamilton, who once again had a troubled qualifying session. Ricciardo had made his way through the first two sessions with ease, finishing both segments in fourth place, even setting his fastest lap of Q2 on the supersoft tyre. In those segments, however, it was Ferrari andRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor According to multiple sources, Formula One is on the verge of a major sponsorship deal with Dutch brewing giant Heineken. The details of which are set to be announced in a special Thursday press conference as part of the build up to next month’s Canadian Grand Prix. A leak to the Dutch media has all but confirmed the impending deal which is part of a massive push by the brand, which already has major sponsorship deals with titans such as the UEFA Football League and theRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor From worst to first, Williams Martini Racing has turned around its biggest Achilles heel – their pitstop work. After several disastrous stops in 2014 and 2015 cost the team potential shots at victory, Rob Smedley knew something needed to change. The performance chief of the Grove based outfit put together an internal working group with the goal not only of abolishing mistakes in pitlane, but to become the best on the grid. After the first five races of 2016, the fruit of this endeavor has seenRead More

Max Verstappen became Formula One’s youngest ever race winner with victory in an enthralling Spanish Grand Prix that saw Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg collide at the start. Making his debut for Red Bull Racing, Verstappen took the lead midway through the race and remained icy cool in the closing stage as he came under intense pressure from Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen. He crossed the line just 0.6s ahead of the Finn to win aged just 18 years and 227 days, breaking Sebastian Vettel’s seven-year-old record, set when theRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor Word on the street is that Daniil Kvyat’s days at Red Bull Racing may be numbered. His clumsy double punting of Sebastian Vettel in the opening of last weekend’s Russian Grand Prix may well be the undoing of the promising young Russian’s season. According to multiple reports Red Bull boss Helmut Marko, not one to show mercy, may swap Kvyat with Max Verstappen for the upcoming Spanish Grand Prix. The move, which sounds unusually harsh even by Marko’s standards, may be more strategic than the kneeRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor Lewis Hamilton will take a 5 spot grid penalty for this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix for Mercedes changing the gearbox in his car. It was damaged after contact from William’s Valtteri Bottas in the wild start to the Bahrain Grand Prix. The team released the following statement via Twitter and shed some light on their decision to change the box ahead of China. The gearbox of Lewis Hamilton’s F1 W07 Hybrid sustained damage in Bahrain which required a physical inspection for full assessment. Having done so, theRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor The letter worked! Just hours after all 11 teams unanimously signed a letter demanding the old qualifying system of 2006-2015 be reinstated, it has been reinstated! Miraculously Bernie Ecclestone, Jean Todt and the FIA went down without a fight this time and agreed to terms the teams, drivers and fans have been calling for since qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix on March 19th. Once rubber stamped by the Strategy Group, the F1 Commission and lastly the World Motorsport Council, the return to the tried and true qualifyingRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor All 11 Formula One teams have come together and drafted a unanimous letter to FIA President Jean Todt, Bernie Ecclestone and CVC Capital Partners, demanding a return to the 2006-2015 qualifying format. The letter makes it clear that the teams want the disastrous elimination format dropped immediately and that any ideas of aggregate qualifying Ecclestone may have, are not wanted either. It is easily the strongest show of force from the teams on a single issue in some time and something that team bosses and driversRead More