F1 2017 Tag

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Nico Hulkenberg has reportedly signed a 2017 race contract that will see him move from his long time home of Sahara Force India, to the bright yellow cars of Renault. The much speculated move has finally come into the light as both Hulkenberg and Renault seek to build a partnership that will move them up the Formula One grid and into championship contention in several seasons’ time. Hulkenberg’s contract is good through 2018, with an option for 2019 that will likely be taken up, as theRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Colorado based company Liberty Media has confirmed it will undertake a buyout of Formula One from current majority stakeholders CVC Capital Partners, who have owned the majority stake in F1 for a decade. Liberty has already purchased a stake of 18.7% for $746 million. The plan calls for them to purchase the rest of CVC’s shares, at which point the company will be aptly renamed from the Liberty Media Group to the Formula One Group. Despite some changes behind the scenes, few immediate changes will happen.Read More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Testing resumed today for Pirelli’s 2017 Formula 1 tires. This time the tests occurred in two locations and with two teams sampling the new rubber. Ferrari got their second look at the tires with Kimi Raikkonen trying them at Circuit de Catalunya in Spain, and Mercedes drafted in Pascal Wehrlein for the team’s initial impression of the compounds by turning laps at Paul Ricard in France. Wehrlein completed 134 laps, Raikkonen a few less on 111. The laps turned by Raikkonen will provide the more crucialRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Monza’s place in Formula 1 as the home of the Italian Grand Prix looks to be secure after event organizers and Bernie Ecclestone came to an agreement during negotiations for a new race contract. The circuit is F1’s most historic track, having first held the Italian Grand Prix in 1922 and has been on the calendar for every season of the championship, bar 1980 when it briefly lost the race to Imola. Ecclestone had been upping the pressure on Angelo Sticchi and the ACI (Automobile ClubRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor In a special press conference held today from Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Dutch brewery Heineken finally unveiled its new and much speculated sponsorship deal with Formula One. The deal runs through 2020 but has an option to extend through 2023 and is reportedly worth up to $250 million. A major tenet of the deal will see Heineken serve as the title sponsor for three races per season from 2017 on, they will also be the title sponsor for this September’s Italian Grand Prix as well.Read More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor After revealing the findings from Fernando Alonso’s massive crash in the season opening Australian Grand Prix, the FIA has announced its intention to introduce a system of biometric testing to further understand future crash data in order to make the sport safer. The findings show that when Alonso’s McLaren made intial contact with the Haas of Esteban Gutierrez he was traveling at 305 kph, and once the front suspension collapsed the ensuing impact with the wall hit a peak of 45G’s. The barrel rolling that followedRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Over half a year since confirmation came that Pirelli would continue its role as the sole tire supplier for Formula One, contracts have been completed and plans are coming to fruition. Former Williams and Lotus driver Pastor Maldonado has served as tire tester for the Italian manufacturer as it researched potential compounds and constructions for the bigger, wider tires set to debut in 2017. Pirelli also confirmed that the first three teams to test the 2017 compounds will be the big three of Mercedes, Ferrari andRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The FIA is on the cusp of greenlighting the halo for F1 in 2017. The news comes on the heels of a meeting of the technical regulations working group which is in favor of Ferrari’s halo solution over Red Bull’s competing aeroscreen due to time constraints on the teams and the ease with which the halo can be added to the already well in progress 2017 designs. It is highly likely that the halo will be a stop-gap while an aeroscreen or canopy solution is workedRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Renault announced this weekend that they are set to continue supplying power units for Red Bull Racing through 2018 and return to supplying them for Toro Rosso starting next year. It completes an extraordinary turn around in the once fraught relationship between Red Bull and the French car manufacturer. Red Bull’s top brass bit the hand that fed them four world championships like petulant children when Renault’s power units failed to initially live up to the high standard set by Mercedes. A major caveat for RedRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor Despite their incredibly successful start to the season, Haas F1 Team plans to end development of the VF-16 sooner rather than later and switch their focus to the 2017 car. After becoming the first team to score points on debut since Toyota, Gene Haas is eager to allocate most of the new outfits resources into preparing for next season’s massive regulation changes which aim to bring faster cars, wider tires and the halo device. Other than some updates we have been working on, we are pretty much done withRead More