F1 Tag

Sebastian Vettel set the fastest ever lap of Albert Park to top the FP3 timesheet in Melbourne, ahead of Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton. The session ended early when Lance Stroll crashed out with ten minutes left on the clock. After a slow start to the weekend, Ferrari ramped up the pace in final practice, with Vettel and team-mate Kimi Räikkönen making the running from early on. The German set the early pace but with 25 minutes remaining Räikkönen vaulted to the top of the order. His run onRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Pascal Wehrlein has been ruled out for the remainder of the weekend for the Australian Grand Prix following concerns in Friday’s two practice sessions. The 22-year-old German was injured in a crash during the Race of Champions event in Miami in January, which forced him to miss part of preseason testing in Barcelona. The 2015 DTM champion, Wehrlein took himself out of the car for the remainder of the weekend due to concerns over his fitness level. “My fitness level is not as it should beRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Honda are aiming to bring an updated engine with increased power levels McLaren, with some positive gains made on the reliability front. Fernando Alonso ran a relatively trouble free day on Friday, finishing 12th in the second practice for the Australian Grand Prix. McLaren looked obviously down on horsepower to their competitors, but Honda revealed that work is being done to ensure a better power unit is in the plans, with the aim to bring is before June. Teams are set at moving to their secondRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Ferrari defended itself in how they have been more accessible for the media, something Liberty Media wants Formula 1 to be more engaged in moving forward. The Italian squad came under fire when they elected to have Kimi Raikkonen not speak to the press Thursday, but instead post a video to Twitter, while Sebastian Vettel spoke to the press. Maurizio Arrivabene, team principal at Scuderia Ferrari, discussed the actions on Friday and believes that they are doing their part to make it better for the fans.Read More

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton again went quickest at the Albert Park Circuit as he beat Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel to top spot in the second practice session for Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. Hamilton had claimed P1 in the first practice session of the new F1 season, running just over half a second clear of team-mate Valtteri Bottas and the three-time champion’s late afternoon margin over Vettel was similar, with the German being eclipsed by 0.547s. Hamilton’s best time of the session, a lap of 1:23.620 was over four seconds quickerRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Before we discuss some of the changes hitting Mercedes, let’s take a look at some of what was accomplished under the old regulations. First off, they enter 2017 as the defending champions as a constructor, and as a driver’s champion with the Nico Rosberg.  The past three seasons have seen the German outfit capture three constructor titles, which were matched equally with driver’s championships, along with 51 victories. However, the stunning retirement of reigning F1 champion Rosberg put the team in a bit of a scramble.Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Simply put, Scuderia Ferrari did not meet the expectations of 2016. The Italian squad enjoyed three wins in their first campaign with four-time champion Sebastian Vettel in 2015, which brought title aspirations into last season. However, a surprisingly uncompetitive season by Ferrari standards left them with a rare season of zero victories. Solid chances for wins were squandered at Australia and Canada last season, and worse, Red Bull Racing overthrew them as main challengers to rival Mercedes. The new technical regulations are a welcomed site asRead More

Lewis Hamilton went quickest in the first practice session of the new Formula One campaign, finishing more than half a second clear of new team-mate Valtteri Bottas at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. The three-time world champion ended the session at Melbourne’s Albert Park Circuit with a best time of 1:24.220, set on ultrasoft tyres, to beat Bottas, who moved to Mercedes from Williams at the start of this year, by 0.583 seconds. Apart from the Mercedes pairing, no other driver ran with the purple-banded Pirelli tyres during the sessionRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Sahara Force India put in one of the better performances last year, coming in fourth in the overall constructor’s standings. The Silverstone-based squad witnessed two podiums by Sergio Perez, who outpaced his very consistent teammate, Nico Hulkenberg. With Mercedes power still a part of its program and gradual progression year-to-year, it isn’t far off the groupthink that Force India could soon be a consistent challenger for podiums every race weekend. Drivers                                                                                    No. 11 Sergio Perez (Mexico) No. 31 Esteban Ocon (France) Key Personel Team Principal /Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Scuderia Toro Rosso continues to inch its way up the grid and show flashes of becoming a real force within the sport. The Faenza-based team finished seventh in the constructor’s standings, all despite having to adapt to losing Max Verstappen to senior team, Red Bull Racing. However, the return of Daniil Kvyat began to pay dividends towards the end of the season, most notably at Singapore where he displayed a brilliant challenge to Verstappen. All things considered, returning Kvyat and the highly regarded Carlos Sainz Jr.Read More