F1 Tag

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Kimi Raikkonen put in one of his best qualifying efforts of the season ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix with a third place effort on Saturday, but wasn’t overly impressed with the lap. The 37-year-old Finn bettered Scuderia Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel, who could only manage fifth, and Red Bull Racing teenager Max Verstappen. The 2007 F1 World Champion is in the midst of a battle with both in securing fourth place in the Drivers’ Championship, trailing Vettel 187-178 while also being ahead of Verstappen byRead More

Lewis Hamilton took his 60th career pole position at Interlagos, edging Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg by a tenth of a second. Kimi Raikkonen was third for Ferrari, ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen and the second Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel. Vettel was in trouble ahead of qualifying, with Ferrari hard at work in the garage in the minutes leading up to Q1 as they worked on his car’s brake system. There was no sign of the German as the session got underway and a stream of cars headed onRead More

Nico Rosberg took over at the top of the Interlagos timesheets, beating Friday’s fastest man Lewis Hamilton by less than one tenths of a second in this morning’s final practice session ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix. Hamilton held sway over his title-chasing team-mate in both Friday sessions, initially by two tenths of a second and then by just three hundreds of a second but thius morning, markedly changed conditions, Rosberg gained the upper hand, though by 0.093s. Friday warm sunshine gave way to rain this morning and by theRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Force India announced that it has signed Esteban Ocon to a multi-year agreement beginning for the 2017 Formula 1 season. The 20-year-old Frenchman is a Mercedes junior driver and has been racing with Manor Racing for the last seven rounds, starting since the Belgian Grand Prix. The 2015 GP3 Series champion had been serving as a reserve driver with Renault and had been tabbed for a full-time seat prior to signing with Force India. Ocon will team with Sergio Perez next year, replacing Nico Hulkenberg, whichRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Haas F1 Team announced that it has signed Kevin Magnussen to replace Esteban Gutierrez in a multi-year deal beginning with the 2017 season. The 24-year-old Dane leaves Renault Sport F1 Team and will team with Romain Grosjean, who returns to Haas for a second consecutive year. “This is a fantastic opportunity and I’m very happy to be a part of Haas F1 Team,” Magnussen said. “Obviously, I’m confident in my abilities as a Formula One driver, but I’m also very confident of what Haas F1 TeamRead More

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton continued to set the pace at Interlagos, though he was pressed hard in second practice ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix by weekend title hopeful Nico Rosberg. Rosberg, who is bidding to take an unassailable championship lead over Hamilton in Brazil, finished the opening practice session at the Sao Paulo circuit just over two tenths of a second behind the defending champion. In the afternoon performance runs, however, the title leading German closed the gap on his British rival to just three hundredths of a second. BehindRead More

Lewis Hamilton went quickest in opening practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix, outpacing Red Bull Racing rival Max Verstappen by less than one tenth of a second. Third place went to Nico Rosberg, who could this weekend wrap up the Drivers’ Championship title if he outscores Hamilton by seven points. All three set their fastest times on the soft compound Pirelli, with Hamilton rising to the top with a lap of 1:11.895, 0.096 ahead of Verstappen. Rosberg finished the session 0.230s adrift of title rival Hamilton, with Daniel Ricciardo aRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Renault Sport F1 Team announced that Jolyon Palmer will return for the 2017 season. The 25-year-old Brit and 2014 GP2 Series champion has endured a tough rookie campaign, but managed to score his first championship point in round 16 at the Malaysian Grand Prix last month. Palmer joins recently announced Nico Hulkenberg at Renault, giving the Enstone-based team a veteran presence to go along with its progressing driver. After several weeks of debate, Palmer expressed jubilation upon his announced return. “I’m over the moon to beRead More

Lewis Hamilton scored a textbook victory at the Mexican Grand Prix ahead of team-mate Nico Rosberg, as Max Verstappen was ruled out of third position after a titanic battle with Sebastian Vettel saw the Dutchman penalized for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. Vettel finished third ahead of Daniel Ricciardo with Verstappen demoted to fifth place. At the race start Hamilton got away in the lead, despite a slightly slow getaway.  Directly behind Verstappen made a good start and pulled alongside Rosberg as the pair entered the first corner.Read More

Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen set the fastest time of final practice for the Mexican Grand Prix, finishing nine hundredths of a second ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, with Daniel Ricciardo third in the second Red Bull. In a messy final 10 minutes of the session traffic disrupted the qualifying simulations of a number of drivers but Verstappen found space enough to set a supersoft tyre time of 1:19.137 with eight minutes left on the clock. Ricciardo might have eclipsed that but the Australian hit heavy traffic in the finalRead More