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Nico Rosberg took a comfortable Japanese Grand Prix victory to extend his championship lead over arch-rival Lewis Hamilton with the defending champion’s race being compromised by a poor start that left him eighth after the first corner. The Briton recovered to finish third behind Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen but Rosberg now leads his Mercedes team-mate by 33 points with four races to go. At the start of the race Rosberg made a clean getaway, but Hamilton’s start was dreadful. He bogged down badly and was immediately overrun by rivals.Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Jenson Button is set to start last in the Japanese Grand Prix after taking a new power unit following qualifying. Honda had introduced an upgraded power unit for McLaren-Honda teammate Fernando Alonso for the Malaysia Grand Prix last weekend, the same that Button was waiting until the United States Grand Prix for in hopes to avoid a grid penalty at Honda’s home race at Suzuka. However, the 36-year-old Brit qualified a disappointing 17th and Honda decided the penalty is minimal and have upgraded Button’s power unitRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Kimi Raikkonen’s hopes to challenge Mercedes and deliver Ferrari’s first win of the season have taken a hit as he will drop from third on the Japanese Grand Prix grid to eighth place as a result of an unscheduled gearbox change. The 36-year-old Finn showed surprising pace in qualifying to take third place, bettering teammate Sebastian Vettel who ended up fourth but had a three-place grid penalty for causing a collision in Malaysia last weekend. However, Ferrari had to change Raikkonen’s gearbox ahead of the race,Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Felipe Massa and Kevin Magnussen have been reprimanded for failing to return to the pits in a reasonable time during qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix. Both the Williams and Renault drivers took longer than the maximum permitted time between the pit exit and entry set by the FIA leading up to the event. Massa faced the hit in Q2, while Magnussen’s came in Q1 – the first reprimand for both drivers. Massa will start 12th for Sunday’s race, six spots up of Magnussen in P18.Read More

Nico Rosberg beat title rival Lewis Hamilton by the tiny margin of 0.013s to secure pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix. Third and fourth places were secured by Ferrari, with Kimi Raikkonen ahead of Sebastian Vettel, while Red Bull Racing qualified just behind with Max Verstappen fifth ahead of Daniel Ricciardo. Vettel though will drop to seventh on the grid due to a three-place penalty incurred last weekend in Malaysia. Rosberg set the early pace in Q1, setting a time of 1:31.858. That was good enough to eclipse HamiltonRead More

Nico Rosberg made it three sessions from three as he added top spot in final practice for the Japanese Grand Prix to the fastest times he set in both Friday sessions. The championship leader finished FP3 three tenths of a second clear of Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo as Lewis Hamilton ended the session in seventh place after failing to get in a clean lap in the final stages on a crowded track. Rain overnight and in the morning left the Suzuka circuit greasy and low on grip and theRead More

Nico Rosberg edged team-mate Lewis Hamilton by just seven hundredths of a second to take top in the second free practice of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend at Suzuka. Rosberg’s best time of the session was 1:32.250. After Ferrari ended the first practice session more than a second off the pace set by Rosberg, there was encouragement for the Italian squad, as Kimi Raikkonen got to within four tenths of Rosberg’s time at the end of the afternoon’s performance runs. In the morning it had been two-by-two, with Mercedes followedRead More

Nico Rosberg went quickest in opening practice for this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix, eclipsing Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton by two tenths of a second. The Mercedes pair set their best times on the soft tyre, as did third-placed Sebastian Vettel. The Ferrari driver ended the session almost 1.1s adrift of Hamilton, however. Kimi Raikkonen was fourth quickest, just under three tenths behind his team-mate. The Finn also set his best time on the soft tyre. Red Bull Racing, meanwhile, chose to avoid the yellow-banded Pirelli compound during the session. TheRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Sergio Perez has announced that he will remain at Force India for the 2017 Formula 1 season. The 26-year-old Mexican’s was the center of speculation on his eventual destination for next season, including Ferrari and Haas, but despite several delays with Force India he will return with the team. Bob Fernley, Force India’s deputy team principal, said on Friday that he was confident the details in the deal would be finalized with Perez. Perez’s return to the Silverstone-based squad means that he can continue to addRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Sebastian Vettel’s day came to an early end at the first corner of the Malaysian Grand Prix after hitting and sending Formula 1 championship leader Nico Rosberg into a spin, destroying his own car in the process. The 29-year-old German had a blistering start from row three and climbed to the inside of Turn 1 with Max Verstappen on his right. The aggressive move was labeled “crazy” from the Red Bull Racing driver in a near repeat in reverse roles of the Belgian Grand Prix. “IRead More