F1 Tag

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Kimi Raikkonen discussed the layout of the Circuit of the Americas, home of the United States Grand Prix, and admitted the design allows for great racing. The 3.427-mile, 20-turn permanent road course has been hosting Formula 1 since 2012 and has become a favorite among teams and drivers with its steep uphill opening corner, a mix of fast-flowing corners, continuous elevation changes, long straightaways and a triple-apex right hander to go along with a few heavy braking zones. In four attempts at the Austin-based track, theRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The FIA has confirmed a number of rule changes for the 2017 season today. With new cars substantially different and faster than the current machines, the sport’s governing body has had to issue rule changes out piecemeal style, but we can glean some important information from today’s announcement. Power Units The power units themselves aren’t changing for the 2017 season, but how they are to be regulated will. Currently teams have been able to change multiple parts of the power units and incur grid penalties forRead More

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 Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Sergio Perez appeared to have his third podium of the season in sight, but a mix of strategy relegated him further down the running order en route to finishing seventh in the Japanese Grand Prix. The 26-year-old Mexican had a strong start and pushed as high as third before falling in the clutches of Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo and the Ferrari duo of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen. The Sahara Force India driver was involved in several intense battles on the track, settling on aRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Max Verstappen secured his sixth podium finish of the season after finishing second in the Japanese Grand Prix, but came under the scrutiny after a controversial defensive move on Lewis Hamilton in the closing stages of the race. Verstappen led the three-time Formula 1 World Champion as they exited 130R, Hamilton began to surge and showed enough pace to pull alongside the Red Bull at the chicane but Verstappen closed the door under braking, forcing the Mercedes off the track and down the escape road. “IRead More

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