Felipe Massa Tag

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Much has been made of Haas F1’s inaugural season in Formula 1. From scoring points in their debut in the Australian Grand Prix with Romain Grosjean to remaining within striking distance of Toro Rosso and McLaren-Honda in the Constructors’ championship battle, the US-based squad led by team principal Guenther Steiner has enjoyed a strong amount of success early. However, with the summer break nearly over the team must decide what to do about its driver lineup for next season. Grosjean has scored an astounding four timesRead More

Lewis Hamilton took a controlled German Grand Prix win to extend his championship lead over chief rival Nico Rosberg to 19 points as the German finished fourth behind the Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and third-placed Max Verstappen. Hamilton’s victory was largely sealed at the start when, from second on the grid, he made a much better getaway than polesitter Rosberg. The champion leader hugged the inside line as Rosberg dropped back and emerged from Turn One in the lead. Behind him both third-on-the-grid Ricciardo and Verstappen, who started fourth,Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Felipe Massa will start the Austrian Grand Prix from the pit lane due to a damaged front wing. The Brazilian was set to start from 10th, but his Williams team discovered a crack in the front wing and decided to not risk it and change it out for a new one. Massa was running a new spec of front wing, but with the change he left with reverting to the older spec. Massa’s spot on the grid will remain empty. The Brazilian joins Toro Rosso driverRead More

Lewis Hamilton took his fifth career Canadian Grand Prix win to close the gap to championship-leading Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg to just nine points as the German finished fifth. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel managed to take the lead at the start but could not make a two-stop strategy work and he finished second ahead of a hard-charging Valtteri Bottas who scored Williams’ first podium finish of the season. Hamilton began the race from pole position but when the lights went out he bogged down slightly, as did fellow front-row starter Rosberg,Read More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor From worst to first, Williams Martini Racing has turned around its biggest Achilles heel – their pitstop work. After several disastrous stops in 2014 and 2015 cost the team potential shots at victory, Rob Smedley knew something needed to change. The performance chief of the Grove based outfit put together an internal working group with the goal not only of abolishing mistakes in pitlane, but to become the best on the grid. After the first five races of 2016, the fruit of this endeavor has seenRead More

Max Verstappen became Formula One’s youngest ever race winner with victory in an enthralling Spanish Grand Prix that saw Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg collide at the start. Making his debut for Red Bull Racing, Verstappen took the lead midway through the race and remained icy cool in the closing stage as he came under intense pressure from Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen. He crossed the line just 0.6s ahead of the Finn to win aged just 18 years and 227 days, breaking Sebastian Vettel’s seven-year-old record, set when theRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Welcome to our newest segment at Tribute Racing; Grand Prix Profile. The Grand Prix Profile, or GPP for short will be a look at each F1 venue, with a breakdown on its history and place in the sport. With the aim to give you a real glimpse at the heart and character of the many amazing places, the world’s most amazing sport visits. We begin in Spain, F1’s triumphant return to its European heartland comes early each May with the sports traditional visit to Circuit deRead More

Nico Rosberg’s dream start to the 2016 season continued as the German took his second consecutive victory and his first in Bahrain and his first at the Gulf circuit. Kimi Raikkonen took his fifth second place with Lewis Hamilton recovering to third after a first-corner collision. Before the start there was disappointment for Ferrari as Sebastian Vettel, set to start from third, slowed on the formation lap with smoke billowing from the back of his car. His failure to start, the first of his career, meant a space opened onRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor Nico Rosberg led home a Mercedes one-two finish from Albert Park in what was a madcap start the 2016 season. Despite the typical result of a Mercedes double podium, the circuitous route the race took to its conclusion proved entertaining, terrifying and intense. The plot thickened before the race ever got underway as Daniil Kvyat’s Red Bull succumbed to electrical gremlins by stalling on the way to his grid position. The team ran to remove the car while the rest of the field embarked upon aRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor The 2016 Formula One season is finally underway, down under in Albert Park. Despite the soggy start, the excitement of fans world wide cannot be dampened. Before the drivers lay down their cards for qualifying a few hours from now, I will make five bold predictions on some of the more exciting stories of the season. Without further ado…. 5. All teams will score points Gone are the days when a lovable back marker like Minardi could only pray for points. Gone are the days whenRead More