Formula 1 Tag

By FIA Kimi Räikkönen went quickest in second practice ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix but the Ferrari driver may be facing a grid penalty due to a possible unsafe release from the pit lane late in the session. The Finn was quickly into the action as the session got underway and set an early benchmark of 1:30.689 on soft compound Pirellis that was later passed by team-mate Sebastian Vettel and Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas. Räikkönen then wasted no time in getting his qualifying simulation out of the way, beingRead More

By FIA Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo edged a tight battle for early supremacy in Bahrain, beating rivals Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas and Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen by over three tenths of a second in the opening practice session at the Bahrain International Crciut. While the opening session at the Gulf circuit is notoriously unreliable due to its daylight timing ahead of a night race, Ricciardo will take confidence from his late charge up the leaderboard. After an early run on medium tyres, the Australian spent the bulk of the session inRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The Formula 1 season is officially underway following an exciting Australian Grand Prix two weekends ago, but now the focus turns toward the second and third rounds of the championship. As such, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo previews the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix and the Heineken Chinese Grand Prix. Our friends from Mobil 1 The Grid have brought together the Aussie’s thoughts on the first back-to-back events of 2018. Video Credit: Mobil 1 The GridRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The Australian Grand Prix gave us plenty of interesting moments this year, it also gave us more than a handful of meaningful statistics to crunch on. Here are some of the best of them from the first Grand Prix of 2018: First and foremost are the milestones for Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel as they continue rewriting the F1 record book. Hamilton sets a new all-time pole position record every time he goes fastest of all on a Saturday and he racked up his 73rd thisRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief ESPN has issued an apology after a variety of technical issues plagued its debut as the chief provider of Formula 1 broadcast coverage in the United States. The problems began with the “On the Grid” prerace show on ESPN2 as the video feed from coverage partner Sky Sports came through without audio. The network then cutaway to another show as the incident persisted before returning with that particular problem resolved 10 minutes prior to lights out. “We deeply apologize to Formula 1 fans for the technicalRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Haas F1 Team put together their most promising race weekend to date, only to have it come undone midway through the Australian Grand Prix. Kevin Magnussen started fifth on the grid, but made a phenomenal move on Max Verstappen around the outside of Turn 1 off the start to grab fourth. The 25-year-old Dane held the position solidly despite constant pressure from the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing pilot. The breakout performance was helped when Verstappen spun on Lap 10 entering in Turn 1, which elevatedRead More

By FIA Lewis Hamilton took his first pole position of the 2018 season in imperious fashion, beating Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen and third-placed Sebastian Vettel by nearly seven tenths of a second. It was a bittersweet sesssion for Hamilton’s Mercedes team, however, as the defending team-mate, Valtteri Bottas, crashed out heavily at the start of the final session. Räikkönen set the pace early in Q1, eventually rising to a time of 1:23.096s ahead of the Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen. The order changed when Hamilton began to put togetherRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The Australian Grand Prix kicks off the 2018 Formula 1 season this weekend. Last season featured the closest title fight the sport has seen since 2012, and the field is riding a wave of momentum at the moment, hoping for an even more competitive year. Expectations are for a three way fight at the top between defending champions Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull. If practice times this week from Albert Park are any indication that could very well be the case, at least for the firstRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Daniel Ricciardo has been hit with a three-place grid penalty for the Australian Grand Prix. The 28-year-old Aussie was found by race stewards to have been going too fast under red flag conditions just past halfway in the second practice session. The interruption came due to a loose wire at the start/finish line. The Aston Martin Red Bull Racing pilot was on a qualifying simulation lap when the session was halted, but while returning to the pits was deemed to have been going above the minimumRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Sebastian Vettel is confident that Ferrari has not shown its true pace after an unspectacular showing in Friday’s opening practice sessions for the Australian Grand Prix. As it stands, Lewis Hamilton swept the two sessions for Mercedes, with Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen pulling to within 0.127 of a second behind after a strong showing in the afternoon. However, it was Kimi Raikkonen leading the way for Ferrari, who paced fourth best at 0.283 of a second behind the leader, with Vettel posting fifth but over halfRead More