Formula 1 Tag

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Williams Martini Racing has narrowed down its driver search for Lance Stroll’s 2018 partner to three, according to Motorsport Magazine. Current pilot Felipe Massa, who has been with the team since 2014 despite an initial planned retirement prior to the team losing Valtteri Bottas to Mercedes, is said to still be a possibility for the Grove-based outfit. However, the plan is to test out Paul di Resta and Robert Kubica before settling on the 2018 seat. For di Resta, who serves as the team’s reserve driver,Read More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Sebastian Vettel must be thanking his lucky stars. After going out on the opening lap in Singapore, and starting from the back in Malaysia, he won’t have a gearbox change penalty for Japan. His bizarre cool down lap collision with Williams’ Lance Stroll tore the left rear wheel from his SF70H and the subsequent chassis damage indicated that the gearbox could be damaged as well. Ferrari flew the gearbox back to its headquarters in Maranello in order to give it a detailed examination. Today it gaveRead More

Sebastian Vettel led a Ferrari one-two in second practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix, six tenths clear of team-mate Kimi Räikkönen, as the session was ended early by a heavy crash involving Haas’ Romain Grosjean. Vettel’s performance run on the Pirelli supersoft compound tyres netted a best time of 1:31.261. Team-mate Kimi Räikkönen was second, 0.604 seconds adrift, while Daniel Ricciardo was third for Red Bull Racing, just over two tenths further back. It was a trickier session for championship leader Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas. BothRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Carlos Sainz’s widely reported move from Toro Rosso to Renault is apparently in the form of a “loan” which at least in theory, Red Bull can take back if they need or desire to. With the top Red Bull team filled and Pierre Gasly coming to take his place at Toro Rosso it is likely that Sainz will stay at Renault after 2018, but it is not guarunteed. Should Honda continue to be a disaster in 2018 and Red Bull be forced to take their enginesRead More

Lewis Hamilton took the lead in the Fornila One Drivers’ title standings ahead of Sebastian Vettel after he headed a Mercedes one-two at the Italian Grand Prix. The Silver Arrows were utterly dominant at Monza with Hamilton beating third-placed Sebastian Vettel by more than 36 seconds. The Briton’s sixth win of the season puts him three points clear of Ferrari driver Vettel at the top of the Drivers’ standings after 13 races. While Mercedes’ progress to the top two places in the race was largely processional after Bottas had risen to P2 inRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Romain Grosjean was left angry after crashing during qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix, which he believes should have never started in the first place. The Frenchman put down the third fastest time in a rain-marred Q1 before aquaplaning and losing control of his No. 8 VF-17 at the start/finish line and hitting one barrier and sliding across the track and backing into the other. The Haas F1 Team driver’s crash red flagged qualifying, which is still in a delay. “I’m going to try to beRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Sebastian Vettel will remain a driver at Scuderia Ferrari until the end for the 2020 Formula One season after signing a three-year extension. The team confirmed the news following final practice for the Belgian Grand Prix at Circuit de Spa-Franchorchamps. The news comes just days after the team confirmed the return of Kimi Raikkonen, who was the Italian squad’s last F1 World Champion in 2007. The 2018 season will mark the fourth consecutive season for Ferrari to keep the same lineup intact. The stability has provedRead More

The final day of testing in Budapest was a tale of a remarkable return and an impressive arrival, as Robert Kubica returned to F1 testing for the first time in six years to set the day’s fourth fastest time, while 17-year-old Lando Norris finished in second place, just two tenths of a second behind pacesetter Sebastian Vettel. Driving for Renault, Kubica, who had not driven a contemporary F1 car since suffering serious arm injuries in a 2011 rallying accident, set a best time of 1m18.572s to finish fourth on theRead More

FIA Formula 2 Championship leader Charles Leclerc edged McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne to top the timesheet on day one of the final in-season test of the 2017 Formula One campaign. Ferrari Academy driver Leclerc set a time of 1:17.746 in the closing moments of the session to beat Vandoorne’s best time by 0.088s. However, while the McLaren driver used purple-banded ultrasoft tyres to set his personal best, Leclerc’s P1 time came on soft compound Pirelli rubber. Vandoorne had run quicker than the Ferrari driver in the morning session but the afternoon was notRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Sebastian Vettel believes his steering issue that attempted to plague his victory began prior to the start of the Hungarian Grand Prix. The 30-year-old German started the race from pole and held over a 3.5 second gap on Scuderia Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen in the early stages following a brief safety car period. However, Vettel cited a problem with his steering in the lead-up to his first pit stop. This allowed Raikkonen to close the gap and play as a buffer the remainder of the race toRead More