Formula 1 Tag

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The fear espoused by many in the build up to the season looks like it may have come true; overtaking has been made significantly more difficult, at least so far. Many voices of reason and experience questioned the move to higher downforce cars, veteran drivers like Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa who experienced the high downforce machines of the mid 2000’s said that increased downforce wasn’t the answer. Some of the men who designed the notoriously quick but hard to pass cars of that era likeRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor If Formula One’s new cars fail to live up to their considerable hype Ross Brawn is ready to step in and save the day. The new cars are so far fulfilling their design objectives of being far faster and more aggressive looking than their predecessors. They are some of the most attractive cars F1 has had in some time and in Free Practice 2 Lewis Hamilton lapped quicker than Michael Schumacher’s 2004 race lap record and came within one tenth of the outright lap record SebastianRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Red Bull pulled clear of Ferrari last year to be Mercedes’ most consistent challenger. Max Verstappen won in Spain, Daniel Ricciardo was robbed of certain victory at Monaco, nearly pipped Rosberg at Singapore, and finally won in Malaysia. Such was the hype that they were widely expected to pick up where they left off and potentially challenge Mercedes for the championship this year. Testing was not a resounding success as the team played their cards close to their chest, but the prevailing feeling is that theyRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor After two seasons with regular podiums, Williams Martini Racing slipped behind Force India last year for a disappointing fifth in the Constructor’s standings. A turbulent off season saw them lose Valtteri Bottas to Mercedes after Nico Rosberg’s surprise retirement. This caused an awkward exchange when the team immediately called veteran Felipe Massa out of retirement. The affable Brazilian agreed and he leads Williams for at least one more season. He is joined by Canadian rookie Lance Stroll, who won blitzed last year’s European F3 Championship andRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor 2017 may prove to be just the reset Renault has needed. One of F1’s four power unit suppliers, Renault is a full works team for only their second season back after it stayed away from the sport from 2011 to 2015. Crucially they have an all new car, as last year’s design was very much a warmed over Lotus. The new machine, the R.S.17 is one of the more attractive and purposeful looking cars on the grid. Piloted by veteran recruit Nico Hulkenberg and second yearRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor According to a report from the BBC, McLaren has contacted Mercedes about an engine supply deal. Which means it is already looking at other partners after numerous failures in preseason testing with current supplier Honda. Despite an improvement to sixth in the constructor’s championship in 2016, and an optimistic re-branding in the off season, McLaren is set to begin the new season at the back of the pack. Honda which maintained it could find a fix for the problems encountered during testing and have it ready in timeRead More

By Takuma Sato, Driver Columnist In his opening column for Motorsports Tribune, Takuma Sato discusses his Andretti Autosport debut in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and brings everyone up to speed with how he went from Formula 1 to competing in the Indianapolis 500. Debuting for Andretti Autosport It has been so exciting from the moment I joined the team. It was a long winter and off-season, but a lot of things have happened. However, from the IndyCar regulations to the time that I signed up to driveRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Force India has traded in its traditional silver and black livery for a vivid matte pink, courtesy of the team’s new sponsor Best Water Technology. BWT as they are known, are a water treatment and technology firm based in upper Austria. The company is one of Europe’s major players in the water market. Their pink colors and giant blue logo now feature proudly on the sidepods of the VJM10 in a decidedly retro style. The drivers, Sergio Perez and newcomer Esteban Ocon will also feature pinkRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Ferrari saved their best for the last day of preseason testing at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya as Kimi Raikkonen blitzed the field en route to the fastest time of winter and the second fastest lap ever recorded at the track. His 1:18.634 very nearly reached the 1:18.243 Fernando Alonso set while testing slick tires on the Renault R28 in preparation for the 2009 season. Of far more importance to Ferrari, Raikkonen’s time is seven tenths of a second faster than Mercedes’ best lap and eight tenths better thanRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor It was all thumbs up for Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari today. The four time champ looked absolutely unassailable as he set the fastest time of testing so far and completed a day high 156 laps. His 1:19.024 on ultra softs bested the Mercedes duo on the same tires by three tenths of a second and Felipe Massa’s Williams by four tenths. So confident was Vettel that he visibly slowed on the final straight for most of his fast laps, an ominious sign for their challengers that theRead More