Formula 1 Tag

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Carlos Sainz Jr. will return to Scuderia Toro Rosso next season, Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner confirmed. Sainz was overlooked for a promotion to Red Bull in favor of teammate Max Verstappen when the team demoted Daniil Kvyat to Toro Rosso. Since then, the Spaniard has impressed enough to warrant a rare third-year with the team and thus ending any speculation about his future. “We took up his option earlier this week, so he’s committed to Red Bull for the next 12 months,” Horner said.Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Sergio Sette Camara will make his official Formula 1 debut in a test at Silverstone with Scuderia Toro Rosso. The 18-year-old Brazilian currently competes in the FIA F3 European Championship and sits seventh in the standings with two podiums in 15 races this season. Sette Camara will take over on the second day of the post-British Grand Prix test for Carlos Sainz Jr. “I’m very happy and excited to be testing with Scuderia Toro Rosso”, Sette Camara said in a statement. “It’s a great opportunity which I’veRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Alfonso Celis Jr. will reprise his role as Force India’s development driver by stepping in for an FP1 session during the Austian Grand Prix weekend. The Mexican will replace fellow countryman Sergio Perez for the Friday morning session – it will be third time this season Celis will appear in FP1. The 19-year-old also piloted the VJM09 during pre-season and in-season testing. In addition to his role at Force India, Celis also competes in the Formula V8 3.5 Series, collecting one podium in eight races soRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The Haas F1 Team has confirmed that 18-year-old Charles Leclerc will make his Formula 1 debut in opening practice for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. The current ART Grand Prix driver in GP3 is set for other Friday sessions in the VF-16 at Hungary, Germany, Malaysia and Abu Dhabi, replacing Esteban Gutierrez. “This is a fantastic opportunity to get seat time in a Formula 1 car and I can’t thank Haas F1 Team and Esteban enough,” Leclerc said. “I’m honored by the faith Haas F1Read More

Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg cruised to a comprehensive Grand Prix of Europe win, finishing more than 16 seconds ahead of second-placed Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari, while Sergio Perez recovered from a grid penalty to take a deserved third place. With plenty of incidents enlivening the support races at the inaugural race in Baku, similar unpredictability had been expected from the grand prix, but when Rosberg went through the first corner in the lead and quickly built up a solid gap to fellow front-row starter Daniel Ricciardo, the identity of the winner,Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Daniil Kvyat became the first retirement of the European Grand Prix, exiting on lap 8 with suspension issues. The Russian enjoyed a solid Saturday, qualifying seventh and looking like a strong contender for solid points, but Kvyat’s quest came to a halt as he encountered a second retirement in the last three races. “There was an issue with the suspension, so we had to retire the car very early on in the race,” Kvyat said. “Unfortunately, we need to investigate what happened and try to understandRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Pirelli have revealed their three tire compounds that will be made available for the Malaysian Grand Prix in October. The three compounds selected are the orange-marked hard, white-marked medium and yellow-marked soft tires. It is the first time since Spain that the hard compound has been selected.  The 2016 rules state that drivers must have two sets on-hand, and are required to use at least one of them. A set of softs will be made available for the Q3 qualifying session, which will returned to PirelliRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Pirelli and the FIA have finally reached an agreement to keep the Italian tire manufacturer as Formula 1’s exclusive supplier until the end of the 2019 season. A deal had already been in place with Formula 1 Management for Pirelli to remain in the sport, but a testing plan needed to be agreed upon with the FIA prior to signing the contract. The agreement was to ensure that the Pirelli had enough track time to develop next year’s tires due to the wider specifications. The specificRead More

Lewis Hamilton’s dominance of the Grand Prix of Europe timesheets continued as the Mercedes driver set the fastest time of final practice at the Baku Street Circuit, eclipsing team-mate Nico Rosberg by just over two tenths of a second. The defending champion’s march to the top of the FP3 timesheet wasn’t without issue, however. The Briton struggled for a clean lap in the final minutes of the session and was forced to back out of a first flyer when he made a mistake at Turn 1 and ran wide. TheRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Daniel Ricciardo has extended his contract with Red Bull Racing until the end of the 2018 Formula 1 season. The Aussie has scored three wins since making the jump from Toro Rosso to Red Bull in 2014, but has just three podiums in the last 28 races. Ricciardo has questioned the team in recent weeks with strategic errors that have cost him valuable points the past couple of races, including a potential win at Monaco. However, with the current state of F1 and technical changing loomingRead More