Formula One Tag

Lewis Hamilton maintained his grip on top spot in practice for the United States Grand Prix, but the Mercedes driver was pushed hard by a much-improved Ferrari, with Sebastian Vettel getting to within a tenth of a second of the championship leader in FP3 at the Circuit of the Americas. Third place in the session went to Mercedes Valtteri Bottas, with Kimi Räikkönen fourth in the second Ferrari. Just 0.277s separated the top four drivers. Hamilton was also to the fore in the early part of the session where longer runsRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief AUSTIN, Texas – McLaren have revealed that they considering returning to its former papaya orange livery for the 2018 Formula One season. The team ran the historic colors in their return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May in the 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil. The venture was a in a partnership with Andretti Autosport and support from Honda, which brought global attention as two-time Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso elected to miss the Monaco Grand Prix and crossRead More

Lewis Hamilton continued to set the pace at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas as he beat Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen top spot in second practice for the US Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver had registered the quickest time of the weekend’s opening session to beat Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel by more than half a second and in the afternoon Hamilton again went quickest, eclipsing Verstappen by 0.397s with a lap of 1: 34.668s. After an early phase on the soft Pirelli tyres, Hamilton made the switch to ultrasoft tyres, switchedRead More

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton set the pace in a wet/dry opening practice session for the United States Grand Prix as he beat title rival Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari by more than half a second at the Circuit of the Americas. Championship leader Hamilton set a best time of 1:36.335s on the supersoft Pirelli compound tyres to finish 0.593 seconds clear of Vettel. Hamilton’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas took third place five hundredths of a second further back. The session began in damp conditions after early morning abated shortly before the green lightRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief AUSTIN, Texas – Max Verstappen will remain at Red Bull Racing after the two agreed to a deal that keeps them together through the 2020 Formula One season. The deal was confirmed prior to opening practice of the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. The 20-year-old Dutchman has endured a tough road this season with seven retirements, but hit his stride of late, winning at Malaysia during his birthday weekend and followed it up with a runner-up result in a close fight forRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief AUSTIN, Texas – Carlos Sainz is ready to begin the next chapter of his Formula One career with Renault for this weekend’s United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. The 23-year-old Spaniard moved over to the Enstone-based squad after being at Scuderia Toro Rosso since 2015. Currently sitting ninth in the championship standings, Sainz put in a career-best effort of fourth at Singapore last month. The move will give Sainz four races with his new team in preparation for 2018. However, looking towards thisRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief AUSTIN, Texas – Fernando Alonso is set to continue on with McLaren after the two announced a contract extension on Thursday ahead of the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas, which keeps the pair together for the 2018 Formula One season. The 36-year-old Spaniard returned to the Woking-based outfit for a second time in 2015 and has since struggled for results at the disappointment of a Honda relationship which comes to an halt at the end of this season. The two-time Formula OneRead More

Listen to “Drafting The Circuits October 19, 2017” on Spreaker. Frank Santoroski and the Drafting the Circuits panel – Joey Barnes, Gray Warren, Richard Youden, Christopher DeHarde and Seth Eggert – report on the carnage at Talladega, previews the F1 USGP in Austin, and has a healthy discussion about driver development, race series schedules, and the latest Indycar driver news. Credits: Host – Frank Santoroski DTC Panel – Joey Barnes, Seth Eggert, Christopher DeHarde, Gray Warren, & Richard Youden Producers – Anthony Arnold & Keith Hayes Special thanks to Whoobazoo for hosting the DTC Podcast. SocialRead More

The 2017 Formula One season has been one of the more intense as fans have enjoyed a battle between Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, two well established titans of the past decade. However, with Ferrari’s recent struggles, all looks lost for Vettel to wage a proper battle. The group weighs in on that, plus several other topics as this weekend’s United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas draws ever closer. The obvious question first, with Lewis Hamilton’s lead of 59 points over Sebastian Vettel and a collapsing FerrariRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Brendon Hartley has been confirmed by Scuderia Toro Rosso and will make his Formula One debut in the United States Grand Prix next weekend at Circuit of the Americas. He will replace Pierre Gasly, who will be contending the Super Formula championship in Suzuka. With Carlos Sainz moving to Renault for the final four rounds of 2017, Daniil Kvyat will also return to the cockpit for the first time since Singapore, having been replaced by Gasly in the previous two races in Malaysia and Japan. HartleyRead More