FP1 Tag

By FIA Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time of opening practice at China’s Shanghai International Circuit, as Formula 1 began preparations for its 1000thrace.  The Ferrari driver beat five-time world champion Lewis Hamilton by two tenths of a second despite using a harder compound tyre than the Mercedes man. Third place in the session went to Vettel’s team-mate Charles Leclerc. Four-time champion Vettel set his best time of session, a lap of 1:33.911 on the C3 compound chosen as the medium tyres for this weekend. Hamilton’s best lap of 1:34.118,Read More

By FIA Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc topped the timesheet in the opening practice sessions for the Bahrain Grand Prix beating team-mate Sebastian Vettel by 0.236s. The Ferrari duo ended the 90-minute session more than seven tenths ahead of chief rivals Mercedes, for whom Valtteri Bottas was quickest. The pace of the Italian squad was a return to the good for the team had shown in pre-season testing but which had been surprisingly absent at the season-opener two weeks ago in Australia. Mercedes made the early running at the Sakhir circuit withRead More

By FIA The 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship got underway in Melbourne with defending champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes narrowly claiming top spot ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in the opening practice session for the Australian Grand Prix. Ferrari looked to have an advantage over Mercedes in pre-season testing but in Melbourne, Hamilton continued where he left off last season, powering around the Albert Park circuit to the top of the time sheet with a lap of 1:23.599s. The Briton was pushed hard though by pre-season testing’s fastest man,Read More

By FIA Max Verstappen headed a Red Bull Racing one-two in the opening practice session for Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix, with the 2017 race winner here beating out team-mate Daniel Ricciardo by almost half a second. Verstappen and Ricciardo set their quickest times on Pirelli’s hypersoft tyres and while both Mercedes and Ferrari ran on the pink-banded tyre during the 90-minute session, they posted their best laps on the ultrasoft tyres as they minimised running on the softest tyre in Pirelli’s range. As such, championship leader Lewis Hamilton, who canRead More

By FIA Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes one-two in the opening practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix finishing half a second clear of team-mate Valtteri Bottas and almost seven tenths of a second ahead of the third-placed Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo. Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen and championship challenger Sebastian Vettel finished the session in fourth and fifth places, but both set their best times using the supersoft Pirelli compound, while Hamilton session-best time of 1:28.691s was delivered on soft tyres. Vettel ended the session just under a second offRead More

By FIA Title contender Vettel and Verstappen both set their times on Pirelli’s hypersoft tyres, while third-placed championship leader Lewis Hamilton largely restricted himself to the hardest of the compounds on offer this weekend, the soft tyre, and finished just 0.330s behind Vettel. Valtteri Bottas matched team-mate Hamilton in mostly running on the soft tyres to finish the session in fourth place half a second off the pace. Daniel Ricciardo took fifth place on the timesheet, though the Red Bull driver spend most of the session in his team’s garageRead More

By FIA Racing Point Force India driver Sergio Perez, topped a wet opening practice session for the Italian Grand, outpacing Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen by more than half a second. Perez’s team-mate Esteban Ocon took third place ahead of the Toro Rosso of Brendon Hartley on a timesheet given an unfamiliar look due to the conditions. After Räikkönen made a late improvement to take P1, Perez jumped to the top of the order with his final lap of the 90-minute session, as track conditions began to improve as the rain abated.Read More

By FIA Lewis Hamilton topped the first free practice timesheets at the Austrian Grand Prix weekend got underway at the Red Bull Ring, with the champion leading a Mercedes 1-2 ahead of Valtteri Bottas, with Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen third at the Anglo-Austrian team’s home event. The Dutch driver was the first to set a lap time in the session and he was also an early spinner when he momentarily dropped the rear wheels of his RB14 into the gravel at Turn 4. His car pirouetted through 360 degreesRead More

By FIA Lewis Hamilton topped the opening practice timesheet as France returned to the Formula 1 calendar following an absence of a decade, the defending world champion edging Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas by a tenth of a second at the Circuit Paul Ricard. The session ended in spectacular fashion, with Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson crashing out and his car catching fire. The Swedish driver lost control of his Sauber C37 midway through Turn 11 and slid sideways across the run-off area into the barriers. As the car came to rest theRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Robert Kubica made his official return to a Formula 1 race weekend for the first time since 2010, ending 19th quickest in Friday morning practice ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix. The outing at was less than ideal as Kubica was 3.362 seconds off the pace, but still managed to place ahead of Williams teammate Lance Stroll by 1.246 seconds at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Stroll also crashed with half an hour to go the session. Overall, the first of three scheduled opening practice sessions for 2018Read More