Japanese Grand Prix Tag

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Kimi Raikkonen’s hopes to challenge Mercedes and deliver Ferrari’s first win of the season have taken a hit as he will drop from third on the Japanese Grand Prix grid to eighth place as a result of an unscheduled gearbox change. The 36-year-old Finn showed surprising pace in qualifying to take third place, bettering teammate Sebastian Vettel who ended up fourth but had a three-place grid penalty for causing a collision in Malaysia last weekend. However, Ferrari had to change Raikkonen’s gearbox ahead of the race,Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Felipe Massa and Kevin Magnussen have been reprimanded for failing to return to the pits in a reasonable time during qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix. Both the Williams and Renault drivers took longer than the maximum permitted time between the pit exit and entry set by the FIA leading up to the event. Massa faced the hit in Q2, while Magnussen’s came in Q1 – the first reprimand for both drivers. Massa will start 12th for Sunday’s race, six spots up of Magnussen in P18.Read More

Nico Rosberg beat title rival Lewis Hamilton by the tiny margin of 0.013s to secure pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix. Third and fourth places were secured by Ferrari, with Kimi Raikkonen ahead of Sebastian Vettel, while Red Bull Racing qualified just behind with Max Verstappen fifth ahead of Daniel Ricciardo. Vettel though will drop to seventh on the grid due to a three-place penalty incurred last weekend in Malaysia. Rosberg set the early pace in Q1, setting a time of 1:31.858. That was good enough to eclipse HamiltonRead More

Nico Rosberg made it three sessions from three as he added top spot in final practice for the Japanese Grand Prix to the fastest times he set in both Friday sessions. The championship leader finished FP3 three tenths of a second clear of Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo as Lewis Hamilton ended the session in seventh place after failing to get in a clean lap in the final stages on a crowded track. Rain overnight and in the morning left the Suzuka circuit greasy and low on grip and theRead More

Nico Rosberg edged team-mate Lewis Hamilton by just seven hundredths of a second to take top in the second free practice of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend at Suzuka. Rosberg’s best time of the session was 1:32.250. After Ferrari ended the first practice session more than a second off the pace set by Rosberg, there was encouragement for the Italian squad, as Kimi Raikkonen got to within four tenths of Rosberg’s time at the end of the afternoon’s performance runs. In the morning it had been two-by-two, with Mercedes followedRead More

Nico Rosberg went quickest in opening practice for this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix, eclipsing Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton by two tenths of a second. The Mercedes pair set their best times on the soft tyre, as did third-placed Sebastian Vettel. The Ferrari driver ended the session almost 1.1s adrift of Hamilton, however. Kimi Raikkonen was fourth quickest, just under three tenths behind his team-mate. The Finn also set his best time on the soft tyre. Red Bull Racing, meanwhile, chose to avoid the yellow-banded Pirelli compound during the session. TheRead More

August 3, 1989 – July 17, 2015 Masters of Formula 3 Champion – 2008 Formula 3 Euro Series Champion – 2009 F1 Points in Monaco Grand Prix – 2014 French Formula Renault 2.0 Champion – 2007 There are no words that define how impactful the tragic loss of Jules Bianchi really is. The untapped potential of a future superstar that perhaps Formula One hasn’t been impacted by since the loss of Francois Cevert in the early 1970’s. The similarities between Cevert and Bianchi are astounding. Both drivers born and raisedRead More

It was confirmed by Former Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo that the late Jules Bianchi was tabbed as Kimi Raikkonen’s replacement for the Scuderia whenever it decided to part ways with the Finn. Bianchi, who died last Friday as a result of serious head injuries at Suzuka in last year’s Japanese Grand Prix, was in his second year with the Marussia F1 Team but was also a part of Ferrari’s driver development program. Commonly known as a backmarker team, Marussia’s first ever points came at wheel of Bianchi with aRead More