Kimi Raikkonen Tag

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The Australian Grand Prix kicked off the 2018 Formula 1 season with plenty of drama yesterday from Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia. Though the race was by no means a classic, it proved to be far more entertaining than the season opener of 2017 and gave us plenty of talking points, from the pace and misfortune of Haas, to Max Verstappen’s wild spin. Sebastian Vettel won after taking advantage of Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton’s miscalculation during the Virtual Safety Car. Kimi Raikkonen joined them on theRead More

By FIA Sebastian Vettel took a sensational Australian Grand Prix victory, taking advantage of a mid-race safety car to beat arch-rival Lewis Hamilton. The defending champion was forced to settle for second place ahead of the second Ferrari of Kimi Räikkönen. Local hero Daniel Ricciardo finished fourth. Hamilton led away comfortably at the start, dismissing a brief challenger from Raikkonen as they made their way through the first corners. Vettel held third place but behind Haas’ Kevin Magnussen got the jump on Verstappen who dropped to fifth ahead of Grosjean,Read More

By FIA Lewis Hamilton took his first pole position of the 2018 season in imperious fashion, beating Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen and third-placed Sebastian Vettel by nearly seven tenths of a second. It was a bittersweet sesssion for Hamilton’s Mercedes team, however, as the defending team-mate, Valtteri Bottas, crashed out heavily at the start of the final session. Räikkönen set the pace early in Q1, eventually rising to a time of 1:23.096s ahead of the Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen. The order changed when Hamilton began to put togetherRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Let’s face it, we all have mixed opinions about the Halo in Formula 1. Some understand it’s for the sake of safety, and the drivers wanted something to be done for head protection after notable incidents that’s ended seasons, and even a driver’s life. Others utterly despise the new look, and wish there was a different approach of protecting a driver, like the canopy NHRA Top Fuel drivers use. After opening day of free practice for the Rolex Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne, I sawRead More

By FIA Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel grabbed top spot in final practice for the Australian Grand Prix with a late surge on ultrasoft tyres at the end of a we-dry session at Albert Park. With the track damp and greasy until the closing stages most teams opted to play safe and remain on intermediate tyres during the final minutes of the session, with Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen setting the pace with a lap of 1:31.680 on the green-banded tyres with just a minute to go. Vettel, though had bolted onRead More

By FIA Kimi Räikkönen kept Ferrari on top of the timesheets as pre-season testing came to a close in Barcelona today, with the Finn using the hypersoft tyre to eclipse surprise second-place man Fernando Alonso by half a second. Third quickest was Renault driver Carlos Sainz. Ferrari ratcheted up the pace on the final two days of the test, with Sebastian Vettel yesterday claiming an unofficial circuit record with a lap of 1:17.182. And Räikkönen got close to that mark on the final day of testing, posting a 1:17.221 duringRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The 2018 Formula One season is finally upon us. After the long winter break, all 10 teams hit the track this morning at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain. While the full picture of who is competitive, who has got it right, and who has got it wrong won’t fully form till the end of testing next week, there are meaningful things we can gleam just from breaking down the first day’s running. The biggest caveat in doing so are two variables that made today’s runningRead More

By FIA Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo went quickest as testing for the 2018 FIA Formula 1 season got underway in Barcelona today. In cold conditions, Ricciardo rose to the top of the timesheet in the morning with a time of 1:20.169 set on medium tyres. The lap, which left him just under two tenths of a second clear of Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas, stood until the end of the day as conditions worsened in the afternoon, with rain falling in the final part of running. There was further good newsRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The car launches for the 2018 Formula One season are in full swing, with Scuderia Ferrari the latest to join in the action with Thursday’s showing of the SF71H. The Italian manufacturer took the covers off of their latest creation, which also happens to be their 64th challenger designed and produced for the F1 championship. At first glance, the most noticeable thing to stick out is the traditional red livery, which is a change from the white/red and black/red combo from its predecessors. Improvements are featuredRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Motorsports Tribune reviews the top 10 Formula 1 drivers of 2017. Our list continues with second-place finisher Sebastian Vettel. Sebastian Vettel, No. 5 Scuderia Ferrari 2017: 2nd in the championship, 317 points Wins: 5, Podiums: 13, Top 5: 17, Top 10: 18, Poles: 3, Laps Led: 286, Fastest Laps: 5 Best Finish: 1st – Five times (Australia, Bahrain, Monaco, Hungary, Brazil) Sebastian Vettel had a dream start to the 2017 season, and a nightmare finish. His season of two halves saw Ferrari come closest to theRead More