Kimi Raikkonen Tag

By FIA Lewis Hamilton topped the opening practice session for the Canadian Grand Prix, the championship leader setting a best time of 1:12.767, to end the session just 0.147s clear of Mercedes team-mate Bottas. After a first half hour in which Max Verstappen went quickest on what he branded “an insanely dirty” track, Hamilton and Bottas took to the track and the Finnish driver immediately jumped to the top of the order with a time of 1:14.160. The pair then traded fastest times until Bottas seized control with a lapRead More

By FIA Mercedes powered away from its rivals in second practice for the Monaco Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton setting a time of 1:11.118 to top the timesheet 0.081s ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas. The Silver Arrows’ closes rival in the session was Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel who finished more than seventh tenths of a second behind Hamilton. Hamilton and Bottas set the early pace in the session, using medium compound Pirelli tyres, but were dislodged when Vettel bolted on a set of softs for his performance runs. The German wasRead More

By FIA There was payback in Baku for Valtteri Bottas as the Finn won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix one year on from being denied almost certain victory in the city due to a late-race puncture. There was no repeat of that kind of drama in today’s fourth F1 race at the notoriously tricky street circuit and after resisting pressure off the starting line from team-mate Lewis Hamilton, Bottas delivered a faultless performance in a largely incident-free race to take the fifth F1 win of his career. Second place for Hamilton ahead of Ferrari’sRead More

By FIA Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas took a dominant Australian Grand Prix victory, finishing 20 seconds ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton and claiming the bonus point on offer for fastest at Melbourne’s Albert Park circuit. Max Verstappen, meanwhile, got Red Bull Racing’s Honda-powered era off to good start by handing the Japanese manufacturer its first podium finish since 2008 as he claimed third place beind the Mercedes duo. At the start, Bottas made a good start from the front row and managed to get past pole position man Hamilton in TurnRead 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 Sebastian Vettel topped the timesheet on the final day of pre-season Formula 1 testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The Ferrari driver ended the day just 0.003s ahead of 2018 F1 champion Lewis Hamilton, as Mercedes at last showed some true pace. Vettel’s final day benchmark arrived in the morning session. The German bolted on a set of C5 compound Pirelli tyres shortly before the lunch break and posted a time of 1:16.221. Vettel’s day ended early, however. The German added 42 laps to his morning total ofRead More

By FIA McLaren’s Carlos Sainz set the fastest lap of pre-season F1 testing so far on a day when Ferrari managed just one afternoon installation lap for Charles Leclerc following a morning crash involving Sebastian Vettel that sidelined the team for most of the day. Sainz recorded the best time of day two of this final pre-season test midway through the morning session. The Spanish driver used the C4 compound Pirelli tyres to a lap of 1:17.144s. As many teams focused on longer runs in the afternoon the time comfortablyRead More

By FIA Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat put in a superb late quick lap of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catlunya to run quickest on the penultimate day of the first Formula 1 pre-season test of 2019. With less than 15 minutes left in the session, the Russian driver bolted on a set of the softest Pirelli compound on offer this season, the C5, and delivered a lap of 1:17.704s to edge Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen by 0.058s. The Finn had held top spot since the morning session after setting a time ofRead More

By FIA Ferrari began its 2019 Formula 1 campaign in style as Sebastian Vettel topped the timesheets at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya lapping almost four tenths second quicker than nearest rival Carlos Sainz of McLaren and posting an impressive total of 169 laps as testing got underway in Spain. Vettel’s table-topping time was set just before the lunch break, with the four-time champion registering a time of 1:18.161. At the time that was almost 1.8 seconds clear of nearest rival Sergio Perez of Racing Point. The time then served asRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The Sauber Formula 1 team has officially been renamed Alfa Romeo Racing ahead of the 2019 season. The announcement comes after the Italian company elected to extend the terms of their title sponsorship deal with the team. Alfa Romeo initially signed a technical and commercial partnership with Sauber ahead of the 2018 campaign. Sauber, who have competed in the sport since 1993, will not undergo any change in ownership or management despite the rebranding. The team’s driver lineup for the upcoming season will feature Kimi RäikkönenRead More