Kimi Raikkonen Tag

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The Spanish Grand Prix proved a more straightforward affair than any other race so far this season, as Lewis Hamilton dominated the field from lights to flag, but behind him there was plenty of drama and action for fans to savor. A opening lap spin by Romain Grosjean in the Haas collected Nico Hulkenberg and Brendon Hartley and put them all out on the spot. Power unit problems forced Kimi Raikkonen to retire early. In the other Ferrari, Sebastian Vettel made a late pit stop fromRead More

By FIA Lewis Hamilton powered to top spot in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix, taking his first pole position since the season-opening Australian Grand Prix ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas and the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen. In Q1, after the early pace was set by Kimi Räikkönen, Vettel then raised the bar considerably with a lap of 1:17.031 that put him four tenths of a second ahead of the Finn, with Hamilton third. Red Bulls drivers then disrupted things with Daniel Ricciardo jumping ahead of HamiltonRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The Spanish Grand Prix marks Formula 1’s return to Europe after the early season fly away races. It also marks the first big round of updates the teams implement for their new cars. For many, it is when the season truly begins as Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is the benchmark for the teams to find their true place in the pecking order and see if they have moved ahead or fallen behind their rivals since they last visited Barcelona for pre-season testing. Ferrari has clearly had theRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The Azerbaijan Grand Prix had it all, from a surprise winner for the second year in a row, a lot of crashes and controversy at Red Bull, to a second podium in Baku for Sergio Perez and Force India. Sebastian Vettel initially pulled away from Lewis Hamilton and appeared to have the race in the bag, but late pressure from Valtteri Bottas and the safety car period after Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen crashed in turn 1 turned the race on its head. Vettel out brakedRead More

By FIA Lewis Hamilton claimed a fortunate 63rd career win and control of the Drivers’ Championship standings at the end of a chaotic and incident-packed Azerbaijan Grand Prix that saw long-time race leader Sebastian Vettel drop to fourth after a collision between the Red Bull drivers and Valtteri Bottas exit the race from the lead with a late puncture. Kimi Räikkönen was left to take second place behind Hamilton, with Force India’s Sergio Perez taking a second career podium finish in Baku thanks to a late pass on Vettel. The 2018Read More

By FIA Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas took top spot in the first practice session for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but there were problems for Red Bull Racing as Max Verstappen crashed. The Dutch driver led the way in the opening half an hour of the session, setting the pace with a time in the mid-1m45s bracket. That left him marginally clear of Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, as the Renault-powered team began the weekend brightly. The outlook darkened soon afterwards, however, as Verstappen lost control on the approach to Turn 5Read More

By Adam Tate The Chinese Grand Prix was a thrilling, unpredictable race that also happened to throw a generous quantity of stats our way. Here are some of the best nuggets and details to ruminate on while we wait two weeks for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the end of the month. Up first is Ferrari’s Saturday success in 2018. Sebastian Vettel notched up his 52nd pole position. Kimi Raikkonen backed him up with a close second on the grid which gave the Scuderia their first back to back front rowRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Kimi Raikkonen overcame a rough start and avoided trouble en route to finishing third in Sunday’s Heineken Chinese Grand Prix. The 38-year-old Finn got a nice jump from second on the grid, but Scuderia Ferrari teammate and pole sitter Sebastian Vettel came across the track and pinched Raikkonen on the inside. The bad entry angle into Turn 1 meant Raikkonen had to ease off the throttle, which pushed him down to fourth by the end of the opening lap. The 2007 World Champion managed to takeRead More

By FIA Daniel Ricciardo took a thrilling victory at the Chinese Grand Prix, benefiting from a mid-race safety car to rise from sixth to first in a handful of laps, thanks to fresh tyres and brilliant passing moves. Mercedes’s Valtteri Bottas finished second ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton, as pole sitter Sebastian Vettel dropped to eighth place following a collision with the second Red Bull of Max Verstappen. At the start Vettel made a slightly slow getaway and as Räikkönen got away well, the German moved right toRead More

By FIA Sebastian Vettel led a Ferrari one-two and set a new track record in qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix, with the German edging team-mate Kimi Räikkönen by just 0.087s as Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas finished third ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton. Raikkonen set the early pace in Q1 with a lap of 1:32.474, with the Mercedes cars of Bottas and Hamilton slotting in behind. However, seven minutes into the 18-minute session Vettel jumped to the top of the order with a lap of 1:32.171. Vettel’s time was good enoughRead More