Max Verstappen Tag

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Red Bull pulled clear of Ferrari last year to be Mercedes’ most consistent challenger. Max Verstappen won in Spain, Daniel Ricciardo was robbed of certain victory at Monaco, nearly pipped Rosberg at Singapore, and finally won in Malaysia. Such was the hype that they were widely expected to pick up where they left off and potentially challenge Mercedes for the championship this year. Testing was not a resounding success as the team played their cards close to their chest, but the prevailing feeling is that theyRead More

Lewis Hamilton went quickest in the first practice session of the new Formula One campaign, finishing more than half a second clear of new team-mate Valtteri Bottas at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. The three-time world champion ended the session at Melbourne’s Albert Park Circuit with a best time of 1:24.220, set on ultrasoft tyres, to beat Bottas, who moved to Mercedes from Williams at the start of this year, by 0.583 seconds. Apart from the Mercedes pairing, no other driver ran with the purple-banded Pirelli tyres during the sessionRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Max Verstappen has spoken out and believes Red Bull Racing’s newest creation, the RB13, isn’t quick enough to challenge Mercedes and Ferrari once they take to the grid for the Australian Grand Prix next Sunday. Preseason testing showcased the Milton Keynes-based squad underwhelming, still contending around fourth overall on speed, but considerably behind its rivals. “We still have to wait and see how good we really are,” Verstappen told Dutch outlet De Telegraaf. “Personally, I don’t think we can fight for the win at the moment. MuchRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Ferrari saved their best for the last day of preseason testing at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya as Kimi Raikkonen blitzed the field en route to the fastest time of winter and the second fastest lap ever recorded at the track. His 1:18.634 very nearly reached the 1:18.243 Fernando Alonso set while testing slick tires on the Renault R28 in preparation for the 2009 season. Of far more importance to Ferrari, Raikkonen’s time is seven tenths of a second faster than Mercedes’ best lap and eight tenths better thanRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Just as many began to doubt Mercedes’ pace, the silver arrows struck back with Valtteri Bottas who set a scorching 1:19.310 lap of Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The new Mercedes man only used the super soft tires to set the best time of 2017 thus far, and looked very comfortable behind the wheel of the W08 where he stayed for 70 laps today. Williams man and yesterday’s pace setter Felipe Massa kept him honest with a strong 1:19.420 for the ultra soft shod FW40. Both of their timesRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Circuit Park Zandvoort in the Netherlands last hosted a Grand Prix back in 1985, but the surging popularity of Dutch driver Max Verstappen has prompted the circuit to conduct a feasibility study on bringing Formula One back, according to Dutch newspaper Harleem Dagblad.  While a prominent feature on the F1 calendar from 1950 till 1985, the circuit fell on hard times when its owners CENAV went out of business in the mid eighties. The track sat vacant for a time before its original layout was changed for 1995. Curiously, despiteRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Kimi Raikkonen topped today’s damp running from Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the fourth and final day of the first pre-season test. The Finn ran a 1:20.872 on a drying track to top his Red Bull nemesis Max Verstappen by nearly a second on the time sheets. Raikkonen also ran 93 laps on the day, behind only Grosjean who racked up 188 laps in the Haas powered Ferrari. Pirelli brought in trucks which dumped water on the circuit before the first session. Early on all the teamsRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief A tripleheader of launches on Sunday kicked off with Red Bull Racing officially showcasing its 2017 Formula 1 challenger – the RB13. The Milton Keynes-based team has put a hit out on Mercedes with its latest creation, having shown an aggressive design that features a sharkfin, common on every team’s new car minus Mercedes (although they are still debating the T-wing concept and sharkfin). However, what makes the RB13 unique is the slot opening in the tip of the nose. The Christian Horner-led squad took toRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Red Bull Racing will keep us guessing till the last second and unveil the RB13, their 2017 challenger on the last day before pre-season testing: February 26th. One of the most anticipated Red Bull designs in years, the RB13 is widely expected to launch the Milton Keynes squad into championship contention against the all conquering Mercedes silver arrows if Adrian Newey can pull another gem out of his bag of tricks. We will quickly find out its spot in the pecking order as Daniel Ricciardo andRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor There is a reason Toto Wolff is so happy Valtteri Bottas has finally signed for Mercedes. Consequently, there is a reason Claire Williams is so happy Felipe Massa is back with her team as Bottas’ replacement. Teams with experienced veterans are rejoicing ahead of the 2017 regulations because they know that experience will count more than ever before. It is not unusual for cars and teams to be pushed to their breaking point during the debut season of major rule changes, but 2017 is going toRead More