Mercedes AMG F1 Tag

By FIA Mercedes Lewis Hamilton took his eighth pole position of the season at Suzuka and the 80th of his career, while title rival Sebastian Vettel faces a ninth-place race start after a troubled final segment of qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix. Valtteri Bottas will start alongside Hamilton in the second Mercedes, while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen with start at the front of row three, alongside the second Ferrari of Kimi Räikkönen. Vettel established an early benchmark in Q1 with a lap of 1:29.049, more than half a second clearRead More

By FIA Lewis Hamilton beat title rival Sebastian Vettel by more than eight tenths of a second as he continued to light up the timesheets in practice for the Japanese Grand Prix. In the morning session Hamilton had run quickest, eclipsing Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas by just under half a second and in the second session the championship leader repeated the feat, taking top spot 0.461s clear of Bottas. Vettel had been almost a full second off the Briton’s pace in the opening session and though he was able to edgeRead More

By FIA Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes one-two in the opening practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix finishing half a second clear of team-mate Valtteri Bottas and almost seven tenths of a second ahead of the third-placed Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo. Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen and championship challenger Sebastian Vettel finished the session in fourth and fifth places, but both set their best times using the supersoft Pirelli compound, while Hamilton session-best time of 1:28.691s was delivered on soft tyres. Vettel ended the session just under a second offRead More

By FIA Lewis Hamilton won the Russian Grand Prix extend his Drivers’ Championship lead over title rival Sebastian Vettel to 50-points, after Mercedes called on race leader Valtteri Bottas to move aside in order to defend against a threat from eventual third-place finisher Vettel. Pole position man Bottas held his advantage at the start and controlled the early phases of the race, with Hamilton coming under strong pressure from third-placed Vettel. Vettel briefly managed to get past Hamilton after the drivers’ single pit stops but when the title leader reclaimedRead More

By FIA Hamilton, who comes into this weekend carrying a 40-point championship lead over chief rival Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari, posted a time of 1:33.584 a third of the way through the session after bolting on a set of hypersoft compound tyres as the field set about qualifying simulations. The Briton’s time saw him finish 0.199s ahead of Bottas. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was third fastest at the Sochi Autodrom, with the Dutch driver recording a best time of 1:33.827. That left him just under two hundredths of a secondRead More

By FIA Lewis Hamilton powered from 14th on the grid to a 66th career victory, and back into the lead of the FIA Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship standings, as Sebastian Vettel crashed out of a dramatic, rain-hit German Grand Prix. Hamilton had climbed from 14th on the grid to fifth place by the midpoint of the race but with Vettel holding a solid lead after starting from pole position it looked the Briton’s best hope would be to minimise damage in the title race. However, rain then began to fall. With the showerRead 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

Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes 1-2 in final practice for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, beating team-mate Valtteri Bottas by 0.273s. The Constructors’ champions’ closest rival was Kimi Räikkönen, with the Finn finishing 0.257 behind compatriot Bottas. In a quiet start to the session, which was run in full sunshine conditions not relative to those to come in qualifying and the race, Räikkönen led the way with a time of 1:38.999 set on ultrasoft tyres. However, just under 20 minutes into the session both Mercedes joined the fray and theRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Pirelli have revealed the tire choices of the Formula One teams for the upcoming Brazilian Grand Prix. Although every team has elected to go with one set of the medium tire, the hardest compound offered for the weekend, there are some subtle differences with the other combinations. Mercedes will go with four soft sets, one more than Red Bull Racing and Ferrari, but will have one less set of supersofts to their rivals. Williams and Renault have both gone with only two soft sets, the fewestRead More

Valtteri Bottas beat Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton by almost half a second to top the timesheet in first practice for this weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix. The Finnish driver set a best time of 1:17.824s on Pirelli’s ultrasoft tyres with Hamilton 0.466s behind and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen a further tenth back in third place. Hamilton goes into this weekend’s race knowing that fifth place or better will seal his fourth Drivers’ title but the Briton has stated that he would like to claim the crown with a victory. That aimRead More