Mercedes Tag

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor Lewis Hamilton has claimed pole position for the Australian Grand Prix with a stunning 1 minute, 23.837 lap around the Albert Park circuit to reach career pole number 50. It was about the only true excitement of the session as F1’s controversial new qualifying format completely imploded. Q1 had barely begun and the field was immediately thrown into chaos as teams struggled to cope with the elimination countdown clock. Many drivers complained as they were on good laps, but the 90 second countdown clock nullified theirRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor The 2016 Formula One season is finally underway, down under in Albert Park. Despite the soggy start, the excitement of fans world wide cannot be dampened. Before the drivers lay down their cards for qualifying a few hours from now, I will make five bold predictions on some of the more exciting stories of the season. Without further ado…. 5. All teams will score points Gone are the days when a lovable back marker like Minardi could only pray for points. Gone are the days whenRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor Formula One’s second pre-season test ended the way the first test began; with Sebastian Vettel in his Ferrari firmly atop the timesheets. The German slapped a set of Pirelli’s super-softs in the morning session to post the fastest time of the pre-season with a strong 1:22.852 tour of Circuit de Catalunya. With Ferrari the quickest car on five of the eight days of testing, things near the sharp end of the field seem to have tightened between them, Mercedes and Williams. Vettel also ran the haloRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor With the benefit of Ferrari power for 2016, Red Bull’s ambitious junior squad thinks that it can take aim at the podium with its talented young drivers this season. Last season rookie sensations Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz moved the team up a notch in the pecking order and despite some rookie mistakes and bad luck, had some excellent drives, including two 4th place finishes for Verstappen, at Hungary and Austin. Last year’s STR10 marked 10 years since Red Bull bought out lovable F1 backmarkers MinardiRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor After playing it safe for the first Barcelona test, Mercedes opened up the second test by showing just what its new W07 chassis is capable of. Nico Rosberg had the morning’s testing duties and with a set of softs on the car he clocked a blistering 1:23.022 lap. His time just two tenths of a second behind Sebastian Vettel’s best lap of testing so far. The worrying difference there, is that the Ferrari did its time on the new ultra-soft compounds, the Mercedes set its timeRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor Day three at Barcelona has been the most note worthy yet, with a large shakeup in the order that saw Nico Hulkenberg in his Force India top the time sheets ahead of Romain Grosjean in the new Haas VF-16. Hulkenberg ran quickest most of the day, progressing from medium on to soft and super soft tires, setting a time just 3/10th’s off Sebastian Vettel’s time on the ultra-softs from yesterday. Grosjean set his time of 1:25.874 on the soft tires, pushing the Haas VF-16 hard forRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor The second day of running in Barcelona once again saw Sebastian Vettel top the session for Ferrari. The four time champ lowered his best time from yesterday by two seconds after slapping on a set of Pirelli’s new ultra-soft compounds. Daniel Ricciardo had the second best time for Red Bull, also on the ultra-softs, but near 3/4th’s of a second behind the Ferrari. Sergio Perez validated Force India’s performance by putting in the third best lap of the day on the super-softs. Nico Rosberg took overRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor 20 years ago, Michael Schumacher was already a two time Formula One world drivers’ champion. Yet he was just beginning the greatest chapter in his career at the dawn of his relationship with Scuderia Ferrari. Today he remains at home, surrounded by family and friends on the long road of recovery after a tragic skiing accident in late 2013 sidelined him with severe head trauma. The Exhibition, open to the public for the next two years is being put on by Deutsche Vermögensberatung in the city ofRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Pascal Wehrlein has signed a deal to race with Manor Racing for the 2016 Formula One season. The Mercedes-backed driver won the DTM title last season and also spent time as a test driver for Mercedes, benefiting from six days of testing between the works team and Force India. Wehrlein, 21, impressed in testing and throughout his DTM campaign, becoming the youngest champion in its history. The early success and poise the German has displayed thus far made a move to F1 just seem like a matterRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor Formula One’s four engine manufacturer’s: Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault and Honda, have finally agreed to a season cost cap for their customer teams after months of speculation, argument and strife. The soon to be announced deal comes on the heels of two days of meeting in Geneva for the Strategy Group and the F1 Commission. The plan proposed by the engine manufacturer’s calls for a cost cap of €12,000,000 per season for each of their customer teams. It is a significant reduction compared to current costs which haveRead More