Mercedes Tag

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Motorsports Tribune reviews the top 10 Formula 1 drivers of 2017. Our list continues with second-place finisher Sebastian Vettel. Sebastian Vettel, No. 5 Scuderia Ferrari 2017: 2nd in the championship, 317 points Wins: 5, Podiums: 13, Top 5: 17, Top 10: 18, Poles: 3, Laps Led: 286, Fastest Laps: 5 Best Finish: 1st – Five times (Australia, Bahrain, Monaco, Hungary, Brazil) Sebastian Vettel had a dream start to the 2017 season, and a nightmare finish. His season of two halves saw Ferrari come closest to theRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Motorsports Tribune reviews the top 10 Formula 1 drivers of 2017. Our list continues with third-place finisher Valtteri Bottas. Valtteri Bottas, No. 77 Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport 2017: 3rd in the championship, 305 points Wins: 3, Podiums: 13, Top 5: 18, Top 10: 19, Poles: 4, Laps Led: 187, Fastest Laps: 2 Best Finish: 1st – Three times (Russia, Austria, Abu Dhabi) Valtteri Bottas had the most daunting task of any driver heading into the 2017 Formula 1 season. A last minute call to move fromRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Motorsports Tribune reviews the top 10 Formula 1 drivers of 2017. Our list continues with fourth-place finisher Kimi Raikkonen. Kimi Raikkonen, No. 7 Scuderia Ferrari 2017: 4th in the championship, 205 points Wins: 0, Podiums: 7, Top 5: 15, Top 10: 16, Poles: 1, Laps Led: 40, Fastest Laps: 2 Best Finish: 2nd – Two times (Monaco, Hungary) Kimi Raikkonen was the only driver from the big three teams in 2017 not to win a Grand Prix. It is a hard statistic to swallow for aRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Motorsports Tribune reviews the top 10 Formula 1 drivers of 2017. Our list continues with eighth-place finisher Esteban Ocon. Esteban Ocon, No. 31 Sahara Force India Formula One Team 2017: 8th in the championship, 87 points Wins: 0, Podiums: 0, Top 5: 2, Top 10: 18, Poles: 0, Laps Led: 0, Fastest Laps: 0 Best Finish: 5th – Two times (Spain, Mexico) Esteban Ocon had one of the best seasons of any driver in Formula One in 2017. The fact that it was his first fullRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Formula One’s bigger, wider cars of 2017 produced the most downforce the sport has ever seen. That, coupled with the wider, more durable Pirelli tires lead to a massive decrease in overtaking which plummeted 47% compared to 2016 according to Pirelli. The excessive turbulent air of the high downforce cars is well known and Ross Brawn is working on a solution with the 2021 regulations, but it along with the rather dull season finale in Abu Dhabi have lead to an increased focus on the circuitsRead More

Listen to “Drafting The Circuits November 30, 2017 – Season Finale” on Spreaker. Frank Santoroski and the DTC panel – Gray Warren, Richard Youden, Josh Farmer, Seth Eggert, Christopher DeHarde and Joey Barnes – signs off of the 2017 Motorsports Racing season with a two plus hour long season finale extravaganza, reviewing all the hot topics of the past year. Credits: Host – Frank Santoroski DTC Panel – Joey Barnes, Seth Eggert, Christopher DeHarde, Josh Farmer, Gray Warren, & Richard Youden Producers – Anthony Arnold & Keith Hayes Special thanks to Whoobazoo for hosting the DTCRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Kimi Raikkonen topped the time sheets for Ferrari on the first day of Pirelli’s Abu Dhabi tire test, where all 10 Formula One teams are evaluating the prospective 2018 tire compounds. The Finn clocked an impressive 1:37.768 on Pirelli’s new hypersoft compound, just three tenths ahead of Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull, and nearly a second ahead of World Champion Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton, who qualified and finished second behind team mate Valtteri Bottas on Sunday, hailed Pirelli’s hypersoft tires as the best tire Pirelli has made sinceRead More

Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas claimed his third career pole position, beating Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel by just ovet three hundredths of a second, as newly-crowned four-time champion Lewis Hamilton dramatically crashed out in Q1. The Briton, who had taken to the track early in a bid to put in a solid time in case of rain, lost control as he exited Turn 6. The back end of his car stepped out and he slid off into the tyre barriers, wrecking the front right side of his Mercedes. The crash resulted in aRead More

Valtteri Bottas beat team-mate Lewis Hamilton by just three thousandths of a second to top of the timesheet in an extremely tight final practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix. Just six hundredths of a second covered the top four drivers with Kimi Räikkönen finishing just 0.045 behind Hamilton and Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel fourth 0.013s further back. The session began under grey skies and the threat of rain, though in the end the session remained dry throughout. Räikkönen, using supersoft tyres, set the pace in the first half of theRead More

After dominating opening practice at Interlagos, Lewis Hamilton doubled up by topping the afternoon timesheets at the São Paulo circuit, edging team-mate Valtteri Bottas by just under five hundredths of a second. However, whereas Hamilton enjoyed a half second advantage over Ferrari’s third-placed Kimi Räikkönen in the morning session, afternoon practice was tighter, with Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo finishing just 0.228 behind four-time champion Hamilton after the drivers had completed their performance runs during the 90-minute session. In the morning Hamilton had led the way early in the sessionRead More