Pascal Wehrlein Tag

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor It was all thumbs up for Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari today. The four time champ looked absolutely unassailable as he set the fastest time of testing so far and completed a day high 156 laps. His 1:19.024 on ultra softs bested the Mercedes duo on the same tires by three tenths of a second and Felipe Massa’s Williams by four tenths. So confident was Vettel that he visibly slowed on the final straight for most of his fast laps, an ominious sign for their challengers that theRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Felipe Massa and Williams surprised the field by topping the time sheets for the opening day of the second pre-season test from Barcelona today. The Brazilian veteran clocked a solid 1:19.726 in his FW40 on the super soft tires and logged a massive 168 laps around Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Daniel Ricciardo got Red Bull close to Massa’s time with a 1:19.900, but had to run the ultra soft tires in order to do so. The Aussie ran 89 laps for a solid if most unspectacular dayRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Sauber F1 Team has announced that Antonio Giovinazzi will replace Pascal Wehrlein for the upcoming preseason test set for next week at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Wehrlein is still recovering from a back injury sustained in a heavy crash at the Race of Champions in January and decided to sit out the opening week of testing after medical advice. Giovinazzi, a reserve driver for Ferrari, will split the first four days with fellow Sauber driver Marcus Ericsson. “We took the decision that Pascal will not be drivingRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Sauber F1 Team celebrates their 25 years in Formula 1 with an all-new livery on the C36 chassis – their 2017 challenger. Although he only just joined the Hinwill-based squad in January, new technical director Jorg Zander  pushed its development after replacing Mark Smith, whom began the car’s design but left in March last season. Powered by a year-old Ferrari engine which is likely to hamper its full potential, Zander put a bigger focus on the aerodynamics. “We put greater emphasis on aerodynamic stability as opposedRead 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

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Sauber has announced that Pascal Wehrlein is set to drive alongside Marcus Ericcson for the 2017 Formula 1 season. Wehrlein is part of Mercedes junior program and had been one of the names in the mix for the seat at the Mercedes factory team that was recently vacated by recently-retired reigning world champion Nico Rosberg. However, the team opted to negotiate a deal with Williams to bring on Valtteri Bottas on a one-year flyer. The 22-year-old German marks the completion of every team on the gridRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The 2017 Formula 1 season is drawing near and with it hopeful answers to the uncertainty that looms over it. The big elephant in the room is who will be replacing reigning world champion Nico Rosberg at Mercedes? Several speculate that Toto Wolff is set on bringing in Valtteri Bottas from Williams to pilot alongside Lewis Hamilton. Bottas is remarkably talented, but there are reasons to halt that idea and go a different direction. There is a good chance that whoever takes over the seat isRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Mercedes released a statement today confirming the widely held belief that their technical chief Paddy Lowe is leaving the team he helped steer to three consecutive championships. As we first reported one month ago, Lowe is bound for Williams, but contractual and financial negotiations have been complicated by Valtteri Bottas’ talks with Mercedes over Nico Rosberg’s vacated seat, and Felipe Massa’s potential return to the Grove based squad. Such news formally coming to light indicates that some manner of solution has been found at the crowded negotiation tableRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Dashing the Christmas wishes of many drivers, Mercedes has announced that it will not name a successor to Nico Rosberg’s vacated seat till 2017. After newly crowned Rosberg announced his retirement, Mercedes has been in desperate straits to name his replacement ahead of the largest technical changes the sport has seen in 20 years. Much to their chagrin, top drivers Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel are under ironclad contracts with McLaren-Honda and Ferrari. Recently retired veterans like Jenson Button and Felipe Massa are not viable optionsRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Reports are starting to emerge that Valtteri Bottas is Mercedes main target as a replacement for recently retired world champion Nico Rosberg. In any other year this would be a slam dunk move, as Mercedes boss Toto Wolff manages Bottas and would gladly give a large discount to Williams on their Mercedes engines for the next season. Wolff has already made an offer as such, roughly $10 million off for Williams engine package for 2017, but Williams has said no. They did so because this isRead More