Renault Tag

By FIA Daniel Ricciardo set the fastest ever lap of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya to top the timesheets on day two of the second pre-season Formula 1 test at the Spanish track. The Red Bull Racing driver used Pirelli’s new hypersoft compound to post a time of 1:18.047 that beat Felipe Massa’s 2008 record. It was also good enough, on the day, to eclipse world champion Lewis Hamilton by over three tenths of a second. Hamilton had led for most of the morning session and set his quickest time onRead More

By FIA Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel set the quickest time of day two of the first pre-season Formula 1 test in Barcelona, outpacing Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas by three tenths of a second. McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne finished third on the timesheet a further three tenths back. The day began in muted fashion as overnight snow and rain meant conditions were tricky early on and many teams avoided significant running before the halfway point of running. One of those was Red Bull Racing, with the Milton Keynes team being restricted to the garageRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The 2018 Formula One season is finally upon us. After the long winter break, all 10 teams hit the track this morning at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain. While the full picture of who is competitive, who has got it right, and who has got it wrong won’t fully form till the end of testing next week, there are meaningful things we can gleam just from breaking down the first day’s running. The biggest caveat in doing so are two variables that made today’s runningRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor McLaren debuted their new 2018 Formula One car today, the MCL33, which represents a fresh start for the brand with Renault power after three seasons of misery with Honda power unit failures. To symbolize this new beginning the car makes a bold return to McLaren’s classic papaya orange color, a nod to company founder Bruce McLaren, who proudly painted his cars in the standout color during the team’s early years of the 1960s. The car is a clear evolution of the MCL32 that came before it,Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Motorsports Tribune reviews the top 10 from the 2017 Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship. Our list moves on to ninth-place finisher in the standings, Carlos Sainz Jr. Carlos Sainz Jr., No. 55 Scuderia Toro Rosso (1-16) / Renault Sport Formula 1 Team (17-20) 2017: 9th in the championship, 54 points Wins: 0, Podiums: 0, Top 5: 1, Top 10: 10, Poles: 0, Laps Led: 0, Fastest Laps: 0 Best Finish: 4th (Singapore) Carlos Sainz Jr. had one of the more eventful years in Formula 1 inRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Motorsports Tribune reviews the top 10 Formula 1 drivers of 2017. Our list begins with 10th place finisher Nico Hulkenberg. Nico Hulkenberg, No. 27 Renault Sport Formula 1 Team 2017: 10th in the championship, 43 points Wins: 0, Podiums: 0, Top 5: 0, Top 10: 8, Poles: 0, Laps Led: 0, Fastest Laps: 0 Best Finish: 6th – Four times (Spain, Great Britain, Belgium, Abu Dhabi) Nico Hulkenberg holds the unfortunate record of having the most Formula 1 race finishes without a podium, 135 Grands Prix. TheRead 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

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

Listen to “Drafting The Circuits October 26, 2017” on Spreaker. Frank Santoroski and the DTC panel – Gray Warran, Richard Youden, Seth Eggert and Joey Barnes – breaks down the USGP from Austin and the various controversies from the weekend, fills you in on the latest Indycar silly season news, and makes predictions for NASCAR’s final four. Credits: Host – Frank Santoroski DTC Panel – Joey Barnes, Seth Eggert, Gray Warren, & Richard Youden Producers – Anthony Arnold & Keith Hayes Special thanks to Whoobazoo for hosting the DTC Podcast. Social Media: Follow DTC on Facebook FollowRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief AUSTIN, Texas – Fernando Alonso is set to continue on with McLaren after the two announced a contract extension on Thursday ahead of the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas, which keeps the pair together for the 2018 Formula One season. The 36-year-old Spaniard returned to the Woking-based outfit for a second time in 2015 and has since struggled for results at the disappointment of a Honda relationship which comes to an halt at the end of this season. The two-time Formula OneRead More