Sebastian Vettel Tag

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The much anticipated 2017 Formula One cars finally took to the track en masse today at Circuit de Bracelona-Catalunya in Spain. Unsurprisingly Lewis Hamilton set the day’s fastest time with a solid 1:21.765 on the soft tires. Somewhat surprisingly, Sebastian Vettel nearly matched him with a 1:21.878 on the mediums! The Mercedes looks good, but Ferrari’s risky new design seems to work well. Both teams performed flawlessly and racked up the mileage. The Mercedes duo of Hamilton and newcomer Valtteri Bottas covered 152 laps for theRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Following the online launch of the SF70H, Kimi Raikkonen was given the pleasure of shaking down Ferrari’s newest creation at Fiorano. The revealing of the car was also used as one of the team’s filming days, similar to what Mercedes did on Thursday when they launched the W08. The 37-year-old Finn wasn’t pushing the pace, but added that today was just the beginning. “Obviously we didn’t go full speed, it’s the install lap and the very first lap with the new car so it all feltRead 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 Bernie Ecclestone doesn’t appear to have a ton of faith in the current regime at Ferrari and says that the team should look outside of its Italian roots in order to find success once again. Despite having four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel and 2007 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen, the Maranello-based squad failed to score a win in 2016, scoring just 11 podiums en route to third in the constructors’ standings. Under the leadership of Team Principal Maurizio Arrivabene since November 2014, Ferrari have only managed toRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Roughly three months away from the start of the 2017 Formula 1 season and there is still just as much unrest as there was when Nico Rosberg announced his retirement just days after winning the championship in Abu Dhabi in late November. But uncertainty is a good thing. Now, it appears that longtime Williams driver Valtteri Bottas will finally get his shot with a top team as Rosberg’s replacement (although nothing has officially been confirmed). A variety of rule changes still have the teams looking atRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The 2016 Formula One season will go down in history as one of the most surprising, and unique in recent years. It will be known for Nico Rosberg’s epic battle with Lewis Hamilton, for Max Verstappen’s rise at Red Bull, for the retirement of beloved veterans, and Rosberg’s willingness to walk away from the sport having won his only world title. Here are our top five moments of the year. 5. Retirement Announcements Beloved veterans Jenson Button and Felipe Massa shocked the sport by announcing theyRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Last weekend, Formula One cars hit the 31 degree high banks of Daytona for the first time in history as part of Ferrari’s Finali Mondiali year end celebration and races. The event, held in North America for the first time featured thousands of Ferrari road and race cars from across the globe in a series of races and exhibition laps with everything from historic cars, and challenge series cars to recent F1 machinery. Scuderia Ferrari drivers Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen were on hand and thrilledRead More

*Editor’s Note: The Motorsports Tribune Formula 1 and IndyCar team got together for a round table discussion following the retirement of World Champion Nico Rosberg less than a week after the F1 season officially ended. They give their thoughts over six topics as we enter a most interesting off-season.  QUESTION 1: With Nico Rosberg’s surprise retirement from Formula 1 just days after capturing his first title, what will be his legacy? JOEY BARNES, (Editor-in-Chief): The retirement was absolutely staggering, so much so that he could be remembered more for thatRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix proved an exciting finale for the 2016 Formula One season and brought us a slew of interesting stats and facts, as new records were set, veterans retired, and Nico Rosberg clinched his maiden World Drivers Championship. Here are 10 of the best facts and stats from the dramatic duel in the desert. 10. Nico Rosberg joins his father Keke (1982) as only the second father-son duo in history to be F1 champions. Graham (1962,1968) and Damon Hill were the first toRead More

Nico Rosberg was crowned 2016 Formula One World Champion as he finished second behind team-mate and title rival Lewis Hamilton at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel was third for Ferrari. Hamilton took the win he needed in the race but despite a hugely tense finish in which the leading Mercedes drivers were hunted down Sebastian Vettel, Rosberg clung on to second to win the title by just five points. Both Hamilton and Rosberg got away well at the start and the pair slotted into first and secondRead More