Valtteri Bottas Tag

By FIA Mercedes continued to lead the way in practice for Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton again leading a one-two for the defending champions, just under two tenths of a second ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was third, 0.236 behind title rival Hamilton. The Silver Arrows had looked comfortable in the morning session and in the second 90-minute session Hamilton and Bottas were again to the fore. Hamilton’s best time of 1:04.579 was set on soft compound Pirelli tyres early in the session on anRead More

By FIA Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas went quickest in a rain-disrupted final practice for the French Grand Prix at the Circuit Paul Ricard. The Finn was one of a handful of drivers who completed a lap in mostly dry conditions at the start of a session that began under threatening skies. He set a time of 1:33.666, to head Renault’s Carlos Sainz by 1.2 seconds, with Sauber’s Charles Leclerc just over six hundredths of a second further back. Behind them, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was reporting drops of rain, though the GermanRead More

By FIA Lewis Hamilton topped the opening practice timesheet as France returned to the Formula 1 calendar following an absence of a decade, the defending world champion edging Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas by a tenth of a second at the Circuit Paul Ricard. The session ended in spectacular fashion, with Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson crashing out and his car catching fire. The Swedish driver lost control of his Sauber C37 midway through Turn 11 and slid sideways across the run-off area into the barriers. As the car came to rest theRead More

By FIA Sebastian Vettel drove a textbook Canadian Grand Prix, leading every lap of the race to secure his 50th career grand prix win ahead of Mercedes Valtteri Bottas and Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen. When the lights went out polesitter Vettel held his advantage into Turn 1. Behind, Verstappen made a good start and attacked Bottas, pulling alongside the Mercedes. Bottas held firm, however, and managed to stay in second position ahead of the Red Bull driver. Hamilton kept fourth but Daniel Ricciardo made his way past Kimi Räikkönen toRead More

By FIA Sebastian Vettel took his 54th career pole position, beating Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas and Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen in a tight qualifying session the Canadian Grand Prix that saw the top three drivers separated by less than two tenths of a second. Ferrari set the pace in the opening session with Vettel going quickest. The German swapped times with team-mate Kimi Räikkönen before he settled into P1 with a lap of 1:11.710. Hamilton slotted into third despite a nervous moment at, with the Briton finishing just over a tenthRead More

By FIA Red Bull Racing Daniel Ricciardo went quickest in FP3 to complete a clean sweep of practice sessions for the Monaco Grand Prix, but team-mate Max Verstappen left the team a race against time to ready is car for qualifying after he crashed out late in the session. After early installation laps on supersoft tyres, Ricciardo and Verstappen stayed in the garage for the first part of the session, leaving the field clear for Ferrari to control the top two spots. Sebastian Vettel traded times with team-mate Kimi RäikkönenRead More

By FIA Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas went quickest on the second and final day of Formula 1’s first in-season test, edging Ferrari’s Antonio Giovinazzi by six hundredths of a second. The Finn set his quickest time of the day shortly before lunchtime, lapping the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in a time of 1:16.904. The lap, delivered on supersoft Pirelli tyres, capped a period in which he had traded fastest laps with Giovinazzi, though the Ferrari driver’s times were set on hypersoft tyres, two steps further along the softness scale of Pirelli’s compounds.Read More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The Spanish Grand Prix proved a more straightforward affair than any other race so far this season, as Lewis Hamilton dominated the field from lights to flag, but behind him there was plenty of drama and action for fans to savor. A opening lap spin by Romain Grosjean in the Haas collected Nico Hulkenberg and Brendon Hartley and put them all out on the spot. Power unit problems forced Kimi Raikkonen to retire early. In the other Ferrari, Sebastian Vettel made a late pit stop fromRead More

By FIA Lewis Hamilton powered to a dominant Spanish Grand Prix win as Mercedes scored its first 1-2 finish of the season, with Valtteri Bottas finishing ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen as Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel dropped from second place to fourth after a mid-race pit stop. Vettel had stolen second place from Bottas in a dramatic start to the race, but the German then pitted early to change to medium tyres. Red Bull’s chasing drivers meanwhile went deep into the race before taking on fresh tyres and whenRead More

By FIA Lewis Hamilton powered to top spot in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix, taking his first pole position since the season-opening Australian Grand Prix ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas and the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen. In Q1, after the early pace was set by Kimi Räikkönen, Vettel then raised the bar considerably with a lap of 1:17.031 that put him four tenths of a second ahead of the Finn, with Hamilton third. Red Bulls drivers then disrupted things with Daniel Ricciardo jumping ahead of HamiltonRead More