Valtteri Bottas Tag

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The Spanish Grand Prix marks Formula 1’s return to Europe after the early season fly away races. It also marks the first big round of updates the teams implement for their new cars. For many, it is when the season truly begins as Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is the benchmark for the teams to find their true place in the pecking order and see if they have moved ahead or fallen behind their rivals since they last visited Barcelona for pre-season testing. Ferrari has clearly had theRead More

By FIA Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas went quickest in the opening practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix, finishing more than eight tenths of a second ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton and almost a second clear of third-placed Sebastian Vettel. The Mercedes drivers’ dominance of the session was established early with Bottas using soft tyres to push into the 1m18s bracket. At that point the were backed up by Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo, but the Australian wouldn’t figure in the session for much longer. With grip at the premium onRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The Azerbaijan Grand Prix had it all, from a surprise winner for the second year in a row, a lot of crashes and controversy at Red Bull, to a second podium in Baku for Sergio Perez and Force India. Sebastian Vettel initially pulled away from Lewis Hamilton and appeared to have the race in the bag, but late pressure from Valtteri Bottas and the safety car period after Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen crashed in turn 1 turned the race on its head. Vettel out brakedRead More

By FIA Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas took top spot in the first practice session for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but there were problems for Red Bull Racing as Max Verstappen crashed. The Dutch driver led the way in the opening half an hour of the session, setting the pace with a time in the mid-1m45s bracket. That left him marginally clear of Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, as the Renault-powered team began the weekend brightly. The outlook darkened soon afterwards, however, as Verstappen lost control on the approach to Turn 5Read More

By Adam Tate The Chinese Grand Prix was a thrilling, unpredictable race that also happened to throw a generous quantity of stats our way. Here are some of the best nuggets and details to ruminate on while we wait two weeks for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the end of the month. Up first is Ferrari’s Saturday success in 2018. Sebastian Vettel notched up his 52nd pole position. Kimi Raikkonen backed him up with a close second on the grid which gave the Scuderia their first back to back front rowRead More

By FIA Daniel Ricciardo took a thrilling victory at the Chinese Grand Prix, benefiting from a mid-race safety car to rise from sixth to first in a handful of laps, thanks to fresh tyres and brilliant passing moves. Mercedes’s Valtteri Bottas finished second ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton, as pole sitter Sebastian Vettel dropped to eighth place following a collision with the second Red Bull of Max Verstappen. At the start Vettel made a slightly slow getaway and as Räikkönen got away well, the German moved right toRead More

By FIA Lewis Hamilton finished more than three tenths of a second ahead of Kimi Räikkönen as practice for the Chinese Grand Prix got underway at the Shanghai International Circuit. The Mercedes driver set his quickest lap on Pirelli’s soft tyres, while Räikkönen needed the ultrasoft compound, two steps softer in the tyre manufacturer’s range, to split Hamilton from team-mate Valtteri Bottas, who finished just under half a second behind the defending champion. In cool conditions Mercedes looked comfortably in control, with Hamilton making steady improvements throughout the session asRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Last weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix gave us a much clearer picture of the running order for 2018 than the season opening Australian Grand Prix did. The great news is that the long range pace of Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull is very close this season. Of the three, Ferrari has capitalized the most on their rivals misfortune and it leads both championships with Sebastian Vettel 17 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton after opening the season with back to back victories. Ferrari leads Mercedes in theRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix was the most thrilling in the desert kingdom in years as a high speed game of chess between Ferrari and Mercedes kept the winner in doubt until the final corner of the final lap. In the end Sebastian Vettel pulled off a magnificent victory as he nursed badly worn tires to the finish after switching from a planned two stop strategy to a one stopper. Valtteri Bottas closed on him in the Mercedes, but was unable to unseat his German rival. BehindRead More

By FIA Sebastian Vettel took a thrilling 49th career victory on his 200th race start, nursing fading tyres to the chequered flag to hold off a determined charge by Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas. Lewis Hamilton took third place after starting ninth as Red Bull Racing saw both cars exit the race early on. At the start, Vettel held his advantage from pole, but behind him Bottas made a better start than Räikkönen and stole second through Turn 1. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo was briefly passed by Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly but the Australian quickly retookRead More