Valtteri Bottas Tag

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 Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Mercedes will officially launch the W08 Hybrid, their 2017 Formula 1 car, on February 23 at Silverstone. The reigning Constructors’ Champions unveiling comes a day prior to rival Ferrari running their new car for the first time at Fiorano. The overhaul of technical regulations will put a greater emphasis on the shakedown process for the teams when they go to Barcelona on February 27. The German squad will use the revealing for a filming day while at the British-based circuit. The team has yet to nameRead 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 Brazilian media sources are now reporting that recently retired F1 driver Felipe Massa has signed a deal with Williams to return to the grid in 2017 for his former team. By doing so he paves the way for his old team mate Valtteri Bottas to join Mercedes and fill the vacancy left by Nico Rosberg’s surprise retirement. Massa, who announced his retirement in September at the Italian Grand Prix was apparently eager to come back and help his former team. Williams had a desperate need forRead 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

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Mercedes technical director Paddy Lowe is on the verge of a shock move to Williams Martini Racing for 2017. Negotiations between Lowe and Williams have been rumored for some time, but a deal has not yet been announced. Lowe would replace Williams current technical director Pat Symonds who is ready for retirement after a career of much success and scandal, most notably crashgate in 2008, which crucially hurt recently retired Williams driver Felipe Massa’s championship bid that year. If Lowe goes he will be the second leadingRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor After much speculation Williams has finally announced that European F3 Champion Lance Stroll will join Valtteri Bottas for the 2017 Formula One season, replacing retiring veteran Felipe Massa. Stroll, who turned 18 last Saturday, has followed in the path of Max Verstappen, by showing incredible promise in the junior series. In further assistance to Williams and its battle to stay at the sharp end of the grid is Lawrence Stroll, his billionaire father, an investor and fashion magnate in their native Canada, who also happens toRead More

Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen set the fastest time of final practice for the Mexican Grand Prix, finishing nine hundredths of a second ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, with Daniel Ricciardo third in the second Red Bull. In a messy final 10 minutes of the session traffic disrupted the qualifying simulations of a number of drivers but Verstappen found space enough to set a supersoft tyre time of 1:19.137 with eight minutes left on the clock. Ricciardo might have eclipsed that but the Australian hit heavy traffic in the finalRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The Formula 1 season is already hitting the summer months and thus speculation has begun for 2017, with Ferrari and Kimi Raikkonen once again at the center of attention. The 2007 F1 champion has enjoyed a solid season thus far, scoring three podiums in eight starts, but he and teammate Sebastian Vettel are still searching for the Scuderia’s first victory of 2016. However, an expiring contract has many believing the Italian manufacturer will move away from the Finn and look the direction of current Force IndiaRead More