Valtteri Bottas Tag

Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas topped the final practice timesheet at Suzuka at the end of a session that was twice halted by red flags, first as Bottas himself hit the barriers and then for a crash involving Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen. Bottas posted a best time of 1:29.055s on soft tyres early in the session to finish 0.014s clear of team-mate Lewis Hamilton, with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in third place, with a time set soon in the final third of the hour on supersoft tyres. In the opening period, with the Mercedes drivers outRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Valtteri Bottas is set for a five place grid penalty for Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix, by virtue of an unscheduled gearbox change for the No. 77 W08. The controversial engine and gearbox change grid penalties, which Ross Brawn is considering banning for 2018 and beyond have proved costly for many drivers, and this penalty for Bottas comes at the worst time for Mercedes. FP2 was a washout as the skies above Suzuka Circuit dropped a deluge of rain on the track, but in FP1 the topRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The Japanese Grand Prix was first held all the way back in 1963 as a sports car race, it did not become an official Formula One Grand Prix until 1976 on and has been held 30 times since. The first two grands prix were at Fuji speedway near Tokyo, including the dramatic 1977 title decider where James Hunt won the World Championship over Niki Lauda. The race then dropped off the calendar for 10 years before it moved to its spiritual home of Suzuka Circuit inRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Williams Martini Racing has narrowed down its driver search for Lance Stroll’s 2018 partner to three, according to Motorsport Magazine. Current pilot Felipe Massa, who has been with the team since 2014 despite an initial planned retirement prior to the team losing Valtteri Bottas to Mercedes, is said to still be a possibility for the Grove-based outfit. However, the plan is to test out Paul di Resta and Robert Kubica before settling on the 2018 seat. For di Resta, who serves as the team’s reserve driver,Read More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Valtteri Bottas will stay in silver for 2018. The two-time race winner has signed a new one year deal with Mercedes AMG Petronas to partner with Lewis Hamilton for a second season. The Finn was quickly added to the team over last winter after 2016 World Champion Nico Rosberg shocked the racing world by announcing his immediate retirement. He has more than proved himself throughout 2017, in addition to his two wins in Russia and Austria, he sits third in the drivers’ standings and has stoodRead More

Lewis Hamilton took the lead in the Fornila One Drivers’ title standings ahead of Sebastian Vettel after he headed a Mercedes one-two at the Italian Grand Prix. The Silver Arrows were utterly dominant at Monza with Hamilton beating third-placed Sebastian Vettel by more than 36 seconds. The Briton’s sixth win of the season puts him three points clear of Ferrari driver Vettel at the top of the Drivers’ standings after 13 races. While Mercedes’ progress to the top two places in the race was largely processional after Bottas had risen to P2 inRead More

Mercedes again topped the practice timesheets at Monza, but after Lewis Hamilton went quickest in the first practice, the afternoon session saw team-mate Valtteri Bottas take top spot. The Finn set a best time of 1:21.406s on the supersoft compound tyres to edge out Hamilton by just fibve hundredths of a second. Afetr finishing the morning session 1.1s behind FP1 pacesetter Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel moved Ferrari closer to the Silver Arrows with a best of lap of 1:21.546 that left him just a tenth of a second behind Bottas. Team-mateRead More

Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes 1-2 in first practice ahead of Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix with the three-time champion finishing a second clear of championship leader Sebastian Vettel who finished third behind Valtteri Bottas. Hamilton set a best lap of 1:21.537s on the supersoft compound Pirelli tyres to finish 0.435 seconds ahead of Bottas, with Vettel 1.115s off the pace. With the session starting under heavily overcast skies, drivers quickly set about their preparations and after half and hour Bottas was in charge on soft tyres, with the Finn inRead More

Lewis Hamilton took over at the top of the timesheets at Spa-Francorchamps, beating first practice pacesetter Kimi Räikkonen by almost three tenths of a second. Valtteri Bottas was third in a session disrupted late in the session. The quickest times of the session arrived just after the half hour mark, when the teams bolted on ultrasoft tyres for qualifying simulations. Vettel was first to show, grabbing P1 with a lap of 1:45.235. However, that was swiftly eclipsed by Bottas, the Mercedes driver edging ahead with a time of 1m45.180s. Raikkonen,Read More

Lewis Hamilton powered to a lights-to-flag victory at Silverstone to claim his fifth career British Grand Prix win and equal the record set by F1 legends Jim Clark and Alain Prost. In a remarkable finish to the race, both Kimi Raikkonen and championship leader Sebastian Vettel suffered punctures in the closing laps to allow Valtteri Bottas through to seal a Mercedes one-two. Raikkonen recovered on new tyres to claim the final podium spot. In the final laps Hamilton had held the lead from Raikkonen and Bottas, with Vettel in fourthRead More