Valtteri Bottas Tag

Nico Rosberg’s dream start to the 2016 season continued as the German took his second consecutive victory and his first in Bahrain and his first at the Gulf circuit. Kimi Raikkonen took his fifth second place with Lewis Hamilton recovering to third after a first-corner collision. Before the start there was disappointment for Ferrari as Sebastian Vettel, set to start from third, slowed on the formation lap with smoke billowing from the back of his car. His failure to start, the first of his career, meant a space opened onRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor Nico Rosberg led home a Mercedes one-two finish from Albert Park in what was a madcap start the 2016 season. Despite the typical result of a Mercedes double podium, the circuitous route the race took to its conclusion proved entertaining, terrifying and intense. The plot thickened before the race ever got underway as Daniil Kvyat’s Red Bull succumbed to electrical gremlins by stalling on the way to his grid position. The team ran to remove the car while the rest of the field embarked upon aRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor The 2016 Formula One season is finally underway, down under in Albert Park. Despite the soggy start, the excitement of fans world wide cannot be dampened. Before the drivers lay down their cards for qualifying a few hours from now, I will make five bold predictions on some of the more exciting stories of the season. Without further ado…. 5. All teams will score points Gone are the days when a lovable back marker like Minardi could only pray for points. Gone are the days whenRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor After playing it safe for the first Barcelona test, Mercedes opened up the second test by showing just what its new W07 chassis is capable of. Nico Rosberg had the morning’s testing duties and with a set of softs on the car he clocked a blistering 1:23.022 lap. His time just two tenths of a second behind Sebastian Vettel’s best lap of testing so far. The worrying difference there, is that the Ferrari did its time on the new ultra-soft compounds, the Mercedes set its timeRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor Williams has revealed the first images of its 2016 design, the FW38. While it appears to be a clear evolution of its successful predecessor, major changes have taken place under the skin to help the team hold onto its new found place at the sharp end of the field, including improvements for slow speed cornering and running in the wet. Despite finishing third in the Constructor’s Standings in 2014 and 2015, Williams enters 2016 on defense. A resurgent Ferrari has supplanted them as Mercedes’ strongest challenger,Read More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor An examination of the 2015 Formula One season clearly shows a noticeable dip in the performance of the Williams cars in the latter half of the season. According to Performance Chief Rob Smedley this is because the team stopped development of the FW37 early once they realized they would secure third place in the Constructors’ standings but couldn’t reach Ferrari for second. “We stopped development on this car quite a long time ago having projected we would have a comfortable third position in the championship andRead More

Nico Rosberg took his fifth consecutive pole position by beating team-mate Lewis Hamilton to the front of the grid for the Brazilian Grand Prix. The German edged his team-mate by just 0.078s. Third place in the session went to Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who qualified ahead of Williams’ Valtteri Bottas and the second Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen, Q1 saw Mercedes unusually opt for the option tyre in the first segment and it meant that their drivers dominated the session. Rosberg hit the top of the order after eight minutes with aRead More

In front of a packed and hugely atmospheric Autodrómo Hermanos Rodríguez, Nico Rosberg took a controlled fourth victory of the season ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton to become the first winner of the Mexican Grand Prix since Nigel Mansell in 1992. Valtteri Bottas was third for Williams ahead of the Red Bulls of Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo. The German held his lead at the start of the race and over his first stint build up a solid gap to Hamilton. Eventually the Mercedes drivers’ advantage was so great thatRead More

Nico Rosberg recovered from morning brake issues to top the timesheets in second practice ahead of the Mexican Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver finished 0.245 seconds clear of Red Bull Racing’s Daniil Kvyat. Kvyat’s team-mate Daniel Ricciardo finished third to split the Mercedes drivers as Lewis Hamilton finished in fourth place, almost half a second behind Rosberg. Grip had been at a premium on the slippery new track surface in the first session and it was a similarly story in the second session. FP1 pacesetter Max Verstappen was the firstRead More

Following a last lap collision of the Russian Grand Prix that saw Kimi Raikkonen and Valtteri Bottas wreck while battling for a podium, the 2007 Formula One champion maintained his stance on the racing incident during a press conference leading up to the United States Grand Prix. “Well it hasn’t changed,” said Raikkonen. “Obviously there were some discussions and penalties given to me, but I would still do it tomorrow again, that doesn’t change the story. Unfortunately, we came together in the end and we both lost a bit, butRead More