Valtteri Bottas Tag

By FIA Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes one-two in the opening practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix finishing half a second clear of team-mate Valtteri Bottas and almost seven tenths of a second ahead of the third-placed Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo. Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen and championship challenger Sebastian Vettel finished the session in fourth and fifth places, but both set their best times using the supersoft Pirelli compound, while Hamilton session-best time of 1:28.691s was delivered on soft tyres. Vettel ended the session just under a second offRead More

By FIA Lewis Hamilton won the Russian Grand Prix extend his Drivers’ Championship lead over title rival Sebastian Vettel to 50-points, after Mercedes called on race leader Valtteri Bottas to move aside in order to defend against a threat from eventual third-place finisher Vettel. Pole position man Bottas held his advantage at the start and controlled the early phases of the race, with Hamilton coming under strong pressure from third-placed Vettel. Vettel briefly managed to get past Hamilton after the drivers’ single pit stops but when the title leader reclaimedRead More

By FIA Valtteri Bottas claimed the sixth pole position of his career and his first since the Austrian Grand Prix in July beating Mercedes team-mate and championship leader Lewis Hamilton to the front of the Russian Grand Prix grid by 0.145s. Title contender Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari, was forced to settle for third place and the second row of the Sochi Autodrom grid, where he will be joined by team-mate Kimi Räikkönen. Both Ferraris were more than half a second off the pace of Bottas. “It feels good,” said Bottas, who tookRead More

By FIA Lewis Hamilton went quickest in final practice for the Russian Grand Prix, with the Briton breaking the Sochi Autodrom track record to beat team-mate Valtteri Bottas 0.254s. Ferrari, meanwhile, took third and fourth places, with Sebastian Vettel marginally ahead of team-mate Kimi Räikkönen, but the German title contender ended the session six tenths of a second adrift of Hamilton. Vettel set the pace in a quiet opening phase of the hour-long session, with the German claiming P1 with a lap of 1:33.859. However, his spell at the topRead More

By FIA Hamilton, who comes into this weekend carrying a 40-point championship lead over chief rival Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari, posted a time of 1:33.584 a third of the way through the session after bolting on a set of hypersoft compound tyres as the field set about qualifying simulations. The Briton’s time saw him finish 0.199s ahead of Bottas. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was third fastest at the Sochi Autodrom, with the Dutch driver recording a best time of 1:33.827. That left him just under two hundredths of a secondRead More

By FIA Lewis Hamilton took pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix with a blistering lap of the Marina Bay Street Circuit that left him three tenths of a second clear of Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen. Hamilton’s title rival Sebastian Vettel could only manage third place. In Q1, after Kimi Räikkönen set the early pace with a time of 1:38.534, red Bull’s bypassed the Finn with a time of the 1:38.153. Verstappen then slotted into P3 with his opening lap of 1:38.715. Vettel, who seemed to back out ofRead More

By FIA Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton took a sensational 68th career win at Monza, beating Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen after starting third. Räikkönen was forced to settled for second place ahead of the second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas after being passed by Hamilton nine laps from the flag. Vettel finished fourth after dropping to the back of the field following a coming together with title rival Hamilton on the opening lap of the race. At the start, pole position man Kimi Räikkonen held his advantage to take the leadRead More

By FIA Kimi Räikkönen edged team-mate Sebastian Vettel to head a front-row lock-out for Ferrari in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton finishing third ahead of Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas. Räikkönen, whose last pole came at the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix, set a time of 1:19.119 to not only take his 18th career pole position but also to shatter the Monza lap record set 14 years ago by Juan Pablo Montoya. The Finn set the early pace in Q1 with a time of 1:20.937, almost six tenthsRead More

By FIA Sebastian Vettel continued to set the pace in final practice for the Italian Grand Prix, but the Ferrari driver was pushed hard by title rival Lewis Hamilton who finished just eight hundredths of a second behind the German. Ferrari were quickly to the fore in the hour-long session, with Kimi Räikkönen setting the early pace with a time of 1:21.399. Vettel might have challenged that but he suffered a lock up in Turn 1 and was forced to abandon the attempt. He lapped again and set a timeRead More

By FIA Sebastian Vettel closed the gap on championship leader Lewis Hamilton with a controlled drive to the flag after overtaking the championship leader on a chaotic first lap defined by a Turn 1 collision that took out Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg, McLaren’s Fernando Alonso and Sauber’s Charles Leclerc. Max Verstappen took the final podium spot Red Bull Racing. At the start, Vettel got away well to immediately put pole-sitter Hamilton under pressure. But behind chaos was unfolding. Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg, starting fro P18, locked up massively on the approach toRead More