Ferrari protege Raffaele Marciello will participate in this week's end of season GP2 tests at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. Marciello, who won the Formula Three European Championship this year, will test for Racing Engineering and Trident. He will be joined at the test by McLaren young drivers Kevin Magnussen and Stoffel Vandoorne. Formula Renault 3.5 Series champion, who has been linked to a Formula 1 drive at Marussia, will test for DAMS. Vandoorne, runner up to Magnussen in FR3.5, will drive for […]

Rating the drivers for their performance at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel | Infiniti Red Bull Racing | 1st | 10/10 Vettel’s extraordinary run of success continues as he was untroubled in Abu Dhabi, eventually winning the race by half a minute. It was only the third time in history that a driver has won seven races on the bounce and at this rate, you’d have to be a brave person to bet against Vettel making it nine before the season concludes in […]

Fernando Alonso has been taken to hospital for precautionary checks on his back after running over kerbs at high speed during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Alonso was exiting the pit lane when he encountered the Toro Rosso of Jean-Eric Vergne. The Spaniard bounced over the kerbs at 150mph, with the impact so severe that it triggered an alarm in the car that means drivers must go to the medical centre as a precaution. The impact was recorded as 25g. It is a 'normal precautionary […]

Paul di Resta hailed his Force India team after securing sixth place at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Di Resta started from 11th place but pulled off a one stop strategy to finish in the top six for the first time since the Bahrain Grand Prix. "It’s a great feeling to finish sixth and make the one-stop strategy work," he said. "I said yesterday that we had opted to set the car up more for the race and it really paid off today." "There were […]

Sebastian Vettel labelled his seventh successive win as 'incredible' after wrapping up his 11th win of 2013 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Vettel took the lead at the start and was never headed as he won at the Yas Marina Circuit for the third time. The reigning champion pulled out a margin of over a second a lap during the first stints, before managing his tyres and securing victory by half a minute. “I think today was incredible; the pace we had was scary […]

Kimi Raikkonen was left to rue his misfortune after being forced out of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the first corner. Raikkonen hit one of the Caterham drivers at the start and sustained irreparable damage to his Lotus E21. "There was some contact in front of me through the first corner so I stuck to the inside, but unfortunately one of the Caterhams touched my front wheel and it broke the track rod," he said. "It wasn’t a heavy impact, but the angle made […]

Nico Hulkenberg says he is at a loss to explain why he struggled with his Sauber C32 during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Hulkenberg started the race from fifth place but eventually came home in 14th. His race was compromised by a drive through penalty, which was awarded following his unsafe release into the path of Sergio Perez. "I’m not quite sure what happened today," he said. "I had felt comfortable with the car all weekend, but from lap one I was struggling with it. […]

Nico Rosberg is sure that Mercedes can retain second place in the constructors' championship with two races remaining in 2013. Rosberg finished the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in third place, allowing Mercedes to open up an 11 point advantage over nearest rivals Ferrari. "I had a great start to the race and was able to catch Mark [Webber] off the line," he said. "I thought there might be a chance to get Seb but it wasn't quite possible." "I was able to push hard in […]

Jenson Button accepted responsibility for a first lap collision that compromised his progress at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Button started from 12th place but damaged his McLaren MP4-28 when he hit the back of Paul di Resta's Force India. It was the second time in the space of a week that the 2009 world champion was involved in an opening lap shunt. "You make your own luck when you start down in 12th – where first-lap congestion is inevitable – and, sure enough, there […]

Williams driver Valtteri Bottas believes that his result at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is not reflective of his pace after finishing the race in 15th place. Bottas dropped behind slower rivals at the start but ran within the top 10 for several parts of the race. "I don't think P15 was really reflective of the pace we had today," he said. "My race was compromised by the first lap when I was jumped by the Caterhams who started on the option tyres and so […]

Kimi Raikkonen has been excluded from qualifying after his Lotus E21 failed post-qualifying checks at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Raikkonen had qualified in fifth place but his exclusion means that he will start from the back of the grid. 'After the qualifying practice session an assymetric LHS front floor deflection test was carried on car numbers seven [Raikkonen] and eleven [Nico Hulkenberg],' read the stewards report. 'Car number seven did not comply with article 3.17.5 of the 2013 FIA Formula One technical regulations as […]

Jean-Eric Vergne was left to rue a lock-up at turn eight that cost him a potential place in the top 10 shootout. Vergne will start the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from 14th place on the grid. "Everything went smoothly in Q1 and also in Q2, I managed to improve my time, even on old tyres and I was heading for a really good time at my last attempt, but I locked the wheels massively going into Turn 8 and that wiped out any advantage I […]