DRIVERS – Fernando ALONSO (McLaren), Brendon HARTLEY (Toro Rosso), Sergio PEREZ (Force India), Carlos SAINZ (Renault) PRESS CONFERENCE Q: Brendon, you scored your first World Championship point in Baku, last time out, how good did that feel? Brendon HARTLEY: Yeah, it was maybe a bit of a relief, in a way because I’d had a couple of opportunities already and didn’t capitalise. Bahrain was the most obvious one where we had a very competitive car. So, it’s nice to finally get that first point. Had a […]
Teams return to Barcelona this weekend for the Spanish Grand Prix, to a track where they have reams of data and, more importantly, data with this year’s car. But it’s not exactly the same as it was in late February and early March when Formula One descended upon the 4.655-kilometer circuit for testing. While the track was freshly paved prior to seeing racecars for the first time in 2018, the weather was cold. Now, temperatures are much warmer, and the track’s evolution is unknown. Another variable […]
TEAM REPRESENTATIVES –Toto WOLFF (Mercedes), Maurizio ARRIVABENE (Ferrari), Christian HORNER (Red Bull Racing) PRESS CONFERENCE A question to all of you to start with, what sort of shape are you in relative to each going into this new championship? After all, one of your is likely to be the world champion team at the end of it. Christian, why don’t you start? Christian HORNER: First of all, it’s great to be back in Melbourne, good to be going racing again. It seems like a long winter […]
The opening round of the 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship began on Friday at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit as teams prepared for the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday. Two 90-minute sessions – FP1 and FP2 – on the 5.303-kilometer, 16-turn track were run under full sun amid comfortable temperatures. Leading the way in FP1 was Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, whose fast lap of 1:24.026 was .551 of a second better than the next quickest driver, his teammate Valtteri Bottas. Hamilton remained atop FP2 with a […]
DRIVERS – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes), Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari), Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing) PRESS CONFERENCE Let’s start with our world champion and six-time pole sitter here at Albert Park, Lewis Hamilton. Lewis, I think you said over the winter that you felt that last year was the best you’ve driven in your Formula 1 career. Do you anticipate having to go to another level this year in competition these gentlemen? Lewis HAMILTON: I plan to. That’s what I’ve been working towards. Why did you feel that […]
It’s a different kind of Australian Open as the 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship heads to the land down under for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix March 25 at Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit. While the championship battle will be waged among the big-three teams of Mercedes, Scuderia Ferrari and Red Bull, the ultra-competitive midfield is wide open. Seven teams consisting of Haas F1 Team, Force India, Williams, Renault, Toro Rosso, McLaren and Sauber appear to be on relatively equal footing as the 21-race season […]
The Renault R.S.18 was unveiled today, marking Renault Sport Formula One Team’s third chassis since its return to Formula 1 as a full works’ entry in 2016. The car is a progression and refinement of the concepts developed during the 2017 season and includes an improved suspension concept and greater aerodynamic downforce. Noticeably, the R.S.18 also features the mandatory new-for-2018 cockpit protection known as the ‘halo’ and a re-profiled engine cover to comply with the 2018 technical regulations. The 1.6l turbocharged V6 Renault R.E.18 power unit […]
Petrobras is back in Formula 1, after forming a technical partnership with McLaren on Monday 19 February. The agreement provides for a technology partnership to develop high-performance fuel and lubricants, and may be extended to other strategic areas, such as the sharing of technologies between the parties. The Petrobras brand will be displayed on the team’s cars, uniforms and physical facilities. “Partnerships are strategic for Petrobras. The technologies developed for Formula 1 will be transferred to the products we offer our customers, and being at […]
History repeating at Williams as the team confirms that Felipe Massa will retire at the end of the 2017 Formula One season. The Brazilian made his debut with Williams in 2014 and during the last four years he has helped the team secure third place in the Constructors’ Championship in 2014 and 2015, and fifth place in 2016. After initially indicating he would retire at the end of last year, he returned at Williams’ request for the 2017 season, and the team currently stands fifth […]
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel congratulated Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton on joining him as a four times Formula One world champion on Sunday and vowed that next season would be different. “I‘m down, obviously,” said the German, who won his titles with Red Bull, after his already extremely slim hopes were finally extinguished at the Mexican Grand Prix. “It’s tough to cross the line and realise that you’re not in the fight anymore. That sums it up ... It’s Lewis’s day. He was crowned world champion and […]
An ecstatic Lewis Hamilton became Britain’s first four-times Formula One world champion on Sunday after fighting back from last place following an opening-lap collision with arch-rival Sebastian Vettel at the Mexican Grand Prix. In a race won by 20-year-old Dutch prodigy Max Verstappen, in a Red Bull, the 32-year-old Mercedes driver finished ninth to cement his place as his country’s most successful driver of all time. Vettel, the only man who could have delayed the seemingly inevitable, ended up fourth after starting on pole position […]
Lewis Hamilton will start the United States Grand Prix on Sunday from pole position after recording the fastest time during qualifying. His fast lap of 1:33.108 was .239 of a second better than runner-up Sebastian Vettel of Scuderia Ferrari and it set a new all-time fastest lap at Circuit of the Americas. This is Hamilton’s 72nd career Formula One pole, his 11th of the season and third in a row. "The team have done an exceptional job all weekend to filter the data that we […]