In front of the packed grandstands of the Sochi Autodrom Lewis Hamilton has won the Russian Grand Prix ahead of his team mate Valtteri Bottas, after Mercedes applied team orders in order to secure Hamilton's victory. On lap 26 Bottas was told by the pit wall to let Hamilton through as he had a blister on his tyre and was under threat from Vettel. Bottas obeyed but was not pleased and he was back on his radio on the last laps asking to swap back […]
Lewis Hamilton won the Singapore Grand Prix from the pole to earn his 69th career Formula One victory, his series-leading seventh this season and his second in a row. Hamilton beat Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by 8.961 seconds to take his fourth victory at Marina Bay, equaling the record of Singapore Grand Prix wins held by Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. Hamilton’s win, combined with Vettel’s third-place finish, allowed Hamilton to extend his lead in the championship standings to 40 points over Vettel, his closest pursuer. […]
TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Maurizio ARRIVABENE (Ferrari), Frédéric VASSEUR (Sauber), Guenther STEINER (Haas), Gil DE FERRAN (McLaren) Q: Maurizio, please can we start with you? Welcome. There have been lots of announcements coming out of Ferrari this past week. Your 2019 driver line-up is sorted, with Charles Leclerc replacing Kimi Räikkönen. Talk us through how and why that change has taken place? Maurizio ARRIVABENE: How and why? It’s not clear? OK, I try to be clear. When you make some choices like this, that are related to […]
DRIVERS – Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari), Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes), Kevin MAGNUSSEN (Haas), Brendon HARTLEY (Toro Rosso) PRESS CONFERENCE Q: Kimi, if we could start with you please. You’ve been generating a few column inches this past week. Can you just talk us through what happened and why you’re on the move next year? Kimi RAIKKONEN: I guess you know what happened. I don’t know what else you want to know. This is what happened. As we’ve said many times before, it’s not up to me, it’s not […]
The 13th round of the 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship began with two practice session at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps as teams returned in earnest from the FIA-imposed summer shutdown to prepare for the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday. Two 90-minute sessions – FP1 and FP2 – were run under mostly cloudy and relatively cool conditions, with drivers navigating the longest venue in Formula One. Fastest in FP1 was Scuderia Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel, whose quick lap of 1:44.358 was .151 of a second better […]
TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Cyril ABITEBOUL (Renault), Christian HORNER (Red Bull), Gil DE FERRAN (McLaren), Otmar SZAFNAUER (Racing Point Force India), Franz TOST (Toro Rosso), Claire WILLIAMS (Williams) Q: Cyril, we had Daniel Ricciardo in here yesterday explaining his decision to join Renault. When did you start talks with Daniel and just how did that deal come about from a Renault point of view. Cyril ABITEBOUL: Obviously, we have known Daniel since a while for the collaboration we naturally have on the engine side with Red Bull […]
DRIVERS – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull), Fernando ALONSO (McLaren), Carlos SAINZ (Renault), Pierre GASLY (Toro Rosso), Lance STROLL (Williams), Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull), Marcus Ericsson (Sauber), Stoffel VANDOORNE (McLaren) Q: Fernando, I’m going to start with you. I’ve just introduced all four of you with your current teams, but all four of you will be racing elsewhere next year. You’ve said you won’t race in Formula 1 in 2019. Can you just tell us how you came to that decision? Fernando ALONSO: Well, it was a […]
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won the Hungarian Grand Prix by 17.123 seconds over Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. The win was the 67th of Hamilton’s Formula One career, his fifth this season and his sixth at the Hungaroring. The victory allowed Hamilton to widen his lead in the championship standings over Vettel, his nearest pursuer. The Brit came into the Hungarian Grand Prix with a 17-point margin on Vettel and leaves with a 24-point advantage. Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport (345 points) leads Ferrari by 10 points in the […]
Lewis Hamilton scored an unexpected pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday after an intense qualifying session at the Hungaroring. His fast lap of 1:35.658 in the final round of knockout was .26 of a second better than runner-up and teammate, Valtteri Bottas. It was Hamilton’s 77th career Formula One pole, his fifth this season and his sixth at the Hungaroring. Despite looking strong the entire weekend, Ferrari drivers handed the front row to Mercedes but secured the second one with Kimi Raikkonen on third […]
Friday’s F1 track action has come to an end at the Hungaroring with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel leading FP2 with a mark of 1:16.834, which was .074 of a second better than his nearest pursuer, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. The Hungaroring track record of 1:16.276, set last year by Vettel in the final round of qualifying, remained intact. “I was pretty happy in the afternoon” Vettel said “more than in the morning session, as I think the car is performing well also over one lap. "We can […]
TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Otmar SZAFNAUER (Force India), Toto WOLFF (Mercedes), Mario ISOLA (Pirelli) PRESS CONFERENCE Q: Otmar, in that very seat yesterday Esteban Ocon was telling us that there’s been a lot of interest in him for 2019. What can you tell us about his future? Otmar SZAFNAUER: Well, I’m glad there’s interest, he’s a great driver and glad we chose him a couple of years ago and have helped him to progress to the point where others are interested. Just happy to say he’s our […]
DRIVERS – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes), Carlos SAINZ (Renault), Esteban OCON (Force India) PRESS CONFERENCE Q: Valtteri, if we could start with you please. New Mercedes contract announced at Hockenheim last weekend. Can we just get your thoughts on that? How much confidence does it give you and what do you feel it says about your performances so far this year? Valtteri BOTTAS: Thank You. Yes, of course, at this point of the year it’s a very, very good point to know what you’re doing next year. […]