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  • Renault: Building everything from scratch.

    Renault: Building everything from scratch.

    Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP) Renault Sport F1 Team RS18.
    Mexican Grand Prix, Friday 26th October 2018. Mexico City, Mexico.

    Photo credits: Renault Mediacentre

    2016 marked Renault’s return to Formula 1, A six year plan was put in place for the French marque’s comeback to the top of the grid. Three years into that timetable, things are going well for the team.

    At the end of 2015, the Lotus team, powered by Mercedes engines, was in a constant demise. Poor results and a declining financial state had the British-Russian team on the ropes. Renault’s intention to return as a works team was rumoured around the paddock for quite some time, and on 28 September 2015, it was officially announced. The Enstone factory would be yellow again.

    We have seen this scenario before, and the examples from recent history are profound. Red Bull did the same thing back in 2005, Mercedes, too, in 2010. And they all succeeded, because they all had a thorough plan.

    The fact that the managerial positions in Renault are not being held by the same people anymore does not affect the fact that the French are a ‘work in progress’, with signs of improvement every single year.

    Their driver line-up is improving little by little. Jolyon Palmer and Kevin Magnussen was just the beginning, although they would love to have Romain Grosjean on board, had he not left for Haas.

    2017 saw Nico Hulkenberg joining the team, making him their number one driver, for some reason the German scored points on 7 occasions, finishing 10th on the standings. And for the 2018 season, Carlos Sainz joined him.

    Next year Daniel Ricciardo will have the Renault badge on his chest, this shows the team’s determination to push through a really hard driver market and make the necessary moves, to ensure that it can have the drivers who will be able to extract the maximum potential out of the car. Does it ring a bell Red Bull did the same with Mark Webber firstly and Sebastian Vettel two years later; so did Mercedes with Michael Schumacher for its first ‘awkward years’ and Lewis Hamilton for its domination.

    Apart from that, Cyril Abiteboul, team principal for Renault Sport, has done a fairly good job recruiting experienced and talented people at the team’s technical side. Marcin Budkowski, Ex FIA man, joined them last April, and James Allison is rumoured to make the step from Brackley to Enstone. It’s highly important for them to have staff that knows how to make the right choices and develop a championship-winning car.

    2021 is the biggest chance for Renault to be in the contention for the world title. It is not an easy task, but they have already shown their progress from 2016 to 2017, and from 2017 to 2018. From 9th on the standings, they currently are 4th, having the ‘best of the rest’ car and the ‘best of the rest’ driver in Hulkenberg.

    If they can continue like this, success is a matter of time.

    Dimitris Bizas

  • Fernando Alonso and Jimmie Johnson announce car-swap

    Fernando Alonso and Jimmie Johnson announce car-swap

    After just over two months of teasing, Fernando Alonso and Jimmie Johnson have finally announced that they will be driving each other’s cars at the Bahrain International Circuit on the 26th November, the day after the Abu Dhabi GP. No more information than that is given in the admittedly cringe-worthy fifty-second clip posted on both driver’s social media accounts, but it does at least draw some sort of an end to the speculation that had been conjuring up ever since this was first hinted at in mid-September.

    The first video, posted on 12th September, set up the idea of a car-swap scenario with both drivers expressing interest at the events on the opposite side of the Atlantic. Really, this goes back much further than September, in fact back to late January when the pair took part in a rather amusing photo-shoot at the Daytona 24 hours, which can be essentially described as a staring competition (with a cameo from Lando Norris).

    The next teaser came nearly two weeks ago with another equally cheesy clip, showing Alonso and Johnson going about their training regimes while watching each other’s races, though both of them were winning their races so it must have been from quite some time ago!

    This whole saga has been very typical of Alonso’s appearances on social media of late, generally communicating through the medium of cryptic GIFs and tweets. Basically, it’s made everyone do what we’re doing now, talk about both Alonso and Johnson, whose careers have taken respective nose-dives in recent years. Johnson hasn’t won a race all season in the NASCAR Cup Series, his last win was back at Dover in 2017 and many have been speculating about his future in the series. It’s a very similar story for Alonso whose winless drought stretches back to the 2013 Spanish GP, with his F1 career coming to a conclusion at the end of this season.

    The car-swap could be seen as a publicity stunt for both drivers, both wanting to remind the world of their greatness despite their respective lulls. Equally, they could just be doing it for a bit of fun; they’re both of a similar ‘drive anything’ type of personality and have clearly formed a strong friendship over the years… This kind of thing has probably been on the cards longer than anyone else knew, they just had to work out how to make it feasible.

    Alonso himself may view this as the start of his 2019 ventures which remain as of yet unannounced. He’s hinted that he’ll probably not be doing a complete season of anything but instead dipping in and out of various series with the Indy 500 obviously a target and rumours that he may be attempting the Daytona 500 as well.

    Whatever the reason behind it, the car-swap will be very interesting to see with more focus probably on Alonso’s NASCAR performance than Johnson’s F1 run for a multitude of reasons, mainly that the Spaniard will almost certainly drive a NASCAR again whereas Johnson is unlikely to get another go in an F1 car.

    Bring it on… #JJxALO

    Featured image courtesy of Steven Tee/McLaren

  • FIA rejects Haas disqualification appeal.

    FIA rejects Haas disqualification appeal.

    Haas F1 has lost its appeal against Romain Grosjean’s disqualification from September’s Italian Grand Prix.

    Haas F1 Media

    Grosjean was excluded from the results of the Monza race, which he originally finished in sixth, following a protest by the rival Renault team over the legality of his VF-18’s floor.

    Haas had developed its floor earlier in the year for introduction following the summer break, but a technical clarification from the FIA made just before the summer break—demanding a 50mm radius at each front corner of the reference plane—made the floor design illegal.

    With the summer shutdown leaving no time to modify the design, Haas initially applied to the FIA for dispensation to run the new floor until Singapore. However, the FIA offered no official ruling on the matter and made it clear to Haas that their car would be open to protest in Monza if it ran the illegal floor.

    This open discussion for leeway formed the basis of Haas’ appeal against Grosjean’s exclusion, but on Thursday the FIA appeals court in Paris decided to uphold the Monza stewards’ decision.

    Haas F1 Media

    Haas team principal Gunther Steiner said the team was “obviously disappointed” to lose its appeal.

    He added: “We [will] simply move forward and look to the final two races of the year to continue to fight on-track, earn more points, and conclude our strongest season to date.”

    Renault’s technical director Nick Chester said: “We are satisfied with the decision and I would like to thank the court and the FIA for their work on this matter. Technical regulations—especially those introduced for safety reasons—must be observed strictly.”

  • Bagnaia’s Second Chance in Sepang

    A difficult weekend in Australia – the most challenging of his 2018 season so far – meant that Francesco Bagnaia (Sky Racing Team VR46) had to wait to be crowned 2018 Moto2 World Champion. Fortunately for Pecco, he has another shot this weekend, and at the more conventional Sepang International Circuit, with its bipolar characteristics in comparison to Phillip Island, the Italian rider has the 2018 intermediate class title firmly in his sights ahead of this weekend.

    As has been the case for a while now, Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) is the only rider who can stop Bagnaia from clinching the crown this weekend. To do so, the Portuguese must outscore Bagnaia by twelve points to ensure the championship fight goes down to the final round in Valencia. Of course there are many situations which could allow this to happen but the simple way to put this is to say that Oliveira has to win with Bagnaia finishing off the podium for the title to go down to the wire.

    But, will Oliveira win? Given his recent form, you would say probably not. After his Red Bull KTM Ajo teammate Brad Binder’s victory last time out in Australia, Oliveira now has less wins than the South African over the course of the season, and hasn’t won since Brno at the beginning of the second half of the season. If ever there was a time for Miguel to turn around his form, it would be now, but that doesn’t mean it is going to happen.

    Of course it was Oliveira who won the Moto2 Malaysian Grand Prix last year, as Franco Morbidelli wrapped up the 2017 title. This victory was the second of his back-to-back-to-back wins to finish off the season, and Brad Binder is coming into this weekend with the possibility to make a repeat of his teammate’s results of last year. Binder is in fantastic form at the moment, and has at least had the matching of Oliveira since his win in Aragon. The race the South African put together in Phillip Island was stunning, and suitable given Kork Ballington’s recognition as a MotoGP Legend on the same weekend. However, should Oliveira’s pace be enough to fight for the top positions, there should be no doubt that Aki Ajo, Pit Beirer and the rest of the top KTM mob will be urging Binder to play the team game.

    Another crash for Lorenzo Baldassarri (Pons HP40) last time out meant that Binder almost has third place in the championship wrapped up, sitting forty-one points ahead of the Italian. Coupled with Joan Mir’s (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) second place in Oz and suddenly there is quite a big fight again for fourth in the championship, with only four points separating Baldassarri in fourth at the moment, and Mir’s Marc VDS teammate Alex Marquez in sixth.

    It is Mir who has the Sepang form, too, after having taken the Moto3 victory in Malaysia last year. In comparison, both Marquez and Baldassarri crashed out last season. If form is anything to go by then Mir could have that fourth place all but wrapped by the time the chequered flag comes out on Sunday.

    Augusto Fernandez (Pons HP40) had his best weekend as a Grand Prix rider last weekend in Phillip Island. The Spaniard was fast from the get-go in FP1 and missed the podium for all of 0.008 seconds to Xavi Vierge (Dynavolt Intact GP) who also saw a return to form. Remember, also, that this weekend will not be Fernandez’ first time in Sepang, as he rode the Speed Up last season, finishing just half a second behind his then teammate Simone Corsi.

    Vierge also had a strong weekend in Malaysia last year, finishing eighth on the Tech 3. Vierge’s teammate, Marcel Schrotter, will be hoping for better luck this weekend, as he showed some stunning pace in the race, but had to use it all to come from last on the grid thanks to mechanical troubles on the line. It wasn’t such a good race for Schrotter last year, though, in Malaysia, as he finished second-last and nearly one minute off the win.

    As well as Schrotter, Luca Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46) will be after a better weekend in Sepang than he experienced last season, when he crashed on the first lap. Not only will Marini want to make a good result for himself this weekend, but he will also want to be at the front to help Bagnaia, his teammate, in his quest for the title. Throughout this season it has been clear that Marini is very aware of his teammate’s situation, and has proved a strong number 2 for Bagnaia – just look at how happy Luca was to have taken four points from Oliveira in the final laps of the Thai Grand Prix a few weeks back.

    That sort of assistance could prove vital this weekend, as Francesco Bagnaia looks to bank his second match point.

  • Moto3 Report: Phillip Island delivers but Bezzecchi falls foul

    It was a breath taking race that saw more than half the grid eligible for a podium finish – but it was Albert Arenas (Angel Nieto Team), Fabio di Giannantonio (Del Conca Gresini) and Celestino Vietti (Sky Racing Team VR46) who relished in the moment and the champagne. Except for 17-year-old Vietti, who isn’t old enough to spray champagne, but then again, a podium on your second ever Moto3 race probably tastes sweeter than any bubbles ever could, and he raced hard for it.

    For di Giannantonio it was a necessary podium. The Italian has been battered and bruised on just about every race weekend for the last 3 weeks, making this a much deserved second place finish. And the man of the moment, Arenas, took his second win of the season and this time around he truly earned it – whether you think his Le Mans victory was really di Giannantonio’s, or not.

    This entire race was important for the Championship, two very important crashes happened, and a few near misses, have changed the course of this season. Firstly, Lorenzo Dalla Porta’s (Leopard Racing) crash meant that his team mate Enea Bastianini (Leopard Racing) could keep his fourth place in the Championship.

    Then it was Gabriel Rodrigo’s (RBA BOE Racing Team) unfortunate collision with Championship contender Marco Bezzecchi that paved the way for Martin to extend his lead in the Championship beyond the one point that he started this weekend with. However, this wasn’t really the case, as there is only 12 points between the Italian and the Spaniard now, but it could have remained at just one point because luck seemed to be firmly on Martin’s side. He narrowly avoided two crashes/contact which could have seen both of their weekends reduced to null and avoid effectively.

    However, it does beg the question – had di Giannantonio not had his Le Mans victory taken away from him, could he be leading the Championship right now? With 20 points between the Championship leaders, he definitely could have made life difficult for Martin and Bezzecchi after this week’s results.

    The race itself saw real talent shining through from all riders as, the top 15 stayed particularly tight and positions were traded so often that the leader board couldn’t keep up with them. It was Tony Arbolino (Marinelli Snipers Team) and Denis Foggia (Sky Racing Team VR46) though showed potential for a podium finish, that was before they took each other out whilst vying for the top spot behind Martin.

    But ultimately due to a constantly changing lineups, whether to do with crashes or overtaking, you found yourself rooting for half the grid at least once. This race has left the Championship wide open for the top three riders still, but it might have invigorated the rest of the grid as the majority of them got a taste of leading a race. With only two races to go, who could clinch the title between Martin, Bezzecchi or di Giannantonio?

  • James Allison on the Mexican GP and the science behind F1

    James Allison on the Mexican GP and the science behind F1

    Speaking at the Science of Formula 1 event at London’s Science Museum, Mercedes Technical Director James Allison commented that Lewis Hamilton was “devastated” by Mercedes’ under-performance at the Mexican Grand Prix, despite having just secured his fifth world title.

    Asked what limited Mercedes’ performance in the race, Allison revealed “we know”, and while he was unwilling to share what the problem was, added that it was something with an “easy fix”.

    Photo credit: Alison Finlay

    Allison was also asked his opinion on the changing technologies in F1 over the years, and said that the removal of driver aids like traction control in previous years had not made that much difference, as the “best drivers were still the best drivers”, having adapted to the changes.

    Allison said that he would like to see the possible addition of fans on the cars, “although not for the reason you might think”, explaining that he believed they could allow cars to follow each other more closely, and could mitigate against the ill-effects of dirty air which limits overtaking in Formula 1 at the moment.

    Allison also revealed that Mercedes are already hard at work on their 2020 car, and that teams typically begin working on their cars over a year in advance. The 2018 car, Allison says, is now “a bit of a ghost ship”, with little development taking place this late into the season, with the team focused on both the 2019 and 2020 cars.

    When asked if Formula 1 will one day become an all-electric series, Allison said he was convinced it will become a reality as the sport moves on to reflect the times. In future years, Allison believes that new generations of fans “won’t miss the sound” and that it’s “not a case of if, but when” the change will happen.

    Allison was joined at the event, hosted by Dr Oliver Carpenter, by Annastiina Hintsa of Hintsa Performance and Dr Karl Surmacz of McLaren Applied Technologies.

  • Five Things We Take Away From The Mexico Grand Prix

     

    Max Verstappen the winner of the 2018 Mexico Grandprix. Image courtesy of Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

    1 – Max sticks to his word

    All season it has been said that Red Bull realistically have talked up winning at Monaco, Hungary and Singapore. But if you were to ask that question to Max Verstappen, he would say ‘and Mexico too.’ He wasn’t a happy man on Saturday though as another chance at pole position went begging. On Sunday it took great guts to be the latest braker into turn 1 and his kindness to his tyres took him to victory, like he has been saying all season. He had two sets of new red supersoft tyres compared to the rest of the field, who only had one, and he won by a clear 15 seconds – his fifth victory in F1, and second of the 2018 season.

     

    Photo Credit: Suceria Ferrari

    2 – Vettel is gracious in defeat

    When David Coulthard was doing the pre-podium interviews it was great to see Sebastian Vettel go to Lewis Hamilton and congratulate him. The German knew where it all fell apart this season and didn’t want to discuss it at the time. A true sportsman as he probably wasn’t in high spirits and he wasn’t standing on the first position on the podium. After this he entered the Mercedes pit section and congratulated the team too. The German will look to build on this season and look  ahead to the challenges that 2019 hold. 

     

    Credit: Mercedes-AMG Petronas

    3 – Mercedes tyre wear haunts them

    The tyres that the Silver Arrows cars used just fell apart, which resulted in Hamilton finishing a distant P4 and Bottas pitting 3 times before finishing a distant P5. They had great starts but it was easy for others to overtake them, and poor mistakes from both Hamilton and Bottas put them back to P4 and P5. An investigation will surely be had after the celebration of Hamilton’s 5th title, as they were the team that struggled the most with tyres and they are close to wrapping up another Constructor’s title.

     

     

    4 – Superb Sauber

    Sauber had to start on the ‘chewing gum’ tyres, the pink wall hypersofts, and still managed P7 and P9. They both made a ‘one stop’ strategy work, taking us back to the days of Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez doing it so well in the Sauber colours. They jumped Toro Rosso in the standings for P8, as Pierre Gasly had a solid Sunday, but more grid penalties only helped Sauber further. It was a great haul of points by the team considering they started on the hypersoft tyres. 

     

    Daniel Ricciardo in Aston Martin RedBull Racing garage at the 2018 Mexico Granprix. Image courtesy of Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

    5 – Ricciardo can’t wait for his new challenge to begin with Renault

    “Just let Gasly drive it” was the quote from the Honey Badger in the media pen after his eighth retirement of the season and his second mechanical failure in a row. He probably feels that his 2018 car is cursed and hasn’t taste champagne since his victory in Monaco. His new chapter edges closer and most are unsure how close he will be to the podium in the future, considering that Nico Hulkenburg, as of yet, still hasn’t been there. 

  • Destination IndyCar: Marcus Ericsson joins Schmidt Peterson Motorsports

    Destination IndyCar: Marcus Ericsson joins Schmidt Peterson Motorsports

    The list of ex-F1 drivers on the IndyCar grid is getting longer by the day, this time with the addition of the recently-ousted Sauber driver Marcus Ericsson who will line up with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports (SPM) for the 2019. With Felix Rosenqvist’s earlier move to Chip Ganassi, Ericsson takes IndyCar’s Swedish driver count up to two, an unprecedented amount for the modern era of IndyCar which has seen none from the country since its merge with Champ Car back in 2008.

    Marcus Ericsson. Image courtesy of Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team

    Ericsson comes from F1 having spent five years in the series, the last four of which have been with Sauber F1 Team. There’s no doubt that the significant funding that accompanied Ericsson played a part in how long he spent at the team, especially as he’s been comprehensively beaten by the majority of his teammates, however, his talent is not to be overlooked.

    Where many expected soon-to-be Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc to absolutely wipe the floor with Ericsson, the Swede has stood up for himself and avoided complete embarrassment. Even so, it was not enough for him to warrant keeping his driver at the team, being replaced by 2007 champion Kimi Raikkonen who will line up alongside Ferrari junior Antonio Giovinazzi.

    Having spent so long in F1, a change is scene will probably do Ericsson good, though his predicament on entering IndyCar is remarkably similar to Andretti’s Alexander Rossi. When Rossi came to IndyCar, it was seen as though he was using the series as a filler until he could get back into F1 but soon after joining he fell in love with it and kissed goodbye to his F1 dreams. Ericsson has said that he wants to return to F1, but his mind could well be changed… just as Rossi’s was back in 2016.

    Ericsson joins SPM at a rather troubled time in their history, to say the least. Last season’s rookie sensation, Robert Wickens, has been left paralysed (at least for now) by a horrific crash at Pocono while racing for SPM, with teammate James Hinchcliffe’s car also being wrecked in the crash. Certainly, the financial backing that Ericsson brings will be very well-received at SPM, given all the crash damage they’ve had in previous years, but that was not the only reason that they chose the Swede.

    The 28-year old will pilot the #7 SPM car with Hinchcliffe in the #5, with the #6 seat remaining empty for Wickens to retake when or if he wants or is able to. Hinchcliffe is one of the more experienced drivers on the grid and definitely one of the most popular, so Ericsson will have his work cut out going up against him. Equally, Hinchcliffe will not want a repeat of 2018 where Wickens came in as a rookie and beat him, the Canadian will want to stand his ground, that’s for sure!

    Either way, SPM is a very good team to be going into as a rookie and Ericsson will have all the tools he needs to turn into an IndyCar contender, much like Rossi has in the last few seasons, and his entry into the series is an exciting prospect for all.

    Featured Image courtesy of  Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team

  • Daniel Ricciardo: Why the Aussie has nothing to fear ahead of Renault move

    Daniel Ricciardo: Why the Aussie has nothing to fear ahead of Renault move

     

    Daniel Ricciardo in Aston Martin RedBull Racing garage at the 2018 Mexico Granprix. Image courtesy of Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

    Another race; another retirement due to a mechanical failure for Daniel Ricciardo. Every time he steps in the car, something seems to go wrong, even when he won in Monaco. It has led him to say that his Red Bull is “cursed” and that he might just let Pierre Gasly drive the car for the last two races of the 2018 season in Brazil and Abu Dhabi.

    These comments were, of course, in the heat of the moment, but reliability-wise, the Red Bull with a Renault engine has not treated the Aussie well at all this year.

    During the summer break, shockwaves were sent through the world of F1. Ricciardo was leaving Red Bull, but the shock wasn’t that he was leaving; if we’re being honest, the news was something we anticipated even before the turn of the 2018 season. The shock was who he was joining.

    He wasn’t off to Italian giants Ferrari, instead to the midfield team that has yet to really prove itself since its return to F1 in 2016: Renault.

    The French team was not really anyone’s expectation for Ricciardo, but the surprise factor was, truth be told, a negative one. Overall, there was a sense that Ricciardo is taking a career with prospects of a world championship and flushing it down the toilet. However, this may not be the case.

    In reality, all you really need to do is look at the progress Renault have made since 2016. They took over a Lotus team that was in tatters, and they had to start a process of reinstating themselves as a Constructor in F1, after past success in the sport, most recently with Fernando Alonso in his two championship-winning years in 2005 and 2006. Of course, they had success supplying to Red Bull, but being a team that has to make a cohesive car with the chassis and the engine is an entirely different beast.

    They went from being a team that was often at the back of the field in 2016 to a team that is now expected to score good points in 2018, and therefore, with the fast progress of a manufacturer team, will be handed even higher expectations for 2019. Therefore, this may be a leap, but it’s a leap to a fast-developing team, with a team boss in Cyril Abiteboul who demands the very best of everyone at the team, and certainly lets them know when he’s not satisfied.

    Christian Horner over looking Dan’s car before the race. Image courtesy of Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

    The main talking point in the races since the announcement has been that of reliability. Ricciardo’s scream of anger after an engine failure in qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix in early October told us everything we needed to know about just how bad the Renault engine has been for Red Bull this season.

    But if we look at the wider angle of this, Ricciardo has had 6 retirements due to mechanical issues this season compared to just two for soon-to-be team mate Nico Hulkenberg in the factory Renault car – I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions on just how much of a difference there is in reliability between the factory team and their customer. However, perhaps the most important aspect of this is that Ricciardo’s failures have not always been Renault’s fault. His retirement at last weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix was down to a hydraulic failure, which lies on Red Bull’s side of the blame. A lot of pain for Red Bull in terms of reliability and performance has come from the French manufacturer though.

    However, the Renault engine at certain circuits, when it is not failing, can be competitive – a good chassis for Renault next year and another factory push with the engine, and Renault could be a serious threat to Red Bull.

    And let’s not forget Lewis Hamilton. Mercedes, in 2012, were dire. They, too, were somewhat of a midfield team, albeit more competitive proportionately than Renault are right now. Hamilton left a McLaren team accustomed to winning, and went to a struggling Mercedes team that had won one race that year and had been fairly average in most others, often struggling to score points. He has since won four championships with the German manufacturer.

    Of course, this is not to say things will turn out equally for Ricciardo; two careers rarely turn out the same, but they say fortune favours the brave, and the Honey Badger has certainly lived up to his nickname with a bold move that might turn out a lot better than many are anticipating.

  • 2018 Mexican GP Review: F1esta Mode for Mercedes

    2018 Mexican GP Review: F1esta Mode for Mercedes

    We’re in the final stages of the 2018 season, and as F1 entered round 19 of the calendar for the Mexican Grand Prix, another chance emerged for Lewis Hamilton to become a five-time world champion, with his rival Sebastian Vettel 70 points behind and just three races to go.

    Qualifying was once again very close, with Daniel Ricciardo stealing pole from team-mate Max Verstappen by just 0.026 seconds. Behind them, it was close as well, with Hamilton, Vettel, Bottas and Raikkonen making up a very interesting grid.

    On Sunday, Hamilton got an amazing start and got past pole-sitter Ricciardo, but didn’t quite manage to get past Verstappen. Ricciardo dropped to third, with Vettel and Bottas still in fourth and fifth.

    It took only five laps before the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was brought out, after Fernando Alonso pulled over having had his car damaged by some flying debris from Esteban Ocon at the start.

    Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

    Hamilton started losing time to Verstappen once the green flag was shown, allowing Ricciardo to close to within DRS range by lap eleven, although he wasn’t quite close enough to attempt an overtake.

    On lap twelve, Hamilton came in for his first pit stop along with Bottas just seconds after, and Ricciardo and Verstappen pitting on successive laps, all opting for the supersofts. On lap fifteen, Verstappen used his DRS to overtake Raikkonen, the winner of last week’s United States Grand Prix

    With Raikkonen’s tyres fading, he dropped into the clutches of Hamilton and Ricciardo, with the former pulling off an overtake in turns two and three.

    On lap eighteen both Vettel and Raikkonen finally made their pit stops, switching onto the supersofts and making Verstappen race leader once again, this time by a margin of eight seconds.

    A second Virtual Safety Car was brought out on lap 32, with Carlos Sainz having parked his Renault at the side of the track.  When the green flag was shown once more Vettel saw a chance to get past Ricciardo and, on lap 34, he  finally overtook the Australian and set about closing the gap to Hamilton. By lap 38 he was within a second, and the following lap he overtook his rival on the main straight.

    He now had a thirteen second gap to Verstappen he needed to close down, but more interesting was the fact that Hamilton was losing almost a second per lap to Ricciardo. The Brit would still become World Champion even if he got overtaken, but that wouldn’t be in style as he was now at risk of losing a podium place.

    2018 Mexican Grand Prix, Sunday – Wolfgang Wilhelm

    In an attempt to overtake Hamilton, Ricciardo tried the move on the main straight but Hamilton braked way too late and overshot the first corner, going across the grass. Unsurprisingly, he pitted at the end of the lap for a set of used ultrasofts.

    With 22 laps to go, both Vettel and Verstappen pitted. Vettel went to the ultrasofts, whilst Verstappen opted for a new set of supersofts. This promoted Ricciardo into second place but, with him being on older tyres, Vettel soon closed the gap again.

    On lap 62 Vettel’s job was made a lot easier when Ricciardo once again retired due to an engine problem. The Virtual Safety Car was called out for the third time, and Bottas took the opportunity to pit.

    After 71 laps it was an outstanding drive from Max Verstappen, who took the chequered flag and claimed his fifth win in F1. Following him home were the two Ferraris of Vettel and Raikkonen.

    Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

    Verstappen’s victory, however, was somewhat overshadowed by the fact that Lewis Hamilton finished in fourth place, which was enough for him to be crowned the 2018 Formula One World Champion. He gave the crowd a bit of a show by doing some doughnuts in the stadium section of the track. Even Will Smith left a radio message for him, and Vettel showed his sportsmanship by congratulating his rival.

    There are still two races left of the season to go. Sure, the tension of the championship is now over, but that doesn’t mean the upcoming races will be any less interesting. The Brazilian Grand Prix is up next, which always makes for a great race, especially as the weather gods always play their part there. But, for now, the party mode can be turned on at Mercedes.

     

     

    Featured image: 2018 Mexican Grand Prix, Sunday – Steve Etherington