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Category: Formula One

  • Hamilton fastest on busy end to first F1 test

    Hamilton fastest on busy end to first F1 test

    Lewis Hamilton set 2018’s fastest testing time yet on Thursday, as the first week in Barcelona ended with its busiest day so far.

    In total, 15 of this year’s 20 race drivers enjoyed track time at the Circuit de Catalunya on Thursday, with most teams opting to run both their drivers to make up for time lost during the week’s weather disruptions.

    Only Ferrari, Haas, Force India, Red Bull and Toro Rosso chose not to split their day’s running.

    Renault Sport F1 Team

    The final day of testing began with yet another damp track, but higher temperatures compared with previous days meant meaningful running was not an impossibility.

    When the track dried enough for slicks around midday, Valtteri Bottas and Nico Hülkenberg took the opportunity to trade times at the top of the leaderboard, until McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne beat them both with a 1:19.854s on the pink hypersoft tyre.

    Vandoorne’s time—one of only four to dip below 1:20s this week—was good enough to hold onto the top spot for most of the afternoon, until Hamilton went half a second quicker on mediums with an hour to go.

    Steven Tee/LAT Images/McLaren Media

    As well as finishing second-fastest on the strength of his hypersoft time, Vandoorne was also among Thursday’s busiest drivers, with 110 laps to his name.

    Only two drivers recorded more mileage than the Belgian. Sebastian Vettel, who was third-fastest behind Vandoorne, made it to 120 laps, while Pierre Gasly signed off a solid week for Toro Rosso and Honda with 147 laps.

    Kevin Magnussen also had a profitable day, despite not joining Gasly, Vettel and Vandoorne in triple figures. After finishing bottom of both the time and lap charts with his first taste of the Haas VF-18 on Tuesday, the Dane bounced back on Thursday by logging 96 laps and the fourth-fastest time.

    Glenn Dunbar/LAT Images/Haas F1 Media

    Fernando Alonso, taking over from Vandoorne for the final few hours of Thursday, added another 51 laps to his week’s total and snatched fifth by just 0.010s from compatriot Carlos Sainz. Lance Stroll was a few tenths slower in seventh.

    Sergio Pérez, driving Force India’s VJM11 for the first time, had a slow start to the session but eventually logged 65 laps and was classified eighth.

    He was ahead of Max Verstappen, who by contrast had another trying day behind the wheel of the RB14. Having chosen to sit out the wet morning running, the Dutchman lost further track time with a fuel leak and a spin into the gravel later on—as a result, Verstappen recorded the lowest number of laps of the day (35) and ended the day nearly three seconds off Hamilton’s pace.

    Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool

    Thursday’s longest runner Gasly was tenth-fastest ahead of early pacesetters Hülkenberg and Bottas. The two Saubers were the last of the representative runners, with Charles Leclerc heading Marcus Ericsson by a second thanks to the afternoon’s faster track, although with 59 laps to Ericsson’s 79.

    Lastly, Williams’ rookie Sergey Sirotkin spent another day at the bottom of the timesheets. The Russian handed over his FW41 to teammate Stroll in the afternoon and as such didn’t set a time on slicks, explaining his 12.646s gap to Hamilton at the front.

    F1 testing resumes at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya next week, running from Tuesday 6th until Friday 9th.

    Glenn Dunbar/LAT Images/Pirelli Media
  • Formula One liveries rated! – A welcome splash of colour

    Formula One liveries rated! – A welcome splash of colour

    One thing most F1 fans look out for when cars are launched is the livery. There’s been some iconic ones over the years, with Lotus’ JPS, McLaren’s Marlboro backed effort and Jordan’s minimalist green on their 191. Well here we rate the 2018 efforts!

    Mercedes – The Silver Arrows lead by example from the front. Their livery has been consistent ever since Mercedes returned as a works team in 2010. Silver with flashes of Petronas blue and green, it’s a tried and tested formula, and they’ll be keen to show that nothing’s changed for the Brackley based team. 7.5/10

    Steve Etherington/Mercedes AMG F1

    Ferrari – There’s some things you can rely on never changing, water is wet, grass is green, and Ferrari is red. They’ve done away with the white engine cover and gone for a fully scarlet car for this season. It harks back to around 10 years ago when they won their last championship, funny thing is Kimi Raikkonen is still there, never change, Ferrari. 9/10

    Ferrari Media

    Red Bull – Red Bull have a weird knack of unveiling stunning liveries which really shake things up, and then ditch them for their traditional blue, red and yellow finish. Their testing liveries are always stunning, and while their usual matte effort is a looker, the ‘blue digital camo’ from this season has everyone begging Red Bull to consider using it all season long. Please guys? 7/10

    Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool

    Force India – After a few years of silver and black, Force India, or the artist formerly known as Force India, has shirked its India name in recent years in its livery. The striking pink has stayed for this season, with some mixes of white in there too. It looks great, and it adds to the colourful selection on show this season. 8.5/10

    Sahara Force India F1 Team

    Williams – With the news of Martini pulling out of Formula One next season, it’s making us all appreciate what we have before it’s gone. It’s white with the iconic blue and red stripes, and in my opinion it’s about to join the Mansell Canon years and Rothmans blue in becoming a classic well remembered Williams livery. 7.5/10

    The Williams FW41. (Image Credit: Williams F1/LAT Images)

    Renault – Renault have always had a vivid livery, whether it’s the blue and yellow from ten years ago, or the vibrant yellow we have today. They join the likes of Force India, McLaren and Ferrari in delivering a dash of colour to the grid. It’s reminiscent of the late 1970’s when Rene Arnoux and Alain Prost were winning races for fun in the old turbo era. 8.5/10

    Renault Sport Formula One Team

    Toro Rosso – Toro Rosso are finally starting to emerge from Red Bull’s shadow, and are becoming more than just ‘a Red Bull junior team’. This is shown in their livery too, they dumped the red, blue and gold for an amazing red, silver and blue. While Red Bull can use this to promote some of their other range of products, Toro Rosso can really shine, and that they will, what a beauty! 9/10

    Haas – Haas have been looking for consistency in their first couple of years in Formula One, and if their liveries are anything to go by, then they’ve well and truly achieved it. The trusted red, black and white finish is stylish, and the subtle changes to the car are welcome. 8/10

    Steven Tee/LAT Images/Haas F1 Team

    McLaren – McLaren have a long and illustrious history, and their livery this season shows that. They’ve returned to the Papaya orange of the 1960’s and early 70’s. While many are claiming it looks like a Bic pen or a can of Irn Bru, the orange and blue finish looks beautiful, and will hopefully be seen towards the front again this season. 9.5/10

    Zak Mauger/LAT Images/Pirelli Media

    Alfa Romeo – The Sauber buyout has finally happened, and with it comes a new name, and a new livery. While Sauber remain, Alfa Romeo become the title name, and with it comes a red and white car with black stripes. The only issue is from the front profile it looks a little like the Williams, but that’s not a bad thing, imitation is the best form of flattery after all…the Hinwil team have never looked so good! 8/10

    Jerry Andre/LAT Images/Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team
  • Vettel lowers benchmark on second day of testing

    Vettel lowers benchmark on second day of testing

    Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel finished top of the timesheets on day two in Barcelona, setting the fastest lap of the test so far in a day of weather-limited running.

    The German’s best effort, a 1:19.673s set on soft tyres, was half a second faster than Daniel Ricciardo’s Monday benchmark, and made Vettel one of only two drivers to lap within the 1:19s on day two.

    The other was Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas. Having posted a best of 1:20.325s in the morning, the Finn was the early pacesetter until Vettel’s soft run knocked him from the top spot—but despite improving in the afternoon to join Vettel below the 1:20s barrier, Bottas remained 0.303s adrift by the close of day.

    Wolfgang Wilhelm/Mercedes AMG F1

    Outside of the top two, no other driver today posted lap times below Monday’s fastest, as near-freezing temperatures once again held back representative running.

    Stoffel Vandoorne was the third-fastest runner of the day, 0.652s off Vettel’s pace with a best lap of 1:20.325s. The Belgian’s time was the first of the test logged on Pirelli’s new pink-walled hypersoft tyre.

    Max Verstappen failed to post a time in the morning after being sidelined by a fuel leak, but improved in the afternoon to finish fourth, just 0.001s behind Vandoorne on the medium tyre.

    Next up, Carlos Sainz, Pierre Gasly and Williams third driver Robert Kubica all lapped within a few tenths of each other in the 1:21s. Kubica’s teammate Sergey Sirotkin and Force India’s Esteban Ocon were a little behind again, closely matched in the 1:21.8s.

    Monegasque rookie Charles Leclerc had a difficult first day driving the Sauber C37 with a spin in the afternoon and finishing more than three seconds off the pace, but was spared ending the day at the bottom of the timesheet at the expense of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen.

    Jerry Andre/LAT Images/Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team

    The cold weather also meant that no driver managed to surpass Ricciardo’s first day total of 105 laps, although Vettel and Bottas came closest with 98 and 94 laps respectively.

    Gasly held the next-highest total, putting in 82 laps in his STR13 to prove that Toro Rosso-Honda’s mileage yesterday was no fluke, while Leclerc made up for his early error with 81 laps to his name in the end.

    At the other end of the lap charts, McLaren suffered another low-mileage day with an exhaust issue keeping Vandoorne in the garage from midday onwards, unable to add to his tally of 37 laps.

    However, that was at least one more than Haas achieved across the day. With his programme interrupted by two off-track moments—one of which nearly ended in the barriers—Magnussen was prevented from making up for lost time when reports of snow at the end of the day brought running more or less to an end, and the Dane finished the day bottom of both the timesheet and the lap count.

    Steven Tee/LAT Images/Haas F1 Team
  • Ricciardo tops first 2018 test; Honda nears 100 laps

    Ricciardo tops first 2018 test; Honda nears 100 laps

    Daniel Ricciardo set the pace and topped the lap charts on the opening day of Barcelona testing, while Honda showed a remarkable improvement in reliability to log 93 laps with Toro Rosso.

    Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool

    This time last year, Honda ended the first day of testing firmly at the bottom of the lap charts, with then-partners McLaren achieving only 29 amid a spate of engine-related issues.

    But after a concentrated effort to improve reliability with its 2018-spec power unit, Honda more than tripled that amount on Monday, with Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley only missing out on a century of laps when rain interrupted running late in the afternoon.

    Renault Sport F1 Team

    Renault also look to have made strides with their reliability compared with last winter. The factory outfit achieved a total of 99 laps over the day, splitting running between Nico Hülkenberg (73 laps) in the morning and Carlos Sainz (26 laps) in the afternoon.

    The French marque’s combined total stood for a while as the most of any team, until Ricciardo edged his Renault-powered RB14 into triple figures with a few late runs in the wet before the chequered flag.

    McLaren ended the day some way off its fellow Renault customers with only 51 laps recorded, although this was due to a wheel tether issue which kept Fernando Alonso in the garage for much of the morning session.

    Zak Mauger/LAT Images/Pirelli Media

    As expected, the lap times from day one gave little away about the pecking order for 2018, as the general consensus among teams was for reliable rather than representative running.

    In addition, dropping track temperatures and a rain shower late in the afternoon session meant there were few real improvements in pace after lunch.

    Ricciardo’s benchmark 1:20.179s—over 1.5s slower than last year’s fastest overall testing time—established him as the quickest driver of the morning over Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas by just under two tenths.

    The Australian’s lap came as part of a last-minute flurry before lunch, in which Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen went fastest from Hülkenberg, before Bottas and then Ricciardo jumped them both in turn.

    Wolfgang Wilhelm/Mercedes AMG F1

    Alonso finished the day fifth-fastest and was the only driver to improve their position in the afternoon, rising from ninth on the timesheets as he made up for his morning delay.

    His compatriot Sainz ranked sixth ahead of defending champion Lewis Hamilton, who took over from Mercedes teammate Bottas after lunch. These two also ended Monday at the bottom of the lap count along with Williams’ Sergey Sirotkin—who was likewise sharing driver duties—as the worsening conditions prevented any of the afternoon drivers from completing more than 30 laps each.

    Hartley and Toro Rosso finished eight-fastest in the end after running as high as fifth before lunch. Behind him came Lance Stroll, Romain Grosjean and Marcus Ericsson.

    Force India development driver Nikita Mazepin sat out the whole of the afternoon session and remained twelfth, while Sirotkin’s weather-curtailed running meant the Russian rookie did not set a representative time.

    Sam Bloxham/LAT Images/Pirelli Media
  • Force India unveils VJM11 in Barcelona

    Force India unveils VJM11 in Barcelona

    Force India became one of the last teams to launch its challenger for the 2018 F1 season, pulling the covers off the VJM11 in the pitlane ahead of Barcelona testing.

    Sahara Force India F1 Team

    Overall, the VJM11 doesn’t deviate much from last year’s design, which netted the team fourth place in the 2017 Constructors’ Championship. The VJM10’s stepped nose section and elongated thumb-tip nose, unique on last year’s grid, have remained for 2018.

    The most striking visual difference between last year and this comes from the car’s livery—still built around the “pink panther” scheme of sponsor BWT, Force India has added to the VJM11 with sections of white on the nose, cockpit and rear wing.

    Sahara Force India F1 Team

    But although the VJM11 shows no drastic departures from last year’s philosophy, Force India’s technical director Andy Green said the addition of the Halo meant the team couldn’t simply carry over last year’s chassis as planned:

    “From an aerodynamic perspective, the work [on integrating the Halo] is still ongoing. It’s not designed to be an aerodynamic device. It doesn’t do us any favours in that department.”

    Green further explained that the Halo causes “a significant downstream effect, especially around the rear wing area.

    “It requires a lot of work to mitigate the issues that it causes. We’re still actively working on that, and I don’t think we’ll have a solution until Melbourne.”

    Sahara Force India F1 Team

    The Mercedes-powered VJM11 will have its track debut on Monday courtesy of Force India development driver Nikita Mazepin, before race drivers Esteban Ocon and Sergio Pérez take over for the rest of the week.

    The team’s new reserve driver Nicholas Latifi was scheduled to drive on the final day of the test, but has had to stand down after being hospitalised by a serious infection earlier in the week.

  • Toro Rosso Completes 2018 Grid With Official Pit-Lane Launch

    The 2018 F1 grid is now complete, with Scuderia Toro Rosso having unveiled their new car officially in the pit-lane of the Circuit de Catalunya on the morning of the first pre-season test.

    Although today was the official launch of the STR13, on 21st February the team released an image from a shakedown test at Misano in response to an unauthorised leak across social media, something that has dogged other teams’ launches over the last week.

    The main talking point with the 2018 launches has, of course, been the halo, and Toro Rosso have opted to include extra aerodynamic detailing on theirs, as have most of the other teams on the grid.

    The car sports largely the same livery as its predecessor, though with the addition of a red-stripe across the top of the sidepods, a chrome-effect red, blue and silver that proved to be popular with the fans last year, and again this year. already.

    The STR13 is Toro Rosso’s first design to be powered by Honda, having switched from previous supplier Renault after a series of disagreements over the course of 2017. Toro Rosso will be Honda’s sole customer in 2018 after their deal with McLaren, which was supposed to last for at least ten years, collapsed after just three.

    Their driver line-up for 2018 is comprised of New Zealander Brendon Hartley and Frenchman Pierre Gasly, the least experienced pairing on the grid with not even ten Grand Prix starts between them. It follows the roundabout of drivers that Toro Rosso went through in 2017. They started the year with Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat, before the former defected to Renault and the latter was unceremoniously dumped from the Red Bull programme. After a series of chops and changes, Toro Rosso settled for Hartley and Gasly as their replacements, and they were ultimately retained for 2018.

    The STR13’s Honda engine was fired up for the first time on Valentine’s Day, so Toro Rosso will definitely be hoping for a long and happy marriage in 2018 and beyond, and not a messy and very public divorce.

  • Mercedes W09 unveiled at Silverstone

    Mercedes W09 unveiled at Silverstone

    Mercedes has revealed the W09 EQ Power+, the team’s new car for the 2018 F1 season, at a special launch event at Silverstone.

    The new Silver Arrow carried out its first series of laps on Thursday morning with Valtteri Bottas at the wheel, before being given an official presentation later in the day. Defending world champion Lewis Hamilton then took to the track for his first taste of the car he hopes will take him to a fifth drivers’ crown this year.

    Steve Etherington/Mercedes AMG F1

    Like most of its rivals for this season, the W09 isn’t much of a departure from last year’s model. It has retained the same ultra-long wheelbase that helped the W08 to dominance at 2017’s high-speed circuits, and also sports a conventionally-rounded nose cap—as yet, the only such design on this year’s grid.

    However, the W09 also features plenty of less obvious refinements meant to address its predecessor’s peaky performance.

    As well as an increase in rake similar to the Red Bull philosophy, the W09 also features an all-new suspension design, and what Hamilton described as “a different aerodynamic characteristic” for the floor, both aimed at improving the car’s ride.

    Steve Etherington/Mercedes AMG F1

    Speaking of the new car, Mercedes technical director James Allison said: “Across the board, [the W09] is more elegant than last year.

    “Last year’s regulations were brand new and we weren’t quite sure which direction they would take us in.

    “This year, being a little more confident of what we’re aiming for, we’ve been able to commit more fully to certain concepts. So we have the packaging much tighter and have taken things to more of an extreme.”

    Steve Etherington/Mercedes AMG F1
  • McLaren planning “substantial” early updates to launch-spec car

    McLaren planning “substantial” early updates to launch-spec car

    McLaren is pushing to introduce a “substantial” upgrade package for the MCL33’s race debut in Melbourne, although the initial design to be revealed this week will not differ much from last year’s challenger.

    As seems to be the trend for 2018, McLaren has hinted that the launch and test specification for its new chassis will be more of a close evolution than a radical departure from last year’s MCL32, allowing the team to focus on the aerodynamic impact of the Halo and new engine cover regulations in early testing.

    But once those initial assessments are complete, the team’s testing programme will turn towards evaluating a raft of new parts specifically for March’s Australian Grand Prix.

    Glenn Dunbar/McLaren

    McLaren’s aero chief Peter Prodromou told Autosport that fans “can expect something quite similar conceptually” to the MCL32 at Friday’s team launch and during testing:

    “We very much hope and expect that the car will feel from the off quite similar to how it felt at the end of last year and perform quite similarly,” Prodromou explained. “Hopefully we’ve taken a step forwards and then we will try to do something a bit more substantial for Melbourne.

    “That is where the major focus has been and still is—to try to deliver a decent upgrade both aerodynamically and mechanically and to put our best foot forward for Melbourne.”

  • Haas juniors Maini and Ferrucci form Trident F2 lineup

    Haas juniors Maini and Ferrucci form Trident F2 lineup

    Trident Motorsport will field an all-Haas junior F2 lineup in 2018, with Arjun Maini graduating from GP3 to partner Santino Ferrucci.

    Zak Mauger/FIA Formula 2

    Maini finished ninth in the standings in his first full GP3 campaign last year, taking his first series win at the sprint race in Spain and a further podium in Abu Dhabi. He was signed to the Haas F1 junior ranks as the team’s test and development driver in May 2017.

    At F2’s post-season test in Abu Dhabi, Maini drove for both Trident and Russian Time.

    “I’m very excited to be competing in the FIA Formula 2 championship,” Maini said. “I felt we were very competitive during the post-season test and given the series is using all-new cars for the coming season, I’m quite excited for the year ahead.

    “Trident is a very strong team and I’m sure if we work hard we’ll be in for some strong results during the course of the season.”

    Zak Mauger/FIA Formula 2

    Maini’s new teammate Ferrucci will be contesting his first full F2 season in 2018. The 19-year-old American joined Trident for the final five races of 2017 after a mid-season move up from GP3, and scored points at Hungary and Spa.

    Trident team owner Maurizio Salvadori praised Ferrucci and Maini as “two undoubtably valuable prospects who have all that it takes to be among the future stars of motorsports for the years to come.

    “It is certainly not by chance that [Haas F1] selected them to join their junior development programme.”

  • To The Max – Red Bull’s Max Verstappen On F1 2017 & Battling Lewis Hamilton | Mobil 1 The Grid

    To The Max – Red Bull’s Max Verstappen On F1 2017 & Battling Lewis Hamilton | Mobil 1 The Grid

    Check out the newest video from Mobil 1 The Grid in which Max Verstappen reviews his 2017 season, as he looks ahead to the challenge of battling Lewis Hamilton for the title.

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