[PICTURES] F1 2018 Discussion Thread

[MenInG]

The opening race weekend of Formula 1 2018 delivered controversy, a horrible couple of moments for the Haas pit crew, encouragement for McLaren, a fine drive from Daniel Ricciardo and a Ferrari win.

It was enough to sate our racing hunger for the moment. Let us hope that the race pace of the top three narrows and there are genuinely six drivers in with a shout of victory every Sunday when the lights go out.

In Bahrain, the opening act of the drama off the track is expected to begin with a bang. Liberty Media are ready to deliver their vision for 2021 and beyond to the teams - possibly with a take it or leave it edict. The stakes are high and lines have already been drawn in the sand but can a solution with universal approval be found with such varying agendas at play?

It's going to be fascinating to watch this weekend.

Liberty chairman Chase Carey joined us on Sky F1 during Sunday's build up in Australia and was candid about what the owners want: in a nutshell, more competitive racing. On this, they are aligned with the fans.

"We're excited about where we can take this sport to," Carey told me. "I think there is a broad consensus.

"There's always going to be differences in the specifics. We've got a great sport, great history, great future, great stars, great teams, and in every sport we've got to continue to find ways to make it better.

"We're excited for that opportunity and looking forward to engaging with the teams."

Martin Brundle has described the next six months as the "most important in F1 history" and Liberty's objective this week will be to present a proposal that will benefit all the teams, increase interest in the sport and show everybody they can grow the pie so that everybody can take a greater slice.

The challenge, however, will be to ally that aspiration with the fundamentals of competition. To the teams, winning is everything so why would any of them want to give up a competitive advantage? The 'haves' don't particularly want to yield to standardised parts and cost capping because the success of their brands depends on the perception of their quality and that perception is reinforced by victory.

Formula 1 fans all over the world are yearning for Ross Brawn and his team to have come up with a workable plan for 2021 and most paddock observers are of the opinion that if anyone can, Ross can.

Jean Todt is in his last term as president of the FIA. As another former Ferrari team principal what a fine legacy it would be for both men if they could broker the right deal and keep all the teams onside.

It will take any potential new entrants a couple of years to get their teams in place and ready for the new era. The time is therefore nigh. There is a storm brewing bigger than most before.

In 2014, Bahrain produced one of the best races I've seen. There were countless overtakes under the lights. It was breathless from start to finish. If round two is to be the start of the war of words off the track then let's hope its offset by drama on it.

http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/24...-2018-will-the-bahrain-gp-deliver-with-a-bang

 

[sshakir411]

The Halo is really sticking out like a sore thumb. If it keeps the drivers safe then it's fine but I don't know if it's the right way for the sport. Mercedes looks too strong this year but it's still early days. Lot of talk around the paddock about Ricciardo replacing Kimi but I don't think Ferrari will make such a move if Kimi can consistently be in the top 4 or 5. ESPN's coverage is pretty decent too...much better than the boring NBCSN.

 

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Gearbox change for <a href="https://twitter.com/LewisHamilton?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LewisHamilton</a> - 5 place Grid penalty as he did finish the race in Australia. Bottas changed his before the race so no penalty for him. <a href="https://t.co/w1EPFdc5rD">pic.twitter.com/w1EPFdc5rD</a></p>— Rachel Brookes (@RachelBrookesTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/RachelBrookesTV/status/982348163871854592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2018</a></blockquote>
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[hadi123]

Sebastian Vettel will head an all-Ferrari front row at the Bahrain Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton will start ninth after a grid penalty.

Hamilton qualified fourth behind Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen and his team-mate Valtteri Bottas but has a five-pace drop for an unauthorised gearbox change.

The star of qualifying was arguably Pierre Gasly in the Toro Rosso, who qualified sixth behind Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo.

Gasly's performance was embarrassing for McLaren, who are down in 13th and 14th.

Ferrari have looked to have an edge on Mercedes all weekend, Hamilton and Bottas battling inconsistent handling on the stop-start Sakhir circuit in the desert south of the Bahraini capital Manama.

Mercedes got closer in qualifying than they looked like they might at one point but Vettel was still 0.166 seconds quicker than the fastest Mercedes of Bottas.

Raikkonen had looked to be faster than Vettel until qualifying but the four-time champion pulled it out when it mattered.

A mistake at the last corner on his first run in the top 10 shoot-out left Vettel second but a blistering final lap gave him pole ahead of Raikkonen by 0.143secs.

"It was quite intense," Vettel said. "First run in Q3 I was very happy and then I tossed it away last corner. Really happy I got the second run and got it clean. The car was excellent all weekend so far."

Hamilton knew before coming to Bahrain that he would have a grid penalty and that his job in qualifying was to minimise the damage to his hopes in the race.

But he could only manage fourth, failing to improve his time on his final lap and leapfrogged by Bottas.

From ninth on the grid, he faces a long, hard race trying to get on to the podium.

But he has been helped by a mistake by Max Verstappen, who crashed his Red Bull in first qualifying and will start 15th. That is one less fast car in Hamilton's way as he attempts to make ground.

"The Ferrari was quicker today," said Bottas. "We made some good progress through the weekend. We tried some things that didn't work which is why the gap was sometimes bigger. The set-up was right. Hopefully Lewis can come through the field."

Gasly was just 1.371secs off pole in the Toro Rosso, a spectacular performance from the Frenchman, who is in his first full season in F1 after being drafted in towards the end of last season.

He headed Renault's Nico Hulkenberg, separated from his team-mate Carlos Sainz in 10th by Force India's Esteban Ocon. Gasly's team-mate Brendon Hartley qualified 11th.

That put both Toro Rosso ahead of both McLarens, an embarrassing result for the team at the home race of their main shareholders the Bahraini royal family.

McLaren ditched the Honda engine the end of last season claiming it was holding them back, which leaves the team facing awkward questions about the quality of their car.

Alonso's team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne was 14th, 0.313secs off the Spaniard's pace.

Williams are in even more trouble - Sergey Sirotkin and Lance Stroll were 18th and 20th respectively, a poor result for a once-great team that finished third in the championship as recently as 2015.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/43676388

 

[MenInG]

Pictures from Bahrain Grand Prix

 

[MenInG]

Lap 36 of 57: Raikkonen collides with mechanic after botched pit-stop; Vettel leading the race; Bottas and long-running Hamilton put on mediums; Merc set to one stop, Ferrari two-stopping; Both Red Bulls out of the race; WATCH: Verstappen punctured in collision with Hamilton;

http://www.skysports.com/f1/live-blog


Seems even F1 drivers driving like the locals

 

[MenInG]

Lap 36 of 57: Raikkonen collides with mechanic after botched pit-stop; Vettel leading the race; Bottas and long-running Hamilton put on mediums; Merc set to one stop, Ferrari two-stopping; Both Red Bulls out of the race; WATCH: Verstappen punctured in collision with Hamilton;

http://www.skysports.com/f1/live-blog


Seems even F1 drivers driving like the locals

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Kimi Raikkonen ran over one of his crew members leaving the pits. It’s kinda gnarly, so click at your own risk. <a href="https://t.co/3rqFSPgN4Y">pic.twitter.com/3rqFSPgN4Y</a></p>— Nick Bromberg (@NickBromberg) <a href="https://twitter.com/NickBromberg/status/983015092647288832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 8, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[hadi123]

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel drove a masterful race to fend off Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas to win a nail-biting Bahrain Grand Prix.

Vettel hung on ahead of the charging Mercedes on the final lap to take his second win in two races this season and one of the best of his illustrious career.

In a dramatic, strategic and unpredictable race, a Ferrari mechanic appears to have been injured after being run over by Vettel's team-mate Kimi Raikkonen at a pit stop.

And Lewis Hamilton recovered to third place after starting ninth, including one stunning moment when he passed three cars in effectively one move early in the race.

Vettel whooped in delight after crossing the line, his glee at winning a race he arguably should have lost clear.

"These tyres were done, done, in the last 10 laps," Vettel told his team over the radio.

Bottas had closed five seconds in five laps and was right on Vettel's tail as they entered the final lap - but a half-hearted move into the first corner was not enough and Vettel was able to hang on.

The German looked in total control of the race in the opening laps as he led away from pole position, after Bottas passed Raikkonen into the first corner.

But Mercedes employed clever thinking to force Ferrari into an agonising choice between hanging on with fading, fragile tyres or sacrificing the lead for a stop for fresher rubber and attacking.

Mercedes appeared to be readying to pit Bottas, but changed their minds when Vettel made his pit stop ahead of them on lap 18, with 39 to go, the Ferrari fitting soft tyres.

Bottas stayed out for two more laps and changed to mediums.

Ferrari were now under pressure, with Bottas clearly going to the end on those tyres, and in a quandary.

They chose to stay out, going for track position rather than risk and aggression and it paid off thanks to Vettel's ability to manage the tyres while also keep a strong pace.

As the strategies played out, Mercedes initially assumed Vettel would pit and were telling Hamilton, now into third place after Raikkonen's problem, that the German would come out behind him.

Radio exchanges became fraught as Mercedes and Hamilton discussed the scenarios with a crackling signal.

In the end, Hamilton's pace became moot as Vettel hung on to set up what promises to be a great season.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/43683493

 

[hadi123]

Ferrari mechanic Francesco Cigorini suffered a broken leg when he was run over by Kimi Raikkonen during a pit stop in the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Ferrari's pit system showed a green light to Raikkonen, indicating he could exit the pits, despite mechanics not having changed his left rear wheel.

Cigorini suffered a fracture of the tibia and fibula in his left leg and was taken to hospital.

Ferrari have been fined 50,000 euros by race officials for an unsafe release.

The incident forced Raikkonen's retirement from third place because it is forbidden to return to the track with tyres of different compounds on the car.

Ferrari have declined to say what went wrong to cause their pit system to trigger the green light until governing body the FIA has completed its investigation into the incident.

The team will want to know what caused the normal fail-safes that all teams have built into their procedures to be overridden in the circumstances of the stop.

Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel won the race to take a 17-point championship lead over Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton but said the incident had left "mixed feelings".

"If one guy is getting injured, it is bad for us," he said, after briefly delaying his mandatory television interviews to ask the team about Cigorini's condition, for which he had to ask for permission from a representative of F1 management.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/43693181

 

[MenInG]

Daniel Ricciardo won the Chinese GP after a spectacular charge in an epic race packed with controversy and overtakes galore.

Ricciardo surged from sixth to first in the space of 10 laps after Red Bull opportunistically pitted for fresh tyres behind a Safety Car.

Sebastian Vettel was relegated to just eighth after a collision with Max Verstappen. The Red Bull driver was hit with a 10-second time penalty by the race stewards, promoting Lewis Hamilton to fourth and within nine points of championship leader Vettel.

Ricciardo sealed victory with an inches-to-spare pass on Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas in the closing stages.

The Finn then had to hold off compatriot Kimi Raikkonen for second place while Vettel ran off track as he was out-muscled by McLaren's Fernando Alonso.

A race which had been slow-burning into a fascinating battle between Vettel and Bottas for victory was transformed into a barnstorming classic after a collision between the two Toro Rossos of Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley triggered a Safety Car.

At that stage, Bottas held a narrow lead over Vettel after undercutting the pole-sitting Ferrari at the first round of pit-stops.

But quick thinking by the Red Bull team suddenly upgraded their drivers into victory contenders as Verstappen and Ricciardo used the Safety Car window to take an opportunistic stop for fresh rubber while the Ferraris and Mercedes stayed out.

Verstappen had already been off track during an attempted move on Hamilton, successfully completed five laps later, before he tangled with Vettel as he fought for third.

Ricciardo had already surged past Hamilton and Vettel into second while Raikkonen, a distant sixth at the halfway stage after being kept on a prolonged first stop by Ferrari seemingly in an attempted bid to slow down Bottas, rounded Hamilton as the world champion took avoiding action of the spinning Verstappen and Ferrari.

Ricciardo's winning move was typically daring, the Red Bull driver outbraking Bottas to seal what was surely the most memorable of his six victories in F1.

While it was all smiles from Ricciardo in the post-race press conference, the glum faces of Bottas and Raikkonen couldn't have been more contrasting.

Bottas felt he had the victory in his grasp prior to the Safety Car and Raikkonen's plunge to sixth after the first round of stops will prompt further awkward questions about his position in the team.

Hamilton: That was a disaster

Hamilton was equally downbeat, out-qualified by Bottas on Saturday and out-raced by his team-mate a day later.

"We have a tough battle ahead of us," Hamilton admitted to Sky Sports F1. "We've been underperforming and yesterday and today have been a disaster on my side. I need to try and rectify that and get myself back into normal performance back or otherwise more valuable points will be lost.

"I'm thankful for a couple of incidents that happened ahead kept us in the battle."


Vettel spoke privately to Verstappen immediately after the race and was circumspect in his public criticism of the Dutchman.

"He's not young anymore," the four-time world champion told Sky F1. "But this can happen when you have done 300 races. Inside the car judgements are very difficult to make. But you have to ultimately have these things in mind and make sure you don't crash. We were both lucky."

Ultimately, the Ferrari driver was unfortunate to leave Shanghai with his championship lead trimmed rather than extended. But it's Hamilton and Mercedes who will travel to Baku, F1's next stop in two weeks' time, with the most to worry about.


How Ricciardo took victory
Lap 30: The Safety Car is deployed after a collision between the two Toro Rossos leaves debris strewn across the track. Only Red Bull among the frontrunners pit as Verstappen and Ricciardo put on softs.

Lap 35: The full race resumes. Bottas keeps the lead from Vettel and Hamilton but the Red Bulls are poised to attack on fresh tyres.

Lap 37: Ricciardo overtakes Raikkonen with a late move into the hairpin for fifth. Vettel, Hamilton and Verstappen are split by just over one second.

Lap 39: Verstappen runs wide as he tries to pass Hamilton but comes back on track ahead of Raikkonen.

Lap 40: Ricciardo out-brakes Hamilton into the chicane for third place.

Lap 41: Verstappen follows Ricciardo in passing Hamilton as he returns to fourth place

Lap 42: Ricciardo charges past Vettel as Hamilton criticises Mercedes' tyre strategy over team radio.

Lap 43: Verstappen and Vettel collide. Raikkonen overtakes Hamilton as the Mercedes takes evasive action to avoid the spinning Ferrari and Red Bull cars.

Lap 45: Ricciardo sneaks past Bottas for the lead of the race. The Red Bull has charged from sixth to first in ten laps.

Lap 47: Race stewards find Verstappen guilty of causing the collision with Vettel. A ten-second penalty will be applied to the Red Bull's race time.

Lap 48: Verstappen passes Hamilton for the second time in seven laps.

Lap 53: Raikkonen catches Bottas with Verstappen just behind.

Lap 55: Fernando Alonso passes Vettel for seventh position. Vettel accuses Alonso of intentionally driving him off track.

Lap 56: Ricciardo crosses the line for victory. Bottas holds on for second ahead of Raikkonen. Hamilton crosses the line within ten seconds of Verstappen to take fourth. Vettel maintains eighth place just in front of Sainz.

Chinese GP race result
Driver Team Time
1) Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull
2) Valtteri Bottas Mercedes +8.894
3) Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari +9.637
4) Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +16.985
5) Max Verstappen Red Bull +20.436
6) Nico Hulkenberg Renault +21.052
7) Fernando Alonso McLaren +30.639
8) Sebastian Vettel Ferrari +35.286
9) Carlos Sainz Renault +35.763
10) Kevin Magnussen Haas +39.594
11) Esteban Ocon Force India + 44.050
12) Sergio Perez Force India + 44.725
13) Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren + 49.373
14) Lance Stroll Williams + 55.490
15) Sergey Sirotkin Williams + 58.241
16) Marcus Ericsson Sauber + 62.604
17) Romain Grosjean Haas + 65.296
18) Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso + 66.330
19) Charles Leclerc Sauber +82.575
20) Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso Retired

http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12...r-max-verstappen-and-sebastian-vettel-collide

 

[Kroll]

Lewis Hamilton wins Azerbaijan Grand Prix after Red Bulls crash

Lewis Hamilton was handed victory in a madcap finish to a chaotic, incident-strewn Azerbaijan Grand Prix during which both Red Bulls sensationally collided with each other.

Hamilton's team-mate Valtteri Bottas was on course to win after Mercedes took advantage of a late safety car to jump long-time leader Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari.

But, after Vettel had thrown away second place with a mistake at the restart, Bottas suffered a puncture on the next lap.
The late safety car had been triggered by a crash between the two Red Bulls, when Daniel Ricciardo slammed into the back of team-mate Max Verstappen while trying to pass into the first corner.

There will be recriminations at Red Bull, whose drivers had appeared on the edge of a crash for much of the race as Ricciardo fought to pass Verstappen and the Dutchman defended right on the edge of acceptability, and some might say beyond.

Red Bull are well known for employing two drivers who fight fiercely on track, but there has not been a coming together of this magnitude since Vettel and Mark Webber ended each other's race during the Turkish Grand Prix in 2010.

But although their incident - for which they both received a reprimand from race stewards - will generate headlines they had a bit part in a race that for so long Vettel looked to have in a headlock.
His two rivals out of the way, Hamilton was given victory and the championship lead on a plate after looking set to finish third.

The German led from pole and, after a safety car was triggered by several first-lap crashes, built a three-second lead on the first racing lap.

Hamilton could not quite stay with Vettel and his hopes appeared to be over when he locked his wheels going into Turn One on lap 22.

That forced him to stop for fresh tyres and demoted him to third place, and now there was a cat-and-mouse game between Vettel and Bottas.

Vettel and Ferrari stuck it out with a conventional strategy, stopping on lap 28 for soft tyres, while Mercedes left Bottas out hoping for a safety-car period.

It came, thanks to the Red Bulls, as Ricciardo cannoned into the back of Verstappen.

As a stop under the safety car costs less time than one in racing conditions, Bottas was able to emerge in the lead.

The question of whether he could hold off Vettel in what appeared to be a faster car became academic when the German lunged for the inside at the restart with four laps left and ran wide, letting Hamilton and the second Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen through. Force India's Sergio Perez moved past into third soon afterwards.

Bottas then seemed set for the win, but ran over debris on the next lap and suffered a major tyre failure as he passed the pits with three laps to go.

Hamilton, who took his first win since last October's US Grand Prix and a four-point championship lead over Vettel, was disbelieving afterwards.

"Really quite an emotional race," he said. "Valtteri did such an exceptional job and really deserved the win. I was very fortunate. It feels a bit odd, but I've got to take it."

The Red Bulls were expected to contend for victory but, instead, in the opening laps found themselves under pressure from the Renaults of Carlos Sainz and Nico Hulkenberg, who were on softer tyres.

Verstappen's passing move on Ricciardo at Turn Two at the first restart on lap six let Sainz past the Australian and the Spaniard was soon past the Dutchman, too.

After Hulkenberg took himself out of the reckoning by hitting the wall in his second unforced error in Baku in two races, the Red Bulls set to it.

Ricciardo was obviously faster, and tried several times to pass Verstappen, the edgiest moment when the Dutchman nudged his team-mate to the wall in Turn One as Ricciardo tried to pass around the outside on lap 12.

Ricciardo settled back for a while but then attacked again on 35, this time succeeding in his outside move at Turn One.

But, when they pitted two laps apart on laps 38 and 39, Ricciardo somehow lost out despite stopping first, which should give an advantage.

Next time around, Ricciardo sought to make amends. He dummied to the outside, Verstappen defended and then defended again to the inside, and Ricciardo locked his brakes and smashed into the back of his team-mate, the pair spinning into the run-off area.

The incident will cause controversy - and while Ricciardo undoubtedly misjudged it, there will be those who feel Verstappen paid the price for moving too many times in the braking zone, something he has made a controversial trademark since his debut.

Mercedes non-executive director Niki Lauda sided with Ricciardo, saying the incident was "70% Verstappen's fault because he moved too many times".

There may also be an argument the team should have intervened earlier, knowing the intensity of the drivers' personal battle, and given Ricciardo was clearly the quicker driver on this day.

There was even drama during the final safety-car period, when Haas driver Romain Grosjean spun out of seventh place while trying to warm his tyres.

Hamilton criticised race director Charlie Whiting for not stopping the race, rather than sending out a flat-bed truck to recover Grosjean's car.

That decision would also have provided more racing laps at the end.

Vettel, after his error at the final restart, survived to finish fourth, ahead of Sainz, a stellar performance by rookie Charles Leclerc in the Sauber and McLaren's Fernando Alonso, seventh despite suffering two punctures and floor damage when caught in a first-lap incident with Hulkenberg and Williams' Sergey Sirotkin.

Sirotkin was later handed a three-place grid penalty at the next race for triggering the incident.

F1 returns to Europe in two weeks' time for the Spanish Grand Prix, where everyone will have updates to their cars and Mercedes will be seeking to overturn Ferrari's obvious pace advantage.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/43941986

 

[DeadBall]

Vettel wins in Canada to seize championship lead

Ferrari haven’t won in Montreal since 2004, while Lewis Hamilton has made Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve his own during his F1 career. But Sebastian Vettel ripped up the form book with a dominant victory in the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday to snatch the lead in the 2018 driver standings.

The German was mighty in qualifying on Saturday and didn’t put a foot wrong come race day, crossing the line 5.7 seconds clear of Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen completing the podium, followed home by team mate Daniel Ricciardo and the second Mercedes of Hamilton.

Vettel, whose Ferrari team brought an engine update to Montreal, had a slow start to the weekend but finally found his rhythm in qualifying and the result was a stunning pole position. That form then carried into Sunday as he led the field away from pole position at the race start.

Bottas fought off the fast-starting Verstappen to retain second, moments before the race was neutralised when Toro Rosso's Brendon Hartley and Williams' Lance Stroll collided spectacularly. Stroll felt he had a puncture, lost control of his car momentarily and that speared him into Hartley, squeezing the Kiwi up against the barrier.

Both retired on the spot, sparking a Safety Car period. At the restart, Vettel had no trouble keeping Bottas and the hypersoft-tyred Verstappen at bay and promptly proceeded to pull out a gap. His title rival Hamilton wasn’t having so much luck. The reigning world champion reported a problem with power.

Mercedes responded by pitting him early, despite the Briton starting on the more durable ultrasoft tyres, so they could apply a fix to what transpired to be a problem with cooling. It seemed to do the trick, but that put Hamilton at a strategic disadvantage and he dropped a place to fifth behind Ricciardo after the Australian made his stop.

Vettel, Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen ran very deep into the race. That worked out nicely for Vettel and Bottas, as they retained the top two positions, but Raikkonen wasn’t so lucky and dropped back to sixth for Ferrari. At one point, it looked like we might have had a battle for the lead as Bottas cut the deficit to Vettel.

But the Finn ran wide exiting Turn 1 and his challenge evaporated. His focus then switched to defending to the fast-finishing Verstappen. Meanwhile, Hamilton attacked Ricciardo until the chequered flag, but he didn’t deal with traffic as well as Ricciardo and ultimately had to settle for fifth.

Nico Hulkenberg was the best of the rest, as he has so often been this season, in seventh, a fraction ahead of Renault team mate Carlos Sainz, who survived contact with Force India's Sergio Perez on the rundown to Turn 1.

Perez's team mate Esteban Ocon scored points for only the third time this season in ninth, while Charles Leclerc scored the final point – his third points-finish in four races - for Sauber.

Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly delivered a strong recovery drive to 11th, having started 19th following a grid penalty for an engine change, with Romain Grosjean 12th, beating his Haas team mate Kevin Magnussen despite starting dead last.

There wasn’t a happy end to Fernando Alonso’s 300th Grand Prix weekend. The double world champion had fought his way into the points after a poor qualifying, but was instructed to retire his McLaren when the team identified an exhaust problem. Team mate Stoffel Vandoorne didn’t fare much better as he ended up 16th.

Williams may have had something to smile about when they won F1’s Raft Race on Saturday evening, but fortunes reverted to 2018-type on Sunday, as local favourite Stroll retired on lap one and Sergey Sirotkin was the last of the classified runners.

At the other end of the spectrum, Ferrari regained the momentum in the championship battle, with Vettel turning a 14-point deficit to Hamilton into a one-point lead, while Ferrari closed the gap to leaders Mercedes to 17 points heading to the next race in France.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/...ins-in-canada-to-seize-championship-lead.html

 

[MenInG]

Its Hamilton in Pole again!

Brazil F1

 

[MenInG]

Lewis Hamilton took a lucky win in the Brazilian Grand Prix after Red Bull's Max Verstappen lost the lead in a collision with backmarker Esteban Ocon.

Verstappen was on course for a superb win when Force India's Ocon left his car on the inside of the Red Bull at the Senna S and pitched it into a spin.

The incident dropped the Dutchman back to second place and although he came back at Hamilton, he could not quite catch him.

Verstappen remonstrated with Ocon in the driver weighing area afterwards and pushed the Frenchman three times as he expressed his anger at what had happened.

Both drivers were called to see the race stewards to explain the incident, with Verstappen ordered to carry out "two days of public service" to atone for "making deliberate physical contact with" Ocon.

The punishment has echoes of that served by Sebastian Vettel after his collision with Hamilton at the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Vettel ended up taking part in educational activities organised by the FIA, Formula 1's governing body.

Hamilton's win helped Mercedes secure the constructors' championship.

They never looked like losing that as Ferrari's challenge faded but the race win was another matter.

Verstappen had driven superbly from the start, and was quickly up into second place by lap 10 after passing both Ferraris and then Valtteri Bottas' Mercedes in succession, holding Hamilton's advantage at about 1.7 seconds.

Hamilton made an early stop for tyres on lap 19, switching on to mediums with the aim of going to the end, but Verstappen stayed out until lap 35.

His pace was so impressive on used super-softs that he almost did enough to rejoin without losing the lead.

In the end, he came back out 2.5secs behind Hamilton, and was on his tail within two laps and passed the Briton on lap 39.

Max Verstappen
"He [Ocon] was such an idiot he gets taken out while he's being lapped." Say how you really feel, Max...
He looked on course for victory until lap 44, when Ocon, who had not long ago pitted for fresh tyres, caught the Red Bull and was trying to unlap himself.

Ocon went around the outside of Verstappen into Turn One and that meant he was on the inside for the right-hander of Turn Two that follows immediately.

Verstappen's right rear caught Ocon's left front as he turned into the corner, pitching into a spin and into the run-off area.

The Dutchman was furious. "What an idiot," he fumed over the radio.

Ocon claimed Verstappen had not left him enough space, but he was handed a 10-second stop-go penalty, the most severe punishment before a disqualification.

"I came out of the box, the first lap I stayed behind, the second lap the team said you can unlap yourself if you want," Ocon said.

"I was side by side and I couldn't disappear and then I saw he turned and we collided but what I am really surprised about is his behaviour after the race. We went on the scales he started to push me and wanted to punch me and stuff and this is not proper."

Verstappen was 5.7secs behind Hamilton when he got going again and he soon began to inch back towards the leader.

The car was damaged and Red Bull told him that he had lost some downforce around the front of the side-pod area but he kept coming at Hamilton regardless.

Meanwhile, Hamilton was battling problems with his power-unit, which was having drop-outs, as well as worn tyres, Mercedes asking 52 laps of his set of mediums, about their maximum limit.

Verstappen closed but he did not have enough time and crossed the line 1.5secs behind.

His engineer said: "I don't know what to say, mate." And the Dutchman turned the air blue over the radio, saying: "I know what to say. I hope I don't find him in the paddock."

In the green room before the podium ceremony, Hamilton told Verstappen that Ocon had the right to unlap himself. Verstappen agreed, but added: "But you can't crash." Hamilton responded: "You had more to lose than he did. He had nothing to lose."

Later, Verstappen told the media: "He has the right to unlap himself but still you have to be careful. He has always been an idiot."

In his post-race interview, he said: "You do everything right and then you get taken out when he is being lapped.

"The car was working great but I don't know what to say. I'm happy with second but we should have won."

Mercedes believed Hamiton's engine was a lap from failing mid-race because of an overheating exhaust but they managed to bring the temperatures down and make it last to the end.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen finished third, the red cars unable to challenge for the lead despite what had been perceived as an advantageous strategy.

Raikkonen tracked Bottas in the first stint as the Mercedes hit tyre problems but was unable to pass before Bottas stopped on lap 18.

A longer first stint gave Raikkonen a tyre advantage in the second stint, he caught team-mate Vettel, who was ordered to let him past, but again Raikkonen became stuck behind Bottas.

Eventually, after 10 laps, Raikkonen finally got past, and then Bottas came under pressure from Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo before Mercedes ordered him in for a second stop on lap 59, with 12 to go.

Ricciardo took fourth, ahead of Bottas, with Vettel, who also made a second stop, a struggling sixth.

The curtain comes down on the season in Abu Dhabi in two weeks' time. After wins for three different drivers from three different teams in the past three races, who knows what will happen?

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/46173103

 

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Abu Dhabi F1 practice day started - race happens on Sunday.

Can Hamilton win again?

 

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Max Verstappen led a Red Bull one-two in first practice at the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The Dutchman, F1's form man in the season's closing stages, was 0.454 seconds quicker than Daniel Ricciardo in his last race for the team.

Mercedes drivers Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton were third and fourth but using harder tyres than Red Bull.

Ferrari, spending time testing parts for 2019, were seventh and eighth: Kimi Raikkonen ahead of Sebastian Vettel.

The Red Bull drivers were the only ones in leading teams to run a second set of the fastest hyper-soft tyres, which are fast for one lap but quickly lose grip on a longer run.

Mercedes and Ferrari both ran the hyper-soft early on but then switched to harder tyres, Bottas setting his best time on the super-soft and Hamilton on the ultra-soft.

Hamilton, who won the championship two races ago in Mexico, appeared dissatisfied with his car's performance, saying over the radio mid-session: "It's quite an unhappy car at the moment."

Bottas also ran wide twice when doing his runs on the harder tyres.


Force India's Esteban Ocon said over team radio "someone will get a puncture" from the 'sausage curb' at Turn 20
Hamilton is running on Friday the engine that he used in the last race in Brazil, and which at one point there the team felt was within one lap of failing.

Mercedes said the problems were with the variable valve system and that settings were changed during the race to "contain the risk of failure/maximise performance".

The team added they have "made hardware changes outside the sealed perimeter and we are running that engine today".

Mercedes will analyse the engine at the end of Friday's running. If it is not fine, they face the choice between running one that has already done seven weekends - and therefore would be over its planned life - or fitting a new engine.

Elsewhere, Sauber's Marcus Ericsson had a spin at Turn One, damaging his front wing in a light impact with the barriers in what will be his last race before a move to Indycars next season.

Renault's Carlos Sainz also had a spin, lightly touching the barriers in Turn 19.

And Fernando Alonso, whose illustrious career ends this weekend, ran wide at the penultimate corner and ended the session 19th fastest.

Alonso may yet test the McLaren 2020 car during the course of next season, team boss Zak Brown said on Friday, but the Spaniard confirmed his intention at the moment is not to return.

Alonso said: "Right now it's difficult to think about coming back but the door is not closed. The first reason is I don't know how I will feel next year. I've been doing this for my whole life.

"Maybe next year, by April or May, I am desperate, on the sofa - so you know, maybe I find a way to somehow come back. But it's not the initial idea. It's more about myself. If I come back it's not for any particular or the line or something that has to happen, it's more how I feel in the middle of next year."

Alonso will race at the Indianapolis 500 with McLaren, as well as completing his work in the 2018-19 World Endurance Championship season with Toyota, and says he will do other races, too.

A storm is brewing
Meanwhile, there is an off-track dispute between Haas and Force India.

Haas have lodged a protest saying Force India are racing a car they did not design, which is against the rules.

It is rooted in Force India's collapse during the summer. The team were revived by a sale of their assets to Canadian businessman Lawrence Stroll and allowed to re-enter as a new team.

But Haas immediately objected to the new entity being allowed to keep the old one's rights to prize money, saying if a new team could earn a specific part of the prize fund immediately, then Haas should be entitled to it as well, rather than having to comply with a rule that says teams can only earn that tranche after finishing in the top 10 in two of the previous three seasons.

Their complaints have been disregarded by the FIA and F1, and this protest is Haas' latest attempt at redress.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/46315945

 

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Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas headed Red Bull's Max Verstappen in second practice at the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The Finn, who has yet to win this year while team-mate Lewis Hamilton claimed a fifth world title, was just 0.044 seconds quicker than Verstappen.

The second Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo was third, 0.192secs off the pace, ahead of Hamilton and the Ferraris.

Kimi Raikkonen headed Sebastian Vettel, who has not won a race since August.

The German wants to finish the season on a high after a title challenge slipped through his fingers as a result of errors from driver and team.

Vettel said that winning would be "difficult", adding: "Today we were not fast enough, so we see. We need to find quite a bit of pace. For one lap we should be able to improve quite a bit. The conditions came to us. The car was definitely quicker this evening than this afternoon."

"Overall, it's been a good day," said Hamilton. "Even though the first session was not great. The track was very green in the beginning, so there was a lot of sliding around and - just like everyone else - we were struggling with the tyres.

"We made some really good changes over the break and I was much happier with the car in the second session, but there's still a lot of work to do. Red Bull looked quick. They're usually fast in practice and in the race, so I have no doubts it will be the same this weekend."

A close fight come race day?
But on the evidence of Friday, such as it is, the top three teams will be closely matched - only 0.333secs separated all their six drivers on a relatively long lap.

Verstappen is the form man as the season comes to an end. He would have won in Brazil two weeks ago had he not tangled with a lapped car, did win in Mexico two weeks before that, and climbed from 18th on the grid to finish second the race before that in America.

On race pace, Hamilton, Verstappen and Raikkonen also looked closely matched on the hyper-soft tyres, which will need careful management if teams start the race on them.

But the softest tyre in Pirelli's range was again proving fragile and it may be that some of the leading teams will try to get through second qualifying on the harder ultra-soft tyre to give themselves a more comfortable race.

Max Verstappen
Bangers and smash: Max Verstappen was the latest victim of the sausage kerb
There were no major incidents in the session, after Sauber's Marcus Ericsson spun and dinked his front wing in the earlier first 90 minutes.

Off track, Haas, whose drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen were seventh and ninth fastest have lodged a protest against Force India.

Their claim is that Force India are technically breaking the rules because they are racing cars they did not design, which is a requirement in F1.

This follows Force India's collapse into administration in the summer and rescue by the Canadian businessman Lawrence Stroll. Although the same people are working for the team now as before, the rescue package involved Stroll buying the team's assets and being allowed an entry as a new team, starting from zero points.

Haas are upset because Force India have been allowed to keep their entitlement to a significant part of the prize money fund, which is only available to teams that have finished in the top 10 in two of the previous three seasons.

Haas team principal Gunther Steiner said: "We are seeking equality for all teams. We came in under certain circumstances. We were aware of what we had to do. But that was not the case in this case.

"We tried to mediate to find an amicable solution but if you don't get anywhere at some point you need to do something."

He added: "I don't want more money for us. I want that it is fair."


Hamilton ran on Friday the engine that he used in the last race in Brazil, and which at one point there the team felt was within one lap of failing.

Mercedes said the problems was with the variable valve system and that settings were changed during the race to "contain the risk of failure/maximise performance".

Mercedes say they have "made hardware changes outside the sealed perimeter and we are running that engine today".

Mercedes will analyse the engine at the end of Friday's running. If it is not fine, they face the choice between running one that has already done seven weekends - and therefore would be over its planned life - or fitting a new engine.

Fernando Alonso, in his final race, was 13th fastest for McLaren.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/46319262

 

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Lewis Hamilton has ended the season in which he won a fifth world championship with his 11th pole of the year at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver was 0.162 seconds ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas and 0.331secs ahead of erstwhile title rival Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari.

Kimi Raikkonen locked out the second row for Ferrari, ahead of the Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen.

"It was emotional because it is the last time in this car," Hamilton said.

"The emotional roller-coaster I have been through with this car, I am probably closer to this car than any other. It has not been easy, it has been a struggle, but I am so grateful to the team for putting it all together for me.

"Today was so much fun, to be able to go out and express yourself was a great feeling."

Hamilton has taken it as a point of pride this season to keep winning after clinching a title, the first time he has ever done that in his career.

He was fortunate to take victory in Brazil two weeks ago, after leader Verstappen collided with a backmarker, but wants to end what many believe has been his greatest season on a high.

Beyond the battle at the front, which is about little more than honour and a positive feeling going into the winter, the other focus of the weekend is McLaren's Fernando Alonso, who is bowing out of Formula 1 after this race.

The two-time champion had as good a qualifying session as could be expected in his difficult car, making it into the second knock-out session and 15th on the grid.

In the process, the Spaniard completed a whitewash of team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne in qualifying this season, the only driver to achieve it.

Alonso's engineer Will Joseph described his lap, nearly 0.7secs quicker than Vandoorne's, as "magic". But the McLaren did not have the pace to do any more than be last in the second session.

McLaren have painted the car in a special livery reflecting Alonso, and he is wearing a unique helmet design and overalls for the occasion.


Hamilton, Bottas and Vettel all chose to go through second qualifying on the more durable ultra-soft tyre for a better race strategy, but Raikkonen will be on the hyper-softs after Ferrari decided to split their choices.

Red Bull also ended up split, with Ricciardo on the ultra and Verstappen on the hyper, but only because of an unusually messy session for Verstappen.

The Dutchman's ultra-soft run went awry in Q2 so he had to take the hyper. His first lap in the top 10 shoot-out was 0.188secs slower than Ricciardo's and he aborted his second.

Haas' Romain Grosjean took seventh, ahead of Sauber's Charles Leclerc - who is moving to Ferrari to replace Raikkonen next season - Force India's Esteban Ocon and Renault's Nico Hulkenberg.

What they said
Vettel said: "They looked very competitive all weekend. Qualifying it has been a bit up and down. Q2 was not representative. Lewis had a very strong lap on the ultra-soft. We tried everything and gave it everything we had.

"It was very close after the first run. I thought half a tenth was in reach. I was quite happy with the second lap but dropped back to third."

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Lewis Hamilton won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to end the season in which he clinched his fifth world championship on a high.

It was the 11th victory of the year for Hamilton, who dominated the race with a controlled drive.

Hamilton performed 'doughnuts' after crossing the line, before himself and former title rival Sebastian Vettel flanked the retiring two-time world champion Fernando Alonso - before all three performed more doughnuts on the start-finish straight.

The three drivers hold 11 of some of the most recent world championships won in a golden era for driving talent in the sport.

Vettel took second after Hamilton's team-mate Valtteri Bottas faded to fifth, which means the Finn ends the season without a victory.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo took third and fourth.

Renault's Nico Hulkenberg emerged unhurt from a frightening-looking accident in which he was pitched into a roll and landed upside down in a first-lap clash with Romain Grosjean's Haas.

Hulkenberg sounded scared as he said to the team: "I'm hanging here like a cow. Get me out. There's fire.

But once the fire was extinguished and the car righted, he was able to climb out unaided.

Hamilton's evening under the lights of the attractive but characterless Yas Marina circuit was complicated when Mercedes pitted him earlier than expected during a caution period caused when Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari stopped on the pit straight.

That was on lap seven of 55 - nine laps earlier than Bottas' first stop - but Mercedes were covering one of their rivals potentially doing the same thing.

It meant a race of careful driving and tyre management, but Hamilton handled it well, to re-claim the positions he had lost one by one as his rivals pitted.

Behind him, the race came to a tense climax as the differing strategies of Vettel and the two Red Bull drivers converged.

Max Verstappen was closing on Vettel as the second Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo closed on the Dutchman.

But both Red Bull drivers lost time when they came upon the lapped car of Pierre Gasly as it was suffering an imminent engine failure with smoke pouring out of it.

That gave Vettel breathing space and locked the Red Bulls in their positions.

It was a disappointing end to a bold attempt by Ricciardo and Red Bull to benefit from a different strategy by running very long to their first pit stops, but in the end it made little difference.

Fernando Alonso's illustrious career ended with an 11th place, just out of the points. The McLaren, which started 15th, was just not quick enough for him to do any more.

There was time for one more bit of radio magic, though, when his engineer in the closing laps said: "Go and get a point."

Alonso, 37, replied: "I've already got 1,800."

Actually, he has 1,899 so it would have made a round 1,900, but he could not catch Kevin Magnussen's Haas - not helped by a five-second time penalty for cutting a chicane when he missed his braking point pushing while chasing the Dane.

What happens next?
Lots of hard work designing and building new cars, pre-season testing and then a new season starts in Melbourne, Australia in March next year. It'll be there before you know it.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/46336162