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[VIDEOS] The Formula 1 2019 Thread

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MenInG

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Mercedes are "taking nothing for granted" this season, says team principal Toto Wolff.

The team, led by five-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, have won the past five constructors' championships.

Speaking at the launch of Mercedes' 2019 car, the AMG F1 W10 EQ Power+, Wolff said: "Every team can have a shot at the title and we're seeing all of them as a potential threat.

"There's absolutely no feeling of entitlement to be at the front."

He added: "The regulations have changed quite substantially.

"We have to start from scratch. We need to prove ourselves again - against our own expectations and against our competitors."

The season begins in Melbourne on 17 March. Briton Hamilton, who won his fifth world title last year, will lead Mercedes again alongside Valtteri Bottas for the third season.

"2018 was a great year, but I feel like 2019 can be even better," Hamilton said. "I want to achieve more. I want to continue to keep pushing."

What has changed with the new car?
Work on the revamped Mercedes started 16 months ago, before the end of the 2017 season.

There is an improved power unit and the car has been designed around new regulations aimed at making the racing closer by reducing the disruption caused to the aerodynamics of a car following another.

The Mercedes-AMG F1 W10 EQ Power+ car
The car has a similar silver livery and branding to last year but has changed substantially under the skin
"Regulation changes are both opportunity and threat," said technical director James Allison.

"They are an opportunity because all the old assumptions about what you need to have to be quick are swept away and, if you are fleet of foot and smart in dealing with that, you can do better than all the other teams that are tackling the same change.

"They are a threat because if you are not as smart and you didn't see how to make the most of these new regulations, then you'll certainly suffer in the coming season.

"We have worked hard on the suspension and aerodynamic characteristics to deliver a car that will be much kinder to its tyres."

What has Hamilton been up to?
Hamilton, 34, has kept a relatively low profile over the off-season, spending time in the United States, where he attended the Super Bowl this month.

"I had a great Christmas with my family and then I went snowmobiling, I went skiing, I went surfing with Kelly Slater, which was amazing," he said.

"I completely switched off from racing for a while, trying to focus and re-centre myself and training hard for the new season."

Wolff added: "When we met after the winter break, Lewis was refreshed. He's extremely hungry and wants to start racing again."

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/47224163
 
The 2019 cars have begun the launch. Excited to see Charles Leclerc in a Ferrari. Expecting him to be better than Max!
 
Ferrari have unveiled the car they hope will end a decade-long Formula 1 title drought in 2019.

Ferrari lost out to Mercedes in 2018 despite having a faster car at least as many times as their rivals, after a series of errors by Sebastian Vettel and the team.

New team principal Mattia Binotto said the new car was "a development of last year's, not a revolution".

He added the team had tried to "raise the bar and reach another level".

Vettel is joined in the team by Charles Leclerc, in his second F1 season.

"I am looking forward to this year. The team is on the right path and hopefully we can continue improving," said Vettel.

Leclerc, promoted after an impressive debut season for the Sauber team, said: "It is a very proud day for me. I'm not nervous. I think it is more of an opportunity for me to be alongside Sebastian, a four-time champion, I can learn a lot. I am pretty sure it will be a strong season."

The new car, called the SF90 to reflect Ferrari's 90th anniversary this year, features a radical front wing design to meet new regulations this year, the aim of which is to allow cars to race closer together by reducing the turbulence experienced by a car running behind another.

The rearward flaps of the wing slope downwards from the centre towards the outside of the wing, with the intention of channelling air in aerodynamically advantageous ways and reducing the losses caused by the new rules.

Binotto singled out the front wing as one of the Ferrari's most important features. The wing has also been seen on the car of the sister Alfa Romeo team, formerly Sauber.

He added: "We tried to push very hard to be innovative. The roll hoop is very narrow and slim, the bodywork is very slim. Engine installation, packaging, a lot of effort has been done, and the final shape is the result of all this effort. We like it."

Binotto was technical director for the last three season and steps up to the position of team principal following the ousting of Maurizio Arrivabene in January.

The car is scheduled to run for the first time in a short 'shakedown' test at Spain's Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Sunday before the start of pre-season testing at the same track on Monday.

Ferrari chief executive officer Louis Camilleri said: "Vettel remains as hungry as ever and I know he is totally devoted to achieve his and our ambitions and he knows the entire team will give him all their full-hearted support.

"Charles Leclerc - we are all tremendously excited to have him. His talent, maturity, race skill and speed was evident to all last year and we are sure great things await him in the future.

"The atmosphere in the team will be one in which serenity will prevail."

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/47252144
 
Formula 1 has confirmed it will change its scoring system this year by giving a point to the driver who sets the fastest lap in a grand prix.

The move is part of an attempt to make the sport more appealing and so grow audiences.

Drivers will only receive the extra point if they also finish in the top 10 in the race.

It was formally confirmed on Monday after the FIA's world motor sport council (WMSC) approved it last week.

F1 managing director Ross Brawn said the idea could "improve the show while maintaining the integrity of the sport".

Brawn, the former Mercedes team boss and Ferrari technical director, said: "We have been considering this solution - which represents a response to detailed research carried out with thousands of our fans around the world - for a number of months.

"How many times have we heard the drivers on the radio ask the team about who holds the fastest lap?

"Now it will no longer be only a matter of record and prestige, but there will be a concrete motivation that will make the final part of the race even more interesting. Sometimes it is useful to remind ourselves of the heritage of our sport to move forward. "

The rule will be in place for the start of this season at the Australian Grand Prix, 15-17 March.

It will be the first time a point has been awarded for the fastest lap since the first 10 years of the F1 world championship in 1950-59.

The feeling among senior figures in F1 is that the change may add extra interest towards the end of a race, when the action can tend to die down following the end of all the pit stops.

Bosses accept there could be negatives to the idea - such as a championship being decided by a fastest-lap point, or a title contender's team-mate - who is not in championship contention - setting a fastest lap to disadvantage a rival from another team.

But the feeling was that all teams and drivers would be aware of this issue and any of them could choose to take action.

The idea was one of many that were put to fans in surveys conducted by F1 last year.

The feedback was that it was an idea worth discussing, and F1's senior stakeholders at the strategy group of six leading teams, FIA and F1 concluded it should be adopted.

After the world council voted it through last week, an e-vote of the strategy group and F1 Commission, a body that includes representatives of the FIA, F1, Ferrari, sponsors and circuits gave unanimous approval on Monday, according to the FIA.

What difference could it have made in previous seasons? - analysis
Last year, the answer is none whatsoever, in terms of the outcome of the championship.

But in 2008, it would have made Felipe Massa champion rather than Lewis Hamilton, who famously pipped the Brazilian at the last corner of the final race and won the title by a single point. Massa had two fastest laps in 2008 and Hamilton one.

But that's a fallacious argument, because in 2008 there was not a point for fastest lap - and, had there been, the teams and drivers would have conducted the season differently based on that knowledge.

That was a point made to BBC Sport by a senior figure in F1 on Friday when asked whether the sport's bosses had done any research into the potential effect of this change before deciding on it.

What did inform the decision was a desire to increase F1's entertainment value. Everyone in F1 accepts the show could do with being improved.

The feeling of F1's owners Liberty Media is that there is no silver bullet, and that lots of changes - big and small - are needed.

Big ones are coming in 2021 - to revenue distribution, to team spending and to the cars themselves.

This is a small one. Some will argue it is unnecessary, even a gimmick. The counter-point is that it might add a new dimension to races and the season and make for an extra talking point.

The verdict will come at the end of the season.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/47532633
 
Lewis Hamilton pipped Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas to pole position at the season-opening Australian GP.

Hamilton was behind the Finn going into the final runs in qualifying but edged ahead by 0.112 seconds to take his sixth consecutive pole at Albert Park.

Hamilton was a massive 0.704secs quicker than Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel in third, just ahead of new Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

British rookie Lando Norris took a superb eighth on his debut for McLaren.

And George Russell, the other British rookie, was 19th, well ahead of his Williams team-mate Robert Kubica.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/47594132

Capture.JPG
 
Mercedes still ahead of the pack.

Red Bull could take the 2nd spot from Ferrari this year. Their Honda engines are showing promise.
 
Valtteri Bottas dominated the season-opening Australian Grand Prix after overtaking world champion team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

The Finn took the lead at the start from Hamilton, who made a slow getaway from pole position, and even took the new bonus point for the fastest lap.

Hamilton was left far behind, and had to concentrate on holding off Red Bull's Max Verstappen for second place.

Verstappen passed Sebastian Vettel for third on a sobering day for Ferrari.

"Why are we so slow?" Vettel asked his team at two-thirds distance. "We don't know at the moment," came the reply. It was an exchange that summed up Ferrari's entire weekend.

Mercedes came to Melbourne thinking they were at best level with Ferrari on pace - and could be as much as half a second a lap behind.

But they dominated the weekend from the off, while Ferrari struggled, and were lost for answers as to why.

Bottas made a clean sweep of the race and was comfortably able to grab the extra point that has been introduced this year for the driver who sets fastest lap, underlining his performance by fending off Hamilton's own attempt to snatch the point.

The Finn, who had a difficult year in 2018 failing to win a race as Hamilton took 11 victories and the title, was determined to bounce back this year and signalled his intent to take the fight to Hamilton and be a title contender this season with a masterful performance.

He had pulled a 3.8-second lead on Hamilton by the time Mercedes stopped the world champion on lap 15 in response to Vettel's early pit stop a lap before.

Bottas carried on for another 10 laps before his stop, and by the time he rejoined he was more than 12 seconds ahead of Hamilton.

The five-time champion was already complaining about his tyres, saying he was concerned they might not last the race. They did, but he was out of the fight for the lead.

Hamilton had Vettel within two seconds of him after Bottas' stop, but the German was soon under pressure from Verstappen, who like Bottas had delayed his first stop.

Verstappen passed Vettel on the outside into Turn Three six laps after his stop and set after Hamilton, but was unable to challenge. An off-track moment with nine laps to go ended Verstappen's challenge.

Vettel, meanwhile, began to come under pressure from team-mate Charles Leclerc.

The Monegasque had made a couple of small errors early in his Ferrari debut, but thanks to a late stop he was on fresher tyres than Vettel for the second half of the race and he closed a 12-second lead in about 20 laps and was on Vettel's tail in the closing laps.

Vettel had said before the weekend that they were free to race but Leclerc appeared to back off once he had closed on his team-mate.

Kevin Magnussen's Haas was best of the rest in sixth, ahead of Renault's Nico Hulkenberg.

McLaren's Lando Norris had started a superb eighth for McLaren but he finished out of the points after a frustrating race.

He lost a couple of places on the first lap and then got stuck in a train of cars after his pit stop and finished 13th.

Alexander Albon, who races under a Thai licence but was born in London, was 14th in his Toro Rosso.

George Russell drove a lonely race in the slow Williams to take 16th place, two laps behind, although he comprehensively out-paced team-mate Robert Kubica, who damaged his front wing on the first lap.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/47600736
 
Last edited:
Half a minute gap between Mercedes and Ferrari. The latter has some work to do.
 
F1 bosses will present plans to teams to try and make the sport 'more competitive'

Formula 1 faces a pivotal meeting on Tuesday as bosses present their plans to the teams for the future of the sport from 2021.

Owners Liberty Media and governing body the FIA are to introduce a budget cap and restructure revenue distribution to try to make F1 more competitive.

The agenda for the meeting has been sent to teams without specific details.

The package is the result of 12 months of talks after Liberty first presented its hopes for F1's future last April.

The meeting will discuss:

Cap on teams' annual budgets, starting in either 2020 or 2021 at a figure above $200m (£151m) a year and reducing to below $150m (£114m) within three or four years
Revised revenue distribution in an attempt to narrow the gap in income between the top teams and the rest
Revised governance to end the current system where only six of the 10 teams have a formal say on rules
An outline of technical rules that will be aimed at making the cars able to race more closely
Revised engine rules, keeping the current 1.6-litre V6 turbo hybrids but with changes to make them louder
A change to the rules governing how many parts teams can buy from rivals while still meeting the requirement of being a constructor in their own right
Liberty's aim is to stop F1 being a two-tier sport, where three teams have a huge performance advantage over the rest to the point that no team other than Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull can hope to win a race.

The budget cap is the key part of this plan, and has been the centrepiece of talks over the last year.

F1 managing director Ross Brawn says these discussions have been intense and difficult and are unlikely to end when the 2021 rules are published.

"The revenue is a tough discussion, we know that," Brawn said.

"The ones that have got it all want to keep it and the ones that haven't got it want more, and it's finding the fair balance in how we can distribute the revenue, because we know if we have a more equitable distribution of revenue we will have a better F1, and that's a fact.

"We'll never be in a situation on the cost cap, for example, where we will issue definitive regulations at a particular date and that's the end of it. The topic is too complex.

"So as it evolves and as we see new challenges and problems, we will have to evolve and refine the regulations to achieve the objectives and that is no different with the technical and sporting regulations.

"And in those two areas there are well-established routines and protocol and even then there are arguments.

"So it would be naive to think the financial regulations are just going to be put on the table and that's it, leave it.

"Each team has a different set of priorities and we are trying to find our way through it to get the best solution but I can see some genuine progress."

A number of areas are likely to be deemed outside limits on spending - including driver salaries, remuneration for top executives and many aspects of marketing.

And one of the key issues will be how limitations on spending will be policed, especially in the context of the large companies involved in F1.

Many are concerned about whether the FIA will properly be able to police teams such as Mercedes and Ferrari, whose F1 operations are part of much larger organisations where work could potentially be hidden.

The trend for smaller teams to buddy up with larger ones is also a major area of contention.

Renault, McLaren and Williams have serious concerns about Haas, for example, who buy as many parts as they can from Ferrari, leaving only the aerodynamic surfaces and chassis for them to design themselves.

This year, Red Bull's junior team Toro Rosso have followed the same path - their 2019 car is made up of as many parts of the 2018 Red Bull as is allowed.

The expectation is that this practice will be restricted.

McLaren have been pushing for an approach whereby teams have to either make their own parts, or can buy standard parts from the FIA.

This would remove the practice of buying parts from leading teams and giving teams such as Haas a chance to build more competitive cars on less budget and resources than needed to operate on the model of McLaren or Williams, who still function as entirely independent constructors.

McLaren chief executive officer Zak Brown said: "We need a level playing field, not just for McLaren but for the entire grid. That means fair revenue distribution. I don't think that means equal.

"A realistic budget cap that a lot of teams can get to from prize money and sponsorship.

"And then F1's DNA has always been being a constructor, so equipment should only be listed parts (that teams have to make themselves) or standard parts if we want to help teams that maybe don't have capabilities to make listed parts.

"But I don't think you should have some teams supplying some teams but not all teams.

"That would make for a truer F1, better for everyone.

"The governance needs to be addressed because a lot of the rules we try to get through get aggravated by teams aligning.

"I think the teams need to have a say and a vote but not to such an extreme that we can stop things happening.

"Like great sports, it should be different winners more frequently, different champions and then I think we all win."

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/47691443
 
Mick Schumacher to make Formula 1 test debut for Ferrari in April

Mick Schumacher, son of seven-time champion Michael, will make his Formula 1 test debut for Ferrari on 2 April.

The 20-year-old German, who signed up to the Ferrari driver academy over the winter, will drive for Ferrari in Bahrain on one day and the affiliated Alfa Romeo team the next.

Ferrari would not immediately confirm the test but BBC Sport has verified it independently.

Schumacher will make his Formula 2 series debut this weekend in Bahrain.

Michael Schumacher won five of his record-breaking tally of world titles for Ferrari, and the vast majority of his all-time record 91 Grand Prix victories.

The 50-year-old, who retired from F1 for a second time at the end of 2012, has not been seen in public since suffering severe brain injuries in a skiing accident in December 2013.

His family has declined to reveal details of his condition, saying they believe he would prefer it to remain confidential.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/47698227
 
The new Formula One season is under way but the action on the track is being overshadowed by concerns over the implications of Brexit, with so many teams calling Britain home.

Seven of the 10 F1 teams are based in Britain and there are nine European races this season, making the nation's impending departure from the European Union an unwanted headache even for such a globalised sport.

Several teams have warned that Britain's departure from the EU, especially if it comes without a withdrawal agreement, will create logistical nightmares for an industry that relies on international staff and specialised goods moving around.

But opinions on the likely impact of Brexit differ sharply.


Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has warning a no-deal divorce could cause the "mother of all messes" while F1 motorsport boss Ross Brawn is more sanguine.

Mercedes, based in Northamptonshire, in central England, have won the past five drivers' and constructors' championships, with British driver Lewis Hamilton winning four of those.

"Brexit is a major concern for all of us that live in the UK and operate out of the UK," Wolff said at during pre-season testing in Spain last month, before the opening race in Melbourne.

"Formula One teams travel to races at least 21 times a year -- we are moving in and out of the UK, our people move in and out of the UK," he added, referring to potential customs delays that could be caused by Brexit.

"The way we get parts and services is just in time at the last minute... taxes would massively damage the Formula One industry in the UK."

Visas and right to work concerns were also high on Wolff's worry list, thanks to the 26 nationalities who work for the team.

David Richards, the chairman of Motorsport UK, British racing's governing body, voiced fears last month that Mercedes might have to consider their future in F1 in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

Brawn is more relaxed, saying plans are in place and that teams are resourceful and flexible.

"Formula One teams are pretty nomadic and we operate in countries outside of the European Union anyway and I don't see it as being in any way catastrophic for the UK," he said earlier this month.

"There will be some irritations I'm sure and things that will be a bit painful but Formula One teams are very good at coping, so I don't see it being a problem."

Red Bull chief Christian Horner, speaking in Melbourne, sounded calm despite the confusion over Brexit.

"The reality is it's business as normal. We'll wait and see what and if and when Brexit does happen and when it happens then we'll deal with it but of course you try and put as many 'what if' scenarios in place as you can to protect the operation of your business."

Doomsday scenario -
McLaren, Williams, Renault, Racing Point and Red Bull are also based in Britain, while Haas have a base in England as well as their headquarters in the United States.

Racing Point team principal Otmar Szafnauer is not losing sleep over a potential doomsday scenario but says a lot depends on the final shape of any deal.

He acknowledged the potential logistical challenges over the transport of parts but said the team currently buys fuel cells from a US company without any issues.

"It would for sure be easier if we didn't have a hard Brexit," he said. "It all depends on what Brexit looks like.... There are issues but I don't think any of them are insurmountable. It's just the first time you face those issues and if your calendar is so tight it might have an impact."

For Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul, Britain itself has played a key role in the team's progress since their return to the grid with their own team for the 2016 season.

"We've gone very quickly in recent years and it's been done in particular thanks to the possibilities offered by the UK, bringing in youngsters, people are coming out from school. We don't want that to change."

With their main headquarters in North Carolina, Haas team boss Gunther Steiner hinted his team would have no hesitation in moving their UK operation if Brexit becomes a problem.

"We do not make irrational decisions," he said. "The big teams have bigger investments than us. And it's not decided what happens," he said.

"We are a small team. If anyone can move fast, it's us. We just pick up our caravan and move to another country."

https://www.dawn.com/news/1472010/formula-one-divided-as-brexit-threat-zooms-into-view
 
Bahrain Grand Prix: Valtteri Bottas and Mercedes hoping for a desert double
By Lorraine McKenna

BBC Sport

Round two of the new Formula 1 season heads to the Kingdom of Bahrain where Ferrari have dominated in the past, but Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas is rejuvenated.


Who looks strong after Melbourne?
Step out of the shadows and into the spotlight, bearded Valtteri Bottas. Your time is now.

The assertive nature of the Mercedes man's opening win at the Australian Grand Prix means expectations of the Finn are unusually high for the second race of the season.

Bottas chalked up his fourth career victory with a commanding 20-second advantage over team-mate Lewis Hamilton and earned plaudits all round for his tougher mental attitude.

Use the sliding scale below to let us know if you think Bottas will make it back-to-back wins this weekend.

That said, never rule out a five-time world champion on a track with decent scope for overtaking and three DRS zones.

At last year's race in Bahrain, Hamilton produced an audacious triple pass to claw his way back up the field from ninth on the grid.

Red Bull and Honda's first date in Melbourne was given the thumbs up from fans after Max Verstappen's third-placed finish gave the Japanese manufacturer their first V6 turbo-hybrid era podium.

A McLaren making it through to the top-10 shootout in qualifying? Yes, that did actually happen in Melbourne.

Lando Norris said he would "treasure" his eighth-placed Q3 performance in Australia and, despite ending the race four places lower, the Briton was best of the rookies on his debut grand prix.

Ferrari need some heat after a lukewarm opener
Were Ferrari saving their pace for Bahrain while sandbagging the competition at Albert Park?

Sebastian Vettel's mid-race "why are we so slow?" query still hangs in the air after he and new team-mate Charles Leclerc finished nearly a minute behind Bottas.

Leclerc was also told to stay behind fourth-placed Vettel during the closing stages - will the Monegasque driver be allowed to go wheel-to-wheel with his more experienced partner this time out?

Only a bounce back in Bahrain will do, and Vettel in particular will be able to take heart from his past displays in the desert.

The German tops the victory stats in Sakhir with two wins for Red Bull and back-to-back triumphs with Ferrari in 2017 and 2018, the latter a masterful performance on worn-out tyres. On overall points scored in Bahrain, Vettel is two short of Hamilton's leading tally of 140.

Other reasons for optimism? Well, Ferrari have celebrated six wins in total in the Persian Gulf - three more than Mercedes.

A tasty bromance is born
Daniel Ricciardo's maiden outing for Renault may have ended in retirement on home soil but his new nickname looks set to go the distance this season.

Thanks to five-year-old F1 fan Louis Pope - who christened the former Red Bull man "Daniel Avocado" - Ricciardo/avocado-based memes have popped up all the place.

Not to be left out of the fun, Hamilton tweeted a photo of the two in Melbourne with the caption: "Avocado+Ham".

A few days later, Mr Avocado himself posted this picture to his Instagram stories in a nod to the newly acquired bromance.

Will the souks and markets of Bahrain cope with fan demand for avocados this weekend? We'll wait and see...

How can I follow the Bahrain Grand Prix on the BBC?
Keep an eye on the clocks this weekend as daylight savings comes into play in the early hours of Sunday, 31 March.

Before we all rejoice at the lighter nights, Friday's first practice session will be on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra, with second practice via the BBC Sport website and mobile sport app only.

On Saturday, third practice and qualifying will be available through the BBC Sport website and mobile sport app only.

After the UK has jumped forward one hour on Sunday, head over to BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra for full race commentary from 16:00 BST.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/47579028
 
Although I am quite interested in cars, I have never been interested in watching F1, for me it's up there with curling, golf and snooker.
 
IAJ said:
Although I am quite interested in cars, I have never been interested in watching F1, for me it's up there with curling, golf and snooker.
Click to expand...

[utube]wtJPe1ksS6E[/utube]


Watch this series and F1 will become much more easier to watch
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Perfect conditions &#55357;&#56396;<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BahrainGP?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BahrainGP</a> &#55356;&#56807;&#55356;&#56813; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/F1?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#F1</a> <a href="https://t.co/xKoqKrNkRh">pic.twitter.com/xKoqKrNkRh</a></p>— Formula 1 (@F1) <a href="https://twitter.com/F1/status/1111644046823489536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 29, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Ferrari appear to be back on form after dominating Friday practice at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Italian team struggled at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, finishing nearly a minute behind race-winner Valtteri Bottas' Mercedes.

But Sebastian Vettel headed Charles Leclerc to a one-two in Friday second practice, 0.603 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes.

Leclerc topped the first session from Vettel, nearly a second up on Bottas.

"The Ferraris have been quick from the get-go and picked up more pace from there, so it's completely different to what we've seen in Melbourne," said world champion Hamilton.

"We had some issues with the balance of the car, but we made improvements for FP2. At the moment it looks like the Ferraris are ahead, so we have to keep our heads down, keep working, analyse things tonight and try and come back stronger tomorrow.

"I think as we get to qualifying, everything will get a little bit closer, but it is going to be a tough battle."

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto supported that view, saying he thought the results of Friday practice were "misleading" and that he believed Ferrari had been running their engines more aggressively than Mercedes.

Binotto added that he expects a "very tight battle" with Mercedes in qualifying but did say the team were "progressing" after Australia and they were not suffering from the same problems they had there.

Unusually, Ferrari did a second qualifying simulation run in second practice, Vettel and Leclerc both improving marginally over their first lap.

Vettel extended his advantage over Hamilton by 0.1secs, and Leclerc, who had been 0.141s slower than Vettel on his first run, reduced the gap to his team-mate to just 0.035s.

Ferrari's performance on the first day of the weekend at the Sakhir circuit was more akin to what was expected of them in Australia after impressing in pre-season testing.

Mercedes believed they could be as much as 0.5s a lap slower than Ferrari after testing but they dominated the opening weekend of the season while Ferrari struggled.

But the red cars have been quick from the off in Bahrain and at this early stage look the team to beat, although it is notoriously difficult to predict exact form from Friday practice.

However, Vettel did have a spin losing control of the Ferrari under power at Turn Two as he started his race simulation run later in the session.

Meanwhile, Red Bull were unexpectedly slow, at least on one-lap pace.

Max Verstappen was only sixth quickest, 0.783s off Vettel and team-mate Pierre Gasly 0.862s further back in 13th.

The Dutchman was slower than the impressive Renault of Nico Hulkenberg in fifth, with Haas driver Kevin Magnussen and McLaren's Lando Norris, the British rookie, in seventh and eighth, ahead of Haas driver Romain Grosjean and Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/47753385
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Final practice underway in Bahrain GP before the qualifying stage; Discuss on <a href="https://t.co/dcGuj38af0">https://t.co/dcGuj38af0</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BahrainGP?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BahrainGP</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/F1?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#F1</a> <a href="https://t.co/p8F9mv0Gn8">pic.twitter.com/p8F9mv0Gn8</a></p>— PakPassion Sport (@PakPassionSport) <a href="https://twitter.com/PakPassionSport/status/1111976236568535041?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 30, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sit back, relax, and enjoy <a href="https://twitter.com/Charles_Leclerc?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Charles_Leclerc</a>'s first F1 pole lap &#55357;&#56490;<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BahrainGP?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BahrainGP</a> &#55356;&#56807;&#55356;&#56813; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/F1?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#F1</a> <a href="https://t.co/uU7Kx2VDXw">pic.twitter.com/uU7Kx2VDXw</a></p>— Formula 1 (@F1) <a href="https://twitter.com/F1/status/1112045322673500160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 30, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Beckham at the F1 in Bahrain

D2_nJHQUkAAAcOK.jpg:large
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Lewis Hamilton wins the Bahrain GP! Disappointment for pole position holder Charles Leclerc who says to the team: "Ohhhhhh, well guys I'm sorry I don't know what to say. What a shame, what an amazing race we've had." <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BahrainGP?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BahrainGP</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/F1?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#F1</a> <a href="https://t.co/DcRW3hlAhJ">pic.twitter.com/DcRW3hlAhJ</a></p>— PakPassion Sport (@PakPassionSport) <a href="https://twitter.com/PakPassionSport/status/1112398513206366208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 31, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Overall pretty good race. Feel like crying for Leclerc, deserved the win today. He was so strong from FP1 till MGU-H gave out around lap 47.

Seems like Silver Arrows will have an easier time this season than 2018. Vettel is continuing his form of spinning out when put under pressure. Ferrari needs to do something about their engine problems. Vettal was limping home in Australia and now Leclerc with MGU-H problems.
 
Farz said:
Overall pretty good race. Feel like crying for Leclerc, deserved the win today. He was so strong from FP1 till MGU-H gave out around lap 47.

Seems like Silver Arrows will have an easier time this season than 2018. Vettel is continuing his form of spinning out when put under pressure. Ferrari needs to do something about their engine problems. Vettal was limping home in Australia and now Leclerc with MGU-H problems.
Click to expand...

yes lost power at the worst time possible
 
Heartbreaking for Charles but what a great performance from him. So good to see him right at the front!
 
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I used to watch every race.... But then regulations changed and i couldn't feel the same anymore. It's like.... The cars lost their soul and have become robotic.
 
Second Practice under way - Hamilton and Bottas spin
Vettel fastest ahead of Hamilton in first practice



<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Whoops &#55356;&#57130;️<br><br>Proving no one's immune to it, Hamilton has just run out of grip on cold tyres at Turn 2 and got whirled around<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ChineseGP?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ChineseGP</a> &#55356;&#56808;&#55356;&#56819; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Race1000?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Race1000</a> <a href="https://t.co/rOwPTi3vDY">pic.twitter.com/rOwPTi3vDY</a></p>— Formula 1 (@F1) <a href="https://twitter.com/F1/status/1116584566054014977?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Valtteri Bottas fended off team-mate Lewis Hamilton in a tight battle for pole position at the Chinese Grand Prix as Mercedes out-paced Ferrari.

Bottas, the quicker Mercedes driver all weekend in Shanghai, found his advantage cut by Hamilton to just 0.023 seconds as the world champion finally found pace.

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel was third fastest, 0.301secs off the pace, and just 0.017secs quicker than team-mate Charles Leclerc.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly took fifth and sixth places.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/47918308
 
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Lewis Hamilton wins F1's race 1,000 in China

Lewis Hamilton took a comfortable victory in the Chinese Grand Prix to take the championship lead for the first time in 2019.

The Mercedes driver passed team-mate Valtteri Bottas, who had taken pole position, off the line and controlled Formula 1's 1,000th race from there.

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel took third, after the team ordered team-mate Charles Leclerc to let him by in the opening laps.

The decision led to Leclerc losing fourth place to Max Verstappen's Red Bull.

And Ferrari's young driver - who is only in his third race for the team - questioned the decision over team radio, saying: "but I'm pulling away!"

Ferrari will face questions about the wisdom of their approach to the race - and to team orders in general - but Hamilton was serenely distant from such concerns.

After taking the lead, Hamilton edged away from Bottas, building a five-second lead before his first pit stop on lap 22.

Mercedes' decision to bring Bottas in first to protect from Vettel behind dropped the lead to less than two seconds, but Hamilton soon pulled away again to take his second victory in a row.

It was Hamilton's 75th career victory, and it came on a weekend on which he had struggled throughout practice but pulled a lap out of the bag to grab a front row spot, which proved the foundation for his win.

Ferrari team orders controversy hots up

Ferrari were running third and fourth in the opening laps, with Leclerc ahead of Vettel after passing his team-mate at the first corner, when they made the call to switch drivers.

Vettel was sitting a second behind Leclerc and appeared to be able to go faster, so Ferrari ordered the Monegasque to let him past.

The decision was in line with Ferrari's stated policy to favour Vettel in 50-50 situations, as re-confirmed by team boss Mattia Binotto earlier in the weekend, but it triggered a set of circumstances that led to Verstappen beating Leclerc to fourth place.

Letting Vettel by cost Leclerc time and ensured Verstappen was closer to him. Vettel was unable to pull away - Leclerc sat just as close to his team leader as the German had to him. And he summed up the situation over the radio by saying: "Now what?"

It was a perceptive comment. With Verstappen just two seconds back, Red Bull triggered the pit-stop period.

That guaranteed he would pass Leclerc if he had pitted on the next lap, so Ferrari pitted Vettel to protect his position.

Vettel kept third - just - and now Ferrari thought about running Leclerc long to give him a tyre advantage later in the race.

But that did not work either, and Leclerc pitted on lap 22, only five after Verstappen, rejoining now 11 seconds behind the Red Bull solely because of his weaker strategy.

Leclerc began to catch Verstappen and had the lead down to three seconds within 10 laps only for Red Bull to out-think Ferrari again, bringing Verstappen in for a second stop on lap 34.

Again, Ferrari had to respond with Vettel - and Mercedes then also did to secure Hamilton and Bottas' positions - and again Leclerc was the loser.

He was briefly into second place, but Bottas soon passed him and Vettel and Verstappen began to haul him in. Ferrari eventually pitted Leclerc on lap 42 and he rejoined now 14 seconds behind Verstappen - too much of a gap to make up in the remaining 16 laps.

Could Ferrari have better protected third and fourth if they had left the cars in their initial order? Is the decision to back Vettel for their title assault the right one? These questions will hang over Ferrari for some time to come.

Battles down the field

Red Bull's Pierre Gasly took sixth, in a race of his own too slow to keep up with his team-mate and and too fast for everyone else.

Renault's Daniel Ricciardo took seventh, ahead of Force India's Sergio Perez and Alfa Romeo's Kimi Raikkonen.

The final point was taken by Toro Rosso's Alexander Albon, a fine drive after starting from the pit lane in a car rebuilt after his huge accident in final practice on Saturday.

Albon had pressure from Haas' Romain Grosjean on the final lap but just managed to hold on.

What happens next?

Baku in two weeks time. Ferrari might be favoured on the harum-scarum street track, because of its long, long straights. But who would ever bet against Mercedes?

What they said

Hamilton: "It has not been the most straightforward of weekends but what a fantastic result for the team.

"We arrived here not knowing how we would measure against Ferrari - they were so quick in the last race. Valtteri has been quick all weekend and to have a one-two is really special on the 1,000th grand prix. The start was where I could make the difference and after that it is history.

"It has been so close between us all and I really have no idea how the next race is going to turn out."

Vettel said: "I felt I could go faster but then it was a bit difficult for me to find a rhythm. I had a couple of wobbles where I could not keep the advantage I was getting."

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/47924974
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">RED FLAG: The session is halted after George Russell encounters trouble with a drain cover and is forced to a standstill <br><br>Track repairs underway in Baku &#55357;&#56384;<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AzerbaijanGP?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AzerbaijanGP</a> &#55356;&#56806;&#55356;&#56831; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/F1?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#F1</a> <a href="https://t.co/eHmy7GkSln">pic.twitter.com/eHmy7GkSln</a></p>— Formula 1 (@F1) <a href="https://twitter.com/F1/status/1121704975921446912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 26, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Lewis has spoken &#55357;&#56384;&#55357;&#56876; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AzerbaijanGP?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AzerbaijanGP</a> <a href="https://t.co/6iKFdILCJy">pic.twitter.com/6iKFdILCJy</a></p>— BBCF1 (@bbcf1) <a href="https://twitter.com/bbcf1/status/1121714053951442944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 26, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Valtteri Bottas led Lewis Hamilton to a Mercedes one-two in a chaotic Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying as Ferrari's challenge crumbled.

Charles Leclerc had looked favourite but Ferrari's new star crashed in second qualifying and will start ninth.

"I am stupid," Leclerc said on the team radio before saying on social media: "No excuses. I've been useless. I will push to have a better tomorrow."

His team-mate Sebastian Vettel was third, 0.302 seconds off the pace.

It was a madcap session, with two lengthy stoppages for accidents, the other to Williams' Robert Kubica, and a number of drivers getting away with brushing the walls around the challenging Baku street circuit - including Vettel, who hit the inside wall at Turn Eight in the same session as Leclerc's accident but was able to continue.

Through it all, the imperious Mercedes machine rose to the front, taking their second front row lock-out in succession and putting themselves in a strong position for their fourth consecutive one-two race finish in four races so far this season.

After Leclerc's crash, it was unclear who was the new favourite for pole, but Hamilton went fastest on the first runs in final qualifying, 0.4secs faster than anyone else.

However, at the start of the final runs, Mercedes were tight on time to get round to start their final laps before the chequered flag and Hamilton appeared to be compromised by being too close behind Bottas.

He immediately lost 0.3secs in the first sector and despite making up time on the next two parts of the lap, Bottas just managed to sneak ahead and Hamilton ended up 0.059secs behind the Finn.

Fast Ferrari mess it up again
It was a grave disappointment for Ferrari, for whom Leclerc had been the form man from the start of the weekend.

Leclerc again looked quick in first qualifying, although Red Bull's Pierre Gasly pipped him to fastest time with a later lap, and the 21-year-old was quick on his first lap on medium tyres in second qualifying, with Ferrari preferring them for the start of the race, only to smash into the wall at Turn Eight on his second lap.

Leclerc went in too fast to the tight left-hander leading into the section around Baku's historic medieval castle, locked a wheel and understeered into the barriers.

He was clearly dejected as he climbed out of the car and looked to the skies in dismay.

"I am very disappointed in myself," Leclerc said. "I have been very strong all weekend but it is a mistake I shouldn't have done. I will focus on that for a few hours and understand what I could have done to not have that mistake but I will push to come back and have a good race tomorrow."

Leclerc's pace on his first lap was strong enough to get him through into the top 10 shoot-out but he could not take part as a result of the extensive damage to his car.

But because Alfa Romeo's Antonio Giovinazzi has a 10-place grid penalty, Leclerc will be promoted to start ninth. From there, on a divergent strategy starting on the medium tyres, he is likely to feature in the fight for a podium by the end of the race.

A madcap weekend so far
Red Bull's Max Verstappen was fourth, 0.574secs off the pace, ahead of Racing Point's Sergio Perez, Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat and McLaren's Lando Norris, who continued the impressive start to his debut season with seventh place.

At the back, George Russell impressed to out-qualify team-mate Kubica despite missing all his Friday running after his car was damaged when he ran over a loose man-hole cover.

Russell was 0.393secs quicker than Kubica, who ended his session in the wall at Turn Eight, misjudging his entry, hitting the inside wall and cannoning into the barrier on the outside.

The session continued the theme of a madcap weekend, which started with first practice being cancelled following Russell's incident so organisers could check the rest of the manhole covers around the track, and then the lorry bringing his car back to the pits colliding with a bridge.

The first race in Baku in 2016 was a snore-fest, but the last two have been full of incident, and the weekend so far has suggested another unpredictable and incident-strewn race is in store.

Ferrari looking fast in final Azerbaijan GP practice - follow qualifying at 14:00 BST & Formula E Paris E-Prix at 15:00
Kubica was the first to come to grief around the medieval castle

What they said
Bottas said: "I am really happy. Ferrari have been really strong. Charles was out by a mistake and as a team we did everything to take an advantage."

Hamilton said: "It has been so close all weekend. Ferrari have looked incredibly quick. Valtteri did an exceptional job in qualifying. It is a massively great result for us. We didn't have an upgrade and there others did and for us to lock out the front row due to circumstances I am really grateful for it."

Vettel admitted Ferrari were disappointed with the result.

He said: "I don't know if they stole it. I think they were a bit quicker than us today. It was difficult to find the ring balance of pushing with the out lap and playing with two and trying to get something. I had a good lap but I had no tow.

"Happy to get sort of the maximum out of it but from a team point of view we were expecting to have a better session."

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/48077363
 
Mercedes set an all-time record of four consecutive one-twos at the start of a season as Valtteri Bottas beat Lewis Hamilton to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

For the fourth race in a row, Ferrari were unable to challenge Mercedes - and again there were questions about the strategy chosen by the Italian team.

Sebastian Vettel finished third, never very far behind the Mercedes, but team-mate Charles Leclerc finished fifth when it looked for a while as if he might have been able to take fourth ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

Leclerc's consolation on a weekend that he had looked like dominating until crashing in qualifying was a point for fastest lap.

The result makes Mercedes the first team ever to start the season in such a dominant fashion and puts their drivers in an enviable position in the championship.

Bottas returns to the lead of the championship, leading Hamilton by the point he gained for fastest lap in Australia. Vettel is 35 points behind.

Hamilton closed in on Bottas in the final two laps looking for the win but made an error running wide at the last corner just as the Finn got the DRS overtaking aid by coming up to lap Williams' George Russell and the leader held on.

Bottas came close to losing the lead at the start, when Hamilton got alongside the Finn into Turn One after a better start from second on the grid.

But Hamilton gave Bottas plenty of room on the outside, and that allowed Bottas to hold him off on the runs to Turns Two and Three, after which he controlled the race.

Mercedes have the best car, but the margins appear to be quite small. But Ferrari are making it easier for them.

Leclerc might have won had he not crashed in qualifying, there are questions over the tyre strategy in wanting to start on the mediums, and also over how the team ran Leclerc's race.

Leclerc's off-set strategy, starting on the medium tyres, provided the main interest in the race.

The 21-year-old started eighth after crashing in qualifying when he had appeared the favourite for the weekend, and once clear of the midfield runners he began carving huge chunks out of the gap to the front-runners.

By lap 11, he had caught Vettel, who Ferrari immediately called into the pits to change from the softs to the mediums, and Mercedes followed the German in with Bottas and Hamilton on consecutive laps.

Leclerc said after the race: "There is nothing wrong with the team, it's just my mistake yesterday which I have put myself down enough for"

That put Leclerc in the lead, needing to go long on the mediums and hope to fight back on fresh soft tyres in the closing stages.

Bottas, Hamilton and Vettel closed in and the Finn was on Leclerc's tail by lap 31, and passed him a lap later.

Leclerc pleaded to be pitted for fresh tyres immediately, but the team told him they wanted to wait because they were worried about the softs making it to the end.

But they waited only two laps - in which time Leclerc lost eight seconds to Bottas, at least a second of which was caused by letting team-mate Vettel by.

That left Leclerc well over 20 seconds behind Verstappen, and in a lonely fifth place.

After the race, Renault's Daniel Ricciardo was given a three-place penalty for the next race in Spain after reversing into Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat.

The pair had been battling for 10th place when Ricciardo lunged up in the inside at Turn Three. He misjudged it and ran straight on, meaning Kvyat could also could not turn into the corner. Attempting to rejoin, Ricciardo did not see Kvyat and simply reversed into his car.

Tough one to call on an uneventful day but Bottas drove flawlessly in the lead, holding off Hamilton, so let's give it to him
What they said
Bottas: "It was actually a tough race even though not that much was happening at the front - Lewis was putting on pressure, but everything was under control. I'm happy to take the chequered flag and take first place."

Hamilton: "Congratulations to Valtteri, he drove a fantastic race, made no mistakes and deserved the win. It was all lost in qualifying. It's great for the team and this is the best start of the season we've ever had."

Vettel: "The first stint was really poor I struggled to get the tyres to work, then I damaged them, then when they did get hot I couldn't use use them properly they were damaged and I couldn't get a feel in confidence for the car - that's not so good around here.

"The last four races we were not quite there so we're not the favourites going into Barcelona, we have some upgrades coming and we need to chase them down."


What happens next?
Formula 1 races in Europe for the first time at the Spanish Grand Prix. It's the track where Ferrari looked so good in pre-season testing, leading to Mercedes believing they would start the season behind. How wrong they were - and how much Ferrari need to win there if this season is not to be a write off for them before long.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/48084605
 
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The Spanish GP

Sebastian Vettel has stressed that his Ferrari team need to start beating Mercedes after the world champions' dominant start to the season.

Mercedes have taken one-twos in all four races and Vettel is 35 points off championship leader Valtteri Bottas, who is one ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

Vettel said: "We need to start scoring points, the sooner the better. The longer it goes on, the worse it looks."

But he said his chances of the drivers' title were "as good as anybody else's".

The German is in agreement with Bottas that Mercedes' results have made them look more superior than they actually are, in terms of the competitive standing between the two cars.

Vettel said: "[Overall], we are slightly behind but we know it is not a long way and things could go our way. Everyone is fired up and willing to fight."

Finland's Bottas added: "If you look at the results, it looks like we had been dominating as a team but by pace there is not that much difference between us and Ferrari. It is depending on the weekend.

"Melbourne we were better, Bahrain they were, after that it has been pretty close and down to fine details."

Bottas has won two of the opening four races of the season with his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton winning the other two
Both teams have performance upgrades for this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix.

Ferrari have introduced a more powerful engine, including a new fuel, as well as aerodynamic improvements, while Mercedes have their own aerodynamic upgrades.

Bottas said: "This weekend with the upgrades Ferrari is bringing, they have a new power unit, we see how it works. We have some upgrades, [you] can't rule out Red Bull at this kind of track, same as Monaco, but it is going to be a lot about development and how we can improve through the year."

Vettel has admitted that Ferrari have been struggling to get their car back into the sweet-spot of handling balance that they achieved at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in testing in February and March.

The four-time world champion said it would be "interesting" now they were returning to the track for a race whether they could find it again.

"The car was really good in testing," Vettel said. "But we arrived in Australia and struggled to feel the same.

"The last four races have been up and down, there have been times when it felt good and times when it did not.

"Deep down, we know the car is strong but we haven't found the silver bullet. There never is one. It is getting into the details and trying to understand more and more and trying to improve and make sure it doesn't happen again.

"This weekend will be interesting for us because we had such a good feeling and it was not so long ago. I remember how the car felt. if we can get back to that feeling I am confident we can be very competitive."

'Respect is there' amid the tension at Mercedes
After the last race in Baku, Hamilton rued his decision to give Bottas more space than he would have given another driver when he was alongside at the first corner.

Asked whether he would show more aggression towards his team-mate with the championship fight so close between them, the Briton said: "It will always be respectful. We'll see. Ultimately, the core goal is for the team to finish at the top, and I am a team player.

"We are not going to be touching but in terms of giving up positions, that won't be happening again."

Hamilton hinted that there had been tension in the background already, but that it was under control.

Asked why he thought the fight would not deteriorate into extreme tension between the drivers as it did with his former team-mate Nico Rosberg who won the title in 2016, Hamilton added: "There are things that happen in the background that you won't know about. I don't feel this is the place to talk about it.

"When [Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff] mentions glimpses of that, he has seen a glimpse of it but what is really important is we have discussed it and rectified it and it won't spring up again, whereas what happened before was an individual continued to go down that route.

"But that's not what we have here. We have a really great energy in the team.

"The respect is there. We have agreed rules set out so we do finish the races one-two and we play supporting roles either way, and I truly believe it is the best pairing in terms of that respect in terms of how we deliver each weekend that any team has ever had or currently has.

"Yes, it's going to be close and there is always tension when you want to beat someone else but the fundamental key is we are team players, we are not here for ourselves. Of course we want to win the championship individually, but we are paid to win and deliver for the team."

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/48216770
 
Valtteri Bottas beat Lewis Hamilton to take his third pole position in a row and lead a Mercedes one-two in qualifying at the Spanish Grand Prix.

The Finn was 0.634 seconds ahead of Hamilton, who made a series of errors on his first lap before a slower track meant an improvement was impossible on the next.

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel was third with an 0.866secs gap to Bottas.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen was fourth, ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

Bottas, who leads Hamilton in the championship by one point, set a superb one minute 15.406 seconds on his first run in final qualifying, while Hamilton had a mistake-strewn run.

He had wheelspin out of the final corner starting the lap, then ran wide out of Turn Seven, bouncing over the kerbs on the exit. And then he ran wide again at Turns 12 and 13.

By the time he did his second run, the track was slower, partly because of the gravel that Hamilton himself had deposited on the track in the final sector, and none of the top four improved.

Chequered Flag podcast: Spanish Grand Prix preview
Of the drivers in the top three teams, only Leclerc improved on his final lap, but that was because his qualifying session did not run to plan.

An error on his first run in second qualifying, running wide out of Turn Nine, meant he had to do a second run to progress into the top 10 shoot-out.

That damaged the floor of his car, costing performance, and left him short of new tyres, which meant he could only do one run in the final session.

He opted to do two laps, taking it relatively cautiously on the first to set a 'banker' and then going harder on his second, by which time the tyres would have lost their edge. Added to what he said was a "very strange balance" from the damage, matching Vettel was never going to be a possibility

The 21-year-old ended up 0.316secs slower than his team-mate and 0.231secs down on Verstappen, who is likely to be a thorn in Ferrari's side in the race, as he has proved so often this year.

What they said
Bottas said: "Really enjoyed that. Enjoyed the adrenaline rush you get from those laps. It has started well, the season. I feel better and better in the car and I am looking forward to tomorrow."

Hamilton said: "Valtteri did a fantastic job. He has been quick all weekend. On my side, I just didn't put the laps together. Ultimately, it just wasn't a good enough job."

Vettel said: "I just spoke to Valtteri. They were both very happy with the car. For us, a bit more tricky. I got everything out of the car on the first run, the second I had to try something a bit different and it didn't work.

"The car doesn't feel bad but obviously we are not quick enough. Overall, in those sorts of corners you just need the grip and I think we might be a bit down on that."

Mercedes, though, look in a league of their own. Their aerodynamic upgrade introduced for this race - which insiders say is worth a gain of 0.4secs a lap - has more than counter-balanced Ferrari's own changes, which also include an upgraded engine.

Mercedes have utterly dominated the weekend and Ferrari look more likely to be in a race with Red Bull for third than with their supposed title rivals for the win.

The top 10 was completed by Red Bull's Pierre Gasly, doing a better job than so far and only 0.351secs from Verstappen, ahead of the Haas drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen, Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat and Renault's Daniel Ricciardo.

Ricciardo, who has a three-place grid penalty, had a narrow escape when he only just scraped through into second qualifying in 15th place.

His Renault team have been struggling this weekend, despite a new engine, and team-mate Nico Hulkenberg was knocked out in Q3, after the German went off on his first lap, breaking his only new-specification front wing and having to revert to the older spec.

Hulkenberg just missed out on beating Ricciardo to 15th place.

McLaren's Lando Norris was knocked out of the top 10 by Ricciardo, and he was ahead of Toro Rosso's Anglo-Thai Alexander Albon and the second McLaren of Carlos Sainz, who made a mistake on his final lap and ran wide at Turn 13.

At Williams, George Russell bounced back from a crash in final practice to qualify 19th, nearly 1.2secs ahead of team-mate Robert Kubica.

But Russell will start behind the Pole because of a grid penalty for changing his gearbox after the crash.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/48238294
 
Lewis Hamilton led Valtteri Bottas to the fifth consecutive Mercedes one-two at the start of this season after dominating the Spanish Grand Prix.

The world champion, who started second, passed Bottas into the first corner and eased away to an ultimately comfortable win, despite a late safety car.

A long way behind, Ferrari used team tactics yet again but lost out to Red Bull's Max Verstappen for third.

But a disheartening performance for the Italian team on a weekend they hoped would make a step forward only emphasised the sense that Mercedes are in a league of their own this year and that the championship fight is already a private one between Hamilton and Bottas.

Spanish Grand Prix race results
Hamilton, with three wins to the Finn's two and a point for fastest lap from Spain to add to his tally, leads Bottas by seven points and their closest rival, Verstappen, is a massive 46 points behind, with Vettel a further two adrift, and Leclerc 10 behind him.

Mercedes' lead is not far off two clear wins, at 25 points for a victory, and the size of the advantage at just about the quarter-way mark of a 21-race season underlines Mercedes' superiority.

Mercedes in a world of their own
An aerodynamic upgrade to the world champions' car for this race was said to be worth 0.4 seconds a lap and it more than compensated for both chassis and engine improvements by Ferrari.

Mercedes dominated the weekend, Bottas taking pole by 0.6secs after Hamilton had a messy qualifying session, and Hamilton controlling the race after making the better start, easing away in comfort.

The first corner was tense, with Hamilton, Bottas and Vettel three-wide on the entry, before Hamilton claimed the lead from the inside line and Vettel locked up on the outside and went into the run-off.

As the German rejoined, he ran team-mate Leclerc out of road, costing the Monegasque the third place he had just before claimed as Verstappen backed off to avoid running into the back of Bottas. Ferrari spent the rest of the race fighting a losing battle to reclaim that final podium place.

It set the stage for a tense fight at Ferrari. Vettel was struggling in the early stages with a flat-spotted tyre, damaged at the first corner, and Leclerc was pressuring him hard.

Ferrari eventually ordered their nominal team leader to let Leclerc by and then Vettel had to make an earlier than planned pit stop, forcing him on to a two-stop strategy.

Red Bull put Verstappen on the same, while Leclerc was on a one-stop, and the question was which would prevail.

Later on, Leclerc had to return the favour to Vettel, who was behind him on softer tyres mid-race, as Ferrari sought to maximise their drivers' strategies.

The race was panning out to a climax with Verstappen and Vettel on fresher tyres fighting to pass Leclerc protecting third on older tyres in the closing laps.

But in the end, the safety car decided it. Lance Stroll's Racing Point and Lando Norris' McLaren tangled at the first corner, spreading debris all over the road.

Hamilton and Bottas came in for fresh tyres and behind them Leclerc had to follow suit, while Verstappen and Vettel behind him stayed out, as they had just stopped a couple of laps before.

That dropped Leclerc down to fifth and they ran that way to the end of the race.

The fight in the closing laps was all about the midfield, with some hectic and wheel-banging action deciding the final points positions.

The Haas drivers nearly tangled before Kevin Magnussen moved clear into seventh behind Pierre Gasly's Red Bull, while his team-mate Romain Grosjean dropped back first behind McLaren's Carlos Sainz and Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat before battling to hold off Kvyat's team-mate Alexander Albon in the closing laps for the final point.

Not the most gripping race. Hamilton, scrappy on Saturday, had too much for Bottas once he had claimed the lead at the start. But we'll give it to Verstappen for again taking the fight to Ferrari and beating them. He's becoming a real thorn in their side

What happens next?
Monaco. Usually not Mercedes territory, the track has favoured Red Bull and Ferrari in recent years. But Mercedes' pace in the slow corners at Barcelona suggests they will dominate again. Right now, it's hard to see anyone beating them.

What they said
Hamilton: "I have to put it down to this incredible team. This is history in the making to have five one-twos - I'm proud of that and proud of everyone's hard work."

Bottas: "As a team it's incredible, the fifth one-two in a run is really good. I got some points and that's important, every point will count, but I have to find out what happened at the start."

Verstappen: "It was a hectic first corner so I backed out of it and it gave me a good position for the first three corners, but the Mercedes is too quick. I'm happy to be on the podium."

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/48240781
 
Lewis Hamilton held off Max Verstappen, and survived a late collision with the Red Bull driver, to win a nail-biting Monaco Grand Prix.

The world champion was left struggling with the tyres on his Mercedes after fitting softer rubber than the Dutchman at pit stops during an early safety-car period.

Britain's Hamilton repeatedly complained that he was not going to be able to make the tyres last to the end but by careful management held on to take his fourth win of 2019.

Verstappen dropped from second on the road to fourth in the results because of a five-second penalty, promoting Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel to second and Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas to third.

Verstappen's punishment was for an unsafe release in the pits when all the leaders pitted on lap 12 as a safety car was deployed to clear up debris laid by Charles Leclerc's Ferrari.

Although Mercedes' run of consecutive victories at the start of this season continued, their sequence of one-twos is over as a result of Bottas' bad luck.

And Hamilton now holds a 17-point lead over his team-mate in the championship.

Leclerc's bravery trying to make up places at the start cost him - but it led to a safety car and an entertaining race

Wearing a helmet painted in a design used by Niki Lauda, the Mercedes non-executive chairman who died on Monday, Hamilton was controlling the race, ahead of Bottas, Verstappen and Vettel, after converting his pole position into a lead a the first corner.

But the race came to life when Leclerc suffered a puncture when he spun trying to pass Nico Hulkenberg's Renault for 11th place on lap eight.

Leclerc had been making up ground after Ferrari's farcical strategic error in qualifying on Saturday meant he failed to progress beyond the first session.

The Monegasque had passed Romain Grosjean's Haas for 12th place with a brave move at Rascasse on the previous lap. He tried the same on German Hulkenberg but was just too far back.

They rounded the corner together but Leclerc spun as he got on the power on the exit.

He got going again, losing only two places, but his tyre began to deconstruct around the next lap and tore chunks out of his rear bodywork as he returned to the pits.

When the safety car was deployed, Hamilton led the leaders into the pits, as Bottas backed up Verstappen and Vettel to give Mercedes time to service both cars.

Red Bull pulled off a super-quick stop and released Verstappen into Bottas' path, and the two cars touched as the Finn was forced into the pit wall on the outside.

It gave Verstappen second place on the road, and caused Bottas a puncture that meant he had to stop again the next time around, losing a place to German Vettel. But ultimately it cost him more than it gained him - and he was given two penalty points on his licence as well as the time penalty.

Hamilton's problem was that Mercedes had fitted medium tyres to his car, while Verstappen and Vettel were given hards - which Bottas was also switched to when he pitted for the second time.

It meant Hamilton had to do 66 laps on a set of mediums, when they were only projected to last 50.

It is unclear why Mercedes chose the medium, and the decision gave Hamilton a tough afternoon, spent controlling his pace and fending off Verstappen.

Passing is difficult at Monaco, but regardless it meant Hamilton could not afford to make a mistake despite fading grip, which was no easy task.

His concern was plain as he repeatedly complained over the radio that he was not going to make it and would not be able to hold Verstappen off.

At one point, he even said it was going to take a "miracle" to win it.

In the end, with about 10 laps to go, Mercedes' chief strategist James Vowles came on the radio and said: "You can make it if you trust it."

Verstappen went for it at the chicane with two laps to go, but he was too far back and locked a wheel, and they touched as Hamilton came across him.

Hamilton took to the escape road and carried on, as Verstappen complained: "He just turned in. I was trying to overtake."

That was the last drama and Hamilton hung on for the remaining two laps.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/48414510
 
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel beat Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes to pole position at the Canadian Grand Prix.

It was only the second time in seven races Mercedes have been beaten to pole - the other by Vettel's team-mate Charles Leclerc in Bahrain in March.

Vettel was 0.206 seconds quicker than Hamilton, with Leclerc 0.680secs off.

Daniel Ricciardo was a surprise fourth for Renault after Red Bull's Max Verstappen was caught out by a crash by Kevin Magnussen in the second session.

Hamilton had been quickest on the first runs in the top 10 shoot-out, by nearly 0.2secs from Vettel, but the German four-time champion pulled out a special lap on his final run.

Vettel whooped with delight over the radio as he took his first pole position since last year's German Grand Prix in July.

Leclerc, who had been swapping fastest times with Vettel for much of the weekend and in the first two parts of qualifying, said he struggled with the car when it mattered and did not have an explanation.

Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas will start sixth after a spin on his first lap and then a scrappy lap on his second attempt.

Magnussen crashed at the 'wall of champions' - the chicane just before the start-finish straight, which put paid to Verstappen's ever more desperate attempts to get through to the third session
How are Ferrari suddenly quick again?
Mercedes had said before the weekend that they expected a strong challenge from Ferrari on Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

It was a claim met with scepticism in some quarters but it was founded in an understanding that Ferrari have had a straight-line speed advantage all year - and this track layout rewards that like few others.

Hamilton explained that Ferrari were gaining 0.5secs on the straights on overall lap time; the Mercedes has different characteristics as a car. Their car's strengths are in cornering speed, while the Ferrari has less drag and downforce in addition to the most powerful engine.

The race, though, might be a different matter. Ferrari's straight-line speed advantage is not as pronounced in race trim and a close battle is expected.

However, Mercedes go into the race with concerns after one of their new specification engines, which are fitted to the factory team's cars and those of both customers, failed in Lance Stroll's Racing Point in final practice.

The story of the day was arguably Ricciardo's brilliant fourth place, and the fact he pipped Red Bull's Pierre Gasly for the position will be especially sweet, after so many questioned the Australian's decision to leave Red Bull for Renault this season.

Ricciardo was 0.008secs ahead of Gasly, as Red Bull were left to rue a strategic error in second qualifying.

Attempting to complete that session on the more durable medium tyre so they could start the race on it - as Ferrari and Mercedes did - Verstappen was not quick enough.

At Renault, Nico Hulkenberg also made it into the top 10 in seventh place, 0.253secs slower than Ricciardo.

He headed the McLarens of Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz - another impressive showing by the 19-year-old British rookie - and Magnussen.

Elsewhere, Anglo-Thai novice Alexander Albon was 14th in his Toro Rosso, two places behind team-mate Daniil Kvyat, and British rookie George Russell made it 7-0 in qualifying against his team-mate Robert Kubica in 19th place in the private Williams battle, Russell 0.776secs ahead.

What they said
Sebastian Vettel: "I'm full of adrenaline. You know what, the feeling in the car when it just keeps coming and the feeling - it felt so good. I enjoyed it and I'm very happy and happy for the team over the last few races, it's been very tough."

Lewis Hamilton: "I don't feel disappointment, we gave it everything I had got. They were faster and in the last sector they were killing us, the timing was right, procedures were perfect, we had P1 for a second, but we knew they were quick."

Charles Leclerc: "I don't really know I struggled with the car and with the set-up. I struggled with Q1 so I need to work with that on trying to have the right set up for the final Q3 time. Congratulations to Seb he deserves it and hopefully I'll have a better race from my side tomorrow."

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/48569128
 
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel believes Formula 1 has lost its way, in the wake of the penalty that cost him victory in the Canadian Grand Prix.

The four-time champion won on the road but was handed a five-second penalty for rejoining the track dangerously and impeding Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton.

The German said the rules had left drivers sounding "like lawyers" and that there was "no edge" to the sport.

"It's all wrong. I disagree with where the sport is now," Vettel said.

Ferrari say they have appealed against the decision, even though the rules say that a five-second penalty is a verdict against which the right of appeal does not exist. The Italian team have not yet clarified the grounds of their complaint.

Ultimately it's not the sport that I fell in love with when I was watching

Sebastian Vettel
Vettel insisted he had done nothing wrong and had not deliberately hindered Hamilton as he rejoined the track after cutting across the grass at Turns Three and Four of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal.

But race stewards handed the penalty to Vettel because they felt he continued to move across the track after regaining full control of his car. They felt he could instead have continued on a line that allowed Hamilton space, and believed video footage of movements of his steering and head suggested he had seen Hamilton and knew where he was.

Vettel, who complained over the radio that the stewards were "stealing the race" from him, said: "I really love my racing. I'm a purist. I love going back and looking at the old times, the old cars, the old drivers. It's an honour when you have the chance to meet them and talk to them; they're heroes in a way.

"But I just wish I was maybe as good, doing what I do, but being in their time rather than today.

"It's not just about that decision today, there's other decisions. Just hear the wording when people come on the radio, that we have now. We have an official language; I think it's all wrong.

"We should be able to say what we think but we're not, so in this regard I disagree with where the sport is now.

"You have all this wording 'I gained an advantage, I didn't gain an advantage, I avoided a collision'. I just think it's wrong, you know, it's not really what we're doing in the car. It's racing. It's common sense."

He added: "If there's a hazard on track, obviously you slow down because it's quite unnatural to keep the pedal to the floor and run into the car and then say, 'Ah, it's wrong that the car was there.'

"I rejoined the track and then Lewis obviously had to react. I don't know how close it was or close he was.

"Once I looked in the mirror he was sort of there but for me that's racing and I think a lot of the people that I just mentioned earlier, the old Formula 1 drivers and people in the grandstands and so on, would agree that this is just part of racing but nowadays I don't like it. We all sound a bit like lawyers and using the official language. I think it just gives no edge to people and no edge to the sport.

"Ultimately it's not the sport that I fell in love with when I was watching. Obviously it hurts me today because it impacts on my race result but I think this more of a bigger criteria."

Hamilton, who was partly alongside Vettel in the incident but had to brake as the Ferrari moved across, admitted he "would probably have done the same thing" in Vettel's position, but said that the rules required drivers to rejoin the track safely.

"I was alongside and I had to back off to avoid a collision and I guess that's why they made the decision," Hamilton said.

"If you try to force a guy into a wall, are you saying you shouldn't get a penalty for that? I was going to crash with him, so I had to brake. I was just driving the normal line so I shouldn't have been in that position of being close to crashing. It was his responsibility to avoid that, but it ended up being mine."

It was the fifth win in seven races for Hamilton, who leads team-mate Valtteri Bottas in the championship by 29 points and Vettel by 62 - the equivalent of two clear wins and a fifth place.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/48581941
 
Lewis Hamilton beat Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas to pole position at the French Grand Prix.

The world champion was 0.286 seconds quicker than the Finn, whose title challenge is in danger of fizzling out before half way through the season.

Bottas heads into the race 29 points behind Hamilton and needs to beat him to get his challenge back on track.

Behind them, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was third while team-mate Sebastian Vettel could manage only seventh.

Bottas had the edge - until it mattered
Mercedes were untouchable at the front, as they have looked all weekend on this demanding track in the Provencal hills.

Bottas had looked to have an edge on Hamilton through practice, but when it mattered the Briton made it count, as he so often does.

It was Hamilton's third pole of the season, matching Bottas' tally.

In the final qualifying session, Hamilton was 0.157secs quicker than Bottas on the first runs.

Trying to improve, Bottas had a scrappy lap on his second attempt and failed to improve, while Hamilton took a few extra fractions off his time, despite a small error in the penultimate corner.

What they said
Hamilton: "Valtteri has been quick all weekend, and the last two laps were the ones. The last one I was up nearly had a second and I lost it in the second to last corner."

Bottas: "It has been really close all weekend, down to fine details, but in final qualifying the wind changed and that made the track different and my lines did not work in a couple of places."

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/48730691
 
Lewis Hamilton says he "understands" if people find Formula 1 boring in the face of Mercedes' domination but says it is not his or the team's fault.

Hamilton's victory in Sunday's French Grand Prix was his sixth in eight races this year - his team-mate Valtteri Bottas has won the other two.

The world champion put the blame on the sport's bosses and in particular former leader Bernie Ecclestone.

"Don't point fingers at the drivers, we don't write the rules," he said.

"We have nothing to do with money shifting, all that kind of stuff. You should put the pressure on the people at the head, who should be doing the job."

The five-time world champion added: "It's really important for people to realise it's not the drivers' fault. This is a constant cycle of Formula 1 for years and years and years, even before I got to F1, and it's because the way Bernie had it set up and the decisions they were making back then. It's still the same.

"Until that management structure changes, it will continue to be the same, in my opinion. That's not my job to do that. My job's to come here and do the best I can as a driver."

Hamilton leads the championship by a massive 36 points from Bottas with only eight of the 21 rounds completed. Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel is 76 points behind Hamilton in third place.

French GP podium
After another double podium finish Mercedes have reached 338 points in the constructors' championship
Hamilton's remarks are a reference to the current prize-money structure in F1, which disproportionately rewards the top teams.

The arrangement, established by Ecclestone in the early part of this decade in an attempt to enhance his power and control, has created a two-tier system, with Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull far wealthier than the rest of the teams, who as a result cannot compete.

F1's new owner, the US group Liberty Media, which ousted Ecclestone when it took over in 2017, has plans to remedy the situation with a new financial structure, including a budget cap, and changes to technical and sporting rules from 2021.

Hamilton attended the most recent meeting of bosses discussing the rules in an attempt to help guide conversations in a way he felt might improve the racing.

Hamilton said: "They are trying, but for many, many years they've made bad decisions. Do I have confidence that it's going to shift massively? I have faith that it's going to get better. I really, really hope so.

"And to the point that I went to Paris last week to get involved. I was in that meeting, watching all the bosses of F1. I think there was the FIA and all the Formula 1 teams.

"I have nothing to gain by being there but if there's anything I can help… They've been making all these decisions and never once had a driver's input in that room, so if that can be the decisive point that helps shift it and the fans can get better racing, I will be proud to be a part of that."

Hamilton was accompanied at the meeting by Grand Prix Drivers' Association chairman Alexander Wurz and Renault driver Nico Hulkenberg.

Hamilton's team boss at Mercedes, Toto Wolff, added that it would be wrong to blame Mercedes for making the sport boring.

"I hear you and from a fans' perspective I get it," he said, "but I think it's an unfair question because what would you do in our shoes? You would continue to push relentlessly for performance. It is what we do.

"But the fans see a race that is less enjoyable to watch."

Reflecting the fact that there is never a single reason why a specific event lacks action, Wolff also said that it could help the racing in France if the chicane that interrupts the long Mistral straight was removed, a suggestion that was made earlier in the weekend by Bottas - as well as last year by the late FIA F1 director Charlie Whiting.

Wolff also addressed claims by Red Bull boss Helmut Marko that a change in the tyres for this season, which seems to have inadvertently helped Mercedes' competitiveness, should be reversed to bring the field closer together.

"This is an unforgiving high-tech sport and we gave it a big push over the winter to understand how the tyres worked last year and it seems we have done OK.

"Changing the regulations mid-season is almost like introducing a balance of performance in a sport that was always about unforgiving excellence."

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/48744272
 
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc took pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix as world champion Lewis Hamilton was hit with a three-place grid penalty.

Leclerc, 21, set two laps quick enough for pole and ended the session 0.259 seconds clear of Hamilton.

The Mercedes driver was subsequently penalised for "unnecessarily impeding" Alfa Romeo's Kimi Raikkonen.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen is promoted to second place and the second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas to third.

Hamilton will line up in fourth place rather than fifth after other grid penalties are taken into account.

Britain's Lando Norris will start in fifth, the McLaren rookie initially having qualified in sixth but the beneficiary of a five-place drop for Haas' Kevin Magnussen, who requires a gearbox change.

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel failed to go out in the final part of qualifying because of problem with the air-pressure line to his engine and his team had to withdraw him after failing to fix it in time. He will start ninth.

The incident involving Hamilton and Raikkonen came early in the first part of qualifying, as the Finn was on a quick lap and encountered the cruising Briton at the top of the hill on the approach to Turn Three.

Hamilton appeared to see Raikkonen late and went straight on at the corner, forcing the Alfa Romeo to back off. Raikkonen gestured at the Mercedes driver as he passed and came on the radio to report that he had been "completely blocked".

In explaining the penalty, governing body the FIA's race stewards said that Hamilton had "just come out of the pits and was informed of the cars approaching, including car #7 [Raikkonen]".

The statement added: "Although car 44 tried to take evasive action when he became aware of car 7 approaching on a fast lap, it was not sufficient to avoid impeding car 7, which then had to abort the lap."

Hamilton, who also received one penalty point on his licence, pre-empted the official announcement of his grid drop by several minutes by writing "3 place penalty..." on an Instagram post.

In a separate post, he conceded that he "totally deserved the penalty today and have no problem accepting it".

He added: "Was a mistake on my behalf and I take full responsibility for it. It wasn't intentional. Anyway, tomorrow is another day and an opportunity to rise. These things are sent to try us."

Leclerc in imperious form
Hamilton sounded on edge throughout qualifying and looked to be struggling, but pulled a lap out of the bag in the end for a place on the front row, albeit one he would later lose.

"Charles has been quick all weekend," Hamilton said. "We have not really been able to keep up with him."

Leclerc has looked the faster Ferrari driver for much of the weekend and delivered on his potential to take his second pole.

After his first, in Bahrain earlier this season, he went on to dominate the race before an engine problem in the closing laps cost him victory.

"I'm extremely happy," Leclerc said. "We have been competitive since second practice but it is always difficult to do the lap at the time. It is just a shame for Seb. We should have two cars close to one and two."

Hamilton's edginess in the car was down to a lack of pace for Mercedes - particularly on the straights - and his engineers failing to put him out behind other cars so he could benefit from a slipstream.

"Positioning was so difficult," he said. "I was always at the front and never getting the slipstream. Luckily on the last run I got a decent position."

Getting a tow from another car was key for Mercedes in Austria to minimise Ferrari's advantage on the straights. It has also a key part of qualifying at some races in 2019, after regulation changes to make the front and rear wings bigger significantly increased drag.

"I've got to fight the young'uns!" Hamilton didn't manage to take pole number 87 at the Red Bull Ring
Speaking before his penalty was confirmed, Hamilton said he was looking forward to the race - the front row for which boasts arguably the two brightest talents of the new generation in Leclerc and Verstappen.

Three drivers from three different teams in the first three positions sets up a tantalising prospect, especially as Leclerc will start on the faster, soft tyres, and Verstappen and Bottas - as well as Hamilton - will be on the slower but more durable mediums.

Hamilton added: "The Ferraris are quick on the long runs, not only the short runs. I'll give it everything I have. If I can stay in the tow, maybe we will be able to offset each other [on strategy].

"If they start on that tyre, I tend to think they are going for a two unless that tyre goes longer than we anticipate. A one- and two-stop is very close and how you work them will be interesting."

Verstappen, who won this race last year, praised developments brought to the Red Bull at this race for their improved performance.

The team have struggled in recent races but have made a step forward and have looked close to Mercedes and Ferrari all weekend.

Elsewhere, Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi both beat Red Bull's Pierre Gasly as the Alfa Romeos secured strong top-10 positions.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/48811784
 
Austrian Grand Prix: Max Verstappen wins thriller after late pass on Charles Leclerc

Red Bull's Max Verstappen caught and passed Charles Leclerc with two laps remaining to win a thrilling Austrian Grand Prix.

But the two banged wheels and the incident is under investigation.

Ferrari's Leclerc seemed in control of the race after Verstappen dropped back from second on the grid to seventh on the first lap after a poor start.

But Red Bull pitted Verstappen 10 laps later than Leclerc and Verstappen fought up from fourth to take the win.

It was a sensational drive from Verstappen, making superb use of fresher tyres than the cars in front of him, but the move with which he took the lead was controversial.

Leclerc had already fought off one pass by Verstappen on the previous lap, when the Red Bull got inside the Ferrari at Turn Three but Leclerc held on around the outside and out-accelerated him up to Turn Four.

But on the next lap, with two to go, Verstappen again dived up the inside, and this time he ran Leclerc off the road on the exit.

On the incident with Leclerc, he said: "It's hard racing or we have to stay home. If those things are not allowed in racing then we have to stay home."

Leclerc said: "The race was good. At the end I had a bit more [tyre] degradation than I thought so Max came back.

"On the incident, I will let the stewards decide. I was on the outside, like the lap before - which was perfectly fine, he left a car space - but he didn't on that lap and he pushed me wide so I didn't have the chance to fight back. It's a shame."

Whatever the outcome of the inquiry, it brings to an end Mercedes' run of eight consecutive wins this season - a run that actually stretches back two races further, to last year's Brazilian Grand Prix.
 
Red Bull's Pierre Gasly was the surprise pace-setter in an incident-packed first practice session at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

The Frenchman, who has struggled in his first season at Red Bull, went 0.476 seconds clear of Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas with a lap late in the session.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen was third and Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton fourth as several drivers had incidents.

Haas' Romain Grosjean had the worst with a crash in the pit lane and spin.

The Frenchman, who had persuaded Haas to let him try the car in its specification from the first race of the season in a bid to understand their struggles, lost control leaving the pits for the first time because he had too much throttle on when he released the pit lane speed limit.

Kimi Raikkonen
Raikkonen was another first practice casualty after his Alfa Romeo suffered engine problems
He spun into the inside wall, smashing his front wing, and then depositing parts of it around the track as he circulated slowly back to the pits.

After waiting in the pits for 40 minutes or so, the Franco-Swiss then had a spin at Brooklands on his first flying lap, and ended the session 19th, three places and 0.2 seconds slower than team-mate Kevin Magnussen in the current-spec car.

Bottas led the way throughout but Gasly popped into second in the closing minutes for a much-needed fillip for the Frenchman.

Verstappen also split the Mercedes drivers who had looked set to dominate before the Red Bulls upped their pace later in the session.

Bottas looked the more comfortable of the two Mercedes drivers, setting the pace in the first part of the session on the medium tyres by just under 0.3secs from Hamilton before improving on the softs.

Hamilton went off after Turn Four on his run on the soft tyres and did not improve.

Verstappen was another driver to lose control, this time at Becketts, and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, McLaren's Lando Norris, Toro Rosso's Alexander Albon and Williams' George Russell all had 'moments' as drivers struggled with the new track surface and windy conditions. It even rained briefly at one point.

Behind Hamilton, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel were fifth and sixth, ahead of the Renaults of Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo, the Toro Rosso of Anglo-Thai Alexander Albon and McLaren's Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris.

Russell was 17th in the Williams, ahead of Alfa Romeo's Kimi Raikkonen, whose car broke down, Grosjean and the second Williams of Robert Kubica.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/48962817
 
Valtteri Bottas beat Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton to pole position by the tiniest of margins at the British Grand Prix.

The Finn beat the world champion by just 0.006 seconds as Hamilton just failed to make up on his second lap for a mistake on his first run in the final session.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was a threat but ended up just 0.079secs behind in third.

The Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly pushed Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel down to sixth place.

That's Bottas' first pole position at Silverstone and the 10th in his career - in the process he prevented Hamilton from taking his seventh in Northamptonshire. Source: Forix
Leclerc had looked like a real contender for pole position after setting the pace by just over 0.1secs in the second knockout session.

But he made a mistake on his first run as the Mercedes drivers came to the fore.

Hamilton had a slide when he lost rear grip in Brooklands corner on his first run, when Bottas beat him by nearly 0.3secs.

Hamilton improved on his second run while Bottas could not but it was not quite enough.

Vettel was struggling, the four-time world champion looking out of sorts all day and ending up 0.615secs slower than Leclerc, who has now beaten the German for three qualifying sessions in a row.

The close times bode well for a competitive race, and there is the added intrigue of Leclerc starting on different tyres from the Mercedes and Red Bulls around him.

The 21-year-old Mongasque will start the race on the soft tyre, while the Mercedes and Red Bulls will use the medium.

It is a similar pattern to the last race in Austria, where Leclerc led from pole position throughout only to lose out to Verstappen in the closing laps at least in part because the Dutchman had made his pit stop 10 laps later and had fresher tyres at the end of the race.

Hamilton did not quite get the pole position he wanted at his home race, but the other three drivers with British origins all performed well.

Lando Norris, re-signed by McLaren for 2020 earlier this week, ended up eighth, behind the Renault of Daniel Ricciardo, while the Briton's team-mate Carlos Sainz was knocked out in second qualifying - where he was just under 0.2secs down on Norris - and will start 13th.

Alexander Albon, who races under a Thai flag but was born in London and has lived in the UK most of his life, was 10th in his Toro Rosso, while team-mate Daniil Kvyat was knocked out in the first session.

And George Russell continued his clean sweep of Robert Kubica at Williams with 19th place, 0.468secs ahead of his team-mate.

Bottas: "It reminds you why you do it. It has been really close all weekend with Lewis but I just managed to get a good lap and beat him to pole.

"The first lap was good but not perfect and I should have improved on the second run but I couldn't get the lap together."

Hamilton: "Congratulations to Valtteri. He did a solid job throughout qualifying but ultimately [I was] not good enough. At the end, I had that mistake on the first lap and the second one wasn't that great."

As he was cheered by the crowd during his post-qualifying interview, Hamilton added: "It's the best grand prix of the year. These tracks are great but without people to fill it up and bring energy, it's nothing. We have the best fans here."

Leclerc: "In Q2 we were quite good but then in Q3 Mercedes turned up the engine a little bit and they were very, very quick. Also round the corners is where we need to improve and we know it. Third is the best we could do and I am very happy about it."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/48974581
 
Hamilton wins record sixth British GP, Vettel crashes into Verstappen
Leclerc has several battles with Verstappen
Magnussen and Grosjean out after Haas drivers make contact, Giovinazzi out
 
Charles Leclerc led a Ferrari one-two as Pierre Gasly's difficult season continued with a big crash in second practice at the German Grand Prix.

Gasly lost control at the last corner and smashed into the barrier on the outside of the track, badly damaging his Red Bull. The Frenchman was unhurt.

Leclerc was 0.124 seconds quicker than Sebastian Vettel and 0.146secs ahead of Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton on a hot day.

Ferrari were first and second in both sessions and looked in good shape.

But conditions are expected to be cooler over the weekend, and rain threatens.

Hamilton's team-mate Valtteri Bottas was 0.662secs off the pace in fourth, ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

The Dutchman was 0.684secs slower than Leclerc and Red Bull looked to be in less of a good shape than they were in the past two races in Austria and Silverstone, at least on the evidence of Friday.

Gasly's crash was another blow for him, after a difficult season that has led to questions about his future in the team.

A strong performance at Silverstone had looked to be a turning point, but he had been struggling for pace - he ended the session only 15th fastest - even before his accident, which happened on his race-simulation run in the second part of the session.

Meanwhile, the day was encouraging for Ferrari, as not only were they quickest on a single lap, Leclerc's race-simulation run on the soft tyre was every bit as quick as Hamilton's.

However, conditions are expected to be very different at the weekend, with a drop in temperature form the mid 30Cs to the mid-20Cs, with the potential for rain as well.

Mercedes
Mercedes are celebrating 125 years in motorsport and their 200th Formula 1 start with a special white livery
Behind the big three, Haas' Romain Grosjean, in sixth, and Racing Point's Lance Stroll, in seventh, performed strongly.

It was an especially encouraging performance from Racing Point, who have introduced a major aerodynamic upgrade for this weekend after a dispiriting and disappointing first half of the season.

Grosjean is running the Haas in its specification from the first race of the season, while team-mate Kevin Magnussen, who was only 18th fastest, has the team's latest aerodynamic upgrade.

The idea is to compare the two cars' performance in an attempt to understand why Haas have shown such inconsistent performance this season, especially struggling to get the best out of the tyres in race trim.

Rounding out the top 10, Alfa Romeo's Kimi Raikkonen was eighth, ahead of Renault's Nico Hulkenberg and the second Racing Point of Sergio Perez.

"It has not been the best of days in terms of the heat," said Hamilton. "These tyres don't like high temperatures. It's about trying to keep the tyres in the working range - they are always overheating. That was the main issue today but everyone is in the same boat.

"If it's gonna rain, this is kind of a waste of a day. I don't feel like we learned much today anyway. It's so hot. If it's cooler on the weekend and it's dry nothing from today really applies. The tyres will come back towards us. Everyone will be quicker and more comfortable."

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/49128377
 
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HOCKENHEIM, Germany, July 27 (Reuters) - Formula One leader Lewis Hamilton put Mercedes on pole position for their 200th race at the German Grand Prix on Saturday while engine problems dashed Ferrari's hopes.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen will share the front row alongside the five-times world champion, with Hamilton's team mate Valtteri Bottas third.

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel failed to set a time and will start last after a turbo-related problem while team mate Charles Leclerc was sidelined in the final phase and will line up 10th on the grid.

https://www.eurosport.com/formula-1...or-mercedes-200th-race_sto7390397/story.shtml

Capture.JPG
 
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Confirmation of the final positions from an unforgettable race at Hockenheim ⏱️<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GermanGP?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GermanGP</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/F1?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#F1</a> 🇩🇪 <a href="https://t.co/ea8y1zqGE3">pic.twitter.com/ea8y1zqGE3</a></p>— Formula 1 (@F1) <a href="https://twitter.com/F1/status/1155498418216849411?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 28, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Red Bull's Max Verstappen took his second win of the year in a chaotic and incident-strewn German Grand Prix held in intermittent rain.

The Dutchman led a topsy-turvy result in which Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel took second from last on the grid and Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat was third.

Lewis Hamilton had a day to forget, finishing 11th after two mistakes.

But the Briton did not lose any ground to team-mate Valtteri Bottas in the championship after the Finn crashed.

It was a dismal way for Mercedes to end a weekend when the team celebrated 125 years in motorsport and their 200th Formula 1 race.

But the Mercedes drivers were not the only ones to fall foul of the treacherous conditions in a race that featured a remarkable six safety cars - two of them virtual - and the winner made five pit stops to change back and forth between wet and dry tyres.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc crashed when looking in strong shape for at least second place. Renault's Nico Hulkenberg went off at the same place, the treacherous penultimate corner, which was also where Hamilton made one of his errors.

Through the chaos, Verstappen drove a flawless race, tracking the Mercedes in third place through the first half of the grand prix and then moving to the front as the world champions' race fell apart.

Red Bull made all the strategy calls correctly and Verstappen judged the conditions perfectly to take a well-deserved victory which made him look the class of the field - although even he had a big spin, one corner before the bend that took out Leclerc, Hulkenberg and Hamilton.

Mercedes' race began to fall apart when Hamilton ran wide at the penultimate corner, slid across the slippery run-off and hit the wall.

Unlike Leclerc, who had gone off into the gravel the lap before when looking poised to take second place and was unable to get out of it, Hamilton did rejoin the track but with a damaged front wing.

He pulled straight into the pits, breaking the rules by going the wrong side of a bollard, and then spent 50 seconds stationary as the Mercedes mechanics - who had been expecting Bottas to come in - mirrored an episode of Wacky Races as they ran about trying to replace his front wing and find the right set of tyres, bumping into one another along the way.

To make matters worse, the infringement with the bollard earned him a five-second penalty.

He rejoined the track in fifth place and after the restart soon passed Alexander Albon's well-driven Toro Rosso for fourth and then Hulkenberg's Renault for third.

But when Hulkenberg followed Leclerc and Hamilton into the wall after running wide at the second-last corner, there was another safety car, which went a long way to defining the finishing positions.

Verstappen pitted for fresh intermediate tyres but Mercedes did not, a decision Hamilton immediately questioned, the team saying they did not want to have to serve the penalty then, even though it seemed the obvious thing to do.

But shortly after the re-start on lap 46, with 18 laps to go, the track was drying and drivers pitted for dry-weather tyres. Mercedes left it a lap later for Hamilton than Verstappen and Bottas and he rejoined in 12th place.

He asked the team: "How did it go this bad?"

"Copy that, Lewis," he was told by his race engineer Peter Bonnington, who said they would look into it later.

It was like a horror movie mixed with a black comedy

Trying to make up lost ground, Hamilton then had a massive spin at Turn One with 11 laps to go. He needed to stop again for fresh tyres, which cost him any chance he might have had of points.

It looked like he had gifted Bottas a great opportunity to make up some serious ground in the championship but then the Finn made his own mistake at the first corner four laps after Hamilton.

It was an error Bottas will probably rue for a very long time.

Mercedes team dressed in 1950s' clothes
Before the chaos, Mercedes were decked out in '50s clothes to celebrate their 200th race in Formula 1 - complete with white-livered cars
Redemption for Vettel and Kvyat
At the opposite end of the scale, it was a remarkable day for Kvyat and Vettel - and redemption for both, in a way.

Vettel returned to the track where he crashed out of the lead last year and - after a quiet race spent largely in the lower reaches of the top 10 - came alive in the closing laps.

Fourth at the time of the final safety car following Bottas' crash, Vettel picked his way past McLaren's Carlos Sainz, Racing Point's Lance Stroll and Kvyat to take a superb second place.

Stroll and Kvyat had found themselves up in second and third after their teams decided to pit them towards the end of the safety car period for Hulkenberg's crash.

Kvyat, who has returned to F1 this season after being sacked by Red Bull at the end of 2017, passed Stroll to take second place but could not hold off Vettel's late charge.

"It was like a horror movie mixed with a black comedy," the Russian said - a quote that seemed to sum up the events of the day.

Stroll fell behind Vettel but still managed an excellent fourth place for the team now owned by his father, while Sainz took fifth and Albon a career-best finish of sixth halfway through his debut season.

The Anglo-Thai was unfortunate - he was well ahead of Kvyat all race and running consistently in the points, but lost out when his team gambled on Kvyat pitting under the key safety car, while they left Albon out because he was running fourth.

Mick Schumacher son of former F1 champion, steers his fathers championship winning Ferrari F2004 during a demonstration ahead of the German Grand Prix
There was a treat for fans at Hockenheim as Mick Schumacher took his father Michael's championship-winning Ferrari F2004 around the circuit for a spin
Vettel's performance was a much-needed boost for Ferrari after a nightmare weekend.

Both cars went out of qualifying with engine problems, leaving Leclerc 10th on the grid and Vettel last.

Leclerc had made good progress in the opening laps and Ferrari's strategists had put him in a great position with perfect strategy calls in the first half of the race.

But he ran wide at the penultimate corner on lap 28, just after gambling on dry-weather tyres on a drying track. He got on to the slippery run-off, which seemed to be covered with a kind of film of soap, and slid into the gravel, his wheels spinning as he vainly fought to extricate himself.

"It was very slippery but the only thing I can say is I think it is unacceptable to have this kind of Tarmac. It is like a dragster track and once you go on it is very dangerous," Leclerc said.

"I take full responsibility for the mistake but I believe this kind of Tarmac shouldn't be on a Formula 1 track."

Verstappen won the public vote, and he was the outstanding driver from the top teams. But I'm going to give it to Albon, for an excellent drive in his first wet grand prix. Attacking Hamilton at one point, he was sixth in the end, after a small mistake at the final restart, but only lost out to Kvyat because of team tactics
What happens next?
Only a week to wait until the next instalment, the Hungarian Grand Prix. It is a track where Hamilton has always excelled and where Mercedes will be strong. It will have to go some to surpass the thrills and spills of Hockenheim.

Vettel and Kvyat on the podium together in 2016
The last time Kvyat and Vettel shared a podium there were handbags aplenty. At the Chinese Grand Prix in 2016, Vettel was furious with Kvyat's aggressive overtake on the first lap and criticised Russian before the podium ceremony
What they said
Verstappen: "It was amazing to win, it was really tricky out there to make the right calls, you had to be focused. I made a nice 360, I enjoyed that. It was about trying to not make too many mistakes. You learn over the years I'm very happy with the result."

Vettel: "It was a long race at some stage it felt never ending. It was very fun, it was tough with the conditions and tough to read what was the smartest move. Before the last safety car it was straight-forward, I was fast and could time it right and people were being cautious into the first corner and I had DRS and I could get the moves in the back straight."

Kvyat: "It was amazing to be back on the podium. Incredible with Toro Rosso to bring a podium back to the team is amazing. I'm really happy. It was a horror movie with a black comedy. At some point i thought the race was done, but it was incredible, a rollercoaster, just like my career."

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/49144467
 
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Max Verstappen takes first career pole position in Hungary

Red Bull's Max Verstappen took his first Formula 1 pole position in a thrilling qualifying session at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Dutchman beat Valtteri Bottas' Mercedes by 0.018 seconds, with Lewis Hamilton third and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel next.

Verstappen was 0.9secs quicker than team-mate Pierre Gasly in sixth.

And there were outstanding performances from British rookies Lando Norris and George Russell in seventh and 16th.

How has it taken this long?

Verstappen's pole has been a long time coming in his fifth season, but it came in style.

The 21-year-old, who has won two of the past three races, was quickest on both runs in final qualifying and improved by 0.4secs on his last run to fend off a great effort by Bottas.

Verstappen said: "It feels good but the whole weekend the car was very competitive. It's always a question how it will work out in qualifying where we know (Mercedes) can turn up a bit more power. But the car was incredible, it was really enjoyable to drive.

"To get your first pole is very nice but what happens on Sunday is what counts. I knew it was a matter of time. I made mistakes as well to miss a pole shot. Today we finally got it."

Bottas improved by even more on his final lap - knocking more than 0.5secs off his previous best to come so close to pole.

The result was cheered mightily by the thousands of Dutch fans wearing orange T-shirts who now seem to follow Verstappen to every European race.

Hamilton was 0.197secs off the pace in third, but is optimistic of a strong race, especially as there is a long run down to the first corner and the even-numbered side of the grid, where Bottas will start, is traditionally more slippery.

"It kind of got away from me a little bit in qualifying but we are in a good position to fight for the win and we will be pushing hard," Hamilton said.

Another mistake from Leclerc

Ferrari have not quite been on the pace in Hungary, the tight and twisty circuit not favouring their car, which lacks downforce compared to the Mercedes and Red Bull.

Leclerc escaped a crash in the first qualifying session, which left him with light damage to the rear of his car, to edge out Vettel by 0.028secs.

Charles Leclerc spins
Not for the first time: Leclerc took a spin in qualifying, but still beat team-mate Vettel to start fourth on the grid
The 21-year-old was 0.471secs off pole position.

Leclerc had lost control in the final corner in the middle of the first session, damaging his rear wing.

It looked for a while as if his session might be over, but Ferrari were able to replace his rear wing in time to get him out in the second session.

There was some damage to the crash structure at the rear of the car, at least, so it was a strong performance from Leclerc - as well as something of a relief after the latest in a series of errors threatened to blight his day.

Norris and Russell get even better

George Russell
Russell said after his Q1 performance: "It shows everything the team have done over the last year has been worth it"

Norris was superb in the McLaren, consistently the quickest midfield runner, although the large gap he had on the rest of his rivals was closed to just 0.052secs by team-mate Carlos Sainz in the end.

But Norris' performance was put in the shade by Russell, who came so close to getting the Williams out of first qualifying for the first time this year.

He missed out by 0.05secs but still it was a major step forward for the team to out-qualify cars from other teams for the first time.

Russell beat both Racing Points of Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll, as well as the Renault of Daniel Ricciardo, and the Briton was a massive 1.293secs quicker than team-mate Robert Kubica.

Russell said the aerodynamic upgrades Williams introduced at the last race in Germany had helped them work the tyres more effectively. This produced a compound effect and a much-needed boost for the team that has spent much of the year adrift of the back of the field.

Ricciardo paid the penalty for getting into a tangle with Perez's Racing Point at the final corner as both sought the best position to start their laps.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/49219520
 
Lewis Hamilton staged a thrilling fightback to catch and pass Max Verstappen for victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Hamilton's eighth win of the season puts a headlock on the championship after a tense race-long battle between the drivers and their strategists at the Mercedes and Red Bull teams.

Hamilton came very close to pulling off a brave move for the lead around the outside of the 150mph Turn Four.

But a gamble by Mercedes to make an extra pit stop gave Hamilton much faster tyres for the closing stages and he closed a 20-second deficit in less than 20 laps to pass Verstappen for the lead with three laps to go.

It puts Hamilton 62 points ahead in the championship with nine races to go - and a maximum of 234 points available. His sixth title is as good as won.

Hungarian Grand Prix full race results
Listen: "Hats off to the strategists, hats off to Lewis Hamilton"
What happened to the woman who beat Hamilton in go-karts?
hungary
Changing of the guard? Not yet, according to Hamilton, who took his 81st career win
Stalemate - then a heart-stopping moment
It was a mouth-watering fight between the greatest driver of his generation, Hamilton, and the man who is emerging as the leader of the next, and the first time they had disputed a grand prix victory in such a way.

The two were in a race of their own, with the Ferraris more than a minute behind at the flag and Hamilton's team-mate Valtteri Bottas taken out of contention by a touch with Hamilton and then Ferrari's Charles Leclerc on the first lap, which broke the Finn's front wing.

There was stalemate between Verstappen and Hamilton in the first stint, after the Dutchman converted pole position into a lead at the first corner, and Hamilton moved into second by passing Bottas, who had qualified ahead, into the second corner.

But as the time for pit stops approached, Hamilton closed right in on Verstappen, forcing Red Bull into an early stop on lap 25 to ensure Mercedes did not do the same and 'under-cut' them into the lead.

Race start
Close at the start, but Verstappen held on to the lead from his first career pole position
Mercedes left Hamilton out for another six laps, hoping to benefit from fresher tyres at the end of the race.

Hamilton rejoined six seconds behind, but was on Verstappen's tail within four laps and attacking hard.

But the Hungaroring is a notoriously difficult track on which to overtake and Hamilton was forced to improvise.

On lap 38, he was closer than ever to Verstappen and after tracking him through Turns One, Two and Three, Hamilton tried a bold move around the outside of Turn Four.

It would have come off, but for a flick of oversteer in the middle of the corner and he ran into the run-off area, giving Verstappen some breathing space.

After another 10 laps of closely following Verstappen, and conversations with the team about how hard passing was going to be, Mercedes took a risk.

They called Hamilton for fresh medium tyres on lap 48, with 22 to go, the idea being to come back at Verstappen with fresher tyres at the end of the race.

For a while, it looked like it would not work. Hamilton was 20 seconds adrift when he rejoined from the stop and in seven laps had only gained just over four seconds.

But with 13 laps to go, Hamilton started to turn on the pace and take chunks out of Verstappen's lead.

With 10 laps to go, Hamilton was 11 seconds behind, but five laps later he was on Verstappen's tail, and his closing speed was so superior that he swept easily into the lead around the outside of Turn One at the start of lap 67.

Where were the Ferraris?
The Ferraris were next best, but they were in a separate race, losing nearly a second a lap throughout the race.

Leclerc was in third for much of the race but while he went for a conventional strategy, Sebastian Vettel was never far behind and he ran long on his first stint and fitted soft tyres for his second stint, while Leclerc was on hards.

Vettel closed in gradually in the second stint and passed Leclerc for third with two laps to go.

Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel

"It will be a busy break for us." Vettel feels Ferrari have work to do over the summer
McLaren's Carlos Sainz drove another excellent race to be best of the race in fifth, impressively beating the Red Bull of Pierre Gasly into sixth.

Alfa Romeo's Kimi Raikkonen was seventh, ahead of Bottas, who fought back also on a two-stop strategy after dropping to last following an early stop to replace his front wing.

Lando Norris took ninth in the second McLaren after being passed by Sainz at the start and delayed by a slow pit stop, and Anglo-Thai Alexander Albon passed the Racing Point of Sergio Perez for 10th in the closing laps to take the final point.


The fans gave it to Verstappen, but how can it not be Hamilton? From an audacious overtaking attempt around the outside of Turn Four, to a superb fightback drive on fresh tyres at the end, he was superb - admittedly in the best car

What happens next?
F1 heads into its nearly four-week summer break before reconvening at the Belgian Grand Prix on the magnificent Spa-Francorchamps track on the first weekend on 1 September. Despite their poor performance in Hungary, Ferrari could well go there as favourites, given the prodigious straight-line speed of their car.

What they said

Hamilton: "I'm tired which is how it should be. I feel really grateful for the day and for the team for continuing to believe in me and push to the limits. We've been together seven years and it never gets old and it always feels brand new like a new win for us and if it was not for these guys and the guys back at the factory, it wouldn't be possible."

Verstappen: "We were just not fast enough. I tried everything I could on that hard tyre to stay alive. Still, second, fastest lap, a good weekend overall. Congrats to Lewis, he was pushing me really hard. I like that. Still a good weekend for us. We were just lacking a bit of grip. We tried a one-stop, they had the opportunity for two and that worked out well."

Vettel: "Obviously we had a sitting in P4 to lose. We stayed out long in the first stint and we hoped the softs would last at the end and they did. I'm happy to get some champagne now. We couldn't go the pace with these two and it's good now to get a break - everyone has been working really hard and we need to recharge our batteries."

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/49227374
 
Record-breaking 22-race F1 calendar set for 2020

Formula 1 is delighted to release the draft calendar of the 2020 FIA Formula 1 World Championship, which features an unprecedented 22 Grands Prix. This will be submitted for approval during the FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting on October 4.


F1's 70th anniversary season gets underway with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 15 and, as usual, it will end with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit on November 29.
Along the way there will be seven back-to-back race weekends and two exciting new additions.
Vietnam will become the 34th country to stage a round of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, with a race in the dazzling capital Hanoi on April 5.


Meanwhile, a famous name from the past returns in the shape of the Zandvoort circuit, which will be the venue for the Dutch Grand Prix - and much Max Verstappen mania - on May 3.
This year, several historic events - Australia, Great Britain and Spain - have renewed their contracts, as has the more recent and spectacular Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Mexico City will continue to host a race for the next three years under the new title of Mexico City Grand Prix. And, currently being finalised is an extension to the contract with the Italian Grand Prix, which next weekend celebrates its 90th anniversary.


Source

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/...ndar-set-for-2020.7vdbREiAYJKP5Ey8whglC2.html
 
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Belgian GP: Ferrari fastest as Lewis Hamilton struggles in practice

Sebastian Vettel led a Ferrari one-two in first practice at the Belgian Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton struggled and Alexander Albon excelled.

Vettel was 0.214 seconds ahead of team-mate Charles Leclerc, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen third, 0.933secs behind.

Albon, who stepped up to Red Bull for the final nine races of the season, was fourth, 0.077secs behind Verstappen.

Hamilton was sixth quickest, 1.399secs off the pace and just behind team-mate Valtteri Bottas, after a messy session.

Hamilton, who leads the championship from Bottas by 62 points with nine races to go, had throttle problems when he first went out, the car almost slowing to a crawl mid-way around his out lap as the engine hit trouble before he was able to reset it and get going.

When he rejoined, Mercedes had a telemetry issue which forced Hamilton to pit again, and when he finally got running, he was clearly unhappy with the car, running wide and making mistakes in a number of places, and over-ruling his team to extend his run so he could get more laps to learn the car.

However, although the Mercedes were both 1.3secs off the pace, they were the only cars to set their fastest laps on the slower medium tyre, while everyone else used softs.

Ferrari's pace underlines their status as favourites for this weekend, as a result of their car being the quickest on the straight and Spa being one of the tracks where engine performance is most important in terms of overall lap time.

This weekend marks a year since Vettel's last victory, and this race and the subsequent one in Italy are on paper Ferrari's best chances of a win in the remaining races of what has been a dispiriting season for them Italian team.

But the stand-out performance was from Albon, who drove for Toro Rosso for the fist 12 races of the season but has swapped seats with Pierre Gasly because of the Frenchman's disappointing performances.

On the face of it, it is an outstanding performance for the Anglo-Thai to be so competitive in his first run in the car.

Albon has an upgraded Honda engine in his car, which Verstappen is not taking this weekend, and the fuel loads and specifications in which the cars were running is not publicised.

Even so, it is a big ask for any driver to take over a new car midway through a season, especially against a team-mate as formidable as Verstappen, who some consider to have been the driver of the season so far.

Behind the big six, Lance Stroll led the rest of the field in the Racing Point, from Renault's Daniel Ricciardo, the Canadian's team-mate Sergio Perez, and McLaren's Carlos Sainz.

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Lewis Hamilton had a heavy crash in final practice at the Belgian Grand Prix, raising questions about his participation in qualifying.

The world champion lost control entering the Fagnes chicane, trying to improve a lap time 0.35 seconds down on team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

The car's front-left corner was damaged as Hamilton hit the barriers, head on.

Charles Leclerc led Sebastian Vettel to a Ferrari one-two in the session, 0.497secs ahead of Bottas.

Daniel Ricciardo's Renault was a surprise fourth fastest, just 0.271secs slower than Bottas and ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who was 1.106secs off the pace.

Belgian Grand Prix final practice results
Ricciardo is one of six drivers with a grid penalty this weekend as a result of using more than the permitted number of engine parts.

Sergio Perez's upgraded Racing Point also impressed, with sixth fastest time.

The concern for Mercedes and Hamilton will be two-fold: can they get the car repaired in time to run in qualifying at 14:00 BST; and whether the gearbox has been damaged, which would mean a five-place grid penalty.

Hamilton lost control when he got a front wheel too far onto the outside kerb on entry to the 130mph chicane.

He almost caught it as he fish-tailed through the asphalt run-off area but ran out of space to stop the impact.

The rear of the car looked undamaged, with the front-left corner taking the brunt of the damage, but it remains to be seen whether the driveshaft took an impact that could affect the gearbox.

Ferrari look strong favourites for pole position, which appears at this stage to be a straight fight between Leclerc and Vettel whether or not Hamilton's car is ready.

It is a golden opportunity for Ferrari, who are yet to win a race this year, and failed to capitalise on their one-lap superiority at the German Grand Prix last month when both cars hit engine trouble in qualifying.

But on Friday the red cars were not as competitive on race pace, struggling with excessive tyre wear, and the race might be a different

matter.https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/49535910
 
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc takes pole for Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix, ahead of Sebastian Vettel (P2) and Lewis Hamilton (P3)
 
Formula 2 driver Anthoine Hubert has been killed in a crash at the Belgian Grand Prix, motorsport's governing body the FIA has said.

The Frenchman, who was 22, suffered a huge impact from the car of American Juan Manuel Correa at about 170mph at the Raidillon swerves.

An FIA statement said that Hubert was taken to the medical centre after the incident, and died at 18:35 local time.

Correa was taken to Liege hospital and is in a stable condition, the FIA said.

Why the motorsport 'family' races on after a driver pays the ultimate price
The race was stopped after the crash and cancelled within a few minutes when the potential seriousness of the accident became clear.

Formula 2 have announced that Sunday's sprint race at Spa has been cancelled "out of respect", while the Formula 3 race will go ahead.

Hubert, who drove for the BWT Arden team, was lying eighth in the championship and had scored two wins this season, in Monaco and France.

He was also was part of Renault F1's young driver programme. Renault said in a statement: "Anthoine was a member of the Renault Sport Academy and raced in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, the final ladder to F1.

"As reigning GP3 champion and member of the Equipe de France, FFSA (French Federation of Motorsport), the Frenchman was a huge talent who also brought great energy and positivity to his championship, his teams and the Renault Sport Academy.

"His smile and sunny personality lit up our formidable group of young drivers, who had formed tight and enduring bonds.

"His strong results in F2 this season, including wins on home soil in Monaco and France, inspired not just the other recruits but also the wider Renault Sport Racing group."

Other racing drivers and teams from across motorsport have paid tribute on social media.

Former F1 driver Fernando Alonso posted on Twitter: "What a sad afternoon. I have no words. It hurts the heart. Rest in peace, champ."

Lewis Hamilton wrote on Instagram: "This is devastating. God rest your soul Anthoine. My prayers and thoughts are with you and your family today.

"If a single one of you watching and enjoying this sport think for a second what we do is safe your hugely mistaken. All these drivers put their life on the line when they hit the track and people need to appreciate that in a serious way because it is not appreciated enough.

"Not from the fans nor some of the people actually working in the sport. Anthoine is a hero as far as I'm concerned, for taking the risk he did to chase his dreams. I'm so sad that this has happened. Let's left him up and remember him. Rest in peace brother."

Alfa Romeo's Antonio Giovinazzi said on Twitter: "We are boys who, with great sacrifice, chase their dreams. But we are first and foremost professionals. Anthoine was all this, but above all he was one of us. At this terrible time my thoughts are with his family and all the people who love him."

https://www.bbc.com/sport/motorsport/49537761
 
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc finally took his maiden Formula 1 victory after holding off Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes to win the Belgian Grand Prix.

Leclerc dedicated the win to Formula 2 driver Anthoine Hubert, who was killed in a crash on Saturday.

The 21-year-old has come close to wins twice before in his first season with Ferrari, his second in F1, but delivered under pressure at the classic Spa track.

But he had to fight for it as Hamilton closed in to cross the line less than a second behind in a nail-biting finish.

After pulling up in the pits at the end, Leclerc celebrated in fittingly subdued style, pointing at the sticker on his Ferrari dedicated to the memory of Hubert, against whom he had raced on his way through the ranks to F1.

Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas was third, ahead of the second Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel, who had a disappointing day, outclassed and out-paced by his team-mate.

And McLaren's Lando Norris suffered a bitter blow at the end. After a strong race in fifth place after starting 11th, he suffered a suspected engine failure on the final lap and dropped out of the points.

That elevated Alexander Albon to fifth after a strong drive from 17th on the grid on his first outing for Red Bull.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/49544020
 
Formula 2 driver Juan Manuel Correa - injured in the accident that killed French driver Anthoine Hubert last Saturday - has been moved to intensive care in Britain.

Correa, 20, suffered a spinal injury and broken legs during the support race for the Belgian Formula 1 race.

The American subsequently underwent a four-hour operation in Liege.

"He will continue his recovery in the care of a specialist team," said a statement from his Sauber Junior team.

Hubert killed in Belgium crashJolyon Palmer column: Resilience wins day

Hubert, who was 22, suffered a huge impact from Correa's car, which was travelling at about 170mph, at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

The Frenchman was taken to the medical centre following the incident, and died shortly after.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/amp/motorsport/49576420?__twitter_impression=true
 
Italian GP: Charles Leclerc fastest in first practice

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc ended an incident-strewn, wet-dry first practice fastest at the Italian Grand Prix.

Alfa Romeo's Kimi Raikkonen and Racing Point's Sergio Perez crashed in the wet conditions early on, before the drivers switched to dry-weather slicks late on.

Leclerc, fresh from his maiden victory in Belgium, was 0.306 seconds quicker than the McLaren's Carlos Sainz.

Sainz's team-mate Lando Norris was third ahead of Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton.

The world champion was held up in the fastest part of the session at the end by Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel. The German was clearly slower than Hamilton but would not let him by.

Vettel ended the session eighth fastest, 2.602secs slower than Leclerc.

The F1 field has convened at historic Monza five days after racing in the shadow of the death of the Formula 2 driver Anthoine Hubert on the eve of the Belgian Grand Prix.

Several drivers have revealed their feelings about Hubert's loss and the way it has confronted them with the ever-present dangers of the sport in a more immediate way than they have become used to.

Norris, for example, has revealed that his father was sick after Hubert's accident, and that he feels less comfortable reassuring his nervous parents that he is not going to be injured.

"I have to tell him that I will be OK, but it feels bad," Norris said. "It is what I want to say. I am sure every driver does and then we have what happened last weekend. I am more nervous about reassuring him now."

He admitted that Hubert's crash was "still in my head".

Storms overnight in northern Italy meant a wet track met the drivers at the start of practice and the treacherousness of conditions soon became clear.

Raikkonen lost control at Parabolica, spinning into the barriers and bringing out a red flag while his car was recovered.

Not long after the session resumed, Sergio Perez crashed his Racing Point on the exit of the Ascari chicane, prompting another red flag.

And there were a number of spins and moments as drivers struggled to find the limits in the slippery conditions and with 'intermediate' tyres which Red Bull's Max Verstappen said over the radio were "too hard".

There was even a third red flag after Pierre Gasly beached his Toro Rosso on the kerb after a spin at the first chicane, the Variante del Rettifilo.

By the end of the session, there had been an impressive performance from Red Bull new boy Alexander Albon, who ended up fifth fastest in his first wet session for his new team.

The Anglo-Thai has been promoted to Red Bull from Toro Rosso for the final nine races of the season as the team assess what to do about a team-mate for Verstappen in 2020.

Verstappen ended the session seventh quickest, a second slower than Albon and behind also the Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat.

Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas had a spin at the end of the session and ended up ninth fastest, 1.8secs slower than Hamilton.

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Ferrari's Charles Leclerc took pole position following a farcical end to qualifying at the Italian Grand Prix.

All drivers except Leclerc and Carlos Sainz of McLaren failed to get around to start a final lap after waiting to catch a slipstream at high-speed Monza.

The unlikely climax left Leclerc on pole with his first lap, beating Lewis Hamilton by 0.039 seconds.

The other Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas was third, ahead of Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel and Renault's Daniel Ricciardo.

It was Leclerc's second consecutive pole position in just seven days.

The 21-year-old did not even have to complete a final lap after he became the only frontrunner to make it across the line in time at the end of the session.

What was all that slipstream nonsense about?
Drivers queue up behind Lewis Hamilton and Nico Hulkenberg as they battle for the slipstream in a madcap final lap of qualifying
"No, no - after you..." Cars queue up to avoid being 'first the worst'
Leclerc was greeted by frenzied cheers from the thousands of passionate Ferrari fans - the tifosi - packed into Monza in expectation of a Ferrari pole.

Leclerc, who had already enjoyed a rapturous reception in nearby Milan on Wednesday at a celebration of 90 years of the Italian Grand Prix, said: "It feels unbelievable.

"Already on Wednesday in Milan was incredible and today to see so many people feels absolutely amazing.

"Happy with the pole but in the end there was a big mess. I hoped for a last lap but in the end it was enough for pole."

The almost laughable scenes at the end were precipitated by the fact that a slipstream - where one car gains an advantage by closely following another - at Monza can be worth about 0.3secs a lap, invaluable when the times are so close around a circuit with only six effective corners.

Hamilton said Mercedes had been caught out because they were waiting for Ferrari to run first.

"I have to be grateful I am on the front row," said the world champion. "We get to have a fight with the Ferraris tomorrow. We split them and it is a nice position to be in. We can give them a good fight.

"It was a bit of an anti-climax at the end but it is crazy with this system we now have and they basically timed us out.

"On the out lap it is dangerous. You don't know who's slowing down and who's alongside you. It is risky business but it is enjoyable at the same time."

Teams had been warned that drivers could face penalties for driving unnecessarily slowly on their out laps and the end to qualifying is being investigated by governing body the FIA.

Leclerc, Hamilton and Bottas agreed that the situation was dangerous and far from ideal, but said that they did not see a way out of it while the tow was so important to a lap time.

"It will be until someone crashes that they will change it," Hamilton said.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said: "The problem was everyone wants a slipstream and nobody wants to go first... and then everyone looks like idiots."

Charles Leclerc arrives for Saturday's practice and qualifying sessions
And here's what you get for being a Ferrari hero - Leclerc arrives in style
A series of incidents
The controversial end to the session was fitting in some ways for a day filled with incident and controversy.

Vettel is being investigated for setting a lap time while gaining an advantage while going off the track at the Parabolica corner.

Red Bull's Alexander Albon failed to record a time on his first run because he was running behind Alfa Romeo's Kimi Raikkonen, who crashed at Parabolica.

Raikkonen's crash also delayed Hamilton, who was right behind the Finn and had to lift slightly at the last corner, later saying he felt that had cost him pole.

And Bottas, running behind Hamilton at the time, initially had his first lap time deleted on the basis that he had not made it across the line before the red flag for Raikkonen's crash, only for officials to reinstate it when it became apparent in fact he had.

And Bottas escaped having his time deleted despite passing yellow flags for Raikkonen's crash, on the basis that he did slow down - which he also said he felt had cost him pole.

The track limits needed to be policed at Parabolica because a kerb the had been inserted to deter the drivers from going off track had to be removed after it launched a Formula 3 car into a horrifying accident in a race in the morning.

Australian Alex Peroni suffered a series of mid-air somersaults and twists before crashing down upside down on the barriers.

He walked away from the crash but was later taken to hospital where it was discovered he has a broken vertebra.

"Not sure the recovery time but hope to be back in the car as soon as possible," he wrote on Instagram.

The Formula 3 crash happened at the fast Parabolica corner
Raikkonen crashed late in qualifying at the high-speed Parabolica corner, where the huge Formula 3 crash before final F1 practice happened
Another blow for Vettel
Vettel has now been out-qualified by Leclerc for seven races in a row and the session did not go his way.

He set his first lap without a tow after the Ferraris followed the Mercedes out only to see the silver cars pull over at the end of the pit lane. Vettel hesitated, thought about stopping behind them, but then accelerated away.

In the circumstances, he did well to lap within 0.15secs of Leclerc.

The Monegasque said the original plan was for Vettel to tow him on the first runs and then Leclerc to return the favour on the seconds.

But in the chaos of the dying seconds, Vettel first overtook Leclerc early on the warm-up lap as the cars jockeyed for position.

Leclerc then passed Vettel before Parabolica on instruction to the team, but Vettel did not cross the line in time to do a lap.

Behind the top four, Ricciardo was in excellent form in the Renault, which lacks downforce but has a strong engine and goes well on this type of track.

The Australian was 0.21secs quicker than team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, with McLaren's Carlos Sainz eighth.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat and McLaren's Carlos Sainz will start the race from the back as a result of penalties for using too many engines.

And Raikkonen, although he was classified 10th, is likely to join them, as it seems inconceivable he will not at least have to have a new gearbox after smashing backwards into the barriers, which would mean a five-place penalty. And depending on any other changes Alfa make to the car, there may be more.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/49620216
 
Race under way - uninterrupted audio commentary at top of page
Hamilton and Leclerc battle hard for lead, but Hamilton loses place after leaving circuit
Vettel penalised after spin and hitting Stroll coming back on track
Sainz, Kvyat, Magnussen out
 
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc just held on under intense pressure from both Mercedes drivers to win a nail-biting, incident-filled and controversial Italian Grand Prix.

The 21-year-old pushed the rules on driving conduct to hold off Lewis Hamilton through the middle of the race and then Valtteri Bottas in the closing laps after a mistake from the world champion.

And there were fresh concerns surrounding Sebastian Vettel after yet another driving error in a long sequence dating back to the middle of last year.

Leclerc's victory was his second in a row, following his maiden win in Belgium a week ago, and Ferrari's first at their home race since Fernando Alonso triumphed in 2010.

Leclerc screamed with delight into his radio as he crossed the line, after a victory that further underlines his status as a major new star in F1.

The 1978 world champion Mario Andretti, who drove for Ferrari at the start of his career and at the end of the 1982 season, said: "Fab win for Charles Leclerc, under pressure all the way. Future world champion for sure."

Eight days after the loss of his friend Anthoine Hubert in a Formula 2 crash in Spa, Leclerc was overcome with intense emotions after the race.

"I have never been so tired," Leclerc said, before switching to Italian and saying: "It was the hardest race" and describing the win as "a dream".

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/49627273
 
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc just held on under intense pressure from both Mercedes drivers to win a nail-biting, incident-filled and controversial Italian Grand Prix.

The 21-year-old pushed the rules on driving conduct to hold off Lewis Hamilton through the middle of the race before Valtteri Bottas took up the challenge in the closing laps after a mistake from the world champion.

And there were fresh concerns surrounding Sebastian Vettel after yet another driving error in a long sequence dating back to the middle of last year.

Leclerc's victory was his second in a row, following his maiden win in Belgium a week ago, and Ferrari's first at their home race since Fernando Alonso triumphed in 2010.

Leclerc screamed with delight into his radio as he crossed the line, after a victory that further underlines his status as a major new force in F1.

The 1978 world champion Mario Andretti, who drove for Ferrari at the start of his career and at the end of the 1982 season, said: "Fab win for Charles Leclerc, under pressure all the way. Future world champion for sure."

Eight days after the loss of his friend Anthoine Hubert in a Formula 2 crash in Spa, Leclerc was overcome with intense emotions after the race.

"I have never been so tired," Leclerc said, before switching to Italian and saying: "It was the hardest race" and describing the win as "a dream".

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/49627273
 
First practice under way in the Singapore GP

Bottas crashes heavily, Leclerc breaks down...
 
Singapore GP: Max Verstappen top in Singapore as Valtteri Bottas crashes

Red Bull's Max Verstappen topped the times as Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas suffered a heavy crash in first practice at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Verstappen was 0.167 seconds quicker than Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, an encouraging performance for the German after a difficult recent run.

Vettel's team-mate Charles Leclerc had gearbox failure and was 19th.

Bottas, who was fourth behind team-mate Lewis Hamilton, lost his car on entry to Turn 19, sliding into the barriers.

The damage appeared extensive, and it remains to be seen whether Mercedes will be able to repair the car in time for the start of second practice at 13:30 BST.

It was a blow for the Finn, who enters the weekend 63 points behind Hamilton in the championship with seven races remaining.

Hamilton was just under 0.7secs off the pace but he and Bottas were using the 'hard' tyre when he set his fastest time, while Verstappen and Vettel were on the fastest 'soft' tyre.

Vettel's time was a positive sign for both him and Ferrari.

The four-time world champion made the latest in a series of mistakes in the last race in Italy, and faced questions about his performance on his arrival in Singapore.

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Ferrari's Charles Leclerc took his third pole position in a row with a superlative performance in qualifying at the Singapore Grand Prix.

The 21-year-old beat Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes by 0.191 seconds as both slipped ahead of early pace-setter Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari on their last laps.

Vettel, who was nearly 0.2secs up on Leclerc after the first runs, aborted his final lap after an error.

Hamilton snuck ahead of Vettel by 0.029secs to join Leclerc on the front row.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/49781160
 
Sebastian Vettel ended his 13-month win drought with a controversial victory in the Singapore Grand Prix.

The German benefited from unusual Ferrari strategy to leapfrog past his team-mate Charles Leclerc into the lead.

Leclerc told the team over the radio that it was "unfair" and it will do little to reduce tension within the team.

But it was a much-needed victory for the four-time world champion who has had a difficult, error-strewn season and faced questions about his status and future.

The German has continued a run of one major driving error every three races since June last year, and seen Leclerc, already a two-time winner in his first season at Ferrari, emerge as a serious threat to his position as number one in the team.

But Leclerc was very unhappy and made his feelings clear.

Ferrari's strategy, however, did secure them their first one-two since the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix and Vettel's first win since the Belgian Grand Prix at the end of August 2018.

And it pushed Lewis Hamilton, who started second in the Mercedes, down to fourth behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

Vettel started third and his victory depended on a decision by Ferrari to stop him early, made to ensure he did not pit and come out behind Nico Hulkenberg's Renault, which had stopped for fresh tyres after a first-lap incident and was charging through the field.

It arose because the leaders were managing their pace to ensure they could make their one pit stop at the optimum time.

Seeing the risk from Hulkenberg to Vettel, the team pitted him on lap 19 and he rejoined in front of the Renault.

Ferrari pitted Leclerc, who had led the race from the start from pole position, next time around but Vettel's pace advantage on his first lap out of the pits on fresh tyres ensured he was ahead of Leclerc when the 21-year-old emerged from the pits.

"What the hell?" Leclerc said over the radio, almost certainly wondering why he was not pitted first.

His engineer told him: "It was the best we could do."

Leclerc said: "I just wanted to let you know my feelings. To be completely honest, I don't understand the undercut at all. But we discuss it later."

The double early stop for the Ferraris meant both drivers had to work their way past slower cars that had not yet made a pit stop, and Vettel did this to better effect than Leclerc, building a six-second lead by the time they were running one-two on lap 33, just after half distance.

The risk for Ferrari now was the threat from Hamilton, who had delayed his pit stop by six laps in an attempt to benefit from fresher tyres at the end of the race.

But a succession of three safety-car periods for a series of incidents between back markers gave Ferrari the slow laps they needed to be sure their tyres would make it.

At the final one, Leclerc asked for "everything" from the car to attack Vettel, but he was told he needed to manage the engine and bring the car home - code for him to hold position behind his team-mate.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/49787607
 
Red Bull's Max Verstappen was a surprise pacesetter as he headed Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in second practice at the Russian Grand Prix.

The Dutchman, who has a five-place grid penalty, was 0.335 seconds ahead of Leclerc. Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas was third, 0.646secs off the pace.

Championship leader Lewis Hamilton was 0.152secs slower than Bottas in fourth.

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel was 0.704secs off team-mate Leclerc, after errors led to a series of aborted laps.

Both Hamilton and Vettel did not appear as comfortable as their team-mates on their single-lap qualifying-simulation runs.

Red Bull had struggled in Singapore last weekend, but they believe post-race analysis suggested they had made a mistake with the set-up.

Their pace in Russia on Friday suggests they are back to the more competitive level they had shown during the summer.

But they are poised for a difficult weekend because both Verstappen and team-mate Alexander Albon have a five-place grid penalty for using too many engine parts.

Meanwhile, Ferrari's pace bodes well for the Italian team, who were unexpectedly quick in Singapore following a major aerodynamic upgrade to their car.

Ferrari have won the last three races and Hamilton said on arriving in Russia that, following their upturn in form, he believed Mercedes would not be favourites for any of the remaining races.

Bottas is always strong in Russia, where he has never been out-qualified by a team-mate, and he appeared to have an edge on Hamilton throughout the day.

While at Ferrari, Vettel had to abort his first two attempts at a qualifying run, before finally managing to set a time at his third attempt.

Leclerc said: "We don't see any reasons not to be competitive seeing the performances we had in Singapore but Red Bull seem very strong so it is going to be difficult and a tight fight with them even though they have a penalty.

"We have been strong on the race pace, which is probably our strongest race pace since the beginning of the season so that's positive.

"There is quite a lot of lap time to be gained on our side. The balance was not exactly how I wanted it to be, especially on the qualifying runs, but race pace looks very strong so that's good."

Best of the rest was Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly, who narrowly avoided colliding with team-mate Daniil Kvyat when the Russian did not see him after emerging from the pits.

Racing Point's Sergio Perez was seventh ahead of Renault's Nico Hulkenberg, the second Racing Point of Lance Stroll and Red Bull's Alexander Albon.

The Anglo-Thai had a difficult day. He missed some of the session because of floor damage and when he did emerge to set a fast lap was more than two seconds slower than Verstappen.

"It has been a day of discovery and exploring," said Hamilton. "Started off not too bad and then it just didn't really improve whereas the others made some big progressions.

"We're losing 0.8secs or something to the Ferraris on the straights. We have just been trying to figure out how to improve the car, but it's not an easy task.

"It is going to be a tough day tomorrow but I hope it's going to be raining - I heard it's going to be raining."

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/49850735
 
Charles Leclerc produced another spectacular performance to take pole position for the Russian Grand Prix.

The 21-year-old took his fourth pole in a row for Ferrari as Lewis Hamilton pipped Leclerc's team-mate Sebastian Vettel to second, 0.402secs adrift of Leclerc.

Hamilton beat Vettel by just 0.023secs with Red Bull's Max Verstappen fourth ahead of Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas.

Verstappen has a five-place grid penalty and will drop down to ninth on the grid as McLaren's Carlos Sainz was sixth.

Hamilton was thrilled to be second on a track where Mercedes did not expect to be able to beat a Ferrari over one lap, and his achievement was a mark of the quality of the world champion's lap, which was 0.602secs quicker than Bottas.

But the star of the show was Leclerc, the first driver to take four consecutive poles since Hamilton at the end of 2016, and the first Ferrari driver to do so since Michael Schumacher in 2001.

Leclerc said: "The car felt amazing and it feels great to be back on pole but I don't know whether it is the best track to start on pole - the straight is very long after the start.

"It feels very, very special but I don't want to think about stats for now. I just want to focus on the job. There is a long way to go tomorrow and it is a good start. we have been competitive all weekend and the race simulation seems good too."

The race is nicely poised, with Mercedes choosing a different tyre strategy from Ferrari, picking the more durable medium tyre to start the race, rather than the soft.

The choice was informed by Ferrari's straight-line speed advantage, which means that Mercedes believe they will struggle to pass the red cars on the track and will have to try to beat them on strategy instead.

Hamilton said: "I tell you, it was a tough qualifying session. These guys have some crazy speeds on the straights. I gave it everything I had at the end and I am so glad it came together. I wasn't expecting to get on the front row, that's for sure."

"They are on a lower drag level plus they have that power so we had to try something. The team have done a really good job with putting us in that position. It is a long way down to Turn One and it's not the best to start on the harder tyre. But I will try to tow the hell out of Charles down to Turn One.

Vettel, who won the last race in Singapore but has now been beaten by Leclerc in qualifying for nine races in a row, said: "I am not entirely happy. I couldn't extract the absolute maximum out of the car. The speed is there so let's keep it up."

Verstappen has shown good pace all weekend and cannot be discounted but faces the task of battling up to the front following his grid drop.

McLaren bounced back well from a difficult Friday to emerge as best of the rest in a very tight midfield fight, just 0.067secs ahead of Renault's Nico Hulkenberg and 0.079secs quicker than his McLaren team-mate Lando Norris, as Haas' Romain Grosjean and Renault's Daniel Ricciardo completed the top 10.

The second Red Bull of Alexander Albon had a torrid time, crashing out of the first session after a difficult weekend and he will start 19th.


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Lewis Hamilton was handed victory in the Russian Grand Prix after a virtual safety car cost Ferrari's Charles Leclerc the lead.

Hamilton's first win in four grands prix inched him closer to a sixth world title and came after Ferrari's chances of victory fell apart following a controversy over Leclerc's team-mate Sebastian Vettel disobeying team orders.

Ferrari's pre-race plan was for Leclerc to tow Vettel down into the first corner to remove the risk of Hamilton, starting second, taking the lead.

Leclerc played his side of the bargain, but once Vettel was in the lead, he refused a demand to let his team-mate back past him.

After a series of conversations over the radio, Ferrari decided to do the swap later and Leclerc recovered first place when he was pitted four laps earlier and allowed to benefit from fresher tyres.

But Vettel's engine developed a problem in its hybrid system on his first lap out of the pits and when he was told to park the car, that led to the virtual safety car being deployed.

It was bad timing for Ferrari, because it meant Hamilton, who had been promoted into the lead by Ferrari's pit stops, could stop under the VSC and lose far less time than under racing conditions, allowing him to keep the lead.

Leclerc then lost second place as well when George Russell crashed with an apparent braking problem just as the VSC was ending, bringing out the safety car.

Ferrari decided to pit Leclerc again to swap his medium tyres for softs, the same as the Mercedes drivers, and that dropped him to third behind Hamilton's team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

Try as he might, Leclerc could not quite get close enough to attack Bottas, and Mercedes were able to deliver their first one-two since the British Grand Prix back in mid-July.

Hamilton scored an extra point for fastest lap and his championship lead is now at 73 points. Mathematically, he cannot win the title at the next race in Japan - but he could well do it the race after that in Mexico.

Losing the win was bad luck for Ferrari - although there will be questions as to whether they could have asked Vettel to make it back to the pits and avoided the VSC that looked to have cost them the race.

But they will be as nothing compared to the debate over Vettel's actions at the start of the race.

At the start, Leclerc seemed to have made a mistake in leaving the door open on the inside for Vettel into the first corner.

But a radio message within a couple of laps betrayed a pre-race plan, as Leclerc was told: "We are looking into doing the swap later in the race."

Sochi is not a track famed for its classic races, but drama from within Ferrari helps us overcome that
This was an apparent reference to a pre-race plan that Leclerc would allow Vettel to draft past him, to secure first and second positions, before the German would then let Leclerc back past again.

After five laps, Leclerc was told: "Seb will let you by on the next lap."

But problems emerged when Vettel said: "I would have got him anyway."

Again Vettel was told to let Leclerc by, and again he objected, saying that they should tell Leclerc to go faster.

Leclerc got on the radio again to say: "You put me behind. I respect everything. We speak later."

Vettel was told a third time to let Leclerc by, but again nothing happened, and the team went on the radio to Leclerc to say: "We will do the swap later."

We've been here before, Sebastian: In 2013 Vettel refused to stay behind his team-mate Mark Webber at the Malaysian GP - despite repeated requests from Red Bull. He overtook a furious Webber, won the race and the title in the end
"Later" turned out to be the pit stops, when Leclerc was brought in on lap 22 and given four laps on fresh tyres to close sufficiently on Vettel to get back into the lead when the German pitted.

A tight fight to the end appeared in store, with Vettel doubtless wanting to prove the point that he believed he was quicker, Leclerc feeling wronged, and Hamilton coming at them on fresher soft tyres.

Vettel's retirement threw all that out of the window - but the fall-out from the four-time champion's actions is likely to continue for some time.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen finished fourth, after starting ninth following a grid penalty for using too many engine parts, and his team-mate Alexander Albon fought up from a pit lane start following a crash in qualifying to take fifth, as McLaren's Carlos Sainz won the midfield fight in sixth place.

Driver of the day

The fans gave it to Vettel in F1's official vote, presumably influenced by his pace in the early laps. But this writer will have to duck judgement - the truncated race and safety cars means there are too many unanswered questions. Vettel - not for the first time in his career - adjudged himself too big to obey orders, and the ramifications of that could be huge. And a gripping end to the race, with Leclerc ahead of Vettel and Hamilton attacking the Ferraris, slipped away as a result of Vettel's retirement

What happens next?
The Japanese Grand Prix in two weeks' time, at magnificent Suzuka. With tensions at Ferrari clear, Hamilton closing on the title, and the finest stage in motor racing, it is a mouth-watering prospect.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/49870864
 
Japan's Naoki Yamamoto will make his Formula 1 debut when he drives a Toro Rosso in first practice at his home grand prix on Friday.

The 31-year-old reigning champion in Japan's Super Formula and Super GT series will drive Pierre Gasly's car.

Frenchman Gasly will return alongside Daniil Kvyat for the rest of the weekend at Suzuka.

Yamamoto is backed by Honda, Toro Rosso's engine partner and the owner of the Japanese circuit.

In Super GT, he team-mates with 2009 Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button. Last year, the Briton said he thought Yamamoto was talented enough to be in F1.

Yamamoto said driving an F1 car had been "a dream of mine since I was a kid", adding that he first watched them in action at Suzuka 27 years ago.

"To get this chance at Suzuka - a very important circuit for all Japanese racing drivers - in front of such a big crowd of Japanese fans, will make the experience even more special," he said.

"I have prepared as well as possible for this, spending time as part of the Toro Rosso team at several grand prix weekends, and I have also worked in the Red Bull simulator.

"I want to enjoy the experience of driving an F1 car as much as possible and I will be trying my very best to get the most out of it."

Katsuhide Moriyama, head of brand and communications at Honda, said: "We hope Naoki makes the most of this opportunity, that he learns from it and that it helps him as a racing driver.

"We also hope that seeing Yamamoto on track will serve as an inspiration to young Japanese drivers, so that in the near future we can once again have Japanese drivers competing in Formula 1."

The senior Red Bull team, who also use Honda engines, have yet to confirm who will partner Max Verstappen next year, but motorsport adviser Helmut Marko has been quoted saying the seat is between Alexander Albon, who was promoted in place of Gasly in the summer, and the Frenchman.

Marko has also said Russian Kvyat will stay at Toro Rosso in 2020.

Honda have been planning their engine usage in recent races to ensure all four of their cars are in the best possible competitive shape for the home grand prix.

The race weekend faces the possibility of being affected by typhoon Hagibis, which is in the western Pacific Ocean and tracking towards Japan. Heavy rain and strong winds are projected for qualifying day on Saturday.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/49957331
 
Formula 1 has cancelled all activities at the Japanese Grand Prix on Saturday as Typhoon Hagibis approaches.

The tropical storm, the year's biggest, is due to hit Japan on Saturday and strong winds are set to continue into Sunday, when qualifying and race will be held.

Valtteri Bottas led Lewis Hamilton to a Mercedes one-two in second practice.

The results of which could decide the grid if conditions are too difficult to hold qualifying on Sunday morning.

Bottas was 0.1 seconds quicker than Hamilton, with Max Verstappen third and the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel fourth and fifth ahead of Red Bull's Alexander Albon.

Organisers said they had taken the decision to postpone qualifying and close the circuit on Saturday "in the interests of safety for the spectators, competitors, and everyone at the Suzuka Circuit".

Qualifying, which had been due to take place at 15:00 local time (08:00 BST) on Saturday, is now due to take place at 10:00 (02:00 BST) on Sunday.

The race will be held as scheduled at 14:10 (06:10 BST).

The potential impact of the tropical storm has already led to the cancellation of two matches at the Rugby World Cup.

F1 organisers delayed a decision on Thursday to have a clearer idea of the path of the storm.

Mercedes were first and second, with Bottas ahead of Hamilton, in both practice sessions.

And the second session took on more importance than normal because teams were aware it could set the grid.

Suzuka is expected to be hit by high winds and heavy rain throughout Saturday in what is currently a Category Three typhoon and is due to hit the coast not far from the track on Saturday before moving north towards Tokyo.

Efforts were being made to limit the potential damage at the track on Saturday, for which there have been warnings to stay inside and Japanese authorities have set up social media accounts and an app for safety tips during the storm.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50009871
 
Valtteri Bottas won the Japanese Grand Prix with Lewis Hamilton third behind Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel to secure a new Formula 1 record of a sixth consecutive world championship double for Mercedes.

The result secured the constructors' title for Mercedes with four races to go and while Hamilton has not quite won the drivers' championship no-one other than Bottas can catch him, which guarantees a Mercedes driver will be world champion.

Their victory breaks the record of five title doubles set by Michael Schumacher and Ferrari from 2000-4 and confirms this Mercedes team as the greatest in Formula 1 history.

Hamilton is still all but certain to win the drivers' title but Bottas' win pushes a sixth championship crown a bit further away for the Briton.

He leads Bottas by 64 points and needs to be 78 clear of the Finn to secure the championship at the next race in Mexico.

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said: "It has never been done before and that's why it feels great. It's F1, it's motor racing. Is it historic? I don't know. There are more important things out there but for us it feels great."

Mercedes' triumph will rub the salt into the wounds of Ferrari, who somehow turned a front-row lock-out, with Vettel on pole ahead of team-mate Charles Leclerc, into a second place and a sixth.

Again, as so often this season, Ferrari's race unravelled as a result of driver errors - from both in this case.

Vettel moved forward in his position box before the red lights had gone out at the start, forcing him to have to stop and then go again, and allowing Bottas to spring past him into the lead at the first corner.

Beside him, Leclerc also made a slow start, if not as poor as Vettel's, and he had Red Bull's Max Verstappen alongside him through the first two corners.

In Turn Two, Leclerc slid wide and into Verstappen, pitching the Red Bull into a spin that ultimately led to its retirement, and damaging the Ferrari's front wing.

Leclerc tried to hang on but was forced to pit on lap three and was only able to recover to sixth place in a race that forced him to spend most of the afternoon picking his way past back markers.

At the front, it was immediately apparent that Bottas had too much pace for Vettel, but the interest was in the divergent strategies of the three top runners.

Ferrari blinked first, pitting Vettel on lap 16 and putting him on a two-stop strategy, Mercedes responding with Bottas on the next lap to ensure he retained the lead.

They left Hamilton out and told him he was going for a one-stop, stopping on lap 21 for medium tyres.

But the high tyre degradation on a 'green' track washed clean on Saturday by Typhoon Hagibis forced them to change their minds and he ran a divergent two-stop, stopping 11 laps after Vettel and hoping to chase him down on fresh tyres in the closing laps.

Hamilton complained about the strategy over the radio, asking how he had lost so much time, why he was not given the hardest tyres and allowed to try for a one stop, and what he needed to do to win.

When Hamilton did stop on lap 42, he had 10 laps to pass Vettel. He caught him within three laps, but the Ferrari's straight-line speed advantage made it too difficult to pass and the Briton had to be satisfied with third as his team-mate won his first race since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in April on a weekend on which he was quicker than Hamilton pretty much throughout.


https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50031830
 
Mercedes say they are expecting a difficult time at this weekend's Mexican Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton seeks to tie up the drivers' title.

Hamilton will secure a sixth world championship if he out-scores team-mate Valtteri Bottas by at least 14 points.

But that task will be made harder by the fact Mercedes do not expect the Mexico City track to suit their car.

"The four remaining races are not going to be easy and we expect Mexico to be the most difficult," said Toto Wolff.

The Mercedes team boss added: "The high altitude of the track brings some fairly unusual challenges as the low air density affects the downforce of the car, the cooling and the engine performance.

"It's a combination that doesn't particularly suit our car, but we will give it everything to try and limit the damage."

Mercedes sealed their sixth consecutive constructors' championship at the last race in Japan and, because Hamilton can now be caught only by Bottas, they set a record of six consecutive championship doubles.

Hamilton has clinched his last two titles in Mexico but says he does not expect to be able to repeat the feat this year.

He is expecting the weekend to be dominated by Ferrari, whose straight-line speed advantage allied to improvements to their car has meant they have set pole position for the last five races, have won three of them and lost the other two only because of errors or bad luck.

Hamilton said after the Japanese Grand Prix: "Mexico is generally our worst race of the year because of the way our car is set up and it's going to be a tough one for us. The last few have been pretty shocking, even though we've won the title there.

"I'm hoping for a better weekend but I think it's going to be very hard to beat the Ferraris with those long straights.

"We have no hope of getting by on those straights, that's for sure, but even if you look at the others, the McLarens are picking up some serious speeds on the straights, so are the Red Bulls so I think it will be a tricky one.

"I don't anticipate it will be Mexico. I think we will be battling for a good few races."

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto said: "After two races in which we could have done better, we arrive in Mexico determined to win. We will be aiming for our sixth consecutive pole, before looking to convert that into victory."

Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel, who took pole position in Japan before making a mistake at the start and losing the lead, said: "Racing at altitude has an impact on how the car feels. We are racing with maximum downforce level in terms of car set-up, but, since we are racing so high above sea level, the air is very thin and the cars actually produce very little downforce.

"On the long straight, I think we see the fastest top speeds of the season, which makes it difficult to manage the corners, because we've got so little downforce physically on the car.

"The car is moving around a lot and it's difficult to get the tyres to work, in fact it's hard to get the whole car to work and to get the right feel from it. It's a relatively short lap but not an easy one.

"Over the past couple of years, we have been on an upward trend in Mexico, although Red Bull has been the team to beat. But I think the gaps between us are getting smaller, so let's see how we get on this year."

How can Hamilton win the title in Mexico?
If he wins with fastest lap and Bottas is lower than third
If he wins without fastest lap and Bottas is lower than fourth
If he is second with Bottas lower than seventh, regardless of whether either sets fastest lap
If he is third with fastest lap and Bottas is lower than eighth
If he is third without fastest lap and Bottas is lower than ninth
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50143535.
 
Formula 1 says it has an agreement in principle with the owners of the Miami Dolphins NFL stadium to hold a race in the Florida city from 2021.

It is the latest development in an attempt by F1's owners, US firm Liberty Media, to establish a race in Miami.

The proposal features a new track layout looping around the Dolphins' Hard Rock Stadium in central Miami.

Organisers face a series of hurdles before the race takes place, including approval by Miami-Dade County.

There has been considerable local opposition to holding a grand prix in the city.

A previous attempt by F1, which featured a track in downtown Miami that went over a bridge to Miami Port and back, has already foundered following concerns about interruptions to business caused by the construction of the race track.

The new proposal is all on land owned by Stephen Rosso, the owner of American football franchise Miami Dolphins. As such, the event resembles the short-lived Ceasar's Palace Grand Prix that was held twice in a car park of the casino in Las Vegas in 1981 and '82.

In their statement, F1 commercial boss Sean Bratches and Tom Garfinkel, the chief executive of Hard Rock Stadium, emphasised the financial benefits to the city of the race.

"With an estimate annual impact of more than $400m and 35,000 room nights, the F1 Miami Grand Prix will be an economic juggernaut for South Florida each year," the statement said.

Residents have raised concerns about traffic, noise and pollution and are being backed by key commissioners from Miami-Dade council, which is due to vote on the plans in the coming weeks.

Bratches has been focused on Miami as the ideal place to achieve F1's ambitions of holding a grand prix in what he calls "destination cities" in the US.

The former ESPN executive is to leave his role in F1 at the end of this year, as reported by BBC Sport in August.

F1 already has one race in the USA, the successful United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, which was founded in 2012, but Liberty is determined to expand the sport in its home market.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50066827.
 
Renault have been disqualified from the Japanese Grand Prix for having an illegal driver-aid system on their car.

Officials found that Renault's brake-bias adjustment system contravened rules dictating that drivers must drive the car alone and unaided.

Renault drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg have therefore been disqualified from sixth and 10th places at the race at Suzuka on 13 October.

Renault have until 16:00 BST on Thursday to decide whether to appeal.

The ruling hinged on the details of what officials described as "innovative solutions" to adjusting the brake bias - the balance of braking from front to rear - around a lap.

Governing body the FIA rejected a protest made on the night of the Japanese Grand Prix by the rival Racing Point team that the system could be described as a pre-set lap-distance dependent brake-bias adjustment system.

Brake bias is adjusted by F1 drivers using controls and switches on the steering wheel.

Officials said the braking adjustment system on the Renault complied with the technical regulations because it "exploited certain ambiguities" within them.

However, they ruled that it did constitute a driver aid as outlawed under the sporting regulations.

The ruling said: "The brake balance adjustment system in question acts as a driver aid by saving the driver from having to make a number of adjustments during a lap."

The ruling added: "The stewards note that there is a clear distinction between this system and one which provides actual feedback control, which would be a substitute for driver skills or reflexes."

But it concluded that it did nevertheless constitute a driver aid.

Details of the operation of the system were not included in the ruling because it contained Renault's intellectual property and should remain "confidential in nature because (the stewards) evaluate data worthy of protection".

The decision promotes Ferrari's Charles Leclerc from seventh to sixth but does not affect the result of the constructors' and drivers' championships, both of which were secured by Mercedes in Japan.

Mercedes remain constructors' champions and only their drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas can now win the drivers' championship. Leclerc is third but cannot catch Hamilton.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50161967
 
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