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[VIDEOS] The Formula 1 2019 Thread

Renault have criticised their Japanese Grand Prix disqualification as "not proportionate" and "inconsistent".

But the team will not appeal against the penalty for using a driver-aid system to avoid "investing further time and effort in a sterile debate".

Renault's brake-bias adjustment system contravened rules dictating that the car must be driven alone and unaided.

The team said the penalty was "not proportionate to any benefit the drivers derived".

They added that the decision was "subjective" - but that they were not appealing because they had "no new evidence" to add to the case.

Renault had until 16:00 BST on Thursday to decide whether to appeal against the disqualification of Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg from sixth and 10th places at the race at Suzuka on 13 October.

Renault's statement referenced the contradiction in the ruling by FIA, which said that the system complied with the technical regulations by "exploiting certain ambiguities" within them but contravened sporting regulations outlawing driver aids.

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.

Renault said they believed their disqualification from the race result was "inconsistent with previous sanctions for similar breaches".

It added: "However, since we have no new evidence to bring other than that already produced to demonstrate the legality of our system, we do not wish to invest further time and effort in a sterile debate in front of the International Court of Appeal concerning the subjective appreciation, and therefore sanction, related to an aid that reduces the driver workload without enhancing the performance of the car.

"Formula 1 will always be an arena for the relentless search for the slightest possible opportunities for competitive advantage. It is what we have always done and will continue to do, albeit with stronger internal processes before innovative solutions are brought on track."

The ruling was made on the grounds that Renault's brake-bias adjustment system "acts as a driver aid by saving the driver from having to make a number of adjustments during a lap".

Brake bias is changed by drivers using controls on the steering wheel.

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".
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Source: https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50174127.
 
Lewis Hamilton starts Mexican GP weekend fastest in practice

Lewis Hamilton made a good start to a Mexican GP weekend at which he can clinch a sixth world title by posting the fastest time in first practice.

The Mercedes driver topped a staccato session by 0.0119 seconds from Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who was using harder, slower tyres.

Hamilton needs to out-score team-mate Valtteri Bottas by 14 points to seal his sixth world title on Sunday.

The Finn ended the session fifth, 0.678secs behind his team-mate.

Behind Leclerc, Red Bull's Max Verstappen was third, just 0.015secs off Leclerc, and ahead of his team-mate Alexander Albon.

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel was sixth fastest, 0.891secs off the pace, after a number of off-track moments caused by locking his brakes into Turn One at the end of the long straight, which sees the fastest straight-line speeds of the year.

The session started slowly, because the track was damp after overnight rain, and 25 minutes went by before anyone set a lap time.

And it was interrupted by a red flag for a few minutes mid-session when Lance Stroll crashed his Racing Point at the final corner.

When cars were running, there were several incidents when front-runners were tripped up by traffic in the tight and twisty final sector of the lap, which winds through a baseball stadium.

And the drivers were battling with low grip, partly caused by the dirty track surface, and partly by the thin air in Mexico City, where the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is located more than 2,000m above sea level.

That means that teams struggle with a lack of aerodynamic downforce, because the cars cannot generate as much in the thin air, as well as engine and brake cooling.

The headline lap times are hard to read - not only was Leclerc running on harder tyres, which suggests his lap was the de facto fastest of the session, but Albon and Bottas, who were 0.6secs off the pace, set their best lap times before the red flag and the others after it, when the track would be in better condition.

Best of the rest behind the big three was McLaren's Carlos Sainz, with Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly and Daniil Kvyat next, ahead of the Alfa Romeo of Antonio Giovanizzi.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/50187608
 
Red Bull's Max Verstappen took a stunning pole position at the Mexican Grand Prix ahead of the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel.

Verstappen beat Leclerc by 0.266 seconds as Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas crashed trying to improve on his sixth place.

Lewis Hamilton, who will win the championship one Sunday if he finishes 14 points ahead of Bottas, starts fourth, ahead of Red Bull's Alexander Albon.

Bottas' crash stopped both Ferraris improving on their final runs.
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Source: https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50196156.
 
Red Bull's Max Verstappen has been demoted from pole position at the Mexican Grand Prix by a penalty for ignoring warning flags.

The Dutchman was given a three-place grid drop and will start fourth, behind Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel and Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton.

Verstappen failed to slow down for yellow caution flags after a crash by Hamilton's team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

Sunday's race live on 5 Live and the BBC Sport website at 19:10 GMT.

The error cost Verstappen pole, as his first lap was also faster than anyone else's.

In front of him, Vettel had slowed down for the flags, a decision that he believed cost him a shot at fastest time.

Verstappen's quickest lap beat Leclerc by 0.266 seconds - and his first run was 0.114secs faster than the Monegasque.

Hamilton, who will win the championship on Sunday if he finishes 14 points ahead of Bottas, starts third, with Red Bull's Alexander Albon still fifth but now right behind his team-mate.

Hamilton improved his overall lap time on his final run, on which he was running behind Bottas and passed his crashed car, but crucially he did not go faster in the final sector - in fact, he slowed down.

And Vettel expressed his dismay at the turn of events as he saw the flags, saying over the radio: "You're kidding me. That was going to be a good lap."

Later, Vettel said of the incident: "For me it was clear it was double yellow. I saw Valtteri was in the barrier, people were jumping on the track to help. It was clear you had to lift."

Initially, stewards did not investigate the incident with Verstappen, even though television pictures showed him passing a yellow flag and Bottas' car without slowing down.

But after he admitted in the news conference that he was "aware Valtteri crashed" but did not slow down, he was summoned to see the stewards.

Bottas crashed as he ran wide out of the final corner trying to make up time, sliding into the barriers and causing considerable damage to his car. The Finn was released from the medical centre after a precautionary check-up.

It was a blow for the Finn as he tries to prevent Hamilton putting the championship out of reach. But starting third, it is still a big task for Hamilton to make as much of a gain on Bottas as he needs to clinch his sixth title.

Hamilton needs to finish on the podium at least and hope Bottas' results go his way.

Hamilton's job would be made a lot easier if Bottas has to take a grid drop, but team boss Toto Wolff said he was "90% confident" the car could be repaired without incurring penalties.

How Hamilton can win the title in Mexico
Win plus fastest lap with Bottas lower than third
Win with Bottas lower than fourth
Second plus fastest lap with Bottas lower than seventh
Second with Bottas lower than seventh
Second with Bottas lower than eighth if Bottas sets fastest lap
Third and fastest lap with Bottas lower than eighth
Third with Bottas lower than ninth
Verstappen on fire
Had he not been penalised, pole would have been only the second of Verstappen's career, after his first in Hungary in August.

Ferrari were expected to be unbeatable in qualifying in Mexico because of their formidable straight-line speed, but the track also rewards high downforce because of the thin air at an altitude of more than 2,000m.

In the end, Red Bull's aerodynamics cancelled out the low-drag of Ferrari's car and higher power of its engine. The Honda engine's need for relatively small changes to its cooling requirements in the thin air was also a factor, Verstappen said.

Vettel said: "I had a mistake on my first run and I was quite confident on the second I could make up for it but there was a double yellow so I had to slow down.

"I would like to have been further up but we have the speed and it is a long race. It will be a tough one on brakes and cooling in general, and on the tyres out will be quite an adventure. I am looking forward to it."

Hamilton said: "I think third was possible but I am generally happy with today. It was hard to keep up with the others. We knew it would be difficult here. I gave it everything and I think I am in a fighting position (for the race)."
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Source: https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50196156.
 
Lewis Hamilton won the Mexican Grand Prix with a superbly controlled drive in a tactical fight with Ferrari to move to the brink of the world title.

Hamilton will clinch his sixth championship at the US Grand Prix next Sunday as long as he does not lose more than 22 points to Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

Hamilton triumphed in a tense, slow-burn race of divergent strategies between the four Mercedes and Ferrari drivers.

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel was second, ahead of Bottas and Charles Leclerc.

The four men closed up in the final laps as their different tactics came together.

Ferrari lose out yet again
While Mercedes could congratulate themselves on gambling on a one-stop strategy with a long second stint to gain track position on Vettel and then hold off the German to the end, there will be questions over Ferrari's decisions.

The Italian team twice gave up the lead, first with pole position winner Charles Leclerc, who was pitted out of first position after 15 laps to stick to a two-stop strategy decided before the race.

And Vettel took his strategy into his own hands to decide to do the same when Hamilton made his stop.

Ferrari had the chance to pit on the next lap and retain the lead, but Vettel suggested they "leave him to it", a decision that meant they would stop later and try to come back at Hamilton at the end of the race on fresher tyres.

Vettel had tyres that were 14 laps fresher than Hamilton's for the climax to the race, but the reigning champion was more than capable of holding the Ferrari back.

Even champions need reassuring
But the win was not without anxiety for Hamilton, who shortly after his pit stop questioned whether they had given him too long to make the tyres last, and who was also battling a car damaged by the contact with Verstappen.

He complained so much that Mercedes chief strategist James Vowles came on the radio, a rare event used only at critical moments, to reassure Hamilton: "You can do this."

In the closing laps, as Vettel was urged on by Ferrari, Hamilton was able to hold his advantage at just over two seconds and take his 10th win in 18 races this season.

He leaves Mexico City, where he tied up the championship in both the last two seasons, with a 74-point lead over Bottas, the only man who can mathematically beat him.

He needs to leave Austin, Texas, next weekend with a lead of 52 points to become only the second man in history to win more than five F1 world titles.

The only way that can happen is if Bottas wins and Hamilton finishes lower than eighth, a highly unlikely scenario in normal circumstances, especially at a circuit where Hamilton has excelled since its debut on the calendar in 2012.

How did Ferrari get it wrong?
The divergent strategies meant that for the third race in a row Ferrari had turned first and second on the grid into a poorer race result.

A chaotic first lap took Red Bull's Max Verstappen out of the picture, the Dutchman dropping to ninth place as he tangled with Hamilton, who had an oversteer moment as they disputed third behind the Ferraris at Turn Two.

On the run down to the first corner, Hamilton, who started fourth, had been challenging Vettel for second behind Leclerc, but was edged on to the grass by the Ferrari.

Ferrari had the one-two positions they would have wanted at the end of the first lap but somehow they still conspired to lose the race.

The first error was pitting Leclerc out of the lead on lap 15 when they did not need to.

That ruined Leclerc's race and consigned him to a fourth place finish as the two Mercedes drivers and Vettel ran long and committed to one-stop strategies.

With Vettel, Hamilton and Bottas running one-two-three, the key then was whose one-stop would triumph and Vowles' decision to pit Hamilton early in a successful attempt to get ahead of Vettel into the lead was critical.

When Hamilton stopped on lap 23, leaving him 48 laps to go to the flag, Vettel decided to surrender the lead and stay out, with Bottas doing the same behind him to cover their bases.

Despite Hamilton's concerns, he was able to eke out his tyre life and take an excellent win.

Behind Leclerc, Red Bull's Alexander Albon took fifth. He had run third in the opening laps behind the Ferraris but was the first to stop and lock himself in a two-stop strategy.

Verstappen recovered to finish sixth ahead of Racing Point's Sergio Perez and Renault's Daniel Ricciardo on a terrible day for McLaren.

Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris had started seventh and eighth, but Norris retired after a bungled pit stop in which he was sent away without his left front wheel attached, while Sainz faded to 13th, lacking pace.

What happens next?
The US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas. One of Hamilton's favourite races, on a great track near a great city. Hamilton will surely clinch the title there - and he will be determined to do it in style, on a track where he has won five times in the last seven years.

What they said
Hamilton: "We came here thinking we were on the back foot but we pulled through, I had quite a bit of damage on the car so the race was quite a struggle but I kept my head down. It felt like a long second stint but I am so grateful today.

"I don't mind (not clinching the title yet). I love racing and just take it one race at a time. This is a race I have wanted to win for some time and it has always been a bit tricky for us. everything held together and the team did the best strategy, holding off the Ferraris was not easy in the end."

Vettel: "Surprisingly, the hard tyres worked really well. It was an intense race because there was no break.

"It was a good race but here and there with strategy we could have been a bit stronger."

Bottas: "I enjoyed, considering yesterday. The start was quite tricky - I dropped a place. But I don't think we could have done much more today."
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Source: https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50202926.
 
Lewis Hamilton made this one look easy, much as he has been doing all year, but the victory in the Mexican Grand Prix that took him to the brink of a sixth world title was nothing of the sort.

It was the Mercedes driver's 10th win in 18 races in 2019, but this season has surrendered to Hamilton because of the consistent excellence of the 34-year-old Briton and his team, which was again on display on Sunday.

This was not one of Hamilton's most spectacular victories, just as it has not been his most spectacular season, but that should not detract from the quality of both this race win and his driving in 2019.

Starting third, barged on to the grass by Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel on the run to the first corner, his car damaged quite significantly in a brush with Red Bull's Max Verstappen between Turns One and Two, which knocked him down to fifth on the first lap, Hamilton and Mercedes proceeded between them to steal yet another victory from Ferrari. Who admittedly - for far from the first time this season - hardly helped themselves.

It was a controlled, measured, clever race from Hamilton and his team, much as it has been a season in the same vein.

While Ferrari arguably sabotaged their own race by surrendering track position and the lead with both drivers at separate times, Mercedes, led by chief strategist James Vowles, made all the right calls, gambling on an early stop to grab the lead. And Hamilton made them work.

Would another driver have been able to do the same? We will never know. But certainly Vettel was impressed.

In the TV interview pen after the race, Hamilton playfully barged Vettel, making a humorous dig at the German's aggression on the run to the first corner.

Vettel first joked that Hamilton had "got massively lucky". And then said: "If you are a woman on this planet and you have this guy giving you a massage like he's treating the tyres, it's pure magic. Really well done to him that he made the tyres last."

Talk to Hamilton's engineers at Mercedes, and they will tell you similar things.

Hamilton has a reputation as a blindingly fast driver, whose success is based largely on his qualifying pace and clever race-craft.

But that underplays the subtlety of his technical understanding of car and tyres over a grand prix distance, and his ability to modify his driving to fit specific circumstances.

"He just has so many tools in his repertoire to adapt his driving," Mercedes chief engineer Andrew Shovlin said recently.

This was one of those days when that ability was on display.

After the first lap, a large strip of the edge of the right-hand floor on Hamilton's car was missing, probably from the clash with Verstappen. This would have affected the balance and grip of the car, making it more difficult than usual to make the tyres last.

And yet Vowles decided to pit Hamilton on lap 23, so he would take the lead from Vettel when the Ferrari driver made his stop later on. But it meant a 48-lap stint on the hard tyre, and holding off Vettel, who had 14-lap fresher tyres, for the final 34.

"We were not convinced," Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff said. "There were two main factors. We knew we had to take a risk. When you are starting third and sixth it is easier to come up with bold strategies provided you have a good car and fantastic drivers.

"So we knew we needed to do something different and then we saw [Renault's Daniel] Ricciardo going well on the hard tyre. We had quite some discussion and in the end what James and the strategy department opted for - to go long - worked out."

Hamilton said: "I can't tell you how happy I am. I woke up this morning and felt great. We struggled through practice and qualifying. I didn't know whether we'd be able to win. All the stuff that happened at the beginning... But I never gave up. I just kept pushing.

"I knew the car was damaged because it was behaving a bit funny so I had to change my driving style to make it work. I was chasing Seb down and I was like: 'I'm coming for you, man.'

"It never gets old. It always feels like the first time, and it was a damn hard race but collectively we did such an amazing job. Strategy-wise it was a bit risky stopping that early but I had to make it work and that's my job.

"I was up with Seb and we stopped super-early and I was thinking: 'Oh my God. I have 40-plus laps to do. There is no way I am going to make this work.' But then I just had to collect myself and drive in the smoothest way I could."

And so Hamilton goes to the US Grand Prix this coming weekend with a 74-point lead, and he needs to leave Austin with only a 52-point advantage to clinch his sixth title.

That means the only way Hamilton's team-mate Valtteri Bottas can prolong the championship 'fight' to the penultimate race in Brazil is if the Finn wins the race and Hamilton finishes lower than eighth.

In a normal race, that is just not going to happen.

Ferrari flounder again
If Hamilton's drive in Mexico was all understated excellence, he was helped on his way by his main rivals imploding.

Verstappen should probably have won, given a clean weekend, but he had anything but.

The Dutchman had pole taken away from him for ignoring yellow flags in qualifying and then his race unravelled in the first few laps, first when he lost places in his tangle with Hamilton, and then when he picked up a puncture passing Bottas. BBC F1 analyst Jolyon Palmer will look at Verstappen's weekend in his next BBC Sport column.

Meanwhile, Ferrari's weekend mirrored their season so far, somehow managing to fumble yet another good chance of victory.

This has happened so many times this year that it's easy to lose count - but this now makes it six races they should have won but didn't. And to take just the last three, a Ferrari has started all of them from pole, and the last two with a front-row lock-out, and not won any.

Mexico was arguably the biggest dropped ball of the lot. In Russia, there was a major controversy over some questionable team orders, but Charles Leclerc lost that race only because he was unlucky with the timing of a virtual safety car.

In Japan, Vettel messed up his start, which distracted Leclerc, who then did the same, and that put Bottas into a lead he was never to lose.

But in Mexico, Ferrari twice made active decisions to give up track position. First, they pitted Leclerc out of the lead, trying to ensure he protected against Red Bull's Alexander Albon, who had just pitted very early out of third place and was looking potentially threatening.

Then, when Vettel had the lead and Hamilton pitted behind him, they went with Vettel's suggestion not to stop next time around, which locked them into having to pass Hamilton on track to win the race.

The decisions made sense in the moment.

Firstly, the pre-race expectation was that tyre wear would be high, and that a two-stop was the most likely race.

Secondly, putting the two lead cars on different strategies - one on a one-stop and one on a two - is the most logical way to try to ensure at least one wins the race.

Thirdly, they thought Hamilton's stop was too early and that he would run out of tyres.

But the decisions ignored the evidence around them that Mercedes used to make theirs.

After the race, Vettel defended the team. Was it a missed opportunity, he was asked?

"Yes, of course if you start from the front row," he said. He added that "it's not as bad as it looks" because the Mercedes was just that bit quicker and their strategy gamble had paid off.

Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto admitted they "could not be happy". But he added in mitigation that they decided not to stop Vettel when Hamilton pitted because they believed from the Mercedes' out-lap that Hamilton would be in the lead anyway, and so their best option was to run Vettel long - especially because they felt Hamilton was going to run out of tyres before the end of the race.

It's also true that the team behind, with less to lose, can take more risks. And that the Mercedes appears still to be a slightly faster race car than the Ferrari, even if the Ferrari has established a definitive edge in qualifying.

But it's equally true that a slower race car can win from the front - as Leclerc himself proved in both Belgium and Italy.

Leclerc's case in Mexico was particularly puzzling. He had pointed out in his interviews after qualifying how important it was to be leading in clear air, because at the high altitude in Mexico City a car running behind another quickly suffers overheating problems and has to back off.

This exact thing happened to Leclerc in the race - and he mentioned it afterwards. And yet Ferrari chose to put both their cars into that position.

Over the year, Ferrari have not been quick enough often enough to have challenged for the title even if they had delivered a perfect season.

But since the summer break, they very much have been quick enough. They now have six consecutive poles, and have locked out the front row three times. And yet they converted only three of those poles into victories.

It is this failure to deliver on their potential, this habit of grasping defeat from the jaws of victory, that cost them the title when they were capable of winning it in 2017 and 2018. And it will keep costing them if they cannot sort it out.
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Source: https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50204141.
 
Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer, who left Renault during the 2017 season, is part of the BBC team and offers insight and analysis from the point of view of the competitors.

Max Verstappen caused a stir in Mexico last weekend. It was a race he could and should have won, but didn't because of some naivety and a disregard for the rules.

There is no excuse for his actions in qualifying on Saturday, when he failed to lift off as he passed yellow warning flags for Valtteri Bottas' crashed Mercedes. But on a wider level Verstappen is actually taking some unwarranted criticism at the moment.

Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Bottas were quick to throw jabs at Verstappen in the post-race top-three news conference.

Hamilton said you had to be aware you are racing Verstappen and give him extra space, and alluded to the fact that he isn't the smartest racer. Vettel agreed. And Bottas declared the Red Bull driver came from nowhere in his overtake in the tight stadium section and could blame only himself for the puncture that ruined his race.

In reality, Verstappen's race was actually almost blameless.

Hamilton's notion that Verstappen "torpedoed' him at the start is well wide of the mark.

Actually, it was Hamilton who was bold in trying to pass Verstappen around the outside at the start. Hamilton ended up getting into a massive slide all on his own, and that forced Verstappen off on to the grass at Turn Three, along with the Mercedes.

This wasn't anything more than plain, hard racing. So finger-pointing at Verstappen post-race is just unfair. Verstappen was actually the innocent victim in that incident, which demoted him from his fourth place at the start down to eighth.

From there, Verstappen's move on Bottas consigned him to a race of recovery, but there was nothing wrong with that. It was a lovely overtake and - again - good, hard racing. Yes, it was aggressive, but Bottas has no right to be complaining about it.

Does Verstappen deserve his reputation?
When you actually analyse the last year and a half of Verstappen's career, since Canada 2018, he has been brilliant, and at least as fair as most of his rivals around him.

The sad truth for him is that he is carrying the reputation along with him that he earned in his early Formula 1 career, when he arrived as a raw 17-year-old with only a year's experience in car racing under his belt.

Looking at some of the incidents of recent times, it is other drivers generally at fault:

Vettel's Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc punted Verstappen out of third place on the first lap in Japan earlier this month and received a penalty for doing so.
Vettel crashed into the back of Verstappen, depriving him of third place and was heavily penalised at the British Grand in June.
Both Ferrari drivers have been happy this year to drive Hamilton on to the grass in a straight-line, an obviously unfair and potentially dangerous move - Leclerc during the Italian Grand Prix Monza, and Vettel at the start in Mexico.
Leclerc's predecessor at Ferrari, Kimi Raikkonen, punted Hamilton off at the start in Silverstone and was penalised for it.
Vettel punted off Bottas at the start of the French Grand Prix last year and was penalised.
The only real misdemeanour Verstappen has made has been beating Leclerc to the win in Austria by driving him wide on the exit of Turn Three - a move not as bad as either Vettel's or Leclerc's in Mexico or Italy, and one that, while it could have gone either way, the stewards deemed legal.

Verstappen's move on Bottas in Mexico was the only overtake any of the front-runners could put on each other in the entire Grand Prix. He was simply unlucky to pick up a puncture for it. And his recovery drive was incredible.

After driving around for an entire lap on three wheels, Verstappen finally emerged from the pits on lap six a full minute behind race leader Leclerc.

After a further 66 laps, having passed 14 cars, most of which were on track with some spirited moves that at times were arguably a bit too risky, he ended up 68 seconds away from the race winner Lewis Hamilton, and pretty much still a minute behind Leclerc.

Verstappen also completed 67 laps at good pace, on a single set of hard tyres, that put Hamilton's 'miracle' 48-lap stint into a relative perspective.

Paying the price for a foolish error
Verstappen's Sunday was purely unlucky. But his weekend began to unravel because of his foolish moment on Saturday, and subsequent petulance in the news conference. That is what cost him a likely victory.

Had Verstappen followed the rules at the end of qualifying, he would have been on pole position, not next to Hamilton at the start. He never would have needed to pass Bottas, and he had the pace to win this Grand Prix at a canter.

Verstappen is one of the outright fastest drivers out there, as each of his three Red Bull team-mates in the last year can attest.

So what went wrong?

His initial pole lap in Mexico was superb, underlining his pace, and putting team-mate Alexander Albon in the shade.

At the end of the session, attempting to improve on his time, he kept his foot to the floor past Bottas' crashed Mercedes, when yellow flags were flying. That was foolish and cost him the pole he was so desperate for.

All drivers are aware of the rules when it comes to passing yellow flags. It has been ingrained in them for years. You have to back off.

I was given exactly the same penalty as Verstappen in China 2017, after Antonio Giovinazzi hit the wall in his Sauber.

I thought I might get away with it, because I did actually lift off past the incident and had no time on the board anyway, so either way it was a risk I had to take. Haas driver Romain Grosjean received an identical penalty at the time, and the message became perfectly clear.

Since then, there have been other cases of drivers improving under yellows, but they are getting rarer and rarer, and are usually involving someone, like Grosjean and me in 2017, who has no time on the board and therefore nothing to lose.

Verstappen in fact picked up the same penalty for the same crime in Sochi last year, but that was in a nothing-to-lose context - he was going to start from the back regardless.

However, in Mexico, Verstappen had everything to lose and nothing to gain.

But he wouldn't necessarily have known that. In the cockpit, he probably thought Bottas' crash was going to cost him pole, as his rivals might improve and he wouldn't be able to. That is the only mindset that makes sense here, and therefore Red Bull could have helped him out from the pit wall.

Albon and Leclerc came through and didn't improve before Bottas crashed. Hamilton was close enough to Bottas to not have yellow flags when he came through the crash site, but was slower in the final sector anyway.

But Red Bull would have known the rules as much as the drivers, and they should have just told Verstappen to abort the lap as soon as the crash happened, because it was clear that his pole lap was going to be unrivalled anyway by that point.

The team would have been able to see, but Verstappen in the car would have been unaware - hence his keeping his foot in past the yellow flag.

But this doesn't excuse Verstappen, who should have known he had to back off anyway, as Sebastian Vettel had done ahead.

What was surprising is that it seemed to take Verstappen's comments in the media to spark an investigation at all.

This was where the Dutchman really dug his own grave and forced the hand of the FIA, who by this point had no choice but to investigate and subsequently penalise the Red Bull man.

Clearly on the defence under questioning as to why he had not lifted off, Verstappen was rattled and reeled off a load of curt answers that were both an admission of guilt and a scant disregard for safety at the same time.

A driver acting more cleverly might have been able to avoid the questions better than Verstappen, or certainly not answer them as directly as he did.

He also seemed unaware at this point as to what the rules were - not only by plainly breaking them in the action of keeping his foot down, but also by suggesting that if he were found guilty he would just have that final lap time deleted.

That is the penalty for being guilty of exceeding track limits on a qualifying lap, not for driving flat out past a crashed car, as he had found out a year previous in Russia.

Judge Verstappen for now, not then
With his aggressive driving, and bullish remarks he makes himself arguably the most polarising driver on the grid at the moment.

It was only a year and a half ago, after all, that he declared that he would punch in the face the next reporter who asked him about his series of early 2018 accidents.

But the reality is that in Mexico one error of judgement cost him, and made him an easy target for those around him and the media to harp back to the old version of him.

Qualifying in Mexico did highlight that there is a level of immaturity to him, on and off the track. But Verstappen is still only 22; there's plenty of time to mature.

Ultimately he is one of the best and certainly most entertaining drivers out there. While he has certainly had a chequered past in F1, right now he still cops a lot of flack he doesn't deserve, from both his fellow drivers and the media.
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Source: https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50222106.
 
Lewis Hamilton says he can still get better as he embarks on the weekend when he should clinch a sixth Formula 1 drivers' championship.

Hamilton is almost certain to seal the title at Sunday's US Grand Prix, needing only to ensure he does not lose 22 points to Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

"I never thought I would have five titles. If I am able to get a sixth one, it will be pretty unreal," Hamilton said.

"I don't think I've hit peak yet and I plan to continue to get stronger."

Hamilton emphasised that "nothing is a given" and that he is "approaching it exactly as I have all year, one race at a time".

The only way Bottas can keep the championship alive is to win the race - and even then Hamilton only has to finish eighth to secure the title.

The 34-year-old Briton has won the race at the Circuit of the Americas near Austin, Texas five times in the seven years it has been on the calendar.

"Austin has been a good race for us in the past," Hamilton said. "It was not so good last year, but it is a good hunting ground in general and I am going to be pushing very had this weekend to finish where I plan to finish.

"But it's going to be a challenge again with the temperatures and the wind. I can't tell you how it would feel but I approach every year as if it's the first and it'll be the same next year."

Austin is experiencing unusually cool temperatures. Thursday was said to be the coldest Halloween for nearly 30 years. Overnight lows are close to freezing. That is expected to create difficulties for the drivers to get the Pirelli tyres up to the right operating temperature.

Hamilton said he believed 2019 had been one of his strongest seasons, and pointed to his race performances as a highlight.

"I've only had four poles but I've had 10 wins," Hamilton said. "Within the team, we often forget how many wins we've had because we are so focused on each race and we forget how well the season has gone because it has felt so hard.

"But definitely when you look at the numbers, it is a good feeling. Hard work pays off and the guys have collectively worked harder than ever.

"Every year we try to get better, we try to apply ourselves better and balance our energy levels better, communicate better, so we deliver consistent results collectively. It's great to look at the results because it reflects the improvement we've made.

"I would say Sunday [race day] has been the thing I have been most proud of, it's been stronger than last year and that's good to see.

"The goal has been to try to keep the consistency from last year and build on other areas and the race was one of those and we have been stronger all year throughout the races. There are areas we can still improve on."

Hamilton gave the strongest hint that he will be still be in F1 in 2021, when the new regulations announced by the sport on Thursday come into force, and that he will likely stay with Mercedes.

"Nothing is set in stone for the future but I am definitely enjoying what I am doing and I don't see any reason to stop because I love what I do," he said.

"I don't see myself going anywhere else. I love being here at Mercedes. I love being a part of the brand, of the history, and the idea of staying with Mercedes, I have been with them since I was 13.

"The idea of continuing on with them even beyond F1, probably heavily involved within Daimler, is quite attractive."
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Source: https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50257084.
 
Lewis Hamilton topped second practice at the United States Grand Prix ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

Hamilton, who is poised to clinch his sixth world title this weekend, was 0.301 seconds quicker than Leclerc, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen third.

Sebastian Vettel was fourth, 0.357secs off team-mate Leclerc, and Valtteri Bottas fifth 0.813secs behind Hamilton.

Vettel had a spin late in the session at Turn 15. Earlier, Haas' Romain Grosjean crashed in the Esses.

Hamilton is all but certain to secure the title on Sunday. To prevent Hamilton tying up the title, Bottas must at least win the race - but even then the Briton needs only an eighth-place finish to become world champion.

And Hamilton appears to be in a very strong position heading into the weekend on a track where he has won five times in its seven appearances on the calendar.

Not only was he fastest over one lap, but his race-simulation run later in the session was extremely strong.

He and Leclerc started at a similar pace but Hamilton's tyres lasted much longer and he could keep his pace over a much greater distance, to the extent that about 10 laps into his run, Leclerc was told Hamilton's lap time, and the Monegasque replied: "No way I can do that."

Hamilton was also considerably quicker than Vettel when both were running the hard tyre on their second race-simulation run.

However, Mercedes believe that Ferrari's single-lap pace will improve on Saturday when they run their engine in its high-power modes.

Some - but not all - of Bottas' deficit was ascribed to a tow Hamilton received from Williams' Robert Kubica.

Bottas asked over the radio what explained the gap, and was told that as well as the time loss on the straights there "may be something else" to blame as well.

On the radio, his engineer did not explain what that might be.

Verstappen also looked quick at the start of a race run, but his pace also dropped off much more quickly than that of Hamilton's Mercedes.

Red Bull's Alexander Albon completed the big three in sixth, but he was just 0.075secs quicker than Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly.

McLaren's Carlos Sainz was eighth, his team-mate Lando Norris down in 14th after having his best lap time deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 19.

Racing Point's Lance Stroll and and Alfa Romeo's Antonio Giovinazzi completed the top 10.

'Hardcore' bumps
Hamilton said he had been quite badly affected by the bumps on the Circuit of the Americas.

"After the first session, I was not feeling good. It was the bumpiest track I have ever been on. I had the biggest headache.

"Bumps are not such a bad thing because it adds character. So I am not a fan of completely smooth circuits but this one is massive bumps and the problem is we don't have much suspension. It's your butt on the floor and your spine takes a lot of compression, so I was feeling horrible. I had a massive headache and had to lay down. I was not feeling great. We made some changes to make it a little bit better for the second session.

"Some of them are how it was before, but today it has been pretty hardcore. I am sure they will make some changes in the future but for now we have to drive around it. If you look at the onboards, the Ferraris just sail through. I don't know if they have softer suspension. We'll just keep working on it."

Overall, though, Hamilton said he had had a positive start to the weekend.

"I've not really been looking at what the others are doing," he said. "Red Bull were looking quite good earlier and Ferrari were quite strong later. I am excited because I love this track in general. The car is feeling fairly decent but we have some work to do because there are some areas we can improve on."

Vettel said: "On one lap, we should be there or thereabouts. But on race pace we have a bit to do. We know what our weaknesses are. In qualifying we can make them but in race trim we can't."
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Source: https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50269690.
 
Lewis Hamilton cut a forlorn figure after qualifying at the United States Grand Prix, as he contemplated fifth position on the grid and what he described as "probably the worst qualifying I've had for a long time".

It is a measure of his competitiveness, and his constant quest for more success, that a man on the brink of clinching his sixth world drivers' title, which will put him just one behind all-time record holder Michael Schumacher, should care so much about a couple of bad qualifying laps.

Poor grid position or not, the mathematics are so heavily in Hamilton's favour heading into the race that it is almost inconceivable that he will not end it with a third consecutive world title.

As long as Bottas does not win the race with Hamilton lower than eighth place, the championship is won. And if Bottas does not stand on top of the podium on Sunday afternoon, Hamilton will be crowned no matter what his result.

On Saturday, Hamilton said his mind was solely on "trying to figure out what went wrong and how I can get myself to the front" in the race, which he has won five times out of the seven appearances of this magnificent track on the F1 calendar.

"I don't look at this race as a particularly important," he said. "It's as important as any other race to me. It is not a stand-out, individual, important race for me. There are still two more after that.

"I will approach it exactly the same. I'm not looking to perform miracles. Things happen for a reason and today is a lesson learnt. Try to see if I can turn a negative into a positive tomorrow."

Of course, the championship can't not be on his mind, or at least at the back of it, but Hamilton's primary focus will be on getting himself to the front of the race.

This is no easy task from fifth on the grid, in the modern era of F1, with sensitive tyres that cannot be pushed too hard, but Hamilton won from fourth in Mexico only last weekend and he will believe anything is possible.

And if there is pressure, Hamilton says it is not affecting him.

"It has been the same pressure every year," he said. "(The circumstances) are always different. We had Brazil (2008) last corner, last race in Abu Dhabi with double points for a win (in 2014), multiple races left (in 2015, '17, and '18). It doesn't make a massive difference. The pressure feels similar and I am not someone who pressure gets to."

As for Bottas, he knows it's effectively all over, but competitive pride forbids him from admitting it.

His pole in Austin - the first time since Hungary back in early August that a Ferrari has not started from the front of the grid - is his fifth of the year, and Hamilton has only four.

But Hamilton has won 10 races and Bottas only three and there is pride at stake and competitive instincts in play - as there are for Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc, who will all fancy adding to their victory total for the year.

Bottas said: "He is leading the championship with quite a big margin and he doesn't need many points to do it. I'm sure he would like to win the championship in a good way but I will try my best to delay that and focus on my race rather than anyone else's."

There were two world titles up for grabs by British sportsmen this weekend. One has slipped away, following the England rugby team's defeat by South Africa.

Hamilton could not watch the match, because it was on at 04:00 in Austin and he had qualifying to prepare for. But he said: "I watched some of the highlights at breakfast this morning. Obviously devastated for the guys, just because I know how hard it is to perform at the level we are performing at, to go such a long way and to have so much pressure, for them particularly to have so much pressure from back home and want it, and to within themselves want to do.

"I really felt for them because they have done such an incredibly good job. But obviously they were up against such a great team. And on days like that you learn from it and they shouldn't take it too hard on themselves and I hope they keep their spirits high and keep pushing for the future."

After a difficult qualifying day, Hamilton will approach what could be one of the defining races of his life with exactly that mindset. The strong likelihood is that for him it will turn out rather more successfully.

Why Ferrari backed 2021 rules
At the start of the US Grand Prix weekend, Formula 1 published its new regulations for 2021, aimed at closing up the field and making the racing more exciting.

The past few months have been characterised by intense debate on this matter, with the top three teams making clear that they had objections to the rules on a number of grounds - among them, too-extensive use of standard parts, the validity of the aerodynamic theories involved, fear of unintended consequences, the on-track behaviour of the cars that will be produced, whether the right areas had been properly attacked.

The big question was whether Ferrari would use its power of veto over the rules, but in the end the Italian team - the only one with a seat on F1's legislative body the FIA World Council - voted for the package.

Team boss Mattia Binotto said: "We are happy with the new set of regulations - or if not happy then we are at least convinced it is the right way to go.

"Did we consider (the veto) in the past? For us it was more important to collaborate with F1 and the FIA to make sure that by the end of October we got the best package to be voted and I think that's where we put our focus and put our effort."

There were a number of considerations here. Ferrari continue to have concerns over some aspects of the rules, but the bigger picture was that in the months of negotiation that led up to the 31 October deadline they won important concessions from the FIA and F1 on standard parts and the amount of design freedom permitted in the regulations.

On top of that, using the veto would have meant losing it in the future - and they were more concerned to retain that power into the new chapter of F1. And there are discussions ongoing over the distribution of revenue under the new contracts the teams have to sign for 2021.

Binotto has described the 2021 rules as published as "a starting point" and he clearly believes that further concessions can be won over the coming months. This is something F1 is not ruling out, as teams begin to interrogate the new regulations as they work on their designs and come up with questions.

From F1 and the FIA's point of view, the important thing is that their over-arching vision has been imposed - 'ground effect' cars that produce a greater proportion of their overall downforce from under the floor, and should therefore be more race-able; tighter restrictions on design to reduce the possibility of the better-resourced teams extending an unbridgeable performance advantage; and most important of all - for everyone - a budget cap to rein in spending.

Tyres remain a question
One of Ferrari's big concerns over 2021 was that what they saw as perhaps the biggest problem of all preventing close racing - the fragility of Pirelli's tyres - was not being addressed.

The drivers have been frustrated for some years now about the way the Pirellis behave, especially their tendency to overheat when pushed hard and when trying to attack another car.

This thermal sensitivity has a number of consequences; drivers are rarely on the limit in races to prolong tyre life to the required stint lengths and have to lap a number of seconds off the pace; they can sometimes not push flat out even for a whole qualifying lap; if an overtaking move is not done almost immediately, they are forced to back off and so passing is extremely difficult.

For a long time, this issue was being ignored by F1's bosses, but this year a breakthrough has been made. There is now an acceptance that the tyres' characteristics need to change, and also that F1 shares some of the blame for not making it clear to Pirelli what it wanted.

The requirements on the tyre supplier are laid out in a document called the 'target letter' and Lewis Hamilton spoke for many when he said on Thursday that getting this right was "really important".

"They've never had a good target letter in terms of what to deliver," Hamilton said, "so the GPDA (the drivers' union) is working closely with the FIA to make sure the target letter is written well. Hopefully this time we will have a better target letter and hopefully they'll be able to deliver a tyre which is more in the direction to help us race better."

While this conversation has been ongoing, Pirelli has been working on its 2020 tyre, in the context of its now-greater knowledge of the sport's future direction, and with the aim of making a step towards where F1 wants to be with tyre behaviour by 2021, with greater durability under stress.

These tyres made their debut in first practice in Austin, and it's fair to say things did not go that well.

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel described the tyres as "a disappointment", adding: "There was no step forward. But it's pretty much done, the tyres are built for next year so that will be it."

His views were echoed by other drivers. McLaren's Carlos Sainz said the tyres felt "very weird and very… bad". Hamilton, asked for his opinion, sighed, and then said: "I've got to hold back and not say too much at the moment."

The test took place in unusually cool conditions and another complicating factor is that the tyres are bigger, so would create a performance loss on the current cars, which are not designed for them.

Pirelli F1 boss Mario Isola said that meant a definitive judgement would have to be deferred - a view echoed by senior engineers in the pit lane, one of whom said people "should not jump to conclusions" after Friday's running.

Isola added: "The first feeling is that the new package has probably a little bit less grip or peak of grip, and that it's more consistent. That is what we are looking for."

Nevertheless, it remains the case that many senior figures in F1 are yet to be convinced that Pirelli, which last year signed a new contract up to the end of 2024, can supply tyres with the characteristics for which the sport is now asking.

The onus is now on Pirelli to prove them wrong.
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Source: https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50278565.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">&#55356;&#57286;&#55356;&#57286;&#55356;&#57286;&#55356;&#57286;&#55356;&#57286;&#55356;&#57286;<br><br>He's done it! <a href="https://twitter.com/LewisHamilton?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LewisHamilton</a> is a SIX-TIME world champion! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/USGP?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#USGP</a> &#55356;&#56826;&#55356;&#56824; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/F1?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#F1</a> <a href="https://t.co/QnsxnfzsUS">pic.twitter.com/QnsxnfzsUS</a></p>— Formula 1 (@F1) <a href="https://twitter.com/F1/status/1191094584291602435?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 3, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Austin - Ferrari has hit back at Max Verstappen's 'cheating' claims made against the Italian team following the United States Grand Prix.

Dutchman Verstappen, who finished third behind the Mercedes duo of Valtteri Bottas and newly-crowned six-time champion Lewis Hamilton, said Ferrari had lost their previous speed and form because they had been stopped from cheating by an official technical directive.

The directive, from the sport's ruling body, the International Motoring Federation (FIA), followed an inquiry from Vertappen's Red Bull about a 'tricky' fuel-flow system, designed to boost power, that was declared illegal.

Speaking to reporters late Sunday at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Ferrari team chief Mattia Binotto said: "I read and I heard a lot of comments this weekend about a technical directive and the impact on our cars.

"I heard comments at the end of the race, which I feel were very disappointing...

"It is the type of comments that are completely wrong in the sport. It is not good for the sport and I think everybody should be a bit more cautious."

Binotto, who celebrated his 50th birthday on race day Sunday, went on to launch a defence of his team, explaining how their six-race run of pole positions came to an end and why they endured a disappointing race with an apparent loss of their previous big speed advantage on the straights.

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel retired early with broken suspension and teammate Charles Leclerc, powered by an 'old' Spec 2 engine, finished fourth, 50 seconds adrift of Verstappen's Red Bull.

Asked why he thought Ferrari had suffered a slump, Verstappen said: "That's what happens when you stop cheating..."

Binotto rejected the charge, saying: "As a matter of fact, I believe we were very close to pole position as it was in the last race. I think Seb could have scored pole, but maybe was a bit too cautious in one corner."

He said Leclerc faced technical difficulties without which "he was potentially on the pole as well. So, I don't see where is the problem... "

He explained that Ferrari changed their base set-up and ran with more down-force - a switch that helped them gain in the corners, but at the cost of speed on the straights.

"The trade-off between grip limit and power limit has moved this weekend, as a test on our side, to try to match their cornering. I think that it is as simple as that."

Leclerc, who is regarded as a rival to Verstappen as F1's next champion driver, said the Dutchman had no idea what he was talking about.

The Monegasque driver said: "I think it is a joke, to be completely honest. He has no clue. He is not on the team. We know exactly what we are doing.

"I don't know why he is speaking. He doesn't know anything about us."

https://www.sport24.co.za/Motorsport/ferrari-reject-verstappen-cheating-claims-20191104
 
Formula 1 has launched a plan to become carbon neutral by 2030.

The intention is to wipe out the carbon footprint of activity at race tracks, including road and air transport of staff and equipment to the events.

F1 says it will "move to ultra-efficient logistics and travel and 100% renewably powered offices, facilities and factories" and offset emissions that cannot be cut.

F1 said as a first step it would begin carbon-reduction projects immediately.

It added that it will make all events "sustainable" by 2025, including eliminating single-use plastics and ensuring all waste is reused, recycled or composted.

And in 2021, rules will demand that the petrol used in F1 has a biofuel content of at least 10%.

The high-tech turbo hybrid power-units used to power F1 cars since 2014 are the most efficient car engines in the world in terms of the percentage of fuel energy that is converted into power, a measurement known as thermal efficiency.

F1 engines have a thermal efficiency rating of 50%, whereas a road-car petrol engine is generally in the region of 30%.

The current engines are in line to continue until the end of 2025, and F1 is to look at ways of ensuring that whatever specification of engine is used from 2026 takes another step forward in efficiency.

The sport's owners added that they hoped to work with the automotive industry to apply the lessons of F1's engines to create "the world's first net-zero carbon hybrid internal combustion engine".

In-depth conversations with road-car manufacturers on this area have not yet begun but they will focus on the development of synthetic fuels, which use carbon captured from the air, farm waste or biomass.

F1 says it has come up with its plan to have a net-zero carbon footprint "after 12 months of intense work with motorsport's governing body the FIA, sustainability experts, F1 teams, promoters and partners".

Instigating the plans will require the assistance of the teams, some of whom employ more than 1,000 people to design, develop, build and race the cars that take part in more than 20 grands prix a year.

F1 says all have signed up to the project. And some have already started working towards this goal.

World champions Mercedes, for example, say they have been powering their two F1 factories in the UK entirely by renewable energy since early October and that they are on target to have net-zero carbon emissions by the end of next year through a combination of reducing CO2 emissions and offsetting.

Chase Carey, the chairman and chief executive of F1, said: "Over its 70-year history, F1 has pioneered numerous technologies and innovations that have positively contributed to society and helped to combat carbon emissions.

"From ground-breaking aerodynamics to improved brake designs, the progress led by F1 teams has benefited hundreds of millions of cars on the road today.

"Few people know that the current F1 hybrid power unit is the most efficient in the world, delivering more power using less fuel, and hence CO2, than any other car.

"We believe F1 can continue to be a leader for the auto industry and work with the energy and automotive sector to deliver the world's first net-zero carbon hybrid internal combustion engine that hugely reduces carbon emissions around the world."

FIA president Jean Todt said his organisation and F1 were "committed to driving development and ensuring motorsport grows as a laboratory for environmentally beneficial innovations".

How will Formula 1 do it?
F1 plans to offset emissions through a combination of replanting trees and using the engineering knowhow in the sport to develop new technologies that can capture carbon from the atmosphere.

It calculated the sport's total carbon emissions in 2018 as 256,551 tonnes, not including fans' transport to races, comprising:

Logistics (road, air and sea freight) 45%
Personnel travel 27.7%
Factories and facilities 19.3%
Events 7.3%
Total F1 car emissions including all race and test mileage: 0.7%
'You shouldn't be afraid to speak out for positive change'
Elsewhere in F1, world champion Lewis Hamilton has become outspoken on global environmental issues, including extolling the virtues of a plant-based diet in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The six-time champion has pledged to ensure his life and business activities are carbon-neutral by the end of the year, is working with Mercedes to make relevant changes and after selling his private plane last year is reducing flying as much as possible.

After being accused of hypocrisy because of his role in F1 and the number of flights he has to take as part of his job, Hamilton admitted the subject was "not easy" but added: "That doesn't mean you should be afraid to speak out for positive change."

His position was backed by a number of his leading competitors, including four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel.

The Ferrari driver said last month: "It is very difficult for us to have acceptance from the outside because we don't have the smallest [carbon] footprint. The races are around the world and we do have to travel.

"But I feel F1 should do more. It is a worldwide operating platform and we should send a more positive message."
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Source: https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50382898.
 
Alexander Albon brought a wet first practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix to a premature end with a crash on slick tyres on a damp track.

The Anglo-Thai, who this week was confirmed as a Red Bull driver for 2020, lost control at the last corner, Juncao, and broke the front suspension and wing.

Albon also ended the session fastest after running when the track was driest on intermediate tyres a few minutes earlier.

His team-mate Max Verstappen and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc also had offs in the treacherous conditions.

They both lost control at Turn Two but neither caused any damage.

Verstappen spun, at almost the same time as Albon went off, and was able to continue without hitting anything. Leclerc merely had a wobble.

And Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat also spun, this time at Turn One, as he also tried the untreated dry-weather tyres.

The list of times were unrepresentative because of the changing conditions, but Albon was quickest by 0.551 seconds from Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas and Ferrari drivers Sebastian Vettel and Leclerc.

The track started very wet at the beginning of the session after heavy rain, but the rain stopped shortly after the end of the session.

The track progressively dried but the incidents at the end proved it was not quite enough for slick tyres.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50436871
 
Red Bull's Max Verstappen beat Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel to pole position at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

It was Dutchman's second career pole, although he also qualified fastest in Mexico two races ago before being penalised three places for failing to slow for caution flags.

New world champion Lewis Hamilton slipped into third place right at the end of the session, demoting Ferrari's Charles Leclerc to fourth.

Leclerc has a 10-place grid penalty as a result of excessive engine usage.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50447060
 
Max Verstappen's pole position at the Brazilian Grand Prix was emphatic evidence that Red Bull have really come on strongly in the final part of this Formula 1 season.

The Dutchman has now been fastest in qualifying in two of the past three races. In Interlagos, he gets to keep his place at the front of the grid after a virtually flawless weekend - without the mistake he made in Mexico last month in not slowing for yellow caution flags on his final qualifying lap.

That led to a demotion to fourth on the grid, after which a tangle with Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes on the first lap and then another with the world champion's team-mate Valtteri Bottas led to a messy race and a sixth-place finish.

On Sunday, Verstappen has a great chance to redeem himself for that, and for the error he made in Brazil last year, when he was romping to victory after a brilliant drive that included overtaking his way into the lead from fifth on the grid, only to tangle with Esteban Ocon's Racing Point as the Frenchman unlapped himself mid-race.

Will it be Hamilton v Verstappen for the win?

On the evidence of the season so far, the race is likely to come down to a battle between Verstappen and the Mercedes pairing of Hamilton and Bottas. The Briton qualified third, while his team-mate Bottas was fifth in qualifying, but was promoted to fourth because of an engine-related penalty imposed on Charles Leclerc.

Sebastian Vettel, Leclerc's Ferrari team-mate, starts on the front row alongside Verstappen but he said: "It will be difficult. Both Red Bull and Mercedes look a bit stronger managing tyres, but we are there for a reason: we've got the speed and we've got the power, so let's see what the race brings.

"I am carefully optimistic. I think it should be a good race."

Ferrari's race pace has been a weakness this year, and the evidence of this weekend so far is that it remains so in Brazil. The race-simulation runs completed by the teams during Friday practice suggested that Hamilton has the advantage on a long run, with Verstappen next quickest and Ferrari third.

But Vettel said he had reason to believe Ferrari might be better on Sunday than some might expect.

"Obviously we know the race for us is maybe not as strong as quali," he said, "but I was quite pleased with the balance and we therefore did another long run this morning in practice and it felt much better than yesterday. So that gives me hope for tomorrow."

With the championship tied up, Hamilton can afford to throw caution to the wind in search of victory - not that there was much evidence of him holding back in either his first-corner clash with Verstappen in Mexico or as he chased victory on a disadvantageous one-stop strategy.

"My approach is pretty much the same all year long," Hamilton said, "but maybe we can try to be a bit more aggressive. We can have some fun with these guys - but yeah, I don't particularly see that there's any reason to make any changes. That's ultimately what's got me to where I am today, so I'll just continue with that."

However he plays it, Hamilton wants to end his stellar year with more wins - another on Sunday would be his 11th, equalling his most successful season in 2015 - and Verstappen is determined to add another to victories in Austria and Germany.

A match-up between the best driver of the older generation and perhaps the strongest of the younger contenders is one to anticipate with relish.

Red Bull's rise

There was a point during the summer when it looked as if Verstappen might emerge as a challenger for the championship - after he took two wins and a second place in a run of four races from Austria to Hungary.

Since then, a combination of issues have set Red Bull back. Verstappen crashed at the start in Spa and Italy, beginning the latter race from the back with a penalty for using too many engine parts. In Singapore, a race at which Red Bull expected to be contenders for victory, they made a mistake on set-up and qualified lower than expected.

In Japan, Verstappen was taken out at the first corner in a collision with Leclerc. In Mexico, the Dutchman made an unfathomable misjudgement in qualifying before a couple of unfortunate incidents as he sought to recover wrecked them for good. And in Austin last time out, he was a close second, splitting the Mercedes drivers.

Red Bull's progress this season becomes clear from an analysis of the fastest lap each team has done at each race. After the first half of the season, Red Bull were 0.602 seconds slower than Mercedes on average; in the second half, that margin is down to 0.176secs.

"We've been continuously improving throughout the season," Verstappen said. "Of course some tracks have been a bit better for us than others.

"Already last year I think here we were quite good but I think again we made a step forward this year.

"We learned from our mistakes in some recent races and we came back stronger and everything is working well so yeah, of course very happy with three (sic) poles but at the end of the day there are more races than that and we want more pole positions."

Ferrari engine controversy rumbles on

In the post-qualifying news conference, Vettel was in mischievous mood, the context being the controversy over Ferrari's engine that has raged for the past two weeks - specifically whether the end to their run of six consecutive pole positions in Austin last time out was related to the issuing of two rule clarifications from governing body the FIA.

Red Bull and Mercedes are convinced Ferrari were up to something - and equally convinced that they see in the lap-time traces a reduction in straight-line speed performance from the Ferrari that they believe can only be explained by a reduction in engine performance.

After Austin, where Leclerc finished close to a minute off the winner, Verstappen went as far as to say: "That's what happens when you stop cheating."

Needless to say, Ferrari are very annoyed about this and so when Red Bull showed prodigious straight-line speed in Brazil - Verstappen was fourth fastest through the speed trap, 0.5km/h faster than Vettel, although Leclerc topped it, 0.4km/h ahead - Vettel could not resist a little dig.

"It was a bit of a surprise," Vettel said. "Not to see them that quick, but to see them so quick on the straights - a little bit suspicious." Cue a big smile and an exaggerated look at Verstappen, who replied: "For once it's you then!"

Joking aside, this is obviously a serious matter.

The first FIA clarification was to do with potential ways of interfering with the fuel-flow meter to get the fuel flow rate to run above its maximum for short periods, thus boosting power. It came after a series of targeted questions from Red Bull.

The second was issued by the FIA alone, and was a reconfirmation of the rules governing the restriction on adding of lubricants into the combustion chamber, which has been a bone of contention in F1 on and off for a couple of years now.

Ferrari's position is that they have changed nothing on their engine as a result of the two clarifications and that they have not been doing anything wrong. They refer to the allegations and insinuations as "absurd", and argue that as a team of "absolute integrity" it is not conceivable that they could cheat or engage in foul play.

Mercedes technical director James Allison was asked about Ferrari's straight-line performance after qualifying.

He said: "They were still pretty useful on the straights but not quite as marked as it was yesterday. But that could be lots of things. We all run different power modes on Friday.

"Probably the only thing you could stand back at a distance and say is it is two races on the trot where it hasn't been pole position for Ferrari and they had a reasonably comfortable margin.

"It's an interesting thing but not anything you can draw any solid conclusions from. They are still a quick car on the straights. Let's see how they are in the race tomorrow and how they are in the race to come."

Arise, Sir Lewis?

Since Lewis Hamilton won his sixth world title, there has been a bit of a campaign to see that he is knighted in the Queen's New Year's Honours list this year, the argument of those proposing this being that his achievement far outstrips those of other people who have already been knighted for services to sport.

On Saturday, Hamilton was asked what he thought about this.

"Honestly, I don't really like to think too much about it," he said. "Just the fact that people have mentioned it, it's already an honour, but it's not been something that I've been chasing in my life.

"If, at any point, that was to happen, I don't particularly know how I would handle it. I have stood in front of Her Majesty The Queen before and it was pretty incredible and I think she's just awesome.

"Again, I don't think it's going to happen, and again, it doesn't bother me if it doesn't. It doesn't mean I'm not British. It doesn't mean I'm not continuing to try and raise the flag as well as I can. But I do appreciate all the support I've had from my fans and also from the British media."

Pressed on it, he said: "I just don't think about it. I don't know."

Vettel butted in: "Do you get a sword? That would be cool if you get to keep the sword."

Hamilton, clearly wanting the subject to be wrapped up, concluded: "It's just not something that you grow up thinking of. I'm really grateful just to be… I've got the MBE. It's cool."
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50448540.
 
Brazilian GP: Max Verstappen wins thriller as Ferrari's Vettel and Leclerc collide

Red Bull's Max Verstappen passed Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes twice to take a brilliant victory in a gripping Brazilian Grand Prix.

Behind him, the race developed into a dramatic finale as the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc collided while disputing fourth place.

Then, Hamilton collided with Red Bull's Alexander Albon, and Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly held off the Mercedes for second place on the line.

It was a remarkable end to one of the most incident-packed races in recent memory. "What a race!" Verstappen said, summing it up perfectly. "Loved it."

Hamilton took the blame for his crash with Albon and was penalised after the race by five seconds, demoting him to seventh - promoting Carlos Sainz to third for McLaren.

Verstappen was a deserved winner in a race that he controlled from the start, but Gasly was a star, Hamilton and Mercedes had an unusually difficult race, and yet again there will be a sharp focus on Vettel's driving and character, as the four-time champion continued his battle for supremacy at Ferrari with his young team-mate.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50453757
 
Only a hit from Lewis Hamilton put a taint on Red Bull's day at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

As Alexander Albon was sent spinning out of second place behind team-mate Max Verstappen on the penultimate lap, it ruined the team's chance of a double podium, or perhaps even a one-two finish.

Albon's misfortune, though, did promote former Red Bull driver Pierre Gasly - now back at Toro Rosso after his demotion mid-season - into second place. That gave Red Bull's junior team their second podium of the year, after Daniil Kvyat's third place in Germany, and engine partner Honda the biggest boost of all.

Not only did Honda get a one-two, but they achieved the second place in the best manner possible for an engine manufacturer - a drag race to the line, against the formerly dominant Mercedes power.

Gasly hung on around the outside against Hamilton on the flat-out sprint from Juncao corner to the finish line, against the odds, and claimed his first Formula 1 podium. In doing so, Gasly showed Honda are well and truly in the fight now.

Of course it counted for very little in Brazil, but if Red Bull can do what they've so far failed to do in the hybrid era - start the following season as competitive as they finish the last - then the Verstappen/Red Bull/Honda package could be a force to be reckoned with in 2020.

For Honda in particular, this was a moment that must have caused such joy. It was only four years ago that McLaren drivers Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button publicly mocked them by ironically stepping out onto the Interlagos podium after yet another woeful qualifying display, to the amusement of fans and the bemusement of Honda.

In truth, Honda were poor back in 2015. They took a lot of stick, but the unreliability and lack of performance were clear for all to see.

Four years later, they are back with two drivers on the same podium, only with none of the mocking irony, just pure ecstatic emotion. A turnaround complete.

Honda were dragged through the mud during the Alonso and McLaren years, but since teaming up with Toro Rosso last year, and now Red Bull in 2019, their performance improvements have been vast.

I bet if you had told Alonso this would happen when he parted ways with the engine manufacturer at the end of 2017, he would have laughed in your face.

So with the regulations staying stable for 2020, there should be every chance that Red Bull can challenge over the course of the season.

Albon - good but can still do better
Verstappen is driving absolutely at the top of his game right now. A year ago, he was already well on this trajectory, and displayed it by comfortably getting the better of then team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.

Ricciardo is a top driver, proven by his seven career race wins. He won twice for Red Bull last year and took two pole positions as well.

But aside from those pole positions, he actually out-qualified Verstappen only twice more all year, in Baku and in the Abu Dhabi season finale.

This illustrates why some suggested last year that when Ricciardo signed for Renault he was running away from the Verstappen fight - the Dutchman out-paced Ricciardo in qualifying by a fraction under 0.2 seconds on average.

Red Bull have had a headache in replacing him.

They initially chose Gasly, but, after he struggled in the first half of the season, he was replaced by Albon, who it has now been confirmed will keep the seat in 2020.

Albon has undoubtedly been stronger in the Red Bull than Gasly, and would have been on the podium in Brazil had it not been for Hamilton's overzealous passing attempt into Bico de Pato on the penultimate lap. But his qualifying deficit to Verstappen is 0.42secs - more than twice that of Ricciardo.

Albon has been impressive in race conditions, to an extent. His race-craft has been particularly strong since he joined Red Bull, often charging from the back of the grid after a penalty to finish on the back of the main race, and he has made some sumptuous overtakes - including around the outside of Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel in Brazil.

But at the moment he still seems unable to make any inroads into the 'A' race. While Verstappen took pole position and was heading to victory in Brazil, Albon qualified sixth and was heading for a finish there until Valtteri Bottas' Mercedes engine expired and mixed up the race.

Gasly superb since demotion
All the while Albon has been doing OK - but perhaps not quite progressing as well as Red Bull would have hoped after a strong opener in Belgium - Gasly has been sensational back in the Toro Rosso.

Since being demoted after the summer break, Gasly has been in the points in five out of eight races, which would have been six without a late incident in Austin two weeks ago.

He has out-qualified Kvyat in every race bar Mexico, where he lost out by 0.1secs. His average qualifying pace is now 0.3secs faster than the Russian and he has made it through into the top 10 qualifying shootout in the past four races.

Had Gasly never been called up to Red Bull in the first place, he would seem a shoo-in for a 2020 berth at the team. Sadly for him, his dismal start to the season meant Albon was the obvious choice.

But for Red Bull to be truly competitive in 2020, they will need two cars in the fight, which has never really happened since Ricciardo left at the end of last year.

Time and time again, when the field is closely matched, we see races won or lost on strategy. In Hungary, Gasly was a lap behind Verstappen, and so too far back to stop Mercedes doing the extra pit stop that led to Hamilton attacking and eventually passing for the win.

In Brazil, Albon was at least within a pit-stop distance of Hamilton for much of the race, meaning the Briton would have to pass him and lose out on track position if he pitted in his attack on Verstappen for the win. But in all honesty he was no true deterrent because he was too far back and would have been a sitting duck for Hamilton on fresh tyres anyway.

Albon has definitely got some potential, and finishing on the podium in Brazil would have done him a world of good before he begins next season with the main team.

Right now, though, there is still work for him to do on the whole if he is going to get himself into the main fight with the five other drivers from the big teams.

With Kvyat and Gasly being quickly discarded by Red Bull, Albon will probably feel under some pressure, particularly with Gasly coming back into fine form in the Toro Rosso.

But Red Bull themselves will be desperate for Albon to be a success in the main team. After two demotions from their past three promotions, there are question marks over their once formidable junior driver programme.

Surely some regrets over losing Sainz
The question marks about Red Bull's second driver are not helped by the superb form of their former employee Carlos Sainz, who also claimed his first F1 podium in Brazil following Hamilton's post-race penalty - and did so after starting dead last following an engine issue in qualifying.

They won't admit it, but I'm sure there are many at Red Bull who are not only ruing the fact Ricciardo left, but also not taking Sainz in the first place as replacement for the Aussie.

Sainz is comfortably best of the rest behind the top teams this season. He is in a battle with both Albon and Gasly for sixth in the championship, and must be favourite to finish there, despite the others being in the far superior Red Bull for half a season apiece.

Sainz pushed Verstappen hard when they were together at Toro Rosso in 2015 and 2016. If only he was there doing that now, the Red Bull team would be a lot more formidable than the Verstappen show it currently is.

But there is still a chance for Albon to prove Red Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko and the rest of the hierarchy right.

After all, he is still a rookie for another race. And perhaps now having a future guaranteed - in the short term at least - can provide him a bit more comfort and confidence heading into a winter break that will be so critical to both him and the team if they are to be genuine 2020 challengers.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50455347.
 
2019-20 Formula E Championship
Dates: 22 November 2019 - 26 July 2020
Coverage: All 14 races will be available live and free-to-air on BBC online platforms, with the Marrakesh E-Prix on 29 February and the Rome E-Prix on 4 April live on network channels.
Motorsport's cleanest racing series begins its sixth season this weekend as Formula E returns to action in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia for the opening two races.

The new season features 14 races in 12 cities on four continents spread over nine months. All the races will be available live and free-to-air on BBC online platforms.

France's Jean-Eric Vergne has won the past two editions of the championship but faces a fresh challenge with German manufacturing giants Mercedes and Porsche joining a series that last year produced nine different winners from 13 races.

"The opportunity of winning a third successive title makes that the objective of the team - but we'll be concentrating on the first race and then taking every race as it comes after that," the DS Techeetah driver said.

"It gives me pleasure to represent France and get the Tricolor flag on to the podium, and especially for a constructor like DS that is up against the two new constructors this season in Mercedes and Porsche."

What's different about Formula E?
Formula E was launched back in 2014 with sustainability in mind, and organisers saying the aim was to "reduce our carbon footprint as much as possible".

To achieve this, cars are powered by a battery that is made with 100% renewable fuel, and tyres that, as well as lasting an entire race, can also be recycled afterwards. Spectators are encouraged to use public transport to get to events, with no public car parking available.

One drawback in the past was the sight of drivers having to swap cars mid-race because the battery could not last the distance, but the Gen 2 cars - introduced last year - are fitted with a battery that lasts the entirety of a race.

With the car manufacturing world looking to switch to developing almost exclusively electric cars within the next couple of decades, Formula E provides them with the ideal arena to test new technology at a competitive level.

Fan Boost and Attack Mode
Another unique feature of Formula E is the audience interaction with spectators playing a key role in the action during races.

'Fan Boost' has been a feature of the past few seasons, with viewers able to vote using an app to determine which driver gets some extra power during a race.

A more recent feature is 'Attack Mode', which gives competitors a speed boost after they drive through an allocated area on the track. Designed to introduce extra unpredictability into the racing, the use of this mode by a driver can have an effect on deciding the race.

The resulting action has been unpredictable, especially last season, which saw several different winners from the field, many controversial on-track incidents and one race only decided a metre before the line.

New teams

Mercedes

Drivers: Stoffel Vandoorne, Nyck de Vries

Former McLaren F1 driver Vandoorne is embarking on his second Formula E season after securing one pole and one podium in his maiden campaign with HWA Racelab.

Dutch rookie De Vries moves into the series fresh from winning the 2019 Formula 2 Championship.

Porsche

Drivers: Andre Lotterer, Neel Jani

Porsche are better known for endurance racing but have made the move into the electric series. German-born driver Lotterer admits the team will need a "bit of time to adapt" but is nevertheless "going to Riyadh to get on the podium".

Jani, meanwhile, is a Porsche veteran having contested several Le Mans 24-hour races with the team, winning in 2016. The Swiss also contested two Formula E races in 2017-18.

The returning teams
DS Techeetah (Champions)

Drivers: Jean-Eric Vergne, Antonio Felix da Costa

Vergne became Formula E's first back-to-back champion and the 29-year-old has great experience. He raced 58 times in F1 for Toro Rosso and scored 51 points and has Formula E experience with Andretti and Virgin. Gained his first win for Techeetah in Montreal 2017

Affable former Red Bull young driver Da Costa never made it to F1, but found a home in Formula E in which he won a race last season for the BMW iAndretti team. This season he has his work cut out to match Vergne.

Audi (Last season 2nd - 203 pts)

Drivers: Daniel Abt, Lucas di Grassi

Abt had two podiums last year and finished 7th overall to give him a five-season total of 58 races 2 wins 10 podiums, having appeared in every Formula E race so far.

Di Grassi: A veteran at 35, and the winner of the first-ever Formula E race in Beijing in 2014, who has won 10 times and been on the podium 30 times.

Envision Virgin (3rd - 191pts)

Drivers: Sam Bird, Robin Frijns

Bird has appeared in all 58 Formula E races and has been with Virgin from the start. The 32-year-old British racer enjoyed his best season in 2017-18 and has eight wins from his 58 starts.

Frijns won the last race of the season in New York and the Dutch driver is tipped as a real contender this season. The 28-year-old had interest from Sauber and Red Bull as a youngster and finished fourth overall last season.

Nissan E.Dams (4th - 190pts)

Drivers: Sebastien Buemi, Oliver Rowland

Buemi was the 2015-16 Formula E champion and his 10 wins are the most of any drivers in the electric format. The 31-year-old Swiss racer also raced in Formula 1 with Toro Rosso at the same time as Vergne and won the 2018 Le Mans 24 Hour Race.

British driver Rowland impressed in qualifying but was patchy in his 14 races last season despite reaching the podium twice. Expected to improve in his second season in the sport.

Andretti BMW (5th - 156pts)

Drivers: Max Guenther, Alexander Sims

Bavarian by birth, Guenther is now driving for the region's world-famous car manufacturer. The youngest driver on the grid at 22, he was also the fastest driver in pre-season testing in Valencia. He managed two Super Poles for Dragon FE last season.

Sims finished last season strongly, the 31-year-old Brit recording a fourth and second in the two races in New York.

Mahindra Racing (6th - 125pts)

Drivers: Jerome D'Ambrosio, Pascal Wehrlein

Belgium's former Renault and Lotus F1 driver D'Ambrosio has been in Formula E from the start and and has three wins to his name.

Wehrlein will be competing in his second season in Formula E. The German is a former Sauber and Manor F1 driver.

Panasonic Jaguar (7th - 116pts)

Drivers: Mitch Evans, James Calado

A 25-year-old New Zealander, Evans was mentored by former F1 driver Mark Webber as a youngster and won his first race in Rome last season. He also ended the season with second-place finishes in Bern and New York, so is expected to thrive this season.

Calado will be a rookie in Formula E this season. Like many electric drivers, the British racer comes from the endurance circuit and won the Le Mans 24 Hour race in a Ferrari this year.

Venturi (8th - 88pts)

Drivers: Felipe Massa, Edoardo Mortara

Massa has huge experience having raced 269 times in Formula 1 across 15 seasons. The veteran former Ferrari racer is now 38-years-old.

Mortara won in Hong Kong last season - the 32-year-old Swiss is in his third season in Formula E.

Geox Dragon (10th - 23 pts)

Drivers: Brendon Hartley, Nico Mueller

Hartley has raced in many formats, including for Toro Rosso in Formula 1, but is a rookie in this format.

Another rookie at the age of 27, Swiss driver Mueller has shown himself to be extremely fast in testing over the past two years.

Nio 333 (11th - 7pts)

Drivers: Oliver Turvey, Qing Hua Ma

Turvey is a veteran of 47 Formula E races but the Brit still looking for his first win.

As China's top electric driver, Ma notched up nine starts for Techeetah and Aguri before becoming Nio's reserve driver and then advancing to the team proper.

Formula E: Here's what to look out for in the new season
9 hours agoFrom the sectionMotorsport
rome e-prix
2019-20 Formula E Championship
Dates: 22 November 2019 - 26 July 2020
Coverage: All 14 races will be available live and free-to-air on BBC online platforms, with the Marrakesh E-Prix on 29 February and the Rome E-Prix on 4 April live on network channels.
Motorsport's cleanest racing series begins its sixth season this weekend as Formula E returns to action in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia for the opening two races.

The new season features 14 races in 12 cities on four continents spread over nine months. All the races will be available live and free-to-air on BBC online platforms.

France's Jean-Eric Vergne has won the past two editions of the championship but faces a fresh challenge with German manufacturing giants Mercedes and Porsche joining a series that last year produced nine different winners from 13 races.

"The opportunity of winning a third successive title makes that the objective of the team - but we'll be concentrating on the first race and then taking every race as it comes after that," the DS Techeetah driver said.

"It gives me pleasure to represent France and get the Tricolor flag on to the podium, and especially for a constructor like DS that is up against the two new constructors this season in Mercedes and Porsche."

jean eric vergne
Champion Jean-Eric Vergne is a double title winner
What's different about Formula E?
Formula E was launched back in 2014 with sustainability in mind, and organisers saying the aim was to "reduce our carbon footprint as much as possible".

To achieve this, cars are powered by a battery that is made with 100% renewable fuel, and tyres that, as well as lasting an entire race, can also be recycled afterwards. Spectators are encouraged to use public transport to get to events, with no public car parking available.

One drawback in the past was the sight of drivers having to swap cars mid-race because the battery could not last the distance, but the Gen 2 cars - introduced last year - are fitted with a battery that lasts the entirety of a race.

With the car manufacturing world looking to switch to developing almost exclusively electric cars within the next couple of decades, Formula E provides them with the ideal arena to test new technology at a competitive level.

Fan Boost and Attack Mode
Another unique feature of Formula E is the audience interaction with spectators playing a key role in the action during races.

'Fan Boost' has been a feature of the past few seasons, with viewers able to vote using an app to determine which driver gets some extra power during a race.

A more recent feature is 'Attack Mode', which gives competitors a speed boost after they drive through an allocated area on the track. Designed to introduce extra unpredictability into the racing, the use of this mode by a driver can have an effect on deciding the race.

The resulting action has been unpredictable, especially last season, which saw several different winners from the field, many controversial on-track incidents and one race only decided a metre before the line.

New teams
Andre Lotterer's Porsche
Andre Lotterer will be looking for wins with the new Porsche team
Mercedes

Drivers: Stoffel Vandoorne, Nyck de Vries

Former McLaren F1 driver Vandoorne is embarking on his second Formula E season after securing one pole and one podium in his maiden campaign with HWA Racelab.

Dutch rookie De Vries moves into the series fresh from winning the 2019 Formula 2 Championship.

Porsche

Drivers: Andre Lotterer, Neel Jani

Porsche are better known for endurance racing but have made the move into the electric series. German-born driver Lotterer admits the team will need a "bit of time to adapt" but is nevertheless "going to Riyadh to get on the podium".

Jani, meanwhile, is a Porsche veteran having contested several Le Mans 24-hour races with the team, winning in 2016. The Swiss also contested two Formula E races in 2017-18.

The returning teams
DS Techeetah (Champions)

Drivers: Jean-Eric Vergne, Antonio Felix da Costa

Vergne became Formula E's first back-to-back champion and the 29-year-old has great experience. He raced 58 times in F1 for Toro Rosso and scored 51 points and has Formula E experience with Andretti and Virgin. Gained his first win for Techeetah in Montreal 2017

Affable former Red Bull young driver Da Costa never made it to F1, but found a home in Formula E in which he won a race last season for the BMW iAndretti team. This season he has his work cut out to match Vergne.

Audi (Last season 2nd - 203 pts)

Drivers: Daniel Abt, Lucas di Grassi

Abt had two podiums last year and finished 7th overall to give him a five-season total of 58 races 2 wins 10 podiums, having appeared in every Formula E race so far.

Di Grassi: A veteran at 35, and the winner of the first-ever Formula E race in Beijing in 2014, who has won 10 times and been on the podium 30 times.

Envision Virgin (3rd - 191pts)

Drivers: Sam Bird, Robin Frijns

Bird has appeared in all 58 Formula E races and has been with Virgin from the start. The 32-year-old British racer enjoyed his best season in 2017-18 and has eight wins from his 58 starts.

Frijns won the last race of the season in New York and the Dutch driver is tipped as a real contender this season. The 28-year-old had interest from Sauber and Red Bull as a youngster and finished fourth overall last season.

Nissan E.Dams (4th - 190pts)

Drivers: Sebastien Buemi, Oliver Rowland

Buemi was the 2015-16 Formula E champion and his 10 wins are the most of any drivers in the electric format. The 31-year-old Swiss racer also raced in Formula 1 with Toro Rosso at the same time as Vergne and won the 2018 Le Mans 24 Hour Race.

British driver Rowland impressed in qualifying but was patchy in his 14 races last season despite reaching the podium twice. Expected to improve in his second season in the sport.

Andretti BMW (5th - 156pts)

Drivers: Max Guenther, Alexander Sims

Bavarian by birth, Guenther is now driving for the region's world-famous car manufacturer. The youngest driver on the grid at 22, he was also the fastest driver in pre-season testing in Valencia. He managed two Super Poles for Dragon FE last season.

Sims finished last season strongly, the 31-year-old Brit recording a fourth and second in the two races in New York.

Mahindra Racing (6th - 125pts)

Drivers: Jerome D'Ambrosio, Pascal Wehrlein

Belgium's former Renault and Lotus F1 driver D'Ambrosio has been in Formula E from the start and and has three wins to his name.

Wehrlein will be competing in his second season in Formula E. The German is a former Sauber and Manor F1 driver.

Antonio Felix Da Costa
Antonio Felix Da Costa will partrner Jean-Eric Vergne at DS Techeetah this season
Panasonic Jaguar (7th - 116pts)

Drivers: Mitch Evans, James Calado

A 25-year-old New Zealander, Evans was mentored by former F1 driver Mark Webber as a youngster and won his first race in Rome last season. He also ended the season with second-place finishes in Bern and New York, so is expected to thrive this season.

Calado will be a rookie in Formula E this season. Like many electric drivers, the British racer comes from the endurance circuit and won the Le Mans 24 Hour race in a Ferrari this year.

Venturi (8th - 88pts)

Drivers: Felipe Massa, Edoardo Mortara

Massa has huge experience having raced 269 times in Formula 1 across 15 seasons. The veteran former Ferrari racer is now 38-years-old.

Mortara won in Hong Kong last season - the 32-year-old Swiss is in his third season in Formula E.

Geox Dragon (10th - 23 pts)

Drivers: Brendon Hartley, Nico Mueller

Hartley has raced in many formats, including for Toro Rosso in Formula 1, but is a rookie in this format.

Another rookie at the age of 27, Swiss driver Mueller has shown himself to be extremely fast in testing over the past two years.

Nio 333 (11th - 7pts)

Drivers: Oliver Turvey, Qing Hua Ma

Turvey is a veteran of 47 Formula E races but the Brit still looking for his first win.

As China's top electric driver, Ma notched up nine starts for Techeetah and Aguri before becoming Nio's reserve driver and then advancing to the team proper.
Click to expand...

Source: bbc.com/sport/motorsport/50476224.
 
Lewis Hamilton is explaining what keeps him hungry - how, despite six world championships, 83 grand prix victories and more money than he probably ever dreamed of, his desire for success in Formula 1 burns as bright as ever.

"The thing is I never got into it for money," the Mercedes driver says. "Of course it is great that that piles up - no problem. That is a bonus. As long as those things don't become the lead factor of what I do.

"The core of what I do is that I love racing. I love the challenge. I love arriving knowing I have got these incredibly talented youngsters who are trying to beat me and outperform me, outsmart me, and I love that battle that I get into every single year.

"And I am working with these guys [his Mercedes engineers] who are so much smarter than me and they make me feel smarter. When I am challenging them and proving them wrong so many times, it is unreal."

Hamilton laughs and refers to the conversations he has with chief engineer Andrew Shovlin and his colleagues about the complexities of the car.

"It happens a lot," Hamilton says. "I say something to Shov, and he will say: 'No, the numbers say this', and I will say: 'It's this and this and this.' And he will say: 'Oh you are right.' It feels so good. There are a lot of things like that."

Hamilton is in expansive form as he discusses his 2019 season and all matters involved in it. Over the course of the interview he covers:

Why this season was tougher than it looked
The demands of F1 and his lifestyle outside the sport
Personal struggles and his climate-crisis messages on Instagram
Rationalising the risks in the wake of the death of Formula 2 driver Anthoine Hubert
The pain of defeat
His future

A question of life and death
One of the most fundamental questions any human being can ask themselves is what their life is worth, what risks they are prepared to take to do what they enjoy.

While Formula 1 drivers are confronted with this to some degree every time they get in their car, it became very real for them at the Belgian Grand Prix this year when Formula 2 driver Hubert was killed in a crash shortly after F1 qualifying had finished.

Hamilton was doing his television interviews at the time, and the footage of his reaction when he saw the accident on a screen nearby, the anguish on his face before he cut an interview short and walked away, is chilling.

Hamilton has mentioned the impact of Hubert's death briefly a couple of times this season. But this is the first time he has talked about it in depth.

"It wasn't the first time I've seen that happen in my career," Hamilton says.

"I remember quite vividly when I was young [aged eight] I won this race in Kimbolton and Daniel Spence died and that was a tragic time for me as a kid, the first time I had known someone to die. And I was just with him that day.

"That was a tough one. This one, I was doing an interview and I saw it happen out of the corner of my eye and I just knew it was [bad]. And lots of things flashed through my mind.

"I remember watching Ayrton [Senna] when he watched [Roland] Ratzenberger crash and seeing his face. There was a lot of deja vu in that experience.

"A lot of thoughts went through my mind in the evening. I worried about the kid. I know what it's like to be in F2 and having the dream of being somewhere.

"I thought to myself: 'The cars are still unsafe.' Particularly lower down the ranks it's probably even less safe than it is for us.

"And then there is the question of how much more do you need, how much more do you want? And finding all those balances.

"I'm not chasing because I have to have it, because I love what I do. And I was like, 'Jeez, I could spend more time with my family' and all these things that you can look back on.

"I'm sure when it comes to your last day and you're at the pearly gates - I like to think you're at the pearly gates - you're looking back on your life, you're never asking: 'I wish I had more money.' You always wish you had more time. And you probably have a ton of regrets: 'If only I'd made that decision on that day, I could have spent more time with my loved one' or whatever it is.

"All those things were going through my mind. But there was never a second I thought I wasn't going to keep racing. The fear factor never crept in.

"That was an important factor for me. Because I remember when that kid died, when I was eight, one of my best friends at the time quit racing. Fear crept into him and he just quit. For me, I was like, if that ever creeps into me, I know that's the last legs of my career."

'I would say I have a very complex life'
That was not the only time the wider questions of existence have crept into Hamilton's professional life this season. After arriving home from the Japanese Grand Prix in October, he took to Instagram to post some messages reflecting his despair over the climate crisis, saying the world was "messed up" and he felt like "giving up on everything".

He defended his intervention on arriving at the subsequent race in Mexico. But he never addressed whether there was a wider personal context to it.

"There is," he now admits, "but I don't really wish to go into that."

He adds: "Most of the time, I wear my heart on my sleeve, so it was an emotional post, which is not always good to do. It just felt like I was banging my head against the wall and not gaining ground.

"There is a lot of push-back on a lot of things I do, and a lot of questioning of everything I do and say. You live your life under a magnifying glass. And the pressure for anyone that's in the limelight… we're only human, so at some stage you're going to buckle a little bit.

"But I always say it's not how you fall, it's how you get back up. And I really turned that negativity into a positive and came back and won that next race. And you'll probably see if you look back in the history of the times I've often had those difficult phases, I've often won the next races. That's where my strength lies."

How does he feel to have his personal views - and his right to express them - questioned?

"I just understand it's just the way of life," Hamilton says. "But the fact that is the way it is doesn't make it any easier.

"I would say I have a very complex life. I'm sure we all have complex lives. But I can't talk about absolutely how complex it is.

"I am trying to be more open about that, as you'll see on my social. But there is a line where it's the limit and for me personally that one there was slightly over the limit.

"But I don't regret it. Because I think for those who are following me and are on this journey with me, I don't think showing vulnerability is always a bad thing. They can just see I'm human at the end of the day."

A tricky work-life balance
Hamilton has been keen for some time to pursue outside interests, such as his growing interest in fashion, and he and Mercedes have always insisted that giving him the freedom to pursue his other ambitions revitalises him and ultimately makes him perform better.

But Hamilton admits he has to be careful not to take too much on.

"I would say just the energy load, there is a lot; I have to take a lot of weight. I don't go to the races and just go home, and [be at] home all week just training, which would be so much easier. I have so many commitments. And I would say that in many areas that's a strength but if I'm not careful that can easily tip over and be a weakness.

"I am constantly monitoring that. I run a tight ship with Marc [Hynes, his adviser and close friend] and my guys. I don't plan to be the easiest person to work with. I tell you how it is.

"And if I ever feel that I need to back away, I've got people around me who [are supportive]. Like [last] Monday, for example, I was, like, 'Bono, I can't be there Monday but let's catch up on Tuesday because I'm overloaded. I need to sleep.' It's about understanding your body and making sure you stay centered."

'I can stay focused in meetings for, like, 23 minutes'
'Bono' is Hamilton's race engineer Peter Bonnington, one of the key figures at Mercedes - along with technical director James Allison, Shovlin, chief strategist James Vowles and others - who have helped shape the team into such a formidable force.

Just before this interview, Hamilton was deep in conversation with Allison and Shovlin about some technical matter, and he says his growth in this area has been critical to his continuing success.

"I've just sat with James, and these guys are so smart; their intelligence level is on another stratosphere compared to mine," Hamilton says.

"However, their minds can't compute what I can do in the car. We're just tuned differently. Trying to understand them, sitting at the table and speaking to them about what they can take from me to apply to the car, is really the key.

"We're always working on that relationship, that rapport," Hamilton continues. "We know each other so well.

"I go in a meeting with them at the factory and those guys can sit in meetings for hours and stay focused. I have a window of, say, 23 minutes or something like that. As soon as I get there, it's all going over my head. They know. I say: 'Look, I gotta get up, go for a pee, have a coffee or something and I can come back.' And they get another 23 minutes."

The 2019 season and its challenges
At Mercedes, they believe this has been Hamilton's most impressive season. He has won half the 20 races so far, and had put a lock on the championship with seven victories in the first 10 grands prix.

If that looks like it was easy, Hamilton says it has been anything but. He says the 2019 Mercedes, while very strong, has been a difficult car to understand, it has taken time to get to grips with the intricacies of Pirelli's latest tyres, and team-mate Valtteri Bottas has been a stronger adversary than before.

But if Hamilton's season has been awesome in its consistent excellence, it has lacked the standout 'wow' moments that have come to be associated with him - a stunning pole lap out of nowhere, for example.

And while Hamilton is up 13-7 on Bottas in their qualifying head-to-head, and comfortably quicker on average, the Finn has five pole positions to Hamilton's four, which clearly irks him.

But when I ask whether this change in the character of his season was a deliberate plan, Hamilton looks almost hurt.

"I wouldn't say it has been a plan to be less 'wow'," he says, but he admits: "More consistency within the race was really important for me. So, other areas, in just health aspects, weekend-in, weekend-out delivering.

"It's crazy because we got to August and I'm thinking 'Jeez, I've had eight wins.' And as a team we've had, like, 14 wins and you kind of forget those things because you're just always looking forwards and time is always ticking.

"But it was not intentional not to be 'wow'. I've been searching for that 'wow' lap this year. And honestly I've had good laps but they've not shown in the order, necessarily, you know?

"Some of my second places that split up the Ferraris, for me felt like relatively quite 'wow' laps, but because I wasn't on pole by half a second it doesn't appear that way for you. But for me internally it did."

On hitting peak form and staying there
Bottas' increased strength was particularly notable at the beginning of the year, something Hamilton attributes in part to his former number-two race engineer transferring over this year to become the Finn's lead engineer and taking some of the world champion's secrets with him.

Bottas hit the ground running, after four races was leading the championship by a point from Hamilton and all the talk was of him being a new man in 2019. Hamilton admits it gave him pause for thought.

"First couple of races are usually not perfect for me," Hamilton says. "They're still not bad, still better than average, but then there's all the outside pressures of 'Valtteri 2.0' and I'm thinking: 'We're 2-2, two wins apiece.' And for me I'm… I can't… I've got to stay solid in my mind, I can't allow the outside… but being human it's very hard not to notice those things.

"But then I just started ramping up after that, and it went 3-2, 4-2, 5-2, 6-2, 8-2 and I was like: 'That's gooood.'" He laughs.

How does he find that extra gear? From inside himself, and from the details of hard work, Hamilton says.

"From myself - hard to explain it. Like when you wake up, you're kinda groggy and not 100%. Then you hit… we all hit perfect peak at different points in the day. Just finding a way to be more fine-tuned physically. I think I've become the most fine-tuned physically and mentally I've ever been and that's a constant - every year I'm trying to improve that."

A key strength is that Hamilton has what Shovlin calls "more tools in his box" as a driver to adapt instantly in the car to changing conditions, such as weather or handling balance.

That, Hamilton says, is "conscious".

"I've always been able to adapt. One of my strengths is I think I am probably one of the most adaptive drivers there is. I'll jump into almost any scenario and figure my way through," he adds.

"And that's why it works so well in the rain, for example, because you have to be dynamic in those places. Constantly shifting your driving style.

"I have also studied other athletes. I listen to Valentino [Rossi] and how he feels he's had to change his driving style to keep up with the newer generation and I question myself whether that's necessary. That's his journey. He was so great, you know? But I look at that and try and figure out how I would position that.

"If you look at tennis players and how they change their swing. I speak to Serena [Williams] and the nuances she goes into. I watch golf and see how Tiger [Woods] has slowly come back after improving his swing.

"It is very similar to a driver. You can change these small things that just give you a wider platform and a wider foundation to be able to pull laps together. But, man, it's millimetres, or micrometers, and it's very, very hard to see the differences always."

Lewis Hamilton on a tough season, the risks of racing and his future

By Andrew Benson

Chief F1 writer

From the sectionFormula 1
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton sealed his sixth world drivers' title with second place in the United States GP
Lewis Hamilton is explaining what keeps him hungry - how, despite six world championships, 83 grand prix victories and more money than he probably ever dreamed of, his desire for success in Formula 1 burns as bright as ever.

"The thing is I never got into it for money," the Mercedes driver says. "Of course it is great that that piles up - no problem. That is a bonus. As long as those things don't become the lead factor of what I do.

"The core of what I do is that I love racing. I love the challenge. I love arriving knowing I have got these incredibly talented youngsters who are trying to beat me and outperform me, outsmart me, and I love that battle that I get into every single year.

"And I am working with these guys [his Mercedes engineers] who are so much smarter than me and they make me feel smarter. When I am challenging them and proving them wrong so many times, it is unreal."

Hamilton becomes second most successful F1 driver of all time
I don't know how I am supposed to feel - Hamilton
Is Hamilton already the greatest ever?
Hamilton laughs and refers to the conversations he has with chief engineer Andrew Shovlin and his colleagues about the complexities of the car.

"It happens a lot," Hamilton says. "I say something to Shov, and he will say: 'No, the numbers say this', and I will say: 'It's this and this and this.' And he will say: 'Oh you are right.' It feels so good. There are a lot of things like that."

Hamilton is in expansive form as he discusses his 2019 season and all matters involved in it. Over the course of the interview he covers:

Why this season was tougher than it looked
The demands of F1 and his lifestyle outside the sport
Personal struggles and his climate-crisis messages on Instagram
Rationalising the risks in the wake of the death of Formula 2 driver Anthoine Hubert
The pain of defeat
His future
Anthoine Hubert
Anthoine Hubert was killed at this year's Belgian Grand Prix in Formula 2
A question of life and death
One of the most fundamental questions any human being can ask themselves is what their life is worth, what risks they are prepared to take to do what they enjoy.

While Formula 1 drivers are confronted with this to some degree every time they get in their car, it became very real for them at the Belgian Grand Prix this year when Formula 2 driver Hubert was killed in a crash shortly after F1 qualifying had finished.

Hamilton was doing his television interviews at the time, and the footage of his reaction when he saw the accident on a screen nearby, the anguish on his face before he cut an interview short and walked away, is chilling.

Hamilton has mentioned the impact of Hubert's death briefly a couple of times this season. But this is the first time he has talked about it in depth.

"It wasn't the first time I've seen that happen in my career," Hamilton says.

"I remember quite vividly when I was young [aged eight] I won this race in Kimbolton and Daniel Spence died and that was a tragic time for me as a kid, the first time I had known someone to die. And I was just with him that day.

"That was a tough one. This one, I was doing an interview and I saw it happen out of the corner of my eye and I just knew it was [bad]. And lots of things flashed through my mind.

"I remember watching Ayrton [Senna] when he watched [Roland] Ratzenberger crash and seeing his face. There was a lot of deja vu in that experience.

"A lot of thoughts went through my mind in the evening. I worried about the kid. I know what it's like to be in F2 and having the dream of being somewhere.

"I thought to myself: 'The cars are still unsafe.' Particularly lower down the ranks it's probably even less safe than it is for us.

"And then there is the question of how much more do you need, how much more do you want? And finding all those balances.

"I'm not chasing because I have to have it, because I love what I do. And I was like, 'Jeez, I could spend more time with my family' and all these things that you can look back on.

"I'm sure when it comes to your last day and you're at the pearly gates - I like to think you're at the pearly gates - you're looking back on your life, you're never asking: 'I wish I had more money.' You always wish you had more time. And you probably have a ton of regrets: 'If only I'd made that decision on that day, I could have spent more time with my loved one' or whatever it is.

"All those things were going through my mind. But there was never a second I thought I wasn't going to keep racing. The fear factor never crept in.

"That was an important factor for me. Because I remember when that kid died, when I was eight, one of my best friends at the time quit racing. Fear crept into him and he just quit. For me, I was like, if that ever creeps into me, I know that's the last legs of my career."

Why the motorsport 'family' races on after the death of a driver
lewis hamilton
Hamilton was the subject of scrutiny over a social media post in which he felt like "giving up"
'I would say I have a very complex life'
That was not the only time the wider questions of existence have crept into Hamilton's professional life this season. After arriving home from the Japanese Grand Prix in October, he took to Instagram to post some messages reflecting his despair over the climate crisis, saying the world was "messed up" and he felt like "giving up on everything".

He defended his intervention on arriving at the subsequent race in Mexico. But he never addressed whether there was a wider personal context to it.

"There is," he now admits, "but I don't really wish to go into that."

He adds: "Most of the time, I wear my heart on my sleeve, so it was an emotional post, which is not always good to do. It just felt like I was banging my head against the wall and not gaining ground.

"There is a lot of push-back on a lot of things I do, and a lot of questioning of everything I do and say. You live your life under a magnifying glass. And the pressure for anyone that's in the limelight… we're only human, so at some stage you're going to buckle a little bit.

"But I always say it's not how you fall, it's how you get back up. And I really turned that negativity into a positive and came back and won that next race. And you'll probably see if you look back in the history of the times I've often had those difficult phases, I've often won the next races. That's where my strength lies."

How does he feel to have his personal views - and his right to express them - questioned?

"I just understand it's just the way of life," Hamilton says. "But the fact that is the way it is doesn't make it any easier.

"I would say I have a very complex life. I'm sure we all have complex lives. But I can't talk about absolutely how complex it is.

"I am trying to be more open about that, as you'll see on my social. But there is a line where it's the limit and for me personally that one there was slightly over the limit.

"But I don't regret it. Because I think for those who are following me and are on this journey with me, I don't think showing vulnerability is always a bad thing. They can just see I'm human at the end of the day."

Chart showing how Lewis Hamilton ranks among the greats, top in terms of pole positions but second in terms of total wins, fastest laps , entire races led, hat-tricks and grand slams
A tricky work-life balance
Hamilton has been keen for some time to pursue outside interests, such as his growing interest in fashion, and he and Mercedes have always insisted that giving him the freedom to pursue his other ambitions revitalises him and ultimately makes him perform better.

But Hamilton admits he has to be careful not to take too much on.

"I would say just the energy load, there is a lot; I have to take a lot of weight. I don't go to the races and just go home, and [be at] home all week just training, which would be so much easier. I have so many commitments. And I would say that in many areas that's a strength but if I'm not careful that can easily tip over and be a weakness.

"I am constantly monitoring that. I run a tight ship with Marc [Hynes, his adviser and close friend] and my guys. I don't plan to be the easiest person to work with. I tell you how it is.

"And if I ever feel that I need to back away, I've got people around me who [are supportive]. Like [last] Monday, for example, I was, like, 'Bono, I can't be there Monday but let's catch up on Tuesday because I'm overloaded. I need to sleep.' It's about understanding your body and making sure you stay centered."


Jack Nicholls: ‘Why Hamilton is better than Senna & Schumacher’
'I can stay focused in meetings for, like, 23 minutes'
'Bono' is Hamilton's race engineer Peter Bonnington, one of the key figures at Mercedes - along with technical director James Allison, Shovlin, chief strategist James Vowles and others - who have helped shape the team into such a formidable force.

Just before this interview, Hamilton was deep in conversation with Allison and Shovlin about some technical matter, and he says his growth in this area has been critical to his continuing success.

"I've just sat with James, and these guys are so smart; their intelligence level is on another stratosphere compared to mine," Hamilton says.

"However, their minds can't compute what I can do in the car. We're just tuned differently. Trying to understand them, sitting at the table and speaking to them about what they can take from me to apply to the car, is really the key.

"We're always working on that relationship, that rapport," Hamilton continues. "We know each other so well.

"I go in a meeting with them at the factory and those guys can sit in meetings for hours and stay focused. I have a window of, say, 23 minutes or something like that. As soon as I get there, it's all going over my head. They know. I say: 'Look, I gotta get up, go for a pee, have a coffee or something and I can come back.' And they get another 23 minutes."

Matthew McConaughey and Lewis Hamilton
Hamilton totting up his championships with actor Matthew McConaughey (left) after winning his sixth title at the US GP
The 2019 season and its challenges
At Mercedes, they believe this has been Hamilton's most impressive season. He has won half the 20 races so far, and had put a lock on the championship with seven victories in the first 10 grands prix.

If that looks like it was easy, Hamilton says it has been anything but. He says the 2019 Mercedes, while very strong, has been a difficult car to understand, it has taken time to get to grips with the intricacies of Pirelli's latest tyres, and team-mate Valtteri Bottas has been a stronger adversary than before.

But if Hamilton's season has been awesome in its consistent excellence, it has lacked the standout 'wow' moments that have come to be associated with him - a stunning pole lap out of nowhere, for example.

And while Hamilton is up 13-7 on Bottas in their qualifying head-to-head, and comfortably quicker on average, the Finn has five pole positions to Hamilton's four, which clearly irks him.

But when I ask whether this change in the character of his season was a deliberate plan, Hamilton looks almost hurt.

"I wouldn't say it has been a plan to be less 'wow'," he says, but he admits: "More consistency within the race was really important for me. So, other areas, in just health aspects, weekend-in, weekend-out delivering.

"It's crazy because we got to August and I'm thinking 'Jeez, I've had eight wins.' And as a team we've had, like, 14 wins and you kind of forget those things because you're just always looking forwards and time is always ticking.

"But it was not intentional not to be 'wow'. I've been searching for that 'wow' lap this year. And honestly I've had good laps but they've not shown in the order, necessarily, you know?

"Some of my second places that split up the Ferraris, for me felt like relatively quite 'wow' laps, but because I wasn't on pole by half a second it doesn't appear that way for you. But for me internally it did."


Pot washing & for sale signs: How Hamilton conquered F1 as only working-class driver
On hitting peak form and staying there
Bottas' increased strength was particularly notable at the beginning of the year, something Hamilton attributes in part to his former number-two race engineer transferring over this year to become the Finn's lead engineer and taking some of the world champion's secrets with him.

Bottas hit the ground running, after four races was leading the championship by a point from Hamilton and all the talk was of him being a new man in 2019. Hamilton admits it gave him pause for thought.

"First couple of races are usually not perfect for me," Hamilton says. "They're still not bad, still better than average, but then there's all the outside pressures of 'Valtteri 2.0' and I'm thinking: 'We're 2-2, two wins apiece.' And for me I'm… I can't… I've got to stay solid in my mind, I can't allow the outside… but being human it's very hard not to notice those things.

"But then I just started ramping up after that, and it went 3-2, 4-2, 5-2, 6-2, 8-2 and I was like: 'That's gooood.'" He laughs.

How does he find that extra gear? From inside himself, and from the details of hard work, Hamilton says.

"From myself - hard to explain it. Like when you wake up, you're kinda groggy and not 100%. Then you hit… we all hit perfect peak at different points in the day. Just finding a way to be more fine-tuned physically. I think I've become the most fine-tuned physically and mentally I've ever been and that's a constant - every year I'm trying to improve that."

A key strength is that Hamilton has what Shovlin calls "more tools in his box" as a driver to adapt instantly in the car to changing conditions, such as weather or handling balance.

That, Hamilton says, is "conscious".

"I've always been able to adapt. One of my strengths is I think I am probably one of the most adaptive drivers there is. I'll jump into almost any scenario and figure my way through," he adds.

"And that's why it works so well in the rain, for example, because you have to be dynamic in those places. Constantly shifting your driving style.

"I have also studied other athletes. I listen to Valentino [Rossi] and how he feels he's had to change his driving style to keep up with the newer generation and I question myself whether that's necessary. That's his journey. He was so great, you know? But I look at that and try and figure out how I would position that.

"If you look at tennis players and how they change their swing. I speak to Serena [Williams] and the nuances she goes into. I watch golf and see how Tiger [Woods] has slowly come back after improving his swing.

"It is very similar to a driver. You can change these small things that just give you a wider platform and a wider foundation to be able to pull laps together. But, man, it's millimetres, or micrometers, and it's very, very hard to see the differences always."

lewis hamilton
Hamilton has plenty to fall back on after his racing career - including working in the fashion industry
'It still sucks to lose'
As he talks, Hamilton's love for the sport and determination to succeed is obvious. But he says that he has learned to deal better with the disappointment of losing as he has got older.

"I remember, like, 2007 and 2008, in those times I couldn't leave my hotel room for three days. Through my whole young karting [career], I was so hard on myself.

"In my mind, that is just how I deal with things. And people couldn't understand it: 'You finished second, or finished third or fifth' or whatever it may be. And they couldn't understand the turmoil that I would drop into - a really, really dark place, and I couldn't get myself out of it.

"And that applied to a lot of things in my life. And as I've grown older I've just understood how to stay centred, get myself out of these dark holes, and I am less… even in the worst cases, they are not really that dark. That is just growth.

"There was no quick, short route to doing it. But it still sucks to lose."

At 34, Hamilton knows he is closer to the end of his career than the beginning, but retirement is still some way off.

"I don't fear it," he says. "Naturally for athletes, it has to be the saddest day, to hang up and stop doing something you've loved your whole life and as long as you can remember.

"But that is why I have all these other things in place that I can fall back on. The fashion side, for example. I've found another business that I can do for a long time if successful. Currently that is going really, really well but I don't know how long it will go. But at least I have another interest.

"There are a lot of different things I can be interested in. I know my life is not going to be over when I retire. And that gives me a lot of comfort.

"But right now I feel physically good enough to continue so I'm going to try to eke that out as long as I can."
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50494619.
 
Ferrari say they have "cleared the air" following the crash between Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc in the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The drivers were called to separate meetings with team boss Mattia Binotto at the Maranello factory in Italy.

A spokesperson said: "Since last Sunday, Mattia and the drivers have spoken every day, as they would normally do anyway."

"There was no official summit nor video conference," they added.

"The air is now fully cleared and we are focusing on Abu Dhabi."

The 2019 Formula 1 season finishes at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina track on 1 December.

Ferrari would not elaborate on what had been discussed or the details of any agreement about how the two should race together in the future - or even whether they would be allowed to.

Earlier this week, Ferrari chairman John Elkann said he was "very angry" about the incident.

Elkann was speaking at an event to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Exor, a holding company with investments in a number of companies, including Fiat and Ferrari.

He said: "What happened made us understand how important Ferrari is.

"The drivers, however good they are, mustn't forget they are Ferrari drivers. Team work counts. The only thing that counts is that Ferrari wins.

"It has been an extraordinary season for the poles, but they have not been converted into victories."

That is a reference to the fact that Ferrari have taken eight pole positions in 20 races so far this year - seven for Leclerc and one for Vettel - while they have won only three grands prix.

Ferrari's season has been characterised by an ongoing tussle for supremacy between the drivers.

German driver Vettel, a four-time world champion, started the season with primacy in the team following the recruitment of Leclerc, who is in only his second season in F1.

But the Monegasque has had a more convincing season and, with one race remaining, is ahead of Vettel in terms of championship points, wins, pole positions and on their qualifying head-to-head and looks set to stay that way.

As their battle has intensified, both drivers have ignored team orders at various points in the season.

That leaves Binotto with a difficult decision as to how to handle them next year.

After the race in Brazil, Binotto described the crash, which happened as Vettel changed his line while trying to pass Leclerc and made contact with his team-mate, as "silly" but declined to apportion blame.

He said that the team would "analyse all the video and data" with the drivers once the initial heat of the incident had died down.

"They were free to fight," he said. "They knew that. (We) let them race because we had secured second in the constructors' championship and they were somehow battling for their own position in the drivers' championship.

"'Free to fight' doesn't mean to do silly actions, especially between the two team-mates and this for me was simply a silly action."

Binotto said the key issue was not to apportion blame but to ensure the drivers "recognised what has been the actions and mistakes".

Meanwhile, Ferrari have shrugged off the importance of governing body the FIA inspecting their engine after the Brazil race.

The FIA has issued two rule clarifications governing engines in recent weeks, in the context of suspicions from Ferrari's rivals as to the size of their performance advantage on the straights.

Ferrari said the FIA "had done a routine check, as they do many other times. Just usual procedure".

The FIA said that after Brazil they had looked at several cars' fuel-system components as part of systematic checking across the board throughout the season and not linked specifically to anything beyond that.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula-one/50517427.
 
And so the curtain prepares to come down on the 2019 F1 season under the floodlights of the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.

After a thrilling Brazilian Grand Prix, which saw Red Bull's Max Verstappen twice pass world champion Lewis Hamilton on his way to victory, the drivers are again racing for pride with the title long since wrapped up by the British Mercedes driver.

Restoring pride is very much on Ferrari's agenda after the nightmare collision between Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc at Interlagos, with the Scuderia desperate to put on a united front before the end credits roll.

Elsewhere, the traditional end-of-season goodbyes will be in full swing, with Renault's Nico Hulkenberg among those bidding farewell.

Hulkenberg is without a seat for next year, and with only one 2020 drive to be filled - Williams have yet to replace the departing Robert Kubica - it seems likely the German's 10-year F1 career is at an end, for now at least.

Perfectly pristine but lacking excitement
Abu Dhabi arrived on the calendar in 2009 and took over as the season finale from the much-loved Interlagos.

Expats and fans from all over Europe flock to this sunny destination for a blast of some much-needed winter vitamin D. The facilities are as flash and futuristic as you'd expect, given the bottomless pit of money that was made available for its construction.

The Hermann Tilke-designed track is surrounded by seven hotels, Michelin-starred restaurants and Monaco-style mega yachts in the marina of Yas Island.

A bonding session between Vettel and Leclerc could also be perfectly accommodated at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi. The mostly indoor amusement park is a Scuderia supporter's dream and is home to Formula Rossa, the world's fastest rollercoaster.

The circuit itself is camera-ready pristine, with a manicured backdrop of twinkling lights and picturesque palm trees. Lights out at dusk means plenty of atmospheric shots of drivers racing off into the sunset.

In 2013 the event even coincided with a partial solar eclipse to add a bit more visual drama to the proceedings.

Two long straights, a minor elevation point and 21 nondescript turns leave a slight sterile feel to the season finale. The best chance of an overtake - and hopefully some Brazilian-style driver contact - is into Turns Eight and 11.

Abu Dhabi has witnessed a few heart-stopping moments. Hulkenberg emerged unhurt from a frightening-looking accident in which he was pitched into a roll and landed upside down in a first-lap clash with Romain Grosjean's Haas 12 months ago.

Hulkenberg sounded frantic as he came over the team over to say: "I'm hanging here like a cow. Get me out. There's fire." The marshals were quick to react and the German was able to climb out unaided.

What's the form guide like for Abu Dhabi?
Yas Marina probably isn't a circuit that is going to provide the unfamiliar faces on the podium like the Brazilian Grand Prix did two weeks ago.

Hamilton has won four times in Abu Dhabi - three with Mercedes and once for McLaren - while Mercedes as constructors have taken five victories.

Hamilton dominated last year's race from pole with a controlled drive to end 2018 with 11 victories.

The Briton can repeat the achievement again this weekend if he takes the chequered flag for the first time since the Mexican Grand Prix in October.

Hamilton's team-mate Valtteri Bottas celebrated an impressive victory from the front of the grid in 2017, holding off the threat of Hamilton to record Mercedes' third one-two finish at in a row at Yas Marina.

However, the Finn may have to take a grid penalty in Abu Dhabi if his car needs a new engine following his retirement at Interlagos.

Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes' trackside engineering director, explained what happened to Bottas' car in a Twitter Q&A: "When you started to see the smoke, the rate at which the oil was being consumed increased and eventually the car actually switched itself off.

"That power unit has come back to Brixworth, they are going to be looking at it and will be making an assessment of whether there has actually been any damage and whether or not we will need to take a penalty."

In 10 years of racing in the United Arab Emirates, Ferrari have never recorded a win at Yas Marina. Vettel is just one behind Hamilton with three victories at the track but of all them came during his multiple title-winning period with Red Bull.

The German took the inaugural win here in 2009, then sealed his maiden F1 championship twelve months later with a memorable display that saw the then 23-year-old start the day in third place in the drivers' standings.

Vettel has at least enjoyed podium success in the UAE with Ferrari, including a second-placed finish last year and consecutive third-placed finishes in 2016 and 2017.
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Source: https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50436876.
 
Mercedes say they are heading to this weekend's season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix "with a point to prove".

Team boss Toto Wolff said the last race in Brazil was "disappointing for us".

World champion Lewis Hamilton finished third but was demoted to seventh with a five-second penalty for colliding with Red Bull's Alexander Albon.

Wolff, who did not attend the race in Brazil, said: "We did not have the fastest car on track and we lost a lot of points owing to our own mistakes."

He added: "We analysed what went wrong, both in terms of our reliability and our decisions during the race, to make sure we don't repeat them.

"It was a good learning experience for the entire team and something that will make us stronger in the long run."

Wolff was referring to a race strategy that unfolded when Hamilton was brought in for a late change of tyres under a final safety car period following a crash between the two Ferrari drivers.

The decision dropped Hamilton to fourth from second and was described by technical director James Allison, the de facto team boss in Brazil in Wolff's absence, as "plain dumb".

Even before that, Allison said Mercedes had "not had the shiniest of races up to that point".

Hamilton collided with Albon making an optimistic attempt to separate the rookie from second place on the penultimate lap.

After recovering, Hamilton then just failed in an attempt to pass Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly in a race to the finish line on the final lap, and was given a five-second penalty for the Albon incident.

Wolff said: "The underperformance in Brazil means we head to Abu Dhabi with a point to prove.

"Yas Marina has been a good circuit for us in the last years and we'll push hard to continue in the same way.

"The race is one last opportunity for us to add another victory to the record of the W10 and it's one more chance to put on a great show for the fans before the winter break.

"We're looking forward to the fight because we know that in Formula 1, you're only as good as your last result."

'Roller coaster' of a season
Wolff said the 2019 season - in which Mercedes have won 14 of 20 races so far, 10 for Hamilton and four for team-mate Valtteri Bottas - had been a "real roller coaster".

The team have won a record-breaking sixth consecutive double of drivers' and constructors' championships, breaking the previous record held by Ferrari.

But he said the deaths of FIA F1 director Charlie Whiting on the eve of the season, Mercedes non-executive director Niki Lauda in May and Formula 2 driver Anthoine Hubert in a high-speed crash at the Belgian Grand Prix had been hard to take.

Wolff said: "We've seen great on-track battles and we've loved the competition. We are very proud that we came out on top and managed to put the Mercedes name in the history books of F1 with our sixth consecutive double title.

"On the other hand, it's been an incredibly hard year where we had to say goodbye to too many friends.

"We were hit hard by the passing of Charlie, Niki and Anthoine, as well as important members from our team who we have tragically lost this year.

"At Mercedes, Niki left a void that we will never be able to replace - as a source of inspiration, as a voice of reason, but most importantly as a great friend. We hope we did you proud, Niki."
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Source: https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula-one/50570869.
 
Charles Leclerc says Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel knows he should not have made the move that triggered their crash in the Brazilian Grand Prix.

But Leclerc added that he shares some of the blame for the collision that took them both out of the last race.

Leclerc said: "Seb probably shouldn't have gone to the left and he knows it, and I could have done a better job of avoiding him going to the left.

"What is important is everything is clear now and we move forward."

Leclerc said the pair will be "less aggressive with each other" on track following discussions with team boss Mattia Binotto in the days between Brazil and the season-closing race in Abu Dhabi this weekend.

Leclerc said: "We will be able to race. We are both very competitive and want to win.

"We need to find the right compromise - we both race for the same team. We need to give each other a bit more space."

Leclerc was speaking in the official news conference in Abu Dhabi on Thursday. Vettel was also due to attend but was allowed to arrive late at Yas Marina following the birth of his third child.

Leclerc said that he and Vettel had spoken about the incident and agreed both could have done more to avoid it.

The crash happened when Vettel was trying to re-take fourth place approaching Turn Four after Leclerc had passed him into Turn One with five laps to go.

Vettel moved over on Leclerc and his left rear wheel hit Leclerc's front right, breaking his suspension and giving the German a puncture.

Leclerc said: "We called with Seb and we tried to understand both our situations.

"We looked at it - and I particularly looked at it - to try to understand how we could have made things better.

"The consequences were huge but the impact was very small, so that was a little bit unlucky. It was unfortunate but we will make sure it doesn't happen again."

Pressure between the two
The incident was the latest in a series of controversies between the two Ferrari drivers this season.

Pressure has been building all year as Leclerc has emerged as a major force in F1 and threatened Vettel's primacy in the team and has more wins, poles and points than his four-time champion team-mate.

In the early races of the season, there were a series of team orders calls, usually in Vettel's favour.

These stopped happening as Leclerc established a general superiority through the mid-season and out-qualified Vettel nine races in a row.

But from September tension has grown between the two as Vettel has re-found his form and begun to out-qualify Lelcerc again.

At the Italian Grand Prix, Leclerc failed to carry out his side of an agreement in which each driver agreed to give the other a slipstream in qualifying, which angered Vettel.

Ferrari that inadvertently managed to get Vettel ahead of Leclerc and into the lead in Singapore when simply trying to pass Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes, who was between the two Ferraris.

And in the subsequent race in Russia, Vettel directly ignored a team order to let Leclerc back into the lead as part of a pre-arranged plan to ensure the two Ferraris were running one-two.

Leclerc had qualified on pole, with Vettel third, and Leclerc agreed to give his team-mate a tow down to the first corner to ensure and let him past, to ensure he overtook Hamilton, who had qualified second.

Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto has told the drivers the incident in Brazil was "not acceptable" and said the team "know how to move forward".

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50590831
 
Sebastian Vettel crashed his Ferrari late in first practice at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The German, who flew into Abu Dhabi late following the birth of his third child, spun at Turn 19 and hit the wall.

It damaged his wheel and suspension but Ferrari should repair the car's left-rear corner for the second session.

Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas set the pace in what was a low-key and inconclusive session.

Vettel's crash, which brought the session to a close a couple of minutes early, was caused when he caught the inside kerb a little too hard as he turned into the left-hander under the bridge that joins the two parts of the distinctive W hotel at the Yas Marina circuit.

The German was fourth fastest, 1.949 seconds slower than Bottas, whose best time was set on medium tyres at the start of a weekend at which the Finn knows he will start from the back because of a grid penalty for using too many engine parts following his failure at the last race in Brazil.

Bottas was 0.535 seconds quicker than Red Bull's Max Verstappen in a session that was previously interrupted by a stoppage after Daniel Ricciardo's Renault suffered engine failure.

The session was earlier red-flagged for 15 minutes while Ricciardo's car was recovered from the last-corner run-off.

Lewis Hamilton was third fastest ahead of Red Bull's Alexander Albon.

The first session in Abu Dhabi is often largely irrelevant in terms of giving a read on competitiveness because it is run in the early afternoon, whereas qualifying and race are at twilight and therefore have very different, much cooler, track conditions.

And that was especially the case this time, with Albon nearly 0.5secs off Hamilton, who was 0.6secs behind his team-mate, Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel a further 0.1secs behind and Haas driver Romain Grosjean sixth ahead of the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

A number of teams were trying out new parts that are part of their development programme for 2020 - which will continue at the post-season Pirelli tyre test on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The second session, which starts at 17:00 local time (13:00 GMT), will be a much more accurate guide to how the teams shape up for this final race of the season.

Ricciardo's engine failure - in a high-mileage power-unit that was due to be changed for Saturday anyway - further muddied the waters.

The Renault deposited a lot of oil at the final corner - and on Pierre Gasly's closely following Toro Rosso - and cement dust was laid down to soak it up.

That meant the track was in worse condition for the final laps, when in any case most teams would usually have switched to higher fuel loads for race preparation.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50599386
 
Valtteri Bottas led Lewis Hamilton to a Mercedes one-two in second practice at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Bottas was 0.310 seconds ahead of Hamilton, who was 0.076secs faster than Ferrari's Charles Leclerc as the season's final race weekend began.

In an unusual crash for a practice session, Bottas and Haas' Romain Grosjean collided at a chicane.

The Finn dived for the inside at the end of the second long straight and Grosjean turned in having not seen him.

Both cars suffered extensive damage and showered the circuit with debris, causing the session to be stopped for seven minutes while the track was cleared.

Bottas and Grosjean were called to the stewards after the session, and the Mercedes driver was given a reprimand for his actions.

Until his crash, Bottas was on excellent form around Yas Marina on Friday, fastest in both sessions, but he has a grid penalty for excessive engine usage and will start the race from the back of the grid.

Hamilton, Leclerc and the second Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel were covered by just 0.125secs, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen fifth and 0.435secs off Bottas' pace but nearly half a second ahead of his team-mate Alexander Albon.

In an unusual feature, the Ferrari drivers' times were set on a second timed lap, the team choosing to run two sets of soft tyres on low fuel rather than the usual one.

And Leclerc's time came following a heavy brush with the barriers on his first run at Turn 19, where team-mate Vettel crashed in the first session.

Alfa Romeo's Antonio Giovinazzi also came to grief at Turn 19, although he managed to spin while avoiding hitting anything.

Mercedes ended the session emphasising their strength with some impressive pace on the race-simulation runs, with Hamilton comfortably quicker than Verstappen and Leclerc when running the soft tyre with a heavy fuel load.

"It's been a bit of an unusual Friday for me," said Hamilton. "I was struggling to get into the rhythm, but you have your good and bad days.

"I've been trying to explore some new avenues with the car. We already know where it works well, so I'm pushing the car into different places, just trying to see if there's anywhere else I can exploit the car and the tyres for the future."

Bottas said: "It's been a good day out on track; the car was well-balanced from the get-go.

"The end of my FP2 session was compromised by a minor incident with Grosjean; I thought he had seen me going for the overtake on the inside, but by the time I realised that he hadn't seen me, there was no way for me to escape anymore."

Vettel said: "We are pretty much fighting the same things as the last couple of races, so all these medium- and low-speed type of corners we are lacking speed compared to the others. Sector three is where it really hurts us."
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Source: https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50601187.
 
Lewis Hamilton ended his season in style with a superb pole position at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The world champion, who had not had a pole since the German Grand Prix in late July, beat Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas by 0.194 seconds.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen was third, 0.360secs behind, as there was yet another foul-up at Ferrari.

Charles Leclerc failed to get across the line in time to start a final lap and seemed to blame team-mate Sebastian Vettel for it.

Leclerc still managed to qualify fourth, one place ahead of Vettel, but the incident is unlikely to improve relations at Ferrari, after the last race in Brazil where the drivers crashed together putting both cars out of the race.

"We are not going to make it," Leclerc said over the radio, after being told earlier in the lap that they were tight on time. "Seb is slowing down."

Red Bull's Alexander Albon took sixth place, with Lando Norris best of the rest in seventh.

Hamilton was thrilled to end his season with a pole - he has admitted that the fact that Bottas had one more than him up to this point was rankling with him

"Definitely a very good qualifying session for us. not been the easiest for us this year but we have kept plugging away. The car is well suited to the track and it has been feeling good. Yesterday was difficult and I had to reset myself for today. The first lap felt special and the second one was an improvement.

"I don't think my qualifying has been terrible but not up to my usual standard. It's my last qualifying session with this car and it has been a real incredible journey with it this year so to finish it with a pole is a really good feeling."

Bottas will not be able to challenge Hamilton in the race, because he will start from the back of the grid because of a penalty for using too many engine parts.

The race battle - if there is one - is likely to be between Hamilton and Verstappen, who will start on the front row alongside the Mercedes following Bottas' penalty.

Verstappen said: "We just seemed to lack a bit of grip compared to them. They are always really dominant on this track and we are just lacking a bit too much in that last sector. We have to be realistic and I think Mercedes is really quick but we will give it everything we have in the race."

This has been a season characterised by problems at Ferrari, whether errors by the drivers or team, that have handicapped their season.

In the end, this one probably did not affect anything. Ferrari had not looked quick enough to challenge for pole, and Verstappen had also been ahead of Leclerc on the first runs in final qualifying.

And the situation did not favour Vettel because although Leclerc did not get a chance to improve his time, and Vettel did, the German did not improve on his final lap and stayed 0.12secs behind his team-mate.

In truth, the fault this time seemed to lie with the team for sending out Leclerc too late.

The two Ferraris were at the back of a queue of cars, with Hamilton leading Verstappen, Bottas, Albon, Vettel and Leclerc.

All backed up trying to get the optimum starting position for their laps, it seems as if Leclerc was just the unfortunate victim of that.

For the race, the Ferrari drivers have chosen a split strategy, Leclerc starting on medium tyres like the Mercedes and Red Bull drivers, while Vettel will start on the softs.

Behind the big three, Norris ended an excellent rookie season with seventh on the grid, ahead of Renault's Daniel Ricciardo, the second McLaren of Carlos Sainz and the second Renault of Nico Hulkenberg.

At the back, George Russell kept up his perfect qualifying record against Williams team-mate Robert Kubica, who he has out-qualified at every single race this year.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50614929
 
The 2019 Formula 1 season is not quite finished but already minds in the sport are turning to the future - and particularly that of Lewis Hamilton.

Pretty much all the top drivers are out of contract at the end of next year, so the 2020 transfer market promises to be particularly interesting. And Hamilton will be at the centre of it.

The world champion has never indicated any desire to leave Mercedes, but he has inevitably been linked to Ferrari on and off through his career, and this weekend has seen the latest example.

Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport ran on Saturday with a splash headline saying Hamilton had met Ferrari chairman John Elkann twice this year, in what the paper said was an attempt by Ferrari to "chat him up".

That followed team boss Mattia Binotto saying in a news conference in Abu Dhabi on Friday: "Lewis is certainly an outstanding driver, a fantastic driver. Knowing that he's available in 2021 can make us only happy, but honestly it's too early for any decision.

"We are happy with the drivers we've got at the moment and I think certainly at one stage next season we will start discussing and understanding what to do."

Earliest 'silly season' ever?
In F1, the driver transfer market is known as the 'silly season'. There was a time when it happened in August and September before the following year. It has been creeping earlier but this is probably the first time it has started before the end of the season before the one in question has even started.

Perhaps it's a reflection of the fact so many big names will be out of contract at the end of the year - Mercedes drivers Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel are certainly available. The status of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc is less clear, as while he is known to be on a long-term deal with Ferrari, the exact nuances of it are not publicly available. So possibly him, too.

Inevitably, Binotto's comments and the Gazzetta story proved a major talking point on Saturday at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and Hamilton was asked about it.

"This is the first time I've heard of that," he said, referring to Binotto's remarks. "I think that's the first compliment I've had from Ferrari in these 13 years.

"I honestly don't remember them ever mentioning me, so thank you, I'll take it. Doesn't really mean anything, it's all talk but yeah, it's nice that finally… it's taken all these years for him to recognise maybe, but I'm grateful."

Pressed on whether he would be interested in a move to Ferrari for 2021, Hamilton said: "It's never a waste of time to be nice to someone. It has been a long, long time and a team that I've always appreciated over the years, so to earn their respect from someone from there who's obviously very high up is obviously not a bad thing.

"They've got two great drivers as is, so who knows what the driver market's going to be doing over the next year?

"But if I'm really honest, I'm not really focused on that right this second: trying to make sure I finish off strong. I've got this incredible group of people who hire me where I am and I feel like I just continue to owe it to them to give my heart to them and my energy 100% to them, particularly as I'm still in contract and negotiations haven't started yet.

"I honestly don't know how the next phase of the months is going to go when it comes to contract. It's very odd that you have to do it almost a year before it ends and it can't be done towards the end, but that's just the way it goes. We shall see."

Wolff relaxed about Hamilton exploring options
When Hamilton has been asked this question in the past, he has always tended to emphasise the strength of his bonds with Mercedes, how long they have been together, the fact he has been supported by them since he was 12.

In Brazil two weeks ago, he said: "When you've been with a team for so long, we are kind of joined at the hip. All that small detail can take its time. It's no real stress, our word is our bond has been all these years and we've always had that. Mercedes since I was 12 have always stood by their word and vice versa.

"But you need to set some time aside to say: 'Where are we? What's the next goal? What else are we planning?' Because it rolls over for the future. And that in itself can be time-consuming. And, sure, once you have put something in place you're always later: 'Oh damnit, we could have done this.'

"It is trying to have as much foresight as possible. But I have not found it distracting in the seasons when we have been doing it through a season, so it is not about rushing things."

Hamilton will have a lot to weigh up when he makes this decision. As he seeks to keep winning as long as he stays in F1, he will want to have the most competitive car. But he will also have an eye on Mercedes as a brand and the strength of their relationship and how much they could do together in the future, long after he hangs up his helmet.

In Abu Dhabi, Ferrari neither confirmed nor denied whether Hamilton had met Elkann; a spokeswoman simply said she did not know.

At Mercedes, team boss Toto Wolff was also asked about it, and he said: "I am totally OK with that. This is a free world and I recognise that everybody needs to explore career options and make the best decision for themselves, drivers and everybody else.

"So I am very open about this. I have started to embrace the fact that everybody has objectives and needs to have the best possible opportunity for his career so in that respect I am absolutely open for everyone to explore options. My personal priority for the team would be to continue this successful journey, we are really benefiting from a healthy relationship.

"How the values within the team are, loyalty and integrity are number one on the list and understanding Lewis' position and objectives will be key for any decision we take.

"We will not embark on a fishing mission with potential drivers out there before Lewis and us have had that discussion. That hasn't taken place because we wanted to wrap up the season and we wanted to see how it goes. We have a consensual relationship. We need both sides to be happy."

Will Mercedes stay in F1 beyond 2021?

There are other complexities in this, as well - not least the fact no team is contractually committed to F1 beyond 2020.

The teams are in negotiations with F1 over the financial terms of their contracts and have been for some time. The uncertainty - and the complexity of the global car market - has led to speculation as to whether Mercedes will continue in F1 beyond next year.

Hamilton said on Thursday: "Mercedes is here to stay." Asked whether that was confirmation they would be in F1 beyond 2020, he added: "It is not an announcement but I am pretty sure Mercedes is here to stay. The board members are here this weekend so I will double-check with them. They are all hardcore racers and I am pretty sure they want to stay."

All the indications at the moment are he is right because F1 works for Mercedes both financially and in terms of exposure.

In 2018, the F1 team's total budget was £338m, and they spent £311m. Daimler's cost exposure on that was in the region of 10-15%, taking into account sponsorship and other income.

And Ola Kallenius, the chairman of the Daimler board, said in an investor call on 14 November: "F1 has been an activity in terms of our marketing and branding strategy that has paid off handsomely in the last few years. You have to look at these investments in a rational way.

"We weigh all our marketing and media investment in terms of reach, impact and cost. If you use the Nielsen method to measure the media value of our F1 activities, they are north of €1bn a year. So an extreme reach and impact from this activity. And the costs - that we would not like to disclose publicly - are surprising low because there is a cost and revenue side in F1. We are committed."

Right now, the smart money would be on Hamilton continuing in F1 in 2021 and staying with Mercedes.

As Wolff said: "Racing drivers are always going to try to be in the quickest possible car, and the quickest car is always going to try to have the best racing driver in there. So there is a good consensus between us as to what we are trying to achieve.

"We need to push very hard to provide the drivers with the quickest possible car and if we are able to do this, I am 100% convinced we will have the best possible driver line-up and everything points to our relationship continuing. But in life you never know."

One more spin around the block

Hamilton has got what he wanted in Abu Dhabi so far - a pole position to end a season in which the only minor blot on his record had until that point been that team-mate Bottas had more poles than him.

Hamilton had made it clear that irked him, so he was delighted with a superlative lap to make them five each in terms of poles and which put Hamilton 14-7 ahead on their qualifying head-to-head.

He is hot favourite, too, to take his 11th win of the season, which would equal his best tally for a year.

Bottas has been demoted to the back with a penalty for using too many engine parts and on the face of the weekend so far, neither Red Bull nor Ferrari look quite on Mercedes' level.

Verstappen said: "We just seemed to lack a bit of grip compared to them. They are always really dominant on this track and we are just lacking a bit too much in that last sector.

"We have to be realistic and I think Mercedes is really quick but we will give it everything we have in the race."

But Mercedes are wary of all threats and while Ferrari were not competitive on the soft tyre in qualifying, Hamilton pointed out that Leclerc had topped second qualifying on the medium tyre, albeit Mercedes had not done a second run, and Wolff said Ferrari's race pace on the hard in Friday practice had also been impressive.

The Ferraris being on split strategies - with Leclerc starting on the medium like Hamilton and Verstappen, and Vettel on the soft - also complicates matters.

"Red Bull was the strongest compared to us on the long runs but Ferrari are fast on the straights and that gives them overtaking opportunity," Wolff said, "and I think all of us will have a chance for the victory tomorrow."

Hamilton has walked the championship but the racing has been terrific for much of the year. Abu Dhabi is not famous for exciting races - to say the least - but it would be nice to end the season on a high.

Not many would bet against Hamilton, though.
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Source: https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50617286.
 
Lewis Hamilton dominates in Abu Dhabi GP for 11th victory of the season

Lewis Hamilton dominated the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to end the season in which he won a sixth world drivers' title on a high.

The Mercedes driver led away from pole position and cruised off into the distance, untroubled by anyone behind.

In a soporific race, Red Bull's Max Verstappen took a comfortable second after Ferrari slipped backwards.

Charles Leclerc ran second in the early laps, ahead of Verstappen, but slipped back to third.

Leclerc held off an attack from Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas in the closing stages, the Finn right on his gearbox on the final lap, after an excellent race from the back of the grid.

Leclerc was at risk of losing third place because governing body the FIA discovered before the race that the amount of fuel Ferrari said was in his car was different from the amount that was when it was checked.

But after a post-race investigation, Ferrari were fined €50,000 for what had been a 4.88kg discrepancy and the result stood.

Hamilton's victory was his 11th of the 21 races that have been held this season, and equals his previous best performance - in 2014 and 2018.

It also moves his career total to 84 wins, just seven behind the all-time record held by Michael Schumacher.

That sets the 34-year-old Briton up to potentially exceed Schumacher's win tally and match his all-time record of seven world championships in 2020.

He was in a race of his own from the start, quickly opening a sizeable gap over Leclerc and never looking under any threat thereafter.

Hamilton, who tied up the title last month at the US Grand Prix, said: "I'm proud but just super-grateful for this incredible team and all at Mercedes who have continued to push this year.

"Even though we had the championship won we wanted to keep our head down and see if we could extract more from this beautiful car."

Verstappen v Leclerc for second
Leclerc initially appeared to have an advantage over Verstappen but his race began to fall apart when Ferrari decided to call him in for a pit stop on lap 12, early for his starting tyre choice of the medium compound.

Verstappen ran 13 laps longer before his first stop and quickly caught and passed Leclerc from four seconds back when he rejoined, despite a problem with his engine's throttle response.

Leclerc switched on to a two-stop strategy and finished third, measuring his pace to hold off Bottas.

The Finn's task was made harder by the fact the DRS overtaking aid was not operating for the first 18 laps of the race because of a technical problem.

But he made good progress anyway and by the second part of the race was pressuring Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull's Alexander Albon behind the top three.

Vettel pitted out of Bottas' way, then Bottas passed Albon on track.

Mercedes had hopes that Leclerc's new soft tyres, fitted at his second pit stop, might fade in the closing laps, but Leclerc did enough to just hang on, despite his car's high tyre usage.

Vettel, who dropped to sixth when he made a second stop on the same lap as Leclerc, homed in on Albon in the closing stages and passed him for fifth with two laps to go.

Sainz seals sixth in championship
Behind the top six cars, the main interest was how the minor points places would settle the battle for sixth in the championship, with Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly and McLaren's Carlos Sainz tied on points before the race but the Frenchman ahead on results countback.

Gasly's hopes looked done on the first lap, when he was hit by Racing Point's Lance Stroll and punted into the Canadian's team-mate Sergio Perez at the first corner, damaging his front wing.

Gasly needed to stop for a new wing and his race never recovered.

But his hopes increased as Sainz's race looked like it might be undone by his need to start on the unfavourable soft tyre because he qualified in the top 10, which gave the advantage to the quicker runners just outside the top 10 on the grid, such as Perez and Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat.

McLaren gambled on a late pit stop for fresh tyres, which dropped Sainz out of the points place he needed, but gave him the speed he required in the closing laps.

He climbed back up from 14th place and passed Renault's Nico Hulkenberg for 10th on the last lap, giving him the point he needed to seal sixth - a well-deserved achievement after an excellent first season with McLaren.

What happens next?
A well-earned break from travelling for everyone in F1 after a long, hard season. There is some testing in Abu Dhabi this coming week, to settle the detail of the tyres to be used in 2020, and then it will be all hands on deck at the teams' headquarters as they prepare their new cars and the drivers take a short break over Christmas, before preparations begin for the start of next season in Australia on 13-15 March.

What they said
Hamilton: "I'm so grateful to Team LH. I travel around the world to different countries and I get to see people who inspire me and send me messages that lift me up. Thank you for watching, thank you for supporting. I feel so happy."

Verstappen: "To be P3 in the championship was a nice ending. We are all working hard, but good to take some time off and be with family and friends and come back stronger next year."

Leclerc: "I've learned a huge amount thanks to Seb, it's been a great year a realisation of the dream since I was child to be with Ferrari and in Formula 1 and it's up to me to get better and give them the success they deserve."
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50621753.
 
Jolyon Palmer column: Max Verstappen edges it over Lewis Hamilton

Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer, who left Renault during the 2017 season, is part of the BBC team and offers insight and analysis from the point of view of the competitors.

The Formula 1 season ended in Abu Dhabi on Sunday with a podium that summed up the season perfectly - the three outstanding drivers of the year were all on it.

Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton won the race, from Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. For me - and I suspect many others - they were the best three drivers in 2019. Just not quite in that order.

This is my assessment of the F1 grid in 2019.

The five best drivers of the year

1. Max Verstappen

In terms of choosing the best driver of the season, Hamilton and Verstappen were practically inseparable. Hamilton won the championship, but if I had to pick just one of them, I'd say Verstappen just edged it.

His relentless pace and consistently high level caused team-mate Pierre Gasly to be demoted from Red Bull to Toro Rosso in the summer break. And now the pressure is mounting on Alex Albon, Gasly's replacement, as Red Bull desperately search for someone who can operate somewhere near Verstappen's level.

In the first part of the season, Verstappen's victory in Austria, achieved while lapping his team-mate despite being behind him on the first lap, underlined his dominance over Gasly, who has excelled against both his other F1 team-mates, Brendon Hartley last year and Daniil Kvyat this.

Three race wins, extremely few mistakes and being a constant thorn in the sides of Ferrari and Mercedes shows how good Verstappen has been.

This was underlined by the fact that he finished the season comfortably third, ahead of both Ferraris, despite being in a slower car in terms of absolute pace and being wiped out by each of the Italian team's drivers at some point.

The only big downside for Verstappen are that a first pole position in Hungary should have been followed up with another in Mexico as well as Brazil, were it not for some foolhardy driving to not back off past a yellow flag.

That cost Verstappen another win. Potentially he could have exercised more caution in Belgium Turn One as well, but aside from that Verstappen's season was flawless.

2. Lewis Hamilton

Equally as impressive as Verstappen, this was an almost perfect season for Hamilton, in which he was strongly in contention for victory at nearly every single race.

When Hamilton leads out of Turn One, the race is boring. This was demonstrated once more in Abu Dhabi, although team-mate Valtteri Bottas couldn't challenge him from the back of the grid. When he doesn't, he's always a factor in the fight for victory anyway.

Hamilton has had one of his finest seasons and it has gone under the radar, because the title has been effectively wrapped up since June.

But winning 11 from 21 races proves his dominance, particularly because of the threat he's had since the summer break from Ferrari and Red Bull.

In the end, I have marked Hamilton down behind Verstappen only because he went off track while leading in Germany and hit Albon in the chaotic final couple of laps in Brazil.

In reality, there was nothing to choose between the two. Hopefully next year we can see them in a genuine title fight. That is a mouthwatering prospect.

3. Charles Leclerc

Ferrari have had a lot of stick this year - and quite rightly. They have been disappointing in every area.

Abu Dhabi was a real microcosm of their season. As Hamilton and Mercedes waltzed to an easy win, Verstappen showed up both Ferraris.

Both drivers hit the wall on Friday. Leclerc missed a final qualifying lap because of a pointless strategic timing 'gamble'. The team were investigated for a fuel irregularity before the race even began, and ultimately found guilty. And they had a seven-second pit stop with Sebastian Vettel as well for good measure.

Leclerc can sometimes get lumped into Ferrari's woeful season; he has after all made a fair few mistakes, such as crashing in Baku qualifying, in the race in Germany or hitting Verstappen on the first lap in Japan.

But this is only his second season in F1, and in reality he has been a revelation. Taking the pole position trophy for his seven poles shows how fast he has been - and he added two excellent victories as well.

Leclerc has brought numerous question marks upon the future of Vettel, because of how much he's ended up shading his team-mate as the season has gone on, combined with Vettel's own mistakes.

In fact, Leclerc has beaten Vettel on every single measure - he outscored him in the championship, took more wins, more poles and comfortably won their qualifying head-to-head. And that was despite Ferrari starting the year favouring Vettel, and imposing team orders - generally in the German's favour - a number of times.

Races such as Bahrain and Belgium show how good Leclerc can be. Hopefully, with another year's experience and a second season with Ferrari, he can cut the mistakes and become a season-long threat. Whether Ferrari can hold up their part of the bargain is a different matter.

4. Carlos Sainz

Sainz is another man who has had an exceptional year, and just managed to take sixth in the championship with a brilliant last-lap pass on Nico Hulkenberg in Abu Dhabi. With both Gasly and Albon, his rivals for that spot, spending half a year in the significantly quicker Red Bull, that is seriously impressive.

Sainz hasn't been the fastest this season. He's actually been out-qualified by rookie team-mate Lando Norris 11-10 in the head-to-head - although the Spaniard is actually ahead when taking into account only sessions in which a fair comparison can be made. But he's been relentlessly strong in the races and ultimately that is what counts.

Sainz's first laps have always been strong, and his race-craft has been superb as well. He has made several great overtakes in the year, and barely had contact with other drivers, in spite of often being in the thick of the midfield chaos.

A first podium in Brazil was thoroughly deserved. It's just a shame he didn't actually get to stand up there as the stewards dithered when handing Hamilton a penalty.

McLaren have had a brilliant season, with huge progression from last year. But they have a lot of work to do if they and Sainz can achieve any better next year.

Consolidating fourth in the constructors' championship and getting closer to the big three will likely be the aim in 2020.

5. Sergio Perez

This was a really tough call between Sergio Perez and Daniel Ricciardo, but in the end I've given Perez the nod because the Racing Point was not as good a car as the Renault and the Mexican all but matched the Australian's points total.

It's been an under-the-radar but extremely strong season once more for Perez. Five top-seven finishes in the past nine races leapt him up to 10th in the championship, ahead of Norris and almost catching Ricciardo, despite having a slower car across the season.

There have been a few mistakes along the way, particularly in a barren patch in the middle of the season such as at Germany and Silverstone, where Perez went a full eight races in a row without scoring.

But either side of that run he failed to score in only two other races and surely punched higher than his car, with four best-of-the-rest finishes, thanks to some super race performances.

The rest of the grid
This season has been a real fall from grace for Ricciardo, since winning races with Red Bull last year. The switch to Renault hasn't been anywhere near a success. In fact, the team have dropped backwards by 31 points and a position in the constructors' championship even though they splashed out on the big-money signing of the Australian.

But Ricciardo isn't to blame for any of that. As a driver he has actually been very strong this year, outshining Nico Hulkenberg 14-7 in qualifying and 54-37 in the points.

Everyone who has raced alongside Hulkenberg rates him highly - including myself - so Ricciardo beating him in that manner, in his first season with the team, is an impressive start, personally at least.

The Pierre Gasly that drove the Toro Rosso in the second half of the season was very good. Both fast and consistent, he scored a stunning second place in Brazil in what was my favourite moment of the season.

Sadly, the Gasly that started the year in the Red Bull never got going. This was the ultimate Jekyll-and-Hyde season, with some of the best and some of the worst. Very mysterious.

George Russell, Albon and Norris have had strong rookie seasons. For Russell, he's had no competition and a terrible car, which has made gauging his performance difficult. But for what it's worth beating team-mate Robert Kubica 21-0 in qualifying was good. He had flashes of pace and barely put a foot wrong.

Albon's Toro Rosso half-season was encouraging. His Red Bull second half started in an encouraging fashion, and fell a little flat towards the end of the season. He could do with kicking on a bit next year, but hopefully a full winter of team integration can help.

Norris' season started very well. He was fairly consistently ahead of Sainz in qualifying in the first half of the year and was held back by misfortune in the races.

As the year went on, Sainz increasingly established himself over Norris as the lead McLaren driver, but points in six of the past eight races show that Norris still did a solid job. He is my rookie of the year.

At the other end of the spectrum, Kimi Raikkonen had a very good first half of the season in the Alfa Romeo, before slipping back, along with his team, in the second half.

A sequence of silly errors kicked off the second half of the season, but on the whole Raikkonen has still shown he has what it takes at 40, as he showed Antonio Giovinazzi the way, beating him in all but three races.

It was a tough year for Haas, and in particular Romain Grosjean, who was generally out-performed by team-mate Kevin Magnussen.

A number of incidents and a fair amount of radio whining didn't help the Frenchman's cause, but the team fell away from good midfielders to ninth in the constructors' this year, and for the most part had no clue why that happened.

They desperately need to understand the tyres more, as this has been their Achilles' heel since day one. One day they can be super quick, like in Barcelona when they were best of the rest. The next they are absolutely nowhere.

Finally, Kubica had the worst season of all. It was a remarkable achievement for the Pole to get back onto the grid after his rally accident in 2011, and the terrible injuries he suffered. But that's where it ends, sadly.

I was a Kubica fan in his BMW days and when he was at Renault in 2010, and I hope people will remember him as that driver, rather than the tail-end Charlie who limped around in a very poor Williams car this year.

Either his right arm and hand - which have only partial movement, and which appear to be more or less a passenger in the car - were holding him back, or so much time away simply left him rusty. Or maybe both.

Either way, his performances this year were not a true representation of a driver who is supremely naturally talented.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50624423.
 
Formula 1 has relaxed restrictions on engine usage for 2020 meaning drivers could suffer fewer grid penalties.

Drivers will next year be able to use three MGU-Ks - a part of the hybrid system - one more than in 2019.

The move brings the MGU-K into line with the other parts of the power-unit in terms of permitted usage.

F1's complex, high-tech turbo-hybrid power-units are officially split into four parts for the purposes of the rules.

In addition to the MGU-K, which recovers energy from the rear axle and redeploys all hybrid-generated electrical energy to the rear wheels, the other three are the internal combustion engine, the turbo and the MGU-H, the part of the hybrid system that recovers energy from the turbo.

In 2020, drivers will be permitted to use three of each part during the season before becoming subject to grid penalties.

In addition, the engines require an electronics control box and a battery, with two of each being permitted for a season.

The change was confirmed in the 2020 rules, which were officially published on 4 December, after a meeting of the FIA World Council, motorsport's legislative body.

No more hiding
Among other minor tweaks, the chequered flag has been reinstated as the official signal of the end of the race.

This follows a mix-up at this year's Japanese Grand Prix when a system error led to the official light panel at the start-finish line showing a chequered flag signal one lap before the end of the race.

Although the drivers kept racing to the designated grand prix distance, the race result was declared one lap earlier as a consequence of the error.

And teams will no longer be able to use screens in front of their garages to obscure views of their cars during testing.

This is already banned at race meetings, but until now teams had blocked garages from sight in pre-season testing, mainly to stop other teams getting a view of their new designs.

The restriction will be in force from 09:00 to 18:00 local time each day and the only exceptions are when the floor of the car is not fitted or during the recovery and repair of a car damaged in a crash.

Pre-season testing in 2020 is on 19-21 and 26-28 February at Spain's Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50668906.
 
Ferrari admit they have held talks with world champion Lewis Hamilton about joining them in the future.

Ferrari chief executive officer Louis Carey Camilleri said at a media lunch that Hamilton has had "conversations" with chairman John Elkann.

Camilleri said Ferrari were "very flattered Lewis in particular, and other drivers, want to join us".

"It's totally premature - we'll look at our options at the appropriate time and see what is the best fit," he added.

Hamilton refuses to confirm or deny Ferrari meeting
He added that the meeting between the British driver and Elkann was at "a social event, which has been blown somewhat out of proportion - they have some common friends".

Hamilton, who is 35 next month and will be gunning for a record-equalling seventh world title in 2020, comes to the end of his Mercedes contract next season.

He said at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on 1 December that it was "smart and wise" to consider his next move carefully, adding: "I love where I am, so it is definitely not a quick decision to go and do something else."

At the time, Hamilton refused to confirm or deny reports in Italy he had met Elkann twice this year.

Hamilton said he was "waiting to see" whether Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff remained with the team.

Wolff has been touted as a potential replacement for F1 chief executive Chase Carey in 2021.

However that prospect has receded in recent weeks, and Camilleri said Ferrari could use its veto to block any move by Wolff to run F1.

"Anybody who has been an active and important player in a certain team within the last years to take on the responsibility at F1 would create a conflict of interest," Camilleri said.

"It would not be a good thing [that Wolff] should ultimately run F1. Our position is if [Ferrari team principal] Mattia Binotto was the candidate to replace Chase, the rest of the paddock would not be too happy.

"Our veto is the last resort tool. Should we be confronted with that, we would explain our position quite clearly to the folks at Liberty (the US media group that owns F1's commercial rights)."

If Hamilton was to join Ferrari in 2021, it would almost certainly be as a team-mate to Charles Leclerc and a replacement for Sebastian Vettel, whose contract runs out at the same time as the Briton's.

Camilleri said: "We have a long-term agreement with one driver [Leclerc] and with the other driver [Vettel] the agreement expires at the end of 2020."

Vettel, a four-time champion, started the year as Ferrari's number one driver but Leclerc has earned equal status with his performances in 2019.

He out-scored the German in terms of wins, pole positions, points and in their qualifying head-to-head.

Their rivalry led to a number of flash points last season, culminating in a crash at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Camilleri said: "Clearly Charles' performance has had an impact. That's inevitable when you're the world champion and this young kid comes along and has a phenomenal season.

"Charles has a lot of talent. He has surprised even ourselves as to what he has been capable of.

"Their collision last month in Brazil was a nightmare. However, the air has been cleared. And sometimes you need a crisis to put the goalposts in the appropriate place.

"Going forwards it gives Mattia a much better way of managing them because they realised how much they screwed up."

What about Ferrari's car?
Ferrari had a disappointing season in 2019, generally lagging behind Mercedes on pace, winning only three races and facing controversy as rival teams suspected them of bending the rules with their engine.

Binotto has always insisted their speed on the straight was primarily due to a different car philosophy from Mercedes, with less overall downforce and drag.

And he said Ferrari would change that for next season.

"We are not expecting to be as fast on the straight as we have been," Binotto said. "Our car is aiming for more downforce and, by consequence, we are certainly working more on drag."

He also said there would be "quite significant changes on the engine for next season".

Binotto added: "We didn't have the best car in 2019. So, we cannot be the favourites. The ones that won the championship this year, the ones that won the last titles are setting the bar and are having the fastest car by the end of the season. So we are the challengers."

The new car will be launched on 11 February, ahead of the start of pre-season testing on 19 February and Camilleri said he saw encouraging signs for Ferrari even if the team had not yet met their ambitions.

"If you look back in the history of Formula 1, where teams have done very well… there is one common thread, which was that there was a lot of stability within the team and therefore they learned to work very closely together," he said.

"That is something we are very focused on, Mattia has been spending a lot of time to ensure we have a cohesive, united team."

Camilleri said Ferrari was prepared to invest in people and infrastructure, with a new simulator under construction and he says the team will have a bigger budget to prepare for the major rule changes coming into force in 2021.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50755301
 
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