Valtteri Bottas led a comfortable Mercedes one-two in first practice for the United States Grand Prix at Austin’s Circuit of The Americas, almost a second ahead of Max Verstappen.
The Finn’s fastest time of 1m34.874s was 0.045s quicker than Lewis Hamilton’s best effort and a substantial 0.932s faster than Max Verstappen’s quickest lap.
Bottas’s lap was built on a particularly impressive second sector, comprising Turns 7 to 12 and the long back straight. He gained half a second on Verstappen through that sector alone, and his 0.2s advantage over Hamilton through the middle split was enough to offset slower times in over the balance of the track.
Continue reading on RACERWith six points separating the title protagonists with just six races to go, Red Bull Racing is fighting for every inch in its quest to keep Max Verstappen ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
Valtteri Bottas starred in the Turkish Grand Prix with a faultless wet-weather performance to help teammate Lewis Hamilton minimise the damage of a difficult weekend.
Valtteri Bottas wielded his almost uncharacteristically strong Mercedes to a straightforward victory in Turkey, but teammate Lewis Hamilton didn’t have nearly an easy time of his afternoon in Istanbul.
Valtteri Bottas has beaten Max Verstappen to an easy victory at the Turkish Grand Prix after Lewis Hamilton slumped to fifth in the wet.
Valtteri Bottas dominated a wet Turkish Grand Prix, but Max Verstappen has retaken the world championship lead by finishing second while Lewis Hamilton faded to fifth after rising as high as third from his 11th-place start.
Rain drenched the track in the morning, and although it reduced to barely a drizzle for the race, the track never truly dries, and the entire race was run with wet rubber.
In the tricky conditions Bottas executed the perfect start from pole to hold Max Verstappen in second at the first apex, and from there he wielded his Mercedes to perfection to constantly massage open the gap to the Dutchman until it was effectively insurmountable.
Continue reading on RACERCometh the hour, cometh the man — at least that’s Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton will be hoping for Valtteri Bottas come lights out on Sunday.
Valtteri Bottas will start from pole position for the Turkish Grand Prix after qualifying-topping teammate Lewis Hamilton was slapped with a penalty for an engine change.
Lewis Hamilton beat teammate Valtteri Bottas to the fastest time of qualifying at the Turkish Grand Prix, although a 10-place grid penalty for an engine change will promote the Finn to pole position for the race.
Max Verstappen will start alongside Bottas on the front row after finishing the afternoon third.
Mercedes’s superiority at Istanbul Park has been clear from first practice on Friday, and even the jeopardy of a sprinkling of rain at the start of qualifying did little to dampen Hamilton’s position as the favourite for the session.
Continue reading on RACERPierre Gasly mastered a soaking Istanbul track to top final practice at the Turkish Grand Prix ahead of Max Verstappen.
The Frenchman was among a group of drivers to set their flying laps on intermediate rubber with around 15 minutes remaining, and though Verstappen embarked on his final flyer with just 20 seconds left, the track drying all the time, he could get to within only 0.164s of Gasly’s benchmark.
Lewis Hamilton finished a lowly 18th after calling it a day with just five laps completed in the inclement weather, the Briton 3.189s adrift.
Continue reading on RACERLewis Hamilton ended Friday at the Turkish Grand Prix as the quickest driver while title rival Max Verstappen struggled for pace.
Hamilton bettered his fastest time from morning practice to lower the bar to 1m23.804s, beating the absolute track record for the Istanbul Park circuit by almost a second.
Completing Hamilton’s perfect day was his race-simulation performance, his Mercedes lapping the quickest of all with full tanks, which bodes well for his recovery from a 10-place grid penalty for an internal combustion engine change this weekend.
Continue reading on RACERLewis Hamilton has started the Turkish Grand Prix with the fastest time of first practice, but Mercedes confirmed the Briton will serve a grid penalty for a new engine part.
Formula 1 is enjoying substantially better conditions on its return to Istanbul, with warmer weather and a grippier track banishing memories of last year’s drizzly conditions and greasy surface.
The improvement in the circuit has been immediately obvious. Hamilton’s best lap of first practice, a 1m24.178s, was more than four seconds quicker than the fastest time set at any point this time last year.
Continue reading on RACERFormula 1 is shoring up its post-pandemic accounts with the announcement of a lucrative 11-race deal in Doha, but can you have too much of a good thing?
Lewis Hamilton notched up his 100th grand prix victory, but the milestone will give him only so much solace after failing to exact maximum damage on title rival Max Verstappen on a crucial weekend.
If the Russian Grand Prix had been only 47 laps instead of the full 53, Lando Norris would have been heralded as having put in a complete weekend from qualifying to race to claim a sensational maiden Formula 1 victory over seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton.
Lewis Hamilton has claimed his ton of grand prix victories after a dramatic wet-weather conclusion to the Russian Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton scored his 100th grand prix victory in a dramatic late-race deluge at the Russian Grand Prix to retake the championship lead from second-placed Max Verstappen.
The Briton had been engaged in a battle for the lead with polesitter Lando Norris in the late stages when rain suddenly arrived in Sochi, sprinkling the track with rain and then drenching the circuit in a downpour that turned the race on its head.
He and Norris both resisted switching to the intermediate tire with so few laps left to run, with Hamilton even ignoring a call from his pit wall to box on lap 48 before finally accepting the summons on the following lap, leaving the McLaren in the lead in deteriorating conditions.
Continue reading on RACERLando Norris will start on pole for the first time in his Formula 1 career after beating the field in a sensational soaked qualifying hour in Russia.