Lewis Hamilton has broken the track record at Spa-Francorchamps to beat Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas to pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix.
The world championship leader was untouchable in the top-10 shootout, setting two laps quick enough for pole to keep Bottas at bay by a whopping half-second.
“Very, very clean session,” he said. “Every lap was just getting better and better.”
Lewis Hamilton dominated qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix with pole position and a new track record.
Continue reading on RACERLewis Hamilton wrested back control of the practice times for Mercedes while Ferrari slumped to last leading into qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.
Continue reading on RACERRed Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen set the fastest time of Friday practice at the Belgian Grand Prix while Ferrari-powered cars continued to struggle at the back of the field.
Continue reading on RACERValtteri Bottas topped the first practice time sheet for Mercedes at a chilly Spa-Francorchamps at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Continue reading on RACERThe Williams Formula One team has been up for sale since May, but its acquisition in full by American investment firm Dorilton Capital still came as a shock.
Williams, the sport’s third-oldest team and second-most successful by constructors championships, had been the only continuously family-owned team on the grid since its 1978 debut.
But that rare tangible link to the sport’s past has been lost through this sale, and though Frank Williams and daughter Claire will retain their principal and deputy positions respectively, it marks the end of a long transition away from the independent constructors that were the bedrock of the sport for most of its 70-year history.
It’s been no secret that Williams has been struggling on and off track for years. Poor results begot a decline in financial returns, which in turn resulted in worsening car performance.
The vicious cycle is laid bare in championship results: from third in the standings with 320 points in 2014 to a lucky solitary point to finish comfortably last in 2019.
The sale of its research and development arm to refinance debts last year was a final roll of the dice to see the team through to 2021, but the plan lasted only until COVID-19 postponed the season for four months. By May it was on the market for fresh investment, and last week it was snapped up in full for €152 million.
But sale of the family’s shares at least ensures the iconic team’s survival, and Dorilton says it intends to maintain the team’s historic name and honour its heritage. The firm also says this is a long-term investment, which bodes well for the team’s growth prospects.
Williams’s white knight has arrived with impeccable timing. Not only has it galloped in during the same week all 10 teams agreed to a new, fairer and egalitarian financial deal with the sport, but it still has 18 months to prepare for a regulatory overhaul.
The sport was originally due to switch to a new set of technical regulations designed to promote better, closer racing and introduce a budget cap of US$175 million for 2021, but the pandemic forced a delay in their implementation to reduce new spending during these financially precarious times.
However, crucially the budget cap has not only remained in place but has been negotiated down to US$145 million, far closer to Williams’s annual expenditure.
For its entire history Formula One has been vulnerable to cashed-up teams spending their way to victory — Ferrari and Mercedes, for example, reportedly spend more than US$400 million apiece — but from 2021 will be restrained in how much can be spent developing a car.
The doling out of prize money is also set to change dramatically. Unfair financial terms struck by F1’s previous owners allowed the largest teams to cream money off the top of the total pool before championship standings were used to divvy up the rest, but from next year the differences in payment from first to last on the title table will be smaller and bonus payments for championship success will be correspondingly reduced. … Continue reading
Domination tends to look easy in Formula One, but Lewis Hamilton’s peerless Spanish Grand Prix victory wasn’t the effortless parade the TV cameras made it out to be.
Formula One arrived in Barcelona with electricity in the air. Only last month the paddock had been wondering aloud whether anyone could beat Mercedes in 2020, but after Max Verstappen’s breakthrough win at tyre-destroying Silverstone one week earlier, optimism had taken hold that the championship was about to break open.
Two weeks in a row Mercedes had struggled with tyre wear through a combination of Silverstone’s high-downforce demands and stiflingly hot weather.
After a week of hype that Red Bull Racing had gleaned a Mercedes weakness and was ready to go for the jugular, Lewis Hamilton dominated the Spanish Grand Prix in typically demoralising style to take a stronghold on the championship race.
Mercedes had genuine concerns for its ability to keep the tyres alive after severe blistering lost it the race last week and tyre failures almost cost it victory two weeks in the British Grand Prix. Toto Wolff even singled out Max Verstappen as the favourite for the race win despite the Dutchman qualifying third behind polesitter Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.
Hot weather has long been a weakness of the German marque, and the step in downforce taken in 2020 combined with the sport sticking with 2019-specification tyres means the Pirellis suffer more significantly in the heat.
Lewis Hamilton dominated every stage of the Spanish Grand Prix to extend his championship lead to 37 points over Max Verstappen.
Continue reading on RACERLewis Hamilton has broken the record for most podium finishes with a dominant victory at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Hamilton led the race from pole to flag for his 156th appearance on the rostrum, breaking the record set by Michael Schumacher in 2012.
It was also the 88th victory of Hamilton’s career, taking him to within three of Schumacher’s record 91 wins.
Mercedes has comfortably locked out the Spanish Grand Prix front row, but the team doesn’t consider itself favourite to convert pole to victory.
It’s been a complicated month for Mercedes. The W11 is obviously extremely quick over a single lap, but this unusual season, with races run in the height of summer, when teams are normally on break, the car is showing signs of weakness over a race distance.
At the British Grand Prix his manifested in tyre blowouts at the very end of the race. Admittedly the final stint was ambitious long, but only one other car suffered similar issues.
Lewis Hamilton will start from pole position alongside Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas for the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.
The Briton’s 92nd career pole was won by just 0.059 seconds, but the battle for P1 fizzled out when neither Hamilton nor Bottas could improve their times with their second laps in the top-10 shootout.
High track temperatures of around 50°C put a premium on tyre preparation, and though several drivers failed to find time at the end of the session, both Mercedes drivers lamented second laps that were simply scrappy.
Lewis Hamilton edged Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas to pole for the Spanish Grand Prix. It was his fifth pole in Spain and 92nd of his career.
Continue reading on RACERLewis Hamilton edged teammate Valtteri Bottas in final practice at the Spanish Grand Prix on another sizzling day in Barcelona.
Continue reading on RACERLewis Hamilton ended second practice fastest on a promising afternoon for Mercedes at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Continue reading on RACERValtteri Bottas narrowly edged teammate Lewis Hamilton at the top of the FP1 time sheet at the Spanish Grand Prix after another dominant morning for Mercedes. The Finn, on pole but third at the flag at last weekend’s 70th Anniversary Grand Prix, was 0.039s quicker than the Briton.
Continue reading on RACER“I didn’t see it coming!” a gleeful Max Verstappen said after winning the Formula One 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone. And he wasn’t the only one.
Mercedes had been utterly dominant in qualifying on the previous day, having locked out the front row by almost a full second. On Saturday night another one-two finish seemed a certainty.
But unbeknownst to the paddock, the German marque was harbouring a critical weakness.
It’s hard to believe only a week after three tyre blowouts marred the end of the British Grand Prix that we’re praising Pirelli for spicing up a race, but little in 2020 has gone according to expectation.
Whereas previously the soft tyres seemed destined to only increase the requirement for tyre management, instead it forced teams to consider multiple stops, and the combination of softer compounds at higher pressure and the warm, high-energy circuit meant not everyone got their thinking correct.
Mercedes, so dominant last week that Lewis Hamilton won on three wheels, seriously misjudged the tweaked conditions. Using only one set of mediums during practice and saving both hards for the race, the reigning constructors champion didn’t sufficiently grasp the effect high pressures would have on tyre life.