Lewis Hamilton has beaten Max Verstappen in a thrilling Sao Paulo Grand Prix after the championship contenders almost collided while battling for the lead.
Lewis Hamilton has beaten title rival Max Verstappen from 10th on the grid in a race-long duel at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix to reinvigorate his world championship chances.
The Briton wielded his Mercedes car’s straight-line speed advantage to perfection from his penalized starting position in the midfield, passing five cars off the line and rising to third after just five laps to assault the Red Bull Racing pair for a first victory since September.
His race was set up early despite teammate Valtteri Bottas failing to hold pole off the line and dropping to third, handing the Bulls an early one-two formation.
Continue reading on RACERLewis Hamilton dominated qualifying at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix but is at risk of being disqualified from the results over an alleged technical infringement.
Lewis Hamilton will head the field for the Saturday sprint at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix after beating Max Verstappen by almost half a second.
The Briton never looked likely to be beaten in qualifying after being comfortably fastest in opening practice. Both his laps in Q3 were quick enough to top the session, and his final attempt, a 1m07.934s was 0.438s better than Verstappen’s scruffy fastest lap.
It was the first time Hamilton has topped qualifying since the Hungarian Grand Prix in August and only the fourth time he’s been fastest this season, though the sprint weekend format and his five-place grid penalty for a new engine mean he won’t be credited with pole position.
Continue reading on RACERLewis Hamilton topped title leader Max Verstappen by 0.367s in the crucial first practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix ahead of Friday qualifying.
The Briton, who is running a new internal combustion engine that will cost him five places on Sunday’s grid, was unhappy with his car’s performance for most of the session, particularly on the medium tire, and his team had to make front suspension adjustments to address what he described as a bouncing front end before sending him out on softs.
His first flying lap on soft tires wasn’t enough to get near Verstappen’s one hot lap on the same compound. A second attempt got him 0.069s ahead, and his third run on softs stretched the margin to 0.367s.
Continue reading on RACERA maiden championship is within touching distance for Max Verstappen after a Mexico masterclass, and only victory in Brazil this weekend will keep Lewis Hamilton in striking distance.
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 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 RACERLewis 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 RACERWith only eight rounds remaining and little to separate the title race, the pressure is ratcheting up for crash-prone protagonists Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.
Lewis Hamilton topped the final practice at the Italian Grand Prix ahead of Saturday’s Sprint, but Carlos Sainz will be lucky to take part in the short race after a high-speed crash.
Sainz lost control of the rear of his Ferrari powering over the left-hand curb entering the Ascari chicane, punching his car into the barrier at speed. The front of his car was wiped off in the collision, and the Spaniard came to rest spun backwards shortly down the road.
“That hurt a bit, but I’m OK,” a winded Sainz radioed back to his pit wall as the session was suspended to clear the wreckage. He was cleared of injury by the medical center, though he will be examined a second time half an hour after the session.
Continue reading on RACERLewis Hamilton set the quickest time in first practice at the Italian Grand Prix before qualifying later today for Saturday’s sprint. The Mercedes driver’s best time of 1m20.926s was 0.452s better than title rival Max Verstappen’s fastest time despite the Briton using the medium tire to the Dutchman’s softs.
Teammate Valtteri Bottas ended the practice hour third and another half-second behind Verstappen’s Red Bull, also on the medium compound.
Mercedes was the only team not to use at least two different compounds through the hour, with each of the Black Arrows burning through two sets of mediums across more than 26 laps.
Continue reading on RACERLewis Hamilton snatched top spot from home hero Max Verstappen by less than a tenth of a second in F1’s first timed session at Zandvoort for the Dutch Grand Prix.
The Briton set his best time, a 1m11.500s, late in the hour after most of the session was lost to a protracted stopped to recover Sebastian Vettel’s broken Aston Martin car.
Vettel had reported an MGU-K problem on his first foray around the track and promptly returned to pit lane for a check-up, but when he was deployed to the circuit little more than 10 minutes later his car lasted barely another lap before its Mercedes power unit failed on the start-finish straight, trailing fluid before griding to a halt at pit exit.
Continue reading on RACEREsteban Ocon won his maiden grand prix, but an exhausted Lewis Hamilton left Hungary happiest, having turned a once massive title deficit into a slender lead.
Lewis Hamilton is not only poised to take grand prix victory 100 when he starts the Hungarian Grand Prix from pole, but the Briton is facing the unlikely chance to retake the championship lead from Max Verstappen in time for the midseason break.