Duncan Hamilton

Hamilton's pace in the Formula 1 season opener last weekend was hampered by damage to the rear of his floor, which cost him downforce and also affected the balance of his car.<br>Mercedes has revealed a new close-up image of the broken floor, with its chief strategist James Vowles saying that Hamilton did a "fantastic" job to manage his car to the end considering the impact of the lost ...

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But following the race, it was revealed that Hamilton had sustained floor damage that impacted his performance. <br>Motorsport Network’s technical editor Jake Boxall-Legge uses our exclusive 3D animation of the Mercedes W10 to pinpoint the damage and explain why such a small change visually could have such a big influence on Hamilton's speed.<br><br>More F1 insights:<br><br>Fastest lap point ...

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Hamilton had been left baffled during the Formula 1 season opener as to why he had been struggling with the balance of his Mercedes.<br>It was only after the race that his Mercedes team discovered damage to the floor area of his car ahead of the left rear tyre.<br>As the below images show, Hamilton was left without the last (and largest) fully enclosed hole and edge flap at the rear of the floor ...

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Hamilton was left chasing answers after the Formula 1 season opener in Melbourne as to why he could not match teammate Valtteri Bottas – who dominated after snatching the lead at the start.<br>In the end, Hamilton came home more than 20 seconds adrift of his teammate, who had also taken an extra point for fastest lap.<br>Speaking after the race, Hamilton said that he had some ideas about why he ...

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Teammate Valtteri Bottas held an advantage of 0.457s after the first runs in Q3, but Hamilton turned the tables with his second set of softs to post a 1m20.486s and secure pole.<br>Bottas failed to improve on his second run, meaning he ended up 0.112s behind.<br>After showing strongly in pre-season testing, the lead Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel was a massive 0.704s off pole position having never ...

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After topping Friday practice and enjoying a huge advantage over the next-fastest team, Hamilton continued his good form into FP3 on Saturday afternoon.<br>He hit the head of the times as soon as he pumped in a first flying lap and regained the advantage on the two occasions he was briefly bumped back.<br>The first came seconds after Valtteri Bottas had completed a second flying lap, and the next ...

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Hamilton, using soft Pirellis, edged teammate Valtteri Bottas into second place by 0.048s with a lap completed just after the halfway mark of the 90-minute session to secure the position.<br>So great was Hamilton's pace advantage that his timesheet-topping pace on the medium-compound Pirellis in the early stages of the session was quick enough to make sure of first place.<br>Max Verstappen was ...

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Hamilton had warned that Mercedes faced a clear deficit to Ferrari in pre-season testing, but kicked off Friday afternoon’s first running in Melbourne as if it was business as usual. <br>The five-time title winner set a 1m23.599s around the Albert Park circuit to head Vettel by 0.038s, with Charles Leclerc only 0.074s behind in his first grand prix session for Ferrari. <br>Max Verstappen gave ...

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Ferrari's new SF90 car has been widely regarded as the early benchmark of the 2019 F1 field, and Hamilton suggested in Barcelona that Mercedes could be as much as half a second adrift.<br>Soon after that, however, the Silver Arrows unleashed more pace, and Hamilton ended the test just 0.003s slower than pace-setter Sebastian Vettel.<br>Ahead of the Australian Grand Prix, Hamilton said it was ...

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The five-time world champion's Mercedes team, plus rivals Ferrari and Red Bull, have enjoyed a significant advantage over the rest of the pack in recent seasons.<br>That gap between the top three and the midfield grew last season, but aerodynamic rule changes have mixed up teams' designs for 2019, and Hamilton said during pre-season testing that the order was a lot closer.<br>He said that Ferrari ...

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Monster Energy, which sponsors Hamilton as well as the Yamaha MotoGP factory team, is pushing for a ride swap between him and seven-time premier-class champion Valentino Rossi – but Mercedes F1 sponsor Petronas also has its sights on a MotoGP test for Hamilton.<br>Hamilton was in attendance for qualifying for MotoGP's opening round of 2019 in Qatar as a guest of the Petronas-backed SRT Yamaha ...

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As a personal sponsor of both Rossi and Hamilton, Monster has been pursuing the possibility of such an event for the past three years, albeit with little success.<br>However, its new status as the Yamaha MotoGP factory team's title sponsor, replacing Movistar from 2019 onwards, means it can ramp up its push to put Hamilton on an M1 bike and Rossi at the wheel of a Mercedes F1 car.<br>“This ...

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Ferrari has emerged as favourite after pre-season testing, with Hamilton claiming the Maranello squad may be as much as half a second ahead of Mercedes heading into the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.<br>Hamilton believes Mercedes will have to dig deeper than last year in order to beat Ferrari this season, but cautioned against pushing too hard because it could lead to costly errors.<br>"It ...

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F1's broadcast deal with Sky means UK-based fans need a subscription to the broadcaster's dedicated channel to watch every grand prix live this season.<br>The UK's free-to-air options have now been reduced to highlights and live coverage of the British Grand Prix, which Hamilton said is "definitely not cool".<br>While he said he does not understand the move to pay TV and that it is "not my job to ...

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Hamilton, a self-confessed motorcycling aficionado, is set to attend the first weekend of the 2019 MotoGP season at the Losail circuit as a guest of the Petronas SRT Yamaha team, which shares a common sponsor with his F1 squad Mercedes.<br>It will mark his first visit to a MotoGP round since he attended the Catalan Grand Prix at Barcelona back at 2015, and follows his recent test on a World ...

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Pirelli has modified its rubber for this season, introducing the thinner-gauge tread that was used at three races last year to combat blistering and overheating.<br>However, Mercedes driver Hamilton said it feels like Pirelli “did something else”, having joked on social media that even his dog Roscoe felt they were “too hard”.<br>“That is why I said he concurs with me, they are a little ...

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Vettel completed 110 laps before stopping around 90 minutes into the afternoon session at the exit of Turn 2, similar to the position in which Kimi Raikkonen's Alfa Romeo pulled off at the end of the morning's running.<br>Ferrari confirmed later in the afternoon that an "electrical issue" had caused Vettel to stop and the fix would take too long for him to return to the track.<br>It continued a ...

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Ferrari boasts the quickest time from the two weeks of running at Barcelona so far, with Mercedes' best time – set by Valtteri Bottas on the final morning – currently three tenths slower.<br>Hamilton believes Ferrari's advantage could be even bigger, although he admitted he is "not quite sure" what the true gap is.<br>"I think it's potentially half a second," he said. "Something like that ...

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While again there was no attempt to explore the limits on Pirelli’s softest compounds – that is on the schedule for Friday – the new car ran many miles, with Hamilton completing 85 laps in the morning, and Valtteri Bottas 96 in the afternoon. The Brackley team was also able to address the graining issues which proved problematic earlier in the week.<br>“Today has been a good day,” said ...

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Last year the five-time world champion pledged to become a “different athlete” after F1 committed to introducing a minimum driver weight of 80kg, separate from the car. <br>That has allowed drivers to ease off extreme dieting as well as focus on building more strength, with Hamilton gaining several kilograms of muscle mass.<br>“I’m still within the limit, so I’m good,” Hamilton said ...

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Leclerc has been promoted to Ferrari, where he will partner Sebastian Vettel, after just one year in F1 with the Sauber team.<br>He has been widely tipped to challenge Vettel more regularly in his first season than his predecessor Kimi Raikkonen did, although Ferrari is likely to prioritise Vettel while Leclerc gets up to speed.<br>Asked if Leclerc can be as strong as Vettel or a championship ...

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While Hamilton's Mercedes team has not focused on delivering headline times at Barcelona this week, Ferrari has impressed with both the pace and reliability of its new SF90.<br>Toro Rosso boss Franz Tost has been quoted this week as suggesting Ferrari could be half a second clear of everyone else right now, but Hamilton insists the true picture is not clear.<br>"I don't think you can put a figure ...

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After the car was shaken down at a filming day at Silverstone last week, Valtteri Bottas ran 69 laps in this morning’s session on the opening day in Barcelona before Hamilton took over and completed 81 in the afternoon.<br>The pair finished the day in eighth and ninth respectively, out of the 11 drivers who ran.<br>“It's good to be back in the car and it’s great to see the car is running as ...

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Mercedes used up one of its filming days to let Valtteri Bottas and Hamilton get a first run in their 2019 challenger at Silverstone on Wednesday.<br>And, after releasing an on-board video of Hamilton giggling and saying how ‘amazing’ the car felt during his first installation lap, the reigning world champion said he was delighted with how things had gone.<br>“It was a great first date ...

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Verstappen won two races and finished fourth in the championship in 2018, and has been tipped by Hamilton and Vettel to mount a title challenge if he has the right package.<br>Horner, whose team switches from Renault to Honda engines for 2019 in pursuit of a championship challenge, said Verstappen would not be daunted by fighting much more experienced, successful drivers.<br>"I don't think he ...

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