Formula 1 2018 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

In Friday practice, the long 5cm high sausage kerb added to the outside of the penultimate corner to help police track limits started to "fall apart", according to Haas driver Kevin Magnussen. The height of the kerb also caused drivers across the different series a few problems, with Max Verstappen's Red Bull and Alexander Albon's Formula 2 car being lifted all four wheels off the ground and ...

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The news means 19 of the 20 seats have been revealed, with the official announcement of Lance Stroll's move to Racing Point Force India the only anomaly. Albon had moved to the top of Toro Rosso's list in October, but the former Red Bull protege's situation was complicated by the fact he had already committed to joining the Nissan e.dams ABB FIA Formula E Championship team. He therefore ...

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Two-time F1 world champion Alonso got behind the wheel of Johnson's NASCAR Cup car, as the American drove a 2013 McLaren MP4-28 powered by a Mercedes V8 engine. Alonso initially drove the F1 car for a few laps to set a benchmark time of 1m40.204s before switching to the NASCAR car. Johnson managed to post a 1m40.462s during his run, just over two tenths shy of the Spaniard's ...

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The Red Bull driver was given the punishment for his post-race altercation with Esteban Ocon at the Brazilian Grand Prix, where he confronted and shoved the Force India driver for their collision that cost him victory at Interlagos. When jokingly asked by UK F1 broadcaster Sky Sports on Sunday night if he'd accept an offer to look after 1996 world champion Damon Hill's rubbish bins, Verstappen ...

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Albon was a Formula 2 title contender this season, although he slipped from second to third in the F2 points behind Lando Norris after Sunday's finale in Abu Dhabi. He has been at the top of Toro Rosso's list of contenders for its second 2019 seat alongside Daniil Kvyat for several weeks but had already committed to joining Nissan e.dams for the 2018/19 FE season. Sources say the ...

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The Mercedes and Ferrari drivers have battled for the last two world titles, with Hamilton coming out on top both times. Following the Abu Dhabi F1 season finale on Sunday Hamilton and Vettel met up to exchange helmets, which Hamilton compared to when players swap shirts in other sports. "This is kind of an honorary thing that drivers do, this is the highest regard of respect that we can ...

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With Alonso prompting an early change to the day's programme when he asked for a brief run in the 2013 Mercedes-powered MP4-28 in the morning, Johnson was swiftly put out on track for his first F1 experience. Having originally intended to do a five-lap stint, his first run was cut short when he experienced his helmet lifting off on the straights. Read Also: Gallery: Alonso and ...

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This week’s two-day run at the Yas Marina Circuit is aimed at giving teams the chance to test F1’s 2019 tyre construction and compounds. In a bid to stop teams also using the opportunity to experiment with new parts, however, teams must run with a standard car that does not feature any items that have not been raced. It was this rule that prevented teams from being able to try out 2019 ...

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The Spaniard had waved goodbye to his career as an official F1 driver at the Yas Marina on Sunday night, with one of his final major commitments for McLaren this year being a promotional day with seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson in Bahrain. Alonso is scheduled to drive Johnson’s NASCAR car, while Johnson will get his first Formula 1 test in a 2013 Mercedes-powered ...

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Hamilton dominates in spite of Will Smith distraction Will Smith takes a selfie with Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 on the way to the drivers' parade Photo by: Andy Hone / LAT Images Sunday’s race was a stroll for early-pitter Hamilton, once the long-running Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo had made his pitstop. Despite admitting that Hollywood star Will Smith had distracted him ...

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Trying to catch Kevin Magnussen for 10th place in what is currently poised to be his farewell F1 appearance, Alonso cut the track in Turns 8 and 9 on three occasions - with the notification of the offences timed at 18:47, 18:51 and 18:52 local. Each time the stewards added five seconds to his race time, and gave him a penalty point on his licence. In the end the total of 15 seconds total did ...

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Hulkenberg's car came to rest upside down, leaning against the barrier at the outside of the Turn 8/9 chicane, after he was sent into a series of flips by his clash with Romain Grosjean. The policy in such circumstances is to wait for the car to be righted before trying to get the driver out. But the length of time it took for Hulkenberg to emerge from the wreckage led some observers to ...

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The Finn had locked out the front row with teammate Lewis Hamilton in qualifying, and kept second place behind the champion at the start. But while his pace in the opening stint was solid, he faded after switching to the supersofts, falling behind Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel and the two Red Bull cars. “I think overall the race sums up the season quite well - started off quite well and then ...

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Ross, who has worked at Mercedes since 2011 when he joined from Williams, also previously engineered Nico Rosberg and the pair worked together when Rosberg won the 2016 F1 world title. Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff explained after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – where Bottas finished fifth – that Ross will now take up the position of chief race engineer for the manufacturer's works FE ...

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The Red Bull driver, whose team switches from Renault to Honda power for next year, was behind his 2019 teammate Gasly's Toro Rosso as it started to smoke late in the race. Verstappen had already used all his visor tear-offs by that stage, and could do nothing to improve his visibility. "It was a bit of oil, I don't know what happened there," Verstappen told Sky Sports after the race. "I ...

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Smith was a guest of Hamilton's Mercedes team this weekend and the duo recorded a light-hearted video in the build-up to the race where Hamilton was tied to a chair by the rapper/actor, who then walked into the garage in his own race suit and Hamilton's crash helmet. Hamilton went on to control the race from pole position but said he was a little wary of joking around in the time he usually ...

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The duo were fighting over seventh place as they approached the Turn 8/9 chicane at the end of the Yas Marina circuit’s main straight. They both locked up and went deep into Turn 8, but Grosjean remained on Hulkenberg’s right-hand side for the apex of Turn 9 and they touched wheels – sending the German driver into a dramatic series of flips towards the barriers on the edge of the ...

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The Red Bull driver led 17 laps during the middle phase of the race, as he stayed out longer than the other frontrunning cars. While it was hoped that a tyre-life advantage at the end would allow Ricciardo to charge through the field at the end, he was only able to pick off a struggling Valtteri Bottas for fourth, missing out on a farewell podium with the team that nurtured his career into ...

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Hamilton ran the longest second stint of any driver after pitting under an early virtual safety car, but remained comfortably clear of Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel. Max Verstappen overcame an early engine scare and resisted his charging Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo to finish third and deny the Australian a podium on his final race for the team before switching to Renault next ...

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Button worked for the broadcaster at this year's British Grand Prix and will be a part of the channel's presenting team full-time from the start of next season. Sky Sports F1 has exclusive rights to show F1 races live in the UK from 2019, except for the Silverstone race, which it will share with Channel 4. Channel 4 will show the other 20 races as highlights. "I'm incredibly excited to ...

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Pirelli has supplied F1’s tyres since 2011, but was up against DTM and European Formula 3 Championship supplier Hankook for a post-2019 deal. The new arrangement was complicated by F1’s rules changing for 2021, when the series will switch to using 18-inch wheels and tyre blankets will be banned. That meant the first season of the new four-year deal would require the supplier to produce ...

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On the eve of the Formula 1 season finale, Haas lodged a protest against Force India, claiming that the team had broken the rules by not designing its own car. An investigation by the stewards concluded, however, that the FIA believes the new Force India outfit was within the regulations because it had used the design of the old outfit that had gone into administration. While Haas ponders ...

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Changes to the wing and bargeboards for 2019 aimed at improving overtaking have triggered a pretty major redesign for teams, and could serve to shake up the order. Reflecting on a meeting he had with team personnel in Abu Dhabi on Friday to discuss 2019 plans, Hamilton says that they are already identifying the key areas they must focus on if Mercedes is to retain its place at the front of the ...

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Alonso will sample Jimmie Johnson’s 2018 road course Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, last used at the Charlotte “roval” event in September. Johnson will be at the wheel of a Mercedes V8-powered McLaren, having spent time in the team’s simulator in Woking last week. “It’s pure fun right now,” said Alonso of his NASCAR run. “But I cannot say 100% that I will not enjoy that much ...

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Leclerc has tested on numerous occasions for Ferrari before, including a tyre test at Paul Ricard in September, but this will be his first run in an official group test with the Scuderia since being confirmed as Kimi Raikkonen’s replacement. “It’s going to be pretty special to go for the first time as a race driver in an official test in a Ferrari,” said Leclerc. “It will be quite ...

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Verstappen and his team disagreed on the temperature of his hypersoft Pirellis in the last moments of Q3, with Verstappen complaining that they were too hot and Red Bull saying they were in the window. The result was Verstappen failing to get ahead of teammate Daniel Ricciardo and having to settle for sixth on the grid. "We will look into why they were a bit warmer because I didn't ...

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Vandoorne qualified 18th for his final F1 race before he joins the HWA squad in Formula E, a result that means he has been outqualified at every race in 2018 by McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso. The 26-year-old described his final F1 qualifying of the year as "great" before expressing his relief at getting to the end of the campaign. "[I'm] quite relieved, to be honest, we've not been in ...

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Before arriving at Abu Dhabi to spend the weekend watching Fernando Alonso’s expected final race, Johnson stopped off in London, visiting McLaren’s headquarters and spent nearly six hours in the F1 simulator preparing for Monday’s ride away with Alonso. “What an amazing place. The architecture and design of that facility was beyond impressive,” Johnson said of his visit to McLaren ...

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The two-time world champion is racing in F1 for the last time this weekend - for the time being at least - after having announced his decision to leave the sport earlier this year. Plans to pay tribute to the Spaniard have included a special car livery, overalls and a new helmet design. A farewell photo with all McLaren team members wearing commemorative T-shirts is scheduled for Sunday ...

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Hamilton overcame a deficit to Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas after the first two sectors of the lap to improve on his personal best by four tenths of a second and clinch pole by 0.162s. "The first lap wasn't spectacular, there were a couple of excursions and movement at the rear end," said Hamilton. "The last one started off quite calm and got more and more aggressive as I went through it ...

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The Mercedes driver was fastest on both runs in the Q3 top 10 shootout to take pole by 0.162s from teammate Valtteri Bottas. Although Bottas had a slight advantage in the middle sector and was up on his teammate at the start of the final part of the lap, Hamilton was quicker in the first and third sectors to take his 11th pole of the year. Sebastian Vettel couldn't improve by enough on his ...

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Gasly was on a hot lap when he came across a slow-moving Grosjean, who appeared not to have seen the Toro Rosso. Gasly aborted his lap, slowed down alongside Grosjean, and waved his fist. At the same time, the Haas driver turned into the corner and they made side-to-side contact, sending bits of bodywork flying. The stewards called both drivers to a hearing, with suggestions that Grosjean ...

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Interest in the original book far exceeded supply, and all proceeds from the new print run will go to the Grand Prix Trust, a non-commercial charitable organisation that comes to the aid of F1 personnel in times of need. The book Winnow Your Words: Kimi’s Book of Haiku, was originally released by Philip Morris International (PMI) as part of the press kit when the company launched its Mission ...

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Markelov is set to pilot the RS18 on the second day of the November 27-28 test, taking place at the Yas Marina circuit the week after the F1 season finale at the same venue. The team's race driver Nico Hulkenberg will drive the car on the first day, while the team's 2019 signing Daniel Ricciardo will not be available, having been barred from joining Renault for the test by his current Red Bull ...

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The stewards dismissed the protest and asserted that Force India's entry is legal and that the current Racing Point team can race a car designed by the previous Sahara incarnation, whose entry was withdrawn before the Belgian GP. An intent to appeal gives Haas 96 hours to make a final decision on whether it will go ahead with a full appeal. Team principal Gunther Steiner stressed that buying ...

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Mercedes driver Hamilton enjoyed a comfortable three-tenths advantage over the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen, with Sebastian Vettel third. Ferrari had control of FP3 for most of the session as Raikkonen and then Vettel hit the top of the pile early on. Vettel's initial benchmark of 1m38.668s stood until the final 20 minutes of the session, when he lowered it significantly to ...

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