Formula 1 2018 Spanish Grand Prix

The Haas driver picked up a three-place grid penalty for spinning across the track after losing control at Turn 3, which led to him being collected by Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly, eliminating all three cars from the race on the spot. “I don’t know what he was thinking,” says Autosport Editor-in-Chi ...

read on

When F1 TV was announced for the 2018 season, there was genuine cause for excitement. It was long overdue that Formula 1 introduced its own OTT service, something other sports like NFL, or MotoGP, one of F1's main competitors within the racing world, already did.Finally, there was going to be a way to watch F1 sessions online, and for people in certain countries a way to enjoy ...

read on

Toro Rosso's form dipped significantly in China and Azerbaijan after Pierre Gasly scored the best result of Honda's return to F1 with fourth in Bahrain.Gasly made it into Q2 for the first time since Bahrain but was wiped out on the opening lap, while teammate Brendon Hartley recovered to 12th from a back-of-the-grid start after a complete car rebuild.Honda's technical Toyoharu Tanabe ...

read on

Ferrari became the first team to roll out mirrors attached to the cockpit protection device at the Spanish Grand Prix, placing a winglet above the housing supporting it.It attracted attention from several teams, with Force India technical director Andrew Green admitting he thought that design was not allowed, but it was passed legal for the weekend.However, it emerged that the FIA ...

read on

The decision to reduce tread depth by 0.4mm was made last month, and was a result of blistering suffered in testing thanks to the increased loads at the resurfaced surface at Barcelona. These tyres will also be used at the French and British Grands Prix.Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen both suggested this made it more difficult for Ferrari to get the tyres working compared to ...

read on

The 22-year-old, who switched from single-seaters to GT racing last year, will take over from Red Bull race driver Max Verstappen on Wednesday.Dennis combines his Blancpain GT racing duties with the role of Red Bull simulator development driver.Red Bull says his chance to test the RB14 is to provide "useful correlation" between his sim work and the team's on-track development.The ...

read on

Lewis HamiltonRating: 10This was more like the Hamilton we, and the man himself, are used to seeing. His qualifying performance was strong, beating Bottas to pole position by four-hundredths partly thanks to his superiority in the medium speed stuff. He executed the race superbly, building a lead in the first stint that meant he had plenty in reserve. Made it look easier than it was. ...

read on

Leclerc got ahead of Alonso on the opening lap when the McLaren driver was delayed by Carlos Sainz at Turn 2 and then Romain Grosjean's spinning Haas at Turn 3.He kept the 2005 and 2006 F1 title winner behind for most of the opening stint until cold tyres at a virtual safety car restart left him vulnerable to an Alonso attack."It was great to fight with Fernando," said Leclerc. "In ...

read on

Lewis Hamilton's second consecutive victory could not have been more different to the first. While his latest triumph in the Spanish Grand Prix was worth the same 25 points his Azerbaijan win was, the Mercedes driver valued it more highly. And rightly so, for last Sunday he was at his imperious best.This was vintage Hamilton of the kind we did not see in Bahrain, China or Baku. The ...

read on

Sirotkin started from 19th on the grid in Barcelona owing to a three-place penalty carried over from Azerbaijan, and was running last after threading his way through the wreckage of Romain Grosjean's opening-lap shunt when the discomfort began to take hold."It's the toughest race I ever did so far," he said. "I wouldn't even call it a race, really."I had a good start, a good launch ...

read on

Hamilton said he hit the set-up sweet spot in a dominant performance in Barcelona, and with his lead secure he focussed on making mental notes about what to tell his engineers."I think today has really been a rejuvenating experience," he said. "People probably think it was an easy race and that I was cruising. I wasn't. "I was comfortable, and at no point did I feel I was going to ...

read on

read on

HAMILTON BACK ON FORMLewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG F1 celebrates in parc fermePhoto by: Manuel ...

read on

read on

TRACK INTERVIEWS(Conducted by Paul Di Resta)Lewis, what an absolute masterclass. You had an answer for everybody today out on track.Lewis HAMILTON: Thank you so much. I couldn’t have done it without this incredibly team. These guys have done an amazing job and I’m just really proud of everyone. Today, the car and myself, I felt that synergy today, which I hadn’t been feeling for the ...

read on

Vettel finished fourth in the Spanish Grand Prix, having lost two places to Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen's Red Bull after making a pitstop under the VSC.Vettel admitted making a mistake in stopping his car in his pit on cold tyres that contributed to that loss of position, but he still criticised the VSC system because he feels it contains a weakness in the software ...

read on

Vettel had managed to pass Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas for second at the start, and looked on course to be runner-up before making a second stop under virtual safety car conditions two-thirds into the race.With none of his rivals following suit, he emerged fourth – and was not able to get back ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen for the final podium spot.Wolff, whose cars made a ...

read on

Grosjean lost control at the long Turn 3 right-hander on the opening lap at Barcelona and spun into the path of following cars.He was collected heavily by Nico Hulkenberg's Renault and Pierre Gasly's Toro Rosso, putting all three out and causing a long safety car period.The stewards' panel, which included ex-F1 racer Derek Warwick, gave Grosjean a three-place grid demotion and ...

read on

Following his 20s victory over Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas, Hamilton said he "felt that synergy today which I hadn't been feeling for the whole year" – and believed this was more to do with the higher temperatures and understanding of his car than being track specific."I don't think it's solely the track, I think obviously testing was quite good here, everyone had a reading of ...

read on

Verstappen clipped Stroll's lapped Williams as they prepared for the restart from a virtual safety car period in the final part of the Barcelona F1 race.That left Verstappen missing a section of his car's front wing for the remainder of the race, but he was able to stay ahead of Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari and secure his first podium of the 2018 season in third."I was trying to be as ...

read on

Having jumped Valtteri Bottas at the start and then maintained second when the Mercedes had a slow pitstop, Vettel looked set to finish runner-up to F1 world championship rival Lewis Hamilton at Barcelona.But Ferrari brought him in for a second pitstop when the virtual safety car appeared just past half-distance, dropping Vettel from second to fourth.Asked by Sky Sports F1 if he felt ...

read on

Hamilton defeated teammate Valtteri Bottas by more than 20 seconds after a surprise second stop under a virtual safety car for Sebastian Vettel dropped Ferrari off the podium.In his place came Max Verstappen, who fended off Vettel despite a damaged front wing to score his first rostrum of the year.Vettel jumped Bottas into Turn 1 to slot into second before the race was immediately ...

read on

read on

Hartley suffered a high-speed crash in final practice at Barcelona that destroyed the rear of the car and forced him to miss qualifying.Though the car can be repaired, Hartley must take a complete new Honda power unit, as well as a new gearbox.The gearbox change is inconsequential because Hartley failed to take part in qualifying, so he was already due to start at the back.Replacing ...

read on

Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin were the two slowest drivers in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix, which continues a miserable start to the season for Williams. Stroll scored the team’s first points of the year in the last race in Azerbaijan, aided by the unique demands of that circuit, but the car's fundamental problem remains."We lose downforce at the diffuser, at the floor,” ...

read on

Simpler front wings are the crux of a new aero regulation that has been pushed through at the last minute for next season to make cars easier to follow and try to increase overtaking.The high-downforce 2017 rules package created the quickest-ever grand prix cars after a period that started with a bid to remove downforce in 2009."I find it a bit comical," said Vettel. "In 2009 we ...

read on

read on

read on

The Australian qualified in sixth place, behind teammate Max Verstappen and at the back of the group of the three leading teams.His best lap of 1m16.818s was 0.645s off Lewis Hamilton's pole time of 1m16.173s."I thought it was alright," said the Australian. "I was kind of a little bit 'ugh' after qualy. I didn't think the car felt too bad."We did about three 16.8s with different ...

read on

The thinner tyres were specified by Pirelli after teams experienced overheating issues on the resurfaced track in March testing.Some teams have privately suggested that, as Mercedes suffered more than others, the team thus had the most to gain from the change, which will also apply at Silverstone and Paul Ricard, which have similar surfaces.Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas locked ...

read on

The German had made the final qualifying segment in all four of the first grand prix weekends of the 2018 Formula 1 season, but was left only 16th on the grid in Spain, his Q1 exit triggered by what Renault described as a "fuel pressure issue".Hulkenberg had been unable to log a representative lap at all on his first run, and could only squeeze in one proper effort late on - which was ...

read on

The Haas driver was seventh or sixth in each of the three qualifying segments at Barcelona on Saturday, and he said he is preparing for a race where he effectively has no-one ahead of him to worry about."It's pole position for us – we don't really feel like we could have done any better," said Magnussen. "Unless you are in a Ferrari, Mercedes or Red Bull, then this is pole position. I ...

read on

The Ferrari driver lost time after a wobble at Turn 1 in his first Q3 run and then decided to switch from supersofts to softs for his second and final attempt.Raikkonen finished down in fourth, however, nearly half a second off pole and three tenths behind teammate Sebastian Vettel.The Finn said he gambled on the soft-tyre run as he felt he did not have much to lose."Obviously after ...

read on

TRACK INTERVIEWSConducted by Davide ValsecchiQ: Lewis Hamilton, what a wonderful lap. How was your drive? Look at the atmosphere. Something incredible today.Lewis HAMILTON: It’s always a great atmosphere here in Barcelona; we always get a great crowd. There are a lot of British fans here, a lot of Spanish fans here, even, supporting a Brit, so I appreciate everyone. Yeah, very close ...

read on

On the back of Hamilton's dominant pole position in the Australia season opener, Mercedes was beaten by Ferrari for three consecutive qualifying shoot-outs, as the Scuderia emerged with what appeared to be the 2018 field's quickest car.And the trend looked set to continue in Barcelona as the Silver Arrows trailed Ferrari through Q1 and Q2, only for Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas to step ...

read on

The Toro Rosso driver spun backwards into the barriers at the high-speed Turn 9 after putting a wheel on the grass on the outside before turning into the corner.His car was too heavily damaged for him to take part in qualifying, but he said he was confident all of the damage can be repaired by his team at the track."Such a big impact like that, it's potentially the biggest impact ...

read on

read on

McLaren introduced what it had labelled its "real" 2018 car in Barcelona this weekend, with several upgrades that Alonso praised after Friday practice.On Saturday, the Spaniard made it into Q3 for the first time this year, qualifying eighth, albeit over 1.5 seconds off the pace of pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton.Alonso admitted the result left him with mixed feelings, happy that McLaren ...

read on

Hamilton was fastest after the first runs in the Q3 top 10 shootout, and like teammate Bottas opted for another set of supersoft Pirellis for his second run.He banged in a lap of 1m16.173s to shave just over three tenths off his earlier time to secure top spot.Bottas was a shade faster than Hamilton in the first and third sectors, but Hamilton's mighty pace in the second sector meant ...

read on

Teams are not allowed to locate bodywork in that area, but Ferrari has insisted that the primary purpose of the winglets is as part of the mounting system for the mirrors, which it has mounted on the halo for the first time this weekend, after the FIA gave permission in a recent Technical Directive.However, several rival teams have questioned the legality of the overall Ferrari ...

read on