Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Tag: Lewis Hamilton

  • Bottas takes points lead with win in Azerbaijan

    Bottas takes points lead with win in Azerbaijan

    Ferrari paced the field all weekend in practice, but then qualifying came and Charles Leclerc, who led the Ferrari charge, crashed in the second round of qualifying. Instead, Mercedes locked out the front row and it was Valtteri Bottas’ day on the streets of Baku.

    Bottas held off Lewis Hamilton on the opening lap score his fifth career Formula 1 victory. He even passed Charles Leclerc for the lead on the pit straight on Lap 32.

    The always humble Finnish driver wouldn’t say it was an easy race, even though “not that much (was) happening up front.”

    “I did not do any mistakes, but everything was under control,” Bottas said. “I’m happy to see the checkered flag and get this first place.”

    “It’s incredible as a team on which kind of level we’re performing now. I would say to the guys I’m so proud to be part of that, and we’re all performing really, really well.”

    While he missed out on the bonus point for the fastest lap, Bottas overtook Hamilton for the championship lead.

    Hamilton made a run at Bottas in the closing laps, getting into DRS range, but couldn’t catch him.

    After he congratulated Bottas, he said that his chance at victory “was all lost in qualifying.”

    Sebastian Vettel rounded out the podium.

    Max Verstappen and Leclerc, who earned the bonus point for posting the fastest lap at 1:43.009 (a new track record), rounded out the top five.

    Sergio Perez, Carlos Sainz, Lando Norris, Lance Stroll and Kimi Raikkonen rounded out the top 10.

    Race summary

    After locking out the front row, Mercedes led the field on the start, with Bottas taking charge for virtually the whole race.

    He surrendered the lead on Lap 12 to pit, and Leclerc, who started the race on medium tires, took the lead.

    His tires started to wear as he neared his stop, and Bottas ran him down and passed him on the pit straight on Lap 32.

    Hamilton pulled within DRS range in the last three laps, but couldn’t make a pass on his teammate. He ran wide in Turn 16 on the penultimate lap and couldn’t take the fight to Bottas for the final lap.

    What else happened

    Alexander Albon clipped the outside Turn 1 wall on the opening lap, and a second time halfway through the race.

    Robert Kubica, who started the race from pit road, was handed a drive through penalty for “car being driven to pit exit too early.”

    Romain Grosjean locked up and ran off track in Turn 15 on Lap 25, and later retired from the race for unrelated reasons.

    Daniel Ricciardo locked up and slid off into the runoff area in Turn 3. He was to the inside of Daniil Kvyat and collected him. While neither car was damaged by the slide, Ricciardo reversed into Kvyat. Both retired from the race, as a result.

    Pierre Gasly brought out a virtual safety car, when his car suffered a power failure and pulled into a runoff area on Lap 40.

    Nuts and bolts

    The race lasted one hour, 31 minutes and 52 seconds, at an average speed of 124.200 mph.

    There were two lead changes among two different drivers and one virtual safety car period for two laps.

    Bottas leaves Baku with a one point lead over Hamilton in the drivers championship.

    Mercedes leaves with a 74-point lead over Ferrari in the constructors championship.

    Formula 1 returns to action in two weeks, when it heads to Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona to start the European stretch of the schedule.

  • Hamilton steals victory in Bahrain

    Hamilton steals victory in Bahrain

    Lewis Hamilton wasn’t the dominant driver, Sunday, and he probably wouldn’t have won without misfortune befalling Charles Leclerc. But as the old saying goes, “It doesn’t matter how you won. It just matters that you did.”

    Leclerc was well on his way to his first career Formula 1 victory, until the energy recovery system failed on his No. 16 Scuderia Ferrari SF90 with 11 laps to go. At that point, he was chum in the water.

    Hamilton ran down and passed him going into Turn 14, with 10 to go, and cruised to his 75th career victory.

    “We were definitely lucky today, but you have to take it as it comes,” Hamilton said. “Ultimately, I still gave it everything in the race, and I pushed as hard as I could.”

    Valtteri Bottas finished runner-up.

    Like Hamilton, he didn’t dance around the luck aspect of their finish, especially when he noted that the balance of his car was “beat everywhere.”

    “We did no mistake, as a team, and the car was very reliable,” Bottas said. “And that’s the win today. So all the hard work at the factories is paying off, like this.”

    A timely safety car saved a podium finish for Leclerc, who was quickly losing time to fourth-place Max Verstappen.

    “I’m extremely disappointed, like the whole team, but it happens in the seasons,” he said. “I think we made the best out of it.”

    In the moment, he found it difficult to look on the bright side.

    “…as I said a lot in the past, I’m never really looking at the result, and I’m more looking at the (indiscernible) of what to do better. Today, third was not our place, but yeah, very happy anyway.”

    Sebastian Vettel, after a spin just past halfway and losing his front wing, rallied to a fifth-place finish.

    Lando Norris, Kimi Raikkonen, Pierre Gasley, Alexander Albon and Sergio Perez rounded out the Top-10.

    Race summary

    Vettel took the lead from Leclerc going into Turn 1, on the first lap. On the fifth lap, Leclerc used a run down the pit straight to overtake Vettel going into Turn 1.

    After ceding the lead for one lap, Leclerc cycled back to the front on Lap 16.

    Hamilton pitted from second on Lap 36. Vettel followed suit on Lap 37. Leclerc and Bottas pitted the next two laps.

    For two laps, Hamilton and Vettel battled for third, in Turns 5, 6 and 7. On Lap 38, Hamilton used DRS (drag reduction system) and a massive head wind to overtake Vettel, going into Turn 4.

    “I just gave it everything and braked later than usual and dived down on the outside,” Hamilton said.

    On exit, Vettel got loose and spun out. He recovered and drove on. A few moments later, however, Vettel’s front wing fell off and he was forced to pit (rejoined the race in eighth).

    This set up the aforementioned finish, in which Leclerc’s power unit had a component failure and Hamilton passed him to win.

    “It happens. It’s part of motorsports,” Leclerc said. “Unfortunately, today was not our day, but I’m confident that our team has done an amazing job to recover the lack of pace in Australia.”

    “I’m sure it was a devastating result for (Leclerc), obviously, because had done the job to win the race,” Hamilton said.

    What else happened

    Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo both suffered power failures in Turn 1, with four laps to go. This necessitated a safety car period, and the race ended behind the safety car (the eighth time in Formula 1 history).

    Nuts and bolts

    The race lasted one hour, 34 minutes and 21 seconds, at an average speed of 122.047 mph.

    There was one safety car period for four laps and four lead changes among three different drivers.

    Bottas leaves Bahrain with a one-point lead over Hamilton in the drivers championship.

    Mercedes leaves with a 39-point lead over Ferrari in the constructors championship.

    The next race is in China on April 14.

  • Crossover Stars Help NASCAR’s Fan Appeal

    Crossover Stars Help NASCAR’s Fan Appeal

    NASCAR needs more crossover stars. It’s a time-honored tradition in the sport to bring in drivers from across the pond (mostly on NASCAR’s dime) and put them in our cars not only to perform but to draw in the fans. This is usually met with success more on the fan side of things, although former F1 drivers Mario Andretti and Juan Pablo Montoya did find a bit of success in NASCAR.

    Lewis Hamilton’s comments to TMZ regarding a foray in NASCAR have been given a bit of levity considering how his 2018 season has gone without a win, not to mention he has yet to finalize any plans beyond 2018. Hamilton has been vocal in the past regarding his love for American motorsports as well as a possible NASCAR venture, and considering he’s the closest thing to a mainstream A-list celebrity the racing world has, it’s easy to imagine the NASCAR brass salivating at the idea of Hamilton in a competitive car at Daytona. It’s not impossible to imagine NASCAR possibly even footing some of the bill to bring him.

    It’s had its pitfalls before, though. Two-time Formula One champion Jim Clark and Ludovico Scarfiotti were entered in the 1967 American 500 at Rockingham. Although Scarfiotti, winner of the 1966 Italian Grand Prix and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1963, did not compete due to his time being disallowed, Clark was able to bring his Holman-Moody Ford up into the top-15 before mechanical failure knocked him out of the race.

    Another Formula One champion, Kimi Raikkonen, competed at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s May 2011 Speedweeks in the Camping World Truck Series race as well as the Nationwide Series race. Raikkonen, the 2007 World Champion (and arguably one of F1’s most enigmatic personalities), drove for Kyle Busch Motorsports in both events, scoring a 15th-place finish in the truck race while finishing four laps down in 27th during the Nationwide race.

    Both instances had a lot of fanfare from across the racing world, and although they ended in less-than-stellar fashions, that hasn’t always been the case. Montoya won three races across the three national touring divisions in NASCAR. Andretti became a Daytona 500 winner for Holman-Moody in 1967. Nelson Piquet Jr. won two truck races and a Nationwide event.

    It’s been more than just an F1-to-NASCAR crossover. In 2017, two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso made his IndyCar debut at the Indianapolis 500, where he piloted an Andretti-Herta Autosport entry to Rookie-of-the-Race honors. Alonso managed to lead several laps and appeared in contention to win before an engine failure sidelined his Honda. The fanfare was so great it even garnered attention in the NASCAR world, where NASCAR-to-IndyCar and vice versa are not uncommon; NASCAR has seen its own Kurt Busch, Robby Gordon, Tony Stewart, and John Andretti make the Indy 500-Coke 600 double multiple times over the years.

    In 2008, on the heels of Formula One standout and Indianapolis 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya winning the 2007 NASCAR Cup Series Rookie-of-the-Year with one win, three top-fives, and six top-10s, IndyCar champions Sam Hornish Jr. and Dario Franchitti ventured into NASCAR with hopes of success. They dominated the storylines early in the season as part of the “Open-Wheel Invasion” despite struggling, and Franchitti dropped out halfway through the season while Hornish is now a part-time Xfinity Series competitor with a handful of wins.

    Even Danica Patrick’s move from IndyCar to NASCAR was fruitless overall, although she was one of the faces of the sport and spent her entire career in top-caliber equipment.

    It’d be easy to become jaded at the prospect of a crossover star coming to NASCAR, admittedly so. When has one actually set the sport on fire other than Tony Stewart, the 1997 Indy Racing League champion? Even those who have found success have received it in short bursts. Ultimately, it’s a matter of experience – more seat time means more success unless you’re a racing anomaly like Andretti or Montoya. But the buildup, the hype, the suspense of a driver who may be established elsewhere making the dive into another major motorsport, i.e., NASCAR, is noteworthy to the brass. Fans and media get especially excited, PR people go all out and come race day it’s almost certain that the Next Big Thing has arrived.

    Should NASCAR invest into another crossover star (training, seat time, equipment, so on), it could help bolster attendance and ratings issues, same with IndyCar and F1. The day can and will come when a crossover driver is discovered and happens to truly be the Next Big Thing.

  • The Final Word – A day of three iconic races, and the return of an iconic 3 to Victory Lane

    The Final Word – A day of three iconic races, and the return of an iconic 3 to Victory Lane

    One day, three iconic events for racing fans. All you needed was a fine alarm clock or, better still, a fine recording device.

    It all began early Sunday morning along the coast of Monte Carlo and the Monaco Grand Prix. I am not a big fan of driving fast and little passing, but Monaco is a different breed. Fabulous architecture and big expensive craft that fill the marina are the background for a street race that has the competitors driving just a bit above the recommended speed limit for you and me. Simply put, they go fast on a road not built to go fast, be it alone or among 20 other speed demons.

    You get the idea that concentration might be a real attribute. Gazing at a beautiful building or Leo DiCaprio trying to save the planet on one of those monstrous sized yachts might not be helpful in winning. Sebastian Vettel won it for Ferrari this weekend, and was happy about it. Teammate Kimi Räikkönen was second and he did not appear happy at all. When you start on the pole, you expect to win, but his day went to the pits in the pits. As for Lewis Hamilton, he started 12th and finished seventh. Did I not mention that passing was at a premium?

    From the land of champagne the day took us next to the land of milk and the Indianapolis 500. Indy was built for speed, though I am not sure they had these kind of speeds in mind back in 1909 when they opened the facility. Fernando Alonzo has a win at Monaco, along with 31 other Formula One victories and a pair of championships. On Sunday, he was an Indianapolis rookie. While Alonzo and Andretti teammate, last year’s winner Alexander Rossi, swapped the lead between them, pole winner Scott Dixon made it just past the quarter mark when he went to pieces. Jay Howard bounced off the wall right into Dixon’s path, and the ride he went on would make most of us truly appreciate the soft safe confines of our sofa. Then, he stepped out of the wreckage and walked away. Amazing.

    It was riveting action from the Midwest. It was a great day for Andretti’s boys, at least for a time. A pit problem cost Rossi and sent him back in the pack to stay. A blown engine removed Ryan Hunter-Reay from the equation. Near the end, it was Alonzo’s turn to clear away the mosquitoes. That left only Takuma Sato from the Andretti stable in contention, but that was all they needed. Sato beat out three-time champ Hélio Castroneves to give Andretti Autosport its second straight, third in four years, and fifth overall Indianapolis 500 victory. Sato becomes the first Japanese driver to win the classic in a race that was must-see television from start to finish.

    Then it was time to move on to NASCAR’s endurance test, Charlotte’s World 600. Not that everyone was busy all night, as an Earnhardt changed the course of this one. The Intimidator’s grandson, Jeffrey, blew up, tossing a large metal part onto the track. That collected Chase Elliott, who caught fire and slowed down to nothing. That was enough to cause Brad Keselowski to skid in at high speed to pile drive Elliott, and with that, we had three less cars to worry about. We did not have to worry about the weather, we were told. A storm was going to pass to the north of the track. They must have moved the track, because it poured during that second stage and put a red flag to proceedings for 100 minutes. It rained hard. It rained long. For a moment, I thought the action had returned to Europe for the Venetian gondola races. Honestly, if you had been thinking about mowing the lawn, you were in luck. You had the time to do so.

    Happily, the clouds parted and the track dried. Not so happily, Trevor Bayne broke an axle leaving the pits, that cost him five laps. Meanwhile, Kasey Kahne had a rear end failure, tagging the wall to end his day. As for Kyle Larson, he tagged the wall which moved things in his right front. It later gave up the ghost, went into the pearly outside fence, and his car was bound for automotive heaven. All this, and still 150 miles to go.

    As they counted down the final laps, it was fuel strategy versus performance. Jimmie Johnson and Austin Dillon looked to win it on stretching their petrol. Martin Truex Jr., who had been the best car on the night, along with Kyle Busch, were hoping their better entries would equate into victory. With 20 miles left, we still did not know how this would play out.

    With three miles to go, Johnson ran dry. Dillon had the lead. Busch got by Truex but on this day time ran out before the fuel did. Dillon took his grandfather’s team to Victory Lane. For Richard Childress, it marked the first win for his grandson. It also marked the first for the No. 3 since his friend, Dale Earnhardt, won for him at Talladega back on October 15, 2000.

    A great day for auto racing. A great way to end it.

  • Hot 20 – Motor Car Racing’s biggest day after one of NASCAR’s most newsworthy weeks

    Hot 20 – Motor Car Racing’s biggest day after one of NASCAR’s most newsworthy weeks

    Change. Sometimes change is good, like when you win a few million dollars. That is good. You get married to your sweetheart. Good. Your children start arriving. If you are a mature adult, and not some self-serving narcissist, that is very good. New talented drivers emerge on the scene. That is also a good thing.

    Some change sucks. Your favorite driver retiring, for example, if only for very selfish reasons. Trying to dump the Southern 500 was a bad thing. Abandoning such traditional names as the Firecracker 400 and the World 600 is not only bad but makes you appear dumb as a stick. About as dumb as adding a third stage for points in a 600-mile race, allowing the possibility of the driver finishing 26th to wind up with more points than the race winner. That is bad, also.

    As for changes in the 2018 schedule, good or bad? That is the question. Moving the Brickyard 400 to September? Iconic track, bad venue for NASCAR in my opinion. It does not much matter. Move Richmond from the final race of the regular campaign to the second of the Chase? It might work. Small market, short track, tons of tradition. Maybe.

    Changing the fall race in Charlotte to include its road course section? The World 600 is iconic. The fall race is not. Anything that includes another road course is good, but we will not know for sure until we see it. Will we be entertained? The fact that it is a Chase race ticks a box, and if it continues to be a 500-mile contest it would be by far the longest road course endurance test on the circuit.

    They thought about changing to the road course at Indianapolis. Those in charge of the iconic venue said no. Indy was all about the oval, in their opinion, period. I guess they decided not to cry over spilled milk and moved on.

    The Hall of Fame might need to change. Each year, they elect five more to be enshrined. Once, you needed a championship or 40 plus wins to get in. Now, no title and under 20 victories might still be enough. Mind you, Wendell Scott won just one race but his NASCAR journey was a lot like Andy Dufresne’s trek out of Shawshank. He deserves to be there. Dale Earnhardt Jr., on the other hand, once was a long-shot but today he is an automatic thanks to Curtis Turner’s induction in 2016. Is a change required? You be the judge.

    This week, the new inductees were announced. For a change, I can not argue with any of them. Engine builder and team owner Robert Yates. Inaugural NASCAR champ Red Byron. Championship crew chief and team owner Ray Evernham. Broadcast icon Ken Squier. Truck king Ron Hornaday. Next year, maybe mechanic, builder and crew chief Smokey Yunick might be included. He may not have kissed many rings and certainly no one’s ass, but he more than earned his spot. A softening of their attitude regarding him would be a most welcome change.

    Of course, for a change, this Sunday it is about more than just NASCAR. The Formula One offering starts the day with the Grand Prix of Monaco. Back on this side of the pond, the open wheelers are featured in the Indianapolis 500. Down south, the World 600 comes our way from Charlotte, North Carolina.

    Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton lead the way in F-1’s sixth race of the season. IndyCar finds Simon Pagenaud and Scott Dixon the top dogs. As for NASCAR, here is a look at our Hot 20 heading to Charlotte. In the words of Jackie Stewart, let the motor car racing begin.

    1. MARTIN TRUEX JR. – 2 WINS – 431 PTS
    When it comes to who should win this race this year, Truex is a “no change” kind of guy.

    2. BRAD KESELOWSKI – 2 WINS – 408 PTS
    A rule is not “made up” if you failed to read the fine print. Sticker tires are 100% unused.

    3. JIMMIE JOHNSON – 2 WINS – 323 PTS
    NASCAR makes up new rules, Johnson keeps winning championships. Expect more rules.

    4. KYLE LARSON – 1 WIN – 475 PTS
    Thinks All-Star race and season finale should move to different venues. He is wrong, of course.

    5. JOEY LOGANO – 1 WIN – 320 PTS
    Joey and Danica will be in the lineup. Aric Almirola is gone for two or three months.

    6. RICKY STENHOUSE JR. – 1 WIN – 276 PTS
    You would think a boy from Olive Branch, Mississippi would be the most peaceful guy out there.

    7. KURT BUSCH – 1 WIN – 246 PTS
    Well, all day long at the track all I hear is how great Kyle is at this or that! Kyle, Kyle, Kyle!

    8. RYAN NEWMAN – 1 WIN – 238 PTS
    Rocket Man? Amongst our race winners, it is more like he is the Invisible Man.

    9. CHASE ELLIOTT – 361 PTS
    After the fan vote last week, Chase is the new Danica. Okay, a more manly version.

    10. JAMIE MCMURRAY – 354 PTS
    Has won twice at Charlotte, but never this classic event.

    11. KEVIN HARVICK – 347 PTS
    Believes Truck Series should be run at non-Cup tracks, to bring out the fans. Harvick is right.

    12. KYLE BUSCH – 325 PTS
    Last week it was for money, this week it is for points.

    13. CLINT BOWYER – 317 PTS
    If it is not a rule, then Crew Chief Mike Bugarewicz gets in touch with his inner Smokey Yunick.

    14. RYAN BLANEY – 291 PTS
    His dad did not get his shot until he was in his late 30’s. Ryan knows that he is a fortunate son.

    15. DENNY HAMLIN – 289 PTS
    29 career wins, but not one yet at Charlotte. There is always Sunday.

    16. TREVOR BAYNE – 250 PTS
    Failed to join his fellow stars in Saturday’s big race. He has incentive to do well this weekend.

    17. KASEY KAHNE – 242 PTS
    Last week he won $1000 in a World of Outlaws race. So, they release prize money figures?

    18. MATT KENSETH – 233 PTS
    At least seven in the line-up for Sunday will wind up in the Hall of Fame. Matt is one of them.

    19. ERIK JONES – 217 PTS
    Stay off the grass.

    20. DANIEL SUAREZ – 217 PTS
    Was last week his coming out party?

  • Hamilton wants to try his hand at Daytona

    Hamilton wants to try his hand at Daytona

    Fernando Alonso took the motorsports world by storm yesterday when he announced that he was bypassing the Grand Prix of Monaco to enter the 101st Indianapolis 500 on the same day. So naturally, other Formula 1 drivers were asked if they would do so as well down the road.

    Among them was three-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who’s no stranger to the NASCAR world. He was a guest of Jeff Gordon’s at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the season-ending Ford EcoBoost 400 in 2015.

    He was asked, based on Alonso’s decision, would he run an “iconic race” such as Indy or Le Mans if given the chance.

    “Probably a NASCAR race, like the Daytona 500 maybe,” he said.

    Hamilton would be only the second Formula 1 world champion to compete in the Daytona 500 and first after winning a title (Mario Andretti won the Daytona 500 prior to his 1978 title).

    For Hamilton to run the Daytona 500, if he ever does attempt it, he’d likely run an ARCA race at Daytona International Speedway or Talladega Superspeedway as other drivers with no prior restrictor plate racing experience have done. But NASCAR has the discretion to allow a driver with no prior experience racing at Daytona or Talladega to race at Daytona and/or Talladega regardless. Their résumé committee looks over all drivers based on different factors, such as experience, speed of tracks, etc.*

    He also said he’d like to do MotoGP.

    “I’d like to ride a MotoGP,” he said.

    But Hamilton added that unlike Alonso, he wasn’t going to “miss out any of the races in Formula 1.” He also didn’t answer whether or not he would run the Indianapolis 500 or the 24 Hours of Le Mans, as was asked in the original question.

    The two other drivers part of the media availability, Stoffel Vandoorne and Sergio Perez chimed in on the question.

    “Yeah, I think I’ve decided to do the Spa 24 Hours instead of Hungary this year,” Vandoorne exclaimed.

    “I certainly wouldn’t miss Monaco because for me Monaco is my favorite weekend in the whole calendar. So I wouldn’t miss Monaco and normally you have that clash,” Perez said. “But I’d like to do some other racing. I certainly have some interest in IndyCar. The Indy 500 is certainly one of the best races in the world, so I’d definitely to do some.”

    *This article has been corrected to show that a driver with no prior restrictor plate racing experience may compete at Daytona and/or Talladega at NASCAR’s discretion. It incorrectly stated previously that NASCAR requires prior experience for restrictor plate races.

  • Hamilton wins the battle, but Rosberg wins the war

    Hamilton wins the battle, but Rosberg wins the war

    Lewis Hamilton did everything in his power he could to be champion with a win in Abu Dhabi, but it wasn’t meant to be as teammate Nico Rosberg finished right behind him to claim the bigger prize.

    Hamilton got a great start off the line and beat Rosberg going into turn 1. The race win was pretty much his from that point on. The Mercedes play their strategy very conservative with their drivers for most of the race to minimize the chances of a penalty and/or race incident, which included pitting their drivers much earlier than other teams.

    A late wrench was thrown into the mix when Sebastian Vettel of Scuderia Ferrari pitted off cycle of the Mercedes drivers. This put him in the lead coming to the last 20 laps of the race before he pitted onto faster super-soft tires.

    Vettel was posting the fastest laps of the race in the closing laps and it started to cause angst in the Mercedes garage. Hamilton used it to his advantage by backing his pace and forcing Rosberg to fight with Max Verstappen and Vettel for second and possibly lose the title.

    Vettel made the pass on Verstappen for third with five laps to go. This prompted Paddy Lowe, technical director at Mercedes, to tell Hamilton to pick up his pace and he responded as follows, “I’m actually in the lead and quite comfortable.”

    He also said he was “losing the world championship so right now I don’t really care whether I win or lose this race.”

    It made no difference in the end as Hamilton crossed the line first to win the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and Rosberg crossed runner-up to secure the championship by a five-point margin.

    “Honestly, I feel great,” Hamilton said on the podium. “First off, I’d like to say a big thanks to everyone who came out to support us. I want to say thanks to my family for all their support and thanks to the team and especially to the team for doing such a great job. It’s been a real privilege being part of this team and achieving the success we had this year. I never would’ve thought when I joined this team that I’d have that many wins.

    “And a big congratulations to Nico (Rosberg) of course on his first world championship. Good job man.”

    It’s his 53rd career victory and 104th career podium finish.

    “I did everything I could these last four races and that’s all I could really ask of ourselves,” he said when asked his emotional state following losing the title. “So I leave here and have a lot of fun tonight celebrating with the team and everyone.

    “You can’t win them all. Obviously, we had a lot of problems this year. So that’s why I’m in this position. But I’m still grateful for all the success up and down we had as a team.”

    Rosberg’s 57th career podium finish was enough to win him the 2016 championship.

    “That was definitely not the most enjoyable race I’ve ever had, with Max (Verstappen) in the beginning and then with those guys coming up in the end,” Rosberg said when asked if this was “just another day in the office” on the podium. “Really not very enjoyable those last laps. Very very glad it’s over and unbelievably ecstatic. (Indiscernibly gives thanks to wife Vivian and daughter Alaia for their support)…and I’ll thank everybody else afterwards.”

    He and his father Keke Rosberg join Graham and Damon Hill as the only father/son pairs to have won drivers titles in Formula 1.

    “Very proud of course to have done the same feat as my dad achieved,” he added. “He’s going to be coming in half an hour I think. It’s going to be exciting to see him.”

    Vettel’s third place finish was his 86th career podium finish and only his second in 13 races.

    He started off by congratulating Rosberg on his championship victory before answering the question of why it took him so long to get back to a podium finish.

    “Well it’s tough all day,” Vettel said. “The last couple of laps, I didn’t want to be in his (Nico Rosberg) shoes. I was trying to get close and have another go. I was thinking ‘Why not pass both of them’ if Lewis (Hamilton) is going that slow in front. But yeah, it was difficult because my tires were dropping more towards the end.

    “A bit stuck at the beginning of the race, couldn’t really unfold my pace. I was starting to get a bit frustrated. But once I had clean air, I could really unleash the pace that we had today.”

    Verstappen finished fourth gambling on a one-stop strategy because of his lap 1 spin in the first turn following contact with Nico Hulkenburg.

    In his post-race interview, he said the race “was very enjoyable. Of course after the start, I was a bit like ‘Well, let’s see where we end up now after the spin.’ Good pace and managed to hold onto the super-softs for quite a long time. Basically just recused my race a little bit. Of course, it’s still not an ideal strategy to do with one stop because you’re always protecting the tires. But yeah, I enjoyed it a lot overtaking that many cars and finishing fourth in the end was a great result.”

    He was asked if one stopping was the plan the whole time.

    “It was not Plan A,” he added. “So yeah we had to change it, but it worked.”

    Teammate Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the top-five.

    Kimi Raikkonen finished sixth, Hulkenburg finished seventh, Sergio Perez finished eighth, Felipe Massa finished ninth in his final F1 race and Fernando Alonso rounded out the top-10.

    The Haas F1 drivers finished 11th (Romain Grosjean) and 12th (Esteban Gutierrez).

    Jolyon Palmer was handed a five-second time penalty for causing a collision with Carlos Sainz on lap 42.

    Five cars retired from the race, including Jenson Button who was making his final F1 start.

  • Late race chaos allows Ricciardo to win in Malaysia

    Late race chaos allows Ricciardo to win in Malaysia

    Daniel Ricciardo was content to settle for second or third, but a late race reliability issue for one of the Mercedes drivers allowed him to take the lead and score the victory.

    Sebastian Vettel suffered race-ending damage after contact with Nico Rosberg in turn 1 on the first lap of the Malaysian Grand Prix. Photo: Clive Rose/Getty Images
    Sebastian Vettel suffered race-ending damage after contact with Nico Rosberg in turn 1 on the first lap of the Malaysian Grand Prix. Photo: Clive Rose/Getty Images

    Typically, most Formula 1 races see the game-changing moments in the dash towards turn 1 on the first lap, and there was also that in this race.

    Going into turn 1, Sebastian Vettel got in too hot and made contact with Nico Rosberg. He sent Rosberg spinning while he bent the left-front wheel of his car and retired from the race. This required a virtual safety car period.

    After the race went back to green, it settled into the typical follow the leader routine, only interrupted by Romain Grosjean locking up the brakes, going off track at the final turn, retiring from the race and prompting another virtual safety car period.

    Rosberg spent the whole race working his way from the rear of the field back up to the front. During his run to a third place finish, he was handed a 10-second time penalty by the stewards for contact with Kimi Raikkonen just past halfway.

    Lewis Hamilton's championship hopes took a hit when he retired with a blown engine with just over 20 laps to go in the Malaysian Grand Prix. Photo: Charles Coates/Getty Images
    Lewis Hamilton’s championship hopes took a hit when he retired with a blown engine with just over 20 laps to go in the Malaysian Grand Prix. Photo: Charles Coates/Getty Images

    It was on lap 40, however, when it became anyone’s race because pole sitter Lewis Hamilton, who had the field in check from the start, suffered an engine failure on the pit straight and retired from the race.

    This prompted another virtual safety car period. Red Bull Racing brought both cars onto pit road to change onto soft tires. Ricciardo, who overtook his teammate for second on lap 39, assumed the lead and got first dibs on tire service.

    The race went back to green a few laps later and Ricciardo drove on to win the Malaysian Grand Prix.

    As has become his custom of late, Ricciardo celebrated with a “shoey” (chugging champagne from his shoe). Teammate Verstappen, team principle Christian Horner and even Rosberg also took a shot of champagne from Ricciardo’s shoe.

    Verstappen took the second step on the podium and Rosberg, who had a 10-second penalty, finished 13 seconds ahead of Raikkonen and retained his podium finish.

    Valtteri Bottas rounded out the top-five.

    Sergio Perez finished sixth, Fernando Alonso finished seventh, Nico Hulkenburg finished eighth, Jenson Button finished ninth and Jolyon Palmer finished in the points for the first time in his career with a 10th place finish.

    Rosberg leaves with a 23-point lead over Hamilton with five races remaining in the 2016 season.

  • Rosberg holds off hard charging Ricciardo to win in Singapore

    Rosberg holds off hard charging Ricciardo to win in Singapore

    While the stat books will show it was a clinic by Nico Rosberg, it was anything but in the closing laps of Formula 1’s night race.

    The race started just shortly after 8:00 p.m. local time (8:00 a.m. Eastern time) and the Mariana Bay Street Circuit’s record of always seeing a safety car continued with a wreck by Nico Hulkenburg right off the line. Max Verstappen spun the tires getting off the line, which caused a log jam behind. Hulkenburg made contact with Carlos Sainz, spun down the track and slammed the inside wall.

    Valtteri Bottas and Jenson Button also sustained contact during the first lap melee and both retired from the race.

    There was also a scary incident on the restart when a track marshal was still on the racing surface when the race went green. Thankfully, the marshal made it to his post unharmed.

    After that, the race settled into the typical follow the leader routine. Although there were a few interesting battles during, especially with Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton making slight contact racing for second just past halfway.

    Beginning under 20 laps to go,  the cars pitted for the final time except for one, the race leader Rosberg. The Mercedes team opted to not pit Rosberg onto fresher tires and have him run to the finish on his current set of soft tires.

    “We couldn’t come in because I had traffic. I was very slow on that lap and he would’ve beaten me,” Rosberg said of the decision to not pit.

    What started as a gap of over 30 seconds from second-place Daniel Ricciardo to race leader Rosberg shrank as the laps winded down. With five laps to go, the gap was 5.2 seconds and Ricciardo was on pace to possibly be within DRS range on the final lap, but lapped traffic stalled him for a lap and made all the difference.

    “It was close,” Ricciardo said. “As soon as we did a pit stop, we though Nico would come in. I pushed really hard on those tires. By the end, we were a little bit dead. But at least we got close and made it exciting.”

    He got within a second of Rosberg on the final lap, but ran out of time to make a move for the win as Rosberg scored the victory in the Singapore Grand Prix.

    “It’s been an awesome weekend here in Singapore for me,” Rosberg said on the podium. “Already yesterday with the pole lap and then today [with the] great start. Had a good car in the race. Of course, Daniel tried to pull one up on me with the pit stop at the end there. We knew it was going to be tight in the end, but it worked out. So [I’m] really, really happy.”

    He also addressed being told to manage his brakes the whole race.

    “The whole car was on the edge,” he added. “It always is here at Singapore. So it’s all the more satisfying with a race like that.”

    Ricciardo settled for the second step on the podium.

    “We’ve come very close this year on numerous occasions, but I’m not gonna stand up here and be disappointed,” Ricciardo said. “I think we gave it a good shot. We tried something at the end with the strategy and we got within half a second. It was close, but we’re up here (podium) again. It feels great.”

    Hamilton rounded out the podium for the 99th time in his career. But as podium interviewer Martin Brundle put it, “It’s not the sweetest one I suspect.”

    “No, definitely not,” Hamilton said. “First of all, big congratulations to Nico. He drove fantastic all weekend and fully deserved the win. Very tough day today, but it always is in Singapore. This weekend has just been a bit of a tricky one for me, but I’m so glad I can get back on the podium and get some points for the team.”

    He also addressed his struggles early in the race.

    “It’s my brakes,” he added. “I was struggling with the brakes way overheating. So I just had to slow down and watch the other guys pull away. I was just looking at different ways to try and get them back under control. Eventually, once I did on, I think my second stop or third stop, the brakes were under control. But of course, towards the end, I still got a bit of heat in them.”

    He was also asked if he’s concerned about being eight points behind Rosberg with six races remaining.

    “Well it’s a lot different than when I was here last year, but with everything that’s gone on this year, I’m still in the fight. It’s still a long way to go and I’m gonna give it everything I’ve got,” he added.

    Raikkonen came home fourth and Sebastian Vettel, who started dead last, rounded out the top-five.

    Max Verstappen finished sixth, Fernando Alonso finished seventh, Segio Perez finished eighth, Daniil Kyat finished ninth and Kevin Magnussen rounded out the top-10.

    As for the Haas F1 Team, Esteban Gutierrez finished 11th and Romain Grosjean retired from the race before it started with brake wire issues.

    Rosberg leaves Singapore with an eight-point lead over teammate Hamilton in the drivers championship.

    Next up for Formula 1 is a trip to the capital of Malaysia for the Malaysian Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit.

  • Hamilton puts on clinic at the Hockenheimring

    Hamilton puts on clinic at the Hockenheimring

    While pole sitter Nico Rosberg got a horrible start, teammate Lewis Hamilton got an excellent start and put on a dominating performance as he scored the victory at the Hockenheimring.

    “Well first, let me start with a big thank you to all the fans that have come out today in Germany,” Hamilton said on the podium. “To see so many people here is very sportsman from the people here. I got a lot of flags out here. I just appreciate you all coming here.

    “What a race. What a great start. My engineers did a fantastic job. The balance was amazing and it was just about keeping it cool and looking after the engine. I’m just so happy I could up here for Mercedes-Benz, who I’ve been with since I was 13. So this is a very proud position for me to be in.”

    It’s his 49th career win in Formula 1, sixth of the season, third in the German Grand Prix, second at the Hockenheimring and 96th career podium finish.

    Daniel Ricciardo came home second in his No. 3 Red Bull Racing car.

    “It was a race of strategy at first,” Ricciardo said on the podium. “It was really close on the first corner with myself and Max (Verstappen). He had a good run on the outside. On the super soft’s (tires), I was much more comfortable and we had good pace for the last half of the race. We really capitalized on a good day. We had a good day. Obviously, we couldn’t win, but second and third isn’t too bad.”

    Daniel Ricciardo celebrates his podium finish by chugging champagne from his shoe. Photo: Mark Thompson/Getty Images
    Daniel Ricciardo celebrates his podium finish by chugging champagne from his shoe. Photo: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

    He decided to celebrate his runner-up finish by chugging champagne from his shoe during the podium celebration.

    Max Verstappen rounded out the podium in his No. 33 Red Bull.

    “We had a good start. From there on, I think the pace was pretty good. I was enjoying it. We chose to do two different strategies on the car, so I let Daniel by. From there on, we played really well as a team. To get a double-podium out of it was the main target and to score more points than Ferrari. That’s what we definitely did today.”

    It’s his fourth of the season and third in the last four races. This completed the first double-podium finish for Red Bull since the 2015 Hungarian Grand Prix.

    Rosberg brought his No. 6 Mercedes AMG Petronas car home to a fourth-place finish.

    “The start, yeah, we lost the race at the start definitely,” Rosberg said of his start following the race. “Just massive wheel-spin. I don’t understand it. It’s not something I foresaw.”

    Compounding his lousy start was a five-second time penalty he was handed halfway through the race after running Verstappen off the track limits at the hairpin.

    “Just a great battle and a great move I thought,” Rosberg said of the incident with Verstappen. “I was really happy about it and I didn’t expect a penalty at all. The penalty came through and that was very surprising.”

    He was asked if his move on Verstappen was “too much on the edge” like his run-in with teammate Hamilton in Austria.

    “Well, according to them (race stewards), yes. It was too much on the edge, but I don’t think so.”

    Sebastian Vettel rounded out the top-five in his No. 5 Scuderia Ferrari.

    Kimi Räikkönen finished sixth in his No. 7 Ferrari. Nico Hülkenberg’s No. 27 Sahara Force India Mercedes was the last car to finish on the lead lap in seventh. Jenson Button finished eighth in his No. 22 McLaren Honda. Valtteri Bottas finished ninth in his No. 77 Williams Martini Racing Mercedes. Sergio Pérez rounded out the top-10 in his No. 11 Force India Mercedes.

    The two Haas F1 drivers finished 11th (Esteban Gutiérrez) and 13th (Romain Grosjean).

    Felipe Massa and Felipe Nasr were the only retirements from the race.

    Hamilton leaves Germany with a 19-point lead over Rosberg in the drivers’ championship standings.

    Mercedes leaves with a 159-point lead over Red Bull in the constructors’ championship standings.

    Formula 1 goes on its annual summer holiday during the month of August. For the next two weeks, teams are forbidden from being in the shops and doing any work on the cars.

    “I won’t be going skydiving, but definitely relaxing,” Hamilton said of his plans for the summer holiday. “I’ll have my dogs with me and with family and friends. I think the whole team, everyone back at the factory and everyone here that works so hard this season, they all need a break. We all need a break. So I think I think it’s really well earned.”

    F1 returns to action on August 28th for the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.