Maranello team were hoping to wrap up the season with a first world title in more than a decade but mistake after mistake has again undermined their challengeAs Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc leave the pit lane of the Yas Marina circuit on Friday for the first practice session at the final grand prix of the season, it will be 90 years to the day since Enzo Ferrari registered the name of his new racing team with the local authorities in Modena, his home town. By putting his name to that document, Ferrari set in motion an era of glory and glamour and tragedy and disappointment, creating an unfolding narrative characterised by an instinct for high drama.The members of Scuderia...
The case for Germanys four-time champion not being No 1 with the Scuderia next season is overwhelmingAlready beaten and bloody from a punishing season, Ferrari completed Paul Wellers Eton triumvirate by emerging from the Brazilian Grand Prix with sick down their shirt. Heading into the winter to regroup, the very last thing the Scuderia needed was for their drivers to clash on track and bring to a premature head the problem the team have in how they manage Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc next season. Indeed, what Brazil demonstrated is that they may have a problem that is simply intractable.At Interlagos the two drivers were set for a solid points finish when they came together battling for fourth. Leclerc had...
Red Bulls Max Verstappen was flawless at Interlagos, altitude sickness for Mercedes and a happy birthday for HondaWhat a difference a year makes. Max Verstappen, after his travails at this race last year, where he was hit by Esteban Ocon while leading, could not have delivered a more impressive performance. Since his crash in practice at Monaco last year he has returned a more complete driver. Red Bulls team principal, Christian Horner, has praised how far he has come and believes he has the ability to beat Lewis Hamilton in a straight fight. On this evidence it would be an unmissable battle. Weaknesses remain qualifying at Mexico was a glaring error but in Brazil he was calm, controlled and flawless...
Rookie from Stevenage has won a grand prix in every one of his 13 seasons and matured into an F1 champion of substanceLewis Hamilton is no longer the bright-eyed, fresh-faced prodigy who burst into Formula One at the age of 22. Approaching the middle of his fourth decade, he is a more guarded, reflective man who makes sure every scrap of experience built up over almost 250 grands prix is exploited as, having seen off his contemporaries, he holds a new generation of wonderkids at bay.At the moment, Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Alex Albon and Lando Norris can only stand back and admire the achievements of a driver, once a prodigy like them, who has propelled himself to a position...
Hamilton’s extraordinary feat is built on daunting consistency and he will now want to beat Michael Schumacher’s recordA sixth world championship is an extraordinary achievement by any standard but in reaching it Lewis Hamilton has indisputably proved he is the best driver I have ever seen. People speak about the greats but the way Lewis has gone about racing I believe makes him the greatest. I am in awe of what I see, even as an ex-racing driver.From everything I know from the history of F1, from competing and watching racing, from Juan Manuel Fangio through Jimmy Clark and Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Nelson Piquet, Nigel Mansell, Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Michael Schumacher and all the other...