Passing at Albert Park is always difficult but Lewis Hamilton reiterated the new rules make overtaking harder; Red Bull lack balance; and Williams are still top stoppers Related: Lewis Hamilton: 2017 rules made battle with Sebastian Vettel ‘harder than ever’ Haas were the surprise package in qualifying Continue reading...
Whatever happens at Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix there are already good reasons for fans to be excited about the futureThe waiting is over and Melbourne is abuzz with anticipation and the feeling, shared by Formula One fans across the world, that this is going to be a big weekend. Friday practice will be the first indicator of pace after the poker hands of testing in Barcelona; Saturday’s qualifying will be cards on the table time to discover who can turn any pace into a hot lap. Race day is crunch time for the teams but this year, with new regulations, it is also going to be a huge moment for the sport. A new start in a new era.But it...
While Lewis Hamilton and his F1 team appear closer than ever, the Mercedes executive director accepts ‘the way the best ones are calibrated can cause bumps on the way’“Still I Rise” is the motto Lewis Hamilton wears proudly tattooed on his back and emblazoned across his helmet. Inspiration for resilience in adversity adopted from Maya Angelou’s poem via Tupac Shakur that he had good reason to look to last year when, in the wake of consecutive Formula One world championships, an emotional and mental rollercoaster of a season left him ultimately beaten by his team-mate, Nico Rosberg. Worse still, by the close, the title gone, his fractured relationship with his former friend extended to the team. The formidable partnership forged...
With the new regulations 2017 will be a season-long development race, and the Red Bull team looks best-equipped to challenge the dominance of MercedesThey are called testing sessions but the two weeks Formula One is spending in Barcelona this year are proving to be a mighty tease as well. Sandbagging and keeping one’s cards close to one’s chest are long-established elements of the pre-season runs, but this year, with brand-new cars designed to the new regulations, no team want to reveal too much and lose any advantage they may have stolen over the winter. Times – only ever a loose guide before the real business begins – are therefore perhaps less revealing than ever but in the case of the...
New season’s cars not as easy to drive as they look, the verdict is still out on the shark fins while Christian Horner says move to social media is instant successConsensus was reached by F1 drivers regarding what a physical challenge handling the new cars represents. The word “beast” was bandied about with abandon by several and to their credit they were using it positively and revelling in the task of having to properly manhandle their drives around the Circuit de Catalunya.Mechanical grip was up, as was downforce, as had been the plan for the new regulations, and the resultant grip led to cornering speeds and g-force increases that are a new experience for almost all of the current crop...