Mercedes and Ferrari have identified the last race before the summer break as crucial but there will also be scrutiny for those not caught up in the title battleOnly one race remains before Formula One takes its annual rest for the summer – a break that after the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend may weigh heavier on some shoulders than others. The next few days will be potentially as instructive in the fight for the world championship as any we have seen thus far. Only a sliver separates Lewis Hamilton from Sebastian Vettel at the top of the table but Budapest has more import than just who will hold the lead when racing returns at Spa at the end of...
British driver shoots himself in the foot days before his home grand prix at Silverstone just as he finally seems to be feeling the love he cravesSilverstone will host a legion of fans this weekend revelling in Lewis Hamilton’s skill behind the wheel, yet this master of the Formula One universe still harbours doubts as to how they really feel about him. Willing and wilful, his character is compelling and complex, so it may be little wonder he still feels the need to prove himself to the British public.Hamilton, who trails Sebastian Vettel by 20 points in the championship, has three world titles and one more would make the 32-year-old the most successful British driver of all time. There has...
Baku’s incendiary incident provided priceless publicity for the sport but its subsequent judgments need to be more understandable for drivers and fansThe 2017 Formula One season finally reached ignition point in Baku and what a glorious conflagration it has started. Who can not be revelling in the prospect of a championship fight between Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel defined not by the buddy movie soundbites of mutual respect that had preceded it but by the edge and needle that characterises F1’s truly great rivalries. What had been a gripping tussle for the title now might just have the ingredients to match the heights of Senna v Prost and Piquet v Mansell.It was, fittingly, a heated moment itself that brought the...
Vettel is on the brink of missing the British Grand Prix, Ricciardo and Verstappen are transforming Red Bull’s outlook and Stroll is proving his critics wrongThere was clear disappointment for Lewis Hamilton after his charge in Baku ended in him dropping a further two points to his title rival Sebastian Vettel but, moving on from it and the acrimonious exchanges between the pair, the British driver emerged looking the stronger and more rounded. It was the loose headrest that had actually cost him the win and he took it on the chin and did not apportion blame. “I know the team will be devastated about the issue with the headrest,” he said. “We all feel that pain but it’s on...
Some say the German benefited from fortune but others believe it was favour, while the Indy 500 competitor Fernando Alonso remains popular in F1Kimi Raikkonen gave every impression he believed he had been sacrificed by his team to boost Sebastian Vettel’s world championship chances after Ferrari’s strategy worked in the German’s favour at the Monaco Grand Prix. Hamilton believed it was clear the Scuderia had chosen their No1 driver but Vettel and his team countered by saying it had been accident rather than design. Raikkonen had been losing pace towards the end of his stint on the ultrasoft rubber and the decision to pit him to cover Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen was expected. What was not was the sudden...