With help, engineering ingenuity could bring about some of the next great technological leaps forward, with Silverstone having an important part to playAbout 15 years ago Britain ignored a great opportunity to bring together sport, industry and action on the environment. A country whose designers and engineers were dominant in Formula One could have exploited some of that creativity in order to become the world’s leader in the emerging field of electric vehicle technology. Instead the racers got on with racing and the captains of industry carried on supervising the decline of Britain’s industrial base. Related: Valtteri Bottas’ Mercedes seat could result in fireworks with Lewis Hamilton | Giles Richards Continue reading...
A predicted understudy role would take the pressure off the Finn but with the F1 drivers’ market opening up at the end of 2017, he is likely to come out fightingWith 10 years in Formula One and three world championships under his belt there is little that will unnerve Lewis Hamilton, even entering a season which brings the biggest rule shakeup for two decades. But while taking the wheel of a new car is a challenge the British driver will relish, adapting to his new Mercedes team-mate, Valtteri Bottas, may be more of a concern. Related: F1: Valterri Bottas joins Mercedes to replace Nico Rosberg Related: FIA approves sale of F1 to Liberty Media with takeover expected in March Continue...
The technical director Paddy Lowe’s departure hard on the heels of world champion Nico Rosberg leaves the British driver as the team’s senior figurePre-season preparations took a back seat on Tuesday to Formula One’s equivalent of the transfer market as Mercedes announced the long‑expected departure of their technical director, Paddy Lowe, who is predicted to re-emerge at Williams in a management role. The loss will be felt – Lowe has been ever-present as a key part of the Mercedes team during their three dominant years in F1 – but not as keenly as might be expected.More intriguingly, however, it may be a factor in creating a scenario that will present a career-defining challenge for Lewis Hamilton: the chance to forge...
The German never earned acclaim in his homeland like Michael Schumacher but the Mercedes driver was diligent and intelligent and was rewarded with a world championship title after a 10-year battleFor a driver who strove with such fierce diligence to win the world championship Nico Rosberg has given up its fruits very quickly; champion on Sunday, retired on Friday, he was not even a six-day wonder.For many years he has been one of the more anonymous of Formula One’s leading drivers. Now, finally thrust into the spotlight of glory, it is almost as if he could not stand the glare. Related: Nico Rosberg has called quits on his F1 career at the right time | Richard Williams Related: Nico Rosberg...
World champion faced defending title under critical scrutiny from those who believed his success came due to a couple of Lewis Hamilton’s engine failuresNico Rosberg’s decision to walk away from Formula One with the taste of the podium champagne still in his mouth is a conspicuously brilliant one, not least because the newly crowned world champion took everybody with an interest in the sport – except, presumably, his nearest and dearest – by complete surprise.Perhaps the most graceful consequence of his decision is that it allows him to retire on equal terms with his father, Keke, who won his sole world championship in 1982. It was Keke who put Nico in a go-kart at the age of six, and who...