Ferrari

29th March 201930th March 2019

Ferrari turn the screws further in FP2

image courtesy of Ferrari F1 Team – Photogallery – Bahrain Grand Prix 2019

Sebastian Vettel topped the FP2 timesheets under the Bahrain lights, leading his Scuderia teammate Charles Leclerc by less than a tenth of a second. Mercedes found themselves six tenths away, while Renault impressed, Red Bull held back and Williams showed signs of improvement.

After the smokescreen of disappointment Ferrari waded through in Melbourne, the evening rays of Bahrain gave light to a much better scenario for them – almost a second separated them from the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas, the man who had his hands on the trophy they so expected to collect.

They topped the initial runs during FP1, with the new boy Charles Leclerc leading his established teammate Sebastian Vettel by +0.407. The Toro Rosso duo of Daniil Kvyat, development driver for the Scuderia a year ago, and Alexander Albon were able to show their pace, giving hope a similar result to Pierre Gasly’s miracle 4th place last year may not be so far away.

Kimi Raikkonen was the first of a handful of drivers to be caught out at Turn 2 on cold tyres, losing grip and entering the dreaded pirouette while trying to plant the power needed for the straight ahead. When he was able to get in a lap, Kimi found himself only three tenths away from the ‘best of the rest’ before steadily dropping down the times as the other midfield teams got up to speed.

Pierre Gasly’s nightmare Australian GP weekend is behind him, but FP2 suggested he still has a way to go before the RB15 package is dialled up to his liking. He was 7 tenths away from Max Verstappen, who found himself bested by the Renault. Red Bull’s pace could prove to be misleading come Saturday but there is certainly still work to do.

Renault put out a real warning to the other teams challenging for 4th, challenging Haas with impressive single timed laps and longer runs. Nico Hulkenberg found himself leading Daniel Ricciardo by 1.2 seconds for most of the session, getting within two tenths of Bottas and further demonstrating the ever-shortening gap between the top teams and challengers in F1 2019.

The Williams, while still slowest, did look to have made improvements compared to their sobering experience in Albert Park, George Russell able to get within just a tenth of Giovinazzi on a 1:31:904. Robert Kubica continued to lag behind his teammate, to the tune of a second, but was not using DRS during his laps for an unknown reason.

Vettel would go on to get ahead of his Monegasque teammate, before following his old teammate Raikkonen’s lead in spinning at Turn 2, overloading the rear tyres but able to continue. Ferrari’s ominous Friday pace serves as a stark warning to the Mercedes team, and Toto Wolff’s nervousness about their predicament, so often mocked by the paddock and fans, could well prove to be genuine.

17th March 2019

The stumbling horse: Have we overestimated Ferrari?

“Why are we so slow?”

“I don’t know.”

This team radio message between Sebastian Vettel and his race engineer was the general gist of what was a sobering, dejecting, and exposing weekend for Ferrari at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

After such a promising winter where Ferrari looked quicker and more reliable than Mercedes, the Italian team came to Australia with a surely ardent belief that this, after years of waiting, was finally the year they would have the upper hand over Mercedes and would have enough to win the championship. Now, we may have only had one race so far, and we certainly will not rule out Ferrari after just 58 laps of racing, but Friday was a reality check for Ferrari and Sunday has made for compounded Monday morning blues at Maranello.

Sebastian Vettel was seven tenths off Lewis Hamilton’s pole position, and Ferrari’s fastest lap of the race, set by Charles Leclerc, was just under 1.4 seconds slower than the fastest lap of the race set by race winner Valtteri Bottas. To make matters even worse, Max Verstappen and his Honda powered Red Bull looked exceedingly quick and he pushed Vettel out of the podium places, leaving a lot of head-scratching to be done at Ferrari.

So just why were Ferrari so much slower over the course of the weekend than Mercedes? Well, the heart that Ferrari fans can take from this weekend is that the gap in qualifying pace this season was similar to what we saw last year. The race this year, though, did not turn out so well. Even another Haas pit stop failure for Romain Grosjean couldn’t save Ferrari this time around.

Melbourne is a very unique circuit. Many forget that the track is actually a main road and therefore is a tricky surface, a mix between straights and twisty corners. It is, for the most part, a power track, which would suggest that Mercedes have managed to edge back ahead of Ferrari engine-wise.

Overall, however, the Albert Park circuit tends to be fairly unrepresentative of pace and performance, which will be the key source of positive thinking that Ferrari will be looking to heading into the Bahrain Grand Prix. Furthermore, Mark Webber was keen to point towards tyres, suggesting that Mercedes were able to get the tyres into an operating window and keep them there. Ferrari, meanwhile, were not, which in turn would link back again the unique nature of the Melbourne circuit.

An aspect that will concern them even more is that Red Bull looked genuinely fast. The Honda-powered car was brilliantly fast in the speed traps, split both Ferraris in qualifying, and set a faster lap than them both during the race.

It is difficult to judge whether this is a step in the wrong direction for Ferrari, or whether this was just a wacky weekend that didn’t turn out in their favour. All did not look well during the weekend and the early signs suggest that the Prancing Horse is not match for the Silver Arrows, and may even be challenged by the new-look Charging Bull.

[Featured image – Ferrari Media]

17th March 2019

Ferrari team orders issued to avoid ‘any risks’ at Australian Grand Prix

Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto says Ferrari issued team orders to Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc to avoid taking ‘any risks’ in the closing stages of the Australian Grand Prix.

Despite many labelling the Scuderia the favourites going into the season based on their form in testing, Ferrari struggled around the streets of Albert Park.

“Right from Friday, we didn’t feel comfortable at this track,” Binotto said. “Even though we did a lot of work on set-up, we didn’t find the right balance and even our qualifying performance demonstrated that we were struggling to adapt to the Albert Park track.”

After Vettel made a pitstop to switch onto the medium tyres, he failed to get enough grip out of them and was passed by Max Verstappen. When Leclerc then started gaining on Vettel using newly fitted hard tyres with ten laps to go, he asked the team whether he should stay behind.

“Yes, and back off to have some margin,” came the reply. Leclerc obeyed and the pair trailed home fourth and fifth, nearly a minute behind race winner Valtteri Bottas.

It was made clear in pre-season testing that Ferrari had the intentions of prioritising Vettel over Leclerc in an attempt to boost the former’s hopes in the title race. In Australia, though, it was a matter of not jeopardising either of their drivers’ results, despite the thirty second gap to Kevin Magnussen in the Haas behind.

Speaking of the decision, Binotto said, “When [Vettel] could no longer fend off Verstappen, we decided the most important thing was to get to the end, managing the tyres. When Charles caught up to him, it seemed wise not to take any risks.

“We leave Australia with a lot of data to analyse and we will use that to work out how to get back to our actual level of competitiveness for the race in Bahrain in two weeks time.”

15th February 201915th February 2019

Ferrari launch their 2019 campaign at Fiorano

Ferrari launched their 2019 contender this morning at a car launch event at Fiorano.

In attendance was Scuderia Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto, Sebastian Vettel, and Vettel’s new team-mate Charles Leclerc.

With the updated regulations in force, the stunning SF90 sports a freshly designed matte-finish red and black livery, with several technical tweaks – most noticeably on the front wing – having been put in place in the hope of making Formula 1 races more action-packed and competitive, with more overtaking and smaller time margins between the teams.

CEO of Ferrari Louis Camilleri said, “The car embodies the latest state of the art technology, reflects the new regulations for the coming season and is the fruit of the combined enormous work and talent of everyone in the Scuderia.”

With the last Ferrari champion being Kimi Räikkönen, the team have high hopes that their two drivers will be fighting for race victories and both the drivers’ and constructors’ Championships. 2019 marks Sebastian Vettel’s fifth year with the Italian team, whereas rising star Charles Leclerc will be making his Ferrari debut in just his second year in the premier class.

The Monégasque and the German will be fierce competition for their rivals over at Mercedes, who have retained their 2018 line-up of five-time drivers’ champion Lewis Hamilton, and Valtteri Bottas. There is much speculation regarding how Red Bull will fare having dropped Renault as their engine supplier in favour of Honda, however with winter testing coming up in Catalunya, there should be a clearer idea as to how competitive each team will be. With an experienced champion in Vettel, and with Leclerc’s natural talent, the duo will undoubtedly have starring roles in the forthcoming season.

Daniel Ricciardo’s surprise move to Renault caused a knock-on effect in the drivers’ market which has produced one of the most exciting line-ups in recent memory. Robert Kubica will return to the sport after a prolonged absence due to sustaining injuries in a 2011 rallying accident; Brits Lando Norris and George Russell will race with British teams McLaren and Williams; Antonio Giovinazzi will take part in his first full Formula 1 season at Alfa Romeo Racing with Kimi Räikkönen as his teammate; and at Red Bull, fan-favourite Max Verstappen is paired with Pierre Gasly.

Pre-season testing is set to get underway on Monday, the 18th of February, with the first race scheduled for the 17th of March. An unpredictable year lies ahead, however one thing is certain – the 2019 F1 season is shaping up to be a thriller.

[Featured image – Ferrari Media]

4th February 2019

Wehrlein and Hartley named as Ferrari simulator drivers

Former F1 drivers Pascal Wehrlein and Brendon Hartley have been named as Ferrari’s new simulator drivers alongside Davide Rigon and Antonio Fuoco.

Brendon Hartley raced for Toro Rosso in the last four races of 2017 and for the whole of 2018 before being unceremoniously dropped from their line-up. In 2019, alongside his role in the Ferrari simulator, he will once again make up part of Porsche’s factory driver program, with a potential return to the World Endurance Championship – where he won the LMP1 title in 2015 and 2017 – on the cards.

Wehrlein last competed in F1 in 2017 for the Sauber team, and now races for Mahindra in Formula E. Rumours had linked him with Ferrari ever since it was announced that the ties between himself and Mercedes had been cut in September of last year.

Pascal Wehrlein (D), Sauber F1 Team.
Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace.

As mentioned, the pair will join Davide Rigon and Antonio Fuoco at the Scuderia. Rigon has worked in the Ferrari simulator since 2014, whilst Fuoco has long been a part of the Ferrari Driver Academy and took part in F2 last year.

Speaking of the signings, team principal Mattia Binotto said, “Our team has taken on four undoubtedly talented drivers, who possess innate feeling, with a strong understanding of race cars and tracks. These are exactly the qualities required in the skillful role of driving in a simulator, one of the vital pieces of equipment in the Formula 1 of today.”

[Featured image: Peter Fox/Getty Images]

22nd January 2019

F1 2019: Finally the year of Prancing Horse?

Ordinarily, we go into F1 seasons asking the cliché question of whether Lewis Hamilton achieve greatness this year. The truth is that this question has been rendered absolutely redundant – he has already well and truly done that. The question as we go into a new season in Formula One is: will Hamilton retain the championship crown this year and further cement an already-undeniably brilliant legacy, or will 2019 finally be the year of the Prancing Horse?

Certainly, Ferrari’s progress has been very telling. In 2015 Mercedes, on average, out-qualified Ferrari by 0.7 seconds – a mammoth margin – but Ferrari were right on par with their German counterparts in 2018, often beating them to top spot.

The same could be said about 2017 too, and there were many occasions – particularly in the early going of the season – when we thought that it might just be the year of Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel, only for Hamilton and Mercedes’ prowess and excellence under pressure to shine through and steal the show, leaving the Italian giants empty-handed.

What has generally gone wrong for Ferrari is a combination of cruel luck, self-inflicted damage, and moments of utter stupidity and notable madness. In races such as Singapore 2017 and Germany 2018, Vettel has completely lost his cool and cracked under pressure – something not to be expected of a man who so impressively took four titles under the immense pressure of a field adorned at one stage by five other world champions.

Vettel’s errors in races like Italy, Japan, USA, France and the aforementioned Germany had a quite frankly shocking impact on the complexity of what turned out to be a remarkably one-sided championship battle last year. After the Japanese Grand Prix, it was calculated that Vettel would have been 13 points ahead of Hamilton in the lead of the title race at that stage had everything gone to plan. Instead, he was instead 67 behind. Of course then, we could bring up Hamilton’s DNF in Austria, or the untimely Virtual Safety Car (VSC) in Australia, which saw Vettel snatch the lead away from Hamilton that day. It makes for painful reading for Vettel.

Yet, while toiling in the misery of once again losing out to Hamilton in the championship battle, Vettel will have to take heart from the fact that, aside from the mistakes, the Ferrari might just be fundamentally better than the Mercedes, and provided Ferrari can maintain their rousing progress with the car. 2019 may just be Ferrari’s best chance yet of winning their first silverware since way back in 2008 when they won the Constructor’ title.

While all the talk is about Vettel and Hamilton, though, let’s not forget the dark horses (or dark arrow in the instance of one of them) of Valtteri Bottas and Charles Leclerc.

Bottas is on a quest to find some much-needed form if he wants to be able to compete for the World Championship this year and step out of the imposing shadow of team- mate Lewis Hamilton. The Finn, who has looked somewhat innocuous in the title race for the past couple of seasons, knows that this is last chance saloon if he is to seal a drive with the champions for 2020.

And not many drivers can say that just their 22^nd race in their F1 career was in Ferrari colours, but this is a stat that Charles Leclerc will be able to proudly exult. The Monegasque enjoyed a remarkable first season with Sauber last year, earning him a spot with the Maranello team and swapping places with Kimi Raikkonen. He is largely tipped for greatness in the sport, and the godson of Jules Bianchi would like nothing more than to prove to Ferrari that he will not bow down as Vettel’s sidekick, and that he himself can be the brave gladiator who finally topples Hamilton and Mercedes.

With that being said, let’s bring a Bull into the Colosseum, shall we? The Austrian beast with Japanese racing history racing through its veins certainly cannot be counted out, as Red Bull seek to finally mount a serious title challenge with Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly, putting an end to the mere satisfaction of a couple of race wins.

This could be one of the most exciting seasons we’ve ever seen in Formula One. It’s certainly bubbled up nicely, but will there be an explosion of life into the championship battle when the lights go out in Australia?

[Featured image credit – Ferrari Media]

7th January 2019

Binotto To Take The Reins at Ferrari?

Reports from Italy have suggested that Ferrari team boss Maurizio Arrivabene is soon to be replaced by technical director Mattia Binotto ahead of the 2019 F1 season.

The news was announced in Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, and has since been reported on the official F1 website. This comes after Ferrari suffered yet another defeat from the German powerhouse Mercedes AMG, losing both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles in the 2018 season.

It is thought that tensions had begun to rise between Arrivabene and Binotto in the last season, however this was denied in true Ferrari fashion, with the team declaring that, “The rumours about Mattia are fake news”. Arrivabene said in a previous interview, “It is an attempt to try to create problems where there are no problems”.

2018 Italian Grand Prix – Maurizio Arrivabene

Binotto has worked his way up through the ranks, joining the Ferrari test team in 1995 as a Test Engine Engineer, before being appointed Chief Technical Officer in 2016. He has also held the positions of chief engineer, head of engine and KERS within the team.

Some racing critics have argued that Ferrari lost the championship due to poor strategy and technical errors, and so perhaps Maranello have decided a change in leadership is the answer.

At the moment, these reports are merely speculation, however, confirmation is expected to come as early as Monday 7^thJanuary.

Featured image – Ferrari Media

29th November 2018

Leclerc Impresses For Ferrari On Day Two Of Pirelli Tyre Tests

Young 21-year-old Monegasque Charles Leclerc has impressed on his first outing for Ferrari this week during day two of the Pirelli tyre tests in Abu Dhabi. With the 2016 GP3 title and 2017 Formula 2 championships already under his belt, it’s hard not to imagine this young talent becoming Formula One champion in the future.

Day one of the testing, which was held on Tuesday, ended with teammate Sebastian Vettel at the top of the timesheets after sixty-nine laps on the 2018 hypersoft compound, setting an impressive time of 1m 36.812s in front of Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas, who set a 1m 37.231 on what Pirelli called ‘Compound 5’ – the softest tyre that will be on offer next year.

Over the course of day one, twelve drivers took to the Yas Marina circuit, including newbie for 2019 Lando Norris driving for McLaren and George Russell for Williams. It was also an opportunity for Polish driver Robert Kubica to get back into the car after his horrifying rally accident eight years ago. Kubica took over from George Russell during the afternoon stint.

Vettel struggled at the beginning of the day after a minor crash at turn one which brought out the red flag. However, he was able to set decent enough times throughout the long nine-hour session.

YAS MARINA CIRCUIT, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – NOVEMBER 27: Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo Sauber C37 during the Test Days at Yas Marina Circuit on November 27, 2018 in Yas Marina Circuit, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Joe Portlock / LAT Images)

Kimi Raikkonen had a disappointing end to his first outing for Alfa Romeo Sauber after suffering a technical issue in the closing stages of the test. In his F1 test debut, Pietro Fittipaldi also ran into some issues when his Haas stopped on track early on in the session, this too bringing out the red flag.

Decent times were set by all on day one, Vettel topping the times from Bottas, Stroll, Verstappen and Perez, with Lando Norris an impressive sixth. Hulkenberg finished the day in seventh followed by Fittipaldi, Kubica and Russell. Raikkonen finished in eleventh place after his earlier struggles and Toro Rosso’s Sean Gelael finished last with a 1m 40.435s.

Day two of the testing brought many surprises, most impressive of all being Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who finished at the top of the timesheets after a whopping 135 laps on the new ‘Compound 5’. Leclerc’s fastest lap, a 1m36.450s, was quicker than the time Sebastian Vettel had set on the previous day, however Sebastian set his time on the 2018 compound.

(L to R): Lance Stroll (CDN) Racing Point Force India F1 Team with Bradley Joyce (GBR) Racing Point Force India F1 Race Engineer.
Formula One Testing, Tuesday 27th November 2018. Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Pierre Gasly, in his first outing for Red Bull Racing, finished the session on P2 setting a time of 1m37.916s, also on the new 2019 compound tyres. Lance Stroll who was testing for Force India slotted in third place, followed by Valtteri Bottas and new McLaren driver Carlos Sainz. In sixth place was Renault’s Artem Markelov, followed by George Russell and returning Toro Rosso driver Daniil Kvyat. In ninth was Haas’ debutant test driver, F2’s Louis Deletraz, in tenth was Robert Kubica and in eleventh position was Sauber’s Antonio Giovinazzi.

The session was mainly incident free, however in the afternoon Giovinazzi caused the red flag to come out after his Sauber came to a halt in the tunnel exiting the pitlane.

This test in Abu Dhabi officially marks the end of the 2018 season, the next set of testing days being pre-season in Barcelona. Will Leclerc’s top form continue into the new season? Could we see the youngest Formula One champion ever be crowned? With just over one hundred days to go until lights out in Melbourne, we are eager to see what happens in 2019!

26th November 2018

The Chequered Flag Falls On The 2018 Season With Dramatic Finale in Abu Dhabi

After another impressive season with Mercedes, it seems that nothing could stop five-time world champion Lewis Hamilton from dominating the race track once again on Sunday afternoon in a somewhat dramatic fashion.

Qualifying results meant that Mercedes had a front row lockout, Hamilton taking prime place on pole position followed by Bottas in second, ahead of the two Ferrari’s of Vettel and Raikkonen in third and fourth, and the two Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen in fifth and sixth. The top ten was completed by Romain Grosjean in seventh, an impressive lap time put Charles Leclerc in eighth, Esteban Ocon was ninth and rounding out the top ten was Nico Hulkenberg for Renault.

As daylight faded and the floodlights dominated the night sky, the drivers lined up on the grid, many facing an emotional race ahead; the likes of Kimi Raikkonen who was about to take on his last race for Ferrari, Daniel Ricciardo’s last dance for Red Bull Racing, and of course Fernando Alonso’s final ever Formula One race. It was going to be a challenging afternoon in the desert.

Lights out and both Mercedes, followed by both Ferraris and Daniel Ricciardo, got a clean start into turn one, chased by the rest of the pack. Grosjean and Alonso both ran wide but quickly rejoined, with Fernando losing a few places to Ericsson and Gasly. Max Verstappen was strong off the line, however he encountered a problem with a water temperature sensor which temporarily slowed him into turn two, dropping him down the order. After speaking over the team radio, Max managed to reset the system and the sensor issue was resolved.

2018 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Sunday – Steve Etherington

Leclerc shot up the order to sixth followed by Grosjean, Hulkenberg, Verstappen, Ocon, Sainz and Perez. Leclerc was closing in on Ricciardo and the two switched places numerous times, with Daniel eventually fighting his way back up the field.

Meanwhile, Grosjean and Hulkenberg were fighting behind them for position. Grosjean’s Haas was on the outside line going into the corner, Hulkenberg right alongside him. Nico attempted to move across in front of Grosjean, however he misjudged the corner and, as a result, the pair locked wheels, forcing Hulkenberg’s car to barrel through the air into the barriers, the car coming to rest upside down and with some flames igniting in some of the rear bodywork. The Safety Car was deployed and, thankfully, Nico was unscathed if not a little shaken from the accident.

It was a disappointing race for Kimi Raikkonen whose Ferrari came to a stand still on the start-finish straight at the end of lap seven, the display on his steering wheel going black; a disappointing end to his last race for Ferrari.

Kimi’s technical issue meant that Virtual Safety Car was deployed and Mercedes took the plunge, deciding to bring Hamilton in for supersoft tyres on lap eight of fifty-five. He emerged in P5.

Numerous battles were being had across the board, notably between Ocon and Verstappen who had collided in Brazil. This time, Max got the place without any problems. Gasly and Ericsson were having a scrap before Ericsson’s car suffered a technical failure, and Ocon and Sainz were scrapping for P7.

By lap 23, many of the drivers had pitted. However, Red Bull decided to keep Daniel Ricciardo out for a long stint on the ultrasofts, the Australian leading the race before pitting on lap 34 for supersofts, the slower of the compounds. He came out of the pitlane in P5 behind teammate Verstappen.

By lap 35 Bottas was struggling, locking up on several occasions. Sebastian Vettel took advantage of this and managed to steal second place. Both Red Bulls soon closed up on a struggling Bottas and snatched another two places from him, Max up to the final podium spot and Daniel in 4th position.

As the race reached its closing stages, technical issues arose for Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly and Marcus Ericsson who all were forced to retire, a disappointing end to each of their seasons.

Despite the drama behind him, Lewis Hamilton had a faultless race, cruising to his 73rd career victory in Formula One. The podium was completed by Sebastian Vettel in 2nd place and Max Verstappen in 3rd, Daniel Ricciardo finishing his 100th race and last for Red Bull Racing in an admirable 4th position.

Valtteri Bottas finished in 5th followed by an impressive result for Renaults’ Carlos Sainz in 6th and Alfa Romeo Saubers’ Charles Leclerc in 7th, both in their final races for their respective teams before moving on to pastures new at McLaren and Ferrari.

It was a well fought but disappointing final race for double world champion Fernando Alonso, who just missed out on the points in P11. At the end of the race, Alonso was joined by Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel who all performed doughnuts on the home straight for the Abu Dhabi crowds as a farewell to the 2018 season and the legendary Spanish driver, a truly remarkable end to the championship. The countdown is on for 2019!

Featured Image: 2018 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Ferrari Media

17th November 201817th November 2018

BrazilianGP Review: Robbery in Brazil for Verstappen

The title has been decided, but that doesn’t mean the season is over just yet. The 20th round of 2018 was ready to bring some spectacle, with the Brazilian Grand Prix at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace.

Once again qualifying took place under difficult circumstances. Interlagos is (in)famous for its unpredictable weather conditions, and this year was no exception. This resulted in Lewis Hamilton taking Mercedes’ 100th pole position and his luck didn’t stop there. Sebastian Vettel secured second place, although both drivers were at risk of losing their positions. Hamilton seemed like he wasn’t awake at times as he blocked Sergey Sirotkin during his outlap and hindered Kimi Räikkönen on his flying lap, but it didn’t end up in a penalty, a strange decision by the FIA.

Lewis Hamilton. Photo curtesy of Pirelli

Vettel’s incident was even stranger. Vettel was called in for inspection and had to go onto the weigh bridge. In his haste, he drove onto the weigh bridge itself, and drove off it with his engine turned on, therefore destroying the weigh bridge. This resulted in a reprimand and a $25,000 fine.

Honourable mention goes to Charles Leclerc. During Q2 he was out of the top 10. Reporting to his team that it was raining too heavily, he put in a superb lap which saw him continue to Q3. There Sauber surprisingly locked the fourth row, but Daniel Ricciardo would drop five places due to a grid penalty.

On race day it seemed like it would stay dry but there was still a threat of a potential thunderstorm. Vettel locked his brakes into turn one, giving Valtteri Bottas second place immediately. Meanwhile, both Renault drivers were battling each other, they even had a slight touch but survived.

In lap four it was a very bold move from Max Verstappen who dive-bombed Vettel, giving him third place. However, the Ferrari’s were on the soft tyres while the other two top teams were on the supersofts. Ricciardo quickly found his way back to the top six and was now charging the slower Ferrari’s ahead. His teammate took second place though, overtaking Bottas into the first corner. The Finn was really struggling, with Räikkönen, Vettel and Ricciardo knocking on his door.

Lap 16 saw the first pit stop, Fernando Alonso came in but his rear right tyre wasn’t fitted correctly. Quick reactions by the Spaniard meant that pit crew could still fix it. Bottas came in for his pit stop in lap nineteen, meaning that the Ferrari’s now had free air to continue on their softs. One lap later Hamilton came in, also opting for the medium tyres.

Marcus Ericsson, who had a great starting position, spun at high speed and returned to the pits. Not for a regular pit stop, but a retirement – the first of the race. A few laps later though Vettel overtook his teammate for sixth, but it didn’t last long as they were surprisingly told to switch places.

Photo curtesy of Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool.

Disaster struck for Verstappen as Esteban Ocon tried to overtake the Red Bull, but took the inside and touched Verstappen. He spun, but could continue the race (after he showed the Frenchman the middle finger of course). Eventually the stewards decided that Ocon caused the collision, handing him a stop/go penalty for crashing into the race leader.

Ricciardo and Vettel had locked horns but the Australian wouldn’t give up that easily and kept his fifth place. A few laps later Ricciardo passed Bottas for fourth place. With 17 laps to go, Vettel took his second pit stop and opted for the supersofts. This dropped him back to seventh place behind his future teammate Leclerc.

However, it would be the victory for the 2018 World Champion. Mercedes, after winning the Drivers’ Championship with Hamilton, now also have the 2018 Constructors Championship. Verstappen took second place (arguably he should have placed higher) and Räikkönen completed the podium, keeping Ricciardo at bay.

Verstappen, responding to Horner’s disbelieve: “Yeah I know what to say, I really hope I won’t see him in the pits…” with a lot of censoring needed. And as it would have it, the two did meet with Verstappen pushing Ocon three times in a widely broadcast standoff.

After some drama, it is time to look towards the last race of the season. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix could result in some drivers taking big risks for the win. It will be Alonso’s final race in F1; he’ll be hoping to step away from F1 with a good result. In short, it should be a good one.