F1 News

Wolff says he made it clear on Sunday morning that he didn't want his drivers to potentially lose a podium position by going for the fastest lap, which under new rules gets a bonus point if the driver finishes inside the top 10.
However, race winner Bottas was heard on team radio discussing his quest for the extra point, while his engineer warned him that there were "games going on" with other ...Keep reading

A year ago in Melbourne both Haas drivers retired because their wheels were not correctly affixed during pitstops. The team had been holding fourth and fifth places prior to that.
Twelve months on, Grosjean was running seventh behind teammate Kevin Magnussen before a slow pitstop in which Haas had to have two attempts to fit his left-front wheel.
That dropped Grosjean into the midfield, and ...Keep reading

Vettel and Ferrari entered this weekend's 2019 season opener as the early favourites after a strong fortnight of testing at the Spanish Grand Prix circuit in which Vettel set the benchmark time.
But Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton was fastest in all three practice sessions then 0.7 seconds faster than third-place starter Vettel in Saturday's final part of qualifying, which prompted Vettel to declare ...Keep reading

The Pole was taking part in his first F1 race since the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, although any hopes of a good result were dashed at the first corner when a collision with Pierre Gasly broke his front wing.
But that was not the only incident that the Williams driver had to battle through, as he eventually came home 17th and last.
Speaking about his afternoon, Kubica said the first worry ...Keep reading

Leclerc, making his Ferrari debut, caught his four-time world champion teammate in the closing stages of the grand prix.
He asked if he should stay behind Vettel, who was on older tyres, and was told "yes, and back off to have some margin".
Explaining why Vettel was struggling so much compared to Leclerc, Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto said: "When Seb pitted, put the medium tyres on ...Keep reading

Having been congratulated by his engineer on the cool-down lap after taking the chequered flag in Melbourne, Bottas said: "To whom it may concern, f*** you."
The message was interpreted as echoing the frustration he felt in the face of criticism last season after he failed to win a race while teammate Lewis Hamilton won his fifth world championship,
Bottas insisted that the comment was made ...Keep reading

Gasly, who started the Australian Grand Prix in 17th place after Red Bull was caught out by track evolution in Q1, couldn't recover to higher than 11th in the race.
He spent most of the race stuck behind the sister Toro Rosso car of Daniil Kvyat, and was unable to get past the Russian even when running on softer, fresher tyres late on.
“Pierre Gasly drove a very strong grand prix today,” ...Keep reading

As usual, Ricciardo was a wanted man in the lead-up to the Melbourne race, with a packed media and promotional schedule.
His week included local press and Renault filming commitments on Tuesday, driving Rick Kelly's Supercar for a Castrol promo on Wednesday, the F1 Live event on Wednesday evening, and countless appearances for sponsors and through his tie-up with the Confederation of Australian ...Keep reading