F1 News

Their time together at Ferrari wasn’t always plain sailing – remember the run-ins in Brazil and Styria? – but there was never any doubt as to the respect between Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel. And on the weekend when Vettel said farewell to the Italian team after six seasons, both drivers showed their admiration for each other.

Max Verstappen’s win over the Mercedes pair at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was more of a chess match than a gun fight. But as Mark Hughes explains, even without the Red Bull driver’s superior pace, events in Yas Marina conspired to make his victory in the season finale a near-certainty.

For Racing Point Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer, the result in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix neatly summed up a mixed 2020 season for his team.

In the round-up: F1 should consider Yas Marina track changes to remedy "grim" races - Ricciardo • Electronic Arts buys Codemasters • Peugeot reveal WEC engine plans

Fernando Alonso, Mick Schumacher, Yuki Tsunoda and others will participate in Tuesday's F1 test at the Yas Marina circuit involving eight of the 10 teams.

McLaren Formula 1 team principal Andreas Seidl thinks it is too early for his team to challenge Mercedes and Red Bull in 2021, despite finishing third in the constructors' championship

Romain Grosjean's crash in Bahrain brought an early end to his four-year partnership with Kevin Magnussen. The pair were closely matched in Haas's uncompetitive car.

Would F1's former management have made a success of its Covid-hit championship the way Chase Carey and company did? Dieter Rencken brings his final Paddock Diary of 2020.

The FIA gave drivers who did not race in 2020 permission to take part in a session that was originally intended for rookies.
Alonso will be joined at the test by fellow veterans Sebastien Buemi at Red Bull, and Robert Kubica at Alfa Romeo.

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Who is driving in the Abu Dhabi F1 young driver test?


The decision to allow the former world champion to gain more ...Keep reading

Although George Russell dominated Nicholas Latifi in qualifying, the rookie gave a decent account of himself on race day.

Incumbent Alex Albon, who is in competition for the drive with Sergio Perez, was given until the end of the season to prove his case. 
Albon had a strong run from fifth on the grid to fourth at the flag in Abu Dhabi, and he finished just behind two seconds behind world champion Lewis Hamilton.
“It was one of his best races,” Marko told Motorsport.com. “Still, we will think it over ...Keep reading

Formula 1's strangest of all seasons came to a close in familiar fashion on Sunday as Abu Dhabi played host to the 2020 finale.
The spectacular facility at the Yas Marina Circuit again stood in stark contrast to the on-track spectacle, with this race unlikely to live long in the memory.
Nevertheless, it offered closure to a number of important eras in F1 and drew a curtain on a season some ...Keep reading

Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko says a decision on the second seat at the Red Bull Formula 1 team alongside Max Verstappen will be taken before Christmas

The final round of the 2020 Formula 1 season may not have been the most exciting of the year, but was significant for multiple reasons as chapters came to a close and warning shots were fired for 2021. LUKE SMITH recaps the major talking points in Abu Dhabi

After teams agreed to abandon plans for a three-day test earlier this year to cut costs in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, a single day of running at the Yas Marina Circuit was put forward to close out the year.
It was initially listed as a “young driver” test, with the regulations citing that only drivers who have two grand prix starts or fewer may be permitted to take part.
But ...Keep reading

The Formula 1 season came to a close on Sunday, but the year isn't quite over yet as teams prepare for the young driver test in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday

Max Verstappen dominated the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to give Red Bull its second victory of the season, leading home the Mercedes duo of Valtteri Bottas and Hamilton, who finished third.
Verstappen led every single lap of the race at the Yas Marina Circuit, as neither Bottas nor Hamilton managed to get close to the Dutchman as they struggled with their tyres.
Although the result had no impact ...Keep reading

Seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton had a difficult end to the 2020 F1 season, with him contracting COVID-19 earlier this month and being outpaced at the season finale by Max Verstappen and his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

Hamilton’s contract with Mercedes is set to expire in just a few weeks, but the Brit is hopeful that a new deal will be agreed before Christmas.

READ: ‘You Can’t Win Them All’: Lewis Hamilton Just Happy To Be Alive After COVID-19 Recovery

After finishing third in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday, Hamilton was asked about the status of his contract extension negotiations with Mercedes.

He said the talks will “hopefully” start over the coming weeks, adding, “we’d love to get it done before Christmas I think.”

“I plan to be here next year, I want to be here next year. I think us as a team have more to do together, more to achieve both in the sport and even more outside the sport.

“So yeah, I hope we can begin this week discussions and hopefully get it tied up before Christmas,” Hamilton added.

Following George Russell’s impressive drive in Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes W11 at the Sakhir GP earlier this month, ex-F1 driver Martin Brundle said the seven-time World Champion’s value to the Silver Arrows has been “capped” by the young Brit.

“With Hamilton playing hard to get regarding a signature on a new contract, and doubts whether Valtteri Bottas was really stepping up to the plate lately despite his miserable luck, George would answer a few questions one way or the other,” Brundle wrote in a recent column for Sky Sports F1.

“And so it proved to be as he assuredly led the race after a perfect start, and without being entirely comfortable inside the car or fully up to speed with all of its systems, Russell dramatically raised his own value and opportunities, capped Hamilton’s, and dented Bottas’,” the former F1 driver added.

Hamilton joined the Mercedes works team at the end of the 2012 season after spending six years with McLaren.

In his eight-year tenure with the Silver Arrows, Hamilton has won six Drivers’ Titles and recorded 74 grand prix victories.

READ: ‘Social Media Is An Evil’: Ex-Russian Motorsport Official On Nikita Mazepin Groping Video

The post Lewis Hamilton Looking To Sign New Mercedes Contract Before Christmas appeared first on Formula1News.co.uk.

Russian racing driver Nikita Mazepin caused a storm on social media last week after he posted a video of him groping an Instagram model onto his Instagram story.

F1 fans quickly called on the Haas F1 Team to tear up Mazepin’s contract and find a replacement for him.

READ: Sergio Perez Set To Replace Alex Albon At Red Bull – Kravitz

However, the Haas F1 Team instead issued a statement condemning the “abhorrent” incident and said they would deal with the matter internally, without providing further information.

Calls for Nikita Mazepin’s contract to be voided by the Haas F1 Team are persisting, with a petition gaining over 30,000 signatures.

However, some people believe that the matter is being blown out of proportion and it’s simply time to move on.

For instance, Igor Ermilin, a former presidential advisor to Russia’s auto racing federation, suggested that the matter has been dealt with and the F1 community should stop using it to discredit Mazepin.

“Today, Formula 1 drivers are emasculated, because of their communication with the media, with corporations, with sponsors. There are very few individuals left now,” Ermilin said.

Continuing, he said: “Social media is an evil that unfortunately gives everyone the opportunity to interfere with others’ privacy. A Formula 1 driver is a normal person who faces consequences for every sneeze.

“Everyone knows that similar things happen in the personal lives of everyone else. We must give those involved with sport the opportunity to remain human.”

Meanwhile, Vitaly Petrov’s former manager, Oksana Kosachenko, also insisted that the incident shouldn’t spell the end of Mazepin’s racing career.

“Everything that had to be done, Nikita did. He apologised and I think that’s enough. Because of a second and a half of footage, it became the biggest nightmare story of all time and everything must be taken away from him now?

“His words made absolutely clear that he has drawn all the conclusions, namely, that as a Formula 1 driver you are under closer scrutiny by both the media and enemies in the paddock.

“He has the brains, the competent management and parents who will tell him how to behave in this situation,” she concluded.

READ: FIA Says It Can’t ‘Interfere’ With F1’s Private Tobacco Sponsorship Deals Amid Criticism

The post ‘Social Media Is An Evil’: Ex-Russian Motorsport Official On Nikita Mazepin Groping Video appeared first on Formula1News.co.uk.

Ferrari failed to lead a lap and never qualified on the front row all year on their way to their worst championship position for four decades.