FP1 - Bottas leads Hamilton as Red Bull and Ferrari keep pace up their sleeves

Valtteri Bottas edged out Lewis Hamilton as Mercedes booked a 1-2 in first practice on Friday morning in Mexico City - although Red Bull and Ferrari shadowed the Silver Arrows despite using a harder tyre compound for their respective fastest runs.

That provided particularly good news for Red Bull - both Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo finished within 0.6s of Bottas, which is less than the estimated delta between the ultrasofts used by Mercedes and the supersofts that both Red Bull and Ferrari elected to stay on.

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel wound up fifth, a few tenths ahead of team mate Kimi Raikkonen. Both men had minor offs - as did Hamilton - while Verstappen experienced an early end to his session due to a fundamental set-up change.

There was worse fortune down at Force India: Mexican Alfonso Celis, standing in for Esteban Ocon, hit the wall exiting Turn 16, damaging the rear of his car and triggering a brief red flag period. He too was unable to rejoin, winding up 19th overall - just ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne, whose McLaren was struck by early engine gremlins that limited him to just three laps. Bottas in contrast was the morning's busiest runner with 41, with his benchmark time the fastest ever recorded on the current layout of the Mexico City circuit.

Home hero Sergio Perez upheld his countrymen’s hopes with seventh fastest time of 1m 19.240s for Force India, using the supersofts. He headed four ultrasoft runners: Fernando Alonso’s McLaren, Felipe Massa’s Williams, and the tightly matched Renaults of Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz, who were split by just 0.02s.

In what was a very exploratory session, Antonio Giovinazzi was the leading ‘substitute’ driver, taking Romain Grosjean’s Haas to the 15th fastest time, ahead of Charles Leclerc in Marcus Ericsson’s Sauber and Sean Gelael, who briefly spun Pierre Gasly’s Toro Rosso.

Toro Rosso’s other runner, Brendon Hartley, competing in his second ever event, met with troubles that momentarily stopped him at Turn 4 halfway through. He managed to get going again but spent the rest of the session in the garage.

Hamilton takes pole at Belgian GP to equal Schumacher record

By JEROME PUGMIRE
Associated Press

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium (AP) — Lewis Hamilton equaled Michael Schumacher’s Formula One record of 68 pole positions in style, leading qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix from start to finish on Saturday.

The three-time F1 champion was already ahead when he went even faster with a blistering final lap for Mercedes, but Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel limited the damage with a fine lap of his own to join Hamilton on the front row. Valtteri Bottas was third and Kimi Raikonnen fourth.

Hamilton, who races his 200th GP on Sunday and trails Vettel by 14 points overall this season, was quick to praise Schumacher.

“It’s very surreal and very much a humbling experience, knowing Michael’s such a legend,” Hamilton said. “I have always admired him. I am honored to be there with him now on pole positions, but he will still be one of the greatest of all time.”

Hamilton was met on track by Ross Brawn, the F1 managing director of motorsports, who delivered a special message of praise to Hamilton from Schumacher’s family.

“Schumacher always said records are there to be beaten and they want to say a special ‘thanks,’” Brawn told Hamilton.

The current condition of the 48-year-old Schumacher’s health remains closely guarded among family and close associates.

It was while skiing with his teenage son Mick on a family holiday that Schumacher sustained severe head injuries in France on Dec. 29, 2013. He has been cared for at his home in Switzerland since September 2014. Schumacher hit the right side of his head on a rock, cracking his helmet. Doctors operated to remove blood clots from his brain, but some were left because they were too deeply embedded.

“I pray for Michael and his family all the time,” said Hamilton, who made his debut at the Australian GP 10 years ago.

Schumacher’s pole record was achieved in a little more than 300 races. But while Hamilton is second all-time with 57 GP wins, he remains far behind Schumacher’s whopping 91.

Schumacher won the last of his record seven F1 titles in 2004. Hamilton’s titles came with McLaren in 2008 and with Mercedes in ’14 and ’15.

Hamilton celebrated his latest pole by tapping the nose of his car and clenching both fists.

“I’ve only got two pole positions, so there’s some way to go,” Bottas joked, comparing himself with teammate Hamilton. “Lewis has been really on it, but I’m slightly confused why I’ve not been able to get close enough. Still need to find some answers.”

Vettel, who grew up with Schumacher as his racing idol, walked over briskly to shake Hamilton’s hand.

He also thanked Raikkonen.

“I had a little bit of help from a friend,” Vettel said. “Kimi had to abort his lap on the last sector and gave me a nice tow — that got me about two tenths (of a second).”

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, racing in front of a huge contingent of traveling Dutch fans, qualified fifth ahead of teammate Daniel Ricciardo

Five drivers are eliminated from Q1 and Q2, leaving the top 10 fighting it out in Q3.

Hamilton topped Q1 ahead of Vettel and led Q2 from Bottas.

Earlier, Raikkonen and Vettel boosted Ferrari with the top two times in final practice.

Moments after it ended, Ferrari announced that the 30-year-old German driver has signed a new contract for another three years.

Meanwhile, Belgian driver Stoffel Vandoorne is having a stressful weekend so far at his home race.

He was hit with a whopping 65-place grid penalty for making two engine changes and a gearbox change on his McLaren.

Teams are only allowed to make four specification changes on the power unit per season, with further engine changes incurring penalties. McLaren has easily exceeded that number.

With only 20 drivers on the grid, the 65-place penalty is essentially irrelevant because it does not carry over to the next race.

It has not been a smooth Spa ride for Brazilian Felipe Massa, either.

He missed all of the second practice after crashing in P1, and was given a five-place grid penalty on Saturday after failing to slow down for the yellow flag following an incident involving Daniiel Kvyat’s stranded Toro Rosso.

Massa skipped the Hungarian GP last month after complaining of dizzy spells, but said he had fully recovered for Belgium.

FP1 - Hamilton edges Verstappen in opening Austria session

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton edged out Red Bull’s Max Verstappen for the fastest time as practice got underway in Austria on Friday morning. Using the soft tyre - the hardest of the three compounds available - Hamilton clocked the fastest time ever seen on the current iteration of the Spielberg track to go 0.190s clear of Verstappen, whose best time came on supersofts.

However Verstappen, who tagged the barriers early in the session after an off at Turn 7, was on course to pip Hamilton late in the session before a spin at Turn 3. Valtteri Bottas finished third in the second Silver Arrow, just ahead of the lead Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel, who was one of several drivers to spin in the session.

Kimi Raikkonen also rotated his Ferrari, eventually finishing sixth behind the Red Bull of Baku winner Daniel Ricciardo.

McLaren enjoyed an encouraging session with Stoffel Vandoorne and Fernando Alonso making the most of their upgraded Honda power units to finish seventh and ninth, sandwiching Daniil Kvyat’s Toro Rosso. Esteban Ocon rounded out the top ten for Force India.

Hamilton did 1m 06.526s on the utrasofts early on, before team mate Bottas improved that to 1m 06.345s on supersofts. Hamilton then ran a set of softs and cut his time to 1m 05.975s, which remained the fastest.

Having spent a lot of time in the garage as his car was checked over after he brushed his right rear wheel against the wall, initial pacesetter Verstappen returned later on and kept trimming his times until he got down to 1m 06.165s on supersofts. He had just taken the first sector best time away from Hamilton when he spun.

Bottas’s time held up for third, while Ferrari’s session had an interesting start. Raikkonen spun early in Turn 1, and later, running the same supersoft rubber, Vettel took a bit too much of the inside kerb and spun on the exit there.

The German eventually set the fourth best time on 1m 06.424s, and the Finn was sixth on 1m 06.848s, both on supersofts. Ricciardo separated them with 1m 06.620s on the same compound in his Red Bull. It will be interesting to see whether Ferrari can get on terms with Mercedes, or are destined to continue fighting with Red Bull in their wake.

There were several incidents on the green track besides the Ferraris and Verstappen. Lance Stroll spun his Williams in Turn 9, where Renault’s Jolyon Palmer, Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz (twice), Sauber’s Pascal Wehrlein, Haas’s Kevin Magnussen and Williams’ Felipe Massa also ran wide. Bottas ran wide in Turn 1 and later spun in Turn 3, both corners where Hamilton also had momentary offs as his soft tyres wore out. Daniil Kvyat spun his Toro Rosso twice in Turn 4, and also went off in Turn 8, while team mate Sainz was another Turn 1 spinner. Esteban Ocon had a big wobble in Turn 3.

Test driver Sergey Sirotkin stood in for Nico Hulkenberg at Renault, while Force India counterpart Alfonso Celis handled Sergio Perez’s car. They were 17th and 18th respectively.

Button's Monaco GP comeback ends with rebuke from Wehrlein

By JEROME PUGMIRE
AP Sports Writer

MONACO (AP) -- Jenson Button's Formula One comeback ended with a crash at Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix and a rebuke from the driver he ploughed into.

Returning as a one-off favor to McLaren, the British driver got a bit too close to German driver Pascal Wehrlein near the end of the race.

As they turned to head into the tunnel, the nose of Button's McLaren scooped up Wehrlein's Sauber and dumped it on its side. Wehrlein was able to walk away from the crash, but it was a scary moment for him considering he has only recently returned from a serious back injury.

"It was a silly move. It was just scary," Wehrlein said. "I couldn't get out of the car, the only thing I wanted to do was get out of the car."

After a few moments, the 22-year-old Wehrlein jumped out. He did not appear to sustain any serious injury, but will need precautionary checks after bumping his head.

Wehrlein missed the first two races of the season after injuring his back in a crash at the Race of Champions in Miami in January. He sustained hairline cracks in vertebrae and compressed some of his intervertebral discs.

"I touched again (my) head on the barrier, so I will have to do another scan next week for my back," he said. "Obviously with the injury I had, I'm not too sure."

Button has competed in more than 300 races and won the F1 title in 2009.

He put the incident down to an accident. However, he had not done any actual test driving with this season's heavier and wider cars before racing in Monaco.

"I looked across and saw that he hadn't seen me, so I tried to back out, but obviously it was too late by then," Button said. "I gave it a go and thought it was a fair enough judgment, but it didn't work out. You never like seeing a car tip over because you don't know if his head's going to hit anything, but the most important thing is that Pascal is OK."

Button was persuaded out of retirement to replace Fernando Alonso. The two-time F1 champion was given permission to skip Monaco so he could race at the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday.

Alonso will be back in two weeks' time for the Canadian GP in Montreal, and it will be a familiar scenario when he returns.

After six races, McLaren remains the only team not to score a point. Stoffel Vandoorne also crashed late in Sunday's race.

Not all smiles at Ferrari as Raikkonen unhappy with team

By JEROME PUGMIRE
AP Sports Writer

MONACO (AP) -- Even by his standards, Kimi Raikkonen was stony-faced after Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver rarely says much, yet the quietest man in Formula One felt the need to speak up after being on the receiving end of what seemed like clear team orders favoring his teammate Sebastian Vettel.

Vettel won the race, while Raikkonen finished second after securing his first pole position in nine years.

"It doesn't feel awful good," Raikkonen said.

The incident he was unhappy about was being asked to pit five laps earlier than Vettel, who took advantage of a much more favorable strategy. It allowed Vettel to stay out longer and pick up speed with no traffic in front of him and then, with his extra speed gained, come out of the pits ahead of Raikkonen and cruise to a 45th career victory.

Although Vettel denied it was a pre-arranged team plan, Raikkonen wasn't convinced.

"I got the bad end of the story today," said Raikkonen, whose last win was the season-opening Australian GP in 2013. "It's still second place but it doesn't count a lot in my books."

While Vettel spoke enthusiastically in the post-race news conference, Raikkonen seemed in a daze.

The Finnish driver either stared ahead or straight down at his feet, only raising his head to answer several questions aimed at getting him to say he'd been hindered by his own team.

"We can always say `If' as much as we want but it doesn't change things," Raikkonen said, shrugging his shoulders. "I have no idea. Obviously they have reasons for whatever they do."

Raikkonen's dry humor can be piercing when the mood takes him. Although he stopped short of directly criticizing Ferrari, "The Ice Man" clearly had a point to make.

"Obviously I can stop the car if I want," he joked, asking if he could have refused the instruction to pit earlier than Vettel even though he was leading the race.

"But if you don't believe what you have been told and how it will work, it will become very complicated at some point," Raikkonen said. "For myself it could have been better. We've just finished the race and who knows? There's some reason for everything that happens in life."

That he is making such cryptic comments just six races into the 20-race season may not bode well for Ferrari as it tries to end three straight years of total Mercedes domination.

The Prancing Horse team is 17 points clear of Mercedes in the constructors' championship and Vettel leads Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton by 25.

With so long to go, the last thing Ferrari needs is Raikkonen feeling let down.

"We get along well and I can understand Kimi's not totally happy today. I can understand why he's upset," Vettel said. "Obviously it's a bad surprise when somebody comes out ahead. I would feel 100 percent the same. But there were no team orders."

Others thought there clearly had been.

Three-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton, who was embroiled in several difficult moments with his former Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg in the last three years, is certain Ferrari has made Vettel their priority.

"It's clear to me that Ferrari have chosen their No. 1 driver so they will be pushing everything to make sure Sebastian will maximize all of his weekends," Hamilton said. "It's very hard for the leading car (Raikkonen) to get jumped by the second car (Vettel) unless the team decides to favor the other car (Vettel)."

Even Rosberg, who has retired from F1 and was conducting the interviews immediately after the race, offered his sympathy.

"I know how it feels," Rosberg said to Raikkonen. "It's not a good feeling."

Raikkonen has two weeks to either stew on his misfortune or put it behind him at the Canadian GP in Montreal.

FP1 - Hamilton heads Vettel in first Monaco session

Championship rivals Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel picked up where they left off in Spain during Thursday morning’s opening session in Monaco, as the former headed the latter by the smallest of margins. Both drivers took turns at the top, but in the end Hamilton lapped his Mercedes 0.196s quicker than Vettel’s Ferrari as both eclipsed Daniel Ricciardo’s 2016 pole time and lap record.

PRACTICE ONE TOP-10 RESULTS

POS. DRIVER TIME GAP LAPS
1 LEWIS HAMILTON 1:13.425 40
2 SEBASTIAN VETTEL 1:13.621 +0.196s 34
3 MAX VERSTAPPEN 1:13.771 +0.346s 32
4 VALTTERI BOTTAS 1:13.791 +0.366s 40
5 DANIEL RICCIARDO 1:13.854 +0.429s 45
6 DANIIL KVYAT 1:14.111 +0.686s 42
7 KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN 1:14.164 +0.739s 37
8 SERGIO PEREZ 1:14.201 +0.776s 32
9 CARLOS SAINZ 1:14.333 +0.908s 39
10 ESTEBAN OCON 1:14.425 +1.000s 39

Behind the leading duo, Max Verstappen recovered from a spell in the garage to take third place, a tenth and a half back of Vettel, while Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo were fourth and fifth and the only other drivers to get within half a second of Hamilton’s benchmark.

In a surprisingly orderly session, nobody damaged their cars over the hugely unpopular kerb on the exit to the Swimming Pool, and only Romain Grosjean went off properly after locking his Haas’ brakes at Ste Devote, before spin-turning back into business.

The only other incidents were mild as Vettel, Verstappen, Kevin Magnussen and Pascal Wehrlein all ran over the chicane after overshooting their braking, while Jolyon Palmer ran wide at Mirabeau.

But there was on-track action throughout, partly to get as much track time as possible, and partly because the lack of degradation meant that drivers could still go fast on Pirelli tyres that were more than 20 laps old - even the ultrasofts.

However, one of the performances of the session came on the less popular supersoft rubber, as Daniil Kvyat finished an excellent sixth for Toro Rosso.  That pushed Kimi Raikkonen, whose Ferrari was spotted kissing the barriers several times at the Swimming Pool, down to seventh, ahead of the Force Indias of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon, who sandwiched the other Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz in ninth.

On his return to the McLaren cockpit, Jenson Button made a strong return and looked like he had never been away. Focusing primarily on longer runs and getting acclimated with the MCL32, Button pushed team mate Stoffel Vandoorne hard even when running soft tyres to the Belgian’s supersofts.

Button ended up 14th, two places back from Vandoorne, having accumulated 35 laps, which was 32 laps more than either Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg or Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson managed as both hit technical issues and failed to set timed laps. 

Vettel still confident despite Hamilton's win at Spanish GP

By JOSEPH WILSON
Associated Press

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) -- Sebastian Vettel lost the battle, not the Formula One title.

Despite a great start in individual duels with Mercedes, Ferrari's top driver finished Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix exactly where he started: in second place behind Lewis Hamilton.

Vettel can take heart, however, from the fact that the difference between the winner and runner-up came down to a choice of team strategy that went Mercedes' way. Hamilton finished the race on a faster set of tires than Vettel, passing the German on Lap 43 of 66 and conserving his tires as he sped away to victory.

"I think we can be very happy, but today we're not entirely happy because the win was there," Vettel said. "The car was quick enough but the way the race happened, it wasn't meant to be. The most important thing is that we were there. Once again fighting, hanging in there, not much missing at the end."

Vettel remained in the series lead, now reduced to six points from 13 over Hamilton, with his third second-place finish to go with two wins in five races.

Equally as important, Ferrari showed that the upgrades brought by both title contenders to Spain canceled one another out.

Vettel's Ferrari was a mere 0.051 seconds slower than Hamilton in Saturday's qualifying. He finished the race less than four second behind Hamilton, and Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo was nowhere close finishing a distant third.

Vettel also won three of the four jousts he had with Hamilton and teammate Valtteri Bottas on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

His excellent jump from the start allowed him to pass Hamilton at the first turn.

Next, Vettel engaged Bottas in an exhilarating lap-long chase before finally getting past the Finn on the third try, even though the effort slowed down Vettel and let Hamilton shave off valuable seconds from behind.

"I was really happy, but then I looked down and (saw) I'd lost an awful lot of time, so I wasn't that happy because the real fight was with Lewis," Vettel said. "We lost four seconds."

Those seconds meant that when Vettel emerged from a second pit stop he was neck-and-neck with a hard-charging Hamilton. But Vettel defended his inside position on a curve, sending Hamilton off as they came close to touching.

Vettel had kept his lead, but Hamilton waited for a straightaway to blow past him on his faster tires and never looked back.

Vettel said the race was there for the taking.

"The car is good, the team is in great form," he said. "We're very happy when we have the chance to race Mercedes. They have been proving over and over in the last few years that they are the team to beat. We are giving them, so far, a good run for their money."

Vettel's and Hamilton's teammates both abandoned the race. Bottas bumped Kimi Raikkonen on the first turn, sending his Ferrari into Max Verstappen's Red Bull, damaging both cars' front suspension. Bottas was later forced to stop his Mercedes when it started spouting smoke midway through the race.

Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene said the knock by Bottas that cost Raikkonen an early exit was just part of F1.

"Shame for the end result, but we leave Spain knowing that we can count on a car that is solid and very quick," Arrivabene said. "The championship is still a long way and we are already focusing on the next race at Monaco."

After spending three years battling retired teammate Nico Rosberg for the title, Hamilton said he was enjoying taking the fight outside Mercedes' garage.

"To have that close battle with him, with a four-time champ, is awesome," Hamilton, himself a three-time champion, said about Vettel. "I think it was the rawest fight I can remember having for some real time, which I loved. This is why I race and this is what got me into racing in the beginning."

Hamilton will get another chance to tangle with Vettel in two weeks at the Monaco GP.

Strategy, teamwork help Hamilton win Spanish GP over Vettel

By JOSEPH WILSON
Associated Press

MONTMELO, Spain (AP) -- Thanks to superior strategy and some help from his teammate, Lewis Hamilton tightened the early title race in Formula One after beating Sebastian Vettel to win the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday.

Hamilton saw his advantage of a pole position evaporate when Vettel beat him to the first corner, but Mercedes' decision to have Hamilton finish the race on faster tires allowed the British driver to overtake Vettel's Ferrari with more than 20 laps left.

Hamilton would have had to leave his challenge until late if not for some assistance from teammate Valtteri Bottas, who held up Vettel before the Finn's Mercedes broke down in a puff of smoke.

"This was the rawest fight I have felt in a long time. This is what the sport is meant to be, this is why I race - to have battles with him for the championship," Hamilton said. "I just really have to congratulate and thank my team. They did a wonderful job with the strategy and the pit stops."

Hamilton's second win in five races this season cut Vettel's lead from 13 points to six heading into the Monaco GP. It was the three-time world champion's 55th career victory and his second at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya after first winning here in 2014.

Daniel Ricciardo brought his Red Bull across in a distant third place to complete the podium, his best result of the season.

Vettel had a great surge from second on the grid, going past Hamilton to the first right-hand turn and staying in front just as his Ferrari partner's race ended.

Starting from fourth and fifth, Kimi Raikkonen and 2016 race winner Max Verstappen came together when trying to squeeze around the first turn with Bottas alongside them. Bottas nudged Raikkonen into Verstappen, with the contact damaging the front suspensions of the Ferrari and Red Bull.

"It all started when I got hit, my car jumped a bit and you cannot control after that," Raikkonen said.

After Vettel and Hamilton had both pitted, Vettel hunted down Bottas now in the lead and engaged him in a lap-long duel. Vettel eventually got by on a third try, but by then Hamilton had pulled back some valuable seconds.

The two title rivals jousted after Vettel came out of his second pit stop just inches ahead of the hard-charging Hamilton. They brushed going through the first of two turns, with Hamilton going off momentarily as Vettel defended his position.

The teams' tire strategy then came into play.

While Vettel used his two sets of faster tires first before finishing on the more long-lasting but slower ones, Hamilton used his more conservative tires after his first pit stop, allowing him to finish on the faster set.

"If we had had the same tires on, it probably wouldn't have been as exciting" Hamilton said. "At the end I was able to manage the soft tires."

Moments after Bottas saw his hopes of adding to a maiden win in the previous round go up in smoke, Hamilton closed in on Vettel on his faster tires and never looked back after going by on lap 43.

"I was surprised that when I came out we were so close," Vettel said. "I was doing what I could to stay in front, but as soon as I was alone he just flew past."

Force India pair Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon finished fourth and fifth respectively, the best result for both drivers this year.

Nico Hulkenberg (Renault), Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso), Pascal Wehrlein (Sauber), Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso) and Romain Grosjean (Haas) rounded out the points.

Fernando Alonso got his McLaren through to the checkered flag for the first time this season. He added his hopeful 12th-place finish to the leg of Spanish ham that a fan handed him over a barbed-wire fence while he was greeting his home supporters before the race.

The scrape between Raikkonen and Verstappen wasn't the only incident.

Felipe Massa collided with both McLaren cars. Alonso managed to keep control after they tangled early, but his rookie partner Stoffel Vandoorne abandoned midway through when his suspension was bent after the knock with Massa's Williams.

Qualifying - Hamilton edges Vettel for Spanish pole

By Formula 1

Just 0.051s separated Mercedes and Ferrari in qualifying for the Formula 1 Gran Premio de Espana Pirelli 2017 as Lewis Hamilton defeated title rival and points leader Sebastian Vettel in the battle for pole position in Barcelona. Their respective team mates Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen will fill the second row of the grid for Sunday’s race.

QUALIFYING TOP-10 RESULTS

POS. DRIVER TEAM TIME
1 LEWIS HAMILTON MERCEDES 1:19.149
2 SEBASTIAN VETTEL FERRARI 1:19.200
3 VALTTERI BOTTAS MERCEDES 1:19.373
4 KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN FERRARI 1:19.439
5 MAX VERSTAPPEN RED BULL RACING 1:19.706
6 DANIEL RICCIARDO RED BULL RACING 1:20.175
7 FERNANDO ALONSO MCLAREN 1:21.048
8 SERGIO PEREZ FORCE INDIA 1:21.070
9 FELIPE MASSA WILLIAMS 1:21.232
10 ESTEBAN OCON FORCE INDIA 1:21.272

The Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo were fifth and sixth, with local hero Fernando Alonso a remarkable seventh in what was arguably the drive of the day for McLaren. The Force Indias of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon, split by the Williams of Felipe Massa, completed the top ten.

In track temperatures nudging 44 degrees Celsius and an ambient of 26, Vettel was one of the first out, on soft tyres, in Q1, which was a credit to Ferrari who had changed his engine routinely for Saturday morning, but then changed to a third unit after FP3 as a precaution when the new one developed a water leak towards the end of the morning session.

But he had only just embarked on a quick lap when he was instructed first to stop the car, then to pit, or at last to make it as far as the pits. Instead, however, he stayed out and banged in the fastest time of 1m 20.939s, which suggested that what he had been able to monitor in the cockpit overrode concerns the team were having.

Bottas failed to match that with 1m 20.991s, but Hamilton beat it with 1m 20.551s to go to the top, while Raikkonen only managed fourth with 1m 21.120s on his first try, but improved to second subsequently with 1m 20.742s. The Red Bulls were fifth and sixth, Verstappen just ahead of Ricciardo.

Pascal Wehrlein was a star for Sauber, getting into Q2 with 15th fastest time, which left team mate Marcus Ericsson as the first faller in 16th on 1m 22.332s. The Swede was followed by a struggling Jolyon Palmer in a Renault four-tenths slower than his team mate’s in 1m 22.401, Lance Stroll’s Williams on 1m 22.411s, Stoffel Vandoorne’s McLaren on 1m 22.532s and Daniil Kvyat’s Toro Rosso on 1m 22.746s.

Q2 saw Bottas spoil his first run by going wide in Turn 1. That left him behind Hamilton on 1m 20.210s and Raikkonen on 1m 20.621s. Bottas then made amends by going second with 1m 20.300s.

Vettel went second, with 1m 20.295s, as Verstappen and Ricciardo took their customary fifth and sixth places ahead of Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz and Ocon, leaving the Haas drivers to battle with Alonso, Massa, Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg and Perez to get into Q3.

This battle got even more heated as the wind picked up, and finally saw Ocon spring up to seventh from Massa, Perez and Alonso, in a tremendous performance in the McLaren. That left Kevin Magnussen 11th for Haas on 1m 21.329s ahead of a bitterly disappointed Sainz who had been seventh prior to the final runs, taking 12th on 1m 21.371s. Hulkenberg couldn’t work his magic for Renault and was next on 1m 21.397s ahead of an unhappy Romain Grosjean’s off-roading Haas on 1m 21.517s and Wehrlein’s Sauber on 1m 21.803s.

So, as ever, it all came down to Q3, with Mercedes and Ferrari apparently still neck and neck, having brought upgrades of almost equal value.

Hamilton won the first round, with 1m 19.149s to Bottas’s 1m 19.390s, Raikkonen’s 1m 19.639s and Vettel’s 1m 19.661s. Verstappen was also a threat with 1m 19.767s, but Ricciardo fell short at 1m 20.265s.

Hamilton failed to improve on his second run but Vettel did, moving past Bottas into second place with 1m 19.200s as the Finn also improved, to 1m 19.373s. Raikkonen went faster too, but 1m 19.439s left him fourth.

With Verstappen going faster but keeping fifth with a great 1m 19.706s best and Ricciardo staying sixth with 1m 20.175s, the other star was Alonso who put a McLaren Honda seventh on a power track in 1m 21.048s just ahead of Perez in the lead Force India with 1m 21.070s. Massa put Williams ninth with 1m 21.232s and the impressive Ocon dropped to 10th with 1m 21.272s.

Thus the provisional grid will line up: Hamilton, Vettel; Bottas, Raikkonen; Verstappen, Ricciardo; Alonso, Perez; Massa, Ocon; Magnussen, Sainz; Hulkenberg, Grosjean; Wehrlein, Ericsson; Palmer, Stroll; Vandoorne, Kvyat.

FP2 - Mercedes stay in front, but Ferrari close in

By Formula 1

Lewis Hamilton led Valtteri Bottas in another Mercedes one-two in Barcelona on Friday afternoon – but on the softer tyres that will be used in qualifying and the race, the Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel were much closer to the silver cars than they had been in first practice.

PRACTICE TWO TOP-10 RESULTS

POS. DRIVER TIME GAP LAPS
1 LEWIS HAMILTON 1:20.802 39
2 VALTTERI BOTTAS 1:20.892 +0.090s 38
3 KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN 1:21.112 +0.310s 34
4 SEBASTIAN VETTEL 1:21.220 +0.418s 36
5 MAX VERSTAPPEN 1:21.438 +0.636s 29
6 DANIEL RICCIARDO 1:21.585 +0.783s 35
7 NICO HULKENBERG 1:21.687 +0.885s 40
8 JOLYON PALMER 1:21.992 +1.190s 43
9 FELIPE MASSA 1:22.015 +1.213s 38
10 CARLOS SAINZ 1:22.265 +1.463s 34

The Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo finished fifth and sixth to complete a carbon copy of the top six finishing order in FP1, and in encouraging signs for their update package, they also both got to within a second of Hamilton’s benchmark, as did Nico Hulkenberg who impressed with team mate Jolyon Palmer as Renault finished seventh and eighth.

Williams’ Felipe Massa and Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz completed the top ten, the latter causing a brief red-flag period in the second half of the session after running wide at Turn 9 and depositing a piece of bodywork close to the racing line.

Under the same blue skies that had graced first practice, Mercedes had set the initial pace as the teams all started on Pirelli’s medium tyres, with Bottas lapping in 1m 23.062s.

The Finn knocked over two seconds off that time when he switched to soft rubber, before Hamilton went 0.090s quicker still to take P1.

Vettel’s response was 1m 21.220s, which was bettered by Raikkonen, who was subsequently advised to pit because of an indicated engine problem. Raikkonen eventually stayed out, but was told to keep a weather eye on his machinery.

Mercedes also had the slight edge on race pace over their rivals, though Bottas, like Vettel and Verstappen, had one small trip through the gravel after being unsettled by a gust of wind.

Still, the suggestion is that things have closed up a little between the top teams – though we’ll only know one way or another in qualifying.

It was extremely tight in the midfield too, with just 0.707s separating Massa from 14th placed Sergio Perez. McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne was within that bracket, while Fernando Alonso - who broke down after just three turns in FP1 - actually managed to put some laps together but remained at the bottom of the timesheets.

FP1 - Hamilton leads dominant Mercedes 1-2 in Barcelona

By Formula 1

Just 0.029s split the two Mercedes at the top of the timesheet as practice got underway in Spain on Friday morning, with Lewis Hamilton edging out team mate Valtteri Bottas. The heavily revised Silver Arrows finished nearly a second clear of Kimi Raikkonen’s third-placed Ferrari, with the other SF70H of Sebastian Vettel fourth after the world championship leader lost a chunk of track time to a technical issue early on.

PRACTICE ONE TOP-10 RESULTS

POS. DRIVER TIME GAP LAPS
1 LEWIS HAMILTON 1:21.521 28
2 VALTTERI BOTTAS 1:21.550 +0.029s 30
3 KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN 1:22.456 +0.935s 24
4 SEBASTIAN VETTEL 1:22.600 +1.079s 23
5 MAX VERSTAPPEN 1:22.706 +1.185s 22
6 DANIEL RICCIARDO 1:23.084 +1.563s 17
7 KEVIN MAGNUSSEN 1:23.670 +2.149s 22
8 ROMAIN GROSJEAN 1:23.758 +2.237s 23
9 NICO HULKENBERG 1:23.993 +2.472s 24
10 CARLOS SAINZ 1:24.004 +2.483s 21

Max Verstappen ended up just a tenth back of the German in his upgraded RB13, with Red Bull team mate Daniel Ricciardo a further four tenths down in sixth.

In sunny and warm conditions, Felipe Massa had set the opening pace for Williams with 1m 25.894s as everyone used the hard Pirelli’s initially. The Brazilian was then supplanted by his old team mate Bottas with 1m 25.027s, before Kimi Raikkonen went quickest on 1m 24.691s just as Sebastian Vettel’s sister SF70H stopped at the exit to the pit lane after five laps, with something apparently awry in the gearbox.

Bottas then traded fastest times with team mate Hamilton, with the Briton eventually gaining the early edge with a time of 1m 23.531s.

As all the drivers made the switch to medium rubber, Vettel was able to rejoin the fray after a short break, and celebrated by going fastest with 1m 22.600s. But the German’s stay at the top was brief as Bottas, similarly shod, clocked 1m 21.550s before Hamilton went back on top with 1m 21.521s - already almost half a second quicker than his 2016 pole time.

As Raikkonen improved to 1m 22.456s, so Vettel fell to fourth, lending Mercedes an unexpectedly big early advantage.

Red Bull had a slightly discordant session, with both cars undergoing work at times, but there were signs that the latest upgrade has wrought improvement with the lead RB13 within 1.1s of the Mercedes.

Haas also showed promise. Kevin Magnussen won the toss for the latest upgrade and used it to go seventh on 1m 23.670s ahead of team mate Romain Grosjean on 1m 23.758ss, but the Dane went off the road at Turn 4 late in the session after an apparent gearbox issue.

Sergey Sirotkin, standing in for Jolyon Palmer at Renault, and home favourite Fernando Alonso also hit technical trouble, the latter just three corners into his first lap of the day when his Honda-powered McLaren spun to a smoky halt. The Spaniard was unable to rejoin, with McLaren forced into an engine change before FP2.

The only other Spaniard in the field, Carlos Sainz, rounded out the top ten in his Toro Rosso, finishing just behind Nico Hulkenberg’s Renault. 

F1 star Fernando Alonso gets taste of Indianapolis oval

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- With ticket sales soaring for the Indianapolis 500 in anticipation of his first start in the race, Formula One star Fernando Alonso hit the Brickyard on Wednesday for his first drive around Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

After IndyCar driver Marco Andretti set up the No. 29 for Andretti Autosport, Alonso strapped into the bright orange Honda and hit the track and ran several laps, moving gradually past the 200 mph threshold to near 210 mph before heading to the pits.

"He only has 20 mph to go," IndyCar legend Mario Andretti said. "He's getting the feel of it. He's doing exactly what he needs to do. The experience that he has should dominate, but the anxiety is still there."

The Spaniard will attempt to run the Indianapolis 500 later this month, and hopefully, some day, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He's on a quest to win what's considered the Triple Crown of racing. That includes the Monaco Grand Prix, which he's already won. This bid at Indianapolis requires him to master new cars and racing styles.

"Fernando is coming in with a team that's certainly fresh with winning this race," Mario Andretti said. "He's placed exactly right. I think I feel what he's feeling right now."

Alonso, whose 32 F1 wins rank sixth all-time, has competed before at Indianapolis, but on the road course set up for the U.S. Grand Prix. He waited patiently for his turn behind the wheel while Marco Andretti ran several laps to get the car set up.

"You just need to make sure it stuck for him to get confidence," Marco Andretti said after exiting the car. "He'll have to learn by fire. He's asking the right questions. He'll be fine. He's a race car driver. I think he'll leave today pretty confident. He's going to be spoiled after today, that's for sure."

Alonso drives for struggling McLaren in Formula One. He will be the sixth entry for Andretti Autosport at Indy in a partnership with Honda and McLaren. The 35-year-old has begun preparing for Indy by testing on a simulator, where the walls aren't so intimidating and there's no traffic to negotiate.

Speedway president Doug Boles said Alonso's planned appearance in the race has sent ticket sales trending higher than all but one of the last 20 years.

"It's been great for the momentum and excitement," Boles said. "Fans from all over the world ... began buying tickets. It's great for the brand."

---

More AP auto racing: http://racing.ap.org

Fighting talk from Ferrari after Vettel wins Bahrain GP

By JEROME PUGMIRE
AP Sports Writer

SAKHIR, Bahrain (AP) – Sebastian Vettel is back on top of the Formula One standings and his Ferrari team is bursting with ambition again.

A couple of hours after Vettel had held off his Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton to win an exciting Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday - the German driver's second victory in three races - Ferrari's chairman spoke with new-found confidence.

"It is, of course, hugely satisfying to be back on the top step of the podium," Sergio Marchionne said. "More importantly, however, we are now completely confident that our victory in Melbourne wasn't just a one-off and that we will be at the forefront of this world championship until the last (race)."

Fighting talk from Ferrari, at long last.

Vettel is chasing his fifth world title and is seven points ahead of three-time champion Hamilton in the drivers' standings, while Ferrari is three points in front of Mercedes in the constructors' race.

The renewed optimism is in contrast to last year, when Ferrari did not even win a race and where Vettel drew more attention for his frustrated outbursts during actual races rather than his driving.

Ferrari won the last of its 15 drivers' titles through Kimi Raikkonen in 2007, and the last of its 16 constructors' titles a year later. A demoralizing drought for such a fiercely proud team, certainly, but this year promises to be different.

"We finally have a competitive car to count on and it is important to recognize the speed with which we implemented the developments," Marchionne said. "My compliments not just to Seb for his achievements in Bahrain, but also to the whole team."

It is the first time Ferrari has won two of the first three races of the season since Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa in 2008, while the last time a single Ferrari driver won two of the opening three races was Michael Schumacher in 2004.

Vettel's 44th career win puts him in command, heading into the Russian GP in Sochi in two weeks' time.

"We just have to make sure we keep it going," Vettel said. "But for now the team has done a really, really great job."

As Sunday's race was drawing to a close under floodlights, Hamilton was catching fast but ran out of time and finished almost seven seconds behind.

Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas finished third after starting from pole position for the first time. It was his 11th podium.

"I didn't have enough pace today and we have to find the reasons why," the Finnish driver said.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was fourth.

Bottas made a clean start but Hamilton was beaten for pace by Vettel, who overtook him heading into the first corner.

"Sebastian was in my blind spot so I didn't know where he was," Hamilton said.

Hamilton's hopes were also hit when the British driver was given a five-second time penalty early into the race for driving too slowly in the pit lane and holding up Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, who finished fifth.

"The pit lane was really my fault so apologies to my team," Hamilton said. "Losing points for the team is definitely painful."

Vettel completed the 57 laps of the 5.4-kilometer (3.4-mile) track in 1 hour, 33 minutes, 53 seconds, for his third win in Bahrain after success with Red Bull in 2012 and 2013.

Vettel came in for new tires on lap 11, prompting Red Bull's Max Verstappen to pit on the next lap.

But moments later, the Dutchman's brakes failed and he drifted across the track and into the wall, his race over. The 19-year-old Verstappen climbed out and kicked the barriers in frustration. The incidents were coming fast, with 18-year-old Lance Stroll hit from the side on lap 13 by Carlos Sainz Jr. - forcing the safety car to come out.

Both Mercedes drivers used the safety car incident to pit for new tires, but Hamilton held up Ricciardo.

When the race began in earnest again on lap 17, Vettel brilliantly defended the corner twice to fend off Bottas.

By the halfway point, Vettel's lead was six seconds over Hamilton, who had just passed Bottas.

With Hamilton gaining fast, Vettel came in for his second tire change on lap 34 and came out fourth behind Raikkonen.

Hamilton was now the new race leader, but with more than 20 laps to go, a time penalty still to take, and with Vettel on new tires, it was a precarious lead.

Hamilton came in for a tire change soon after and took his time penalty. This put Bottas in second place, but he then backed off to let the quicker Hamilton through to chase Vettel down.

"Thanks to Valtteri for being a gentleman," said Hamilton, who endured a much more difficult relationship with Nico Rosberg, his former Mercedes teammate.

Meanwhile, there was more misery for McLaren. Fernando Alonso retired one lap from the end, while his teammate Stoffel Vandoorne did not even start because of engine failure.

McLaren was once a proud team like Ferrari is now, but with no points from three races it is a long way off from turning the corner.

Verstappen passes 9 cars in one lap in masterful China race

By JUSTIN BERGMAN
Associated Press

SHANGHAI (AP) Red Bull's Max Verstappen was down on power due to an engine problem during qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix and finished next to last - an uncharacteristically poor result for one of F1's most promising young drivers.

No matter. Verstappen made up most of the ground in the opening lap of Sunday's race - passing a remarkable nine cars - and earned an unlikely spot on the podium with a gutsy third-place finish.

"That was a very special race," the 19-year-old Dutch driver said afterward, a huge grin plastered on his face. "When I woke up this morning I never expected to be on the podium."

Of course, it was entirely possible given how well the talented Verstappen has been driving since making a huge splash at last year's Spanish Grand Prix, which he won in his first start for Red Bull after being promoted from feeder team Toro Rosso.

Since then, Verstappen has had seven podium finishes and established himself as a future star of the sport, eclipsing at times his more experienced teammate, Daniel Ricciardo.

His maneuvers on Sunday impressed even three-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who led from start to finish to claim his fifth victory in Shanghai.

"I quite like him up here next to us - makes me look younger," Hamilton said. "Max has obviously done a fantastic job since he's been in the sport and I think he's been a real breath of fresh air for everyone."

Verstappen got a little lucky Sunday when three drivers who finished ahead of him in qualifying were penalized, lifting the Dutchman to 16th on the starting grid. Then, during a wild opening lap on a slick track, he found enough holes to vault all the way up to seventh.

"Trying to go around the outside in Turn 1, I got another car, then inside Turn 2, another car, outside Turn 3 because there was space," said Verstappen, whose father Jos is the only other Dutchman to secure an F1 podium, back in 1994. "Also, Turn 6, 7, 8, always trying to go around the outside or inside. And it worked."

By the final lap, Verstappen's tires were beginning to wear, but he managed to hold off a fast-closing Ricciardo with more nervy driving to secure his spot on the podium. Now, he's sitting in third place in the drivers' standings after two races behind Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.

Even though Red Bull is still off the pace of the Mercedes and Ferrari cars, Verstappen believes his team could contend for victories again soon. Particularly if he continues finding holes the way he did on Sunday.

"I think at the moment, we're a bit in a lonely competition because in front of us, they are too quick, and behind us, (the other teams) are too slow," he said. "We are working really hard and trying to close the gap."

Lewis Hamilton coasts to fifth title at Chinese Grand Prix

By JUSTIN BERGMAN
Associated Press

SHANGHAI (AP) With Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel starting side-by-side on the front row at the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday, the stage was set for a wheel-to-wheel duel between long-dominant Mercedes and a newly competitive Ferrari.

A chaotic start to the race on a wet track, however, scuttled the highly anticipated showdown as Hamilton coasted to victory for his fifth title in Shanghai and first of the new Formula One season.

Starting from pole position, Hamilton led from beginning to end to capture the race in 1 hour, 37 minutes, 36.158 seconds and pull even with Vettel atop the driver's standings with 43 points.

Two weeks after beating Hamilton at the season-opening Australian GP, Vettel had to settle for second place this time, finishing 6.2 seconds behind his rival.

With both teams showing equal pace at the top, there will likely be plenty of other opportunities for close races this season.

"I'm fighting up against a four-time world champion (and) he is at his best and he is phenomenally quick. And Ferrari are at their best in years," Hamilton said. "And we're at our best as a team and I feel like I'm at my best."

"The ultimate fighter always wants to go up against the best battle you can have. Because then when you come out on top, it's so much more satisfying."

Red Bull's Max Verstappen drove a masterful race through traffic to move up from 16th position on the starting grid to third place, fighting off a spirited challenge from teammate Daniel Ricciardo on the final lap.

Ricciardo finished fourth, followed by Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas in sixth.

The drama-filled start after a rainy morning set the stage for Hamilton's victory and Mercedes' recovery after Vettel surprisingly triumphed in Australia and signaled that Ferrari had the pace this year to challenge the silver cars.

The drivers had barely left the starting grid when Williams' Lance Stroll bumped against Sergio Perez of Force India and spun off the track into a bed of gravel. A short time later, on the fourth lap, Antonio Giovinazzi hit a wet patch and slammed into the wall, severely damaging his Sauber car and bringing the race to a halt again.

During the safety-car slowdowns to remove both cars from the track, the top drivers pitted to change to softer tires, reshuffling the starting order. Hamilton emerged from the fray with a hold on the lead, but Vettel and Bottas slipped back several places and had to fight to catch up.

After Vettel's victory on the Albert Park street circuit in Melbourne, Ferrari showed it can also match Mercedes' pace on a traditional track with long straights following the off-season F1 rule changes that ushered in faster cars with wider tires, better aerodynamics, bigger fuel loads and increased downforce.

The goal was to increase the competition at the front of the grid - and two races into the season, the changes have certainly had an impact.

"If we can challenge Mercedes again (going forward), that's very good news," Vettel said. "They've had a very, very strong run the last couple of years. This year, as well. If we can be close, that's good."

Verstappen, meanwhile, made clear that Red Bull isn't that far behind. The young Dutch driver passed nine cars on the opening lap and was even threatening Hamilton at one point, but fell back and eventually lost second place to Vettel.

"I had a good start and I got a bit of luck," he said. "Nine cars is quite a lot in one lap, but of course very happy that it worked."

The first half of the race brought plenty of daring passes as the Ferrari and Red Bull cars jockeyed for position behind Hamilton. Vettel made two brilliant passes of the Red Bull cars - bumping wheels slightly with Ricciardo - but couldn't close the gap with Hamilton in the end.

"Obviously, we were a little unfortunate with the safety car early on," Vettel said. "But even if it wasn't there, you never know how it could have impacted on the race."

Also earning points were Carlos Sainz of Toro Rosso in seventh, Kevin Magnussen of Haas in eighth, and the two Force India cars, Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon, in ninth and 10th.

A number of drivers failed to finish. Stroll and Giovinazzi never returned after their early mishaps, and they were joined on the sidelines by McLaren's Stoffel Vandoorne and Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat, who retired with mechanical problems.

McLaren's other driver, Fernando Alonso, was also forced to stop on lap 34 with a driveshaft problem. The veteran Spanish driver had been running eighth at the time, a strong performance given McLaren's considerable technical issues in preseason testing.

Stroll gets laps around Albert Park, but DNF in first F1 GP

By JOHN PYE
AP Sports Writer

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) – Lance Stroll almost got to experience the full package on his first weekend in Formula One, hitting speeds exceeding 320 kph (199 mph), clipping a wall, being handed a grid penalty and skidding through the gravel. All that was missing was the finish.

The 18-year-old Canadian didn't make it to the finish in his debut for Williams at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, retiring after an eventful 40 laps around the Albert Park circuit.

"We were running a decent race and the pace was pretty good," Stroll said. "I had a good start, which was risky although I didn't plan on it being quite so risky! Some guys braked quite early in front of me and I managed to gain some places.

"Then we managed to have a surprisingly good race. It was my first race, and first weekend, so there are a few positives to take out of it."

Stroll graduated from development driver to a seat in F1 this season for Williams, which lost Valtteri Bottas to Mercedes.

The son of billionaire investor Lawrence Stroll is mentored by former Ferrari sporting director Luca Baldisserri and won the Formula 3 European championship in 2016.

His first taste of the top level was one he put down to experience, having started at the back of the grid after getting a penalty for needing an unscheduled gearbox change following his crash in practice on Saturday.

"Unfortunately, that incident yesterday cost us a lot of positions in qualifying," said Stroll, whose top speed was among the fastest in the race, "but today I enjoyed myself and so a big thank you to the team."

His Williams teammate, 35-year-old Brazilian veteran Felipe Massa, finished sixth to earn some points from the opening weekend.

Stroll avoided a collision with two other drivers on the opening lap and, after an early pit stop for tires, was running as high as 13th before a problem with his front left break ended his race.

"It's a shame for Lance, who put in a good first drive with some overtakes in his first race in Formula One, so it is a shame that he then had to retire with a brake failure," Williams chief technical officer Paddy Lowe said. "Clearly that's an issue we need to get on top for the races to come and make sure we don't have a repeat.

"But, overall, congratulations to the team ... who have built a great car to launch our 2017 campaign."

Meanwhile, Sauber rookie Antonio Giovinazzi placed 12th on his F1 debut after coming in as a late replacement on Saturday when Pascal Wehrlein withdrew because of fitness problems.

"It was a good race, and I am happy with my performance," Giovinazzi said. "My objective was to gain more experience and collect mileage in the car. I want to thank the Sauber F1 Team and Scuderia Ferrari again for this opportunity. It was an amazing race weekend for me."

Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn said it was an impressive performance from the young Italian driver in his first F1 race.

"He showed his potential as well as what the car is capable of," Kaltenborn said. "The lap times were quite satisfying."

Ricciardo misses start, exits early at F1 Australian GP

By JOHN PYE
AP Sports Writer

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) – Daniel Ricciardo was slapped with a grid penalty, missed the start because of a mechanical problem and retired halfway through the Australian Grand Prix as his season-opening Formula One race unfolded in the worst possible way on Sunday.

The Red Bull driver had the best of the non-Mercedes cars in F1 last year, placing third to eventual winner Nico Rosberg and three-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.

After weeks of good-natured promotional activities for his home Grand Prix, though, his first race of 2017 started badly and only got worse.

"Sorry mate. Car is done," Ricciardo said as his car finally came to a halt on the 28th lap, smoke billowing from the front left. "Let's get ... out of here."

He'd been given a grid penalty of five places - pushing him back from 10th to 15th - after being forced to make an unscheduled gearbox change on his Red Bull following a crash late in qualifying on Saturday.

It deteriorated further when he had mechanical failure on the warmup and his car was transported back to the garages.

That's where he was when the race got under way - after one aborted start and an extra formation lap for the other 19 cars.

Ricciardo eventually started the race from pit lane, joining with instructions from Red Bull to have fun and "get stuck in" after the leaders had already completed the first of 57 scheduled laps on the 5.303-kilometer (3.295-mile) Albert Park circuit.

Two other cars retired before Ricciardo stopped again, this time at turn three on the 28th lap, with a fuel pressure problem. In all, seven of the 20 cars retired in the first race under the new F1 rules designed to make the cars bigger and faster.

"Not the weekend I wanted at home. For all these things to happen at my home race - that's probably the most frustrating thing," Ricciardo said. "We were on the back foot already after the crash in qualifying and then today we had an issue during the warm up lap followed by a second issue in the race. On both occasions the car just came to a stop so I couldn't do anything else.

"But look, it's the first race, so hopefully we'll move forward from this. I'll wake up tomorrow and be motivated to get ready for China."

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner commended the crew for getting Ricciardo into the race after the problem with a sensor on the gearbox in the formation lap.

"It was an unbelievable recovery from the mechanics to get him into the race, nobody gave up in working to get the car out there," Horner said. "Then we were always going to be relying on safety cars to get back on to the lead lap. We decided to put the mileage in and get the knowledge anyway."

Vettel breaks Ferrari's F1 drought with victory at Aussie GP

By JOHN PYE
AP Sports Writer

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) – Sebastian Vettel jumped onto the podium at the Australian Grand Prix and held up his right index finger, celebrating the end of Ferrari's Formula One drought and a break in the Mercedes dominance.

It was back to No. 1 for Ferrari, at least after one race to open the season.

Ferrari hadn't won an F1 GP since Vettel's victory in Singapore in September 2015, and so his unrestrained joy on Sunday signaled renewed confidence from him.

"For now, we're just over the moon," four-time world champion Vettel said after holding off Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. "It's been a great day for us. The team has been working so hard at the track as much as back at the factory. It's a great feeling."

"Grazie mille," he added, a nod to the Italian manufacturer, "you can't say much more."

With regulations designed to make the 2017 F1 cars faster - wider tires, greater aerodynamics, bigger fuel loads and increased downforce - Vettel proved Ferrari's extra pace in pre-season testing was genuine.

"It's good to know we have a great car but it's just the beginning ... with new regulations, a new generation of cars," Vettel said. "Mercedes have a great engine and a great car the last couple of years - we're the ones who've had to catch up. Whatever happens this year, the race today doesn't hurt."

Vettel finished in 1 hour, 24 minutes and 11.672 seconds, almost 10 seconds clear of Hamilton, to give Ferrari its first win in Australia since Kimi Raikkonen took the title in 2007. Raikkonen, in the second Ferrari, finished fourth this year.

For the second year running, Hamilton started on pole position at the Albert Park circuit and placed second. Last year, he lost to then Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg, who went on to edge him for the world championship before retiring. This time, Vettel took the lead when Hamilton pitted for new tires on lap 18 and then got stuck in traffic behind Red Bull driver Max Verstappen.

Vettel was able to pit much later and gradually build up his lead as Hamilton drove conservatively on older tires to ensure he finished the race.

"That's motor racing," Hamilton said of the hold-up, adding it was his decision to pit and change tires. "A big congratulations to Sebastian and Ferrari.

"This shows we've got a real race on our hands this season and it's a challenge we will relish. It's going to be great for the fans."

Mercedes won 19 of the 21 GPs last season, and Red Bull won the other two. But Red Bull was well off the pace in Melbourne, with Verstappen placing fifth - almost 29 seconds behind Vettel - and local hope Daniel Ricciardo failing to finish.

In fact, the Australian driver almost didn't start. Ricciardo's day started badly and kept getting worse as he got a grid penalty, missed the start after a mechanical failure in the warmup, and then retired after 28 laps.

He was among seven drivers who retired during the race. Former champion Fernando Alonso continued to struggle in his McLaren, retiring on the 50th of 57 laps, while 18-year-old Canadian rookie Lance Stroll was handed a grid penalty after needing an unscheduled gearbox change after a crash in practice and was wayward in his 40 laps on debut for Williams.

Felipe Massa earned points for Williams with a sixth-place finish, while Force India teammates Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon were 7th and 10th in their pink cars and finished either side of Toro Rosso drivers Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat.

Antonio Giovinazzi placed 12th on his F1 debut for Sauber, a late replacement after Pascal Wehrlein withdrew following the opening practice sessions on Friday.

"I want to thank Sauber and Scuderia Ferrari for this opportunity," Giovinazzi said. "It was an amazing race weekend for me."

Ferrari leads the constructors' standings by four points from Mercedes, with Formula One moving to Shanghai next month for the Chinese Grand Prix.

"Overall, I think not a disaster, first race weekend with the team," said Bottas, who joined Mercedes for 2017 as a replacement for Rosberg. "It's good to start with a podium this season and with a new team. Every position is important for the championship itself."

Hamilton set the lap record with his qualifying run to take pole on Saturday, and there were expectations that the cars would go faster Sunday. But Michael Schumacher's racing lap record from 2004 stood up, with Hamilton predicting the 2017 cars would go faster as the year progressed.