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.

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.

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.

Rosberg wins in Japan as Mercedes seal constructors’ crown

Nico Rosberg extended his championship lead to 33 points with victory in Sunday’s 2016 Formula 1 Emirates Japanese Grand Prix, as Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton recovered from a nightmare start to finish third, just behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

The result gives Mercedes an unassailable lead in the constructors' championship, effectively securing them a third straight crown.

Sebastian Vettel was Ferrari’s lead runner on a frustrating afternoon for the Scuderia, the German taking fourth place ahead of team mate Kimi Raikkonen. Also disappointed was Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo in sixth, the Australian having started the race in front of both the scarlet cars.

The Force Indias of Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg were seventh and eighth, beating arch rivals Williams, who saw Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas complete the top ten, as all 22 drivers finished the race.

Polesitter Rosberg effectively had things won the moment Hamilton made a mistake and lagged so badly at the start that he plunged from second to eighth place.

Thereafter, the German drove a controlled race well out in front to win for the first time here and score his ninth victory of a season that looks increasingly like going his way, comfortably clear of Verstappen’s Red Bull and the recovered Hamilton.

As Rosberg quickly eased away at the start, Verstappen jumped to second but Ricciardo in the second Red Bull lost momentum diving past the tardy Hamilton and was overtaken by Perez’s Force India and fast-starting Vettel’s Ferrari. Further back, Hulkenberg took sixth ahead of Raikkonen, who got a late five-place grid drop because of a gearbox change, and Hamilton.

Vettel made swift work of deposing Perez, and Raikkonen passed the other Force India on the sixth lap, Hamilton on the seventh. But the really key moment for the reigning world champion came with his first pit stop on the 13th lap; he jumped past both Raikkonen and Perez as they were held up trying to pass Jolyon Palmer’s Renault.

That freed the Englishman to chase after Rosberg, Verstappen and Vettel, and he steadily cut down the Ferrari driver’s advantage, from 12.9s on lap 26 to 4.2 when he pitted for the second time on the 33rd lap. Ferrari immediately brought Vettel in on lap 34, but the Mercedes got the undercut to claim the final podium slot.

It was a bad-tempered race as far as traffic was concerned, with Verstappen, Vettel and Raikkonen in particular complaining bitterly about their perceived lack of blue flags, or else drivers ignoring them. As Rosberg controlled things without taking much out of his detuned engine, Hamilton moved ever closer to the Red Bull in second place. But Verstappen had better traction out of the chicane and stayed ahead.

At the end of the penultimate lap, 52, Hamilton had a look down the inside going into the chicane, but had to pull left dramatically - and veer down the escape road - as Verstappen jinked right to slam the door. Mercedes initially protested the Dutchman's tactics, but with Hamilton himself saying he did not wish to force the matter, the complaint was withdrawn.

The Dutchman, who earned the fans' Driver of the Day nod, eventually claimed second, 4.9s behind Rosberg, and 0.7s ahead of Hamilton. 

Rosberg now has 313 points to his team mate’s 280, meaning he needs only three seconds and a third to clinch his first title over the remaining four races - even if Hamilton wins all of them.

Vettel and Ferrari gambled on fitting a set of soft Pirelli tyres for his final stint as all the other leaders went for another set of hards, and the yellow tyres soon faded, leaving the German 14.4s seconds behind the second Mercedes but well ahead of Raikkonen’s sister car. Ricciardo drove a very subdued race to sixth, as Perez led Hulkenberg home on another strong day for Force India.

The final points went to the battling Williams drivers Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas, who were separated by 0.5s at the flag and were only 0.9s ahead of Romain Grosjean’s Haas.

Palmer took 12th, from Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat, Renault team mate Kevin Magnussen and Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson, as McLaren’s Fernando Alonso and Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz battled throughout to finish 0.8s apart.

Jenson Button, who started from the back after changing Honda engine components on his McLaren, took 18th ahead of Sauber’s Felipe Nasr, Haas’ Esteban Gutierrez - who spun in the chicane while fighting Sainz early on - and Esteban Ocon who comfortably beat Manor team mate Pascal Wehrlein.

via F1.

FP3 - Mercedes leave Ferrari in the shade

Mercedes underlined their dominance at Monza on Saturday morning as Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg finished comfortably ahead of closest challengers Ferrari in final practice. Hamilton - the winner in Italy for the last two years - lapped nearly four tenths faster than team mate Rosberg and a full 0.9s faster than Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who was the only driver able to get within a second of the Silver Arrows.

The session was barely 10 minutes old when Romain Grosjean caused an early Virtual Safety Car after spinning his Haas off into the gravel at the Ascari chicane. When the action resumed, Hamilton and Rosberg set the pace with 1m 22.856s and 1m 23.333s respectively on softs until Vettel split them with 1m 23.312s – but the German was on supersofts.

As Kimi Raikkonen was fourth in the other Ferrari on 1m 23.490s, Daniel Ricciardo headed Red Bull partner Max Verstappen in fifth and sixth, on 1m 23.709s and 1m 23.740s, though the Dutchman - who’d earlier appeared to impede Rosberg on a quick lap - lost some time going wide at Ascari, passing Kevin Magnussen’s slowly moving Renault.

When they made their supersoft runs, Hamilton lapped in a scorching 1m 22.008s, with Rosberg on 1m 22.401s. Vettel improved to 1m 22.946s, and Raikkonen to 1m 23.149s, but Williams jumped ahead of Red Bull with Bottas on 1m 23.500s, and Felipe Massa on 1m 23.647s.

Sergio Perez took ninth for Force India on 1m 23.917s as Esteban Gutierrez completed the top 10 with 1m 24.034s for Haas. Behind the Mexican, just 0.897s covered Force India's Nico Hulkenberg in 11th on 1m 24.041s and Manor rookie Esteban Ocon in 22nd on 1m 24.938s.

The only other incident of note occurred in the latter stages of the session as Jolyon Palmer’s Renault ran wide through the gravel at Parabolica before recovering to the track.

FP1 - Ferraris lead the Mercedes chase at Monza

Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton dominated Friday morning’s opening practice session in Italy, pursued by the Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel, using upgraded engines for the Scuderia’s home race. Two-tenths of a second separated Rosberg and Hamilton, while the scarlet cars were just over a second off the pace.

Next up was the Force India of Sergio Perez and the Ferrari-powered Haas of Romain Grosjean. Valtteri Bottas was seventh for Williams, while in the second Haas car Esteban Gutierrez took ninth to split the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo.

Of the frontrunners it was Hamilton who set the ball rolling with 1m 25.124s early on before Rosberg did 1m 24.945s, to which Hamilton replied with 1m 24.123s; all of these times were set on the soft Pirelli tyres.

Subsequently Rosberg went faster - 1m 23.736s on the supersoft rubber, then 1m 23.651s - before Hamilton went ahead by eight-thousandths with 1m 23.643s.

At this early stage however, it was the softs which proved quicker. Rosberg later used them to set the session’s fastest time of 1m 22.959s, as Hamilton rode shotgun with 1m 23.162s.

After their supersoft runs Raikkonen, who had been told that he had restricted mileage, used softs to set the third best time of 1m 24.047s as Vettel improved by just a tenth on them, to 1m 24.307s.

It wasn’t a great morning for Red Bull, who might have expected to be next. Instead, Perez pushed his Force India into fifth with 1m 24.650s as Grosjean, using the new Ferrari motor in his Haas, did 1m 24.763s to pip Bottas on 1m 24.785s. That left Verstappen, down in ninth on 1m 24.982s, as Red Bull’s leading runner.

Ricciardo, on 1m 25.120s, was separated from his team mate by Gutierrez, who made it two Haases in the top 10 with 1m 25.113s.

Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso were 11th and 13th respectively for McLaren, split by test driver Alfonso Celis who did a good job in Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India.

Further back, Esteban Ocon impressed with 18th fastest time for Manor, a second ahead of team mate Pascal Wehrlein, whose DRS later malfunctioned. Alonso also met trouble late in the session, when he toured with his McLaren in stuck in gear.

via F1.