McLaren director Tim Goss: 2017 cars 'just look meaner'

2017 will see some new regulation changes for Formula 1 vehicles, and according to McLaren's technial director Tim Goss, the cars 'just look meaner.'

“These 2017 cars are lower and squatter; they just look meaner,” Goss told McLaren’s website. “The lower rear wing, big fat tyres and big diffuser look cool - they look mean."

Among the changes to the vehicles will be a wider, swept-back front wing - the car itself is now 200mm wider - and corresponding changes at the rear of the car.

“The rear wing is also wider and lower - which helps make the whole car look lower and wider,” added Goss. “And there are some visual styling cues that have been introduced: the rear is swept back in side-view, and the sidepod intakes are angled in plan-view. It’s definitely a ‘meaner’ look.

“And there’s a detail in the rear-wing endplate regulations; they step in - and that curviness is another styling feature that adds to the general ‘aura’ around the new shape.”

Under the 2017 rules teams will also be able to run much larger bargeboards in front of the car’s sidepods.

“In the 2016 regulations, the scope for bargeboard development was quite small,” he continued. “Now we can run them to the full height of the chassis, they can go a lot further forward and sit wider outboard. We can also stack devices within that area - so you’ll see a lot more complication in that area, a little like we saw in previous regulatory eras.”

Rosberg announces his retirement from F1 racing

On the day he is set to collect the trophy for winning his first drivers’ world championship, Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg has announced that he is to retire from Formula One racing.

“Since 25 years in racing, it has been my dream, my ‘one thing’ to become Formula One World Champion,” said Rosberg via social media. “Through the hard work, the pain, the sacrifices, this has been my target. And now I’ve made it.

“I have climbed my mountain, I am on the peak, so this feels right. My strongest emotion right now is deep gratitude to everybody who supported me to make that dream happen."

Rosberg, who won nine Grands Prix this year en route to the title, said he began contemplating his future at October’s Japanese round, and then made his decision within 24 hours of last weekend’s thrilling finale in Abu Dhabi, where he secured the podium finish he needed to become champion.

“When I won the race in Suzuka, from the moment when the destiny of the title was in my own hands, the big pressure started and I began to think about ending my racing career if I became world champion,” he continued.

“On Sunday morning in Abu Dhabi, I knew that it could be my last race and that feeling cleared my head before the start. I wanted to enjoy every part of the experience, knowing it might be the last time… and then the lights went out and I had the most intense 55 laps of my life.

“I took my decision on Monday evening. After reflecting for a day, the first people I told were (wife) Vivian and Georg (Nolte, from his management team), followed by (Mercedes-Benz Head of Motorsport) Toto (Wolff).”

Rosberg began his F1 career with Williams in 2006 before moving to Mercedes for the 2010 season. He won his first Grand Prix with the Silver Arrows in China 2012 and went on to take a total of 23 victories from 206 starts, twice finishing championship runner-up to team mate Lewis Hamilton before taking his maiden drivers’ crown.

“This season, I tell you, it was so damn tough,” confessed Rosberg, who admitted thoughts of his family had played a part in his decision. “I pushed like crazy in every area after the disappointments of the last two years; they fuelled my motivation to levels I had never experienced before. And of course that had an impact on the ones I love, too - it was a whole family effort of sacrifice, putting everything behind our target.

“I cannot find enough words to thank my wife Vivian; she has been incredible. She understood that this year was the big one, our opportunity to do it, and created the space for me to get full recovery between every race, looking after our daughter each night, taking over when things got tough and putting our championship first.”

Rosberg, whose father Keke won the F1 world championship in 1982, revealed the other concern in his decision had been his Mercedes team, who will now have to find another driver to partner Hamilton in 2017.

“The only thing that makes this decision in any way difficult for me is because I am putting my racing family into a tough situation,” he said “But Toto understood. He knew straight away that I was completely convinced and that reassured me. My proudest achievement in racing will always be to have won the world championship with this incredible team of people, the Silver Arrows.”

Rosberg announced his decision at a press conference in the Austrian capital of Vienna, where on Friday evening he and Mercedes will collect their 2016 championship trophies at the annual FIA Prize-Giving gala.

“Now, I’m just here to enjoy the moment,” concluded Rosberg, who ruled out any future F1 return. “There is time to savour the next weeks, to reflect on the season and to enjoy every experience that comes my way. After that, I will turn the next corner in my life and see what it has in store for me..."

via Formula 1.

Rosberg crowned champion as Hamilton wins Abu Dhabi thriller

Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg is the 2016 world champion, emulating his father Nico’s achievement after a tense 2016 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in which he finished a pig-in-the-middle second as winning team mate Lewis Hamilton attempted to back him up as much as possible into the clutches of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in an enforced but finely judged masterclass of race craft.

Less than two seconds covered the top four at the chequered flag as Hamilton ignored instructions from the Mercedes pit wall to up his pace in the closing laps. Daniel Ricciardo followed his Red Bull team mate home, with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen taking sixth ahead of Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez. Williams’ Felipe Massa and McLaren’s Fernando Alonso completed the top ten.

The start saw the two Mercedes lead off the line, with Hamilton heading Rosberg, as Raikkonen passed Ricciardo for third. Things got worse for Red Bull as Verstappen, in sixth, ran out of room exiting Turn 1 and spun after making light contact with Hulkenberg.

That forced the team to switch the Dutchman to a one-stop strategy as he fell to last place, and would have its effect later on.

Hamilton and Rosberg moved clear until their first pit stops, respectively on the seventh and eighth laps, after which Hamilton led again but with Verstappen having risen to second ahead of Rosberg.

The German was then content to follow him for the next 12 laps before finally slicing by the Red Bull, with a closely-fought but crucial pass. After that he got the throttle down, cutting a 5.8s gap to Hamilton to 3.1s by the time they stopped again, on laps 28 and 29.

That was when Hamilton was forced to try to back up his team mate, as he needed him to finish fourth or worse, and the gap came down to less than a second thereafter as the outgoing champion did all he could to let Ferrari and Red Bull catch up.

When Ferrari kept Vettel out until lap 37 before switching him to supersoft tyres, when everyone else was running softs, the German suddenly became the dangerman.

He passed team mate Raikkonen for fifth on the 41st lap, then set out after Ricciardo, who was having a subdued run in fourth. He passed the Red Bull on lap 47, and that set up the final showdown.

On his worn softs - he had pitted on lap 21 - Verstappen just wasn’t able to get closer than within three seconds of Rosberg as Hamilton continued to lap at a relatively slow pace despite being implored - and at times directly told - to speed up by his Mercedes bosses.

Vettel eventually out-dragged Verstappen’s Red Bull on the 51st lap, and Hamilton, Rosberg and he then circulated nose to tail. They were having kittens at Mercedes, especially as Hamilton told them quite trenchantly that if he was losing the world championship he didn’t particularly care if he lost the race as well.

In the end, of course, he was never going to do that. He did everything that he could, and crossed the finish line 0.4s ahead after 55 laps to score his 10th win of the season, the 53rd of his career - and to lose his world title.

Rosberg kept his cool despite the pressure from Vettel, but said it had been tough.

“That definitely wasn’t the most enjoyable race I’ve ever had!” he admitted. “With Max early on, and then with these guys coming at the end, it definitely wasn’t fun. I’m just really glad it’s over!”

For Vettel, third was a decent way to finish the season, with Verstappen taking fourth from his team mate and the distant Raikkonen.

Hulkenberg took a fine seventh for Force India, and with team mate Sergio Perez eighth Force India easily secured their fourth position in the constructors’ stakes. But Perez only just got home ahead of the fighting Williams of Felipe Massa, who signed off on his F1 career by maintaining his record of scoring points in each Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in which he has competed, and Fernando Alonso, who took the final point for McLaren.

Alonso’s team mate Jenson Button was in contention for points in his final Grand Prix, until a right-front suspension failure put him out after a heavy kerb contact. He was joined in retirement by the Toro Rossos of Daniil Kvyat and Carlos Sainz, Williams’ Valtteri Bottas and Renault’s Kevin Magnussen.

Outside of the points, Romain Grosjean led outgoing Haas team mate Esteban Gutierrez home in 11th and 12th after a race-long fight, as an equally intense intra-team fight between Esteban Ocon and Pascal Wehrlein ended in the Frenchman’s favour after they had a brief collision. Likewise, Marcus Ericsson narrowly led home Sauber partner Felipe Nasr in 15th and 16th, as Jolyon Palmer was the final finisher, penalised five seconds after a collision with Sainz.

Afterwards, Hamilton shook hands with the man who has taken his crown, and they hugged on the podium.

“Winning the championships is a great feeling, Hamilton said as he congratulated his team mate, “and I’m looking forward to fighting with him for it again next year.”

Rosberg, meanwhile, looked forward to celebrating with his father Keke and mother Sina, and did so in the moment with his wife Vivian, on the greatest day of his racing career. It would, he admitted, take some time before it really sank in.

- Formula 1

Hamilton takes pole ahead of rival Rosberg for Abu Dhabi GP

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Defending champion Lewis Hamilton dominated qualifying to clinch pole position Saturday for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and keep the pressure on title rival Nico Rosberg.

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo qualified in third behind Rosberg, and starts on the second row with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

With temperatures cooling and the sun setting on the Yas Marina circuit, Hamilton dominated all three qualifying sections and edged out Rosberg by .303 seconds to take pole.

Hamilton also beat his Mercedes teammate in all three practice runs this weekend, although Rosberg entered the race with the odds stacked in his favor and not needing to push for pole.

Rosberg, who took pole here the two previous years, guarantees his first title by finishing third, even if Hamilton wins the race.

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.

Qualifying - Rosberg edges Hamilton in Suzuka thriller

Nico Rosberg will start the 2016 Formula 1 Emirates Japanese Grand Prix from pole position after beating Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton by just 0.013s in qualifying at Suzuka on Saturday. Ferrari and Red Bull were breathing down their necks, with the Scuderia winning that battle as Kimi Raikkonen took third and Sebastian Vettel - carrying a three-place grid penalty for his collision in Malaysia - fourth.

Max Verstappen out-qualified Red Bull team mate Daniel Ricciardo in fifth and sixth, with Sergio Perez next up for Force India. Haas were the surprise of the hour, with Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez eighth and tenth respectively, split by the second Force India of Nico Hulkenberg.

Hamilton has never started from pole position here, and once again he was denied - Rosberg’s thirteen-thousandths of a second advantage equating to 82 centimetres on track - despite having taken the initiative earlier in Q3.

The Ferraris set the pace in Q1, with Vettel just acing Raikkonen, 1m 31.659s to 1m 31.684s. Rosberg was third on 1m 31.858, with a baulked Hamilton in fourth on 1m 32.218s. But where the red cars had used the soft Pirelli tyres, the silver ones had done their times on mediums.

Hulkenberg was fifth on softs with the Red Bulls of Verstappen and Ricciardo sixth and seventh on mediums.

The big mover was Renault’s Jolyon Palmer, who vaulted late into Q2 with 1m 32.796s, while Fernando Alonso just made it with 1m 32.819s, fractions ahead of team mate Jenson Button, whose 1m 32.851s left him 0.032s down in 17th for McLaren. He, of course, was using the Honda-powered squad’s older-specification powertrain.

Kevin Magnussen could not emulate Renault partner Palmer’s time, and was 18th on 1m 33.023s ahead of the Saubers of Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr on 1m 33.222s and 1m 33.332s, while Esteban Ocon and Pascal Wehrlein - carrying a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change - were on their tails in 21st and 22nd for Manor on 1m 33.353s and 1m 33.561s.

Rosberg lowered his time to 1m 30.714s on softs in Q2; Hamilton matched him in S1 and S3, but lost four-tenths sliding wide in the Degners on his way to 1m 31.129s, which left him just ahead of the Ferraris of Vettel and Raikkonen as fifth-placed Verstappen rued traffic while matching the Finn.

The surprise was Gutierrez in seventh and Grosjean in eighth for Haas, as late improvements kept the Force Indias in Q3.

Out were the Williams duo, with Valtteri Bottas heading Felipe Massa, with 1m 32.315s to 1m 32.380s. Daniil Kvyat out-qualified Toro Rosso team-mate Carlos Sainz, as the latter spun in Turn 13 on his second run. The Russian did 1m 32.623s, the Spaniard 1m 32.685s. Right behind Sainz was Alonso on 1m 32.689s, as Palmer’s 1m 32.807s left him 16th.

So, as ever, it all came down to Q3. Did Hamilton have an answer to Rosberg? Could Red Bull get back ahead of Ferrari?

The answer to both questions was affirmative after the first runs. Ricciardo went fastest with 1m 31.240s, but that was beaten by Verstappen’s 1m 31.229s despite the latter’s talk of a loss of gear sync, then Raikkonen with 1m 31.184s before Rosberg went fastest again with 1m 0.953s. But then Hamilton went quicker still, with 1m 30.758s, as Vettel’s 1m 31.225s left him fourth. However you sliced it, the times were close…

They were closer still in the second runs, when Rosberg grabbed the advantage back from Hamilton by thirteen-thousandths of a second… Their respective laps were 1m 30.647s and 1m 30.660s, as Raikkonen kept Ferrari ahead of Red Bull with 1m 30.949s and Vettel also pushed ahead of them on time - but not on the grid because of his three-place drop from Sepang - with 1m 31.028s. Verstappen had to be content with 1m 31.178s, as Ricciardo went sixth with 1m 31.240s.

Further back, Perez claimed seventh for Force India with 1m 31.961s, a time later matched by Haas’ Grosjean, as team mate Gutierrez made it a fine day for the American team with 1m 32.547s for 10th. Between them, Hulkenberg was ninth in the second Force India on 1m 32.142s.

With grid drops for Vettel and Wehrlein taken into the account, the provisional grid thus lines up: Rosberg, Hamilton; Raikkonen, Verstappen; Ricciardo, Perez; Vettel, Grosjean; Hulkenberg, Gutierrez; Bottas, Massa; Kvyat, Sainz; Alonso, Palmer; Button, Magnussen; Ericsson, Nasr; Ocon, Wehrlein.

via F1.

FP3 - Rosberg tops Ricciardo in wet-dry session

Saturday morning’s final practice at Suzuka began in damp and dreary conditions, but it ended in the same way as Friday’s sessions had: with championship leader Nico Rosberg topping the timesheet.

The hour-long session began with drivers venturing out on wet and intermediate tyres, but despite dark clouds overhead, conditions continually improved with all of the quick times coming right at the very end when the drivers switched to soft tyres.

Rosberg’s best lap of 1m 32.092s on the yellow-marked rubber was the fastest of the weekend thus far, but the fact that Daniel Ricciardo was within three tenths of a second with 1m 32.394s bears out Red Bull’s belief that they can be very competitive here on a track that favours excellent handling as much as horsepower.

Sebastian Vettel was again Ferrari’s faster runner with 1m 32.731s, but the German was disappointed that the team had lost ground to Mercedes since FP2. Max Verstappen was also unhappy in fourth, struggling to 1m 32.784s in a car that he said didn’t handle the way he wanted it to.

Kimi Raikkonen hit traffic on his best lap and ended up fifth, 0.9s back from Rosberg’s marker, with Felipe Massa taking sixth for Williams ahead of the second Silver Arrow of Lewis Hamilton, who spoiled his best effort with a mistake at Degner.

There were big smiles at Renault, where Jolyon Palmer had his best run of the season together with team mate Kevin Magnussen; they were eighth and ninth with exactly the same lap time: 1m 33.639s.

Rounding out the top 10 was Nico Hulkenberg on 1m 33.646s for Force India.

Esteban Gutierrez, 12th for Haas behind Fernando Alonso’s McLaren, provided the most spectacular moment of the session when he spun early on at Turn 5, while mechanical problems left Carlos Sainz’s Toro Rosso down in 22nd place.

The scene appears set for one of the closest qualifying sessions of the season, with both Red Bull drivers fancying their chances of getting up there with the Mercedes duo, provided the set-up of the RB12s can be honed a little further.

via F1.