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  • F1 2017: Abu Dhabi Gp Free Practice 2 Report – Hamilton Fastest

    F1 2017: Abu Dhabi Gp Free Practice 2 Report – Hamilton Fastest

    Lewis Hamilton led the way at the end of the second free practice session for Mercedes ahead of the Abu Dhabi grand prix.

    Hamilton’s fastest time of 1:37:877, a circuit record, was 0.149 quicker than the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel. Daniel Ricciardo, Kimi Raikkonen, and Valtteri Bottas completed the top five at the end of the ninety minute session.

    Unlike the earlier session in the day the second free practice session provided a much clearer picture of what the rest of the weekend could look like. And while Mercedes and Ferrari were nip and tuck in terms of long run pace Red Bull, especially in the case of Verstappen, were slightly adrift of the ultimate pace. However, several factors could be contributing the Red Bull’s seemingly slower pace not least of all being power unit reliability.

    Similarly, Hamilton’s looks set fair for Sunday’s race given the much fresher engine in the back of the Mercedes. Nevertheless, Vettel doesn’t look far off and shouldn’t be written off.

  • F1 2017: Abu Dhabi Gp Free Practice 1 Report – Vettel Leads

    F1 2017: Abu Dhabi Gp Free Practice 1 Report – Vettel Leads

    Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel set the quickest time in the first free practice session ahead of Sunday’s season ending Abu Dhabi grand prix.

    The Ferrari driver’s quickest time was only a tenth quicker than that of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was third, a further 0.026 off Hamilton’s time. Valtteri Bottas in the second Mercedes and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen rounded out the top five.

    While teams and drivers completed a formulated run program for the first session of the day the first practice around Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina circuit is one of the least representative sessions of the entire season. As the qualifying session and race will be run during twilight and into the evening the temperatures experienced in these sessions will be far removed from what is presented in Friday’s FP1 session.

    Nevertheless, several teams including McLaren and Ferrari made the most of the session by completing several aerodynamic test. It’s likely that they’ve run the various parts with an eye on 2018. It was also revealed that following Sunday’s race Liberty Media will reveal the new F1 logo.

  • New Tyre Compounds and Colours Announced by Pirelli for 2018

    New Tyre Compounds and Colours Announced by Pirelli for 2018

    Formula One tyre supplier Pirelli has announced two new tyre compounds for 2018 as well as new colours across the slick tyre range.

    From next year Pirelli will add two new compounds to the existing 5 compounds the already have. Enter the super-hard compound and hypersoft compound.

    The 2018 tyres, Pirelli say, are a step softer. The previous orange marked hard tyre will now be marked ice blue, while the super hard will be marked in orange indicating the hardest compound available.

    A new pink marked hypersoft will be introduced following a social media campaign to name the new compound.

    This brings us to a total of 7 slick compounds and the two wet weather tyre compounds.

    Pirelli say that the 2018 tyres have been redesigned and the working ranges for each compound have been revised. These two new compounds will allow teams greater flexibility in choosing tyres for each race.

    Mario Isola, Head of Car Racing at Pirelli: “Compared to this year, when the tyres grew by 25% to fit a brand-new generation of cars, the changes for next year are less far-reaching.

    “However, we’re pleased to present some important innovations with softer and faster compounds across the range: including the new hypersoft.

    “We realised that, under the unique circumstances of this year, some of our 2017 compounds were perhaps conservative: the tyres we have created for 2018 addresses this, in line with the objective of having around two pit stops at most races.

    “However, the fundamental design concept of the tyres hasn’t changed next year, preserving the attributes that all drivers have appreciated this year and allowing them to push hard from the start to the finish of each stint.

    “The new range consists of faster tyres that should lead to even harder and more spectacular racing in 2018.”

    Pirelli_2018 Tyres

  • F1 2017: Abu Dhabi Gp Preview – Much to gain at Season Finale

    F1 2017: Abu Dhabi Gp Preview – Much to gain at Season Finale

    The final round of the 2017 F1 season is upon us as the paddock heads east to the twilight race of Abu Dhabi.

    Introduced to the calendar several years ago the Yas Marina Circuit has delivered resplendent views of F1 cars at dusk for since 2009. With no expense spared the circuit and surrounding facilities are, arguably, the grandest of the lot. Complete with an its Ferrari World theme park and several thousand coloured LED lights all the facets of the Abu Dhabi combine to deliver a visual spectacle of note.

    Despite not being known for delivering the most memorable on track racing the Abu Dhabi based circuit has nevertheless seen the creation of several memorable moments for the sport. It was here after all, in 2010, that Sebastian Vettel won his first world championship title and here too where Kimi Raikkonen, en route to victory, uttered the now famous “leave me alone, I know what I’m doing” radio message.

    In 2016 Lewis Hamilton turned over every trick in his book to win the title and even attempted to back rival Nico Rosberg into the clutches of other cars with the hope that he would be overtaken and thus not win the title. Alas, none of Hamilton’s moves had done the trick and Rosberg took a well-deserved win. It’s a far different story twelve months later. Not only does Hamilton arrive in Abu Dhabi as a four-time champion but also there’s no Nico Rosberg on the other side of the Mercedes garage. Instead, it’s Valtteri Bottas who sits in the other Mercedes cockpit and who has a lot to prove. It’s been a lackluster second half of the season for Bottas who has summarily been blown away by Hamilton. While he scored a pole in Brazil he folded at the first sight of the front-wing of Vettel’s Ferrari. He needs a big performance this weekend in order to beginning righting his ship for 2018. If not, Hamilton may well blow him away, again.

    RedBull_AbuDhabi2013Similarly, Daniel Ricciardo could do with putting one over teammate Verstappen who has stolen the limelight from the Aussie this season. The Yas Marina circuit, 5.5 kilometers in length, does have several long straits in its layout but the second, more technical sector, should play to the Red Bull’s strengths. “ The final sector at Yas Marina is actually quite technical so you have to be really precise there, but it should also be our strongest part of the track” said Verstappen. “There are quite a few overtaking opportunities to make the race interesting, before the long straight at the hairpin and then at the end of the straight under braking for the next chicane section”.

    While the constructor’s championship has been settled at the top of the standings the battle for sixth is going down to the wire. Only six points separate Toro Rosso, Renault, and Haas and with the promise of a big pay day for finishing sixth the battle between these three teams could be the highlight of the weekend.

    Through nineteen rounds and 1147 racing laps there’s still much to play for and gain the final race of the 2017 season.

  • Toro Rosso Retain Hartley and Gasly for 2018

    Toro Rosso Retain Hartley and Gasly for 2018

    The Toro Rosso Formula One Team confirmed that Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley will remain with the team for the 2018 season.

    Both drivers made their debut for Toro Rosso earlier in the year. Gasly made his debut at the Malaysia Grand Prix while Hartley made his debut at the United States Grand Prix.

    Both drivers have had a baptism of fire into F1 with each driver receiving their fair share of engine penalties.

    There was some speculation about the team line up for Toro Rosso in 2018 and as soon as it was announced that Daniil Kvyat was no longer part of the Red Bull Driver program the picture became more clear that Gasly and Hartley would feature in 2018 for Toro Rosso.

    “We’re really happy to have Pierre and Brendon confirmed so early by Red Bull as our drivers for 2018”, commented Team Principal, Franz Tost.

    “During this last part of the year they’ve shown that they’re ready for Formula 1, getting to grips with the car quickly, showing good performances and always demonstrating to be prepared for the challenge.

    “We have been truly impressed by both their steep learning curves.

    “As we know, F1 is something that not all drivers can adapt to this fast! Therefore, we’re looking forward to having a full year with them; one where we can hopefully provide them with a good package which, combined with driver consistency, can surely put them in the best possible situation to deliver. I’m sure they will keep pushing hard and fight for strong results, together with the team.”

    Brendon Hartley:”Really amazing to be confirmed as a Formula 1 driver for next year with Toro Rosso – It’s very satisfying to have converted an opportunity that came as a surprise into a 2018 F1 drive, I couldn’t be happier!

    “I’d like to thank Red Bull and Toro Rosso for believing in me and giving me this second chance – dreams can come true.

    “I’m now going to carry on working harder than ever in order to finish this busy end of season on a high and start the new year as strong as possible… Bring it!”

    Pierre Gasly:”I’m super happy to race for Scuderia Toro Rosso in 2018, for my first proper season in Formula 1.

    “I would like to thank all the people involved, who helped me get here: Red Bull, Toro Rosso, my family and all the ones who have supported me in the lower series.

    “I’m really excited and super motivated to give it my all in Abu Dhabi and the whole of next year! I just can’t wait!”

     

    Photo credit: Scuderia Toro Rosso

  • F1 2017 Brazilian Gp Review – Vettel Win Lifts Ferrari

    F1 2017 Brazilian Gp Review – Vettel Win Lifts Ferrari

    As the Brazilian crowd bid an emotional farewell to local hero Felipe Massa, it was Sebastian Vettel who delivered a controlled drive to victory for the first time since July.

    Pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas was pipped off the line by Vettel’s Ferrari and never truly threatened for the lead of the race. Besides snatching pole by less than half a tenth it’s been a difficult few months for Bottas with several off-colour performances littered throughout the second half of his season. Nevertheless, his pace wasn’t far off Vettel’s at all and it was perhaps only the lack of courage into turn one that cost him victory in Brazil.

    The end of seventy-one laps saw the top three covered by roughly five seconds with Kimi Raikkonen taking the final step of the podium. The Ferrari driver, on 40 lap old tyres, valiantly held off a charging Lewis Hamilton who had scythed his way through the field to go from the pitlane to fourth by the end of the race. Hamilton’s uncharacteristic crash in quali may have reduced him to a pitlane start but the silver lining was a Mercedes power unit at full tilt and a newly crowned world champion willing and able to pull off several excellent overtakes. Despite a lap time advantage of more than 1.5 seconds and fresher tyres, he was ultimately not able to take third place off Raikkonen.

    29The last few weeks have been trying for manufacturer Renault and the teams they supply in the pitlane. So much so that a spat broke out between Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul and Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost. While Alain Prost stepped in to pour some cold water on the otherwise spicy discontent from both sides it is obvious that Renault is struggling towards the end of the season. So much in fact that they’ve ordered all teams running the French manufacturer’s power unit to turn down the performance output because of reliability fears.

    It explains then what happened to Red Bull’s early weekend pace, as it was nowhere to be found on Sunday. With the deficit, the best Max Verstappen could finish was fifth ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in sixth who started from the back of the grid due to, you guessed it, engine penalties. Power units continue to be the biggest talking point in F1 with the first meeting on what 2021 regulations could look like having already taken place. More seriously, however, is the fact that in 2018 teams will have a maximum of three engines to complete the season with and going beyond this allocation, which they undoubtedly will, means triggering grid penalties. It’s a ridiculous requirement given that no team will be able to stick to it and it should be redressed as soon as possible.

    17On the track, Felipe Massa delivered a typically plucky performance to hold on to a solid seventh place finish ahead of Fernando Alonso in eighth. Sergio Perez, merely a tenth behind Alonso, had to settle for ninth while Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the top ten.

    To say it’s been a difficult few months for Ferrari would likely be one of the biggest understatements of the year. After all, as they headed into the summer breaks after the Hungarian grand prix they had every expectation of winning the championship. But it all went horribly sideways as that Hungarian Gp turned out to be Vettel’s last win. His win Brazil, a controlled drive from the front for all of the 71 laps, will be shot in the arm not only for him but for everyone in Maranello, after all, 2018 isn’t that far off.

    (All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport)

  • 2017 Brazil Grand Prix: Post Qualifying Press Conference

    2017 Brazil Grand Prix: Post Qualifying Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)

    2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

    3 – Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari)

    TRACK INTERVIEWS
    (Conducted by Johnny Herbert)

    Valtteri, well done, your third pole position, perfect timing for you. How do you feel?

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, it feels good. Still a bit shaky. It’s a good feeling. It was just a nice lap. It was so close with Sebastian all the way through the qualifying and sometimes with Kimi as well. I got a good lap in the end. Obviously Lewis was out in the beginning, which is a shame for us but I’m happy I could stand up for us as a team.

     

    What happened to Lewis is part of racing, there’s nothing you can do about that but you did a great job today. What a brilliant position for you to start. This is track where it’s not the easiest to overtake and this is a chance for you to control everything tomorrow.

    VB: Yeah, it’s really good to start on the pole from here. We have a good car. It’s going to be a close race still with Ferrari, but I’d rather start from the pole, rather than, for example, P3, so looking forward to tomorrow.

     

    Sebastian, today, happy with that performance? I’m sure you would have loved that 51st pole, but it’s a good place to start tomorrow.

    Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, it’s alright. It’s not so much about tomorrow but about today. For tomorrow I think it’s fine but I would have loved to be ahead. It was close. I think I chickened out a little bit on the brakes for the final run into Turn 1 and lost a bit too much time. From there the lap was fine. I knew I had a bit left in the last sector, in the last corner, which I got, but by then I was already too much behind.

     

    But overall the car isn’t in bad shape for you. It sounds as if it’s there but it didn’t get it all together?

    SV: It was not that bad. I was happy with my first lap. I think it was OK. Three hundredths, you always think there’s some place you could have got that but as I said for tomorrow our long run [pace] looked good, in particular against Valtteri, so let’s see what happens tomorrow.

     

    Kimi, happy for today?

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: So, so. I felt it could have been better but it was a bit tricky sometimes to get the tyres into the right window for the first two corners to be confident under braking. The last run was better but it wasn’t good enough.

     

    It seems to be key today with these cooler conditions. It’s just made it that little bit more difficult. But generally Ferrari are in good shape for the race I would guess?

    KR: Yeah, I think we improved the car for today. Obviously the weather can change quickly here, so we have to wait and see what it brings tomorrow. It’s going to be a long race and we’ll do our best.

     

    Valtteri, tomorrow is going to be special because of how close it is and that is really going to be down to how many mistakes you don’t make during the race?

    VB: I agree. It’s not such an easy circuit to overtake on, so avoiding mistakes is one thing. The start here is always exciting. It’s going to be a long race. We know São Paulo, plenty of things can happen. I’m looking forward and again thanks to all the people for their mega support.

     

    Q: Valtteri, congratulations, your third career pole position, your first here in Brazil and a new track record, 2.4 seconds inside the 2016 pole. A perfect final lap. You had some work to do, obviously, after the first run and a great effort, I guess, in your mind, after a tough month for you. You’ve bounced back in the strongest possible way, particularly on a day when Mercedes needed you to stand up with what happened with Lewis.

    VB: Thank you. Yeah, of course very happy with the qualifying from my side and also from us as a team. Except the unfortunate off Lewis had in the beginning. It was then in the end only me. Happy I could deliver and happy I could put it on pole. So, yeah, the laps were getting better and better really, like with every one and it was, all the time, very close, so I’m pleased that in the end in Q3, I got a good lap and it was enough for pole. So, very pleased.

     

    Q: It’s always fine margins here Sebastian, you were fastest in the first run in Q3 but couldn’t improve. Unusual for you to leave the door open for a rival. What happened?

    SV: Well, I was very happy with the first lap, so yeah, I knew that in the last corner, in that first attempt in Q3, I had a little bit left because I lost the rear a bit, so I wanted to get there about the same and then I knew I could gain some time but yeah, I chickened out a little bit too early in the first corner, braking a bit too early, the grip was there, so I lost some time compared to the first run. Then I managed to stay there and got what I thought I will back in the last corner – but it wasn’t enough to come back. So, yeah, not ideal but overall I think a very positive day for us – both of us, I believe, looking at the gaps yesterday and today, so, very happy.

     

    Q: And Kimi, two of you versus one Mercedes. Unusual situation, from a strategy point of view that gives you plenty to play with, ‘cos he can’t cover both of you. Thoughts about that and also your performance today.

    KR: Obviously, we’ll see that tomorrow, what it will bring but today was a better day than yesterday, for sure. The feeling was pretty good on some laps but it was a bit tricky to have full confidence in the first corner to be sure that the tyres will work well and you don’t lock the wheel. That was really the most difficult. Some sets seemed to be more easy than others and the last set actually I had more grip than I expected. But yeah, not ideal but not too bad. I think the car is very good, position, the handling, so tomorrow is a race and it should be OK.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

     

    Q: (Livio Orrichio – Globoesporte.com) Valtteri, you have been facing some difficulties in the last few races, especially in qualifying conditions, and here since the first day you are very fast. What is it? The circuit? The characteristics of the car and the circuit? Self-confidence?

    VB: Well, for sure, sometimes it’s been more difficult, sometimes better – and that’s how it goes in racing – but I think the line, the graph for me has been all the time on the up and been feeling better and better with the car and just working hard on the issues we’ve been having, I’ve been having. Learning lots and, again, feeling better and just managed to learn from the mistakes and from the tricky sessions. Last few weekends has been a lot better, like last race in qualifying it was about hundredths between me and Lewis and it’s been the case all weekend here, so yeah, obviously, a shame he wasn’t any more in Q2 and Q3 but still I’m very, very pleased with the performance.

     

    Q: (Jens Nagler – Bild) Sebastian, bit of a slow start yesterday, then really close today. What can we expect from tomorrow’s race, especially with Lewis obviously not in the race for victory?

    SV: Don’t think it makes a difference. Obviously Valtteri’s on pole; it will be difficult to beat him but I’m confident we have the pace, especially on the long runs. I think it’s more of a surprise today that we got that close. If it’s that close, you obviously wish to be ahead but tomorrow should be a good race. We will see what happens. Interlagos is always special, there’s always something that happens in the race so let’s stay out of trouble and have a good race.

     

    Q: (Rodrigo França – Revista VIP) To Sebastian and Kimi: the weather forecast for tomorrow is a sunny day and 28 degrees, a lot hotter than today. This is good for Ferrari? Are the race times more competitive than in qualifying?

    SV: I think it’s OK, I think it’s like yesterday. I think we improved the car for today. Obviously it always feels a bit better when it’s colder but it should be fine. Usually in the race we are quite strong. If it’s hot, I don’t think it hurts us but then again today it was forecast wet, it wasn’t, so who knows? Maybe it changes tomorrow.

     

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speedsport) A similar question to Valtteri: do you think the tyre strategy will be pretty straightforward tomorrow, given it’s dry and hot?

    VB: I do think there’s not that many ideal strategies, so I think it can be quite straightforward but like Sebastian said, many times it’s been a really interesting race here with plenty of things happening so who knows? We are not too worried about the hotter temperatures, because I don’t think it’s actually going to be that far from yesterday – maybe a bit hotter than P2 – but everything still seemed to feel OK for us and we didn’t go crazy with the set-up for qualifying so we still kept an eye on the race but obviously tomorrow we’ll find out if we have the quickest car or not.

     

    Q: (Rodrigo França – Revista VIP) Question for everyone: the new system with the blue flags that will appear on the cockpit of the driver that is receiving the blue flags, do you think this will work out tomorrow, the first time here in Sao Paulo?

    VB: Well, first of all it’s been a long time that we get a blue flag in the cockpit, the lights, I think.

    SV: Not for you.

    VB: But the boards yeah, first time, so obviously when there’s a train of cars, then it’s maybe more precise, showing who needs to back off but it should be good.

     

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Hamilton is already World Champion but the second place in the championship is open. Does it stimulate you even more to keep your second position, Sebastian? And you, Valtteri, does it give you more stimulation to be second in the World Championship?

    SV: Look, obviously, we were on target to win; obviously that’s not any more in reach so the maximum stimulation we can get is to finish second so that’s what we try to do. If we don’t manage to do that then we’ve failed, so we’ve failed once this year already, I don’t want to fail again. The motivation is very high to make sure we stay ahead and we beat Valtteri tomorrow and in Abu Dhabi.

    VB: Yeah, same for us. It’s always good to have a target, makes you work harder and try harder so our target is to try and still get second place in the championship. It is possible but obviously he’s leading by 15 points so we really need to have a strong race here and also in Abu Dhabi.

     

    Q: (Jens Nagler – Bild) Valtteri, was pole something like a kind of a gift to those crew members who had the incident yesterday in the night?

    VB: Well, I spoke with them this morning and I said we are going to put it on pole and it’s going to cheer everyone so I’m glad it happened actually. Obviously first of all, very happy that everyone is in one piece and nothing happened physically to anyone but obviously pretty bad situation to be in but yeah, just happy everyone is still here.

  • Brazil F1 GP Qualifying – Bottas cashes in on Hamilton’s bad luck

    Brazil F1 GP Qualifying – Bottas cashes in on Hamilton’s bad luck

    Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas beat Ferarri’s Sebastian Vettel to the pole position for the Brazilian Grand Prix after 2017 world champion Lewis Hamilton crashed into the barriers during Q1 of the session.

    Bottas drove his heart out and cashed in on Lewis’ bad luck to clock in the fastest time around the Interlagos circuit with a 1:08.322 – just 0.038s ahead of Vettel.

    Hamilton’s crash, without setting a time, meant that he had to appeal to the stewards to allow him to participate in the race. The stewards have allowed him to start the race from the pit lane.

    The battle for second place in the championship is still in full swing and with a 15 point gap between Bottas and Vettel, the Finn will be in the best position to storm to the chequered flag and hone in on the German.

    Hamilton’s crash brought out the red flags only 5 minutes into Q1 after losing the rear end of his car going through Ferradura, causing extensive damage to his suspension, and possibly his gearbox.

    Kimi Raikkonen finished the Brazilian GP qualifying session in 3rd place, 0.2s behind Vettel and ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who came in 0.5s off pole. Daniel Ricciardo set the fifth fastest time but he will grid spots for having to change his MGU-H following his failure in Mexico. Sergio Perez, who qualified in 6th place, will move up to 5th as a result.

    Fernando Alonso enjoyed a very impressive qualifying and will start from the 6th spot on the grid. Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz will line up behind the Spaniard, a really good result for the team. With a mere 6 points behind the Toro Rosso team for 6th place in the championship, they’ll most certainly be going all out for the race.

    Brazilian home favourite, Felipe Massa, rounded in the top ten. Massa has again announced his retirement from F1, which will certainly have his home crowd hoping he can climb up through the ranks during the race to end his F1 career in spectacular fashion.

    Esteban Ocon will line up behind Massa with Romain Grosjean behind him, ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne and Haas teammate Kevin Magnussen. Pascal Wehrlein, Daniel Ricciardo, and Ericsson will start behind them with Lance Stroll, Brendon Hartleyand Pierre Gasly completing the grid.

    We’re all set for a spectacular Brazilian GP! Join us on Twitter @F1_Madness for live commentary and chat during the race.

  • Penalty Round Up: 2017 Brazil Grand Prix

    Penalty Round Up: 2017 Brazil Grand Prix

    Another race weekend, and we’ve got more grid penalties. So far none of them feature a McLaren. But it does look like Toro Rosso is getting all the bad luck.

    Lance Stroll gets a gearbox change after he came to a halt on track during Free Practice 3 while the rest of the Renault powered guys get penalties for component changes.

    Daniel Ricciardo

    • 10-place grid drop – 8th Control Electronics(1st 8th element)

    Pierre Gasly

    • 10-place grid drop – 8th MGU-H(1st 8th element)
    • 10-place grid drop – 9th MGU-H(1st 9th element)
    • 5-place grid drop – 7th Turbo Charger.

    Brendon Hartley

    • 10-place grid drop – 8th Control Electronics(1st 8th element)

    Lance Stroll

    • 5-place grid drop – gearbox change

     

  • Bottas Fastest in Closely Fought Brazil GP Free Practice 3

    Bottas Fastest in Closely Fought Brazil GP Free Practice 3

    Valtteri Bottas finished fastest in a very closely fought the final free practice session for the Brazil Grand Prix.

    It was so close in fact, the top four were covered by 0.058s. with Bottas the fastest for Mercedes with a best time of 1:09.281. Team-mate Lewis Hamilton was 2nd fastest with a best lap of 1:09.284, just 0.003s off.

    The two Ferrari’s of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel were 3rd and 4th fastest respectively. Raikkonen edging out Vettel this session with a 1:09.326, to Vettel’s 1:09.339.

    It was close between the Ferrari and Mercedes drivers as they battled each other for the fastest time lap after lap on their qualifying simulations. It was Mercedes who eventually took the honours of the session.

    Struggling for some pace in the session was the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo in 5th almost a second off the pace. Team Principal Christian Horner told Sky Sports F1 during the session that he does not think they can trouble Mercedes and Ferrari during qualifying but he hopes that they can get close. Verstappen in the second Red Bull finished his session 9th fastest with a best time of 1:10.495. The Dutchman complained about under-steer on his Red Bull and then spun at Turn 14 after dipping a wheel on the grass.

    It was another good session for Alonso finishing 6th fastest ahead of the two Pink Panther Force India’s in 7th and 8th. Perez finishing ahead of Ocon this session.

    Carlos Sainz rounded out the top 10 for Renault this session after some difficult in the beginning of the session.

    Lance Stroll’s session got off to a bad start after a terminal engine/gearbox problem put him out of the session. Williams say that they will have to change the engine and the gearbox before qualifying.

    The issue of traffic has cropped up once again this session. Drivers were finding it tricky to get out of the way of faster drivers and to set lap times. This could make qualifying interesting.

    It’s going to be another Mercedes-Ferrari show down in qualifying with Hamilton looking likely to take pole position.