Lewis Hamilton

Abu Dhabi GP: Mercedes dominance continues as Hamilton tops FP3 – Results

Kevin Peterson05 mins

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton remained unbeaten in the Third Free Practice of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Hamilton topped the timesheets in the final practice session of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with 1m 23.274s. His title rival, Max Verstappen was second fastest just two tenths of a second off the benchmark time as Valtteri Bottas rounded out the top three fastest lap times in the afternoon session. The conditions at Yas Marina Circuit were at 39 degrees for the track temperatures and 26 degrees for air temperature. Pirelli tyre options were the soft compound C5, medium compound C4 and hard compound C5. Verstappen was the first driver to set a time benchmark of 1m 24.997s on the medium tyre compound using the low downforce wing. Bottas went after Verstappen but only managed 1m 25.290s on the soft compound tyres which was a third of a second off Verstappen’s time. Lewis Hamilton experienced delays after coming in a little later than the other drivers as his mechanics raced against time working on the brakes. The Briton later set a benchmark time of 1m 24.241s on soft tyres. However, Hamilton’s lead was shortlived as Bottas made a flying lap recording 1m 24.238 in the sister Mercedes beating the benchmark time with just 0.003s. Lewis Hamilton later set a jaw breaking flying lap recording 1m 23.274s widening the margin over Bottas with 0.8s. Red Bull’s Verstappen recorded 1m 23.488s which was two tenths of a second slower than Hamilton after his flying lap on the softs after the team made changes to his rear wing. In the closing stages of the session, Hamilton’s time remained at the top of the timesheets. Verstappen taking P2 and Bottas P3, Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez came in P4 late in the session with 1m 24.047s. Yuki Tsunoda continued his good form which landed him P5 ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris who put quite an impressive performance despite a slow weekend start on Friday. Pierre Gasly in the second AlphaTauri came in P7 as Carlos Sainz marked the first Ferrari at P8. Daniel Ricciardo was impressive today after finishing P9 for McLaren as Charles Leclerc rounded out the top ten. 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix FP3 Results: Pos No Driver Nat. Team Time Gap Laps 1 44 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1:23.274 22 2 33 Max Verstappen NED Red Bull Racing 1:23.488 +0.214s 23 3 77 Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1:24.025 +0.751s 21 4 11 Sergio Perez MEX Red Bull Racing 1:24.047 +0.773s 20 5 4 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team 1:24.106 +0.832s 16 6 22 Yuki Tsunoda JAP Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1:24.223 +0.949s 21 7 10 Pierre Gasly FRA Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1:24.251 +0.977s 22 8 55 Carlos Sainz ESP Scuderia Ferrari 1:24.595 +1.321s 19 9 3 Daniel Ricciardo AUS McLaren F1 Team 1:24.733 +1.459s 15 10 16 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari 1:24.758 +1.484s 20 11 18 Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1:24.821 +1.547s 21 12 31 Esteban Ocon FRA Alpine F1 Team 1:24.834 +1.560s 17 13 7 Kimi Räikkönen FIN Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN 1:25.037 +1.763s 22 14 99 Antonio Giovinazzi ITA Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN 1:25.048 +1.774s 17 15 14 Fernando Alonso ESP Alpine F1 Team 1:25.094 +1.820s 19 16 5 Sebastian Vettel GER Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1:25.115 +1.841s 24 17 63 George Russell GBR Williams Racing 1:25.220 +1.946s 21 18 6 Nicholas Latifi CAN Williams Racing 1:25.322 +2.048s 18 19 47 Mick Schumacher GER Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1:25.340 +2.066s 17 20 9 Nikita Mazepin RAF Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1:26.332 +3.058s 18

Abu Dhabi GP: Hamilton fastest in second practice as Raikkonen crashes out – Results

Kevin Peterson05 mins

Lewis Hamilton put Mercedes on the top spot after setting the fastest lap in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix second free practice. Running on the soft tyre compound, the seven-time world champion set a time of 1m 23.691s on the revamped Yas Marina track being the only driver in the 1m 24s. Hamilton’s title rival Max Verstappen ended the session ranking P4, six tenths of a second off the benchmark time. In the early stages of the session, most drivers opted to run on medium tyres and Hamilton topped the time sheets with 1m 24.9s. Verstappen tried to beat the time but got his time deleted for exceeding track limits. The Red Bull driver later tried his luck again recording 1m 25s. Another driver who got his lap time deleted was Fernando Alonso after trying to be as fast as his teammate Esteban Ocon who was the second fastest. Valtteri Bottas finished third just three tenths of a second slower than his teammate. With darkness setting in on the track, the drivers had a brief experience of track conditions as they head to the Qualifying round on Saturday and the race on Sunday. Sergio Perez was the fifth fastest driver behind Verstappen in the sister Red Bull as Fernando Alonso finished P6 despite his lap time getting deleted earlier on. Yuki Tsunoda put an an impressive performance for AlphaTauri after being the seventh fastest as his teammate Pierre Gasly was down in 10th. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished P8 and P9 respectively. Daniel Ricciardo led McLaren in 11th place with Lando Norris finishing 13th as Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi separating the duo in 12th place. Sebastian Vettel was the fastest of the Aston Martins at P14 ahead of Lance Stroll. Kimi Raikkonen was P16 despite bringing out red flags in the closing stages of the session after crashing heavily into the barriers at Turn 14. George Russell on his first stint of the day finished P17 for Williams ahead of his teammate Nicholas Latifi in P18. Mick Schmacher led Haas in P19 six tenths of a second clear of Nikita Mazepin. 2021 F1 ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX – FREE PRACTICE RESULTS (2) POS DRIVER NAT. TEAM TIME 1 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1m23.691s 2 Esteban Ocon FRA Alpine F1 Team 1m24.034s 3 Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1m24.083s 4 Max Verstappen NED Red Bull Racing 1m24.332s 5 Sergio Perez MEX Red Bull Racing 1m24.400s 6 Fernando Alonso ESP Alpine F1 Team 1m24.495s 7 Yuki Tsunoda JPN Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1m24.532s 8 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 1m24.557s 9 Carlos Sainz ESP Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 1m24.844s 10 Pierre Gasly FRA Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1m24.940s 11 Daniel Ricciardo AUS McLaren F1 Team 1m24.959s 12 Antonio Giovinazzi ITA Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 1m25.108s 13 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team 1m25.153s 14 Sebastian Vettel GER Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1m25.195s 15 Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1m25.385s 16 Kimi Raikkonen FIN Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 1m25.440s 17 George Russell GBR Williams Racing 1m25.549s 18 Nicholas Latifi CAN Williams Racing 1m25.687s 19 Mick Schumacher GER Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1m25.748s 20 Nikita Mazepin RUS Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1m26.336s

Mercedes rules out having a new power unit for Lewis Hamilton

Kevin Peterson03 mins

Mercedes announced they have no plans to issue Lewis Hamilton with a fresh power unit for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix season finale. Lewis Hamilton will not be having a new Internal Combustion Engine this weekend which will mark the end of the 2021 Formula 1 season. Hamilton has already used five engines in the 2021 campaign which exceeds the permitted engine allocation which is three. The 36-year-old had to incur grid penalties in the Turkish and Sao Paulo GPs for the extra two engines used. Word had been going round that Mercedes may be in consideration of having a new ICE on Hamilton’s car giving him an edge in performance over Max Verstappen. The two title rivals are currently equal on points as they head to Abu Dhabi Grand Prix season finale. Mercedes engineer Andrew Shovlin shut down the engine change allegations in an interview with Sky Sports. “Not on the plan… If we do that, something has gone wrong. It wouldn’t feel like a good idea. That would only be if we suffer a big problem, and even that wouldn’t be Plan A if we did lose an engine,” Shovlin said. There has been a lot of talk over the ICE that Hamilton used in Brazil, as Red Bull boss Christian Horner described it as ‘unraceable’ after Mercedes dominance in Brazil and Jeddah rounds. “It’s not as big a deal as it’s perhaps being made out to be, I think Red Bull were inferring it was a huge difference and I think Toto did the same at one point. It’s a useful step in the right direction,” Shovlin added. “Whether we had it in, or not, at the last race, it’s not going to cover the kind of gap that we were seeing to Max over a single lap. But it’s a step in the right direction.”

Helmut Marko ‘sorry’ for comments made after Hamilton-Verstappen contact in Jeddah

Kevin Peterson03 mins

Helmut Marko has admitted he was wrong after comments he made on Hamilton’s ‘brake test’ claim in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko admits he was wrong after claiming that Max Verstappen had not braked excessively causing Lewis Hamilton to run into the back of the Dutchman’s car in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The clash which happened on lap 37 back straight between F1’s title rivals was a major talking point after the eventful race in Jeddah. Ahead of the stewards’ decision to hand a 10-second penalty to Verstappen for “erratic” driving and causing the incident, a furious Marko claimed that Red Bull’s data would prove that Verstappen had not brake-tested his rival as Hamilton had alleged in the heat of the moment. “Our engineers are preparing, we can prove Max was constant with his braking, he didn’t brake test like Hamilton said,” said the Austrian, according to Autosport. “Then he crashed into our car,” Marko insisted. “He unfortunately put two cuts in the rear tyre, that was so severe that we couldn’t attack anymore. We had to take speed out.” However Marko has come to apologise for the comments he made claiming the information given by the engineers was wrong. “At the time of the television interview, I passed on exactly the information that I had previously received from the engineers. They obviously weren’t right, so I’m sorry,” Marko now tells F1insider. “Hopefully the sad chapter of Saudi Arabia has now closed,” he adds. “In any case, we’re just looking ahead. We want to win in Abu Dhabi and so win the title. “We will do everything for this, but we will not take any unfair actions. In Saudi Arabia we already had the pace to keep up with Hamilton. The route in Abu Dhabi should be more accommodating to us.”

Hamilton finally sells New York penthouse for £37m

Kevin Peterson02 mins

Lewis Hamilton has sold his New York City penthouse for a whopping $49.5 million (£37.26 million) – bagging himself an impressive $5.6 million (£4.22 million) since purchasing the lavish hotspot in 2017. The racing driver, 36, listed the property for $57 million (£42.90 million) in February 2019, before dropping his price for a mystery buyer who went incognito through a Seattle shell company, as stated in property records. According to the listing, the penthouse is ‘the crown jewel of the building, an enclave of exclusivity in the heart of Northwest Tribeca’. Measuring over 12,000 interior and exterior square feet, the penthouse features five bedrooms, six bathrooms, two half bathrooms, 20 foot soaring ceilings, multiple terraces, a plunge pool, and two dedicated parking spaces. With neighbours including The Weekend, Justin Timberlake, Jessica Biel, Harry Styles, Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebel Wilson and Meg Ryan, it occupies three levels with direct building elevator access and a separate and private elevator. The building was a 19th-century book bindery factory including pine beams with steel fittings and seventeen restored windows. The windowed Christopher Peacock kitchen is outfitted with a Calacatta marble island, dual dishwashers, six-burner Wolf range with grill top, side-by-side 36-inch-wide Subzero refrigerator/freezer, and a Gaggenau wine refrigerator. For the exclusive occupants of the building, there’s a 70-foot indoor swimming pool, a fitness center and Turkish bath, a 5,000-square-foot landscaped roof terrace and lush central courtyard. The Hertfordshire native won’t be homeless in New York, since he also owns another bachelor penthouse at nearby Vestry St, which he splashed $40.7 million (£30.64 million) on back in 2017.

Lewis Hamilton and Brad Pitt join forces to work on a racing movie

Kevin Peterson01 mins

Hollywood actor Brad Pitt and seven-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton are joining forces for a new racing movie which is to be directed by Joseph Kosinski. Both Pitt and Kosinski have been looking to film a racing movie for a while, and almost worked together on an adaptation of the book ‘Go Like Hell’, though that fell through and eventually become ‘Ford v Ferrari’. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Paramount, MGM, Sony, Universal, Netflix, Apple, Amazon and Disney are all bidding to win the rights to the movie. Hamilton himself has has previously produced Cars 2, Cars 3 and Zoolander 2, but is yet to make a foray into acting, other than the odd cameo role. Jerry Bruckheimer is to serve as producer and Ehren Kruger will be the screenwriter for the as yet untitled project.

Hamilton describes Verstappen ‘over the limit’ after Saudi Arabian GP chaos

Kevin Peterson05 mins

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton lashed out at title rival Max Verstappen after Sunday’s gripping Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, describing the Dutchman as “over the limit”. Hamilton won a chaotic race under lights on the Jeddah street circuit but only after several close run-ins with Red Bull’s Verstappen. “I really had to try and keep my cool out there which was really difficult to do,” said Hamilton. “I have raced a lot of drivers in my 28 years of racing, I have come across a lot of characters. There’s a few that are over the limit, the rules don’t apply.” “He’s over the limit for sure. I have avoided collision on so many occasions with the guy,” the seven-time world champion continued. “I don’t mind being the one who does that because you get to live another day. It doesn’t matter for him if we don’t finish. It does for me.” The tense battle culminated in a late collision when Hamilton, apparently unaware that Verstappen had been ordered to give up the lead after an illegal manoeuvre shortly before, hit the Red Bull as it braked in front of him. Red Bull maintained that Verstappen was simply following instructions while Mercedes insisted that the Dutchman was ‘brake-testing’. “I don’t understand why he hit the brakes quite so heavily so I ran into the back of him,” said Hamilton. “I didn’t get the information. It was very confusing.” A visibly annoyed Verstappen, however, denied any wrongdoing in the incident. “I slowed down, I wanted to let him by, I was on the right but he didn’t want to overtake and we touched,” said Verstappen. “I don’t really understand what happened there.” Stewards, who gave Verstappen a five-second penalty for an earlier incident, were investigating the decision. “It was quite eventful! A lot of things happened, which I don’t fully agree with, but it is what it is,” said the 24-year-old Dutchman. He later stormed off the podium, refusing to take part in the traditional end of race champagne spraying with Hamilton and his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas who took third. The two drivers are now level on points as they head to the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi next weekend, although Verstappen has the advantage of having won more races. “It’s a straight fight as it has been all year,” said Red Bull boss Christian Horner. “The form is with Mercedes but Max has fought like a lion this weekend, he has given it everything.” Hamilton has now won three races on the bounce and is primed to become the first man to win eight world titles, one more than the record he currently shares with Michael Schumacher. “I am personally chilled,” he said. “I feel like I am in the boxing ring and I am ready to go.”

Verstappen gets a penalty for causing collision with Hamilton in the Saudi Arabian GP

Kevin Peterson05 mins

Max Verstappen has been given a 10sec penalty for his latest clash with Lewis Hamilton, after stewards found that he slammed on his brakes ahead of the Mercedes in a 195mph section of the Jeddah circuit. The Dutchman was said to be “predominantly at fault” for the crash but has not lost any championship points as a result, thanks to a 21sec gap between him, when he crossed the line to finish second at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, and third-placed Valtteri Bottas. He remains level at the top of the championship table with Hamilton, who accused his rival of “brake testing” him. Stewards called the pair to a hearing after the incident, which began when the Red Bull driver was told to hand back the lead to Hamilton as a result of passing him off track. Verstappen was told to make the switch “strategically” when he was at Turn 21. Five corners later he slowed, ahead of the DRS line which would give the following car a drag advantage on the main straight. But Hamilton had not been told of the plan. “I didn’t really understand what was going on,” he said after the race. “I was like, ‘is he trying to play some kind of crazy tactic? I don’t know’”. The Mercedes remained behind the Red Bull, drawing closer and closer until Hamilton suddenly swerved from behind his rival — too late to avoid clipping his front wing on the rear of the car. “Car 33 [Verstappen] slowed significantly at Turn 26,” the stewards found in their report. “However, it was obvious that neither driver wanted to take the lead prior to DRS detection line 3. “The driver of Car 33 stated that he was wondering why Car 44 [Hamilton] had not overtaken and the driver of Car 44 stated that, not having been aware at that stage that Car 33 was giving the position back, was unaware of the reason Car 33 was slowing. “In deciding to penalise the driver of Car 33, the key point for the Stewards was that the driver of Car 33 then braked suddenly (69 bar) and significantly, resulting in 2.4g deceleration.” Hamilton dropped back after the collision but was eventually let through by Verstappen at the same Turn 26. The Red Bull driver was behind the Mercedes at the DRS line, but then dived up the inside of the final corner, and had use of DRS to escape up the main straight. Concluding their report into the earlier incident which resulted in contact, the stewards added: “Whilst accepting that the driver of Car 44 could have overtaken Car 33 when that car first slowed, we understand why he (and the driver of Car 33) did not wish to be the first to cross the DRS. “However, the sudden braking by the driver of Car 33 was determined by the stewards to be erratic and hence the predominant cause of the collision and hence the standard penalty of 10 seconds for this type of incident, is imposed.” It was Verstappen’s second time penalty of the race, after he was docked 5sec for gaining an advantage over Hamilton by running off track.

Hamilton wins after collision with Verstappen in chaotic Saudi Arabian GP – Full Race Results

Kevin Peterson07 mins

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and drawn level with championship rival Max Verstappen with just one race left in the 2021 world championship following a bad-tempered scrap between the pair. The greatest flashpoint of the season happened on lap 38, shortly after a Virtual Safety Car restart. Verstappen overtook Hamilton around the outside at turn one at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, but could not stay on track. In trying to redress, Hamilton tucked in behind Verstappen approaching turn 27, Verstappen appeared to slow suddenly, and the two made contact.Hamilton suffered minor front wing damage, and Verstappen was given a five second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining a lasting advantage. Hamilton took the lead back from Verstappen on lap 43, and drove away to his third win in succession. Verstappen maintained second place after the time penalty, falling away from Hamilton in the final laps. By setting the fastest lap of the race, Hamilton gained eight points on Verstappen – bringing both drivers to 269.5 points going into next weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The inaugural race in Jeddah will be remembered as a rather calamitous race on the whole, after two red flags for major incidents, and multiple virtual safety car interventions for incidents and debris on the racing line. The first red flag was for TecPro barrier repairs at turn 22, when Mick Schumacher spun off and crashed. Initially the safety car was deployed, and Verstappen stayed out on track while Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas pitted from first and second for hard compound tyres. The red flag was thrown on lap 14, allowing Verstappen to change to medium tyres. On the ensuing standing restart, Verstappen started from first, but Hamilton got a better launch off the line. Hamilton ran wide through turn one, forcing Verstappen off track, and Verstappen took the lead ahead of the Alpine of Esteban Ocon, who had launched from fourth to second. Behind them, contact between Charles Leclerc and Sergio Pérez triggered a multi-car accident that took Pérez out of the race, along with George Russell and Nikita Mazepin. This brought out the second red flag. After heated debate, and even bargaining between FIA race control, Mercedes, and Red Bull, Ocon was placed at the front for the next standing restart, with Hamilton in second, and Verstappen moved back to third for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. On the medium tyres, Verstappen launched into the lead with a forceful block pass into turn one. Hamilton would make light contact with Ocon, but eventually settled into second, pursuing Verstappen for the lead. On lap 23, Sebastian Vettel was hit by Yuki Tsunoda, the incident and debris on track brought out a virtual safety car. Vettel would come to blows with Kimi Raikkonen on lap 28, and their collision necessitated another, longer VSC intervention. Over the line, Bottas used DRS to snatch third place from Ocon by just 0.102 seconds. Daniel Ricciardo finished in fifth, ahead of Pierre Gasly in sixth, then the Ferraris of Leclerc in seventh and Carlos Sainz Jnr in eighth. Antonio Giovinazzi scored points for Alfa Romeo in ninth, and Lando Norris took the final championship point in tenth. 2021 F1 SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX – RESULTS POS DRIVER NAT. TEAM TIME 1 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team 50 Laps 2 Max Verstappen NED Red Bull Racing + 11.825s 3 Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team + 27.531s 4 Esteban Ocon FRA Alpine F1 Team + 27.633s 5 Daniel Ricciardo AUS McLaren F1 Team + 40.121s 6 Pierre Gasly FRA Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda + 41.613s 7 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow + 44.475s 8 Carlos Sainz ESP Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow + 46.606s 9 Antonio Giovinazzi ITA Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen + 58.505s 10 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team + 61.358s 11 Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team + 77.212s 12 Nicholas Latifi CAN Williams Racing + 83.249s 13 Fernando Alonso ESP Alpine F1 Team + 1 Lap 14 Yuki Tsunoda JPN Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda + 1 Lap 15 Kimi Raikkonen FIN Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen + 1 Lap   Sebastian Vettel GER Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team DNF   George Russell GBR Williams Racing DNF   Sergio Perez MEX Red Bull Racing DNF   Nikita Mazepin RUS Uralkali Haas F1 Team DNF   Mick Schumacher GER Uralkali Haas F1 Team DNF

Saudi Arabian GP: Lewis Hamilton tops opening practice ahead of Verstappen

Kevin Peterson04 mins

Lewis Hamilton set the pace ahead of Formula 1 title rival Max Verstappen in opening practice ahead of the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion, who goes into the final two races of the season eight points behind Verstappen, headed the field with a 1m29.786s around the ultra-fast brand new Jeddah Corniche Circuit. Hamilton finished FP1 just 0.056s clear of Verstappen after the Red Bull driver improved on the soft tyre in the closing moments of the session, having led the way early on with a succession of fastest laps on the hards. Valtteri Bottaswas two-tenths adrift of the championship contenders to make it a Mercedes 1-3. Pierre Gasly demonstrated AlphaTauri’s impressive one-lap pace to get within half a second of Hamilton’s benchmark in fourth, while outgoing Alfa Romeo driver Antonio Giovinazzi popped in a lap good enough for fifth. Less than a tenth split the Ferrari duo of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc in sixth and seventh, while Daniel Ricciardo was the only McLaren driver to feature inside the top-10. Fresh from his first podium of the year in Qatar, Fernando Alonso took ninth for Alpine, with Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel completing the top-10 order in FP1. Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez struggled for pace throughout the session and could not break into the top-10, finishing 11th and over a second down as the drivers got up to speed and began to explore the limits of the new track. Despite the fast-flowing nature of the circuit, the drivers managed to avoid the close walls, with only a few yellow flags briefly flashing up during FP1. Traffic did prove to be a problem, however, with both Bottas and Lance Stroll nearly being caught out by slow-moving Haas cars. 2021 F1 SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX – FREE PRACTICE RESULTS (1) POS DRIVER NAT. TEAM TIME 1 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1m29.786s 2 Max Verstappen NED Red Bull Racing 1m29.842s 3 Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1m30.009s 4 Pierre Gasly FRA Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1m30.263s 5 Antonio Giovinazzi GBR Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 1m30.318s 6 Carlos Sainz ESP Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 1m30.564s 7 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 1m30.600s 8 Daniel Ricciardo AUS McLaren F1 Team 1m30.608s 9 Fernando Alonso CHI Alpine F1 Team 1m30.842s 10 Sebastian Vettel GER Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1m30.886s 11 Sergio Perez MEX Red Bull Racing 1m30.960s 12 Esteban Ocon FRA Alpine F1 Team 1m31.023s 13 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team 1m31.029s 14 Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1m31.044s 15 Yuki Tsunoda JPN Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1m31.099s 16 Kimi Raikkonen FIN Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 1m31.296s 17 George Russell ISR Williams Racing 1m31.343s 18 Mick Schumacher GER Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1m31.525s 19 Nicholas Latifi CAN Williams Racing 1m31.821s 20 Nikita Mazepin RUS Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1m33.464s Formula

Hamilton receives criticism from Grenfell Tower survivors after sporsorship deal with Kingspan

Kevin Peterson03 mins

Mercedes Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton is facing protests from survivors of the Grenfell Tower tragedy over a decision to be sponsored by the company that made combustible insulation used on the tower. Kingspan, which campaigners say played a central role in the fire that killed 72 people, has agreed a deal with Mercedes that will see its logo emblazoned on Hamilton’s and other drivers’ Formula One cars. The survivors’ group Grenfell United called for the seven-time world champion to cancel the relationship. The insulation company changed the composition of its plastic foam boards before the fire in June 2017, which tests at the Grenfell Inquiry found “burned like a raging inferno”. It continued to sell the boards around the UK despite concerns, including a small amount on the Grenfell tower block in west Loandon. Mercedes said after the partnership was announced that it was “n exciting partnership”. The firm said in a statement that sponsorship deals were not decided by individual drivers. “Our partner Kingspan has supported, and continues to support, the vitally important work of the inquiry to determine what went wrong and why in the Grenfell Tower tragedy,” Mercedes said in a statement. “Our new partnership announced this week is centred on sustainability, and will support us in achieving our targets in this area.” Hamilton has previously spoken out in solidarity with victims of the blaze. On the third anniversary of the fire he posted on Instagram: “Remembering the 72 souls we lost and their loved ones, and everyone affected by this tragedy.”

Mercedes to use Brazil GP power unit on Lewis Hamilton’s car in Saudi Arabia

Kevin Peterson05 mins

Mercedes has revealed Lewis Hamilton will use his fresher Formula 1 engine from Brazil for the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix to aid his 2021 title bid. Hamilton closed to within eight points of championship leader Max Verstappen with a dominant victory in Qatar, despite reverting back to his older-spec power unit. The seven-time world champion took a five-place grid penalty at Interlagos after fitting a fifth ICE of the season, and will use the engine again for Saudi’s high-speed layout. As Hamilton’s title aspirations gain momentum following back-to-back wins, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said the team would get its “spicy equipment out” for the next encounter. “In Saudi it should be a good track for us but we know this year, when we think it is a good one, it can turn the other way around,” Wolff told Sky Sports F1. “But it is long straights and we will get our spicy equipment out, the engine, for Saudi Arabia. “Hopefully Valtteri [Bottas] can be right up there because we need him, but in any case if everybody finishes the race it is going to Abu Dhabi.” Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin is also buoyant about the team’s chances for Saudi Arabia, particularly knowing Hamilton would run his fresher power unit. “We’ve seen pretty big swings of performance over the recent races, [but] if we look at the track in Saudi, I think it should suit us,” Shovlin said, as quoted by Motorsport.com. “For Lewis, we have got the more powerful engine to go in the car, so that’s going to give him a useful engine.” Shovlin explained the decision to not fit the more powerful engine in Qatar was down to the Losail track having fewer straights than Saudi’s street circuit. “There are two [power units] that we are racing,” he said. “Here we had the less powerful of the two in the car, due to the nature of the circuit. So that side of it is in a good place at the moment.” But while Mercedes goes to Saudi Arabia full of confidence, Shovlin stresses it cannot expect to come away with a result after its defeat to Red Bull at last month’s US Grand Prix. “The track should suit the car, but then we would have probably said in Austin that we would have felt that we should be able to put together a decent set-up and take the fight to Red Bull, and they had a bit of an edge there,” Shovlin said. “So we’re always cautious to go to a race thinking that it’s all going to go our way. “What we do know though are the things we’ve got to get right on the set-up, what we need to get right on the tyres and how they’re working, and that’s what we’re going to be busy doing over the next few days, making sure we’re taking every possible opportunity to arrive there in good shape. “With a new circuit, arriving in good shape is such a big thing from the learning curve, if you’ve got a good car to start with, you can just improve it from there.”