Renault engineer Ricardo Penteado says that any doubts the team had about Robert Kubica’s physical abilities were quickly dispelled last week. Kubica completed the first stage of his F1 comeback when he spent a day testing Renault’s new-spec RS17 at F1’s in-season test at Budapest last week. Competitive times and consistency behind the wheel supported…
Payback Time for the Big Polluters?
The 500,000 people who marched for the climate in New York and other major cities in September have passed the torch to the people in the Philippines. The People’s Climate Walk is a 40-day, 1000 km journey from Manila to ground zero in Tacloban City where it will arrive on Saturday, 8 November—exactly one year…
After Marchionne’s comments, Kimi the ‘laggard’ responds
Kimi Raikkonen was labeled a ‘laggard’ by Ferrari chairman Sergio Marchionne earlier today, but the Finn believes he is doing his best out on the race track. Speaking to reporters in Austria, Marchionne said that Raikkonen needed a “higher level of commitment” to the Scuderia’s process. “I think Kimi has got to show a higher…
Ericsson banking on ‘big upgrade’ to move Sauber forward
Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson is hoping that a big aerodynamic upgrade set for introduction in Hungary will help improve the Swiss outfit’s performance. The Hinwill-based team has been stagnant lately, although Pascal Wehrlein did bag a point in Azerbaijan, bring Sauber’s tally to five points so far this season. But ineffective previous updates of the C36…
‘Upbeat’ Perez excited to get back to Silverstone
Sergio Perez is looking to build on the momentum of last week’s race in Austria when it comes to the British Grand Prix. Perez overcame initial problems to both qualify and then finish in seventh place at the Red Bull Ring. It was part of a valuable double points haul for the team. “I’m feeling…
Alonso brings back Indy 500 helmet design for Austin!
Fernando Alonso has fond memories of America and running in the Indy 500, and will revive in Austin next week the helmet livery he used last May. The Spaniard had a special helmet design commissioned for the Indy 500, in which he ran with a McLaren-entered Andretti Autosport Dallara-Honda. Ultimately, Alonso retired from the legendary…
Hamilton looking for durability with Austin tyre choice
The tyre selections of each of the ten teams on the grid for the upcoming United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas on October 22 have been announced. Each driver gets 13 sets of dry tyres to use during the race weekend. Everyone gets one set each of the three compounds offered…
‘Strongest Friday so far’ for Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton was clearly feeling upbeat at Spa-Francorchamps upon his return to Formula 1 duty after the lengthy summer shutdown. Ominously as far as his rivals were concerned, he dubbed Friday’s Belgian Grand Prix practice day his best of the season to date. “It’s great to be back!” beamed the three-time world champion, who set…
Sepang debrief instilled confidence at Mercedes
Toto Wolff witnessed an impressive response from Mercedes’ engineers at the team’s post-race debrief in Sepang as the German squad tackles its performance slump. Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton increased their advantage over Ferrari and Sebastia Vettel thanks to the latter’s reliability woes, but the relative under-performance of its W08 has left the team with more…
Bottas not ruling himself out of title fight
Valtteri Bottas isn’t giving up on winning the 2017 world title despite a deficit in the championship which increased against his rivals in Spa. The Mercedes driver looked set for a podium finish in Sunday’s Belgian GP before a Safety Car period bunched up the field and ultimately led to both Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi…