Formula 1 - 2017

[MIKA27]

ALONSO LAUNCHES HIS OWN ESPORTS SIM RACING TEAM

Double Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso has launched his own eSport virtual racing team. joining a fast-growing trend in which sim racing is merging with real racing on a global platform.

The 36-year-old, who drives for McLaren, presented the FA Racing G2 Logitech G team at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Thursday.

“I am a team principal, finally,” the Spaniard told reporters. “It is very exciting and it is a completely new thing to discover.”

The team is a joint venture with G2 eSports and McLaren sponsor Logitech and will participate across a variety of games, console and PC platforms, as well as all current competitions.

McLaren this week appointed a gamer as an official simulator driver, after running a “World’s Fastest Gamer” competition, and are also the first team to have a director of eSports.

The Abu Dhabi weekend will also see Formula One’s first eSport series world champion crowned after finals at the Yas Marina circuit.

Alonso’s team has already signed up one of those finalists, Turkish gamer Cem Bolukbasi.

“Every Formula 1 driver is a gamer at heart,” Alonso said in a statement. “Competing on the virtual stage opens a vast amount of possibilities for young drivers that wouldn’t otherwise have a chance to get into racing”.

McLaren executive director Zak Brown said in May that all Formula One teams could one day have their own virtual racing counterparts.

“I don’t see how any F1 team can ignore the power of eSports, the audience, the people it produces. So I’d like to think most F1 teams will do something in some way, shape or form,” he said at the time.

Alonso’s partner in the venture and G2 Esports CEO Carlos Rodriguez said, “I was shocked – in a good way – when I found out the participation numbers and the online viewership of esports competitions.”

“It’s massive, so me and my crew have to be there, doing our best to be a lighthouse to connect our two fantastic worlds… traditional motorsport fans and the new generations that develop their skills every day in sim racing,” added Rodriguez.

 

[MIKA27]

Pirelli reveals details and colours for expanded range of 2018 F1 tyres

Pirelli has revealed details of the seven dry-weather tyre compounds it will use in the 2018 Formula 1 season, with the introduction of the super-hard and the hyper-soft.

The Italian supplier says the compounds in the 2018 "rainbow" range will be "considerably softer" compared to 2017.

The first new tyre will be the orange super-hard, slotting in as the hardest of the range.

It will be what Pirelli describes as its "insurance policy" given the other compounds have gone softer for next season.

The other new entry is the hyper-soft, which will be pink and the softest of the range, with the name chosen via a fan poll on social media.

It received 62% of the vote, beating the two other proposed options - extreme-soft and mega-soft.

"This is the softest compound we've made so far in F1," said Pirelli racing manager Mario Isola.

"We decided not only to move all the range one step softer, but to introduce one more level of softer compound, that is the pink hyper-soft.

"This is obviously a compound that we developed for very low-severity circuits.

"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 pitstops at most races.

"However, the fundamental design concept of the tyres hasn't changed, 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 hard tyre will take on an "ice blue" colour next year, with the white medium, yellow soft, red super-soft and purple ultra-soft retaining their current colours.

The intermediate and full wet will remain green and blue respectively.

The teams will try out the new tyres for the first time next week during the two-day Post-Abu Dhabi Grand Prix tyre test at Yas Marina.

[MIKA27]

Sauber-Ferrari talks leave Ericsson worried about 2018 F1 chances

Marcus Ericsson says the "main worry" over his uncertain Formula 1 future concerns how deep a relationship Sauber decides to have with Ferrari in 2018.

Sauber is set to bolster its partnership with the Scuderia next season, taking a supply of current-spec F1 engines, after running year-old units this year, and potentially becoming an Alfa-Romeo-branded Ferrari junior team.

Ferrari-backed Formula 2 champion Charles Leclerc is widely expected to graduate to F1 with Sauber next season, after taking part in free practice sessions with the team recently, but the identity of his 2018 team-mate is yet to be determined.

Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne has floated the idea of turning Sauber into a de facto junior team, by placing Ferrari's third-driver Antonio Giovinazzi there alongside Leclerc.

That scenario would bring an end to Ericsson's four-year stint with the Swiss team, and leave his current team-mate Pascal Wehrlein on the sidelines too, should the Mercedes junior not secure a seat at Williams.

Ericsson, whose sponsors are understood to have invested heavily in Sauber over the past 18 months, believes he is the frontrunner to retain a seat at Sauber should Ferrari not strike a deal to place two drivers at the team, but is also concerned his F1 career could soon be over.

When asked by Autosport why his Sauber future was taking so long to resolve, Ericsson replied: "From what I understand it's talks with Ferrari and how much of a relationship they're going to do with Ferrari and what that will include.

"I know Ferrari is pushing for getting two drivers in the team and that's the main worry for me at the moment, but that's not been decided yet.

"Otherwise I'm quite hopeful, or quite confident, that I'm going to be one of the drivers - unless Ferrari gets two drivers, obviously."

Ericsson admits he does not have an alternative option should he lose his Sauber drive and says it is "really crucial" he does not drop off the grid next year, given the difficulty of getting back into F1 after an absence.

"Obviously my management's keeping options open and they have contacts in different series, but all my focus has been on the driving and finishing this season strongly," Ericsson added.

"When I look to next year I see myself in F1; that's my goal.

"It feels a bit weird, because going into this last race of the season, if you don't have anything sorted for next year it's always a bit of a worry, but I still feel confident I will be on the grid next year.

"Since the summer break the pressure's really been on to show that I should be in one of the seats [and] I think the last three or four weekends have been really good for me.

"I've had some really good performances, some really good races, and been beating my team-mate most of the time, so that's what I need to continue to do this weekend." 

[MIKA27]

Tough F1 season 'far' from what Kimi Raikkonen wanted

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen has admitted his disappointing 2017 Formula 1 season has been "far from what I wanted".

The 2007 world champion is yet to win a grand prix since returning to Ferrari in 2014.

He has stood on the podium seven times this year, but trails team-mate Sebastian Vettel, the two Mercedes drivers and Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo in the championship.

Raikkonen has also been outqualified by Vettel by a margin of 14-5 so far.

"It is far from what I wanted, but it is where we ended up," said Raikkonen, who could overhaul Ricciardo for fourth in the points in this weekend's Abu Dhabi finale.

"That is how it goes.

"There is one race to go, we try to make the best out of it and then obviously start next year, try to do a lot better."

Raikkonen, who has been retained by Ferrari for 2018, added: "Obviously I am here to try to win races and win championships, so it is far from ideal.

"But this is how it turned out to be. I can live with it, but it is not why I am here.

"We started pretty poorly at the beginning of the year, not really where we should have been.

"It has been better since then but then we had too many DNFs and never really recovered from there."

Raikkonen led the Monaco Grand Prix from pole position before being overhauled in the pitstops by Vettel, and qualified on the front row in Malaysia, where Ferrari appeared to have a pace advantage, but failed to start the race because of a mechanical failure.

He feels only "small things" have denied him victory, but admitted he needs to be up among the frontrunners more frequently.

"I think it is question of many things," he said.

"If it were easy, everybody could win. But it is a lot of things, small things.

"It has been very close with quite a few cars over the races, and it is small things that count over the race weekends.

"We need to be faster, more often, and put ourselves in a position and then hopefully some things will go a bit in our direction.

"We try this weekend and next year again."

Vettel: Ferrari fixed development weakness

Although his championship campaign fell apart in the closing stages, Vettel said Ferrari's season showed it has addressed a key development weakness.

"It was toe-to-toe for most of the season, but not the important part of the season," he said.

"It's been a massive achievement, a massive step, compared to where we were in 2016.

"One strength that hasn't been there is development. Historically, we lost out as the season progressed.

"This year it's been harder. We managed to stay in the fight.

"We had two or three races, which turned out to be costly for different reasons, and we lost touch.

"We know what to do [for 2018]. I'm sure we will dig deep enough."

[MIKA27]

2017 Abu Dhabi - Drivers Press Conference - Part 1

 

2017 Abu Dhabi - Drivers Press Conference - Part 2

 

 

[LordAnubis]

I don’t understand why they make fun of that last guy asking questions (to Lewis, seb and dan). He’s asked questions before. Clearly English isn’t his first language and guess what, that’s life. But every time he’s asked questions in the passed they’ve all made fun of his questions. Maybe they should take written questions?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MIKA27]

On 24/11/2017 at 5:05 PM, LordAnubis said:

I don’t understand why they make fun of that last guy asking questions (to Lewis, seb and dan). He’s asked questions before. Clearly English isn’t his first language and guess what, that’s life. But every time he’s asked questions in the passed they’ve all made fun of his questions. Maybe they should take written questions?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Yeah... he spoke a lot however, they weren't laughing at that, more so his accent. I felt a little embarrassed watching that.

[MIKA27]

ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX: BOTTAS BEATS HAMILTON IN DESERT BORE

Valtteri Bottas managed to fend off teammate Lewis Hamilton to claim victory at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, as Mercedes ended the season in dominant style, albeit in what was probably the most boring race of the 2017 season.

Yas Marina Circuit is arguably one of the most stunning destinations on the F1 calendar, but as a race circuit, it simply does not deliver. As result, the Herman Tilke designed venue produced a procession of a race, where overtaking – even with DRS – overtaking was rare and most of the action was way down the order.

Nevertheless, starting from pole position Bottas did not put a foot wrong all evening, even when Hamilton managed to get close the Finn seemed to have pace in reserve to keep the world champion at bay. 

The race winner summed up his race, “It is a really important win for me after having pretty difficult start to second half of the year. Working hard on all the issues and getting better and better with everything. This weekend, pole and win, couldn’t be happier to end the season like this.”

“Again, congratulations to Lewis for the title and congrats to Sebastian for second in the championship. I’m third this year and hopefully better next year. I was managing the pace and the race and that was a nice feeling. I had a lockup when approaching one of the lapped cars but otherwise no issues. The last five laps I managed to go quicker and build the gap. The car was so good and to the team, thank you very much,” added Bottas.

Hamilton got closest towards the end while overtaking backmarkers when Bottas made a slight error, but it remained a stalemate as Bottas sent his teammate a message by pulling away with ease to win by nearly four seconds.

The Briton said afterwards, “I did [give it everything]. Big congratulations to Valtteri, he did an amazing job today to hold me off.  It’s very hard to overtake here so once I got to the last sector I struggled a little bit. I want to say a big thank you to the team, what they have produced for us this year is just incredible, it’s just an honour to race with them.”

Ferrari were left in the desert dust as Sebastian Vettel, who qualified third, had no firepower at his disposal to mount even the slightest challenge. He finished a lonely and distant third, 15 seconds adrift of Bottas.

Vettel said in the post-race interview, “In the beginning, I tried very hard. I had a good start but then nowhere to go and locked up. After three, four or five laps I couldn’t go any faster and they pulled away. From there onwards, it was pretty lonely.

“On the second stint I really got into the car, got into the rhythm and had stronger pace but we couldn’t match those two guys. Congrats to Valtteri and very much congratulations to Lewis on his season. He deserves to win the championship this year. I hate to say it but he was the better man. We will do our bit over the weekend and hopefully come back stronger,” concluded the Ferrari driver.

Kimi Raikkonen crossed the finish line 26 seconds behind his teammate to finish fourth, ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen who settled for fifth after a late race attack came to nought.

Despite a five seconds penalty, Nico Hulkenberg finished sixth and with it helped Renault leapfrog Toro Rosso to claim sixth place in the constructors’ championship (worth an estimated $8-million more in prize-money) while the Red Bull junior team’s drivers struggled at the wrong end of the field. 

Next up were the Force India duo of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon, in eighth and ninth respectively with Fernando Alonso ninth in the final race for the McLaren-Honda partnership.

Felipe Massa claimed the final point for Williams and thus bringing to an end his Formula 1 career that spanned 15 years.

Blow-By-Blow

At the start, Bottas got away cleanly from pole position and took the lead ahead of Hamilton, Vettel and Ricciardo who all retained their starting positions. Behind them, Verstappen closed on Räikkönen and made two aggressive attempts to pass the Finn. The second almost succeeded but in the end, the Dutchman backed out of the attack and Räikkönen held fifth as they crossed the line at the end of lap one.

Further back Hulkenberg went off track and rejoined in seventh place ahead of Perez who had got ahead at the start. The German was promptly handed a five-second time penalty for gaining an advantage.

The order then settled and by lap 10 Bottas had eked out a two-second advantage over Hamilton, with the British driver 2.7s clear of Vettel. Ricciardo was also managing to pull away from Räikkönen who was now 3.9s in arrears to the Australian.

That order remained the same through the first pit stops, though not for long afterwards. Following regulations stops for Verstappen, Räikkönen, Vettel and Bottas, Ricciardo dived towards the pit entry earlier than expected saying he suspected he had a puncture.

He took on supersofts tyres and rejoined in P4 but the real problem soon became clear. “I think I’m losing power steering,” he reported and then almost immediately drove off track and stopped at Turn 5, his race over.

At the front, Hamilton was the last of the front-runners to pit and his stop once again boosted Bottas into the lead. The Finn now led his team-mate by just over a second, but Vettel was now a sizeable 11.4s behind in third. Following Ricciardo’s retirement, Räikkönen was promoted to third, 1.5s ahead of Verstappen in the sole remaining Red Bull.

Ocon was sixth ahead Sainz and Hulkenberg. Sainz needed to make a first pit stop, and he did that on lap 31, in tandem with the sixth-placed Ocon.

While Ocon rejoined in P8, there was a problem for Sainz. His crew failed to attach his front left wheel correctly and the Spaniard barely it made out of the pit tunnel and back on track. He quickly pulled over and retired.

The stops, though, boosted Hulkenberg to P6, a position that if held would earn Renault eight points and elevate them to in the Constructors’ standings, above Toro Rosso, whose drivers, Hartley and Gasly, were lingering in P15 and P16 respectively.

And there the order stagnated. At the front, Bottas had a solid 1.7s advantage over Hamilton on lap 43, with Vettel a further 20 seconds back. He was followed by Raikkonen and Verstappen, while Hulkenberg was now secure in sixth place some seven seconds ahead of Perez.

And that was how it ended, with Bottas eventually taking his third victory of the season almost four seconds clear of Hamilton and almost 20 seconds ahead of Vettel, whose third place means he finishes as runner-up to Hamilton in the Drivers’ standings, 12 points ahead of Bottas. Raikkonen’s fourth place, coupled with Ricciardo’s retirement boosts the Finn ahead of the Australian, to fourth in the Drivers’ table.

Further back Hulkenberg held sixth place to hand Renault the same place in the teams’ standings. Perez was seventh for Force India ahead of team-mate Ocon, while Alonso handed two points to McLaren and Honda in the final race for the team and engine manufacturer as partners.

Finally, Felipe Massa scored a point on his final race in Formula 1, with the Brazilian retiring after 269 F1 starts.

[MIKA27]

FORMULA 1 UNVEIL NEW LOGO

Formula 1 unveiled a new logo at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday as the first step in a rebranding of the sport which is now owned by American company Liberty Media.

The design, described as symbolising the look of a Formula One car with a ‘modern-retro feel’, replaces one introduced three decades ago by former commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

Managing director Sean Bratches said it reflected the “wider transformation taking place in Formula One” as owners Liberty Media sought to broaden the sport´s appeal and lead it into a digital future.

Formula One’s director of marketing Ellie Norman, who joined from Virgin Media in August, told Reuters the new logo derived from fan feedback and would be easier to work with on digital and mobile platforms.

“I think over time it will be received positively,” she said, recognising there could be an initial backlash in some quarters.

“Having shared it with the teams in Abu Dhabi on Thursday and with our sponsors and partners on Wednesday, the feedback… has been incredibly positive.”

Jean Todt, president of the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA), told reporters he saw it as “a good evolution”.

Formula One has also set out a ‘mission statement’ in language that may raise eyebrows among those wary of ‘Americanisation’.

The five ‘key behaviours’ are listed as: ‘Revel in the racing’, ‘Make the spectacle more spectacular’, ‘Break down borders’, ‘Taste the oil’ and ‘Feel the blood boil’.

The first involves working with teams and the FIA to improve the racing, the second to build up events around races and create more of a buzz while the third is about increasing the audience and drawing in new fans with digital technology.

The last two relate to presenting the technology in a more compelling way and highlighting the human emotions and rivalries.

Norman said Liberty, who took over Formula One in January, had carried out extensive fan research and the message coming back was that the sport had lost excitement and become too sanitised and inaccessible.

“We really have to set about a shift in that perception because without the passion of our fans there could be a point where there is no longer Formula One, because we just don´t have that connection with people,” said Norman.

“For us is it was about almost restarting and thinking about how do we actually unleash a new Formula One into 2018,” she added.

“All of the work we´ve been doing is really setting us up for next season and beyond and how we want to continue to bring fans much closer. The more that we give fans what they want, the more as a business we will get what we want in the long term.”

Formula One bosses have said they want to treat each race like a Super Bowl and introduced a number of initiatives this season.

They said attendances at grands prix had risen as had digital and television viewing figures.

“With the new logo and identity that we build, we can take this and build up eSports, find a way to connect this audience and bring them in,” said Norman. “This logo allows us to take it into those environments where the new audiences are.”

[MIKA27]

HULKENBERG’S SIXTH-PLACE WORTH $8.5-MILLION TO RENAULT

Nico Hulkenberg gave Renault a multi-million-dollar boost for next year by securing sixth place for his team in the Formula 1 World Championship constructors’ standings at the season-finale Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Renault, who had started the day seventh and four points behind Toro Rosso, ended it four points ahead of their Red Bull-owned rivals. The difference between the places, in terms of revenue distribution and prize money, had been estimated at some $8.5 million.

Hulkenberg’s race under the Yas Marina floodlights was not without controversy, however, after stewards gave the German a five-second penalty for cutting a corner rather than making him hand back a position.

Force India’s chief operating officer Otmar Szafneuer, whose team finished fourth overall, criticised the decision and said Hulkenberg should have given the place back to his Mexican driver Sergio Perez and told Sky Sports, “It just makes a mockery of the sport to have it so inconsistent.”

“Hulkenberg cuts a corner, the FIA don’t do anything about it and guess what? They gain a place in the constructors’ championship, which means more money and more competitiveness next year. It’s not great… it’s just the inconsistency’s not great.”

Renault Sport F1 team boss Cyril Abiteboul shrugged off the incident. “There was a penalty decided, we served the penalty.”

“It’s always different car, different perspective,” commented Hulkenberg, who was Perez’s teammate at Force India last year, on the penalty.

“I could see he was locking up and running wide. I had the car stopped enough to turn left and make the corner but he was running wide so I had physically no place to go.

“It’s also a bit forcing another driver off the track in my opinion. I think the five-second penalty was fair and reasonable.”

Renault were also fined 5,000 euros ($5,965)for sending Spanish driver Carlos Sainz out from a pitstop with an unsecured wheel, which led to his immediate retirement, but that will cause barely a dent in the millions gained.

“It was a very intense race,” said former champion and Renault advisor Alain Prost. “On one side everything looked pretty much under control and then on the other side you could see the pitstop… We had stress really not to finish the race.”

[MIKA27]

TODT: DOCTORS TO DECIDE IF KUBICA WILL RACE IN F1 AGAIN

FIA president Jean Todt is convinced that if Robert Kubica passes the mandatory Formula 1 medical and fitness tests he will be entitled to line up on the grid if Williams provide him with the opportunity next year.

The tests will determine if Kubica, who has limited use of his right arm due to the rally accident he suffered in 2011, will be fit to drive modern F1 cars without hindrance or danger to others.

Todt explained, “We have expert people who are there and I am sure all necessary steps will be done if we have to face the situation.”

“Drivers, they come and they leave – and of course Kubica is different because the reason he had to stop was that he had a very bad rally crash.

“He survived it and he came back into the business in rallying. Now he is in single-seaters, so time will tell. But clearly, we have all the standards to give the medical checks, so it up to the doctors to decide.”

Kubica tested this year’s F1 car earlier this year with Renault in Hungary, and has also tested with Williams who are seriously considering him to partner Lance Stroll in the team next year.

The popular Polish driver, winner of the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix, has already passed the FIA cockpit exit tests during and is qualified to have F1 superlicence due to his previous experience and mileage he has amassed in a modern F1 car.

Kubica is due to test for Williams at Yas Marina Circuit next week, in the wake of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

[MIKA27]

Sebastian Vettel: Ferrari not good enough to battle Mercedes in Abu Dhabi

Sebastian Vettel has reflected on a lonely Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in which Ferrari lacked the pace to be able to match or challenge Mercedes for the win in the final race of the 2017 season. 

Vettel qualified in third place for the race, half a second down on Mercedes, however, remained optimistic heading into the final round of the season and believed  that the Scuderia would be closer to the Silver Arrows in race trim. 

This hope did not become a reality on race day and Vettel finished on the final step of the podium in third, just under 20 seconds adrift of Valtteri Bottas who went onto win and finishing ahead of Kimi Raikkonen by 25 seconds. 

"I think I had a good start but no where to go, I locked up and flat-spotted the first set of tyres a tiny bit," said Vettel post-race. "But then after three, four, five laps I just couldn’t go any faster and they seemed to pull away and from there onwards it was a bit lonely.

"But after that I have to say in the second stint I really got into the rhythm and I think we had stronger pace in the second half of the race but…not good enough to match those two guys."

Vettel then reflected on his season and title challenge, admitting that Lewis Hamtilton was more deserving of this season's Drivers' Championship: "As to Valtteri, I’m very happy for him, and again, very much congratulations to Lewis for this season. He deserved to win the championship this season and, I hate to say it, he was the better man.

"I’m sure we’ll do our bit over the winter and hopefully come back stronger. Last thing, thanks to all the fans, the support for Ferrari has been incredible, so thank you very much. Forza Ferrari."

[MIKA27]

Lewis Hamilton says he is honoured to be part of Mercedes after 'incredible' 2017

Lewis Hamilton has said that he is honoured to be part of Mercedes after having another incredible season behind the wheel of a car crafted by the Silver Arrows, ending with a 1-2 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix through a win from Valtteri Bottas. 

Hamilton started the race in second place and followed Bottas throughout, remaining within a handful of seconds of his teammate and occasionally being able to challenge and apply pressure, particularly in the closing stages of the race. 

“Big, big congratulations to Valtteri, he did an amazing job today to hold me off, but it was a great race, I gave it everything every single lap, it’s very difficult to overtake here so once you get to the last sector, you struggle a little bit," said Hamilton after the final race of the season. 

"I gave it everything and I just want to say a big thank you to the team, both here and back at the factory.

"What they have produced for us this year is just incredible and it’s a real honour to race for them, and to have this amount of support here…thank you everyone…all the British flags…I love you and appreciate you and I’m looking forward to coming back strong this year."

In 2017, Mercedes continued its dominance of the V6 Hybrid Turbo era of Formula 1, securing a fourth Constructors' Championship title and a fourth win in the Drivers' Championship despite facing its first serious challenge from another team in the form of Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel. 

Ending the season on nine wins, four further podiums and a 100% finishing streak, Hamilton has arguably had one of the strongest seasons of his career to date, breaking Michael Schumacher's record for the most career pole positions and securing a fourth Drivers' Championship despite facing stiff opposition from Ferrari. 

[MIKA27]

Raikkonen: Abu Dhabi fuel saving "nothing to do with racing"

Kimi Raikkonen says Formula 1's fuel limits meant the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix had "nothing to do with racing" because he had to save so much fuel on Sunday.

The Ferrari driver finished fourth, fending off Max Verstappen for the whole race and gaining a position when Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull retired ahead of him.

However, Raikkonen said he didn't enjoy the race, as the Yas Marina track requires significant fuel saving.

"To be honest, the whole race was pretty much fuel-saving, trying to hold the guy behind and save enough fuel to be legal at the end," Raikkonen told TV crews after the race.

"Nothing to do with racing, really. Unfortunately that's the rules. Some circuits it's like this, and it's not really fun.

"We had a decent car, but when it's like this there's nothing to do with the car.

"Rules are rules, it just doesn't feel like racing really, we're just trying to use the amount of fuel we are allowed, and cruise every lap."

Raikkonen's teammate Sebastian Vettel said he had to save fuel at the beginning of the second stint, which meant he lost touch with the Mercedes drivers ahead, eventually finishing 19 seconds behind race winner Valtteri Bottas.

While it was a disappointing way for Ferrari's season to end, Vettel said the team could be pleased with the way it took the fight to Mercedes this year.

"You saw today we weren't quick enough," said Vettel, who finished 25 seconds ahead of Raikkonen.

"I don't think it's a shame to come second [in the championship] in the way that we did, but it's not what we want.

"Overall we had a very good run – I don't think there was an awful lot more to grab.

"As a Ferrari driver you have no time to relax. There is quite a bit of work to do before Christmas to close the chapter on this year.

"We'll pick up all the lessons that there are – we are trying to push through and get into better shape for next year."

[MIKA27]

Raikkonen should have beaten me by more points – Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo says the pain of losing fourth position in the Formula 1 World Drivers' Championship due to a final-round retirement was offset by Kimi Raikkonen underperforming in his Ferrari across the season.

Ricciardo was forced to retire from the Abu Dhabi finale with a hydraulic failure on his Red Bull, having run ahead of Raikkonen, whose fourth place at the finish meant he beat Ricciardo by five points.

When asked how disappointed he was to lose fourth in the point standings, he told NBC: "If I'm brutally honest, with that car he should have been a long way in front in the championship.

"So, yeah, I don't think it's a big deal."

Ricciardo said his fifth retirement of the season due to mechanical failure was only more painful due to the time gap before the 2018 season opener in Australia.

"This one hurts actually, probably more than the others," he said. "Obviously I was gutted in Austin, but we had another chance in a week's time, but I don't have another chance until March now.

"It's just reliability, nothing I could have done to prevent it. Pretty bitter way to end the season to be honest. Sure, we had some highs but we finished in a bit of a trench."

[MIKA27]

Vandoorne thinks damage caused McLaren "rally car" handling

Stoffel Vandoorne believes damage to his McLaren MCL32 caused it to handle like “a rally car” during Formula 1's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Vandoorne had been close to teammate Fernando Alonso's pace throughout the Yas Marina weekend, but struggled badly in the race, finishing more than a minute behind his teammate in 12th.

"It was a very difficult start to the race, I think there was some kind of damage to the car - or something, at least, was wrong in the beginning," Vandoorne said after the race.

"It really felt like a rally car to drive for me out there. We went into the pits early to change the tyres, to assess the damage on the car as well, and after the pitstop we still continued to struggle for a while.

"The pace gradually recovered a little bit but still nowhere near good."

The Belgian stressed the team still needed to analyse the issue, but suggested it could've been diffuser damage that made the car "undriveable".

Asked to elaborate on how the car felt to drive, he said: "There was no grip at all for me, a lot of sliding around, felt like a big problem. We have to check the data and see what was wrong."

Vandoorne was under pressure from the Haas of Kevin Magnussen and a host of other cars towards the end of the race, but kept position.

"I don't know how I managed [to stay ahead]," he said. "I think we maximised more or less everything with what we had today, to see the chequered flag and to keep the cars behind in the end was probably the best we could do."

Fellow McLaren driver Alonso admitted his own race was "not very exciting", aside from a scrap with the Williams of Felipe Massa for what would end up being ninth place.

"It went in our favour today and we overtook him after the stop," Alonso said.

"Nice race. Not very exciting from our position, just one battle there, and after that we were running alone most of the race, but good to finish in the points."

With Abu Dhabi marking the final race of the failed McLaren-Honda project ahead of the Woking-based team's switch to Renault engines next year, Alonso said he was happy about how the final race of the partnership turned out.

"It was an important race for this project," he said. "We wanted to finish in the points. We did a solid race and we scored two points, so happy with that."

He admitted his mind has been on 2018 for "a couple of races" now, before adding: "Three years of this project. We should be proud of what we tried to do.

"We didn't succeed in terms of results, but everybody worked very hard. We split our ways but hopefully we both find results in the future."

[MIKA27]

Yas Marina circuit not suited for F1 cars - Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton says the lack of overtaking in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix shows the Yas Marina track does not suit Formula 1 cars in its current configuration.

Hamilton pursued his victorious Mercedes F1 teammate Valtteri Bottas throughout the race but was unable to pass.

The world champion said his engineers had told him he needed to be 1.4 seconds quicker to have a hope of overtaking at the track.

"You do get a bit of a tow down the straights but once you get to the last sector..." said Hamilton. "It's a great, great track but unfortunately it doesn't suit the cars very well.

"In the last sector you just can't follow. It's one of the worst tracks in the sense that you need 1.4s advantage to pass the car in front.

"And we've got the same car, we've a couple of tenths between us so I was never going to overtake unless he made a big mistake and went off – and even then they have massive run-off areas and you can still keep it on."

Asked if the fact he was battling his teammate affected how hard he was willing to challenge, Hamilton said the track configuration meant that made no difference.

"The engineers say it's a 1.4s delta you need to overtake a car in front," he reiterated. "It doesn't matter what car is ahead. It would've been difficult.

"To get as close as I was shows I had good pace. But once you get within 1.2s it's like you hit a wall and the car stops. Basically you start sliding around, all four wheels. So there was a lot of rallying today."

  

Bottas agreed that the track layout had been in his favour.

"I could feel that sector three was good for me, but also it's a track where it's really difficult to follow in sector three," he said.

"Once you get close there, I could feel with the lapped cars, how much you lose. I knew that Lewis was always going to be struggling as he got closer to me in sector three.

"I could really control the race, everyone knows here it's not easy to overtake."

Hamilton emphasised that he thought Yas Marina should remain F1's season finale.

"I think this was one of the best places, if not the best, to have the last race in terms of the atmosphere, in terms of the hospitality, it's second to none," he said.

"It's such a beautiful place so it's a great week. I think the track, as a lot of the tracks do, has some small flaws in the sense that it's hard to follow. I'm not a track designer and I don't know if it can be changed."

Circuit architect Hermann Tilke intimated on Sunday that changes were possible.

"We have an idea to change one corner," he told Sky Sports F1. "It's a very small change, but maybe it has a lot of impact."

[MIKA27]

Stroll felt ‘lost’ after three-stopper in Abu Dhabi

Lance Stroll cut a lonely figure in Abu Dhabi as he limped home in last place in the season finale at the Yas Marina circuit.

Stroll was the last to finish after needing three pit stops throughout the 55-lap race and feels his tyres were to blame for that.

“It was not a good race today,” Stroll said. “I hate to be negative, but nothing worked this weekend.”

“I just couldn’t get the tyres switched on and I was just lost out there. We weren’t in the race today.

“We had three pit stops and still it didn’t work.

“The last two weekends were ones to forget and before that, we were doing just fine. We need to understand what exactly went wrong.”

“I know it was tyre related, but we are missing a huge chunk of lap time and it is coming from somewhere because before that I was confident in the car.”

Despite an up-and-down season, Stroll has vowed to return even better next year where he will begin his second campaign in Formula 1.

He added: “Now I shall have some time off, but then get back to work and work harder than ever and come into 2018 as strong as I can possibly be and be on top of my game as much as possible.”

[MIKA27]

Massa: ‘A great pleasure to be here 16 years’

Felipe Massa has thanked his family and fans after marking his final Formula 1 appearance with a points-finish in Abu Dhabi.

Massa rolled back the years when fighting his old team-mate Fernando Alonso for one last time. Alonso was able to make the pass down the main straight but the departing Brazilian managed to keep hold of 10th spot.

“It was really a great pleasure, to be here 16 years," Massa said to Sky Sports.

"I am so lucky to have passed through all this for such a long time – racing against great teams, the best drivers in the world.

“So thank you, all of you that was following me, supporting me all this time, my family – and I'm very lucky to have all of this in my life.

"It was a great pleasure.

“I have to say the race was good today, I was fighting from the beginning to the end.”

Massa's long-time engineer Rob Smedley believes the time is right for the Brazilian to leave and feels he was unlucky not to be coming away with a race win this season.

"I think this is now definitely, undoubtedly the time to retire from Formula 1." Smedley said.

"The car's not anywhere near where we need it to be but he's still at the top of his game in that car. And I'm not sure that we would get many more points with that car.

“He's been unlucky, he should've won a race this year in Azerbaijan – and he's one of the genuine ones that should've won a race cos everybody should have won a race but he genuinely, really should've won that race.

“Weekend in, weekend out we rely on him and to have a driver like that, who is loved by the team, who is loved by the paddock and who's still at the top of his game …there's no better way to go out.”

[MIKA27]

Perez slams ‘ridiculous’ Hulkenberg penalty

Sergio Perez has said Nico Hulkenberg "should have given the position back" after an illegal overtake was punished by just a five-second penalty.

Hulkenberg cut the corner when overtaking Sergio Perez in the early stages of the race but, rather than being told to give the place back, the Renault driver was handed a five-second stop-go penalty by the stewards.

It allowed Hulkenberg to pull out a substantial gap to Perez and even came ahead of the Mexican in the pits despite a lengthy delay attaching the new wheels.

Hulkenberg went onto finish P6, ahead of Perez and his team-mate Esteban Ocon, and Perez feel justice was not served.

“I think the way he got back the position was very unfair,” Perez said in the paddock.

“And just a five-second penalty at the stop, when you have more pace than the other car, is quite good [for him]. You can cut the track, gain an advantage, and pay it at the pit stop, open the gap during the stint, and then it’s OK.”

“That really is a bit ridiculous. We should have the position back. But anyway I’m happy we finish the season on a high.”

[LLC]

For sure the penalty should have been to give the position back.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MIKA27]

3 hours ago, LLC said:

For sure the penalty should have been to give the position back.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is where the Stewards ruin F1 IMO - Always inconsistent. I say they should use the SAME stewards at every race.

It's a real joke the current way Stewards are ruining races and outcomes.

[MIKA27]

Ferrari would hurt itself it quit Formula 1 - FIA president Todt

Ferrari would suffer if it follows through on its threat to quit Formula 1, says FIA president Jean Todt.

Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne complained about F1's plans to increase standardisation in the proposed 2021 engine rules, saying "I don't want to play NASCAR globally".

That echoed the concern of rival manufacturers Mercedes and Renault, who said the rules could lead to an arms race, but Ferrari went further in saying it could quit F1 if it did not back the final regulation.

Under bilateral agreements, Ferrari and the rest of the teams on the grid are committed to F1 until the end of 2020 but anything beyond that has not been agreed.

Todt, who was team principal during Ferrari's dominant era in the early 2000s (pictured below), said Ferrari would hurt itself as well as F1 if it quit.

"I'm afraid to see Ferrari or Mercedes leaving," he said. "That is their choice.

"What is sure, is that we don't want anybody to leave, but of course, Ferrari is an iconic brand.

"It is a team which has been part of every single Formula 1 championship since its creation so I do not want to see Ferrari leaving.

"But I am not sure it will be a good thing for Ferrari to leave Formula 1 because Ferrari is a unique brand - combined between racing and road car.

"So I think it will be painful for Ferrari not to be in Formula 1.

"But that is not my responsibility."

Since the initial Concorde Agreement of 1981 was implemented, Ferrari has had the right to veto F1 regulations.

When asked for his view on whether that veto would remain when the next contracts are agreed from 2021 and beyond, Todt said the matter is under discussion.

"Surprisingly enough when I was in the position as president of the FIA to discuss Ferrari's privilege of their veto, it was something I wanted to discuss with the teams because I wanted to get their opinion," he said.

"They were all in favour. Whether it will be the case in the future, it's something that will be discussed."

[MIKA27]

'Cybersquatters' compromise Force India F1 team name change plan

Force India's plans to change its name for the 2018 Formula 1 season have been compromised by 'cybersquatters' who have registered website domains the team might potentially want to use.

Team principal Vijay Mallya confirmed several months ago that he wanted to drop India from the team name in order to widen its appeal to sponsors.

Force One was a strong candidate initially, and several companies were registered by the team in the UK with that name.

But the idea was dropped, partly because of objections from the F1 organisation.

More recently another new company known simply as Force has been registered. For the first few days of its life, this was known in full as Formula One Racing and Creative Engineering.

The team management is still debating whether to retain Force as part of the name, or start afresh.

But the decision has been impacted by many variations on the Force/F1 website name having been lodged by third parties in recent weeks, much to the frustration of the team.

"Like all things you need to prepare," deputy team principal Bob Fernley told Autosport.

"But of the problem we have is that when it gets out in the media every man and his dog goes and registers domain names! And that makes our life so difficult.

"Anything to do with Force is probably, for the time being, on the back burner.

"I think that we may have to go something completely different, if we're going to go at all.

"We could still stay as Force India. That's what we've entered as for 2018."

The team still has the possibility to change the name before the start of next season, if F1 and the FIA agree.

[MIKA27]

Toto Wolff: Horner's Formula 1 2018 engine concerns his own fault

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says Red Bull's Christian Horner only has himself to blame for Formula 1's move to three engines in 2018, despite his push to ditch the limit.

Horner said over the Abu Dhabi weekend that F1 was 'barking mad' to go down from four to three engines for each driver next year and McLaren racing director Eric Boullier said the rule is "not Formula 1".

The ruling could impact Red Bull with Renault's unreliability a problem this year, as well as Honda's similar struggles, and Horner has raised concerns that three engines per driver could lead to a 'wave of grid penalties.'

But Wolff is unimpressed with Horner's stance and says the decision to go down to three engines came about because customer teams like Red Bull pushed so hard for cheaper deals.

"If it's barking mad, they shouldn't have pushed for a lower supply price, and we shouldn't have agreed to give that in order to achieve lower supply price," said Wolff, when asked by Autosport about the ongoing controversy.

"We're going to go down from four engines, which was bound in the regulations, to three engines. This is where we are - the regulations stood for four engines for next year - and we were perfectly fine for that.

"All manufacturers were pushed, let's call it strongly encouraged, to optimise on the supply price - and this is what we did and this was the consequence. And everybody, as far as I remember who was on the table, was part of it.

"It's a massive struggle for all of us, but it's out of what we have discussed."

Williams technical chief Paddy Lowe backed Wolff's stance, saying the calls from customer teams to end the three engine limit were misplaced.

"Whilst there is a burden to give out engines that last longer, that burden's been put on the manufacturers and the cost of it," said Lowe. "And as customers, we see the benefit through a lower price tag.

"I think that's the important point to understand. I think it's good news that, when there are good things for Formula 1, we should understand and appreciate them, that helps the smaller teams and going back to four engines inevitably required price increases."

Asked if he had any sympathy for Red Bull and McLaren's view, he added: "It fails to recognise that point I just made, it was that very important point. You can't divorce the two things.

"You're always free to take a penalty, take an engine then that will cost you more money. Or you can not run your engine with so much power, that's the formula.

"I'm not familiar with other engines but if you took a Mercedes engine today and ran it at lower power, you could get through the season already on three engines.

"It's what power level you select will dictate the life to a large extent so that's [where] the development [is] going."