The Italian made his grand prix debut in the first race of 2017 in Australia as regular-season driver Wehrlein decided to withdraw from the event. Wehrlein had missed the first pre-season test at Barcelona following a big accident in the Race of Champions earlier this year. The German driver had injured his back in the crash and withdrew from the Melbourne event amid fears that he … Keep reading This article was originally published on motorsport.com. The post Wehrlein to miss Chinese GP as well first appeared on The F1 Blogger ..read more

One race into an all-new era of Formula 1 and debate around the success of the 2017 regulations already rages, but Mercedes (in this piece) suggest that things are the way they should be – overtaking must be difficult in this modern era. Melbourne featured a tense battle between Sebastian and Lewis for the win – but a lack of overtaking throughout the field prompted questions about Formula One’s new regulations. Was this indicative of things to come, or just a one-off? The answer is a bit of both. The Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit has never been great for overtaking. If you go back to the ..read more

Christian Horner  has come out and said of deposed Formula 1 dictator Bernie Ecclestone “hopefully the new owners can use him constructively and beneficially to build on the good work that’s already been done.” Now why would they want to do that? Bernie will only be destructive in the Liberty Media era and the old man should not even be allowed in the F1 paddock.  Okay that’s harsh… but keep him in the back seat of the limo and never, ever allow him to drive it again or even allow him to sit on the front seat.  There is no doubt that Ecclestone steered Formula 1 from a largely ..read more

Although they have been on the Formula 1 grid, together, for the past decade fans have not been treated to a fully blown Sebastian Vettel versus Lewis Hamilton battle, but Mark Webber expects that all to change this season. After the Australian Grand Prix, where Ferrari and Vettel outwitted and out paced the Mercedes team and Hamilton, Formula 1 is looking forward to a riveting battle between the two. Hamilton pointed out in Australia, “I’ve not had a lot of battles with Sebastian on track so, of course, would love to have that. I think the fans want to see that.” Webber believes that Vettel ..read more

Former Formula 1 driver Jos Verstappen was beaten up in a brawl at De Weerd club in Roermond, where he received several blows after an altercation with a fellow patron. 1Limburg quotes several sources with regards to the incident, while police confirmed,  “Around 18:00 we received a message about the conflict.” Security personnel at the beach club style venue asked those involved to leave the beach club, but the police spokesperson added, “A man with significant injuries to his face refused to leave. He was then taken in to custody be police.” He was released lat ..read more

Although Fernando Alonso was able to challenge for points in Australia, McLaren is under no illusions that things will be much harder in Shanghai this weekend. While the track’s 1.17-km long straight is set to highlight Honda’s lack of overall horsepower, sources have also suggested that Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne could find themselves running out of energy deployment two-thirds of … Keep reading This article was originally published on motorsport.com. The post Chinese GP set to expose McLaren-Honda weaknesses first appeared on The F1 Blogger ..read more

With the bigger wings and larger tyres set to result in cars smashing lap records this year, drivers have talked about the new generation of machinery being much harder to take to the limit. And after the hard-fought season-opener in Australia – which swung Sebastian Vettel’s way after Lewis Hamilton got trapped behind Max Verstappen – Wurz is in no doubt that fans should celebrate the … Keep reading This article was originally published on motorsport.com. The post F1 is "authentic" again, says Wurz first appeared on The F1 Blogger ..read more

The French car manufacturer endured a troublesome Australian Grand Prix, with Jolyon Palmer’s weekend derailed by a Friday practice crash and Nico Hulkenberg finishing 11th. Although the team had hoped for more at the start of the season, Renault’s F1 managing director Cyril Abiteboul sees great potential in its … Keep reading This article was originally published on motorsport.com. The post Renault to begin "exciting" update push in Bahrain first appeared on The F1 Blogger ..read more

Stumbled across a gem of a video – admittedly not the greatest quality – but through the fuzziness there is evidence of why Gilles Villeneuve is considered by many as one of the greatest Formula 1 drivers of all time. Jody Scheckter called him: “The fastest driver the world has ever seen”. Alain Prost said Villeneuve was: “The last great driver – the rest of us are a bunch of good professionals”. Jacques Laffite – second to Villeneuve in Jarama at the legendary 1981 Spanish Grand Prix- said: “No human being can do miracles, you know, but Gilles made you wonder.”   Keep reading ..read more

F1 adopted turbo hybrid V6 engines in 2014 that have been criticised for the lack of noise generated compared to the preceding V8s, and V10s and V12s of previous generations. The FIA hosted current and prospective manufacturers in Paris on Friday to discuss engine regulations beyond 2020, with the governing body announcing a broad agreement had been made to ditch its current engines in … Keep reading This article was originally published on motorsport.com. The post Verstappen hopes F1 brings back V10 engines in future first appeared on The F1 Blogger ..read more