Alvin's Formula One Blog

Here is the conclusions from PlanetF1. Original article is here . Driver of the Day for Max, farewell to Felipe and congrats to the other Felipe. Donington 1993. Barcelona 1995. Monza 2008. Interlagos 2016 Max Verstappen finished third on Sunday but by all accounts put in the drive of the day. “Mega…You’re witnessing something special today,” his boss Christian Horner said. Special is an understatement. The teenager’s drive in the wet is among some of the all-time great drives in adverse weather and reminiscent of Ayrton Senna’s spectacular drive at Donington in 1993, Michael Schumacher’s maiden victory for Ferrari in the rain in Spain two years later, and Sebastian Vettel’s remarkable win for Toro Rosso eight seasons ago. As this column has noted before, Verstappen has an impressive toolkit. In 2016 he has proved he can defend, attack, overtake. And he has got race craft and one-lap pace too. On the evidence available at Interlagos he can do it all in the wet too. Any on...

The Mexican Grand Prix is an FIA-sanctioned auto race held at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City. It first appeared as a non-championship event in 1962 before being held as a championship event from 1963-1970 and 1986-1992. The Grand Prix returned in 2015 at the Mexico City circuit. The last few races have seen some fascinating strategy gambles from Red Bull and others, so will we see more of the same this weekend, as the F1 teams race for the second time on the revamped Hermanos Rodgrizuez circuit in Mexico City? Over 350,000 people are expected to attend across the three days, with organisers installing new grandstands, such is the demand for F1 tickets in Mexico. The track was brand new last year, so the surface has had a year to shed the oils that are always present in new tarmac and in addition there has been quite a bit of racing activity, so there should be significantly more grip from rubber on the surface. The confines of the Magdalena Mixhuaca park which ...

The race conclusions from PlanetF1. Original article is here . Nico Rosberg is playing the “long game” while Carlos Sainz may have lost out in the Fernando Alonso tussle but could yet have the last laugh. Playing the long game Venus Williams was one of the high-profile figures in the Mercedes paddock this weekend and the US Grand Prix, although not a classic, was befitting of a match at Flushing Meadows as F1’s big boys probed and pushed their opponents on the track. The strategic battle between Mercedes, Red Bull, and Ferrari made for compelling viewing, while some drivers literally pushed their rivals around – here’s looking at you Daniil Kvyat while Fernando Alonso’s light ‘kiss’ on former team-mate Felipe Massa also stands out. Lewis Hamilton may have trimmed Nico Rosberg’s lead to 26 points but as the German said repeatedly on team radio, what matters is the “long game”. Rosberg does not need to take any risks and made it clear in Austin that he will be playing the p...

The Japanese Grand Prix is a race in the calendar of the FIA Formula One World Championship. Traditionally one of the last, if not the last race of the season, the Japanese Grand Prix has been the venue for many title-deciding races, with 13 World Champions being crowned over the 27 World Championship Japanese Grands Prix that have been hosted. The first two Japanese Grands Prix in 1976 and 1977 were held at the Fuji Speedway, before Japan was taken off the calendar. It returned in 1987 at  Suzuka , which hosted the Grand Prix exclusively for 20 years and gained a reputation as one of the most challenging F1 circuits. In 2007 the Grand Prix moved back to the newly redesigned Fuji Speedway. After a second race at Fuji in 2008, the race returned to Suzuka in 2009. New additions to the Formula One calendar tend to be homogeneous affairs lacking in local colour. But the unique Suzuka circuit’s fairground setting and famously dedicated fans make it unmistakably Japanese. It also...

Well that not much of a race for me. I switched off halfway as there was no point watching Lewis having to manage his brakes all the way and can't attack. This article reproduced from Planet F1. Original article can be found here . One has to feel for Nico Rosberg. He may have taken the lead in the Championship, but his great performances are never extolled like Lewis Hamilton’s. At the same time, his failings are prodded, poked, studied, and arguably held against him. There was no failing at Singapore in 2016, though. From his outstanding pole lap – more than half a second clear of his nearest challenger – to his perfect race, this was a performance worthy of nothing but praise. Toto Wolff claimed, however, that some perspective was required as Hamilton’s woes in FP2 had set back his race preparations. Would Rosberg have received the same sympathy had such bad luck befallen him? Let’s be clear that there is no suggestion of conspiracy against Rosberg, but the answer is...

Formula 1 heads to the 'Temple of Speed' at Monza this weekend for an Italian Grand Prix where fast laps and low downforce will be key talking points. The Autodromo Nazionale Monza is one of the most iconic racetracks on the Formula 1 calendar. It was built in 1922 and has staged more world championship grands prix than any other circuit in the world. Only once, in 1980, has the circuit not been on the F1 calendar. Up until the early ’60s, racing took place on a fearsome six-mile oval. But the death of Wolfgang von Trips and 15 spectators in the 1961 Italian Grand Prix resulted in future races taking place on a shorter road course, with the last true ‘slipstreaming’ battle taking place in 1971, after which chicanes were installed to slow the cars. The track is still the fastest in Formula 1, with today’s cars exceeding 200mph (322km/h) on four occasions around the lap. The average speed is in excess of 150mph (241km/h), so the teams use one-off low-downforce aerodyna...

This weekend F1 roars back into life after the summer break at the Spa Francorchamps circuit in Belgium one of the heritage jewels in the F1 calendar. With 19 corners on a 7km lap, Spa is the longest track on the calendar and one of the toughest on engines, with two sustained periods of flat out full throttle each lap; from La Source hairpin to Les Combes chicane which is around 25 seconds and then later in the lap the run through Blanchimont to Bus Stop chicane. The first national race of Belgium was held in 1925 at the Spa region's race course, an area of the country that had been associated with motor sport since the very early years of racing. To accommodate Grand Prix motor racing, the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps race course was built in 1921 but it was only used for motorcycle racing until 1924. After the 1923 success of the new 24 hours of Le Mans in France, the Spa 24 Hours, a similar 24-hour endurance race, was run at the Spa track. Since inception, Spa-Francorchamp...

Lewis Hamilton had the measure of Nico Rosberg when it mattered most and F1’s regulations need some serious rethinking… Lewis Hamilton ‘owned it’ Lewis Hamilton put in a measured drive with an engine that may be his last before penalties come, as he claimed a record-breaking fifth Hungarian GP victory. Although Hamilton was told to “pick up the pace” and at one stage found himself just 0.4s ahead of Nico Rosberg as they navigated the traffic of Esteban Gutierrez, there was never the impression that Rosberg would – or could – attack. Conspiracy theorists will be questioning whether team orders were at play or whether Hamilton was trying to back Rosberg up into the chasers. However, the one thing is certain, the World Champion “owned it”, and now also owns the lead in the Drivers’ standings for the first time this season. Best of the rest heats up Sebastian Vettel hunted down Daniel Ricciardo in the closing stages of the Hungarian GP while Kimi Raikkonen had a fantastic bat...

The British Grand Prix is a race in the calendar of the FIA Formula One World Championship. It is currently held at the Silverstone Circuit near the village of Silverstone in Northamptonshire in England. The British and Italian Grands Prix are the oldest continuously staged Formula One World Championship Grands Prix. It was designated the European Grand Prix five times between 1950 and 1977, when this title was an honorary designation given each year to one Grand Prix race in Europe. All British Grands Prix dating back to 1926 have been held in England; where the British motor racing industry is primarily located. Silverstone is one of the oldest races on the calendar and started life as an airfield. The end of Second World War left Britain with no major race track. An ex-farmer, James Wilson Brown, was employed by the RAC and given just two months to turn the site from a wartime airfield and farm into a race track for the first RAC International Grand Prix. On the 2nd October ...

The Canadian Grand Prix (known in French as the Grand Prix du Canada), abbreviated as gpc, is an annual auto race held in Canada starting in 1961. It has been part of the Formula One World Championship since 1967. It was first staged at Mosport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario as a sports car event before it alternated between Mosport and Circuit Mont-Tremblant, Quebec after Formula One took over the event. After 1971, safety concerns led to the Grand Prix moving permanently to Mosport. In 1978, after similar safety concerns with Mosport, the Canadian Grand Prix moved to its current home at the Circuit Giles Villeneuve on Île Notre-Dame in Montreal. In 2005, the Canadian Grand Prix was the most watched Formula One GP in the world. The race was also the third most watched sporting event worldwide, behind the first place Super Bowl XXXIX and the UEFA Champions League Final. F1 returns to Montreal this weekend for the running of the 2016 Canadian Grand Prix. One of the more popular an...