Vettle won First time for Ferarri in Malaysian GP

Sebastian Vettel stunned Mercedes’ world champion Lewis Hamilton on Sunday with an audacious Malaysian Grand Prix victory which set the Formula One season alight

 

The Ferrari man took advantage of an early safety car as he hit the front and held off Hamilton and Nico Rosberg after pitting only twice, compared to three for the Mercedes pair.

 

The four-time world champion now has 40 career wins but it is his first with Ferrari, and breaks a dry spell stretching back to his last victory with Red Bull in 2013.

 

Few of his wins can have been as satisfying. He shattered assumptions of Mercedes’ unassailable superiority in 2015, after they dominated the season-opener in Australia.

 

“Fantastico, fantastico!” he screamed down the radio in Italian. “Yes boys, can you hear me? Thank you, thank you. Forza Ferrari!”

 

Further back, there were also celebrations for Max Verstappen as the 17-year-old finished seventh, becoming the youngest points-scorer in Formula One history.

 

Hamilton got away smoothly from pole and Vettel aggressively defended second from a charging Rosberg, helped by a nudge against the Mercedes as they battled round the first corner.

 

Kimi Raikkonen and Pastor Maldonado were quickly hit by punctures, and Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson lasted just three laps before he spun off on Turn 1, prompting the safety car.

 

Vettel chose not to follow Hamilton into the pits during the intervention and had built up a healthy lead by the time the Briton weaved from sixth to second by lap 11.

 

– ‘Don’t talk to me!’ –

 

When Vettel finally pitted after lap 17, he re-emerged behind the two Mercedes but he set the day’s fastest lap so far and scorched past his fellow German at the end of lap 21.

 

Vettel was on Hamilton’s tailpipe when the Briton made his second stop at the end of lap 25, dropping back behind the Ferrari driver and Rosberg.

 

Rosberg pitted to promote Hamilton to second, and the Briton floored it with a pair of fastest laps as he set about whittling away Vettel’s big lead of more than 20 seconds.

 

Behind them, Daniil Kvyat was lucky to resume unscathed when he spun under pressure, and Romain Grosjean also went off-piste when he clipped Jenson Button’s front wheel.

 

Vettel and then Hamilton pitted on consecutive laps and the Briton complained “This is the wrong tyre!”as he resumed on the hard compound.

 

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing!” he shouted, after hearing perplexing chatter on the radio which appeared to suggest a third stop.

 

With 14 laps and a gap of 14 seconds, the chase was tense and Hamilton snapped: “Hey man, don’t talk to me through the corners!” as Mercedes tried to update him over the radio.

 

But Hamilton, who won the season-opener in Australia, was unable to catch Vettel as the German claimed Ferrari’s first win since Spain 2013 by a gap of 8.5 seconds.

 

Raikkonen was fourth for Ferrari, ahead of the Williams cars of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa. Young Verstappen finished a brilliant seventh in just his second drive.

 

But there was more woe for former superpower McLaren as ex-world champions Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button were both forced to retire.

Lewis Hamilton won Austrian GP 2015

Lewis Hamilton’s stroll in Albert Park was an imperious dismissal of his team-mate Nico Rosberg’s Formula One aspirations. Hamilton is attempting to become the first British driver to win back-to-back titles and his 34th GP victory – his first in the Australian Grand Prix since 2008 – suggested he will win a third championship with something to spare, which was hardly the case with his previous two.

 

He is driving the strongest car out there and when he looks at his only serious rival, Rosberg, he knows that he is a whole class better. And so does Rosberg. The Mercedes made it a comfortable one-two and however much Hamilton protested, it was one of his most straightforward victories. “It really, really wasn’t,” he said. “I was right on it the whole way and at any moment if I’d have slipped, he’d have had it. We looked so far ahead but we were having our own little battle. Nico was putting pressure on me and I was controlling the gap. By no means was it easy.”

 

But Hamilton drove well within himself. He revealed as much when he added: “I felt comfortable. I had the pace if I needed to respond.” Quite.

 

Hamilton was at his most energised when he met Arnold Schwarzenegger on the podium after the race. “I am a real fan of his. So it was really, really cool.”

 

There were only 11 finishers with most of the casualties falling before or at the very start of the race, like little green bottles falling off the wall.

 

In fact that was where most of the action was as a patient crowd tried to make the most of things. The last man, Jenson Button, Hamilton’s former team-mate at troubled McLaren, was the only driver to finish the race but out of the points.

 

Valtteri Bottas, who had qualified for sixth place on the grid, was ruled unfit by an FIA medical delegate because of a tear in his lower back and had to withdraw. With the Manor team not taking part that reduced the official starting grid to 17 cars. But there were only 15 there at the start because Kevin Magnussen and Daniil Kvyat failed to survive their reconnaissance laps.

 

Magnussen came to a halt with a plume of smoke coming out of his car and Kvyat spun into the gravel with suspected transmission trouble.

 

There was another accident on the first lap when Pastor Maldonado’s Lotus got squeezed into the barriers following a minor collision between the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen.

 

Then, on the second lap, Romain Grosjean retired with apparent mechanical failure. That meant there were only 13 cars left with the race barely started and later on Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso) and Raikkonen also dropped out.

 

It was a good day for the rookies, though they were betrayed by their cars. And it was a good race for Sauber after their most difficult of weeks fighting legal issues, with Felipe Nasr finishing fifth and Marcus Ericsson eighth.

 

For those who do not want the procession to last all year there was an impressive drive from Vettel who took the final podium place. But it was another sad day for McLaren. Button finished last and Magnussen did not even make it to the grid.

 

Button said afterwards: “Finishing a grand prix is not our aim and ambition in life, but this is a big step for us from what we expected but also from what we did in testing. So it’s been tough for everyone but this race has really brought everyone together and is focusing us a lot for the next race and where we hope we can bring some good improvements.”

 

Everyone will have to bring a lot of improvements to Barcelona when the circus comes to Europe in May. Even then it will not be enough.

Michael Schumacher leaves hospital for home REUTERS

Michael Schumacher has left hospital to continue his recovery at home but the former Formula One champion faces “a long and difficult road ahead” after his skiing accident last year, a statement said on Tuesday.

“Henceforth, Michael’s rehabilitation will take place at his home. Considering the severe injuries he suffered, progress has been made in the past weeks and months,” said the brief statement issued by manager Sabine Kehm.

“There is still, however, a long and difficult road ahead.”

A spokesman for the university hospital in Lausanne confirmed the 45-year-old German, a seven times world champion, had left.

Schumacher suffered severe head injuries in a ski accident in the French Alps in late December and was transferred to Lausanne in June after emerging from a coma. He underwent treatment to stimulate his senses in a specialised outdoor section of the hospital shielded from view.

Hamilton Won Italian GP with Italian GP; Roseberg blinks makes him 2nd

Lewis Hamilton pressured Nico Rosberg into a mistake and overtook his Mercedes teammate and rival to win the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday, adding another chapter to their heated rivalry.

The key pass came about midway through the race as Hamilton had recovered from a poor start to pull up right behind Rosberg.

Clearly feeling Hamilton’s presence behind him, Rosberg drove straight through the Monza circuit’s first chicane at the end of the main straightaway and was slowed as he slalomed through obstacles.

All Hamilton had to do was stay on the track and he easily passed Rosberg and then cruised to his sixth victory of the season and 28th of Formula One career. Hamilton also cut Rosberg’s championship lead from 29 to 22 points with six races remaining.

Rosberg crossed 3.1 seconds behind, and Felipe Massa of Williams was third, a distant 21.8 seconds back.

Valtteri Bottas in the other Williams finished fourth and Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull was fifth.

Ideal conditions

It was a disappointing day for the Ferrari drivers before their home “tifosi” fans as Kimi Raikkonen finished ninth and Fernando Alonso’s race ended midway through due to a technical problem that resulted in the Spaniard pulling to a stop at the end of the main straightaway.

Conditions were ideal, with skies clear and the temperature at 25 degrees Celsius (77 Fahrenheit) inside the royal park that contains the track.

Hamilton and Rosberg qualified 1-2 and fans had anticipated a battle between the pair at the first corner.

At the Belgian GP two weeks ago, Rosberg finished second after crashing into Hamilton early and sending his teammate out of the incident-packed race.

But at the start Hamilton had a technical problem and dropped to fourth heading into the first chicane behind Rosberg, McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen and Massa.

Hamilton rebounded by passing Magnussen with Massa’s help on the fifth lap then overtook Massa around the outside through the first chicane on lap 10 and began to reduce Rosberg’s lead lap after lap.Meanwhile, Rosberg lost time when he drove straight through the first chicane on lap nine — a harbinger of things to come.

Up next is the Singapore GP in two weeks time.

Nico Rosberg won Austrian GP 2014

Nico Rosberg held off a challenge from teammate Lewis Hamilton to win the Austrian GP on Sunday for the sixth one-two finish by Mercedes this season.

It was Rosberg’s third win of the year and sixth overall as he extended his lead in the drivers’ championship over Hamilton to 29 points.

Valtteri Bottas came third for his first career Formula One podium while Williams teammate Felipe Massa, who started from pole Position, took fourth.

Four-time Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel had an engine problem in the second lap and was doubled by the field before quitting the race in the 36th on Red Bull’s home circuit.

Hamilton, who was ninth after qualifying, used a blistering start and earned four places from the start and won another place to work his way up to fourth in the opening lap.

Rosberg immediately overtook Bottas but lost that position again shortly after the first turn.

Massa dropped from pole to fourth after the top-four had their first pit stops.

Sergio Perez remained in the lead until the 27th, overtaken by Rosberg who accelerated for the fastest lap so far to create distance to Hamilton, who got stuck behind Perez.

From lap 30 on, the four leaders battled it out with clear advantages for both Mercedes drivers.

Rosberg remained in the lead for the rest of the race, not allowing a pushing Hamilton a chance to overtake him.

The race once more confirmed Mercedes has best adapted to the introduction this season of the 1.6-liter turbocharged V6 engines with build-in energy recovery system.

Hamilton won four races in a row while Rosberg never finished worse than second.

Mercedes’ stranglehold on victories was broken two weeks ago in Montreal by Daniel Ricciardo’s maiden win, though Red Bull failed to threaten Mercedes again on its home circuit in Austria.

Mercedes dominated practice Friday with Rosberg and Hamilton posting the fastest times, but Williams hit back the next day when Bottas led the final practice before Massa grabbed pole position — his first in six years.

Daniel Ricciardo wins Canadian Grand Prix

Daniel Ricciardo won the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday, breaking the Mercedes stranglehold on the Formula One circuit.

The Red Bull driver earned his first Formula One victory and the first win this year for any driver other than Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton. Ricciardo passed Rosberg, the points leader and pole-sitter, with two laps to go. Hamilton went out in the 48th lap with a brake problem.

Rosberg finished second, easily protecting his lead in the championship standings. The German has 140 of a possible 175 points through seven races, with two victories and five second-place finishes. Hamilton remains second in the standings with 118 points.

Ricciardo moved up to third with 79 points, passing Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who was sixth and has 69 points.

Ricciardo may finally be coming out of the shadow of his more celebrated Red Bull teammate, the four-time defending Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel. The 24-year-old Australian now has two fourth places, two thirds and a victory in his last five races.

Drivers had to contend with track temperatures of 48 C at the start, on a sun-drenched day on the Ile de Notre Dame in the St. Lawrence River off downtown Montreal. The track, home to the Canadian Grand Prix since 1978, will get a face lift as part of a ten-year extension announced on Saturday to keep the race in town through 2024.

Mercedes has been dominating Formula One this season, winning the first six races and sweeping the top two in five of them to put Rosberg and Hamilton 1—2 atop the championship standings with nearly twice as many points as third-place Fernando Alonso.

The streak ended on Sunday when the two came tire-to-tire at Turn 7 and Hamilton was forced onto the grass to cut the corner of the chicane. But his car was smoking and within a lap the 2008 world champion a three-time winner in Montreal was out of the race.

At just the fourth turn on the 70-lap race, Max Chilton and Jules Bianchi collided, destroying Bianchi’s car and knocking them both out of the competition. Another crash marred the finish, when Felipe Massa drove right into the rear of Sergio Perez and sent the Mexican slamming into the wall.

Lewis Hamilton wins China GP

Lewis Hamilton won the Chinese Grand Prix comfortably ahead of his teammate Nico Rosberg on Sunday as Mercedes tightened their grip on the season with their third one-two finish in a row.

The British former world champion got away smoothly from pole position and finished 19 seconds ahead of Rosberg, with Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso third.

The two Red Bulls were behind, with Australian Daniel Ricciardo fourth, a massive 26.978sec behind Hamilton but well ahead of his teammate Sebastian Vettel, who was fifth just over 51sec behind the winner.

Vettel, who had a strained relationship with his previous teammate – Australian Mark Webber – appears set to earn the ire of his Red Bull bosses.

The German was instructed by his team to let his younger teammate, Ricciardo, pass him for the second race in a row.

Instead of acceding, however, the four-time defending champion initially fought off Ricciardo’s attempts to get by.

Vettel asked his team what tyres Ricciardo was using and when told they were both on mediums, Vettel responded: “Tough luck.”

At the start of lap 26, though, Vettel did finally make way for the faster Ricciardo and was unable to challenge him again.

Ricciardo nearly caught Alonso at the end but ran out of time, falling short by 1.2sec.

It would have been the first podium finish of his career – he had finished second in Australia but the result was stripped after he was found to have breached new fuel regulations. Despite winning three races in a row for the first time in his career, Hamilton still trails Rosberg by four points in the title race as he seeks his second world championship.

“I can’t believe how amazing the car is. I was able to look after the tyres and then I was racing myself,” said Hamilton on the podium after the race.

“I’m really happy Nico’s up here with us. It’s great points for the team.”

With four races out of 19 gone, Mercedes already have a stranglehold on the constructors’ standings with 154 points, 97 more than second-placed Red Bull.

It was a solid race for Force India, with Nico Hulkenberg sixth and Sergio Perez ninth.

Williams driver Valtteri Bottas was seventh, Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen eighth, and Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kyvat finished in 10th, another impressive showing by the 19-year-old debutant.

Hamilton Won Bahrain GP 2014; Force India Thrillers Others

As the sand settled on the greatest Formula One race for years, Lewis Hamilton thanked his Mercedes bosses for allowing him and his team-mate Nico Ros-berg to battle it out until the end of the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday.

It was Hamilton who won the absorbing race after Mercedes simply demanded that the drivers did not crash. “It was great they allowed us to fight and didn’t get in the way of us,” he said. “We are working hard, and being respectful of each other, and that’s what got us through and I hope that will continue.

“He [Rosberg] was fair and I like to think I was. It was close, but I like to think we didn’t damage each other’s races. The team put that trust in us, which is great.”

Hamilton has now won back to back races after Rosberg won the opener in Melbourne last month. “I’m 11 points behind after two awesome races and I’ve got to stick at it because he’s had a win and two seconds,” said the 29-year-old. “His track record so far is better than mine, even if it’s through no fault of mine [Hamilton was forced to retire his car in Australia].”

Mercedes’ executive director, Toto Wolff, was equally thrilled by the gripping nature of the race and believes it showed why team orders are bad for the sport. He said: “It doesn’t get any better advertising for F1 at a moment when lots of people were talking F1 down.

“You need the drivers to know that it is important not to risk the image of such a brand. We are representing a big brand and they need to know what to do, and they did it in a fantastic and spectacular way. Imagine if we’d imposed team orders from lap two or something. What a terrible thing that would be for F1 and the Mercedes philosophy in motorsport.”

The executive director, Paddy Lowe, who runs the team in partnership with Wolff, said: “It is a great result for Mercedes and the team. But more than that, it is a great result for Formula One because there has been so much negative stuff around – I have to say not generated by us, but generated by some of our competitors, putting in doubt the nature of this new formula.

“What was shown here was the perfect outcome. We have shown that we can bring all this new technology but at the same time the spirit of racing is still there. I cannot remember a more exciting in the last decade, in terms of wheel-to-wheel racing.”

Asked about his display of defensive skills, Hamilton added: “It’s not so often you have opportunities like that where you can really show it. In karting you show it every weekend, in F1 once in a blue moon. I was able to show I still have it. I’m trying to be the strongest I’ve been in my life.”

Hamilton won in Malaysian Grand Prix

Rosberg completes 2nd, Mercedes one-two; Vettel finishes third

Lewis Hamilton led from pole position to win the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday ahead of Nico Rosberg in a Mercedes show of strength.

Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel was third ahead of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso.

It was a demonstration by Mercedes who have now won the season’s two opening Formula One races and secured a first one-two since the 1955 Italian Grand Prix.

Hamilton cruised to his 23rd grand prix victory while Rosberg enjoyed another podium place after winning the season opener in Australia two weeks ago.

Red Bull were boosted by Vettel’s podium finish but team-mate Daniel Ricciardo’s race was ruined by a late tyre change blunder.

Hamilton took the chequered flag 17.133 seconds ahead of his team-mate, with Vettel 24.334 seconds back. It was the Briton’s first win since Hungarian GP in July and his first in Malaysia.

The remaining places in the top 10 were taken by Nico Huelkenberg (Force India), Jenson Button (McLaren), Felipe Massa (Williams), Valtteri Bottas (Williams), Kevin Magnusson (McLaren) and Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso).

Heavy rain forecast for the start of the race at the Sepang International Circuit held off and Hamilton was able to get away cleanly from Rosberg, who moved past Vettel at the start.

Ricciardo also began well, overtaking Alonso and Vettel, before slipping back behind the German on lap four.

McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen was handed a five-second stop-go penalty for hitting Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari, causing a puncture, while Force India’s Sergio Perez failed to start due to a software problem.

Engine reliability proved a problem for Lotus driver Pastor Maldonado, who was forced to retire, while Toro Ross’s Jean-Eric Vergne retired reporting a lack of power, and both Saubers of Adrian Sutil and Esteban Gutierrez also pulled out in quick succession.

Hamilton was untroubled at the front, building up a lead of around 10 seconds by the half-way mark, with only the threat of rain a possible concern for the 2008 world champion.

Ricciardo was lying fourth when he pitted with 15 laps to go, but mechanics failed to secure his left front tyre properly and the Australian had to stop in the pit lane and be pushed back for the tyre to be fixed.

He then almost immediately had to return to the pits with a broken front wing and was then punished with a 10-second stop-go penalty for an unsafe release in the first pit stop before he finally retired with four laps remaining.

As skies darkened, drivers reported drops of rain with some 20 laps of the 56 laps to go, but the feared downpour failed to materialise and any potential late drama was avoided.

Nico Rosberg won the Australian Grand Prix

James Maasdorp

Nico Rosberg won the Australian Grand Prix, holding off local hope Daniel Ricciardo and rookie Kevin Magnussen in the opening race of the Formula One season in Melbourne.

The German Mercedes driver’s win came after team-mate Lewis Hamilton retired early in the race with engine problems, around the same time defending champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull also exited out of contention.

The retirements meant both Rosberg and Ricciardo rocketed to the forefront of race contention, having qualified in second and third position.

Rosberg had built up a 14-second lead after 32 laps and even with a pit-stop still to make on Ricciardo, extended that to over 16 seconds by the 43rd lap.

Ultimately, Rosberg finished 24 seconds ahead of the Australian, in a formidable title warning of the capabilities of Mercedes’ W05 car to the rest of the chasing pack field.

“Brilliant guys. What a car you gave me, what a car,” an elated Rosberg bellowed over Mercedes’ team radio.

Ricciardo’s second-place finish meant a first time on a Formula One podium for the 24-year-old Red Bull deputy and also the first time a local had finished in a podium place at the Australian Grand Prix.

Meanwhile, McLaren’s Magnussen remarkably became the first Danish driver in history to claim a Formula One podium finish, all in his debut season.

“Thanks guys, it’s all a bit of a blur right now,” Ricciardo said over the radio, to which his engineer replied: “That’s brilliant mate, I think we can see your smile from here.”

McLaren’s Jenson Button finished fourth, while Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso rounded out the top five.

Mercedes’ superior preseason preparations for F1’s technical revolution paid dividends in Rosberg’s huge victory margin, with championship rival Red Bull struggling through winter testing to get to grips with the new V6 turbocharged hybrid engines.

Those problems continued for a number of teams, as only 14 of the 22 cars finished on the Albert Park circuit.

First-lap crash, Hamilton and Vettel retirements ignite Albert Park

The race started in spectacular fashion as Caterham’s Kamui Kobayashi – on his return to Formula One – clipped Williams’ Felipe Massa on the first corner, sending both drivers sprawling into the gravel and out of the race.

Pole-sitter Hamilton was forced to retire with an engine complaint in just the third lap, before Vettel pulled into the pits to retire soon after, having struggled with power problems from the first lap.

Williams driver Valtteri Bottas also pushed too hard coming out of turn 10, hitting the wall hard and breaking his rear rim, losing the wheel two corners later.

Bottas’s lost wheel forced the Finn down the grid and also brought out the safety car, prompting early, strategic pit-stops from the race leaders during the 12th lap.

Twenty laps in, Ricciardo was still trailing Rosberg by about five seconds, before being told over the Red Bull radio he no longer needed to conserve fuel, prompting an aggressive push from the Australian.

McLaren’s Jenson Button pitted to take on medium tyres after 32 laps, allowing the Briton the remainder of the race without stops after using both tyre compounds.

Applause then emerged from the Williams garage when Bottas – having lost his tyre so early in the race – temporarily moved up to fifth place, having made use of the safety car superbly to repair the damage to his wheel.

Having narrowed the gap between second and third to 1.1 seconds on the 49th lap, Kevin Magnussen received orders to put the pressure on Ricciardo, who looked to be struggling with eight laps to go.

But with the race all but Rosberg’s, Ricciardo showed tremendous poise to hold off the hyper-talented 

Magnussen and secure the runner-up spot.

A beaming Ricciardo thanked the enthusiastic crowd – which erupted in applause when he lifted his second-place silverware – for the “overwhelming” support.

“Just two or three weeks ago, I would bet everything I have that we would not be standing up here,” Ricciardo said on the podium.

“Full credit to the team for an unbelievable turn around. I don’t understand how they did it, but they did.

“And thanks to the Aussie fans. The support has been completely overwhelming.”

Race winner Rosberg praised his Mercedes team, saying the Melbourne win will lay the foundations for a real tilt at the drivers’ and constructors’ championships.

“It has been an amazing time in Melbourne. The support has been fantastic, Daniel got more support than me, but that’s normal,” he said.

“It has been an amazing day. Everyone has worked so hard over the weather and to have such an amazing [W05] Silver Arrow is unbelievable.

“The reliability was good and it’s the perfect start to the season.”