Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff says Lewis Hamilton made the difference in the Bahrain Grand Prix by taking the fight to Ferrari with an inferior “weapon”. Hamilton overtook Sebastian Vettel for second place in the final stint with a bold move around the outside of the Turn 4 right-hander, after which Vettel immediately spun.

Sebastian Vettel has denied his spin in battle with Lewis Hamilton in Formula 1’s Bahrain Grand Prix was related to mounting pressure following multiple mistakes he made last season. Vettel made several costly errors as Ferrari’s 2018 F1 championship unravelled and he spun again in Bahrain while fighting Hamilton for second at Turn 4, having

Alex Albon says driving through a shower of sparks felt like “a fireball” at the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix, in which he scored his first Formula 1 points. The Toro Rosso rookie benefited from Renault’s late double-retirement to finish ninth and bag two points on only his second F1 start. His race had

Nico Hulkenberg says his retirement from Formula 1’s Bahrain Grand Prix was “brutal”, after he and Renault team-mate Daniel Ricciardo exited the race within moments of each other. The German had fought his way up to sixth – which included battling through a “war zone” of an opening lap – but was robbed of a

Daniel Ricciardo didn’t replace his Renault steering wheel because he felt it would be dangerous after being told not to touch his Formula 1 car to “avoid potential electrocution”. Ricciardo retired from the Bahrain Grand Prix with just a few laps remaining, reporting that his car had switched off completely as he approached the first

Robert Kubica says the reduced gap between himself and rookie Williams team-mate George Russell in Bahrain qualifying means nothing considering the aerodynamic discrepancy between their Formula 1 cars. Kubica qualified less than a tenth behind Russell in Bahrain, after being more than 1.7s off in Australia. Kubica said after Friday practice he felt he was

Toro Rosso Formula 1 driver Daniil Kvyat was denied a crucial fresh-tyre run in the second segment of Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying by what he described as an “operational issue”. The Russian scrapped his second run in Q2 after the outlap and was resigned to 15th place on the grid. His absence in the dying

Lando Norris believes getting blocked by Romain Grosjean in Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying was caused by his penalised Formula 1 rival being “screwed over” by Sebastian Vettel. Grosjean picked up a three-place grid penalty, dropping him from eighth to 11th, for impeding Norris during the opening part of qualifying at the Sakhir circuit. The Haas

Ferrari has dismissed suggestions that its form at the Australian Grand Prix was hurt by cooling problems with its Formula 1 car. The team started the season-opening weekend as clear favourite after a strong showing in pre-season testing, but it was unable to replicate that form in Melbourne as Mercedes turned the tables to take

Mercedes Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton says Ferrari’s strong performance has made Bahrain Grand Prix practice “completely different” to the season opener in Australia. Ferrari finished off the podium and almost a minute adrift of Hamilton’s race-winning team-mate Valtteri Bottas in Melbourne, having led the way in pre-season testing. But Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc

Robert Kubica says he is driving a “completely different car” compared to Williams Formula 1 team-mate George Russell, despite them running ostensibly identical set-ups. Kubica, who was a second slower than Russell in second practice for this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix, was at a loss to understand why the data indicated that the cars have

McLaren’s Carlos Sainz Jr fears Haas could be at least half a second clear of the midfield in 2019, based on its strong form in Formula 1’s Australian Grand Prix. Kevin Magnussen was sixth, first of the ‘Class B’ runners in Australia, while Sainz retired with an MGU-K failure early on. Haas and Renault have

Fernando Alonso will drive McLaren’s 2019 Formula 1 car for the first time in next week’s post-Bahrain Grand Prix test. The two-time world champion walked away from grand prix racing at the end of the 2018 season but has become a McLaren ambassador and adviser for 2019. In announcing his new role the team said

Sebastian Vettel believes the cornering strength of Ferrari’s 2019 Formula 1 car may have cost it straightline speed, but needs more data to be sure. One of the traits of the Ferrari last season was strong top-speed performance, but Vettel and Charles Leclerc seemed to struggle in this area in the Australian Grand Prix. Red

The FIA has opted to split the senior Formula 1 race official roles held by the late Charlie Whiting for this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix. As for the season-opening race in Australia, where Whiting’s shock death on the eve of the weekend prompted a late reshuffle, Michael Masi will be the race director in Bahrain.

The FIA says it didn’t want to be a ‘dictator’ after refusing to ban the Mercedes-inspired wheel rim holes last year, even though it has caused a development war. Mercedes was at the centre of controversy when it ran a design of wheel spacer that featured holes for better airflow on the Singapore Grand Prix

Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko reckons the Ferrari Formula 1 team had to hold back its performance in the Australian Grand Prix because of cooling problems. Ferrari endured a muted season-opening race as its pace-setting pre-season testing form translated into fourth and fifth on the road in Melbourne. The Italian team says it has

McLaren Formula 1 driver Carlos Sainz Jr believes Renault’s 2019 engine is “something to fight with” and finally marks the progress it needed to make “two years ago”. All bar one of Sainz’s four seasons in F1 have been with Renault power, and he drove for the French manufacturer’s own team at the end of

McLaren’s Formula 1 rookie Lando Norris is wary of repeating his top-10 qualifying heroics from the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, but hopes the team is more competitive than it thought. Norris qualified eighth for his grand prix debut and while he was unable to finish in the points in the Melbourne race he and McLaren

Ross Brawn admits he wanted to be more ambitious with planned Formula 1 engine rules changes for 2021, but understands why there was a push back from the current manufacturers. The original plan called for “cheaper, simpler, louder” power units, with significant changes that were intended to encourage new manufacturers – with Porsche a particular

Formula 1’s 2021 overhaul should provide new opportunities to make big gains in a technical area that has become one of grand prix racing’s most important battlegrounds. The introduction of the V6 turbo-hybrid engine regulations in 2014 made fuel and lubricant suppliers a much more influential factor in the competitive pecking order. Long-time partners Ferrari

Ferrari expects its performance in this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix to show the effect of the “corrections” it has made following its poor start to the 2019 Formula 1 season. The Italian team finished fourth and fifth in the Australian Grand Prix having topped the times in pre-season testing and been considered the favourite heading

Renault’s Formula 1 team needs to be hard on itself if it is to bounce back from the disappointment of the Australian Grand Prix, reckons its managing director Cyril Abiteboul. The team has set its sights on closing down the gap to the top three of Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull this season, but it

Honda hopes to have its first victory with Red Bull by the summer break as it bids to make use of its chance to win in Formula 1 again. The Japanese manufacturer scored its first podium of the V6 turbo-hybrid era in the 2019 season-opening Australian Grand Prix, its first start with Red Bull. That

Racing Point team principal Otmar Szafnauer says new signing Lance Stroll is a “gutsy racer” who will get due credit for his Formula 1 performances eventually. Stroll, who has had two mixed seasons with Williams in grand prix racing, joined Racing Point in the off-season following the team’s mid-2018 takeover by a consortium led by

Formula 1 world championship leader Valtteri Bottas believes the fastest-lap points available in 2019 could make a “big difference”, after claiming the first bonus of the season in Australia. Bottas dominated the curtain-raising Australian Grand Prix and set the fastest lap of the race on the penultimate tour, despite an opposing pre-race instruction from his

Renault chief Cyril Abiteboul says a budget cap is the key to reshaping Formula 1 beyond 2021, believing it has to be a “proper deterrent” to stop spending. A budget – or cost – cap is one of the primary elements under discussion for 2021, along with revenue distribution, governance and the sporting and technical

A Formula 1 race on the streets of Miami could be a step closer to becoming a reality after a key vote in the city on March 28th. In one of its regular gatherings, the City Commission will formally consider plans for a Miami GP for the first time since a resolution was deferred at

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen’s mid-race overtaking move on Sebastian Vettel in Formula 1’s Australian Grand Prix shows that Honda now has “enormous” power, reckons Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. Verstappen finished third in the Australian Grand Prix after making a move around the outside of Vettel on the run down to Turn 3 on lap 31.

Honda’s impressive performance in the Australian Grand Prix speed traps runs deeper that its table-topping effort in the Formula 1 season opener. The Japanese manufacturer headed every speed classification in the 2019 season opener, leading the way at the speed trap, start/finish line and both intermediates around the lap. On face value that supremacy simply