F1 - Abu Dhabi GP - 27 NOV 2016

Hamilton wins tense final, Rosberg is champion

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Lewis Hamilton concluded his 2016 campaign with a 10th race victory as he took the chequered flag after a fiesty end to the Abu Dhabi GP while Nico Rosberg’s P3 handed him his first F1 World title.

It was all about the championship rivals in Abu Dhabi with cameos from Ferrari and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, both of whom caused a bit of niggle for the Mercedes drivers – especially Rosberg.

Kimi Raikkonen forced Mercedes to have hold Hamilton in his pit box a second longer than wanted as the Finn came down the pit lane. A lap later Sebastian Vettel did the exact same to Rosberg, who was stationary for 4.8s.

They emerged from the first round of stops with Hamilton P1 and Rosberg P3 having been overhauled by Verstappen. The Dutchman was out of sync with the rest after a spin at Turn 1 on the opening lap dropped him to the back of the field.

Rosberg lapped behind Verstappen for 10 laps before being told that it is “critical now that we start passing Verstappen.” It was a heart-in-the-mouth moment as Rosberg and Verstappen went wheel-to-wheel, almost touched, with the German eventually pulling ahead through Turn 11 to run P2 behind Hamilton.

As pit stops played out the Mercedes drivers raced in the 1-2 through to the chequered flag but with 10 to go, it all got a bit fiesty as Hamilton finally did the backing up that was his only shot at the title. He was 1.3s ahead of Rosberg, who had Verstappen 2.5s behind him with Vettel, on his much fresher tyres, just 6 seconds behind the race leader.

Rosberg asked Mercedes to let him through on Hamilton. Mercedes instructed the Brit to up his pace with Hamilton replying: “You should just let us race.” As the laps counted down Rosberg again urged Mercedes to help him through especially as Vettel had overtaken Verstappen for third.

Hamilton was told that it was an “instruction” to up his pace in order to “win this race”. He told Mercedes that he is “actually in the lead right now.”

Onto the final lap Hamilton strolled to the chequered flag, slowing down the field at every corner, but still claimed his 10th win of this season. Rosberg held off Vettel to finish second, taking the 2016 World Championship title.

Verstappen, having done 34 laps on his soft tyres, was unable to get involved and finished P4.

Daniel Ricciardo was fifth ahead of Raikkonen, Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez.

Felipe Massa, in his final grand prix, finished in ninth place while Fernando Alonso took the season’s final point.

Kevin Magnussen’s final grand prix with Renault ended early as he retired with crash damage while Valtteri Bottas also called it quits after reporting that there is “something wrong with the rear damper or something…the car’s bouncing a lot.”

Jenson Button’s last grand prix ended on lap 12 with a suspension failure. “I don’t think we’ve ever had a failure like this,” he said as the crowd gave him a massive cheer as he pulled into the pits to park his McLaren.

Daniil Kvyat added his name to the list of retirees on lap 16 when he parked his STR11. His team-mate Carlos Sainz retired on lap 44 after being hit by Jolyon Palmer with the rear impact damaging his gearbox. Palmer ended his season as the last driver penalised for 2016, handed a five-second penalty for causing the contact.

Result
1 Hamilton Mercedes 1:38.04.013
2 Rosberg Mercedes 0.4
3 Vettel Ferrari 0.8
4 Verstappen Red Bull 1.6
5 Ricciardo Red Bull 5.3
6 Raikkonen Ferrari 18.8
7 Hulkenberg Force India 50.1
8 Perez Force India 58.7
9 Massa Williams 59.4
10 Alonso McLaren 59.8
11 Grosjean Haas 76.7
12 Gutierrez Haas
13 Ocon Manor 1 lap95.1
14 Wehrlein Manor 1 lap
15 Ericsson Sauber 1 lap
16 Nasr Sauber 1 lap
17 Palmer Sauber 1 lap
Did not finish
18 Sainz Toro Rosso gearbox
19 Kvyat Toro Rosso mechanical
20 Button McLaren suspension
21 Bottas Williams rear damper
22 Magnussen Renault crash damage

F1 - Brazilian GP - 13 NOV 2016

Hamilton wins chaotic Brazilian GP

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As the rain came down in Brazil the only certainty was chaos and Formula 1 delivered just that as Lewis Hamilton raced to the victory ahead of Nico Rosberg.

Pouring rain, crashes, Safety Cars, red flags and penalties were the order of the day as Formula 1 raced around the Interlagos circuit on Sunday afternoon.

As forecast, the rain came down in Sao Paulo drenching the track. That resulted in a 30G hit for Romain Grosjean on his out-lap to the grid as he crashed at Turn 14; a 10 minute delay to the start; and a Safety Car.

The field stayed behind the Safety Car before racing got underway on lap 7 with Hamilton quick to pull away ahead of Rosberg.

The Safety Car was back for Marcus Ericsson’s crash on lap 13, he hit the barriers after touching the white lines and came to a halt in the pitlane entrance, while Kimi Raikkonen’s accident on the main straight on lap 19 brought out the red flags for the first time.

“Conditions are mad. It’s just stupid. Red flag. Red flag. We need extremes and we need to stop the race. How many people do you want to crash?” was Sebastian Vettel’s assessment moments before the red was thrown.

The race resumed after half an hour, a stop in which Nico Hulkenberg needed a new front wing having collected pieces of Raikkonen’s and Jolyon Palmer retired with a damaged suspension, only to be red flagged again after seven laps behind the Safety Car. Another stoppage and another Safety Car restart.

Hamilton backed up the field before pulling away while Rosberg was attacked – and overtaken – by Max Verstappen in a plume of spray. The Red Bull driver nearly threw it away as he touched a white line, spun, slid and narrowly avoided shunting – and still held onto second.

Red Bull dropped out of contention when they pitted for inters, falling down the order. Daniel Ricciardo coming out P11, losing time as he had to remain stationary for five seconds after being hit with a penalty for pitting when the pitlane was closed for Ericsson’s crash, and Verstappen came out P5. As the rain continued Red Bull were forced to pit again for wets with Ricciardo P12 and Verstappen 16th.

Felipe Massa’s accident on lap 48 saw the Safety Car take to the track as the Brazilian, competing in his final home race, crashed near the scene of Ericsson’s shunt. Tears and a standing ovation with applause from all the garages greeted him as he walked back to the Williams garage.

When the race resumed Hamilton and Rosberg romped away from the chasing pack to cross the line 1-2 for Mercedes, the Brit 11 seconds ahead of his team-mate. It was a result that suited both drivers as Hamilton kept the championship alive and Rosberg limited the damage. He leads by 12 points going into the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

Verstappen recovered to third after a late overtake on Sergio Perez. The Force India driver was fourth ahead of Vettel, Carlos Sainz, Nico Hulkenberg and Ricciardo.

Sauber bagged their first points of this season as Felipe Nasr brought his C35 home in ninth place while Fernando Alonso completed the points in tenth place.

Result
1 Hamilton Mercedes 3:01.01.335
2 Rosberg Mercedes 11.4
3 Verstappen Red Bull 21.4
4 Perez Force India 25.3
5 Vettel Ferrari 26.3
6 Sainz Toro Rosso 29.1
7 Hulkenberg Force India 29.8
8 Ricciardo Red Bull 30.4
9 Nasr Sauber 42.6
10 Alonso McLaren 44.4
11 Bottas Williams 45.2
12 Ocon Manor 45.8
13 Kvyat Toro Rosso 51.1
14 Magnussen Renault 51.5
15 Wehrlein Manor 60.4
16 Button McLaren 81.9
Did not finish
17 Gutierrez Haas technical
18 Massa Williams crash
19 Palmer Renault suspension
20 Raikkonen Ferrari crash
21 Ericsson Sauber crash
Did not start
Grosjean Haas crash on his way to the grid

F1 - Mexican GP - 30 OCT 2016

Hamilton’s title hopes alive with Mexican win

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Lewis Hamilton won the Mexican Grand Prix to keep his title hopes alive, however, a runner-up result for Nico Rosberg means the German still has the advantage.

The attention was firmly on Hamilton and Rosberg as the 71-lap Mexican Grand Prix got underway at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez with the German needing a win and a P10 or less from his team-mate to wrap up his first World title.

However, Rosberg’s first attempt at winning the title came to naught as he was unable to match Hamilton on the day.

The pole-sitter led into Turn 1, had an off of Turn 1 to rejoin at Turn 3, hit pause for an early Safety Car for Marcus Ericsson and Pascal Wehrlein’s lap 1 collision, and stormed clear of Rosberg at the restart to build up a lead.

One pit stop later, soft-to-medium, and Hamilton secured his second successive win and his first in Mexico. He trails Rosberg by 19 points with 50 still in play.

Rosberg achieved the P2 he needed to continue his march towards a first World title.

The German had to fend off Max Verstappen into Turn 1, bouncing off the RB12, and as the race progressed had to keep him at bay as the Red Bull strategy saw the Dutchman close up on the W07 midway through the race.

Verstappen tried a lunging move at Turn 4 on lap 50 but went in too hot, ran off the circuit, and Rosberg was back up into P2, a position he held through to the chequered flag.

Sebastian Vettel, with his medium tyres 20 laps younger than Verstappen’s, caught the Red Bull driver with five to go. An off from Verstappen at Turn 1 allowed Vettel onto his gearbox while the two-stopping Daniel Ricciardo closed up on the Ferrari for a three-way fight for the final podium position.

Ricciardo made a move on the penultimate lap with the two bumping and bouncing which allowed Verstappen breathing room with the Dutchman racing to third only to be slapped with a five-second penalty as the race ended. Vettel completed the podium ahead of Ricciardo and Verstappen.

Kimi Raikkonen was sixth as he made a late move on Nico Hulkenberg that resulted in a spin for the Force India. He recovered to finish P7.

Valtteri Bottas was eighth ahead of Felipe Massa and Sergio Perez. The latter had a frustrating home race as he blamed Force India for a mistimed pit stop that meant he was stuck behind the Williams drivers.

Ericsson was 11th.

Results
1 Hamilton Mercedes 1:40.31.402
2 Rosberg Mercedes 8.3
3 Vettel Ferrari 17.3
4 Ricciardo Red Bull 20.8
5 Verstappen Red Bull 21.3
6 Raikkonen Ferrari 49.3
7 Hulkenberg Force India 58.8
8 Bottas Williams 65.6
9 Massa Williams 76.22
10 Perez Force India 76.7
11 Ericsson Sauber 1 lap
12 Button McLaren 1 lap
13 Alonso McLaren 1 lap
14 Palmer Renault 1 lap
15 Nasr Sauber 1 lap
16 Sainz Toro Rosso 1 lap
17 Magnussen Renault 1 lap
18 Kvyat Toro Rosso 1 lap
19 Gutierrez Haas   1 lap
20 Grosjean Haas 1 lap
21 Ocon Haas 2 laps
Did not finish
22 Wehrlein Manor crash

F1 - USGP - 23 OCT 2016

Hamilton back to winning ways at USGP

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Lewis Hamilton’s love affair with America continued on Sunday as he won his fourth grand prix at the Circuit of the Americas while Nico Rosberg claimed the P2 he needed towards his title challenge.

Tyre strategies played their part in the race as Hamilton took the lead on his soft tyres while Daniel Ricciardo used his supersofts – the experts reckon worth a car length off the line – to get the jump on Rosberg.

The leading six drivers, all vying for a place on the podium, opted for a mix of strategies with Hamilton swapping soft for soft, Ricciardo supersofts for softs, Rosberg taking on a set of mediums, Max Verstappen softs and Kimi Raikkonen, who had started on the supersofts, putting on a set of softs. His team-mate Sebatian Vettel, who ran a long 15-lap stint on his supersoft to start with, also put on the soft tyres.

As the first round of stops played out Hamilton was four seconds ahead of Ricciardo, who in turn was two ahead of Rosberg. Verstappen overtook Raikkonen into Turn 12 – “that’s how we do it” he enthused – and Vettel was 16s off the pace.

Hamilton set about pulling away from Ricciardo, building up a lead of over nine seconds while the Aussie initially pulled away from Rosberg only to be caught by the German. In contrast Verstappen initially caught Rosberg only to drop four seconds behind him. Vettel caught Raikkonen but didn’t need to make a pass as the Finn was the first of the leading six to pit.

Softs to supers meant Raikkonen would have to pit again, Ricciardo went with the mediums ending his cycle while Verstappen came into the pits without Red Bull being ready. “I thought you boxed me, sorry,” said the Dutchman.

Minutes later Verstappen’s race was over. “I have an engine failure or something,” he reported as he slowly crawled around the circuit. “Something is hitting the engine, the faster I drive the hard it hits,” he added before parking his RB12.

Six became five in the race for the podium while the Virtual Safety Car was brought out to give the marshals time to clear his car. Both Hamilton and Rosberg pitted under the VSC, soft to medium and medium to mediums, which meant they came out 1-2 with the British racer 13s ahead of his team-mate. Ricciardo fell to third, 2s further back.

Raikkonen and Vettel was fourth and fifth but a third stop for the Finn saw the team-mates swap positions only for Raikkonen to add his name to the list of retirements when he left the pits with “a [wheel]gun still attached” and had to stop his car.

Hamilton raced to the victory, his fourth at the Circuit of the Americas and his first win since July’s German Grand Prix, by 4.5 seconds ahead of Rosberg. The victory meant Hamilton closed the gap in the standings to 26 points. Ricciardo joined the team-mates on the podium while Vettel was fourth with a late pitstop.

Fernando Alons benefitted from the VSC and finished P5, his best result of the season, ahead of Carlos Sainz, who he passed on the final lap, and Felipe Massa, who he made contact with as he overtook him. Sergio Perez was eight aghead of Jenson Button while Romain Grosjean scored the final point for Haas at their home race.

Nico Hulkenberg and Valtteri Bottas made contract at the start with the Force India driver limping into the pits where he retired while Bottas pitted for a puncture.

There was more drama for Force India as Sergio Perez was pitched into a spin by Daniil Kvyat with both emerging unscathed. “What an idiot” was Perez’s verdict with Kvyat handed a 10-second time penalty for the incident.

Esteban Gutierrez was the second driver to retire as he appeared to have a brake issue that was causing notable vibrations.

Result
1 Hamilton Mercedes 1:38.12.618
2 Rosberg Mercedes 4.5
3 Ricciardo Red Bull 19.6
4 Vettel Ferrari 43.1
5 Alonso McLaren 93.9
6 Sainz Toro Rosso 96.1
7 Massa Williams 1 lap
8 Perez Force India 1 lap
9 Button McLaren 1 lap
10 Grosjean Haas 1 lap
11 Magnussen Renault   1 lap
12 Kvyat Toro Rosso 1 lap
13 Palmer Renault 1 lap
14 Ericsson Sauber 1 lap
15 Nasr Sauber 1 lap
16 Bottas Williams 1 lap
17 Wehrlein Manor 1 lap
18 Ocon Manor 2 laps
Did not finish
Raikkonen Ferrari
Verstappen Red Bull
Gutierrez Haas
Hulkenberg Force India

F1 - Japanese GP - October 9 2016

Race: Rosberg wins the Japanese GP

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Nico Rosberg’s season of firsts continued at Suzuka on Sunday as he made the most of Lewis Hamilton’s poor start to race unchallenged to the victory at the Japanese GP.

The Japanese Grand Prix, round 17 of the 2016 championship, was decided at the start as Rosberg pulled away from pole position while Hamilton was bogged down. The Brit fell from P2 to P8 in a matter of metres.

Hamilton’s wretched start, not his first of this season, handed Rosberg a free run to line as the chasing Red Bulls and Ferraris didn’t have the pace to challenge.

Max Verstappen tried to undercut Rosberg in the first round of pit stops, which did allow him to close the gap from six to two seconds. However, Rosberg immediately set about rebuilding his advantage. Hamilton was up to fourth.

Verstappen repeated that strategy in the second round of stops, closing the gap to Rosberg to 4.5s. Hamilton leapfrogged Sebastian Vettel for third with the Ferrari driver opting for a set of the soft tyres to his rivals’ hards.

None of them, though, had an answer to Rosberg’s pace. He raced unchallenged to the win ahead of Verstappen, extending his lead in the Drivers’ Championship to 33 points over Hamilton.

The Brit could only recover as far as third as he came up behind Verstappen in the closing laps. The Red Bull racer did not give an inch and Hamilton’s one attempt at a pass ended with the World Champion heading up an escape road. Hamilton, like many before him, accused Verstappen of moving under braking.

Vettel was fourth as the decision to put on a set of soft tyres did not pay off for Ferrari. He finished ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and Daniel Ricciardo.

Sergio Perez, who had been running as high as third in the opening laps, brought his Force India across the line in seventh place, beating his team-mate Nico Hulkenberg.

Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas complete the top ten as Williams opted for a one-stop strategy for both drivers.

Result
1. Rosberg Mercedes 1:26:43.333
2. Verstappen Red Bull +4.978
3. Hamilton Mercedes 5.776
4. Vettel Ferrari 20.269
5. Raikkonen Ferrari 28.370
6. Ricciardo Red Bull 33.941
7. Perez Force India 57.495
8. Hulkenberg Force India 59.177
9. Massa Williams 1:37.763
10. Bottas Williams 1:38.323
11. Grosjean Haas 1:39.254
12. Palmer Renault 1 Lap
13.  Kvyat Toro Rosso 1 Lap
14. Magnussen Renault 1 Lap
15. Ericsson Sauber 1 Lap
16. Alonso McLaren 1 Lap
17. Sainz Jr Toro Rosso 1 Lap
18. Button McLaren 1 Lap
19. Nasr Sauber     1 Lap
20. Gutiérrez Haas 1 Lap
21. Ocon Manor 1 Lap
22. Wehrlein Manor 1 Lap