F1 British Grand Prix: A Bronx Cheer

f1-2016-britain-hamilton-crowd-surfingThe British Grand Prix started behind the safety car because of standing water on the track. Fans complained about the overly cautious start to the race but little did they know that this start to the race would make for the most exciting part of the afternoon. Changing conditions made for some exciting moments as drivers coped with a track that was too wet for inters and then too wet for slicks.

Lewis Hamilton ended up winning his home grand prix in a race that will likely be remembered for the first penalty from F1’s radio rules.

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F1 Austrian Grand Prix: Here We Go Again

In racing, it’s not who leads the first lap, the halfway lap or even the most laps. Nico Rosberg led the most laps of the Austrian Grand Prix but he didn’t taste the winner’s champagne. In fact, he turned out to be a villain of Maldonado-ian levels after the chequered flag flew. A last lap collision with teammate Lewis Hamilton while defending the lead left Rosberg worse for wear, as is often the case when this occurs, and handed the win to Hamilton.

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F1 Monaco Grand Prix: Better Lucky than Good

f1-2016-monaco-hamilton-victoryTwenty years ago, the Monaco Grand Prix featured a downpour, changing conditions and only three cars running at the end of the two-hour time limit. Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix looked like it could go the same way but the difference was that 15 cars finished. A series of strange moments throughout the race saw Lewis Hamilton luck his way into his first win of the 2016 World Championship.

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F1 Chinese Grand Prix: More Races, More Problems

I think we’ve gone over this a few times on the blog but the easiest way to make an F1 race exciting is for there to be a little bit of chaos to shake up the order. Often, it’s changing weather conditions that do the trick. For the Chinese Grand Prix, it was a melee at the start that mixed up the field and forced racing to happen.

Of course, as usual, racing didn’t happen at the front of the field. Nico Rosberg didn’t lead the whole way but it wasn’t like he was strongly challenged for the win either as he scored his third win of the season and sixth-in-a-row going back to 2015.

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F1 Bahrain Grand Prix: Demolition Derby

It’s always fun when a pattern develops. I’m not talking about Nico Rosberg winning once again. While Nico Rosberg has won five races in a row, he might not have done so if not for another pattern that might be developing this season. Lewis Hamilton once again started on pole but couldn’t cleanly get through the first turn which cost him a chance at the win.

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F1 Australian Grand Prix: Red Flag Spells Danger

f1-2016-australia-podiumFor all the rules changes during the off-season involving qualifying and the radio ban, all it took was new rules over tyre selection and usage and a red flag to shake up the Australian Grand Prix. Remove the red flag and it’s likely that Sebastian Vettel would have won the season-opening race. However, a red flag for a massive crash involving Fernando Alonso and a questionable strategy call gave the win to Nico Rosberg.

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F1 2016 Season Preview: Predictions

f1-2015-britain-podiumOur week-long preview of the 2016 Formula One World Championship has finally come to an end. After looking at the driver, teams, rules and video games, it’s finally time for us to pick a winner. The story heading into this season has been whether Ferrari has made up enough ground over the off-season to be able to challenge Mercedes for the top step of the podium. Considering how dominant Mercedes has been the last two years winning 32 of the 38 races since the change in engine formula, that was always going to be a big ask. Perhaps, it’s still far too big for this season.

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Formula One: 2016 Barcelona 2nd Test Recap

The second of the two-week Formula One pre-season testing program wrapped up last week in Spain at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. As the final preparations for the 2016 World Championship continued, teams switched their focus from speed to locking down any reliability concerns they may have. Some teams were very successful. Others were wondering if the best way to save money was to virtually eliminate all running outside of race weekends.

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Formula One: 2016 Barcelona 1st Test Recap

f1-2016-barcelona-test-vettel-rosbergThe 2016 challengers for the Formula One World Championship turned their first wheels in anger around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for one of two pre-season tests ahead of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. While the whole picture can be gleaned from testing, we probably did somethings in terms of pace and reliability.

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F1 Italian Grand Prix: Under Pressure

f1-2015-italy-hamilton-victoryThe Italian Grand Prix is one of the most prestigious and historic Grands Prix on the F1 calendar. While the current state of F1 made the winning manufacturer a foregone conclusion, the post-race drama gave a little intrigue to an otherwise less-than-thrilling Italian Grand Prix.

In the end, it was Lewis Hamilton who crossed the line first and then survived a stewards’ inquiry after the race to win the Italian Grand Prix.

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