2018 Australian Grand Prix of the first round of the F1 season at Albert Park on the outskirts of Melbourne.
The race itself was a good race to watch. Current Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton took the lead at the start with Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel behind him. By lap 19, Vettel took the lead after Hamilton pitted for tyres. With Hamilton stuck in traffic, Vettel took the advantage with a few fastest laps of the race, pitted for tyres a few laps later taking a advantage from a Virtual Safety Car; from the retirements of both Haas cars to re-take the lead just ahead of Hamilton and took a sizeable lead after that. Vettel stayed at the front to win this seasons Australian Grand Prix for his first race win of the season.
While, Current Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton finished in second place in the Mercedes, Hamilton was five seconds behind Vettel at the end.
Meanwhile, Kimi Räikkönen finished in third place in the other Ferrari to complete the podium, Räikkönen was six seconds behind Vettel at the end of the fifty-eight lap race.
Highlights of the race below, enjoy.
Rate the Teams and Drivers
Mercedes - 7
Lewis Hamilton - 8 (pole, finished second)
Valtteri Bottas - 6 (finished eighth)
Ferrari - 8
Sebastian Vettel - 9 (race win)
Kimi Räikkönen - 8 (finished third)
Red Bull Racing - 7
Daniel Ricciardo - 8 (finished fourth, fastest lap)
Max Verstappen - 7 (finished sixth)
Force India - 5
Sergio Pérez- 6 (finished eleventh)
Esteban Ocon- 5 (finished twelfth)
So this weekends Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Albert Park, Melbourne.
So Predictions for the race, and for the win I predict Sebastian Vettel for the race win in the Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton second in the Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas third in the Mercedes. Don't forget Kimi Räikkönen, Red Bull drivers, the Renault drivers, the Williams drivers, the Force India drivers and the McLaren drivers as well for a podium place.
Today post is a 2018 F1 preview, all the teams and drivers. Also, predicting this seasons Drivers' and Constructors' Championships ahead for 2018. Starting of with last seasons Constructors' Champions Mercedes:
Mercedes: the team to beat for the Drivers' and Constructors' Championship this year. F1 W09 EQ Power+ looks fast and reliable in testing with many laps. Lewis Hamilton looks to retain his title. While, Valtteri Bottas retains for another season, who looks fast in testing.
Ferrari: Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen are retain for another season. SF71H looks fast in testing, better car, better power units in testing so far. Challenging for both championships is a must for Ferrari.
Red Bull: Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen are retain for another season. Retain the Renault power-units for another season under the Tag Heuer name, maybe still around 40-60bhp less than the Mercedes power-units. If the RB14 is on the right track Red Bull may shine. Top three in the constructors' standings must be their target at Red Bull this season.
Force India: Esteban Ocon and Sergio Pérez are retain for another season. VJM11 looks like an evolution from the VJM10 from last season. Looks fast in testing, and possible for Force India to retain fourth in the constructors' standings once again this season.
Williams: Out goes Felipe Massa into retirement. In comes Sergey Sirotkin alongside Lance Stroll who is retain for another season, although signing of Sergey Sirotkin could be question as both race drivers looked slow in testing compared to test-driver and former Grand Prix winner Robert Kubica. FW41 looks slow compare to last seasons car FW40, sixth in the constructors' standings must be their target this season at Williams ahead of the likes of Haas, Force India and Toro Rosso.
Renault: Nico Hulkenberg alongside Carlos Sainz, Jr. are retain for another season. R.S.18 look fast in testing. A few podiums may happen this season and fourth in the Constructors' standings might be the realistic target for Renault this season.
Toro Rosso: Renault power-units are out, Works Honda power-units are in. While, Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley are retain for another season. STR13 look fast in testing despite the Honda power-units are still lacking in power (maybe still around 60-80bhp less than the Mercedes power units). Sixth in the Constructors' standings might be the realistic target for Toro Rosso this season.
Haas: Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean are retain for another season. The Dallara built VF-18 looks fast in testing matching times of Renault, Toro Rosso, Force India and McLaren. Retaining eighth in the Constructors' standings might be the realistic target once again for Haas this season.
McLaren: Works Honda power-units are out, customer Renault power-units are in. While, Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne are retain for another season, although Alonso will share his McLaren duties with Totota in World Endurance Series throughout 2018. McL33 looks more reliable car in testing compare to last season, although not bulletproof. McLaren will be a contender for podiums, if not race wins and fourth in the Constructors' standings might be the realistic target for McLaren this season.
Sauber: Out goes Pascal Wehrlein and in comes Charles Leclerc alongside Marcus Ericsson for another season. C37 looks reliable in testing, with the team using 2018 spec power-units from Ferrari with sponsorship coming from Alfa Romeo. Sauber target for this might be finishing ninth in the constructors' standings ahead of the likes of Williams, Force India and Toro Rosso.
So predictions time, who's going to win the World Drivers' Championship this season for 2018? My prediction is Sebastian Vettel for his fifth World Drivers' Championships this season because of performance and reliability in testing. The improvements from Ferrari might be enough for Vettel to win this seasons title.
But, if Vettel doesn't step up Lewis Hamilton could take his fifth World Drivers' Title if things goes his way. Don't count out either Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen will also challenge for this years title as-well. Don't even count out both Red Bull drivers as-well, Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen and even Fernando Alonso too will go into this season as the dark horses for this season title if both Mercedes and Ferrari drivers' struggle. It will be another close drivers' championship once again this year in my opinion, as it might go down to the wire.
My top three prediction for the Drivers' Championship are:
1st Sebastian Vettel
2nd Lewis Hamilton
3rd Valtteri Bottas
Constructors' Championship: I will predict that Mercedes to win the constructors championships once again. And don't forget Ferrari and Red Bull, they will be certainly be challenging the constructors championship as-well.
My top three prediction for the Constructors' Championship are:
1st Mercedes
2nd Ferrari
3rd Red Bull
Predictions for this weekends Australian Grand Prix in the next post, for now, Bye.
Review of the first round of the 2018 MotoGP season at Losail, Doha in Qatar for MotoGP's only night race of the season. And for the season ahead, all MotoGP classes are reviewed (MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3).
In the MotoGP race (V-twin, V4, or Inline-four 1000cc four stroke class), that race was won by Ducati Team rider Andrea Dovizioso on his works Ducati Desmosedici GP18.
Second was Repsol Honda Team rider and current MotoGP Champion Marc Márquez on his works Honda RC213V, he was only three hundredths of a second behind Dovizioso at the end. While, third was Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi on his works Yamaha YZR-M1, he was eight tenths of a second behind Dovizioso at the end of the race.
In the Moto2 race (Inline-four 600 cc four-stroke class), that race was won by Sky Racing Team VR46 rider Francesco Bagnaia on the Kalex.
Second was Pons HP40 rider Lorenzo Baldassarri on the Kalex, he was a tenth of a second behind Bagnaia at the end of the race. While, third was Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider Álex Márquez on the Kalex, he was five and half seconds behind Bagnaia at the end of the race.
While in the Moto3 race (single-cylinder 250 cc four-stroke class), that race was won by Del Conca Gresini Racing Moto3 rider Jorge Martín on the Honda. Second was Estrella Galicia 0,0 rider Arón Canet on the Honda, he was only two hundredths of a second behind Martín at the end of the race. While, third was Leopard Racing rider Lorenzo Dalla Porta on the Honda, he was six and half seconds behind Martín at the end of the race.
Finally It was confirmed on Thurday (15/3/18), Valentino Rossi has signed a new two-year deal with that will see him continue to compete with the factory Movistar Yamaha team in MotoGP in 2019 and 2020.
Rossi team-mate will be his current team-mate Maverick Viñales, who has also signed a two-year deal with Yamaha last month.
As the title says a Sebring 12 Hours Review of the race. Review of Round two of the 2018 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season at Sebring International Raceway and the second round of the North American Endurance Cup.
Tequila Patrón ESM team won the race overall and Prototype class too of Pipo Derani, Nicolas Lapierre and Johannes van Overbeek in their Nissan Onroak DPi, Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Turbo V6.
While, Wayne Taylor Racing team finished in second place in their Cadillac DPi-V.R, Cadillac 5.5 L V8; the team of Ryan Hunter-Reay, Jordan Taylor and Renger van der Zande; they were twelve seconds behind the leaders. Meanwhile, Whelen Engineering Racing team finished in third place in their Cadillac DPi-V.R, Cadillac 5.5 L V8; the team of Mike Conway, Eric Curran and Felipe Nasr; they were fifty-three seconds behind the leaders.
In GT Le Mans Class, Porsche GT Team team won GT Le Mans Class and finished in tenth place overall in their Porsche 911 RSR; with the drivers of Frédéric Makowiecki, France Patrick Pilet and Nick Tandy; they were sixteen laps behind the leaders.
In GT Daytona Class, Paul Miller Racing team won GT Daytona Class and finished in seventeenth place overall in their Lamborghini Huracán GT3; with the drivers of Corey Lewis, Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow; they were twenty-three laps behind the leaders.
Next Stop Long Beach in four weeks time for round three of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Review of Round Five of the 2017-18 Formula E season held at the Punta del Este Street Circuit in Punta del Este, Uruguay.
The race was won by Techeetah driver Jean-Éric Vergne in his Spark-Renault. Second was Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler driver and current Formula E Champion Lucas di Grassi in his Spark-Audi, he was four tenths of a second behind Vergne in the end. Meanwhile, third was DS Virgin Racing driver Sam Bird in his Spark-Citroën, he was two and half seconds behind Vergne in the end.
Highlights of the race below, enjoy.
Next stop, Round Six of the 2017-18 Formula E season at the Circuto Cittadino dell'EUR for the Rome ePrix in four weeks time.
Recap of the last round of WRC from last weekends Round three of Rally Mexico.
Last weekends was the third round of the World Rally Championship at at the Rally Mexico (8th-11th March) that was won by Current WRC champion Sébastien Ogier in his works Ford Fiesta WRC.
While, Dani Sordo finished second in his works Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC. Sordo was sixty seconds behind Ogier at the end of the rally. Meanwhile, Kris Meeke finished third in his works Citroën C3 WRC, Meeke was eighty seconds behind Ogier at the end of the rally.
Meanwhile in WRC-2 class (Group R5, R4, Super 2000 and Group N4 spec cars), that was won by Škoda Motorsport driver and Current WRC-2 champion Pontus Tidemand in his Škoda Fabia R5. Pontus Tidemand finished in seventh place overall, he was ten minutes behind Ogier at the end of the rally.
Highlights of the rally below, enjoy.
Next stop, Round Four of the 2018 WRC season for Tour de Corse - Rallye de France in four weeks time.
Last week, Formula E has unveiled its aggressively-styled second generation car for the 2018/19 season Formula E season at last weeks Geneva Motor Show.
Created once again by Spark Racing Technology and Dallara. The technical specifications of the new car dub as the Batmobile, which has a battery capable of storing energy for twice the range of its predecessor made by Mclaren to eliminate the need for mid-race car-swaps, were also released for the first time.
It will have a maximum power of 250kW (335 bhp), with 200kW (268 bhp) available during races, and will have a maximum speed of 280km/h (174mph), according to the official specs.
The Gen2 machine will have a minimum weight of 900kg (compared to the current SRT-01E that weighs 880kg in total), which includes the driver and the 385kg battery.
Its halo is fitted with an LED lighting strip that will indicate race-related information such as power modes.
The Gen2 car will run on new all-weather rubber supplied by Michelin, which will be lighter and have less rolling resistance than the current tyres.
All in all, an evolution from the previous Formula E car.
This week, Rebellion Racing has released the first images of the LMP1 contender with which it will take on Toyota in the 2018/19 FIA World Endurance Championship superseason.
Rebellion Racing, who are returning to LMP1 class after winning the LMP2 WEC title in 2017, showed a graphic representation of the new Gibson-powered R-13 at a low-key launch at the Geneva Motor Show.
The R-13 has been developed by French constructor Oreca around the monocoque of its successful LMP2 07 design, but the majority of the rest of the car is all new.
R-13 will use a 4.5 litre Gibson V8 engine will produce around 650bhp and a top speed of 225mph meaning the Rebellion R-13 will not be a Hybrid LMP1 like the Toyota TS050 Hybrid meaning the car will not need any hybrid parts for it's engine part and making it affordable to race.
Rebellion Racing team has already committed to running two of the new R-13 cars in the 2018/19 WEC superseason, which will driven by a roster of drivers including former Porsche LMP1 team-mates Andre Lotterer and Neel Jani, will race as #1 and #3 in the 2018/19 WEC season.
The car isn't due to hit the track until the lead-up to the official WEC pre-season test in April.
It was confirmed yesterday (5/3/18), MotoGP team Tech 3 will team up with Austrian Manufacture KTM from the 2019 MotoGP season onwards in a multi-year deal, following the team's decision to split with long-time partner Yamaha.
The Tech 3 team has fielded Yamaha bikes in the premier class since 2001, but announced last month they would be parting ways with the Japanese manufacturer at the end of this season, ending an 18-year partnership.
And it has now been confirmed that Tech 3 will join the KTM camp instead and race a pair of RC16 bikes in 2019, becoming the Austrian firm's first satellite team in MotoGP, that entitled the Tech 3 outfit to "exactly the same spec" of bikes as those fielded by the works team, and bring the number of RC16s on the grid up to four.
KTM completed its debut season as a works team in MotoGP last year, ending up fifth in the manufacturers' standings with a best finish of multiple ninth place finishes.
In my opinion not surprising news has happened, bigger guess would heave been Tech 3 will use KTM bikes for the 2019 MotoGP season in-which former riders Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaró race this season.
Meaning, next season in MotoGP, there will be are eight Ducatis, six Honda and two Yamahas, two Suzukis, two Aprilias and now four KTMs bikes.
Review of Round Four of the 2017-18 Formula E season held on the shorter version of the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez circuit in Mexico City, Mexico.
The race was won by Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler driver Daniel Abt in his Spark-Audi. Second was NIO Formula E Team driver Oliver Turvey in his Spark-NIO, he was six seconds behind Abt in the end. Meanwhile, third was Renault e.dams driver Sébastien Buemi in his Spark-Renault, he was six and half seconds behind Abt in the end.
Highlights of the race below, enjoy.
Next stop, Round Five of the 2017-18 Formula E season at the Punta del Este Street Circuit for the Punta del Este ePrix in two weeks time.
