Mercedes F1

Valtteri Bottas says he prefers to be punished for making mistakes on circuits despite crashing heavily during second practice for the Austrian Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton continued his dominant start to the Formula 1 season with a comfortable victory in Sunday’s French Grand Prix, heading up a one-two finish for Mercedes.

Even amid all the post-race furore over the time penalty, Sebastian Vettel’s dominant display over the Canadian Grand Prix weekend stoked some hope that Ferrari could begin a fightback against Mercedes this year, stopping the silver streak of success to start the season in its tracks.

Lewis Hamilton headed up a one-two finish for Mercedes in opening practice for the French Grand Prix on Friday at Paul Ricard, pipping teammate Valtteri Bottas by less than one-tenth of a second.

Valtteri Bottas says his recent setbacks in Monaco and Canada have nothing to do with pressure after seeing Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton pull clear in the Formula 1 championship standings.

Mercedes has explained the pre-race hydraulic issue that left Lewis Hamilton sweating on making the start of Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix, with the team completing a rebuild on a “pretty tight” turnaround.

Inheriting victory as a result of a rival’s time penalty may not have been how Lewis Hamilton wanted to win Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix, but the Mercedes driver remained initially coy over the stewards’ ruling on Sebastian Vettel.

Lewis Hamilton led the way once again for Mercedes in second practice for the Monaco Grand Prix on Thursday afternoon, narrowly beating teammate Valtteri Bottas to the fastest time of the session.

Valtteri Bottas will start the Spanish Grand Prix from pole position after dominating qualifying at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Saturday, heading up a Mercedes front row lock-out.

Valtteri Bottas continued to set the pace for Mercedes in second practice for the Spanish Grand Prix on Friday afternoon, edging out teammate Lewis Hamilton by a fine margin.

Lewis Hamilton believes it is “far too early” to say Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas is his only rival for this year’s Formula 1 drivers’ championship, despite the duo stealing a march on the rest of the field in the early part of the 2019 season.

Valtteri Bottas says his mindset has changed and that he feels “different” compared to previous campaigns as he looks to build on his victorious start to the Formula 1 season.

Mercedes Formula 1 chief Toto Wolff praised Valtteri Bottas for answering his critics “in the most dominant way” by dominating the Australian Grand Prix en route to his fourth career victory. ​​​​

Mercedes has revealed its new W10 Formula 1 car for the 2019 season with a fresh livery design to celebrate its 10th season since returning to the sport. The new Mercedes-AMG F1 W10 EQ Power+ car was revealed in a series of render images released by the team on Wednesday morning.

Mercedes has become the latest team to confirm its launch plans for its 2019 Formula 1 car, announcing it will unveil the new W10 car on February 13.

Daniel Ricciardo says the uncertainty within the Formula 1 driver market wore “a little thin” in 2018 as he came to finalise his plans for the new season amid links to a number of teams.

Mercedes Formula 1 chief Toto Wolff has said the team has not lost any trust in Valtteri Bottas despite his winless 2018 campaign, but confirmed Esteban Ocon is in contention for a seat in 2020.

Lewis Hamilton closed out the 2018 Formula 1 season with a convincing victory in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit, leading home title rival Sebastian Vettel.

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix may be a dead-rubber in relation to the Formula 1 title race, given both championships have already been settled in 2018, yet it did not stop Mercedes from delivering yet another crushing display in qualifying at Yas Marina Circuit on Saturday night.

Mercedes has confirmed the cause of Lewis Hamilton’s power unit issue in the closing stages of the Brazilian Grand Prix, with a full review set to take place following Friday’s practice running in Abu Dhabi.

Mercedes Formula 1 chief Toto Wolff felt relieved to have won the team’s “most difficult” championship yet after wrapping up the constructors’ title last Sunday in Brazil.

Lewis Hamilton has picked out the decision to swap positions with Mercedes Formula 1 teammate Valtteri Bottas in Russia “one of the most difficult moments” of his fifth drivers’ championship victory.

Moments after Lewis Hamilton crossed the line to clinch his fifth Formula 1 world championship in Mexico on Sunday, my phone buzzed with a message from a close friend from outside of the sport. “Oh for God’s sake. He’ll be even more arrogant now.”

Lewis Hamilton says it is “very difficult to imagine” himself driving for any team besides Mercedes in Formula 1 after clinching his fifth world championship last weekend with the German manufacturer.