F1Minute - Bitesize Formula One News

Hamilton was fastest in the first session, as both Mercedes drivers were well ahead of the field. Daniel Ricciardo managed to break into their dominance a little in the afternoon, however, splitting the pair, with Rosberg finishing on top.

It was rumoured a few days before the announcement but finally it became official as Nico Hülkenberg tweeted a picture of himself outside the Renault motorhome indicating his new friends for next season. The German has been with Force India for six years, with a brief sabbatical at Sauber in 2013. After four consecutive seasons with barely a podium to show for it, Nico has opted to move to the French squad for a multi-year deal.

The battle between Rosberg and Hamilton may be twisting and turning its way towards a conclusion, but as a team, Mercedes have already solved the problem of 2016. They have led the championship from the very beginning, winning 16 of the 17 races so far, and in Japan, they wrapped up the 2016 Constructors’ Championship, securing their third title in a row.

The result of the Japanese Grand Prix followed the tradition of many races this season – it all came down to the start. Nico Rosberg got off to a storming start from pole position, held back the Red Bulls who attempted a different strategy to try and sneak ahead, and took race victory with Verstappen almost five seconds behind him.

The McLaren team have been pinning their hopes on an improved Honda engine introduced last weekend in Malaysia, but have found Honda’s home track of Suzuka to be a circuit not matched to their car’s skills. In qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix, Jenson Button missed out on Q2, settling in 17th place.

Nico Rosberg finished Friday practice ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton, but the gap was reduced from two tenths of a second in the morning session to just seven hundredths in the afternoon. Behind them Ferrari and Red Bull jostled for position, with Ricciardo missing out in FP2 due to a virtual safety car halting his flying lap.

Mercedes have jumped to the defense of their driver after the defending champion hit out at his squad following an engine failure during the Malaysian Grand Prix. The fire that erupted out the back of Hamilton’s engine cost him the lead of the race and a comfortable victory, and also allowed Rosberg to extend his championship lead to 23 points with five races to go.

Pérez’s future has been sealed for at least one more season with the Force India squad, as the Mexican concludes a deal for the 2017 calendar year. It will be his fourth season with the team, and Pérez says: “I’m very happy with this team and I have a good feeling for the future. I’ve seen the progress we’ve made over the last couple of years and I’m sure we have the potential to achieve even more.”

The race in Sepang had drama at either end, with a first lap incident knocking Sebastian Vettel out of the grand prix and dropping Nico Rosberg to the back of the field. Vettel made a reckless move on Verstappen which didn’t work out, ending his running and punting Rosberg towards the rear. The Mercedes driver started making his recovery, overtaking Kimi Räikkönen with a bash of wheels that the stewards deemed worthy of a ten second penalty.

Fernando Alonso made a brief appearance during qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix, heading out for a single flying lap during the first session and settling for the slowest time. The McLaren driver has a 45 place grid penalty due to engine component changes, so there was little point in aiming for pole position. Jenson Button, meanwhile, in the other McLaren, got into the top ten, and ended up ninth overall.