F1Minute - Bitesize Formula One News

It's been in the works for a while but McLaren and Honda have finally confirmed they will not be continuing with their partnership after the end of this year. It was promised to be a big technical partnership between the two but has been nothing but disappointment for everyone involved. So, clean break, McLaren are now going to be using Renault engines from 2018 onwards.

Nico Rosberg retired at the end of the 2016 season but he's never quite made the step back from the sport we might have anticipated. Now he's found a new way to stay involved, by joining the management team for Robert Kubica, looking to get the Polish driver back on the F1 grid.

It's the Singapore Grand Prix this weekend, and what better way to celebrate than to announce a contract extension for the race? Singapore joined Formula One in 2008, and celebrate their tenth race this year, but they are set to stay on the calendar until 2021 after a new deal was agreed between organisers and Formula One Group.

Valtteri Bottas joined Mercedes on a one-year contract, after the surprise retirement of Nico Rosberg, and by all accounts he's done a superb job for the team. They've recognised this and signed him up for another season with the squad, meaning it will be Bottas and Hamilton as teammates for one more year.

It may seem as though Formula One is rapidly disappearing behind paywall after paywall around the globe, but in France, there have been small steps in the opposite direction. The Formula One Group have agreed a deal with French television channel TF1 to show four full races exclusively free-to-air, with the rest of the 2018 season continuing as highlights.

There were so many grid penalties handed out ahead of the Italian Grand Prix that barely anyone started where they qualified. The potential for chaos was there, with out of position drivers throughout the field, but unfortunately it didn’t quite come to pass. Lewis Hamilton led from pole position and was comfortable throughout the race to take the victory, with Bottas second and Vettel third. That promotes Lewis into the lead of the title battle for the first time this year.

The rain really hit hard in Italy on Saturday, with only 16 minutes of running for final practice in the morning, and a heavily delayed qualifying after an initial run ended with Grosjean in the wall. After just a handful of tentative laps, the Haas crashed which brought out the red flags, followed by a two and a half hour delay.

First practice in Italy was relatively quiet. The Mercedes pair were comfortably fastest, with a full second over Ferrari who were next in line. The track was quite slippery and drivers were pushing to find the limits, and that only got worse as the expected rain came down with just 15 minutes of the session left to go.

Hamilton was worried about the condition of his tyres and had to lead through a safety car restart, but he dealt with the pressure from Sebastian Vettel and converted his pole position into another race victory. Vettel got alongside the Mercedes a couple of times but didn’t have the power in his Ferrari engine to muscle through, settling for second place. Daniel Ricciardo finished on the podium, after Bottas dropped back in the final stages and Räikkönen was penalised for failing to slow down during yellow flags.

Lewis Hamilton never really looked troubled as he soared to pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix, equalling the record held by Michael Schumacher for pole positions - 68. The qualifying session remained dry, but the conditions didn’t help Felipe Massa who has been having a difficult weekend. Both Williams drivers dropped out in Q1, and Massa also has a grid penalty for ignoring yellow flags in FP3.