F1Minute - Bitesize Formula One News

Just a few days after Ferrari confirmed they’re retaining Kimi Räikkönen for the 2018 season, the Scuderia have announced a contract extension with Sebastian Vettel as well. The German driver has secured a three year deal with the Italian team, which will see him race in red until the end of the 2020 season.

Felipe Massa was back in the car for Williams after sitting out the Hungarian Grand Prix due to illness. After a summer break of recovery, Massa was back fit and fighting, but crashed out of FP1 just 16 minutes in. The driver was uninjured but the car was damaged and required a chassis change, that meant Massa had to miss FP2 in its entirety.

It is Stoffel Vandoorne’s home race this weekend in Belgium, and there is good news and bad news for the young driver. The good news is that he’s been re-signed at McLaren for an undisclosed period of time. Chief Zak Brown said: “Let me put it this way, when we signed Stoffel, we intended that he would race for us for a significant number of years, and that remains our firm intention.”

Ferrari released one of the shortest press statements in motorsport today confirming their continued partnership with Kimi Räikkönen for the 2018 season, or as they call it, their “technical and racing agreement.” It’s unusual timing for the announcement, as they would usually want to create headlines around the Italian Grand Prix, which is only about ten days away.

With the growing popularity of eSports - championships of online gamers competing against each other for high prizes - Formula One have jumped right on the bandwagon. This isn't something you'd have seen F1 doing in years of old, but this year Formula One will run their first eSports world championship, running through the final months of the year.

Just before the summer break officially kicks in, the Hungaroring played host to two days of mid-season testing, featuring young drivers, current drivers, and, of course, Robert Kubica. All eyes were on the Pole as he continues to test out whether he might be able to make an F1 return, and his fourth fastest on the second day, Wednesday, was a good sign. He completed 142 laps, as well, so fitness not an issue either.

The top five drivers in Hungary finished in the same order they started in, but that result belies some pretty tense racing. It was your traditional Hungarian race, without much in the way of overtaking, but it got off to a dramatic start when Max Verstappen took out his teammate Daniel Ricciardo on the first lap. Ricciardo retired from the race, bringing out the safety car, whilst Verstappen was handed a 10 second penalty to be taken at his one and only pit stop.

There were two talking points heading into qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix – the first being Paul di Resta’s sudden opportunity to get behind the wheel of an F1 car. He managed to finish 19th, and within seven tenths of a second of teammate Lance Stroll. Both Saubers dropped out in Q1, both Williams and Kevin Magnussen, who set exactly the same lap time as Sergio Pérez but missed out due to the Force India crossing the line before him.

Williams have had to call upon the skills of their reserve driver Paul Di Resta, stepping in for Felipe Massa who has fallen ill during practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix. The statement from Williams said: “Felipe visited the medical centre and hospital for precautionary tests on Friday, after feeling unwell and dizzy during FP2."

Daniel Ricciardo led both Friday practice sessions for Red Bull in Hungary, but Mercedes and Ferrari were never too far behind, giving hopes that this weekend’s race might see three teams battling for the win. It was a scrappy day for some, however, with several crashes. Celis Jr and Giovinazzi were taking their Friday driver opportunities, but Giovinazzi managed to crash into the barriers. Romain Grosjean also crashed, making it a doubly bad start for Haas.