The Sauber team were forced to make a late replacement for the still-recuperating Pascal Wehrlein after the German driver confirmed he was withdrawing from the first race of the year after two practice sessions. Wehrlein suffered a back injury in a Race of Champions crash in December, and now says: “My fitness level is not as it should be for a full race distance because of my training deficit."

Wehrlein withdraws from Australian Grand Prix for Sauber

F1Minute is a short, sharp sixty second show providing access to all the latest happenings in F1. Giving you the facts, the figures and quotes for every story, F1Minute tells you all you need to know, without taking too much out of your day.

Games & Hobbies

Video Games

Other Games

Hobbies

Automotive

Aviation

Sports & Recreation

Professional

Amateur

Outdoor

College & High School

The 2017 season has barely been over a week and Sauber are already motoring ahead with their plans for next year, hosting a livery launch in Milan that announced their driver lineup for 2018 as well as showed off a significantly revised colour scheme.

Sauber launch 2018 livery alongside driver announcement

Valtteri Bottas converted his pole position into a race victory relatively comfortably, in a final race of the season that was resoundedly disliked as being dull by almost everyone. Lewis Hamilton, who finished second so obviously has some grounds for dissatisfaction, said of Yas Marina: "It's a great, great track but unfortunately it doesn't suit the cars very well."

Mercedes finish season with 1-2 as Bottas takes victory

Valtteri Bottas was the fastest driver in Q3 on Saturday in Abu Dhabi, with the Finnish driver securing pole position for the final race of the season. Lewis Hamilton was just a tenth of a second behind him, leaving the Red Bull and Ferrari drivers to split the second and third row of the grids between them.

Bottas scoops pole position for final round of 2017

Ahead of the final race of 2017 in Abu Dhabi, Pirelli launched their lineup of tyres for the 2018 season, including two new compounds and extending the range from five to seven levels of hard and softness. The tyres are all one step softer than what we've seen this year, but there's a new superhard tyre that is orange. The hard tyre turns blue, or ice blue, as they call it.

Pirelli reveal rainbow of tyres for 2018

After testing out a rotating selection of drivers for the past few race weekends, Toro Rosso have hit upon a pairing they like - the current form of Brendon Hartley and Pierre Gasly. The duo have been signed for 2018, with both set for their first full season in the sport.

Wehrlein withdraws from Australian Grand Prix for Sauber

Download our free app to listen on your phone