Μέχρι πριν 16 χρόνια δεν είχε τρέξει κανένας μαύρος οδηγός στη Formula 1.  Πριν ακριβώς από 16 χρόνια ο Michael Schumacher κατέκτησε το 7ο (έβδομο) Παγκόσμιο Πρωτάθλημα. Μια χρονιά νωρίτερα (το 2003) κατέρριψε το στοιχειωμένο ρεκόρ του Juan Manuel Fangio, ο οποίος είχε κατακτήσει τον 5ο τίτλο το 1957. Χρειάστηκαν σχεδόν 50 χρόνια για να φτάσει ένας οδηγός να έχει περισσότερα πρωταθλήματα από τον Fangio.  Ο Schumacher αποσύρθηκε από τη Formula 1 στο τέλος του 2006 και έμεινε εκτός δράσης για 3 χρόνια, ενώ επέστρεψε για την περίοδο 2010-12 χωρίς ιδιαίτερη επιτυχία. Ο γερμανός τα είχε κατακτήσει όλα, αλλά επανήλθε για χάρη της Mercedes. Σε εκείνο το σημείο κανείς δεν θα μπορούσε να διανοηθεί ότι θα ερχόταν η στιγμή που τα ρεκόρ του θα καταρίπτονταν, αν και ο ίδιος είχε δηλώσει ότι κάποτε θα γίνει και αυτό. Το 2007 έκανε το ντεμπούτο του στη F1 ο πρώτος μαύρος οδηγός στην ιστορία του αθλήματος. Ο Lewis Hamilton έχοντας ένα πολύ καλό μονοθέσιο πρωταγωνίστησε από την πρώτη χρονιά εμ...

Άλλη μία νίκη για τον Hamilton που σπάει τα ρεκόρ το ένα μετά το άλλο.... Τα πρωταθλήματα κοντεύουν να κριθούν μετά από μόλις 7 αγώνες... Ακολουθεί ο ανεπίσημος πίνακας των κινητήρων, όπου γίνεται εμφανής η υπεροχή των κινητήρων της Mercedes: Engines' Table Engine Points 1 Mercedes 330 2 Honda 178 3 Renault 127 4 Ferrari 64

Τελικά σήμερα ανακοινώθηκε ότι εξαιτίας του κορωνοϊού ακυρώνεται και το γαλλικό GP: The 2020 French Grand Prix, scheduled for Sunday June 28, has been called off due to the global Coronavirus outbreak. #F1 pic.twitter.com/Ka65lAiTZM — Formula 1 (@F1) April 27, 2020   Το πλάνο τώρα της ομοσπονδίας μηχανοκίνητου αθλητισμού (FIA) είναι να ξεκινήσει το πρωτάθλημα από την Αυστρία, στις 5 Ιουλίου: A potential start date for the season Formula 1 is targeting a 15-18 race season, beginning in Austria on the weekend of July 3-5 #F1 pic.twitter.com/UjBGtvDj2s — Formula 1 (@F1) April 27, 2020   Δηλαδή αντί ο πρώτος αγώνας να γίνει στην Αυστραλία, να γίνει στην Αυστρία... Άντε να εξηγήσεις σε κάτι αγεωγράφητους (πχ σαν τον George Bush Jr, ή τον Donald Trump) ότι πρόκειται για εντελώς διαφορετικές χώρες!

Image by MikesPhotos from Pixabay In 2014 the long lasting co-operation between McLaren and Mercedes came to an end. It had started back in 1996 and despite the almost 2 decades of partnership, the results were only one Constructors' championship (1998) and 3 Drivers' championships (1998, 1999, 2008). McLaren turned to a previous supplier, Honda, in an effort to revitalize the golden era of the late '80s, but the results proved to be far from. After 3 years with Honda engines (2015-17) the deal did not continue, without a single podium, not to mention victories or championships. After McLaren, Honda partnered with Red Bull with immediate good results, although failing to win championship, they won some races. Image by Hans Braxmeier from Pixabay Since last year, McLaren is powered by Renault. The French manufacturer has had a declining performance in recent years, and couldn't keep up with Mercedes and Ferrari when they were supplying Red Bull. With Fren...

Controversy was created because of how the starting grid has shaped after the penalties that were given to Hamilton and Magnussen. FIA applies penalties in a peculiar way, resulting a paradox, although Hamilton was handed a 3 place penalty, he lost only two places in the starting grid. Those penalties should have been applied in chronological order , that is first 5 places for Magnussen for a mechanical change: and then 3 places for Hamilton for impending Raikkonen during Qualifying:

Vettel in Canada made a mistake and got off the track. As he declared, he couldn't control the car in order to make a safe re-entry to the track, so he returned on the racing line, keeping Hamilton. For that move 5 seconds were added to his total time, pushing him from first to second place. He was complaining that there was nothing he could do. But there was. He could have let Hamilton pass and then fight for victory. Instead he kept the champion behind him, hoping that he would not get a penalty...

 Shock: Mercedes didn't finish 1st and 2nd at Monaco! Just 1st and 3rd...

Ο Niki Lauda, ο άνθρωπος που πέρασε δια πυρός και σιδήρου κυριολεκτικά, έφυγε από τη ζωή στα 70. Ο αυστριακός γεννήθηκε το 1949, κατέκτησε το πρώτο πρωτάθλημα στη F1 το 1975, αλλά το έχασε το 1976 εξ αιτίας ενός δυστυχήματος στο Nurburgring που παρά λίγο να του κοστίσει τη ζωή. Παρ' όλα αυτά δεν το έβαλε κάτω. Κατάφερε να επιστρέψει στην ενεργό δράση μέσα στην ίδια χρονιά, χωρίς όμως να κατακήσει το πρωτάθλημα, κάτι που κατάφερε την ακόλουθη χρονιά, το 1977 πάλι με Ferrari. Σαν να μην έφτανε αυτό, αποσύρθηκε από την ενεργό δράση το 1979 για να επιστρέψει δύο χρόνια αργότερα και να κατακήσει τον τρίτο του τίτλο με McLaren το 1984. Για πολλά χρόνια (μέχρι την εμφάνιση του Schumacher) το όνομά του ήταν ταυτισμένο με την ταχύτητα. Όταν κάποιος ήθελε να πει ότι είχε να κάνει πολλές δουλειές σε μία μέρα και να τρέχει από το ένα μέρος στο άλλος για να προλάβει θα έλεγε ότι "πρέπει να το παίξω Niki Lauda". Το περίφημο ατύχημα του άφησε παραμορφωμένο το πρόσωπο, κά...

This time Hamilton was not lucky, he won fair and square. He started from second place, but at the first corner was already in front of his teammate and pole man, Bottas, who held back Vettel. After that, the champion never looked back and comfortably won the 1000th GP of F1! It was an uneventful race, apart from the incident of the first lap, involving Kvyat, Norris and Sainz. The Russian hit the two McLarens, forcing them to drop down to the last places, while he was penalized with a drive through. On the other hand, Ferrari for once again gave team team orders to Leclerc, forcing him to let Vettel pass and ruining his race. At the Scuderia they haven't realized that they have a better chance at the constructors' championship if they let Leclerc do his job. Before they even know, Mercedes has almost double points already... Race results: Driver Team 1 Hamilton Mercedes 2 Bottas Mercedes 3 Vettel Fer...

The winner takes it all! The new season has started with Bottas claiming the first victory ahead of Hamilton and Verstappen. The Finn also set the fastest lap, which gave the extra point. Race results: Driver Team 1 Bottas Mercedes 2 Hamilton Mercedes 3 Verstappen Red Bull 4 Vettel Ferrari 5 Leclerc Ferrari 6 Magnussen Haas 7 Hulkenberg Renault 8 Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 9 Stroll Racing Point 10 Kvyat Toro Rosso Standings after the race: Drivers' Championship Driver Points 1 Bottas 26 2 Hamilton 18 3 Verstappen 15 4 Vettel 12 5 Leclerc 10 6 Magnussen 8 7 Hulkenberg 6 8 Raikkonen 4 9 Stroll 2 10 Kvyat 1 ...

One of the most important persons of Formula 1, suddenly passed away at the age of 66. Our thoughts are with the relatives and friends of Charlie Whiting. May he rest in peace.

The legendary Williams is having hard time in preseason testing. Although the team will be using engines by Mercedes, troubles prevented the drivers (Robert Kubica and George Russell) from completing sufficient amount of laps at the Circuit de Catalunya.

The new Ferrari is here and it is called SF90. Vettel will be driving for once again, while Leclerc will be at the steering wheel of the second car.

 McLaren presented the MCL34. This year the English team has a brand new line up of drivers, that is Carlos Sainz Jr and rookie Lando Norris.

 The new Mercedes has already been taken for a ride round the track!

Force  India last year went bankrupt and it was bought by a consortium led by Lawrence Stroll, last summer. Lawrence is the father of Lance Stroll who will be driving for the team, which will be called Racing Point from now on. The other car of the team will be driven by Sergio Perez.

The new car of Renault Sport was presented today. Daniel Ricciardo will be driving it, along with Nico Hulkenberg. For more information, you can visit the official site of Renault Sport

Toro Rosso revealed the STR14! It looks just like last year's car...

The founder of Formula 1 team Force India, Vijay Mallya, has troubles with justice. A special court in India today declared him fugitive economic offender. You can read the whole article here: indiatimes.com

Just a few days before the end of 2018, it's a good time to take a look back at what happened in the F1 championship. It was a season of 21 races, including the French Grand Prix, which was held at Paul Ricard. At the beginning of the season, Vettel made a perfect start, claiming victory at the first 2 races. Some bad results for the German and the fact that Ricciardo prevented him from winning at Monte Carlo (where passing is impossible), allowed Hamilton to stay close for the championship battle. The next missed opportunity for Vettel was at Austria, where his rival didn't score any points, but failed to win. In fact he finished third behind Verstappen and his teammate, with just one separating him from Hamilton. In the following race, the GP of Great Britain, Vettel got it right and finished in front of Hamilton. Hamilton, after losing in his home, took his revenge from Vettel and won at the Hockenheim, showing that apart from talent, one must also be lucky. The Ge...