The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Kimi Raikkonen

  • Lewis Hamilton drives world’s oldest Mercedes

    LEWIS HAMILTON has been enjoying some well-earned downtime as his wait for a fifth Formula One world title goes on.

    The British driver was frustrated in his latest pursuit of the crown on Sunday when Kimi Raikkonen rolled back the years to win the US Grand Prix.

    That victory ensured Raikkonen’s Ferrari team-mate — and Hamilton’s closest rival — Sebastien Vettel remains in with a shot of usurping the Briton.

    Hamilton now has to wait until this weekend’s Mexican GP to try and wrap up the title and in the meantime, he has swapped his F1 car for a rather less rapid vehicle.

    During a trip to the Mercedes-Benz USA headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, the British superstar was filmed driving the three-wheel 1885 Benz Patent Motorwagen.

    The vehicle, designed by Karl Benz, is the oldest Mercedes vehicle in history, dating back to the late 19th Century.

    ‘This is the first ever @mercedesbenz car, launched in 1886,’ Hamilton wrote on Instagram. ‘Awesome giving (Mercedes team chief) Toto (Wolff) a ride’

    The version that became available for people to drive was 954cc and had a remarkable 0.75 horsepower and a top speed of eight miles per hour.

    By comparison, the current F1 car that Hamilton drives can reach speeds of around 206m/h and boasts nearly 1,000 horsepower.

    After testing the old vehicle, Hamilton headed to catch a bit of NFL action as the Atlanta Falcons took on the New York Giants.

    The driver met players pitch side, was given a tour of the Atlanta United (football) dressing room before taking his seat inside the 71,000-seater Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the Falcons’ 23-20 victory.

    LEWIS HAMILTON has been enjoying some well-earned downtime as his wait for a fifth Formula One world title goes on.

    The British driver was frustrated in his latest pursuit of the crown on Sunday when Kimi Raikkonen rolled back the years to win the US Grand Prix.

    That victory ensured Raikkonen’s Ferrari team-mate — and Hamilton’s closest rival — Sebastien Vettel remains in with a shot of usurping the Briton.

    Hamilton now has to wait until this weekend’s Mexican GP to try and wrap up the title and in the meantime, he has swapped his F1 car for a rather less rapid vehicle.

    During a trip to the Mercedes-Benz USA headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, the British superstar was filmed driving the three-wheel 1885 Benz Patent Motorwagen.

    The vehicle, designed by Karl Benz, is the oldest Mercedes vehicle in history, dating back to the late 19th Century.

    ‘This is the first ever @mercedesbenz car, launched in 1886,’ Hamilton wrote on Instagram. ‘Awesome giving (Mercedes team chief) Toto (Wolff) a ride’

    The version that became available for people to drive was 954cc and had a remarkable 0.75 horsepower and a top speed of eight miles per hour.

    By comparison, the current F1 car that Hamilton drives can reach speeds of around 206m/h and boasts nearly 1,000 horsepower.

    After testing the old vehicle, Hamilton headed to catch a bit of NFL action as the Atlanta Falcons took on the New York Giants.

    The driver met players pitch side, was given a tour of the Atlanta United (football) dressing room before taking his seat inside the 71,000-seater Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the Falcons’ 23-20 victory.

    LEWIS HAMILTON has been enjoying some well-earned downtime as his wait for a fifth Formula One world title goes on.

    The British driver was frustrated in his latest pursuit of the crown on Sunday when Kimi Raikkonen rolled back the years to win the US Grand Prix.

    That victory ensured Raikkonen’s Ferrari team-mate — and Hamilton’s closest rival — Sebastien Vettel remains in with a shot of usurping the Briton.

    Hamilton now has to wait until this weekend’s Mexican GP to try and wrap up the title and in the meantime, he has swapped his F1 car for a rather less rapid vehicle.

    During a trip to the Mercedes-Benz USA headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, the British superstar was filmed driving the three-wheel 1885 Benz Patent Motorwagen.

    The vehicle, designed by Karl Benz, is the oldest Mercedes vehicle in history, dating back to the late 19th Century.

    ‘This is the first ever @mercedesbenz car, launched in 1886,’ Hamilton wrote on Instagram. ‘Awesome giving (Mercedes team chief) Toto (Wolff) a ride’

    The version that became available for people to drive was 954cc and had a remarkable 0.75 horsepower and a top speed of eight miles per hour.

    By comparison, the current F1 car that Hamilton drives can reach speeds of around 206m/h and boasts nearly 1,000 horsepower.

    After testing the old vehicle, Hamilton headed to catch a bit of NFL action as the Atlanta Falcons took on the New York Giants.

    The driver met players pitch side, was given a tour of the Atlanta United (football) dressing room before taking his seat inside the 71,000-seater Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the Falcons’ 23-20 victory.

  • F1: Kimi Raikkonen hits back at Ferrari exit rumours

    KIMI RAIKKONEN has hit back at rumours that he may leave Ferrari at the end of the season.

    The 38-year-old is in the final 12 months of his contract and speculation is rife that he is considering retiring.

    The 2007 world champion has had an illustrious career but is no longer considered to be on the same level as the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.

    Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo has been linked with a move to the Formula One heavyweights, should he not be given a car to compete for a world championship next term.

    “It’s been the same story every year since I can remember, maybe 15 years, every year I’m out,” Raikkonen said.

    “I’ll do my stuff on my side. I enjoy the racing, that’s the only reason I’m here. The rest, we’ll see how it plays out. In the team we know what we want to do and if all those things fit together with all our feeling we’ll see what happens.Right now all I want to do is well it’s a long season and a long way until the end of the year.”

    Raikkonen has made a decent start to the 2018 season with three podium finishes. And his team-mate Vettel would be happy to see him stick around for another year.

    “We’re a good pair, a good match. There’s no problem at all between us, ever,” Vettel told Motorsport.com last week.I think that’s a really big bonus for the team and for us to just enjoy our job. It’s been incredibly close this year so far.

    “To be honest, most of the Fridays I think he had the upper hand so far. Here and there I was struggling to understand the car and feel the car. Knowing him, knowing his strength, he’s incredibly talented and able to drive around problems.”

  • Hamilton wins U.S. GP but made to wait for title

    Hamilton wins U.S. GP but made to wait for title

    Mercedes won the Formula One constructors’ title for the fourth year in a row on Sunday, but Lewis Hamilton was made to wait in spite of  cruising to a U.S. Grand Prix victory at one of his favourite circuits.

    Hamilton, presented with the winner’s trophy by former U.S. president Bill Clinton, now looks sure to finish off the job; and become Britain’s first four times world champion in Mexico next weekend.

    The Mercedes driver’s fifth victory in six years at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas extended his lead over Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who finished second, to 66 points.

    There are a maximum of 75 points still to be won from the three races remaining.

    “I love this track, I think this track is now my favourite to be honest,” said Hamilton, interviewed by Usain Bolt on the podium and joining the Olympic sprint champion’s signature victory pose.

    “A big congratulations to the team. They work so hard back at the factory and here.”

    The victory was the 62nd of Hamilton’s career and his ninth of the season.

    Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen took third, despite finishing fourth at the flag, after Red Bull’s Max Verstappen — who had passed the Finn with a great overtaking move.

    He was, however, hit with a five second post-race penalty that dropped him to fourth.

    “It is an appalling decision. They have robbed all of the fans here,” raged Red Bull principal Christian Horner as Verstappen left the pre-podium room.

    “It was a great grand prix and they have screwed it up.”

    Hamilton had started on pole position, waved away for the formation lap by Bolt after an extended pre-race presentation, reflecting the sport’s new U.S. ownership and desire to jazz things up.

    Celebrity boxing title fight announcer Michael Buffer gave his long and resonant call of ‘Let’s get ready to rumble’, after announcing the drivers to the crowd one by one, and the battle was on.

    But it was Vettel who struck the first blow from second place on the grid, beating Hamilton into the first corner as the Briton moved across and squeezed him as tight as he could without making contact.

    Six laps later and Hamilton was back in front and this time he stayed there.

    “At the start it was looking good, we got past Lewis, but we had to realise we couldn’t go at his pace,” said Vettel.

    “We were then in no-man’s land and were not quite sure. We decided to pit again, with a fresh set of tyres, and it was a bit more exciting, but overall it was not the result we needed.”

    The German dropped down to fourth after his second stop, but passed Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas with five laps to go and team mate Raikkonen obligingly let him pass.

    Bottas finished fifth with French driver Esteban Ocon sixth for Force India and Carlos Sainz, on his Renault debut after leaving Toro Rosso, seventh.

    Mexican Sergio Perez was eighth for Force India with Brazilian Felipe Massa ninth in a Williams and Russian Daniil Kvyat taking a point for Toro Rosso.

    NAN

  • Motor racing: Hamilton is still the man to beat

    Motor racing: Hamilton is still the man to beat

    Last season was the one that got away for Lewis Hamilton and the triple Formula One world champion is not prepared to let that happen again in 2017.

    The News Ageny of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Briton has won more grands prix than anyone still driving around a racetrack, and knows all the tricks as he starts his 11th season.

    Bookmakers have him as the uncontested 10/11 favorite ahead of the March 26 season-opener in Australia.

    There could still be a few bumps in the road ahead, however.

    For those who fear the Mercedes man will have it easy following the retirement of Nico Rosberg, the German team mate who beat him to the title while winning fewer races, there is an alternative scenario.

    “Imagine Ferrari are great and the championship is being fought between Sebastian Vettel, with four world championships and Lewis, with three,” 1996 world champion Damon Hill told reporters.

    “That’s going to be an exciting battle.”

    It could happen, with Ferrari fastest in pre-season testing and raising suspicions that their new SF70H car has closed the chasm between Mercedes and the rest.

    Vettel is the second favorite in the betting odds at 4/1.

    Mercedes have won 51 of the last 59 races, and all but two of 21 last year.

    Former Red Bull ace Vettel and veteran team mate Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari’s most recent world champion in 2007, drew a blank in 2016 and have plenty of pressure on them to succeed.