Lewis Hamilton’s excellent 2018 season ended in a suitable fashion with the Brit charging to victory in Abu Dhabi, as Nico Hulkenberg escaped injury when he was trapped after his Renault caught fire.

Hamilton’s win under the lights of the Yas Marina circuit, aided by a Mercedes tactical masterstroke after they called the British driver in for an early change of tyres, was the 11th of his championship-winning year, with Ferrari’s
Sebastian Vettel second and Red Bull driver Max Verstappen completing the podium.

But the concluding race of the 21-round season will be remembered for Hulkenberg’s opening-lap crash.

The 31-year-old German somersaulted through the air one-and-a-half times before landing the wrong way up after he collided with the Haas of Romain Grosjean through the right-handed Turn 9.

Hulkenberg was left dangling upside down, and unable to slide out of his Renault following the introduction of the halo, Formula One’s three-pronged safety device that sits above the cockpit.

“I’m hanging here like a cow,” Hulkenberg said over the radio.

“Get me out. There is a fire. There is a fire.”

British pop star Sam Smith, standing with Spice Girl Geri Horner, watched on aghast, with Hulkenberg still strapped into his Renault.

The safety marshals were quickly on the scene before the flames went out, but the German was in his car for more than three minutes during the harrowing incident.

He was assisted to the medical centre, where the sport’s governing body, the FIA, reported he was shaken. Hulkenberg was later released, with doctors confident he had escaped the collision unharmed.

The early incident saw the safety car sent out for six laps with pole-sitter Hamilton leading the pack.

Hollywood superstar Will Smith had jokingly taken Hamilton hostage before the race, tieing the world champion up, and heading to the Briton’s car in personalised Mercedes overalls.

But when Hamilton took to the machinery which propelled him to his fifth world championship with two rounds to spare, he made no mistake with a dominant display befitting of his dominant year.

Lewis Hamilton completed one half of his vow to end his championship-winning campaign in style as he once again claimed pole position for the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Hamilton, who secured his fifth title with two rounds to spare in Mexico last month, will be joined on the front row by Valtteri Bottas, with Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen third and fourth for Ferrari.

Fernando Alonso is ending his 18-season career here in the desert on Sunday, and in his final Formula One qualifying session, the two-time world champion finished 15th.

Hamilton, 33, has been in the form of his life this year, dominating Vettel in a title fight that many had expected to go to the wire.

And it was fitting that he would secure his 11th pole of the season at the final round as he goes in search of his 11th win.

Under the lights of the Yas Marina circuit, Hamilton danced his way to the top of the time sheets, finishing 0.162 seconds clear of Bottas, and a third of a second faster than Vettel.

“It was quite an emotional qualifying session, because it is the last time I will qualify in this car,” said Hamilton, who kissed and massaged his car in gratitude.

“I am closest to this car than I have been to any other. It has not always been easy, but it has been a real privilege this year. To go out there and express yourself, and push the car the way you want, there is no better feeling.

“The first lap wasn’t spectacular, but that last one started off calm, and then I got more and more aggressive. The last sector was a killer, and that is where I made the difference.”

Vettel, who has been victorious at just one race since the summer break as his challenge faded, said: “I am confident for tomorrow, so it should be good fun challenging these guys, and I will give it everything I have.”

The sport will throw on a paddock party for Alonso in celebration of a career which has yielded 32 victories, and two titles.

Yet, the Spaniard’s only hope for his final outing is set to be a point, or maybe two, as he lines up an underwhelming 15th of the 20 runners.

Alonso, 37, will take some comfort from out-qualifying his McLaren team-mate 21-0 over the course of his final season. The last driver to manage that? Alonso, in 2008 with Nelson Piquet Jnr as his Renault team-mate.

It will be 100 and out for Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull career on Sunday, and he ended his final Saturday with the team on something of a high, by edging Max Verstappen out to finish fifth. The Dutchman will line up one place lower, in sixth.

Source: TalkSport.com Motorsport

Robert Kubica will return to Formula One next season to complete a remarkable comeback from a horror injury suffered eight years ago.

Kubica, the Pole, has been announced as a Williams driver for the new campaign, joining Englishman George Russell in the British team from 2019.

The 33-year-old has not taken part in a grand prix since almost losing his life in a 2011 crash in the Ronde di Andora rally.

Kubica’s car flew into the crash barrier at high speed, and though his co-drive was unscathed, Kubica himself was trapped for more than an hour inside the car as the barrier penetrated the windscreen and struck him.

After being air-lifted to hospital, Kubica was in surgery for seven hours to partially amputate his right forearm, before undergoing further operations to deal with leg, shoulder and arm fractures.

Kubica said: “Firstly, I would like to thank everyone who has helped me during what was a difficult period of my life over these last few years.

“It has been a challenging journey to make it back to the Formula One grid, but what seemed almost impossible is now beginning to feel possible, as I am excited to be able to say that I will be on the Formula One grid in 2019.

“For sure, it has been a long road to get to this point, but as that challenge now comes to an end with this announcement, a new challenge begins working with Williams on track.

Teenage racing driver Sophia Floersch suffered a spine fracture in a horrifying crash at the F3 World Cup final in Macau on Sunday.

The 17-year-old German lost control of her Van Amersfoort Racing car at high speed before launching into the air over a rival and into fences in the media section.

Floersch was taken to hospital but tweeted that she is “fine” ahead of surgery tomorrow.

Her car crashed into fellow racer Sho Tsuboi, who was also taken to hospital with a back injury.

Two photographers and a marshal were taken to hospital but none of the injuries are reported to be life-threatening.

Floersch posted on social media: “Just wanted to let everybody know that I am fine but will be going into surgery tomorrow morning.

“Thanks to the @fia and @hwaag_official @MercedesAMGF1 who are taking great care of me.

“Thanks to everybody for the supporting messages. Update soon.”

The race was immediately red flagged after the incident – the second time a red flag was waved following a pile-up earlier on.

It was restarted after a delay of more than an hour.

Floersch, who will be 18 on 1 December, is seen as a rising star in Motorsports having previously raced in F4 – making history in her debut race by becoming the first female to score points an an ADAC Formula 4 race.

She also broke records by becoming the youngest driver to win a Ginneta Junior Championship.

Formula 1 legends Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button took to Twitter to wish Floersch well.

Alonso tweeted: “All my thoughts are with Sophia Floersch after the accident at Macau. Let’s hope to receive positive news soon! Keep strong”

While Button wrote: “Sorry to hear that @SophiaFloersch has a spinal fracture but looking at the horrific accident she had today in Macau it could have been so much worse. #getwellsoonSophia”

Formula 3 driver Sophia Floersch has suffered a spine fracture in a horrifying crash at the F3 World Cup final in Macau that left multiple people seriously injured.

The terrifying footage shows the 17-year-old German’s car losing control at high speed before launching into the air over a rival and into fences in the media section.

Floersch is conscious and tweeted that she is “fine” but will be going into surgery tomorrow.

She said: “Just wanted to let everybody know that I am fine but will be going into surgery tomorrow morning.

“Thanks to the @fia and @hwaag_official @MercedesAMGF1 who are taking great care of me.

“Thanks to everybody for the supporting messages. Update soon.”

Her car crashed into fellow racer Sho Tsuboi – who is also in hospital as a result. Below you can see the frightening footage of the incident.

Formula 1 legends Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button took to Twitter to wish Floersch well.

Alonso tweeted: “All my thoughts are with Sophia Floersch after the accident at Macau. Let’s hope to receive positive news soon! Keep strong”

While Button wrote: “Sorry to hear that @SophiaFloersch has a spinal fracture but looking at the horrific accident she had today in Macau it could have been so much worse. #getwellsoonSophia”

The race was immediately red flagged after the incident – the second time a red flag was waved following a pile-up earlier on.

It was restarted after a delay of more than an hour.

A marshal and two photographers were also involved in the accident and have also been taken to hospital.

Floersch, who will be 18 on 1 December, is seen as a rising star in Motorsports having previously raced in F4 – making history in her debut race by becoming the first female to score points an an ADAC Formula 4 race.

She also broke records by becoming the youngest driver to win a Ginneta Junior Championship. Below you can see the crash from a different angle.

Max Verstappen called Esteban Ocon a “f****** idiot” after the Red Bull driver was robbed of a brilliant victory following a sensational collision at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Footage captured after the race shows the Dutchman shoving his French counterpart, with tensions clearly still running high.

Verstappen was in complete control of the race after passing both Mercedes and both Ferrari cars in a superb performance at the Interlagos circuit.

But it was Lewis Hamilton who claimed the 10th victory of his championship-winning campaign, after Verstappen was taken out of the lead when attempting to lap Force India’s Ocon.

Ocon, running way down the order, bizarrely raced wheel-to-wheel at 200mph with the leader before banging into the right-rear of Verstappen’s car through the Senna Esses.

The force of the hefty impact on lap 43 sent Verstappen into a spin, and with the Dutchman facing the wrong way, Hamilton sailed by to resume the lead.

Verstappen was now five seconds down on Hamilton, and – with a wounded car – he was unable to claw the Mercedes back in before he finished in second.

Ocon was hit with a 10-second stop-and-go penalty, the most severe punishment available to the stewards, but it will come as little consolation to a furious Verstappen.

Kimi Raikkonen finished third for Ferrari, but it was not enough to stop Hamilton’s Mercedes team from winning their fifth-consecutive constructors’ championship.

It was not long before Verstappen, the winner in Mexico a fortnight ago, was on the move from fifth on the grid.

On lap three, Verstappen launched a charge down the inside of Raikkonen at Turn 1 before producing the same move on Vettel a little over 60 seconds later.

The Red Bull star was on a flyer, and it did not take him long to get the better of Bottas, sailing past the Silver Arrows at Turn 1.

Hamilton’s lead was steady, a little more than two seconds clear of Verstappen, but the British driver was the first of the frontrunners to stop for fresh tyres, boxing for new rubber on lap 19.

Verstappen took the lead of the race but – despite failing to build up enough of a margin to leapfrog Hamilton during his change for tyres – the Dutchman did his talking on the track, comfortably dashing past Hamilton on the main straight with 31 laps to go.

Formula One has announced that as of April 2020, a Grand Prix will be held in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi.

The grand has been mooted for some time, but was officially confirmed by F1 officials on Wednesday.

The street race will be staged from 2020 onwards, and it becomes the first new addition to the calendar in the post-Bernie Ecclestone era.

Earlier this year, F1’s American owners’ Liberty Media were forced to put plans for a race in Miami on hold after opposition from local groups.

While there are just two of this year’s record-equalling 21 races remaining, Wednesday’s announcement, coupled with a potential Miami race in 2020, could now see that tally increase to 23, despite resistance from some teams.

The inaugural Vietnam Grand Prix will take place over a 3.46-mile track on a combination of existing and newly-built roads.

“We are delighted to announce that Hanoi will host a Formula One Grand Prix,” Chase Carey, the sport’s chairman, said.

“Since we became involved in this sport in 2017, we have talked about developing new destination cities to broaden the appeal of Formula One and the Vietnamese Grand Prix is a realisation of that ambition.

Cross Counter makes history by becoming the first British-trained racehorse to win the Melbourne Cup.
Source: BBC Sport

The United States Olympic Committee begins proceedings to strip USA Gymnastics of its status as a national governing body, saying “athletes deserve better”.
Source: BBC Sport