Info Sport 24: F1

In-limbo McLaren pair Jenson Button & Kevin Magnussen show support for each other

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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px;"><img alt="" height="350px" src="http://e1.365dm.com/14/12/660x350/jenson-button-kevin-magnussen-mclaren_3237139.jpg?20141205120642" style="border: 0px;" width="660px" /></span><span style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen may be in direct competition for a 2015 race seat at McLaren but the pair have displayed a show of solidarity amid the continued uncertainty over their F1 futures.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">   M</span></b><span style="color: #444444; font-size: large;">cLaren’s already delayed decision on their driver line-up for next season was put back further on Thursday after a board meeting of their shareholders </span><a href="http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/12479/9588682/button-magnussen-still-waiting-as-mclaren-board-meeting-fails-to-resolve-2015-line-up" style="color: #214cb8; font-size: x-large; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">ended without agreement on what pairing the team should field</a><span style="color: #444444; font-size: large;">. A resolution to the matter is now not expected to be delivered until next week at the earliest.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Fernando Alonso is thought to have already signed to take one of the seats, but discussions over whether the experience of Button or the youth of Magnussen represents the better bet in the other seat have continued without resolution for weeks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">On the same day as the McLaren board meeting, Button and Magnussen appeared alongside each other at a sponsor event in Edinburgh, and despite the unavoidable fact that one of them is set to land a 2015 race seat at the expense of the other, the pair made clear their respect for each other.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“Really good to spend some time with JB too. He is an awesome guy and no matter what happens next year, I'm cheering for him. #lad,” Magnussen tweeted.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Button, meanwhile, had some similarly warm words of praise for Magnussen, with the 34-year-old expressing regret that whatever happens they wouldn’t remain as team-mates in McLaren’s race line-up.</span></div>
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<img class="video-box__image" src="http://cf.c.ooyala.com/03ZWszcjrIZhrR_lgdAObctsdURh4lOW/PE3O6Z9ojHeNSk7H4xMDoxOjBzMTt2bJ" style="border: 0px; height: 122.625px; pointer-events: none; position: absolute; width: 218px; z-index: 2;" /><span style="background-color: #222222; color: white; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.4em;">Jenson Button still doesn't know when he'll find out if he's part of McLaren's plans for next season.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">"I've spent some time with Kevin over the past couple of days, and it's been really nice doing that,” Button said. "This situation has been difficult for both of us, but we've shown over the last couple of days that we work so well together.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">"It's such a shame we won't be working together in the future in terms of being team-mates. But we're both very grown up about the situation and we'll both deal with it whichever way it goes."</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The inconclusive nature of McLaren’s board meeting was met with widespread dismay by the media along with Button’s legion of fans, who have already been campaigning on social media for the popular British driver’s retention for weeks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">On Thursday night Button posted a tweet which simply contained the image of an expressionless face, the veteran having earlier told <em>Sky Sports News HQ</em> before the conclusion of McLaren’s board meeting that “I think for all of our sakes it is better sooner rather than later” to have a decision on 2015.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><em>Sky Sports News HQ</em> understands that while McLaren’s shareholders remain undecided on who to place alongside Alonso for next season, they are determined not to let the uncertainty drag on for much longer, with a conclusion to the long-running saga potentially now occurring next week.</span></div>
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<img class="video-box__image" src="http://cf.c.ooyala.com/82M20zcjrByY-hkMOmaeRxASxFOpV_Sf/3Gduepif0T1UGY8H4xMDoxOjBzMTt2bJ" style="border: 0px; height: 122.625px; pointer-events: none; position: absolute; width: 218px; z-index: 2;" /><span style="background-color: #222222; color: white; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.4em;">Two-time McLaren F1 Champion Mika Hakkinen sympathises with the McLaren duo Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen as they wait to hear their fate with the F1 t</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“I understand that at this board meeting, the significant board members genuinely could not decide on what their best line-up is. It was the big beasts in there today – Ron Dennis, Mansour Ojjeh and Sheikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa – and between the three of them they could not come to a definitive conclusion,” Craig Slater reported.</span></div>
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<img class="video-box__image" src="http://cf.c.ooyala.com/NmZms0cjraboG7F8CoqeO49y8YBZuIyx/QCdjB5HwFOTaWQ8X4xMDoxOjBzMTt2bJ" style="border: 0px; height: 122.625px; pointer-events: none; position: absolute; width: 218px; z-index: 2;" /><span style="background-color: #222222; color: white; line-height: 1.4em;"><span style="font-size: large;">David Croft questioned Eric Boullier on his team's delayed driver line-up announcement, and here is the McLaren Racing Director's response.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“It’s open-ended as to how long this will take but my understanding is this will not be allowed to drag on to the next board meeting in the New Year. So we’re looking at a period of days rather than weeks and what will happen is those three principals will confer informally over the phone in the meantime and come to some sort of realisation, I would guess in the next week or so.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The deliberations over McLaren’s 2015 line-up comes amid speculation that changes to the ownership structure at the team are also prospectively afoot, with Ron Dennis aiming to re-increase his stake. The McLaren CEO currently owns 25 per cent of the company, the same percentage as long-time business partner Mansour Ojjeh. Bahrain’s Mumtalakat Investment Company is the majority shareholder with 50 per cent.</span></div>
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In-limbo McLaren pair Jenson Button & Kevin Magnussen show support for each other

Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen may be in direct competition for a 2015 race seat at McLaren but the pair have displayed a show of solid...

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Abu Dhabi Test, Day Two: More trouble for McLaren-Honda on final day of F1 2014

Unknown 0 F1, NEWS 15:26

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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Just five laps across two-day test for Honda's new power unit; Champions Mercedes end 2014 on top with debutant Pascal Wehrlein; GP3 title winner Alex Lynn debuts for Lotus <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">McLaren’s problematic start to their new Honda era continued on the second and final day of the Abu Dhabi test as their interim car completed just two laps:</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Electrical and fuel/data exchange issues had limited the MP4-29H to just three laps on its official test debut on Tuesday and, despite the hope that they would be able to build up the length of their runs on Wednesday, the mileage count scarcely improved with only two laps registered.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Test driver Stoffel Vandoorne again missed all of the morning session as McLaren’s engineers worked to resolve fresh electrical problems and when the Belgian did eventually take to the track with just over an hour of the day’s running to go the car stopped out on track on just its second lap.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 1.4em;"><br />"Although this looked like another difficult day, this is just part of the learning experience we expected when we took on the interim car programme. And, to be honest, I’d rather be ironing out these problems here in Abu Dhabi, than discovering them in Jerez, next February," said team boss Eric Boullier.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">To put McLaren-Honda's limited early mileage count into some more encouraging context, Red Bull racked up just 11 laps with long-standing suppliers Renault's then all-new turbo across the opening two days of 2014 testing at Jerez back in January and they went on to finish second in the Constructors' Championship. McLaren's bonafide 2015 Honda-powered car will debut at the start of pre-season testing in February.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">“It’s definitely been a positive for both McLaren and Honda to conduct this test – there have been some troublesome issues, but we’ve made progress. We’ve also made an excellent start to the relationship – communication and interaction have been great, and you can really feel the positivity and sense of purpose in the garage. Any mileage we accrued this week would simply have been a bonus."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">With the other nine teams in action naturally able to complete far more laps with their respective cars given they have run them all season, there were some high lap counts elsewhere – although F1’s on-track action for 2014 ended with an unfamiliar name in a very familiar car at the top of the timesheet.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">World Champions Mercedes, who confirmed they tested some new parts for 2015', handed German youngster Pascal Wehrlein the dual honour of his personal F1 test debut and the final ever official run for anyone in the W05, the all-conquering car which has utterly dominated the 2014 season.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The 20-year-old, who this year became the youngest race winner in DTM history and was made Mercedes’ F1 reserve driver in September, competed 96 laps in a best time of 1:42.624 right at the end of the day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">"I really enjoyed today; it was a great day," Wehrlein said afterwards. "The change between a DTM car and a Formula One car is a big difference, so this was the biggest challenge today, particularly with the brakes. It's a fantastic racing car; it's good to see myself quickest but at the end of the day it doesn't matter as everyone has a different test programme."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There were significant debuts elsewhere too with Britain’s newly-crowned GP3 Champion Alex Lynn given a run-out by Lotus in the afternoon session and Italian youngster Raffaele Marciello spending the whole day in Ferrari’s F14 T.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It was Marciello who wound up second to Wehrlein on the timesheet - albeit over half a second back - with the youngest driver of all, 17-year-old Max Verstappen, a solid third for Toro Rosso after the Dutchman lost track time on Day One after a crash when his suspension broke.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">"Today was a dream come true. For an Italian, to jump into a Ferrari, at an official test no less, is a really strong emotion and I am grateful to the team for giving me this opportunity," said  Marciello. "It was impossible not to think about Jules: he and I joined the Ferrari Driver Academy at the same time and if I am here today, it’s in part because he is not. Jules taught me to always push myself to the limit and here today, I tried to do that for him."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">At the end of his second day of testing for new team Sauber, Marcus Ericsson recorded the most laps of all - 112 - to go fourth-fastest with Will Stevens capping a whirlwind week in his career with the fifth-best effort for Caterham. It remains to be seen, however, whether the Leafield-based outfit will return when F1 testing resumes at Jerez in little over two months' time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Australian Spike Goddard was the fourth testing novice in action with his rather better-known countryman Daniel Ricciardo, at 25 years old, actually the most experienced driver in the field. The Red Bull driver registered almost 90 laps on the RB10's final outing, although his day was cut slightly short by an afternoon mechanical failure.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">“Obviously we got cut short by a couple of hours and it would have been nice to finish the session, but we did a lot of laps and all of those were productive," said Ricciardo. "There was a little bit of work with this year’s tyres and a bit with next year’s, trying to understand how those behave.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">"We also did quite a few things on starts, trying to understand what’s happening there, which was positive. I felt pretty good in the car. It’s a good way to end the season, we achieved a lot. Now that’s it, a bit of time off and look forward to next season.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Lynn's F1 debut saw him complete 52 laps in the Lotus E22 and outpace Esteban Ocon, who ran in the car in the morning, by nine tenths of a second.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Abu Dhabi Test Day Two Timesheet:</strong><br />1) Pascal Wehrlein, Mercedes, 1:42.624, 96 laps.<br />2) Raffaele Marciello, Ferrari, 1:43.208, 91 laps.<br />3) Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 1:43.768, 78 laps.<br />4) Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:44.551, 112 laps.<br />5) Will Stevens, Caterham, 1:44.888, 76 laps.<br />6) Spike Goddard, Force India, 1:44.944, 89 laps.<br />7) Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:45.151, 88 laps.<br />8) Felipe Nasr, Williams, 1:45.937, 83 laps.<br />9) Alex Lynn, Lotus, 1:46.168, 52 laps.<br />10) Esteban Ocon, Lotus, 1:47.013, 34 laps.<br />11) Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren, No Time, 2 laps.</span></div>
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Abu Dhabi Test, Day Two: More trouble for McLaren-Honda on final day of F1 2014

Just five laps across two-day test for Honda's new power unit; Champions Mercedes end 2014 on top with debutant Pascal Wehrlein; GP3 t...

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2014 Abu Dhabi GP: Lewis Hamilton on top of the world as win clinches 2014 title

Unknown 0 F1, NEWS 08:50

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<span style="color: #0b5394;">Hamilton the 2014 World Champion after 11th win of the season; Luckless Rosberg finished point-less 14th after ERS failure; Massa and Bottas claim double Williams podium:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx6eUFvEjMeZFcNgX33Lu6xNGoKpNOv1NIdJO-XJU5MJWdf_BtJN8Pl0j_xdWa1oVilXDqBF79ylkzfrOM4B_2tT4s0a-64FNAIvCD1bmPA8ID8SJQ2ephXf23p4CPi0ABNJEqyhXtWCZA/s1600/hamilton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx6eUFvEjMeZFcNgX33Lu6xNGoKpNOv1NIdJO-XJU5MJWdf_BtJN8Pl0j_xdWa1oVilXDqBF79ylkzfrOM4B_2tT4s0a-64FNAIvCD1bmPA8ID8SJQ2ephXf23p4CPi0ABNJEqyhXtWCZA/s1600/hamilton.jpg" /></a></div>
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In a race in which he only needed to finish second, Hamilton pre-race promise to “drive it like I stole it” translated in sensational fashion in the opening seconds of the race as an electric getaway saw him vault past his polesitting title rival Rosberg into the lead well before Turn One.</div>
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<img class="video-box__image" src="http://cf.c.ooyala.com/trZzB2cTq4cXRT53TJm5eXswKPn6K1qg/Ut_HKthATH4eww8X4xMDoxOjBzMTt2bJ" style="border: 0px; height: 122.625px; pointer-events: none; position: absolute; width: 218px; z-index: 2;" /><span style="background-color: #222222; color: white; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.4em;">An emotional Lewis Hamilton gives his reaction to becoming a two-time world champion.</span></div>
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Hamilton immediately set about controlling proceedings and his lead over Rosberg was in excess of two seconds before his team-mate’s Mercedes developed a critical ERS systems failure on lap 25 which effectively settled their tense, compelling season-long battle for supremacy in the Briton’s favour.</div>
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With Rosberg losing engine power and falling seconds off his hitherto pace, the final 30 laps of his season developed into a heartbreaking slide down the order for the season’s long-time championship leader. While urging his race engineer over the radio to try and get him to the flag in the fifth place he needed to win the title should Hamilton run into terminal trouble, Rosberg’s woes only got worse amid increasinly terminal brake wear and he eventually slipped all the way to 14th place and out of the points.</div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.4em;"><br />With his sole title rival out of contention, Hamilton could pace himself to the flag over the final 30 laps, although he came under a late challenge for the race victory from Williams’ Felipe Massa as the Brazilian bolted on the quicker supersoft tyres for an aggressive final stint.</span>In one final cruel twist, Rosberg and his ailing W05 were then lapped by Hamilton two laps from home. However, after taking the title scrap all the way down to the wire, Rosberg chose to fight on to the chequered flag despite Mercedes suggesting he could retire his broken car if he wanted.</div>
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However, triumphing over the man who nearly denied him his first title six years ago in rather more dramatic circumstances at Interlagos by 2.5 seconds, Hamilton’s 11th win of his season capped up a career-best campaign.</div>
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"This is the greatest day of my life. 2008 was special but the feeling I have now is way past that. It's the greatest feeling I have ever had," a jubliant Hamilton said to Sky F1's Martin Brundle on the podium. "The start was like a rocket and probably the best I've ever had. Going into the race I had different approaches in my mind but the car was fantastic."</div>
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Lewis Hamilton leads Nico Rosberg at the first corner</div>
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While the record books will show that Hamilton ultimately triumphed over Rosberg by a comfortable-looking 67 point margin – the Briton bagging a bumper 50 in the ‘Abu Double’ finale – those who witnessed the scrap for the crown this year will remember one of F1’s most gripping for many a year.</div>
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And while his own race may have ended in deep frustration and disappointment, Rosberg put that aside to pay a visit to the podium holding room to give a congratulatory hug to Hamilton, ensuring a rivalry that has boiled over on several occasions this year ended on a fittingly high note.</div>
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"Nico put on an incredible fight all year. I'm very sad to know that the car wasn't quick enough so that he could fight but, still, he was a great sport and came up to see me," Hamilton added. "He said 'you drove really well' and the same for him, he drove very well all year, especially in qualifying."</div>
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With Hamilton naturally taking all the acclaim on the podium as he became Britain's first double champion since Sir Jackie Stewart, Williams' season of astonishing revival also ended on a high note as Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas secured the Grove outfit's first double podium in nine years.</div>
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At one stage into the closing laps it looked as though Massa, who had profited from a poor start from Bottas to run third behind the Mercedes', might even upstage champion-in-waiting Hamilton for the race win as the Brazilian ran a long middle stint before switching to the red-marked supersofts.</div>
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Still, second place represented Massa's best result of his first season at Williams. Bottas, meanwhile, raced back from his poor first lap to finish third - a result which meant it was the Finn who finished fourth in the drivers' standings ahead of multiple World Champions Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso.</div>
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Meanwhile, in arguably the star performance of the race, Daniel Ricciardo rounded off his stellar first season at F1's top table by racing from the pitlane to fourth for Red Bull. The Australian, who will officially assume team leader responsibilities next year following Vettel's exit to Ferrari, once more showed impressive tyre management to run an impressive two-stop race.</div>
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In what could be the final race of his glittering race, Jenson Button finished a fine fifth after earlier winning a wheel-to-wheel duel with the man who could directly replace him at McLaren, Alonso. The growing feeling that the 34-year-old was competing in his final GP after 15 years this weekend was heightened by the fact he completed some crowd-pleasing 'doughnut' spins at the end of the race.</div>
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Force India enjoyed a competitive finale to a season which had been threatening to tail off as Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez came through to the pack to finish sixth and seventh respectively, the pair beating Vettel, who couldn't make as much progress from the pitlane as Ricciardo.</div>
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Alonso's final race with Ferrari proved a forgettable one in ninth place, although the Spaniard could at least to point to yet another intra-team victory over Kimi Raikkonen, who claimed the final 'double' point.</div>
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2014 Abu Dhabi GP: Lewis Hamilton on top of the world as win clinches 2014 title

Hamilton the 2014 World Champion after 11th win of the season; Luckless Rosberg finished point-less 14th after ERS failure; Massa and Bott...

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Wonderful mounting !

Unknown 0 F1, NEWS 17:15

Wonderful mounting !

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Lewis Hamilton enjoys perfect start in Friday practice for Abu Dhabi GP

Unknown 0 F1, NEWS 16:48

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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>   A</b></span><span style="font-size: large;">fter the mind games of Thursday's press conference - when Rosberg,  to the obvious incredulity of Jenson Button, dared to warn Hamilton to drive cleanly - it was playtime on the track for Hamilton on Friday as he claimed top spot in both sessions with apparent ease.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Not only was Hamilton quickest over a single flying lap, but the Englishman – who only needs to finish second to secure his second World Championship – was also noticeably faster than Rosberg on their race simulations.</span></div>
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<img class="video-box__image" src="http://cf.c.ooyala.com/R4ODl0cToP-BOnMon0ztLqIuxA_4D7pX/3Gduepif0T1UGY8H4xMDoxOjBzMTt2bJ" style="border: 0px; height: 122.625px; pointer-events: none; position: absolute; width: 218px; z-index: 2;" /><span style="background-color: #222222; color: white; line-height: 1.4em;"><span style="font-size: large;">Don't miss the full interview with Martin Brundle in our race build up from midday on Sunday</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It was the perfect start to the weekend for Hamilton after being beaten in every session in Brazil when race victor Rosberg narrowed his team-mate’s lead to just 17 points.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“It’s been a good Friday – it’s as it looks on the board,” Hamilton told<em>Sky Sports F1</em>. “I got the long run and the whole session, which was great, and made good steps with the set-up. But as always there’s still more time to find.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“It’s exactly the same programme as every other race weekend, we’re just chipping away it and trying to improve. It’s the best car I have ever driven here and it’s pretty spectacular.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“I’ve just got to drive the way I usually drive. I just need to keep making the right steps.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">However, despite failing to outpace the man he needs to beat to have any chance of the title this weekend, Rosberg was anything but downbeat at the close of play on Friday. The German took heart from the small P2 gap to Hamilton given he feels he has plenty of room for improvement with his car.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">"It’s going okay – not perfect," Rosberg told reporters.</span></div>
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<img class="video-box__image" src="http://cf.c.ooyala.com/t3b3d0cTpLBWzmBt5y_z9_QtC7Pwj95b/3Gduepif0T1UGY8H4xMDoxOjBzMTt2bJ" style="border: 0px; height: 122.625px; pointer-events: none; position: absolute; width: 218px; z-index: 2;" /><span style="background-color: #222222; color: white; line-height: 1.4em;"><span style="font-size: large;">Nico Rosberg was second to Lewis Hamilton in Friday's practice sessions but is still in confident mood ahead of qualif</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">"I haven’t managed to get all my laps together properly and that actually makes me very optimistic. I’m sure I’ll be able to get them together by the time I get to qualifying and fine-tune my car a little bit."</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Certainly much of Rosberg's 'fine-tuning' appears likely to centre on his set-up for Sunday's race as Hamilton's advantage in the late P2 race simulations having been particularly pronounced.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">While most drivers appeared to suffer rear-tyre degradation on the more brittle supersoft tyres, Hamilton insisted: "My supersoft tyres were lasting quite a long time actually.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“They [the team] said at the beginning of the run everyone’s were dropping off [in performance] massively very early on, and my tyres were not really a huge problem. I had some graining, but they are not that bad."</span></div>
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Lewis Hamilton enjoys perfect start in Friday practice for Abu Dhabi GP

A fter the mind games of Thursday's press conference - when Rosberg, to the obvious incredulity of Jenson Button, dared to warn Ha...

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Jules Bianchi is out of artificial coma and has been transferred to France

Unknown 0 F1, NEWS 15:43

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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Jules Bianchi is out of his artificial coma and has been transferred to his native France, but remains unconscious and in a critical condition.</b></span></h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYbFoHhc-SfncLZEePWjQCqTh08DLPut1ckSyakh2lO1qW0X2VNXyIecjY-GFLq6AZMV9GphkWVM9QvkNRzulxPwx2bjlTNcdm5vUG2jEL2T8Uofb3u88C_4LvvmN0ZgUgD9IQwd0io0kU/s1600/formula-1-grand-prix-germany-german-hockenheim-hockenheimring-jules-bianchi5474.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYbFoHhc-SfncLZEePWjQCqTh08DLPut1ckSyakh2lO1qW0X2VNXyIecjY-GFLq6AZMV9GphkWVM9QvkNRzulxPwx2bjlTNcdm5vUG2jEL2T8Uofb3u88C_4LvvmN0ZgUgD9IQwd0io0kU/s1600/formula-1-grand-prix-germany-german-hockenheim-hockenheimring-jules-bianchi5474.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>  </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b> T</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">he Marussia driver had been <a href="http://www1.skysports.com/f1/report/28593/9504602/jules-bianchi-still-critical-but-stable-after-suffering-brain-injury-in-suzuka-crash" style="color: #214cb8; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">in a coma since suffering head injuries in a horrific crash at the Japanese Grand Prix in October.</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">His family say Bianchi is now breathing unaided and that his “vital signs are stable” but that “his condition is still classified as ‘critical’.” His condition was considered “sufficiently stable”, though, to be transported aeromedically to Le Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice in France on Tuesday night.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">“Almost seven weeks after Jules’ accident at Suzuka Circuit, and following a challenging period of neurological intensive care, we are able to announce that Jules has made an important step," Bianchi’s parents Philippe and Christine said in a statement.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 1.4em;">“He is breathing unaided and his vital signs are stable, but his condition is still classified as ‘critical’. His treatment now enters a new phase concerned with the improvement of his brain function.</span>“Jules is no longer in the artificial coma in which he was placed shortly after the accident, however he is still unconscious.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEgbMnfZTUA9nY95cdLs0gK3cM3k1RTlBKwwhN14dPgZ_uqNnmTc5SQA-hjGrI2924hCrE8UPyKH2TlMFwGV1DhFZlJBJTPVQ0t2m67G_Iu5rXVsNNtaEVQBr64IO3JcQRANXUYqrlSpU1ubWqN6hBBtP2uzuO-6ZAN2EdOrBMegiwlxbrRA3ioxjV7_nmIG8F9nbL4Y2F5h4w=" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" class="video-box__image" height="225" src="http://cf.c.ooyala.com/JuZ2wxcTq3d8JFONzcdbms4pfkl4MqVg/YUAndpMCbXk_9hvX4xMDoxOjBkMTt9RT" style="border: 0px; height: 122.625px; pointer-events: none; position: absolute; width: 218px; z-index: 2;" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">“Jules’ neurological condition remains stable. Although the situation continues to be serious, and may remain so, it was decided that Jules was sufficiently stable to be repatriated to his native France. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Martin Brundle looks back at the developments in safety over the last 20 years in F1 and looks at what steps now need to be taken.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">“We are relieved, therefore, to confirm that Jules was transferred aeromedically last night from the Mie Prefectural General Medical Center in Yokkaichi, Japan, to Le Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice (CHU), where he arrived just a short time ago. Jules is now in the intensive care unit of Professors Raucoules and Ichai, where his care will also be monitored by Professor Paquis, Head of Neurosurgery Service. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">“We are thankful that the next phase of Jules’ treatment can continue close to home, where he can be surrounded and supported by his wider family and friends. We have nothing but praise for the outstanding care provided by the Mie Prefectural General Medical Center since the accident. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">“We owe the medical staff there an enormous debt of gratitude for everything they have done for Jules, and also for our family, during what is a very difficult time for us. In particular, we would like to extend our thanks to Doctors Kamei and Yamamichi, and also to Mr Ogura, all part of the team of personnel caring for Jules in Japan.”</span></div>
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Jules Bianchi is out of artificial coma and has been transferred to France

Jules Bianchi is out of his artificial coma and has been transferred to his native France, but remains unconscious and in a critical condi...

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When it all went down to the wire: The history of F1's World Championship deciders

Unknown 0 F1, NEWS 16:05

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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: x-large;"><b>The 2014 Abu Dhabi GP will represent the 28th time in Formula 1’s 65-year history that the battle for the Drivers’ Championship has gone down to the final race of the season.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>   W</b></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: large;">hile some of the most memorable races that have settled championships have taken place before the final round of the year – the most famous being Senna and Prost’s Suzuka collisions of 1989 and 1990, both of which were at the penultimate stage of the season – there’s always something just a little extra special about a win-or-bust showdown at the final race.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So here, in reverse chronological order, we recall some of the most famous down-to-the-wire deciders…</span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: x-large;">Brazil 2012: Vettel v Alonso</span></h4>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The most recent of F1’s title showdowns and undeniably one of the very best. While the Interlagos finale of two years ago lacked the isolated golden ‘moment’ that often ensures a decider goes down in the annals – think Hamilton’s final-corner pass of Glock in 2008 or Nigel Mansell’s spectacular tyre blow of ’86 – what it certainly did have was a narrative of unpredictability running right through its 71-lap distance.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">As the final F1 race in Abu Dhabi approaches, which Mercedes driver will emerge victorious and be crowned the 2014 Driver Champion?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Heading into the weekend and reigning double champion Sebastian Vettel held a 13-point lead over Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and only needed to finish fourth to secure a third straight crown. Having finished on the podium in the previous six races, winning four of them to overturn his rival’s large mid-season title advantage, Vettel seemed destined to be crowned champion again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">What followed was arguably the biggest scare of what proved to be a four-year era of domination for the Red Bull driver. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The title had appeared to be Alonso’s after Vettel, trying to recover from a poor start, spun on lap one after tagging Bruno Senna’s Williams under braking at the end of the backstraight. Not only did the hefty collision drop the German driver to the back, but it caused significant damage to the left-rear side of his Red Bull.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A DNF initially seemed inevitable but Vettel, despite being down on aerodynamic performance, fought on in the drizzly rain and eventually finished sixth to Alonso's second, giving him the title by a scant three points.</span></div>
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<strong>Pre-race standings: 1. Vettel - 273 points, 2, Alonso - </strong><strong>260 points.</strong><br /><strong>Post-race standings: 1. Vettel - 281 points, 2. Alonso - 278 points.</strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: x-large;">Abu Dhabi 2010: Alonso v Webber v Vettel v Hamilton</span></strong></h4>
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<span style="font-size: large;">F1’s hitherto only four-way championship decider. After a season full of twists of turns, the top four in the championship were separated by just 24 points entering the final weekend of the season. Frankly, although mathematically both in the hunt, the prospects of Vettel and particularly Hamilton were slim given they were respectively 15 and 24 points behind title leader Alonso in the standings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The battle for the crown was therefore expected to be a duel between Alonso and the other Red Bull of Mark Webber, who trailed the Spaniard by a seemingly more surmountable eight points. However, against all those predictions, the season and the title battle turned decisively at the first round of pitstops when Ferrari pitted Alonso to cover a struggling Webber and only succeeded in dropping their man into traffic.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Although Webber could only finish eighth, Alonso was to come a cropper as well. For 37 laps the Ferrari driver tried and failed to find a way past Vitaly Petrov’s Renault, condemning the Spaniard to seventh place in the race and second place in the Drivers’ Championship after Vettel pinched the title by four points with a comfortable race victory. Little did F1 know at the time, but a new era had dawned.</span></div>
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<strong>Pre-race standings: 1. Alonso - 246 points, 2. Webber - 238 points, 3. Vettel - 231 points, 4. Hamilton - 222 points.<br />Post-race standings: 1. Vettel - 256 points, 2. Alonso - 252 points, 3. Webber - 242 points, 4. Hamilton - 240 points.</strong></div>
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<img src="http://e2.365dm.com/14/08/660x350/best-image-brasilian-brazil-brazilian-formula-1-grand-prix-interlagos-sao-paulo_3192845.jpg?20140819125147" style="border: 0px;" /></div>
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<strong><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: x-large;">Brazil 2008: Hamilton v Massa</span></strong></h4>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“Is that Glock?!” If you’re looking for sporting melodrama, and the most memorable F1 soundbite of the last ten years, then the breathless climax to the 2008 Brazilian GP is arguably as good as you’re likely to find.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We look back at Interlagos 2008 where Lewis Hamilton became World Champion</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Hamilton’s pass on Totoya’s Timo Glock in the rain at Interlagos meant the then McLaren driver won his first championship on the last corner of the last lap of the last race of the season. It simultaneously also crushed the wild celebrations of Ferrari and the boisterous Brazilian crowd, who for 30 seconds had thought their man Felipe Massa had become World Champion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In reflection, the last-gasp drama that has since seen the 2008 decider widely described as the best showdown of all time had seemed in slightly short supply for most of the race. Massa, the outsider, was leading comfortably in the wet-dry-wet race from pole but Hamilton was still doing a little more than enough for the title, running in fourth when a fifth was all he required. However, the return of rain with five laps to go spectacularly brought proceedings to life with Hamilton pitting for intermediates and then running wide just two laps from home, dropping him behind Vettel to sixth and out of a title-winning position.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">For two tortuous laps he had seemed to have blown the title for the second straight year, before Toyota’s Timo Glock, who had gambled on staying out on slicks, lost grip right at the last. So the title was Hamilton’s in just his second season, but only just.</span></div>
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<strong>Pre-race standings: 1. Hamilton – 94 points, 2. Massa – 87 points.<br />Post-race standings: 1. Hamilton – 98 points, 3. Massa – 97 points.</strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: x-large;">Brazil 2007: Hamilton v Alonso v Raikkonen</span></strong></h4>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Lewis Hamilton stood on the brink of two landmark F1 achievements when he took to the Interlagos grid at the end of his astonishing maiden season: the first rookie World Champion and, at 22 years old, the youngest. While a Shanghai gravel trap had scuppered his attempts to close things out at the first attempt the race before, the McLaren starlet appeared in the box seat despite team-mate Fernando Alonso and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen still having their own title chances heading to Interlagos.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">That it was rank outsider Raikkonen - by a solitary point - who ultimately triumphed at the expense of the two McLaren drivers came to represent the final nail in the team's 2007 coffin. The explosive events of Spygate - which saw McLaren hit with a $100m fine and disqualification from the Constructors' Championship - had occured alongside the dramatic breakdown in relations between Alonso and the team’s senior management. For all of that Hamilton, whose startling breakthrough had caused much of Alonso's angst, should still have had his hands on the title.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">After a rash response to dropping behind his team-mate at the first lap - Hamilton ran off the road attempting to repass Alonso on the backstraight - the youngster had settled down and looked to be back on course only for a disastrous gearbox glitch to intervene. It lasted for seconds rather than minutes, but the lost ground cost Hamilton dear and his eventual seventh-place finish wasn't good enough to deny race winner Raikkonen the crown.</span></div>
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<strong>Pre-race standings: 1. Hamilton – 107 points, 2. Alonso – 103 points, 3. Raikkonen – 100 points.<br />Post-race standings: 1. Raikkonen – 110 points, 2. Hamilton – 109 points, 3. Alonso – 109 points.</strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: x-large;">Europe 1997: Schumacher v Villeneuve</span></strong></h4>
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<span style="font-size: large;">As tense title-deciding weekends go, Jerez ’97 just about had it all. Michael Schumacher, F1’s undisputed superstar and then double World Champion, and Jacques Villeneuve, the peroxide-blonde<em><strong></strong></em>Canadian firebrand, were the two protagonists having completely dominated the season. It was also Ferrari against Williams, red against blue, in the battle of two of the sport’s traditional titans. Excitement for the duel was heightened in qualifying when Villeneuve and Schumacher, to much amazement and more than a little scepticism, set identical qualifying times of 1:21.072. Such thoughts turned to ones of outright conspiracy when the second Williams of Heinz-Harald Frenzten made it three drivers on the same time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Villeneuve started on pole from Schumacher courtesy of the fact he had set his qualifying time first but was outdragged by the Ferrari into the first corner. As the first two stints progressed Schumacher established a small, but seemingly comfortable, lead and the title drivers’ title seemed to be heading Maranello after an 18-year wait in just the German’s second season at the team. However, the race, and the title duel, turned after the final pitstops as the Ferrari, seemingly struggling with his new set of tyres, was caught by the Williams with Villeneuve suddenly making a move from a long way back. Schumacher was seemingly caught unawares and, while his initial move of the steering wheel was away from the oncoming Williams, the German turned back in, making inevitable contact with his rival’s sidepod.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Schumacher ended up beached in the gravel and, while the Williams was damaged, Villeneuve was able to continue. "That didn't work, you hit the wrong part of him my friend," famously declared Martin Brundle from the commentary box.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">As Schumacher watched on from the side of the track, Villenueve drove on to finish in a title-winning third place – the Canadian overtaken with the minimum of resistance by McLaren duo Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard late on. Schumacher, at the centre of a maelstrom over his on-track conduct for the second time in four seasons, protested his innocence in the collision but in a post-season FIA hearing was stripped of the runner-up position in the standings.   </span></div>
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<strong>Pre-race standings: 1. Schumacher – 78 points, 2. Villeneuve – 77 points.<br />Post-race standings: 1. Villeneuve – 81 points, Schumacher DSQ (78 points)</strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: x-large;">Australia 1994: Schumacher v Hill</span></strong></h4>
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<span style="font-size: large;">F1’s most tragic of seasons following the deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna had largely been dogged by controversy thereafter, with much of it affecting the title race between developing rivals Michael Schumacher of Benetton and Williams’ Damon Hill. A showdown on the streets of Adelaide had seemed a rather unlikely prospect when Schumacher started the season with six wins from seven but two race disqualifications, followed by a two-race ban for the German driver, had allowed Hill, who had started the season as Senna’s understudy, the chance to take things to the wire.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Thanks to a career-best victory in torrential rain at Suzuka, Hill headed Down Under within a point of F1’s new young star, although it was the Briton’s then 41-year-old stand-in team-mate Nigel Mansell who upstaged both championship protagonists to take pole for the decider. However, it was Schumacher, followed by Hill, who led away at the start of the race with the Briton shadowing his rival through the first half of the race. It was on lap 36 when things got tasty: Schumacher outbraked himself and ran wide over the kerb and hit the outside wall, before returning to the track right in front of the oncoming Williams.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Hill, who hadn’t rounded the corner in time to see the leader hit the wall, instinctively dived for the inside of the Benetton at the next right-hander but Schumacher turned in too, making destructive contact. The clash briefly put the German up on two wheels before he came to rest in the tyre barrier, and while Hill briefly continued, his FW16B was critically damaged. It meant that the world title, for the first time, was Schumacher’s but the controversial way in which he achieved it would dog him for the rest of his career.</span></div>
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<strong>Pre-race standings: 1. Schumacher – 92 points, 2. Hill – 91 points.<br />Post-race standings: 1. Schumacher – 92 points, 2. Hill – 91 points.</strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: x-large;">Australia 1986: Mansell v Prost v Piquet</span></strong></h4>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“And colossally that’s Mansell!” The immortal words of Murray Walker in stunned response to the spectacular title-denying puncture on Nigel Mansell's Williams as the most dramatic moment of the 1986 season and, perhaps any, title showdown played out in heart-breaking fashion for a nation's racing hero. It was the kind of rank misfortune that would often intervene on the Britain's unwanted behalf before he eventually wrapped up his sole F1 crown some six years later.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Mansell had been one of three drivers in contention for the drivers’ title going into the Adelaide decider, but his points advantage over team-mate Nelson Piquet and McLaren’s reigning champion Alain Prost meant he could afford to finish on the bottom step of the podium and still be champion. While a poor start from pole dropped him to fourth, Mansell, in a topsy-turvy race in which tyre problems had already played their part, was in the required third place when his left-rear tyre blew in spectacular, spark-frenzy fashion 18 laps from home as he passed a backmarker down the Brabham Straight.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Mansell slewed into the escape road and into immediate retirement, Williams called Piquet into the pits for a precautionary check-up and Prost, with the race victory, was the against-the-odds World Champion.</span></div>
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<strong>Pre-race standings: 1. Mansell – 70 points, 2. Prost – 64 points, 3. Piquet – 63 points.<br />Post-race standings: 1. Prost – 72 points, 2. Mansell – 70 points, 3. Piquet – 69 points.</strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: x-large;">Japan 1976: Lauda v Hunt</span></strong></h4>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It’s certainly easy to see why the James Hunt v Niki Lauda title duel of 1976 ultimately came to be portrayed on the big screen. Notwithstanding the stark differences in style between the two protagonists at the heart of it, the ingredients of a compelling tale were all there across the 16-race campaign: drama, controversy, against-the-odds fightbacks and, in the case of Lauda’s horrific German GP accident which nearly cost the Ferrari star his life, deep sorrow.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">That it all distilled into a tense title decider at a rain-soaked Fuji ensured the story was unpredictable right to the last too. Having quite unfathomably only sat out two races while he convalesced from the serious burns sustained in his fiery Nurburgring crash, Lauda, thanks to a dominant start to the year, arrived at the finale three points clear of flamboyant McLaren driver Hunt, who had won three of the previous four races. In horrendously wet race-day conditions in Japan, Lauda protested against the decision to start the race by withdrawing his car at the end of the second lap, leaving race-leader Hunt seemingly on his way to the title.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">That’s how things would eventually turn out, but not before one final bout of tense drama when Hunt was forced into a late pitstop for a puncture and then returned to the track and passed Alan Jones and Clay Regazzoni for third. The title was Hunt’s – by all of a point.</span></div>
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When it all went down to the wire: The history of F1's World Championship deciders

The 2014 Abu Dhabi GP will represent the 28th time in Formula 1’s 65-year history that the battle for the Drivers’ Championship has gone d...

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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">H</span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: large;">ow competitive will the Honda engine be?</span></span></strong><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">   G</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">iven the struggles both Ferrari and Renault have endured at the outset of the sport’s new turbo era, Honda are surprisingly bullish about their prospects next season. And that’s putting it mildly. Despite their self-imposed exile from F1 since 2008, Honda are adamant they’ll return as winners in 2015.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">“I trust - I am a firm believer - that we will win races next year,” predicted Honda’s Head of Motorsport Yasuhisa Arai in a recent interview. “I have confidence that we will match Mercedes."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The word ‘transitional’ evidently has no place in the Honda dictionary.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">While Arari’s confidence is likely to be met with scepticism elsewhere – just imagine the reaction at Renault and Ferrari for starters - it has to be assumed his confidence is based on solid facts rather than fanciful thinking. Honda have had a full season in which to evaluate the competition and, thanks to Mercedes’ supply of engines to McLaren, they have been ideally situated to understand the strengths – and any weaknesses – of the current field-leading package and the advantages of a ‘works team’ partnership.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Their optimism is worth listening to.</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">C</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">an McLaren live up to their end of the bargain?</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: x-large;">   O</span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: large;">r, to put it in slightly cruder terms, if McLaren can only struggle to fifth in the Constructors’ Championship when already armed with the best engine in the field, why should a competitive engine from Honda make any difference in 2015?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Such scepticism is inevitable and understandable. But there are two significant mitigations to these doubts – understandable and inevitable - to consider. The first is that while the MP4-29 has been aerodynamically weak, those flaws – effectively amounting to a misguided hunch about the importance of rear-end grip this year - are relatively easy to remedy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The second is that, in F1’s complicated new age of kinetic energy recovery systems, there is far more to an engine partnership than the provision of horsepower. "It’s access to the source code that allows you to both harness and harvest the energy recovery systems and that’s crucial for getting a well-balanced car," Ron Dennis explained to goooal<span style="line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">-</span><span style="line-height: 1.4em;">NS F1 at Suzuka. The McLaren boss isn’t in the habit of delivering soundbites but his next line was the ultimate advertising slogan for his team’s reunion with Honda: “No grand prix team is going to win a World Championship in the future unless it is the dominant recipient of an engine manufacturer’s efforts."</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEiDpZ8mm8zzJr0-q4-J1urpjWTz_TA6Z5vpupmKRmRHtEuM-NetZ1H0KhphPmTEuu3ObI3eLWvutfc4ScX-Em7XetPzcWISoYxk_xBhlsZXKtnvV4b9dNHOeT0A4UBO1ihoGQDuY9ILsKsGQT-c6Ku8MNt3TrASwrTZMiTzQXYBBx5ud1L0uucrKUo_AvvrbIwhRc0slpSyaA=" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" class="video-box__image" height="225" src="http://cf.c.ooyala.com/ZoZWF2cDonCRp8vDDHVLPggUGxpu7bW4/Ut_HKthATH4eww8X4zMDoxOjA4MTs5wR" style="border: 0px; height: 122.625px; pointer-events: none; position: absolute; width: 218px; z-index: 2;" width="400" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ron Dennis sees no impediment why Fernando Alonso can’t re-join McLaren</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In layman’s term, it’s only by precisely understanding how an engine works that its potential can be fully realised and harnessed. The clue is in the names: for Mercedes-Mercedes, car and engine has dovetailed seamlessly in 2014; for McLaren-Mercedes, it’s been a compromise from start to finish.</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">W</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">ill the team be called McLaren-Honda or Honda-McLaren?</span></strong></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">I</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">t was curious to note that, when pressed to reveal the timeline of Honda’s return to F1, Arai referred to the 2015 car as being composed of “the Honda engine and the McLaren chassis - the Honda McLaren.” No other team name puts the horse before the cart when it comes to naming rights – as above, McLaren are currently listed as ‘McLaren Mercedes’ and<a href="http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/9550972/fia-publish-provisional-2015-f1-entry-list-featuring-11-two-car-teams" style="color: #214cb8; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">the new arrangment has been filed under a team name of 'McLaren Honda' on the 2015 entry list published by the FIA</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Nevertheless, despite that conclusive answer from F1's governing body, the primacy given to ‘Honda’ by Arai may have been a tell-tale clue to an even deeper business arrangement between the two parties than previously realised. We’ll see.</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">H</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">ow much influence will Honda hold at McLaren?</span></strong></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">   W</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">ith or without title sponsorship supplementing engine supply, Honda are sure to hold considerable sway at McLaren, not least because Dennis’ ‘dominant recipient’ line can be easily interpreted as open acknowledgement that an  F1 team now needs an engine supplier far more than an engine supplier needs an F1 team.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For McLaren, in the words of their team boss Eric Boullier, the partnership is "a game changer". For F1, the question is whether Honda's return also means the game itself is changing too. The first out-of-house engine providers of 'a works team' in the new era, Honda's return may also break the mould that has traditionally seen the team as the dominant partner in a relationship between recipient and supplier. At Woking in 2015, the power may be with the power providers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The first look at Honda's 2015 power unit</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">D</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">id Alonso negotiate with Honda rather than McLaren?</span></strong></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">   T</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">his rather fanciful rumour - conjuring images of an aloof Alonso only speaking to his race engineer via a Honda intermediary - has been put to bed. "McLaren is the contracting party with the drivers, nobody else,” Boullier emphatically told  F1 last week.</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">B</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">ut what part did Honda play in the pursuit of Fernando Alonso?</span></strong></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">I</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">t's a question begging to be asked: would McLaren have re-signed but for Honda's reputed demand that a marque driver be the figurehead for their return to the sport? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">2007 provides a few compelling reasons to answer in the negative. A sorry season for all concerned, Alonso's previous one-year stint with the team ended in spectacular implosion, a $100m fine and a divorce that appeared to be absolutely final. "We're not on speaking terms, we've not spoken," Ron Dennis revealed at the Spygate hearing which laid bare the scale of the rift that had torn the team asunder. "The relationship between Fernando and I is extremely cold - that is an understatement."</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEg0T9e1nwjmIal8H7L33qzGmn6oqHwzwq2AqVHJP8Sp-Rg5AmAfTfQojVffC9LcFDzmakMsAcAtW-NrEmYMhRvBkHFs27gtOn5A3yApi1ry7qh9eB7dIh89wpb5pjGRUVd57eqmj98b2SAVW14U4N5PJ48flFJST2AI5b6OiymLDbUpNK-GWp43PrVZeA3alN32RZbKor4E7A=" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" class="video-box__image" height="225" src="http://cf.c.ooyala.com/BodjBscTrd7MwqhZnOIMb6CTi2Q49I-h/DLOokYc8UKM-fB9H4xMDoxOjBzMTt2bJ" style="border: 0px; height: 122.625px; pointer-events: none; position: absolute; width: 218px; z-index: 2;" width="400" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Speaking to Ted Karvitz and Martin Brundle, Eric Boullier has said McLaren are leading the negotiations to sign Fernando Alonso for next season's McLaren-H</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Two years later, Dennis admitted that, were he to meet Alonso again, he wouldn't "be able to eliminate in my mind the negativity that he caused to everyone - of course not".</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">By coincidence or not, the first suggestions - treated with extreme caution and general incredulity at the time - that Alonso could return only first emerged in the months after Honda's return was announced. Nor is there much doubt that Honda have done their bit by agreeing to provide the funds - or at least a substantial chunk - of a deal reputed to be the largest in F1 history.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Nevertheless, it's impossible to believe that McLaren themselves have not been proactive in the pursuit of Alonso. The Spaniard is, lest we easily forget, still arguably the best driver in the sport. If the design is right, and the engine up to scratch, the final box will be ticked green if and when the Spaniard signs up. </span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">W</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">hen will we first see and hear the McLaren-Honda?</span></strong></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">   A</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">lthough the interim MP4-29H - with the 'H' referring to the presence of a Honda engine in the car - has already debuted at a filming day at Silverstone, we may not see the new partnership in action for several more months, if not weeks. A literal sound bite of the new engine's debut, <a href="http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/12479/9564089/first-glimpse-of-the-mclaren-honda" style="color: #214cb8; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">held behind closed doors at the Northamptonshire circuit</a>, is only likely to be released after McLaren's partnership with Mercedes concludes in the Abu Double season finale, while any decision on whether the McLaren-Honda will run at the subsequent Abu Dhabi test is dependent on the success - or otherwise - of its Silverstone shakedown. </span></div>
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Begging to be asked: The unanswered questions for Honda's return to F1 in 2015

H ow competitive will the Honda engine be? G iven the struggles both Ferrari and Renault have endured at the outset...

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