Kimi Raikkonen News

The Alfa Romeo driver had been eighth on the provisional starting grid and his demotion means Ferrari`s Charles Leclerc, who crashed in the second phase of qualifying, will move up from ninth.

The two times world champion might have had more titles to his name with better fortune and more astute career moves but he has remained a racer to the end, even in an uncompetitive car.

Ferrari, expecting rain, sent Vettel and teammate Kimi Raikkonen out on the intermediate tyres at the start of the final shootout phase of qualifying. 

The British Grand Prix might have ended on Monday with Sabastian Vettel winning at Silverstone but the spat between Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen reared its ugly head once again when the latter's wife, Minttu, accused Hamilton of "crying like a girl". She wrote a post on Instagram comparing Hamilton and Mercedes' reaction with that of a girl and suggested them to‘join ballet.’

This is the first time since 2012 that Lewis Hamilton did not win on the home track. The Briton was deeply unimpressed by a first-lap collision with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen that sent him spinning to the back.

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo won a sensational Chinese Grand Prix in thrilling style on Sunday when he stormed through the field from sixth place after taking on fresh tyres under a safety car. The Australian, who only made it into qualifying with seconds to spare after his blown engine had to be rebuilt, took the lead with just 10 laps to go in Shanghai when he charged past race leader Valtteri Bottas, who finished second in a Mercedes. Kimi Raikkonen was third for Ferrari.

The German lapped the 5.4-km Shanghai circuit in one minute, 31.095 seconds - a track record - to pip his Finnish teammate by a mere 0.087 seconds and take his 52nd career pole.

Francesco Cigarini's broken left tibia and fibula were operated on hours after Raikkonen accidentally ran over him during a pit stop.

Ferrari were fined 50,000 euros ($61,385) on Sunday after one of their Formula One mechanics was hit by Kimi Raikkonen`s car and suffered a broken leg during a Bahrain Grand Prix pitstop.

The Briton, who leads Vettel by 28 points in the overall standings, set a time of one minute, 30.076 seconds in his Mercedes, narrowly beating Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, who was just 0.045 seconds slower.

Australia's Ricciardo, who won in Malaysia last year ahead of his Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen, finished in front of the Dutchman again, who was sixth fastest on his 20th birthday.

Daniel Ricciardo, who led a one-two with teammate Max Verstappen in last year’s Malaysian race, ended the day third fastest ahead of the Dutchman.

Vettel, who had struggled in practice, timed a record 1min 39.491sec at the floodlit Marina Bay street circuit ahead of Red Bull`s Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo.

Ferrari announced earlier this week they had retained Vettel's team-mate Kimi Raikkonen for one more season.

Hamilton was 0.092 faster than Ferrari's world championship leader Sebastian Vettel, with the German third on the timesheets and also setting his time on the quickest but least durable tyre.

Sebastian Vettel is also out of contract at the end of the season and the short Ferrari statement did not mention him. 

Now, the teams have to close their factories down for two weeks and are not allowed to do any work on their cars, or even use work email.

Ahead of Formula One's European summer break, championship leader Vettel extended his lead to 14 points over Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton by securing 25 points in Budapest.

Two-time champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso came home sixth and recorded the fastest lap of the race for McLaren-Honda after a stirring and often remarkable drive.

The 30-year-old four-time champion clocked a best lap of one minute 16.276 seconds to secure his third pole at the Hungaroring circuit and the 48th of his career.