F1: Hamilton wins Mexican Grand Prix, but waits for sixth title

MEXICO CITY -- Lewis Hamilton drove to a near-flawless victory, but not yet a sixth drivers' world championship on Sunday when he claimed his 10th win of the season for Mercedes at the Mexican Grand Prix.

The defending five-time title-winner produced the measured drive of a champion-elect to claim a well-judged triumph ahead of Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel and his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas who kept his own title bid alive for another week by finishing third.

Charles Leclerc, who started on pole position in the second Ferrari, finished fourth ahead of Red Bull's Alex Albon and Max Verstappen, who stormed through the field after an early pit stop, and local hero Sergio Perez of Racing Point.

Hamilton's victory was only his second since Formula One's European summer break in August, his second in Mexico and the 83rd of his career, but it was also Mercedes' 100th victory in F1 and extended his run points-scoring finishes to 30 races.

He now looks certain to clinch his sixth title at next weekend's United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, where he will need just four points.

"That was for Bono!" said Hamilton on his slow-down lap in reference to his absent race engineer Peter Bonnington. 

"Today's an incredible result and I have to say thank you to our team. We came here on the back foot, but we pulled through."

After winning his last two titles in Mexico without even finishing on the podium, it was ironic for Hamilton to win but know he has to wait for a sixth coronation.

Bottas, who survived a heavy crash in qualifying on Saturday, said: "Considering what happened yesterday, it's a good result… I don't think we could have done much more."

Hamilton added: "I don't mind not winning the title here. I can wait. I just love racing and I am happy to take each race as it comes."

Four-time champion Vettel said: "It was a long race with no break, but I think Lewis was just cruising for most of his second stint. I'm happy, but we could have had a sharper strategy."

The race began in warm and dry conditions, Leclerc making a clean getaway from his seventh pole, ahead of Vettel, as Ferrari enjoyed their 65th front row lockout, gifted by Verstappen’s qualifying penalty.

The Dutchman, angered by his Saturday demotion from pole for ignoring yellow flags when Bottas crashed, made an aggressive start and, as Hamilton recovered from being squeezed off-track by Vettel, banged wheels with him at Turn Two.

Both drivers had to regain control and, after another off-circuit excursion, re-joined down in fifth and eighth respectively. Their misfortune was a gain for Albon and Sainz who took third and fourth before Hamilton split them when he passed the Spaniard on lap four.

- 'Tyres are dead' -

By then, the first Virtual Safety Car (VSC) intervention, to clear debris, had been completed to be followed by another burst of ‘mad Max’ fury when he lunged into Bottas and picked up a puncture.

This led to his right rear tyre falling off the wheel -- and a pit-stop that left him to re-join 20th and last having switched from mediums to hards.

At the front, Leclerc pulled 2.3 seconds clear of Vettel by lap 15 before pitting, Ferrari responding to Red Bull’s decision one lap earlier to bring in Albon for new mediums. The Monegasque, thus committed to a two-stop strategy, re-joined fourth, behind Vettel, Hamilton and Bottas.

In a flux of varying strategies, Hamilton fought rear tyre-wear to stay close to Vettel, with Bottas 7.2 seconds adrift in third by lap 24 before the champion pitted for a set of hard compound tyres. 

Over 10 laps later Bottas pitted to be followed by Vettel, Leclerc regaining the lead ahead of Hamilton, but facing a second stop.

"My front tyres are dead," complained Leclerc, shortly before a slow second stop on lap 44 in 6.2 seconds. 

He came out fifth, rising to fourth when Albon pitted in 2.5 while Hamilton led the race, all the front-runners on hard tyres of varying ages as they approached the final laps.

Less than six seconds separated the top four with 14 laps to go with Vettel, Bottas and Leclerc in hot pursuit of Hamilton. A dramatic finish, governed by tyre wear, was in prospect.

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F1: Verstappen wins in Austria as Hamilton fails to finish

SPIELBERG, Austria -- Max Verstappen won Red Bull's home Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday, while Lewis Hamilton suffered his first race retirement since 2016 and lost the Formula One championship lead to Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel.

The victory was the 20-year-old Dutch driver's first of the season, fourth of his career, and came in front of an army of orange-shirted fans packing the grandstands and then flooding onto the track at the finish.

Kimi Raikkonen was a close second, with teammate Vettel third to claw back the overall lead by a single point from Hamilton, their Mercedes rival whose record run of 33 successive scoring finishes came to an end.

"It was amazing, very hard to manage the tyres, lot of blistering, but we managed to hang on," said Verstappen. "It was amazing to win at the Red Bull Ring with so many Dutch fans here.

"I needed to catch up with the points, today was a very good day for me, and I hope we can continue like this."

Vettel, who started sixth after collecting a three place grid penalty, now has 146 points to Hamilton's 145 after nine rounds and with the Briton's home race at Silverstone next weekend.

Hamilton had already been on the back foot before he stopped on lap 64, his car suffering lost fuel pressure while he was in fourth place, after a glaring strategy error by Mercedes had cost him the lead.

On a bleak afternoon for the champions, who had not been beaten at the Red Bull Ring since Austria returned to the calendar in 2014, Hamilton's team mate Valtteri Bottas retired with a mechanical failure.

Verstappen took the lead after Mercedes kept Hamilton out during a virtual safety car period that followed Bottas's retirement on lap 14, with all the others behind the Briton pitting for fresh tyres.

Mercedes' chief strategist James Vowles came on the radio as the bearer of bad news, admitting his error as Hamilton struggled to comprehend what had happened.

"I'm fourth now," exclaimed the driver.

"I'm not going to be able to pass anyone. We have thrown away the win," Hamilton added a while later.

"This is James, I have thrown away the win today," replied Vowles. "Passing is possible. I'm sorry."

France's Romain Grosjean scored his first points of the season with a bang, finishing a lapped fourth for the U.S.-owned Haas team, who also had Denmark's Kevin Magnussen taking the checkered flag in fifth.

Esteban Ocon was sixth for Force India, ahead of Mexican team mate Sergio Perez, with McLaren's Fernando Alonso completing a remarkable afternoon with eighth place after starting in the pit lane.

Sauber duo Charles Leclerc and Marcus Ericsson finished ninth and 10th.

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Vettel wins Brazilian GP, Hamilton fourth from pits

SÃO PAULO, Brazil -- Sebastian Vettel bounced back from his world championship disappointment in fine style on Sunday when he won a sunlit Brazilian Grand Prix for Ferrari.

The four-time champion took the lead at the start and, apart from a period after his pit-stop, controlled an incident-packed race to finish 2.8 seconds ahead of pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes.

Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 champion, resisted late challenges from newly-crowned four-time champion Lewis Hamilton to hang on to third ahead of the second Mercedes driver, who had started the race from the pit lane.

Dutchman Max Verstappen came home fifth ahead of his Red Bull team-mate Australian Daniel Ricciardo and retirement-bound local hero Felipe Massa, a rousing seventh for Williams in his final home city race.

The Brazilian emerged triumphant in his own private scrap to the line with two-time champion Fernando Alonso of McLaren Honda, who finished eighth.

Sergio Perez finished ninth for Force India and Nico Hulkenberg 10th for Renault.

It was Vettel’s first win in eight outings since the Hungarian Grand Prix in July and his fifth of the season. It was also Ferrari’s first win in Brazil since 2008.

“It’s been a tough couple of weeks for us, but it’s nice to get both cars on the podium here,” said Vettel.

“I had a good getaway and then I had wheelspin, so I thought I missed my chance but I think Valtteri had the same so I surprised him.

“I wanted to pull out a gap and then to control the race from there and it worked out.”

Bottas admitted: “My goal was to win so it was very disappointing. We lost it in the start. After that it was very close. I tried to put some pressure on Sebastian, but it didn’t happen. Lewis did a great comeback to score points.”

- Massa farewell -

Raikkonen admitted: “Lewis got close to me at the end, but it’s impossible to overtake here if you have close speed between the cars.”

Massa gave the home crowd something to cheer about as the Williams driver heads to retirement.

He won the race at Interlagos in 2008 when he was pipped to the title by Hamilton.

“I feel so emotional today,” admitted Massa. “All you guys, thank you very much for everything that we passed together and for all the support and energy.”

On a hot blue-skied day, with a track temperature of 60 degrees Celsius, the key action took place on the first lap when, following a multiple collision at the first corner, the Safety Car was deployed.

This incident saw Ricciardo spin on a kerb, hit luckless Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne’s McLaren and, in turn, Dane Kevin Kevin Magnussen’s Haas.

 The latter two were forced to retire as, in a separate incident, Frenchman Romain Grosjean lost control of his Haas and slid into compatriot Esteban Ocon’s Force India, taking the pair of them off into a gravel trap.

It was the first retirement of Ocon’s career after 27 races and Grosjean was handed a 10-seconds penalty.

In the chaos that ensued, Hamilton took advantage and rose to 14th before the Safety Car pulled off and racing resumed.

The world champion, who had clinched his fourth title two weeks earlier in Mexico, made the most of his rebuilt car, powered by a new engine, following his crash in qualifying on Saturday.

While Vettel pulled clear by 1.9 seconds ahead of Bottas, it was Hamilton setting the fastest laps as he sliced through the field. By lap 21, of the 71, following an immaculate demonstration of speed and passing moves, he was up to fifth before settling for fourth place.

“It was fun,” said Hamilton. “Just like my karting days when I started from the back. But I messed up yesterday and I know I was quick enough to win from pole to flag, but I made the job a lot harder.

“When I woke up this morning my goal was to do the team proud and score points. I tried, but ran out of tyres at the end.”

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Hamilton takes fourth title despite collision

MEXICO CITY - An ecstatic Lewis Hamilton became Britain's first four-times Formula One world champion on Sunday after fighting back from last place following an opening-lap collision with arch-rival Sebastian Vettel at the Mexican Grand Prix.

In a race won by 20-year-old Dutch prodigy Max Verstappen, in a Red Bull, the 32-year-old Mercedes driver finished ninth to cement his place as his country's most successful driver of all time.

Vettel, the only man who could have delayed the seemingly inevitable, ended up fourth after starting on pole position and then dropping to 19th following a pitstop to replace a broken front wing.

Hamilton has an unassailable lead of 56 points with two races, worth a total of 50, remaining in Brazil and Abu Dhabi.

"It doesn't feel real. That's not the kind of race that you want but I never gave up. I kept going right to the end," said a jubilant Hamilton, the British flag proudly draped over his shoulders.

He had raised both hands to his helmet as he took the chequered flag, with the crowd rising to applaud.

"Lewis has done a superb job all year and deserves to win the title," said Vettel. "Congratulations to him. It is his day."

Sunday's race was both the best and worst of afternoons for the sport's biggest star, who ended up sprinting down the pitlane chased by fans.

A winner nine times this season, including five of the six before Mexico, ninth was his lowest placing of the campaign and he did it despite having a badly damaged car at a track where overtaking is difficult enough anyway.

Hamilton's team mate Valtteri Bottas finished second at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen third.

   
AGGRESSIVE MOVE

Vettel had needed to be in the top two to have any chance of taking the title fight down to Brazil in two weeks' time but his already slim hopes seemed to have disappeared within seconds of the start.

Verstappen, with nothing to lose and everything to gain from his front row position, seized the lead with an aggressive move through the opening right-left-right corners and the Red Bull bumping wheels with Vettel as he went through.

Hamilton, starting in third place, tried to follow Verstappen but the Ferrari's front wing sliced Hamilton's rear right tyre as they made contact at turn three.

"Did he hit me deliberately?" asked Hamilton over the radio, limping back to the pits and fully aware that Vettel's only real hope of getting back into the reckoning would be if the Briton went out.

"Not sure, Lewis," his race engineer Peter Bonnington said in reply. It looked far from deliberate and stewards swiftly decided that no further investigation of the incident was necessary.

Vettel pitted while Hamilton, who had started the day 66 points clear of his rival, had a longer stop while mechanics inspected his car for further damage.

The incident robbed the crowd of the prospect of a real duel between the two contenders, who will both be four-times champions when next season starts, but they still provided thrills as they fought back.

HIGH FIVE

Hamilton, who had a thrilling wheel-to-wheel tussle with former McLaren team mate Fernando Alonso in the latter stages that could have cost him dear, had hoped to celebrate by spraying the winner's champagne from the top of the podium.

Instead, there was the considerable consolation of being one of only five men -- Germany's Michael Schumacher, Argentina's Juan Manuel Fangio, France's Alain Prost and Vettel -- to win four titles or more since the championship started in 1950.

Prost and Vettel both have four, with the late Fangio on five and Schumacher seven.

Hamilton's tally of titles took him above fellow-Briton Jackie Stewart and also his late Brazilian idol Ayrton Senna in the all-time lists.

"An unusual way to be world champion but you are world champion very simple. Nobody cares how you do it," said Mercedes' non-executive chairman Niki Lauda, himself a triple champion.

"Who cares? It's about the result," said team boss Toto Wolff, when asked how it had felt to see Hamilton lapped by Verstappen. "He was lapped because he was crashed into."

The victory was the third of Verstappen's career and second of the season, cementing the youngster's position as the rising star of the sport.

France's Esteban Ocon was fifth for Force India, with his Mexican team mate Sergio Perez seventh and behind the Williams of Canadian rookie Lance Stroll.

Danish driver Kevin Magnussen was eighth for Haas with Alonso taking the final point.

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Pritha Sarkar)

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F1: Ferrari prancing as Vettel wins in Australia

MELBOURNE -- Four-times world champion Sebastian Vettel won the Australian Grand Prix for Ferrari on Sunday to dash Mercedes' hopes of extending their dominance into a fourth successive season of Formula One.

The German cruised to his 43rd race victory with a 9.9 second gap to Mercedes' runner-up Lewis Hamilton, with the Briton's new team mate, Valtteri Bottas, finishing third on a glorious afternoon at Albert Park.

The victory was Vettel's fourth for Ferrari but his first since the Singapore Grand Prix in September 2015.

That triumph was also the last time Ferrari had topped the podium but Vettel's victory underlined the huge leap in performance made by the glamour team, whose cars showed impressive pace and reliability in winter testing.

"For all of us, it is a positive surprise," a beaming Vettel said at the post-race media conference.

"The big difference was being able to deliver a really good car... I think the new car in general obviously is fantastic and is a great reward, a big relief for everyone."

For the first time in the V6 turbo hybrid era, which started in 2014, there is a non-Mercedes driver at the top of the championship standings.

Vettel's 2007 championship-winning team mate Kimi Raikkonen finished fourth, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen one behind.

On the front row next to pole-sitter Hamilton, Vettel got off to a sluggish start and his British rival broke clear to avoid Albert Park's usual messy log-jam at turn one.

But Hamilton was soon complaining on the team radio about his car's grip and was first to pit on lap 18 to change tyres.

It proved a turning point as he rejoined behind Verstappen and was unable to pass the feisty Dutch teenager.

As Hamilton vented on the team radio, Vettel forged ahead.

The German pitted at lap 23 and exited the pit-lane just in front of Verstappen, who was still gamely holding off Hamilton while riding his tyres thin.

Mercedes motorsport head Toto Wolff was enraged. Television pictures showed him pounding his fist into a desk in the team garage.

Vettel showed the reigning constructors' champions a clean set of heels and quickly established a six-second gap, which only got wider as the race progressed.

After crossing the finish line, Vettel howled in ecstasy and thousands of red-clad Ferrari fans flooded onto the lakeside circuit to share in the German's triumph.

Fans of home racer Daniel Ricciardo were left disappointed, however, after the Australian's race ended midway through at turn three, his Red Bull stopping with smoke billowing out.

He had earlier started from pit-lane two laps behind, after suffering a sensor problem with his gearbox that prevented him from taking his place at the grid.

It was a better day for Felipe Massa, who came sixth in his 'comeback' race following his short-lived retirement from Williams last year.

Force India also enjoyed a strong race, with Sergio Perez coming seventh and French newcomer Esteban Ocon also in the points after running 10th.

Reliability problems were rife in other teams, however, with seven cars failing to finish, including McLaren's twice champion Fernando Alonso and Williams' Canadian debutant Lance Stroll.

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Hamilton beats Rosberg to pole in Brazil

SAO PAULO - Lewis Hamilton stormed to pole position at the Brazilian Grand Prix on Saturday with Mercedes team mate and title rival Nico Rosberg joining the triple Formula One world champion on the front row.

On a damp and overcast Sao Paulo afternoon, it was the 60th pole of the Briton's career, eight short of Michael Schumacher's record, and his first in Brazil since 2012 when he was at McLaren.

With his title on the line, it was also one of Hamilton's most important in a roller-coaster season marked by mechanical setbacks.

Rosberg will take his first championship if he wins Sunday's penultimate race of the season but Hamilton, 19 points adrift, showed he will do all he can to take the fight down to the wire in Abu Dhabi with another dominant qualifying display.

"This is the best I could have hoped for really coming into Brazil," said Hamilton who has never won at the bowl-like anti-clockwise Interlagos circuit. "It's always a track that I struggled at."

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen qualified third with Red Bull's Max Verstappen joining the 2007 world champion on the second row of the grid.

Ferrari and Red Bull also shared the third row with Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo qualifying fifth and sixth ahead of a race that could well be wet, with showers threatened.

Hamilton, fastest in all three phases of qualifying, was already lapping quicker than Rosberg's 2015 pole position time of 1:11.282 in the second session and again lit up the timing screens in the final shootout with a best lap of 1:10.736.

The pole was a record 19th in 20 races this season for Mercedes.

Rosberg, winner from pole in Brazil for the past two seasons, was quicker than Hamilton at the first split on his final lap but then faded to finish with a best of 1:10.838.

"It was exciting qualifying, very close and Lewis was just marginally quicker in the end," said the German. "My lap was good as well, just not quick enough...missing that little bit out there.

"But it's OK. Pole isn't always the guy who then wins the race, I'm still optimistic for tomorrow."

Brazilian Felipe Massa, a double winner at Interlagos in his Ferrari days, qualified 13th for Williams in his final home race before leaving Formula One while Finnish team mate Valtteri Bottas starts 11th.

Jenson Button, who won the 2009 world championship at Interlagos for Brawn GP, qualified a disappointing 17th on the fourth anniversary of his and McLaren's last race win, also at the Sao Paulo circuit.

"We definitely sorted those problems out, didn't we?", the Briton said sarcastically over the team radio.

Button has one more race after Brazil before handing his seat to Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne.

Spanish team mate Fernando Alonso, whose two titles with Renault were won in Brazil, had a happier afternoon and will start 10th.

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Tony Jimenez)

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Hamilton wins in Mexico but Rosberg is right behind

MEXICO CITY - Lewis Hamilton won the Mexican Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday, his landmark 51st career victory cutting Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg's overall lead to 19 points and keeping the German waiting for a first title.

The pole-to-flag victory was the triple world champion's eighth of the season and put him level with France's Alain Prost in the all-time lists of winners. Only Michael Schumacher (91) has more.

Rosberg, who would have clinched the title had he won and Hamilton finished 10th or lower, crossed the line 8.354 seconds behind to anchor champions Mercedes to a sixth one-two finish of the season.

The German can still clinch the title with a race in hand if he wins at Sao Paulo's Interlagos circuit in Brazil in two weeks' time.

"Lewis has been too fast this weekend," said Rosberg. "I just have to accept second place."

The race was largely processional until it exploded into controversy in the final laps with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel finishing fourth and then promoted to the podium before demotion back to fifth.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen was third on the track but was then handed a five second penalty for gaining an advantage by going off, pushing him down to fifth before Vettel's penalty for dangerous driving lifted him back to fourth.

That left Australian Daniel Ricciardo in third place but without a podium appearance and the chance to pour the champagne into his boot for another trademark 'shoey' celebration.

The Vettel-Verstappen-Ricciardo controversy provided the major talking point of the day, with bad language flying and accusations going to and fro.

"He has to let me go, he has to let me go," Vettel, who had been trying to pass Verstappen on the 67th of the 71 laps, exclaimed furiously over the team radio as the Dutchman refused to concede the place.

Vettel also directed a foul-mouthed outburst at race director Charlie Whiting, which was heard on television and for which he apologised, and then swerved across to the Red Bull driver after the finish with a finger raised and wagging.

"I was using a lot of sign language. You have to understand the adrenaline," said the four-times champion.

Verstappen said Vettel should go back to school.

"I don't know how many times he is using very bad language," said the teenager. "I will speak to him because this is how ridiculous he is handling it, he is just a very frustrated guy at the moment."

TIME PENALTY

Verstappen joined the Mercedes drivers in the waiting room before the podium ceremony but was hauled out after his penalty was imposed, with Vettel running hastily down the pit lane.

The arguments and accusations continued afterwards, with Vettel and Ricciardo then summoned to stewards and the German accused of changing his line while braking as Ricciardo tried to pass him.

In a race that saw all but one of the 22 starters finish, the safety car was deployed on the second lap when Mexican Esteban Gutierrez tagged Pascal Wehrlein's Manor and pushed him into Marcus Ericsson's Sauber.

There was more drama at the front where Hamilton made a good getaway but then locked up and trekked across the grass, cutting the first corner.

That incident, which left him battling serious tyre vibrations until his first pitstop, was held up by Verstappen as inconsistent stewarding, with the Briton also gaining an advantage but escaping any sanction.

Verstappen and Rosberg also made contact at the start, with the Dutch driver trying to find a way through on the inside from third place on the grid, but stewards took no action.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was sixth, Nico Hulkenberg seventh for Force India and the Williams pairing of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa eighth and ninth.

Mexican Sergio Perez, the crowd favourite, took the final point for Force India in 10th place after a long battle with Massa.

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ken Ferris and Ian Ransom)

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Hamilton storms to British Grand Prix victory

SILVERSTONE -- Lewis Hamilton streaked away to comfortably win his home British Grand Prix on Sunday at Silverstone, with Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg hanging on for a provisional second.

Third was the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, but championship leader Rosberg -- suffering late gear-box problems -- was under investigation over a radio communication that could spell further trouble for the German, who now only leads Hamilton by four points.

Hamilton, who started from pole in a race that began slowly behind the safety car because of heavy rain, has gradually eaten away at rival Rosberg's lead in the drivers' standings.

The Briton, the reigning world champion, has now made it four wins in the last five races to pile the pressure on Rosberg.

The duo had a last-lap collision last weekend in Austria, before Hamilton claimed a controversial victory, further straining already frosty relations between the two.

Rosberg was booed on the podium at Silverstone.

"We have the best fans here, thank you so much," Hamilton told the adoring 100,000 crowd.

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SPORTS WRAP: Pirelli to host 'vital' meeting on F1 tyres

LONDON - Pirelli will host a meeting of Formula One's key stakeholders in Milan next week to discuss how the sport wants the tyres to perform in future.

Formula One is currently planning a rewriting of the rules from 2017 to improve the show with faster and more aggressive-looking cars.

Drivers have said repeatedly that they want tyres that let them race flat out from start to finish rather than the current quick-wearing ones that require careful management over a distance.

Pirelli said in a statement on Thursday that the meeting, to be held at the company's headquarters, would "discuss target tyre performance guidelines".

"Pirelli sees this meeting as being of vital importance in order to further consolidate the close collaboration that got underway last year with the (governing) FIA, FOM (commercial rights holder), and the drivers," it added.

Describing Formula One as their "biggest challenge", the sport's sole supplier said the technical aspects would become ever more complex in 2017 and that would require more on-track testing.

"This is a factor that has been extremely limited in recent years, despite the important evolution of the cars and subsequent increase in performance," the company said.

"All these are vital steps towards tyre development that takes into account the future evolution of the cars and added performance, which will be particularly notable in 2017."

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone told the BBC that the drivers would also be welcome at the Feb. 2 meeting with Pirelli.

"Whatever drivers want to turn up can turn up," he said. "Whatever teams want to turn up can turn up. It will be the president of Pirelli who is there, not a messenger." (Reporting by Alan Baldwin; Editing by John O'Brien)

Brown and Loupe upstage big guns at Torrey Pines

American journeyman Scott Brown stole the limelight from some of golf's biggest names as he recovered from a shaky start to charge into a share of the lead at the Farmers Insurance Open outside San Diego on Thursday.

While defending champion Jason Day struggled after the turn to card a level-par 72 in the opening round at Torrey Pines and world number four Rickie Fowler carded a 73, Brown reeled off eight birdies in his last 11 holes to fire a 66.

Despite playing on the more difficult South Course, Brown caught fire over his closing stretch after making two bogeys in the first six holes to end the day level with fellow American Andrew Loupe, who set out on the easier North layout.

"I knew I was hitting it good," Brown, 32, told Golf Channel about his mindset after his stumbling start. "I was hitting good shots, I just made a couple of stupid bogeys.

"I hit a ball in the hazard and made bogey on a par-five but I really hit some close iron shots and fortunately made some putts. And it turned into me birdieing eight of my last 11 (holes,) so that was nice."

Brown, whose only PGA Tour victory came at the 2013 Puerto Rico Open, planned to maintain a strategy of attack on the North Course for Friday's second round.

"The rough is still high over there and thick and you've still got to drive it good to get yourself into position," he said. "But you can make a few more birdies over there so I'll just try to keep the aggressive mind-set."

Americans Billy Horschel, Patton Kizzire, Tom Hoge, Rob Oppenheim and Harold Varner III all opened with 67s on the North Course while three-times champion Phil Mickelson rebounded from a double-bogey on his second hole to card a 69 on the South.

"I really didn't feel the stress," Mickelson, who tied for third at last week's CareerBuilder Challenge in his first event of the season, said of his stumbling start on Thursday. "I knew that I had been playing so well.

"I tried to be patient ... and the round just slowly progressed. I just kept hitting good shots. I hit a lot more good shots on the back and had a few tap-in birdies. It was a good start."

American Fowler, who won the European Tour's Abu Dhabi Championship on Sunday, said of his 73: "Terrible. I think that sums it up pretty easily. It was just bad golf. I couldn't get anything going."

Australian world number two Day, who withdrew from the pro-am competition on Wednesday because of flu-like symptoms, looked fatigued throughout his opening round and declined to speak to reporters afterwards as he returned to his hotel room to rest. (Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Frank Pingue)

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Rosberg wins season-opening Australian GP

MELBOURNE - Nico Rosberg drew first blood for Mercedes in the new Formula One season with a dominant Australian Grand Prix victory on Sunday after pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton and world champion Sebastian Vettel retired with reliability problems.

The 28-year-old German capitalised on a brilliant start from third on the grid, snatching the lead before the first turn and roaring to a 24.5-second victory ahead of Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo under a cloudy sky at Albert Park.

Danish rookie Kevin Magnussen finished third on his race debut for McLaren.

Rosberg, tipped to duel with team mate Hamilton for the championship, celebrated his fourth race victory and first since last year's British Grand Prix, when he was also the beneficiary of technical mishaps to Hamilton and Vettel.

"Brilliant stuff, what a car you've given me! What a car!" Rosberg said over the team radio after crossing the line.

The gaping margin of victory underscored Mercedes' superior preparations for F1's technical revolution, which saw all teams struggle during winter testing with the new V6 turbocharged hybrid engines.

The glitches continued as only 14 of the 22 cars finished on a gusty day at the bumpy street circuit which was doused by a brief rain-shower early in the race.

Hamilton, who snatched pole position at the end of a wet qualifying session on Saturday, noticeably lacked power on his start and was called in by his team to retire on the third lap.

Twelfth off the grid, Vettel also struggled at the start and retired only a few laps after Hamilton, complaining of engine performance problems.

That snapped a nine-race winning streak for the German dating back to the Belgian Grand Prix in August.

Ricciardo thrilled home fans by taking his maiden podium spot in his first race weekend with Red Bull and drove with admirable composure after being challenged by Magnussen over the closing laps.

Magnussen's podium, the first by a Dane in Formula One and the team's first since 2012, was an exact match of Hamilton's first F1 race for McLaren in 2007 when the Briton qualified fourth and finished third.

McLaren's Jenson Button finished fourth, with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso fifth.

Williams driver Valtteri Bottas finished sixth for his best F1 result after an outstanding race from 15th on the grid. His eight point haul was more than his team scored in all of last season.

The race began farcically, with Marussia driver Max Chilton stalling on the grid before the pre-start installation lap and his team mate Jules Bianchi then repeating the mishap, forcing a second formation lap.

Both Marussias started from pit-lane behind Lotus's Romain Grosjean, who was also dealt a drive-through penalty for leaving his garage prior to the 15-minute signal before the race.

Japan's Kamui Kobayashi lived up to his reputation as a combustible racer by ploughing into the back of Felipe Massa's Williams at the start, taking both drivers out of the race at the first corner and prompting an FIA investigation.

(Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by Sudipto Ganguly/Alan Baldwin)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Magnussen will sink or swim, says Button

AUSTIN, Texas - Kevin Magnussen will be thrown into the Formula One deep end when he replaces Sergio Perez at McLaren next season and it will be up to the young Dane whether he sinks or swims, future team mate Jenson Button said on Thursday.

"It's one of those positions where it could light up your career or put an end to your career very early if things don't go well," Button told reporters ahead of this weekend's U.S. Grand Prix.

"It's a massive risk to be put in the deep end, if you like, with a team that should be fighting for a title.

"But if a driver is willing to take that risk, he has a lot of confidence in himself and his ability.

"It could go one way or another and I hope it goes the positive way," said the 2009 world champion, who made his debut as a 20-year-old with Williams in 2000.

The 21-year-old Dane is the son of former McLaren and Stewart racer Jan Magnussen and will be the first rookie to make his F1 debut with McLaren since Britain's Lewis Hamilton in 2007.

He steps into the seat vacated by Mexican Perez amid high praise and even higher expectations.

If Magnussen has any doubts about what is expected of him then he need only consider the fate of Perez, a once highly touted prospect who has been jettisoned by the former champions after one disappointing season.

The Formula One starting grid is a shark tank and the 33-year-old Button, who has been in F1 the longest of the drivers currently in the sport, knows better than to get too attached to team mates.

Button said farewell to Hamilton, the 2008 champion, last year and will now be on his third different team mate at McLaren.

Good feedback

"It's always sad to see a team mate leave," said Button. "I have never really been that close to my team mates but still you spend a whole season with someone who goes through the same highs and lows that you do.

"It's the same as the end of last year. You build a relationship with a team mate, you learn a lot about each other, gain experience and then things change.

"It's a little bit tough initially but you learn to adapt as we all do in life."

Magnussen has shown all the signs of being a quick learner as well as quick on the track and Button is not about to become anyone's nursemaid.

"If he's willing to learn from the go and picking things up, I don't think so," said Button. "I'm sure he's going to learn from me, I've been in this sport for 13 years but you also learn things from young drivers.

"We've seen his speed in other Formulas and I think the team has been impressed with his speed in the test that he has done.

"The bit for me that is more important is feedback but I've heard his feedback is very good from those tests, which is good that I can believe and trust his feedback."

After a brutally disappointing campaign that has seen McLaren finish no higher than fifth in 17 races so far, the team will be looking for a big bounce back next season when there are major changes and a new V6 engine.

"I've said all year that it's important to have a team mate, especially with the new regulations, that has experience," said Button.

"Kevin doesn't have that but his outright speed is very good and the bit that is more important to me is, from the testing he has done in a Formula One car, his feedback has been very good which has to be very important at the start of the year." (Editing by Alan Baldwin)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com