Motorsport: Hamilton driving on an ‘unseen’ level

Hamilton topped the timesheets in Friday practice ahead of Sunday’s Russian Grand Prix. Mercedes has not been beaten at Sochi, where Ferrari needs to record a strong result to claw back lost ground.

Unlike many drivers who live private lives toiling away in the gym or on racing simulators when away from the track, Hamilton makes headlines for rubbing shoulders with celebrities, developing fashion collections with Tommy Hilfiger and cavorting with rap star Nicki Minaj - a relationship Cosmo describes as “Instagram official”.

Wolff says Lewis is “just in a good place”. 

“Without wanting to go into too much detail I think he is in a good place in his life and he enjoys racing,” the team boss says.

“He enjoys the activities outside of racing and [if we] give him a good car and then he’s able to perform on a level that is unseen.

“What is impressive with him is the constant development and the search for the optimum performance, and this translates into every aspect of his life.”

While other drivers might whinge about track conditions or how the car is handling, Wolff says Hamilton - arguably the world’s best driver - focuses on his own performance in team meetings.

“He’s the only driver I’ve ever heard saying, ‘I haven’t driven well, first we have to look at my driving and then we look at the data’. This constant drive for perfection happens every year and is, I believe, one of the reasons why he is such a complete racing driver.”

For his part, Lewis says "Sochi has been one of the weaker circuits for me in the past, particularly last year".

"So I’ve done a lot of work to understand the balance and see where I can improve to try and rectify this – today has been good in that sense," he says.

"We’ve brought more upgrades this weekend; there’s so much work going on at home and it’s just really encouraging when you come to a race and you get an upgrade, knowing that this late in the season we’re also already working on next year’s car – it motivates me to get the best out of everything. It’s been a good day for us, so let’s hope that it continues tomorrow."

Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas was second to Hamilton on Friday afternoon.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo were third and fourth at a track where Red Bull has not finished on the podium. But the pair will struggle to challenge ‘Benz on Sunday, as Red Bull has switched to an older Renault engine design this weekend, incurring penalties which will place Ricciardo and Verstappen at the back of the grid. 

That’s welcome news for Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who trails Hamilton by 40 points with six races to run. 

Drivers are awarded 25 points for first place, 18 points for second and 15 for third, all the way down to one point for 10th place. 

Vettel can secure the 2018 title from here if he takes victory in every race left on the calendar - if Vettel wins and Hamilton finishes second at every round from Russia onward, the Mercedes driver will fall two points short of his margin. Hamilton needs three victories and one podium to seal the deal.

Qualifying for the Russian Grand Prix starts at 10pm eastern time.

V8 Supercars

Craig Lowndes' retirement from full-time racing will create a hole in the 2019 V8 Supercars grid.

Beyond the fact of not having the three-time champion in the field, his Triple Eight Racing team has confirmed it will scale back to run just two cars next year, focusing on the Red Bull Holden Racing Team duo of Jamie Whincup and Shane Van Gisbergen.

Team boss Roland Dane confirmed this week the third Racing Entitlements Contract he owns to run the Team Lowndes Autobarn entry is on the market for a new - or another - team to purchase.

World Rally Championship

Five-time World Rally Champion Sebastien Ogier will return to the Citroen team in 2019, hoping to emulate Finnish legend Juha Kankkunen by winning titles with three different manufacturers.

The Frenchman, who started his career with the French car maker before joining the Volkswagen outfit where he won four championship titles, has raced for the privateer M-Sport team in a Ford Fiesta for the past two seasons after the German brand's sudden departure at the end of 2016 in the aftermath of the diesel gate emissions cheating scandal.

Ogier arrowly claimed the 2017 championship but is almost certain to lose his crown this year to Hyundai's Thierry Nueville, while Citroen has struggled to live up to expectations with its C3 WRC, firing its lead driver Kris Meeke half way through the season following a spate of expensive crashes.

"I really like the idea of working again with people with whom things went pretty well a few years back and I'm also excited by the chance to try and pull off the challenge of becoming world champion with a third different manufacturer," he said.

"And, although I'm not taking anything for granted, I am convinced that the car has definite potential and I have great faith in the people at Satory."

It is expected that Ogier will finish his stellar career at Citroen.