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  • 2019 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    2019 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    DRIVERS – Alex ALBON (Red Bull Racing), Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing), George RUSSELL (Williams), Sergio PÉREZ (Racing Point), Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Alex, many congratulations, new colours for you this weekend. How much of as surprise was it for you to get the call up for this weekend?

    Alex ALBON: Yeah, definitely. Starting the summer break, I came into it expecting a relaxing time and then the first day of the summer break I got told the news. I had a lot of time to think about it. Obviously in F1 with the summer break you can’t really speak to anyone, so there was a lot of time there where I was like: “OK, who do I speak to? What can I do?” The first time really speaking to everyone was really on Monday. I’m kind of catching up right now, trying to know all the team and that’s about it.

    Q: So what are the objectives for this weekend at Spa?

    AA: Just see how the weekend goes. We’re starting at the back anyway. Just take it step-by-step. Obviously it’s a new environment around, so just trying to understand really how the team works, how the car works and just to listen to Max as well, just to see how he interacts with the team and kind of learn from that. Yeah, we’ll take it step-by-step.

    Q: And on a scale of 1-10 how excited are you?

    AA: I’d say it’s a 10 for excitement, but then the numbers for nerves are quite high as well!

    Q: Good luck, thank you Alex. Max, what was your reaction when you heard Alex was going to be your team-mate?

    Max VERSTAPPEN: Well I knew before. They told me when I was on the simulator before holidays so for me it was not a surprise. I mean, yeah, I’ve been there before myself.

    Q: And are you looking forward to having him as a team-mate? What do you think you can achieve together?

    MV: I guess time will tell isn’t it. It’s a bit difficult for me to answer that. Alex is a great guy. I know him already for a long time. A bit like Pierre, we raced against each other, all together in 2010. Yeah, he’s a fast guy and as you can hear he’s very excited and that’s always good.

    Q: Max, the car was very competitive before the summer break. What are your expectations here at Spa?

    MV: I don’t know. I think in general it will be a bit tougher for us because of the long straights, but even in Silverstone, for example, we were still competitive, so we just needs to find a good balance in the car. Of course, around here Sectors 1 and 3 are pretty much flat out and in Sector 2 there are a lot of corners, so you have to find the right compromise there.

    Q: OK, good luck with that. Thank you, Max. Checo, a lot of talk about contracts coming into this weekend. What news about your whereabouts for 2020?

    Sergio PÉREZ: Yeah, I’ve seen the news. It was a busy day in that regard. I am confident and I hope that soon we can announce it and just can get on with it.

    Q: Announce with Racing Point?

    SP: Well, what my plans are. I think I am very close to finding out what I am going to do for next year, so it shouldn’t be long before I know.

    Q: OK. Turning to this weekend, the car wasn’t so competitive last time out, can we expect more from you here because the team certainly has a good record at Spa-Francorchamps?

    SP: Yeah. No, definitely. It’s a good place for us. We’ve been strong in the past so I see no reason why we cannot be strong this weekend. The margins in the midfield are very small, so a little improvement it can put us back in contention to be the fourth fastest here. We are aiming to finish the season on a high. It has been a struggle all the way up to now but margins are small, we are improving, so hopefully we can finish the season with the fourth fastest car.

    Q: OK, good luck with that. Thanks Checo. George, I’ve asked almost everybody else about 2020, so I’m going to ask you. What are you plans?

    George RUSSELL: Hopefully in Formula One, I guess. No, I’ll be racing with Williams next year. When I signed the deal it was a multi-year deal with Williams, so I guess it’s just waiting to formally announce everything.

    Q: OK. It was a very solid performance from you in Hungary last time out. What can we expect from you here? Do you think you can maintain that momentum?

    GR: I think in Hungary we optimized everything to the absolute maximum. I think a few drivers didn’t – there was obviously the incident with Daniel and Sergio in qualifying, which probably helped us a little bit. I think this circuit, and also Monza next week, will really not suit our car. Unfortunately we don’t have much downforce but we also have a hell of a lot of drag, so we’re going to struggle on these long straights. But the season has been full of surprises and we’ll see what we can do.

    Q: OK, thanks for that. Valtteri, some very positive news for you this morning. You’re staying with Mercedes for another year. When were you told and please give us your reaction?

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, thank you, for sure that’s always good news when you get things confirmed for next year and it’s definitely all that I wanted, because I believe the team will be strong for sure for the rest of the year but also next year. I see no reasons why it wouldn’t. So obviously that made me very happy to hear it and to get it all done finally. I think it was last weekend that we signed and the paperwork was done. So we had to wait a bit until then, but I still had a good break and lots of fun and everything, but I’m happy now.

    Q: Looking ahead to this weekend. Ferrari won at Spa last year. Who are favourites coming into this weekend?

    VB: I think Ferrari can be really good here, as we’ve seen with the straight-line performance. There are super long straights here. And Red Bull have been improving at all kind of tracks. It’s not going to be an easy weekend for us, for sure. We are not standing still. We have some new parts on the car. I think also power unit. So it should be quite interesting to see how the car feels again here and how is the engine.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

     

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – liviooricchio.com) Max, all drivers says the first competition is on your side, your team-mate. Do you believe it will be more difficult for you, the next of the season, with Albon?

    MV: It’s a bit difficult to say at the moment. I rate Alex very high, but I also rated Pierre very high, so we’ll find out.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, how was your birthday party and was it like a double celebration because of your new contract as well?

    VB: Thanks, yeah, I turned 30 yesterday actually. I didn’t have a party yesterday but the day before I had. It was a good one, with some good people around. Obviously, 30 it happens only once in a lifetime, so… There is always a good excuse to throw a party, but that’s a good excuse. It was good. I enjoyed it. Was there another part to the question?

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Was it a double celebration because of the contract?

    VB: Well, yeah, for sure. I knew by then. Everything was done by then, so it was actually nice to celebrate with the closest people. Another good excuse.

    Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Question for Valtteri. After the last two races, what happened in Hockenheim and then in Budapest, did that add to the stress of waiting for the decision – or were you still confident you would get another contract?

    VB: To be honest, going to the summer break, and in this sport you know once you’ve not signed, anything can happen in this sport and obviously always what comes, the driver decisions by the teams, there’s many different things that the teams look at and what kind of things make the difference between the choices, and obviously it was very openly spoken, the whole situation between me and Esteban and yeah, so I had to wait until last weekend. For sure it was… thinking about it and other options just in case, because obviously you never, in this sport, want to be left between two chairs. So for sure I was trying to make a plan for something else but then things started to go the right way and I saw that it’s just better to commit to this as it is, and it makes me, like I said, very happy to know about the future and don’t need to worry about that now. I can just really focus on the job. Unlike the last couple of races I really want to have a strong result here and a really strong end of the year.

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Alex, can you just explain a little about how you found out that you were going to be driving for Red Bull for this part of the season? And also, do you think that you’ve got the tools to be able to take the challenge to Max at Red Bull?

    AA: Yeah, sure. So, it was just a normal thing, a daily catch-up with Dr Marko in his office in Austria. Pretty much that’s how the conversation went. I think it was the Monday at the beginning of the summer break. That conversation went through and it was one of those things: “oh, by the way, this is what’s going on.” And that was pretty much it. I think you guys knew only an hour after I did, so it was quite close, in that sense. But yeah, it was all OK. Regarding Max, yes, on my side it’s really just focusing on myself. I’m not looking too much at Max at the minute. I’m know I’m coming in quite inexperienced. I know that; I think the team know that as well. So, it will just be about step-by-step; start from the beginning, know my team, know how everyone works and understand the car and then we’ll see. Treat every weekend race-by-race really and if we start picking up results towards the end, that’s obviously great – but that’s not really the focus at the minute.

    Q: Alex, team-mates now but when did you first race Max?

    AA: 2010, wasn’t it? We did the European and World Championships together. We had a few crashes together, do you remember?

    MV: A few touches, yeah!

    AA: We had a good rivalry going. Max was the young guy, I was the experienced one – which is a bit weird. I mean, I’m older than Max but he’s a bit more experienced than me in F1. So, yeah, we started like that. We had some good races.

    Q: (Pierre Van Vliet – Fi) To Alex again – sorry Alex – just to understand, how difficult is it going to be to adapt to a new team in the middle of the season – and do you fear encountering the same difficulties as Pierre Gasly versus Max?

    AA: I can’t really tell what it’s like from experience to start with a new team midway through. We did some sim this weekend, just to try to get the first initial feeling and, of course, the cars are different but in the end they still have four wheels and yeah, we’ll get used to it. In terms of the whole feeling of not being ready. Let’s say, the beginning of the year, in February when I didn’t drive the car, I felt more in this situation than I do now. That kind of anxiety and stress about ‘what’s it going to be like?’ I went through that already in January. Coming into the summer break I was a lot more relaxed about it – and again, yeah, we’ll see? I wasn’t looking too much at Pierre, I was just focused on myself. Of course, I think Max is on top of his game right now, so it would never be easy but with Pierre, I wasn’t really involved in all of that and I didn’t really look too much on where he was struggling – but it’s still trying to do my own thing and trying to get on top of the car.

    Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Alex, a couple for you wrapped into one. First of all, I’m sure you’re caught in the whirlwind at the moment but ten months ago you thought your Formula One career was over, so can you take a step back and tell us how you feel about that huge turnaround in your career and, secondly, does the engine penalty take the pressure off a bit for this weekend?

    AA: Yes, it is quite laughable really, when I look back at it. Even just now, having the announcement and everything. I called my Mum and Dad, it was the first thing I did and they were… it’s kind of a journey that we’ve all took from… even as early as 2012, I don’t think my career has been very fluid, let’s say. I’ve had a few ups and downs and just to be in this position is incredible. I think there are a lot of drivers who have done an amazing job in F1 who have never been given an opportunity to be in a race winning, championship winning team. So, it’s a big opportunity for me and I really know that. Engine penalty, you could say that, yes. I think we just go into the weekend more towards the race pace, more focused on race pace – which also means more laps as well. So, that will be the target – and yes, of course, I think that kind of feeling, straight away into qualifying, it will be a different atmosphere but I still would have liked to have given it a go and see how I would have done in qualifying and started further up than I will be.

    Q: (Jonathan McEvoy – Daily Mail) To Max, how much do you think you can really have a go at Lewis now over these last nine races? How high have you set your ambitions and realities?

    MV: I always try to do the best I can. I think it’s just going to be a bit track dependent for us. Where are we going to be a bit more competitive? I’m expecting this to be a bit more tricky, and especially Monza but from there onwards, and especially with upgrades coming to the car. Of course, everybody is doing that but I think, in recent years we’ve always been quite strong in developing the car throughout the year. Yeah, there are a few tracks where I think we can have a good go but for the Championship, I don’t think so. But, as I said, I always try to get the best out of it every single race weekend and we’ll find out where we end up at the end.

    Q: (Phil Duncan – Press Association) Alex, you said you called your Mum and Dad when you found out that you’d got the drive with Red Bull; can you just say how they reacted?

    AA: Sure. Mum was just being a Mum, kind of that ‘ah, I don’t know what to say’ kind of thing. OK, thanks. And then my Dad was just laughing actually. Yeah, just kind of surreal. I felt like they were a bit more excited than I was actually.

    Q: (Vladimir Rogovets – Sb Belarus) I have a question for Max: we know you for five seasons already and every time we are writing ‘Max is a very good young driver’. What do you think? How long can you be a young driver?

    MV: Until I’m old. Is it 30 that you get old? Thirty. OK. Well, I guess there’s eight and a half more years.

    Q: (Joost Nederfelt – NU.NL) Max, can you imagine other drivers being a bit nervous being your team-mate, as it can damage their careers?

    MV: Well. I don’t know. I think everybody always tries to do the best they can, don’t they? I don’t know what to answer. It’s a bit shitty – to answer.

    Q: Do you feel on top of your game like never before at the moment?

    MV: I think it’s quite natural. You just get older and more experienced so for me it’s not a big surprise what is happening at the moment. Just a natural process that you go through, that you become better. I think it would be bad if you were already declining at 21.

    Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Max, you drive into Spa from the Burnenville direction and all you can see on your left hand side is big Max Verstappen banners and motorhomes and all the rest of it, and driving over there’s caravanners and everything coming in from the Netherlands. You’ve got a following for a single driver that hasn’t been seen for a while. How do you feel about that? What kind of reaction do you have and what kind of interaction do you have with the fans? Do you know any of them, do you meet them? How does that all work?

    MV: Well, I think over the year I get to meet quite a few but of course it’s amazing to see that, to have such a big following. Of course, I think also the colour helps quite a bit. It’s quite easy to spot a Dutch fan around the track. I would say it’s a positive motivation for the weekend because I don’t experience any more pressure through it because at the end of the day, you always try to do the best you can so it’s not changing for this weekend. The more the better, of course. They get quite crazy with flares and stuff so I remember once going up the Kemmel straight, it was almost turning orange but yeah, it’s great to see and of course I’m happy to have such a big following. I hope over the years that it will only become bigger.

    Q: Do you find it motivational to have that many people supporting you?

    MV: Absolutely. It brings a big smile to my face and of course if you then… like here, we created our own grandstand as well so when you see them all jumping up like during the drivers’ parade or there’s any music going on they’re going completely crazy already when there’s not even a race going on then it’s quite special.

    Q: (Arjan Schouten – AD) Alex, to follow up on the question from my neighbour here, in a process, did you get a chance at Red Bull, is there any room for doubt in your first year or is doubt not even in the question and you just go on it?

    AA: Yeah. The way I see it is that it’s an opportunity. Doubt in myself, not really, no. You have to go into it as confident as you can. I can have no… I’ve only done six months in a Formula One car so there is definitely room for improvement and I know that. When I look back at how I was in Melbourne and how I am now, I have definitely improved as a driver so I know that kind of progress is only going to continue and of course jumping into a car this early I do feel like in a way you would wish it would happen a bit later but no, I’m still very excited and I can’t wait to get started.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – liviooricchio.com) Valtteri, you started the season at a very high level, you won in Australia and Azerbaijan and then you were unlucky in some situations and also did some mistakes in Hockenheim. In this period of vacation, did you analyse your own performance in the first part of the season and if you can come back in the same level as you started the championship?

    VB: Yeah, for sure you’re always analysing. You look back to things to learn from those and for sure with the team before we all went for holidays we had a good catch-up on everything and as always, trying to improve and learn from every single mistake and every single situation. I feel that I could have been better or we could have been better as a team, so there’s nothing new in that and definitely I feel overall the level at the beginning of the year was very good but I believe my performance since then has not been dropping, it’s just been a few odd races and some mistakes for sure, that has been my bad which were not there at the beginning of the year. But those happen and you learn from that and my goal, definitely, for the second half is to be as strong as I can, try to be on my best level and I know what I can do if I get there but how to get there, that’s the tricky part in this sport but obviously the goal is to – and I have the belief that I can be strong for the rest of the year.

    Q: And Valtteri, has Lewis Hamilton said anything to you about your contract renewal?

    VB: Yeah, he sent me a message actually when it was all confirmed, when he heard about it. I think so far we’ve made a good team and I believe we’re going to make a good team in the future as well.

    Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Just to follow up on that, Valtteri, you said that you needed to keep your options open in case you didn’t get the seat. I think you said that in Hungary as well before the mid-season break. Were there any talks with specific teams, any verbal agreements that you could then go back to Mercedes with and say ‘well, if you don’t keep me, I can go here’? How far did some discussions go if there were any?

    VB: Yeah, unfortunately I can’t really say much. That kind of question is very private, obviously, all the conversations. I would never say the name of the team or person I’ve been talking to because I want to keep the trust and people can trust me so can’t say much but basically, like I said, I was waiting first for Mercedes to decide and still knowing that other things could be possible if we wouldn’t continue but everything turned out good and I’m happy and the team is happy.

  • F1 2019: Belgium Gp Preview – Return From Hiatus

    F1 2019: Belgium Gp Preview – Return From Hiatus

    The summer hiatus is over and Formula 1 returns in true style at Belgium’s legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

    In the interim between races F1 has carried on its merry way of making headlines. Relatively early on in the summer break the somewhat inevitable announcement was made that after a string of lackluster performances Pierre Gasly will swop cockpits with Alex Albon from the Belgian Gp onwards.

    It’s a big knock to Gasly’s already tattered confidence but, at the very least, he has a chance to regain his footing as a Toro Rosso driver for the rest of the 2019 season. It won’t be an easy task by any stretch of the imagination but he should take heart from the fact that he wasn’t booted out of F1 and the Red Bull driver program entirely.

    As much pressure as Gasly faces to put his F1 career back on track Alex Albon faces exponentially more as a new Red Bull driver. The Thai-born driver is no stranger to success and many would go so far as to brand him a bonafide Karting superstar. He’s impressed in the lower Formula and at Toro Rosso too but the spotlight will become immeasurably more focused as he steps into a cockpit of a front-running car. He won’t be expected to beat teammate Max Verstappen from the word go but the Red Bull decision-makers are scrutinizing his performances. Should he perform well, which he definitely has the potential to do, he’ll all but seal his place at the team for 2020.

    M132185Pressure is everywhere in F1 and it’s found a home too in the cockpit of Valtteri Bottas. The Finn started the season with a bang but has faded in the last few grand prix weekends in comparison to teammate Lewis Hamilton. The pressure comes in the form of Esteban Ocon who is confirmed to be under consideration, along with Bottas, for the second Mercedes seat for 2020.

    However, Bottas may yet be safe as some rumours suggest that Merc could allow Ocon to be signed by Renault who is nearly always under pressure to be a put a French driver in the French works team. Where is the vacancy at Renault you ask? Some suggestions abound that Nico Hulkenberg could be off the Haas for next season in place of Romain Grosjean. Isn’t the silly season great?

    Ferrari too is under pressure. But then they have been under pressure to deliver a title for more than a decade now. The characteristics of Spa-Francorchamps should suit the 2019 Ferrari and its low-drag philosophy to a degree. Whether the red team will be able to get all their ducks in a row is another question. As Kimi Raikkonen’s triumph Texas last year remains Ferrari’s last race win the team will be desperate to get their name on the winners’ board for the first time in 2019. Spa may provide them their best chance of doing just that.

    There are few greater stretches of tarmac in the world than the 7.004 km Circuit at the foot of the Ardennes Mountains. It’s an old-school test of man and machine and demands precision, bravery, and respect. It’s a circuit seeping with nostalgia for all of the greats who has graced it before. It is Spa-Francorchamps.

  • F1 2019: So Far…

    F1 2019: So Far…

    The summer break typically denotes the ‘halfway’ mark of a Formula 1 season. Though there is technically less than half a season remaining in 2019 it’s in this ‘cool down’ period where teams will assess their performance to date and begin to plot the way forward for what remains.

    Before moving forward however it is imperative to assess the standout performance, good or bad, in the first twelve races of the year.

    Best rookies in a decade

    In Australia George Russell, Alex Albon, and Lando Norris lined up as F1 debutants and they haven’t put a wheel wrong since. As difficult as it is to shine in the lethargic Williams Russell has impressed by completely wiping the floor with teammate Robert Kubica. Additionally, his positive demeanour out of the car has shown his high level of professionalism and respect.

    Thai-born driver Alex Albon has been slightly under the radar but no less than any of the rookies. Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost, notoriously merciless, has nothing but praise for Albon. And Red Bull obviously agrees as they’ve slotted Albon into the senior team alongside Max Verstappen from the Belgian Gp onwards.

    McLaren’s Lando Norris is easily one of the most entertaining drivers on and off the track (his Instagram profile is definitely worth a follow) and he has some remarkable speed to boot. It’s clear that McLaren has made progress in 2019 but it still requires drivers to realize that improvement which Norris, and Sainz, has emphatically done. In fact, Norris has been so exciting and impressive that you’d be excused for forgetting that he still only twelve races into his F1 career.

    GP GERMANIA F1/2019 - GIOVEDÌ 25/07/2019There have been numerous rookies in F1 over the last decade but Russell, Albon, and Norris are easily some of the most polished, accomplished, and exciting of them all.

    Biggest disappointment – Ferrari & Pierre Gasly

    It is now clear to that Ferrari’s design philosophy for their 2019 car is flawed. Their choice to focus on horsepower has seen them deliver the most powerful engine in the sport but at the cost of neglecting to concentrate on downforce. It’s come at a significant price for the Italian team who is yet to win a race in 2019.

    It hasn’t only a flawed design path that has cost Ferrari this season. Several instances of poor decision-making on the pitwall have resulted in some embarrassing gaffes. Their drivers too haven’t been operating at the top of their powers. Seb Vettel has occasionally cut a despondent figure this season while new recruit Charles Leclerc has made several mistakes at crucial times.

    Ferrari isn’t the only ones experiencing an annus horribilis in 2019. Pierre Gasly season can only be described as a shambles. The Frenchman has never found his feet at Red Bull. Twice he was embarrassingly lapped be his teammate and those weren’t even his worst Sundays. So woeful were his performances that he’s been ejected from the seat and sent back to Toro Rosso.

    Best team – Mercedes

    The German juggernaut simply picked up from where they left off in 2018. While there have been a few blips, read Austria and Germany, the Mercedes team has performed as clinically as ever. Valtteri Bottas hit the ground running in Australia and for much of the first half of the season seemed as if he would be a genuine contender for the title against teammate Lewis Hamilton. But the Finn has faded somewhat in crucial moments. The championship battle between this pair is far from concluded but is certainly slanted towards Hamilton who always finds another gear, pun intended, in the final push towards the conclusion of the season.

    2019 British GPThe added incentive, or pressure, for Bottas is that he is driving for his life at Mercedes. Team boss Toto Wolff has been open about the fact that the decision on who will partner Hamilton in 2020 is between Bottas and reserve driver Esteban Ocon. Despite Ocon’s impressive stint at Racing Point (formerly Force India) he remains an unknown quantity. Whereas Bottas has proven his ability to rack up the constructor’s points and even, on occasion, push Hamilton. Mercedes know what they have in Bottas and can hardly afford a Gasly-Red Bull type situation with Ocon. If Merc do stick with Bottas there is likely to be a spot at Williams for Ocon in place of Kubica.

     Best driver – Max Verstappen

    In qualifying for the 2018 Monaco grand prix Max Verstappen’s exuberance got the better of him. He ended up in the wall and out of victory contention. Something else changed too. He learnt a lesson that day that he’s adopted as part of his repertoire ever since: speed and precision equal results. It is clear that he has grown and matured in leaps and bounds since that moment.

    Its transformed Verstappen from a quick racing driver to a driver ready to contend for a championship. Now if Red Bull could deliver a car on par with Verstappen’s considerable talent from the start of the season, and maintain it, he’ll be a champion before long.

  • F1 2019: Hungarian Gp Review – Hamilton Charges to Victory

    F1 2019: Hungarian Gp Review – Hamilton Charges to Victory

    For the first time in his career Max Verstappen secured pole position for the Hungarian grand prix with a breathtaking lap on Saturday. Not only was P1 a new experience for the Dutchman but so would be leading a grand prix from the front.

    For nearly all of his previous seven race wins Verstappen has been the hunter. However, the tables were turned and it was up to the Red Bull driver to control the race and maintain the lead while being hunted by the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton. And until the last third of the race Verstappen had been doing a mighty fine job of holding P1.

    But such was the pace of the leading pair that it created a colossal gap to the Ferrari’s of Leclerc and Vettel. A gap big and obvious enough for Mercedes to bring Hamilton into the pits for a fresh set of tyres. While Verstappen tried to eek out the laps on his set of hard tyres Hamilton was unleashed on fresh rubber and eviscerated the nineteen-second gap to the leader. Initially, Verstappen seemed able to respond and for the briefest of moments it seemed possible that he could hold the lead. But Hamilton delivered a blistering pace, sometimes more than two seconds a lap quicker, to be right on the Red Bull’s gearbox with four laps to go. He made short work of a defenseless Verstappen and career victory number 81 was in the bag.

    It’s gone from bad to worse for Ferrari in the first half of the season and Hungary was no exception. Sebastian Vettel, on an alternate strategy, was able to snatch the final step of the podium from teammate Charles Leclerc but it was an embarrassing outing for Ferrari who finished more than a minute adrift of the race-winner. Fundamentally, the 2019 Ferrari is lacking in downforce. So it doesn’t come as too much of a surprise then that they would struggle around the long medium speed corners of the Hungaroring. Still, to be more than a minute behind will smart all the way through the summer break.

    2019 Hungarian GPElsewhere, Carlos Sainz finished in a fine fifth place ahead of the ever under pressure Pierre Gasly in sixth while Kimi Raikkonen, in seventh, once again punched well above the Alfa Romeo’s weight. Valtteri Bottas finished eighth after suffering front-wing damage on the opening lap with a coming together first with teammate Hamilton and then Charles Leclerc. Lando Norris made it a double points score for McLaren in ninth while Thai-born driver Alex Albon secured the final point on offer in tenth.

    After pre-season testing the mid-field battle looked as if it would be an extremely close fight between several teams. And while it is for the most part still closely fought the opening half of the season hasn’t gone quite the way many would have expected. What has gone accordingly to expectation is that McLaren are well in charge of the mid-field battle with 82 points on the board. Toro Rosso too will be pleased with 5thplace in the constructor’s championship courtesy of Kvyat’s podium finish in Germany.

    But there are big question marks at Renault as they are not only being beaten by their customer team in McLaren but also by both Honda powered teams. For a works team it simply isn’t good enough and the French team will have serious conversations over the break. It could possibly result in some restructuring at the top with team principal Cyril Abiteboul likely the most under pressure.

    2019 Hungarian GPAlfa Romeo may not say so publically but they’ll be thanking their lucky stars for Kimi Raikkonen who has scored 31 of the teams’ total of 32 points in 2019. They might even try to extend the Finn’s contract which currently takes him to the end of 2020. Despite a significant uptick in investment Racing Point it hasn’t materialized in the way they would’ve expected. There is still half a season to go however and they may yet come good as that investment begins to filter through.

    So far 2019 has been a head-scratcher for Haas. Though the American-based team clearly has a quick car it’s only shown in brief flashes. By their own admission they have struggled to understand the car and are still trying to comprehend why and how of it. For Williams there has hardly been a more difficult time than this season. But there is light at the end of the tunnel, as a new upgrade package appears to have pushed the team closer to the rest of the field. The important thing now for Williams will be to continue with this trend.

    In Austria, Silverstone, Germany, and Hungary Formula 1 have delivered four stunning races in succession and the good news is that there is still half a season to go.  It re-starts with the famed Belgian grand prix on August 30.

    All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport 
  • 2019 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

    2019 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    2 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)

    3 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

     

    TRACK INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by Paul Di Resta)

     

    Q: Lewis, I can see how much that one means to you. From a driving point of view that was exactly what you had to do to go out there and win it. You fought all the way the very end to get that one done. How do you feel?

    Lewis HAMILTON: Tired, which is how it should be, but I feel really grateful for the day and for the team for continuing to believe in me and continuing to push to the limits and to take a risk and a chance on me. We’ve been together for seven years and it never gets old, it always feels brand new. It feels like a new win for us. If it wasn’t for these boys here and all the guys back at the factory this wouldn’t be even possible and I’m just grateful to be a part of it. Yeah, for a race to be able to push like that, I’m telling you now it was on the limit all the way.

    Q: The gap was there to take that chance, to roll the dice and try something on strategy, but you had a bit of management in there with brakes, because you had nearly got Max before. Was it always going to be on edge to get that pass done?

    LH: Honestly, we’ve had brake problems all weekend, having like separation of the front temperatures and glazing, and I was a bit worried. We made some changes and it still didn’t make a difference and naturally we get into the race and we have this problem, so I was doing a lot of lift and coast and not even touching the brake for half the lap. Now of course in the big stops you had to lose it. I was just trying to save as much as I could for that time when I do get a chance. It was very, very difficult to get by, defence was great, they were quite quick on the straights. But honestly I didn’t know if I could catch that 19-second gap because there is a big… my tyres were going to drop off and all these different things are going through your mind, but like the team said, you just keep your head down, so I did and kept pushing and pushing and the gap closed and closed and closed. The laps were like qualifying laps every lap. So my hat off to the team and I think if Niki was here today he’d take his hat off.

    Q: I think everybody would. That’s seven wins in Hungary and a nice way to sign off for the summer break. Enjoy your rest. Max, I know you’re not going to be very happy with what happened but they had the chance to do what they did. You were not fortunately in that position (sic) but I guess you’ve got to be satisfied and Driver of the Day to say that.

    Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, we were just not fast enough. I tried everything I could on that hard tyre to stay alive but unfortunately it was just not enough. But still, second and fastest lap, I think a good weekend overall for us. Of course congrats to Lewis for the win. He was pushing me very hard, so I like that. Today we didn’t win but again, like I said, it was a good day, a good weekend for us.

    Q: What was missing today? That’s four very good races but the one we all thought you would get the job done, these guys came out very strong.

    MV: Just lacking a bit of grip I guess. We tried the one stop, of course they had the opportunity to do a two and today that worked out well.

    Q: Sebastian, right at the very end of the grand prix. I know these guys had a lonely race at the front but always satisfying to pass your team-mate, you did something different on strategy, and to sign off what is going to be a difficult break for you guys to bounce back?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, I mean obviously I was sitting in P4 and had nothing to lose so we stayed out very long in the first stint and then just hoped that the soft would last until the end, and it did. I think it was the fastest tyre at the end so we were able to close the gap. We had one opportunity, which I took, so happy to get some champagne now and to cool down. Yeah, we couldn’t go the pace with these two; that was quite clear the whole weekend, so lots of work ahead of us. I think it’s good now for everyone to get a break, the guys have been working very, very hard. We need maybe to charge our batteries and then the battle continues. There will be tracks that we will be better for us but still, overall we need to get stronger.

    Q: With Spa and Monza coming up after the summer break you guys have got to be favourites for that with your straight-line speed.

    SV: Yeah, I don’t know what other people will do in terms of updates on power unit and the engine side, so we’ll see. Obviously on paper they look better of for us. But yeah, still we know we have margin with the car. As you said it will be a busy break for us. I don’t think anyone’s mind can rest in the two weeks, so maybe we come up with some good ideas for the second half.

     

    PRESS CONFERENCE

     

    Q: Max coming to you, great performance by you all weekend and so much rested on that strategic call. Were you tempted to pit as well?

    MV: It wouldn’t have made sense because I would have been behind then so then you know the race is lost anyway. So the only option was for me to continue and that’s what we did. Of course at one point I started to run out of tyres, I think trying to keep up with Lewis’ pace on those medium tyres, trying to keep it within a second was almost impossible. And of course you can see it coming, so for me it was not a big disappointment once he passed me, it was just a normal thing to happen. Anyway, we have to be realistic and he was just clearly faster today. Always I was struggling a little bit more for grip than him. He could keep the pressure on. Of course when you are in second you can gamble to do a two-stop. For me it was always about trying to cover him or stay ahead. With the two-stop, worst case scenario is you stay second and best case you overtake me and that’s what they did today. Yeah, then we pitted at the end as well. Of course happy to then do that fastest lap. It’s still one point and hopefully at the end of the year it will matter. Let’s see.

    Q: And when you were on the same tyres compound how much did you relish that battle with Lewis?

    MV: So, I think on the first tyre he never really had a shot. We were still competitive in the last sector and then when we got on the hard tyre… also with the traffic, because of that he had a few goes at me because I couldn’t do my normal lines in the last few corners and he caught up with that. And then with the defending, I tried to do it as good as I could. Luckily I could stay ahead and then he had to manage his brakes and engine a bit but you could see clearly once that was sorted he closed the gap again. If he had stayed on that one stop I think I could have kept him behind. But once he was on the medium you know it’s going to be really hard.

    Q: Sebastian, strategy played a significant part in your race as well. How tough was it to get the distance on that first set of medium tyres?

    SV: Very tough. I think they were in very poor condition at the end. I was happy we tried. Obviously we tried to hang in there. I think we stayed out another 10 or 15 laps after Charles pitted, just to try to do something different, maybe hope for a safety car, but to be honest by then obviously the top two were sort of gone anyways. It was really for the sake of trying something different, which looked very distant to ideal when we had the stop and I came out but then I just tried everything I had and got one chance in the end. In the end it’s not a big deal, third or fourth for the team, it’s still the same. The big picture for today is that we were not quick enough and not able to follow them right from two laps into the race.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

     

    Q: (Christian Menath – motorsport-magazin.com) Max, usually Red Bull is quite good on race pace and not so good on qualifying pace. Do you have an explanation why it was the other way round this weekend? Was it becauswe of the Friday, which was a little bit weird?

    MV: No, I think then you can see how much margin they have when they really need to push. I think Lewis today was on fire as well, but then you see, once he really has to go for it you can see that that car is still the dominant car, it’s as simple as that. Whereas in some races it’s not as necessary. Of course they had their issues in Austria with overheating so you can’t push. Of course in Hockenheim it was tricky conditions as well so you can’t really drive to the limit of the car. But here today I think he had to go for it flat out, because I was also pushing flat out and then you can see what they are capable of as a team.

    Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriera della Sera) Sebastian, given the hotter temperature did you expect from your car. Is it now a step back in the performances?

    SV: No, I think the temperatures were fine. It was quite warm, the track was near 50 degrees as well so I don’t think so. I think we saw our limits yesterday. We got a confirmation today, so I don’t think it’s a step back, we had some bits, it was a small step forward but what it shows is that it’s not enough. It’s important that the mood inside the team remains positive, which is the case. I think everybody knows what we are lacking. Obviously we are very competitive on the straights – yesterday 6 or 7kph faster at the end of the straight compared to Red Bull and also Mercedes – but obviously we are losing quite a lot in the corners. There were some tracks where efficiency is more important, this is a track where inefficiency pays off, so whatever you have in terms of downforce is positive. That’s where we are lacking performance and in the race I think it shows even more because you are sliding and then I think we are going through the tyres faster. So not to our advantage. We have seen that as well in recent weeks, so in a way not a surprise but as I said we need to keep our head down and do the work.

    Q: Thank you Sebastian. Lewis, thank you for joining us. Can you just give us your thoughts when you were 19 seconds behind with 20 laps to go?

    LH: Well, firstly, Max really drove a sensational race today, as he has done particularly the last few races. When I was behind him on the hard tyre it didn’t look like he had particularly good pace – maybe he was managing to get to the end – but I had a lot of grip and I was thinking ‘I can definitely make this tyre go to the end’, because the first one I got to go quite far. But the team said we were going to a two-stop and I was thinking ‘how is this going to work out, I’m going to come out quite far behind’. But you have to put complete faith in your team because they have different viewpoint to you, so we did the stop and I came out on the mediums and I thought ‘Jeez, I don’t know if these are going to go the distance at the speed I am going to have to go’. Also Max turned up the engine mode and they started doing mid-19s. I started thinking ‘I don’t know if I’m close this gap’. I think the trajectory, they said I was going to catch him with nine laps to go and then that changed super quickly and went to last lap. So after that I had to put all doubt and all question marks out of my mind and go for the best laps I could do every single lap and consistency and not drop any time whatsoever. I had one of the most consistent period of laps that I’d had. I don’t know if he had traffic or mistakes or whatever but the gap started to chop down quite quickly. I think with four or five laps to go I had him four seconds ahead and I could see him in my sights, so maybe he’s struggling with his tyres. So after that I was like ‘OK, we’ve got a serious race on here’. It felt like the steepest wall to climb when you come out that far behind but the team had relaxed faith that we would do it and I’m grateful for their hard work and the decision.

    Q: (Stuart Codling – F1 Racing) Question for Max. You said just now that we saw how much margin Mercedes have. That notwithstanding, you had a brilliant race today. How much confidence does that give you, that you can come back after the summer break and take the fight to Mercedes?

    MV: I think there are a few tracks coming up that are maybe not as ideal for us – but of course we know we have some updates coming soon to the car and the engine, so hopefully that will again bring us closer. We’ll find out then.

    Q: (Giles Richards – The Guardian) Congratulations Lewis, after what happened in Germany, does this feel like a redemptive special win for you and for Mercedes, to come back so strongly?

    LH: I generally don’t like to look at redemption, if that’s the right word. Naturally, you know I don’t really make a lot of mistakes and I think the last one was definitely a massive off-weekend for me, and so this weekend, these two weeks, the team have been really great and supportive and taking off the workload, allowing me to recover and really just giving me the best support group possible to take any extra pressure off. Coming to this weekend, I felt I was back on it. Qualifying didn’t go the way I’d planned and I’d hoped. Then today, once I got into second, I was like ‘OK, game on’. And I could keep up with Max, no problems. So I was like, ‘we’ve got an actual real race on here. How is it going to play out? I don’t know. We’re going to have to figure it out as we go along.’ And obviously we both know where we’re going to strategy-wise. Yeah. I truly believed I could get by him at some stage but we’re also fighting at different points in the Championship. I think if we were level on points today would have been an even more aggressive battle, I would say, in the wheel-to-wheels that we did have but obviously we didn’t need to take extra risks today. So, I think Max was really fair and great with where he positioned his car. I just always made sure I gave extra space, just in case. But, of course, going into the break, this is a great, great uplift for the team, particularly after a difficult weekend for us all in the last one. So all the guys back at the factory, a big, big thank you, and the guys here with the strategy. They’re very, very calm when they talk about the strategy like that today. “No, no, truly believed you could do it.” For sure they were nervous as hell that it wasn’t going to work. I think collectively we made it happen, so it’s good.

    Q: (Luke Smith – crash.net) Lewis, congratulations. We saw that battle you had with Max through the middle of the race. Could you talk us through that? How much do you enjoy these wheel-to-wheel fights with Max? And how nice is it that he’s stepped up and Red Bull have stepped up this year, so you’re fighting with him on a regular basis?

    LH: Yeah. It’s really fantastic to see Red Bull’s progress. Obviously we’re in a period of time, particularly this track has been a track that they’ve always been particularly fast in, in previous years and it’s really awesome for Honda as well, to see their progression. They’ve got a lot of power in that engine. So, don’t for one second think when get the…  I think we all get it… the timings where we all layout… the Red Bull were quicker than us on a single lap this weekend and we thought we were relatively level in the race but we were just able to keep up with them and match their times. I think it’s going to continue for the races to come. Even the faster circuits, the engine’s going to be great in Monza, so hopefully we’ll see this battle continue for the rest of the season. And, fingers crossed, Ferrari also will take a step back towards us at some point over the next races. But going into the break, this is awesome.

    Q: (Vladimir Rogovets – Sb Belarus) Thank you very much guys for a very good job, for very nice race. I am really happy to be here. My question to Max. How do you feel close with nine championship titles.

    MV: I don’t know what to say! I have none! I don’t know what to comment on this! I still have a few years, hopefully in F1, so hopefully one day I can add one. Yeah. That’s it, I think.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – F1.com) Max, at the beginning you were only two-tenths on average slower than Lewis. Then from lap 61, 62, 63 more than 2s. So the tyre disappeared completely? And Sebastian, in spite of what you said to us, that you didn’t expect much from the team here, before coming – did you expect more than sixty seconds the difference between you and the winner?

    MV: Yeah. I think it’s quite normal. Lewis was on a medium tyre, pushing flat out of course to catch up, and I was on a hard tyre trying to go flat out but trying to keep the gap but yeah, I was always trying to keep it within a second because then I knew, OK, we can get to the end but at one point the tyres were gone. I started losing one and a half second a lap and then at one point two seconds, and it was just sliding and you feel the rubber is gone, so there isn’t much you can do. It’s quite normal when you have to push that hard on the tyre quite late in the race, where you normally don’t want to push as hard on the tyre. So I guess it’s a normal progression of the tyre drop off.

    Sebastian?

    SV: I think some tracks you know maybe suit you, some maybe less. Despite that I think I was fairly open-minded and you know, you don’t want to accept that. So I tried everything to prove the opposite. But looking now, after yesterday, we simply didn’t have the pace of those two in particular. So there’s obviously work for us to be done. We have room to improve, in the corners is where we’re lacking. With that obviously comes the advantage on the straight, one goes with the other. But, for sure, if we could make a trade, then we would go for it. We’ve been adding small bits to the car this weekend. They were working but obviously not big enough to really get close on a track like this. There might be tracks coming up next, especially with Spa and Monza that might be better for us – but in the end our ambition is to really force things to happen, be in control of the race. Where we are now, we’re quite far away from that. So, yeah, I think the spirit is good though. The team is willing to give everything they have, continue to give everything they have. And that’s all we can do right now.

    Q: (Tom Jackson – City Press) Question for all three of you. The lack of meaningful running we saw on Friday afternoon went some way to us seeing the variation in strategy that we did today that allowed you to put on fresh tyres and go for the win and things like that. Would you, in the future, be happy to have less running earlier in the weekend, as drivers getting less track time, if it meant we got more unpredictability later on Sunday?

    LH: I never really thought of it. I mean, if it can help with racing, sure. I think this weekend, not many people… I don’t think the Red Bulls did a long run, we did a long run in P1. I think one of few that did. I don’t know how much difference that made. It’s just that we did have an understanding of how far we thought we could take the tyres but somehow the other teams are able to do something similar with their strategies. But yeah… do you think it would make a difference.

    SV: No, I actually like driving, so it would be quite bad to get rid of some. I don’t think it’s a lot of driving anyway. We do a lot of races but overall I don’t think we drive very much. So, it would be a pity, I think. If you want to address the racing then there’s other things to focus on other than adding or taking away a practice session.

    LH: It definitely does help when you go into a race and you don’t know how far the tyre’s going to go. That is quite… I think that is not a bad thing and I think that can add to the spectacle. If you put on a medium tyre or a hard tyre and don’t know how far it’s going to go, none of us do, it definitely makes it more questionable, the strategy. So, I understand what you’re saying but we’ve got more, bigger problems, fish to fry, the way the car’s designed and things like that for the future.

    Max, your thoughts.

    MV: I think anyway, this year already quite often you go into the race on a tyre you haven’t driven on in practice – because you only select one. I think it’s not bad. I like also sometimes the challenge of not knowing what’s happening. I mean, the problem is most of the time, you put that tyre on, if the balance is bad it’s hard to pass, for the guy behind. So it’s more about the following where we need to work on. If the guy behind is faster, he should be able to get by. So that’s all in relation to the tyres as well. Sometimes, of course, on purpose we don’t select the hardest compound more than once because that’s mandatory. Because you know if you stick it on, even without any knowledge, you can stay ahead and just get to the end.

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lewis, lots will be made of the strategy decisions today and obviously while you say it was a great call but Max earlier said that you were on fire today so how highly do you rate your individual performance over those last 20 laps or so?

    LH: Well, it was definitely a really good day today. I think today was clearly… once we got up to second I knew that me and Max were going to have a good race. Did I know I was going to get by? Honestly I was able to keep up with him, I was able to hold on to him within the two second gap and I was just trying to see whether I could make my tyres go longer than him and just kind of really studying him, I guess, really from behind, seeing how that was going. And then he started to drop off a cliff a little bit at the end and it’s really all about trying to make sure you’re in the right place at the right time. It’s not easy to follow, two seconds behind and obviously I had the brake problem as well, so I had to change my driving style quite a bit to enable this brake to go down in temperature so it meant doing a lot less braking and I had much much shorter bursts of braking and then in a lot of other places, half the lap I wasn’t really touching the brakes. So it really changes the balance of the car as well. I’m really glad of how I was able to delegate and work through that and collectively with the team, they did a really exceptional job. It will be interesting when we go back and talk about the two stop because today, this morning, we talked about the strategy and they said two stop was not going to happen and even when we called to do a two stop, I was like Jeez, I don’t know how this is going to work. A gamble’s always a good thing, it felt like a big gamble for us but at the time I felt like I had the pace on Max, I think, as I said, because I don’t know if he was backing off, or he was just controlling the pace but I felt like OK, I’m going to have a few attempts at trying to pass him but at some stage the tyres are going to go off, so I don’t know how many attempts that will be. I really don’t know how long I made those mediums go but I think it was just a collectively… a really bold, risky strategy call and then just doing the job. At the end of the day, I had to do those laps to chew out the gap that he had on me so I think collectively, as a team, we did a really exceptional job.

    Q: (Péter Vámosi – Racing Line) Sebastian, you will become a father again, and with maximum respect to your personal life, can you tell us if you’re waiting (inaudible) girl and if a boy, will you be happy if he would chose your job as a racing car driver?

    SV: Well, I don’t like to talk about my private life so thank you, but I think we will leave it there.

    Q: (Dániel Májer – GP Hirek.hu) Now the summer break has started, the first part of the season is over so could you please rate your own performance from one to ten, one is the worst, ten is the best and explain briefly why you give yourself that mark?

    SV: Five, not happy with the first half. I think I struggled here and there to really get on top of the car. I think we’ve been trying a lot of things so fair enough. Obviously we wanted to squeeze out more so you’re always looking for more but I feel I can do a better job in the second half. And five is my number, so take five.

    LH: So that’s the first half of the season, yeah? I’d say like 8.9, 8.8.

    SV: Go ten, man. Go for it, who cares?

    LH: If it wasn’t for the last one, the last race, it would be a little bit higher. I think the good thing is always to score yourself a little bit lower so you’ve more to work on. For sure, it’s been the best start of the season that I think we’ve ever had as a team and I think it’s one of the best seasons that I’ve had personally to start off, but there are areas that we can continue to work on. That’s the great thing about this sport, you know, no matter how many years and days you race there are always areas you can improve on. So let’s see if we can try and up that into the nines or try to get to the tens in the second half of the season.

    MV: I don’t rate myself in numbers.

    SV: What do you do instead? Letters? Or…

    MV: No, I hate putting a number on it because it reminds me of school as well, which is not that long ago. I’m always quite critical and I think it always can be better. I’ll never be satisfied. I think it’s been very positive and I’ve had good results but there are always things to work on.

    SV: … a number man!

    MV: No I don’t.

    SV: We did it.

    MV: Yeah, I know but… I don’t know, I think it’s… First of all, I cannot rate myself like that.

    LH: Why not, you’ve done a good job man?

    MV: I know, but… I don’t know. I find it a bit weird to say an eight or…

    Q: Lewis, how would you rate Max if you gave him a number?

    LH: I don’t remember all the races that you’ve done other than the last three or four. You could say he’s in the high nines over the last few races but I can’t remember how it went before.

    MV: I’ve had a lot of fourths, P3 and then three times fourth. P5, P3… too many P3, P4.

    LH: It’s easier to rate yourself because you often remember how many mistakes you’ve made, when you’ve done good, when you’ve kind of been under par and he’ll know whether he’s been on par or below par. I think today he drove exceptionally as he has particularly in the past three or four races so if that continues he’s going to continue to operate in the high nines towards tens.

    MV: Nobody’s perfect. No, it’s never perfect…

    LH: It’s like an impossible number to get.

    MV: 9.9?

    LH: It’s a hard one to get to.

    Q: (Dániel Horváth – The Paddock Magazine) Lewis and Max, Fernando Alonso praised your performance on social media. It seems he enjoyed the battle as well. Would you like to see him back in Formula One and race against him again?

    LH: Well, firstly that’s really awesome that he’s supportive… I was just actually watching some of the restarts, the starts of previous years and watching him from his Renault days and I remember just before I even got to Formula One watching how amazing their starts were. I don’t know how old Fernando is now but he’s always going to be a great driver. If he can get a good seat, he’s always welcome here to battle with us. It doesn’t make a difference, really, necessarily for me. I’m here to fight whoever’s here.

    MV: Yeah, I think it was a bit of a shame that I never had an opportunity to fight against him in F1 so yeah…

    LH: Could be a good team-mate for you.

    MV: Fernando? Well, you have experience with it, I don’t know. Well…

    SV: He could be your father!

    MV: Yeah, it’s close! Yeah, I know. As a young father. How old is he? 36? 38! OK, well 17 is possible to be a father.

    SV: Talking with experience?

    MV: I don’t know. At least I don’t know.

    LH: How old are you now?

    MV: 21. Many years, plenty of years…

    LH: Jeez. I like being in this room because I’m not the oldest!

    MV: 34?

    LH: I’m 34, yeah, nearly 35.

    SV: I’ll tell you, the day we get beat by somebody who’s born in 2000 and upwards. We will know it’s time…

    MV: I’m not that young!

    Q: Sebastian, final thoughts on Fernando? Would you like to see him back?

    SV: I don’t mind. I don’t know why… I don’t think he never really liked me. I don’t think we really had a… I don’t mind him. I respect him for what he achieved and for what he can do on track. I don’t know. I guess he’s bored if he has time to write these things. So bring him back, I don’t mind.

    MV: Maybe as a social media manager. To me, he’s always been very nice and good. I like that he is also now looking into other opportunities for racing. He just loves racing and he wants to win, he wants to be competitive. It’s good to see.

    LH: The sport needs the best drivers in the best seats and there is still at least a seat available that’s good enough for winning and he’s good enough for winning so it wouldn’t be such a bad…

    MV: Maybe he could speak to Toto.

    LH: Valtteri’s great; Valtteri’s been winning. You’re the one with the extra seat, I would say.

    MV: I didn’t say that.

    SV: I’m not sure…

  • 2019 Formula 1 Hungarian GP: Saturday Press Conference

    2019 Formula 1 Hungarian GP: Saturday Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)

    2 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)

    3 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    TRACK INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by Paul Di Resta)

     

    Q: Question inaudible

    Max Verstappen: It’s incredible! This one was still missing. The car felt good all weekend and then of course you know it’s always going to be hard in qualifying but we managed to do it and of course a big thank you to the team. The car was flying out there in qualifying. It was incredible.

    Q: If you’d saw how nervous the garage was when you went out for that last run, but I guess when you hear on the radio that you’ve actually nailed that, it’s just growing isn’t it, the confidence with there, and tomorrow you’re in a great position with that.

    MV: Yeah, absolutely. Very happy about today. Still a race to do and that’s at the end of the day the most important, but for me today was an important one, a very nice one and also a great one for the team.

    Q: The Dutch travel in form and you can hear when you drew up… ? 

    MV: They’re loving it!

    Q: …You had the engine noise but you could hear them. You’ve lifted this place. Max, congratulations. Valtteri, you nearly got the job done. I guess after last weekend, Max pulling out a great lap, but you came close and you’re in a good position.

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, I’ve been kind of chasing a little bit this weekend after missing pretty much all practice one, only limited laps in practice two, and I only really started to get into the rhythm this morning. It was getting better and better in qualifying and I’m pretty pleased with the lap in the end. Very close with Max, they’ve been quick all weekend, but, you know, as always it’s tomorrow that counts.

    Q: Can you still win this race from the position you’re in?

    VB: Of course. We are here to fight for the win. There’s lots of support for that, so that’s going to make a difference.

    Q: All the best. Lewis, third position. I guess you would say it’s been a difficult day after your form in qualifying normally. But I guess Max pulling out a great lap, Valtteri there as well, are you happy with where you ended up?

    Lewis HAMILTON: Naturally we’re always targeting first. Max did a great job and so did Valtteri. It kind of got away from me a little bit once we got into qualifying but still we’re in a good position to fight for the win, so we’ll just be pushing hard tomorrow.

    Q: These guys are starting to ramp up the pressure now, Ferrari were very close as well, the Red Bull. Are you relishing this fight that they’re taking to you?

    LH: I’m always down for a fight so…

    Q: I guess you’ll have to pass some cars tomorrow to try and get this win?

    LH: Yeah, I think it’s obviously a long, long way down to Turn 1, so it will be interesting. It’s not the easiest place to overtake, but strategy will come into it tomorrow, so I hope we can give them a run for their money.

     

    PRESS CONFERENCE

     

    Q: Max, what an exciting moment for you. You’ve had a few minutes now to digest it, how does it feel?

    MV: Yeah, it feels good. I think the whole weekend already the car was very competitive. Of course there’s always a bit of a question mark how it’s going to work out in qualifying when we know that they can turn up a bit more power. But we seemed to hang in there and the car actually got better and better throughout qualifying. I was very happy with it, very pleased. It was really enjoyable to drive. I didn’t really have any comments throughout qualifying, I just said ‘keep it going, keep the car going and give me new tyres’ and that’s exactly what we did. Of course to get your first pole is very nice but it’s of course what counts on Sundays always.

    Q: Well, you’ve been brilliant on Sundays, you’ve had seven wins. What’s the overriding emotion now that you’ve finally go this first pole?

    MV: People will stop asking me that question. Yeah, I guess so. For me it never really mattered. I knew it was a matter of time. You need a bit of luck sometimes as well. Of course, I made mistakes myself to miss a pole position shot. And today we got it, so very happy with that.

    Q: Many congratulations, well done. Valtteri, it’s been a difficult build up to qualifying for you, with very little running in practice yesterday. How was the car this afternoon?

    VB: Yeah, it’s been not the easiest of weekends so far. I missed the whole of practice one, I had no track time, and I obviously very limited running in practice two. So this morning it was really important in practice three to find the rhythm and it was really getting better and better. I was getting the confidence in the car. Luckily there were no big set-up issues and I could just fine-tune it for qualifying. And again in qualifying, just learning each lap more and more and it started to feel very nice in Q3. It’s a shame to miss the pole by such a small margin, always, but congrats to Max and to Red Bull, they’ve been strong all weekend. But on how the weekend started, in that sense, I’m quite happy with that, but obviously a lot happier sitting in the middle.

    Q: Thank you and well done. Lewis, you came into the qualifying session seeking your seventh pole position here in Hungary. You’re lining up third. Just talk us through it?

    LH: Firstly, congratulations to Max. It’s an amazing feeling to get your first pole position, so really happy for him. For me a difficult qualifying session. Practice was going quite well. We knew the Red Bulls were quick – they’re always quick here. I think when I got into qualifying the car wasn’t the same as it was in P3 and it just was a bit of a struggle from the beginning and it kind of just plateaued there. It didn’t really get any better. But nonetheless we’re still there in the fight and hopefully for the race we’ll have better race pace than I did in quali.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

     

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speedsport) Max, you have a powerful engine but I think at the start of the season the chassis wasn’t really optimum. How much has the chassis improved from Spain testing to here?

    MV: I never said it was only the chassis, I think it’s a bit of both where we were lacking in the beginning. We made good gains with the engine, but we’re not where we want to be and I think everybody knows that. But we are pushing hard and we are improving and we are getting close to Mercedes and Ferrari, especially Ferrari, they seem very quick on the straights. With the chassis I think since Austria where we introduced a few crucial updates I think the car has been a lot better. From there onwards we kept bringing new parts. Maybe not as major as that one but it always gave me more of a balanced feeling in the car. And that’s exactly what we were looking for in the car and I guess it shows today on a track where you need a lot of downforce that the car was working really well.

    Q: (Vladimir Rogovets – Sb Belarus) My question to Mr Hamilton. Lewis, seven years ago you were here the winner but 2012 we had six champions in the peloton and you were only a one-time champion. Today we have only three champions in the peloton and you are a five-time champion. Do you think tomorrow, will it be easier for you to win than seven years ago – or not?

    MV: I didn’t know we had a peloton…

    LH: Did I win 2012? I don’t really remember that far back. Competition-wise, I don’t think it makes any difference, I don’t think, between those years. We’ve got some fierce competition within the top three teams. Is it easier now to win than before? I wouldn’t say so. It’s different circumstances now, naturally, and with more experience hopefully you are slightly prepared that I was back in… I would hope I’m better prepared than I was in 2012 but you’re still fighting an uphill battle all the time. You’re always finding new circumstances each weekend. This weekend, it started out well and it’s not gone great today but that doesn’t mean tomorrow can’t go great.

    …but you have more experience?

    LH: So, hopefully we’ll see that play its role.

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Max, by getting the breakthrough pole position for yourself and Red Bull with Honda, what message do you think that sends? Obviously you’ve made it clear that qualifying is the area you think you need to improve. And to the two Mercedes drivers, obviously you won’t take your eye off the challenge from Ferrari but do you think that Max is now your nearest, most consistent challenger?

    MV: We know that, if you can start more upfront in the race, it all makes it a bit easier to control a race – but we kept working really hard to improve the engine, to get a bit more out of it in qualifying, and I think that showed again today – that we were able to push it a bit more but of course within the limits of not blowing up. We keep improving. There are positive things also coming in the upcoming races. Of course, very happy to get my first pole position but also with the team, how quickly we turn things around from the beginning of the year where we were clearly lacking and now we are definitely closing up. And this weekend we were there, so that was good.

    Mercedes drivers: Valtteri, how do you see the pecking order at the front now? Do you think Max is your closest rival?

    VB: Well obviously it always depends on the tracks and circumstances but if you look at the trend, let’s say from the last five races, I think Red Bull has been the one who has been improving the most, closing the gap and today qualifying on pole. So, for sure they are doing many things right, and that means we have to work harder as a team but, y’know, I’m sure Ferrari isn’t standing still either. It’s maybe a tricky track for them but we’re going to see a strong performance from them as well.

    Lewis, your thoughts.

    LH: Enough said.

    Max is the top scorer in the last four races

    MV: You need to be the top scorer over the whole season, that’s what counts.

    Q: (Péter Farkas – Autó-motor) Max, you have been quite close to pole on a couple of occasions recently but you had a problem with the throttle application – turbo-lag, I think – is that problem now solved. And do you agree with Lewis the Honda engine is now at least as powerful as the Mercedes one at certain places.

    MV: Yeah, no problems this weekend, so that was all very good. No, I think we are still a bit down, in qualifying especially, but we are definitely closing up.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, you have had only one victory from P2. How tricky a place is this to get the second one?

    VB: Well, for sure it’s going to be a good battle tomorrow. It’s never going to be easy, and that’s obviously the only target as a driver. And starting in the front row and it’s very much possible. If the performance is there from my side, we as a team, it’s possible. It really doesn’t matter where you start from, as we’ve seen in the past, anything can always happen. Good chance. Very upbeat for tomorrow.

    Q: (Luke Smith – crash.net) Max, throughout your career so far you’ve held the majority of records for being the youngest driver to hit certain achievements. This is one of the few things you’ve missed out on. Do you care much for those kind of accolades and records – or not really?

    MV: No. I don’t’ know, I can make it a long story but it’s not so. It’s nice but it doesn’t make me sleep better, or anything.

    LH: Who has the youngest pole?

    MV: I think it’s Seb.

    VB: Now you can’t sleep.

    MV: Yep, now I’ll have a bad sleep.

    Q: (Masahiro Owari – Formula Owari) Question to Max. You struggled with an issue at a couple of grand prix, Hockenheim and Silverstone, how was the issue in today’s qualifying?

    MV: Yeah, I just had the same question before. There was no problem this weekend.

    Q: (Peter Vamosi – Racing Line) Renault claims that the engine is now at 1000bhp. What about Honda and Mercedes engines in this case? And an engineer said it’s impossible right now in this state to break this, also for Ferrari.

    MV: Well, if they claim to have a thousand horsepower they have a really bad car! I think it’s better to do the talking on the track than in the media anyway.

    LH: I have no idea what brake horsepower we have so similar; it’s all very close.

    VB: Actually just yesterday I asked the team – because we had some engine issues, we had some talks about the engine and I asked how much horsepower we had in qualifying and the engineers said they don’t know, they don’t actually know, so no one knows.

    LH: That might be why you’re catching us up.

    Q: (Peter Windsor – Clarksport) Max, you used the phrase earlier on ‘we knew Mercedes were going to turn up the engines for qualifying.’ Just to be clear, are you now able to turn up the Honda engine for qualifying, because you implied that but not actually said that?

    MV: Yeah, we do but it just seems like it’s not as powerful as maybe… well, looking at Ferrari they really turn it up. We do turn it up but maybe not as aggressive.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – liviooricchioF1.com) Lewis and Valtteri, Mercedes presented almost a new version of the car at Hockenheim with great changes in the aero package and here the results were maybe not what the team expected. Is that because the teams needs to understand better the new spec of car or even the upgrade was not one the team was expecting?

    VB: Well, based on everything we saw with the new package and analysis after last weekend as well it’s working as it should, so it’s a reasonable step forward in terms of downforce and efficiency. I guess other teams are moving ahead as well, forward as well with the performance but for sure we kind of expected to have a bit of a step compared to others but I think they are improving as well. It’s still a development race for quite some while before things are done.

    LH: Still trying to understand it. I think there are bits of it that are better and bits of it that are the same. So as I said the other day, we’re just constantly trying to understand it and improve it and I don’t think it’s a negative at all. We definitely have moved forward but clearly the others continue to move forward at the same time, at a steeper pace, maybe.

    Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS) Practice starts, did they go OK, did they give you confidence?

    MV: Yeah, they were all good.

    VB: I had a really good practice start.

    MV: Yeah? I had a wheelie off the line! I was wheelie-ing.

    VB: Yeah? Me too!

    MV: Up to second gear!

    Q: (Daniel Majer – GPHirek.hu) Lewis and Valtteri, track position on this track is very important so tomorrow if Max comes first from the start, he can have an easier task. Do you think it would be good to discuss with the team any kind of tactics to hunt him down and then play it between yourselves or do you prefer just to mind your own thing?

    LH: Where’s the other Red Bull? So we’re in a good position in terms of working as a team tomorrow. We’re in a fortunate position, potentially, if we can hold on to Max to be able to work together to pull him closer to us and give him a bit of a run for his money. It’s a little bit harder when you’re on your own at the front in the team, because you can come under attack from undercuts and all this sort of thing. We’ll see how that plays out but we’ve got a long run down to turn one so hopefully we will have a nice long battle down there and then after that it’s down to team tactics.

    VB: Yeah, for sure we always discuss it, especially if we’re kind of starting next to each other and like Lewis said, we have a good chance as a team because we have two cars very much at the front. Obviously we are both also racing for our own result but also working as a team will benefit both of us so it should be interesting tomorrow.

    Q: (Zsolt Godina – F1Vilag.hu) Lewis, can you please tell us how was your preparation for this race weekend after your problems in Hockenheim?

    LH: It was just sleep. I didn’t get any training done, just literally sleeping a lot all week. That’s all I can really say about it.

    Q: Are you healthy this weekend?

    LH: Yeah, I feel a lot better, a lot better. Sweating a lot still but much better.

    Q: (Viktor Bognar – Magyar Szo) Max, in the past couple of weeks you were quickest in the fast and very hot Red Bull Ring. You were quickest in the wet Hockenheim and now you’re quickest here in the cooler and slow Hungaroring. Can Red Bull and you be favourites in the next races or what makes you think you can’t be?

    MV: I don’t know. We’ve got Spa and Monza coming up. Monza is maybe not our best track. Spa I don’t know actually, but first we have the summer break as well so honestly I’m not thinking about that yet. I feel good. I think the last few races, even on tracks where I didn’t expect to be like really, really competitive we were still there so anything can happen, to be honest.

  • 2019 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference

    2019 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference

    TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Andreas SEIDL (McLaren), Christian HORNER (Red Bull), Mattia BINOTTO (Ferrari), Claire WILLIAMS (Williams), Beat ZEHNDER (Alfa Romeo)

     

    PRESS CONFERENCE

     

    Q: Christian, Max Verstappen is the man of the moment, having won two of the last three races. Can you just give us your thoughts on his current level of performance? Have you worked with a better driver? And how tough is it for any team-mate to match him?

    Christian HORNER: I think Max, not just in the last three races but during the course of the whole of this seasons, indeed pretty much Montreal last year, he’s been driving incredibly well at a very high standard. It’s certainly started to come together over the last few races. The win in Austria was a watershed moment, we were competitive at Silverstone, and obviously the race, the excitement of last weekend was a phenomenal performance by him, to keep his head, to have the pace in all varying conditions, and come out on top and win the grand prix. So, yeah, he’s in great form and you know, hopefully we can continue that form into the summer break and out of the other side as well. He’s certainly delivering at an extremely high level.

    Q: How tough for any team-mate to match him?

    CH: I think very tough. If you go up against Verstappen at the moment, for me arguably he is the most in-form driver on the grid. That’s an enormous barometer for any driver to go up and be measured against. As a competitor you always want to measure yourself against the best that you can. So, he’s a benchmark that obviously Pierre is measuring himself against.

    Q: Mattia, if we could come onto you please. Rollercoaster weekend for the team at Hockenheim – the disappointment of qualifying and then the brilliant comeback drive by Sebastian. How do you begin to analyse a weekend like that?

    Mattia BINOTTO: I think, as you said, the disappointment at first. I think we knew that we’d got a good car at Hockenheim, we’d been fast on Friday, Saturday and in the race itself. We didn’t score the pole but we believed that we’d got the potential for it. And certainly when you’re starting a race on the front row or the back of the grid, it’s two different scenarios. Again disappointment, because it’s more the empty glass. I think it’s really a missed opportunity again for us, to have a victory in Hockenheim. And I think as a team it’s where we need to focus: first of witnesses of what was wrong during the weekend. On the other side, I think still positive feedback, and we should not forget about them. I think we got, as I said, a competitive car whatever the conditions from hot conditions on Friday or cooler temperatures on Sunday, even the wet, so I think a lot of positives, the strategy of the team, the way we managed strategy, the pit stops during the race, race situations. And the team somehow kept focused after the disappointment of Saturday, and somehow were prepared for a good race. And a good race for Seb. No doubt. We are all pleased for him. I think it was important for him to have such, let me say, a race in Germany with a hometown and the crowd there. So, all pleased by that but I think overall we keep the disappointment of the weekend.

    Q: Claire, you scored a point at Hockenheim, pending the appeal by Alfa Romeo. Your team has scored 3561 points in its history – but what did this point mean to you? Was it just reward for all the hard work?

    Claire WILLIAMS: I think the point Tom, that you made about the number of points that Williams has scored in our history. I think for us to get excited about one point would probably be slightly erroneous. Everybody at Williams has been working so hard this year, it has been another brutal season for us, so I suppose to get any kind of reward, we should take and we should accept gladly – but as you say, Alfa have submitted their appeal against that so I think we’re going to have to wait and see – but one point for me, I think, as a Williams, I can’t personally be happy with that and I don’t think anyone in our team is necessarily ecstatic about it.

    Q: Let’s move on to Beat and talk about that appeal. You’ve lodged the appeal after the race. Can you tell us what you’ve done that?

    Beat ZEHNDER: We’ve been penalised after the race and we went for appeal, which is the normal procedure if you want to fight, and you think you have some arguments to win – otherwise you wouldn’t do it.

    Q: What were the mitigating circumstances? Why have you lodged that appeal?

    BZ: It’s an ongoing process and I cannot give you any information. Everything will be disclosed on the 24th of September when the hearing will take place in Paris.

    Q: OK, let’s cast the net a bit wider then. You’ve now been at Sauber for 32 years – the team in all its different guises. What’s your assessment of the path that Alfa is now on? Do you feel more comfortable than you’ve been for several years?

    BZ: Of course, we’re in a better situation, especially on the financial side. We’ve gone through very difficult times in 2014, 2015, 2016; we’ve been close to shutting down the company. And I think this is, with Alfa Romeo and with the new ownership, we’re in a much better situation and I think the big achievement of the team is that we’re still around.

    Q: Andreas, it’s been an impressive season for McLaren. You’re now 31 points ahead of Renault. Does the size of that gap surprise you in any way?

    Andreas SEIDL: It’s obviously good that we have all these points in the pocket with not necessarily having the fourth fastest car for all the races, so that’s good but at the same time it’s not something we get carried away with. We have seen, for example at the last race, you just need one crazy race where Hülkenberg, for example is scoring P2 and we have no points and we would have a different discussion today. It’s important for us to keep our heads down, to just keep pushing, to bring more and more updates on the track, and keep this positive journey up. But, of course, it’s nice to be in this P4 at the moment and we try to fight for that until the end of the season.

    Q: Tell us more about this positive journey, because last time you were here you said you’d arrived at a team on the rise. Just how far can you go? Can you challenge Red Bull?

    AS: The reality is that we’re still getting lapped. If there’s a normal race. So there’s still a lot of hard work in front of us. But, as I said before, it’s important that we keep progressing as a team together with our drivers. It’s good to see that the updates are working and hopefully we can make the next step with our car, also for next year. This is really what my focus is on. There’s no magic, as we know, in Formula 1. It’s down to hard work, to stay focused, and this is what I try, together with the team.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

     

    Q: (Luke Smith – crash.net) Question for Christian. Tom touched on Max’s incredible recent form – I think he’s been in the top five for all the last 20 races. He really appears to have hit the potential that we saw in the early part of his career. What changed with Max to cause this form recently? You said Montreal last year. Was it that rough start to last season? How important was that to him do you think?

    CH: I think that Max is obviously still a young guy, he’s only 21 years of age – but he’s now in his fifth season of grand prix racing and he’s now got the benefit of experience under his belt as well. His speed, his race craft, has never really been in any doubt but he’s got that collection of knowledge and experience now. I think, you know, obviously last year, the beginning of the year was a little challenging for him with some missed opportunities. I think he reflected on that and really turned the corner from Montreal last year. That run of performances really since then has been phenomenal. I think he’s continuing to evolve. I think that this year he really has stepped up as well as the senior driver, and he’s performing at a very level – and that in turn pushes the team very hard as well. I think with the new relationship with Honda, he’s enjoying that working environment, that working relationship as well. And so, there’s certainly a very positive vibe around him at the moment.

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) To all five please. The talk about expanding the calendar. If we go up to 22 races do you think we would need to increase the number of engines and engine components you are allowed to use over the course of the season? Would that be one of the defining factors? And what does that do for the costs involved. Obviously F1 wants to bring down the cost, but adding more races, using more engines is expensive. Your thoughts on that please?

    AS: Yeah, in principle we support the direction of going for 22 races next year. There’s a discussion ongoing at the moment about what that means actually in terms of the number of components to be used and also the costs for a team like us, so that’s still ongoing. I think if you look at the bigger picture for us, it’s simply important now also to be a bit careful not to increase the number of races even further – for two reasons really. First of all, I think we really need to look after our people and make sure that we don’t ask for too much there, because I think if we go now for the next step of even more races we definitely have to change some things inside our organisations, for all teams. And then, yeah, that’s pretty much it. The second point of course we understand the commercial point of view but I think it‘s also important that we keep this exclusivity for each of the events, which doesn’t necessarily get better by adding more and more races.

    CH: The commercial rights holder has come to us to say, you know, that 22 races is a possibility for next year and would we support it. I think in principle, yes, is the answer, but it has to be combined with what other activities are going on in terms of: do we need to do as much in-season testing as we currently do; do we need to do as much pre-season testing? And I think if we are to introduce a 22nd race the majority of teams are taking penalties and using four engines anyway, so one would assume that it would make sense to increase the allocation on power units and components and perhaps if we look at the ratio and say ‘well, OK, rather than using engines for going testing and if we reduce the in-season testing and pre-season testing slightly, if that frees up an engine that the majority of teams they’re going to use anyway. From the next race there is going to be a whole raft of penalties coming through, and we’re only just halfway through the season, so introducing another race on top of that and expecting teams to get through on three engines and three sets of components is a bit of a tall ask.

    MB: I think very similar to the first answers. We are supportive on a 22nd race if that means some more revenues but we need to certainly be careful on the costs, the extra costs. If you look as well at 2021 at the moment we are discussing for 24 races but no extra engines, no extra units, so I think it’s only a path to 2021, so increasing the number of units for next year would be simply wrong, because it would mean, yes, more revenues, but then more costs, which would make no sense overall and so it should be on the power unit manufacturer to try to do an effort which is in the direction of 2021 to afford an extra race with the components we’ve got.

    Q: Would you like to see a reduction in testing as well, like Christian?

    MB: I think it’s certainly something we need to discuss but it could be a great idea, yes.

    Q: OK. Claire?

    CW: Yeah, I would probably just echo what everybody else has said. I there is a lot more conversation to be had around it, particularly around the components. From a financial perspective, we need to just make sure that it’s going to work, that it cover all our costs, and we are at that point now where we’d say yes it would. But I think most importantly from our side it’s consideration of our team personnel. I think pretty much they are pushed to the limit at the moment with what we are asking them to do with 21 races and the tests on top of that and then the work they have to do in the factory in between. In our team we don’t necessarily have the luxury of rotating staff in and out, we are at capacity on head count. So it would be around looking into that and working out whether we need to bring in more people to support it. I think from our perspective again, I wouldn’t want to see a triple-header on the calendar. I think we have been assured that there wouldn’t be one. I think that broke a lot of people last year, but also from a logistical perspective that is just a nightmare; it’s a disaster. Going to Austria I think it was when we all took makeshift motorhomes, it doesn’t look great for the race but it’s just not good for anyone’s cost base either.

    Q: Beat?

    BZ: I see it more from an organizational point of view. I’m not too concerned about PU elements; I’m more concerned about team members. As a small team we’re at the limit with 21 races already. Any additional race will make it more difficult and we have to think about increasing the number of race team members and establishing a rotating system in a way.

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Christian, have Mercedes approached Red Bull about Max’s availability and would it be a good thing, do you think, for the sport to have Lewis and Max together in the same car?

    CH: Toto has certainly not spoken to me about it. He speaks to almost every driver on the grid, so I would think if he has had a conversation it’s been direct not through the team. The situation with Max is clear and as with other drivers there are always trigger points. But in terms of having those two in one team, I haven’t heard from Lewis either that he wants to join next year. You can see positives and negative in that. I think that ideally we want to see teams going head to head and the drivers are obviously very much part of that team. It would be great to see Ferrari with their drivers, Red Bull with our drivers and Mercedes with their drivers all fighting it out, and whoever else can get up there as well. It doesn’t necessarily mean that two drivers have to be in the same team.

    Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) For everybody, on the 2021 rules. How concerning is it that less than three months to go before the deadline you are still discussing major, fundamental issues like refueling and how heavy the cars are? How has it ended that way, with such a short amount of time left, and what are the risks of the F1 rules, as intended, not actually happening as a result?

    MB: How much concerning it is? I think certainly there is very little time now from until the end of October and certainly there is quite a long list of open items, open subjects. But more important, I think, is that the discussions ongoing. I think it would be a lot worse if no discussion would take place and somebody is deciding for everybody. So the fact that we have go discussion is certainly what’s positive and it’s in our hands to make sure that we properly collaborate with F1 and the FIA and the teams to address the main points for 2021. And as I often indicated I think, we have certainly got common goals and common objectives for 2021 – sustainability is a key factor – but I think we need as well to pay attention not to overreact in terms of technical, because do we need a better show? I think if you look at the last races, certainly we may still have a good show in certain conditions, but certainly these conditions need to be identified and pursued, so I think changing the car, changing the technical means, spending, re-engineering, proof of concepts, so whatever we may choose, we need to choose it because we are fully all convinced that it is going in the right direction. But yeah, there is very little time and it’s a lot to discuss, but good that we are still discussing.

    CH: Well, I pushed very hard to get the rule process to be moved from end of June to what’s now the end of October because I think if we would have had regulations just introduced we would have been in a real mess. So I think the key thing now is how we use that time during the next three months to ensure that the regulations that we do end up with on October 31, as Mattia says, that we focus on the right things. There is a series of collective meetings that between now and the decision point where we really need to get into the detail of what is the objective of the change and does the change of regulation achieve those objectives, from a show point of view, from a cost point of view. I think we really have to drill into detail over the next few meetings to ensure that with what is presented on October 31 there is a sensible theme to.

    AS: From our point of view we see it clearly it different. I think it’s about time now to simply stop discussing. We all have downloaded our input. We do this since two years, all teams. I think FIA, Formula 1 has a clear idea of what they want to put in place, they presented that also to you guys two weeks ago. We simply want to see action now and we can move on.

    CW: Not a whole lot to add. I think everybody has said it already. The regulations were delayed a little bit but I don’t think they were in the right place in order to sign them off anyway back in June. It gives us a bit more time to debate. I suppose my bigger concern is not that we won’t get it done it’s more about what’s going to change between June and October. We had some foundation principles in place and we fundamentally agreed with those at Williams and I’d like to see those stuck to as best as possible between now and then, but I think it’s par for the course this process in Formula 1 and we have to have those regs signed in October, whatever they will be, so we’ve got to do a good enough job between now and then to make sure they are the best they can be.

    BZ: There is a lot of work to do in all the several working groups. What slows down the process is probably is that there are new elements coming on the table every now and then, like refueling. Six months no one talked about refuelling and we have to consider it carefully. There was a reason we stopped refuelling in 2009. It was not only for financial reasons. It was not good for the sport. Before we talk about re-introducing we should carefully assess whether it is good for the show and good for the sport.

    Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) I wonder if I could get an update maybe from Mattia and Christian about the unsafe release situation. Has there been an assurance from the FIA as to how they are going to handle this in the future? Obviously, Mattia, your team was fined rather than being handed a time penalty at Hockenheim.

    MB: Several races are difficult situations, difficult situations to judge, difficult situations to act on. During the weekend at Hockenheim, I think that the drivers met with the FIA on the Thursday and discussed the approach. What was key was certainly to be safe respective to the mechanics in the pit lane which was a key factor and for example, in the case of Charles, the Red Bull team was ready for a pit stop and was just in front of him and I think the way that somehow Charles drove was very safe in respect of the mechanics and the pit crew. Yes, he had to slow down to be careful with the cars coming in but that’s a racing situation and I think that as a team, when you’ve got such traffic, again, I think what is key is safety first and then in a racing situation where we have been fined, I don’t think there will be a much different situation or different judgement in the future. I think the way it has been judged was the proper one.

    CH: I slightly crapped myself when I saw Romain Grosjean heading for me at the pit wall. From my point of view it looked really unsafe, pretty frightening prospect that. Yeah, it’s a tricky one isn’t it? Max got a penalty in Monaco for what was an unfair release and it was deemed that it was because he touched the car of Bottas. It’s a tricky one, they are slightly different incidents but I think that what you want to see more than anything is an element of consistency because otherwise, from a team point of view, from the guy that’s releasing the car, what call does he make when he’s making that release now? It’s a difficult one. Where there are pit lanes like in Silverstone, we actually had a good scenario where the two cars were released and there was enough room for them to go side-by-side down the pit lane.

    Q: (Viktor Adorján – GP-Hírek) Going back to the topic of logistics, there was a road accident involving one of the Renault trucks earlier this week, coming from Hockenheim. Can you please tell us facts and figures about the level and volume of equipment that you brought here and what kind of security measures do you take in order to ensure that this precious equipment actually arrives safe and sound to European locations?

    BZ: Obviously, as a team you are well prepared for back-to-backs and all the other European races you normally have external truck drivers, or truck drivers, team truck drivers who have rested on the Sunday and only drive when they’re supposed to. You don’t have team members like twenty years ago who worked the whole day and then in the evening jumped in the truck and then drove to the next event, so everything is safe and sound and accidents like this can happen. I think we’re moving more than 400 lorries from one event to the next and considering that, there are not a lot of accidents happening.

    CW: First, I don’t have an update from the driver that was driving that truck and I hope that he’s alright. Thank you. I don’t know, necessarily, I apologise for it, I don’t necessarily know the tonnage of equipment that we send between back-to-back races – I know it’s an awful lot, there are an awful lot of people involved in the logistics in our team and they do a fantastic job of it and as has been said, we do everything to comply to the regulations that are out there by how many hours the drivers can drive, they’re not working prior to them driving etc, so you do take the best approach that you can to avoid those situations. But sometimes those situations are unavoidable but in this case, I think we’re all just pleased that the driver was OK.

    MB: Not much to add. I think that Beat made the picture and the picture is very similar for all the teams. As he said, the drivers are not people that are working throughout the weekend, especially not at a back-to-back. Certainly we as team principals of teams are taking care of our people, making sure that what they are doing at the tracks or driving, we are always doing that in a safe manner with the proper way of applying things, let me say. But what happened is to be considered serious, no doubt, and whatever is happening, as a team, we have the responsibility to review what happened and there is a necessity to try eventually to improve. I don’t have the details in that case but as Ferrari we would certainly consider if we can even do better in the future.

    CH: It’s a big challenge getting all the equipment, the cars, the engineering centre, in our case the Energy Station – I think we’re in excess of 40 trucks to get to an event and when you’ve got a back-to-back event, that’s an added pressure, that they’ve got to be here really by Tuesday, Tuesday afternoon so it’s another thing to take into consideration, with the logistics of an increased calendar is not putting too much tension on the movement of parts and people from one venue to another. Accidents do happen and I don’t know the details of the accident, thankfully the driver, from what I heard, was OK but it’s inevitable that, unfortunately accidents do happen and I think the most important things are you try and mitigate that as best you can and as others have said, with contract drivers it’s not like the old days when the truckies – well, the truckies don’t drive trucks any more. I don’t know why they’re still called truckies. In fact I think we’ve only got one truck driver who can drive a truck. Everybody has contractors that specifically are here just to move the vehicles around.

    AS: Yeah, nothing to add, really. Happy that the driver is OK on the Renault side and as mentioned, each team puts a lot of effort into making sure our people are well protected, get their sleeping times, resting times and so on and luckily, as Beat said at the beginning, with all the movements that are happening we can be lucky that not more is happening.

    Q: (Ian Parkes – New York Times) To the four people either side of Mattia: I was just wondering if I could get an appreciation please from you all of Mattia, his longevity in F1 and his handling so far of probably arguably the toughest job in motor sport?

    CH: How long have you been at Ferrari? Thirty-five years? Twenty-five. Crikey, you must have just left school and gone straight there. Well, look, running Ferrari obviously has pressure. I think Mattia has obviously been managing the technical side and team principal side of things but he’s great to work with… it’s strange talking about your competitor when he’s next to you but he seems to be doing OK so far.

    AS: Obviously I respect all of my colleagues here inside the paddock a lot. But I have my own dream job and that’s the focus on so not a lot to comment really. Colleague, good to talk to.

    CW: Did you say that Mattia has the hardest job in F1 at the moment? I thought that was me at the moment! Mattia goes to work for Ferrari. He probably gets a free… How many free Ferraris do you get, Mattia? Probably about ten in your driveway! No, all joking aside, I’ve only had the privilege of working with Mattia for a short amount of time in our strategy groups etc but I have all due respect for him and I hope that he stays with us for a long time. Obviously Ferrari have had a lot of chopping and changing with their TP so it would be great to have some stability.

    BZ: I’ve known Mattia for a very long time and appreciate him very much and his work. I think every team principal at Ferrari has a difficult job if they’re not winning races but as Claire said, every other team principal has a similar task and a difficult job, especially if you don’t have a competitive car or if you have financial difficulties so it’s not only the top shots, it’s the bottom end as well.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Mattia, before the start of this season, you pointed out that one of the things that was missing at Ferrari maybe in the last couple of years was having fun with the racing. Obviously, as the season has turned out, is it possible to have fun in this situation and to restore that fun, and if so, what are you going to do to restore it? Or if not, how can you manage the mood?

    MB: You’re right, I think having fun is important if you think of how many days we are here at the race tracks or back at the factory and how much time we are really spending for what we are doing, so having fun is important, it is something which we are trying to pursue. Not winning doesn’t make the task easier no doubt but I think having fun is a matter of team spirit as well, how the team is behaving together, with the drivers, with the engineers, the mechanics and if there is anything I can say is that I think we have got a great team spirit at the moment and that is that the people are happy to come to the race track for at least challenging the next race and we are all here to seek our victory which didn’t happen so far. I think there have been a few missed opportunities but I think again the fun is in the spirit and that can be done whatever the results.

    Q: (Dániel Horváth – The Paddock Magazine) Andreas, as you mentioned earlier, McLaren made a big step forward this year and you already have more points than last year. What course will you set for 2020?

    AS: The targets for 2020. I think it’s simply important to make the next step as a team, together with our drivers and also in terms of car performance. Next year will be first car under the full leadership of James Key compared to the previous cars; also I think we are somehow back to a more normal rhythm in terms of timing, when we started with the concept phase of the car, but again there’s no magic in Formula One. I hope we can fully make the next step but at the same time we shouldn’t get carried away and dream of challenging for race wins or stuff like that next year.

  • 2019 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix: Mercedes Fight Back, Ferrari Redemption

    2019 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix: Mercedes Fight Back, Ferrari Redemption

    Just like that we’re halfway through the season and the summer break is upon us. That usually means one thing, the the turn of the city of Budapest, Hungary to host the Hungarian Grand Prix.

    Following, what can only be described as a crazy German Grand Prix race, the Hungarian Grand Prix could come close. With Ferrari on their way to getting over their issues and with Red Bull on an excellent run of form, it’s all building up to be another exciting weekend. Variable weather conditions on Saturday could mix things up for qualifying which could lead to an exciting race.

    Mercedes Fight Back

    Mercedes had a torrid race at the German Grand Prix. Bottas crashed out and Hamilton finished outside of the points, but was then promoted to 9th after both Alfa Romeo’s were penalised post-race. But this is what makes Mercedes dangerous. Their ability to bounce back is ruthless. They have the ability, as a team, to look forward and not let previous mistakes affect their performances. Hamilton in particular will want to bounce back after his performance in Germany. Bottas has somewhat more to prove this weekend after crashing out. Questions about his future continue to circulate and a good performance by the Finn going into the summer break might just be enough to keep him at the Silver Arrows for 2020.

    Ferrari on the Right track

    Recent races have seen Ferrari bringing quite a few upgrades to their car and by and large they seem to be working. Both Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel had good pace all weekend in Germany in both the wet and the dry. Vettel’s pace at the end of race on the dry tyres got him a 2nd place finish and with a few more laps could’ve taken the victory. Leclerc, some say, could’ve won the race had he not crashed out. We will never know but he’s expected to come out fighting this weekend. Despite their troubles throughout the season with their car less suited to twisty tracks, the team seem quietly confident of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix and a victory going into the summer break would do the team a world of good.

    Mid Field Battle

    Toro Rosso have been catapulted into 5th place with 42 points in the Constructors Championship thanks to Daniil Kvyat’s 3rd place finish and Alexander Albon’s 6th place finish at the German Grand Prix. McLaren are somewhat out of reach after a string of points finished by Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris and are sitting comfortably in 4th place with 70 points.

    There is not much between Toro Rosso, Renault, Racing Point, Haas and Alfa Romeo with each sitting on 42, 39, 31, 26, and 26 points respectively. Alfa has dropped down the order after both drivers were handed penalties in Germany which dropped them out of the points.

    Going into the weekend, Renault have something to prove after yet another double DNF this season. It does not look good for them as they are being beaten by a customer team at the moment. Mclaren should be happy with their current position, but will be rueing their calamities earlier this season as they could’ve been closer to Red Bull without them.

    The summer break is upon us and teams will be looking forward to the break to recharge and regroup for the final stretch. Past seasons show that Hamilton comes back from the summer break and obliterates the field. He is already well on course to take his 5th drivers title. Question is by which race will that happen? This writer thinks that he should have it wrapped up by Mexico.

  • 2019 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    2019 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    DRIVERS – Daniil KVYAT (Toro Rosso), Robert KUBICA (Williams), Lance STROLL (Racing Point), Kevin MAGNUSSEN (Haas), Romain GROSJEAN (Haas)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Daniil, if we could start with you. It’s been a whirlwind few days for you with that podium finish last time out and the birth of your daughter. Have your feet touched the ground yet?

    Daniil KVYAT: Yes. I mean, it’s OK, we are already here in Hungary now but talking about last week it was a quite special 24, or 48 hours, either way you want to look at it. Obviously I found out on Saturday night that I became a father, that my daughter is born and is doing great, so it’s a great feeling – but obviously the next day there was a race to do. It was important to stay focused on it. The race was great as well. It’s a podium. So, many things happened in 24 hours for me and, yeah, fantastic feeling. Happy few days after and now we’re here.

    Q: Just tell us about your schedule in those following days. Where have you been?

    DK: Went straight to hospital on Sunday night, slept there with them – not too much sleep straight away after the race. So, for me, it was good. And then just home until leaving here to Hungary. Bit of recovery between races, light training but obviously always visiting Kelly and our daughter. And that’s it. Yesterday I arrived here.

    Q: What was the reception like in the Formula 1 paddock to your podium. Did you get a 7am phone call from Dr Marko on Monday morning?

    DK: No. You should tell me! You’re a journalist, how was the reception. Generally, talking about the team, everyone was very happy. I think first podium in 11 years for our team. It was a fantastic achievement and I think we were very happy. Everyone. Every member of the team. I was so happy to see that everyone was so happy in the team. When I crossed the start-finish line it was a very special feeling. A lot of emotions. I really enjoyed those few hours after the race. It was unforgettable.

    Q: Robert, talking of happy vibes in a team, there was certainly a happy Williams team late on Sunday evening when news came through that you’ve got the point. You’ve scored many World Championship points in your career – 274 – but how different was this one to the ones that came before because of what it meant to Williams?

    Robert KUBICA: Yeah, I mean, you know, it’s a bit mixed feelings in the end because of course it’s good to have this one point on the scoreboard but the way it came is for sure is not the way you would expect. Of course, it was a crazy race, many mistakes. We managed to stay on track, although our pace was questionable but still, managed to keep it on the black. And then, with Alfa being penalised, we gained two positions, so it meant that we would be tenth, which is for sure good – but still we have to keep working, keep pushing and definitely  this point is somehow… thanks to the guys which are doing a great job on track, pushing really hard, we are really not having a great moment but still, Hockenheim was also thanks to them.

    Q: What’s your realistic assessment of the upgrades the team brought to Hockenheim?

    RK: Realistic, well, it’s good to have them. I think it’s something for which they’ve been working for long. We do see some improvements. Of course it’s difficult to judge and compare Silverstone to Hockenheim: completely different tracks ambient temperature, so all those things were not easy to have clear judgement. Our guys can see the improvement in the data – but I think everyone is improving, so you know in order to close the gap we need to make bigger improvements compared to our competition and this is not easy with Formula 1 standards: all the teams are pushing hard – so it is a big battle, I think even more at home in the factory, that the people are working hard but you know it’s so difficult with current Formula 1 teams to close the gap to them.

    Q: Lance, fourth was a great haul of points for you at Hockenheim. Are you sensing an upward curve from the team from now on.

    Lance STROLL: Yeah, it was a great result. Like you said, a lot of points. We were really happy about that. I am sensing some improvement. I definitely think we took a step in Hockenheim, looking at our pace throughout the weekend, Friday, Saturday, we were much more competitive than we’ve been in recent events, which is always a good thing. That being said, it’s still very, very tight in the midfield and every tenth counts. I’m sure it will be very track-dependent from now until the end of the season – which tracks suit our car, more than others. But yeah, it was a great Sunday but also a much better weekend in terms of performance and where we’ve been throughout the weekend in comparison to other weekends.

    Q: So, more performance in Hockenheim but just looking at the season so far, as a whole, how has this year compared to your previous two seasons in Formula One?

    LS: Every year is unique in its own way. When I reflect on the last couple of years, I definitely think that the sport is much more competitive than it was two years ago. Looking back at 2017 when I came into it, it was… yeah, there were much bigger gaps between the teams and I think, at the time, coming into the weekend, when I was at Williams, we had a pretty good idea where we’d be relative to the competition. And in the race it was, yeah, there was definitely more guarantee of scoring points – and now you really see tight margins between the teams and very close racing in the midfield. Last year, of course, was a challenging season for me at Williams. We didn’t really have the pace to score points like we did in 2017. When I look at this year in comparison to a couple of years ago, it’s definitely become much more competitive, the sport – which is a good thing. I think, hopefully, in the near future, we can start seeing that from first place onwards where we can be battling between teams every event.

    Q: I’d like to come on to Kevin and Romain together now. First up, congratulations on the double points finish in Hockenheim, however the race marked the third time you guys have hit each other on track this year: Spain; Silverstone and, of course, Hockenheim. I just want to ask why this keep happening? Kevin, perhaps we could start with you?

    Kevin MAGNUSSEN: I don’t know really. I think it’s… you know… it’s happened a few times this year and, in terms of… it happened in Silverstone and it had a consequence for both of us. We punctured. I think that was pretty unlucky, to have two cars puncturing for such a small contact. There were no bad intentions from either of us in that moment. It was just… we came together and then punctured . Later in the race you see other cars flying into each other, flying over the track and nothing happened. Got to look at that as well to say, bad luck really. That’s pretty much it.

    Romain, your thoughts

    Romain GROSJEAN: We love each other. That’s why we get on, have a bit of a kiss on track. No, I think, as Kevin said, there’s been a bit of bad luck in Silverstone. I think the relationship, people could think that it doesn’t look good but actually the relationship with Kevin is really good. We phone each other once a week or so. We sat down and said, ‘what can we do better’, just to make sure that’s not happening again. Obviously we’ve got the same car, so it’s happening that we are side-by-side on track more often than with the Mercedes, for example. Yeah, there are things we can probably do better. I think the most important is that we always try to do our best for the team, and give our best and maybe just the cursor wasn’t well positioned on some of the occasions we had, and we just going to make sure we get better from there. Honestly, the relationship is very good and we actually like – well, I like working with Kevin, maybe he doesn’t – but I think he likes it also. We work well together and we get on nicely.

    And Kevin likes working with Romain?

    KM: Absolutely.

    RG: Just don’t say no now…

    KM: I think in the heat of the moment, we’re blaming each other on the radio and stuff like that – but what people don’t see is that we get together between the races and talk it through and try to be constructive and move on in a constructive way. Apart from those incidents on track, I feel that we have a pretty good working relationship. And actually, Romain is a cool guy, and we actually have a good time when we go to work. So, it’s being blown out of proportion a little bit. I know you guys love a bit of a conflict and stuff like that, so… but it isn’t as bad as it looks.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

     

    Q: (Péter Vámosi – Racing Line) A question for Robert. First of all, you really have good heritage here at the Hungaroring, you’ve scored many points here. Do you think this year, with the Williams, at this track, where you don’t need so much power, can you score again?

    RK: Well, I think, actually, Hungary has never been very lucky for me. I don’t remember how many points I scored. I think the power is the only area where we are not lacking anything in our car, so power, thanks to Mercedes’ power unit, is the strongest area of our car. This track is very complex. I think there are sections that require a lot of mechanical and aero grip, so I would say it’s not the kind of track where we will be closer to the competition than others.

    Q: (Luke Smith – crash.net) Romain and Kevin, Guenther has said that he is going to have to take a firmer approach with you two to stop these clashes on track – rules of engagement, things like that. What’s your response to that? Do you feel it is necessary to put this in place between you two? Is it disappointing that that action has to be taken?

    RG: No, I think again we are here to do the best for the team and if that’s the solution, the short-term fix, then why not. I think, as I say. We’re not here fighting for the first or second place in the world championship. I don’t really give a damn if I finish 14th or 16th at the end. We don’t have a fast car at the minute and the focus is on getting that car to work well. The team has been reverting me back to the car from Melbourne. I have been running for three events now, just trying to understand everything, so I think the bigger picture, the big keys, is to understand how we get faster and better, how we can come back in the Constructors’ Championship and to make sure that the future of the team is not compromised by a non-understanding of the car.

    Q: Kevin, rules of engagement?

    KM: At the end of the day it doesn’t really matter what we think, we will just respect what is being said and required by the team. I can understand the team’s point of view. We had a pretty bad experience in Silverstone and clearly they want to avoid that happening again and we’re just going to deal with it in the way we’re required and make the best for the team, as Romain said.

    Q: (Eva Vandor – HVG) Daniil, congratulations on so many levels – becoming a father, on getting back to the podium and getting back to Hungary as well, it’s been a while. Can you tell us a little bit about the mental transformation of the last few years – from being out of F1 to getting back to the podium?

    DK: Well, I think it was important to realize the points that you can improve as a driver and as a person before my comeback to Formula 1. Obviously it wasn’t easy to lose the seat in the Formula 1 and at some point it was thought that there was no way back in for me. But since I got the call; back in, it was important to come back very prepared and better mentally prepared as well, I think. I think now all this work is paying off and I’m very happy with how things are working out. I’m happy with the people around me, the team around me, how we work on things. It’s important that now I feel a much better driver than I was in the past. It’s also very important also to back this up with strong results. This year in general has been strong and I think we can continue in this way. I’m really enjoying this, so hopefully we can keep going.

    Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports) Good to see, Romain and Kevin, that you’re best of buddies and that you’ve got a great relationship, but it does appear that you’re very quick to blame each other when you have these incidents. Do you both still believe that the other one is very much at fault or would you say that you should both share the responsibility for what’s happened at the team recently?

    KM: I think that in the heat of the moment, you know, you’re always feel that you’re in the right, and then you analyse things after you see it’s probably more level and not as big a deal as it felt like on track. At the end of the day I don’t think it’s such a big deal, you know. We will try to do everything we can to not have these issues again. I think, as I said before, it became a very big issue when we both punctured in Silverstone. Apart from that, the end of the story is that we do respect each other and we want to do the best for the team and there have been laid out some guidelines for us now that we’re going to respect and then just carry on.

    RG: I think on the football pitch you don’t have any microphone listening to what… even inside a football team between the team players they can say things, they’re not happy with each other, and you’re not saying that ‘oh that team is having any issue’, because I think in Formula 1 it’s great that everything is broadcast but also it makes a story out of nothing. As I say, our relationship is good. When you’re driving at 300kph obviously you’re not going to say ‘Oh, please, I think I was in my right, and he was in his wrong and would you mind giving me the position back, but I my only, please’. You’re just going to say: ‘F**k of, just give me the position.’ Unless you want us you want us to be very, very boring, then I’ll remove the microphone from the helmet, then I think it’s always going to happen. Still it’s false but that doesn’t really matter, does it.

    Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) To Romain and Kevin again: how concerned are you both that this could be putting your future at the team at risk?

    RG: Ah, let me answer the question differently. I was more worried last year than this year. Last year there were a lot of reasons that I could have ended up this year at home and I did many mistakes that I shouldn’t have done with my experience. But I think since then I have recovered pretty well. I think everything we have been saying this year – the eye opener for the guys on reverting back to the old spec car, because I asked, shows that the experience is very important in Formula 1. Everything in the team has now changed. The focus is on the different parts and how we make sure we improve the car other than we just put upgrades without really knowing where we are. The races I’m happy with my performance. I think in qualifying I could have been better earlier in the year but now it’s back to where it was. As I said, last year there were many reasons, to be frank, to stay home. This year I guess there are many less.

    KM: Not worried at all.

    Q: (Dániel Horváth – The Paddock magazine) There has been some talk about the possible return of refuelling into the sport. Do you think that’s a good idea?

    RG: If I may jump in for the GPDA on that one? I think if you guys agree… No? OK go ahead, save me doing what I say all the time! No, it was brought up by the GPDA because we have four key points that we want to improve to improve the show and those are tyres, aero sensitivity, weight of the car and money distribution. Robert came back into Formula One one or two years ago and said the cars felt really heavy and they are and the regulation makes it that they are getting heavier and heavier year after year and we don’t have any solution with the current engine to bring the weight down. Therefore the idea of refuelling was brought in as a short term fix to help the tyres to not overheat that much and get better racing and better following in the car early in the race. It needs to be looked at but it’s not that we want refuelling, it’s that we need to find a solution to get the car lighter to be easy on the tyres and therefore having a better show.

    RK: Copy paste.

    DK: I think it’s not just one simple thing that just needs to be changed and it’s a magic switch and that’s it and we will have amazing races every race. It’s a combination of things that just need to be put together and strongly put together by one person who will say it will be done this way, obviously who will consider everyone’s opinion. Refuelling doesn’t seem a bad idea. I think we’re looking at more general things like the aero of the car, tyres, how we follow each other, brakes, common parts. Say for example a radio ban wouldn’t change anything on the racing or small things like if we do less switches on the steering wheel it would not change a lot, will not have a big impact on the racing itself. So I think all the points that were discussed in GPDA meetings and so on were all very good and we had a good agreement between drivers on which direction to move.

    KM: On refuelling, I think it wouldn’t only help on the weight issue, I think that shouldn’t be the only thing about it because the cars need to be lighter anyway, refuelling or not. It would also make a bit more possibilities of strategy and a bit more variation in strategies rather than always a one-stop and so I can’t see any negatives but if we do introduce it back then I hope that it’s not an excuse to then keep making the cars heavier because even though it comes back, it would help the weight issue in the race but they still need to not make them heavier.

    LS: I think that there are other priorities at the moment that we need to think about to improve the racing. I don’t think lighter cars will… is the main fix. I mean refuelling could be exciting in many ways, maybe not, maybe it won’t change anything but I think that there’s bigger things to focus on like aerodynamics, like Romain pointed most of them out: money distribution, just to make the series more competitive. Even if the cars maintain their current weight, with the much more competitive series will come much more exciting racing and that’s where we need to be focused.

    Q: (István Simon – Autó Magazin) Robert, according to the Hungarian Grand Prix organisers they are expecting some 35-40,000 supporters from Poland for this weekend, which is like one third of the whole capacity of the Hungaroring. Robert, could you please tell us what kind of motivation does this support give to you, not only for this race this weekend but since the beginning of your whole career which started here in 2006?

    RK: Yeah, for sure it is kind of our home race, as Hungary is the closest race track to Poland and I think it’s not a surprise that there will be a lot of Polish fans here, which is always nice. Of course I would like to pay them back for their support with a good performance but I think this will be quite difficult, looking at the season up to now. But still it’s great to see such big support, not only in Formula One, they have been around also when I was rallying, when I was doing some other racing series so yeah, always good, and hopefully they will enjoy their weekend.

    Q: (Tom Richtr – Sport TV) Romain, it’s the middle of the season and the last race in Germany was also a difficult test for the new race director, Michael Masi. At least from our perspective, some great decisions such as wet standing start or his comments towards Lewis Hamilton spinning behind the safety car, what is your view as a director of GPDA on a more relaxed approach, maybe? Or what is the general feeling in regard to co-operation with Michael Masi’s first half year?

    RG: I think he stepped into big shoes – I don’t know if you say that in English – but Charlie was a big part of Formula One for a very long time and replacing a role of Charlie was not easy. I believe he’s done a good job. Personally I’ve been happy with what he’s been doing. I think the standing start in Germany was a good idea. It’s great to see the conditions and then when you think they are OK to go for it. I haven’t seen his comments on Lewis spinning under the safety car. They were tricky conditions. We know the cars don’t have a big operating window so when it’s starting to rain and you’re on slicks you are obviously not in the operating window. I spun just doing the switches on my steering wheel. I think everyone pretty much spun in that race at least once so I guess it was difficult but generally – I don’t know what the others are thinking – but I think he does a good job and listens to us. He’s well on board and (has) a new view on Formula One because he hasn’t been here for a very long time and sometimes it’s good to have new eyes on (it).

    Q: Anybody else have anything to add on the job of Michael Masi? No? OK, next question.

    Q: (Bart Van Dooijweert – nu.nl) Question to all drivers about the pit stop record last weekend set by Red Bull with 1.88s: can you tell me how much effort your team puts into a quick pit stop and do you think it’s possible to do it even quicker than 1.88s?

    LS: Yeah, that’s very impressive and yes, that’s something that the team puts a lot of focus on. It’s a very important part of the race, important part of the strategy so we’re always trying to go quicker. I have a lot of confidence that our guys can go quicker than that.

    KM: Yeah, it’s pretty impressive, I would say, 1.8s but what you really want is consistency and yeah, it’s fine to have a 2.5s stop if you have it every time. But impressive.

    DK: Yeah, I think they are consistently under two seconds now so it’s impressive and incredible to see how the machine… I guess it’s a combination of them together with machinery, how they work. It’s great to see and for sure it’s a lot of hard work but everyone in the paddock works hard to make those pit stops as fast as possible, I think, so it’s impressive what levels they reach.

    RG: Yeah, pretty much the same. I think it’s a new reference in terms of every team is going to try to go as fast as they can and reach that level of performance, because obviously half a second in the pits can be a position on track and much more at the end of the race.

    RK: Well, I think we are in good shape in that; already the second positive thing after engine power is our pit stops. If we would be judged by our pit stops we would be fighting with Red Bull for the championship but unfortunately they are fighting for winning races, we are ending up races lapped most of the time, but it’s a good thing. I think everyone is trying to balance – as Kevin said – performance against the risk. Actually our guys are doing it very fast quite regularly so it looks like that on this point we are pretty on it, so let’s focus on the others.

    Q: (Luke Smith – Crash.Net) Dany, you said after the race in Germany that you felt that you’d sent the message that you can fight at the front of the field on a more regular basis. If an opportunity were to arise with the senior Red Bull team next year, would you feel ready to return?

    DK: I think this kind of thing is decided by the management of Red Bull so it’s better to address these questions to them. At the moment I am driving for Toro Rosso but long term I want to be fighting for podiums and wins but right now the situation is that I am a Toro Rosso driver and the bigger decisions will be made by Red Bull management in the future.

  • F1 2019: German Gp Review – Verstappen, King of the Ring

    F1 2019: German Gp Review – Verstappen, King of the Ring

    On its day there isn’t a sport that can match the drama, exhilaration, and rapture of Formula 1. And on a rainy day in Germany Formula 1 was most definitely delivered a race to remember.

    Saturday qualifying was as embarrassing a day as Ferrari has experienced in some time. Well set to claim at the very least one spot on the front row neither Vettel nor Leclerc made it to the final shootout as both cars suffered technical failures. It left Hamilton to pick up the pieces and secure pole position with Max Verstappen alongside on the front row.

    Though most of the weekend had seen the Hockenheimring drenched in sunshine race day was markedly different as the rain came down. It prompted a couple of formation laps behind the safety car but conditions were good enough for a standing start. It was Hamilton who led away cleanly from pole as bad start, similar to Austria, dropped Verstappen down the other. It allowed Valtteri Bottas into second while Kimi Raikkonen scythed his way into third.

    Charles Leclerc, starting tenth, made an impressive start to be running sixth within a few laps while Seb Vettel too charged his way through the back-markers to fourteenth. The first Safety Car was brought out by Sergio Perez’s crash, which triggered the first round of pitstops with driver’s swopping full wets for intermediate tyres. The race settled momentarily before the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was deployed for Daniel Ricciardo’s Renault that expired in a plume of smoke.

    As conditions improved drivers dived back into the pitlane for dry tyres. With Hamilton and Bottas still running one-two Verstappen struggled to heat his medium tyres and spun in the stadium section but rejoined without any damage. Again, the VSC would be called on as this time Lando Norris retired from the race with a loss of power.

    2019 German GPThe most dramatic sequence of events was just about to unfold. Leclerc, now in contention for the podium and even the race win, ran wide at the penultimate corner and slammed his Ferrari into the barrier and out of the race which prompted the appearance of the Safety Car. No sooner had Leclerc stepped out of his cockpit when race leader Hamilton lost control of his car at the same corner. Though the Mercedes driver too hit the barrier he was able to rejoin with the need for a few front wing.

    He dove into the pitlane but in doing incurred a five second penalty for failing to enter the pitlane before the bollard that indicates the correct pit entry. It wasn’t the end of Hamilton’s misery though as his arrival in the pitbox caught his team unaware. The pitcrew rushed around for the correct tyres and a new nose but thanks to the Safety Car and reduced speed Hamilton emerged in fifth overall.

    As the race ‘settled’ Verstappen was comfortably in the lead with Nico Hulkenberg in second ahead of Bottas. No sooner had the whispers begun spreading that Hulkenberg could be on for his first ever podium than the German driver found himself in the same barrier as Hamilton and Leclerc moments later. Yet another Safety Car was called on as drivers were back in the pits to swop dry tyres for inters. However, Lance Stroll and Racing Point gambled on dry tyres which worked a treat as the Canadian driver found himself in the lead as the rest of the field to the pitlane. Verstappen regained the lead of the race shortly afterward with Stroll desperately holding on to second ahead of Kvyat, Bottas, and Carlos Sainz. As Kvyat took second place from Stroll a few laps later it was going from bad to worse for Hamilton who flat-spotted all four tyres in a high-speed 360 in Turn 1.

    Mercedes’s day was about to get even worse when Bottas, just like Hamilton, spun at Turn 1. Unfortunately for the Finn he didn’t get away with it and destroyed the front of the Merc prompting yet another Safety Car.

    As the race re-started it was Vettel’s turn to come alive. He produced several brilliant overtakes and was past Sainz, Stroll and Kvyat in quick succession. It was a brilliant drive for Vettel who started 20thand last on the grid, kept his composure amid the chaos, and finished a fabulous second.

    2019 German GPUp ahead and well clear of the pandemonium Verstappen led serenely and apart from the earlier spin had no other issues. Apart from Mexico 2018 nearly all of Verstappen’s other race wins have come in dramatic fashion and Germany 2019 was no different. The seventh victory of Verstappen’s career was likely his most mature and reveals a driver ready to be a championship contender.

    While Verstappen marched to his second win in the last three races his teammate Pierre Gasly had a miserable afternoon. There were some good moments for the Frenchman but they were clouded by several off-track excursions before a coming together with Toro Rosso’s Alex Albon which put him out of the race. You cant help but feel as Gasly brought his damaged car to a halt it likely also marks the end of stint as a Red Bull driver.

    As impressive as Verstappen was it is undoubtedly Daniil Kvyat who deserves driver of the day for a sensational third place finish. It has been a long road back from the doldrums for Kvyat who was first replaced at Red Bull by Verstappen and later sacked by Toro Rosso. It couldn’t have come at a better time for the Russian driver who may find himself back at Red Bull in quick time.

    Elsewhere, Stroll eventually finished fourth ahead of Sainz in sixth who survived his own spin in the penultimate corner. Alex Albon made it a double-points finish for Toro Rosso in sixth. While the Alfa Romeo’s of Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi finished seventh and eighth on the track the two cars were later given a 30 second penalties for a pre-race rule infringement of, effectively, driver coaching. Alfa have stated their intention to appeal the penalties.

    This promoted Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen to seventh and eighth while Hamilton too benefited by being elevated to ninth. It also means that Williams secured their first point of the season with the elevation of Robert Kubica to tenth.

    Although this German grand prix is likely the last for the foreseeable future it went out on a spectacularly high-note. There’s little time for F1 to catch its breath as the paddock head to the Hungaroring this weekend for the final race before the month-long summer break.