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Whitmarsh Officially Leaves McLaren

Former McLaren Team Principal, Martin Whitmarsh has officially left the Woking based outfit.

Whitmarsh was relieved of his position as McLaren Team Principal earlier in the year and the former Lotus Team Principal, Eric Boullier was appointed in his position. This all took place after Ron Dennis returned to the Group CEO position.

Despite Boullier being in charge of the Formula 1 team, Whitmarsh was still under contract. Following discussions with Ron Dennis over the past few months a final settlement was reached. McLaren would not disclose any details about the settlement but have revealed that Whitmarsh and McLaren have parted amicably.

August 26, 2014
F1 2014: Belgium GP – Rampant Ricciardo Wins Again

No matter whom you’re a fan of in Formula 1 it’s never a hardship to see Daniel Ricciardo take the top step of the podium. The highly likeable Aussie snapped up his third career victory in brilliant style and is still the only driver to have beaten Mercedes to the chequered flag.

The Mercedes team management had given their driver’s only one rule: do not crash into each other. By the second lap of the Belgium GP the temptation proved too great for Nico Rosberg who’s eyes must’ve lit up as he chucked his car around the outside of Lewis Hamilton into Les Combes; Nico, you rebel you. Rosberg’s front wing damage was far less dramatic than Hamilton’s puncture which dropped the Brit completely out of contention.

What Nico Rosberg did was effectively catapult an atomic bomb of tension right in the middle of the Mercedes garage. Rosberg has since declared his unwavering belief in his relationship with Lewis Hamilton and believes this hullaballoo will blow over. It may, and although the two rivals may make pretty for the cameras there is no doubt that Hamilton will be a bit silent-ragey about this for quite a while. Not least of all because Hamilton revealed, post-race, that Rosberg admitted to “doing it on purpose” and though he could’ve avoided the collision he wanted to “prove a point.” Hamilton wasn’t making it up either as Mercedes management confirmed that Rosberg had indeed made these astonishing statements during the team de-brief.

It doesn’t seem that far-fetched to be honest. Fact is that Nico has been quite reserved when it came to overtaking other drivers. In Hungary he virtually set up camp behind Jean-Eric Vergne and in Spa he barely showed a wheel to Sebastian Vettel before scaring himself off the road at the last chicane. It could’ve been a case of him wanting to show that he has the pluck to overtake. He may want to do a bit more cleanly next time though.

Whatever point Rosberg was so desperate to prove will be irrelevant to race fans. He is now a driver who has admitted to deliberately colliding with a fellow competitor. Rosberg has earned praise this season for his relentless consistency and for delivering some wonderful victories. After this, he hasn’t only had to put up with some booing but more importantly might just lose some respect.

As the Merc boys were swapping carbon fibre Daniel Ricciardo sailed into the lead of the race and masterfully controlled his drive. The Red Bull driver again underlined his class by holding off a monstrously fast Rosberg in the closing stages. As long as this Aussie bloke keeps that superstar talent churning we can’t help but be giddy about the future of F1.

Kimi Raikkonen ran as high as second place in the race but being a sitting duck in the straight bits of the circuit doesn’t make defending very easy. A relatively comparable pace to the frontrunners, at least for some part of the race, kept the Iceman in touch but the podium proved a bridge too far. The weakness of the Ferrari power unit was well and truly on display as a straight-line speed deficit of thirty odd kilometres to the Mercedes powered Williams of Valtteri Bottas meant Raikkonen was relegated to fourth place on the day. Although Raikkonen is highly unlikely to be gushing about fourth place it is the Finn’s best result of the season.

Kevin Magnussen’s race wasn’t too shabby either. The Dane more than held his own against a determined Fernando Alonso in a stonking wheel-to-wheel battle with the Spaniard and his teammate Jenson Button. Regrettably, the stewards took a severe view on some of his racing and slapped him with a twenty-second penalty which results in a twelfth place finish. All the same, the on-track performance won’t have done K-Mag’s contract negotiations any harm at all.

The fall-out of the Rosberg/Hamilton incident may have far reaching consequences, so says Mercedes’ Toto Wolff. The consequences referred to was probably of an internal nature but if they’re not careful the now sixty-five point gap to Daniel Ricciardo may not be as insurmountable as they may think.

August 25, 2014
Ricciardo eyeing title challenge

Belgian Grand Prix winner, Daniel Ricciardo, says that he intends to keep fighting for the Formula One Drivers’ Championship title until it is mathematically impossible after claiming his third victory of the season this past weekend.

Ricciardo took his spot in the pound seats after a collision between Mercedes team mates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg and notched up the maximum 25 points, moving to within 64 points of Rosberg.

When asked whether he considers himself a title contender, Ricciardo said, “If I’m within 50 coming into Abu Dhabi then yeah, but there’s still a few races to go. While it’s still mathematically possible we’ll keep fighting. Today was a big day for that.

“To come and steal some points on a circuit where let’s say we weren’t supposed to is nice but I think what’s important, looking ahead, is to capitalise on the circuits that we should be strong on and if we can take maximum points, let’s say, at a couple of those then it’s never over.”

Ricciardo believes he’s exceeded expectations after winning three of the season’s 12 races.

“Obviously for me it’s great, it’s what I wanted to achieve, to get some race wins,” he said.

“To have three in 12 races I think has exceeded a few expectations. Let’s say the in-team battle has gone really well. Obviously I’ve showed speed throughout qualifying and also races now.

“I’ve demonstrated good racecraft and good consistency so I think let’s say the team has been really pleased and I’ve been pleased so we’re in a good place. I’m enjoying it more than ever. Each race that goes on I’m having more and more fun so yeah, just having a good time.”

Ricciardo is the only driver so far this season to have beaten a Mercedes driver having been there to capitalise on any slip ups from the silver team.

“It couldn’t have gone better, considering everything, particularly pre-season. It’s been awesome – I’ve enjoyed every moment of it. I’m happy to keep it up like this and let it continue. Monza will be challenging but then we’ve got Singapore and Suzuka which should be fun for us. We’ll just keep going and if they [Mercedes] slip up then we’ll be there to capitalise.”

August 25, 2014
Video: 2014 Belgian Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton Post Race Reaction

Lewis Hamilton gives his version of events after his incident with his team mate Nico Rosberg on Lap 2 of the Belgian Grand Prix

August 24, 2014
Video: 2014 Belgian Grand Prix: Nico Rosberg Post Race Reaction

Nico Rosberg gives his view on the booing of the fans and his take on the 2nd lap incident between himself and team mate Lewis Hamilton

August 24, 2014
Hamilton: “Rosberg Did It To Prove A Point”

Lewis Hamilton unleashed a storm on Sunday afternoon after the Belgian Grand Prix and claimed that Nico Rosberg ran into him on purpose on the second lap of the race to “prove a point”.

Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff was left fuming after the race and when asked by Sky F1’s Ted Kravitz what he though about Rosberg’s driving he only had two words to say: “Unacceptable race”.

“This is an absolutely unacceptable race for us. It lead to two of our drivers crashing into each other… Unbelievable!” he added.

Hamilton was interviewed after his team debrief and he revealed that Rosberg ran into him to prove a point.

“We just had a meeting about it and he basically said he did it on purpose,” said Hamilton. He said he could have avoided it. He said ‘I did it to prove a point’. He basically said I did it to prove a point.”

“And you don’t have to just rely on me. Go and ask Toto [Wolff] and Paddy [Lowe] who are not happy with him as well.”

Hamilton felt that he was the innocent in the matter as he felt he left enough room for Rosberg and used Sebastian Vettel’s attempted pass on Rosberg at the start of the race as an example. “Look at Sebastian [Vettel]. He was actually further up [in a lap one move] and he knew he wasn’t going to go out the other side. He was sensible about it,” said Hamilton.

Mercedes Executive Director, Toto Wolff, clarified the matter later in the evening. Wolff said that Rosberg suggested he has not backed down from the move, rather than admitting to deliberately hitting his team mate.

Talking to AutoSport, Wolff had this to say: “Nico felt he needed to hold his line. He needed to make a point, and for Lewis, it was clearly not him who needed to be aware of Nico. [Rosberg] didn’t give in. He thought it was for Lewis to leave him space, and that Lewis didn’t leave him space.”

Both drivers agreed to disagree in the debrief. Wolff also added that Nico’s anger towards Hamilton had not subsided.

This does not mean that the situation between the two has been diffused. There will be some serious discussions between the drivers and the team management. We could see Mercedes implement team orders after this incident. But to what extent these team orders will be implemented is the question.

August 24, 2014
Magnussen Handed 20 Second Penalty after Forcing Alonso Off the Track

The stewards have handed McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen a 20 second penalty and two penalty points on his super license after the Belgian Grand Prix for running Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso off the track.

The pair were fighting for fourth position with two laps to go in the race when Magnussen forced Alonso off the track on the run to Les Combes corner. Alonso, at the time, was also under pressure from Jenson Button in the other McLaren in 6th. After being forced off the track, Alonso lost the position to Button, but then fought back though Malmedy and Rivage to take back the place from Button and attempted a pass on Magnussen on the outside at Rivage, but again, Magnussen forced the Spaniard off the road.

Alonso lost the place to Button on the final lap after Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, trying to get ahead of Magnussen, took out most of Alonso’s front wing at the La Source hairpin.

The statement by the FIA reads as follows:

“The driver of car 20 was defending his position on the straight between Turns 4 and 5 [Raidillon and Les Combes], a significant portion of car #14 was alongside car #20. The driver of car #20 did not leave enough space for car #14 and forced the car off the track,”

The penalty dropped Magnussen to 12th and promoted Alonso to 7th.

The Spaniard was very relaxed about the situation and seemed unfazed by what had happened. “”When you are fighting for lower positions, sixth or seventh or whatever, it’s a little bit less important,” he said. “You just try to have fun, with safety as well, but it was not a big deal.”

Photo credit: Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1

August 24, 2014
2014 Formula 1 Shell Belgian Grand Prix: Sunday Press Conference

DRIVERS

1stDaniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

2nd Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

3rd Valtteri BOTTAS (Williams)

PODIUM INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by Eddie Jordan)

What a race. Exciting? You loved it? What about this man here? Let’s hear it for him. Daniel, if I have to say to you: you are responsible for keeping half of Australia up until this hour!

Daniel RICCIARDO: Yeah, I think obviously back home there is a huge following, but this is nearly as many Australian flag as there were in Melbourne. It’s impressive, a lot of Aussies or at least Aussie fans out this weekend, so thank you very much.

We saw you for the first time… because with the previous two wins you just happened to get in there in the last three or four laps. This time you led from the front. Different task, different pressure? What was it like?

DR: Yeah, definitely a bit different. When you lead the race, I guess, for that long it’s more about composure, just looking at your lap times, just trying to be as consistent as possible and once I heard Rosberg came in for a third stop we knew he was going to be quick at the end, I just had to try to keep the lap times up and keep it clean.

We’ll be back to you, please don’t go away. I’ve got to ask: where is the man? He’s here – Nico Rosberg, ladies and gentlemen! (Responding to boos from the crowd) Hey, come on guys, steady on, steady, steady, Nico drove an unbelievably good race. Nico, I’ve got to ask you the all-important question: what happened up in Les Combes?

Nico ROSBERG: Well, I got a good run on Lewis and tried to go around the outside and yeah, we just touched in the end, unfortunately, so that hurt both of our races. From a team point of view of course that’s very disappointing. And yeah, that’s the way it is.

Not that this is a question of apportioning blame but did you see blame either way or was it just a racing accident, a 50/50 situation?

NR: I haven’t seen it yet. It wouldn’t be good of me if I would comment now. I need to look at it on TV and then I can comment afterwards.

We know that you have a lot of fans here but there are obviously a lot of Lewis fans here. I’m just thinking myself about Mercedes. The one-two was there obviously, the domination of the qualifying. Did you actually think it would be a one-two today?

NR: I was pretty confident, yeah, because we had very good race speed, as you saw at the end there, but unfortunately it didn’t work out for us today.

Nico, our championship leader. Ladies and gentlemen, Nico Rosberg! (Responding to more boos from the crowd) Hey, guys, come on, come on. That’s not fair. You know it’s not fair. He’s driven his heart out, like everyone of these three guys and everyone on the grid. I think he needs and deserves a round of applause. Thank you.

Valtteri, you’re making a bit of a habit of this aren’t you. We’re going to have to make a special place for you up here. Four podiums out of the last five races, what’s going on?

Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, why not? The team has done such a good job, we are definitely on the right way: another podium, the fourth one in my career and the fourth one this season. We are still chasing for the highest step but for now, for this season, if we keep like this, it’s OK because it’s the future that matters.

The highest step: how far do you think you’re away from that, because Williams have got a really great turn of speed? Can you just get that little final extra piece?

VB: I think this season it’s going to be difficult. We definitely need to be lucky to achieve that. Mercedes is really strong and even on a track like this Red Bull was really, really quick, we couldn’t really challenge Ricciardo, so we have still work to do but we are on the right way.

Daniel there’s a lot of flags, a lot of well-wishers here for you. Your third win of the season. Just tell everybody here what was it like for those final couple of laps, just as you must have known that Nico was closing in on you. What was going through your head?

DR: The first thing obviously that you hope everything holds together. You hope mechanically everything gets you to the finish line. Then it’s just trying to hit your marks and keep consistent but always the last few laps the chequered flag can’t come quick enough.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Daniel, you’re a three-time grand prix winner now. Obviously the passes early on in the grand prix on Alonso and Vettel were fundamental in setting up the platform for the win today and from there obviously you had to cover Nico off for the rest of the race but tell me, did the boy from Perth always dream of a Spa win?

DR: Yeah, I guess so. You dream of… there’s definitely a few on the calendar that stand out more than others and Spa is one of them, but to be honest any win is special in Formula One. Yeah, the first part of the race: we had pretty good pace. On lap one I actually had the inside of Alonso at five but then I locked up and went off so he got me back and then we were able to get in front a few laps later. And then Seb, looked like he just dropped a wheel on the astroturf exit of Turn 10 and obviously with the rain overnight and this morning it was still a bit slippery, so I was able to get him and then I think Nico came in for a front wing change and we were able to get into the lead and then the pace was pretty good. We were happy with what we were doing and the consistency was there and we were making the tyres last. Yeah, it was just really up to me at the end to stay consistent and stay focused. Yeah, it was good fun.

Q: Nico, obviously there is only one real talking point for you at this stage: the incident with Lewis early on in the grand prix. We’ve obviously seen the crowd’s reaction to it. In making history and fighting for championships there are always going to be difficult moments. This is your chance to explain how you saw it.

NR: To be honest I’m not in a position to comment on it at all because I haven’t seen it and, in the heat of the moment… I need to see it on TV before I say an opinion or anything as such. Of course very, very disappointing from the team’s perspective, for sure, because we could have done a lot better than just finish in second place, y’know, with the car that we have, because our car is really… has been very, very special this weekend.

Q: Valtteri, your fourth podium in five grands prix, quite a streak for you. And a similar story really, a recovery for you after quite a disappointing qualifying session, I imagine, yesterday.Starting sixth on the grid and, again, some big overtakes in the story of your race today.

VB: Yeah. It was, again, a really nice race, nice to be in it. Obviously yesterday the weather played a role in the qualifying and we knew that in the dry we would have better pace than in the wet, so we were really hopeful for today. I have to say that we are little bit surprised by the pace of Red Bull and Mercedes. They were quite a bit far away. Of course our race was a bit compromised after the poor start. I was quite a long time stuck behind some other cars and couldn’t really go at the pace we had. But yeah, had some good overtakes. We had good pitstops and good strategy by the team and that allowed us to come up a few places and again to the podium.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Ian Parkes – PA) Nico, Niki Lauda has made it absolutely clear that he feels you were to blame, he’s gone on record saying that already. Toto Wolff has turned around and said that what happened was “totally unacceptable” – that something like that should not have happened on lap two of the race. What you did, was that deliberate? Because we’ve seen before that when a front wing collides into a tyre it causes a puncture. Just give us your thoughts on that please.

NR: First of all, I haven’t heard it myself from the people that you have mentioned but of course I respect and I will respect their opinion. I myself, I don’t have an opinion yet because I haven’t seen it on the TV. All I know is that I was faster and I gave it a go. The inside was blocked so I gave it a go around the outside. Of course it is very, very disappointing from a team’s point of view.

Q: (Dan Johnson – Daily Telegraph) Nico, whatever happens in a race, no-one likes to see people being booed on the podium. I just wonder how that felt from your point of view, given that, whatever happened between you and Lewis, it wasn’t a blatant thing.

NR: As I said, I respect the opinion of the British spectators. They definitely were not happy, so that doesn’t feel good. That’s very clear.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / National Speed Sport News) Dan, where do you do from here. The car wasn’t supposed to be fast here but how do you see the rest of the season unfolding for you and the team?

DR: I see good things, obviously good things ahead. If we can collect maximum points around here, y’know it gives us a bit more hope for the circuits that are going to comelater in the season: Singapore, Suzuka, just a couple to mention. Obviously it’s great. We’re really motivated right now. It’s been a really good day for us on a track we didn’t expect to get maximum points from, so yeah, it’ll keep us smiling for a while. At the same time we’ll stay grounded. Monza we know will be tricky again but obviously the package we brought here was pretty racy, so, try and take something from here to Monza and then I think, as I said, Singapore and Suzuka will be pretty good for us.

Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, how was your fight with Kimi for the podium in the last laps? What was your feeling, was it something special?

VB: I think it was a nice and fair fight. First I nearly had a go into Turn Five but wasn’t really quite as close, so then I just had to wait for a couple of laps to really prepare for it, then went for it and it was nice, clean racing with him. So, yeah, really enjoyed it.

Q: (Oana Popiou – F1 Zone) Nico, we saw the incident when something got stuck on your antenna; can you tell us something about it?

NR: It was a big piece of… I don’t know what it was and it just got stuck right in front of me, it was flapping in front of my eyes which made it difficult and I couldn’t get rid of it either. I tried, because it was just stuck on the front but then after a while it came loose but it was really difficult to see at that time. Sometimes I couldn’t even see where I was going because it was in the wrong place so that was not good.

Q: (Sven Heidinger – Sport Woche) Daniel, did Red Bull change the philosophy of the car because usually you were very bad at those circuits and now the speed on the straight was very good?

DR: Yup, we pretty much came here with a low downforce setting. We knew it would maybe affect us a bit in the second sector but we believe the car has a good base of downforce to sort of get through the second sector good enough and then what we lose naturally on the straights, running this type of wing, was something that put us back in with a fighting chance for sector one and two. Yeah, I guess on TV you could see by the images that the rear wing was pretty simple, there wasn’t much to it but obviously it was a good package here and we’ll see if the Monza wing can get any smaller – I don’t know, otherwise we’ll just run with DRS open all the time!

Q: (Barua Zsoldos – Nemzeti Sport) Nico, do you honestly think that you can keep up the harmony inside the team after what happened today?

NR: Yeah, I’m confident that we can, yes. It is always going to be an intense battle, that’s clear, it was clear from the onset and there will always be difficult moments and just as we did after Hungary, we had a discussion and moved on. I’m sure again we are going to have to discuss today for sure and we’ll review it and then we’ll move on.

Q: (Leigh O’Gorman – Walker Watson) Nico, the early incident with Lewis, did that dramatically change your tyre strategy today? You had to pit on lap eight or was a three stop with an early change always the plan?

NR: No. My strategy was all over the place because of the various things happening so completely changed everything.

Q: (Daniel Johnson – Daily Telegraph) Daniel, you’re 35 points behind Lewis now and I think about maybe 65 behind Nico. With double points at the last race, do you consider yourself firmly in the championship hunt now?

DR: If I’m within fifty coming into Abu Dhabi then yeah, but there’s still a few races to go. While it’s still mathematically possible, yeah, we’ll keep fighting. Today was a big day for that. To come and steal some points on a circuit where let’s say we weren’t supposed to is nice but I think what’s important, looking ahead, is to capitalise on the circuits that we should be strong on and if we can take maximum points, let’s say, at a couple of those then it’s never over.

Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Association) Nico, you talked about Hungary and the meeting that was held there. I think this weekend we’ve seen different body language from yourself: you’ve clearly suggested that you weren’t happy with what was expressed in the meetings that you’ve had with the team personnel and with Lewis. Was there any suggestion today that for once you went into this race with perhaps an uncool head, perhaps, an unclear mind?

NR: I can’t agree with any of your impressions that you’ve got this weekend. We had a very good discussion after Hungary and it was reviewed and clarified who did what, what was wrong, what was right and then we adapted our agreement to move forward. And that was really behind us. To be honest, I was very relaxed this weekend and just looking forward to it, because with this awesome car that I have at the moment, it’s such a pleasure to go to a track like Spa where I know that I can be on pole on Saturday and win the race if I do a good job. I was very much with that frame of mind, not thinking about the championship either, just really this race, wanting to win here in Spa with the Silver Arrow and that was it for the weekend.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – Universo Online) Daniel, twelve races is a representative number of races and you’ve won three times and your teammate not once, being a four time World Champion. What does it mean for you?

DR: Yeah, obviously for me it’s great, it’s what I wanted to achieve, to get some race wins. To have three in twelve races I think has exceeded a few expectations. Let’s say the in-team battle has gone really well. Obviously I’ve showed speed throughout qualifying and also races now. I’ve demonstrated good racecraft and good consistency so I think let’s say the team has been really pleased and I’ve been pleased so we’re in a good place. I’m enjoying it more than ever. Each race that goes on I’m having more and more fun so yeah, just having a good time.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – Universo Online) Nico, in the discussion you had with the team after Hungary, did you predict situations like you faced today with Lewis?

NR: I’m sorry, I don’t want to go into more details. It’s not a good idea. You asked what was agreed and things like that.

Q: The question was did you envisage situations like today in your meetings?

NR: Not in specific detail but of course the battle between us is something that we have discussed many many times, yes of course, and the guidelines from the team… we know what they are and they’re quite clear. In fact it wasn’t that specific to Hungary at all, just generally, of course, it’s been discussed, yeah. Especially after Bahrain, for example. That was a discussion topic.

Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas) Nico, you haven’t seen the incident but anyway, I think maybe you can feel good because there was no FIA investigation, the incident was not under investigation, that means something. Maybe it was just because it was a racing accident.

NR: I don’t know. I haven’t seen it. I’m sorry, I don’t want to… I need to watch it on TV before I… because really, when you’re in the moment, it’s very difficult now, afterwards, with where I was sitting, to comment.

August 24, 2014
Hamilton’s Qualifying Exit at Hockenheim Explained by Brembo and Mercedes

Brembo and Mercedes Benz AMG Petronas F1 Team have released a statement detailing Lewis Hamilton’s brake failure issue in qualifying for the German Grand Prix. Brembo have revealed that it was the interaction between the brake material and mounting that caused the front right brake failure of Hamilton’s W05

Included below is the Mercedes and Bremo statement in full:

‘Following extensive joint analysis of the previously unseen failure mode experienced by Lewis Hamilton during Q1 at the German Grand Prix, Brembo and MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS have reached definitive conclusions concerning the cause of the failure.

‘First of all, both parties can now confirm that the quality of the disc material was not a contributory factor.

‘Instead, extensive analysis and experimentation has demonstrated that the specific interaction between the structure of the brake material in question and the brake mounting on the F1 W05 Hybrid was at the root of the failure.

‘Countermeasures have already been applied to both the disc geometry and the mounting to ensure there can be no repeat of the failure.

‘These developments allow the team to once again run Brembo brake disc material, should it choose to do so, in race conditions.

Thanks to the close technical relationship between Brembo and MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS, we have been able to collaborate to objectively analyse, diagnose and resolve the failure, and we remain committed to a close working relationship in the future.’

August 24, 2014
2014 Formula 1 Shell Belgian Grand Prix: Qualifying Press Conference

DRIVERS

1st Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

2nd Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

3rd Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)

TV UNILATERAL

Nico, many congratulations, your first Spa pole. Typical Spa conditions of course today, tell us how special the feeling is right now?

Nico ROSBERG: Yeah, it’s awesome definitely at this track. It’s one of the most special tracks of the year, so to be in front here is great. Not quite as difficult out there as on some other occasions as the conditions were pretty much always intermediates, just varying slightly, so that made it a bit easier today. But still, it’s always difficult on this track in the wet, so I’m really, really happy. The car was handling well and together with my engineers we fine-tuned it perfectly now in qualifying and really got there in the end. So, in the end I was really feeling comfortable and able to push, so fantastic. But it’s only qualifying, so still a long race tomorrow but of course, very happy.

In terms of the detail, the first sector was always particularly strong for you throughout this qualifying session, why is that?

NR: I’m not sure, it’s Eau Rouge mainly the first sector you know. I was feeling good through there, really going for it and maybe that’s where the time was done. I haven’t looked.

Very well done. Coming to you Lewis, you were right in the hunt all the way through qualifying but it seemed, if anything, Q3 wasn’t quite as comfortable for you from the outset as the previous sessions had been, why was that?

Lewis HAMILTON: I had a glazed front-right or front-left brake, so the car was pulling to the left or to the right and there was nothing I could do on the out laps to try to get rid of that, so I was struggling under the braking. I had to bring the braking point a little bit further back and I was losing massive amounts out of particularly turn one.

Before that it looked like you were enjoying yourself out there, though. How much can you enjoy driving in conditions like these?

LH: It’s more fun in the dry but it’s still a huge challenge and as Nico said the conditions were quite good so…

Coming to you Sebastian, you were a winner here last year for Red Bull Racing. Your feelings on this result and what you can do from here tomorrow?

Sebastian VETTEL: Well, I think it would be nice to be a bit further up but obviously the gap is quite big. I think it was the best we could do for today. I think it was a tricky qualifying, especially Q2 looked very tight for us. I tried to stay out on the same set of tyres. It started to rain heavier, so I was quite confident that the track won’t get quicker and I wanted to save that extra set for Q3. It was quite tight. I got the lap in in the end because the circuit did pick up and in Q3 I was able to use both sets of tyres. It was obviously very tight behind the Mercedes. It was tricky out there, especially on low downforce, especially through Eau Rouge, so I had a couple of moments. But it was a good challenge and for sure happy with third.

Coming back to you Nico. You’ve never been on the podium before in Spa either. Clearly a big fight in prospect tomorrow in what promises to be, at the moment anyway, a dry race with Lewis and Sebastian. Your thoughts on tomorrow’s grand prix?

NR: Again, we have a great car here. We’re leading the way and that’s so cool to see that, definitely, that the team is doing such a great job. Just keeping it going all the time, staying ahead and keeping that gap. That’s nice to see. So yeah, definitely a really good chance tomorrow. I need to get a good start and from there I’m looking forward to it.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Nico, one of the things that was noticeable from the outset of this session – obviously it was very wet, had been very wet before the start of the session – was the performance difference between the Mercedes and the rest, right from the outset of Q1. You’ve been quick obviously all season but was this about downforce? Was there any specific reason in your mind why you had such a big advantage all the way through?

NR: I have really no idea. It was amazing to see that, how quick our car is. That was really great. Obviously then it was just Lewis I had to focus on, and that makes it a bit easier too –when there’s not a whole bunch, just one guy. Yeah, but really impressive car.

Q: Lewis, you’ve got to go back to Canada in June for the last time you were this far up the grid. It’s been a difficult period of time for you on Saturday afternoons. So, although I’m sure you’re disappointed today, nevertheless this gives you the kind of platform you’ve been looking for on Sunday to challenge, right?

LH: I’m not disappointed today actually. If you look at the previous years, P2 is the best place to start here so I feel quite blessed that this is the case. I started on pole here last year and Sebastian flew past me down the top straight, so I think it gives you the most opportunity here at the start. And I’m just happy to be up here. I was nervous going into qualifying, not knowing if the car was going to make it through it, and grateful for all the hard work the team put in to make sure we have no problems. It’s a great feeling to be back up here.

Q: Sebastian, you mentioned driving this circuit, in these conditions, with low downforce and it did seem that Red Bull had decided to run quite low levels of downforce, obviously thinking ahead to tomorrow’s grand prix. Is that the case?

SV: Yep!

Q: And how did that feel? A gamble clearly…

SV: It was very tricky in the wet. We knew it would be even trickier obviously when qualifying is wet, qualifying was wet so we can confirm it was trickier – but the reason behind it is fairly simple: we know that we are down on power, obviously Mercedes can run a lot more wing level and they have a very strong car this year, you have to admit, so they have a lot of downforce but they can still take that wing onto the straights. If we do that I think we are similar in the corners but quite a long way off on the straights and therefore vulnerable in the race. So, I think that’s the reasoning behind it, and in the wet probably it hurt us a bit more, but hopefully tomorrow we’ll be closer in terms of race pace and closer to them than in the last couple of races.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Angelique Belokopytov – AutoDigest) Sebastian, you are a four time champion and this year you’ve never won a pole so how long can you, a champion, live with that?

SV: As long as I have to, I guess. I’m trying very hard so it’s not like I’m deciding consciously not to qualify on pole. Obviously these guys are doing a very good job from the drivers’ point of view, their team is very strong so that is what makes them very difficult to beat. Obviously we’ve been on the other side for quite a while but that’s the name of the game. Obviously my season wasn’t the way I was hoping for but there are still some races to come. I think we did the maximum today so I’m hoping for a strong result tomorrow.

Q: (Vladimir Rogovets – Sb Belarus) Nico, to your left is one champion, to your right is a second champion but today you have pole position. How do you feel here between two champions?

NR: I feel very good but not because it’s Lewis and Sebastian. To me they’re competitors like all the others: great drivers. I’m just happy to be first; first is the best position for tomorrow’s race.

Q: (Paulo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Nico, this morning the Williams were pretty fast and many people were expecting them to be a challenge in the dry. Do you think that having a wet qualifying helped you a little bit to keep them away or you just were hiding a little bit this morning?

NR: I think even in the wet we would have been strong. Maybe the others would have been a little bit closer. It’s very difficult to say who exactly, I’m not too sure about that but for sure it helped us that it was wet because in the wet, clearly the gap was a lot bigger and our car was really dominant.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – Universo OnLine) Lewis, you had a problem with your brakes today. In German qualifying you also had the same; you had a problem with the engine in other races; a lot of problems. How can you understand it, so many difficulties that you’ve had?

LH: I don’t really know. Today, this is a circuit where – as on all circuits – you need to have confidence in the brakes. You saw a couple of times in Q3 when I was just going straight on everywhere because the left brake wasn’t working and then for some reason – I don’t really know why – it went into glazing but yeah, I’ve had some good experiences and bad experiences but it’s OK. Who knows, it might be a blessing in disguise.

Q: (Sven Heidinger – Sport Woche) Lewis, do you fear that the issue with the brakes will appear again tomorrow or was it a one-off? What do you think?

LH: Well, when it glazes, it’s sometimes very hard to recover, especially in the wet. You have to put the brake balance forwards but whilst you’re trying to clear that, you’re also overheating the rears so it’s really not that easy to always clear but in the evening they’re able to scrub it and get rid of the glazing. I think it goes shiny and then you lose that bite so hopefully over the evening we will lose that and in the dry tomorrow it shouldn’t be a problem.

August 23, 2014