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  • Canadian grand prix Friday practice round up – Hamilton & Raikkonen top the sheets

    Canadian grand prix Friday practice round up – Hamilton & Raikkonen top the sheets

    It was Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen who ruled the practice sessions for today.

    Hamilton edged out Sebastian Vettel to set the fastest time in the first free practice session ahead of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix. The three-time world champ set the benchmark at 1:13.809 – 0.198s ahead of Vettel. – on a very green Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

    Valterri Bottas finished third fastest with the second Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen finishing in the 4th spot. The two Force Indias put in a strong start to their weekend with Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon finishing the session 5th and 6th fastest.

    Stoffel Vandoorne managed to complete an entire session in his McLaren-Honda but alas, it was woe again for Fernando Alonso who referred to the time spent on the session as “wasted”. After just 13 laps Alonso’s return to Formula One from the Indy500 was cut short. Following a loss of hydraulic pressure, Alonso was forced to pull over at Turn 10 where he promptly got out of his car and chucked his headrest from the car in frustration.

    The second practice session saw Kimi Raikkonen clocking the fastest time with a 1:12.953 on the ultra-soft tyres – a good 0.215s clear of Hamilton. The Finn showed consistent pace on the purple tyres and had a far better time than team-mate Vettel who complained about being stuck behind Hamilton after he’d spun off on his first long run of the session. Hamilton appeared to be randomly backing off and also making mistakes which left Vettel a little less than happy. The German came in third quickest, 0.265s off Raikkonen’s time, and 0.050s behind Hamilton. Valtteri Bottas predictably rounded out the top four drivers.

    Max Verstappen stopped out on track with a gearbox issue, interrupting the session with red flags. It was not a fun day for the Red Bull team since Ricciardo only managed to put in 8 laps thanks to an engine issue.

    McLaren managed to get Alonso out for a late flying lap following his hydraulics issue. The Spaniard finished seventh fastest behind Felipe Massa in 6th. Of course he was on low fuel while everyone else was doing long runs so it’s hardly representative of what we can expect for the rest of the weekend.

    The Force Indias finished 8th and 10th, with Daniil Kvyat splitting the two. Romain Grosjean finished 11th quickest, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg’s Renault, Carlos Sainz’s Toro Rosso and Haas teammate Kevin Magnussen.

    Ricciardo was 15th fastest ahead of Renault’s Jolyon Palmer. Lance Stroll could only manage 17th fastest at his first home grand prix – 1.177s off teammate Massa’s time. Marcus Ericsson, Stoffel Vandoorne, and Pascal Wehrlein rounded out the bottom of the timesheets.

  • Hamilton Leads Close Canadian Grand Prix Free Practice 1

    Hamilton Leads Close Canadian Grand Prix Free Practice 1

    Lewis Hamilton launched Mercedes’ comeback this weekend with the fastest time for the first free practice session for the Canadian Grand Prix and the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

    Hamilton set a 1:13.809 to go fastest on the super soft tyres narrowly beating Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel to the fastest time of the session by 0.198s. In fact, the top four drivers were covered by less than half a second.

    As expected the green track conditions produced a few spins and off track excursions for the drivers. As the track cleaned up, the lap times became progressively quicker.

    Valtteri Bottas finished the session third fastest ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen.

    The surprise of the day came courtesy of Force India who finished in an impressive 5th and 6th with Sergio Perez finishing in front of Esteban Ocon.

    Red Bull did not have the cleanest session with a few troubles for Max Verstappen out on track. Granted that the team only ran the super softs they’re still a few tenths off the pace. Team Principal Christian Horner said that on the super softs they were just over half a second off the pace and they expect to be between three and four-tenths off the pace on the ultra softs.

    Felipe Massa ended his session 8th fastest with his team mate and home town boy Lance Stroll finishing in 13th with the latter complaining about the lack of grip on his Williams.

    McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne had a good session compared to his team mate, Fernando Alonso. Alonso fresh from the back of his Indy 500 stint was keen to get back in the car but was confined to the garage with issues on his MCL32. When Alonso was able to get back out on track he could only complete one timed lap before a hydraulic problem forced him to stop on track.

    Mercedes are showing some early pace. Ferrari look right in there with Force India the best of the rest. Free Practice 2 still to come. We could see things changed up a bit.

  • Alonso to Decide on Future After September

    Alonso to Decide on Future After September

    Fernando Alonso remains tight lipped about his future plans in Formula 1 and says that he will decide on his future after the summer break around September or October.

    The Spaniard has had to endure another torturous season of bad reliability at McLaren-Honda, something that has become synonymous with the team since Honda entered the sport in 2015.

    Speaking to journalists on Thursday ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix Alonso said that he will make his decision in September.

    “We have to win. You know, if we are winning before September or something like that I will make a decision and I will stay,” said Alonso when he was asked what would keep him at McLaren.

    Ahead of the Thursday press conference, McLaren Executive Director Zak Brown was quoted as saying that McLaren are nearing their limit with Honda and has expressed doubt if the partnership with the Japanese Automaker will continue.

    After it was pointed out that McLaren dont, realistically, have a chance for wins this season and if he will leave McLaren if they do not produce a win,  Alonso side-stepped the follow up question with his reply.

    “You never know. You cannot be 100 per cent now in June about a decision for next year that I don’t even start to consider,” he said.

    “What we all want is to win and, related to the answer before, what Zak commented yesterday and the Honda thing is probably what you will expect Zak to say. He wants to win; he wants to put McLaren again on a contender position for the championship.

    “So, y’know, after three years we are not in that position. Things have to change, I guess, for the team. And the same with me. I want to win, and I joined this project because I wanted to be World Champion and we are not in that position.

    “So, if you don’t see things changing and you are not in a competitive position, maybe you change projects. That’s the only think that I can say now, until I sit down with myself in September, October or whatever – after the summer as I always said, I cannot say 100 per cent about anything now.

    “The best decision I will take after summer.”

    From what Alonso has said it seems that he is on the end of his tether with McLaren-Honda and is seeking a drive with another team next year. His choices are somewhat limited in that respect with a possibility of an opening in Mercedes should they choose not to renew Valtteri Bottas’ contract for 2018.

    McLaren will try everything they can to keep Alonso. Letting him take part in the Indy 500 was one of the ways. Next on the list is the World Endurance Championship.

  • 2017 Canadian GP: Thursday Press Conference – Part 1

    2017 Canadian GP: Thursday Press Conference – Part 1

    PART ONE: Fernando ALONSO (McLaren), Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes), Jolyon PALMER (Renault)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Fernando, if we can start with you. It seemed like a great experience at Indianapolis. How was it to learn a completely new way of driving, of racing after all these years? And has it relit your competitive flame after a tough few years here in Formula One?

    Fernando ALONSO: It was a great experience, obviously very new for me many things there, so yeah very intense because as you said I had to learn many things from zero, so it was definitely a good way to stop this year in Formula One for a couple of weeks and start from zero in something and learn from the beginning. That was the first thing that I wanted to try. Try to be competitive in a completely new car, new series. I am always searching for this kind of motivations and this year it was a good decision to go there. The race was amazing, the experience of qualifying already started to be an amazing experience there – four laps on the limit and try to not scrub the speed in any place and obviously the race strategically very different compared to F1, a very long race as well – three hours and a half, or three hours and forty-five minutes in the car. It was just you know a new thing for me but I felt competitive, I felt good in qualifying, I was leading the biggest race in the world for a while, so really really happy.

    Q: So what happens next? Has the experience helped you to make any decisions or resolutions about where you take your career from here?

    FA: Not really. I’ve said many times in F1, a third world championship is still my biggest priority. I think I developed my skills to drive F1 cars for the last 16 years, so it’s the best thing that I can drive. The best car that I can drive is still Formula One. It’s another time that I jump in any car in any categories with any tyres, with any rules, that I go there and I’m competitive, so I’m not afraid of the future. If I cannot succeed here and win this third world championship, I’m still loving motor racing and I will race in any series. I know that I can win any series.

    Q: Lewis, coming to you. Five poles, five wins. Montreal is a great place for you to come to bounce back from your disappointment in Monaco last time out. Toto Wolff’s pre-race notes are interesting: he said that it could be a tricky race for Mercedes in terms of the layout of the track. How positive do you feel about the weekend?

    Lewis HAMILTON: I think Toto mentioned that he thinks Ferrari… We’ve obviously seen that Ferrari are quickest at the moment, so they’re the favourites, but we’ve worked very hard to rectify the issues we had in the last race, and after the weekend… Attack this weekend. We’ve got some unique bits on the car I think which will work well this weekend,but it doesn’t mean we can’t take the fight to them.

    Q: It’s no secret that the Mercedes car has a few issues with the softer compound tyres this year, getting them into that sweet spot and then keeping them there. How much work have you been able to do behind the scenes to fix this problem up to this point?

    LH: Not much at all.

    Q: Just what you can do on-event with those tyres when you get them?

    LH: Yeah. We’ve definitely done some analysis, but we’ll find whether or not there’s new things we can improve on this weekend.

    Q: Coming to you, Jolyon. Best result of the season so far last time out in Monaco – P16 on the grid to P11 at the flag. How much of a confidence boost is that?

    Jolyon PALMER: It’s been a confidence boost. It’s been obviously a very tough start to the year. There’s been some positives recently, but it doesn’t necessarily show on the results sheets. Monaco, at least we did race distance and we were pretty competitive in the times as well. Obviously when you start 16th it’s difficult to make any overtakes or do much else. Running around in the traffic, but at least with a better pace and we can take a bit of confidence in that.

    Q: Cyril Abiteboul, your team boss, in his pre-race notes has said that you now have a more robust engine and gearbox and the team can fully focus on maximising performance. Tell us about that.

    JP: That sounds good! Well, we’ll see – we’re always pushing. This is obviously a big power circuit, difficult for the drivetrain as well; it’s an important area so we’re always making progress there. I think it’s now time – especially for me – to start delivering and get some points.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Question to Lewis. Can you tell us how difficult is it to make the tyre work and how you heat them during the pre-laps?

    LH: You just drive it the same. You push or you drive slowly, depending on the temperature of the circuit, and when you come to do your laps sometimes they’re ready and sometimes they’re not. It’s difficult to… It’s kind of an unfeeling – sometimes the tyres feel exactly the same when you leave the garage, and sometimes they grip up. It’s the same for every tyre.

    Q: (Sef Harding – Xiro Xone News) Lewis, I want to talk a little bit about here, as it’s a very special place for you. Obviously this is where it all began, and this is where you started to build your legacy. You posted a picture on Instagram that was very nice, it was a young you in your karate uniform and your father was with you. Fathers’ Day is this weekend, and I wanted to know – when you come here, does it still… Do you still have those good memories, do you have that positive feeling, those feelings when you first won the race? It’s been ten years now, and I just wanted to know: do you still feel that positive energy going into this weekend?

    LH: Montreal’s been… Obviously, having the amazing experience I had in 2007; I remember standing on the podium and looking down at my dad and just seeing the biggest smile I’d ever seen in my life on his face, which was a very proud moment. And then, since then, just every year I come, I’ve just grown a lot with Canada and with Montreal, and the following has grown along the time, ten years, and so a lot of my time when I see get here is spectacular. You definitely feel the energy. Here is such a great race; the weather’s generally really good, the circuit’s incredible and unique to its own, the city’s one of the greatest cities. I’ve not been here when it’s not been a grand prix, but there’s a huge buzz here. I love being here. I try and get here a bit early, because the food’s great, the people are great, and I generally get left alone, so it’s a good weekend.

    Q: (Ralf Bach – Sport Bild) Question to Fernando. Fernando, would it help you to learn for your decision for next year that you maybe get the same engine next year as Lewis has this year?

    FA: I think it doesn’t make any change to my decision.

    Q: (Bruce Schoenfeld – Sports Business Journal) At this point in the season, from a driver’s perspective, has much changed with the change in administration of the sport? Have you noticed anything heading in any direction in terms of commercial opportunities, of the way the sport is run, or when you wake up in the morning is it business as usual, with no noticeable differences?

    LH: Very very small changes. At the moment I think they’re in planning, so. Coming into this track today, I don’t know if you know where the bridge is? Normally they stop the traffic to let the fans walk through. After ten years or 15 years or whatever, they’ve finally built a stairway to go up and over the road. I don’t know who did that, but otherwise there’s not really other changes so far.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Lewis, it is said that a driver gets stronger after winning for the first time. Have you noticed any change in Valtteri after Sochi? And did you notice any change in yourself here ten years ago after your first victory?

    LH: I’ve not noticed any difference in Valtteri – he’s still his calm, composed self. But definitely for me when I won my first grand prix it was definitely a huge boost, confirming what I knew in my heart I could do. So I can only imagine that it’s the same for anyone else, it’s just that some people show it more than others.

    Q: (Helmut Uhl – Bild) Question for Fernando. I have read that you said in Spanish TV that if they announce 25 races you would quit. Is that right?

    FA: Yes.

    Q (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Fernando, looking at it from a distance, in Indy you appeared to be quite different – there was a kind of lightness about you. Skateboarding down the paddock, or Gasoline Alley, attending press conferences with Indiana farmers, and all that kind of thing. What made that change, and are you going to bring it to here as well?

    FA: Well, the skateboarding I think here you are not allowed to bring those kind of things. The farmer thing, they give you money if you are the fastest rookie. Someone give us money here, I will attend, no worries. The whole atmosphere is just different there, I think everyone is more relaxed, is happy, you know. Even the way of the events we had, it’s all about… Everyone is proud of that race, that event. They’ve been for many years there, you know everyone that comes to the race they are just proud. They expect to have fun in that race. I don’t say that here is different, but here with years with all of the business that is around F1, you know everyone is trying to find some word, some thing you say or you do that creates maybe a theme behind, for more on the news. That is just about, you know, 33 drivers doing the race and just enjoy racing. Here, it’s more. Formula One is bigger in every sense. It’s bigger, there are other things, you know. But this in all kind of sports it happens the same. In tennis when you start and when you play Roland Garros there are many details that they take care of, the players. In football the same thing – when you start, you have fun, you just enjoy the sport. And then when you go to the champions’ league final a small comment before the match maybe creates a polemic and afterwords or something like that. You are more relaxed, the environment is more relaxed. There’s not the pressure and everything that Formula One has here, so it’s just different.

    Q: (Simon Lazenby – Sky Sports) Fernando, just to follow that up, how do you feel coming back to Formula One? You were promised an engine upgrade for here in Canada; it doesn’t look like that has materialised. Zak’s come out again and been critical of Honda; he says the next 90 days is important. What has to change to keep you at McLaren?

    FA: We have to win. You know, if we are winning before September or something like that I will make a decision and I will stay.

    Q (Guillaume La Francois – La Presse) My question’s for Lewis. I know you mentioned enjoying your time in Montreal, which we all really appreciate, but as far as when you’re on the track, what is it about the track that suits you well, that enables you to have all that success here?

    LH: It’s been ten years, I think it’s just a bit like once you get to the corners it’s a bit like a go-kart track, and long straights added to that, so it creates lots of opportunities for overtaking, you can follow here a little bit better than perhaps at other circuits, it’s a lot more of a mechanical, technical circuit, and it suits well an aggressive driving style I guess I would say. So all of that means you have to be generally more aggressive than we can be at other circuits.

    Q: (Jeff Pappone – Inside Track) This year is the 50th anniversary of the first Formula One race in Canada. I just wanted to know from all three of you, what is the significance of this race to Formula One and personally, is there a significance of this race to you?

    LH: The significance of this race? Well, Formula One is obviously made up of a lot of great countries, a lot of great races, but there are the exceptional races and there’s only a few of them. This race is in that few.

    FA: Agreed!

    JP: Personally, there’s not anything special for me, but I think it’s always a great race. There has been a lot of action here in the past, and it’s a different market here – it’s North America, so it’s always interesting to come.

    Q: (Jon McEvoy – Daily Mail) To Fernando, if they add five races to the year, you say you won’t go on. What are your objections to that – and what would you do if you stopped doing Formula One for that reason?

    FA: I think, y’know, I started when the calendar was 16 races, plus the tests, and now we keep on increasing the races year after year and I think we are in a number that is quite demanding already: the life you have, y’know, between the preparation, the sponsor events, the tests, the commitments you have plus 20-21 races, I think is already enough. If there are 25 or 26 races or whatever, I think it’s good in one aspect but in other aspects, in how demanding becomes your life, at this point of my career, I consider that a good quality of life is more important than to do more seasons in F1 – so if the calendar stays between 20-21, so this range that we know from the last couple of years, I’ll be happy to continue. If it’s increasing, like NASCAR, that they have 40 or 50 races, it’s not for me. It’s better for other drivers.

    The second part is, if you did leave for that reason, what would you do?

    FA: I don’t know. In September I will think about it.

    Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas) Jolyon, there are some rumours about your future in Renault. Does it put some pressure on you and what are your feelings about it?

    JP: What puts pressure on is not putting in good performances. I’m aware that the start of the year has been pretty disappointing. I’m working hard and I’m ready to turn it around. In terms of rumours, there have been rumours since my third-ever race in Formula One, so it’s nothing new for me. The way to stop it is to do well on track and hopefully I can do that this weekend.

    Q: (Ralf Bach – Sport Bild) Question to Fernando, again. You went to Indy, you were one of the quickest guys from the beginning, you nearly won the race. Do you think in the opposite, one of the top American drivers from the IndyCars, they could do the same in the Formula One?

    FA: Depending on the car, I guess. Yes.

    Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Fernando, I have to ask you to follow-up your answer to my original question where you said if McLaren aren’t winning by September you’ll leave. They’re not going to be winning by September: you know that; I know that; everyone in the room knows that – but you don’t have that many options for next year it would appear. Are you saying definitively, one hundred per cent, if you don’t win a race by September, you’ll definitely leave McLaren? Can you just clarify that?

    FA: You never know. You cannot be 100 per cent now in June about a decision for next year that I don’t even start to consider. What we all want is to win and, related to the answer before, what Zak commented yesterday and the Honda thing is probably what you will expect Zak to say. He wants to win; he wants to put McLaren again on a contender position for the championship. So, y’know, after three years we are not in that position. Things have to change, I guess, for the team. And the same with me. I want to win, and I joined this project because I wanted to be World Champion and we are not in that position. So, if you don’t see things changing and you are not in a competitive position, maybe you change projects. That’s the only think that I can say now, until I sit down with myself in September, October or whatever – after the summer as I always said, I cannot say 100 per cent about anything now. The best decision I will take after summer.

    Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) To Lewis, is there any major, urgent upgrade you need to be more competitive against Ferrari?

    LH: Not that I know of. Not that I know of. I don’t have that information to say.

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lewis, you said you were going to go into the factory after the last race. Did you go in and what did you learn with your engineers?

    LH: We were just focussed on this race, and it was shortly after the last race, so after the last race there was lots of information for them to be working on. So, we didn’t have all the solutions and the answers at that point.

    Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas) Fernando, which were you feelings when we saw on the replay the Dixon accident – it was so spectacular and the cars are as strong as Formula One, of course.

    FA: Well, obviously it was a big accident and we saw this in qualifying, another one with Sébastien Bourdais, so, you know, when you’re running at 380km/h every single thing will be big. There are some risks when you race the Indy 500 but it has always been like that. It’s part of the race – but obviously it was red flagged, I was in the pitlane but you don’t have the communication with the team as much as you have here, you don’t have the mechanics, you cannot jump out of the car, so I was there and just asking if everything was OK and what to do on the restart – because again the procedures are different: here you can change the tyres, you can prepare the car, whatever, under a red flag and there you cannot do anything. We were planning to pit on the next lap after the pace car was on the track, so you just focus on the procedures and the race restart, you are not concerned too much about the accidents – but from the first minute that I decide to race there, I knew about the risk, and I knew also about what was that race. I was happy to take those risks.

    Q: (Helmut Uhl – Bild) One more question to Lewis, going back to the 25 races, how do you think about that and would this be just a case for you to think about backing out also, like Fernando said?

    LH: I haven’t really given it any thought but I understand what Fernando’s saying and tend to agree with him.

    Q: (Sef Harding – Xero Xone News) Fernando, to go back on a question earlier where you said the atmosphere here is the way things are. Isn’t that the issue? That we’re in a wash-rinse-repeat situation where it takes all of us to start to develop and change that atmosphere so we can be more relaxed, so that it’s a better relationship between you, between us, between the fans and to make it a more positive, more relaxed environment?

    FA: There are definitely things that are difficult to change, so difficult to consider if they are good or bad. Formula One is the biggest motor sport category in the world for a reason. Whatever that reason is, maybe it’s all about this thing as well. An example is this press conference: there has not been one single question about this race weekend. Not for me, not even for Lewis, not for him. If the future will be OK, if the upgrades will be OK, or not. There is always thinking forwards too much: about next year, about September, about whatever, so, there is not enough focus on this race weekend, because also, the positions, more or less, we know. We can put in a paper the first 15 positons for qualifying and the first 15 for the race. 99 per cent we will match ever single position. This lack of unpredictable racing, generates a lot of… too much thinking forwards, too much guessing. Obviously, it’s a good for some part of the sport that will benefit from that, because we will generate a lot of talks in the media and a lot of fan-interaction – but you miss a little bit what is going to happen this weekend. So, y’know, it’s not being more or less relaxed in the weekend but when you come here you focus with the engineers, you prepare the race, you prepare the strategy, the tyre temperature, whatever, you come to the press conference and it’s all about next year, about what Zak said, about Toto said, you freeze a little bit the emotions that you have about racing this weekend. It’s probably what it is.

  • 2017 Canadian GP: Thursday Press Conference – Part 2

    2017 Canadian GP: Thursday Press Conference – Part 2

    PART TWO: DRIVERS – Lance Stroll (Williams), Sergio Pérez (Force India), Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)

    Q: Marcus, why don’t we start with you. You said you particularly look forwards to this Canadian Grand Prix every year, why is it so important to you?

    Marcus ERICSSON: Did I?

    Yes, you did!

    ME: OK. I enjoy it here, it’s a good race, not only the track but I think the whole city. It’s really cool because it’s buzzing, the whole city, wherever you do, all week. There’s a lot going on. Then the weekend as well, around race day, a lot of fans, the atmosphere is great. I think it’s this combination of things that makes it one of the better races of the year, I think.

    Q: Sauber was one of the teams that had real problems getting the softer tyres to work, all weekend in Monaco. Do you anticipate similar problems with them this weekend?

    ME: Yeah, it’s true that in Monaco we were struggling quite a lot to get the tyres to work in the right window. We have worked quite a bit after Monaco to understand that and to make sure that we are better off here in Montreal because it’s also a track where you are generally struggling a bit with tyres, especially the front tyres, to get them into the right temperature. We have some ideas of how to do it and hopefully this type of track will help us to get them to work a bit better – and then we hope the temperature stays a bit high, and that will also help – but let’s see how it goes.

    Q: Sergio, coming to you, your 15 race points-scoring streak that stretched back all the way to Germany last season was interrupted in Monaco in a strange race for you – how do you look back on it now?

    Sergio PÉREZ: Yeah, it was quite a strange race, y’know? Great qualifying and we were on to a… let’s say a piece of cake – a race that was very easy – but then we have something unexpected in lap one. I slightly touched Sainz into the hairpin with my front wing, which meant I had to pit, like after 17 laps or so to change my front wing, and that meant that I end up in a big battle where I didn’t need to be. And from then on I had to take big risks.  I take a big risk overtaking Lance, actually, Palmer, Vandoorne, and then I found myself in a very strong position. My team did a massive call to box me under the safety car. I didn’t lose any positions. I was on fresh tyres so I was around two seconds a lap quicker than the car ahead, and I was in the points. Everyone ahead of me was struggling massively. I knew how much they were struggling with the warm-up of the tyre and Kvyat left the door open a bit so I just went for it and, if I have that opportunity again, I think I will do the same. If you don’t go for the gap, you don’t give the right message to your competitors, you know? So, I think one of the reasons that I’ve been so many times in the points was thanks to that aggression. Many times of those 15 I didn’t have the pace to be on the points and yes, sometimes I think you have to be quite aggressive. In Monaco, you know as a driver if you try the manoeuvre there is a big chance that it is not going to happen and it’s going to ruin the race. It’s a risk that you decide to take. I think I was the only car out there to overtake. You saw what happened with Jenson and Wehrlein: with these wide cars, with the amount of limited grip we have in the corners, it is very hard to overtake so you have to take big risks.

    Q: You had a podium here back in 2012 but since then it’s not been a particularly kind circuit for you. Do you think this year’s Force India car with it’s characteristics will give you a better shot at a big result here this weekend than the last few seasons?

    SP: I think so. I think we should be relatively stronger than probably other circuits in the past. But we still have a big margin to the top three teams ahead. They’re in another category. For us, just in pure pace, if we finish behind them it’s the maximum we can achieve at the moment. So, let’s see what we can do for Sunday.

    Q: Coming to you Lance, I guess having grown up here and been inspired by seeing Formula One cars once a year on this race track, you must feel quite emotional at the thought of racing one here this weekend?

    Lance STROLL: Yeah, it’s kind of a dream come true for me. Growing up here I was sitting in the grandstands at five or sic years old and watching the races here and now to finally be part of it, it’s very special.

    Q: This has been a strong track for Williams in the last few years – back-to-back podiums the last two seasons and there has been a Williams on the front two rows of the grid in three of the last four years. So are expectations high for getting your first championship points?

    LS: I think so, yeah. It has been a strong track for us in the past. It suits our car very well. Hopefully that remains the same this year. I think we just need to focus on our job. Hopefully a bit of luck will be on our side, that we can have a clean weekend and get the best out of our car. That’s definitely the plan.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Pierre Durocher – Montreal Journal) I want to ask you, Lance… people some to forget sometimes but two years ago when you first appeared in F3 you had some problems you had to fight to get the results you wanted and then the next year you became champion. Is there anything that you learned through your first year in F3, that was a bit difficult, and make you stronger that you can make you stronger right now and help you go through the hurdles of having success in F1?

    LS: I think it just comes down to experience and sometimes it just takes a bit of time for things to fall into place. Back in Formula 3, I ended 2015 very well and then I started 2016 very well and it stayed the same way the whole year. So, it just sometimes takes some time to break the ice and once you get rolling it keeps working. I mean, I think this year has been a bit different. We have had some strong qualifyings – in China, Bahrain, in Russia – there have been some Saturdays, but there has been some bad luck as well with technical issues and other things and we haven’t been able to capitalise on those results on Sunday and I think a lot of our non-finishes are because of that and I think we just need to stay calm, we need to stay focused, focus on what we need to improve on – myself, car, everything – and just every weekend try to get stronger and stronger. I think that’s the goal now. We can’t panic, we can’t lose concentration; we have to stay in it. It’s a long year. There have only been six races and there’s still 14 more to go. The year is a marathon and it’s about forgetting about what happened in the past and focusing on the next one. That’s definitely what I did in F3. There were a lot of hard times in 2015 and then I came back in 2016, worked on my weaknesses over the winter, and came back a much better, a much more complete driver. The same thing happens when you move into Formula One. There are new things to learn. The tyres are very tricky to understand, so that is definitely something I’m learning at the moment, trying to get on top of that every weekend as consistently as possible and just driving the car and getting used to it. I’m getting more comfortable, more confident every where I go. A lot of the tracks are new as well. That’s definitely something that takes some getting used to. In FP1 you just have to learn these new tracks and all that. It’s time and experience. But at the same time you’ve got to always push as hard as you can and focus on what you really need to improve on, weekend by weekend.

    Q: (Jeff Pappone – Inside Track) A question for Sergio. I’m just wondering, with the changes to the car, the tyres that are different this year, you have a rookie team-mate: Is this one of the toughest years – F1 Is always hard for rookies – but is this one of the toughest years for them to come in and figure out the cars and figure out how to be fast?

    SP: It’s hard for me to judge, because the last time I was a rookie in F1 was seven years ago. I think F1 is quite as well, you know, but certainly with these tyres it’s quite difficult to know what is going on. I think especially in Formula One, you have a lot of people around your team that can help you a lot to understand what is going on with tyres. Since I came to Formula One, the most important thing is tyres. We are always talking about tyres, tyres. When you come from a junior category to Formula One there is so much to learn on tyres. Whether it’s harder now or when I came? I don’t think it’s any harder now, but it’s hard for me to judge. Certainly I’m finding it hard to know what’s going on with these tyres. All the time they are very different, depending on which track they work very different. Having them in the window to having them over the window, it’s a very little margin. So certainly tyres are something that rookies might find a little bit harder than experienced drivers.

    Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas ) Sergio, you just said that there are a lot of people around trying to help about the tyres. I would love to know, all of you, what about the sensibility. How sensitive do you have to be, driving a car, to add to this help? Your own feelings into the car.  Do you feel this year you have to use even more your sensitive approach?

    SP: I don’t think you have to use it any more than any other year. You always have to try to know what’s going on with tyres. It’s obviously very hard to know what’s going on with the set-up and the tyres at the same time, whether it’s a lack of warm-up or whether it’s a problem with the balance of the car. That’s something that for us, as drivers, is hard to judge. I like to do a lot of work with tyres  and I like to focus a lot on that regard. Firstly I try to understand what’s going on with the tyres before I judge the set-up.

    LS: Sergio said a lot of it. I think tyres are the biggest performance gain in Formula One today. You can do an out lap very slow or you can do one very fast and then get into detail about it and you can find a ton of lap time when you get it right and you get in the window. Coming from junior categories I think there is a big difference in that from Formula One. In F3, for example, where I come from, F4 as well, you go out, the tyre is very consistent all the time, you have three push laps in qualifying where you can get the lap time you want. It’s just very forgiving, it’s very easy, you can slide the tyre, you can do whatever you want, and then just focus on driving. But in Formula One there’s a lot that comes with getting good out laps, getting the tyre working, and if you miss that, if you get traffic on an out lap, and you don’t get it working the way you want you can lose a massive amount of performance and that just really affects your position on the grid. Same in the race. If you have some overheating or something, you slide the surface too much, you go backwards. So these tyres are very, very tricky to understand. There are some weekends that are very straightforward. We’ve seen weekends this year where I think it has been pretty easy for everyone to get temperature into the tyre and then it’s just been consistent and then it’s just about focusing on your driving. Then there have been other weekends where it has been extremely complicated to get it working properly and you just have to wait and see if it’s going to work or not. Definitely you always have to be on top of it, listen to people in your team who are trying to help you. For me it’s just about gaining experience with the tyres and trying different things, seeing if it works, and obviously using the help of people ion my team around me.

    ME: Not much to add to be honest. Like they said, tyres are the key to performance and I agree with that.

    Q: (Sef Harding – Xero Xone News) A question for Lance. What have you had a chance to do since you’ve4 been home and I’ll slip another question in there: what you have on your playlist this weekend, because I know you’re a music guy?

    LS: First of all, it’s great to be home. I don’t get to come back too often, so it’s been a busy week, with some media stuff and sponsor events and a lot of that, but at the same time I have had a chance to visit some friends, family, here in Montreal, that I don’t get to see often, so that’s been great. Music for the weekend? I’m not too sure yet. I’ll have a better idea tomorrow on what I feel like listening to. Some hip-hop, soft rock, deep house, I don’t know yet, but we’ll see.

    Q: (Alexandre Geoffrion-McInnis – La Presse Canadienne) Sergio, we all know it’s Lance’s first Canadian Grand Prix, but I want to know how you felt to race in front of your home crowd in Mexico back in 2015? Did you get any emotion boost? Did you feel more pressure?

    SP: It’s a big emotion, you know. When you race in front of your home crowd you have all the support from your fans, all your people, your friends, family, people that they don’t get to see you in life for the rest of the year. It’s certainly a weekend where your emotions are 100 per cent, all the time. From P1 to when you finish the race it’s very emotional. They always say that when you are home you are two tenths quicker and I believe so, you know. You have so much energy through you and so much support and there is so much willingness to do well in front of them. And instead of feeling pressure you feel extra energy and that helps you to focus on set-up decisions, on preparing your race weekend, on preparing your qualifying. It’s something really well. It’s important that you don’t let the emotions go too high and always stay calm and just enjoy the weekend, because it will go very fast.

    Q: (Alessandra Retico – La Repubblica) Lance, you are very young, but what does Gilles Villeneuve mean to you and how do feel to be the first Canadian guy to compete here since Jacques?

    LS: Well, Gilles was a bit before my time, so I didn’t really have a chance to watch him race. But obviously an extreme talent and very loved. He really went for the gaps and took the risks that back then other drivers wouldn’t take. An extreme talent and a very special driver that goes down in the history books in Formula One. To race here since Jacques is really an honour. He won the world championship with Williams in 1997, the year before I was born. Now 20 years later to be here in the Canadian Grand Prix, just memories of when I was a kid watching the race. Formula One was always a dream for, but separately the Canadian Grand Prix is really a dream for me to compete here. I was a bit worried over the winter when they were saying ‘oh maybe next year not sure if it’s going to be on the calendar’, but now to be here and experiencing the whole thing, I think Sergio mentioned, from the moment you get home, FP1, the race, you’re just embracing all that positive energy from the fans, from everyone around. I think it’s one of those grands prix that you really have to enjoy and embrace it and then it’s a race like every other one and you have to go and have fun.

    Q: (Salim Valji – CBC) For Lance, how do you handle the perception that maybe you are here based on family money as opposed to talent? Kind of an awkward question but how do you handle that, what’s your response to that perception?

    LS: Never heard that question before! You know, it’s always going to be said and asked, about where I come from and all that. But I focus on the positives. I’ve won the championships to arrive here, Formula 4, Formula 3 European Championship, I got my 40 Superlicence points that the FIA has placed just for that reason. Drivers can’t just buy their way into Formula One, you have to actually go out and get the results. There are always going to be haters, there is always going to jealousy, that’s just the nature of sports in general. When you win it’s expected and when you have hard times people put you down and that’s how it goes. But I don’t focus on that. I know who is important around me and those are the people I listen to. The rest of the noise you just have to block it out, it’s out of your control. You have to know who you need to trust around you and that’s all you can focus on and then it’s about going out on track. Sometimes there’s hard times, sometimes there’s good time but you just need to always go to the next weekend and be positive and try as hard as you can and that’s how I go about my business.

     

    Photo credit: Sahara Force India Formula One Team

  • F1 2017: Canadian Gp Preview – Can Mercedes Stem Ferrari Momentum

    F1 2017: Canadian Gp Preview – Can Mercedes Stem Ferrari Momentum

    Formula 1 swops Monaco for Montreal as it heads to the seventh round of the season around Canada’s Gilles Villeneuve circuit.

    The flowing circuit set in the heart of the St. Lawrence Seaway has become a classic on the F1 calendar, which often turns up unpredictable races. Although it’s one of the shorter circuits it’s flowing nature allows for close racing and, though limited, some chances for overtaking. While the average lap speed is significantly higher than at the last round in Monaco the close proximity of the walls and barriers create the impression of a street circuit. The demand on brakes is some of the highest experienced in the entire season.

    For the first time in more than a decade the ardent Canadian fans will have a local driver in the mix. Williams’ Lance Stroll will be the first Canadian to race on home soil since Jacques Villeneuve’s retirement in 2006. So far, Stroll’s journey into F1 hasn’t been an easy one with several retirements and a couple of mistakes making for a brutal introduction to the sport. Nevertheless, if the Montreal native is going to step up anywhere this would be the best place to do so.

    GP CANADA F1/2016In 2016 the Canadian grand prix was well within Sebastian Vettel’s grasp but it slipped through Ferrari’s fingers as they called an ill-advised strategy, which cost them victory. While the German comfortably held of second-placed Hamilton the Ferrari pitwall decided to opt for two-stop strategy while Mercedes ran a one-stop race, which ultimately resulted in the top step of the podium for Hamilton.

    The picture in 2017 looks far different than twelve months ago. This weekend Vettel arrives in Canada with a healthy lead in the championship and with a car quick enough to challenge for victory. However, there is a suspected reliability issue with the turbo unit on Vettel’s Ferrari. If the unit has to be replaced it could mean a five place grid penalty for the championship leader.

    But while it remains only a threat without official confirmation of a penalty Ferrari will be feeling confident ahead of the weekend. The efficiency of their aerodynamic package in 2017 has proven to the class of the field and should come into its own around the circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The most significant area in which Ferrari hold an advantage is its relatively big set-up window. The coveted sweet spot of balance between both axles of the car seem easier to come by for Ferrari than its championship rivals Mercedes. It is this specific factor that is Ferrari’s biggest advantage in 2017.

    Salut-GillesFurther to Ferrari’s advantage is the combination of ultra- and supersoft tyre compounds nominated by Pirelli for this grand prix weekend. The Ferrari’s liking of the ultrasoft tyre stems from its ability to bring the compound into its optimal working range quicker than Mercedes as was seen in Monaco and Russia. Still, Merc is far from out of the equation. The naturally cooler temperatures often experienced over the Canadian race weekend will be to the advantage of Mercedes as it decreases the operating temperature window of the tyre.

    The Canadian Gp weekend is an interesting one for Mercedes as both Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas have shone, to varying degrees, on this circuit. While Ferrari has shown no qualms in advancing the interests of Vettel, as the championship leader, it begs the question as to what call Mercedes will make should Bottas be in front of Hamilton.

  • F1 2017: Monaco Gp Review – Ferrari Score 1-2 Victory on Monte Carlo Streets

    F1 2017: Monaco Gp Review – Ferrari Score 1-2 Victory on Monte Carlo Streets

    Victory around the Monaco streets had eluded Ferrari for sixteen years until yesterday’s comprehensive one-two victory.

    Kimi Raikkonen, after a sublime pole-winning lap on Saturday, led the field cleanly through the first corner with teammate Sebastian Vettel behind. The pair quickly set the pace and pulled away from third-place man Valtteri Bottas and the two Red Bull’s of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo. Early on in the piece it was evident that none of the chasing pack would have the pace to threaten either Ferrari.

    Despite Ferrari’s domination of the weekend debate has simmered around the Italian team’s conduct. While social media has been abuzz with passion and positivity for Ferrari’s other two wins this season the tone of the comments were slanted more towards disapproval this time around.

    While Raikkonen comfortably led the opening stint of the race from Vettel by roughly two-and-a-half seconds the pair began to loose time behind back-markers. It meant that Vettel closed to within a second of Raikkonen before the fated strategy call. Traditionally the lead car on the track is the one that receives the optimal strategy. This wasn’t the case for Ferrari and Raikkonen in Monaco as the Finn was called into the pitlane first only to emerge amongst a bundle of traffic. With Raikkonen mired in traffic Vettel was in clear air and free to push as much as possible. He turned a stunning pace too by dipping in the low 1:15s before his stop. As expected he emerged from the pitlane in first position.

    022There should be no mistaking that Vettel had the pace to win the race. However the biggest factor that led to Vettel winning the race was Ferrari’s decision to give him the optimal strategy. Had the strategy calls been revered and Raikkonen been left out longer Vettel would’ve been in traffic and the Finn would’ve retained his P1 position. As it were, despite running five blistering laps longer, Vettel scraped into the lead by roughly half a second at the exit of the pitlane. On the fact that the dropped nearly eleven seconds behind Vettel Raikkonen’s said there was no point to run close to his teammate. “I had nothing to lose or gain. Nobody passes you here.”

    Ferrari’s choice to run Vettel on the optimal strategy at the expense of Raikkonen was well within the sporting regulations and no rules were broken. But Raikkonen’s demeanour and expression as he clambered out of his Ferrari at the end of the race spoke volumes. There was little doubt that the he was unhappy and well aware of what had transpired.

    Daniel RIcciardo_Monaco 2017 PodiumRaikkonen wasn’t alone though as Red Bull made the same strategy calls with Verstappen and Ricciardo with the latter inheriting third place as a result. While Bottas held onto fourth ahead of a furious Verstappen in fifth. Carlos Sainz was undoubtedly the driver of the day with a fine sixth place finish in the Toro Rosso. A difficult qualifying session for Lewis Hamilton left the Brit in thirteenth place on the grid, which he would recover to seventh by the time the chequered flag, dropped. Romain Grosjean brought the Haas home in an anonymous eighth ahead of Williams’ Felipe Massa in ninth and Kevin Magnussen in tenth.

    While several drivers attempted to barge their way through to a better position the Monaco grand prix on the whole was little more than a procession towards lap 78. Still this race is often one of attrition and keeping it out of the barriers often leads to an opportunity for points.

    GP MONACO F1/2017There was no such luck for McLaren though who had turned a relatively competitive pace throughout the weekend. Despite qualifying an impressive ninth on his return Jenson Button was relegated to start from the pit lane due to changing elements of his power unit and making set-up changes.

    JB would eventually retire with car damage after attempting a far too ambitious overtaking move on Sauber’s Pascal Wehrlein into the tunnel. It ended with the Sauber resting on its side against the barrier but, thankfully, without injury to Wehrlein. Stoffel Vandoorne had been running in tenth before sliding into the barrier at turn one.

    Regardless of the divided opinion on Ferrari’s conduct with its two drivers the fact remains that the Italian team has landed a crucial blow for Sebastian Vettel in the driver’s championship. The German driver leaves the French Riviera with a comfortable twenty-five point lead over Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.

  • Monaco GP 2017: Post Race Press Conference

    Monaco GP 2017: Post Race Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

    2 – Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari)

    3 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

     

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by Nico Rosberg)

    Q: Sebastian, great weekend, first Ferrari win in 16 years, how does it feel?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Unbelievable. I think it was a very intense race. I was hoping at the start to have a bit of a better launch but Kimi had a good start. I had nowhere to go, so I had to be patient. Then, there was a phase in the first stint that was really tricky, The tyres started to slide, I think you remember how that feels, it was quite uncomfortable. I think Valtteri and the pack was catching up a bit; we were facing some traffic. But then I had a… I don’t know, a second attempt, a second set of tyres. I had a couple of laps where the car was really, really good. I pushed, everything I had, because I knew if there is a chance to win then that’s it. So I was able to use that window and came out ahead, so at that point I could control the race. After the restart it was really tricky with the cold tyres. I think every one of us was really struggling, Daniel said he brushed the wall in Turn 1 first lap. So it was really difficult but after a couple of laps I was able again to control the gap to behind, so fantastic job, the team has done really well, so great thanks to them and a fantastic weekend for Ferrari.

    Q: Was that planned, that when Kimi comes in, you stay out a bit longer?

    SV: No, not really. I don’t think there… we couldn’t plan much. The plan was to try and pull away, which we did. Then, Valtteri had really good pace. I think we were struggling a little bit, both, with our rears and at that point the window opened. So as soon as Valtteri pitted, Kimi responded. For me, I think I still had a bit of a gap, nothing to lose in P2, so I tried to push as hard as possible and within two laps I was surprised myself to be able to pull a gap to be able to come out in front.

    Q: Congrats. Kimi, I think it’s fair to say the whole F1 community would have been very happy as well to see you get that win today. What are your thoughts? You lost it during the pit stops of course, what are you thoughts on that?

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: It’s hard to say really. Obviously it’s still second place, but it doesn’t feel awful good but this is how it goes sometimes and we go for the next race and try to do better but it’s one of those days that you wish you get a bit more.

    Q: I know how it feels. It is not a good feeling. But great result anyways. Daniel, a great recovery after a problem in qualifying. You’re pleased with that?

    Daniel RICCIARDO: Yeah, happier today, for sure.  Just yesterday I felt that we had so much more to offer and it was just a shame not to be able to really show our potential around here. I got my chance today when Max and Bottas pitted. I had the track to myself for a few laps and just managed to get some good times, good times in those tyres. I did some consistent laps and got in the overcut, so I was happy with that.

    Q: Turn 1 after the Safety Car looked like a bit of a hit, was it scary in the car?

    DR: Yeah! I didn’t enjoy that. I wasn’t sure if I damaged anything and then I saw Bottas trying to get inside me. These tyres, man, when you get a Safety Car they’re like driving on ice. It was hard. That was not a fun moment, but happy to hold it.

    Q: Sebastian, back to you, the Ferrari car is looking good at the moment, do you think you are going to be able to keep it up for Canada?

    SV: We hope so. Canada is a completely different track but to be honest, for now I am just going to enjoy the win here. You know yourself, it’s very, very special to win here. I think we’ll have a fun night and then we have enough time to prepare for Canada.

    Q: Where’s the party?

    SV: I don’t know, you tell me! You won more times than me here!

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Sebastian, there are wins and there are big wins. First Ferrari Monaco victory for 16 years, as Nico was saying, first Ferrari one-two since 2010 and more importantly perhaps a 25-point lead over Lewis Hamilton in the drivers’ championship, so what does today mean to you?

    SV: If you want the honest answer, I think it’s most important that we had a very, very good day, a win. A supreme day for Ferrari; it’s been a long time. Yeah, I think it means an awful lot to the team. I will not find the right words but for me it was a pretty special race. At some point I was thinking, “there must be a Safety Car” and then it came at the end when I didn’t really need it but fine. I dreamt all night about how to get ahead of the start because I knew that would probably be the only chance I would get. It didn’t work. Kimi had a good start, mine was OK, so I couldn’t really go anywhere. Then, I think in the first stint I was just trying to pace myself, trying to stay within range. At some point I was really uncomfortable with the rear tyres, they were sliding quite a bit. I think when the gap opened again that’s when Kimi pitted. I knew that if I have any chance that might be it until I get the call because Valtteri was on fresh tyres so it’s likely that he will go quicker, so I just tried to push as hard as I can and wait for the call to box. When it came and then when I came out ahead of Kimi even, I was surprised myself. But for sure I take it. It’s a great win. Those couple of laps were really crucial, I was pushing flat out. I had better laps than in quali today in the race. I was very happy with how the race went. The car was great. So to sum it up, it’s just been fantastic, a fantastic weekend for the team and a great reward. This team is working very hard. Obviously this year is very different to last year but the people are the same, the spirit is the same, so it’s important that we keep pushing, improving the car. We had again a couple of new bits for this race. Yeah, the next race will be completely different but I don’t really care now, just looking forward to tonight.

    Q: Kimi, coming to you, obviously you lost the race in the pit stops. The normal wisdom in Monaco is that when you’re leading you’re not the first one to make a move. But just before you made your stop we heard a radio message exchange with your engineer in which you were asking about pitting. So to be clear, were you asking for the stop or did they call it?

    KR: No, I was called in and that’s about it.

    Q: How do you feel about the first one to move?

    KR: I don’t know, obviously it didn’t work out very well for me. But apart from that, I have no idea. I mean… that’s about as much as I can say about it right now. I got the bad end of the story today. I mean it’s still second place but obviously it doesn’t count a lot in my books at least.

    Q: Thanks for that. Daniel, the story today was that the overcut was more effective: Hamilton gained six places, Sebastian got the win because of it, and you picked up two place spectacularly through that pit stop sequence. Extremely fast once you got some clean air. Tell us about your approach today?

    DR: Yeah I’m really pleased to be up here. You don’t often start fifth and get a podium here. It’s hard to make any positions. I was just frustrated yesterday because I knew we had so much more to offer here, so much more to give than what we showed. I felt like I didn’t really also get to show my pace around here. It was how the pit stops worked, the two cars pitting before me and that allowing me to show a bit more my pace. That was perfect and we got into a realty good rhythm, I think we were doing 16 dead, 16 dead and at the time I think that pace was really strong and I was able to do a good overcut. It was a good combination of obviously the lap times coming from me and the team leaving me out there and allowing me to run in clean air. That was fun. That definitely made my race. The Safety Car nearly ruined my race. At the restart I hit the wall in Turn 1. I hit it pretty hard, so I thought I had damage. I assumed I would have damage. And then I saw Valtteri. You don’t see much in these mirrors. I know Jenson has talked about it. Obviously he hasn’t been in the cars this year, but he has been vocal about it. You certainly see it here and I knew Valtteri was kind of there, in my blind spot but I just managed to hold on at the restart and then I was quite happy to see the chequered because the tyres after restarts are so tricky to get going.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Viktor Bognar – Magyarszo) Kimi, do you think it would have been possible to cover Sebastian if you are stopping later?

    KR: I don’t know. Obviously, this is what we got today. The end results. And obviously for the team it’s a great result. Who knows? This is really the end, we can say ‘if’ as much as we want but it doesn’t change anything.

    Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Kimi, when you pitted you came out behind some traffic and Bottas was also behind Sainz at the time. Have you had an explanation as to why they pitted you at that point?

    KR: I don’t know. Obviously, I have just finished the race. I have no idea. Obviously they have reasons for whatever we did do. It doesn’t matter here or any other race. It’s not up to me to answer that.

    Q: (Ben Anderson – Autosport) Kimi, in the first stint, you seemed to have really strong pace in the early part and then from about lap 20 your pace dropped off quite substantially. Was there an explanation for that? Were you struggling with something in the car?

    KR: Not really. I think the worst place was when we had lapped cars and got stuck behind them on quite a few laps but apart from that the car was behaving well. Not really having any issues. I think we had to take it a little bit easier here and there but nothing to complain really. The most lap time we lost behind the lapped traffic but that’s about it.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / Speed Sport) Daniel, yesterday you told us maybe you’d go for the overcut but was that a decision on the fly by the team – and how did the team decide whether to pit you first or Max first?

    DR: I’m not sure what position Max was in with the tyres at the time – I don’t know if he wanted to make the pitstop and try to undercut Valtteri. I assume that was probably the thinking behind it. Obviously I was at the tail of that pack and we had pretty good communication with my engineer. We were going back and forth and I think he had a pretty good idea of what my pace was and what I could do. Yeah, then once we got clear air, I think probably a couple of laps before that I closed in a bit on Max who I think was closing in on Valtteri, so we seemed to bunch-up. And it looked like they were struggling more, probably, with the tyres at that time, from what I could see, so yeah, I was happy certainly to stay out there. Then it was pretty evident that I could keep going quicker and quicker. So, it was nice to push. Especially… if you don’t start on pole here you’re normally in traffic for a lot of the race and you can’t really get a time to feel the car on the limit on Sunday – but it was good to get that block of laps in. Even though the tyres were sliding around a bit with the rear, it was still quite fun in that session of the race.

    Q: (Paul Johnson – Australian Associated Press) Daniel, obviously really encouraging performance with the pace you had today throughout the middle sector of the track. How encouraged are you moving forwards? Also, can you take us through exactly what happened coming out of the Safety Car into Turn One?

    DR: Yeah. Today I felt like, particularly that point of the race where we had clear track and were able to show our speed, I felt that was more representative of what we could of probably done yesterday. It was nice to at least show something this weekend and now at least get a podium for it. After the Safety Car… I knew getting behind the Safety Car, I could see Kimi in front of me trying to warm the tyres – well, keep them warm. I was trying to do the same: doing burnouts and trying to scrub the front tyres and get them going. They just turned to concrete blocks. They’re so slippery. So, I think we were all dreading the restart, to be honest. At one point you see it as an opportunity and I saw it as a potential opportunity to maybe jump Kimi but as the same time it’s… you see it as a potential risk. Coming into Turn One I didn’t feel like I came in hot at all – but as soon as I turned it, I just kept going straight and the wall got closer until I hit it. I think I hit it flush, which meant I avoided damage. Yeah, not fun.

    Q: (Mike Doodson – Honorary) A bit more about the same thing. There were several incidents at Turn One you may not have known about – several people, a couple of other people crashed there. The track was breaking up – did that contribute to your accident – or your smack of the wall?

    DR:  If I can use it as an excuse, sure! No, certainly not. It was in my control. The excuse I guess is just cold tyres. We can see the temperatures on our dash, so we’re aware when they’re cold. We can feel them, we don’t always need to see the numbers but I could see they were very cold. They just lose temperature really quick. We’re all aware of that but we’ll see. Maybe in years to come we can have a super, super, supersoft tyre for Monaco. I think will that be not only more fun in quali but avoid scary moments like that in the race. I guess it keeps it exciting for everyone at home.

    Q: (Luigi Perna – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Question for Seb. Seb, you looked very emotional on the podium. What were you thinking about in those moments? And what does it mean to have 25 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton at this point in the season?

    SV: It’s a long way so I’m not really bothered about that. It was more the fact to stand up there and see the team. I think obviously, it’s a small part that we have here at the track but thinking of everyone else back in Maranello in the factory. We got a lot of hard times last year and this year everything seems to be upside down – but the team is the same, the people are the same so it’s really clear to them. I guess in these small moments you just realise that it’s a special group of people. If things go well, we’ll work hand in hand, we must make sure we keep the momentum up in the next couple of races – but I think we’re just having a great time. Obviously, we wanted today to have the one-two and we got it. So for the team obviously it means a lot. It’s been a long time – you know the numbers better than I do – since Ferrari won here and then to get a one-two is just fantastic. I think you can see when the guys are singing the Italian anthem. I think it’s impossible not to get goosebumps and feel very special standing up there representing them. For me, I think that’s what makes racing so special. I love driving, I loved driving today, I loved a couple of laps that I had where I could really, really push to the limit and I was so close to touch the wall, a couple of times I thought, ‘OK, I’ll lose the car’ and I just managed to get it back, so that’s obviously great fun. Big adrenaline around here because you don’t have any room for error – but then to have the rewards, standing on the podium, just send a message to base, to the factory, is what it’s made for.

    Q: (Beniamino Casadei Lucchi – Il Giornale) Question for Seb. It’s a fantastic victory. But now, if you were Kimi, what do you think?

    SV: Well, obviously I… we were right behind each other. In that case I think it’s normal that the lead car gets the priority because you go normally faster on the new set of tyres, and I when I got the lap times from Valtteri, he was doing 16.1, I think, and Daniel was a little bit faster with the old tyres with 16.0. I was, at that point, at 16.4, so I was a little bit slower, so I was assuming Kimi must do something like Valtteri. So I just… I knew that the team would call me as soon as we were really tight to Valtteri. We had a little bit of a cushion. I was just going flat-out, trying to go as fast as I can because for me it means that I’m staying ahead of Valtteri, first of all, and close to Kimi. I was surprised myself when I came out ahead. So, yeah, I think the warm-up on the supersoft was fine. Arguably you can say it worked for Daniel and for myself today, it worked well to stay out longer but I think if you were looking at it before the race then you couldn’t predict. We are racing, we get along well, I can understand that Kimi’s not entirely happy today. He drove well in the first stint and then obviously you get the message to go in. You do the pitstop and then you push. Obviously it’s a bad surprise when somebody comes out ahead. For me, I take it, there’s no reason to lie, obviously I’m very happy but I can understand obviously that he’s upset.

    Q: (Daniele Sparisci – Corriere della Sera) Seb, how do you feel to be the first Ferrari driver to win here after Michael Schumacher and compared to the other victories with Ferrari, does Monaco have something special?

    SV: Well, I think Monaco is always something special, it’s just the nature of the weekend: a lot of attention, a lot of people which is great, a lot of support. Definitely I felt that with the beginning of the season that we had, Ferrari fans and Ferrari flags are increasing so that’s nice. A lot of people screaming, from outside, Forza Ferrari. A lot of Italian lines which in the recent years maybe I didn’t get so much so that was great to see. It’s obviously a great day for the team. I’m just… I’m pretty exhausted now, to be honest, so I’m very happy and it’s great to get the points, it’s great to get the win so it’s been a fantastic day for all of us. To be the first one after Michael for Ferrari – I don’t know, I wasn’t aware (of that). I think the most important thing is that we won today. I’m sure there were occasions more recently where Ferrari could have won but the most important is what happens today.

    Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Seb, there’s nothing wrong with team orders, they’re not illegal and you are the leading driver in the championship and it wasn’t clear before the race whether the overcut or the undercut would be the best strategy. So was there a plan to give you a chance to get ahead of Kimi at some point?

    SV: Not really. We spoke about the race before. It was clear that, as I said, I think they had the same plan to be honest so the lead car normally gets priority so if I had a choice at that point, sitting behind Kimi, if I was going in the pits first, that’s maybe what you like to do because you are sooner on the fresher tyres so I think it’s probably one of the rare occasions where the overcut turned out to be positive, so I’m really glad I made that work. From the team point of view, there was no plan of any team orders or anything and as I said, I can understand that obviously Kimi’s not happy, I would feel exactly the same, one hundred per cent the same, but as I said myself, I was surprised that the overcut… I don’t think Daniel had priority over Max going into the race. I don’t know where they are in terms of points and so on so I don’t think they look into that but I think the rule of thumb… the rule is pretty clear when you qualify ahead and you are ahead in the first stint, you get priority on the first stop and that’s what happened. As it turned out, obviously today it worked in my favour which, as I said, I will take it but we are a team at the end of the day and I can see that Kimi’s not happy.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) To Kimi and Sebastian, obviously now it seems that Mercedes is sometimes very quick but at other tracks they have serious problems. Of course it’s early in the championship but do you think this consistency of the Ferrari car can really win you the championship this year?

    SV: I don’t know.

    KR: It’s quite an early part of the year so we’ll see. It’s very hard to know what happens in the future but we will keep trying and try to make the best out of every weekend and just do what we can do. We cannot control what the others will do but no, I’m sure everybody will have some difficult weekends during the year. We will try to minimise those. When you have a hard time, try to make the best out of it.

    Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas) Kimi, talking about lapping cars, do you think the blue flag for Button came out a little bit too… not at the right moment? The blue flag which signals to let you past immediately?

    KR:  I don’t know. There are obviously rules and I’m pretty sure I was – I don’t know if it was one second or one and a half seconds but I was pretty close in the hairpin and I was told that I have to be longer inside their time, so it was not enough to be once, it was something that I’d never hard before but anyhow that’s what happened and it cost a bit but that’s how it is.

    Q: (Stuart Codling – F1 Racing) Kimi, given that your team will have known that when you pitted you would emerge in the vicinity of traffic, with those two slower cars ahead, do you feel that you could have gone quicker in those laps, before your pit stop, had you known this?

    KR: I don’t know. We tried to figure out something that is impossible to know right now, at least from my side. No, obviously it wasn’t ideal to end up behind a lapped car and obviously it is something that definitely doesn’t help but the end result is what it is but we have to see. We just finished the race and I only know what happened and that’s it. Obviously I got second place but yeah, for the team good but not for myself, not so great.

    Q: (Marco Giachi – Paddock) Kimi, as a driver, could you reject the instructions? From a technical point of view, did you have enough information to decide by yourself or are you 100 percent in the hands of the engineers?

    KR: Obviously I can stop the car if I want! I’m driving it. We have a team, we work as a team and if you start… if you don’t believe what you’ve been told or how we work then it will get very complicated sometimes because we always try to work as best as we can and today, as a team, we won it one-two, that happened, but as for myself it could have been better, but like I said, we just finished the race  and who knows? We will talk about it and I guess there are some reasons for everything that happens in life but we will see. As a driver, I can obviously do what I want but that’s not how we work as a team. Simple as that.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Sebastian, did you expect that Kimi would stop on lap 33 before the first part of the race and then when you knew that, did you think this is my chance to overtake him? And were you informed of Lewis’s position during the race?

    SV: Well, I was told at some point where Lewis was but I didn’t really care so… You have to do your own race around here. Daniel clipped the wall at the restart, I brushed the wall on the laps to the grid so it’s really close. You try to go as close as possible to the walls and you must not allow yourself to drift away… your thoughts to drift away for even one corner so you need to stay at it. Small mistakes, like Ericsson had yesterday in qualifying, they have a big consequence and this can happen to all of us. We all try to chase the limits, we all try to go close. I wasn’t too keen to know what others were doing. Obviously we have a plan before the race. I didn’t look down and count and say OK, we are getting to the window but when I saw that Valtteri pitted, I saw it also on the screen, and then I was told that Bottas is in the pits at the same time, then I knew that he would try to undercut, otherwise what was the point for him to pit. If he believes that it’s faster then he will stay out and try to put us under pressure once we pit, so he was obviously waiting for his chance, went for it and then I was told in the same lap that Kimi’s obviously getting the pit stop and I know that I can’t pit at the same time, we were too close behind each other to come in on the same lap, so I knew that at least I get one lap, maybe I get two, I don’t know, depending on the gap to Bottas which increased again to three, four seconds before the stop. At that point I was just trying to go flat out, that was my race, obviously it made my race today which, looking at the final result, it’s easy to say but at that point it was impossible to predict.  When I heard the lap times of Bottas, the first lap, I think 16.1s, I was really… OK, I need to stretch myself. As I said, I was surprised that I could take so much pace from the car and I was going even below the 16s. At the same time, Daniel was lapping in 16.0s so there seemed to be a second tyre somehow, because the laps before I was struggling as much as Kimi was with the rears so yeah, I think there were a couple of laps where we weren’t comfortable at all, Valtteri was closing the gap, that was not the plan.

    Q: (Ben Anderson – Autosport) Kimi, when you look back at a race, do you feel that you were just unlucky with traffic and the way things fell or do you think Ferrari’s strategy just cost you the victory?

    KR: I don’t know. Like I said, I haven’t seen… I only know what happened when I was in the car but I haven’t seen the bigger picture. I only know that we came second, Seb won, the team got one-two, obviously great for the team, but the rest… Until we have our meeting then obviously you can see all the graphs, I don’t know.

  • Kimi Raikkonen 2017 Monaco GP pole

    Kimi Raikkonen 2017 Monaco GP pole

    This is most certainly one of the best things you will watch all year. Kimi Raikkonen’s breathtaking qualifying lap for the 2017 Monaco grand prix.

  • F1 2017: Monaco Gp Qualifying Report – Raikkonen Reigns Supreme

    F1 2017: Monaco Gp Qualifying Report – Raikkonen Reigns Supreme

    Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen delivered a breathtaking lap to secure pole position for the 2017 Monaco grand prix.

    The Finnish driver took pole position with a quickest time of 1:12:178 ahead of teammate Sebastian Vettel to secure Ferrari’s second front-row lock out in three races. Raikkonen’s pole position was the first in 128 races with his last coming ahead of the 2008 French grand prix.

    While it was celebrations for Ferrari the Mercedes garage was not as joyful. Though Valtteri Bottas delivered with a fine third place Lewis Hamilton will start 13th after failing to advance beyond the second part of qualifying. While the Mercedes driver was caught out by yellow flags in the final sector of his last flying lap in Q2 the Brit had been struggling with setup for the majority of the weekend.

    The two Red Bull’s of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the top five while Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz underlined his credentials with the sixth quickest time. Force India’s Sergio Perez, seventh, Haas’ Romain Grosjean, eighth, Daniil Kvyat, ninth, and Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg round out the top ten positions.

    While Stoffel Vandoorne was slated to start tenth despite clouting the barriers in Q2 the Belgian driver will drop three places on the grid thanks to a penalty incurred in the Spanish grand prix. Up until the trip into the barriers Vandoorne had delivered a wonderful performance in qualifying. And underlining the fact that the McLaren chassis is a handy one was stand-in driver Jenson Button who qualified in the top ten. Unfortunately, as has been the story of McLaren’s season the Brit will start from the back of the grid for penalties incurred due to changes to elements of the power unit.