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  • 2017 Spanish GP: Friday Press Conference – Part 1

    2017 Spanish GP: Friday Press Conference – Part 1

    PART ONE: TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Cyril ABITEBOUL (Renault), Robert FERNLEY (Force India), Toto WOLFF (Mercedes)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Today is the FIA Volunteers’ Day and there will be a ceremony later this afternoon on the pit straight to honour their contribution to motor sport. Perhaps a word from you all on the work of the volunteers?

    Toto WOLFF: Well, we wouldn’t be able to go racing without the volunteers and it’s something that isn’t so visible to the public that with the many devoted and engaged people, all around the world on the racetracks, they enable us to put on a show, so it’s definitely a good little exercise to do and honour them.

    Cyril ABITEBOUL: Nothing much to add. Motor sport is a bit strange in that it’s just a few that get elected to race or even be in the garage but it’s a sport that involves a lot of people, whether in the garage, mechanics, at the factory, but also around the track and taking part with the federations around the world. Yeah, it’s a great opportunity to honour their ongoing commitment.

    Robert FERNLEY: Yeah, without doubt they are the unsung heroes of motor racing across the board, not just for Formula One. We must remember that they do great work outside Formula One, which we’re very focused on. I think people forget that weekend-in, weekend-out they’re there, so great honour.

    Q: Thank you. Moving back to you Cyril. Good qualifying pace so far this season, but perhaps not unlocking all the race results you might have hoped for. Why is that?

    CA: Well, part of that is it’s still a year where we are still in a construction phase. So in talking about construction it’s easier to qualify and extract maximum performance off a given package on one lap, on a short run, which is what we are doing consistently since the start of the season. We know also that we have fragile reliability and that’s really our area of focus. It is hitting us regularly, during races and also during Fridays, in the preparation of the race typically. Usually we have a good group of people who is managing or setting up the car properly for qualifying but when it comes to really managing the car and fixing the issues for a longer run, that’s really down to how reliable we have been over the weekend. So that’s really something that is hitting, which is biting on regular occasions, so that is the area of focus for the time being. We also have a great qualifier in Nico. He’s also clearly leading the way on race pace. Jo has not been very favourite in the conditions… he’s had on many occasions adverse conditions in his weekend. The only weekend he had a clean weekend, which was in Bahrain, he managed to be in Q3. So that is what we are trying to repeat because we think that the car also has a better pace on Sundays, so that’s the target for this weekend.

    Q: From which race onwards are you hoping to unlock the full potential of this 2017 Renault engine?

    CA: The full potential of the engine is something that will take a number of races with the existing hardware. You know that constant development, that constant improvement… based on the existing hardware there is more to come in performance and that’s really down to how quickly we can fix the reliability issues. I guess that will be down to the introduction of power unit number three. We may or may not change the hardware to extract more power but irrespective of the hardware there will be more power coming that’s for sure. So it’s all down to the engine introduction plan.

    Q: You mentioned Jolyon Palmer there, obviously he has had a few difficulties. What are you saying to him behind the scenes and what do you foresee for him for the rest of the season?

    CA: Well, the main thing we have done is that we’ve been through what has happened since the start of the season, including the winter test, when we were in Barcelona and he already had difficult conditions to deal with. So, limited mileage over the winter, a number of reliability issues in preparation for the first four races, which has not been helpful, and clearly he has a very talented team-mate, which is clearly showing what the car is capable of. But having said, Nico is not a magician, and that’s what I’m telling him. He has shown that on occasion he has definitely the pace to match his team-mate, so it is on that we are focusing. And we are making sure that he now has a clean weekend so that he can build his confidence, that we can rebuild his confidence in himself.

    Q: Robert, double points in every race so far, you’ve got to be happy with the way your 2017 season has started and with both of your drivers appearing to be well and truly on it?

    RF: Yeah, from our point of view, after the testing in Barcelona we knew we had a slight performance deficit and it was always going to be down to making sure that we extracted the optimum from the races and the team, the drivers, fantastic job, absolutely superb.

    Q: So the big question is can you keep it going? You’re up against some fairly tough opposition in this midfield, not least Cyril. Of course you’ve got Williams to think about, Toro Rosso as well. How important is the update pack you’ve brought here this weekend and what has it given you so far?

    RF: I think like all teams we’re looking for direction more than physically upgrading at the moment. It’s the direction that we need to be able to develop for the rest of the season. I think what we have seen so far is very promising and we’ll take it through going forward for the next races. Hopefully Renault’s problems will remain large ones and we can keep going!

    Q: Toto, first of all a word on this dramatic looking, updated car that you’ve brought here this weekend. Did it perform according to expectations during the practice sessions?

    TW: Yes, so far we are happy with the correlation and the results of the two Friday sessions and the car certainly looks very sophisticated. But it’s the interaction of all those bits that overall should make us achieve a performance gain. But Friday is pretty early days in the weekend. Tomorrow afternoon you’re going to see whether there is a real effect.

    Q: Valtteri Bottas won his first race last time out. You’ve had an interest in him for many years, what did you feel personally to see him winning a Formula One grand prix?

    TW: I’ve known Valtteri for 10 years so it’s clear that achieving his target to win a race is something special but in my position it’s about the team’s interests and having a Mercedes winner is great. Having a Mercedes challenger for the world championship or even winning a world championship and I’m behind both of them and we’ll be cheering whoever wins.

    Q: It was important that he won, with an all-Ferrari front row for that race in Russia. It could have been costly for you in the world championship, when Lewis was clearly having an off day. What did the debrief reveal?

    TW: Valtteri had a very good day because he was able to exploit P3, which is probably the best starting position in Sochi and used the slipstream down to Turn One and from thereon controlled the race. Considering that a four-time world champion was close behind him in those last laps, he did a very good job. As for Lewis, he was in traffic. We were a bit marginal with the cooling and that’s why he had a car that was not able to deliver maximum performance at all times. We could see that there were glimpses of performance but if you run into hot air and the car is heating up too much there’s not a lot you can do. From there it’s a difficult situation for the driver and the team and there wasn’t a lot we could do.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Peter Windsor– Motorsport Network) Toto, what about Lewis’ problems in sector three? We heard talk of diff, traction that wasn’t that happy with. What were you able to look at after Russia? I presume there was nothing broken on the car or anything like that, but can you give us more insight into what the problem was for him?

    TW: The interaction between the chassis, the suspension and the tyres is new ground for every team. And you need to understand how you make each of those various tyre compounds function. We tried to fix out, we tried to cure a problem that was created in the interaction of those two components by giving different diff settings or by trying to switch the brake balance back and forth. Just to give it a go or give it a try. It is a more fundamental issue. You need to have a car that is stable in the window, that has the basic performance and then translate that into qualifying performance and race performance and if you add to the equation a new compound or various new compounds it becomes a difficult exercise and that is one of the key topics we are looking at the moment.

    Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday) The FIA has mandated that all driver numbers and driver names are clearly displayed on cars from this race onwards. Looking at it this morning it seems that some teams have embraced it wholly and included it in their new colour schemes and that others have perhaps paid lip service to it. Could all three of you give your opinion on it and whatever you think it’s a good move?

    RF: I think it’s a good move from the FIA, probably overdue in all fairness. I think that perhaps some time out, when all the commercial agreements that we currently have, that’s across all the teams, come to an end they should standardize where the numbers go and make sure everything is clear for everybody going forward. At this point I think you have to do the best you can with whatever you have from a commercial agreement and I think all of the teams have tried their very best to embrace it.

    TW: Bob just summarized it pretty well. It’s trial and error. We played around with various designs. Some of us like the look of it, some of us don’t. We took a little bit off after P1 and just have the number now. But with all aesthetics, it’s mixed feelings.

    CA: Exactly the same. It’s a good move from the FIA. It’s something that maybe should have happened earlier and hopefully they will make sure to standardize. Just like in any other sport, where you know where to find the name and number of any player on the soccer field or anything. That’s the sort of thing where you want to have a standard position, so as mentioned as soon as the sponsorship contracts are falling out you want to make sure to seize the opportunity, that window, to impose what it is should be. Formula One. Formula One should be at the top of the sport in terms of presentation, the standard of presentation, so that’s what should happen sooner rather than later.

    RF: Just to add to that, I think it’s the number that is more important element, because now that the drivers have got numbers throughout their career I think the promoters would ideally like to see the number prominent rather than worrying too much about the same, so I think that would be the right move going forward.

    Q: (Sven Haidinger – motorsport-total.com) Toto, the Mercedes car is a little bit difficult in terms of the set-up to get it into the right window. Are you missing Nico Rosberg a little bit in terms of that, because Lewis has taken the set-up a couple of time from him and he’s one of the most experienced guys in the team or has been?

    TW: Certainly if you have the experience of Nico who has been in the team for a long time it is always helpful, but Valtteri has filled those shoes pretty well. He’s similar to Nico, an engineering-minded driver, and it’s more in those early stages of the season to understand the basic product, the car, the architecture of the car, suspension, kinematics, so I wouldn’t see it as a deficit.

    Q: (Sam Collins – Racecar Engineering) It looks like the UK is heading towards a so-called hard Brexit and that could have serious implications for the Formula One teams based in the UK, especially for the ones with engine suppliers who are based outside the UK, such as Cyril and his customers. With no single and no freedom of movement of EU citizens into and out of the UK, what implications do you forecast it having for you, what contingency plans have you put in place – that in respect of customs reflecting the lead times and recruitment going forward for the 2019 season?

    CA: Thank you for the question! We will have to see, because there were already a number of forecasts when Brexit happened that a number of things would happen which have not happened so I don’t think it’s for me to comment on what’s going to happen or not. The main elements will be currency and it has had frankly a positive impact on all of the UK-based teams so in that respect that’s good news for us strangely. We have to see long-term how that evolves because that is not a situation that is sustainable. Then we will have to look at the movement of staff, because clearly we need to attract talent from everywhere around the world and we need to make that the UK remains a place that is welcoming talents from wherever they are. We have lots of movement of staff between France and the UK. That’s something we will look at carefully. When it comes to transfer or goods that is something that is not bothering us, in the sense that the engine, if that’s what you are referring to, are actually leased, the ownership is not passed on to the UK entity and that’s the same with all our customers, so VAT should be neutral in that respect. Obviously we have to be careful but when it comes to be contingency plans, no, we don’t really have a plan as we are building new buildings in Enstone in the UK, we don’t really have a plan to move that we are currently building somewhere else. We are still assuming that people will be reasonable and we trust the UK to protect their industry and motorsport is an important industry for the UK.

    TW: Cyril has given us a 360˚ view. There’s nothing to add to that. We are monitoring it. Hopefully it will turn out well. I like to work in the UK and I’d like to continue to work there.

    RF: Unfortunately I’m probably a little bit older than these two and I remember when we used to do it before we had the EU, so it’s not an issues and we still do an awful lot of races today where we still go through an awful lot of compliance issues so I don’t really see it as an issue at all.

    Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) A question for Bob really. Some projected figures came out during the week about FOM payouts to teams for 2017. There are no great surprises but yet again your team, despite finishing fourth, seems to be getting less than half than the top three and less than McLaren even. Just some comments on how you see things panning out with the new owners and whether you see any progress being made on redistribution in the future?

    RF: I think my position on this is pretty clear. I have been very much a strong voice against these type of things for the last couple of years. But I think what we have to do now is support Liberty and the new owners as they are making noises and definitely looking into trying to address both costs and income distribution. Let’s give them an opportunity, the key thing is to support them going forward. The disparities are not acceptable as far as we are concerned, but as I say I think time will tell.

    Q: (Sergio Alvarez – One Magazine) Question for Toto: do you believe the changes in your technical direction may have hindered your understanding of the car? How are you managing the transition in the technical department from Paddy to James Allison?

    TW: There are figureheads that are present in the media: some more, some less, that represent the team – but it’s an organisation of 1,000 people – almost 1,000 people – that run a team and especially in the area of tyres, race delivery, race track engineering, the situation is unchanged. We have a great team that is there, that has been in place for many years, that is looking after these components – and I’m extremely happy with how they’ve tackled the situation until now.

    Q: (Sef Harding – Xiro Xone News) This is for all three of you, since Fernando Alonso’s announcement to go to the Indy 500 there’s now a debate created between IndyCar and the comparison to F1 and the differences in terms of show, presentation, and as you Mr Fernley said earlier, the presentation, would you be willing to work in depth with the new owners to make a better show for the viewing audience as well as the fans in attendance that come from all over the world to watch the sport in terms of opening up the paddocks more, making it more accessible for the drivers, making it more accessible for the pits. We saw that they bought down a two-seater car and are giving tours now. Would you be willing to do the same for viewing fans that are coming to the race?

    RF: Having done both IndyCars and Formula One I can speak from a reasonable amount of experience on that. IndyCars is a fantastic show, especially the Indy 500, there’s no question of that. Can we get more access? I think we can. I think we can learn a little bit from IndyCars but overall we are Formula One and we’ve got to keep that identity as well. I think that Liberty understand that. I think they’re working to getting it more inclusive but, on the other hand, keeping it where it needs to be – which is slightly exclusive as well. So it’s a balancing act and I’m sure they’ll do a great job. They have all the expertise to be able to look at that.

    Toto?

    TW: Yes, the Indy 500 is one of the great races and the concept is completely different to what we have. The oval, per se, gives different access and it’s a one-a-year event. If you look at the IndyCar series overall, they’re far away from where we are. Having said that, I think Fernando going to Indy is a great opportunity for him, it’s an opportunity to create some good news around the team again, and they need that, and it has given Formula One more exposure in the US, so overall I think it is a good exercise.

    Cyril?

    CA: Yeah, I would agree that there is definitely lots to learn from other sports. To a certain degree we tend to, y’know, we’re not necessarily all very old but we still spend quite a lot of time in Formula One, so having some people showing us what can done outside – whether it’s new owners, new management but also F1 drivers getting experience outside F1 and returning to Formula One, I think it’s great. We need to constantly benchmark. We are in a competition – not just in Formula One but Formula One is in a competition against other sports properties – whether motorsports or other forms of sports – because that’s where all sponsors, all carmakers, all fans will look. They are benchmarking us, even if they don’t realise they benchmark: they always have multiple choices when it comes to looking at a programme, buying tickets… they cannot follow all the sports so we have to make sure to remain at the top of the offer. And that’s great, to finally have the opportunity of a fresh breathe of new air coming and influencing us – but as mentioned by Bob, we need to keep our identity. I think this exercise will kick off under the influence of all these new sorts of people: what is the core identity of Formula One? That will be an exciting exercise to do, starting with, for instance, engine topics.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Primary question to Toto and then a follow-up question to the other two. Toto, there’s a very strong rumour, or suggestions, that Mercedes-Benz is going to offer some form of technical assistance to Honda. Would you care to comment on that please. And then to the other two, should such a concept of one winning engine manufacturer helping another one, should that be allowed in Formula One.

    TW: At that stage I wouldn’t want to comment.

    You’re not excluding it then?

    TW: I’m not commenting.

    Cyril?

    CA: I cannot comment on a no comment.

    Bob?

    RF: I’ll comment! As a team that’s not only paid for its engines but contributed to the development of them I would certainly be very negative towards sharing that technology with another team that it a competitor of ours.

    Q: (Ralf Bach – Autobild Motorsport) A question to Toto. Is there a possibility or, let me say, how big is the possibility that next year drivers, by example Fernando Alonso or Stoffel Vandoorne, driving a Mercedes engine without moving to your team?

    TW: What are the options? They are driving a Honda engine like it is today and it looks like this is the current situation or different engines. I think it’s important for Formula One… Honda is important for Formula One. It’s a massive and very successful company and I have no doubt they will eventually be where they expect themselves to be. So, I don’t think they are going to drive a Mercedes engine.

    Q: (Mike Doodson – Auto Action) This is for Toto. Bit more lighthearted. You and your fellow Austrian Niki Lauda seem to be the TV face of Mercedes AMG. You’ve known each other a long time. I wonder if ever you’ve ever had any disagreements with him on strategy or whatever – if you could let us in on any of the little disagreements you might have had in the course of your association.

    TW: Well, we’ve been doing that for quite a while. We had a certain period at the beginning of our relationship where we were both thrown into the team, where we needed to find a way of making decisions in a committee and not alone like we’ve both done our whole lives. But since then our relationship has contributed in a good way, I believe. He’s a completely different personality. For me, he’s the personification of pressure – and pressure’s good sometimes. He certainly has a lot of experience and has been around for many years and I enjoy working with him. Niki says he has no friends – but when we won one of the last races, we were on a flight together and in the plane he had an emotional moment and said he hasn’t got any friends – but he has a half-friend now. So I consider myself our-performing some others. He’s somebody that I value and enjoy being around. Disagreements? Permanent disagreements for the benefits of the company. We are able to come into discussions with two different standpoints and walk out with one – and that’s good.

    Q: (Jon McEvoy – The Daily Mail) Toto, just building on what Dieter said, in this new open world of disclosing things to the media, which Liberty Media say that they’re in favour of. Can you really not elaborate, in the name of openness, about what you’re doing with Honda? The work that I’m sure many thousands or millions of fans in Formula One would wish to know, which in a sense, strikes me as quite straightforward, to be upfront about the work that you guys might be doing with them in developing their engines.

    TW: I understand your standpoint. We are not doing anything for Honda. That is the current status quo. So, unless that situation changes, I don’t want to contribute to rumours out there, that are false and I think are damaging for Honda and create hardened standpoints from teams or from other stakeholders. We’ll see what happens

  • F1 2017: Spanish Gp Free Practice 2 Report – Mercedes In Front

    F1 2017: Spanish Gp Free Practice 2 Report – Mercedes In Front

    Lewis Hamilton topped the second free practice session ahead of the Spanish grand prix.

    The Mercedes driver quickest time of 1:20:802 was 90 thousands of a second quicker than his teammate Valtteri Bottas in seconds. The two Ferrari’s of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel were third and fourth quickest with Raikkonen three tenths off the quickest time. The Red Bull’s of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen rounded out the top five.

    Conditions around the circuit de Catalunya seemed tricky as intermittent gusts of wind upset the cars in several corners. In addition, the compounds nominated by Pirelli, medium and soft, seemed difficult to keep within the optimal operating temperature.

    A brief red flag period was experienced as debris from Carlos Sainz’s Toro Rosso was collected in turn 10. Nevertheless, when running got underway it was Mercedes who appeared to have the upper hand in long run simulations. At Ferrari it was Raikkonen who appeared to have a few tenths in hand over teammate Sebastian Vettel. While Friday’s long run simulations appear deceptive it does appear as if Mercedes are ahead by a few tenths of a second.

    Final Free Practice 2 Standings:

    Screen Shot 2017-05-12 at 3.33.11 PM

  • F1 2017: Spanish Gp Free Practice 1 Report – Mercedes Lead The Way

    F1 2017: Spanish Gp Free Practice 1 Report – Mercedes Lead The Way

    Lewis Hamilton led the way from his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas in the first free practice session of the Spanish grand prix.

    The ninety-minute session was topped by Hamilton’s 1:21:521 which was  29 thousands quicker than Bottas’ P2 time. The two Ferrari’s followed in third and fourth with Raikkonen setting a 1:22:456 ahead of Vettel, on a 1:22:600.

    Early in the session Fernando Alonso’s McLaren spectacularly expired after only a half a lap out of the pitlane. The team reported a rather obvious engine failure while Alonso left the circuit for a round of tennis. The Renault of Sergey Sirotkin suffered a water leak which limited his running in the session to only ten laps.

    While several teams utilized the session to evaluate new upgrades and updates to their cars it remains to be seen what sort of impact these new updates will have on the pecking order.

    Final Free Practice 1 Standings:

    Screen Shot 2017-05-12 at 11.33.02 AM

  • F1 2017: Spanish Gp Preview – Back To Europe

    F1 2017: Spanish Gp Preview – Back To Europe

    There isn’t too much about Spain’s circuit de Catalunya that isn’t already known. As the fifth round of the 2017 season this staple of the Formula 1 calendar has, over the years, become the definitive barometer of car performance.

    The 4.6-kilometer layout of the Spanish circuit comprises the perfect mixtures to test car balance and aerodynamic efficiency while the start/finish strait provides a modest test of power output. The high and medium speed turns, which litter the first sector, test stability and grip while the lower speed third sector is the perfect test of low speed mechanical grip. A quick car through the twisty bits of Catalunya’s final sector invariably translates into a good at street circuits such as Monaco and Singapore.

    From this, it would suggest that Ferrari would be favourite and they are. The stellar aerodynamic package that they have produced in 2017 will be the Italian team’s biggest weapon. In Bahrain the Ferrari excelled in the high to medium speed first sector and in Russia both the Ferrari’s performance in the final, twisty, sector dwarfed what Mercedes was able to produce. Combine these two sectors and you have a layout similar to the circuit de Catalunya.

    TEST F1/2017 - T2 SPAGNAWhat may be Ferrari’s Achilles heel are the compounds which tyre supplier Pirelli has nominated for the weekend. While the track surface in Spain tends to be more abrasive in order to get the soft, medium, and hard compounds to its optimal working range will require a substantial track temperature. “I’m not sure if it’ll help us or not but I just don’t think it’s going to be good for anyone,” said Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo. “Hopefully for Barcelona’s sake it’s hot and therefore these harder tyres work, but if it’s cold then it’s going to be a struggle for everyone.”

    The Spanish grand prix weekend, while important for every team and driver on the grid, is vital to the rest of Red Bull’s 2017 campaign. In 2016 the Milton Keyes based team left the Spanish circuit with Max Verstappen as a first-time grand prix winner and with great expectations. The overhaul in regulations held the expectation that Red Bull would be a championship contender in 2017. Nevertheless, the season has started with the team significantly off the pace but they hope that their plan to rectify this begins to fall in place this weekend.

    red-bull-tagThe hope is that the introduction of a B-spec car and a “revamped” chassis will allow the team to make a significant step forward. “I hope we can be a bit closer to the top teams or that we can at least follow them,” said 2016 Spanish Gp winner Max Verstappen. “That would already be a good step forward.” Ironically, even without a chassis upgrade the characteristics of the Spanish circuit traditionally plays well to the strengths of the Red Bull.

    In Russia, for reasons unknown, Lewis Hamilton was considerably off the pace. And while both Ferraris and his teammate beat him up it gave Valtteri Bottas a crucial boost of confidence that could be telling. As for Ferrari, their biggest asset is the belief that they have more than a good chance of being at the sharp-end. And if the temperatures soar it’ll likely take more than a good performance to topple them this weekend.

  • Watch: Brembo – Spanish GP Hardest Braking Point

    Watch: Brembo – Spanish GP Hardest Braking Point

    The hardest braking point on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is at turn 1. The driver has to slow down around 173 km/h over just 50 meters. The calculated brake energy involved is 2,401 kW. The driver is subjected to 4.8 g, while he pushes with 154 kg onto the brake.
  • F1 2017: Russian Gp Review – Victory For Valtteri

    F1 2017: Russian Gp Review – Victory For Valtteri

    On paper the Sochi Autodrom in Russia is a track that was supposed to play to the strengths of the Mercedes given its power dominated layout. But predictions and form ‘on paper’ are often fickle. Despite this Ferrari stunned the F1 paddock on Saturday to lock out the front row of the grid for the first time since the 2008 French grand prix.

    The catch though was the kilometer long run to the first braking point of the lap. It was here that Valtteri Bottas, starting third, made his move. It was fairly easy to conclude that a big part of the Russian grand prix story would come at the start. This is precisely where Bottas made it happen by acing his pull away.

    As the Finn led Vettel, Raikkonen, and teammate Lewis Hamilton through the first lap the safety car was deployed for a clash between Renault’s Jolyon Palmer and Haas F1’s Romain Grosjean. While the safety car did neutralize the race for a handful of laps it had no real effect on the race. At the resumption of the race Bottas pulled away from Vettel and steadily built a gap of roughly four seconds. It was evident that at least Bottas’ Merc was running well on the Ultra-soft compound tyre.

    43In contrast, Lewis Hamilton was never able to trouble third place man Kimi Raikkonen. Though he did briefly struggle with an overheating car the truth is that Hamilton was off the pace throughout the entire weekend. He did, after all, qualify half a second off Vettel’s pole winning lap. But this is something we’ve seen from Hamilton before Baku in 2016 comes to mind.

    While Vettel could do nothing about Bottas’ pace in the first stint it was the second half of the race where the Ferrari’s finally came alive. Their superior pace on the Super-soft tyre resulted in an easy third place for Raikkonen and a nail-bitingly close fight for the win for Vettel. While Vettel managed to get within six tenths of Bottas he wasn’t able to attempt a pass.

    In the famously unflappable style that has come to exemplify most Finnish racing drivers Bottas held his nerve to take his first grand prix victory. It’s taken 81 starts for Bottas to win his first race but there will hardly be a more popular winner in the paddock.

    21As Bottas, Vettel, and Raikkonen scored the top three positions it was Hamilton who finished in lonely fourth. While Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo retired with rear-brake failure his teammate Max Verstappen trundled home in an anonymous fifth place a minute adrift. Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon scored important points for Force India in sixth and seventh ahead of Nico Hulkenberg’s Renault in eight. A late-race slow puncture forced Felipe Massa into the pits, which dropped the Williams driver down to ninth ahead of Carlos Sainz’s Toro Rosso in tenth.

    It was yet another forgettable day for McLaren as Fernando Alonso failed to start the race with a suspected battery issue. Elsewhere Williams’ rookie driver Lance Stroll finished his first grand prix of the season in eleventh.

    There will be some that will say that the Russian grand prix was a bit of a bore fest, and that there wasn’t a whole lot of overtaking. But what was there in abundance was the sort of tension, at the head of affairs, which hasn’t been seen in quite some time. And the good news is that it involves two teams that are very evenly matched. Two teams that will undoubtedly continue to trade blows right down to the wire.

  • 2017 Russian Grand Prix: Post-Race Press Conference

    2017 Russian Grand Prix: Post-Race Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)

    2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

    3 – Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari)

     

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by Eddie Jordan)

    Valtteri, tell us, what does it feel like, your first ever win in grand prix racing?

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Amazing. It took quite a while, more than 80 races for me, but definitely worth the wait, worth the learning curve. This strange opportunity came to me in the winter to join this team and they made it possible today, so I really want to thank to the team, without them it wouldn’t be possible, so feels amazing.

    It’s like a fairy tale isn’t it? Four or five months ago you were going to drive with Williams, a particularly good team, but you got the chance to come to this team – a winning, world champion team – and you’re one the top [of the] podium at the moment.

    VB: yeah, we’ve had a tricky beginning of the year, you know the fight with Ferrari was again very close. We managed to be on top, but we need to keep pushing, we need to keep finishing with both cars all the time one and two, that’s the plan. But just very, very happy now.

    Just going to interject here for a second because we see Toto down there and he of little faith gave you a one-year contract. I’ve got a pen Toto, we need a three-year extension on that minimum with proper money, is that OK? Coming back to you… where’s he gone. [Sebastian], Felipe Massa, tell me about him, what happened on that last lap?

    Sebastian VETTEL: I obviously tried everything to catch Valtteri and maybe I thought there might be some opportunity on the back straight. I was sure [Felipe] would lift around Turn 3, it’s flat out, and let me be, so I wouldn’t lose much time, but then I think I just wasn’t sure what he was going to do and I ended up losing a bit more than I was hoping for. But it doesn’t matter. This is the man of the race today, big congrats to Valtteri, it’s his first grand prix win, so it’s his day.

    Very well said. I have to ask you, your strategy: you ran much deeper into the race on those tyres and it looked like it was paying off.

    SV: Not really, we didn’t come out ahead. Yeah, we had fresher tyres in the end. Obviously there was a gap to Kimi behind and we just decided to try and extend as much as possible to hope for maybe Valtteri running into trouble with traffic, us having a clear track. That was the plan. So I think we tried everything, but obviously we lost the race at the start, which was a bit of a shame. I had a good start but…

    I was going to ask about that. You were a bit unlucky, both of you, on the front row of the grid but you have the longest run to the first corner but you got out-dragged?

    SV: Yeah, that’s basically it. I think our start was basically a match with Valtteri, maybe he gained a bit of momentum in the beginning but then obviously he had a massive tow. I defended the inside but by the time we approached braking he was already in front and able to shut the door on me, so well done, and that’s where he won the race. And then he did a superb first stint, I couldn’t stay with him, he was very, very quick all; race, no mistakes and as I said – man of the race.

    Ladies and gentlemen, year on year Kimi has been voted the most popular driver in Formula One and you have your fans here.

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Yeah, I’m very happy that I have here support but whatever country they come from I’m very happy to have the. Unfortunately today we could only give third place but we try next time more so.

    We have to talk about the podium and the lock-out on the front row. We weren’t sure how it would wind up and today both of you are on the podium. It shows a great sign for the future of this season and the championship and the excitement of it?

    KR: Yeah, I think I have had a little bit of a rough start to the season. Far from ideal but this weekend for sure has been a step forward. We have been more happy with how things have been running but we still only finished third. We lost out at the start and then not a lot happened after that. We keep trying and keep improving and I’m sure we’ll get there, but it’s all about… all the small details have to be exactly there and then you will get the first place. The four or five of us are very close most of the time, so it’s the small differences that make a big difference in the end.

    Valtteri, special day for you as we have already said. You also got driver of the day; that’s another little celebration you didn’t know about. Got to talk to you about that start: [Sebastian] said you more or less but you couldn’t have, you absolutely out-dragged both of them.

    VB: Yeah, I mean, I think here normally starting from the second row is not too bad. I had a good start, if anything maybe slightly better than the guys in front. Obviously slipstreaming managed to get the inside for Turn 1. That was OK, but I’m a little bit more happy about the safety car restart actually.

    He has big shoulders, he has a lot to live up to because he’s got Kimi, Keke Rosberg and of course Mika [Häkkinen], all world champion Finns. Are you going to be the next world champion Finn?

    VB: For me that’s the only goal in my career, so we will keep pushing for that.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Valtteri, has the reality of what you’ve just achieved sunk in?

    VB: No. It’s going to take a while. I have to say, normally I’m not that emotional but hearing the Finnish national anthem is something quite special for me – felt good. But it is a little bit surreal: first win, and hopefully first of many. It was definitely one of my best races, personally, ever. It’s a good feeling and just, yeah, happy.

    Q: How was the pressure towards the end of the race when you had Sebastian gaining on you and you were hitting traffic?

    VB: It was OK. Just the main thing was with the lapped cars and trying to get past those and with these new cars we definitely lose more downforce, already two seconds, three seconds behind, so it was tricky to get close and pass them without losing time. That was the main thing at the end and I wasn’t quite happy for a few occasions. I also had one lock-up, maybe 10 or 15 laps to go, which hurt a little bit the pace. Other than that it was OK. I did ask for a bit more radio silence from the guys on the pit wall, just for me to get on it and focus for it and feel a bit more like home. Quite nice and quiet and that helped.

    Q: How much confidence do you think this victory will give you going forward?

    VB: I think a lot. I’ve always know I could do good results if everything goes right. I always trust in my ability but it’s nice to get confirmation that the results are possible, that anything is possible, so definitely good to continue from here.

    Q: Sebastian, in reality it all came down to the start, didn’t it? How was your getaway from pole position?

    SV: I thought it was OK. [To VB] Was it bad, my getaway?

    VB: I had a little bit better one…

    SV: Well, later on, yes. No, I thought there was a bit in the very beginning where I could have been a bit more aggressive but it was a bit hard to tell because for the formation lap, for some reason… I have the time of day in the car and it was two o’clock and the lights didn’t go off. So I was ready to go. I don’t know why there was a delay. Maybe whoever’s responsible to turn the lights off, didn’t turn the lights off! What I mean by that is that I didn’t get a proper read of how the grip was at the grid, so I think I ended up maybe a bit too conservative. Still, I had a good start. I had a look in the mirror, mine was I think better than Kimi’s. I saw Valtteri coming and I thought ‘OK, it will be close’ but it felt like I had a tent dragged behind me and he was gaining a lot. He was able even before we hit the braking to come back and shut the door. So I did well but nothing I could have done, I had the outside line but nowhere to do so in reality that’s part of where we lost the race. And then the first stint: we were just not quick enough to stay with him. In the end of the day we can talk about my race but today is Valtteri’s day. He drove a fantastic race, he had incredible pace. Also, if you look all weekend where he’s been compared to his team-mate, so, y’know, he’s done a superb job, it’s his day and he deserves to win today because he drove better than all the rest of us. So… it’s not easy to swallow. I would have loved, obviously, to come back but that’s the way it was today. Well done.

    VB: Thanks.

    Q: Kimi, coming to you, similar problems to Sebastian at the start? Just talk us through your getaway.

    KR: I had a pretty poor start, comparing even to Seb. Got wheelspin straight away and then I really thought I was going to lose a lot more but then luckily, both of these cars went side-by-side and I started to get the tow and I managed to stay ahead of Lewis in the end. But, I don’t know what happened. It was slippery and lost a lot, so, not ideal. If you look last year it’s all about starts, and if you lose a place in those, it’s going to be a boring race. Not a lot happened after that. Mercedes, Valtteri was a bit too fast but then we were kind of holding our positions but nothing really happened the whole race, so, yeah, all about the start. Happy for Valtteri. People always think that we have something against each other because we have come close to each other and into each other a few times but no, I’m very happy for him to win. It doesn’t mean that I’m not happy if Seb wins. It’s good for him and things will turn out to be for sure good for him. It’s going to be close between both of the Ferrari and both of the Mercedes drivers this year, so it will be exciting – but unfortunately a lot of times it will depend of what happens in a first lap. That’s how it’s going to play out. Hopefully it goes better. I’m more happy this weekend but obviously not happy to be third but this is how it goes sometimes.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) To both Ferrari drivers: do you think if you had jumped in front of Valtteri and Lewis do you think you could have kept the leadership of the race considering the pace of Bottas with the ultrasoft – if you were surprised with that. And also, for you Kimi, were you surprised that Bottas was in front of you?

    KR: At what point?

    During the race you said on the radio that you were surprised that Bottas was in front of you.

    KR: Yes, because I was not sure which one it was in the front of the race. I was asking – I was not sure because it was a bit confusing for me after the pitstops. Obviously I realised straight after. For me it made no difference: there was one Mercedes in front of us. I didn’t ask before.

    And Sebastian, had you got the jump on Valtteri and made it to Turn One first, are you confident you could have stayed ahead?

    SV: Well, it’s difficult to pass, let’s put it that way. I think it would have been difficult for Valtteri to put a lot of pressure on, even though I would say he had superior pace in the first stint. I think if you look at the stint I was struggling in the beginning, then sort of froze the gap and then was able to close. Now, if Valtteri’s closer to us, let’s say if we were in the lead, then obviously I don’t know the gaps behind, whether they have changed their strategy or not – but didn’t turn out to be that way but for sure, if we had track position then I think we had the pace also to keep it. At the end I think we were quicker on the supersoft but we were behind so, yeah. Also I was on fresher tyres so it’s not entirely fair. Overall he was a bit quicker in the first stint. For the race overall it was a good match, so yeah, the first lap mattered. As I said, he executed the start well, which obviously this year is crucial. It was in our hands so he did a good job and then he drove a very good first stint which didn’t give us the opportunity to put him under pressure and do something around the stop because we were simply too far away.

    Q: (Kiril Zaytsev – 66.ru) Question for Valtteri Bottas. Valtteri, I have a theory about your win, please tell me am I right or not. I think that you won because you were very angry about all of these questions what it’s like to be number two in the team and so on. You were so angry you won and now you are number one, yes?

    VB: I don’t think that was the reason for the success this weekend! Good theory but I don’t think it’s right. It really doesn’t matter in the car if you’re angry or not. Anyway you are doing your best. When I drive there is not much emotion in there. I’m just trying to get everything right and get every lap, every corner perfectly. All the questions, all the speculation, number two driver and so on, it doesn’t get into me. It doesn’t matter.

    Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) To Sebastian. Now you turn to the European leg of the Championship with 13 points of advantage on Lewis. How much is it in accordance with your dreams and how much is it a surprise?

    SV: I don’t know if I have an answer for you. We had a good run up in Barcelona at the tests, so looking forwards to Barcelona, the car felt good. I think we’ve improved it from early March to now – but yeah, I don’t need to think about the Championship because you’re kind enough to remind us where we are. I think we’ve had a very good start. It would be wrong to sit here and say that’s what we expected – but we’re here to win, we’re here to do our best. If we look back I think we have more or less extracted the maximum. So very happy with where we are as a team – but we can still learn and we can still improve and I think that’s the way we go forward. Nothing is for granted, Barcelona is just another race and we have a lot of races to go this year. But before that we have two weeks’ time to look at what we have done so far and improve. Today I think the speed in general was there, the balance dropped away from me a little bit in the first stint. I struggled with the fronts and couldn’t attack as much as I was hoping for and as much as I was probably able to in qualifying. So things that we could have done better but the race is done today so yeah, I’m generally looking forwards: we have a strong car, a strong team, the spirit is good, so lots of positives.

    Q: (Tony Dodgins – Channel 4) Valtteri, I think in Australia and last summer you struggled in the first stint on the softer compound. Today, Sebastian said he couldn’t stay with you. Have you made progress on that generally or is it surface specific here and did that surprise you?

    VC: Well, I think it was very different to Bahrain, for example, with the temperatures and the surface of the tarmac and the track layout, so I can’t say we’ve fixed some of the issues we had in the last race but I think we did a better job here in general, to get most out of ever being in these conditions on this track. I think from Friday until Saturday, Sunday we made good progress, we managed to optimise everything and that made the win possible today. We were a little bit afraid of struggling at the beginning of the stints but that didn’t really seem to be the case and also the tyre life was good compared to Ferrari so the guys did a very good job this weekend.

    Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) Two questions for Valtteri: you talked about the start but the restart was even better because you were more than one second ahead of Sebastian as you crossed the line, so talk us through that and just before your pit stop you were losing a lot of time behind backmarkers. Were you frustrated there or did you know that you needed those extra laps because the pace on the harder tyre was not so good?

    VB: The restart was very good and kind of a surprise actually by the gap but that was good. Obviously it worked. You have few opportunities where you start going. I think the main thing is not to catch the safety car before the safety car line but that obviously worked, so that was good. Yeah, the back markers, getting through the traffic, that was the main worry for me and especially at the end of the race, that was losing more time with these cars, following… already when you’re within two, three seconds and you start to lose some lap time, especially in the mid-sector in those medium speed corners so that was quite tricky and I wasn’t quite happy at times but I always knew that Seb and Kimi behind would have the same problem as I had with the guys so in the end it was OK.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Valtteri and Sebastian, is there any technical explanation about what happened before turn two and the overtaking? Was it just a question of the slipstream or was there some technical explanation?

    SV: I didn’t see much. You had a better view, I guess.

    VB: Yes, so from my side I felt like I had a good start, maybe initially slightly better than Seb but very close I think, and obviously here the slipstreaming is the main thing. It’s nearly one kilometre into turn one. If you can get a tow, you can carry the speed and I managed to do it, even though I was on the outside I managed to get in front of Seb and close the door and that was it really.

    SV: The straight was a bit too long so maybe we can move the grid further up. For me there was not much I could do. I think it was a drag race. Obviously I didn’t have a tow. There was a bit of headwind as well, the wind was blowing the wrong way so it’s another 10/15kph off, the speed that you lose with the wind blowing against you rather than from behind. I guess it helped him but it didn’t help me today.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) For sure you don’t have a crystal ball but next race most of the teams will present very different cars and these changes have been conceived using all the knowledge gained in the first four races of the season with these new regulations. What do project for the next phase of the season with all these cars? Do you believe it’s possible there can be some dramatic changes to what we have been seeing until now?

    VB: I think it’s just going to get quicker, every car is going to get a lot better through the season and always when there’s a big rule change and the progress is bigger, the steps are bigger, the performance… more lap time gained during the year. I think it’s going to be the same for each team and I think the top teams with more resources can obviously improve more. Hopefully we can improve more but I don’t think there will be anything dramatic; just the cars are going to be quicker, more downforce really and better tyre understanding with the tracks and all of the compounds.

    SV: Well, I was just thinking whether I should buy a crystal ball. So many times we get questions up here, looking into the future. You said we don’t have one, which is right, which is why I was thinking maybe I should get one. I think it will be same as everything else. It will be a surprise, I think it will be a very close race between Mercedes and us, I hope, and I also hope that Red Bull find some pace. There’s a lot of rumours around. They are a strong team, they know how to build a quick car so I expect it’s a question of when rather than if but the sooner, the more exciting it will be but for us. I’m confident that we have the right people, the right tools on board and we will make progress. It obviously depends on what others are doing.

    KR: We’ll see what happens in two weeks at the next race. There’s always a lot of talk because it’s the first real European round. Let’s wait and see.

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Valtteri, you spoke on the podium about Nico Rosberg, the chance his retirement gave you for the possible victory. Have you planned to go and see Nico when you are back in Monaco or will you call him tonight?

    VB: I didn’t actually speak about Nico. Obviously I respect him as a driver and World Champion and everything but I just said there was this strange opportunity for me that happened in the winter that made this possible. You never know in life what’s going to happen and it was a great opportunity. I wasn’t planning on calling him really. I think I’m going to call my wife first and then see who I’m going to call afterwards

  • 2017 Russian Grand Prix: Post-Qualifying Press Conference

    2017 Russian Grand Prix: Post-Qualifying Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

     2 – Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari)

    3 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)

     

    TV UNILATERAL

    Q: Sebastian, it was an incredibly tight battle at the front and a last-minute, do-or-die effort from you seemed to make the difference. Talk us through the session.

    Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, I had a good start to the session, to qualifying this afternoon. I was feeling reasonably comfortable. But then I think in Q2 I lost a little bit the rhythm, so, my final run in Q2 which I thought would just give me enough of an idea for Q3 for the final segment, would put me in place, and it went wrong. I locked up, lost a bit the rhythm and then in Q3 the first run was not really tidy so I left it to the end and, yeah, got a good lap it. It proved I think in the last sector, I think I made up some time compared to my lap before. I knew it would be tight and I knew I would be the first one across the line and by going quicker than what I saw on the screen before than Kimi I knew, for now, I’m ahead, but then I immediately and asked about everybody else, “tell me about the others”. My race engineer Ricardo told me “they are closing the lap, they are closing the lap”. I said: “yeah, let me know, let me know, how are the sectors, how are the split times?” The first one I got was Valtteri who didn’t manage to improve and then when I got the message that we got it, I was over the moon. So yeah, a big thank you to the team, I think the car was phenomenal this afternoon. It’s really a pleasure to take a seat and go around with low fuel and just try and push it to the limit. If you have a rhythm here it feels fantastic, so glad I got it back and big thanks to the team. It’s a team effort and it’s a great result to have both cars on the front row. But it’s only part of the job, the main job is obviously tomorrow but for now it’s an important step. We managed to improve a little bit. Maybe the circuit came our way as well but it’s a very good result and I’m sure everybody is very happy and very proud so we’ll enjoy that but in a couple of hours we’ll start focusing on the race

    Q: Many congratulations. Coming to you Kimi, your second place gives Ferrari it’s first front row lock-out since the French Grand Prix in 2008. You were so close to Sebastian. How frustrated are you to be on pole? 

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Obviously the aim is to be on the front. The feeling has been more better this weekend and now we just got some traffic on the pout lap on the last set and couldn’t really make the tyres work as well as the first run and it was a bit more tricky. It was thereabouts and then I just got it back in the last corner but it didn’t pay off. I’m happier than previous qualifyings but obviously I think we had all the tools to be in the front today but a one-two for the team is not bad.

    Q:Thank you Kimi. Valtteri, this is the first time this year that a Mercedes hasn’t started from pole position. Quite simply, how good is the Mercedes relative to the Ferrari here in Russia?

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Well, I think we can clearly see from the result that Ferrari was quicker today. We were close in the end but not quite enough. To be honest all weekend they have had the upper hand and they have been able to extract much mire, especially from the ultrasoft tyre, and that’s where we really struggled yesterday. We made improvements for today but obviously not quite enough. Still, good team effort to get very close and we’re on the second row. As always, tomorrow is the day that really counts and I think a second-row start is that much of a bad thing – it’s a pretty long run into Turn One.

    Q: Thanks. Coming back to you Sebastian: is Ferrari back?

    SV: From where? I think if you look at the first three races then I think we had a good start to the season. Obviously in qualifying Mercedes has been very, very strong. As I touched on, maybe the track, maybe how we handled the tyres, I don’t know. It doesn’t matter in the end; we are in front which is a good thing. As I said, it’s a great achievement. We managed to improve the car a little bit for this race. It will be very close tomorrow, especially over a long run. Valtteri had good pace yesterday. We’ll see. But as I said, for now we’re full of joy. We’re very happy that we’re back – at least if you talk about the front row for Saturday and obviously we’ll try and take the momentum into the race tomorrow.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Sebastian, how important is it to have your team-mate alongside you on the front row tomorrow?

    SV: Well, if I could choose I would put Kimi alongside and I think he would say the same. But I think for the team it’s a great day today. Mercedes has been very, very dominant the last years in qualifying, so it’s good to get there, get closer. It was again very close with Valtteri. I don’t know his last lap but the Q2 lap and his first lap in Q3 was very, very strong. I think it’s been a mega qualifying. The car was really nice to drive and it’s a track when the car comes alive it’s really pleasant.

    Q: Are you surprised to be on pole?

    SV: Yes and no. I was eyeing… you are always eyeing for pole when you go into qualifying. I think I was eyeing also the last couple of events but I had to learn harshly that in Q3 we weren’t quite ready, so today I don’t think I ever looked at it and said: “OK, today we can do it.” I knew that we can do well, and I knew the car was good, but I didn’t know what they might be able to find for the last part of qualifying, so yeah, to sum it up I knew we were strong, I knew we can do it, but I didn’t know how strong in relation to them.

    Q: Kimi, different strategies for Ferrari and Mercedes during that session, you guys going out on the supersoft tyres at the start of Q1. Just talk us through how the whole qualifying session played out.

    KR: It played out as we planned it. We did what we planned to do and obviously the end result turned out to be pretty OK for the team. We’ve seen often people run different tyres in the first qualifying. Doesn’t really matter which tyres you run most of the time. That’s what we chose to do and then just go from there.

    Q: How’s the race pace of the Ferrari?

    KR: I think it was good yesterday but obviously tomorrow is the race and we have to see. I’m sure it’s going to be a close fight and we have to make a good job out of it, so let’s see.

    Q: Valtteri, coming to you, are you surprised by the pace of the Ferrari this weekend?

    VB: I think definitely, yeah. Me personally and as a team, coming into this weekend probably we were thinking, y’know, it’s going to be better than Bahrain but so far it’s turned out to be not so good and Ferrari seems to be doing something better. For sure it’s disappointing for us to be… not to be on the pole. I mean we did a good improvement from yesterday to today I think but it wasn’t quite enough and we definitely have some work to do but tomorrow is a different story. It’s going to be a long race and, again, difficult to predict but I think it’s going to be close.

    Q: Is there one specific problem with the car or is it just simply that the Ferrari is faster?

    VB: You know, I think before the qualifying, the only problems we really had was extracting the most out of the ultrasoft tyre. Like I said, I think we mad eit better but I don’t know if it’s because of the tyres or because of the car. For sure they have a very good car and we are struggling to compete with them but we can. It’s a long season ahead and tomorrow is another day, so we are going to do everything we can as a team to be in front of them.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globoesporte.com) To Sebastian and to Kimi, you already said about that in the Q2, in the first exit you didn’t get the maximum out of the car. From the outside we had the impression that both of you didn’t reach the limit, maybe thinking of the start of the race, using that tyre for the start of the race, not using the limit of the tyre, not going to the limit of the tyre. Is there any meaning in that?

    SV: Not really. I think, yeah, obviously we evaluated two different things Q2, we did one run with only one lap and another run with two laps and I wanted to push the limit on the first one and on the second one, as I said, I was feeling quite well up to the point where I locked the front and went straight into Turn 13. So… yeah, the plan was to go full steam ahead and see how fast we can go. Also because Valtteri had put in a very strong lap already in Q2.

    Kimi, anything to add?

    KR: No.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) I have a question for Sebastian and Kimi. Sebastian, do you feel that you are in the same condition you were in at Red Bull during their dominant era. Is Ferrari starting a new dominant era like Red Bull when you were there. And for Kimi, if you think this Ferrari seems very close to the Ferrari in that fantastic years 2007-2008.

    KR: They’re all different cars. There’s no way that we can compare. It’s ten years ago so different rules, different tyres, different a lot of things. So, maybe we have a good package. Estimating how does it feel comparing to the old cars… doesn’t really matter how that plays out as long as we can be faster against the cars that we are racing now.

    SV: I think I’d agree with Kimi. It’s difficult to compare those kinds of things – but I don’t like the word ‘dominant’. I think you work hard, you go fast and then you deserve to do well. I think we’ve been working very hard, last year as well, we didn’t go so fast, this year we go a bit faster but it’s only a couple of races in. I think at the moment it’s more important to enjoy the fact that we are doing well. The spirit is good, that’s what we want to keep up. Then, for the remainder of the year… not really interested at this point.

    Q: (Kiril Zaytsev – 66.ru) Question for both Ferrari drivers about team orders. Seb, if tomorrow will be in front of you, will you ask the team to pass, and Kimi, will you let Seb pass you without fighting?

    SV: I think it’s simple. If I’m in front then he wants to pass me, if he’s in front I want to pass him. I don’t think it makes any sense to ask for help from outside. We know that we’re free to race and that’s what I believe and I know we’re both here to do. Today obviously was very close, I expect it to be very close tomorrow and we see how the race goes.

    Kimi?

    KR: No more to say about it. We know what we do and we race for Ferrari and that’s it.

    Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) To Sebastian, did you expect to need more time to see the car competitive for the pole position? Or it’s the proper time so you achieve this result at the proper time?

    SV: Well, let’s put it this way, coming here I think on paper Mercedes looks very strong. I think they are very strong, they looked very strong yesterday. As Valtteri touched on, maybe they weren’t completely comfortable with the tyre treatment, whatever, getting up to temperature. Makes a big difference around here, whether you have the confidence or not. On our side, we focussed on what we had to do. I think we had a plan, we executed it well, I believe and had a good feeling for the car and obviously it’s a great reward to have both cars in the front row. Now, we’re not here to look at what other people are doing: we’re here to look after ourselves but I’m sure tomorrow it will be tight with Mercedes. But, as I’ve said many times, I’m happy we got the result today and for the team obviously it’s fantastic.

    Q: ( Jelena Leppanen – Ilta-Sanomat) Question to Kimi, you said already yesterday that you’re pretty happy with how the car works out. In which way does it feel better compared to the previous races?

    KR: It’s always specific for each circuit so you cannot really compare how it is in one place – because what you need in other circuits might be a completely different story. Overall it’s just been more easy to… normal to drive. I think we started well, in the correct areas, so it’s always more easy to go from there. That side has been much better this weekend so I’ve been happy and doing some changes and improving. Small things but it makes a big difference in the end.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Sebastian, how do you explain the good pace on Saturday? Is it that the car improved since the last race? Does the circuit suit you or did you just understand the tyres better?

    SV: I think the track, the corners, the layout, is not not bad for us, for sure. I think last year we were very strong here. If you look at the performance in sector two it was strong here last year, it was very strong. Obviously it’s completely different but still, some stuff you can compare and we were strong last year, strong this year. As I said, I don’t know how much Mercedes were struggling or not but, to be honest, I don’t really care. It’s more important for us that we do what we need to do and we didn’t have any problems. We had smooth sessions so far this weekend and, as I said, the car felt really good. I think it’s a track where it’s important to have the trust in the car, so you can sort of let go and attack. And I think that was the case for both of us. How much Mercedes were struggling or not… I don’t know.

    Q: (Victory Gavrilova- Ufa City News) For Kimi: were you angry that the team did not want your training time was finishing yesterday? And did you manage to complete all the work planned for today?

    KR: We did what we planned today. I wasn’t angry with anybody; I don’t know that I got right what you’re asking. I was disappointed that we ended up having a bit of traffic but I think everybody knows that here you get the tyres working or it’s a massive difference how the lap time pans out but we ended up having a bit of traffic on our out lap on our last try and it was enough to make it a little bit tricky. I’m happy with second place but we had everything for doing even better. I’ll take it but tomorrow is another day. I think over the weekend things have run quite smoothly and that’s obviously been a big help.

    Q: (Anton Tikhiy – The Independent Sports Newspaper) Sebastian, today the weather is rather warm and dry and tomorrow probably it will be the same. If we’re talking about a great battle between Mercedes and Ferrari, how do you think… which side it will be better, this type of weather?

    SV: I think it’s a lot better when it’s warm and sunny. I think people in the grandstands enjoy it a lot more so they don’t need to bring their umbrellas which is good. For the rest, I think if it’s tight and a good race then they also like that, so let’s hope for a good one. (To Valtteri) You prefer cold? That’s because we’re in Russia and it’s supposed to be cold! In the end, you have to deal with the conditions that you have. I think it’s about twenty degrees. I don’t know if that’s the warmest it ever gets here but it’s nice. The last couple of years it was a bit cooler, so it’s nice to have it a bit warmer.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Valtteri, Mercedes made a step forward since yesterday to today; we saw that in free practice and also in qualifying but you cannot touch the car before the race tomorrow. You found a compromise in your set-up for qualifying and race, do you believe you can be as strong in the race as you were in qualifying?

    VB: I think the changes and the improvements we made from yesterday to today should help us in the race also. Everything just went in the right direction with the tyres and yeah, if the conditions are more or less like today I think it’s going to be OK. Obviously we’re not confident that we have the quickest car around here and that is the case and Ferrari is very strong here. I think, as we’ve seen in all of the first three races they have a good race pace and we think it’s going to be the same case tomorrow so it’s going to be a close one again.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, in Bahrain you said after the race you compromised the qualifying a little bit, thinking about the race. Could you tell us if you worked in a different way here?

    SV: I don’t remember what I said in Bahrain. I get a lot of questions; I have to come up with a lot of things. You try to improve the car, no matter what. I think the days – maybe when you started and people were talking about qualifying and race set-ups – it’s not like that any more.  I think you try to extract maximum performance whenever you can, so for sure there are some things that might help you in the race over qualifying but we also made some changes, to get more out of the car, which worked and which will also help us tomorrow. We didn’t compromise here one way or the other.

    Q: (Slava Karpov – Radio Sport) Kimi, you are a favourite driver among the Russian fans; what do you think of this and do you feel this support?

    KR: Obviously I’m happy to have the fans here or anywhere around the world. I must say it’s nice to come here. There are not many places that have beautiful mountains behind and snow. The weather is perfect this weekend so it’s a great place to come in my view and the circuit is fun. Like I said, I will take any fans that I have, here or anywhere else.

    Q: (Kiril Zaytsev – 66.ru) To both Finnish drivers: why are you so successful on this track? We remember Valtteri was on the podium in Sochi, Kimi has been on the podium in Sochi. Why are you so successful here, maybe because it’s slippery asphalt and Finnish people love sliding and slipperiness?

    VB: It’s not actually that slippery asphalt compared to Bahrain, for example. I think we have had more grip here so that’s not the explanation. Obviously you like some tracks more than the others but I think in the past, for Williams, this used to be a good track in general and I don’t know if I can explain it more than that. I think the track is nice and I enjoy it.

    KR: I don’t think I have had very good results here. In the past years it’s been very slippery, at least for me, but this year the rules and conditions are better. It’s not really any different here to any other place.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) To the two Ferrari drivers: the only negative – if you can say that it’s negative – point of this weekend is that you have to again change the turbocharger and it’s the third element. Do you believe that it will be an issue for the end of the season?

    KR: You’re always very good to always find negative things about us.

    SV: He’s Italian, he should be over the moon. Everybody in Italy I’m sure is very happy now and you’re the only Italian in the world that finds a reason to be negative. You should be ashamed.

    KR: It’s a planned change and I’m sure we’ll be fine with it. Obviously I’ve had one failure that we will not be able to use but the others are still fine and we will run it as we want and they are there to be used and re-used whenever you feel like it.

    SV: Maybe I think you will have a great chance to get a German passport because usually Germans always find a reason to complain. If there’s a hard time when you get back to Italy you’re welcome to Germany

  • Front Row Lock Out For Ferrari at Russian GP Qualifying

    Front Row Lock Out For Ferrari at Russian GP Qualifying

    Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen locked out the front row in qualifying for the Russian Grand Prix. The first time Ferrari had locked out a front row since the French Grand Prix in 2008.

    Raikkonen, who held provisional pole in Q3, was beaten by Vettel on his final throw of the dice at a flying lap after a two lap warm up. Raikkonen had issues with traffic on his warm up during his final attempt and was slightly compromised at the end of the lap. In the end Vettel was able to improve on his time while Raikkonen did not.

    “I had a good start to Qualifying , then in Q2 I lost a bit the rhythm,” said Vettel.

    “My first run in Q3 was not very tidy, so I left it to the last run.

    “For us it’s so important as Mercedes had done an impeccable job in the last few years, so it’s great for the team and for me that we managed to break that.

    Vettel’s 1:33.194 was 0.059s quicker than Raikkonen’s 1:33.253. Valtteri Bottas in the Mercedes missed out on the front row by almost one-tenth off Raikkonen with his best time of 1:33.289. At the end the top three were covered by less than 0.1s.

    Lewis Hamilton could only managed 4th fastest after the Mercedes struggled for grip in the final sector which is dominated by slow 90-degree corners. Hamilton was more that half-a second off the pace from Vettel.

    “I just wasn’t quick enough today,” said Hamilton.

    “It was all in the last sector, I was losing half a second there. I’ve been struggling there all weekend with the balance and it’s been tough to utilise the tyres.

    “We’ll go back to the drawing board tonight and try and improve. Ferrari did a great job.”

     

    Toto Wolff felt that Bottas could have got a place on the second row of the grid and possibly pole, but a mistake in the final sector cost him 2nd place.

    In a distant 5th and 7th were the Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen, split by the Williams of Felipe Massa in 6th. Red Bull, according to Riccardo were not expecting anything higher than 5th today. This point enforced by the fact that the Red Bulls were more than a second off the pace.

    Felipe Massa was quite happy with his lap time which split the Red Bulls and feels that he can fight the them tomorrow in the race.

    “It’s so nice to see that we are in the middle of the two Red Bulls,” said Massa after qualifying.

    “They were better than us in the first three races, on qualifying and race pace, but this is a good track for us and we are fighting with them.”

     

    Nico Hulkenberg put in another great performance for the works Renault team to finish 8th fastest ahead of the Force India’s for Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon.

    Hulkenberg’s team-mate, Jolyon Palmer was a bit unlucky after bouncing over the kerbs at Turn 4 and ending up in the barrier at the exit of Turn 4. That after the team were forced to make and engine change between Free Practice 3 and Qualifying. Palmer was eliminated at the end of Q1 and will start the race from 16th.

    A fighting Fernando Alonso was able to drag his McLaren through to Q2 but was unable to much after that and was eliminated at the end of Q2 in 15th. The Spaniard did come on the radio with some praise for the McLaren chassis saying the car was well balanced and his lap was near perfect. “Car felt really good. Well balanced, lots of grip. The lap was nearly perfect,” was the call from Alonso.

    Romain Grosjean in the Haas was unable to get a clean lap together after suffering with braking issues all throughout Free Practice 3 and in Qualifying and at the end of Q1 was the slowest. Grosjean did say that he was compromised by a yellow flag caused by Sauber’s Pascal Wehrlein who spun on the entry to Turn 13.

    Going into the race Mercedes will be focussing on getting ahead of the Ferrari’s at the start. It’s a long run to Turn 2 before the long swooping left of Turn 3. The two long straights make overtaking possible around the Sochi Autodrom and with a one-stop race the more likely strategy most of the passing will have to be done on track.

    Russia 2017_Qualifying Class

  • F1 2017: Russian Gp Free Practice Three Report – Ferrari Maintain Top Billing

    F1 2017: Russian Gp Free Practice Three Report – Ferrari Maintain Top Billing

    Sebastian Vettel set the quickest time in the final free practice session ahead of the Russian grand prix.

    Ferrari driver Vettel set a fastest time of 1:34:001 ahead of teammate Kimi Raikkonen in second. Valtteri Bottas slotted in third ahead of his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton.

    Meanwhile Jolyon Palmer didn’t get out of the garage as his Renault required an engine change in addition to the safety cell that had been replaced last night. For Red Bull the best position went to Max Verstappen in fifth with Daniel Ricciardo setting the eighth quickest time in the one-hour session.

    Expectations are for a close battle for the front row of the grid in the qualifying session for the Russian grand prix.

    Final Free Practice Three Standings: