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  • 2019 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference

    2019 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference

    TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Cyril ABITEBOUL (Renault), Franz TOST (Toro Rosso), Otmar SZAFNAUER (Racing Point), Guenther STEINER (Haas), Toyoharu TANABE (Honda)

     

    Q: Cyril, big change on the driver front for you for 2020 with Esteban Ocon joining the team. First, can you tell us why you made that call?

    Cyril ABITEBOUL: First, I’d like to say it’s been a difficult call to make. Obviously Nico’s contract coming to an end at the end of this season, a decision had to be made as to whether we wanted to stay put with our driver line-up, or include a bit of a change. It’s been difficult because we all love Nico in the team. He’s been instrumental to the progress that we’ve made. We have struggled this season but last year he’s been instrumental in securing P4 in the Championship. He had a good seventh place in the Drivers’ Championship, which is clearly the best that we can targets but, you know, frankly, when you make a decision like that, you don’t just look at pure pace, you also need to look at the collective dynamic. And there is a dynamic we need to restart, reset into the team. And probably, we need to project ourselves into the medium to long-term future. So not just 2020 but also 2021, and what’s happening to his team-mate and so on and so forth. So that’s all of that but in particular the collective dynamic and what Esteban can probably bring to the team. Probably starving for racing, being super-happy to come back into racing, by nature, by construction because also he’s been out of a seat for a year. It’s all of these elements that we factored into the equation. Plus, also it’s important to say that we have, not a certainty because you can’t be certain of anything, but very high chances that Nico will be able to continue his racing career. So, just like it counted for us with Carlos last year, it’s also counted for us this year with Nico.

    Q: And will Ocon retain any ties with Mercedes from 2020?

    CA: No. He’s a Renault driver, that’s very clear. Mercedes will have absolutely no right on him for the duration of his contract. So, small difference is that his management company happens to be a racing team, and that’s Mercedes – but it’s a slightly different set-up from the set-up we had with Carlos last year, where that was on loan and not under contract with Red Bull – but he will be a fully-fledged Renault driver.

    Q: Guenther, Cyril mentioned there that he’s hopeful that Nico Hülkenberg will stay in Formula One next year. Is he a driver that you would be interested in hiring?

    Guenther STEINER: I mean sure. As Cyril said, and I think he’s right, sometimes you have to look at the whole dynamic of a team. It’s not all about the speed of a driver and if people like Nico’s on the market, for sure we need to look at that. We haven’t taken a decision as you all know. This is a thing you need to do as a team. To look what is around, how you can bring the team forward. I mean, we are not at our best this year, we were better last year, so we need to see where we can make improvements. If good people are on the market – in every area of the team, not only drivers, we look around and see if we can better the team and with that, can we better the performance of the team?

    Q: You say you haven’t taken a decision yet – when can we expect a decision from you?

    GS: I hope, honestly, in two to three weeks – because it’s good for everybody; it’s good for the team; it’s good for the drivers. It Romain stays, it’s good for him to know so he doesn’t have to worry. If Nico comes, it’s also good to give people a chance to make other decisions or to look around, so our aim is to decide in the next weeks.

    Q: Franz, Alex Albon has switched to Red Bull for the remainder of the season. What is your reaction to that change? Do you feel he’s ready for it?

    Franz TOST: The future will show. Don’t know yet. Alex did 12 really good races with us, he’s got 16 points and I must say, from the very first test onwards, I was surprised by his performance. If you remember right, I said after the first test that maybe he could become the surprise of the year. He is on a good way and I think that Red Bull will provide him with a fantastic car and therefore I expect good results from his side.

    Q: And it’s difficult for Pierre Gasly who’s coming back to Toro Rosso. You’ve been there before with Daniil Kvyat, who took a similar route. How long will it be, do you think, until Pierre gets over the disappointment of returning to Toro Rosso?

    FT: I don’t hope it’s a disappointment to return to Toro Rosso, he is welcome with us. It was only a short time he was not with us. He came to my office, I said to him: “ah, it looks like you were here yesterday.” No, he is really welcome and we have a really good relationship together, also between the engineers and if we provide him with a good car, Pierre will be back soon, I am convinced about this.

    Q: He spoke yesterday about being disappointed. Do you think there will be any problems with his motivation?

    FT: No, I don’t hope so. A Formula 1 driver must always be motivated and must always push the car to the limit and he knows that’s his chance, and therefore the motivation will be on a very high level.

    Q: Otmar, we’re talking drivers, Checo said yesterday that he hopes to make an announcement about his future soon. Is there anything that you can say on the matter?

    Otmar SZAFNAUER: Yeah, soon might be today!

    Q: Well, how about now…?

    OS: Well, I think we have a formal process of announcing, and yeah, he’s right, we will announce soon.

    Q: Can you describe the role that Checo has played in the team and how integral he is to the team going forwards?

    OS: I think both Cyril and Guenther mentioned it. There’s more than just speed and what you do on Sunday. It’s also developing the car and knowing the team, being able to compare your previous developments to the developments that you’re bringing and, because of Checo’s history with the team, of six years, he brings all that to the table. Lance, having great potential and a great talent, doesn’t have that history with the team, so you need a good mix. I think we’ve got that in Sergio and Lance.

    Q: And this race marks the anniversary of Laurence Stroll’s takeover of the team. Can you compare where it is now, compared to before the takeover?

    OS: There are many things that are different. The one significant thing is that we don’t suffer with the financial instability that we used to have, at all. That means we can plan our developments on the car, we can plan when we bring upgrades and they actually happen. We can plan our salary payments, which is helpful for everybody in the team. Apart from that, we have plans going into the future. There’s a new factory coming; we should get planning permission for that in October, probably start, have ground-breaking in the first quarter of next year. The plan is to actually move into the new factory in the break of 2021. So, although that won’t come to fruition for another 18 months, or so, those plans are happening today. We’ve added about 40 employees: we were at 405 a year ago; we’re at 445. And, like Guenther mentioned, if there are good people on the market, we’re interested for good people. We’re adding, we’re growing and we want to be more competitive. So, those are our plans going forwards – but it takes time. It doesn’t happen overnight.

    Q: Tanabe-san, you’re running your spec-4 power unit here at Spa this weekend. What advantages is it bringing?

    Toyoharu TANABE: We bring performance improvement with the spec-4 PU. The purpose of the spec-4 is a performance gain. Because as always, as I’ve mentioned, we’re still catching up pace to make the gap between the top runners and then our teams. Honda should improve PU performance.

    Q: Only Daniil Kvyat and Alex Albon are using it this weekend. What’s the reason for that?

    TT: We discussed with our teams about the PU usage and then we considered the current position, and then usage for the rest of the season. So, then we decided this strategic application.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

     

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines/Racefans.net) A question to the four team principals. Next year’s calendar… according to the draft calendar announced yesterday will have 22 races, which you all had to agree to. Did any of you attach any specific conditions to agreeing to 22 races? And Cyril, more particularly, could you comment on suggestions that you requested an increase in the number of power unit components if the calendar went up top 22 races, please?

    CA: I can confirm that we did. We asked for the principle that is already agreed for 2021 to apply for 2020. The draft regulations, which are just draft regulations for 2021, there is a concept that if you go above 21 races there is extra component allocation. So that’s simply what we asked on the simple basis that it’s very late to change the duty cycle of any component for next year. There was a bit of a discussion, as always in Formula One, but eventually we reached a compromise in Budapest that everyone managed to stick to, for once in Formula One, and eventually it was good to confirm the 22 races. We are happy to have specifically the same number of MGU-Ks as internal combustion engines. That’s going to make the lives of the technicians, the mechanics in the garage, an awful lot of simpler. Sometimes we don’t really think about these type of things but they do make a difference, in addition to the prospect of penalty. That was the condition that from the outset we mentioned. Otherwise we are very supportive of an extension of the calendar.

    FT: As long as we get more money, if you have more races, I’m fine with it. On the technical side, from the power unit, has just been explained by Cyril, there’s nothing to add.

    GS: We kept a low profile and didn’t ask for anything.

    FT: Also not for money?

    OS: I think we also agreed to shorten the amount of test days we have because we’re increasing the calendar, which kind of makes sense and goes to wellbeing of the mechanics and all those that travel. One of the conditions we all agreed to, if I remember right, was a shortened winter test.

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) To the four team principals please. Ross Brawn has talked about using the stable regulations next year to maybe trial some different race formats ahead of 2021. Would you be in favour of that and what sort of slightly different formats might we see?

    OS: I think last time we got together we did discuss about some formats on Saturday to maybe mix up the grids for Sunday. We’ve got further discussions I think between Monza and September (sic). If we are to improve the show there is nothing wrong with trying and seeing how it goes, get some fan feedback, and if people like it and it improves the show, I’m all for it.

    Q: Guenther?

    GS: Otmar said a lot there. What we are a little bit, I wouldn’t say concerned, but what we need to look at is that by changing the format the costs don’t go up – that we do more and don’t get more out of it. We need to carefully think about. There were a lot of things around but we didn’t get around to discuss the detail about it. So when we get to the detail there will be the difficulty because if we change format and it costs a lot more because we do everything differently, there is a point where it is not sustainable.

    Q: So, for example, what would you say to having qualifying races on a Saturday?

    GS: That costs more money, because you need more spare parts because you have two races a weekend, you know. You need more MGU-Ks, because they can break. So we need to consider all this stuff.

    Q: Franz, your thoughts?

    FT: You know, to change the race weekend format, maybe there are some good points in there. We will discuss it in two weeks, I think in Geneva we have another meeting. But the most important thing is that the teams and the cars are on an equal level on the performance side. You can have whatever format but if there are some cars far ahead of the others – one second or even more – then it doesn’t change anything. What we have to provide the fans is a good show and for this the performance of the different teams and of the cars has to be on a level within a few tenths of a second, like it is in the midfield. If you look currently there are three teams far ahead, but the midfield is fighting very close to each other with a difference of a couple of hundredths of a second and there are good fights in between the cars and they show good races and this is what the fans want to see and I don’t think this is so much to do with the format.

    Q: Cyril do you think the format needs changing in any area?

    CA: I think we could be a bit more progressive on the weekend format. I think we need to probably adapt slightly the format to the new audience, to the way that sport is being consumed. People are not really interested in sitting for two hours in front of the TV at two o’clock on Sundays, or three o’clock on Sundays. I think that’s something to take into account. Friday running in particular, with very empty grandstands, is for me a bit of a loss of an opportunity. So there is probably some improvement to be made. I think we need to be very careful about all detail associated with having some tests into next year, as again next year is tomorrow. The plans are made already; the engines are almost being built as we speak. So if you look at the amount of discussion we had to get to the 22 races, when we start talking about the detail of the consequence of changing the format even on a couple of races, I’m a bit afraid that we see that it is a bit difficult at this late stage of the season. So in my opinion we need to do that. But I think it needs to be done properly but with a global commitment, not just testing and maybe it’s a bit late already for next year, but clearly doing that for 2021.

    Q: (Luke Smith – crash.net) – A question for Franz. You said there were no concerns about Pierre’s motivation in returning to Toro Rosso, but we saw when Daniil when returning to the team initially in 2016 how difficult it was for him to adjust back and how long it took it him to get over the demotion. Are there any concerns about that with Pierre and are Red Bull and Toro Rosso doing anything extra to help give him the support he may need?

    FT: If we see any deficiencies then of course we will support him in any way. He knows our team very well. Therefore, I think it’s a very short period to adapt to this situation and once more if the car works well and if he had a good race result and he has some success then his self-confidence is coming back and then Pierre will have the form he had before. Don’t forget that last year in Bahrain he finished in the fourth position. He scored many points in the 2018 season and I’m quite sure we will see Pierre Gasly showing a good performance very soon.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speedsport) Cyril, the team is not where you want it to be in the Constructors’ Championship. What do you need to change to get back up there?

    CA: Well, I think first you are right. The team is not where we wanted it to be. It’s a very clear regression against last year. Less points, Constructors’ Championship – it’s clear. But at the same time what’s clear is the areas of the team that need to be improved. In my opinion we have made a good step on engine power, as demonstrated by top speed on a number of tracks that are sensitive to that. Driver line-up, apart from the comments made previously, is a strong one. Mechanically the car is good. We know what’s missing and that’s simply downforce and aerodynamics and that’s clearly the current focus right now. We are looking at improving that and we will draw an assessment pretty soon and we will move from there.

    Q: (Jon McEvoy – Daily Mail) To Cyril, how near did you get last year to signing Esteban. Were there discussions with him, were there discussions with Mercedes? Did you almost get it over the line?

    CA: You’re talking about last year?

    Q: Yes.

    CA: I think it has been publicly reported that it has been discussed. It’s been discussed to a certain level of detail. The old story is publicly reported also. We had the opportunity of signing Daniel, which was an opportunity also, which was an opportunity that was discussed but never really certain. When it became certain we had to make a quick decision. An opportunity like Daniel is not an opportunity that happens on many occasions for a team like us in construction and it’s an opportunity we decided to take. But frankly I’m very happy that we managed all together – Esteban, Renault, Mercedes, Toto, myself – we managed to put that behind and decide what was best for everyone this year.

    Q: (Julien Billotte – Auto Hebdo) Cyril, Nico mentioned nationality as one of the factors behind Renault’s decision to sign Esteban. How important is it for Renault to have a French driver and also how tricky can it become for you and him if the performance does not improve enough next year?

    CA: Each time we sign a driver we create an expectation and by creating an expectation it becomes tricky. Just look at the situation of the team this year. I think a lot of the critics we have this year are also due to the fact that we created a lot of expectation by signing Daniel. It’s the same. Each time you make a decision you need to accept the consequence. On the nationality, frankly, I would not put too much down to that. It’s a plus, it’s a bonus, but it’s not an element into the decision. Saying that it is an element into the decision would mean that we have sort of changed our factors or parameters when we evaluated Esteban and that would not be fair to Esteban, just like it would not be fair to Nico or Renault’s management. It’s a plus but what matters is that he ends up in a good car also.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines/Racefans.net) There are suggestions that one or two teams could be coming in in 2021. Certainly there are some plans behind the scenes for these teams to try and enter. How do you feel about it? Should Formula One grow beyond the current ten teams?

    CA: Frankly and quickly – if it’s good teams, strong teams with good backing then it’s a sustainable project in my opinion, yes.

    FT: I agree. Twelve teams, it’s a good number and you never know what’s going on with any other team. That means we need as many cars as possible on the starting grid. I think 24 is also acceptable from the safety side and from the race track and also from the space on the tracks. I would welcome them, yes.

    GS: I think it would be a good thing to have more teams, as long as they are – as Cyril and Franz said – as long as they are well funded and high profile. But also what FOM needs to look after is the teams that are here. We shouldn’t go and just try to get new teams because new is better. It needs to be looked after, the teams that are here who are doing a good job, who made a big investment and just thinking more is better, that will not work as well.

    OS: Well, I think in the future with the cost cap being introduced and implemented then there might be room for 12 teams but we do have to be careful about getting the money distribution to be a little bit more equitable so that you can have 12 sustainable teams.

    Q: (Matthieu Mastalerz – FranceRacing.Fr) Cyril, you have said Renault underestimated the investments of top teams like Mercedes, which has increased more than expected. So is Renault, as a constructor, able or willing to increase its investment in order to reach its goal?

    CA: The problem with that is a question of timing, because even if you make the decision now, you are not going to be able to spend really more before a few years, because spending more means more people, more designers, more manufacturers, more people in production and so on and so forth. And if you compound that to the fact that there will be a budget cap introduced by 2021, it’s already too late. So no, I think in reality we have no choice but to a certain degree continue with our plan, carry on with our plan. Accept the change, accept the difficulty, not use that as an excuse but be extremely determined on what it takes to be more competitive in 2021. Some people will have to manage a reduction of their operation. We will be able to stay exactly where we are or increase slightly, because the budget cap is still a chunk higher than what we are operating right now. That’s the reason why we would have liked it to be a bit lower but we understand that it’s a good compromise and a compromise that should make us more competitive than where we are right now.

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Over the summer break, we had an update from F1 and the FIA on the progress of the 2021 car and the regulations. There’s obviously still a lot to sort before 2021 gets finalised on track and all of the off track stuff behind the scenes. How happy are you with how things are progressing? Is there any concern that the three big teams are going to veto or block the extent of changes that you want to make the field closer?

    OS: I think we’ve got from now until the end of October to review, understand and come to a final decision. There are a lot of opinions in the room as to what should happen for the future. I believe we all want closer racing, that’s for sure. We all want F1 to keep its DNA of development and differentiation, that’s for sure. And most of us want a bit of cost-savings as well. So I think those are the considerations and we’ll all get together and hash it out and hopefully come up with a set of regulations towards the end of October that meets everyone’s needs.

    GS: I would agree with what Otmar said. I think we just need to sit down, all the teams, and see where we can take it and hopefully have a regulation soon, because there are different opinions and to discuss them all here… we could sit here a long time. There will have to be compromises found to get this regulation over the finish line and I think one way or another it will happen. If the big teams try to change everything it’s difficult for us but it’s the FIA, the governing body and the promoters which have an opinion as well, so let’s see what we can come up with until the end of October. But I think it will be… we will come to a solution but for sure not everyone will be happy, 100 per cent, and that’s normally when you reach compromises.

    FT: Yeah, there are a couple of sporting working group and technical working group meetings where all these new technical regulations are being discussed. So far I must say that the FIA and the FOM is going in the right direction. We know that we can come down with the costs which is covered by the cost cap and the money distribution should be much fairer than… We’ll come up with a different governance which is covered from the sporting and technical regulations side. We are going in the right direction. FIA and FOM should make the decisions. The date is clear, it’s the end of October and then we go for it. Up to now, I think we’re going in the right direction.

    CA: As far as we’re concerned frankly we need to focus on three important aspects. The budget cap, all the refinements, even though the principle is agreed but we need to get that done and really put in stone. Money distribution, like Franz said, we need something that is more equitable otherwise we will end up with the same disparity that we have now. And governance. We are less concerned about the details of the technical and sporting regulations because these things will happen anyway and we are prepared to increase more power to Formula One and FIA that has gone up their team in order to think what’s right for the sport. They’ve done a lot of research; they know what’s good for the sport but we want these three elements to be fixed and agreed as quickly as possible.

    Q: (Luke Smith – Crash.net) Franz, another question for you: picking up… you were talking about Max in 2015. Would you be able to reflect on what it was like working with Max through his first season in Formula One, how exciting was it playing that formative role in his future and was it immediately clear you had such a star on your hands?

    FT: You know Max was coming from Formula 3 and in those days there were a lot of people who said it’s too early for him to come into Formula One but then we gave him some possibilities to do FP1 sessions and he showed that he can do it. He had fantastic car control and he, from the very beginning onwards, had everything from the technical side under control also and therefore we signed him, or Red Bull signed him and we had a fantastic season together and his learning gradient was quite steep and then we know in the second season, 2016, after five (sic) races he went to Red Bull Racing, won the first race in Barcelona and from then onwards he is there as a driver and he made really big, big steps forward, big progress and for me, Max, now, is the driver who is able – as I mentioned, just before – to win races and to win the championship. He has all the ingredients together, which you need for doing this.

  • 2019 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    2019 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

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

    PRESS CONFERENCE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Q: Announce with Racing Point?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

     

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    MV: A few touches, yeah!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • F1 2018: Belgian Gp Review – Ferrari Stroll To Spa Victory

    F1 2018: Belgian Gp Review – Ferrari Stroll To Spa Victory

    Untroubled, Sebastian Vettel drove the perfect race to secure victory at the 2018 Belgian grand prix. While Saturday qualifying, wet in the final part, went the way of Lewis Hamilton Sunday was brought a completely different complexion as the Ferrari driver skillfully scythed past pole sitter Hamilton into the lead of the race.

    Both Force India cars, starting on the second row thanks to a dramatic quali, started equally well and slotted in behind the front two. It all went off behind them however as a dramatic first corner crash, triggered by Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg, saw Fernando Alonso’s McLaren fly over the cockpit of Charles Leclerc. The halo, significantly scuffed by Alonso’s tyre, played a significant role in keeping the Sauber driver safe and uninjured in an otherwise dangerous crash. An example of how well the halo works was never needed or wanted but this serves as the perfect illustration for all those that continually criticized and moaned about the aesthetics of why it is needed in Formula 1. It’s certain that without it there would have been a different outcome for Charles Leclerc.

    Though they retired slightly later the first lap also laid claim to Kimi Raikkonen and Daniel Ricciardo. The Red Bull driver was tagged from behind by Alonso and lost his rear wing. While he did get back out he was a lap down without little prospect of gaining anything meaningful from the race consequently Red Bull retired Ricciardo’s no. 3 car.

    spa For Kimi Raikkonen it was desperately unlucky as Ricciardo’s front wing caused a right-rear puncture on the Ferrari. It subsequently damaged the right endplate of the rear wing, the DRS, and caused enough floor damage to render the car un-driveable.

    While first lap crashes are part and parcel of racing Ferrari only has itself to blame for Raikkonen’s ultimate retirement. The day before an awkward blunder in quali left Raikkonen without enough fuel to complete the final part of the session. While others improved their laptimes the Finn was left to start sixth on the grid. This position often referred to as the ‘carbon fibre zone’ is notoriously where most incidents occur. But Ferrari was flustered when the rain came down in the final part of qualifying and they made mistakes that ultimately cost Raikkonen a shot at a decent result. As if to add insult to injury Raikkonen was fastest well the mix for pole on a circuit where he is considered a specialist and has won on four previous occasions.

    spa1Up front it was as easy a Sunday afternoon drive for Vettel. While both Mercedes and Ferrari introduced upgraded internal combustion engines for this weekend Hamilton and Mercedes just didn’t have the pace to live with the Ferrari. This was something that Hamilton bemoaned after the race too by saying that Ferrari has some “tricks”. Whatever he was implying if he is hoping to play a psychological game it wont land with neither Vettel nor Ferrari.

    Hamilton went on to paint himself as the underdog despite being in the lead of the driver’s championship. But the likelihood is that he doesn’t really believe himself to be the downtrodden. After all, he is the reigning champion in a works Mercedes that will be a force at Monza.

    As Vettel and Hamilton took the first two steps on the podium Max Verstappen drove a lonely race into third while Valtteri Bottas ably recovered to fourth after starting nearly last on the grid. Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon delivered fourth and fifth for Force India in what has been a difficult time for the team off the track. Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen were sixth and seventh for Haas while Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly and Marcus Ericsson completed the top ten for Sauber.

    Vettel’s win brings him to within 17 points of Hamilton in the drivers standing and more importantly gives Ferrari some much-needed momentum ahead of their home race this weekend.

    *Podium Image courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport
    *First lap Images courtesy of Racing Point Force India
  • Force India Drivers Take Their Battle to Social Media

    Force India Drivers Take Their Battle to Social Media

    The Force India drivers once again came to blows on track at the Belgian Grand Prix.

    The tension between the drivers has been bubbling under the surface since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix when Ocon squeezed Perez into the barrier.

    This time in at the Belgian Grand Prix, however, it was Perez that squeezed Ocon into twice into the barrier. The first incident happened at the start of the race. There was no damage to either car and Perez accepted responsibility for the incident. The second collision damaged Ocon’s front wing which resulted in a puncture on Perez’s rear right. Both drivers were able to make it back to the pits. Ocon eventually finished the race in 9th while Perez finished 17th. What was a good afternoon for the team with the prospect of a double points finish turned into disaster.

    The fallout from the collision between team mates spilled on to social media where Ocon posted a video claiming that Perez tried to kill him.

    “Tried to kill me” may be a touch dramatic.

    Perez replied with a video of his own but said nothing about the second incident.

    Quiero ofrecerle una disculpa a mi equipo por el primer incidente que tuvimos hoy. Seleccioné un mapa motor equivocado para el inicio de carrera y eso provocó que no tuviera la potencia suficiente en la recta. Prueba de ello es que mi luz roja trasera iba parpadeando. Iba muy concentrado en proteger la posición con Hulkenberg que no vi a Esteban y lo toqué. Totalmente mi culpa, ofrezco una disculpa por eso. En el segundo incidente creo que no había el espacio suficiente para que Esteban realizara el rebase ahí. Al ser yo el auto líder, la línea era mía. Él solo tenía su alerón, la línea me pertenecía. Estaba el muro y estaba mi auto, no había espacio para dos coches. Tenía toda la recta para pasarme, pero bueno… Lo que si me decepciona mucho son sus publicaciones en donde dice que traté de matarlo. Yo podría haber dicho muchas cosas en el pasado, pero no lo hice. Creo que somos profesionales, estamos en la máxima categoría de nuestro deporte y esos comentarios no me parecen apropiados. Lo bueno es que el próximo fin de semana volvemos a tener carrera. Voy a regresar más fuerte que nunca y voy a manejar mejor que nunca para mi equipo en las próximas 8 carreras. Gracias a todos por su apoyo! #nevergiveup #class👍👌

    A post shared by Checo Pérez (@schecoperez) on

    Speaking from the pit wall live after the incident, Chief Operating Officer of Force India Otmar Szafnauer said that they will now enforce team orders and they will not allow their drivers to race anymore.

    “In the future they’ll never have that opportunity [to race] again,” explained Force India COO Otmar Szafnauer. “We let them race up till now and if they can’t do that in a manner that is good for the team, then they won’t be racing anymore.

    “They shouldn’t be coming together. We’ve given them the latitude to race and I’ve always said that, but we told them if a Baku-type incident happens again we’ll be calling races from the pit wall in the future.

    “Once it gets to the point of safety margins and crashing into each other then we’ve got to take it into our hands.”

    Speaking after the race Ocon appreciated the risky move and understood why Pere made contact with him. “We are three wide [with Nico Hulkenberg], so I accept that, even if he squeezes me into the wall and that’s very dangerous and not professional,” he said.

    He did not take lightly to the second incident however. Saying that it was just too much. “The second one is just too much. You know, what’s the point in doing that? He just squeezed me into the wall at 300km/h, risking my life, risking his life for no reason and costing the team a lot of points. He’s supposed to be a professional driver and he didn’t show it today,” the young Frenchman added.

    Perez accepted the responsibility for the first incident at the start of the race but did not think that the second incident is his fault. He said Ocon was optimistic attempting a pass on the outside.

    “The second incident I think Esteban was really optimistic, because there was no room for two cars. He had the whole straight to do the manoeuvre. It was just too much on the limit. It’s a shame that we touched because it ruined our race,” said the Mexican.

    Team Orders

    Team Principal Vijay Mallya says he’s become more concerned about the incidents between the two drivers and has no choice to implement team order.

    “I have been very happy with our overall performance during the 2017 season with both drivers scoring points for the team and racing freely,” said Mallya.

    “However, as much as I support competitive racing, the repeated incidents between both our cars are now becoming very concerning.

    “Under these circumstances I have no choice but to implement a policy of team orders in the interest of safety and to protect the team’s position in the constructors’ championship.”

  • F1 2017: Belgium Gp Review – Hamilton Wins Intense Battle

    F1 2017: Belgium Gp Review – Hamilton Wins Intense Battle

    In terms of the spectacle of wheel-to-wheel racing the 2017 Belgian grand prix wasn’t the most electrifying race of the season.

    However, what it may have lacked as far as a pure racing show it certainly made up with the intensity of the battle between the two championship protagonists Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton.

    While Hamilton maintained track position throughout the race the Mercedes driver was never more than two seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Vettel. In his 200th grand prix Hamilton managed to keep Vettel at bay but it was far from a stroll for Mercedes who admitted post-race that it they were pushing flat out from light out to chequered flag. Vettel’s inability to overtake Hamilton proved that track position remains all-important. It’s once again abundantly clear that despite the fact that the 2017 cars are far quicker and more visually exciting it hasn’t improved the ability to overtake.

    A late safety car was deployed for debris on the track for an indefensible crash between Force India teammates Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon. The testy relationship between Force India’s drivers came to blows as Perez dangerously squeezed teammate Ocon into the old pitwall, making contact. The race stewards are likely to impose a hefty penalty for Perez’s inexcusably dangerous driving.

    0008Despite Vettel getting to within half a tenth of taking the lead Hamilton maintained control. It wasn’t the case for his Merc teammate Valtteri Bottas who was swamped, on either side, into turn four by Daniel Ricciardo on the left and Kimi Raikkonen on the right. It left Ricciardo in third and Raikkonen, recovering from a ten second stop/go penalty for not slowing under yellow flags, in fourth and a well-spanked Bottas in fifth.

    For Max Verstappen his woeful run in 2017 continued with yet another reliability issue. This time a cylinder failure in the engine put an end to his afternoon at his de facto home race. While Verstappen’s frustrations were amplified Nico Hulkenberg took sixth place for Renault ahead of Romain Grosjean in seventh, Massa in eighth, Ocon in ninth and Carlos Sainz in tenth for Toro Rosso.

    Fully aware that radio communications are often broadcast to the world McLaren’s Fernando Alonso didn’t hold back his contempt during the race. His comments ranged from “embarrassing, really embarrassing” to “I really don’t care too much about the gaps. This is just a test” when told about the gap to other drivers in his vicinity. Later on he summarily told the team that he wanted no more radio communication.

    While his frustration is certainly warranted it was perhaps not the classiest way to go about voicing it. There are more than 600 McLaren employees working flat-out to get these two cars onto the track in the best condition possible and it would likely have been terribly demoralizing for them to hear Alonso’s comments.

    Fernando Alonso_Canada 2015 ReactionThe simple truth is that there is no doubt whatsoever that Fernando Alonso is supremely talented and still well capable of winning world titles.

    But ponder this: Ferrari could have easily re-signed him for 2018, but chose instead to stick with their current line-up. There is a reason for this and the temperament he displayed in Belgian Gp has everything to do with it.

    Hamilton’s intensely fought win has seen him halve Vettel’s gap to seven points ahead of Ferrari’s home race this weekend at Monza.

    All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

  • F1 2015: Belgian Grand Prix Review – Hamilton Wins, Vettel Fumes

    F1 2015: Belgian Grand Prix Review – Hamilton Wins, Vettel Fumes

    There was a bit of commotion even before the Belgian grand prix officially got underway. Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg waved desperately from the cockpit of his car on the starting grid moments before the red lights were extinguished. It turns out that the German had a mechanical issue that would end his race before it even started.

    But this was nothing in the face of the drama that would develop towards the end of the race and subsequent fall-out of it all.

    By all accounts Ferrari’s Spa weekend was dismal when measured against the high of the Hungarian grand prix. The woes started in Saturday qualifying as Kimi Raikkonen grinded to a halt in the second part of qualifying with an oil pressure problem. The misery didn’t end here though the Finn was further hampered by having to drop five places on the grid for a gearbox change. Raikkonen eventually finished seventh in the race after a difficult time of trying to look after his tyres. Perhaps the Iceman can console himself with his freshly signed 2016 contract.

    Vettel Typre Blow Out_Belgium 2015For Sebastian Vettel, in his 150th grand prix start, it looked to be going slightly better. The German scrapped his way into third by daring to run a one-stop strategy. But a spectacular failure of his right-rear tyre two laps from the end of the grand prix dropped him out of the running. The four time world champion was fuming in the post race interviews during which he lambasted Pirelli and its tyres. The Italian tyre manufacturer released its own statement in which the blame tyre wear as the reason for the failure.

    This conclusion would be acceptable if it were true. If we are to accept Pirelli’s version of events, and the tyre was worn down to the point where it could explode, his laptimes would’ve been significantly impacted before the tyre exploded. The truth is that while Vettel was lapping slower than the charging Romain Grosjean he was only seven tenths of a second off the Frenchman’s pace.

    Valtteri Bottas_Belgium 2015Further, Ferrari was informed that the medium compound tyre would be able to endure forty laps around the Spa circuit. Vettel’s tyre blew up after only twenty-seven laps on the car. What we have learnt is that Pirelli is awfully good at shifting blame away from themselves.

    Two years ago, at the British grand prix, they blamed a slew of tyre blowouts on aggressive tyre pressures by teams and sharp kerb edges. After Saturday practice they attributed Nico Rosberg’s spectacular blowout in Blanchemont to an “external cut” as the reason for the tyre failure. Yet, Rosberg denied going off track or running over debris and confirmed that they “didn’t understand” the failure within the team despite Pirelli’s conclusion.

    Tyres seemed to be at the forefront in Spa as the Williams pit crew fitted three medium and one soft compound tyre to Valtteri Bottas’ car. It was insult to a lack of pace for Williams who didn’t perform at all well around the famous circuit. Rob Smedley confirmed the team’s disappointment at finishing sixth and ninth with Massa and Bottas respectively.

    spa-grosjeanRomain Grosjean was a surprise but welcome third place finisher in his black and gold Lotus. The Frenchman maintained impressive pace throughout the weekend and topped it off with a third place finish in which was arguably the best drive of the day. Grosjean admitted to “crying on the last lap” such was elation at the result. Respect to the smiling Frenchman who’s kept his head up through some incredibly difficult times with this team.

    And amidst the drama and tyre sagas was a serene and very smiley Lewis Hamilton with a second Spa victory in his pocket. Never apparently under pressure the Brit led and controlled all 43 Belgian grand prix laps with consummate ease. Teammate Rosberg finished in an ever-present second place but is now twenty-eight points adrift of Hamilton. At this stage it doesn’t seem as if the multi-lingual Rosberg has any sort of answer to his teammate’s pace. It’s looking all the more as if Hamilton is transforming himself from the reigning champion to the champion-elect.

  • WATCH: Furious Vettel swearing in post Belgian GP BBC interview

    WATCH: Furious Vettel swearing in post Belgian GP BBC interview

    A furious and adrenaline pumped Sebastian Vettel launched a proper verbal assault on Pirelli, blaming the tyre manufacturer for the tyre failure he suffered on the penultimate lap of the Belgian Grand Prix.

  • Lewis Hamilton takes dominant Belgian Grand Prix pole

    Lewis Hamilton takes dominant Belgian Grand Prix pole

    Lewis Hamilton easily claimed his 10th pole position from 11 races topping qualifying ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix.

    Hamilton set not one, but two, laps fast enough to take the top position during Q3 and finished the session almost half a second ahead of his team mate with a time of 1:47.197.

    Team mate Nico Rosberg, who made a mistake at Stavelot on his first lap did manage to improve on his second run but finished 0.458s down on Hamilton nonetheless.

    Raikkonen retires from Belgian Grand Prix qualifyingWhile Mercedes locked out the first row of the Belgian Grand Prix grid as expected, Ferrari had a difficult day on their hands. Kimi Raikkonen was knocked out in Q2 after having to retire his car due to a power unit problem. The Finn himself was unsure whether he would need to replace the power unit but the team will obviously be working feverishly to solve the problem before tomorrow’s Belgian Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel managed only ninth place for no apparent reason at all.

    Valtteri Bottas took the third position – 1.3s behind Hamilton with Romain Grosjean qualifying in fourth place. He will be dropping to ninth though due to a gearbox penalty which means that Sergio Perez who finished in fifth place, will start fourth on the Belgian Grand Prix grid.

    Daniel Ricciardo will start his Belgian Grand Prix from fifth place, ahead of Felipe Massa, Pastor Maldonado and Sebastian Vettel.

    Carlos Sainz Jr. made it to Q3 but could not set any sectors alight on his only flying lap for the session.

    Nico Hulkenberg was eliminated in Q2 after locking up at La Source, while Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat was also unable to convert Friday practice pace and finished in 12th position.

    Marcus Ericsson claimed the 13th spot for Sauber, with Raikkonen behind him in 14th. According to the team he suffered a drop in oil pressure at Stavelot which saw his Ferrari slowly crawling to a halt.The session was briefly Red Flag to allow Raikkonen’s car to be safely removed from the circuit.

    Young Max Verstappen chose to not set a Q2 time in order to save tyres on account of the grid penalty he will need to take.

    Felipe Nasr failed to make it out of Q1 for the third race in a row after placing 16th, missing the cut-off point by a tenth of a second.

    Both McLaren drivers failed to make it through to Q2 in what is really just a torrid time for the team, and both drivers. Jenson Button finished half a second ahead of Fernando Alonso in the intra-team battle at McLaren, but that was still a full second off Felipe Nasr’s time.

    Both Button and Alonso will drop to the back row of the Belgian Grand Prix grid due to engine penalaties, behind the Manor Marussia duo Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi.

    With rain on the cards for the Belgian Grand Prix tomorrow, we are all set for a spectacular race! Follow us for live updates and race banter on Twitter @F1_Madness .

  • 2013 Shell Belgian Grand Prix – Post Race Press Conference

    2013 Shell Belgian Grand Prix – Post Race Press Conference

    Drivers: 1 – Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), 2 – Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), 3 – Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

    PODIUM INTERVIEW (Conducted by David Coulthard)

    Q: Sebastian, your 31st Grand Prix victory, you’re now just one behind the man who finished in second place. That looked pretty easy for you today.

    Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, it was fantastic race for us. From start to finish really very good tactics. Obviously it helped the first lap to have the tow off Lewis through Eau Rouge and then I was flying. Once I passed him we had incredible pace and really could control the race until the end. We were a bit afraid of the rain coming towards the end but I think it just passed the circuit. Great race. Thank you to the team, thanks to Renault. All the guys have been working very hard and… yeah, fantastic result, can’t be any better.

    Q: You passed a milestone today if you’re into statistics. You seem to like to get the fastest lap towards the end of these grand prix but you’ve now led well over 2000 laps in your grand prix career. Were you aware of that one?
    SV:     Now I am. Thank You! Yeah, incredible.

    Alonso_PressConferenceQ: Fernando, this must feel like a victory today. You’ve never won around the Belgian Grand Prix circuit, which is surprising given that you’ve got 32 victories in your career but that was typical attacking stuff from ninth place.
    Fernando Alonso:     Yeah, we had to recover some places. We were not OK yesterday and everything went OK from the start and then the car has the speed to overtake some cars and it was a little bit boring. After we get the second place we are nowhere near Sebastian and not a big threat from behind.

    Q: Looking ahead to Monza, you must feel pretty much buoyed for Ferrari,  going to what is the home grand prix for the Ferrari team.

    FA: Yeah, definitely it’s an important weekend for us, for the team. Last year we were very close to repeat the victory that we get also in 2010, so we arrive fully motivated again and in Monza we would like to give some smiles and some satisfaction to the tifosi and we will try our best.

    Q: Lewis, that’s your 54th podium, that equals you with Niki Lauda who is one of the senior management at the Hamilton_PressConferenceMercedes grand prix team. Does that statistic mean anything to you and what do these points mean for you this afternoon?
    Lewis Hamilton:     We had a tough race, these guys were a little bit faster than us but the team did a great job throughout the weekend and I’m really happy with the results. Of course to be put in the same sentence as someone as legendary as Niki is a real privilege. I’m happy with the result we had, I’m glad to see so many great fans here this weekend. They made the weekend.

    Q: Once again we heard you on the team radio saying you were taking absolutely everything out of the car and the tyres. You went off into the summer break as the victor, you’ve come on a roll of four pole positions. Looking ahead to the next grand prix, what do you think you’ve learnt from this Belgian race.
    LH:     I came in this weekend and when we started I felt that we perhaps didn’t have as good a package as these two here. I think we’ll go away after this weekend, we’ll try and see if we can improve for Monza. But definitely when we get to Singapore, I think we’ll have a much better chance there.

    Q: [Sebastian] I believe your points lead is extended to the largest ever margin you’ve had. You must feel good looking to the second half of this season.
    SV:     Yeah. Obviously winning helps. Just really controlled. The car was much better than I think we expected going into the race. So we had a bit of pace on hand to control the race. I really enjoyed that a lot. I think the guys on the pit wall as well, it was not as stressed as at other times. Fortunately there was no rain, so in terms of critical calls there were none to make. It was a very good afternoon for us and obviously looking forward to Monza where we don’t expect, maybe, to be that strong but let’s see.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Sebastian, your 31st career victory – two less than Fernando – and your fifth this season. Clearly the decisive moment was the opening lap of the race. Tell us about that and how it set you up for the rest of the afternoon.
    SV:     Yeah, obviously very difficult around here to plan your start because first of all you need to have a good launch off the line and then there’s a long straight coming. A bit like Korea. I tried my best to line up behind Lewis and basically benefit from a massive tow through Eau Rouge. I think especially in the opening lap when the tyres are not yet completely there and the fuel tank is full, Obviously the cars are quite heavy up the hill and produce a lot of drag and I was able, in the tow, to make up a lot of speed and when I got side by side I had a lot of advantage over Lewis and was able to get straight ahead. So, yeah, it worked very well, what I was trying to, let’s say, plan at the exit of turn two. And after that I just tried to settle into the rhythm. I tried to open a gap to be flexible at the first stop and yeah, until the end we had incredible pace. We didn’t expect that. We knew, probably, going in that, in the dry, we should be able to beat Mercedes on the track but we knew other cars – Lotus, Ferrari – they looked very competitive in the dry, so in that regard yeah, we had massive pace and could control the race until the end.

    Q: You’ve increased your championship lead as well, now over Fernando, almost two race wins clear. How are you feeling about it at this stage?
    SV:     For sure a positive message today but I’m honestly more happy to win the race today: it’s a fantastic track and especially when the car works well, you don’t want the race to stop. The car is getting lighter and lighter and I was very comfortable at the end on the Primes. The car, as I said, was just a pleasure to drive. You don’t… I didn’t think about the championship or points. Obviously I know the higher up you finish the better it is: ideally ahead of everyone else, which worked today. But yeah, such a great circuit. We’ve had good races here in the past so it’s nice to have another one, another great memory today. So, that’s what honestly I was focussing on most. For sure, regarding the championship, it’s a bonus.

    Q: Fernando, obviously for you also the start was pretty decisive. Ninth on the grid, up to fifth on the opening lap. You passed Rosberg, Webber, Button, Hamilton to come through to second place. That’s quite a recovery from what must have been a very disappointing qualifying performance yesterday.
    FA:     Yeah, I think the weekend was more or less good for us with recovering some feelings that we lost in July with the car especially. We were a little bit more competitive – or we felt a little bit more competitive this weekend. Not for sure maybe for pole position but to be in the first four or five positions on the grid, maybe that was possible but yesterday I think were extremely unlucky with the situation in Q3 with weather and the track: where we were, in the place we were, at the time we were was wrong. So, unfortunately some times in these changeable conditions you are lucky, sometimes unlucky. I remember Malaysia very well in Q3, we were in the right place in the right moment and we were second and third of the grid. Yesterday was a little bit the opposite. So we had to plan a perfect race from the start to the pace of the car, to the strategy and everything worked fine and we could recover some places and extremely important for the championship also to get some good points again after three races not so good.

    Q: Lewis touched on it yesterday in the press conference here, that throughout the practice and qualifying as well the Ferrari looked quite quick and looked like it had taken a step forward. Do you feel that over the course of this weekend? Is that giving you encouragement? Obviously we’re going to some very different kinds of circuits in the next few weeks but are you taking encouragement from this weekend?
    FA:     I’m happy. I’m happy with the feeling that I had this weekend. I’m happy with the parts that we brought here, seems that they are working fine. We need to take things very carefully because, as you say, this is a very specific circuit and we are not first and second in any practice or any qualifying or any race. We are ninth and tenth in quali and now we are second and seventh in the race. At the moment it is still work to do.

    Q: Lewis, great getaway from pole into the first corner but describe the remainder of that first part of that first lap from your perspective.
    LH:     It was not particularly exciting or anything. It was pretty straightforward. Half-decent start and I felt like I got a good exit out of turn one but these guys… Sebastian just caught me massively, particularly through Eau Rouge. There was no defending really. I could only move once, so I moved once and just had to watch him glide by. After that it was very, very difficult to hold onto him. And also when Fernando came by, particularly down the straights, he was just pulling away.

    Q: At one point on the radio you were saying “I’m getting everything I can out of the car.” Obviously finishing around 27 seconds behind at the end of the race. Is that a concern for you, given the way you translated pole to victory before the summer break?
    LH:     Not really. I think every year you come here – here and Monza – you come with a new package, new front and particularly rear wing and sometimes you hit the nail on the head and sometimes you don’t. I think we’ve done a decent job but obviously these guys have done a slightly better job. Whether or not we can make an adjustment before the next race, we’ll wait and see but I think more importantly we’ll be back to being very competitive – or more competitive when we get to Singapore.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Oana Popoiu – F1 Zone) Fernando, definitely a good race for you, starting from P9 but is it also good for your championship, as Vettel finished ahead of you?
    FA:     I think it’s good; obviously we lost an extra seven points but when they are dominating the weekend, when they do everything better than us and they win the race, they deserve the win and we need to aim for maximum points. Weekends like this one we need to extract the maximum from the car. That is what we did this weekend, all we could in qualifying, all we could in the race. In the race, once we were second we were two to four tenths slower per lap. When you are the second fastest, you deserve to finish second. So we just need to congratulate Sebastian, Red Bull and try to get better for Monza, but in terms of the championship, as I said, we came from two fifth places in Hockenheim and Hungary, with a little bit of a not good feeling and not good performance from the car and today I think we recovered some of the optimism that we lost and I think it was a good weekend for the championship in terms of feeling and in terms of points as well.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Sebastian, Kimi is now 63 points behind you. Do you think he’s out of this championship?
    SV:     No, there’s more than 63 points you can score before the end of the season. I don’t know what happened to him. It’s obviously a shame for him but these things can happen. I had a technical failure in Silverstone, we lost the race. It hurts but equally you have so many races that all of us we have these kind of things happening; surely the cars are – in terms of generation – at their end and it’s not a completely new car if you look at the previous years but still we are pushing. The cars are on the limit and you try to get everything out of them. Things that are built on the limit can also break.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, do you feel you are like in the situation of two years ago when you won the championship quite early in Japan? Do you think it’s going smoothly and you are relaxed with the situation around you?
    SV:     Well, I… maybe you have a different memory but what I remember from 2011 is that we had a fantastic season but we were working very hard, step by step, race by race and surely not working towards a certain race to seal the championship with a couple of races to go. I wasn’t relaxed at that time, I was as nervous as I am today, hopefully. Therefore, as I said, it’s really step by step and not trying to be too smart, too clever and think too far ahead.

    Q: (Andy Young – Richland F1) Fernando, once again you were fast in the race but not so much in qualifying. Do you think this could affect your championship chances against Sebastian?
    FA:     Well, we need to improve the qualifying performance but to be honest, I’m doing what I can. I’m 8-3 against my teammate, I think. Yesterday was about qualifying but I was 0.6s quicker than my teammate, so in a way, it’s not that the races are good and the qualifyings are bad, it’s just the way it is and we are extracting the maximum from the car all the time. In the races there are more aspects, not pure performance of the car. There is the strategy, the management of the tyres, the characteristics of the cars and on that aspect, I think we are very strong. In the pure performance of the car, we are maybe lacking some performance compared to the others but as I said, I’m extremely happy with the performance we are achieving on Saturday and also on Sunday and the championship is open and we have the best example last year. I was leading with 41 points ahead of Sebastian after the Monza race and I arrived in Texas 15 points behind, so things can change very quickly. Our hopes are to keep developing, to keep improving performance and try to repeat what happened last year the other way around.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Lewis, after being on pole position, is this more of less what you expected in the race or did you expect to be closer to Red Bull?
    LH:     I think yesterday I said that I don’t think we generally have the same pace as these guys, or at least, not necessarily the Ferraris but more so the Red Bulls. But they were both too fast for us today. It’s the best we could have done. Yesterday, the weather helped us to get up to where we were. At the end of the day, we just need to work a little bit harder. I think we can do a better job, hopefully for Monza.

    Q: (Jerome Pugmeister – Associated Press) Fernando, you said the team’s recovered some of its optimism. How far can that optimism take you; do you still believe you can mount a genuine title challenge with eight races left?
    FA:     Yeah, yeah. I think we cannot forget that in the first five races we were a very competitive team. We won two of the five races and we were in a position to fight for the podium all the time. At that point, we were a very few points behind the leader. Then there were some races in the championship where we went backwards in terms of a step in the car and we lost direction a little bit. We understood the problem, we analysed everything and all the things that we are now bringing to the races are delivering what we expected, finally, so this gives us the possibility to get our good form back but we still have to recover some of the gap, to fight for pole positions etc but the championship is very long, and as I said before, the example is what happened to us last year. If you have a competitive car and you win four or five consecutive races like Sebastian did last year in India, Japan, Singapore etc, you recover very quickly. If we are in the position to do that, we will find out very soon.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Sebastian, I think unusually for Red Bull, your car was set up for quite a high top speed. Was it because you have taken into consideration that you expected to do some overtaking during the race, and how well does that look for Monza, with reasonably low downforce? You were very quick here.
    SV:     Well, ideally we try to set up our car to the optimum. I think we were maybe more competitive than we expected. Whether that’s us over-performing or the others under-performing, I’m not entirely sure to be honest. So in that regard, it’s always nice to have speed on the straights if you have to overtake, then it’s obviously easier to get yourself side-by-side with the other car and to lose something more under braking, whereas if you’re limited by straightline speed it’s very difficult to pass. We’ve had some bad experiences around here so maybe this year we were a little bit on the higher side in terms of speed. For Monza, I don’t know actually. It’s very difficult to predict. We had painful years in a way, where we just get hammered down the straights and we’ve had years where the loss down the straight was limited, so we could come back in the corners and for sure, if you look back the 2011 experience was great in that regard. How it turns out to be this year it’s difficult to say. I think we can be quite confident. We had a good race in Canada, we had a very good race here which are both medium downforce type of tracks, so I hope that our low downforce package goes in the same direction.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Sebastian, when you attacked Lewis did you have some KERS left for it and then obviously to Lewis, did you have some KERS to defend yourself or was everything gone after the start?
    SV:     I had some left.

    LH: I had some left but he was catching me so I didn’t use the rest of it, I saved it for the rest of the lap.

  • Belgian GP Spa Preview Quotes – Ferrari

    Belgian GP Spa Preview Quotes – Ferrari

    Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa share the sentiments of almost all the other drivers on the grid – Spa-Francorchamps is one of their absolute favourite circuits.

    Here are the Ferrari team’s preview quotes ahead of the Belgian GP.

    Fernando Alonso, Ferrari
    “Spa is a very special circuit that always gets your adrenalin pumping, what with the way the track rises and falls and the very quick corners, which all go to make it a really fantastic experience for a driver. One lap of Spa is like 20 at any other track, in terms of the excitement and adrenalin it generates.

    “The most demanding corner is definitely the final chicane before the finish line, because you approach it at around 330 km/h but then you have to tackle this very, very slow chicane with very little grip, because at Spa you set up the car with very little downforce. It’s here that positions change a lot during the race and it’s also important as it marks the entrance to the pit lane, which is very narrow.

    “Eau Rouge is an uphill corner taken in seventh gear at over 300 km/h. Even if you take it flat out these days in a modern Formula One car, your body still experiences more compression than at any other corner in the whole championship and that’s what makes it special.

    “For the best set-up at Spa you need to make a significant aerodynamic compromise, because the first and third sectors are made up entirely of long straights, where you want the minimum downforce, in order to have as much speed as possible and then there’s the middle sector which has plenty of corners where you want the maximum aerodynamic downforce. So finding the right balance is always very complex at Spa, which means this is the aspect that we will prioritise in free practice.

    “Spa is considered to be a very complete circuit which provides a real challenge for both the driver and the team. Therefore, it’s one of those races, along with Monaco and Monza and the other famous tracks with a great reputation, which gives them some added worth, as all the big names have won here in the past, so hopefully this year, we can put our name there. But at the end of the day, it’s still 25 points for the win, just like any other round.

    “I did well in 2005 when I came second and also back in Formula 3000. So far, I’ve never been in with a real chance of fighting for the win and I’ve often retired at Spa, usually for reasons of plain bad luck or with technical problems or down to my own mistakes. So it would be great to make up for that this year, picking up all those lost points.”

    Felipe Massa, Ferrari
    “Spa is fantastic, something of a dream for all drivers to race there, especially in a Formula One car. There’s so much history there and it’s a wonderful challenge with all the climbs and drops and changes of direction, which all add up to make driving there a true pleasure.

    “In a modern F1 car, with all the technology and the aerodynamics and the downforce, although Eau Rouge looks like a corner, you actually drive it as though it was a straight, taking it flat out every lap. So actually, the part (of the track) I think is the most fun is towards the end of the second sector and the start of the last one, where there are so many fast corners and changes of direction. The most demanding section comes after the climb from Eau Rouge, when you get a straight followed by all those downhill chicanes because the slightest mistake here costs you a lot of time over the lap.

    “Everyone wants to win here. I love the circuit and I hope there are more Spa wins to come in my career. It means a lot because of its history.”

    Photo by Ferrari F1 Twitter team