“A home race for me, being a Force India driver. The factory is just across the road.“ Nico Hülkenberg is looking forward to Great Britain’s greatest highspeed corners and demanding g-forces!
Tag: british grand prix
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WATCH: A day in the life of F1 driver Nico Rosberg
We follow Mercedes F1 driver Nico Rosberg for the day to see what he gets up to in between races. In the week leading up to the British Grand Prix Rosberg spends the day travelling around the country for events with the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team’s Partners Blackberry and TUMI. A helicopter is required to keep up!
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Grosjean Feels Ricciardo is Responsible for First Lap Incident
Lotus’ Romain Grosjean feels that Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo is to blame for his premature exit on the opening lap of the British Grand Prix race.
Ricciardo made contact with Grosjean going into Turn 3. This sent Grosjean into the side of his team mate Pastor Maldonado. Both Maldonado and Ricciardo were able to continue for a while until both of them had to retire from the race. Maldonado due to damage sustained in the crash and Ricciardo due to an electrical problem.
“There were a lot of cars into turn three,” said the Frenchman.
“Daniel came in hard and hit me, and I collided with the Sauber on the outside, breaking the front wing and it created a puncture.
“The car went left and I hit Pastor which was a shame.”
“That was a very short race for the team and I feel for everyone here at Silverstone and at Enstone,” he said.
“No-one likes to end a Grand Prix like that as so much effort goes into making and preparing the cars.”
Grosjean’s crash also caused the retirement of McLaren’s Jenson Button after his team-mate Fernando Alonso, while trying to avoid the colliding Lotus’, had half a spin and made contact with Button’s left sidepod which shut off the McLaren’s engine immediately.
All the drivers that were involved in the first lap incident were called to the stewards after the race. The stewards decided that no one was responsible for the incident an no penalties were levied.
Deputy Team Principal at Lotus Federico Gastaldi has described the teams home race as frustrating.
“Motorsport is sometimes a cruel sport and we saw that today,” he said.
“There was nothing either of our drivers could have done to avoid the first lap incident and that was our race over.
“It’s been a frustrating home weekend for us.”
“We weren’t able to show the pace we have in the car, we’ve suffered from a few niggles, then it was a very early bath for both our guys.”
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Alonso Feels Points Finish Will Lift Morale
After collecting his first championship point for the 2015 F1 Season, McLaren driver Fernando Alonso feels that the point will boost morale in the team.
It was not the best race start for the Spaniard when, at Turn 3, he spun to avoid making contact with the two Lotus’ ahead of him who had come together. In doing so, he T-boned his team mate Jenson Button. Button’s engine shut off immediately after contact with Alonso’s front wing and had to retire from the race. Alonso limped back to the pits for a wing change and new tyres. He then kept his head down and continued racing till the rain fell.
Alonso was one of the first few drivers to make the switch to intermediate tyres. At the time the track was mostly dry and was only wet in sector 2. Alonso, running in 11th, stuck with it and gained a place when Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson ahead of him changed from intermediate tyres to slick tyres and back to intermediate tyres. From then Alonso kept it on the track to take the final points paying position, 10th.
“It’s not the best of results, but 10th position helps to motivate everyone,” commented Alonso after the race.
“The whole team is incredibly focused – they’ve been working day and night to improve the car – and we all know this is a long-term project, and there are no magic solutions, but to get a decent result, and to put some points on the table, is always important.
Alonso felt that the two Lotus drivers ahead of him were being too aggressive and felt the contact between the two was unnecessary.
“The start was unbelievable,” he said.
“It was a big mess as we arrived at Turn Three. The two Lotus drivers were far too aggressive, and they touched each other; in avoiding them, I had a half-spin, and touched Jenson.
“There were a lot of retirements, and little common sense on display.”
Although a tough 10th place finish is all McLaren could do today. Alonso feels McLaren took a step forward today.
“Still, we know we’re improving, and today has been a good day for morale.”
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Arrivabene: “Williams Was Stronger Than Us Today”
Ferrari Team Principal Maurizio Arrivabene has acknowledged that Williams were stronger than the Maranello outfit at the British Grand Prix.
Speaking after the race he said that Ferrari can not be happy with their performance of the weekend and that the team needs to stay humble about Sebastian Vettel’s 3rd place finish.
“Overall I can’t be happy with this weekend: on an all-dry race, the result would have been much different,” commented Arrivabene after the race.
“I feel happy because once again Seb made the perfect call to come into the pits, and then drove superbly to open the gap to the Williams cars,” he continued.
“Also, I am pleased with a very good race strategy. We need to stay humble and not brag ourselves, because today third place came courtesy of a great drive by Seb and a great strategy-but we also need a great car.
“In the case of Kimi, whose strategy was identical to Seb’s, he thought it better to come in. If it had rained harder, maybe he could have won the race. But we must be honest and acknowledge that Williams was stronger than us today”.
Kimi Raikkonen was poised to finish higher up the points but he chose to pit for intermediate tyres too early, which meant he lapped much slower than the other cars for a few laps before the rain started falling. In the dry he was happy with the balance of the car but bemoaned the lack of straight line speed when he was stuck behind Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India.
“In the early part of the race we were stuck behind Hulkenberg’s Force India, they were too fast on the straight and in the places you could pass, while we lacked some speed,” said Raikkonen after the race.
He went on to say:”It’s a pity because the handling of the car was good through the whole race and the behavior was definitely better than yesterday.
“When it started raining heavily, the track became very slippery, especially in Turns 7 and 8; so I took the decision to come in the pits for Intermediate, but then the rain stopped. Probably I made the call three or four laps too early. But in general, this kind of track is not ideal for us, and this is something we have to work on.”
Vettel, although happy with the podium finish, admitted that the rain helped him on the way to his podium finish which he felt the team deserved.
“It was not easy to take the right decision with the weather,” said Vettel
“But we did a great call to pit just in the perfect lap, made up a lot of ground and finished on the podium.
“I’m sorry for the people that got wet, but the rain helped us today! It was in the end a podium finish that we deserved, as we made the right call at the right time.”
He is concerned with Williams step in performance over the weekend and says that the team has lots to learn and understand.
Photo credit: Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1
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2015 Formula 1 British Grand Prix: Sunday Press Conference
DRIVERS
1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
2 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)
3 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)
PODIUM INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Frankie Dettori)
Well done, Lewis, what a race. How important is it to win in front of your home crowd?
Lewis HAMILTON: Firstly, just thank you to everyone for coming out today and making my weekend. I was gunning the whole way and I really just wanted to do it for you guys… we did it. I’m so thankful for all the support. I couldn’t have done without you guys. Every lap I could see you out of the corner of my eye and I just felt you spurring me along, so thank you so much.
I need to ask you: what happened at the start, a bit of a hairy moment there?
LH: To be honest my clutch was good; it’s just that we had really quite poor grip I think at the start. I think it was particularly the same for Nico. It made the race even more exciting to be honest. We just kept pushing and if I’m honest that probably made it more exciting for the fans.
Do you think the pit stop was the winning move?
LH: I think for the first time probably in my career I made the perfect choice tyre wise and so I’m really, really happy with that. I just managed to keep the car going. I think I lost a lot of temperature in my slicks, so no…. you guys are the best. I love you guys.
Well done Lewis, let me grab a word with Nico. Nico, a good second, how hard was it driving the last few laps in the rain?
Nico ROSBERG: Yeah it was a good race. I was pushing hard to try and catch Lewis under the difficult conditions but then he just made the better call with the pit stop, so that’s where I lost it. Fair play to him, he did a great job all weekend. You’ve been amazing, really absolutely unbelievable, a great atmosphere here, really a pleasure to drive in front of all of you and that’s it.
Well done. I’ll go over to Sebastian. I’m a bit of a Ferrari fanatic, so I have to give you a hug. Do you think the rain made a big difference in the end of grab third place?
Sebastian VETTEL: Yes, without the rain we would not be on the podium. I think we kept our head down and were patient enough to wait until the rain properly started to pour down. In the end, that’s England for you – a couple of minutes later you have sunshine, so obviously it helped us today, we did the right choice, we came in on the perfect lap and the team did a great job on the radio as well. So thank you very much and thanks to everyone, it’s a great atmosphere today.
Well done Sebastian and one last word with Lewis: any message to the fans, they’re all here to see you
LH: My mum’s down here! As I said, I’m so elated; you can’t imagine how happy I am. I started to tear up on that last lap, just really hoping I could hold onto it for you guys and man, I felt you all way. I hope we can come back next year… I’m going to keep pushing for this championship. Thank you so much for all the support. Now, let’s party.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Lewis, maybe one of the key talking points was the pace on slick tyres on a damp track: over a second a lap faster than your competitors.
LH: Firstly, just a very, very special weekend for me. To see so many fans out this weekend, I thought that I’d seen it all here last year but I’m really just… I love those guys – thank you so much for coming. An amazing job done by the team back at the factory, such a large group of people, to make the car that me and Nico have to race as we have. The race was very, very tough. Very slippery off the start, I think for both of us – but it made it more exciting. I was chasing down the Williams. Very, very hard to get close and overtake but yes, very good. I got close enough on the first pitstop. Came out ahead after a really good out-lap. And then the rain came and I think I just lost temperature in my front tyres. It’s always trickier for the guy who’s out in the lead because you’re the first one to get to it and it’s questionable how much risk you take. But yeah, for the first time actually, I think the first time in my whole Formula One career, I made the perfectly right choice in coming in now. I could see the rain coming more and I’ve never had that before, so I feel extremely happy about that. And after that was just… I kept seeing as I was going around, Turn Seven, the last corner I could see in the crowd just cheering me on every time I came by and just spurring me along. I just didn’t want to drop it for them. And really I’m also very honoured just to be here representing the Brits, to have the British flag up there.
Q: Nico, not perhaps the start that anybody expected. It was a Williams 1-2 for the first 20 laps of this grand prix. You, obviously, weren’t able to get ahead of them – because you had second choice of strategy I guess at the first stop – so you found yourself behind them and you were then told, “right, we go Plan B, be aggressive”. Tell us a little bit about that phase of your grand prix.
NR: Yeah, that was not such a great phase because I had these two Williams in front and was completely blocked and couldn’t get close. So that was a bit annoying. And then I was very thankful when the rain came. I felt great when it started raining. I really was able to attack and pass both Williams and close in on Lewis a lot. I was hoping it would stay more or less like that, and I thought I could attack Lewis at some point – and then Lewis boxed. I was pretty sure it was the wrong call because it was still touch-and-go at that time. So I was actually quite happy that he boxed. But then it was the right call in the end. It started raining more on that lap. So, that was it. Anyways, I had to take that chance because just following Lewis into the box is definite lose for me, so I might as well take the chance, stay out and do one lap more at least. It didn’t work out. So that’s it. Gave it everything and didn’t work out.
Q: Sebastian, it’s fair to say it wasn’t looking too rosy up until the point at which it rained. You did the same timing as Lewis. Did you feel the same way as Lewis? Was it something that you motivated yourself? Were you slightly surprised by what was going on around you with the other cars? Did you think it was your birthday when you realised where you were?
SV: I don’t know. I had a bad start but then we obviously, more or less, came back to fifth and sixth – so where we started – but obviously the gap was too big to the cars in front. Then there was some rain around six-seven – so around Luffield. And, yeah, it was only there so it was quicker to stay out on dries. But then I noted… it’s a tough call to make. If it rains, yes, some cars are already pitting, you obviously think about it but if the majority of the circuit is dry, there’s no point. Then I came out of Chapel and down the Hangar straight, noticed a lot more rain. I was trying to look at the clouds, all the laps before and though, ‘well, that’s the lap to go’. Because it was significantly more intense, the rain. It wasn’t just drizzle, it was proper rain and I decided to box. Once I was in the box I was told that Lewis decided to – the leader – decided to pit as well so I thought, yeah, should have been a good call. And then it was a surprise because I had Kvyat behind me when I boxed, and I came out behind him – like I saw him when I came out of the box. I don’t know what happened to him in between. But I guess at that point already the track was quite poor.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Thomas Maher – formulaspy.com) Question for Lewis. Lewis, when you were following the two Williams drivers in front of you, do you think they might have compromised the their own strategy slightly by leaving Massa in front of Valtteri.
LH: I don’t know really. I think it’s too early on to say whether it compromised their strategy but obviously it’s a race. It was a race for them – but Valtteri was quicker, if that was him in second, but I don’t think… say it was me and Nico. It’s not for the team to tell you to let the dude past, because you’re racing. So, but I think Williams were doing a great job up until then.
Q: (Sean McGreevy – CSMA Magazine) Lewis, after a really action-packed exciting British Grand Prix, what’s your response to people and critics claiming that F1 is boring?
LH: Firstly, thank you. It was exciting for me. I think the start really made it exciting, obviously. I don’t know how the rest of the race went but you say it was very exciting. I think the English weather helped with that. I think there’s still some things… their views are probably still valid in many ways but also sometimes I guess it’s a bit of an indication for us not to throw our toys out of the pram and say everything’s wrong, that we’re not too far off the mark, hopefully and hope that we have more races like this.
Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Serra) Sebastian, can you make a final balance of this weekend, because we saw Ferrari struggling and now you’ve got a podium? Is it just like a Christmas gift or there’s something coming also from the team, your talent of course, from the situation? Can you make a summary, please?
SV: It’s not easy. It’s not a Christmas gift. Santa Claus wasn’t there waving me into the pits so he didn’t tell me which lap to dive into the pits. It was our own decision and obviously not a lot of people got it right but we did so that’s our choice and that’s what we achieved today. Other than that, obviously it was not a very good weekend for us. We expected to be stronger. I think we were surprised by the pace of Williams on Saturday in qualifying and also on Sunday. I think you could also see it was not a good weekend from ourselves because the gap simply to the top was larger than at previous events I don’t think that we did a step back but I think we just couldn’t find the right direction this weekend and obviously if you’re not P1, P2 it’s quite tight between us, Williams, the Red Bulls were very quick this weekend. I think they’d taken a step forward and that’s what happens.
Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Lewis, I know the trophy is about ten years old – or out of date, I should say…
LH: It’s not out of date. I’m pretty sure they have an extra slab underneath because they’ve run out of space so I think underneath – no it’s not there but like it goes here but it continues to go here, another pillar.
SV: Why did they give you the wrong one?
LH: It’s not attached though, it sits on top of it. I think so.
Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) But how good is it that rather than a cheap plastic one, compared to last year?
LH: It makes a big difference.
SV: But you need the bottom part.
LH: Last year obviously I didn’t get to have that necessarily on the podium but it’s a very proud moment to be out there and to receive it again. I remember the first time I had the privilege of having that experience in 2008 and the response from the crowd then, but just to see a sea of British fans out there today with the British flag and all the caps and stuff is just a huge day for me, really really special day. I can’t really find the words to explain how happy I am. Hopefully you see it in my smile.
Q: (Simon Cass – The Daily Star) Lewis, about the second stop, that was your call. The first one looked like a great call from your team. After Monaco, I suppose they owed you one with that one and it got you back into the lead. Is that right?
LH: Well, I think overall globally it was just great teamwork. I think the team were continuously speaking to me, the tyres were feeling good so I could have kept going for longer, but it was getting closer to the point that Williams hadn’t stopped and I was close enough… I was actually close enough on the previous lap but close enough finally… literally as I came round that last corner to say ‘guys, you know the tyres are perhaps going to go off quite shortly’ and so they said then ‘box, box, box’ and I came in that lap. It was a real quick decision after that. Then I pushed like crazy on the out lap and it really hooked up a real nice lap and to come back out in front was a great feeling. And after that was really trying to balance the… I know I had a long long way to go. Twenty or thirty laps here is a long way. You do ten and you think you’ve already done thirty. Then I could see the weather getting worse and worse and you’re thinking ‘please hold off’ because if it doesn’t rain, we’re good.. If it rains it makes it a lot harder and I tell you it was one of the trickiest races I’ve had here. Obviously 2008 was very very hard but still, very very tricky.
Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) To the Mercedes drivers: did the Williams have a particularly good start and or did you have a particularly bad start? If it was bad, what happened?
NR: Bad start, no explanation. We need to look into it afterwards.
Q: Lewis, you mentioned on the radio on the parade lap that you had poor traction off your burn-out.
LH: Yeah, just the grip is different from track to track but particularly on my side. As I did the burn-outs to the grid, the wheels were just spinning easily and in some places you try to do the burn-outs and there’s so much grip that you can’t actually get the wheels to light up. This one it was like so easy. As I dropped the clutch, just wheel spinning, I’m looking in my mirrors to see what’s going on but it just keeps on wheel spinning, so I’m thinking jeez, I’m going to lose my position to at least someone and obviously the Williams came past. I fought back and got second back but then I tried to challenge Massa on the restart and just went a bit too risky too early maybe. But anyways, you could see I was trying.
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Hamilton revels in British Grand Prix home crowd pole
Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton claimed his 8th pole position for the 2015 F1 season at the qualifying session for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
Hamilton’s Q3 benchmark time of a 1:32.248 put him on pole ahead of team mate Nico Rosberg.
Hamilton failed to improve in his final flying lap but his first was enough to secure pole with Rosberg almost half a second behind him, the latter claiming his front left tyre felt “strange” in the final minutes of the session.
The Williams team had a very strong session, finishing as the second strongest team with Felipe Massa beating his team mate Valtteri Bottas to third postion – a full 0.8 seconds behind Hamilton.Ferrari, who were expected to have made progress ahead of the British Grand Prix after spending engine tokens for development, were nothing short of disappointing and clearly have not made as much progress as the Williams team have. Kimi Raikkonen beat team mate Sebastian Vettel to fifth place while Daniil Kvyat took seventh for Red Bull.
Carlos Sainz Jr., Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the British Grand Prix top 10.
Sergio Perez was 11th in the upgraded B-spec Force India, after having his final flying lap deleted due to track limits at Copse – something which seemed to catch many of the drivers out during the course of the session.
Romain Grosjean was 12th, while Max Verstappen who finished 13th made no secret of his frustration with his car which was a very different machine to drive than he’d had during the final practice session.
Pastor Maldonado was 14th fastest, Marcus Ericsson 15th, and Felipe Nasr missed out on a spot in Q2 by just 0.011s and will start from 16th.
McLaren’s miseries continued with Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button only managing 17th and 18th.
Manor Marussia will take up the back row of the British Grand Prix grid with Will Stevens ahead of Roberto Merhi.
The track limits rule will apply during today’s British Grand Prix with stewards taking a zero tolerance approach to drivers leaving the track at Copse.
British Grand Prix Qualifying Photo Credits: Mercedes AMG Petronas
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“Zero Tolerance” Approach Taken By FIA to Cars Running Wide at Copse Corner
The FIA issued a note to the teams ahead of the third free practice session for the British Grand Prix to inform teams that a “zero tolerance” approach will be taken to cars leaving the track at the exit of Turn 9 (Copse).
“Further to the discussion in the drivers meeting yesterday evening I would like to inform all teams and drivers that we will be adopting a “zero tolerance” approach to cars leaving the track on the exit of turn 9 during qualifying,” read a statement from Race Director Charlie Whiting in a note to the teams.
“Unless we are satisfied that a driver left the track at this point for reasons beyond his control, having been forced off the track for example, every lap time achieved by leaving the track will be deleted in accordance with Article 12.3.1.d of the Sporting Code.”
Drivers will be referred to the stewards if it is found that a driver gained an advantage by running wide at Copse.
“During the race, any driver who appears to have gained a clear and lasting advantage by leaving the track at turn 9, or who repeatedly leaves the track at this corner, will be reported to the stewards.”
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Ferrari and Force India fined for FP1 British GP pit lane speeding
The Ferrari and Force India F1 teams have been fined for pit lane speeding after both Kimi Raikkonen and Sergio Perez were caught exceeding the 80km/h speed limit during the first practice session for the British GP.
Perez was the faster of the two, caught travelling 83.6km/h down the pit lane while Raikkonen was caught at 82.5km/h.
Ferrari has received a €300 fine and Force India will have to pay up €400.
Catch up on what happened during FP1 ahead of the British GP here.
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2015 Formula 1 British Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference
DRIVERS:
Valtteri BOTTAS (Williams)
Jenson BUTTON (McLaren)
Kimi RAIKKONEN (Ferrari)
Marcus ERICSSON (Sauber)
Pastor MALDONADO (Lotus)
Will STEVENS (Manor)
PRESS CONFERENCE
Valtteri, why don’t we start with you? You finished second here last year from, I think, 14th on the grid – equal best result so far in Formula One, your finish. Is this one of your favourite tracks?
Valtteri BOTTAS: Well, it’s one of them, definitely. It’s one of these old school tracks and really high speed, so it’s always really fun to drive here. I think it should be good for our car as well, like we saw last year. We had some new bits for Austria and I think they should work maybe slightly better here, so looking forward to the weekend.
Well, podiums for Williams at the last two races, but can you tell us a bit more about why you think your car particularly suits this circuit and the things that you’re bringing here that are going to help that?
VB: Long straights – that’s where we have been strong the last one-and-a-half years and I think we’ve been this year pretty good in high-speed corners as well and probably the updates we had in Austria… they definitely created more downforce but maybe were a bit too draggy for that circuit. Maybe we can make better use of that and if we just get everything right it could be a strong weekend but let’s see.
Jenson, coming to you, this year I think it’s fair to say it’s been ‘hard yards’ as we say here in England, but does racing here on home soil raise the spirits a bit?
Jenson BUTTON: It does. Every race that we race in is a special race, you can find reasons to be excited, but when it’s your home grand prix it’s always very special. The British fans and public whether it’s raining, 32 degrees, there’s a British guy at the front or a British guy at the back, they will always be here to support us, which is fantastic. It’s always a very, very special atmosphere here and I’m really looking forward to the weekend.
World champion drivers are obviously leaders within a team. What’s the message to Honda and the McLaren management? What strategy do you want to adopt in terms of performance, reliability and what would be a win at the moment?
JB: Well, first of all I don’t think a press conference is the best place to do that, you know. We are one team and we work together and if we have issues we talk amongst ourselves and that’s the only way to improve a situation. The confidence is high within the team. You might say why is that, as the last two races have been very difficult, which they have, but there is a massive belief within the team that we will improve. There is a lot in the pipeline. I don’t want to look too far into the future, you know, I’m on of those people that wants to live in the moment and do the best I can right now. It’s the British Grand Prix, in front of them home crowd and I’m really looking forward to it and I will maximise what we have this weekend.
Thank you for that. Kimi, coming to you, the GPDA fans’ survey revealed that you are the most popular Formula One driver it would seem, amongst those polled. What’s your reaction to that?
Kimi RAIKKONEN: I think it’s a good thing. I would rather take the fans than not having them. Obviously, some people… maybe I was lucky that they were ones that answered the survey, but I’m happy to have fans and obviously that’s a good thing.
What do you think it is about your character that appeals to them?
KR: You’d have to go and ask them who voted, so…
There’s a few too many to do that I think. The team is telling us that retaining your seat for next season is in your hands, do you feel you are on the right track to meet their targets.
KR: I don’t know. Obviously they’ll make the decision. We try to do good races. Obviously the last race was a bit difficult but that’s part of the game, sometimes you have that. Who knows: I don’t know anything more than you guys, so I will know hopefully at some point what will happen. There are always speculations to start off the year and it’s always the same stories. It doesn’t really surprise me a lot so let’s see what happens.
Thanks. Marcus, coming to you, you edged it over your team-mate in Canada, he edged it over you in Austria, describe the duel between you this season at Sauber and what the atmosphere is like within the team.
Marcus ERICSSON: The atmosphere is good. I think me and Felipe are working well together. Obviously he has had the upper hand so far but I’m looking to change that, working hard for that. Now, coming to Silverstone, it’s one of my favourite tracks, I really enjoy driving here, some really great corner combinations, so hopefully I can fight back and have a good weekend.
It looks like Sauber has been caught after that strong start, with the big points finished in the early races – only one points finish in the last five races for the team. Do you have some answers up your sleeve in development terms for the second half of the season and how much of a boost do you think Mark Smith, the new technical director, will be?
ME: I think we knew that the summer would be a bit difficult for us; we have a big upgrade coming after the summer. We are hurting a bit at the moment with people bringing updates to the recent races and we lost a bit of touch to some of them. But I think still we showed in Austria last time out that if we maximise what we have we can still be competitive and fight in the midfield, so that’s what we needs to focus on doing. On Mark Smith, obviously I worked with him a bit last year at Caterham and I have a very positive feeling with him joining the team. Obviously he’s not going to be able to much short-term, but I think in the longer term he is a very good person to have in the team, with his experience, so it’s a good thing for Sauber.
Q: Pastor, points scored in the last two races but you’ve never scored points at Silverstone, amazingly. Looking to put that right this weekend?
Pastor MALDONADO: I hope so. Do my best.
Q: How did you leave it with Max Verstappen after the battle in the last race, in Austria? Spectacular action on track. How have you left it on a personal level?
PM: I mean it was a great battle. This kind of battle I always enjoy, y’know? This is real fight in Formula One, which is always fair. For sure a couple of times it was very close, because he was trying to put me over the track – but this is part of the race. I really like the stewards that allowed us to race and to have more opportunities to fight in the track. Yeah, it was great. For me it was OK. After that, the race started very badly, we had some problems in the start and then we recovered quite well, thanks to the strategy, thanks to the team as well, and I drove quite well.
Q: Will, celebrated your 24th birthday last weekend – what are your feelings on making your home Formula One debut in front of a capacity crowd on Sunday at the British Grand Prix?
Will STEVENS: I’m really looking forward to this race. I have been for a long time. Clearly for us, growing up we watch this race and have come to it for many years. So, to be here for my first home grand prix is really exciting. Can’t wait to get out there on Friday and see everybody around the circuit.
Q: The last couple of races haven’t been so good for you or the team. The margin – particularly in Austria – seemed to be bigger than it’s been elsewhere. Are there technical reasons for that due to the package that you’ve got – and how do you think you’ll be fixed this weekend?
WS: I think the last few races have been a little more up-and-down. I think the actual times from the free practice sessions in Austria were pretty strong. Quali for us didn’t really work out because of the conditions – but looking ahead to this weekend, we should be making some steps forwards with the car for sure. We have quite a few upgrades here, which is nice. So, looking forwards to Friday to see how much that can help us out.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, accident here last year, accident in last race in Austria, how difficult is it for you to come to this weekend?
KR: It’s a new race, different weekend. It doesn’t matter if you have an accident. It was obviously bad for our race but that’s part of the game. It doesn’t change this weekend at all. I’ve had accidents before and probably will in the future, you pay the price when things do wrong.
Q: (Mike Doodson – Grand Prix Plus) A question for Jenson and Kimi. Last weekend we had Formula E racing in London, there were a few good, old F1 names among the drivers. Did either of you see the race and would you seriously consider switching to electric racing after Formula One?
JB: To answer the second question: no. And did I watch the race? No. I have watched a race this year and the reason is, it’s not because of the cars themselves, it’s because of the drivers. There’s a lot of drivers that I’ve raced against over the years, I think there’s 13 ex-F1 drivers, and that’s what makes the category exciting: they’ve got some real talent there; they’ve done a good job of getting talented drivers in the cars. I think there’s a great place for electric racing – if that’s what you want to call it – but I think it’s great and there’s a good fight amongst the talented drivers that are there. But it’s not something that interests me. Motorsport is motorsport for me. Something that I love is the smell, the sound and the speed – and that’s what Formula One is all about.
Kimi?
KR: yeah, actually I saw it. I saw the race and I’m not so interested in the future in some point to race them. It’s… I mean they’ve done well to go in the places that they race – I think it’s nice for people but, I mean, for me, unfortunately… we always talk here: it doesn’t go fast; it doesn’t look spectacular. They are… in my view they are pretty slow. The concept is probably nice in the future. Right now, yes, they get the good racing out of it but it doesn’t really… it’s something that doesn’t really excite me really – but obviously I’m happy for them to make such a good race series out of it.
Q: (Daan de Geus – NU.NL) Kimi, you let it be known earlier in the season that you were quite happy about the 2015 Ferrari and the way it handles and it fits your driving style. Ferrari have obviously been updating the car and made some changes to it. Do you still like the way it handles and the way it suits your way of driving?
KR: I don’t see why I wouldn’t suddenly like it; because I’ve had an accident doesn’t change anything. I’ve had accidents sometimes, like I said, it’s part of the game. We improved the car and it’s still a great car, obviously probably not fast enough to challenge Mercedes all the time but it’s a very good car and it’s a massive improvement from last year. Things go wrong sometimes but it doesn’t mean that you suddenly hate the car or you don’t like things. It’s just a part of the game. Like I said, it’s a good package and obviously we want to improve it and make it faster. Things could always be better. Even if you’re in a winning car you’re always wanting more out of it. Like I said, we’ve come such a long way from last year which people always forget. We’re still a work in progress to improve things.
Q: (Daniel Ortelli – Agence France Presse) Jenson, you were very vocal and supportive when the survey came out in Monaco and you’re one of the most experienced drivers; what’s your general comment or specific comment about the results of that survey? Were there some things that surprised you, is it in keeping with what you think of F1? Is there anything you can tell us about the reaction to the results?
JB: I don’t think there are any massive surprises in there. Obviously Kimi being the favourite driver of the fans – we knew that anyway, didn’t we? No, I don’t think there were any massive surprises. I think it’s really nice to get the view of the people that are out there that are watching us race, whether it’s at the circuit or on TV or read about Formula One. It’s nice to see their opinions. I think a lot of us agree – probably not with everything – but we all have our own opinions of the ways that Formula One can be improved. It’s great to see that there are lots of ideas that are floating around for the future in terms of making the cars wider, tyres wider, lighter, hopefully more sound. These are all things that are interesting and I think that’s great to see so hopefully they will happen in the near future.
Q: Do any of the other drivers have anything they would like to add on the findings of the survey?
Q: (Joe Bernstein – Daily Mail) Question to Will: you said that you used to watch the British Grand Prix as a kid when growing up. Can you tell us your first memory and also maybe your favourite race memory, watching it?
WS: Being British, obviously it’s a race I come to a lot so… Probably the first race I’ve been to was probably ten, twelve years ago. I remember it was wet but that’s not really too unusual for England. There’s been lots of good races here, more so on the old circuit and now obviously with the new layout – personally, I really like it. The racing here is always exciting, there’s always a good atmosphere here and that’s where the British fans do a good job. I’m sure this year’s going to be the same and I’m looking forward to seeing what it brings.
Q: (Joe Bernstein – Daily Mail) Is there one stand-out memory that you have?
WS: Not particularly for here, no.
Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, you seem to be very happy with the car after the Austrian test. Is this the best Williams car you’ve ever driven and is it good enough to repeat last year’s result here?
VB: I think we’ve been improving all the time so I think every race it’s the best car we’ve had, I think. It’s good that we’re making the right things because it seems like since last year nearly every single bit we’ve put on the car has made the car better so it’s a good direction and like I said, I’m just looking forward for this weekend to see how strong we can be, possibly even stronger than Austria but let’s see.
