F1 Madness

Tag: circuit of the americas

  • F1 2019: US GP Review – Six Titles for Hamilton

    F1 2019: US GP Review – Six Titles for Hamilton

    The 2019 American grand prix wont go down as one of the most exciting races but it will undoubtedly be remembered as the day when Lewis Hamilton became a six-time Formula 1 world champion.

    Valtteri Bottas made the perfect start from pole position and drove a stellar race to take the seventh win of his career. The victory in Texas makes 2019 Bottas’s most successful season to date in which he will finish as runner-up in the driver’s championship.

    Max Verstappen ran comfortably second for the opening stint of the race while Hamilton, starting fifth, made relatively short work of both Ferrari’s of Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel. A cunningly slow formation lap from Bottas had meant that neither Ferrari was able to get their medium compound tyres in the operating window that subsequently saw them struggle for grip.

    In addition to struggling for grip there was clearly something amiss with Vettel’s Ferrari as Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo easily passed him. Vettel appeared to be recovering and closing the gap to the McLaren and Renault ahead of him but a few laps later the German driver suffered a startling right-rear suspension failure. It didn’t get any better for the Italian team as Leclerc ran a distant fourth for the remainder of the race without ever having the pace to threaten even the last step of the podium.

    Up front Bottas and Verstappen opted for a two-stop strategy while Hamilton banked on a one-stop strategy. However, unlike in Mexico a week earlier Hamilton was not able to hold onto the lead. On lap 52 a charging Bottas swept past his teammate and into the lead. Hamilton’s problems weren’t over though as Verstappen too closed to within less than a second of him in the closing stages.

    However, the Dutchman never got close enough to attempt an overtake and eventually finished third while Leclerc trundled home a distant fourth.

    2019 United States GPAfter being squeezed off the track, forced into the pitlane on lap 1, and being plumb last Alex Albon drove a brilliant race to bring his Red Bull home in fifth. The Thai driver, only seven races into his Red Bull career, has grown in confidence at every race weekend and seems to be a shoe-in to remain at the team for 2020.

    Daniel Ricciardo too delivered an impressive driver to finish sixth in the Renault ahead of the ever-impressive McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz in seventh and eighth. Nico Hulkenberg was ninth while for a second straight week Daniil Kvyat was given a last-lap penalty for causing a collision. Sergio Perez, the casualty of the collision was promoted to tenth as a result of the Russian’s penalty.

    One of the most beautiful things about sport is that it cannot be predicted. There was simply no way to know that the young boy from humble beginnings in Stevenage would one day become a six time Formula 1 world champion.

    There will be those who protest vehemently against the idea that Hamilton is one of the greatest drivers in the history of the sport. And while opinions can certainly be made they cannot be quantified. But titles can and Lewis Hamilton has six of them.

    All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport
  • 2019 Formula 1: United States Grand Prix: Post Qualifying Press Conference

    2019 Formula 1: United States Grand Prix: Post Qualifying Press Conference

    DRIVERS
    1 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)
    2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)
    3 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)

    TRACK INTERVIEWS
    (Conducted by Paul Di Resta)

    Q: Valtteri, congratulations, man. That’s got the team worked up, to get a pole position today. It looked a bit unexpected yesterday but you’re starting on the front row.
    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, really happy about that. It was a nice lap in the beginning of Q3. You rarely get those kind of laps and on a track like this it’s a good feeling. Yesterday was tricky, there were many things not quite right with my car but we managed to find all the reasons and we did good work this morning with finding all the details and I could just find the places I needed to really focus on and, yeah, I knew how to put it together, but to put it together, it was a nice feeling to actually do it in Q3.

    Q: you nailed the first lap in Q3, conditions looked like they got worse. Was it very tricky at the end?
    VB: The last run there was a bit less grip overall. Sector 1 I was already losing one or two tenths. I’m glad no-one could improve at the end and I couldn’t either, so happy days.

    Q: I’m going to take a bit of credit for buying you that coffee this morning. You owe me one, but congratulations, well done. Sebastian, lining up on the front row, it’s a long run up that hill. How are you feeling?
    Sebastian VETTEL: I think it looks a shorter distance on the inside, no? I guess that’s what I have to say, being second. No, congrats to Valtteri, obviously it was very exciting because we were all so close. I thought I had a little bit more. I left some in the high speed for the last run, but in my final run when I got there I was already a little bit down. I had two decent laps. There was always… one hundredths, you know, there is always somewhere. But overall, happy, let’s see for tomorrow. Hoping for a good start and then for a good race.

    Q: I guess the main thing for you guys and the advantage comes down to the first lap and you’ll try to use that extra speed you’ve got on the straight?
    SV: Yeah, it’s not that long and part of it is uphill, but we will see. I hope to have a good start off the line, which will be crucial, and then we will see where it takes. Obviously all of us are on the medium tyre, so nobody has an advantage there and then, yeah, it’s a long race. We will have a busy race tomorrow. The first lap for sure is important but there is a lot of racing after that.

    Q: Max, P3, I know you’re not going to be happy with that but further up and it puts you in the fight.
    Max VERSTAPPEN: Absolutely. I think for us on this track to be that competitive was a very good result. Qualifying was just very tight.

    Q: And I guess the race… you looked very strong yesterday. Are you going to be in this fight all the way and pushing?
    MV: Let’s see. Normally we are quite good in the race and also now this time, even compared to last year, we were much more competitive in qualifying. Of course that gives us a lot more hope for tomorrow, so let’s see what’s going to happen.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Many congratulations Valtteri. Fifth in Q1, sixth in Q2 and then that brilliant pole lap in Q3.
    VB: Thank you. Yeah, it definitely felt good putting that lap together in the beginning of Q3. After yesterday it was not an easy day to approach as I had a difficult day yesterday. Luckily, we found many things ion the car that were no quite right and also the set-up direction we changed completely and it felt a lot better this morning. Then I was just focusing on the things that matter and the places I needed to improve. So I had a very clear vision in my mind of how to do it but it was then down to actually doing it and it felt good to have that lap in Q3. Even though Q1 and Q2 were a bit off I knew it was somewhere there and I managed to find it.

    Q: Now, let’s look ahead to tomorrow. You have to win this race to keep the championship alive. Are you happy with you car’s long-run pace?
    VB: I think as we have seen recently, normally on Sundays we are competitive. So, it’s obviously very good starting from pole here. Some corners are quite to follow for the cars behind. I believe we have the pace for that and that’s going to be the only thing in my mind for tomorrow. Now, you know, only a very, very small part of the weekend is done. The big part that matters is tomorrow and I need to focus on that.

    Q: Many congratulations Valtteri. Forty-three per cent of the races here have been won from pole. Sebastian, your 100th career front-row start. How satisfying is that?
    SV: Gosh, I’m getting old. Obviously it was a very nice session, it was really fun to drive the car thus afternoon, but if you are so close to pole and just on the wrong side of it then I guess Valtteri had a bit more fun. It was OK. I don’t know, what was the gap? It was very small, like one or two hundredths. So that is always there. I had a very good first lap and I had some margin maybe in the last sector where I was maybe taking it a little but too conservative, making sure that I finished the lap, set the lap first and then improve on the second lap. Unfortunately, I didn’t improve, so my plan didn’t quite work. Overall, it was good. I think we will have a strong race tomorrow. The car felt a lot better today than yesterday, which is also what we needed, so let’s see what happens tomorrow.

    Q: What are the tactics on your way to Turn 1 tomorrow. Do you think the man next to you might be a little bit tentative because of the championship? Are you hoping that’s the case anyway?
    SV: I don’t know, I’ll just pass him and then we’ll see what happens! If he’s thinking about it then I have a good chance. We’ll see. Obviously it’s a long race. The first lap is important but we have a lot of laps after that. But if I can pass him, I pass him.

    Q: Max, you were the only one in the top three to improve on your final lap in Q3. You actually said over the radio that you might have gone a little bit too early on that final lap. Do you think it cost you any time?
    MV: No, I just questioned if we were going a bit early but they just said we were ahead of the train compared to the Ferrari and Mercedes cars, so that was it.

    Q: And just tell us about that second lap. It is so close between the three of you. Have you been able to pinpoint where the time is, where you might have been able to get pole position?
    MV: Well, I think in general Q3 was a bit more of a difficult session than Q2, for example, where I found the grip was maybe not the same – but of course that’s the same for everyone. It was just a bit harder to get your lap out and yeah, in general it was just very positive for us in qualifying to be that close. Compared to last year we made a really big step forward and, anyway, now the last two races, I think, we have been a lot more competitive. So that is very positive. I think we are definitely improving and learning, and also looking ahead for next year, I think we are definitely going in the right direction. And yeah, in general very pleased. I think the whole weekend, we had quite a smooth weekend. I didn’t really have a lot of trouble with the set-up or whatever. So, to be here in the top three, of course I would have liked to sit in the middle bit still, I think it’s been very positive.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Christian Menath – motorsport-magazin.com) Question for you Max, could you please talk us through the situation, I think in Q2, Q3 with Lewis? It was a pretty close one.
    MV: Yep. So, we were all lining up to do our lap, or to get to the last corner, and I think it was Seb, the first Ferrari, then Charles and then I had Dany in front of me and we were all just slowing down to make space, and Lewis just drove by like nobody was there and didn’t care. So I was like: well, if you don’t care, I don’t’ care. So, I want to get my position back. I mean, everybody’s just respecting each other at that point, just to start the lap. That’s why it was such a close call.

    Q: (Abhishek Aggarwal – Indiainf1.com) Question to all the drivers. So, in the first three practice sessions we heard from all the drivers the track was a bit bumpy. We see lock-ups and cars being spun. So, in the race tomorrow how important is the tyre management, and have you thought about any other strategy to preserve tyres? What are your thoughts about that?
    VB: I think with the bumps here, just the main place where it can really affect your race, if you have big lock-ups into Turn One under braking. Those are quite big bumps – but normally, even though, if you lock the wheels, you can recover. So, I don’t think it’s going to make like a massive difference. Every track, there’s tricky points, tricky places that you can really damage the tyres and, obviously, coming into the weekend and in the weekend we’ve done all the analysis already for the long runs in terms of, in theory, where are the best places to preserve the tyres, and where to be slightly cautious at times, when you can, and so on. So business as usual, I would say.

    Q: Sebastian, how much worse are the bumps this year, compared to last year?
    SV: A lot worse! I think the ground is the problem here, it moves, for some reasons. I don’t know what they installed under the track when they were laying the track but yeah, I think they are aware. I mean, they tried everything. They brought some people out last night to grind parts of the track again to try and make it better for us – but now there’s not so much you can do. We’ll see, as Valtteri said, it’s not going to change the world upside down tomorrow in the race. I think it’s more an issue for quali where you’re really pushing to the ultimate limit and, you go also significantly faster. So, I guess tomorrow should be fine – but for sure it will be a bumpy race. I hope all three of us do well tomorrow but I think the last thing we need is somebody tapping our shoulders after all the tapping we get through the corners around the track. So, yeah, we’ll see what happens.

    And Max, your thoughts.
    MV: Yeah, not much more to add, is there? I can say the same, but…

    Q: (Lennart Wermke – Bild) Seb, question for you. Frankfurt beat Bayern Munich 5-1 today in the Bundesliga, I feel that’s quite an emotional result for you, what’s your opinion on that game and do you feel for Niko Kovač who’s very much under pressure as a Bayern Munich coach?
    SV: We are playing football or we are racing here? Is it that boring to watch? You have no question about what we actually do? I think there’s rain forecast in China tomorrow. Do you want me to comment on that?
    VB: I heard it’s snowing in Finland…
    SV: I’m a big Frankfurt fan but, to be honest, I didn’t know. I found out just before qualifying, so obviously by then the game was done. I think it’s a good result for my team and Niko Kovač has been part of Frankfurt for a while, so of course I feel for him – but I hope he finds back the success very soon.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Question to Seb and to Max. The run to the first corner is pretty short, but it’s uphill. Does that improve the chances to overtake compared to the same distance but flat?
    SV: Well, they say we have more power so probably it helps if it’s uphill, because you need more power but, yeah, it’s not an awful long way. We will all try to have a good start and then you go from there. That’s the main target. I think the uphill bit doesn’t change so much. It’s trickier here for braking, so I think we need to be watching out but other than that…
    Q: Max, you’ll be on the cleaner side of the grid…
    MV: yeah, I think it’s more than that the track is very wide, so you can of course do a lot of different lines, compared to some other tracks where it’s just very narrow. I think the uphill bit… it’s that short and, of course, power matters a bit, like Seb said, but not enough, I guess, to make a big difference.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / Speed Sport) For all three. The bumps were bad but were you ever even vaguely tempted with your engineers to do a softer suspension setting?
    MV: I think you always pay attention to it but luckily in most places… it’s only really Turn One where it can influence you but, of course, if you will go a lot softer then it influences the rest of the track, so sometimes you just have to live with maybe a little bit more difficulty into Turn One.
    VB: No, we didn’t really want to do that much compromise because of the bumps. The losses then, elsewhere could be quite big, so we just need to try and deal with the bumps, and we thought that’s the best way for this track, this year.
    SV: No compromise, no sacrifice! Put a cushion in my seat, that’s the only thing to soften it.

    Q: (Erik van Haren – De Telegraaf ) Max, are you surprised about the performance of your car, because you sound way more positive than a few weeks ago?
    MV: Yeah, I think of course Mexico was very good but we also expected it to be competitive. But of course the races we had before that were not like we wanted so I was a still a bit ‘ok, let’s see if we found the performance back?’ and clearly this weekend was very positive overall so I think we can be very happy about it. Like I said before, it’s a good effort from the team as well to not give up and just keep pushing and try to find the performance back like we also had actually before the break. That’s why I guess I sound a bit more positive.

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) For Seb and Max: the two of you usually like to roll out quite cool, special crash helmet designs. We’ve had a few US specials here. Last weekend in Mexico Lewis asked his fans on Instagram… to quote him he asked if he thought that the rule to only have one major design change each year was BS. I just wondered what you thought about the restriction on helmet designs and if that rule was relaxed, would you do more throughout the year?
    SV: Well, I change it anyway so… I think it’s our helmet and we should be free to do what we want, so I think the rule is major BS. Yeah, I think it’s a part of… we have very little room left to sort of express ourselves and the helmet is probably the only one and if people like it, that’s great, if they don’t like it well it’s not their helmet so I think we should be in charge for designing which way and which colour our helmet has.
    MV: Yup, I agree. I always loved when Seb was at Red Bull and changing his helmet every race, almost, more or less. It was cool  because you were just like ‘what is he coming up with now?’ I do a few but I’m not going to say I will do a different helmet every race because it’s just too much effort in designing the helmet but I think if you want to make it blue or red, the next race, why not? It’s your crash helmet and you should be able to do what you want and of course in the past, there have been drivers who have always had the same helmet and then they say ‘yeah, but that’s how we can distinguish the drivers’ but at the end of the day we have massive numbers on the side, we anyway have a halo on the top so let us do what we want with the helmet now. I think anyway it’s very nice to have a different design every year because it’s a bit boring always to keep the same helmet.
    Q: Valtteri, do you think it’s a bit boring to keep the same helmet?
    VB: I don’t know. Sometimes it’s nice to keep the same helmet but for sure sometimes it would be nice to do something special, every now and then and obviously everyone might have a special occasion, you know, whatever, or a special connection to some certain country where you want to do something special or pay a respect to someone you know or whatever. It would be nice to see a bit more freedom because like both of them have said, it’s our personal thing. We should be in control of that rather than anyone else.

    Q (Lawrence Edmonson – ESPN) Valtteri, yesterday it looked like you were losing a half a second to Lewis in the middle sector alone so was there an actual problem in the car or was it a set-up thing and did you get to the bottom of it – well you obviously did get to the bottom of it but what was it?
    VB: We actually found quite a few things not quite right. A little bit with the set-up, I think. I think I started to go in the wrong direction, some things on tyre pressures, temperatures and we found some reasons for quite a big straightline speed difference which made an effect on sector two so those combined, when I started today in practice three, I was like ‘wow, this is a different car, it feels normal’ and I was happy again. I knew, since the first run this morning that it can be a good day if we can get everything right.

    Q: (Jim Vertuno – Associated Press) Valtteri, how do you think Lewis, as your team-mate, how do you think Lewis will react or respond to starting fifth? Do you think he will be aggressive tomorrow on a track where he’s had so much success or do you think he will be patient and lay back with the championship on the line for him?
    VB: I think it would obviously be better to ask him directly. I don’t know what his mindset is right now but from what I know of him, he’s going to be there, fighting hard. For sure he also hates losing, he always wants to win like all of us and obviously he’s leading the championship with a big margin, he doesn’t need many points and I’m sure he would like to win the championship in a nice way eventually when and if it happens. But obviously I will try to delay that, I try to focus on my own race, try to focus on winning the race rather than anyone else’s opinions or mindsets.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Moto und Sport) Seb, you said the car was much improved compared to yesterday. Was it also on the longer runs, could you find out in P3?
    SV: Yeah, obviously we didn’t do long runs in FP3 but I think overall the car felt better than this morning so… we changed quite a couple of things which I think helped and they will also help in the race. How the pace will be, obviously we will find out tomorrow but at this stage I’m quite confident. I think we also struggled in particular on the hard tyres so I think we just didn’t get them to work and that should not be an issue tomorrow.

  • 2019 Formula 1: United States Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    2019 Formula 1: United States Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    DRIVERS – George RUSSELL (Williams), Lance STROLL (Racing Point), Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing), Lando NORRIS (McLaren), Pierre GASLY (Toro Rosso)

     

    PRESS CONFERENCE

     

    Q: Gentlemen, you can see the 2021 car sitting in front of you. I’d like to start by asking you all about it, the car and the general direction of Formula 1 in a couple of years’ time? Max, if we can start with you, please?

    Max VERSTAPPEN: It’s a bit small!

    Lando NORRIS: I was going to say that! That’s my joke!

    MV: Yeah, also for us it’s still early days. I haven’t really looked through all the things – I mean it’s just announced. At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter how it looks like or whatever, as long as it gives us better racing and we can follow better. Of course we want to be within two seconds, three seconds of what we are doing now, definitely, because if it’s going to be about four or five it’s not what we want, because then it feels a bit too slow. But I think this is just the start of it and I’m sure that teams will come up with a little bit of a different look as well, so let’s just find out over time how it’s going to work out.

    Q: Ross Brawn has just said that lap times will be similar to 2016.

    MV: Yeah, I guess… To be honest I didn’t really enjoy driving the cars as much back then as I do now, but of course you have to find a middle way in terms of what you want with following and stuff like that. Anyway, throughout the season the cars will improve.

    Q: OK, let’s get some other thoughts: George?

    George RUSSELL: Yeah, from my side it doesn’t really matter how it looks or the speed of it as long as we have great racing. I think that’s what we all want. Obviously the weight is heavier which I think is not ideal for any of us. I mean, even driving like a Formula 3 car it was really fun to drive but it was much lighter than what these Formula 1 cars are. But as long as it improves the racing and brings the field together that’s all I care about.

    Q: Lance?

    Lance STROLL: Yeah, not much more to add really. I think the main thing is to focus on the racing. We need to be able to follow closer to one another and to improve the wheel-to-wheel racing, the show for the fans, and I think for us drivers, too, it will be very exciting if we can see closer racing. Hopefully it levels the playing field as well. If we can see the gaps reduced to the top teams and there are more opportunities for the midfield teams to score podiums and to fight for positions further up the grid, that would be exciting.

    Q: Lando?

    Lando NORRIS: I think it’s pretty much been covered. As they all said as long as the racing’s better and we all have a chance to fight for wins in different races and as teams we can all fight for being a strong constructor, I think that’s the key thing. That’s about it.

    Q: Do you like the look?

    LN: I would change the paint scheme slightly! Apart from that, I think it’s alright. I mean, I’ve seen the renders our designers are designing and it looks pretty cool. I don’t really mind too much, that’s not what I’m fussed about. I’m just fussed about the racing and having fun and being able to follow cars closely and just enjoy racing more than what we do now.

    Q: And Pierre?

    Pierre GASLY: Well, I agree with all of them, so not much to add.

    Q: OK, well Lando, a frustrating race for both McLaren drivers in Mexico. What did you learn from your various problems in Mexico and do the temperatures we’re experiencing here in Austin worry you?

    LN: Yeah, not a great race for us as a team, especially after our qualifying position and a good chance to score some more points. I think there are obvious things… I think my race was put down fairly quickly with the pit stop. There’s something that’s easily known and understood in terms of what the problem was, but fixing it isn’t something that is going to happen overnight and it doesn’t happen often at the same time, so it’s not like we’re worried about pit stops or anything, it’s just we can be a bit unlucky and this time it was the first pit stop that I had where I was a but unlucky. I’m not so worried about that; the team have got solutions in the pipeline, which is a good thing for us. We just have to look on to this weekend. I wouldn’t say we are worried about the track temperatures or anything, it’s just how it is. It’s similar to Barcelona in pre-season. It might be a bit more difficult to get the tyres in the right window and so one, but I’m hoping it will play a little bit more to our strengths rather than our weaknesses.

    Q: And an opportunity to reflect on your first season in F1. What’s the take-home message from this year for you?

    LN: Meh.

    MV: You sound like a sheep. I think there is a meme incoming now.

    LN: I’m happy with bits of it. There are bits I’m not so happy with. I’ve not made any huge mistakes. I’ve not crashed a lot, I’ve not done anything stupid. But as a racing driver, and I’m sure all drivers on the whole grid would say the same, there’s always room for improvement and things they want to do better. So, I am happy, I think 90% of the things I’ve done, I think I’ve done them reasonably well. It’s just the smaller things – you mess up a qualifying lap or you don’t progress enough on how you work on the set-up with the engineers as much as you want. It’s just putting all the small things together. A bit of it comes with experience, but a bit of I don’t think I did a good enough job in. I’m happy, it’s been a good year, a very enjoyable year, but I want to make sure I come back next year and already in the next races in slightly stronger form.

    Q: Thanks Lando and good luck this weekend. Pierre, how’s your health?

    PG: Really good. I think that’s about 20 times people asked me since I arrived in the paddock today. It was a rough time last weekend, but everything’s perfect now.

    Q: How tough was that race? You finished ninth but you really weren’t… 

    PG: Yeah, it was probably one of the most challenging race weekends I’ve had…

    MV: The seat [inaudible]…

    PG: No, the seat was clean – nothing wrong with that. It was pretty tough from Saturday morning onwards, just in terms of energy and trying to keep the focus. It wasn’t an easy one but I’m happy we went through it. We managed to get the best result we could out of the weekend. Pretty strong qualifying and race, even though it wasn’t easy, but yeah, it was definitely a challenging one.

    Q: You say strong qualifying. Both Toro Rossos got into Q3. How much progress have you made with the car recently?

    PG: To be fair, the car is more or less the same as it was in the last couple of races, since I rejoined. But I think it’s just trying to extract the maximum from what we have and trying to find the set-up directions that suit tracks and what I need from the car. I must say I’m really happy with the way we’re working with the team. They are providing me with everything I need so we can extract everything from the car. So far we are doing well. We can always do better and we’ll try to keep that form in the next three races.

    Q: You say the team is giving you everything you needs. Confidence looks high. Are you driving better now than when you were with Red Bull Racing?

    PG: Not really. I didn’t learn or forget how to drive in a couple of months. It’s just a matter of putting everything together. As I said, I’m just focusing on the job to do with Toro Rosso. I think we are doing pretty well. There are always things we need to focus on and improve and that’s what we need to focus one.

    Q: Lance, if I could come to you now. Belated happy birthday. Turned 21 on Tuesday. What have you done since Mexico?

    Lance STROLL: I mean, just been laying low and enjoyed my birthday. It was nice… I went for dinner and was able to have my first drink in America! That’s a real breakthrough. First time ever in the United States. So that was a lot of fun – but in moderation, looking forward to this weekend. I’m a professional athlete, so I’ve got to be in the best shape I can be for the weekend – and here I am.

    Q: Now, it was a competitive showing by both Racing Points in Mexico. Was that track-specific or are you really starting to add performance to the car?

    LS: A bit of both. I didn’t have the best weekend myself. It was really my team-mate who had a solid weekend. On Saturday and especially Sunday I had a scruffy qualifying session and then my race was going well until the second stint where I got a lot of lapping events, graining etcetera. Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way but we definitely had potential again to score points and it’s looking that way over the last five or six races since we brought the upgrade in Spa. That’s really positive. Looking good for the next three races.

    Q: George, coming on to you. The team has been introducing new parts in recent races. How much better is the car to drive now than it was at the start of the season?

    George RUSSELL: I think the upgrades we’ve brought to the car recently, it’s more been looking into 2020. We knew that it’s not going to necessarily unlock a lot of performance on the car as it is now – but it’s definitely looking promising going into next year. Overall, the car is definitely nicer to drive. I mean, at the start of the year it was not nice at all, let’s say, and it was pretty tricky just to get around a lap. But we’ve done a good job to fine-tune the balance, just to make it a nicer car to drive – but now we need to rely on the engineers back at the factory to bolt some more downforce on it.

    Q: And what about your own development as a driver this year? You said you wanted to learn out of the spotlight, which you’ve been able to do – but what do you take into year two next year?

    GR: Similar to what Lando said. I think there’s things I’ve been happy with, things I haven’t been… just experience really. The little things that you only improve on, race by race: understanding the tyres; the starts. It’s pretty tricky starting at the back of the grid, with all the cars around, a massive lack of downforce. Even less downforce than what we’ve got, let’s say. Just little bits and bobs here and there. I think I’ll definitely be a better driver into next year.

    Q: Max, just off the plane from L.A. at the fan festival yesterday. How was that?

    Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, it was good. Good amount of fans and some good donuts as well. So, that’s always nice to do.

    Q: This weekend, believe it or not, is your 100th grand prix.

    LN: Same as Carlos!

    MV: Yeah, we started together.

    LN: That’s sweet!

    Q: What does that stat means to you, Max?

    MV: Good beginning! And, of course, it all happened very quick. To realise and see that you are about to do your 100th grand prix at 22 years old, I think I would never have expected that – but I guess it’s a good thing. Basically, those five years have gone very quickly.

    Q: Just looking ahead to this weekend, you had a cracking race here last year. Onto the podium from 18th. What are your expectations this year?

    MV: I think we can have a good race. Last year, coming from the back and then still finishing on the podium was a very good result. Of course, it gave me an opportunity to have a different strategy, which at the end of the day was not a bad one – but now we want to start a bit more upfront and see what we can do. But I think in Mexico the car was working really well, so we just try to continue that here.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

     

    Q: (Ian Parkes – New York Times) Question to Max initially and then secondary question to Lando and George. Max, it looks like Lewis is going to wrap up his title very soon – potentially here, he only needs four points. In competing with him these past few years, what makes him the driver he has become, do you feel, effectively now on the brink of becoming a six time World Champion. And to Lando and George, what does Lewis mean to you guys as British drivers growing up, potentially wanting to emulate him as a future British world champion?

    MV: From my side, unfortunately I haven’t really had the time to compete with him that much. I mean, just a few races. Most of the time we didn’t have equal material but he was always clearly the better of the two within the team. And then, when you have the best car out there, of course you can win the Championship. It’s amazing, of course, to go for your sixth World Championship.

    Q: Lando, let’s start with you. What does Lewis mean to you?

    LN: I guess he’s a guy who I’ve always looked up to since I was young. A driver who I’ve loved to watch. I’ve been very excited to watch a lot of his races since I started watching F1 when I was six or seven years old. So, I’ve kind of not been on the journey but I’ve been able to watch a lot of the races and it gives a bit of… I wouldn’t say belief or faith but it gives a bit of confidence knowing that, or hoping to go into the future and emulate him in a way – but like Max said, the equipment’s very different to when he joined Formula One, when he was with McLaren. So some things aren’t going to be exactly the same; it’s not possible to do the same as other drivers – but there are a lot of things that he’s extremely good at and I would like to improve on and be as good as him on, so yeah, a guy and a driver who’s inspired me and who I’ve looked up to since I was very young.

    Q: George?

    GR: Similar to Lando. Definitely somebody who I’ve looked up to for a while, since I’ve been wanting to become a Formula One driver but especially in the last couple of years. I’ve gained a huge amount of respect for him, seeing him within the team. I used to think he just relied on his natural talent to jump in the car and do the business but he puts a huge amount of effort in and the attention to detail he goes into is massive. I did learn a lot from him in the years I spent with Mercedes, so yeah, definitely respect and admire what he’s achieved.

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) For Max. Just on Lewis. He had some comments to say about you after the last race. Said he affords you more space than other drivers in fear of being torpedoed…

    MV: Torpedoed? I didn’t hear that one.

    Q: …well, it was part of what he said. And I think Seb also said that he copy-and-pasted what Lewis had to say. I was wondering what your feeling is about those two comments?

    MV: Well, looking at Turns One and Two in Mexico, I don’t think that happened. From my side, yeah, it was a bit of a silly comment to make. I think I’m always a hard racer but fair. I think it’s just not correct – but of course it’s easy to have a dig at someone. From my side, it’s fine. It’s always positive when the talk about you. That means you’re in their head, So, for my side, I just focus on my driving and I think that’s enough said.

    Q: (Chris Medland – Racer) Pierre, Lando and Lance: we’ve got the 2021 regulations which are aiming to bring the field closer together but for the three of you, competing in a very tight midfield this season, do you really enjoy those battles when the main target really for you is what we call best of the rest, behind the top three teams, and when you do come up on top of those, does it really feel like a win in a junior category or is it quite frustrating to be limited like that?

    PG: Well, I do enjoy these tight battles because at the end of the day I love racing and that’s what you get when you’re right there, like six to eight cars within three or four tenths. It brings a lot of excitement to the track on my side actually. I do like it; for sure, knowing that the best you can achieve is seventh is always a bit disappointing sometimes when you need to be satisfied with this kind of result because of course as a racer you want to fight for the top position. When you finish seventh, that’s kind of the first place you can target; you don’t get any trophy, you don’t get any champagne, it doesn’t really taste the same. Hopefully this can be improved for 2021. I don’t have the answer at the moment. Of course I think we have all the common targets with F1 and that’s what all the driver wants so yeah, hopefully it’s going to be achieved by 2021.

    LN: I agree with Pierre, to be honest. 2021 regulations are not going to mean we are going to be winning races or we’re going to be on the podium all the time. It’s a much better chance for us to achieve those things and as drivers to achieve those things and experience a podium at one time. It’s going to just even up the field I hope, make racing better, make it  more enjoyable to watch, more enjoyable to race for us drivers because that is something we miss. A lot of the drivers who are in Formula One have done very well in the junior categories since karting, F4, F3, F2, whatever, so we’ve always loved it and it’s part of the feeling we enjoy so much as a team is getting on the podium and knowing we’ve been able to beat sometimes the rest of the field and we’ve done a better job because of it. So it’s something I do miss but it’s not just me, it’s the whole team as well. Yeah, something I look forward to and hope we can take advantage of.

    LS: I’ve loved the midfield competition this year. I think it’s been tighter than it’s ever been. You look at the gaps on Saturdays and then on the Sunday how close the racing is, it’s great for the drivers, for the fans. Unfortunately we are so getting lapped by Mercedes and Ferraris, even Red Bulls, so hopefully that can change in ’21. I agree with what Pierre said: it’s great to fight for the best of the rest but when you’re seventh and there’s no reward for that. We’re always trying to score World Championship points but the podium is realistically out of reach and victories are out of the question in today’s sport. I really do hope that we can see some changes in ’21, closer racing as well. That is the priority, I think, with the regulation changes this year, capable of following cars nose to tail but then on top of that, if we can see the gaps reduced to the top teams the opportunity to fight for podiums and wins potentially – that would be awesome.

    Q: (John Massengale – Speed City) Pierre, we got to go to Houston with you yesterday to go to NASA. How was it, talking to an astronaut while he was live in the space station?

    PG: This was really amazing. I would have never imagined one day in my life talking to an astronaut who was actually in space, I don’t know how many kilometres away but that was just incredible to imagine that just from that fun talking and then getting an answer two seconds later from that same guy who was in space. It was an amazing experience. We got to visit the whole NASA control centre, speak with astronauts who have already been a couple of times in space. Saw some rocket ships – no, it was just an incredible experience.

    Q: (John Massengale – Speed City) Max, going to the festival in Los Angeles and the talk of a race in Miami, do you think this is important, not only for the sport but for you as a driver to get this exposure here in the United States, and what do you think about the possibility of more races here?

    MV: Well, in general I think it’s good for the sport, the owners as well, they want more races I think in the US. I think what we’re doing, at the moment, is of course trying to make the sport more popular and more well known in the US. I enjoy being here. It doesn’t matter if it’s in Austin or LA or Miami or wherever in America, I think it’s just a very cool place to be. I think a few – or one or two more races, they wouldn’t hurt, as long as they are exciting of course and a lot of fans are attending.

    Q: Max, what was the atmosphere like in Los Angeles yesterday? Was there a great atmosphere? What was the reception like from the crowd?

    MV: It felt good. They liked the noise as well from the cars, as soon as we were warming the engines already they loved it. Of course it was all very limited, we could basically only do a few doughnuts and stuff but I guess they liked that already but of course it would be even better to show how quick we can go through corners as well and hopefully with those kind of regulations coming in also the racing will be really cool to watch.

    Q: (Yhacbec Lopez – Motorlat) Max, do you think Lewis and Seb are more aggressive with you than any other driver on the grid?

    MV: I don’t know. I think you should ask them that question.

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Max, it’s for you, unfortunately, again…

    MV: It’s not a surprise so…

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Well, you’re quite topical at the moment. Do you think you’re being treated fairly by the FIA in the wake of what happened at the last race, for your honesty, your brutal honesty, about the yellow flags? And also do you think that you’re getting dug out by Lewis, by Sebastian? They don’t seem to dig anyone else out, it just seems to be you; you seem to be the centre of attention a lot of time.

    MV: No, I think it was very fair from the FIA. We had a good talk in the stewards and I said ‘I didn’t see the yellow flag’ but of course there’s a rule that when there is a yellow flag displayed that you have to slow down so from my side, there are also no hard feelings about that. It’s just very unfortunate I didn’t see that yellow flag and in hindsight I also didn’t need to go for that lap time because I was already on pole position but what was going through my head throughout that lap was you don’t know what the other guys in front of you are doing, if they are improving, are they beating your pole lap time? I didn’t see the yellow flag, I improved my lap time, in hindsight I didn’t need to do it but also in hindsight I think next time I’m anyway going to lift even if they would improve my lap time, just because they got lucky, they were in front of the accident. It is what it is but of course…. At the moment we are still not in a position to fight for pole position all the time so of course I was enjoying the moment as well. But still, it was a great result for us, it showed that after the few difficult races we’ve had in terms of performance the car was working really well so that was a big boost even though we didn’t start from pole position.

    And then your second question, I think from my side it only shows that I’m in their heads and I guess that’s a good thing but from my side I don’t need to dig in to other people in the press conferences because first of all I think it’s a bit disrespectful as well and I prefer to fight on track which I love to do and of course I like to fight hard but on the edge. Otherwise, if they want me to stay behind, it’s also better to stay at home. I really want to take the fight to them because that’s what we are here for. We are racers, we in Formula One, I think we are the best out there and we do fight for victories because that’s what I live for.

  • 2018 USGP: Post Race Press Conference

    2018 USGP: Post Race Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari)

    2 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)

    3 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

     

    TRACK INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by Martin Brundle)

     

    Q: Kimi Räikkönen, congratulations, you’ve made a lot of Formula 1 fans around the world very, very happy today, maybe not quite as happy as you are.

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Who knows, maybe they are happier even. No, honestly, it’s been a good weekend. I think the car has been pretty good all the time. I got a good start. I needed to push hard. It was tight a few times and in the end the tyres were not in the best shape but I think it was a bit similar for Max, obviously Lewis had more tyres left for the end. I had enough speed; we kept it consistent and just tried to keep the tyres alive until the end, so a long time, you know, but here we are.

     

    Q: Your first victory since Australia 2013. It’s been a long time coming. You must be more pumped up than that?

    KR: Obviously I’m much happier than finishing second. I’m happy but let’s see… later on. But great job.

     

    Q: Three critical points: the start, then when you were running a very wide car… the second one actually was when you were pretending you coming into the pit lane and Lewis had to come in instead; he was going to do the opposite to you, and then obviously holding him up for about eight seconds. Everything put together, that’s what made you the victory.

    KR: I think it was obviously coming in at the right time and having enough tyres both times. It was a bit of a balancing act but we did it pretty well, well enough to win it, so it was OK, and a good battle and I think that’s what we all want as drivers and also the people here.

     

    Q: OK, well done again. Max, P18 to P2 – great drive.

    Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, a bit unexpected but a good start, a good first lap, and then very quickly we were back into P5, P4 and we could just follow the leaders and we had really good pace. We made the right call to undercut Valtteri and from there onwards we could do our own race. I think in the end we could put a bit of pressure on, but unfortunately in the last three or four laps I ran out of tyres on the supersoft compared to the guys on the soft around me. But yeah, still very happy. I destroyed my shoe; I think I was pushing a bit hard, but it felt good.

     

    Q: Take us through that battle with Lewis right near the end of the race, through 14, 15, 16 and 17 and Turn 18?

    MV: So at that time I was really struggling with the rear tyres. I locked up through Turn 12 and then there was a good fight through the Esses, through the hairpin and in the right-hand corner I was just pushing as much as I could but hanging on but clearly also Lewis was already on the edge, so happy to stay in second.

     

    Q: Congratulations. Lewis, the championship goes on for another week, but you had some adventures during that grand prix. How do you feel about the race?

    Lewis HAMILTON: Well, first of all a bog congratulations to Kimi, he did a great job today. No mistakes, he had a great start and managed it all the way. Also Verstappen did a great job as well. He was on a slightly better tyre than us at the end so naturally a bit of a struggle. I naturally thought we would have been able to do better but this is the best we were able to do in the end. But it was great that we actually got to do some racing at least but yeah, we just have to keep working, keep pushing for the next race.

     

    Q: That pivotal moment where you were told to do the opposite to Kimi and you came in on lap 11. It gave you a long way to go didn’t it? You did a cheap pit stop under the Virtual Safety Car, but you just ran out of tyres.

    LH: Yeah, I think ultimately I came out and the pit window was very, very close, but then after I did my stop it was 12 seconds and it was way, way too far to catch up. I’m not really quite sure how the strategy ended up like that. It’s always difficult. You only have a certain amount of life with the brand new tyre to make a difference and once you put 12 seconds up there’s none left. But anyway, I’m really happy. We still got a top three. It’s still close; Ferrari picked up their game this weekend, so we’ve go to push hard for the next race.

     

    PRESS CONFERENCE

     

    Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) Two questions for Kimi. How difficult was that balancing you were talking to Martin about, of pushing very hard at the start of your second stint to catch Lewis and to have enough of a gap to be in front and saving those tyres until the end of the race for the last 10 laps with the two guys behind?

    KR: Yeah, I think it was already during the first stint, maybe one lap, two laps, and then you try to take of tyres, fuel, things like that, but it’s more guessing, obviously you kind of go by feeling. At a certain point the tyres are going to fall off and there is not a lot you can do. We had a pretty good battle. I tried to stay as far as I could. I could hold him back. And then once we did the pit stops obviously I just needed to keep the gap. I caught up a little bit and then keep the gap and aiming for certain lap times and looking after the tyres, because it will be an issue in the end. So you never know how it’s going to play out, especially after a Friday like we had. I was pretty confident after the first stint that it will be OK, but like we saw it got pretty close and 10 laps I was a bit probably not the most happiest guy in the world. But the closer we got to the end, the closer they got to me, it’s more dfificult for them and then it was OK.

     

    Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) And the second question is what’s more satisfying: getting the win and, as you said, shutting your critics out; or knowing for now that for a long time none of us is going to ask you when is the next time you are going to win a race?

    KR: (Laughs) it might be next weekend already! I don’t know. I’m happy with how it went. I’m happy for the team. Obviously we had a pretty rough two races and I’m proving people certain things. I might be getting older but it’s not too bad still. Maybe I’m OK to be [here] a few years more. I enjoy it, so we are here to try to win. I always try to do it, but obviously it’s not easy, otherwise anybody could do it. So, I think this weekend we have been pretty solid in many ways. I just had a good feeling with the car. We’ll see what happens in the next race, but so far it’s been OK. I don’t complain a lot. We’ll have for sure some fun tonight and we go next week to the next one.

     

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lewis, do you think you had the speed to win today, had you been on the same strategy as the other guys?

    LH: I think it would have been… Kimi, one he was ahead, I didn’t have the greatest pace to really challenge him. Obviously, I was relatively close, I think, after the… in that first stint, second half. We were kind of exchanging lap times and kept beating each other’s times. And he was on the better tyre but he eked it out for quite some time with that safety car. Pace-wise, I think we were very, very close – but the whole deficit, they kept putting me so far behind, I could have told you exactly what was going to happen once we had those big gaps that we had to catch. With the tyres, it’s a very, very aggressive circuit on tyres and yeah, I think it we would have pitted at the same time, or around the same time, we would probably have come out behind him and we would have been racing right to the end on the same set of tyres. So, ultimately… yeah, it’s all if, but and whens. He did a great job at the end of the day.

     

    Q: (Joey Barnes – Motorsports Tribune) Kimi, your last win, five years ago, you weren’t quite known as the family man. So, now that have this one, how special is this, that you get to share it with your family?

    KR: They’ve been asking for a while, so more interested in the Pirelli cap than probably the win itself. I know that we can buy it also but I know it’s not fair play to bring them if I had to buy it. So yeah. I have a lovely wife and kids and I’m sure they’re happy. I’m not sure if the kids… they probably fall asleep during the race but the wife probably looked at it. I’m more than happy for all of us. It’s nice. Yeah… I don’t know. It’s nice to win again – but like I said, it doesn’t change my life or they don’t look at me differently. My son asked the previous race that he wants a new Pirelli – the same tyre from the qualifying – because he wants to play with it. Again, I’m sure they’re happy and I’m happy to help them, more than happy. We’ll have a nice talk when we get home.

     

    Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-magazin.com) Question for Lewis, you said you knew what’s going to happen with these tyres when you have to catch up this much. Do you mean the Pirelli tyres or the soft tyres in particular? Because we saw that it was blistering quite a lot when you pushed at the beginning.

    LH: I was meaning the tyres in general but the soft tyre was not a great tyre for us today. I was actually a little bit surprised at the end that we were put back on a soft tyre, knowing that Max was on a supersoft. I knew that… when you compete with someone that has a slight advantage then you know that you’re at a deficit but I was hoping I would close the gap in time but again, as I said, the tyre wouldn’t last as long as it is to catch a 12 seconds gap, was a lot to ask for.

     

    Q: (Jaap de Groot – De Telegraaf) Question for Max. At the end, when Lewis tried to overtake you, it was a sensational part of the race. Could you describe in detail how you underwent that action.

    MV: So, following Kimi that closely, of course it’s not great for my tyres, so I was struggling a bit more with the tyres. So then Lewis came close and yeah, we had a few corners where I had to close the door a little bit. Then he tried around the outside – but I was on the edge already in the fast corners so I was just sliding a lot. Then I saw also that Lewis ran out of room and then, of course, if you go a bit wide you get a lot of marbles on the tyres so it takes like a lap before they have grip again.

     

    LH: Was it close between us? I think I gave you too much space

     

    MV: I think you could have squeezed a bit more! Yeah!

     

    LH: I never know with you. I didn’t want a coming to come together…

     

    MV: A bit of wheel-banging is… I was also thinking ‘I don’t know what Lewis is going to do here!’

     

    LH: I couldn’t see you!

     

    MV: It was alright – I was just really struggling with the tyres the last two or three laps but, yeah, made it a bit more fun!

     

    Q: (Les Kiser – Speed City Broadcasting) Lewis and Max, we saw your tyres going away. Lewis, we saw you go wide, as you just mentioned, on the last lap. If the race was one lap longer, Lewis, what in your opinion would have been the result of that lap and Max, the same?

    LH: I think I was too… I was catching towards the end but we probably needed another few laps to be honest. That wide moment meant that I picked up a lot of dirt on my tyres and it took at least a lap to get rid of it, to get rid of that top surface so you lose a lot of temperature and everything so I don’t think any extra would have really made much of a difference but a few more laps, if we were able to extend it, these guys were on older tyres so it would have been interesting in that respect but ultimately we ran out of time.

    MV: Yeah, if the race would be a few laps longer or a lap longer, I think at one point you have to start to do a two stop but we planned the strategy around the amount of laps we had.

     

    Q: (John Haverlin – ESPN Albuquerque) Lewis, as you were battling Max towards the end there, were you thinking about – heat of the moment, OK, I’m racing for position or were you thinking about how the championship could be clinched if you were able to get around him?

    LH: Honestly I was trying to win the race but you look at the two guys next to me, they’re not fighting for a championship so I had to be very very careful how I navigated around them. Championships are not won by fighting and making silly mistakes so that’s really… I was trying to… as I said, I went through that corner, I gave him way too much space just to be sure that I didn’t get clipped, for example, didn’t get taken out because I didn’t know if you would understeer into me or could be aggressive. I didn’t know. If that was me and Seb, for example, I would have been a lot more tighter and more aggressive if we were fighting for the championship, for example, but there was no need. The key was that I at least finished ahead of Seb and for me it doesn’t matter when you win the championship as long as you get it done. Ultimately we wanted to win the race today and I think going backwards two steps is not a good result but as I said, you can’t win them all, you can’t always get them perfect.

     

    Q: Just on the wheel-to-wheel racing, Max does it come into your thinking when you’re racing Lewis that he’s got a title on the line at the moment?

    MV: I think at the end of the day you always try to be sensible, yeah.

     

    Q: And similarly Kimi, with you, when you were defending from Lewis, I think you said on team radio about not doing anything silly.

    KR: Yeah, for sure my purpose is not to be any more aggressive against him than anybody else. I don’t believe in doing crazy things. I want to do my race and do the best that I can do. If that impacts the championship then that’s how it is but I will not do any crazy stuff to be a part of it. My job is purely to try to do win, I’m here for that and I will play as fair as is possible and that’s how it’s going to be and how it’s always going to be. We know what is fair and what is not and I got a bit close once because I lost a bit of grip but there was nothing crazy going on.

     

    Q: (Peter Windsor – Peterwindsor.com) The first question, Kimi, I’m asking on behalf of Heikki Kulta who I’ve just spoken to. He can barely talk he was so excited but he wanted me to ask you what you were thinking and what it felt like to be the listening to the Finnish national anthem?

    KR: Obviously I wanted to win, that’s for sure. I wasn’t sure if it was going to happen or not because sometimes it’s been close and something maybe happened.  With five laps to go it was going to be OK because I knew my tyres were still OK and once they get close enough,  it’s so difficult to follow. It’s nice to hear it, for sure, especially if you’ve won. Obviously that is what you always want, at any race we come to, all of us want to win, but like I said, I’m happy for that, it was a great day to prove some people wrong and having a good race but it doesn’t really change anything for me. It’s just a number. Life goes on.

     

    Q: (Peter Windsor – Peterwindsor.com) Lewis, you mentioned how aggressive the circuit was with tyres and you talked a little bit about the championship. Is there an argument for saying that the strategy that actually they had on the pit wall was a conservative strategy, possibly defined by the championship rather than specifically trying to get you to win the race, which leads me to my real question which is how much pre-race was the strategy potentially affected by your championship rather just wanting to win on the day?

    LH: My strategy was the same, because I wanted to win the race. We were on pole position, same straightforward approach going throughout the weekend but in strategy they were talking about different scenarios as we do every weekend but there’s a different feeling, for sure, with the performance and decisions that were taken today as opposed to previous races but I don’t think we needed to make any changes. I don’t know why they would not want to win the race. I think they did want to win the race, it just didn’t play out the way that we had planned and I think it already started from Q2. I think that tyre was the wrong tyre to start on. We had already seen, a long long time ago in the year Kimi starting on a softer tyre, I think it was in Austria. We already knew there was a big difference between the start performances on these different tyres yet we fell for something that we already knew was potentially not the way forward and obviously lost position to him and then wasn’t able to keep up because he had clean air and a better tyre. There was definitely a lesson learned for us and we’ll definitely go to the drawing board but performance-wise it wasn’t our greatest weekend but we’ve had some incredible weekends this year and still to get a third, I’m still grateful for that but naturally starting first and finishing third is never a good thing.

     

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Lewis, given you were told by the team that Seb had spun on the opening lap and you were in a good position, were you surprised that the title hasn’t been clinched in this race? And to Kimi, you mentioned about proving people wrong; do you think you’ve proved that you should still be in a Ferrari next season?

    LH: I’m not surprised, I finished third. My job… I had to win the race today. I’m not really sure what happened in the race behind but obviously he did a good job to come back but as a team, we clearly struggled. Valtteri struggled to keep Seb behind, even when Seb was obviously… must have been quite far behind, so performance-wise we were definitely off this weekend but I think Kimi’s given me a lot of confidence, so that I can keep getting better. He’s 38? 39?

    KR: 39. Next year 40, so… I’ll invite you to the party.

    LH: Hope I get an invite for the 40th.

    KR: We can call.

     

    Q: And Kimi, do you think this result shows that you should still be in a Ferrari next year?

    KR: No. For sure I didn’t mean on that side. I think people don’t understand I’m actually very happy where I’m going. I had my time with Ferrari, I won the championship with them. I won many races with them and for me, as a driver, I want different challenges, I want different things and I’m actually very happy to go there. It’s roughly 40 minutes from my home. For sure my family will be happy, I’m happy to be with my family. I think it’s probably the best thing. I wasn’t really disappointed with the decision at any point. The only thing that I was interested in was to know what was going to happen and that’s the only thing. The rest, I’ve been long enough in F1 to know that things… it doesn’t matter if you have contracts or not, things happen for different reasons but I think the end result is that I’m very excited about it.

     

    Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) Kimi, you’re now up to third in the championship and Ferrari closed the gap to Mercedes. The Constructors championship is far more open than the Drivers’ championship. Are these two important goals for you, one more important than the other or do you just want to win more races until the end of the year?

    KR: I can only do my best. Whatever the end result is, that’s how it’s going to play out. For sure, if we have a chance to fight for a championship I will do my job and that would be  absolutely perfect for all of us but we can only do our best, I said that before the race and before many races and you know, whatever the end result is, that was our best and if today we would be second or third, it wouldn’t really feel too bad because I knew that I did the best I could and today was like this so I’m happy about it. We’ll go next weekend and try to do the best that we can. We keep fighting until the last race and then we see what happens after that.

  • F1 2018: USA Gp Review – Masterful Raikkonen Lassos Texas Win

    F1 2018: USA Gp Review – Masterful Raikkonen Lassos Texas Win

    The United States grand prix weekend produced a race for every F1 fan to relish, regardless of where loyalties may lie. There is little doubt that the Circuit of the Americas produced a race that will be long remembered as, so far, the most absorbing and exceptional of the 2018 season.

    It didn’t start off that way as torrential rain-washed out Friday’s free practice sessions. This ultimately meant that drivers and teams were in unknown territory as far as tyre degradation was concerned. Instead of terabytes of data team strategists had to rely on the feel and feedback of their respective drivers.

    Saturday qualifying went the way of Lewis Hamilton but the top three were covered by less than a tenth of a second. But while Sebastian Vettel qualified a mere 0.060 off Hamilton as a result of speeding under the red flag during Friday’s practice session Vettel was demoted three places on the grid. This promoted Kimi Raikkonen, who was only 0.071 adrift, onto the front row. While Valtteri Bottas shared the second row of the starting grid with Daniel Ricciardo the sister Red Bull of Max Verstappen was all the way down in 18th after having broken the rear-suspension in the first session of qualifying.

    With Vettel in fifth Hamilton seemed set for victory and a fifth world title. But Raikkonen swooped into the lead and held off the Merc relatively easily. But as Raikkonen seized the lead of the race Vettel, once again, found himself spinning on the first lap after banging wheels with Ricciardo. It dropped the German down to 15thand seemingly handed the title to Hamilton.

    0148Despite being second to the number 7 Ferrari Hamilton started on the more durable SuperSoft tyre as opposed to Raikkonen who was on the Ultrasoft compound, which should’ve forced the Finn into the pits earlier than the Mercedes driver. However, a virtual safety car (VSC) was deployed to recover the stricken Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo.  By this stage Verstappen, true to form, had roared back into contention and ran comfortably in the top six.

    Under the VSC Hamilton pitted while Raikkonen carried on. Because of the reduced speed of the cars on track during the VSC Hamilton effectively gained nine second on Raikkonen. At the time it looked as if Ferrari, by not pitting, had handed the advantage to Mercedes on a silver platter. The Ferrari strategists seemed sure that with so much of the race to run Hamilton would need to pit again. It didn’t seem a smart move though as Hamilton closed down Raikkonen by two seconds a lap. But the Finn is by far one of the most experienced and savvy drivers on the grid and was able to hold off Hamilton and cost him a significant amount of time; thereby effectively wiping out the advantage he’d gained with the cheap pitstop under the VSC.It turned out that Ferrari were right as Hamilton dived into the pits for a second stop on lap 38. He rejoined in fourth behind teammate Bottas and Red Bull’s Verstappen while Raikkonen took back the lead of the race. Meanwhile Vettel had recovered to fifth and was closing down Bottas, who ceded position to Hamilton, at a rate of knots.

    What followed was, arguably, the best eleven laps of racing that the 2018 season has seen so far. Hamilton needing second to win the title and on significantly fresher tyres demolished the 12-second gap to Verstappen who in turn was never more than 1.5 second behind Raikkonen. But the Brit could go no further once he ran into the Dutch roadblock in the shape of Verstappen. The penultimate lap was the closest Hamilton came to second-place as he went wheel-to-wheel with Verstappen for several corners. But the resolute defending of the Red Bull driver was enough to keep Hamilton in third where he eventually finished.

    0151The Verstappen/Hamilton fight afforded Raikkonen some breathing room as he went on to take the chequered flag in what is undoubtedly a popular win. So spectacular was the race that even Hamilton who started from pole and finished third was clearly chuffed with the day’s racing in the post-race interview. Verstappen too was thrilled with yet another stunning drive through the field to the podium.

    Elsewhere, Vettel recovered to fourth while Bottas trundled home in fifth. It was good day for Renault as Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz finished sixth and seventh. Esteban Ocon finished eighth on track but was later, along with Haas F1’s Kevin Magnussen, disqualified for exceeding fuel-flow regulations. It meant that Sergio Perez inherited eighth as Brendon Hartley and Marcus Ericsson completed the top ten.

    Where has Ferrari sudden resurgence come from? It turns out that the upgrade package, introduced in Singapore, was the catalyst for the team’s downturn in pace over the last three races. It was only after on Friday in Texas that Ferrari reverted to the car they ran in Belgium that the pace re-appeared. It’s a case of too little, too late for the Italian team though as Hamilton needs to outscore Vettel by only five points to win the 2018 title.

    This victory for Raikkonen has been a long time coming and it put on display the best of his considerable talents. It’s even more poetic when you consider that on the very same day in 2007 he became world champion. Those who are more than casual viewers of the sport will recognize that at the age of 39 Kimi Raikkonen clearly hasn’t lost any of his skill or speed.

    All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport
  • 2018 USGP: Thursday Press Conference

    2018 USGP: Thursday Press Conference

    DRIVERS – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing), Fernando ALONSO (McLaren), Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes), Romain GROSJEAN (Haas)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Lewis, we’re going to start with you. You’ve been hugely successful here in the past and it looks like they’ve had you busy here as well this week, so just talk us through what you’ve been up to in New York this week?

    Lewis HAMILTON: It’s just been the normal promotion stuff. I was there with IWC and with the team at the NASDAQ conference that we had… and then a bunch of other TV stuff I just did.

    Q: Well, America seems to be a place you have quite an affinity with, and you’ve won the last four races here, as well as the Drivers’ title in 2015. Does it feel like it’s all coming together again for a repeat this weekend?

    LH: Not particularly, no. It just feels like another race weekend we have, and we want to win, so it’s a simple goal for us, we just arrive to try and do the same thing. The weather is up and down and our goal is really just to perform as we have in previous races, we’re not thinking about it in any other way.

    Q: Thank you. Fernando, you’ve got a huge following here in America after your Indycar exploits, but how special will this final US race in Formula 1 be for you this weekend?

    Fernando ALONSO: Yeah, it’s always special racing here, with all the fans. Hopefully we’ll have a good show on the weekend. As Lewis said, the weather is a bit up and down on Friday and Saturday especially, hopefully that will mix things a little bit and we’ll see a good race on Sunday. In our case I think we different targets, to try to score points after two races out of the points. It’s going to be challenging but we’ll try.

    Q: You’ve spent a fair bit of time in America this year. Will you be spending even more time here next year? Can you tell us anything about your 2019 plans? 

    FA: Yeah, I don’t have 21 races in F1 to travel around to, so with more free time I will come to the States… for a holiday. A little bit more.

    Q: How about from a racing perspective?

    FA: Let’s see. As I said many times, the Indy 500 is still very attractive, as it was last year, and after winning Le Mans this year, it’s even more attractive to try to achieve it in the short term. Still working on plans for next year and as soon as they are finalised you will know.

    Q: Daniel, you also seem to really enjoy it over here. We’ve seen you’ve been at a Longhorns game this weekend. Is this one of your favourite events of the season?

    Daniel RICCIARDO: Yeah, it is. I love it. I don’t know, I’ve always enjoyed coming here. The football was a really cool experience. It’s amazing how many people go to a college game, how the capacity is that alone. It’s cool to experience new things and yeah, I’ve had a good week!

    Q: Well, this season you’ve had two race victories but no podiums alongside that. Is it realistic to expect you to change that record here this weekend.

    DR: Yeah, I think so. I think we’ll have a decent car around here. It’s weird, yeah I know, that I haven’t had any actual podiums. So yeah, we’ll try to make it happen. Last year I was going pretty strong in the race but then we had to stop with some mechanicals. It’s definitely a fun track to race on. I enjoy Austin alone, but the circuit as well is really good for racing. You can overtake and it’s pretty unique, so I’m happy if it’s kind of wet for Friday and Saturday but I kind of feel if the race is dry Sunday it will still be pretty exciting.

    Q: Thank you. Romain, we’ve talked about the affinity these guys have with America, but it’s a home race for Haas, and you’ve got just four races left to try to overhaul Renault in the Constructors’ Championship. So us there a lot of pressure on this weekend?

    Romain GROSJEAN: I think the pressure is always on, to be fair. Different levels, obviously for the top guys to win the championship, and for us to go and try to get Renault in the Constructors’. It’s a great weekend, it’s going to be very busy, a lot of marketing commitments, but I think it’s a good that we’re here, racing here for an American team and coming this year with a competitive car compared to the first two years us great.

    Q: If I could just ask you about your own form. You had a tough start to the season, but then I think you scored 31 points in the last nine races. Just how did you go about turning that around?

    RG: Thirty-nine. I got eight stolen in Monza.

    DR: He’s not still bitter!

    RG: No, I think everything is going great since Germany. It was a rough start to the season and things didn’t go my way. A bit of bad luck and bit of mistakes and all together it makes like a snowball effect. At one point I managed to stop that and come back to where I wanted to be. I’m really enjoying driving the car. I think we’ve had some really good races and I’m looking forward to the four last ones and here especially.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-Magazin.com) Lewis, I know you’re not looking at the championship all the time, but if we would do an overlay from last years championship to this year’s championship it was pretty tight all season but then after the summer break the car and you personally, you really kicked off. Is this just a coincidence or is there anything – that you are understanding the tyres better, the team is understanding the car better? What is your explanation for that?

    LH: Yeah, it’s probably just a coincidence that it’s exactly the same but we are improving the car the whole year long. We are improving our knowledge of the car and how to get the most out of it. If we knew what we knew in the second half we would do a lot better at the beginning. That’s just how it is in the sport. That’s how it always is. It’s been the same since I started in 2007. I think it’s probably the same for everyone. Not really much more else to say.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, Racefans.net) For all of you, though Fernando I know this doesn’t really affect you for next year. The 2019 regulations state that the drivers weighing under 80 kilos will be ballasted up to 80 kilos, that ballast to be carried within the sort of cockpit area. How do you feel about that? Is that correct or should drivers be allowed to take advantage of their physique, as they can in other sporting activities?

    DR: I personally feel that they are just getting us prepared for more races in America.

    LH: NASCAR.

    DR: All of us will enjoy our food a little more! I’m not complaining about it. It’s not like we’re going to, let’s say, take the piss, it’s more just a lot of us now tend to starve ourselves on race weekends and even training we can’t really do much strength training because we would just put on mass. I think it will just allow us to train harder, eat harder… Eat harder? Eat more. But it’s not like we’re going to have beer bellies or anything, we’re just going to be stronger and I think that’s only a good thing.

    LH: I disagree. I think there are going to be some people with bigger bellies.

    DR: Well, the small guys can afford to do everything!

    Q: Romain, your thoughts on the weight?

    RG: I think it’s a great thing. I’ve been the same as… Daniel and Lewis are quite tall. I think it hasn’t been great to starve ourselves and not eat as want to, so a few kilos of margin is going to be great. It will be a challenge for the team, because getting to the minimum weight for the regulation with the 80 kilos for seat and driver together is going to be tricky, but on the other hand it’s going to make our lives an awful lot better.

    Lewis, any further thoughts?

    LH: I think it’s great. It’s definitely going to open the doors up for people like Will Ferrell and all those who weigh a lot more to come in! It’s always been something we’ve all worked hard to keep in shape and it has been something we’ve worked really hard at; to make sure we’re not overweight. I guess we can eat more pancakes. I think we will prepare more and we can all be a little bit stronger next year. I guess for the people who are struggling to come under the weight; for example there are some of the taller drivers who struggle to be less than 80 kilos. I guess it doesn’t really make much difference for them otherwise.

    Q: Fernando, you won’t be racing here next year, but you have raced in other categories where weight balances are different. Do you think this is a good move for Formula 1?

    FA: Yeah, I think it is. In Formula 1, I’m obviously not one of the tallest, so it’s more a question for the tall guys and I think it’s fair for everyone, so I think it’s good. In other series, in WEC in particular, where the weight is free, that normally gives and advantage to the lighter and smaller guys, and probably that is unfair in a way, so I think Formula 1 is doing great on that.

    DR: Ricky Bobby.

    LH: Ricky Bobby.

    DR: I caught it, it’s alright.

    LH: I noticed. No one else watched Talladega Nights. Ricky Bobby. No? Overweight NASCAR driver. NASCAR drivers can now come over to Formula 1, which is cool.

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Daniel, we know you’ve not had the smoothest season, you’ve talked about that before. Your 2019 team, Renault, hasn’t had the smoothest end to the year either: they’ve been quite honest about falling behind on the engine side and the car side. That situation’s changed, obviously, since you agreed to join them. How much of a concern has it been watching their performance, and how encouraging is it to hear they’re planning an all-new engine for next year?

    DR: It’s encouraging, obviously. When I signed, I knew that there was work ahead but I know that they’re putting a lot of effort into making things better and expanding a lot of departments and trying to make ’19 stronger and ’20 and whatever. Yeah, the way the last few races have been this year, obviously, it would be nice to see them improve every race and whatever but I honestly don’t look into it too much yet. I think ’19 is a new car and it’s going to be a fresh start again, so I’m not spending too much energy on that at the moment. Obviously, all I can do is, once my year’s done is try to be fully immersed into it all and try to help as much as I can and see how things go from there.

    Q: (Jon Massengale – Speed City) We’ve got a lot of American fans excited about the Haas F1 team, the momentum they have coming into Austin for good points – but all four of you up there talk about excited to race in the United States. I want to ask, what can we do to continue the momentum to grow the sport here in the United States?

    RG: Well, I think, to me the obviously, answer is to get more races in the US. I think most of the time it’s really hard for the audience to watch the grands prix, it’s the middle of the night. It’s not easy to grow the fan base. I think more races in the US. I think races a bit more exiting as well. If you look at NASCAR, you never know who’s going to win the race. In Formula One I can tell you it’s going to be the Mercedes or Ferrari winning on Sunday. I think that could be improved – but definitely more races in the US to get closer to the fans would be the first thing.

    Lewis, your thoughts on how we can grow it here?

    LH: I agree with what he said. We do have the one race and this is a big, big country with a lot of sporting heritage. They love intensely-fought games but also have something to look forward to – because there’s a build-up to multiple games. We only have that one race here, so the people, for example in this city or people in the close States that fly over for this one grand prix, which happens once a year, it’s like a festival. You can’t really get too excited about one festival in a season. So, that’s probably something that Liberty will be working on for the future.

    Fernando, your thoughts?

    FA: More or less the same. Try to get more races here, hopefully one American driver into F1 soon, and that will help. I think it will take a little bit of interest into the sport and have a little bit more unpredictable races is more or less what they have here. To have people expecting the unexpected until the end.

    And Daniel, your thoughts on growing the sport here.

    DR: I have to agree with all that. Currently they don’t have an American driver. We can do our best to put on an accent and fill those boots. [Approximation of Texan accent] I can try all I can – I don’t know how these boys can do it but I’ll give it a red-hot crack and see how we go.

    We wondered how long it would be before you did that…

    DR: It was only a matter of time!

    Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Lewis, what’s your explanation for how you’ve taken off, collectively, since the summer break. Is it just stepping forward with the car? Is it personally? Is it mistakes from the opposition? What is it? What’s the biggest factor do you think?

    LH: I haven’t really thought about it much. It’s a combination of so many things. Naturally, as a driver, you do improve. Or, at least, I’ve noticed in myself, I can’t speak for everyone – but I’ve noticed I improve throughout the year. How you conduct yourself, how you perform within the team, how you’re able to maximise in the car. If you go back through all the years, you know I always say that by the second half of the season I should be better, and most of the time that’s usually the case. I think also, as a team, we’ve collectively done a better job in every area. And then, the other side, for sure, has not done as good a job in that respect, coming into the second phase. So, I don’t really have a massive explanation for it. My knowledge is as good as yours in that sense.

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Lewis, you said you’re concentrating one race at a time – but you do stand on the brink of winning a fifth World Championship. What does that mean to you, were you to do that this weekend here in Austin?

    LH: Again, really as a team, none of us are saying how cool it would be if it happened this weekend or the next, we’re not focussing on ifs. We’re focussing on making sure that we deliver. There’s still 100 points available. We can just never be complacent in life, and in a Championship as intense as this. We expect Ferrari to punch back hard here this weekend, so we can’t be relaxed in any way, shape or form. We’ve got to make sure we come here and raise the bar again. So, I’m definitely not thinking this weekend, how’s it going to feel if we do the job. Because I’ve got to do the job and that just adds more pressure and you just don’t need more pressure. So, focussing on making sure that I drive the best that I’ve driven all year long and we get the car where we need to get it. It’s going to be wet, I think, all day tomorrow, as far as I’ve heard, and potentially on Saturday, so it’s going to be a tricky weekend. So, nothing is a given.

    Q: (Jim Vertuno – AP) Lewis, given that this season has been a chase for a fifth championship, what does the name Fangio mean to you, his place in history and can you imagine yourself trying to drive the cars he muscled around the track back in his era?

    LH: Imaging myself driving some of those cars back then? I have driven some of those cars. Stirling Moss’s car I’ve had a go in, some of the Silver Arrows they had, around the old Monza circuit, for example, with Sir Stirling, which is pretty intense. It’s always really strange to hear the drivers’ mental philosophy back then. Sir Stirling would say you’d want to fall out if the car’s going to crash: you hope that you get thrown out the car. It’s a much more confined space for us. It’s all about being stuck in and being safe. I would have… I don’t know if the 50s was a particularly good time, wasn’t a great time for black people either, so probably wouldn’t have been racing back then, but I’m grateful to be in this era and with the technology that we have and seeing the cars advance. I’m so grateful to be part of this era. Fangio is always… he’s like the godfather of the drivers’ sport for us. He’s the godfather for us, one of the greats from the beginning and will always be admired in the sport. It is crazy to think that I’m embarking on a similar number of championships that he had.

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Fernando, just on Lewis, when you first met him in 2007, did you think this guy would have the credentials to go on and match Fangio, win five titles and all the races? And Lewis, we saw you issued a post in Instagram, just defending Sebastian. Do you think his criticism has been a bit unjust this year?

    FA: Well, probably at that time it was difficult to image what the future could bring for Lewis, and for any of the guys on the grid. But yeah, definitely, he had showed the talent from day one, and fighting for the Championship in his rookie year, winning in 2008. Probably at that time, we all agree that five or seven World Championships will be possible. Then, obviously, was a little bit down due to the performance of the car for a couple of years. And then, yeah, switching to Mercedes at that time, we all were thinking that maybe was not positive – because at that time Mercedes was struggling in 2013, and things like that. So, it’s up and down, the feelings. I’m happy for him because he showed the talent from day one. He was able to win races when the car was there to win it but he was able to win races in some of the seasons when the car was not in the top of the form, like 2009 and things like that, he’s still winning a couple of grand prix a year. It’s impressive – and now it’s time to enjoy for him, so I’m happy.

    And Lewis, your comments defending Sebastian after Japan?

    LH: I think if I was in the same position they would probably do the same thing so it’s more as drivers we are all members of the GPDA and I think we all just need to stick together and I think the respect that we have for one another I think is probably the greatest that it’s been for many years. At least in the years that I’ve been in Formula One. I think ultimately as a four-time World Champion, it is the most intense year that we’ve had. So every hiccup is magnified, naturally, as it is perhaps in any sport at the top. But there have been many – or several – times that I’ve been in the firing range and Seb’s always been really respectful and supported me, so I thought it was only just to do the same.

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Two questions, the first for Lewis. Can you explain to us why you do love America so much? And the second one for Fernando; can you give us your top five of the World Champions and what does it mean for you to have one driver equalling Fangio with five titles?

    LH: I don’t know if I love it more than everyone else loves it. So many people come out here and… I grew up watching… movies are something I’m massively into… grew up watching these great movies which were filmed here in the States and then dreaming, as a kid, of one day coming to the States: I think it wasn’t until I was 17 and I finally went to New York and loved it and the more and more time I spend out here the more I enjoy it. I love the big roads they have, they do everything generally bigger and better in most cases. They’ve just got some great cities, good energy, good people, music is the centre of the universe for entertainment here so there’s many many reasons. The food is great, they’ve got the best pancakes out here.

    FA: I guess it’s difficult to do the top five.

    LH: Yourself?

    FA: Not really! Probably Michael, Fangio, Senna, Prost, Lewis, probably this will be the top five, probably, that come to my mind but it’s difficult to compare different times and different ways to win those championships. Lewis winning five now and being the same as Fangio, as I said before, it’s a great achievement and if one had to do that in our generation, I’m happy that it’s Lewis because he showed the talent and he showed the commitment, as I said before, when the car was dominating he delivers and won the championship. When the car was not good enough to win the championship, he still put in some performances to show his talent and that’s difficult to see in our days.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, Racefans.net) Fernando’s already been to Indianapolis but when we as a motor sport of community think of the US we generally think of the Indianapolis 500. A lot of Formula One World Champions, race winners etc have actually raced at Indianapolis. Could you imagine yourselves ever racing there?

    DR: Yes and no. The thought of it sounds good. Ovals creep me out a little bit. I won’t lie. It would be cool. I don’t know. I would at least like to have a go, like maybe just a test. Let’s see how things go but yeah, it was cool watching Fernando do it, don’t get me wrong and part of me was like trying to picture myself being there and doing it but yeah, maybe one day. At the moment I don’t say it’s something I’m looking to do in the near future. I don’t know. Probably the older I get, the more scared I’ll become, so if it doesn’t happen now maybe it won’t ever happen. I don’t know.

    RG: I’ll join Daniel. It sounds cool, looks cool, it’s a great race. Ovals, yeah…

    DR: Who thought turning left could be so hard?

    LH: I kind of feel in a similar way. I would definitely like to try it as I’ve never really driven an oval before and the cars are incredibly fast and (I) always want to go faster. I probably will get a chance to have a go. I’m sure if I wanted to have a go I could but it’s never been a series –  naturally, growing up in Europe, it’s never been a series that you grew up aspiring to be in, it was always Formula One being it was the highest technology and has always been – at least growing up – the thought was that it was the highest grade of drivers that you wanted to compete against but they’ve got some great drivers there as well. I think I would prefer to try NASCAR.  Watkins Glen, I’ve always wanted to have a go up there, beer cans in the side. I have driven a NASCAR years ago at Watkins Glen which was awesome so that’s something I could do potentially. I honestly have no desire to do any other racing beyond Formula One if I’m really honest but maybe that will change when you do stop, because you do it your whole life and temptation is always going to be there, I’m always going to be a racing driver at heart.

    FA: Well, they need to commit to the race. I think if they just want to do a test they will never do the race after testing the car, because it feels quite bad. It feels quite difficult. The car is self-steering to the left, you go on the straights and you are turning right and it feels very weird to drive the car, but then in the race it is just a different thing. You wake up your competitive instinct and you forget about all these weird things that those cars have and it’s a lot of fun. It’s part of history. I think the biggest thing is to go out of your comfort zone and drive something that you don’t feel ready to handle, ready to control and that adrenaline is magic.

    Q: (Craig Slater – Sky Sports) To the two World Champions, Lewis and Fernando: there’s been a lot of attention on Mick Schumacher winning his Formula Three series. I wonder how you feel about him progressing into F1, one being whether the Schumacher name will be an asset or a burden to him?

    LH: I don’t think it will be a burden. I think naturally for any of the champions when they have youngsters come through, naturally Michael is named the greatest driver of all time, he’s got the most titles, so there will one hundred percent be a Schumacher back in Formula One, partly because of the name, but secondly because he’s doing a great job. He’s obviously got a lot of talent as his Dad had, just like Keke and Nico, just like when Fernando has kids I’m sure an Alonso will be here again. Even if I have a kid who wants to race and even if he’s no good he can make it Formula One because of the name. But no, he’s doing a really great job and he’s a really great kid as well. He’s come to… and been a part of our team a couple of weekends, I think it was last year, very attentative. He’s got a great talent as his Dad had so I don’t think it will be a burden in my personal opinion. I think it could be great for the sport.

    FA: Not much to add. I don’t know him. Obviously I never met him, probably. You only see the results from the outside and he has a great talent and he will be good for the sport, to have the Schumacher name again in F1. Let’s see what the future brings, not putting extra pressure on him which I’m sure he has enough already. Let time decide.

    Q: (Chris Bils – Austin American Statesman) Lewis, you’ve had so much success here and really your name has become synonymous with this track. Is there anything in particular, over the years, besides winning that you’ve enjoyed about coming here and also you were talking about the food, pancakes, is there anything that you like to eat while you’re here?

    LH: They don’t make tracks really like they did in the olden days. The older circuits that you’d go to, you’d dream of going to, watching the legends drive there, so some of the new tracks aren’t really that good but this is one of those that is, it’s got great character and from day one when we arrived here, there was a massive crowd that came who I’m sure, at least half of them, probably were new to the sport which was great so it had the impact it was meant to have and I think every year it’s kind of been growing but just driving the track is a massive challenge and also you can actually race here, you can follow which is one of the downfalls of some of the circuits: it’s harder to follow. So I think that’s really why I’ve enjoyed it a lot because I’ve had the chance to have races here, real races and obviously there is that great sporting heritage here and people are genuinely super enthusiastic about sports, no matter which sport it is. And the last race here that we had, the whole spectacle, I think, was probably the best of the whole year, the whole build-up and everything I thought was great. It’s great to celebrate the culture wherever you go. I think there was negativity I think I heard after the race about how American it was but I was like ‘we’re in America, we’ve got celebrate America at this Grand Prix particularly’ and I think that should happen in all the countries we go to.

    Food-wise, I grew up… for a period of time I lived on an American airbase in England and chicken wings… this guy my Mum was dating did the best chicken wings ever and I used to come out here and have that but I don’t eat chicken any more, being as I’m on a plant-base diet so I don’t know how that’s going to go while I’m here, I might be living on pancakes all weekend but I don’t mind that.

  • F1 2017: US Gp Review – Unstoppable Hamilton Supreme in Texas

    F1 2017: US Gp Review – Unstoppable Hamilton Supreme in Texas

    If Sebastian Vettel’s chance of winning the 2017 driver’s title were slim going into the United States grand prix they’ve now all but evaporated. Lewis Hamilton delivered a controlled drive to not only win in Texas but also ensure Mercedes as the 2017 constructor’s champions.

    Despite Hamilton’s 72nd pole position Sebastian Vettel tried his damnedest to reduce the points gap. While the Ferrari driver had good pace it wasn’t enough to keep Hamilton at bay who retook the lead and built a solid gap of around four seconds before the first round of stops.

    It was Ferrari and Vettel who opted into the pitlane first in the hopes that a few laps on fresh tyres could see the jump Hamilton and it nearly worked too. Hamilton and Vettel went wheel-to-wheel as he exited the pitlane with Mercedes holding onto the lead by his fingernails.

    Bottas, Ricciardo, and Raikkonen had been keeping a watching brief behind the championship protagonists while involved in their own exhilarating scrap for the final podium position. Unfortunately, Ricciardo’s challenge was felled by an engine problem that ultimately forced his retirement from the race.

    50His Red Bull teammate however was scything the field at an impressive rate. Verstappen, who’d started sixteenth due to power unit penalties, had taken as others dived into the pitlane. By the time he completed his own stop for new tyres he emerged fifth overall. Stuck a bit in no man’s land Red Bull opted for another stop and with thirteen laps to go fitted a fresh set of supersoft tyres. Vettel, with not much to lose, opted for the same strategy in the hopes of pulling off a spectacular comeback.

    This promoted Bottas to second with Raikkonen on his gearbox. The Ferrari driver snatched second with an impressive move on the back strait and promptly moved over for a flying Vettel on fresh rubber within the next few laps.

    Similiarly, Verstappen new tyres was allowing him to lap more than a second faster than Bottas and Raikkonen. He took fourth around the outside of Bottas with five laps to go and proceeded to stalk the back of Raikkonen’s Ferrari who was now on 38-lap old soft tyres. Verstappen’s eventual dive down the inside of Raikkonen in the final sequence of corners got him third across the line but he’d done so illegally. From replays it was evident that Verstappen had all four wheels beyond the track limit while overtaking Raikkonen. Race stewards deemed that he gained an advantage by cutting the track and awarded him a five second penalty that re-installed Raikkonen to third.

    22553383_218269682045207_4543058910359125085_o-768x432There likely isn’t a Verstappen fan on the planet that wouldn’t bemoan the penalty. However, while his driver was enormously impressive and exciting the penalty was rather cut and dried. Elsewhere Valtteri Bottas finished a distant fifth after a late race pitstop nearly a minute ahead of Force India’s Esteban Ocon in sixth. Carlos Sainz impressed with a tremendous seventh place in his first race for Renault while Sergio Perez, Felipe Massa and the returning Daniil Kvyat rounded out the top ten.

    The happiest of the lot was undoubtedly Lewis Hamilton who not only took career win number 62 but also a definitive step towards a fourth world title. As F1 heads across the border to Mexico this weekend Hamilton needs only to finish fifth or higher to become the 2017 drivers champion.

  • 2017 United States Grand Prix: Post Qualifying Press Conference

    2017 United States Grand Prix: Post Qualifying Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

    3 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)

     

    TRACK INTERVIEWS

    Cowboy Lewis, and you rode that car beautifully around there and you even left a couple of ‘11s’ on the lap coming down out of Turn 1. The first sector wasn’t perfect but the lap was good enough to beat everybody today?

    Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, the team have done a great job. The track was very difficult today, guys. With the wind picking up, you’ve got a headwind into Turn 1, a tailwind out of Turn1. Through the fast section, sector one, there’s tailwind and then you’ve got a headwind into Turn 9 and so it’s shifting the whole way through the lap, so you’re kind of gauging how hard you can push and how hard you have to let off. But that’s why I love this track, man. It’s such a fantastic circuit to drive, I love it, especially when you have a car you can really drive, it’s great.

     

    And the heat as well, on those open parts of the circuit, it is so intense.

    LH: I mean, it’s always hot in the car. I think it’s just the right temperature today. It’s not too hot, the sun’s out, we can at least enjoy it, I mean the guys out here are not getting a sun tan but still… It’s going to be a great race tomorrow, it’s going to be a tough one, because looking after the tyres in these conditions is still tough but I’m the best prepared I can be.

     

    Sebastian, you needed this front row, man, didn’t you, to take this championship fight, to keep the pressure on him, to keep the heat on him. How much did you have to draw out of yourself for that lap, because it was a brilliant lap?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, I was very happy in the end, but I was lacking a bit the rhythm, especially the transition of the first to second sector, it was quite tricky with the wind, so I struggled a bit there. But finally I got it right, in the last run, when it mattered. As you said, important obviously to get front row, because I believe our race pace is really good. I quali all year we’ve been just a little bit behind, so well done to Lewis, obviously, he did two great laps and yeah, looking forward to tomorrow now.

     

    All the talk this week has been about what Lewis needs to do to win the title this weekend. What you need to do is win this race, do you think you can?

    SV: Not just here, it would be good to win also the others. But we go day by day. We were lacking a bit of running yesterday. Today was a lot better. I was getting up to speed and it was there when it mattered, but the race is tomorrow. It’s a great track, a great place, a lot of people, so it should be a good day tomorrow.

     

    And a big run up to Turn 1 as well. Well done, many congratulations. Valtteri, not quite the front row today. I guess a little bit disappointed but the pace is there, the car looks great, how confident are you feeling for the race?

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Definitely disappointing, you know. It was looking good for us and quite close with Lewis as well at some points, so disappointing, but there is always tomorrow.

     

    Well done. Lewis, back to you. Nick is here this weekend, adoring fans in the grandstand, which is pretty much your second home here in the States. I know how much you love it, you wrapped up your third title here, is it going to be four tomorrow?

    LH: I think It’s highly unlikely that will be the case. Sebastian did a great job today to bring the Ferrari back up there. Ultimately all I can do is the best I can of my abilities and we have to work as hard as we can to get maximum points. Sebastian is right there, so unless he makes a silly mistake, which is unlikely, he’s a four-time world champion, then we’re going to be seeing it continue on to other races.

     

     

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Lewis, how good was that opening lap [of Q3], the one that followed and generally how are you feeling?

    LH: I feel fantastic. I feel very fresh and happy and naturally always wish that qualifying would go longer because it’s the most fun session of the weekend. In general, very happy with all of qualifying. The last was not spectacular but up until then generally very, very strong. The team have done an exceptional job all weekend in filtering all of the data that we’ve got to really put the car in the right place and enable me, again, have the opportunity to exploit that. This is such a fantastic circuit, because just the layout and the way the wind comes and intertwines with the corners, it really makes it challenging, you know, so when you are going through the ‘Esses’ it’s not all the same through them, then you come out and you’ve got a headwind and then a crosswind and then you’ve got a headwind and a tailwind. So you’re constantly dancing with the wind. That I do love. On the last lap, I got caught out by a bit of a gust but that’s how it goes but yeah really happy to be up here, especially in front of such a great crowd.

     

    And you had a low 1m33s on that first run, when you went out for that final run did you think that with a perfect lap it might be possible to get a high 1m32s or was that too much to hope for?

    LH: It never even crossed my mind! I don’t even know what time I did if I’m really honest! What was it?

     

    I think it was a 33.2 or something like that.

    LH: I think I was up on that last one. I think on a perfect lap I could get down into the 32s but it’s very hard out there in those conditions.

     

    Very well done, great job. Sebastian from your point of view it’s a story of recovery really. We saw your old chassis being wheeled out yesterday, a new chassis being built up overnight. Tell us about that process, how you got back into it, and how you feel to be able to split the Mercedes?

    SV: I think we are very happy with the result. It was obviously crucial to get that final run. Bit of a slow start. We had a couple of problems, I didn’t feel comfortable yesterday with the car, and we did hardly any laps. Obviously I lost the car very early in FP2, which didn’t help and I thought that there’s something not right. Obviously a big job overnight. The team was fantastic, the mechanics now had a couple of weekends in a row with a lot of work, with last-minute engine changes, now a chassis change overnight and they didn’t break the curfew. You know you’re allowed to use a certain time before everybody has to leave the garages and if you do that big job there is always a threat but I think they did another re3cord time to change. Obviously it’s not what we want, but obviously today was a lot better, I was much happier with the car. I’m glad it worked out. And not finding the rhythm straight away in quali, I struggled a bit in a couple of corners but I knew if I get them right I should be able to make a big step in the final run, so I was very happy. I think in the end we were closer than probably we even expected so for today, but for tomorrow I think if the car behaves like today it should be good.

     

    Valtteri, conditions this weekend for this session the hottest of the weekend so far, how did the car feel and what are you expecting from the race?

    VB: Well, as Lewis said it was quite a tricky session with the wind and every lap was always a little bit different. We have been making quite big set-up changes in the weekend and definitely made the car quicker but quite tricky car for me to drive at least. I just struggled really with the pace and the laps they felt good, I just couldn’t go quicker. Lewis did a good job again.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Lewis, you are the fastest guy all weekend. Do you think in race conditions you can keep also. In Malaysia you said you had doubts in the race, is it the same case here. And to Valtteri, you did an incredible first sector, in the strongest points of Lewis in this circuit, but then the lap was not so fast as the first part, why?

    LH: We know we’re often good through practice and qualifying but then the races are always a tricky one for us in terms of balance. We’re not terrible but you would think that we’re generally stronger in qualifying than we are in race, that’s been the case all year. But I think we’re good. I think I’ve got a good set of tyres, I think I’ve got a good balance for tomorrow. I’m looking forward to a good race with Sebastian and Valtteri. This is a track where you can follow a lot closer and even overtake as that race me and Sebastian had back in 2012 here, which was great, but I don’t plan on him getting that close but we shall see. But I think we will be OK tomorrow.

     

    VB: I didn’t understand the question.

     

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) I said you did a fantastic first part of the lap, you were the fastest guy at that moment, but then the rest of the lap was not so good.

    VB: In Q3. Yeah, I couldn’t improve in the second run. The first run felt OK, but Lewis managed to gain somehow more from Q2 to Q3 and I couldn’t really. I couldn’t find any track improvement. Like I said it was not easy sessions, every lap was a bit different but there were no big mistakes, just small things here and there as I feel for all the drivers but there was just this big gap.

    Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-Magazin.com) Question for Sebastian. Would you compare the situation you had today in Q3 in the last lap with the one you had in Japan where you saw the gap was quite to the front runners? Or was it completely the opposite – because you knew he had to be a bit more on the safe side to get these two corners right. And which two corners was it?

    SV: Well, I struggled a bit into Turn Eight, so Eight-Nine then it’s a succession up the hill. Obviously, the wind was quite tricky all day really. In the morning, I thought it was fine. In the afternoon, I just started on the wrong foot. It wasn’t really a question of stepping down, or calming down. It was more a question of getting it right. The shots that I had before, I obviously tried. Maybe I did take a little bit more risk but it never really worked – and then yeah, I knew what I had to get right, so I got it right. That was the most important but obviously in Japan I was fairly comfortable, let’s say, front row, no matter what Valtteri was going to do, so I decided to take a bit more risk but it was very different here, obviously. My lap was very poor in Q3 and I knew that I had to deliver otherwise I would have been, I don’t know, not even top six maybe. Therefor the timing was just right.

     

    Q: (Jeff Gluck – Jeffgluck.com) Lewis, how has your relationship with the American fans evolved over the years? It seems like you’ve soaked up the relationship with the American fans and the adoration that they have for you. How has that evolved for you over the years here?

    LH: Yeah, I think it’s been an interesting journey for me. I think it’s… my love of America started many, many years before I even came to the States, watching movies and seeing these great cities, like New York and all over. My Mum actually saved up to bring me to New York for my 17th birthday and we had an amazing few days. It kind of grew from then. And obviously coming here, racing here, my first… my second grand prix win but first race in the US was Indy and that was an amazing feeling. A great battle that I had with Fernando, and then obviously moving here. I don’t know why it’s always gone so well for me here but there definitely is a… I do feel a lot of positivity here. It is such a great country, it’s got so much to offer. Obviously, you’ve got great mountains, great countryside, great seaside, great food. There’s not really anything it doesn’t have. Plus you’ve got NASA here, which is pretty awesome. Rocket! I like that. So yeah, and I generally feel like, obviously… naturally I think people, Americans really do relate to… they’re crazy into their sports, they relate to winners, and obviously the fact I’ve had the success that I’ve had here I think comes hand-in-hand with that relationship but I really do appreciate the support that I have here and it does feel like a second home for me. It’s a place that I try to spend as much time as I can in my off-time ‘cos it’s where I’m generally happiest.

     

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) A question to Sebastian. You obviously didn’t do many laps yesterday. How much could you recover in P3, in terms of race preparation?

    SV: Not much. Obviously, we had a touch of a small long run, I think two timed laps, so we’re missing a bit. As the season progresses everybody gets better in terms of reading the sessions, understanding the tyres so I don’t think we’re in any weaker position. Would have been nice to do more laps but the little laps that I had this morning were fine. I think we know what we need to do. Now we see what the conditions are like. It’s supposed to be a bit cooler, we’ll see what the wind does. We have to react to those. That’s far more important that maybe what we’ve missed, because that has an impact on how your balance is in the first stint and then how you are able to feel the car push or not and then put pressure on whoever’s in front or disappear if you’re ahead, or whatever.

     

    Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) Questions to Valtteri and Sebastian. For Valtteri, three-quarters of the time you’re losing to Lewis is all in the last sector, he was three-tenths quicker than you. Is there something not to your liking in the car in that kind of corner. And for Sebastian, even though it’s not as bad as in the first two years, there’s still a difference in grip on the two sides of the grid. Does that worry you for the start tomorrow?

    VB: Yes, definitely the last sector in the qualifying I did struggle more. It felt more tricky for some reason than, for example, in some of the practice sessions. There’s been things I’ve been struggling with, with this car, with the brake modulation and front-locking and transferring the weight between the four wheels. It’s fine details but just struggled to get it together. Many times 13 and 15, lost a bit of time. Sometimes I got it right but still I couldn’t match Lewis in terms of cornering speeds, etcetera – but yeah, those are the longest corners, slow speed corners and normally the bigger differences are there.

     

    And Sebastian, the grip differential.

    SV: I don’t know. We see tomorrow. I saw Formula 4 race but they start on the other side, so the polesitter starts left. Anyway, the guy who started left turned in first into the first corner, so I don’t know. I don’t think there’s a big difference. We just need to make sure the cheerleaders tomorrow stay away from that side and they can get all excited on Lewis’ side.

     

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / Speed Sport) Lewis, you mentioned the rockets. F1 has a lot of high technology. A lot of it is kept hidden. What did you like about the high technology that you got to see at NASA?

    LH: Well, to be honest, a lot of the technology I saw quite pre-dated. The most impressive thing was the big rocket that was one of the first rockets to go up in the ‘70s, and the engine technology of the most power has not progressed since then, from what they told me. That was like the best they could do with it. I think the most impressive thing for it is that it had like 1.5million pounds of torque in those five engines, and the distance of the blast of the jet was like two or three hundred metres, which was awesome. I think it was just mind-blowing to see what they were able to do. How amazing the technology, and how great the scientists were back in the ‘60s, ‘70s when they were building those space rockets, and then obviously now they’re planning more missions to the Moon, and Mars, and the new space station, I guess they’re going to have to start designing and building the new space station sometime because the life of that thing’s about to run out. I think it was just great. There’s no other country that I’ve ever been… everyone around the world knows about the journey to space. You see the movies and it’s so fascinating, so to be there and actually speak to an astronaut who was the last one to go up to the space station and is going to be the one to pilot the next mission, I was like: “Can I join you? Or we can swap jobs, I don’t mind doing your job.” It’s just mind-blowing when you think of how many intelligent people there are there working. I think there’s something like 10,000 people working at NASA but I think there was a lot more in the earlier days and there are similarities to Formula One. Obviously on a much, much smaller scale but in terms of the science. Honestly, I’m a space geek. I was there and I was asking a million questions and I’d happily go and work at NASA if I had the brains to do so. I could definitely pilot one of those ships. No problem!

     

    Q: (Les Kaiser – Speed City) Lewis you half way joked when you responded “can I do with you?” How serious would you be if they approached you in another year or two to join them?

    LH: I would go immediately. I would go tomorrow. Generally, the trips are, like, two weeks, so I’d be back in time for the next trip. After the race, jump on the Shuttle, no problem. No, I really, really would love to go. I know someone that has gone up. It was quite expensive so I don’t know how that’s going to happen. If I win the lottery then definitely, I’m going to go.

     

    Q: (Peter Habicht – The Auto Channel) Question to each of the drivers: Formula One has often been described as a space race in motorsports in comparison to other forms of motorsport. Who or what about the hundreds of people that support your cars, your efforts, impresses you the most or strikes you the strongest?

    SV: Well, if you open the bonnet and you’re allowed to have a good look, which normally people unfortunately are not, they don’t get too close to the cars, then you’ll be impressed by how much stuff there is going on, especially with the new engines that we have, how complex they are. But still, we manage to get (them to be) more and more robust, run for longer with more power so obviously in the last couple of years that has been very crucial and there has been a big step in all areas on the power unit side. But I think really the most impressive bit is how everything comes together. You know you talk about the car in the end but it’s so much more. I know we’ve got the basic stuff: four tyres and yeah, for some people the cars look similar to how they looked ten, twenty, thirty years ago but how much has changed.  And seeing all that coming together, the planning of the project and how much work is going into the project and every year build a new car which is crazy but a completely new car. You try to improve, you try to come up with new ideas, solutions, better packaging, design, materials. You want to save weight. And then to see winter time, in that regard, is very very exciting to see it coming together and then firing up for the first time, driving out on the track for the first time. It’s really the work and brains of more than a thousand people. In the end, two drivers per team who have the chance to describe the feeling to drive the car so I think that’s really one of the most exciting bits. In my opinion, that also makes it a team sport because I can’t do it on my own, I’m not even close. You need every single one and you need to… I don’t know if you can compare it to an orchestra, you need to play in sync, perfect timing and then only then are you able to come up with a competitive package because the other teams that you’re up against are so good as well.

    VB: I have to say it’s how much every single person’s work actually makes a difference. Every single woman and man in a race team, whatever areas they work on, at the factory, in the race team, on the engine side, everyone’s work matters so much. All the credit goes to every single one in the team, there’s no one person who can make the big difference. It is, as a team, it’s really interesting to see, when a team works well, together, how big a difference you can make with the team spirit, and if everyone gives 100 percent instead of 99 percent and when there’s nearly a thousand people, it makes a massive difference and that’s nice to see.

    LH: I will try and keep it short but for me it’s the technology, it’s the design. I think the most impressive part is when you go back to the factory and you see what’s going on back then, a huge group of people with great creative minds coming together and really stretching the boundaries of the rules, legality-wise and advancing technology at a crazy rate. When you look at how they’re building these engines and the amount of test components you see they’ve failed and then they are able to dissect it and improve it for the next time, that for me is just mind-blowing when I go there, and I’ve been in the sport for a long time, obviously, but to see that every year, growing and improving and the process in which they do that, particularly quality control, has come so far forward which is probably why we are able to have the reliability, and that for me is the most mind-blowing thing.

     

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) To Sebastian and Lewis: at this race we can have the world title decided and we haven’t mentioned it in this press conference. Does it come to your mind at any moment? When will you take it into consideration?

    LH: Well, I mean it’s a bit like a game of chess. Obviously right now it’s check but there’s still a long long way to go. There’s still a hundred points available. Sebastian and his team are going to be working as hard as they can as are we. Who knows? It’s going to go to the wire I still think. In the next four races, I think they are going to give it a great shot and I’m going to do my utmost to try and defend and not only defend but really maximise and win these races. I want to win these races, that’s what I’m working towards and naturally, in winning races, points come and championships are won so that’s what I’m here to do.

    SV: Well, it’s pretty straightforward. I think we have to win and then we see what happens. Obviously we are not in the position that we would like to be but still we have a chance so we go for that and it’s pretty straightforward. We have the car, we had the car to win the last three races, didn’t happen, so I don’t see why the next four races we shouldn’t have the package to win so we start tomorrow.

     

    LH: Buddy, do you have a question for us? Do you have a question for us? You sure?

     

    Q: (“Buddy”) Are you excited to race in Austin?

    LH: Am I excited to race in Austin? Well I’m excited to meet you and yeah, I love racing this track, it’s so much fun, I think you’d love it. If I had a two-seater would like to go with me?

     

    Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport Magazin.com) Question for all three of you: it was pretty hot today, how much did you have to look at tyre temperatures, especially with ultrasoft in the fast flowing sector one or is the straight afterwards long enough to cool it down? How much was tyre temperature a concern for one lap today?

    LH: I think tyres are definitely… I mean there are a lot of high speed corners here, what’s really unfortunate is that TV’s not really able to show you the forces that are going through not only our bodies but the tyres, the car, how it’s flexing through these corners. I think here more than many of the other circuits through that first section you really can see the car shifting and turning. I don’t think people realise how tight those corners are and how ridiculously fast we’re going through them but it’s fantastic. With these tyres, they’re kind of like living tissue, you know? The temperature’s moving all the time so how you manage them on the out lap, whether you get a small slide or a bit of wheelspin affects the next corner and the corner after that. It’s kind of difficult to explain but it is really important to make sure you manage them in the best way possible to get the optimum performance for a lap and there is a knack to it for sure which obviously we are able to do.

    VB: Nothing to add really. We could actually push relatively hard. Obviously we needed to take care on the out lap but like the first sector, we could really go for it and the long straights, they definitely make it easier to cool them down a bit but like Lewis said, you still need to not go crazy with them.

    SV: Well first of all I don’t like the imagination of living tissue; that just sounds a bit… Yeah, I think we would like to push more but you obviously have to look after the tyres and manage them which to some degree is fine because it’s part of our skill set but still I prefer to be able to push more.

  • F1 2017: United States GP – Friday Practice Round-up

    F1 2017: United States GP – Friday Practice Round-up

    Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton topped both of Friday’s free practice sessions ahead of the United States grand prix.

    The first session proved a rather difficult one to read as most of the running was done on the intermediate tyre. While conditions remained slippery, and tricky, several cars spun out but, thankfully, didn’t incur any damage.

    Brendon Hartley made his debut for the Toro Rosso team alongside Sean Geleal in the morning session while Daniel Kvyat returned to the fold for the afternoon session and the remainder of the weekend. Carlos Sainz impressed in his first outing as a Renault driver by immediately out-pacing his new teammate Nico Hulkenberg.

    While championship leader Hamilton topped both 90 minute sessions the Ferrari’s of Vettel and Raikkonen and Red Bull’s of Verstappen and Ricciardo were ever present. With regard to long run pace there appeared to be little to choose between the top three teams. However, Vettel and Ferrari endured some suspension issues late on the afternoon session which were seemingly sorted.

    With a raft of penalties to be served on Sunday’s grid the verdict is still out on whether Verstappen will incur his own penalty for a new Internal combustion engine. As it stands Red Bull have not yet revealed whether this will be the case.

    The organizers of the Texas Gp along with the FIA and F1 teams have all done their bit to highlight Breast Cancer Awareness month with everything from racing gloves to shoes to the ultra soft tyre being accented in pink for the weekend. In conjunction with the Susan G. Komen foundation F1 is hoping to shine a light on finding a cure for and spreading awareness of breast cancer.

    The weekend is  an ultra important one for Vettel and Ferrari who must win in Texas to keep the championship fight going. In contrast, Hamilton, sure to be the more relaxed of the two championship contenders, is sitting pretty with a 59 point lead.

  • Hamilton Dominates Friday Practice for 2017 US Grand Prix

    Hamilton Dominates Friday Practice for 2017 US Grand Prix

    Lewis Hamilton had a rather dominant Friday during both free practice sessions for the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

    Hamilton, who has one hand on the drivers championship trophy coming into this weekend, looked comfortable in his car as soon as he took to the track comfortably setting the fastest times for both sessions.

    Free Practice 1

    The session got off to a damp and overcast start after drizzle before the start of the session meant that the session started with drivers heading out on the intermediate tyres.

    Hamilton set the pace early on in the session on the intermediate tyres but was then beaten by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. As the track dried out, it was Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel who ventured out on the super soft tyre and immediately set the fastest lap at the time. Few runs later and Hamilton was once again the fastest of the session with a best time of 1:36.335.

    Vettel finished 2nd fastest more that half a second off the pace with a best time of 1:36.928. Valtteri Bottas in the second Mercedes finished 3rd fastest with a best time of 1:36.979.

    Max Verstappen finished 4th for Red Bull while team-mate Daniel Ricciardo could only manage 16th after the team decided to make a lengthy setup change to his car which meant he had to sit out quite a bit of the session.

    Stoffel Vandoorne finished 5th for McLaren with Felipe Massa for Williams in 6th. Kimi Raikkonen was 7th ahead of the Force India pair of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez in 8th and 9th respectively.

    On his first outing with Renault, Carlos Sainz finished an impressive 10th.

    Although returning to F1 after a short break, Daniil Kvyat had to wait just a bit longer to get back in the car as Sean Geleal was given a FP1 outing. Sticking with Toro Rosso, Brandon Hartley, in his F1 debut finished his first session in 14th with a best time of 1:39.267


    Free Practice 2

    Free Practice 2 got underway with improved track conditions where once again, Lewis Hamilton set the pace on his ultra soft run with a 1:34.668.

    While Hamilton enjoyed the comfort of being the fastest is was a different story at Ferrari. While Kimi Raikkonen was able to enjoy some constant running, Sebastian Vettel ran into some trouble on his car and spent most of his time in the garage. Vettel was delayed in getting going in the session after Ferrari mechanics were working on his car. He emerged from the pits and got going. After a spin at Turn 19, he was back in the pits for a lengthy period.

    After emerging from the pits, he was back in his garage a lap later after reporting something wrong with his front axle. Vettel was able to get some running and put in a 3rd fastest lap of the session but it was still considerably off Hamilton’s time.

    Red Bull showed some good pace with Max Verstappen who finished the session 2nd fastest some 0.397s off Hamilton’s benchmark. Bottas was 4th fastest ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in 5th and fellow countryman Kimi Raikkonen in the second Ferrari in 6th.

    Fernando Alonso had a quiet but productive session and was rewarded with the 7th fastest time ahead of the Williams of Felipe Massa in 8th and the two Force India’s in 9th and 10th. Sergio Perez finishing ahead of his team mate this time.

    The tail wind at T19 which caught Vettel out caught out a few other drivers as well.

    Notable performances from Carlos Sainz in the Renault finishing ahead of team mate Hulkenberg while Daniil Kvyat finished 13th, laying down the challenge for Hartley who ended his session 17th fastest.

    Although just managing to complete 11 laps, Vettel seemed rather relaxed after the session. The long run pace of the Ferrari should be encouraging for him as it looks that Ferrari has the better race pace over Mercedes and Red Bull.

    It looks like it may be another smooth weekend for Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton while Vettel and Ferrari will have an uphill battle from here.