Tag: daniel ricciardo

F1 2016: Singapore Gp Review – Nail-biting Victory For Rosberg

There are twenty-three corners crammed into the Marina Bay circuit and the Singapore grand prix delivered nearly as many talking points.

Nico Rosberg dominated Saturday qualifying while Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo beat an off-colour Lewis Hamilton to the front row of the grid. It was a weekend in which Hamilton never looked comfortable or close to matching the pace of his teammate. He had no reason for it either, choosing to say that it just didn’t come together at the important moments.

Haas F1’s Romain Grosjean never made it to the start of the race as he suffered a brake-by-wire failure and start-line incident ended Nico Hulkenberg’s race in a shower of carbon fibre before it even began. The Hulkenberg crash demanded a short safety-car period but because it was at the start of the race it had no impact on the race.

Nico Rosberg, who had a clean getaway from the line, re-started the race with Ricciardo, Hamilton and Raikkonen in close attendance. The Red Bull driver was able to keep the Mercedes of Rosberg honest with a gap of four seconds while Hamilton came under increasing pressure from Raikkonen in the Ferrari.

The dominance of Mercedes over the last while often disguises what finely tuned machines they are and just how much they flirt with the edge at most races. In Singapore both Rosberg and Hamilton were required to manage their brakes from early on. This and relenting pressure from Raikkonen forced Hamilton into a mistake that allowed the Finnish Ferrari driver to pull off a great overtake for third.

By the second round of pitstops Rosberg still held an advantage over Ricciardo while Raikkonen was holding off Hamilton for third. However, Mercedes opted to switch Hamilton to Plan B, which meant an extra stop. Ferrari opted to cover Mercedes and Raikkonen dropped to fourth behind Hamilton. The mistake however wasn’t that Ferrari covered the Hamilton pitstop but the fact that they reacted too late. Had the pitted Raikkonen a lap earlier, or even on the same lap as Hamilton, he would’ve emerged in third place. But when a team is reacting rather than pre-empting you end up with a season, which, for Ferrari, has been littered with strategic errors.

While Rosberg stayed out Red Bull brought Ricciardo in for a fresh set of boots. The Aussie closed down a 26 second gap to the race leader but ultimately fell an agonizing 4 tenths of a second short. Behind Hamilton and Raikkonen Sebastian Vettel earned the driver-of-the-day tag by recovering from last to fifth overall. Max Verstappen finished sixth ahead of Fernando Alonso in seventh. Force India’s Sergio Perez finished eighth ahead of Daniil Kvyat in ninth and Renault’s Kevin Magnussen in tenth.

Since being demoted from the Red Bull team Kvyat has been missing in action and has often appeared demoralized after races. But the Singapore Gp felt like a turning point for him as he shone in a feisty battle with Verstappen, the man who took his place at Red Bull. F1 isn’t like other sports where you can glean information from an athlete’s body language or facial expression in the heat of battle. But as Kvyat fought tooth and nail against Verstappen, and kept him behind, the pride and passion were evident and very much welcome.

In the last few weeks Nico Rosberg has accomplished something he’s never done before. He has taken first-time victories in Belgium, Italy, and Singapore. He heads the table by eight points with six race remaining. If he carries his methodical approach through the remainder of the season, and doesn’t slip against Hamilton, he could accomplish something else he’s never done before, the driver’s world title.

September 19, 2016
2016 Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

DRIVERS

1 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

2 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

3 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

PODIUM INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by Martin Brundle)

Well done Nico, fantastic. Your 200^th grand prix, your third victory in four weeks, you now lead the championship again, but it wasn’t all plain sailing.

Nico ROSBERG: No, but it’s been an awesome weekend here in Singapore for me, already yesterday with the pole lap and then today, a great start, had a good car in the race. Of course Daniel tried to pull one up on me with the pit stop in the end there. We knew it was going to be tight at the end, but it worked out, so I’m really, really happy.

They were going to call you in to cover him off and then they made a late call, and it was the right call, but then you were under pressure all the way to the flag?

NR: Yeah, we couldn’t come in because I had traffic, so I was very slow on that lap and he would have beaten me. It was a cool ending.

We heard you were managing your brakes for more or less the whole race, tell us about that.

NR: Yeah, the whole car was on the edge, it always is in Singapore, so it’s all the more satisfying with a race like that.

Daniel Ricciardo, it’s your third consecutive time on this podium, but you needed just a few more centimetres for the top step.

Daniel RICCIARDO: Yeah, we’ve come very close this year on numerous occasions but you know, I’m not going to stand up here and be disappointed. I think we gave it a good shot. We tried something at the end with the strategy and we got within half a second. It was close but hey, we’re up here again; it feels great. There are a lot of Australian flags, every year I see more and more, so thank you very much.

You were on schedule to be on his gearbox with one or two laps to go and then he got a bit of traffic but it just fell away. One more lap and you would have been there.

DR: Yeah, it was close. As soon as we did the pit stop we thought Nico was going to come in, so I pushed really hard on those tyres and by the end they were a little bit dead, but at least we close and made it exciting.

The champagne pouring off you is boiling hot – a tough race.

DR: It’s a physical race, absolutely.

Lewis, it’s your 99^th podium but it’s not the sweetest one I suspect.

Lewis HAMILTON: No, definitely not, but first of all, big congratulations to Nico, he drove fantastically well all weekend and fully deserved the win. Very tough day today, as always it is here in Singapore. This weekend has just been a bot of a tricky one for me, but I’m still glad I could get back up on the podium and get some points for the team.

The first half of the race you were a bit frustrated with the tyres and your own pace and wondering what was going on and then suddenly you came alive.

LH: It was my brakes. I was struggling with my brakes, they were way overheating, so I just had to slow down, so I just had to watch the other guys pull away and I was just looking at different ways to try and get them back under control. Eventually once I did my second or third stop, all of a sudden my brakes were under control. But of course, towards the end I still got a bit of heat in them. I have a lot of support here this weekend and I just want to say a big thanks to everyone for coming out and we’ll keep pushing.

Eight points behind in the world championship now, is that a big concern for you?

LH: Well, it’s a lot different to when I was here last year, but in all in all, with everything that’s gone on this year, I’m still in the fight, there’s still a long way to go and I’m going to give it everything I’ve got.

Final word then Nico – six races to go in this championship, you are leading it yet again now, so you must be thinking ‘I can win this, I can take this’.

NR: No, I’m not focused on points. As I always say, I’m just happy with the win today. Thank you very much for coming today, you’ve been awesome this weekend, I hope you had fun and see you all again in Malaysia, soon.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Nico, many congratulations, you’ve won your 200^th Grand Prix, it’s your 22^nd Grand Prix victory and you’ve now got an eight-point lead in the World Championship. It was a brilliantly judged race – but were there a few nervous moments as the man on your right was closing in?

NR: Like with ten laps to go, or 15 laps to go, just after the pitstop, the team said he would be with me at the end of the race, which was the case, so for sure I had to be on it in that last stint and get everything right and nail all those laps. It really worked out, with the management, all the way to the end. The tyre lasted just right, so very, very happy, of course. By the time I started the last lap I knew it was going to be enough because Daniel also, his tyres weren’t as fresh any more, so by that time it was OK.

Q: Daniel, coming onto you. It was a brave roll of the dice at the end in terms of strategy. What are you feeling now? Just one more lap – or do you think you could have done anything differently?

DR: No, I don’t. I’m sitting here pretty happy because I felt I did all I could. The perfect race. If there was anything that could have been more perfect it was the start but Nico got off the line well. So, even with an amazing start we wouldn’t have got the jump. It looked like his was near-perfect. From that point we just tried to do what we could. Team put me on a three-stop at the end. It was fun. It was good to push the whole race and I knew I would get close to Nico at the end. So even if the track’s difficult to overtake, it was nice to be able to push to the last lap and know that I was at least putting some pressure on him and giving the crowd still a little bit of hope.

Q: Lewis, coming on to you. It was nip-and-tuck between you and Kimi throughout the race. How surprised were you that they called him in after you made your final stop?

LH: The team suggested they would do the same. To be honest we were both struggling with… we were both pushing quite hard in that stint and we both would have not made it to the end at the pace we were going, and so I kinda knew I was just pushing on my out-lap to see if I could undercut him, which fortunately we did.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Lennart Wermke – Bild) Nico, first of all congratulations, brilliant drive. There was a little incident with an over-ambitious marshal on the track at the very beginning of the race. I think you were driving towards him. Can you describe to us what happened and what did you see in this moment?

NR: Yeah, that was pretty hairy, for sure. I think just as we didn’t expect the restart, he didn’t either, I think, because the restart was somehow pretty abrupt. But he got out of the way just about in time so it was OK. Of course we all had to drive a bit carefully through there.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / Speed Sport) Nico, a couple of days ago you told us, 200^th race, not that big a deal. Is it now – or will it be one of your big deals?

NR: Yeah, winning the Singapore Grand Prix today is awesome. I’m really, really happy about that. The whole weekend went perfectly, so yes, today it’s a big deal. Tomorrow, not so much.

Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) To the Mercedes drivers, we heard over the radio your team was giving you warnings because of the brakes. Can you tell what happened and did these brake problems accompany you the whole race?

NR: Yes, the brakes were just on the limit. But we know that, it’s expected and it worked out fine. Yes, it’s right on the edge so it was not easy to manage throughout the whole race.

Lewis, do you have anything to add?

LH: Same as Nico. I guess the things that pops to mind is how much worse it’s going to be next year when we’ve got a heavier car. It’s a shame the cars are as heavy as they are because we can’t push, you can’t race very well when you’re behind people here – but that’s maybe just the circumstances of this race.

Daniel, can I follow up on that. Did you have any brake problems?

DR: Nothing in particularly. You do get… towards the end of the race you feel sometimes the pedal get a bit longer, so you know the brakes are wearing but we never got into a critical phase or I never really had to manage it. We came in expecting a few issues but it was actually pretty good.

Q: (Lim Say Heng – The New Paper) Nico, seven times in the last eight year the overall leader from after the Singapore race has gone on to win the drivers’ championship. How do you feel about that and how confident are you going into the last few races of the season.

NR: A statistic like that, it’s not something that I focus on, at all. It doesn’t have any importance to me. Today I’m just happy to win the race because that is what I came here to do. And now I’m going to celebrate after this. I can’t wait to get home. Next up is Malaysia, where I want to repeat that because feeling good at the moment. On a good roll so I’m going to try to win Malaysia next.

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Lewis, could you explain to us what happened when Kimi overtook you? Was it just a bumpy situation or were there no tyres left

LH: Yeah, it was just a mistake. Locked up on one of the bumps and ended up going almost straight on. Costly, but fortunately I was able to not lose anything after the next stint.

Q: (Ian De Cotta – The New Paper) Lewis, question as a follow-up of the statistic about the Singapore race, drivers going on to win the championship; how do you feel going forward to Malaysia? Do you think Mercedes could solve the problems that you had?

LH: We have a good car. We’ve got to have a good weekend. We’ve come from 43 points down so theoretically eight points isn’t anywhere near as steep as that but still, Nico’s been performing fantastically well. This weekend he’s done an amazing job. I expect him to continue like that so I’ve got make sure that I do the same..

Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Lewis, at the end of the race, you seemed quicker than at the beginning. Was it because you had fresh tyres or because you were allowed to push to maximum attack?

LH: It was partly because of the fresh tyres but mostly because the car was getting lighter, the brakes became a lot easier to control. Once my signal of brake overheating reduced, I was able to start to pick up the pace. I was still getting the warnings towards the end but like the last ten laps, I just kind of just let it continue flashing as a warning and hoped for the best. Fortunately the pace was better.

Q: (Berk Serioglu – Motorsport.com) Nico, it seems like you have changed your strategy in the race. Did it happen as the race went on or was it planned before the race?

NR: No, everything went according to plan, just it was they (Red Bull) who didn’t go to plan that caused a bit of a challenge at the end. But for us, everything was to plan.

Q: (Don Kennedy – Hawkes Bay Today) Nico, you’ve won Spa, Monza and now Singapore, races you hadn’t won before and you’ve taken the championship lead again. Surely that must excite you or do we start giving you the nickname Mr Cool?

NR: No, I’m just excited about winning the race today. I’m not excited about any of those other points. Sorry. Just awesome to win here in Singapore, first time out there. I don’t have the best of memories here, this track hasn’t treated me well here in the past so today is a good one.

Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Daniel, just before you pitted for the third time, you had reduced the gap to Nico to three seconds, I think. With hindsight, do you think you would have had a better chance even to beat Nico if you had stayed out?

DR: I don’t know. I felt pretty good on the soft tyre, so I think our pace was more or less there but to overtake around here and a Mercedes isn’t easy, so to do it on the same tyre, even if I was half a second quicker, maybe if I caught him, you still need a pretty big advantage to pull something off here unless a mistake is made by the guy in front. Yeah, I think we did the right thing in the end. Obviously it still didn’t give us victory but I think staying on the same tyre probably wouldn’t have given us any better chance.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action, Speedsport) Daniel, this was, as you said before, one of the best chances to win. Where will the next one come?

DR: With some rain, yeah. I think in dry circumstances this was our best shot. We got within half a second but after the race I said on the radio to the team that we will win this year. We’ll get a downpour somewhere and that’ll hopefully throw a few curved balls and we can middle it and get the victory we’re after.

Q: (Wojciech Paprota – Swiatwyscigow.pl) To Nico and Lewis, yesterday Toto said that it was one of the highlights of his life to see you being competitive during the Singapore Grand Prix after last year’s race. Do you also see this year’s result as a milestone?

NR: It really shows that not only do we have the best car but also we have the best, most competent group of engineers, to extract the potential from the best car, from every weekend, changing the car, adapting to the new circuits, to the different circuits and understanding, because last year we were absolutely nowhere here. We got destroyed by Red Bull and Ferrari and we understood what we did wrong and came back this year and beat them on their strongest track. That’s really awesome to see that.

LH: I think Nico just answered it perfectly well.

September 18, 2016
Rosberg takes Singapore GP pole ahead of Ricciardo

Nico Rosberg must be feeling a little boost on his bid for the F1 championship title after putting in a sensational lap to secure a crucial pole position for the Singapore GP this weekend.

Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton will not be feeling as boosted though. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo beat him to the second spot on the grid and will be starting from the front row alongside Rosberg. The Red Bulls have been looking very strong this weekend which could really see us set for a spectacular Singapore GP.

Rosberg pulled a stunning 1:42.584 out of the bag on his first Q3 run which saw him ultimately taking the pole position by over half a second ahead of Ricciardo.

Hamilton was simply not able to put together a good enough lap and finished seven tenths further back. He’s going to need a really good race start if he wants to snatch the win from his team mate. His race starts however have not been fantastic lately, so he’ll need to give it a proper go when the lights go out on Sunday.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen will start from 4th place and Kimi Raikkonen will start the race from 5th for Ferrari. His team mate, Sebastian Vettel will start from the back of the grid following some mechanical issues. His fight up the order will surely make for some awesome entertainment.

Toro Rosso had a very strong qualifying. Carlos Sainz will start from P6 and the disgruntled Danill Kvyat had his best qualifying since being demoted from Red Bull, finishing 7th fastest today.

The top 10 is rounded out by Nico Hulkenberg, Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez. Perez however will drop back 8 grid positions for yellow flag infringements.

Valterri Bottas so nearly made it through to the Q3 shootout but missed the mark the 0.003s. Williams team mate Felipe Massa finished just behind him.

McLaren’s Jenson Button had to settle for 13th place after he had to pull over into an escape road with a puncture in the final stages of Q2. Esteban Gutierrez will line up behind him in 14th place for the Haas F1 racing team.

Haas team mate Romain Grosjean ended the session in the barriers after spinning into T14 – his crash caused a ten minute delay on the start of Q3.

Marcus Ericsson got his Sauber through to Q2 but could only manage 16th place after his single run for the session. Kevin Magnussen will line up in 17th place behind him ahead of Felipe Nasr and Jolyon Palmer.

Pascal Wehrelin brought his Manor home 20th ahead of team mate Esteban Ocon.

Sebastian Vettel remains the biggest casualty of the Singapore GP qualifying, suffering a broken anti-roll bar which saw him unable to compete. He may have been sitting on pole in 2015, but this year, the Ferrari driver will start the Singapore GP from the final grid spot.

Join us for live commentary and a bit of F1 chit-chat on Twitter @F1_Madness.

September 17, 2016
2016 Singapore Grand Prix: Post Qualifying Press Conference

DRIVERS

1 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

2 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

3 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

TV UNILATERAL

Nico, congratulations, that was a stunning lap, half a second quicker than anyone else, tell us about it?

Nico ROSBERG: yeah, definitely happy with that one for my 200^th grand prix. For sure one of my top three laps ever, so happy with that. It really went well. At times it wasn’t clear in qualifying how we were going to stack up against Red Bull for example, because they were very quick on the supersoft in Q2 for example, so I knew I had to give it everything and really pull one out of the bag, which was cool. Great feeling.

Congratulations. Daniel, you left it late but you are on the front row. How pleased are you with that final effort in Q3?

Daniel Ricciardo: Pleased enough. The aim was to try to be on the front row. We knew it would be hard to try and get in front of the Mercedes, so it was nice to at least get one. We made improvements for qualifying through practice. We were still trying to find some stuff with the car and it finally came good in qualifying, got better, the rhythm for the session was good. We qualified on the supersoft for Q2, so we’ll start the race on that tyre. Obviously we feel it’s a good thing; let’s see if it makes a difference tomorrow, but the last lap in Q3 was clean. It probably wasn’t as good as Nico’s but it was clean and good enough for the front row.

Well done to you. Lewis, coming on to you, it was clearly a frustrating session for you, just talk us through it.

Lewis HAMILTON: It wasn’t really a frustrating session, it’s just not been my weekend so far. Just not really got many good laps out there and I’ve not been able to string them together, and that was the case today. Nico did a great job and showed the true potential of the car. Hopefully tomorrow, try and at least get one step up ahead to give that front row for the team.

Thank you. Coming back to you Nico, as you say, you’re starting your 200^th grand prix from pole position in what promises to be a long and dramatic race. Are you worried about the man next door to you on the front row starting on a different tyre?

NR: Worried no, but for sure I will be keeping an eye on him, because they were quick on race pace on Friday, I think probably more so than on the qualifying pace, so for sure he is going to be a threat especially with that supersoft tyre.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Nico, you said that lap in Q3 was in the top three of your career. I was going to say ‘tell us which one were better’, because that lap really did look particularly good.

NR: It’s difficult to say. There’s always a little fraction here or there that could be better, but it felt great all around. It was really cool.

Daniel, was it always the plan to go through from Q2 on the supersoft tyre? Were there any nerves that you wouldn’t make it without putting the ultrasoft on?

DR: No, it was always the plan, even before the weekend. We expected other teams to do it as well. I would say we are but surprised we are the only ones. Yeah it was always the plans. Obviously we have to pick the tyres a long way before the race. I don’t know if it was the case that Mercedes or Ferrari for example didn’t have enough supersofts to perhaps qualify on them…

NR: We had them.

DR: Oh, you had them? OK! So, yeah, let’s see tomorrow. It’s a bit like Monaco. We did that thinking it would be the right thing, then we didn’t get a chance to see it with the wet start. But tomorrow, I think it’s going to be dry here so we’ll get a chance to see if it works.

Lewis, it didn’t work out for you in qualifying, but how is the car performing on the longer runs. Do you have high hopes for tomorrow’s grand prix?

LH: I’ve not really looked at the long runs to be honest. Obviously I didn’t get to do long runs yesterday, so I’m not quite sure. I think Nico did some running; our cars are set up a little bit different. I don’t think we’re in a bad position but I’ll find out tomorrow for the first time.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Candra Kurnia – Jawa Post) For both of you, Nico and Daniel. Singapore GP has been won only by World Champions. Do you think new history will be written tomorrow?

NR: It may be time to change that then. I’ll give it everything tomorrow. But I was surprised to hear that, actually, that only three people have ever won the Singapore Grand Prix in all these years. But anyways, I’m feeling good for tomorrow and, of course, I have a good chance.

Daniel, more thoughts from you about tomorrow?

DR: Yeah, obviously would love to win it. I think we’ve created a good opportunity, starting on the front row. I think as Nico touched on, our race pace was pretty good yesterday. Here track position can dictate a lot and Safety Cars as well. We’re in a good position. Hopefully for our sake it’s a new winner. Obviously Seb had his problems today, so I think he was potentially a contender but I think he’s going to be out of the picture, so out of the front guys it’s probably Lewis that will be the closest World Champion to threaten. Otherwise we’ll hopefully try to get it done. Well not ‘we’. ‘I’. We can’t both win. Sorry.

Q: (Wojciech Paprota – Swiatwyscigow.pl) Lewis, I have a question for you. We saw you going wide in Turn Seven. What makes this corner a bit more difficult than the other ones?

LH: It’s not more difficult than any of the other corners on the track, honestly. It’s one of the two or three highest braking corners, it’s quite bumpy but that’s about it.

Q: (Ian De Cotta – The New Paper) You said that you want to get Monaco back in Singapore, do you think you can do that? And Lewis, you are a little bit on the back foot for tomorrow’s race in the World Championship, what are your thoughts on that.

DR: Sure, I would love to get a win this year, obviously we’ve come close but haven’t held the big trophy on Sunday. I’ve put myself in a good position. Obviously pole would have been ideal but second is the next best for today. You get a good start, if you get good track position then you can try to control the race as well as possible. There will be some curveballs I’m sure tomorrow with safety cars and whatnot but yeah, at least we’re at the pointy end. Hopefully stay out of trouble and then try and get that victory this year.

And Lewis?

LH: I’ve kind of been on the back foot all year long so there’s no real difference to me. I’ll do the best job I can from there and try and fight my way through. It’s a very hard track to overtake so, you’re usually stuck where you are but there’s lots of safety cars at this race so lots can happen during the race.

Q: (Don Kennedy – Hawkes Bay Today) Nico, since you came back from the summer break you seem to be on fire, not only in terms of your driving but mentally as well. Do you think you’ve now turned the corner psychologically in your battle with Lewis for the championship?

NR: I don’t think of it in that sense and I don’t think of trends or anything like that. I’m feeling good at the moment but I was feeling good before the summer break as well and just focusing on the weekend that I have at hand here in Singapore and my aim is to try and win this race and for now, of course, it’s looking like I have a very good chance for tomorrow and that’s it. I don’t think beyond that so no, sorry.

Q: (Wang Meng Meng – Straits Times) Nico, just now you said you were surprised to find that there were only three men who won the Singapore Grand Prix. Here’s another stat: six out of the eight men who were on pole won a Grand Prix here. What are your thoughts on this?

NR: I like that statistic!

Q: (Berk Serioglu – Motorsport.com) Lewis, as a driver, the strongest part of your driving style is the braking. This weekend we could see that you struggled too much with your braking. What’s the issue behind it?

LH: Well, in qualifying it wasn’t a problem. We had a problem in practice with something happening with the front suspension, it was not working properly and that was it. They fixed that and then it wasn’t a problem in qualifying.

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) I would like to ask you why you didn’t use the supersoft tyres in Q2 for example? It’s a question maybe also for Nico.

LH: I trust our strategist. He’s done a great job. I think we’re on the right strategy but of course they’ve done a good job. Time will tell, I guess, tomorrow. They’re on a harder tyre which should generally go longer but obviously Nico’s in the front so he will probably control the race from there and make it as hard as possible for Daniel to get or for us to get by. I think they’ve done the right job.

NR: Strategy is one of our strengths, one of our many strengths so I don’t have any concerns there but of course we need to work out the best plan for tomorrow but I think we’re looking good. The final thing is just to say that it shows the quality of our team at the moment that this being our most difficult track last year we really came away and learned what went wrong and really turned things round and now dominated this weekend up to now in qualifying. Of course there’s still the race but last year we were nowhere in qualifying so it really shows the quality of the team to understand something like that and turn it around in such a way.

September 17, 2016
F1 2016: Singapore Gp Free Practice 3 Report – Rosberg Leads

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg set the quickest time overall in the final free practice session for the Singapore grand prix.

The one hour session was momentarily red flagged early on as Pascal Wehrlein’s Manor made contact with the wall and left debris on the circuit.

As the session resumed several drivers took the the circuit to make the final preparation for the qualifying session and Sunday’s race. Nico Rosberg set a quickest time of 1:44:352, while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen completed the top three.

Lewis Hamilton ended the session with the eighth quickest time after flat-spotting his ultrasoft tyre on his qualifying simulation run.

Free Practice Three Standings

September 17, 2016
2016 Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

DRIVERS – Marcus ERICSSON (Sauber), Felipe NASR (Sauber), Jolyon PALMER (Renault), Sergio PEREZ (Force India), Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing), Valtteri BOTTAS (Williams)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Congratulations on your marriage last week. While your private life is settled, clearly you will be looking for a new partner in a professional sense next year, as a team-mate at Williams. What kind of driver would suit, a rookie or someone more experienced?

Valtteri BOTTAS: Thank you very much. The one thing is it is a fact that I’m going to have a new team-mate next year and it’s still not obviously confirmed if I will be with Williams or not, but yeah, new team-mate and I’ve always said and that’s how I feel, the quicker team-mate you have, it doesn’t matter who it is, as long as he’s quick it always boosts the performance of both drivers and helps the team, so that’s always good. And a team player would be nice, but obviously I have nothing to do with choosing the team-mate, it’s completely up to the team who I will be racing with so I hope everything’s OK.

The battle with Force India in the championship is very tight: they were ahead on points, you moved back ahead after Monza. Where do you think your relative strengths lie as teams?

VB: I think it’s going to be a great battle between us and Force India, we been have really close the last six races, really depending on the track; some tracks they have their strong points and some places us. So I think overall we are very, very equal in terms of how quick the cars are so it will be just depending race by race and trying to maximise everything, getting the strategy right every time and having a good qualifying, trying to be ahead of them. I’m looking forward to the end of the year and it’s going to be a good fight.

Marcus, coming to you: congratulations, 50th GP start this weekend, only 4th Swede to make that mark. Sauber is now hiring again, some solid signings the last few weeks, how is the team evolving??

Marcus ERICSSON: Thanks a lot. Yeah, 50 sounds like a lot of race, but it’s nice. With the team I think we are definitely moving in the right direction. Like you say, we got some new signings, new personnel in the team, and it’s good, with fresh ideas, it’s positive for everyone I think. Also on the car side we got some updates going in the last couple of races and it’s interesting, we’re trying them out, trying to optimise them, and coming here to Singapore will also be very interesting for us because it will be the first time we really run the full new package we have introduced after the summer break, so it will be a very interesting weekend for us to see how far it gets us really.

What weaknesses were you working on with that update package and what are you expecting this weekend from the sort of test that Singapore provides?

ME: I think for sure it’s just general downforce that we have been lacking and hopefully from the signs we have got so far is that we have gained quite a bit on that side. Like I said, it’s been both Monza and Spa, the last two races that we have had this package; it’s not been high downforce tracks. It’s a bit of an unknown, so hopefully here in Singapore it’s obviously a very high downforce track so we will see then how this update package is working.

Felipe, coming to you: In points here last year. It’s always a complex race strategy wise as Valtteri was alluding to earlier on, but with three different tyre options this season, how do you see the variables playing out, Saturday and Sunday?

Felipe NASR: Well, yes it is, it’s normally a very challenging track, very demanding for both the car and the drivers and I feel the tyres will play a big part on it this weekend, you know having such softer compounds. I will be curious to see how many stops will be going in the race and I think the key really is to understand the tyres, how much you can make them last, understand how the car is reacting on track, with the temperatures here being very high. So it’s always a challenging weekend and Singapore always brings some surprises in terms of the racing always being exciting. A lot of things can happen so hopefully we are in a position to take any profit.

The driver market is in gear now, you’ve been linked with a possible move to Williams, there may be openings at Renault, obviously Sauber has had investment. What’s your personal objective regarding next season??

FN: Well, it’s difficult to say. Right now I don’t have any news. Hopefully soon but right now I don’t have much to say realty. All I can say, at Sauber things are moving forward. I can see the team really stepping up a lot of new people coming in, so as I said, it’s still a very attractive place to be, but it’s still and unknown. Hopefully when I have some news I’ll bring it in.

OK, thank you very much for that. Sergio, 23-race finishing streak, scored points in all five of your appearances here in Singapore. What do you like about Singapore and do you see this as a weekend where you’ll get the edge back over Williams?

Sergio PEREZ: Yeah well, that’s the target coming here. We obviously want to close up the gap. We lost out in the battle last race. We knew they were going to he strong there, so hopefully here we can close up and hopefully beat them. Singapore is a great place, it’s a very unique race, starting from racing at night, the way you get your routine; it’s totally different to any other race, waking up so late, going to bed also. Yesterday I was running at the track at 1am in the morning. Things like that are just not common in any other race. Also, the track is a very big challenge – mentally, physically, it’s just very difficult to finish the race, not having a contact or a crash. So it’s always important to make it until the end of the race. So hopefully I can keep my good score in Singapore with the points on Sunday.

You seem to hold the key to the driver market at present. Force India say you are definitely with them next year, when will we know for sure your plans for 2017?

SP: Well, I tried. I was hoping to be able to be in a position to announce my plans for this weekend. Obviously we got some delays. But I really hope that bef0re the next race we can definitely announce where I’ll be racing.

Any little hints?

SP: Well, I always say I’ll be very happy if I can stay, if everything is fine for me to stay where I am.

Jolyon, you won GP2 feature race here in 2013 and you’ve outqualified your team-mate Magnussen in 3 of the last 4 races, do you feel it’s an important moment to show what you can do with an eye on securing a seat for next season?

Jolyon PALMER: I think so, yeah. Still obviously the seats are in doubt, or up for grabs, so every race from now on is a chance to show what I can do. It’s a track I really like here and I feel like I’m driving the best I’ve driven all season at the moment. The results haven’t really shown in the last couple of races but I feel good within myself. Yeah, it’s a track I really like, I’ve had some good success here before, so hopefully keep on the good form at the moment and I think this one will suit our car a little bit more as well. Hopefully we will be able to challenge a little bit higher and I can show what I can do a bit more.

That leads on to my next question: Renault have been rather erratic in qualifying, between row seven and row 11 of the grid depending on which race track, so is this more of a row seven weekend than a row 11 weekend?

JP: I think it’s more of a row seven. Row 11, Monza was pretty much everything that we don’t want from a track. It was high speeds; Renault has made good steps with the engine but we’re still behind Ferrari and Mercedes, and then slow-speed corners and kerb riding, so it was everything we don’t want. Here, the straight-line speed is not so much; the corners are more suited to us. Even though it’s a street circuit, it’s reasonably smooth, so I think this could be one of our best of the year.

Coming to you Daniel: twice on the podium here, front-row starter last year and Monaco pole sitter this year, that adds up to making you many people’s favourite for this weekend, Do you share that view?

Daniel RICCIARDO: I think I’ve got a pretty good chance of the top 10, absolutely. That’s about it.

Come on, you can do better than that!

DR: I hope so, but top 10 is pretty safe you’d think.

The narrative for this weekend seems to be a chance to put right what went wrong in Monaco, to take the win that was snatched from you in the Principality, do you have a sense of unfinished business and are you asking the team for perfect execution this weekend?

DR: It’s obviously the next closest track to Monaco, so sure we look at it as a good chance to try to get the victory I’ve been after this season. With the team, since Monaco, a lot of things have been working better, in terms of I think we’ve executed a lot more on a Sunday and I’ve left Sundays feeling a lot happier the last handful of races, so that’s been good on both sides. I feel I have executed as well good things on Sunday. Let’s see. I’m not going to put too much pressure on myself or them for this weekend but I think deep down we obviously want to win. I believe we are a group of winners, so if there is a bit of pressure on us to get it done then I think we will thrive off that. Let’s see what happens. I’m definitely prepared and excited. I don’t know what I’m paying for a top 10, but it’s safe money.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) Question for Valtteri, Monza was supposed to be a very good circuit for your car – and it was, you could compete with Red Bull. This, on the other hand, shouldn’t be as good, so what are the expectations for this weekend?

VB: Yeah, definitely. Monza was a lot better than what we’ve seen in the few races before that with high speed circuits really suiting our car. Definitely had Red Bull had a bit of an upper hand but definitely we could keep them behind for quite a long time. And yeah, this is a completely different circuit. You need so much more downforce from the car, you need good mechanical grip, you need good tyre life. Last year it wasn’t too bad for us actually, coming to the weekend slightly carefully but then ending up fifth in the race with reasonable pace all weekend. So I think there are still good opportunities here, even though it’s maybe in theory the best – but I always see every weekend as a new opportunity, especially here where with a good qualifying, and if we can get a perfect strategy, very strong points are still possible.

Q: (Wojciech Paprota – Swiatwyscigow.pl) Question to all of the drivers, a simple one. Do you think it’s the hardest race of the calendar?

ME: Definitely. I think it’s for sure the hardest race of the year. It’s probably similar heat and humidity to Malaysia but just the fact it’s a street circuit and not many places to rest makes it the hardest one. But I like it, it’s a good challenge and you need to be really on top of your fitness. For me it’s the toughest – but it’s also one of the most enjoyable.

Jolyon?

JP: I’ve never raced it in Formula One but in GP2 it was hard. It was the hardest of the year in that so I believe these guys – I’m sure they’re all going to say it’s the hardest.

Felipe?

FN: I agree. I think it’s an amazing event. Night race, very demanding as I said, for both car and driver. Really it’s an endless track, you’re just doing corner by corner and to get everything precisely correct, it’s a challenge. The race itself, normally it brings a lot of surprises here so I’m looking forward to the weekend, as I said, we’ve been fighting to get, to sneak into those points, so why not this weekend? Let’s try it again.

Valtteri, you find this the toughest?

VB: It is, at least physically at least it is the toughest. Mentally, I think it feels a bit like Monaco. It’s very intense and needs to be zero mistakes during the race.

Daniel, bit of tiredness, fatigue coming in, affecting concentration towards the end? Always a bit of an enemy there I guess?

DR: Yeah, when you’re a high performance athlete… it is, it’s the toughest, sure. I think they touched on it, it’s similar heat and humidity to Malaysia but you’re surrounded by just the city and a lot of concrete, so it’s the one race I feel where you open your visor to get some air and you’re not getting any reward for that. It’s just heat and stale air. In Malaysia there’s a bit of circulation: even though it’s hot you get a bit of a breeze but here, no. It’s a track that you can’t… if you come here unprepared, then you can’t luck into a good result. You’ve got to come ready to go.

Sergio?

SP: I don’t feel the heat at all! I think it’s just a normal race. No, just kidding. I think it’s a really hard race out there. The last ten laps, twenty laps, you’re really praying for a safety car because it’s just really hard to finish the race, physically. And mentally as well. Mentally it’s a very big challenge because every corner, most of the corners, if you do a mistake you just touch the wall and it’s a puncture or something like that. I would say for me it’s definitely the most demanding race of the year.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / Speed Sport) Daniel, the last couple of times on the podium you’ve poured the sparkling wine into your shoe and drank it. What’s the background for all that?

DR: I didn’t start it! Well, as far as I know I started it in Formula One but not worldwide. It was a few loose Aussies, from what I saw, the Mad Hueys, they’re surfies and fisherman and just loose guys, they travel the world fishing, surfing and whatever and they like to drink a bit of beer and whatnot, and that’s where the shoey began. On their travels they’d get people to do it as well and it’s just a bit of a laugh. I know Jack Miller knows a few of the guys from the Mad Hueys, so when he got his win in Assen, I suspected he was going to do it, and he did, so I thought I’d keep the Australian tradition going – and now Valentino’s got in on the mix, I saw he Instagrammed it yesterday and he said “everyone loves a shoey”, and “delicious”, and all that. A few words I used for it. I think it’s just a bit of fun now – everyone’s enjoying it.

VB: How does it taste?

DR: Honestly, if the sparkling wine is cold, then it tastes good. Normally it’s cold on the podium, if it’s warm then sure, you’d get the sweat and that through it – but the cold taste kills the bad stuff, so it’s delicious, as we said!

So we can expect a shoe on Sunday if you win?

DR: If I win, sure! If it’s just a second or third probably not now. For a victory, I’d expect to see a few people do it with me!

Q: (Chris Lines – AP) Question for Dan, bit different tyre strategy between Red Bull and Ferrari this weekend in terms of allocation of super soft and ultra soft. Do you think the tyre strategy will be the key factor here or will there be something else?

DR: I think it can maybe decide a few things, whether it’s on Sunday I’m not sure, obviously we’ve got freedom to use any of those tyres during practice. Maybe us or Ferrari for example, will change our practice runs now and use a different compound to try and have something similar for the race – but yeah, it can, here because it’s so hot, the tyres do normally get a hard time and it’s low speed corners, a lot of traction and the rears can get a hard time for sure so I think if you’ve got too many softer compounds, you might run into a bit of trouble in the race but we’ll see. It’s been quite exciting this year, being able to use three compounds over a weekend and having been forced to choose them months in advance. Sure, if we could have picked the tyres this week, we all probably would have done something different. It’s a bit more of a lottery, makes it exciting and makes our practice runs perhaps a little bit more calculated.

Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) Obviously since Monza, gentlemen, some quite seismic news in Formula One, new commercial rights holders, new owners in Liberty Media. As drivers, you keep saying that you’d quite like to have more of an input in the sport so if the new owners came to you and said what would you like to see in the future, to maybe make the sport better, to put a bigger smile on your faces, what would your advice be to them?

SP: I think I would love to see Formula One a lot closer, the competition a lot closer, closer teams, giving the midfield teams the opportunity to be capable of winning a race, fighting for titles. I think that would be just something great for the fans to see one race Williams on top, another race another team, that would just be very good and for that you need to change the system, how you divide the money because there’s obviously a massive difference, so I think that would be a very good thing for the sport.

DR: Nothing springs to mind; obviously we always talk about bits and pieces but nothing, I guess, that anyone’s heard before. Saturday races, like a Saturday race as opposed to Sunday, just so we can plan a bigger night on Saturday. That would be good fun!

VB: Yeah, I think we need to see first of all how next year is going to be with all the changes already fixed for next year with the new cars, bigger tyres, more grip. I think we need to see how it goes then.

FN: I would say a bit of what they have already said I agree with but I think the most important thing is to see closer competition between the cars, I think that’s what I hear from people or from fans – they always like to see more fighting on track between car, between teams. I think the closing line is what were looking for but also next year we have a big change in terms of the cars being different. I think everything will be a bit more aggressive in terms of the racing itself so let’s wait and see how it goes and we’ll take it from there.

JP: Yeah, I would agree with these guys. I think the main thing is closer competition. At the moment, we turn up for a weekend and we pretty much know maybe it’s two, four, maximum six drivers can win the race but it would be nice to turn up here and think maybe, you know, Williams can win or maybe Force India or maybe someone can put in a big surprise. I think that’s the biggest thing which would change a lot of fan involvement and make it a lot more interesting to watch.

ME: Not much to add, I agree with these guys: closer competition throughout the grid and more teams getting involved in race wins and podiums. I think that will make a big difference for the attraction to fans. That would be the biggest thing for me.

Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) For the three drivers in the back row: not so long ago, you were fighting for championships and winning them and fighting for victories but you get to two thirds of this season and you have no points probably for the first time in your careers. Does that play a little bit on your mind when you go into a race weekend and how do you cope with it?

FN: Well, I guess I’m experienced at this. Last year I had plenty of opportunities to score points and it’s very rewarding when you can come into a weekend knowing that you have something to fight for. As I said, most of it is the reward you get back but coming to this year, you’re facing a lot more difficulties but on the other hand, you try to explore areas that you’re not really giving a hundred percent attention to so I think that as a driver I feel a lot more complete this year. Any opportunity counts so when it comes to a race weekend like this in Singapore, we know that there are a number of facts that happen in the race, you must be ready because they can come any time so let’s see. Three of us here, we don’t have a point so let’s see who gets it first, if we can…

JP: I’m not massively focused on it. Of course I want to score points but if we don’t have the car to score points then there’s nothing we can really do. I’m focused on my own job, basically doing the best job I can with the machinery I’ve got. The last two races have been quite difficult. Hungary was the better chance to score, I think this one will be a better chance to score but I think for me it’s all about improving as a driver, doing the best job I can with the machinery I’ve got and then I’m sure… I know in the future Renault will be fighting for points. If I can do a good job with what I’ve got at the moment, then the points will come further down the line.

ME: Yeah, of course it’s different to when we were in junior categories like I said, fighting for wins every weekend or at least aiming for them. Now it’s different. When you’re in a smaller team and you know you’re going into a weekend when even scoring points is a big challenge – it’s a different mindset but it’s something you have to accept and that’s how it is in Formula One. I think it’s always been like that as well, that different teams have different strengths so you need to accept that and try and maximise the car that you’ve got and that’s all you can do, focusing a lot on your own performance and maybe not look so much at the results because it’s more important to try and maximise what you’ve got. But of course, it’s a lot nicer if you can fight for points.

Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, you have scored only 26 points from the last seven races since Canada; what number of points would have satisfied you from the last seven races?

VB: Yeah, it’s not quite as many as I was hoping for after being on the podium in Canada but it is what it is at the moment. I can’t say the exact number of points but the absolute maximum we can… I hope as a team we can leave every single race weekend at the end of the year feeling that we maximised the weekend, that we got everything out of it and the same for me personally. As a driver, that’s the main thing and hopefully that way we will be ahead of these guys (Force India).

Q: (S. Dipak Ragav – The Hindu) Sergio, for the last two years, Force India have had a slow start to the season. Do you think it’s a concern for you, going into the next year with the regulations? And the second part of my question is if Force India finishes fourth, do you think it has the ability, in terms of resources and infrastructure, to take the leap to beat the top three like Red Bull did in 2008, 2009?

SP: Yes, I think the team, especially this season, now that the rules are more consistent, I think we started with a competitive car. We just needed to figure out some set-up options on the car to improve the tyre degradation but the car straight away in qualifying was capable of achieving Q3s in the early part of the year so that makes a good difference. And when you look at the past, when we had the massive regulation change for 2014, on my third race I was on the podium for the team, so it shows that Force India is capable of adapting well to new regulations so I think we have the potential to do so. I believe that we are going to be in front of them (Williams) at the end of the year so I really hope that we move up and hopefully next year we can do another step forward which is going to be very tough. Now you’re fighting Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes, so it’s going to be very tough but I fully believe in the team and I think if we manage to finish fourth it will be a massive bonus for everyone in the team.

Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Jolyon, have you been given any indication by Renault when you’ll get a decision for next year?

JP: No, nothing yet, so yeah, nothing changes for me really: just keep doing the job, I’ll know when I know but yeah, if I just keep doing what I’m doing. I know I’m in the mix but we’ll just see how things pan out.

September 15, 2016
F1 2016: Singapore Gp Preview – Spectacular Singapore

The Formula 1 paddock leaves Europe behind as it sets off the final push for the 2016 season. First on the flyaway schedule is the Marina Bay Circuit in Singapore.

As the first ever night race on the calendar the 2008 debut of the Singapore grand prix will forever be shrouded in controversy. It was during this grand prix that the infamous ‘crashgate’ scandal was born as Renault ordered then driver Nelson Piquet Jr. to deliberately crash in aid of teammate Fernando Alonso.

Luckily this incident didn’t mar the reputation of the Singapore Gp which has become a favourite on the calendar for drivers and fans. For fans the spectacular vista of Singapore presents a cosmopolitan destination while the novelty of a night race hasn’t yet worn off. The light skimming across the sculpted bodywork of a Formula 1 car continues to be one of the most visceral experiences of the year.

For the drivers, the Marina Bay Circuit is as a demanding a track as they are likely to face in the entire season. In layman’s terms this circuit would be described as busy. Throughout just five kilometers drivers are bombarded with 23 corners with barriers and walls lying in wait to punish the smallest of errors. The level of concentration required is second to none along with the added factor of weather conditions. Though are supremely fit athletes drivers easily point out that the level of concentration required and the dense humidity make Singapore the most physically demanding race of the year.

It’s not a dawdle for the cars either. The nature of this street circuit demands a high downforce setup and it’s tough on brakes too. Here horsepower isn’t as important as a good chassis, which will bring more teams into the mix for the ultimate prize on Sunday.

Twelve months ago Mercedes arrived at the Singapore grand prix with the expectation of fighting it out for the front row and ultimately the win. This expectation was completely decimated as both Hamilton and Rosberg struggled through the weekend. While Hamilton eventually retired from the race Rosberg could only manage a distant fourth.

At the time several conspiracy theories swirled around Mercedes sudden loss of pace but in reality it was a change in tyre pressures that stumped Hamilton and Rosberg twelve months ago. While the team is likely to have solved this issue for 2016 victory this weekend isn’t a done deal.

The biggest challenge for the top step of the podium is sure to come from Red Bull. The Austrian team should excel this weekend given its aerodynamic prowess. Ferrari too will have an eye on a better performance, as it was Sebastian Vettel who won the 2015 Singapore Gp. However, despite the fact that Vettel is a bit of a Singapore specialist the 2016 Ferrari isn’t quite the car the team delivered last year.

Mercedes has utterly dominated the 2016 season but despite this, and however preposterous it may appear, Red Bull will be the team to beat this weekend.

September 14, 2016
F1 2016: Italian Gp Review – Rosberg Romps to Italian Win

When Lewis Hamilton secured pole position on Saturday by half a second over his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg looked a beaten man. But little did he know that he would be gifted the lead of the Italian grand prix mere seconds after the red lights went out.

A mistake from Hamilton on the starting grid dropped him down to sixth and presented Rosberg the perfect opportunity to make it two wins in two weeks. Hamilton’s trouble promoted the Ferrari’s of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen into second and third but the red cars weren’t a match for Rosberg’s Mercedes.

As Rosberg strolled to career victory number 21 Hamilton recovered to second overall. The two Ferraris ran a two-stop strategy, as opposed to Mercedes’ one-stop, and put on a descent show for the Tifosi. Though they were never in contention their third and fourth place finishes were not as far off Mercedes as many feared it would be. Both drivers reported that the engine upgrade introduced in Italy worked well.

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo pulled off a stunning move into turn one on Williams’ Valtteri Bottas finish fifth. It was a weekend of damage limitation for Red Bull on a circuit where it always going to be difficult for the Renault engine to stand up to the Mercedes and Ferrari. Valtteri Bottas delivered solid points for Williams in sixth while the second Red Bull of Max Verstappen came home in seventh. Force India’s Sergio Perez had a quiet afternoon, which eventually netted him eighth place. Felipe Massa, who announced that he would be retiring at the end of the 2016 season, scored two points in ninth ahead of Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India in tenth.

Though it didn’t deliver a spectacular result the Italian Gp proved vital for Williams. The sixth and ninth place finishes by Bottas and Massa has allowed Williams to take back into fourth in the constructor’s standings from Force India. This battle is likely to endure for the remainder of the season and has serious financial rewards for whichever teams comes out on top. Jenson Button, who will be taking a sabbatical in 2017, finished twelfth while teammate Fernando Alonso was fourteenth.

Rosberg’s first Italian Gp win puts him only two points off the championship lead. Rosberg remarked in a post-race interview that the battle between himself and Hamilton will carry on for the rest of the season. Rosberg has done a perfect job since the summer break and, as it stands the battle has been as close as it’s ever been on points. But it’s on the track where we are still waiting to see that wheel-to-wheel battle between the two championship contenders.

The 2016 Italian grand prix wasn’t the most exciting in recent memory. However, the scene from the podium, which stretches partly onto the start/finish straight, was something to behold. For as far as the eye could see were adoring racing fans waving their flags, cheering their favourites, and sharing their passion for this sport. That is why Monza can never be left off any F1 calendar.

September 5, 2016
Hamilton claims Italian GP pole by nearly half a second

Lewis Hamilton stamped his authority all over the Italian GP weekend by claiming the pole position by nearly half a second over his Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg.

Hamilton was fastest in Q1 and Q2 and fastest in both Q3 runs. Hamilton already had the edge over his team mate with the fastest first Q3 run but blasted his way to pole with a 1:21.135. This is Hamilton’s fifth Italian Grand Prix pole and with it, which equals the record held by Ayrton Senna and Juan Manuel Fangio.

A lock up in Q2 added a small flat spot on his race tyre but Lewis did not seem too concerned about it saying that he could hardly feel it and doubted that it would have much of an effect on his race tomorrow.

What did become very apparent was the absolute advantage that Mercedes has over its rivals this week. Sebastian Vettel finished three tenths down on Rosberg for Ferrari, with Kimi Raikkonen locking out the second row of the grid with his team mate.

Valterri Bottas staked his claim on an impressive fifth place for Williams – finished just 0.001s ahead of Daniel Ricciardo. Red Bull team mate Max Verstappen claimed the eighth grid spot ahead of the Force India duo of Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg.

The Haas F1 team were very impressive and made their first appearance in Q3. Esteban Gutierrez took up the 10th place, 0.3s behind the Force Indias.

Felipe Massa who recently announced his retirement from Formula One failed to impress, failing to make it through to Q3. He had to settle for 11th place but gets a free choice of which tyres he’ll start on tomorrow.

Romain Grosjean qualified 12th but a five place grid penalty for a gearbox change after FP3 will push him back to 17th place on the Italian GP grid. Fernando Alonso complained of a loss of power on his final run and finished only 13th fastest. Pascal Wehrlein put in a good show to split the McLarens and Carlos Sainz rounded out the Q2 runners.

Daniil Kvyat was not able to make it through to Q2 and set off the bleeper with a string of expletives after his run, questioning his Toro Rosso team about what had gone wrong. Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson will take up the next two spots ahead of the Renaults who had a very tough qualifying session. Jolyon Palmer qualified 20th with Kevin Magnussen behind him after KMag had to run across the grass at the exit of Ascari on his final lap.

Esteban Ocon’s qualifying session was over before it even started really. He was forced to park his Force India at Turn 1 as he started his flying lap. He will need to ask the stewards for permission to race, since he has no qualifying time but his practices were within the 107% mark so there should be no reason not to allow him to race.

We’re not expecting much strategy-wise for tomorrow’s Italian GP. For most, it’ll be a quick, 1 stop race. It’ll all be about the start tomorrow and both Hamilton and Rosberg are likely to have their mirrors full of Red Ferrari off the the line. Hamilton has every chance of cruising to a victory if he makes a faultless start and given his current form, and the absolutely dominant performance of his Mercedes, it’s hard to think that he will not make it so.

Join us on Twitter @F1_Madness for live commentary and chat throughout the Italian GP.

Here is the final Italian GP Qualifying time sheet.

September 3, 2016
F1 2016: Italian Gp Free Practice 3 Report – Hamilton Dominates

Championship leader Lewis Hamilton dominated the field in the final free practice session ahead of the 2016 Italian grand prix.

The number 44 Mercedes set a quickest time of 1:22:008 while teammate Nico Rosberg’s 1:22:401 was some 0.393 adrift in second. The first of the Ferrari’s came in the form of Sebastian Vettel who set a quickest time of 1:22:946. Kimi Raikkonen, in the other Ferrari, set a 1:23:196.

The Williams pair of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa were fifth and sixth respectively. Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen were only quick enough for seventh and eighth while Force India’s Sergio Perez and Haas F1’s Esteban Gutierrez rounded out the top ten.

The session endured a brief interruption earlier when Romain Grosjean’s beached Haas brought out the virtual safety car.

Final Free Practice Three Standings

September 3, 2016