F1 Madness

Tag: ferrari

  • 2015 Formula 1 Shell Belgian Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference

    2015 Formula 1 Shell Belgian Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference

    TEAM REPRESENTATIVES:

    Nick CHESTER (Lotus)

    Andrew GREEN (Force India)

    Giampaolo DALL’ARA (Sauber)

    James ALLISON (Ferrari)

    Paddy LOWE (Mercedes)

    Paul MONAGHAN (Red Bull Racing)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    If I could start with a question for all of you: coming in next year are further restrictions on driver aids and team radio assistance. Can you give us your thoughts on the difference it will make that fans will be able to appreciate? James, why don’t you start?

    James ALLISON: Well, if it has its intended effect it will make it so that the drivers who are most on top of their game can do a better job than the ones who needed to be led a little bit more by the hand. I think on the whole the drivers are all pretty good in Formula One so I imagine that within six months or so, or maybe sooner, it will feel very much like it did before but maybe in the transition to that there will be a few mistakes made and maybe some interesting events as a result.

    Giampaolo?

    Giampaolo DALL’ARA: Yeah, well, I can tell you about the engineering side of it: it changes quite a bit the way we work, approaching the issues involving the driver more and the engineering side of the car. Eventually I think the result is what James has just mentioned. The driver will be more in charge of what he is doing, also on aspects that today maybe are driven from the back. Judging then the perception on the spectators, this is very difficult from where I sit, honestly.

    Thank you. Paddy, there is obviously a big list of things you can and can’t say on the radio. How do you remember all those things?

    Paddy LOWE: I know. It’s actually quite tricky. We police ourselves on the intercom. People often ask: “Can I say that? Can I say that?” But yeah, we will work our way through it and get used to it in time. As the other two have said, I think we will see a little bit more variability. But the big thing for me is that to a larger extent if a driver has a good or a bad start that will be down to his skill and less dependent on the team’s performance on configuring the start.

    Nick, a step in the right direction?

    Nick CHESTER: I think everybody wants to see the drivers being in charge of their own starts, so I can see why it has come in, but I’d echo the comments earlier, I think people will get used to it very quickly. There might be a few little mixes early on but it will settle down fairly quickly.

    And Paul, looking ahead to next year, obviously more sweeping changes as well, what difference will that make?

    Paul MONAGHAN: I think you’ll see a little bit more variability. We’ll see the odd fluffed start; we’ll see a bit of a shuffle up of the grid order approaching turn one. Mid-race I think when the drivers get used to it and depending on how the teams treat the level of automation there will be subtle differences maybe in ultimate performance you can extract from the car, after that I think it will settle out. What the fans will see? A little bit at the starts maybe but once you’re in the race I’m not sure there’ll be much other than less radio traffic.

    A final thought from you Andrew?

    Andrew GREEN: Yeah, I’m the same. I think within a few months the differences will be quite subtle. Like people have said, maybe a few fluffed starts. But the main thing is that the radio is going to be quite quiet.

    OK. Coming back to you then James. Back on top with a victory in Hungary for Sebastian, but another technical problem on Kimi’s side. What was the reason for that and what expectations do you have both in terms of performance but also reliability for the remainder of the season?

    JA: I don’t think we tend to go into the nuts and bolts of why our bits and pieces fail on our car but enough to say that we had a problem with the ERS system that meant that we were unable to continue in the race. Initially we lost a decent amount of power and then thereafter unable to continue. I hope we have put that behind us with the modifications that we’ve made during the last few weeks and for the remainder of the season, I think it’s going to be a bit like the first half. We’re not a bad car, but we’re not as good as these guys [Mercedes] and if they have a bad weekend while we’re having a good weekend then we can upset the apple cart a bit and if things pan out more normally then we tend to come in behind them. So let’s keep our fingers crossed that they have a bad weekend and we do the opposite.

    Q: Paul, if James is saying the Ferrari’s not a bad car compared to the Mercedes, it looks as though the Red Bull has become a substantially better car in the last month. Obviously a double podium in Hungary. Big progress on the chassis side. Was that a question of new parts or was it just, as much as anything, unlocking the potential of what was already there?

    PM: It’s a combination. We have some new parts there. We’ve improved the car a little bit in many areas, not just, shall we say, focussed on one of them. It’s starting to show benefits. We’ve seen the benefits in increments and in Hungary it was more complete, shall we say. It was nice to be challenging at the sharp end of it again and I think at the moment we have to accept Mercedes have a bit of a performance advantage. Maybe they have a bad weekend, maybe we have a good weekend and then I think it’s all up for the fight, isn’t it? We’ll put ourselves in there such that, if we can benefit from circumstances then we’re there to do so.

    Q: Andrew Green, coming to you from Force India, talking about upward performance curves, you’re certainly a good example of that with Force India. New car, of course, introduced a few rounds ago certainly contributed to that. What do you think is possible for the rest of the season for your team?

    AG: Well, I mean we’ve bought new parts here, we’ve got new parts coming for the next couple of races. I think once we get to Singapore, we’ll start to begin to understand where this car actually sits – that’s where we plan to bring the last of this current suite of updates to the track. We’re looking to start moving ahead of the guys behind us, obviously for sure, and looking to see if we can stay on the coat tails of Red Bull to a certain degree. If we hadn’t had the issues in Hungary, we were racing well in Hungary. Hungary was a shock to us, gave us a bit of a shot in the arm. We’ve learned from that, we’re moving forwards. We’ve got some exciting races coming up for Force India.

    Q: Paddy, first of all, any update on the cause of Rosberg’s tyre failure from your side. What did you see on the screens?

    PL: I think we’ve really only seen the same the same thing that everyone else has seen on the video. So very unusual situation where there seemed to be some bits of tyre structure coming out up to a minute before the actual terminal failure of the tyre. Not something I’ve seen before. So Pirelli have obviously taken the tyre away to analyse. I think we’ll have to wait to see what emerges from that. We’re double-checking everything to do with the car as well, obviously. But yeah, that’ll be something we’ll work through the evening.

    Q: Obviously the reversed qualifying battle between Rosberg and Hamilton this season. Last year 11 poles for Rosberg, this year just one for him in the first ten races. Hamilton seven last year but nine from 10 this year. As the technical boss, the guy who oversees all of this, what do you see is going on there?

    PL: I think it’s just the two drivers’ form as it varies. I know Nico was finding it quite difficult at the beginning of this year but actually he picked himself up from Spain onwards and he’s shown himself a great competitor to Lewis, so the battle’s far from over. As we can see, it isn’t always won on the Saturday grid position so the championship is wide open to the end.

    Q: Coming to you Giampaolo, obviously you have bought some updates to the car this weekend. How happy are you. It certainly looked reasonably encouraging from the practice runs this afternoon. Obviously you can’t draw too many conclusions from Friday but how satisfied are you with what you bought to the track this weekend.

    GD: At the moment we are finding what we are expecting to find. Difficult to say, as you mention, what this will mean for the race. What leaves us with quite some optimism more in general is that we got to the point where, after some frustration after losing some momentum, we expect some updates to come. Some are already here, as I mentioned. This is mostly on Ferrari’s side: we have an upgraded power unit fitted which is seemingly giving up some laptime. On top of this, let me add, it’s one of those tracks where our car feels more comfortable. It was lately some track-by-track troubles that here we don’t expect to have. Plus, in the next couple of races and ultimately Singapore we expect some major aerodynamic update which for us means the main target of getting back into the fight to get the guys here in the midfield in order to be able to score points more regularly than we are now.

    Q: Finally Nick, a couple of talking points for you. On the one hand obviously encouragement with Romain Grosjean I think seventh fastest in that practice session, on the other an accident for Pastor this morning. How much does that kind of thing set you back in a race weekend?

    NC: Well obviously it does set up back a little bit. Pastor was having quite a good P1 session until he had his off, and then that disrupts his P2 because it took us a while to get the car back together. So he’s missed a bit of running in P2 but he’s got back out there, proved the car out again and I’m sure he’ll be back on it for P3.

    And encouragement from the performance of the other car?

    NC: Yeah, quite pleased with Romain in P7. I think there’s only nine-hundredths to P4 and the car’s going quite well.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Mike Doodson – Grand Prix Week) I’ve been very puzzled by the clutch stories we’ve been told. We haven’t been given a lot of information about what the procedure was and I wondered, now that it’s no longer what it was, whether one of you could explain to an ignorant journalist exactly how these clutch procedures worked. I understand there are two clutches, you give advice to the driver over the radio, you’re not allowed to do that any more. Could I ask for a volunteer from the front row to go through the procedure just for me?

    JA: The overall procedure is fairly long and tedious so I will try and shortcut it a bit. When you go with the car from stop to going, there’s a certain amount of grip available on the track. The tyre has a certain amount of grip, the track has a certain amount of grip, you want to go as close to that available grip as possible but not over it and you don’t want to go under it otherwise you’re not making as much performance as there is available. Now if you were super duper skilful you might have fingers that could judge exactly where that grip is but it all happens very very fast so a perfect start is one where you can just let go of the clutch, let go of it and it closes to the perfect point where it delivers exactly the right amount of torque, such that the tyre doesn’t light up and spin, but neither does it give less torque to the road than the road is capable of taking. So our job, during the weekend, is to try to judge exactly how much grip is available and to adjust our clutches so that when the driver says go, the clutch closes the perfect amount to deliver the perfect amount of torque to the road and then off it goes. And that’s something that happens without the driver adjusting stuff, he doesn’t fiddle around with his fingers. The way that we used to do that in the past was there’s two clutch paddles, one which he holds all the way in, keeping the clutch fully open and the other which he holds in a partially closed and open position. We then, as engineers, adjust the clutch so that this partially closed and open position is at exactly the right point to get this magic start. And then when the light goes green, he lets go of the first clutch and the clutch closes to the point that is being held by the second paddle. Off the car goes.

    All that’s changed is that now we‘re not allowed to advise or make any adjustments to that biting point between when the car’s on the grid preparing for the start of the race and when the driver actually does it so the parade lap start and the real start is done all by the driver and if he thinks it’s not closed enough or too open, he has to make his own judgement about that and make the calls. We can be sitting in the garage going ‘no, don’t do that’  but we don’t have any power to stop him.

    Q: (Mike Doodson – Grand Prix Week) I understand what you say but you could, from the pits, via telemetry, actually adjust the clutch? You could, or you couldn’t?

    JA: No, we can’t. All we can do is instruct the driver to change a map that he himself has to do with his fingers but we can judge what he should do. Now we can’t say anything. We can still judge but all we can do is go ‘no!’ or ‘hooray!’

    Q: (Joe van Burik – NU.NL) Paul, Renault Sport have indicated that they worked through the summer break to keep developing the power units. They say that they conducted some notable performance work and also concepts for next year, pleased with the results. How were you involved in the development as a client and do you expect a notable increase in the overall performance when the upgrades arrive for Russia, as Christian Horner stated before?

    PM: As a client, our involvement is in several stages. Clearly we will make a judgement on the relative performance of the car and power unit package. Then we try to separate the power unit from the chassis side of things if you like, to try and offer to – in this instance Renault – to say OK, that’s where we think you sit in relative terms. That sort of sets your targets, if you like, relative to how we perceive the best power unit. They will always push to get as much out of their power unit as they possibly can and it sets a target for that year, the following year and try to give them a relative positioning. If the changes are internal, it’s very much the business of Renault. If the changes again become more external, which can affect our packaging, then clearly we have to be involved. What they may want to do may not fit the car or may require changes to the car and that’s up to us to agree with them on an introduction and how we’re going to do it. So, if that’s making sense, it becomes a multi-phase project. We can get involved, we’re not necessarily involved, we look forward to whatever power increase is coming in the future and hope to exploit it as best we can with Renault.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) James, how close are the driving styles of Sebastian and Kimi compared to how it was last year with Fernando and Kimi, and if they are closer, is it a big advantage for the designer of the car?

    JA: They are certainly closer. I think what Sebastian wants from a car is pretty similar to what Kimi wants and that’s mildly helpful but it really doesn’t make much difference in the way that you set about designing the car. You’re looking for downforce, they both like that. You’re looking for power, they both like that. If one likes a front ride height or a spring stiffness a bit different to another, well there’s very… you’ve got a whole range of springs and dampers that you can fit to either car. It’s only flavours of set-up that change, not fundamental design parameters of the car and that would be true whether it was Kimi, Fernando or Sebastian.

    Q: (Pierre van Vliet – F1i) Nick, you told us a couple of times that the Lotus team is not for sale. Is that still the case and if not, how does it influence your planning for 2016 and maybe even 2017?

    NC: OK, but I’m not sure that I actually told you that but there’s a lot of press about discussions that are on-going. They’re not really at my level so I can’t really give you a lot of information about it.

  • F1 2015: Hulkenberg – “I’ll be in a good car next year”

    F1 2015: Hulkenberg – “I’ll be in a good car next year”

    German Formula 1 driver Nico Hulkenberg says that he has “good options” for 2016.

    The 24 Hour Le Mans winner is F1’s perennially overlooked but highly rated driver but despite this believes that he has a few options to consider for 2016. “There are a few good options out there, and I’m pretty confident I can put something good together and that I’ll be here next year in a good car,” says Hulkenberg.

    Hulkenberg’s F1 career started with Williams in 2010 before moving to Force India for the 2011 and ’12 seasons. He spent the 2013 season as a Sauber driver before returning to Force India at the beginning of 2014. Hulkenberg’s year at Williams wasn’t a stellar one by any means but a return to the Williams team isn’t out the question. The British team, who holds the option to extend Valtteri Bottas’ contract, has not yet announced its driver line-up for 2016.

    The 28-year-old was linked with a possible to Ferrari but never expected to make the move to the Italian team.

  • F1 2015: Bottas Distracted By Rumours

    F1 2015: Bottas Distracted By Rumours

    Finnish Formula 1 driver Valtteri Bottas says that the persistent rumours linking him to the Ferrari seat have been distracting.

    Over the last several months the Williams F1 driver has been constantly mentioned as a possible replacement for fellow Finn Kimi Raikkonen. However, after Ferrari’s announcement that they have re-signed the 2007 champion Bottas has said that the rumour mill has strained his relationship with Williams.

    “It doesn’t do any good for mine and the team’s relationship. It’s not fair for us, to have those kind of rumours. It’s also not fair for Kimi or Ferrari. Now it’s easier, everyone knows more or less what is happening,” Bottas told AUTOSPORT.

    The driver confirmed that talks are currently underway with Williams who holds the option to extend the Finn’s contract for 2016.

  • 2015 Formula 1 Shell Belgian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    2015 Formula 1 Shell Belgian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    DRIVERS:

    Max VERSTAPPEN (Toro Rosso)

    Daniil KVYAT (Red Bull Racing)

    Will STEVENS (Manor)

    Fernando ALONSO (McLaren)

    Kimi RAIKKONEN (Ferrari)

    Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Kimi, we have to start with you. Obviously Spa has been very good to you over the years – four wins – but your drive for 2016 confirmed yesterday. What do you hope to achieve given the way the team is developing at the moment and your own performance level at this stage of your career?

    Kimi RAIKKONEN: Well, obviously it the same as every year – we want to do as well as we can and hopefully challenge for championships for next year and I’m sure we can produce even a quite bit better car than this year next year. Obviously the team is all working well together and we all feel very good and obviously I’m happy to stay there but we have to try to do a good second part of the year and maximise what we have and then prepare for next year.

    You will have seen that after he won Sebastian gave you a lot of support with his words in Hungary before the break. What did that support mean to you?

    KR: I know him well and we have a very good relationship and it’s nice… I don’t know exactly what you mean, I mean I haven’t read so much things lately, but he tells me and I tell him if he does well and I do well, we have a very good feeling of respect in the team. It’s always nice to hear from him also. We try to beat each other in the races but we still can be friends as before, so I think that is also very good for us as a team that we can work very closely.

    OK, thank you for that. Lewis, coming to you: twice on pole here, you’ve got a win, of course, at this circuit as well. You said that your performance in Hungary was short of your own expectations, but you still managed to increase your championship lead. Does that kind of thing make you feel that this might be your year?

    Lewis HAMILTON: Definitely not, definitely not. I think the team effort that goes in; seeing how hard my team is working, seeing the progress we’re making I think encourages me to believe that it’s going to be our year. You know you just have to keep your head down and you can’t win them all.

    Sebastian Vettel is just 42 behind you at this stage; 225 points maximum up for grabs. Any concerns there about the threat from him or does your qualifying superiority underpin confidence for the second half of the season in particular?

    LH: Well naturally we’re here to win and we’re focused on making sure we stay up front but we’re conscious… we’re fully aware that other teams are pushing very hard and Ferrari are looking great. So we don’t arrive at any race thinking that we are superior to anyone. We know that we have a fight on our hands and so we’re doing to work at trying to make sure we work harder than them.

    OK, thanks for that. Fernando, coming to you, amazingly you’ve never won at Spa in Formula One. You’ve won in plenty of other categories but not in Formula One. Looking back a remarkable Hungary; fifth place for you, both cars in the points. Does that represent real progress or does it just represent and opportunity taken?

    Fernando ALONSO: Well, I think half and half; a little bit of both. There was a better performance from us in Hungary. I think the circuit layout helped us a little bit in terms of the characteristics of our car and then secondly, I think we have been lucky with some of the retirements and some of the incidents that happened in Hungary, [they] helped us to get some places. I think 12 or 13 cars had some issues during the race in terms of penalties or in terms of mechanical failures, so I think that was definitely a help.

    Now, you’ve experienced many different situations, technical situations and rules around grand prix starts during your long career, could you give us an insight into how much these new rules, starting this weekend in Spa, will change things for the drivers?

    FA: I think not much. It will not be a significant change. I know that there is some talk about this but maybe for next year or the following years will be more different. What we will have here is just some restrictions in communications with the drivers and the team etc but I think… at least in our team we were not doing any specific communication or strategy during the formation laps etc so it will not change much.

    Q: Coming to you Will, on podium here I believe here in World Series, first time here racing in Formula One. What are your thoughts on racing at this historic venue, what it means to a driver in his first full season in F1 to race here. Is this one that, when you looked at the calendar on your kitchen wall you looked at and really thought ‘I’m looking forward to racing at F1 car at Spa.’

    Will STEVENS: Yeah, I think Spa is always a special circuit. I think all the drivers always like coming here a lot. Every car you come in goes quicker and quicker and the track gets better so really excited to get out to see what an F1 car feels like ‘round here. It’s always been a good track for me and looking forward to getting out there.

    Q: Tell us about the match-up with your team-mate. It seems to have been in his favour a little bit in the last couple of races. What’s the story behind that.

    WS: I think our pace has been really strong throughout the year. Just the last few grands prix haven’t really fallen my way to be honest but I know that I’ve got good pace in the car and I think coming back to a circuit like this it should really suit what I like. I’m confident to kick on for the rest of the season and finish strongly.

    Q: Coming to you Daniil. Obviously your best-ever Formula One result last time out in Hungary, second place, also, the best result for a Russian in Formula One. What was the reaction like back home?

    Daniil KVYAT: It was a good race for me in Hungary. Hard to say what was the reaction – I didn’t count any reactions or stuff like that but I think it was good for myself, good for the team generally to achieve that in this hard season. Now there’s been the summer break and we are back to our basic work. We hope to keep working hard to achieve similar results – even though we know it’s not going to be easy because also in Hungary we had to take some opportunities. Nevertheless, when they come, you have to take them.

    Q: It’s very clear that Red Bull has made significant steps, particularly on the chassis side since Silverstone. How do you fancy your chances of repeating that kind of result in the second half of the year? Which races are you looking at in particular?

    DK: Once it happened I think it’s possible to do second time as well. We should never give up on that. I think you know in theory Singapore is looking good for us but I wouldn’t limit… I wouldn’t say that we would just work on one particular race. We have to take any chances in every race – and this will be one of them. Anything can happen in any other race and we have to keep pushing for any opportunity because every race is a new chance.

    Q: And talking of best-ever career Formula One results, Max Verstappen, you won three times here in F3 at Spa but you got your best-ever Formula One result, fourth place in Hungary, a real breakthrough for you. What does that say about you and your challenge this year?

    Max VERSTAPPEN: I think it was also a bit unexpected result there but, I mean, you still need to be there when people make mistakes or have problems so, at the end, I was very happy to finish fourth especially after the beginning of the race which was a bit difficult for me. But I think the first half of the season went quite well. I think if I new this before I would have signed off – I would have liked it like this but now it’s time to focus again on this weekend. On my home grand prix. Won’t be as good, I think, as Hungary but you never know. We can get some good chances here again. We just have to optimise everything.

    Q: You’re about to race a Formula One car around this daunting F1 track – but can you give us an update on how you’re going with getting a road car licence?

    MV: I still don’t have it. Still not 18. But yeah, I don’t have so much time – so I’ll do it a bit later.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, fighting for your fifth victory here, does it help you that all the pressure of the new contract is now put behind and you don’t have to prove yourself that much any more?

    KR: It doesn’t change anything. I mean we still try to do the same as every other race. So, that contract thing, it’s not going to change our approach for the weekend or the end result. Hopefully the end result will be good but no, we will do the same things as in all the other races. So, hopefully we can have a good weekend, no problems and see where we end up.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action, Speedsport Magazines) Next year, the engineers will not be able to coach the drivers over the radio on things like tyre degradation and fuel saving, so I would like to ask an experienced driver, Fernando, and a new guy, Max, if you welcome this because it’s more in the driver’s hands or do you prefer to have as many tools and inputs to optimise your driving?

    FA: Well, I don’t think it will make a huge change because… yeah, we are receiving some information now on the radio about tyres, about fuel or other things on the car but we are perfectly aware of what is happening in the car and what is the best solution for the specific issues that we are facing during the race so if that information is not coming, it will come anyway by instinct and by the reactions of the car. So yeah, we will have to pay a little bit more attention to a few things that now we rely a little bit on the radio but it’s not a big change and probably it’s welcome, all those changes, to have a little bit more to do in the car and feeling a little bit more important.

    MV: For me, I don’t think it will change a lot. You always drive on your instincts. You feel when the tyres are dropping off so the engineer doesn’t need to tell you that. I think you learn that already from a very young age so yeah, I don’t mind, to be honest, to talk a little bit less on the radio.

    Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Serra) Kimi, you are approaching your sixth season with the red car. You have won a title, some races, you’ve got some podiums. What are you still missing in your experience with Ferrari?

    KR: Obviously we want more wins, me and the team, but I’ve had good years, difficult years, some up and downs but I always enjoy it, always enjoy it more when things are going more nicely when you get results but as a team, I’ve had a great time there and I’m very pleased that we can be working together next year again. As a team, as they are now, I really feel that we are going in the right direction and we can do great things in the future. No, if I miss something… like I said, people more happy, we are more happy when we can do better results. Obviously you write less negative things after that. We keep working and believe in what we’re doing so I’m sure we will get there and we will have many happy days in front of us and a lot of good results.

    Q: (Thomas Bastin – La Derniere Heure) Max, I remember your wins last year in Formula Three very well. It seems that when you arrive at this track you were immediately very much at ease. Does it give you more confidence before your first attempt in Formula One?

    MV: I’m always confident but I’m racing against very competitive and experienced guys so we will see. I always try to do my best and from there on we always go into the weekend.

    Q: (Angelique Belokopytov – Autodigest) Lots of drivers just love Spa for its legendary corners, for opportunities to overtake and so on so my question is for all drivers: what do you dislike in Spa, what would you optimise or improve? So let’s start with Kimi as he has the record for the most wins of any driver here?

    KR: What would I change? I think I would go back to how the last chicane was, coming into the chicane and I guess it was called the Bus Stop at that time, it was nicer than how it is now. It was just better, kind of more like it should be. Now one part is a bit different to the others, the new one doesn’t feel like it fits exactly there. I think it was a nicer corner, there was a bit more speed, over the kerbs more. I guess that not much else has changed really, a little bit the first corner.

    LH: I think I would agree but I never drove that circuit, I just watched and played it on the computer game but it was definitely even more fun on computer games so I would imagine it would be better in real life.

    Q: Is this one of your favourite tracks?

    LH: No

    Q: Anybody else like to make any changes?

    MV: There are quite a lot of wasps. I don’t like them. That’s the only thing. I think the track is great.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globosport.com) Lewis, you have been seen in the social media, many pictures of your maybe new way of life. What do you think, do you think you can arrive at the races more relaxed, it helps you to develop even better work? Or in the future, you can charge some price?

    LH: I don’t really have a new way of life. This is what I’ve sort of been doing… it’s just more visible to you, that’s about it. It’s been working quite well the last couple of years.

  • Raikkonen To Remain At Ferrari For 2016

    Raikkonen To Remain At Ferrari For 2016

    Ferrari driver Kimi Raikknen will retain his seat with the Italian team for the 2016 season.

    The Finn, who rejoined the team in 2014, has been re-signed by Ferrari and will partner Sebastian Vettel for a second year. Much speculation surrounded the 2007 champion’s future with the famous team whilst several drivers were mentioned as potential replacements.

    “What can I say. For me, to be able to stay another year at Ferrari means that the dream goes on,” said Raikkonen.

    “The Scuderia is my family, as I always said, it’s here I want to end my career.

    “I am more committed than ever and I want to say thank you to the people who gave me this chance.

    “Also, a big thank you goes to all my Ferrari fans, for their continuous support”.

    “We believe that extending Kimi’s contract into the next season will provide further stability to the team,” added Team Principal Maurizio Arrivabene

    “This has been our guideline, also considering the very good relationship between Kimi and Seb.

    “On our side, this shows our great confidence in him, and I expect this confidence to be well rewarded”.

    The rest of the driver market, which many suggested hung on Raikkonen’s future, is likely to now fall into place.

  • F1 2015: Belgium GP Preview – Spa Set To Resurrect Formula 1

    F1 2015: Belgium GP Preview – Spa Set To Resurrect Formula 1

    In several aspects there is much turmoil that surrounds Formula 1. There is no argument though that the sport returns, after its month-long hiatus, to the greatest circuit in the world, Spa-francorchamps.

    The glorious Belgian circuit situated in the heart of the Ardennes forest encompasses everything that is great about Formula 1. Its spectacular corners like Pouhon  are real testers of skill and courage and its dizzying rise up to the crest of Eau Rouge is one of the most famous sites in all of motorsport. The 7,004 kilometre layout is a blend that demands both downforce and straight-line speed with several dramatic elevation changes.

    There is something about the legendary Spa circuit which has lent itself to the creation of many memorable moments. It was here 1991 that a young Michael Schumacher made his Formula 1 debut and where, in 1992, he would take the first of his ninety-one career victories. Schumacher remains the most prolific winner around the famous circuit with six victories while Kimi Raikkonen, of the active drivers, has won the race on four occasions.

    Hamilton_Rosberg_Spa 2014_LesCombesLast year’s race was remarkable for Daniel Ricciardo’s popular victory considering his team’s lack of performance up to that point. It was memorable too for Nico Rosberg’s exasperated attempt at overtaking teammate Lewis Hamilton into Les combes, the upshot of which was a collision between the two and a boatload of tension for the team.

    As the season approaches the halfway mark frustration has clouded many a team’s and driver’s campaign in 2015. After a stellar first year with Red Bull Racing which included three victories and several podium finishes Daniel Ricciardo had expected to have a go at winning the title this season. However, the engine produced by Renault and what Red Bull has offered the Aussie hasn’t been enough. “I came into this season on a high from last year and I was really ready to fight for the title. Mentally I was prepared for doing that.” Ricciardo told Autosport.  “It’s not been easy to be honest.”

    The Williams team has experienced their own form of frustration having lost ground, and pace, to Ferrari. Despite the team staging a fight back by beating Ferrari in Austria and Silverstone there have been some bizarrely poor weekends, performance wise, such as in Monaco and Hungary. The Belgian track should allow the team to produce a decent result given their low drag aero package and the handy Mercedes power unit at their disposal.

    kimi-the-king-of-spa-For Mercedes things may not be a given this weekend as the new rule around the starting procedure comes into action. The new regulation will mean that the assistance from the pitwall is restricted and will put the driver in control of the start. In both of the last two grand prix starts Mercedes has been swamped off the line and there is a feeling that this regulation could create further problems for the Silver Arrows. Hamilton has suggested that the starts could even be “disastrous.”

    Ferrari went into the summer break with an incredible victory at the Hungarian grand prix in the bank. At Spa Ferrari probably shouldn’t be in the reckoning for victory if you consider that the circuit has a tremendous emphasis on engine power. Yet, there is something about Spa-Francorchamps and Kimi Raikkonen that makes for an extraordinary combination. The Finn won here in 2009 with a dreadfully underperforming Ferrari and last year finished fourth in a significantly underpowered car. So, it may not be too incredible to propose victory number five around the famed circuit for the Iceman.

  • F1 2015: Hungarian GP Review – “This victory is for Jules” – Vettel

    F1 2015: Hungarian GP Review – “This victory is for Jules” – Vettel

    Formula 1 headed to the Hungarian grand prix with a heavy heart after the passing of Jules Bianchi. The hope was that it could put on a show that the young Frenchman would have revelled in. As fate would have it the Hungaroring saw the best and most dramatic race of the season.

    It wasn’t a surprise to see Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg lock out the front row of the grid. But the ultra-quick starting Ferrari’s of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen turned the race on its head from the second the lights extinguished. The two scarlet Ferrari’s exploded off the line and swept into first and second halfway through the first lap.

    Pole sitter Lewis Hamilton lost three positions off the line but it was only the start of a dramatic afternoon of racing. The defending champion would first run wide at the chicane and later incur a drive-through penalty and lose his front-wing in a clash with Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo.

    GP UNGHERIA F1/2015By the mid-way point of the race Vettel and Raikkonen had built a nearly fifteen second lead over Nico Rosberg which left the Mercedes driver in a fairly distant third place. Ferrari looked set for a one-two finish but a MGU-K (kers) failure of Raikkonen’s car meant an eventual retirement for the Finn. A cruel end to a very good race.

    Ferrari would have to face more pressure as Vettel had to cope with a safety-car completely eradicating his healthy lead after Nico Hulkenberg’s front-wing failed spectacularly littering turn one with shards of carbon fibre. It didn’t take long for Rosberg to take second-place off a wounded Raikkonen but again the German was unable to make an impression on Vettel’s number five Ferrari. By now Daniel Ricciardo, on the quicker option, tyre was catching second-placed Rosberg and with a handful of laps to go lunged for the inside line into turn one. It appeared to be a clean move on the Aussie’s side but Rosberg’s cut back on the exit of the corner ensured a damaged front-wing for the Red Bull and a punctured right-rear for himself.

    This incident promoted Daniil Kvyat into second and with the nifty reward of his first ever F1 podium. Ricciardo recovered to third with Max Verstappen scoring an impressive fourth place finish. This marks the first race since the 2013 Brazilian grand prix which did not feature a Mercedes driver on the podium. McLaren’s Fernando Alonso boosted the team’s morale with a fighting fifth place finish.

    Hungarian Grand Prix, tribute to Jules BianchiIt is on such dramatic days and moments that world championships turn. Hamilton was given a helping-hand with the safety car but needed a new nose after sliding into the side of Ricciardo at turn one. He was also given a drive-through penalty and emerged from the pitlane in twelfth. It looked for the majority of the race as if the lead of the drivers’ championship would go to Rosberg. Miraculously, after several incidents and a penalty Hamilton fought his way to sixth and extended his championship lead.

    Romain Grosjean finished seventh for Lotus ahead of a recovering Rosberg who finished eighth ahead of Jenson Button in ninth. Marcus Ericsson took the final point in tenth for Sauber.

    Up front Sebastian Vettel serenely led the way from lights to flag. The four-time German champion is now equal with Ayrton Senna on 41 victories. He capped the impressive win by dedicating it to the memory of Jules Bianchi.

     

  • 2015 Formula 1 Pirelli Hungarian Grand Prix: Sunday Press Conference

    2015 Formula 1 Pirelli Hungarian Grand Prix: Sunday Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

    2 – Daniil Kvyat (Red Bull Racing)

    3 – Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull Racing)

     

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by Kai Ebel)

     

    Sebastian, congratulations, and it’s your first ever Hungarian victory. How proud are you in front of all these people after this very special race?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Incredible day but this victory is for Jules. We know that it has been an incredibly tough week and it’s, I think, for all of us very, very difficult, so this one is for him and especially all the people in Ferrari and all the Ferrari we knew that sooner or later he would have been part of our team, part of this family. Cette victoire, c’est pour Jules.

    Great gesture from Sebastian. Sebastian, coming back to this very exciting race – what was going through your mind when you heard the safety car is coming out after a fantastic first part of the race?

    SV: Well, there was definitely, from our point, no need for that, but it obviously made it a lot more interesting at the end. We had a great start and obviously it was crucial to get in the lead straight away. The car was difficult but great to drive and it has been a great race, we showed great pace. Thank you very, very much to the team for the recovery since Friday and today I think it just came together and despite the safety car we still managed to win, so this one is for the team as well.

    Dany Kvyat, it seems to be the day of surprises – your very first podium. How surprised are you by yourself?

    Daniil KVYAT: Well, yeah, thank you, thank you to everyone, it’s been a very tough year, race, everything, but I think as a team we all deserve this podium very much. I thank my team very much for this podium. But you know this podium it goes first of all to Jules Bianchi and to his family. We lost a great guy, a great driver. So all my thoughts are with him right now. But first podium, like you said, it’s a great achievement and it feels great.

    Thank you, great gesture from you, Dany. But at what stage of the race did you start thinking, well, I can do it today?

    DK: Well, after Turn One I thought my race was over to be honest, because I had such a massive flat spot I could hardly stay on track. But then the team told me to keep pushing. You know some people say “never give up” but they don’t know what they’re saying and until today I didn’t also know what it means really, but today I really learned what it means to never give up because it can always come your way.

    Thank you Dany and coming to the next Danny – Daniel Ricciardo come to me – the honey badger is on the podium. Lots of tough fighting today. How tough was the fighting on track for you?

    Daniel RICCIARDO: It was a crazy race. There was contact in Turn One, I thought there was a lot of damage, I thought the race was over. Then contact on the restart with Lewis, I thought the race was probably over and then contact with Nico as well. We were resilient today. I left it all on the track. Let’s say I put my heart into everything today. I think that’s the way Jules would have wanted it, so I owe that race to him and I’m very grateful to be on the podium, it’s feels like a victory. It’s been a long time, a long season for me, so I feel that I gained some strength today and I owe this one to me. Yeah, that’s it.

    Coming back to… a lot of incidents today, to the incident today. Did you think you would keep the third position? We have to talk about this, because it was a really tough manoeuvre between the two of you?

    DR: I came from a long way back. We know we don’t have the speed on the straight, so… I knew we were quick enough to win. I saw Seb wasn’t getting away, so I thought if I could get Nico I could probably get Seb, so the laps were counting down, I saw a gap and I went for it. At that stage the move was clean and then it just looked like Nico cut back on the exit and came across and just… I guess I didn’t have enough room and we touched. I touched his tyre and he touched my wing. It was close. It’s disappointing, we both obviously ruined our chances of a win but I wanted to leave it all out there.

    Thank you Daniel. Final word with Sebastian. Sebastian, going to the summer break and I know you’re here with your mobile home. Why not spend a couple of weeks here in this fantastic land of Hungary with all the guys?

    SV: Yeah. The weather is always great, the people are great…. Now I have no choice! No, I’m sure we’ll have a great night. Obviously I still remember what happened in Malaysia after the race, so I hope it’s going to be very similar. No, it’s great, it’s great; so many fans around here, so much support all around the track, a lot of German flags, it’s really special. Thank you.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Sebastian, congratulations and amongst the other things to note today, you equalled Ayrton Senna’s 41 career victories, and a great example of how motor sport can stir the emotions in so many ways. The win obviously built on the performance at the start; the safety car threatened it towards the closing stages, but how proud are you of the win that you achieved today and the way that you did it?

    SV: Well, as you mentioned, it’s incredible the ups and downs you can go through… look, in the end we have a common passion, something we love, something… we are very different people, different guys, but we share a great passion and that is what drives us. I think the love for racing is bigger than anything else. It was a tough start, a tough week, obviously with Tuesday, and then to think about Jules again on the grid – certainly very emotional and difficult to get back in the rhythm. But then you find yourself back in the car, visor down and there are so many things you have to think about there’s not really much space for other things. I guess we do what we love to do, what we have to do. Equally mentioning Senna’s record is something incredible. I don’t know how to put this in words. I think nevertheless today is for Jules and his family. I think that’s bigger than everything else. But certainly for us, for the team, for myself, it was an amazing day. A great start. Obviously a bit hairy at the end where we had to push again. Unfortunately lost Kimi’s comfortable second position, also due to a problem that he suffered. So, I don’t know, I think if you take the last couple of days, the up and down, both emotionally and in terms of performance, I think it’s difficult to beat, but obviously it’s great to come out on top and sit here now.

    Thank you, coming to you Daniil, your second season in Formula One, your first podium. Early on in the race you had to let Daniel through but you made quite a recovery to finish in second place. Was strategy they key to that?

    DK: Well, yeah, it’s fantastic to be on the podium for the first time, it’s hard to describe what I feel today. I think first of all, the second place goes to Jules Bianchi and his family. You know, we lost a great guy, a fantastic person and a great driver. Yeah, it was a race where everything happened for me to be honest. After the start I thought my race was over, because I had a massive flat spot. We were discussing with the team whether we should box straight away or not, but we decided to stay out. Then we had a decent stint on the prime but still it wasn’t feeling great through the race. But then something picked up and it was going in the right direction in the second half of the race. The rivals were fighting and I found myself in second place. Today I definitely learned never to give up, whatever happens. It’s a great lesson today. The team, you know, we’ve been having such a hard year and I think all the team, all the guys in the team, all the mechanics have been working so hard and they all deserve this so much. Today I understood that we want to be back to the top one day.

    Q: Coming to you Daniel, obviously a double Red Bull podium, your best result of the season as well. You had such an eventful afternoon: the start, I think you dropped down to seventh place in the opening lap, contact with Bottas I believe, later on you had contact with other drivers as well, including, obviously, Nico Rosberg at the end. In amongst all of that some trademark Ricciardo overtakes as well – so it was an afternoon that had pretty much everything I guess?

    DR: It was a crazy race. Already from the start, the first corner there was pretty big contact with, I think, Bottas and yeah, the front of the car jumped and I thought we’d damaged something. It was quite a big hit. But then, yeah, we seemed to still have relatively good pace. I saw Dany in front was struggling, so then the team decided to, let’s say, let me go through. I was saying I was faster and knew we could do better pace. So then we got quickly past the Force India and then quickly back past Bottas with some good moves. Then the pace was pretty good. At the restart we had the Option, that was an advantage. That was pretty much an advantage from yesterday by only using the Prime in Q1 so were able to take advantage of that today I guess. Then the restart, I just tried to go around the outside of Lewis. You don’t see much in the cars. Obviously your peripheral vision’s pretty limited but I just felt him come in, so I just assumed he’d locked the front wheel and slid up into me, so we had more damage after that. I saw the right sidepod flapping around. Nonetheless, we’re in third. I saw the pace was good, we were catching Seb and Nico and I was close – but not close enough – to Nico and obviously they’re not so slow on the straights. The laps were ticking down, I had to try something and I got a pretty good run out of the last corner and yeah, just said ‘I’m going for it this lap, no matter what,’ and I went for it. To be honest, the move, it was, for sure, late but it was clean. Up until the apex it was fine. Obviously Nico saw me and left me room on the entry and then, just the exit, from what I recall he just came back across and just basically didn’t give me enough room. I don’t know if he thought he’d cleared me yet – but we made contact and that was when he earned a puncture and I got the front wing damage. We gifted the young Russian his first podium – but obviously he was there to take it so congrats to him and, I mean, we pitted for a front wing and fortunately we still ended up on the podium. As all the drivers have said, this race was for Jules. I left everything on the track. Whether some competitors like it or not, that’s how I wanted to do it and that’s how I’ll always do it. And watching Jules grow up, that was how he did it. He had amazing race craft and made some pretty impressive lunges. I feel all the moves on track were… I drove inspired today and I’m happy to be standing up here. It’s been an emotional week. Before the race was emotional. Obviously very nice to have his family in the presence and, yeah, this one’s for him. Hopefully we find… yeah… some happiness from this weekend and move on.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / Speedsport Magazines) Daniel, you’ve told us that, other than winning, you love fierce battles. You had those today but is it a bit bittersweet that you saw second and maybe first sort-of slip away?

    DR: Yes, it’s a lot of mixed emotions about many things right now. Firstly, I’m definitely still grateful to be on the podium. It’s been, I guess, a long year, a tough one definitely. All of a sudden to find two of our cars on the podium, it’s pretty surreal. But yeah, I knew I could have sat in third and accepted that but knowing that I had the pace – I had the Option, compared to Seb and Nico on the Prime – I had an opportunity to do something about it. It was nearly like Déjà vu, nearly like the end of the race last year. Basically I’ve come third before, I thought ‘we have a chance to win,’ so I went for it. I guess it’s a bit of a shame how it ended up but at the same time I don’t regret anything I did on track today. I definitely left it all on there and I thought I drove with a heavy but a strong heart, and that makes me happy. Definitely no regrets.

    Q: (Oleg Karpov – motorsport.com) My question to Dany – two questions actually – first of all, you were catching on those last laps Daniel and Nico. Do you think you had the pace to give them a fight in the end. Secondly, what did you think when they collided, what was going through your mind?

    DK: After the safety car restart there was an open fight for the podium between all of us. To be honest, I must give a credit to Daniel. His pace has been better this weekend than mine, I think he had a better chance of a shot for victory this weekend than I did. Certainly had a shot for podium in the end but, y’know, my tyres were not in a great condition, to be honest. I was coming closer, step-by-step but I think it would be really hard, especially considering the Mercedes straight line advantage, to give them a fight for the podium, so Daniel, I think, did the right thing trying to go for it – but yeah, this weekend I think, like I said, I’ve been able to take every opportunity and that’s where I am right now. The pace we will have to analyse. But, you know, sometimes you are faster, sometimes you are slower and this is how it goes in racing.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Congratulations Sebastian for winning the so-called Finnish Grand Prix first time! How much better it would have felt to have to have first one-two for Ferrari in five years?

    SV: I think it looked pretty promising off the line. Obviously it was a great move from Kimi. I think, obviously, he started another row back and we managed to be one-two after the first couple of corners. So, I guess he did a hell of a job to get these Mercedes in the first two corners. Yeah, then I was told during the safety car phase that he has a problem with the car. He lost the [MGU]-K and obviously then you’re pretty chanceless, you lose a lot of power and then all the systems start to misbehave, so in the end he didn’t finish. It’s a shame – because I think it could have been, first of all, a very, very strong team result and second, y’know, a one-two. Yeah, it’s a great day for Ferrari but not as great as it could have been. Obviously a bit of a shame for Kimi – it’s not my job but all the bullshit that’s been going around recently, I think both of us were driving a very consistent race and deserved a one-two today. I think that’s a couple of answers to some questions.

    Q: (Barna Zsoldos – Nemzeti Sport) Sebastian, this is your ninth Hungarian Grand Prix but only your first win. On most of the tracks you’ve got much better statistic. Do you think that with this victory you can change your luck in the future here?

    SV: I hope so! It has been a while. In all honestly, I’m a little bit disappointed because we didn’t have the traditional Hungarian trophy with the porcelain on the podium today. So, 99.8 per cent happy. I was looking forward to that – not that I have a crush on porcelain or a weakness for porcelain but I think it belongs to this grand prix. To the organisers, please go back and… [to Daniel] did you have a porcelain one last year?

    DR: No, same as yours

    SV: S*** I don’t know what happened. I think 2010 I was very close to win and did a stupid mistake and then we had this very ugly – I’m not saying the brand – dog with four legs, or five legs, or six, I don’t even know – then they went back to the porcelain one, now they’ve gone back to something else! Obviously it’s great to win but not entirely perfect. I’ve always liked this track. Great to see so many fans, a lot of German flags, a lot of Germans and Austrians coming to support… I guess a little bit less Austrians this year… supporting me but therefore a lot of Italian and Ferrari flags around, so it was great. I’m very, very happy to tick this box finally.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Sebastian, how much of a surprise was the pace of the Ferrari to the… where has it come from because we didn’t see it on Friday and Saturday? And did you think it was a mistake to switch to the medium tyres behind the safety car for the last stint?

    SV: Well, we had to run the primes at some point so no choice. Obviously we knew that by going option, option and then have to go prime, it’s not ideal for the safety car but it was the quickest race. I think without the safety car no questions to be answered now but that’s how it goes:  sometimes it’s in your favour, sometimes it’s not. I think Friday was obviously a bad day for us so I don’t think you can take that as a reference and yesterday I think we had a good recovery and then it remained open how quick we really were on a long run but today was really really good, I think. It makes a difference if you find yourself in clean air, dictating the pace rather than following the top two cars. In some races we didn’t really see them for long. In other races we were sort of stuck behind them and you cannot really show your true pace so I think – especially in the beginning of the race, but then again, I think the whole race – the pace was really really good. I think Lewis was still probably a little bit quicker but didn’t have a smooth Grand Prix so this is how it goes sometimes.

    Q: (Viktor Bognar – Magyarszo) I think this must be the best ever race for Red Bull drivers because all three of you were part of Red Bull plus Max Verstappen finished fourth. What do you think Helmut Marko is thinking right now?

    SV: I think he’s pretty happy. To be honest I have a… obviously Helmut loves racing, he’s very straightforward as we all know and for sure he would have loved me to be third and not first today but he has always been a man with great respect and since I obviously told him my decision, he has still been a supporter, we are still in contact. It’s great to see that despite the colour that we wear that we still share something that is larger than that. I think that he has… I know that he has received a lot of criticism in the past for his programme, his Junior programme that he’s mostly looking after and I think that if you look at the podium today, I think he’s very happy.

    DK: I owe a lot to Helmut, Dr Marko. He’s a kind of racing father for me. I wouldn’t be sitting here without his support right now.

    SV: We all wouldn’t.

    DK: We all wouldn’t actually so yeah, Seb answered it correctly right now. Always great opportunities, great chances but you have to deliver, simple as that and today it felt like I did my best, super opportunities and this podium is also… you know we all share this podium with him today and I’m extremely happy to share it with him as well.

    DR: You never know what he’s thinking! I’m sure he’s happy.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globoesporte.com) To both Red Bull drivers: here is a circuit where the power of the engine doesn’t have as great importance. Can you analyse the development of Renault and the development of the chassis?

    DR: I think that what’s been the most positive thing about this weekend is from Friday morning, first run on the track, the car felt good. I think it’s the first race in a long time where we haven’t really touched the balance throughout the weekend. We haven’t been chasing our tail, the car had more feeling about it this weekend, at least from my side. I felt like I could dictate the balance a bit more and position the car more where I wanted to. It’s quite a bumpy circuit. I felt the car was behaving well over the bumps, even comparing to last year I thought we definitely made some progress. Even though for sure this circuit suits our car more, I did feel like we’ve taken a step forward and the updates and everything we brought over the last two races, we made them work in the right way this weekend so definitely a lot of positives and yeah, it’s nice to have I guess a smile on both of our faces but also the team, give them some positivity coming into the break now. I’m sure Spa… you know there’s more straights there but I’m sure we can still be strong. We’re going to be enjoying the second sector a lot. It was a pretty good circuit for us last year. I think we’ve made some good progress nonetheless even though it’s track specific.

    Renault?  On Friday it was an old power unit, old spec everything  so that was not an issue. Today in the race I thought it performed well. Here it’s obviously less… yeah, less sensitive, thanks Seb, with the power and everything. It was good. As we saw in the last part of the race, we had the pace to win. We were there, fighting for it so I think from Renault’s side, from the team’s side, it’s been our best weekend yet and I’m proud for everyone in the team to show that and show some progress and maybe we won’t get asked so many questions now in Spa.

    Q: (Peter Vamosi – Vas Nepe) Sebastian, before you leave Hungaroring, please sign the 2015 picture in the pit tunnel and draw a picture of you. There is a picture now? OK. Great.

    SV: That’s quick.

    Q: (Peter Vamosi – Vas Nepe) You can sign it now.

    SV: I’ve been thinking about that all weekend when I’ve walked through. I was looking at Piquet, Senna and then Daniel at the end and I thought haaa.

    Q: (Peter Vamosi – Vas Nepe) Now it’s your opportunity, yes. And of course is Hungary right now in a special place in your heart because your last World Series by Renault race was here, your first race for Toro Rosso was also here and after nine years, you managed to win?

    SV: Yeah, it’s definitely special. I remember I was late, I missed the flight coming for my first Formula One race on the Thursday, I was late, obviously my first time with Toro Rosso. It’s a good story now but back then I wasn’t making myself very popular being the new guy in the team and arriving late. I don’t know, it has been a little bit up and down here. I don’t know why. I think we had quite a lot of pole positions in the recent years. I think 2010 was the most obvious race that I should have won but messed up with that silly mistake during the safety car phase and after I think that we had the pace but then the races decided to go a different way and yeah, despite the fact that we had a great car… we always had a great car around here, couldn’t really use that. It’s great, obviously, to turn around, very special to do it now with Ferrari as well, so very happy and hopefully it’s a sort of turning point in my Hungarian Grand Prix career.

    Q: (Attila Lenart – Auto 2) Danil, does it mean anything to you… I mean does it make the champagne sweeter that your first podium actually happened in a country where most of the people have been taught to learn Russian, so they can more or less spell your name correctly?

    DK: Well, yeah, it’s been a story for a while I guess. It’s only five letters but so challenging to say.

    SV: How do you actually say it?

    DK: I already forgot how to say it right to be honest myself! It’s Kvyat, it’s quite easy but you’re right. Before the Russian Grand Prix, before any Russian circuit was built, this was kind of a home race for myself, I would say, because it’s the most eastern country in Europe where we race. It’s a pleasure. The Hungaroring has been up and down for me in the junior formulae; there have been good races, bad races. Today was a really good race so yeah, like you said, a very special day.

  • 2015 Formula 1 Pirelli Hungarian Grand Prix: Saturday Press Conference

    2015 Formula 1 Pirelli Hungarian Grand Prix: Saturday Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    2 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

    3 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

    TV UNILATERAL

    So Lewis, your fifth pole here in Budapest, quite a big margin over your team-mate, you must be very happy with the way today has turned out – you’ve been fastest in every track session this weekend?

    Lewis HAMILTON: It’s been a good weekend so far, yes. I think coming here I’ve always had, generally, good experiences here, but loving the weather, loving the city. But also… I love the track. It feels a bit like an old go-karting circuit that we used to race on many years ago when we had super special soft tyres and super grippy, you know, and I think with the temperatures it gives us a lot of grip here. But me and Nico wouldn’t be up here if it wasn’t really for this team. They’ve done an exceptional job all year long but just to improve coming into this weekend, you can definitely feel it, so big thanks to them.

    Well done. Nico, talking about the margin, it was close early on through the weekend, it was pretty close between you but in the later stages of qualifying it just seemed to grow. What was the story from your side?

    Nico ROSBERG: I don’t have an explanation. Qualifying went pretty much to plan, everything, but just didn’t find the pace and it’s been a bit up and down all weekend for some unexplained reasons, so just need to look into it tonight. Definitely not happy with the way it went today.

    Ok thank you. Coming to you Sebastian, obviously not the best practice sessions for either you or the whole Ferrari team but it looks like you managed to turn it round when it really mattered for qualifying. How did you do it?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, it’s true, we had a difficult day yesterday, let’s say, with something stopping us, slowing us down and it was difficult to get a feel for the car. So, for today, I’m glad that we found direction, we went and took it a little bit easier, trying to build it up in FP3, which worked, and then throughout qualifying the car kept coming to us, kept improving. I think third is the maximum we could do today, so we can very, very happy, especially with the rough start to the weekend and now obviously hoping for a good race. Who knows, on this track usually there are a lot of things happening on Sunday, so maybe we can do something against these guys, but I expect a tight race also to people behind – to the Williams and the Red Bull in particular.

    Thank you and coming back to you Lewis, perhaps surprisingly on a track on which it’s quite difficult to overtake, the race isn’t always won from pole position. In fact, in the last ten years you’re the only person who has managed to do it, so being on pole at this stage is not necessarily a slam dunk; plenty of work still to do tomorrow.

    LH: Absolutely. The work’s not always done on a Saturday, I’ve got lots of work to do tomorrow but in terms of how the weekend has gone I’m incredibly happy with that. I think it’s so far been one of the best… I can’t remember having the performance I’ve had this weekend on any weekend, so I’m really happy with that. There’s a long way down into Turn One and the race is incredibly tough physically but also technically for the car, but I feel confident in my team and my car and hopefully we can convert it tomorrow.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Lewis, you’re obviously feeling on top form this weekend, so you’re obviously happy about that. How important is it to go into the summer break as the guy who won the most recent grand prix, to have that period of reflection knowing that you ended that first part of the season on a high?

    LH: It’s not really what you think about, to be honest. There’s been times when I’ve not won, gone into that break and you manage to switch off and enjoy it just as much. So, of course, when you leave, having done what you planned to do, it makes a next few days following – but other than that, you get over it and you move on and do whatever you have to do, and train – but I’m taking all the steps possible to make sure it’s a nice summer break.

    Q: Question for you Nico on the strategy. We mentioned earlier on that it’s not always won from pole, this race. In fact the top three is normally where the winner comes from, so still plenty of chances for you in the race and clearly strategy is going to be part of that. It looks to me as though you both saved a set of new soft tyres – you reused a set for your first run in Q3, is that correct? What advantage does that give you?

    NR: I don’t think I saved a set, no. Not this time no. But I’m not 100 per cent sure! It was a bit all over the place, the qualifying. But strategy, yeah, there’s going to be some opportunities, definitely, also in terms of strategy. Let’s see. Going to go into that tomorrow morning. Strategy is discussed tomorrow morning. But anyway, car-wise, if anything, my balance is for the race – which is not what I wanted but it’s the way it’s gone.

    Q: Sebastian, I think it’s the seventh time you’ve qualified in the top three in the first part of the season but, as you mentioned earlier on in your previous answer, it’s not been a weekend without problems for Ferrari – so maybe you could tell us a little bit about what you were dealing with as a team – and also, how come, despite so many strong qualifying performances, you’ve never managed to win this race.

    SV: Yeah – because I never managed to cross line first on Sunday! Yeah, it’s a great race and a definitely want to win it – hopefully tomorrow– we’ll see with a bit of luck. Obviously in normal conditions it’s difficult to beat these guys. But as you touched on, I think it was a great recovery from a very, very bad day yesterday where we had issues with the car. Obviously Kimi had the wing failure in FP1 which caught us out also a little bit in FP2 and then, yeah, just things slowing us down. And on top of that the balance and the rhythm wasn’t there. So, not a great day and not that easy to recover but spent a lot of time last night trying to clear up the situation and fortunately it worked. We started off on a much better foot this morning and obviously were able to carry that into qualifying. We knew it will be tight, especially with Red Bulls as they showed very, very strong pace yesterday but we managed to stay ahead – so that’s good for today but for tomorrow obviously there’s a big job to be done. We focus on the race, trying to defend that third place and, as I said, I wouldn’t mind if I could turn your question around and answer in a different way tomorrow.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Sebastian, I think it’s predicted that tomorrow it will be about eight to nine degrees cooler than it is now. How do you think that will affect your performance, keeping in mind that Ferrari usually goes well in the hot weather, and also how confident are you that you will be able to stay ahead of the Red Bulls in those conditions?

    SV: Well, I considered it hot today – 37 or 36 degrees – so I still consider 28 degrees to be fairly hot. I think in England they would call it a heatwave. (It’s not that bad, it’s bit better in the summer). Overall, I think it’s still hot tomorrow. We’ll obviously see what the weather does but I think it should be fine.

    Q: (Peter Vamosi  –  Vas Nepe) To all of you, the strange thing here in Hungaroring is if Lewis Hamilton wins, Kimi Raikkonen is always second. What do you think about that?

    LH: I don’t know what to say to that.

    SV: I don’t think Lewis cares.

    LH: It’s good for Kimi.

    Q: How about you, Nico? You’ve tended to finish exactly where you started all season, with a couple of exceptions. You wouldn’t want that.

    NR: No, I hope none of those things apply.

    Q: (Barna Zsoldos – Nemzeti Sport) Lewis, yesterday you said that you started to think that this might be your favourite track. After your fifth pole position here, do you state that this is your favourite track now?

    LH: You know it’s really hard to pinpoint your favourite track in your career really because there are so many different ones. They all have such different characteristics but I honestly just really enjoy driving this track. I think it’s the combination – as I said earlier – with the tyres and the surface. It’s quite bumpy, the way the corners are, on camber, off camber and the way that the track just flows. It’s so much fun. Monaco’s fun but I don’t know, I think that including the city with all the great architecture and that, I think it might be potentially just edging out Monaco. Maybe.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speedsport Magazines) Seb, how worried are you about the Red Bulls and do you think that it’s just this track or have they actually made a step closer to you?

    SV: Well, I think they have made a step closer to – ultimately – Mercedes, if you consider them being at the front so if you look at the gap they had, I think some races ago, and the gap they have now,  they are a lot closer. I think it was fairly evident at Silverstone already so it was expected that they have a strong weekend here as well. So I expect them to be strong tomorrow, but we managed to outqualify them which means that we are quicker. Obviously yesterday we cannot really compare because for us it was not a good day. Hopefully we can get a good comparison in tomorrow’s race and come out on top.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Nico, I think we have heard you talking on the radio about something going wrong with the aero balance and you had so much understeer and maybe the tyre pressures were wrong. Did your car behave differently than in P3? So what might have been the problem?

    NR: I generally just wasn’t happy and I don’t understand it so we need to look into it. It was a bit just inconsistent so difficult to explain. I don’t know. But I wasn’t happy with the general way qualifying went.

  • Hamilton storms to Hungarian GP pole

    Hamilton storms to Hungarian GP pole

    Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton stormed his way to securing the pole postion for the Hungarian GP. This is Hamilton’s ninth pole position of the season for his Mercedes team.

    Hamilton posted a lap time of 1:22.020 to end the session half a second quicker than his title rival and team mate Nico Rosberg.

    ebastian Vettel beat his former Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo to third place by only a hundredths of a second, setting up a nice enough battle for the podium position for the Hungarian GP.

    Kimi Räikkönen recovered from a water leak during final practice ahead of the Hungarian GP to line up in fifth place on the grid, ahead of fellow Finn Valtteri Bottas.

    Red Bull’s Dabiel Ricciardo will start in 6th place with team mate Daniil Kvyat behind him in 7th.  The Williams team disappointed with their highest position from Felipe Massa in eighth place.

    Max Verstappen progressed through to Q3 and went ninth, with Romain Grosjean rounding out the top 10.

    Neither of the Force India drivers made it through to Q3 as Nico Hülkenberg placed 11th, with Sergio Pérez in 13th. The duo were split by Toro Rosso rookie Carlos Sainz Jr., with Pastor Maldonado in 14th position.

    Fernando Alonso made it through to Q2 but his car came to a standstill on the approach to the final corner, bringing out the red flags. Alonso tried pushing his car to the pits so that he could get back out in time but alas, remains in 15th place.

    McLaren team mate Jenson Button finished the session in only 16th place, complaining about ERS deployment issues on the straight on his hot lap.

    Sauber continued to struggle, finishing with Marcus Ericsson in 17th and Felipe Nasr 18th.

    Manor Marussia once again occupied the final two slots as Roberto Merhi beat Will Stevens by half a second.

     

     

     

     

    Pos Driver Car Gap
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:22.020
    2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes +0.575s
    3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari +0.719s
    4 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull/Renault +0.754s
    5 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari +1.000s
    6 Valtteri Bottas Williams/Mercedes +1.202s
    7 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull/Renault +1.312s
    8 Felipe Massa Williams/Mercedes +1.517s
    9 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso/Renault +1.659s
    10 Romain Grosjean Lotus/Mercedes +2.161s
    11 Nico Hulkenberg Force India/Mercedes +1.806s
    12 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso/Renault +1.849s
    13 Sergio Perez Force India/Mercedes +2.441s
    14 Pastor Maldonado Lotus/Mercedes +2.589s
    15 Fernando Alonso McLaren/Honda No Q2 time set
    16 Jenson Button McLaren/Honda +2.719s
    17 Marcus Ericsson Sauber/Ferrari +2.823s
    18 Felipe Nasr Sauber/Ferrari +2.977s
    19 Roberto Merhi Marussia/Ferrari +5.396s
    20 Will Stevens Marussia/Ferrari +5.929s