F1 Madness

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  • 2017 Hungarian GP: Thursday Press Conference – Part 2

    2017 Hungarian GP: Thursday Press Conference – Part 2

    PART TWO: DRIVERS – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull), Sergio PÉREZ (Force India), Stoffel VANDOORNE (McLaren), Kevin MAGNUSSEN (Haas)

    Q: Session one we had a lot of talk about the implementation of the Halo cockpit head protection in 2018. I’d just like to get each of your thoughts on that. Perhaps we could start with Max.

    Max VERSTAPPEN: OK, yeah, I don’t like it but of course at the end of the day you have to respect the decision of the FIA. I think since we introduced the Virtual Safety Car, that reduced a lot of risk when you are speeding under the yellow flag in the race and then also with the wheel tethers, they are quite strong at the moment so I don’t think you will lose a wheel very easily, and when there are parts flying around from the car, it’s not really going to protect you. So, I don’t really understand why we should need it.

    Sergio?

    Sergio PÉREZ: I’m in favour of it. Whatever has to do with safety, safety always comes first. I think if we had the Halo by now, the last six, seven years it will have saved at least a life. That’s worth the risk that the FIA is taking with that. I think once we implement Halo the teams will improve. I think Halo needs a lot of work by now – but I’m sure the system will be improved a lot. We have very clever engineers in Formula One and now that all the teams know that it has to be in place for next year, I believe they will improve it a lot.

    Kevin, your thoughts?

    Kevin MAGNUSSEN: I’m also against it. I don’t think it’s what Formula One is about. I think there should be a limit or, at least, a more clever way to improve the safety. I don’t think the Halo is the right way. In general, I don’t agree that safety always is number one. I think there is a limit where it becomes too safe to be exciting. Part of the reason Formula One is popular is because of the element of danger. It’s moved on a huge amount in the last 30 years and that’s been very good – but I think it’s safe enough now that I can say it’s exciting and it’s right. It feels right to go racing. We could always make it more safe, we could make the cars go maximum 80km/h and it would be completely safe – but it would be very boring. You can always make it safer but you will make it less exciting and that’s my problem with it.

    And Stoffel, your thoughts?

    Stoffel VANDOORNE: Yeah, I think aesthetically it’s definitely not the nicest thing we’ve put on the cars and I think a lot of people agree with that – but we’ve been pushing to improve cockpit safety, to improve head protection. I think the FIA have done a lot of investigations on what would be the best solutions, trying a couple of different solutions with the screen being tested in Silverstone as well. I think for them that was the best solution. So, yeah, I don’t think it’s a big surprised to see it in 2018 on the cars.

    Q: Max, if we can come back to you now. It’s been a difficult opening ten races of the year for you; five retirements but Red Bull team principle Christian Horner has said this week that in adversity, you’re becoming a better driver. I just wondered if you agreed with him.

    MV: It’s nice to hear. No I think it’s always the target to improve every single year so I think I definitely improved again compared to last year but it’s a bit difficult to… or it was difficult to show, of course, when you retire but luckily in Silverstone I had no issues but we still need to be honest to ourselves and now there was an issue on the other car, so we still need to be more reliable I think. We’ll start here in Hungary and see how it goes.

    Q: And how do you rate your chances this weekend? Red Bull’s been on the podium every year for the last four years; is that your expectation? 

    MV: We have to wait and see how the updates will work but also from the guys ahead, because they are not standing still. So hopefully we will be close but of course in Silverstone we went a little bit in the wrong direction but if you look to the previous races I think we were actually catching up so let’s try to continue in that way and hopefully we will find a good balance and then I’m sure if there are some things happening like they always do here I think in Hungary, then we have a good chance.

    Q: Sergio, coming back to you: the Hungaroring hasn’t been that kind to you during your Formula One career. I just wonder, given the team’s form this year, how confident are you of being competitive? 

    SP: I think yes, we have improved the car in terms of making the car more consistent. We might not have a circuit where we go really well and one that we go really badly. I think we’ve been in our fight, in the midfield, we’ve been the most consistent team and that’s thanks to the car being consistent pretty much on every track. So I think here we can be in the challenge. I think obviously we will have the McLarens, the Haas, the Renaults, the Toro Rossos  – they will be quite strong around here. But I expect ourselves to be in that fight, in that mix and hopefully score very good points on Sunday.

    Q: The driver silly season is in full swing and I would just like to ask you about that if I may. Force India has clearly made a step forward this year; are you confident they can make another step next year and do you want to make that step with them?

    SP: I think the team has been moving forwards every year, you know? Although last year we achieved the same position which we have now which is fourth, I think we have consolidated that four place. I think the team is moving forwards; there is a lot more interest in terms of sponsorship into the team, more investment but it’s not easy to make the next step with the big boys, with the big teams, it’s not easy. In terms of my future, I just hope that once I come back to the next race, after the summer break, I can have a new contract.

    Q: A new contract with Force India. 

    SP: That would be good you know, but you never know what will happen.

    Q: Kevin, talking of contracts, Gene Haas has confirmed that both yourself and Romain will remain with the team in 2018. How important is that stability both for you personally and for the team? 

    KM: I think it’s important for both. I knew, when I signed the contract, there were two years, so it’s not news for me but it’s good of Gene to tell everyone and make it… now we will have the questions so hopefully no more of those kind of questions for the rest of the season. It’s nice to be in that situation because for the last two seasons I’ve done in Formula One it’s been always frustrating to talk about contracts every races in the last part of the season. Now, it’s clear what the plan is so we can focus on racing and just push freely and not worry about anything – just go racing as hard as I can.

    Q: And do you work well with Romain? 

    KM: Yeah, I think so. It’s a good relationship and I think the support we have from the team is fantastic. It’s a very good environment to be in as a driver. The trust that we get from the team is very big and I think we’re both performing well and I can certainly learn from him and I hope he can learn from me as well so we can push each other forward and help the team that way.

    Q: Stoffel, so halfway through the season, how do you reflect on progress, both for you personally and for McLaren?

    SV: Yeah, for us it’s been a difficult start to the season, Not a surprise, I think we’ve had a lot of technical problems to start which compromises a lot of our running, let’s say, but I think since we’ve made good steps forward. It’s still not perfect, we know that, there’s still a long way to go but we’ve definitely improved on the chassis side, engine side as well, so I think everything is going in the right direction. We’re still a long way off, that’s true but I think the recent races have shown some good progress and yeah, I’m comfortable with the car which is performing very well like this weekend as well for us should be a good opportunity so yeah, I’m looking forward to the remainder of the season to hopefully continue that trend.

    Q: You said a moment ago you’re still a long way off but equally this weekend should be a good opportunity; what is it about the Hungaroring that lends itself to your car? 

    SV: It’s a very twisty circuit, a lot of corners, we know our chassis is performing well in these corners. It’s a bit like Monaco without the walls, let’s say and it’s also one of the circuits where the power sensitivity is a bit lower. On paper it’s a chance for us, this weekend but yeah, it’s not a given for sure, so we need to be focused on getting the maximum out of our package and then hopefully we will be rewarded with a good result.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Ysef Harding – Xiro Xone News) We’ve got a big weekend, summer break coming up. Where are you guys going: Barbados, anybody for California, anybody for Hawaii? What have you guys got planned for the summer break? 

    KM: Not too much, really. I’m going to relax as much as I can, recharge the batteries. I have no plans so I will see what I do.

    SP: For me, no Barbados. I go to California.

    MV: Yeah, some friends and family holiday.

    Q: Are you going to tell us where? 

    MV: No.

    SV: I know where Maxi is going but… I’m going to Montenegro with a few friends and then the rest of the time I’ll just chill out in Monaco.

    Q: (Tomasz Kubiak – SwiatWyscigow) Question to the three drivers who took part in last year’s race: the track limits were enforced electronically then. Were you in favour of that solution over some of the aggressive kerbs that are damaging the cars on some tracks?

    MV: It’s not ideal for our car because of the ride height we are running. It’s easy to destroy your front wing or the front of the floor so it’s not great and I think we can still fine tune it a bit but in one way you have to stay off them. It’s not too bad but it’s not fantastic yet.

    SP: I think it will be very difficult, you know, to have this electronic system where it slows you down and then you can create a massive shunt behind you so I don’t think it’s the right way to go. These cars go really fast, they’re not like indoor karting where if you are crashing around, they can slow you down. The difference in speeds can be really big so I don’t think it’s the right way forward: going off and manually, electronically reducing your speed.

    Q: So you think the kerbs is a good solution. 

    SP: Yes, I think so.

    KM: I think the kerb’s fine.

    Q: (Jerome Pugmire – AP) Max, Mercedes announced that they’re going to go into Formula E. I just want to know what you think of the sport; do you think it’s exciting, perhaps not fast enough for somebody like you? What do you think of it?

    MV: It can be a bit faster, I think but that will… you know the evolution with the cars for sure, that will be done and I think the rest… yeah, there are some exciting races, absolutely. I try to watch it and I think you also have to get rid of the pit stop where you have to jump in another car but of course that’s going to happen, so we will see what happens there.

    Q: (Péter Vámosi – Vas Népe) Checo, if you had the opportunity to rename the Force India team, what would it be? And of course is there any real opportunity that it will be Brabham? 

    SP: Force Mexico or Force Checo. Checo would be good. Couple of ideas for Vijay. I think the team is definitely moving in the right direction. Hopefully, very soon we can find out which name we will have for the future. I don’t know anything about Brabham.

    Q: (Velimir Veljko Jukic – Auto Fokus) For all drivers: next year, you will have more protection so will you risk more and push even more harder, even harder?

    MV: That would mean you’re doing a very bad job at the moment so I don’t think so.

    Q: (Rik Spekenbrink – Algemeen Dagblad) Max, I know it’s hard to predict what an upgrade will do but what are you hoping for realistically? 

    MV: That we can close the gap to the guys ahead. I think that’s the obvious target for us at the moment and then we will see what happens.

    Q: (Erik van Haren – De Telegraaf) Max, do you think this track is better for you guys and especially as at Silverstone you said you didn’t have enough pace there, when you look at Ferrari and Mercedes? Do you think it will be better for you here? 

    MV: We hope so. In general it should be a little bit better for us, also like Stoffel said, the power sensitivity is not as big. But still, you need a good balance and we have to try and work on that.

    Q: (Sura’nyi Géza – Heves Megyei Hirlap) To all drivers: going back to the halo thing, do you think it’s disturbing for a driver from the point of view that it’s difficult to see from the car when the halo is on and do you think that it will impact your driving? 

    KM: I think it could have an effect on tracks that are uphill, for example, turn one in Austin or Eau Rouge at Spa, you could struggle to see the top. But I’ve tried it once but not for very long so… Those laps didn’t feel great, it’s not a nice sensation to have something right in front of you.

    SP: Yeah, I agree with Kevin. I tried it twice, I think, last year, just for a lap so I’ve done two laps with it, installation laps. I don’t really have a lot of information with it. I don’t know if we’re going to be using the same halo as the one we tried last year, I don’t know if it’s going to be improved or if anything can be done in that respect.

    MV: The one I tried I didn’t like the visibility and the thing in front of you so yeah, it’s not great. Don’t like it.

    Q: Stoffel, have you tested the halo? 

    SV: No, I haven’t, I haven’t tried it so I think those guys have a better vision of it as they’ve tried it so I don’t know.

    Q: (Viktor Bognar – Magyar Szo) To all drivers: just following up on the previous question: are you worried that sticking the halo in front of your eyes will take away some of the excitement of driving a Formula One car? 

    Q: Stoffel, you haven’t tried it, are you nervous about having the halo and will it take some of the excitement away? 

    SV: It’s difficult to say. For sure it will be different. Everything is always different when you put something new on the car and I think like the other drivers said, visually I think it will be a bit strange in the beginning but no one’s really done a proper run with it, no one’s really done a full day with it and seen how they adapted to different scenarios. I think we will have to wait and see until we actually get to do proper running with it.

    MV: I think that as soon as I have that thing on my car I don’t like it and I’m not even sitting in the car so the excitement has already gone before I’m even sitting in the car.

    SP: As Vandoorne says, we are really far from that. Nobody has really done a day with it so we will see how it goes in Barcelona, the first time we will try it on track.

    KM: Yeah, I agree with Max. It takes away some of the passion that Formula One is all about. When you look at the car it’s ugly. Formula One cars aren’t ugly, they’re not meant to be ugly. That’s the reason that a Ferrari is more exciting than a Mazda, it’s something passionate and if it looks shit, it is shit.

  • 2017 Hungarian GP: Thursday Press Conference – Part 1

    2017 Hungarian GP: Thursday Press Conference – Part 1

    PART ONE: DRIVERS – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari), Fernando ALONSO (McLaren), Nico HULKENBERG (Renault)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Gentlemen, if we could by getting your thoughts on the Halo cockpit protection that is going to be introduced from the start of 2018. Sebastian, if we could begin with you, what are your thoughts about the Halo and how do you feel it compares to the Shield you tested at Silverstone two weeks ago? 

    Sebastian VETTEL: Well, I wasn’t a big fan of the Shield, mostly for the reason that it was impacting visibility. The Halo test I did, I think it was last year in Abu Dhabi, and for sure you need to get used to it but at least it didn’t impact on the vision, so I think that was the biggest difference. Obviously there has been a lot of talk, as I got it, but I think overall you need to understand that it is a decision that helps us in the car in case something goes very wrong. For sure, if you look at Formula One, the way Formula One cars look and so on, I can understand if people say it doesn’t belong on a Formula One car but on the other hand I think times are changing, you are moving forward and I think if you put it very clear, then it also should be very clear for everyone and there shouldn’t be a doubt in your mind whether to introduce it or not. I think if you offer the system as it stands, with the power that it has to give us additional protection, offer that to Justin Wilson some time ago, I think he would take it and we would all be happy to take it to save his life. Now we can’t turn back the clock but I think knowing that something is there that helps us in scenarios it would be ignorant and stupid to ignore. Regarding the looks: as I said, I like Formula One cars of the past and so on, but there are also elements that I like nowadays. I mean, racing cars with wings that Formula One cars didn’t have until I think late-‘60s or [early] ‘70s, so now that’s part of it. There are plenty of other examples – we had V12 engines, which I would like to go back to, and we don’t have anymore. But overall, it’s supposed to help us and I think that’s what we need to remember.

    Q: Fernando, you’re the most experienced driver in the room with 280 starts to your name, what are your thoughts on the Halo?

    Fernando ALONSO: I tend to agree with everything Sebastian said. First is the safety and if this device can help in many of the fatal accidents that we had in the last 10 or 15 years, as has been proved by the FIA, I think we are all happy to implement the device and we are all happy to have some of our colleagues, if we could go back in time and save their live we would be all happy. That’s the first and only thing we should talk about. Then, the aesthetics: I don’t care too much to be honest. Formula One has changed a lot. Even from my first year, in 2001, until now, the cars look very different. The height of the front nose, the height of the cockpit [surround] to protect the helmet area, you know. Forty or 50 years ago they didn’t have seatbelts in a Formula One and when seatbelts were implemented there was not any debate. If they had to fit it in Formula One… it’s fun to drive with no seatbelt… it should be like that. For me there is no question, I’m happy to implement any extra head protection for next year. If the FIA studied and developed the Halo and this is the most effective way to protect the head of the drivers it’s more than welcome in my opinion.

    Q: Nico, you’ve expressed your reservations about Halo in the past. Now it’s here, what’s your reaction? 

    Nico HULKENBERG: I’m still going to race. I won’t retire for sure. But yeah, I was never a big supporter of Halo or of additional head protection. I’m still not but it’s not my decision, it’s the FIA making the safety rules and requirements. So it is what it is, I will accept it and get on with it.

    Q: Can you elaborate on why you’re not a fan?

    NH: I think there is that element of if they fix the looks; it doesn’t look pretty for sure. It will protect against something, the freak accident, accidents that’s one out of a million. We have security and the protection of the cars gets better, these tethers that keep the tyres get better and better every year and give even less chance of a tyre or heavy things flying round, so I’m not sure that this additional protection is necessary because all the other areas keep improving and we’ve compromised the looks quite a lot.

    Q: Marcus, your thoughts on the implementation of Halo? 

    Marcus ERICSSON: I think it’s positive. I think like Fernando and Sebastian said safety should be prioritized. I think the FIA has done a good job to really look into it and if this is a best solution at the moment I think it’s a no-brainer to go for it for next year. If it can save someone in the future, it’s great. Also, I tested it last year and when I drove with it I didn’t really notice it all, so I think it’s a good thing that it’s not going to change anything when you drive, that you have the same feeling when you drive. Yeah, it maybe doesn’t look the prettiest but I think it’s also something we will get used to. It’s always when there are big changes in Formula One it doesn’t look so pretty at first, but then people get used and I think it will be the same thing with the Halo.

    Q: Sebastian, this is your 50th start for Ferrari, a milestone reached by only 13 other drivers. How do you reflect on your two-and-a-half years with the team and what does the future hold? 

    SV: I think time is moving quickly. Obviously, I have been very busy. I think the whole team has been very, very busy trying to get back. I think this year has been very, very god for most of the year so far. Overall, very positive. I’m really enjoying it. I think it’s great to be part of the Ferrari family and as I said we are all focused and determined to get Ferrari back to where it belongs, so that’s our mission let’s say, our target, our goal and yeah, that’s what we’re working on.

    Q: And beyond the end of the year? 

    SV: Well, it’s true that I haven’t got a contract yet but I think the primary objective at the moment is not to look at papers and worry about those, I think it’s to make sure that we get some good results. Obviously we have another race and another opportunity here before the summer break and then there is a bit more time.

    Q: Fernando, does the layout of the Hungaroring present you and McLaren with your best opportunity so far?

    FA: Yeah I think so. I think Monaco was also a great track, in terms of the characteristics of it. I was not there, so this is really the first time that I had this possibility of hopefully feeling competitive and feeling the possibility to be there in Q3 and then in the points, if something happens in front of us maybe to get even a better result than this, maybe seventh or eighth, that is the maximum you can fight for at the moment. So definitely an important weekend for us. We paid some penalties in the last two races to arrive here with some more freedom of engine choices and something more in the pocket, so hopefully it pays off this weekend.

    Q: Nico, a tremendous weekend for you and the team at Silverstone. Can the pace there translate to this race track?

    NH: Yeah, I think this weekend I feel it’s a bit more of a true teller. For sure, I think at Silverstone, with the upgrades we brought, it was definitely a good step forward but I think Hungary here, these track characteristics, will be a true teller for us of where we stand. Interesting days ahead. I’m also excited to see how the car feels, the way we pan out. We have some additional upgrades again this weekend. The team has got some good momentum, pushing quite hard and bringing new bits to every race, so it all feels very positive, so we’ve got to keep working in that direction.

    Q: Marcus, could we just get your reaction to the news that Fred Vasseur is the new team principal at Sauber? 

    ME: I think it’s good news. I think Fred is a very respectable (sic) person in the paddock and he has done a lot of great things in motorsport in general. I don’t know him that well yet, but I went straightaway after Silverstone down to Hinwil to sit down with him and, yeah, I got a really good feeling talking to him and he had some really good ideas on how to structure the team for the future, both short- and long-term. Obviously, this is the first weekend he’s working on track with the team, but I think all in all it’s good news for the team. There are a lot of good things happening. Also we have some updates on the car this weekend as well, so exciting times for Sauber.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) Sebastian, it’s said that this is a very tough race for Ferrari, because you need to react from Silverstone otherwise Mercedes could get a bigger advantage. Do you agree or not? Do you still believe that the season is long and that you have chances in the future?

    SV: I think I had a lot of tough races in my past already. I think it’s normal that there is always talk about this race or the next race coming up based on the race you had. I’m no stressing too much. I think on paper this should be a good race for us. Let’s see how we get going. Certainly, looking back, Silverstone wasn’t a great weekend for us. At the same time I think things were going quite good for Mercedes, so I think it has been the other way round as well this year. I’m not stressing too much. I like the track, I’m just going to enjoy. Everyone here, we know what we have to do and that’s what we plan to do, so the fact that it’s the last race before the summer break or the race after Silverstone, that maybe wasn’t good for us, doesn’t change anything. You can score as many points here as anywhere else. But, as I said, it’s a nice race, so I think we need to make sure we enjoy.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte) Sebastian, after the Monaco Grand Prix you had a 25-point advantage over Lewis and also Ferrari was first in the Constructors’ Championship. Four races later Ferrari is behind and you have just one point in the difference. It looks like Mercedes did a better a job in developing the car. Fernando, in the case of the accident you had in Australia, the Halo, what would be the influence of it?

    SV: I can’t disagree with what you said because it’s based on the points that we have today but I think you need to look at the races. Obviously, you know, we didn’t get the best races in the last couple. Saying that I think we were very close to winning in Austria. I don’t think we were lacking any speed there and that’s only two races ago. Now, as I said, Silverstone for sure was not the best race for us, but sometimes shit hits the fan and then it’s not so pleasant. In many ways it was not such a good weekend for us. Obviously the last two laps didn’t help, but these things happen. Sometimes you suffer a puncture. It will not be the last one, unfortunately, in my life, and it has happened to all of us. You have a lot of races, some will be better, some will be worse. Now, the last couple were maybe not fantastic but I’m very positive. We come here and we know the car is strong, we know we have a chance to fight for victory and that’s good news, so I think we should look at the positives rather than looking at one race where maybe things didn’t go well for us and it turned out to go well for them. I think if you look at the week after Monaco, we were quite happy, maybe Mercedes wasn’t. In the end., you shouldn’t get distracted from short-term results. Rest assured, we were not happy with the result in Silverstone. There were some weaknesses. It was a very good weekend for us in terms of what we learned about the car to go forwards and in fact I think we have some bits here that should help us and the plan is to keep pushing. So, as I said, the determination, the commitment is very high to make sure we stay at the front.

    FA: I think nothing really will affect the exit from the cockpit, as I understood from the FIA studies, so that will be the same for me. Definitely, while you are in the air, my only worry there was if something could impact with my helmet. If I had the Halo there I would probably be a little bit less afraid of any injury, so happy to… not to repeat it, but happy to wear it.

    Q: (Roksana Cwik – SwiatWyscigow) Sebastian, after the Silverstone tyre failures, what has been done at Ferrari to ensure it won’t happen again?

    SV: Obviously we looked into it with care. It impacted on my race, on Kimi’s race, and obviously we are trying to find the reasons for it, together with Pirelli, to find and understand. In my case it was a slow puncture that started already some corners before. Unfortunately, if you want to say, a little bit too late, so we couldn’t react and get into the pits straight away. We spent a lot of time on the tyre. Obviously it wasn’t fresh anymore. I could feel the degradation. At the time we thought it was fine. It’s one of those things that with hindsight it could have been easy for us to get a new set and to come back. But at the time you have the track position, you don’t know other people are doing, you don’t know how much they are struggling with their tyres at the end of the race and so on. I think we took a lot of action trying to understand first of all what happened and then a lot of action trying to understand what we could have done better and what we will change in the future when we are in a similar position.

    Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas) Question for Fernando. In Silverstone you had dinner with McLaren people and after this dinner they said we are really lucky, we have hopes that Fernando will stay next year. What do you have to say about that?

    FA: Nothing really. I mean, we had dinner there, we have some grands prix that the whole McLaren people are there, so we had some conversations for the future as well but nothing really changed. My opinion or my wishes for next year which remains the same.

    Q: (Péter Vámosi – Vas Népe) Question to all Monaco winners and Le Mans winner. First of all what do you think of Porsche’s exit from World Endurance Racing and Championship and what do you think, can you make the triple crown now, like Graham Hill in the past or is this possibility gone now?

    Let’s start with Nico.

    NH: Yeah, obviously a pity in a way to see Porsche leave the WEC Championship. I guess they came back, they were there now four years, won it three times in a row so I guess you could say mission accomplished. They’re probably looking for a new challenge now. It was only down to two manufacturers, so probably need something new, something more challenging. Definitely a bit of a shock to the system there.

    Fernando, the triple crown?

    FA: I think it’s still there. It’s not that you cannot win Le Mans with another manufacturer, y’know? Arguably now Toyota will be very favourite next year. And then the Indy500 it doesn’t affect. Porsche was not there. So did they confirm today they stop the programme? I didn’t know.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Sebastian, you said that you have made your analysis about what happened with the tyre in Silverstone – but what was the conclusion? Could you have done anything to avoid them or was it just a freak incident that both of the cars had either a puncture or delamination and you could have done nothing about it.

    SV: Excuse me for being sarcastic, we could have pitted. So then… for sure it doesn’t happen. Yeah, as I said, there’s plenty of things that we learnt. We’ll probably take action next time and try to avoid. As I said, from my point of view, I got the explanation and then you move on, you can’t go back and change it. I obviously was inside the car, we talked about the tyres before it happened and, as I said, they didn’t feel fresh, I reported – but I was also sure they would make it. Then, two laps, you could argue, two laps more, two laps less, so with hindsight now it’s easy but it has happened. It has impacted our race. We can’t change that, what we can change is next time we face maybe a similar situation.

    Q: (Kate Walker – Motorsport . com) Question for Sebastian. I know you opened the conference by talking positively about the Halo from your own personal opinion. I believe that last year you, as a GPDA director, along with the other directors, wrote to the FIA talking about having canvassed the other drivers, both current and reserve and found widespread support. Have you spoken to your fellow drivers now that the Halo has been implemented? Are you finding the same level of support? What’s the GPDA stance, rather than your personal one, please?

    SV: Well, our GPDA stance is very simple. Obviously the GPDA is there to support and try to look from a drivers’ voice into things that can be improved in terms of safety. That’s our main interest and has been in the past. So, I think it’s very clear. More or less one year ago we got a presentation here. Shortly after, or right after the drivers’ briefing about the Halo, about its consequences, about the outcome in various accidents, whether it was better, worse or neutral, and the result was very clear, it was better to neutral depending on the accident obviously. So, right after that, as far as I remember – it’s a year ago – we sent a letter that we appreciate the fact that FIA is continuously trying to push and trying to find new solutions to give us more support on track to help push safety. We asked them, as much as we can, to keep doing exactly that. So, look further into it and so on. As I understand, I think it was agreed about a year ago anyways, that we will have addition head protection for ’18. Now it has been just confirmed. Bit surprised to see the surprise about the decision but, as I said, not just from my personal point of view, I think the majority of the drivers appreciate the fact that we go forward now. As I said for aesthetics, it’s always difficult to please everybody opinion but I think the Halo system that we saw last year will probably not be the one that we see next year and the year after and the year after. It’s one of those things that maybe they start off not so good looking and then they’re actually not so bad.

    Q: (Jerome Pugmire – AP) Question for Nico and for Fernando. I’d like to know your thoughts on Formula E as a sport. Mercedes have decided to go there next year and you two have raced in other categories. Wanted to know your thoughts on that sport.

    FA: I don’t have a strong opinion because I never saw the real car, I never had too much interest on the details. Difficult to have an opinion of that – but I respect a lot other series out there, apart from Formula One. They race in the best cities in the world and they are promoting this Formula E in a very good way. So, y’know, as I said, I respect the series and maybe one day I get more interested but now I don’t have a strong opinion. It’s clear it’s attractive for some of the big manufacturers and things like that, as Mercedes show with the announcement. So, y’know, they’re doing a good job.

    Nico?

    NH: Yeah, for sure, the fact is it’s growing. More and more manufacturers are getting involved, obviously many car manufacturers are going more the hybrid and electric car route, so there’s good support for the series. Personally, I’ve never been to a race or seen the car or driven or anything so also can’t comment too much about it but think the setup as such is working. Will be interesting to see where it goes in the next couple of years.

    Q: (Jon McEvoy – Daily Mail) To Sebastian, what is it that’s delaying you about signing the new Ferrari deal and when do you expect there will be news on who you’re going to sign for? Re-signing or moving somewhere else.

    SV: As far delaying, I think the fact we are working hard, both from the team’s point, my point, I think we have other things to do right now, so, as I said, in the summer there’s a bit more time. There’s a couple of weeks’ stretch  where there is no race but for now I think the focus is extremely high on working on the car. So, for me I’m obviously not designing the bits but trying to give as much feedback as I can, trying to spend time in the simulator, generally talking to the team. That, at the moment, has priority. As I said, a piece of paper can be signed fairly quickly so that’s not a problem.

    Q: (Rebecca Clancy – The Times) To follow up on that, Sebastian, Ferrari have said they’re ready to renew your contract whenever you are. Do you want to stay with the team?

    SV: I don’t see why not. I think… I’m certainly not ready this weekend, and last weekend, so, as I said, I’m not in a rush, I don’t think the team is in a rush, as far as I understood, I think I have a good contact to the team, I think they would tell me otherwise so, as I said, there’s no problem, nothing wrong.

    Q: (István Simon – Automagazin) My question is to Nico Hülkenberg. After the grand prix we are going to have a two-day FIA Formula One test here at the Hungaroroing and one of the big names, in fact the biggest name to participate in the test is Robert Kubica who will be testing a Renault car, 2017 car. What are your feelings towards him as a possible team-mate to you for next year or even this year? Are you going to follow his process closely? Have you been asked by the team to give any advice to him how to drive this car?

    NH: Firstly I think it’s a great comeback for him personally after the accident and the difficulties he has been through to have this opportunity and chance to test the current Formula One car. We all knew that he was one of the really good drivers before his accident and could have had a really great career. So, yeah, for sure I will follow. I won’t be here but for sure I want to know how he’s getting on. It will be very interesting to see how it works. Team-mate question, to be honest I’m really relaxed about who is the team-mate. Team-mates, you always have a team-mate. You work with him, you get on with him, obviously it’s a competitive relationship but it doesn’t matter really who it for me. So, I’ll sit back and wait and see

  • Mercedes Pair at Odds Over Hungarian GP Yellow Flags Issue

    Mercedes Pair at Odds Over Hungarian GP Yellow Flags Issue

    Mercedes team-mates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were at odds with each other regarding yellow flag rules over the incident in qualifying which saw Hamilton back out of his lap because of a spin from McLaren’s Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg taking pole position.

    In the race, Hamilton took the lead from Turn 1 and finished the race in 1st place with Rosberg making it a Mercedes 1-2.

    A good day at the office for Mercedes then. A dominant performance in Free Practice and Qualifying, and other run away win in the race with Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo finishing 25-seconds from Rosberg in 3rd.

    Hamilton, who was one point behind championship leader Rosberg before the Hungarian Grand Prix is now 6 points ahead in the point standings.

    When asked in the post race press conference if he had influenced a stewards decision to investigate Rosberg for ignoring yellow flags, Hamilton said that the rules need to be clarified in that respect as this had set a new precedent going forward.

    “Well the stewards needs to come up with some kind of solution because it is… the whole 23 years of racing, it has been ‘if it’s yellow flag, you slow down’ and if it’s double yellow flag, you be prepared to stop and Nico was doing the same speed at the apex as I was doing on the previous timed lap,” explained Hamilton.

    “If there happened to be a car that was spun or a marshal on the track, it would have been pretty hard for him to have slowed down in that case, so that’s why… and the fact that he didn’t get penalised for it means that we need to be careful because the message we’re sending not only to the drivers here but also to the drivers in the lower categories is that it’s now possible for you to lose only one tenth of a second in a double waved yellow flag section which is the most dangerous – one of the most dangerous scenarios with the double yellow flags,” he continued.

    “They need to clear that up because before it was two tenths that you were meant to lose with one yellow flag and half a second with two yellow flags. It wasn’t the case yesterday and there was no penalty, so going into the next race, we could be battling for pole position and we see double yellow flags and we know we only have to do a small lift and lose one tenth of a second and we’ll be fine and go purple in the sector.

    “So that’s why it does need to be clarified and I’m sure Charlie and the stewards are going to do so because it needs to be clear.”

    Sitting next to him, Rosberg waited for his turn and asked to reply before anyone else could get a word in.

    Hungary 2016_Sunday Press Conference.“Thank you very much. Thank you for making that statement, so now I’m going to put my response,” he said as he extended an arm towards Hamilton to offer a pat on the back.

    “What you have to do with a double yellow is significantly reduce your speed and make sure you go safe. I went twenty kilometres per hour slower into that corner, twenty kilometres per hour is a different world in an F1 car. Twenty kilometres per hour, you are going proper slow. It’s completely… everything is safe.

    “That’s how I did my speed and lifted off thirty meters before my braking point, so I was just rolling there, twenty kilometres per hour slower until I got to the apex. Then of course when you’re in the apex, I would have a much tighter line because I went in slow and then so I could accelerate out again.

    “So definitely I significantly reduced my speed and that’s what it says you need to do and that’s why for the stewards that was completely acceptable. It was very very obvious what I did, very clear and of course on a drying track you’re going to get massively faster every lap,” he added as an explanation to setting a purple sector even though there were double waved yellows out.

    “It’s not like the track was consistent. On a drying track, it’s irrelevant what the sector time was because you’re going to get so much quicker every time you go out there because there’s wet patches and when they dry, you just go so much quicker.

    “And so in that segment, I was slower, where there was the yellow flag but of course in the big sector, yeah, I’m quicker because the track is getting quicker and I’m pushing in all the other corners.

    “So it was a pretty clear case for the stewards and that’s why I didn’t get any penalty.”

    Both Hamilton and Rosberg are not wrong in their viewpoints. The stewards ultimately decided not to penalize Rosberg as telemetry had showed that he had slowed down enough.

    So what happens going forward? Hamilton’s point of this decision setting a precedent was echoed by Red Bull Team Principal, Christian Horner.

    We need to see what the stewards will do the next time a driver sets a fastest sector through a yellow flag zone. The stewards base their decisions on the merits of each case, and with different stewards for each Grand Prix, there is almost no consistency in the decisions.

    Another question arises from this whole situation. Why did Hamilton choose to take this public? In a typical situation this would be discussed at the team debrief after a session. Is Hamilton playing mind games?

  • 2016 Hungarian Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

    2016 Hungarian Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    2 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

    3 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by Kai Ebel)

    Congratulations Lewis, you are the leader of the world championship right now, was it due to a tailor-made start, man?

    Lewis HAMILTON: Well, firstly a big thank you to all the fans here, they’ve been amazing this weekend. It’s because of these guys that this race is so spectacular. We always have such a great time here, the track is great, the city is great, but the fans really make the event, so big, big thank you. With the race, yeah the start was everything. I got a good start… I mean I had one of the Red Bulls was on the inside of me, so I was pressured quite a lot into Turn One. But the team did a fantastic job with the strategy, preparing the car as always, the guys back at the factory continuing to push flat out, so a huge thank you to them, because this is a great result as a team, so yeah, what a day!

    There was a crucial situation in between when the lap Gutierrez was blocking you a little bit, so I guess he’s not the next to be invited on one of your sailing trips?

    LH: No, it’s good. But definitely traffic today was difficult to navigate through but… love you guys!

    Coming to you Nico, even you had a fantastic start but just not good enough. Big question mark?

    Nico ROSBERG: Yeah, it was down to the start in the end. I lost out a little bit and then into Turn One, with Daniel on the outside, Lewis on the inside, I ran out of space, so I had to bail out of it. That was it really. I was happy to take Daniel back in Turn Two and from then I was trying to put all the pressure possible on Lewis but of course it’s not possible to pass on this track.

    So is it some kind of good news maybe that the next race is already on next Sunday in Germany on your home turf, you can hit back?

    NR: That sounds very good. The next race is coming up very quickly, it’s my home race and that’s going to be awesome.

    Coming over to Dan Ric. Dan, you are familiar to this podium here. They all know you, you have been here a couple of times. So was this third position enough to get the famous Dan Ric smile back on you face?

    Daniel RICCIARDO: Absolutely. If that noise doesn’t, I don’t know what does. Yeah, thank you guys. It’s great to have another podium this year. Obviously the first one was a bit bittersweet but this one I can definitely enjoy and for sure the smile’s back. Super happy to be here today. It’s three years in a row I’ve been on the podium at this circuit. It’s been good to me and as Lewis said the fans are amazing, so thanks to everyone. Thanks to the team, we are continually getting better, so that’s great, and yeah, I’m having fun.

    Coming back to Lewis, you guys are battling each other on the track but I know you are working out as well as Danny in the boxing business. So how about a charity match between Daniel and you in the paddock. You both work out at boxing, so would that  be another idea, not only battling on track but in the squared circle?

    LH: You never really have very good ideas, do you, so I’ll leave you to your ideas. But, to the man in the orang suit! Ha! Some of my best friends out here, thank you so much for coming and lastly to the fans: thank you all for coming out and we’ll see you next year!

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Lewis, many congratulations. You’re now the most successful driver here at the Hungaroring, surpassing Michael Schumacher. What does that statistic mean to you and how does this victory compare to the four that came before at this racetrack.

    LH: It’s pretty incredible to hear those words and to… especially when you think I grew up watching Michael so to now have had similar, if not one more, than he had here, is just incredible. But, y’know, I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the great people I’ve worked with, both at McLaren-Mercedes and now here. It’s a result of great work from such a large group of people. I’m really just a chink in the chain. I love it here. I hope there’s more to come before I stop. Yeah, it was not the easiest grand prix I’ve had here in the ten years, nine, ten years – but definitely one I enjoyed. And a great battle between the three of us.

    Q: Nico, it seems that so much was won and lost in the opening ten seconds of this race. Could you just talk us through what happened?

    NR: For sure, yeah, the race was decided there. My start was OK but slightly down on Lewis’ start and Daniel also, ever so slightly. And then Daniel obviously got a tow and Lewis had the inside line. Just lost out there into Turn One. Got a bit tight between the two of them also so had to back out and then, OK, I was glad to at least get back second place from Daniel in Turn Two, that was cool, around the outside – but lost the win there.

    Q: Daniel, moving onto you, it was a very close battle with Sebastian Vettel at the end of the race. Are you pleased to have beaten Ferrari or disappointed not to have challenged Mercedes harder this afternoon?

    DR: I’m pleased with the podium. Obviously we got close at the start and tried around the outside of Turn One and I couldn’t really see I think at the time Lewis, when Lewis and Nico were in my blind spot, so at the apex of Turn One I thought I was in the lead and then saw one of the Mercedes sneak up on the exit. And then, yeah, into Turn Two, I was just on the inside and Nico had a clear run and got better drive. I think the first part of the race we looked quite competitive. But then yeah, it looked like Mercedes had a bit more in their back pocket and were able to improve the pace as the race went on. In the end the fight was then with Sebastian. It got pretty close at the end; did quite a long stint on those tyres. It wasn’t easy. The last lap, I’m sure he had DRS and, at least in my mirrors, it looked like he got quite close in Turn One. So, yeah, bit of a fight. So it was a bit of a relief actually coming across and keeping third.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: Barna Zsoldis – Nemzeti Sport) Lewis, you mentioned many times that you love it here, so do you plan some celebration in Budapest maybe?

    LH: I do. I definitely will go and have a nice meal in town and see what the nightlife has to offer but obviously we race next week so nothing too heavy. And then I might go and spend the day sightseeing tomorrow before I head back to the UK.

    Q: (Peter Vamosi – Vas Nepe) Lewis and to others, Lewis you are a fashion addict, how do you like the new dresses of the Hungarian grid girls?

    LH: I like it very much, actually. I think they looked amazing. It’s not always that we have the best grid girls or outfits, should I say. This year it worked well and for some reason, Hungary just has an abundance of beautiful women. It’s perfect for us, we’re single, not so much for Nico but really enjoyed it.

    DR: He (Nico) has to be careful what he says! Yup, they looked great. It’s hard, it’s hard for us obviously, you know that Sunday we’re focused on the race and the task ahead but it would be nice if we raced on Saturdays and then had Saturday evening to explore the city a bit more.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Lewis, it looks like you controlled the race as you wanted. The moment Nico approached you, suddenly in one lap you could increase the gap easily.

    LH: Compared to practice we knew that the temperature was a lot higher. I think it was 43 degrees track temperature in practice and today was about 53. It’s an unknown how long these tyres are really going to last. We have a target which need to get to so once I got into the lead, I was able to just manage my tyres, my car and manage the gap and react only when I needed to. For sure, I think the backmarkers caused a little bit of trouble towards the end but generally I was able to keep the buffer to the right amount. There was one moment… I was thinking… the whole race I was thinking, this has been great, I’ve not made any mistakes and in one moment… I can’t remember if I was behind someone but I locked up one or two front wheels and I went slightly wide and Nico then was all of a sudden on my tail which wasn’t exactly a moment… but then after that  it was just head down and increase that lead.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Daniel, I realise you don’t have a crystal ball but if you’d taken the lead of the race at the start, would it have been possible to keep it?

    DR: I think for a part of the race, sure. You know there were moments when we looked competitive compared to Mercedes. I think once the first stint settled, they had a bit more pace than us but at the start of the second stint with the soft (tyres) we seemed really competitive but in the end it looked like Mercedes were just doing what they needed to do and then it felt like their pace got stronger and stronger. Little parts of the race where we thought we were  quick enough but I think as the stints got on then they were able to keep a bit more pace. Probably wouldn’t have lasted the 70 laps if I had the lead at the start but yeah, what if? I don’t know.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Lewis, in yesterday’s Mercedes team press conference, your session, you said that you’d asked for urgent clarification of the double yellow flag ruling, regulation. In fact your words were ‘it just needs to be clarified now.’ About an hour later, Nico got called to the stewards. Do you believe that you influenced it in any way, did you contact anybody or was it purely coincidental that Nico was called in an hour after you made that comment?

    LH: Well the stewards needs to come up with some kind of solution because it is… the whole 23 years of racing, it has been ‘if it’s yellow flag, you slow down’ and if it’s double yellow flag, you be prepared to stop and Nico was doing the same speed at the apex as I was doing on the previous timed lap. If there happened to be a car that was spun or a marshal on the track, it would have been pretty hard for him to have slowed down in that case, so that’s why… and the fact that he didn’t get penalised for it means that we need to be careful because the message we’re sending not only to the drivers here but also to the drivers in the lower categories is that it’s now possible for you to lose only one tenth of a second in a double waved yellow flag section which is the most dangerous – one of the most dangerous scenarios with the double yellow flags. They need to clear that up because before it was two tenths that you were meant to lose with one yellow flag and half a second with two yellow flags. It wasn’t the case yesterday and there was no penalty, so going into the next race, we could be battling for pole position and we see double yellow flags and we know we only have to do a small lift and lose one tenth of a second and we’ll be fine and go purple in the sector. So that’s why it does need to be clarified and I’m sure Charlie and the stewards are going to do so because it needs to be clear.

    NR: Can I respond? Thank you very much. Thank you for making that statement, so now I’m going to put my response. What you have to do with a double yellow is significantly reduce your speed and make sure you go safe. I went twenty kilometres per hour slower into that corner, twenty kilometres per hour is a different world in an F1 car. Twenty kilometres per hour, you are going proper slow. It’s completely… everything is safe. That’s how I did my speed and lifted off thirty meters before my braking point, so I was just rolling there, twenty kilometres per hour slower until I got to the apex. Then of course when you’re in the apex, I would have a much tighter line because I went in slow and then so I could accelerate out again. So definitely I significantly reduced my speed and that’s what it says you need to do and that’s why for the stewards that was completely acceptable. It was very very obvious what I did, very clear and of course on a drying track you’re going to get massively faster every lap. It’s not like the track was consistent. On a drying track, it’s irrelevant what the sector time was because you’re going to get so much quicker every time you go out there because there’s wet patches and when they dry, you just go so much quicker. And so in that segment, I was slower, where there was the yellow flag but of course in the big sector, yeah, I’m quicker because the track is getting quicker and I’m pushing in all the other corners. So it was a pretty clear case for the stewards and that’s why I didn’t get any penalty.

    Q: Daniel, can we just get your thoughts on what happened in qualifying yesterday?

    DR: Yeah. With that incident? Yeah, for me, I think at least the principle, whether it was the situation yesterday or not but I think Lewis touched on the principle. It’s something which we’ve actually been wanting to probably discuss further for a long time or quantify because a single yellow, people are getting away with a micro lift and showing the stewards that look, I slowed down where you’re not really. But a double yellow is a significant… it’s a big risk on the track, perhaps and in my case, Fernando was still at the apex, pointing towards us on the racing line so I had no choice but obviously ,looking at the double yellows before that, it’s a little bit blind so already I was willing to drastically slow down, I guess. I think the double yellow needs to be very different to the single yellow and I think that’s what we’re not too pleased with at the moment.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Nico, sorry to ask you but it was impossible not to notice that you were drinking a lot. Was it because maybe your drinking system failed in the car or was it a particularly hard race physically, and is it fair to say and also to Lewis and Daniel, that this is one of the hardest because it’s so hot, there are so many corners, you cannot really rest?

    NR: Definitely it’s a difficult race, it’s very hot out there, but I’m just thirsty, because we sweat a lot and it’s nice to drink this good stuff and that’s it, nothing more than that. My drink system was working fine.

    DR: Yeah, it was definitely hot, I’m still sweating. We don’t have a whole lot of liquid in the car. You could drink probably four litres during the race if you had it, so sure, we’re hydrating a lot after the race, a) because we’re thirsty and b) because it helps, I think, with recovery. But also this track has always been physical, because there’s not much rest. Obviously you’ve got the one main straight but after that it’s a lot of corners  and you keep very busy. It’s probably top three on the calendar, I would say, for most physical circuit.

    Q: Faster lap times this year, did that impact on the physicality of the race?

    LH: Not really. It’s always hot here, it’s always physical but today wasn’t actually the most physical I’ve had here. I’m sure next year will be.

    Q: (Sandor Meszaros – Kelet Magyaroroszag) Nico, for the first time this season, Lewis is the leader of the championship. How do you see the rest of your campaign?

    NR: Well, it’s very close. It’s been a good season so far up to now, it’s been a good battle with Lewis and as I’ve always said, I’m not counting the points, there’s still a long long way to go. Everything’s still possible and I just want to focus on winning races, that’s what I wanted to do today, I had my full focus on that, it didn’t work out unfortunately, just losing out in turn one and now I move my focus to Hockenheim, because it’s my home race and I’m really looking forward to going there, racing there.  I love the track and so I’m going to try and win there.

    Q: (Istvan Simon – Auto Magazin) Daniel, during the podium interview you referred that the smile, the famous grin is back on your face. Is it due to the fact that you more or less managed to keep in touch with those guys in the silver cars, here in this physical race or more, due to the fact that you’ve managed to beat your teammate Max for the first time since Azerbaijan?

    DR: Yeah, for me it was, I think for quite a few races, I think the qualifying generally has still been really strong. The Saturdays, I’ve put them together well but the Sundays, whether it was circumstances, bad luck or just not being quick enough, haven’t really felt like I’d get the most out of a Sunday. With Barcelona and Monaco which was so close and then it just felt like… I wouldn’t say, it looked like momentum, sort of swings a bit, but just the way racing goes. It was just nice to… I feel from Friday onwards until the last lap today, I got the most out of it, so I’m more pleased with that this weekend, to leave Sunday feeling happy again and knowing that I got everything I could out of the car and package and it’s nice to be rewarded with champagne and a very nice trophy here.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action) Daniel, you came in for your stop on lap 33, way before anybody else. Why so early and how difficult was it to keep the tyres alive for so long?

    DR: Yeah, at the time we looked quite competitive to Mercedes. I think I was closing on them a few tenths a lap and basically, yeah, we were looking to maybe… we thought perhaps they were struggling, so we thought we’d try and just be aggressive and try and get closer to them, basically, if they were going to pit very soon. And also, I think Seb wasn’t too far behind but I think it was more trying to fight for the win at that time, as opposed to defending, I think, what was happening behind us. That was pretty much that, but then once we pitted, it looked like they just turned up the volume, unfortunately.

    Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas) Lewis, we know how much you like music. I would love to know, at this moment in your life, on the top of the wave, as you said two days ago, what is the song which describes this moment in your life?

    LH: Right now I need to go the toilet so… It’s killing me, it’s something else! I don’t know. The song that was playing in my head today was LL Cool J, Mama Said Knock You Out. OK, can I go?

  • Stewards Clear Rosberg for Ignoring Yellow Flags

    Stewards Clear Rosberg for Ignoring Yellow Flags

    The stewards have ruled that Nico Rosberg did, in fact, slow down for the yellow flags in qualifying and will keep pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

    Rosberg was called to stewards late on Saturday evening after an alleged breach of Appendix H, Article 2.4.5.1 b) of the FIA Sporting Regulations. It was alleged that Rosberg did not slow down for the yellow flags at Turn 9 in Q3 after McLaren’s Fernando Alonso spun and came to a stop with his car partially on the track.

    Rosberg’s team-mate Lewis Hamilton was on a flying lap and the yellow flags meant that he had to back out of the lap. By the time Rosberg had reached Turn 9, Alonso had already cleared the area and was on his way back to the pits. The yellow flag conditions, however, persisted. When Rosberg had reached T9, the yellow flags were still out. On board shots of Rosberg going through Turns 8 and 9 showed that he had lifted off.

    The stewards ruled that no further action should be taken on Rosberg as telemetry had showed that he had slowed down.

    In a statement the stewards said: “The telemetry demonstrated that the driver reduced speed significantly into turn 8.”

     

    Photo credit: Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team

  • 2016 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix: Post Qualifying Press Conference

    2016 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix: Post Qualifying Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

    2 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    3 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

    TV UNILATERAL

    Nico, what a dramatic qualifying session. How difficult was it out there and just describe your elation when you saw you had taken pole position at the end?

    Nico ROSBERG: Yeah, it was a really challenging qualifying: the conditions changing all the time, very exciting out there. In the end it was pretty amazing that it did full dry out towards the end. I mean some kerbs still had some patches – going on to the start-finish straight, you had to be really careful opening DRS, I think you saw a lot of moments coming on to there. Then, yeah, I just got a really good lap in on that last lap – awesome, I’m very happy with that.

    Lewis, I guess you must feel disappointed? You had set the fastest first sector and then you came across Fernando Alonso’s spinning McLaren. Do you think pole position was on for you today?

    Lewis HAMILTON: I don’t know how much Nico was up, but obviously as you said I got the fastest first sector, I was four tenths up, so I felt good on the lap. Bit unfortunate with Fernando, but these things happen. I’m not really too disappointed, it was a tricky session and I did the best I could do and yeah, we still have a long race ahead of us tomorrow, so I’ll give it everything I’ve got from there.

    Daniel, as Lewis says, it was a tricky session. You had a big moment exiting the final corner during qualifying. Describe what happened there and also your performance during qualifying, do you think you got the maximum out of the Red Bull package?

    Daniel RICCIARDO: I think yeah… the maximum? I don’t know. We got hurt by the yellow as well. I was pretty angry on that last lap, because I was up a bit and I think it would have put me closer to pole. It would have been interesting without the yellow, so I’m a little bit disappointed, because it’s a maybe what could have been. But at the same time I think the session went really well. I think in all conditions we were competitive. It was crazy. You had to adapt quickly – when to go on the slicks in Q2 and even just little things: getting out of pit lane on the slick tyre when it was so wet, yeah it was sideways coming into turn one. It was fun, it was challenging. On the last corner, I think it was in Q3. There was still a little bit of a wet patch just next to the kerb and it sort of just sucked me in as I opened DRS as well, so I was in for a little bit of a ride but in the end I survived.

    Nico, looking ahead to tomorrow’s race: you’ve never finished on the podium here at the Hungaroring and I guess looking to put that right tomorrow?

    NR: I don’t really think of the past in those ways, just looking forward to it now, yeah, because of pole position and I’ve been really feeling good out there the whole weekend, in all conditions – wet, dry, even with high fuel on Friday – so it’s been a great weekend so far. Looking forward to the race and a great opportunity tomorrow.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Well, Nico that was an unbelievably exciting qualifying session ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. Timing seemed to be so important: when to be out on the track to ensure you were there when the track was at its driest. Just give us an insight into how tricky it was?

    NR: Yeah, it was unbelievable. Just changing all the time, and so many things count, even just getting a gap at the end of the lap, everybody is backing off and to make sure you get a good gap there was difficult, even for there, because the time was quite tight. And then, yeah, I really nailed that last lap, so I’m very happy about that.

    Congratulations. Lewis, I look to Q2 when I look at you. It was a very tense moment. You just got through into Q3 in P10; you heart must have been in your mouth?

    LH: I wouldn’t say my heart was in my mouth, but yeah, obviously when I came in and saw how close it was, that wasn’t great. I went wide at Turn One. The rest of the lap I pushed as hard as I could. I was up on my previous, but of course I knew that everyone else would be quicker, so I lost too much time there. Very fortunate to get through and so that’s why even though I’m second I’m just grateful I got through and this puts me in a position to be at least be able to fight for the win tomorrow.

    Well Daniel, Lewis wants to fight for the win tomorrow, do you think you can fight for the win?

    DR: That’s the plan. We’ve more or less fought for it the last two years and I think we’re even closer this year than we have been in the past, in terms of pure pace. We’re getting stronger and we were close today and in all conditions we weren’t too far off pole. Tomorrow should be interesting. As always the Mercs have had good long run pace, we’ve seen [that] in free practice, but we’ll be there and obviously we start close enough to the front to make a fight of it and so hopefully it’s an exciting race.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Balazs Vajta – Eszak Magyarorszag) My question is for Lewis. Well, first of all, unlucky last lap of course, and it seems you have been struggling a little bit more on this weekend than usual. Would you be able to explain why you are struggling? That’s question number one and question two: looking at your qualifying today, rainy conditions, do you prefer rain conditions tomorrow or a dry race?

    LH: Obviously I missed a lot of time yesterday. It was probably the first time, at least in the ten years that I have… actually in 2006 I had a spin in qualifying which meant I started at the back in GP2, otherwise in Formula One I’ve not really had any shunts here. Yesterday really put us on the back foot. Sometimes a missed session doesn’t really make too much of a difference but with a track as technical as this it’s really about building a solid foundation and I didn’t obviously get that yesterday and that was my fault. Today has been just trying to catch up from being on that back foot. I was kind of grateful it was wet at the beginning of qualifying because that levels the playing field a bit more, kind of helps you get back to the rhythm. As I said at the end it felt good. In terms of a wet or dry race, I hope it’s going to be a dry race tomorrow, but I don’t mind it being mixed because those are conditions I seem to go well in, so we shall see. For the fans I hope that it’s dry but for them also I hope that it’s a fun race like it was at the last one.

    Q: (Istvan Simon – Auto Magazin) Nico, we were lucky enough to see replays of your quickest lap in Q3 and it looked like there were double yellow flags right after the chicane. How do you remember that lap? How was it from the cockpit and aren’t you afraid of losing pole, perhaps after the investigation?

    NR: I don’t know. For sure there were double waved yeah, but I had a very, very big lift and lost a lot of time as a result and I was also slower than on my previous lap in that yellow sector, or in that yellow segment, or whatever it’s called, so I’m sure it will be OK.

    Q: (Péter Vámosi – Vas Népe) Question to all drivers: the Hungarian government will rebuild the whole building here, it’s now official here, in two years. The whole media centre, this building, the boxes. Can you give us some advice what you need? Elevators? Bigger places? Whatever?

    NR: We don’t really… it’s great that they’re doing it because yes, it’s a bit out-of-date, and that’s awesome because this place deserves to have Formula One for many, many more years y’know? So many fans come to watch us and the track is awesome – it’s a very, very exciting track – so it’s cool that they’re redoing it.

    Lewis, anything to add?

    LH: I love it here. I don’t think people need elevators! Could be a fun weekend but also one that you lose weight, bit of a workout! As Nico said, this is a historic grand prix, one of those that we cannot miss. I don’t think they need to go too overboard, we just need slightly bigger garages. I don’t know how it is for the hospitality but, just sensible improvement I would say.

    Daniel, your thoughts.

    DR: They’ve said it, yeah.

    Q: (Barna Zsoldos – Nemzeti Sport) How did you find the new surface and the new kerbs in the wet conditions? Is it any different to how it was in the past? To all.

    NR: It’s good. The grip is very high and that’s a great feeling, to be able to go so fast. Even in the wet, grip is very high. Yeah, I think they’ve done a very good job. Feels good. The only thing that still needs work are the two track limit areas where they just need to figure something out for there. Otherwise it’s been done very well.

    Lewis, your thoughts on the track surface and the kerbs?

    LH: I still don’t think they needed to do it, but obviously it’s done. I hope they don’t resurface it for a long time because it’s a track with age it gets better, it gains character. Yes, there are bumps and stuff but that’s what… as long as it’s not like a monster track bump then it’s fine; that means it’s more technical for us. But it’s very, very smooth now. And as Nico said, for one of the track limit kerbs, we have to find maybe a different solution – but the one seems to work now, so maybe that is the way forwards.

    And Daniel?

    DR: I’m sort-of on both sides. I definitely agree with Lewis that a lot of tracks have character through some bumps or some little parts on the track which… it’s like Monaco, for example, out of Casino Square we always avoid the bump, or the drain, whatever it is. If they smooth that out it would lose a lot of Monaco. It wasn’t to the extent here with Budapest, but there were some corners, like Turn Five, which was always really bumpy and sometimes uncomfortable but it was a challenge to work your way around that and setup the car around that particular corner. Thankfully it’s still got a lot of character, the track is still very flowing and still a lot of fun. Having a new surface, it does make it a lot grippier, so I think when you’re going faster as well, you are having fun. But yeah, they’ve done alright here. Hopefully they don’t resurface every track on the calendar because it does create a bit of atmosphere around it.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Nico, you have now 26 poles like Mika Häkkinen, do you feel that you equalled the Finnish record in this way?

    NR: I didn’t know and, I don’t know…it’s not really…  yeah it’s great to here that. But it’s not something that I think about. It’s just statistics. I’m not really focussed on that. I’m focussed on this weekend, happy to be on pole because it’s the best chance of winning the grand prix tomorrow.

    Q: (Attila Lénart – Autó Stílus) I would like to ask all of you guys, after what we have seen here, we had more than an hour-long Q1, aren’t you feeling you are a bit over-protected?

    DR: The only thing I feel is Hungry. I had a light lunch and now I’m hungry.

    Can you elaborate a little bit for us? What were your thoughts about the conditions at the start?

    DR: I think, a lot like these new surfaces, they do… because they haven’t bedded in, there’s not many cracks and whatever, the water does seem to sit on top of these very smooth types of asphalt. You could see that even the Safety Car, at least from what it looked like, the first ten minutes after two o’clock, it was even aquaplaning a bit. Normally if the Safety Car’s having problems then it’s very hard for us. Sure, we want to be out there, we don’t want to wait but at the same time, the car can only handle so much water and the tyres can only handle so much. I think they made the best of the situation with what it was. I think all of us where amazed at how quickly it then dried. From extremes to then Inters and then slicks in 10-15 minutes nearly.

    Nico, do you feel the right decisions were made in Q1?

    NR: Yeah, for sure because these puddles, they make it unbelievably uncontrollable, the car, this aquaplaning. You can’t drive in that. Even when we did drive, there were still a lot of those as you saw people going off everywhere. So, it was fine, it was good.

    And Lewis, your thoughts on Q1.

    LH: I agree with them. Honestly. I’m pretty crazy and I like to go out in conditions like that but I had crazy aquaplaning at one point Nico was mentioning. I was ahead of him. And so I think they made the right calls. Unfortunately the tyres… there is water sitting on top of the track and the tyres cannot disperse the water quick enough, and so I think they made the right call and the right steps.

    Q: (Ralf Bach – Auto Bild Motorsport) A question to Nico and Lewis. We will see a total free race tomorrow between you guys, or could it be that we hear “keep position” at one moment of this race?

    NR: For sure we can expect a good battle and free racing.

    Lewis?

    LH: Good to see you smiling Ralf! We’re supposed to race, same as always.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globosport) To Daniel, your team-mate comes from two podiums, two second places. What is the importance for you in this race to be in front of him?

    DR: Always you want to beat your team-mate. That’s always, in a way, your first target. Everyone wants to win but if you can’t win you want to try to win the team battle, as it’s called. So yeah, I want to have a good race tomorrow. I really feel we can fight for more than just a podium – but let’s see. Yeah, I’ve obviously put myself in a good position I think from the start of the weekend, things have been working well. Obviously Max has done very well and he’s got some great results since he’s been here and I really believe we’re pushing each other to that next level and I think it’s showing in the team’s results. But also on myself I want to make sure I’m doing everything I can. So I focus on me first, and then try to understand a little bit of what’s happening around me.

    Q: (Silvia Arias – Revista Parabrisas) For all of you, I want to know how difficult it’s going to be tomorrow: Avoid three times the corners Four and 11 out of the limits with the electronics.

    NR: It’s OK. You can see the white line and I’m sure it will be fine.

    Lewis, anything to add? Track limits.

    LH: I don’t think it’s going to be a problem. It is relatively easy, you just don’t go through as fast as you would if you could go wider.

    Daniel?

    DR: Yeah, just being disciplined. That’s all it is really. It’s good that they are applying it. I think three times is definitely enough. Some people try to say ‘what if this happens? Or in this scenario…’ Three times is enough and that’s that. We can see it. It’s not like, as Lewis said, we can see the kerb, we can see the track limit. So, just be disciplined, be sensible and not too greedy.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Speedsport) Daniel, your team-mate reported on one run in Q3 that he lost ‘sync’. What does that mean, and did you have a similar glitch?

    DR: Yes, so normally when you download from iTunes… I’m not sure what Max is using but obviously the music must have stopped. Weak wifi! Anyway, it’s normally just for the gears. Like a quick shift setting.

    Did you have any problem?

    DR: No, it was all good.

    Q: (Péter Farkas – Autó Motor) Daniel, it was difficult to judge because of the conditions but based on what happened in P3, Red Bull seemed to get closer to Mercedes today than it was yesterday. How confident were you of fighting for pole if the conditions were staying dry?

    DR: I think we would have got close on the last run, with the yellow. It sounded like Lewis was improving as well but looking at the 19.9 that Nico did, I did a 20.2, I think and I was three-and-a-half tenths up a the time of the yellow on my time, so I think it would have been very close at least to the time Nico set, so I was pretty frustrated on the radio. But anyway. It is what it is. I think we’ve definitely made some ground today over yesterday which is really nice because, particularly in qualifying Mercedes seem to, if not hold the gap, normally increase it, generally speaking. So I’m really happy with what we’ve done today. I did a little long run this morning which I was more comfortable than I was yesterday, so the signs are going there to be more competitive for tomorrow. Let’s see, give it a good crack.

    Q: (Agris Lauzinieks – Kapitals) Nico, as a leader this season and your contract just being signed now, how can it be justified that you are earning less than Lewis?

    NR: How do you know that?

    I can feel it

    NR: Well you need to check your feelings maybe. I don’t want to talk about such details.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globosport) To all drivers. In dry conditions, what do you project concerning tyres.

    NR: Concerning tyres, it’s going to be, I think quite straightforward. Of course the supersoft is going to be very difficult initially, that’s going to be interesting how that goes. There could be some big differences there. After that, it’s going to be OK.

    Lewis, you all did a lot of laps on the supersoft in Q2. How’s that going to impact on that first stint tomorrow.

    LH: I only did the one lap on the supersoft in Q2. I think it’s the same for both of us. Only one lap on that tyre. I’m pretty sure that’s the case.

    Daniel, how do you think it’s going to play-out tomorrow?

    DR: I think if it’s hot the supersoft, it’s quite hard to get a lot of laps out of it. Or at least fast laps. It depends what the weather is doing. If it’s cooler, you can definitely run it longer but it does suffer more in the heat. Let’s see. I don’t think it’s going to be a one-stop race. We’ll see if anyone proves me wrong but at this stage it looks like a two stop and whether people do… obviously we’ve got three compounds to choose from. They might mix it up a little bit – but I don’t think we’ll see extremely long stints at the beginning with the supersoft.

  • Teams Warned of Track Limits at Hungaroring

    Teams Warned of Track Limits at Hungaroring

    The FIA has once again adopted a “zero tolerance” approach to track limits at the Hungaroring for the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend.

    Turn 4 and Turn 11 have been fitted with electronic timing loops to determine if a car has all 4 wheels behind the white line. Drivers will have their lap times deleted during qualifying if they are found to have crossed these timing loops. To prevent false positives, the FIA have positioned these loops 20cm behind the white line.

    In the race the drivers will be given 3 strikes before being handed a drive through penalty.

    “We will be adopting a “zero tolerance” approach to cars leaving the track at turns 4 and 11 during qualifying,” said the FIA in a note to the teams.

    “Please note that this will be judged by the use of timing loops in the kerbs and, to ensure that we see no false crossings, we would like to make it clear that the loops are set up to register a crossing when a car is approximately 20cm beyond the white line.

    “Every lap time achieved by leaving the track will be deleted in accordance with Article 12.3.1.d of the Sporting Code.

    “During the race, and in accordance with Article 27.4 of the Sporting Regulations, any driver who is judged to have left the track three times at these corners (when counted cumulatively) will be shown a black and white flag, one further crossing will result in a report being made to the stewards for not having made every reasonable effort to use the track.

    “As discussed, this is likely to result in a drive-through penalty for any driver concerned.”

  • Rosberg Fastest, Hamilton Crashes – Hungarian GP FP2 Report

    Rosberg Fastest, Hamilton Crashes – Hungarian GP FP2 Report

    Nico Rosberg claimed the fastest time of the second free practice session for the Hungarian Grand Prix after Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton crashed out earlier in the session.

    Rosberg’s best time of 1:20.435 came courtesy of the super soft compound tyres. Daniel Ricciardo in the Red Bull was the closes to Rosberg with a 1:21.030, 0.595s off Rosberg’s time. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel left his fastest time of the to a little later in the session where he set his best lap of 1:21.348 which is 0.913s off the fastest time.

    Before Rosberg had set the fastest time his team mate was the fastest around the circuit and on a flying lap Hamilton dipped his outside wheel onto the kerb under braking for Turn 11. The rear of his Mercedes came around and sent the Briton sideways over the run-off area and into the tyre barriers. Hamilton’s car made contact with the barriers square on and sideways and recorded an impact force of 10g. The session was subsequently red flagged while the marshals made repairs to the barrier. Hamilton was able to make his way slowly back to the pits.

    Max Verstappen finished his FP2 4th fastest with a 1:21.770. Hamilton’s time of 1:21.960 before his crash was good enough to get him 5th fastest for the session.

    Hungary 2016_Hamilton FP2 CrashKimi Raikkonen was 6th fastest more than 1.5s off the pace. The two McLaren’s once again finished side-by-side in 7th and 8th with Fernando Alonso leading Jenson Button.

    After narrowly missing out on a top 10 finish in FP1, Nico Hulkenberg finsihed 9th fastest in FP2 ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez.

    Both Williams cars seems to be struggling for grip around the Hungaroring. Bottas is under investigation for failing to keep right of the pit entry bollard.

    In addition to Hamilton retiring from the session, Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz and Sauber’s Felipe Nasr also retired from the session with mechanical problems.

    Mercedes looked very strong in their long runs. Red Bull and Ferrari are close, but are some way off Mercedes.

    Pos Driver Car Time Gap Laps
    1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:20.435 – 45
    2 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:21.030 +0.595 36
    3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:21.348 +0.913 31
    4 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:21.770 +1.335 35
    5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:21.960 +1.525 4
    6 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:22.058 +1.623 46
    7 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:22.328 +1.893 21
    8 Jenson Button McLaren 1:22.387 +1.952 34
    9 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:22.449 +2.014 41
    10 Sergio Perez Force India 1:22.653 +2.218 38
    11 Esteban Gutierrez Haas 1:22.673 +2.238 38
    12 Felipe Massa Williams 1:22.681 +2.246 39
    13 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:22.689 +2.254 24
    14 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:22.773 +2.338 38
    15 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:22.864 +2.429 28
    16 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:22.948 +2.513 43
    17 Kevin Magnussen Renault 1:23.347 +2.912 41
    18 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:23.437 +3.002 36
    19 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1:23.528 +3.093 12
    20 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:23.986 +3.551 31
    21 Pascal Wehrlein Manor 1:23.992 +3.557 22
    22 Rio Haryanto Manor 1:24.265 +3.830 36

     

    Photo credit: Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team

  • Hamilton Fastest at Hungarian GP Practice 1

    Hamilton Fastest at Hungarian GP Practice 1

    Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton finished the first free practice session of the Hungarian Grand Prix on top of the time sheets.

    Hamilton’s time of 1:21.347 sent him to the top of the time sheets on the red marked super-soft tyre. Newly re-signed Mercedes team mate, Nico Rosberg was second fastest, 0.237s off the pace, with a 1:21.584.

    The session which started under overcast and damp conditions saw drivers head out on the intermediates initially. There was hardly any running for the first 30mins of the session. Once the track was dry drivers took to the track and the lap times started tumbling.

    Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen were 3rd and 4th fastest respectively for Ferrari with Vettels best time of 1:22.991, 1.644s off Hamilton’s pace. The Red Bull pair of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen were 5th and 6th fastest.

    Both McLaren’s finished in the top 10 with Fernando Alonso setting a 1:23.961 to place him 7th fastest ahead of his team mate Jenson Button in 8th.

    Haas F1’s Romain Grosjean was 9th fastest and Force India’s Sergio Perez marginally faster than his team mate to take 10th fastest.

    Mercedes once again showed why they are the team to beat laying down the gauntlet early on. Times will get much quicker once the track rubbers in and the dust is cleared.

    Red Bull have not showed their hand yet as they completed the session without running the super soft tyres. Both drivers’ times came courtesy of the yellow marked soft-compound tyre. There is not much between Red Bull on the softs and Ferrari on the super softs and it does look like Red Bull may have the upper hand over Ferrari.

    Pos Driver Car Time Gap Laps
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:21.347 – 34
    2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:21.584 +0.237 34
    3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:22.991 +1.644 22
    4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:23.082 +1.735 19
    5 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:23.174 +1.827 28
    6 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:23.457 +2.110 27
    7 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:23.935 +2.588 28
    8 Jenson Button McLaren 1:23.961 +2.614 18
    9 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:24.013 +2.666 22
    10 Sergio Perez Force India 1:24.073 +2.726 29
    11 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:24.120 +2.773 29
    12 Felipe Massa Williams 1:24.154 +2.807 27
    13 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:24.370 +3.023 33
    14 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:24.579 +3.232 27
    15 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:24.981 +3.634 19
    16 Charles Leclerc Haas 1:25.181 +3.834 22
    17 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:25.256 +3.909 18
    18 Esteban Ocon Renault 1:25.260 +3.913 28
    19 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:25.324 +3.977 16
    20 Rio Haryanto Manor 1:27.012 +5.665 23
    21 Pascal Wehrlein Manor 1:27.249 +5.902 9
    22 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1:28.560 +7.213 6

     

    Photo Credit: Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team

  • Vettel slams “bullshit” updated radio ban rules as a joke

    Vettel slams “bullshit” updated radio ban rules as a joke

    Sebastian Vettel has slammed Formula One’s updated radio restrictions as “complete bullshit” after the FIA tightened the radio rules ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

    According F1’s sporting regulations, drivers must drive their car “alone and unaided”. The rule however has been put under the microscope following the British Grand Prix where Nico Rosberg was demoted from 2nd to 3rd place following a breach of the regulations. The Mercedes pitwall had informed Rosberg on how to fix a faulty gearbox towards the end of the race, which ensured that the German avoided having to retire his car from the race.

    Teams must now call a driver in to the pits if he suffers a similar issue. Teams will be allowed to advise drivers while they are driving through the pit lane, effectively resulting in a drive-through penalty.

    Vettel told the media that the new rules are, “Complete bullshit. I think all the radio issues we had, I think it’s a joke. I looked at the race after and I found as a spectator it was quite entertaining to hear a driver a little bit panicking on the radio and the team panicking at the same time.

    “I think it puts the element of human being in our sport that arguably is very complicated and technical, so I think that’s the wrong way. There’s a lot of boring stuff on the radio that got banned, I don’t see the point, I think if you want to change it you should change the cars. I have no problem, let’s go back to V12s, manual gearbox, two buttons, one for pit speed limiter and one for radio just to confirm when we are coming in and other than that, not much electronics to look after, which there’s no point then to memorise a lot of things.”

    Vettel also insists that F1 drivers should not be punished for how technical other people have made their cars, highlighting how much steering wheels have changed since the 90s.

    “I think all of the buttons that we have on the steering wheel today are there for a reason. It’s not like ‘ah yeah, we can build buttons, let’s put them on the steering wheel’, so I think if you just look at a 1995 steering wheel for example, or speak to a lot of experts that are still around in the paddock, what they raced with, it was a simpler just because the cars technology was a lot simpler. It’s not our mistake, as in the drivers, that the cars are so complicated these days that they need a manual this big and a steering wheel full of buttons to operate it. I think we’re going a little bit in the wrong way so that’s why I think it’s bad and we should just go back to being able to say what we want.”