Tag: lance stroll

F1 2017: Austrian Gp Review: Bottas Holds Off Vettel

The Austrian grand prix was a weekend that should have suited the Mercedes W08 to a tee. It did, but in the shape of Valtteri Bottas it wasn’t quite the Mercedes driver that most would’ve expected to see on the top step of the podium.

The Finnish driver delivered a dominant performance not only throughout the 71-lap race but also over the entire grand prix weekend. So perfect was his pull-away from pole that it was nearly considered inhuman and inspected by FIA stewards for a possible jump-start. As it turns out Bottas’ reaction time of 0.201 was nothing more than flawless precision.

The Mercedes driver streaked ahead in the first few laps and built a comfortable lead in the first stint of the race. The Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel, starting second, didn’t look especially comfortable in the first stint of the race on the ultrasoft compound and he struggled to consistently match Bottas’ pace. It was only in the second stint of the race, with the supersoft tyre, that the Ferrari came alive and that Vettel was able to exert a significant amount of pressure on the race leader. However, Bottas was well in control and armed with the notoriously calm Finnish demeanour that allowed him to maintain his composure and the lead of the race.

While Max Verstappen suffered a fifth retirement in six races after being collected in a first corner incident Daniel Ricciardo shone for Red Bull on home turf with a hard-fought third place. The Aussie valiantly held off the quicker Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton in the closing stages of the race to score his fifth consecutive podium finish of 2017. For Hamilton, in fourth, the day was about damage limitation, as he started eighth after incurring a 5-place grid penalty for changing a gearbox.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen ran fourth in the first stint of the race and dove into the pitlane on lap 42. His longer first stint meant he fell behind Hamilton and while he was consistently catching the Brit in the second half of the race the impetus seemed to evaporate from his charge. Romain Grosjean ran an anonymous but impressive race to sixth ahead of the two Force India’s of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon in seventh and eighth. Felipe Massa and Lance Stroll, in ninth and tenth, recovered a difficult qualifying for Williams to round out the top ten.

Bottas may only have won the Austrian grand prix by 0.658 of a second but he showed incredible composure in the closing stages and an impressive dominance in the first half of the race. At Williams Bottas’ potential was somewhat masked but what the team’s requirement of him was. Naturally, he had the freedom to drive as rapidly as he possibly could but it was always slightly tempered with the knowledge that he needed to bring the car home in a decent points paying position.

At Mercedes Bottas has a bit more freedom in the fact that a decent haul of points is already assured, barring unreliability. This is what’s allowed him to stretch his legs and drive with a sort of freedom that has allowed him to finally begin to fulfill the potential he showed before entering Formula 1.

2017 Formula 1 Drivers Championship

Sebastian Vettel’s now 20-point lead in the driver’s standings is a handy one as the paddock heads to Silverstone for the British grand prix. Lewis Hamilton at his home race has always been something special and with Vettel pulling away slightly in the standings he needs to deliver in Silverstone.

July 10, 2017
F1 2017: Azerbaijan Gp Review – Bedlam In Baku

If you had been given absolute free reign to dream up the most dramatic script for a Formula 1 race the chances are you still wouldn’t have come up with what transpired in the 51 laps of the 2017 Baku grand prix.

From the first corner on lap one to the crossing of the finish line there was action and drama and tension stamped on every lap of the race which featured three safety-car periods and red flag stoppage. While Hamilton led cleanly away pole his teammate Valterri Bottas and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen clashed into turn two. Raikkonen with significant damage the floor of his car somehow maintained a place in the top ten while Bottas’ puncture dropped him a lap down.

Hamilton led Sebastian Vettel by roughly three seconds until lap 13 when the first safety car was deployed to recover the stricken Toro Rosso of Dannil Kvyat. Racing resumed on lap 16 but an overzealous Esteban Ocon attempt to overtake his Force India teammate Sergio Perez ended in a shower of carbon fiber and the deployment of a second safety-car period.

The Pirelli tyres, supersoft and soft, available for this weekend, proved a step too hard as nearly the entire field of drivers struggled with warming the tyres to their optimal working range. A tyre not within this critical working range produces little to no grip and leaves drivers vulnerable. It’s for this reason that Hamilton complained that the Safety car was not going fast enough. Nevertheless, Hamilton bunched up the field into turn 16 which must’ve caught Vettel by surprise as he hit the rear of the Mercedes. The Ferrari driver then pulled alongside Hamilton and turned his Ferrari into the side of the Mercedes. It was an outrageously disappointing, irresponsible and daft reaction from Vettel which earned him a ten second stop/go penalty. While some might like to think Vettel’s actions are defensible consider the fact that, post-race, he could not defend his actions.

So much carbon fiber lay strewn across the racetrack that the race was red-flagged on lap 22 in order to clear it away. While Raikkonen had retired with additional rear-wing damage a lap earlier the Ferrari mechanics had somehow managed to change an entire floor and a rear-wing endplate to get Raikkonen back in the race. Similarly, Force India made running repairs to Perez’s car and he too was back in the race. Unfortunately, the pair would ultimately retire from the race.

The race resumed after a 23 minutes stoppage with Hamilton in the lead and Vettel behind. Through the chaos and carnage Williams’ Lance Stroll and Felipe Massa had emerged in third and fourth. Daniel Ricciardo, who had earlier been 17^th in the Red Bull after an early stop, was not in fifth for long as he pulled off an exquisite move to pass both the Williams’ into turn one on the restart. Felipe Massa would soon after retire with a broken rear-damper.

The drama was still far from over however as the headrest on Hamilton’s leading Mercedes had not been attached correctly. He tried in vain to push it back into place before the FIA directed the Mercedes team to stop and fit a new headrest. It dropped Hamilton to eighth and promoted Vettel into the lead of the race but the Ferrari driver still needed to serve the ten second stop/go penalty. He served the penalty on lap 33 and emerged in seventh ahead of Hamilton.

Now it was Daniel Ricciardo in the lead with Lance Stroll in second and Haas F1’s Kevin Magnussen in third. Magnussen could mount much of a fight for the position though and was quickly shuffled back by Ocon before himself falling victim to a recovering Bottas. Vettel and Hamilton would also pass Ocon and Magnussen.

Bottas’ significantly superior pace to the Williams of Stroll proved just enough as he snatched second place, on the line, by one tenth of a second. As if to prove how crazy the Baku grand prix was Fernando Alonso was running in fifth at one stage and with a bit more grunt from the Honda could justifiably have won the race.

As it were Ricciardo took his first win since Malaysia 2016 ahead of Bottas and Stroll who, at 18, has become the youngest rookie, to score a podium finish. Astoundingly, Vettel emerged in fourth and extended his championship lead to 14 points over Hamilton who eventually finished fifth. Esteban Ocon salvaged sixth ahead of Kevin Magnussen in seventh and Carlos Sainz in eighth. Fernando Alonso finally opened McLaren’s points account with ninth as Pascal Wehrlein in the Sauber finished tenth.

The Baku grand prix was undoubtedly the race of the season so far as nearly the entire field ran into some sort of trouble. Roll on Austria.

(All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport)

June 26, 2017
F1 2017: Azerbaijan Gp Preview – Merc And Ferrari Battle in Baku

In 2016 Azerbaijan became the newest addition to the Formula 1 calendar as it hosted the country’s first ever street-race in the capital city of Baku. F1’s favourite designer Herman Tilke envisioned and delivered a circuit, which combined the city’s uniquely historical buildings with the modern, and technical world of Formula1.

The Baku City track, the third longest of the season, is an exercise in extreme opposites. While the mid sector of exceedingly tight and twisting corners is more akin to Monaco it is in stark contrast to the enormously long straits that dominates the first and final sectors of the lap and are more reminiscent of Monza. The circuit is the first counterclockwise track on the calendar and provides one of the most picturesque backdrops seen all year.

The last time Lewis Hamilton steered his Mercedes around a proper street circuit was the Monaco grand prix. To put it mildly, thing didn’t go well for the Brit on those streets. Though the Baku race is similarly contested on the streets of Azerbaijan it doesn’t have too many parallels.

There are a few factors in Hamilton’s, and to a greater degree Mercedes, favour this weekend. The longest strait on the F1 calendar will allow Merc to focus on its best feature, the engine. Further the Pirelli compounds on offer this weekend in the soft and supersoft compounds, which Mercedes favour far more than the ultra- and supersoft combo.

From last year’s tyre performance it doesn’t appear that degradation is a big factor in Baku, which saw driver able to run long stints and make fewer pitstops. As there are fewer opportunities for a creative pit strategy on Sunday it ultimately increases the importance of qualifying well on Saturday.

Similarly, there are a few factors that Hamilton will have to overcome this weekend in order to claw back the lead of the driver’s championship. The most important of these are undoubtedly the two Ferrari’s of Vettel and Raikkonen. Be it because of damage or unreliability the Canadian grand prix was a messy one for Ferrari. It was the type of grand prix that will, undoubtedly, harden their resolve of securing a good haul of points this weekend. Given their relative performance on other street circuits so far this year form dictates that the prancing horse will be no slouch around here either.

In 2016 the Italian team delivered a solid race here last year despite not being near the performance level of Mercedes. In far less competitive car than they have in 2017 Sebastian Vettel finished second while Kimi Raikkonen ran third for the majority of the race. Since the Monaco grand prix the team has vehemently denied any team orders are at work between its two drivers. It will make for interesting viewing should the Scuderia be faced with a similar scenario, to Monaco, this weekend.

Valtteri Bottas could yet prove to be a factor for Hamilton too. The Finn is currently thirty-six points adrift of his teammate and that with a retirement in Spain. His first race win, in Russia, came on a weekend when Hamilton was inexplicably off the pace and he delivered in Monaco too and he firmly believes that in a head-to-head battle he has the measure of his teammate. “I think we [Hamilton and I] are very close, I don’t see a difference,” he said. “I believe in myself. But he was shown up in Canada on a circuit where he is considered to be somewhat of a specialist. It’s as perfect a time as any to beat Hamilton in a direct fight.

June 21, 2017
F1 2017: Canadian Gp Review – Hamilton Strolls, Ferrari Struggles

As far as grand prix wins go Lewis Hamilton’s win in Canada appeared no more taxing than a leisurely Sunday afternoon drive. Untroubled, the Mercedes driver, for the sixth time in his storied F1 career, reached the chequered flag first on the circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Hamilton’s unchallenged run to the chequered flag was set up by an exquisite qualifying lap on Saturday which netted him a 65^th career pole position. It was this premium starting position on the grid, and a steady get-away, which ensured that he stayed clear of the mess of the first few turns. Though championship leader Sebastian Vettel started alongside in second he fell victim to Max Verstappen who rocketed off the line from fifth to second. In his charge to the front, the Red Bull driver clipped Vettel’s front-wing prompting the Ferrari driver to pit for a replacement and dropping him to 18^th place.

The carnage wasn’t only contained the sharp-end of the grid either. Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz triggered a crash that damaged Romain Grosjean’s Haas and ultimately eliminated himself and William’s Felipe Massa from the race all on lap one. The incident prompted a short safety-car period on the first lap. The race resumed with Hamilton able to easily pull away from second-placed Max Verstappen. The Dutchman was running comfortably in second until the Red Bull grinded to a halt with a battery failure on lap eleven. It cleared the way for Bottas in the second Mercedes but the Finn was unable to keep pace with Hamilton for the majority of the race.

Behind Daniel Ricciardo drove faultlessly to maintain third place ahead of the Force India pair of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon. While both the Force India cars sat within striking distance of Ricciardo they were never able to get close enough to attempt an overtake. By now Ferrari had opted for a different strategy that had both Raikkonen and Vettel on the ultrasoft tyre for the last 30-odd laps of the race.

Finally, the Ferrari’s were able to run at the pace that was initially expected of them as they closed down on the battle for the final podium spot. However, as Raikkonen closed on the back of fifth-placed Ocon he suffered a brake-by-wire issue that cost him six seconds a lap. Ultimately, the Ferrari was nursed home seventh place. Vettel, without such issues, boldly scythed his way past both the Force India drivers to finish an impressive fourth.

Ferrari’s pace didn’t simply evaporate into thin air either more so it was the fact that they were unable to run in clean air, which is indicative of how an F1 car’s true pace and performance can be nullified if it is running in traffics. It’s no secret that all F1 cars are designed to run in clear air and as soon as that air becomes disturbed, by a car in front, the ‘dirty’ air causes too much instability to run as efficiently as possible. This is an issue, which Ross Brawn, as part of the new F1 brain trust, has earmarked in his quest to make F1 more “raceable.”

On any other day Force India would’ve been pleased with a double-points finish but Perez’s ignored called to swop positions with teammate Ocon, on significantly fresher tyres, likely cost the team a podium finish. Nevertheless, the pair finished fifth and sixth ahead of an ailing Raikkonen in seventh. Nico Hulkenberg brought his Renault home in a solid eighth ahead of Montreal-native Lance Stroll who scored his first F1 points with a fine ninth-place finish ahead of Haas’ Romain Grosjean in tenth.

After the struggles of the Monaco the Canadian grand prix was a must-win for Hamilton and Mercedes. He now trails championship leader Vettel by twelve points ahead of the Baku grand prix in two weeks time.

June 12, 2017
Hamilton takes record breaking Canadian GP pole

Lewis Hamilton put in a stunningly sexy lap of 1:11.459 to claim his 65th pole position in Formula 1, equalling the record held by Ayrton Senna. Hamilton’s lap was about as perfect as they get and Senna’s family presented the emotional Brit with a replica Senna helmet, the original of which he will receive at a later date. Lewis is now three more pole positions shy of the all-time record held by Michael Schumacher.

The Brit finished just 0.3s ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel who will line up alongside the Mercedes on the front row. Finnish drivers Valterri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen take up the second row ahead of the Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen. Bottas finished a massive 0.7s off Hamilton’s time, saying that “just couldn’t put the lap together”.

Brazilian Felipe Massa put in another strong performance for Williams and will start seventh on the grid ahead of the two Force India drivers, Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon. Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the top ten.

Daniil Kvyat and Carlos Sainz will start from 11th and 13th respectively. The Toro Rosso du0 was split by the McLaren-Honda of Fernando Alonso who celebrated his 12th place grid slot as if it were pole position.

Romain Grosjean and Joylon Palmer will start from 15th and 16th on the grid ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne and home favourite Lance Stroll who will be racing in his first home grand prix. The local boy’s final flying lap was compromised by an early drop of the chequered flag in Q1 brought about by Sauber’s Pascal Wehrlein approaching turn 1 too wide, losing the rear of the car, and hitting the wall. Wehrlein will start from the back of the grid ahead of Keving Magnussen and Marcus Ericsson.

June 11, 2017
2017 Canadian GP: Thursday Press Conference – Part 2

PART TWO: DRIVERS – Lance Stroll (Williams), Sergio Pérez (Force India), Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)

Q: Marcus, why don’t we start with you. You said you particularly look forwards to this Canadian Grand Prix every year, why is it so important to you?

Marcus ERICSSON: Did I?

Yes, you did!

ME: OK. I enjoy it here, it’s a good race, not only the track but I think the whole city. It’s really cool because it’s buzzing, the whole city, wherever you do, all week. There’s a lot going on. Then the weekend as well, around race day, a lot of fans, the atmosphere is great. I think it’s this combination of things that makes it one of the better races of the year, I think.

Q: Sauber was one of the teams that had real problems getting the softer tyres to work, all weekend in Monaco. Do you anticipate similar problems with them this weekend?

ME: Yeah, it’s true that in Monaco we were struggling quite a lot to get the tyres to work in the right window. We have worked quite a bit after Monaco to understand that and to make sure that we are better off here in Montreal because it’s also a track where you are generally struggling a bit with tyres, especially the front tyres, to get them into the right temperature. We have some ideas of how to do it and hopefully this type of track will help us to get them to work a bit better – and then we hope the temperature stays a bit high, and that will also help – but let’s see how it goes.

Q: Sergio, coming to you, your 15 race points-scoring streak that stretched back all the way to Germany last season was interrupted in Monaco in a strange race for you – how do you look back on it now?

Sergio PÉREZ: Yeah, it was quite a strange race, y’know? Great qualifying and we were on to a… let’s say a piece of cake – a race that was very easy – but then we have something unexpected in lap one. I slightly touched Sainz into the hairpin with my front wing, which meant I had to pit, like after 17 laps or so to change my front wing, and that meant that I end up in a big battle where I didn’t need to be. And from then on I had to take big risks. I take a big risk overtaking Lance, actually, Palmer, Vandoorne, and then I found myself in a very strong position. My team did a massive call to box me under the safety car. I didn’t lose any positions. I was on fresh tyres so I was around two seconds a lap quicker than the car ahead, and I was in the points. Everyone ahead of me was struggling massively. I knew how much they were struggling with the warm-up of the tyre and Kvyat left the door open a bit so I just went for it and, if I have that opportunity again, I think I will do the same. If you don’t go for the gap, you don’t give the right message to your competitors, you know? So, I think one of the reasons that I’ve been so many times in the points was thanks to that aggression. Many times of those 15 I didn’t have the pace to be on the points and yes, sometimes I think you have to be quite aggressive. In Monaco, you know as a driver if you try the manoeuvre there is a big chance that it is not going to happen and it’s going to ruin the race. It’s a risk that you decide to take. I think I was the only car out there to overtake. You saw what happened with Jenson and Wehrlein: with these wide cars, with the amount of limited grip we have in the corners, it is very hard to overtake so you have to take big risks.

Q: You had a podium here back in 2012 but since then it’s not been a particularly kind circuit for you. Do you think this year’s Force India car with it’s characteristics will give you a better shot at a big result here this weekend than the last few seasons?

SP: I think so. I think we should be relatively stronger than probably other circuits in the past. But we still have a big margin to the top three teams ahead. They’re in another category. For us, just in pure pace, if we finish behind them it’s the maximum we can achieve at the moment. So, let’s see what we can do for Sunday.

Q: Coming to you Lance, I guess having grown up here and been inspired by seeing Formula One cars once a year on this race track, you must feel quite emotional at the thought of racing one here this weekend?

Lance STROLL: Yeah, it’s kind of a dream come true for me. Growing up here I was sitting in the grandstands at five or sic years old and watching the races here and now to finally be part of it, it’s very special.

Q: This has been a strong track for Williams in the last few years – back-to-back podiums the last two seasons and there has been a Williams on the front two rows of the grid in three of the last four years. So are expectations high for getting your first championship points?

LS: I think so, yeah. It has been a strong track for us in the past. It suits our car very well. Hopefully that remains the same this year. I think we just need to focus on our job. Hopefully a bit of luck will be on our side, that we can have a clean weekend and get the best out of our car. That’s definitely the plan.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Pierre Durocher – Montreal Journal) I want to ask you, Lance… people some to forget sometimes but two years ago when you first appeared in F3 you had some problems you had to fight to get the results you wanted and then the next year you became champion. Is there anything that you learned through your first year in F3, that was a bit difficult, and make you stronger that you can make you stronger right now and help you go through the hurdles of having success in F1?

LS: I think it just comes down to experience and sometimes it just takes a bit of time for things to fall into place. Back in Formula 3, I ended 2015 very well and then I started 2016 very well and it stayed the same way the whole year. So, it just sometimes takes some time to break the ice and once you get rolling it keeps working. I mean, I think this year has been a bit different. We have had some strong qualifyings – in China, Bahrain, in Russia – there have been some Saturdays, but there has been some bad luck as well with technical issues and other things and we haven’t been able to capitalise on those results on Sunday and I think a lot of our non-finishes are because of that and I think we just need to stay calm, we need to stay focused, focus on what we need to improve on – myself, car, everything – and just every weekend try to get stronger and stronger. I think that’s the goal now. We can’t panic, we can’t lose concentration; we have to stay in it. It’s a long year. There have only been six races and there’s still 14 more to go. The year is a marathon and it’s about forgetting about what happened in the past and focusing on the next one. That’s definitely what I did in F3. There were a lot of hard times in 2015 and then I came back in 2016, worked on my weaknesses over the winter, and came back a much better, a much more complete driver. The same thing happens when you move into Formula One. There are new things to learn. The tyres are very tricky to understand, so that is definitely something I’m learning at the moment, trying to get on top of that every weekend as consistently as possible and just driving the car and getting used to it. I’m getting more comfortable, more confident every where I go. A lot of the tracks are new as well. That’s definitely something that takes some getting used to. In FP1 you just have to learn these new tracks and all that. It’s time and experience. But at the same time you’ve got to always push as hard as you can and focus on what you really need to improve on, weekend by weekend.

Q: (Jeff Pappone – Inside Track) A question for Sergio. I’m just wondering, with the changes to the car, the tyres that are different this year, you have a rookie team-mate: Is this one of the toughest years – F1 Is always hard for rookies – but is this one of the toughest years for them to come in and figure out the cars and figure out how to be fast?

SP: It’s hard for me to judge, because the last time I was a rookie in F1 was seven years ago. I think F1 is quite as well, you know, but certainly with these tyres it’s quite difficult to know what is going on. I think especially in Formula One, you have a lot of people around your team that can help you a lot to understand what is going on with tyres. Since I came to Formula One, the most important thing is tyres. We are always talking about tyres, tyres. When you come from a junior category to Formula One there is so much to learn on tyres. Whether it’s harder now or when I came? I don’t think it’s any harder now, but it’s hard for me to judge. Certainly I’m finding it hard to know what’s going on with these tyres. All the time they are very different, depending on which track they work very different. Having them in the window to having them over the window, it’s a very little margin. So certainly tyres are something that rookies might find a little bit harder than experienced drivers.

Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas ) Sergio, you just said that there are a lot of people around trying to help about the tyres. I would love to know, all of you, what about the sensibility. How sensitive do you have to be, driving a car, to add to this help? Your own feelings into the car. Do you feel this year you have to use even more your sensitive approach?

SP: I don’t think you have to use it any more than any other year. You always have to try to know what’s going on with tyres. It’s obviously very hard to know what’s going on with the set-up and the tyres at the same time, whether it’s a lack of warm-up or whether it’s a problem with the balance of the car. That’s something that for us, as drivers, is hard to judge. I like to do a lot of work with tyres and I like to focus a lot on that regard. Firstly I try to understand what’s going on with the tyres before I judge the set-up.

LS: Sergio said a lot of it. I think tyres are the biggest performance gain in Formula One today. You can do an out lap very slow or you can do one very fast and then get into detail about it and you can find a ton of lap time when you get it right and you get in the window. Coming from junior categories I think there is a big difference in that from Formula One. In F3, for example, where I come from, F4 as well, you go out, the tyre is very consistent all the time, you have three push laps in qualifying where you can get the lap time you want. It’s just very forgiving, it’s very easy, you can slide the tyre, you can do whatever you want, and then just focus on driving. But in Formula One there’s a lot that comes with getting good out laps, getting the tyre working, and if you miss that, if you get traffic on an out lap, and you don’t get it working the way you want you can lose a massive amount of performance and that just really affects your position on the grid. Same in the race. If you have some overheating or something, you slide the surface too much, you go backwards. So these tyres are very, very tricky to understand. There are some weekends that are very straightforward. We’ve seen weekends this year where I think it has been pretty easy for everyone to get temperature into the tyre and then it’s just been consistent and then it’s just about focusing on your driving. Then there have been other weekends where it has been extremely complicated to get it working properly and you just have to wait and see if it’s going to work or not. Definitely you always have to be on top of it, listen to people in your team who are trying to help you. For me it’s just about gaining experience with the tyres and trying different things, seeing if it works, and obviously using the help of people ion my team around me.

ME: Not much to add to be honest. Like they said, tyres are the key to performance and I agree with that.

Q: (Sef Harding – Xero Xone News) A question for Lance. What have you had a chance to do since you’ve4 been home and I’ll slip another question in there: what you have on your playlist this weekend, because I know you’re a music guy?

LS: First of all, it’s great to be home. I don’t get to come back too often, so it’s been a busy week, with some media stuff and sponsor events and a lot of that, but at the same time I have had a chance to visit some friends, family, here in Montreal, that I don’t get to see often, so that’s been great. Music for the weekend? I’m not too sure yet. I’ll have a better idea tomorrow on what I feel like listening to. Some hip-hop, soft rock, deep house, I don’t know yet, but we’ll see.

Q: (Alexandre Geoffrion-McInnis – La Presse Canadienne) Sergio, we all know it’s Lance’s first Canadian Grand Prix, but I want to know how you felt to race in front of your home crowd in Mexico back in 2015? Did you get any emotion boost? Did you feel more pressure?

SP: It’s a big emotion, you know. When you race in front of your home crowd you have all the support from your fans, all your people, your friends, family, people that they don’t get to see you in life for the rest of the year. It’s certainly a weekend where your emotions are 100 per cent, all the time. From P1 to when you finish the race it’s very emotional. They always say that when you are home you are two tenths quicker and I believe so, you know. You have so much energy through you and so much support and there is so much willingness to do well in front of them. And instead of feeling pressure you feel extra energy and that helps you to focus on set-up decisions, on preparing your race weekend, on preparing your qualifying. It’s something really well. It’s important that you don’t let the emotions go too high and always stay calm and just enjoy the weekend, because it will go very fast.

Q: (Alessandra Retico – La Repubblica) Lance, you are very young, but what does Gilles Villeneuve mean to you and how do feel to be the first Canadian guy to compete here since Jacques?

LS: Well, Gilles was a bit before my time, so I didn’t really have a chance to watch him race. But obviously an extreme talent and very loved. He really went for the gaps and took the risks that back then other drivers wouldn’t take. An extreme talent and a very special driver that goes down in the history books in Formula One. To race here since Jacques is really an honour. He won the world championship with Williams in 1997, the year before I was born. Now 20 years later to be here in the Canadian Grand Prix, just memories of when I was a kid watching the race. Formula One was always a dream for, but separately the Canadian Grand Prix is really a dream for me to compete here. I was a bit worried over the winter when they were saying ‘oh maybe next year not sure if it’s going to be on the calendar’, but now to be here and experiencing the whole thing, I think Sergio mentioned, from the moment you get home, FP1, the race, you’re just embracing all that positive energy from the fans, from everyone around. I think it’s one of those grands prix that you really have to enjoy and embrace it and then it’s a race like every other one and you have to go and have fun.

Q: (Salim Valji – CBC) For Lance, how do you handle the perception that maybe you are here based on family money as opposed to talent? Kind of an awkward question but how do you handle that, what’s your response to that perception?

LS: Never heard that question before! You know, it’s always going to be said and asked, about where I come from and all that. But I focus on the positives. I’ve won the championships to arrive here, Formula 4, Formula 3 European Championship, I got my 40 Superlicence points that the FIA has placed just for that reason. Drivers can’t just buy their way into Formula One, you have to actually go out and get the results. There are always going to be haters, there is always going to jealousy, that’s just the nature of sports in general. When you win it’s expected and when you have hard times people put you down and that’s how it goes. But I don’t focus on that. I know who is important around me and those are the people I listen to. The rest of the noise you just have to block it out, it’s out of your control. You have to know who you need to trust around you and that’s all you can focus on and then it’s about going out on track. Sometimes there’s hard times, sometimes there’s good time but you just need to always go to the next weekend and be positive and try as hard as you can and that’s how I go about my business.

Photo credit: Sahara Force India Formula One Team

June 9, 2017
F1 2017: Canadian Gp Preview – Can Mercedes Stem Ferrari Momentum

Formula 1 swops Monaco for Montreal as it heads to the seventh round of the season around Canada’s Gilles Villeneuve circuit.

The flowing circuit set in the heart of the St. Lawrence Seaway has become a classic on the F1 calendar, which often turns up unpredictable races. Although it’s one of the shorter circuits it’s flowing nature allows for close racing and, though limited, some chances for overtaking. While the average lap speed is significantly higher than at the last round in Monaco the close proximity of the walls and barriers create the impression of a street circuit. The demand on brakes is some of the highest experienced in the entire season.

For the first time in more than a decade the ardent Canadian fans will have a local driver in the mix. Williams’ Lance Stroll will be the first Canadian to race on home soil since Jacques Villeneuve’s retirement in 2006. So far, Stroll’s journey into F1 hasn’t been an easy one with several retirements and a couple of mistakes making for a brutal introduction to the sport. Nevertheless, if the Montreal native is going to step up anywhere this would be the best place to do so.

In 2016 the Canadian grand prix was well within Sebastian Vettel’s grasp but it slipped through Ferrari’s fingers as they called an ill-advised strategy, which cost them victory. While the German comfortably held of second-placed Hamilton the Ferrari pitwall decided to opt for two-stop strategy while Mercedes ran a one-stop race, which ultimately resulted in the top step of the podium for Hamilton.

The picture in 2017 looks far different than twelve months ago. This weekend Vettel arrives in Canada with a healthy lead in the championship and with a car quick enough to challenge for victory. However, there is a suspected reliability issue with the turbo unit on Vettel’s Ferrari. If the unit has to be replaced it could mean a five place grid penalty for the championship leader.

But while it remains only a threat without official confirmation of a penalty Ferrari will be feeling confident ahead of the weekend. The efficiency of their aerodynamic package in 2017 has proven to the class of the field and should come into its own around the circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The most significant area in which Ferrari hold an advantage is its relatively big set-up window. The coveted sweet spot of balance between both axles of the car seem easier to come by for Ferrari than its championship rivals Mercedes. It is this specific factor that is Ferrari’s biggest advantage in 2017.

Further to Ferrari’s advantage is the combination of ultra- and supersoft tyre compounds nominated by Pirelli for this grand prix weekend. The Ferrari’s liking of the ultrasoft tyre stems from its ability to bring the compound into its optimal working range quicker than Mercedes as was seen in Monaco and Russia. Still, Merc is far from out of the equation. The naturally cooler temperatures often experienced over the Canadian race weekend will be to the advantage of Mercedes as it decreases the operating temperature window of the tyre.

The Canadian Gp weekend is an interesting one for Mercedes as both Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas have shone, to varying degrees, on this circuit. While Ferrari has shown no qualms in advancing the interests of Vettel, as the championship leader, it begs the question as to what call Mercedes will make should Bottas be in front of Hamilton.

June 7, 2017
F1 2017: Monaco Gp Preview – The Eternally Sublime Monte Carlo

The Formula 1 paddock arrives in the Principality of Monaco this weekend for the sixth round of the 2017 season around the famous streets of Monte Carlo.

The Monaco grand prix has long since been regarded at the most glamorous and prestigious race on the calendar. Celebrities pour into the Principality and parties spring up in every corner of the Monegasque country. But, truthfully, this isn’t what makes the Monaco grand prix exceptional. Instead it’s the severe juxtaposition of trying to thread an immensely fast racing car through such tight confines.

Like the tickets to the grand prix passing is at a premium on the Monaco streets. Its tight and twisting nature means that any overtake is attempted is at a high risk. This year it will be exponentially more difficult given the increased width of the cars. The best opportunity for overtaking on this track has always been under braking into Ste Devote, turn one, and at the exit of the Tunnel under braking for the Nouvelle chicane. Traditionally, the start of a race has been the best time to make up positions and given the difficulty of overtaking here it could translate into a frenetic opening lap.

A lap of the Antony Noghès circuit, at 3.3 km in length, lasts just over seventy-three seconds. But its intimidatingly tight and the walls lurk ready to punish the smallest of errors. “There is no such thing as a low risk lap in Monaco, it doesn’t exist if you want to be fast because you have to be on the limit,” says Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. So unique is the Monaco grand prix that the first two practice session for the grand prix take place on Thursday.

Track position around Monaco is king and For Red Bull and all other teams Saturday qualifying could be the most important day of the weekend given how challenging it is to overtake on the streets. While there are still 73 important laps to survive on Sunday a good lap in qualifying is nearly half the job done.

The lesser focus on power unit performance could bring Red Bull into the mix, especially if they choose to optimize their one-lap performance. The Austrian team is still lacking quite a bit in race pace but has edged closer in quali-performance. Still, Mercedes and Ferrari should have enough in hand to see of the Ricciardo-Verstappen threat. The combination of tyre compound, ultra- and supersoft, will be to Ferrari’s advantage. The key to good tyre performance will be the ability of the driver to limit rear tyre wear.

An old friend returns to the paddock too in the form of Jenson Button who steps into Fernando Alonso’s McLaren cockpit while the Spaniard runs his first Indy 500 race in the United States. It certainly wont be an easy weekend for Button given McLaren’s woes. However, a few things will count in his favour. The race in Monaco is often a war of attrition and if he can manage to get to the chequered flag there is a possibility of scoring some points.

The Honda-powered team is also introducing the second part of the major upgrade package in Monaco, which they hope will catapult them into the points paying positions. The final aspect in his favour this weekend is that JB is a bit of a Monaco specialist who has always shone on the Monaco streets.

Though it is one of the shortest laps on the calendar and not as physically demanding as others the Monaco grand prix is the jewel in Formula 1’s crown and victory here means immortality.

May 23, 2017
F1 2017: Spanish Gp Review – Hamilton Fights To Spanish Win

For eighty-eight percent of the time all races around the circuit de Catalunya have been won from pole position. While this stat was re-affirmed in 2017 by pole sitter Lewis Hamilton’s victory it was nearly as straightforward as that.

Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes were made to work hard for all of the sixty-six laps of the Spanish grand prix. A clever switch on tyre strategy, which had the Brit on the quicker tyre at the end of the race, provided the opportunity for victory, which Hamilton translated into the 55^th win of his career.

The Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel dominated the first half of the grand prix but a combination of Valtteri Bottas serving as a blocker for Hamilton and a slow call on strategy, cost him the top step of the podium. Ultimately the pair finished less than four seconds apart. It was nearly as satisfying an afternoon for their teammates. Kimi Raikkonen retired on lap one with a broken steering-arm following clash into turn one between Bottas, Raikkonen, and Verstappen. The incident also brought Verstappen’s race to an end was, rightly, deemed to be a racing incident. Later in the piece Bottas Mercedes engine expired putting him out of the race. Though no fault of their own, Raikkonen and Bottas’ retirements could be significant. It could begin the process of Ferrari and Mercedes needing to discuss which driver to back in the fight for championship. In a battle that appears to be as close as the 2017 is there isn’t much more time before this call will need to be made.

The retirements meant that Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo finished third but it was a day that the Austrian team will want to forget as soon as possible. The expectation that Red Bull’s highly anticipated upgrade package would push them towards the two front running teams was emphatically crushed by the fact that Ricciardo finished some seventy-five seconds adrift. This margin is especially worrying considering that the Spanish circuit is predominantly focused on aerodynamics. Nevertheless, the characteristics of the next grand prix in Monaco should alleviate their pain somewhat. But it’s still unlikely that they’ll trouble Ferrari or Mercedes should all things be equal.

Force India continued their impressive run with yet another double points finish. Sergio Perez in fourth and Esteban Ocon in fifth underlined what a stellar job this privateer team is doing with, likely, a quarter of the budget of the bigwigs. Renault too is continuing to make progress as Nico Hulkenberg finished sixth overall. Spanish driver Carlos Sainz finished seventh in front of his home crowd in the Toro Rosso while Pascal Wehrlein upped his stock in Formula 1 with a fine eighth place finish in a Sauber which has been difficult to drive this year. Sauber’s point score now means that McLaren are the only team with zero points on the board.

Dannil Kvyat came from twentieth on the grid to ninth while Romain Grosjean snapped up the final point in tenth for Haas. Perfomance-wise it was a better weekend for McLaren but Fernando Alonso could still only manage twelfth place by the chequered flag.

Notably nearly all the drivers remarked on the physicality of the race and how they were on the limit for all of the 66 laps. This is in stark contrast to last year where drivers were cruising around five to six seconds off the pace in order to conserve their tyres. A tip of the hat then to the FOM, FIA, and Pirelli doing their bit to provide a more intense experience for drivers and spectators alike.

One of the most fascinating developments to emerge from the weekend is that despite the fact that tens of millions of rands have been spent on upgrade packages and countless man-hours have been invested the battle between Mercedes and Ferrari appear to be as close as ever. For fans it couldn’t be better news as it means an enthralling season in prospect.

May 15, 2017
F1 2017: Spanish Gp Preview – Back To Europe

There isn’t too much about Spain’s circuit de Catalunya that isn’t already known. As the fifth round of the 2017 season this staple of the Formula 1 calendar has, over the years, become the definitive barometer of car performance.

The 4.6-kilometer layout of the Spanish circuit comprises the perfect mixtures to test car balance and aerodynamic efficiency while the start/finish strait provides a modest test of power output. The high and medium speed turns, which litter the first sector, test stability and grip while the lower speed third sector is the perfect test of low speed mechanical grip. A quick car through the twisty bits of Catalunya’s final sector invariably translates into a good at street circuits such as Monaco and Singapore.

From this, it would suggest that Ferrari would be favourite and they are. The stellar aerodynamic package that they have produced in 2017 will be the Italian team’s biggest weapon. In Bahrain the Ferrari excelled in the high to medium speed first sector and in Russia both the Ferrari’s performance in the final, twisty, sector dwarfed what Mercedes was able to produce. Combine these two sectors and you have a layout similar to the circuit de Catalunya.

What may be Ferrari’s Achilles heel are the compounds which tyre supplier Pirelli has nominated for the weekend. While the track surface in Spain tends to be more abrasive in order to get the soft, medium, and hard compounds to its optimal working range will require a substantial track temperature. “I’m not sure if it’ll help us or not but I just don’t think it’s going to be good for anyone,” said Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo. “Hopefully for Barcelona’s sake it’s hot and therefore these harder tyres work, but if it’s cold then it’s going to be a struggle for everyone.”

The Spanish grand prix weekend, while important for every team and driver on the grid, is vital to the rest of Red Bull’s 2017 campaign. In 2016 the Milton Keyes based team left the Spanish circuit with Max Verstappen as a first-time grand prix winner and with great expectations. The overhaul in regulations held the expectation that Red Bull would be a championship contender in 2017. Nevertheless, the season has started with the team significantly off the pace but they hope that their plan to rectify this begins to fall in place this weekend.

The hope is that the introduction of a B-spec car and a “revamped” chassis will allow the team to make a significant step forward. “I hope we can be a bit closer to the top teams or that we can at least follow them,” said 2016 Spanish Gp winner Max Verstappen. “That would already be a good step forward.” Ironically, even without a chassis upgrade the characteristics of the Spanish circuit traditionally plays well to the strengths of the Red Bull.

In Russia, for reasons unknown, Lewis Hamilton was considerably off the pace. And while both Ferraris and his teammate beat him up it gave Valtteri Bottas a crucial boost of confidence that could be telling. As for Ferrari, their biggest asset is the belief that they have more than a good chance of being at the sharp-end. And if the temperatures soar it’ll likely take more than a good performance to topple them this weekend.

May 11, 2017