F1 Madness

Tag: lewis hamilton

  • F1 2019: Belgium Gp Preview – Return From Hiatus

    F1 2019: Belgium Gp Preview – Return From Hiatus

    The summer hiatus is over and Formula 1 returns in true style at Belgium’s legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

    In the interim between races F1 has carried on its merry way of making headlines. Relatively early on in the summer break the somewhat inevitable announcement was made that after a string of lackluster performances Pierre Gasly will swop cockpits with Alex Albon from the Belgian Gp onwards.

    It’s a big knock to Gasly’s already tattered confidence but, at the very least, he has a chance to regain his footing as a Toro Rosso driver for the rest of the 2019 season. It won’t be an easy task by any stretch of the imagination but he should take heart from the fact that he wasn’t booted out of F1 and the Red Bull driver program entirely.

    As much pressure as Gasly faces to put his F1 career back on track Alex Albon faces exponentially more as a new Red Bull driver. The Thai-born driver is no stranger to success and many would go so far as to brand him a bonafide Karting superstar. He’s impressed in the lower Formula and at Toro Rosso too but the spotlight will become immeasurably more focused as he steps into a cockpit of a front-running car. He won’t be expected to beat teammate Max Verstappen from the word go but the Red Bull decision-makers are scrutinizing his performances. Should he perform well, which he definitely has the potential to do, he’ll all but seal his place at the team for 2020.

    M132185Pressure is everywhere in F1 and it’s found a home too in the cockpit of Valtteri Bottas. The Finn started the season with a bang but has faded in the last few grand prix weekends in comparison to teammate Lewis Hamilton. The pressure comes in the form of Esteban Ocon who is confirmed to be under consideration, along with Bottas, for the second Mercedes seat for 2020.

    However, Bottas may yet be safe as some rumours suggest that Merc could allow Ocon to be signed by Renault who is nearly always under pressure to be a put a French driver in the French works team. Where is the vacancy at Renault you ask? Some suggestions abound that Nico Hulkenberg could be off the Haas for next season in place of Romain Grosjean. Isn’t the silly season great?

    Ferrari too is under pressure. But then they have been under pressure to deliver a title for more than a decade now. The characteristics of Spa-Francorchamps should suit the 2019 Ferrari and its low-drag philosophy to a degree. Whether the red team will be able to get all their ducks in a row is another question. As Kimi Raikkonen’s triumph Texas last year remains Ferrari’s last race win the team will be desperate to get their name on the winners’ board for the first time in 2019. Spa may provide them their best chance of doing just that.

    There are few greater stretches of tarmac in the world than the 7.004 km Circuit at the foot of the Ardennes Mountains. It’s an old-school test of man and machine and demands precision, bravery, and respect. It’s a circuit seeping with nostalgia for all of the greats who has graced it before. It is Spa-Francorchamps.

  • F1 2019: So Far…

    F1 2019: So Far…

    The summer break typically denotes the ‘halfway’ mark of a Formula 1 season. Though there is technically less than half a season remaining in 2019 it’s in this ‘cool down’ period where teams will assess their performance to date and begin to plot the way forward for what remains.

    Before moving forward however it is imperative to assess the standout performance, good or bad, in the first twelve races of the year.

    Best rookies in a decade

    In Australia George Russell, Alex Albon, and Lando Norris lined up as F1 debutants and they haven’t put a wheel wrong since. As difficult as it is to shine in the lethargic Williams Russell has impressed by completely wiping the floor with teammate Robert Kubica. Additionally, his positive demeanour out of the car has shown his high level of professionalism and respect.

    Thai-born driver Alex Albon has been slightly under the radar but no less than any of the rookies. Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost, notoriously merciless, has nothing but praise for Albon. And Red Bull obviously agrees as they’ve slotted Albon into the senior team alongside Max Verstappen from the Belgian Gp onwards.

    McLaren’s Lando Norris is easily one of the most entertaining drivers on and off the track (his Instagram profile is definitely worth a follow) and he has some remarkable speed to boot. It’s clear that McLaren has made progress in 2019 but it still requires drivers to realize that improvement which Norris, and Sainz, has emphatically done. In fact, Norris has been so exciting and impressive that you’d be excused for forgetting that he still only twelve races into his F1 career.

    GP GERMANIA F1/2019 - GIOVEDÌ 25/07/2019There have been numerous rookies in F1 over the last decade but Russell, Albon, and Norris are easily some of the most polished, accomplished, and exciting of them all.

    Biggest disappointment – Ferrari & Pierre Gasly

    It is now clear to that Ferrari’s design philosophy for their 2019 car is flawed. Their choice to focus on horsepower has seen them deliver the most powerful engine in the sport but at the cost of neglecting to concentrate on downforce. It’s come at a significant price for the Italian team who is yet to win a race in 2019.

    It hasn’t only a flawed design path that has cost Ferrari this season. Several instances of poor decision-making on the pitwall have resulted in some embarrassing gaffes. Their drivers too haven’t been operating at the top of their powers. Seb Vettel has occasionally cut a despondent figure this season while new recruit Charles Leclerc has made several mistakes at crucial times.

    Ferrari isn’t the only ones experiencing an annus horribilis in 2019. Pierre Gasly season can only be described as a shambles. The Frenchman has never found his feet at Red Bull. Twice he was embarrassingly lapped be his teammate and those weren’t even his worst Sundays. So woeful were his performances that he’s been ejected from the seat and sent back to Toro Rosso.

    Best team – Mercedes

    The German juggernaut simply picked up from where they left off in 2018. While there have been a few blips, read Austria and Germany, the Mercedes team has performed as clinically as ever. Valtteri Bottas hit the ground running in Australia and for much of the first half of the season seemed as if he would be a genuine contender for the title against teammate Lewis Hamilton. But the Finn has faded somewhat in crucial moments. The championship battle between this pair is far from concluded but is certainly slanted towards Hamilton who always finds another gear, pun intended, in the final push towards the conclusion of the season.

    2019 British GPThe added incentive, or pressure, for Bottas is that he is driving for his life at Mercedes. Team boss Toto Wolff has been open about the fact that the decision on who will partner Hamilton in 2020 is between Bottas and reserve driver Esteban Ocon. Despite Ocon’s impressive stint at Racing Point (formerly Force India) he remains an unknown quantity. Whereas Bottas has proven his ability to rack up the constructor’s points and even, on occasion, push Hamilton. Mercedes know what they have in Bottas and can hardly afford a Gasly-Red Bull type situation with Ocon. If Merc do stick with Bottas there is likely to be a spot at Williams for Ocon in place of Kubica.

     Best driver – Max Verstappen

    In qualifying for the 2018 Monaco grand prix Max Verstappen’s exuberance got the better of him. He ended up in the wall and out of victory contention. Something else changed too. He learnt a lesson that day that he’s adopted as part of his repertoire ever since: speed and precision equal results. It is clear that he has grown and matured in leaps and bounds since that moment.

    Its transformed Verstappen from a quick racing driver to a driver ready to contend for a championship. Now if Red Bull could deliver a car on par with Verstappen’s considerable talent from the start of the season, and maintain it, he’ll be a champion before long.

  • F1 2019: Hungarian Gp Review – Hamilton Charges to Victory

    F1 2019: Hungarian Gp Review – Hamilton Charges to Victory

    For the first time in his career Max Verstappen secured pole position for the Hungarian grand prix with a breathtaking lap on Saturday. Not only was P1 a new experience for the Dutchman but so would be leading a grand prix from the front.

    For nearly all of his previous seven race wins Verstappen has been the hunter. However, the tables were turned and it was up to the Red Bull driver to control the race and maintain the lead while being hunted by the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton. And until the last third of the race Verstappen had been doing a mighty fine job of holding P1.

    But such was the pace of the leading pair that it created a colossal gap to the Ferrari’s of Leclerc and Vettel. A gap big and obvious enough for Mercedes to bring Hamilton into the pits for a fresh set of tyres. While Verstappen tried to eek out the laps on his set of hard tyres Hamilton was unleashed on fresh rubber and eviscerated the nineteen-second gap to the leader. Initially, Verstappen seemed able to respond and for the briefest of moments it seemed possible that he could hold the lead. But Hamilton delivered a blistering pace, sometimes more than two seconds a lap quicker, to be right on the Red Bull’s gearbox with four laps to go. He made short work of a defenseless Verstappen and career victory number 81 was in the bag.

    It’s gone from bad to worse for Ferrari in the first half of the season and Hungary was no exception. Sebastian Vettel, on an alternate strategy, was able to snatch the final step of the podium from teammate Charles Leclerc but it was an embarrassing outing for Ferrari who finished more than a minute adrift of the race-winner. Fundamentally, the 2019 Ferrari is lacking in downforce. So it doesn’t come as too much of a surprise then that they would struggle around the long medium speed corners of the Hungaroring. Still, to be more than a minute behind will smart all the way through the summer break.

    2019 Hungarian GPElsewhere, Carlos Sainz finished in a fine fifth place ahead of the ever under pressure Pierre Gasly in sixth while Kimi Raikkonen, in seventh, once again punched well above the Alfa Romeo’s weight. Valtteri Bottas finished eighth after suffering front-wing damage on the opening lap with a coming together first with teammate Hamilton and then Charles Leclerc. Lando Norris made it a double points score for McLaren in ninth while Thai-born driver Alex Albon secured the final point on offer in tenth.

    After pre-season testing the mid-field battle looked as if it would be an extremely close fight between several teams. And while it is for the most part still closely fought the opening half of the season hasn’t gone quite the way many would have expected. What has gone accordingly to expectation is that McLaren are well in charge of the mid-field battle with 82 points on the board. Toro Rosso too will be pleased with 5thplace in the constructor’s championship courtesy of Kvyat’s podium finish in Germany.

    But there are big question marks at Renault as they are not only being beaten by their customer team in McLaren but also by both Honda powered teams. For a works team it simply isn’t good enough and the French team will have serious conversations over the break. It could possibly result in some restructuring at the top with team principal Cyril Abiteboul likely the most under pressure.

    2019 Hungarian GPAlfa Romeo may not say so publically but they’ll be thanking their lucky stars for Kimi Raikkonen who has scored 31 of the teams’ total of 32 points in 2019. They might even try to extend the Finn’s contract which currently takes him to the end of 2020. Despite a significant uptick in investment Racing Point it hasn’t materialized in the way they would’ve expected. There is still half a season to go however and they may yet come good as that investment begins to filter through.

    So far 2019 has been a head-scratcher for Haas. Though the American-based team clearly has a quick car it’s only shown in brief flashes. By their own admission they have struggled to understand the car and are still trying to comprehend why and how of it. For Williams there has hardly been a more difficult time than this season. But there is light at the end of the tunnel, as a new upgrade package appears to have pushed the team closer to the rest of the field. The important thing now for Williams will be to continue with this trend.

    In Austria, Silverstone, Germany, and Hungary Formula 1 have delivered four stunning races in succession and the good news is that there is still half a season to go.  It re-starts with the famed Belgian grand prix on August 30.

    All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport 
  • 2019 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

    2019 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    2 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)

    3 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

     

    TRACK INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by Paul Di Resta)

     

    Q: Lewis, I can see how much that one means to you. From a driving point of view that was exactly what you had to do to go out there and win it. You fought all the way the very end to get that one done. How do you feel?

    Lewis HAMILTON: Tired, which is how it should be, but I feel really grateful for the day and for the team for continuing to believe in me and continuing to push to the limits and to take a risk and a chance on me. We’ve been together for seven years and it never gets old, it always feels brand new. It feels like a new win for us. If it wasn’t for these boys here and all the guys back at the factory this wouldn’t be even possible and I’m just grateful to be a part of it. Yeah, for a race to be able to push like that, I’m telling you now it was on the limit all the way.

    Q: The gap was there to take that chance, to roll the dice and try something on strategy, but you had a bit of management in there with brakes, because you had nearly got Max before. Was it always going to be on edge to get that pass done?

    LH: Honestly, we’ve had brake problems all weekend, having like separation of the front temperatures and glazing, and I was a bit worried. We made some changes and it still didn’t make a difference and naturally we get into the race and we have this problem, so I was doing a lot of lift and coast and not even touching the brake for half the lap. Now of course in the big stops you had to lose it. I was just trying to save as much as I could for that time when I do get a chance. It was very, very difficult to get by, defence was great, they were quite quick on the straights. But honestly I didn’t know if I could catch that 19-second gap because there is a big… my tyres were going to drop off and all these different things are going through your mind, but like the team said, you just keep your head down, so I did and kept pushing and pushing and the gap closed and closed and closed. The laps were like qualifying laps every lap. So my hat off to the team and I think if Niki was here today he’d take his hat off.

    Q: I think everybody would. That’s seven wins in Hungary and a nice way to sign off for the summer break. Enjoy your rest. Max, I know you’re not going to be very happy with what happened but they had the chance to do what they did. You were not fortunately in that position (sic) but I guess you’ve got to be satisfied and Driver of the Day to say that.

    Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, we were just not fast enough. I tried everything I could on that hard tyre to stay alive but unfortunately it was just not enough. But still, second and fastest lap, I think a good weekend overall for us. Of course congrats to Lewis for the win. He was pushing me very hard, so I like that. Today we didn’t win but again, like I said, it was a good day, a good weekend for us.

    Q: What was missing today? That’s four very good races but the one we all thought you would get the job done, these guys came out very strong.

    MV: Just lacking a bit of grip I guess. We tried the one stop, of course they had the opportunity to do a two and today that worked out well.

    Q: Sebastian, right at the very end of the grand prix. I know these guys had a lonely race at the front but always satisfying to pass your team-mate, you did something different on strategy, and to sign off what is going to be a difficult break for you guys to bounce back?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, I mean obviously I was sitting in P4 and had nothing to lose so we stayed out very long in the first stint and then just hoped that the soft would last until the end, and it did. I think it was the fastest tyre at the end so we were able to close the gap. We had one opportunity, which I took, so happy to get some champagne now and to cool down. Yeah, we couldn’t go the pace with these two; that was quite clear the whole weekend, so lots of work ahead of us. I think it’s good now for everyone to get a break, the guys have been working very, very hard. We need maybe to charge our batteries and then the battle continues. There will be tracks that we will be better for us but still, overall we need to get stronger.

    Q: With Spa and Monza coming up after the summer break you guys have got to be favourites for that with your straight-line speed.

    SV: Yeah, I don’t know what other people will do in terms of updates on power unit and the engine side, so we’ll see. Obviously on paper they look better of for us. But yeah, still we know we have margin with the car. As you said it will be a busy break for us. I don’t think anyone’s mind can rest in the two weeks, so maybe we come up with some good ideas for the second half.

     

    PRESS CONFERENCE

     

    Q: Max coming to you, great performance by you all weekend and so much rested on that strategic call. Were you tempted to pit as well?

    MV: It wouldn’t have made sense because I would have been behind then so then you know the race is lost anyway. So the only option was for me to continue and that’s what we did. Of course at one point I started to run out of tyres, I think trying to keep up with Lewis’ pace on those medium tyres, trying to keep it within a second was almost impossible. And of course you can see it coming, so for me it was not a big disappointment once he passed me, it was just a normal thing to happen. Anyway, we have to be realistic and he was just clearly faster today. Always I was struggling a little bit more for grip than him. He could keep the pressure on. Of course when you are in second you can gamble to do a two-stop. For me it was always about trying to cover him or stay ahead. With the two-stop, worst case scenario is you stay second and best case you overtake me and that’s what they did today. Yeah, then we pitted at the end as well. Of course happy to then do that fastest lap. It’s still one point and hopefully at the end of the year it will matter. Let’s see.

    Q: And when you were on the same tyres compound how much did you relish that battle with Lewis?

    MV: So, I think on the first tyre he never really had a shot. We were still competitive in the last sector and then when we got on the hard tyre… also with the traffic, because of that he had a few goes at me because I couldn’t do my normal lines in the last few corners and he caught up with that. And then with the defending, I tried to do it as good as I could. Luckily I could stay ahead and then he had to manage his brakes and engine a bit but you could see clearly once that was sorted he closed the gap again. If he had stayed on that one stop I think I could have kept him behind. But once he was on the medium you know it’s going to be really hard.

    Q: Sebastian, strategy played a significant part in your race as well. How tough was it to get the distance on that first set of medium tyres?

    SV: Very tough. I think they were in very poor condition at the end. I was happy we tried. Obviously we tried to hang in there. I think we stayed out another 10 or 15 laps after Charles pitted, just to try to do something different, maybe hope for a safety car, but to be honest by then obviously the top two were sort of gone anyways. It was really for the sake of trying something different, which looked very distant to ideal when we had the stop and I came out but then I just tried everything I had and got one chance in the end. In the end it’s not a big deal, third or fourth for the team, it’s still the same. The big picture for today is that we were not quick enough and not able to follow them right from two laps into the race.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

     

    Q: (Christian Menath – motorsport-magazin.com) Max, usually Red Bull is quite good on race pace and not so good on qualifying pace. Do you have an explanation why it was the other way round this weekend? Was it becauswe of the Friday, which was a little bit weird?

    MV: No, I think then you can see how much margin they have when they really need to push. I think Lewis today was on fire as well, but then you see, once he really has to go for it you can see that that car is still the dominant car, it’s as simple as that. Whereas in some races it’s not as necessary. Of course they had their issues in Austria with overheating so you can’t push. Of course in Hockenheim it was tricky conditions as well so you can’t really drive to the limit of the car. But here today I think he had to go for it flat out, because I was also pushing flat out and then you can see what they are capable of as a team.

    Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriera della Sera) Sebastian, given the hotter temperature did you expect from your car. Is it now a step back in the performances?

    SV: No, I think the temperatures were fine. It was quite warm, the track was near 50 degrees as well so I don’t think so. I think we saw our limits yesterday. We got a confirmation today, so I don’t think it’s a step back, we had some bits, it was a small step forward but what it shows is that it’s not enough. It’s important that the mood inside the team remains positive, which is the case. I think everybody knows what we are lacking. Obviously we are very competitive on the straights – yesterday 6 or 7kph faster at the end of the straight compared to Red Bull and also Mercedes – but obviously we are losing quite a lot in the corners. There were some tracks where efficiency is more important, this is a track where inefficiency pays off, so whatever you have in terms of downforce is positive. That’s where we are lacking performance and in the race I think it shows even more because you are sliding and then I think we are going through the tyres faster. So not to our advantage. We have seen that as well in recent weeks, so in a way not a surprise but as I said we need to keep our head down and do the work.

    Q: Thank you Sebastian. Lewis, thank you for joining us. Can you just give us your thoughts when you were 19 seconds behind with 20 laps to go?

    LH: Well, firstly, Max really drove a sensational race today, as he has done particularly the last few races. When I was behind him on the hard tyre it didn’t look like he had particularly good pace – maybe he was managing to get to the end – but I had a lot of grip and I was thinking ‘I can definitely make this tyre go to the end’, because the first one I got to go quite far. But the team said we were going to a two-stop and I was thinking ‘how is this going to work out, I’m going to come out quite far behind’. But you have to put complete faith in your team because they have different viewpoint to you, so we did the stop and I came out on the mediums and I thought ‘Jeez, I don’t know if these are going to go the distance at the speed I am going to have to go’. Also Max turned up the engine mode and they started doing mid-19s. I started thinking ‘I don’t know if I’m close this gap’. I think the trajectory, they said I was going to catch him with nine laps to go and then that changed super quickly and went to last lap. So after that I had to put all doubt and all question marks out of my mind and go for the best laps I could do every single lap and consistency and not drop any time whatsoever. I had one of the most consistent period of laps that I’d had. I don’t know if he had traffic or mistakes or whatever but the gap started to chop down quite quickly. I think with four or five laps to go I had him four seconds ahead and I could see him in my sights, so maybe he’s struggling with his tyres. So after that I was like ‘OK, we’ve got a serious race on here’. It felt like the steepest wall to climb when you come out that far behind but the team had relaxed faith that we would do it and I’m grateful for their hard work and the decision.

    Q: (Stuart Codling – F1 Racing) Question for Max. You said just now that we saw how much margin Mercedes have. That notwithstanding, you had a brilliant race today. How much confidence does that give you, that you can come back after the summer break and take the fight to Mercedes?

    MV: I think there are a few tracks coming up that are maybe not as ideal for us – but of course we know we have some updates coming soon to the car and the engine, so hopefully that will again bring us closer. We’ll find out then.

    Q: (Giles Richards – The Guardian) Congratulations Lewis, after what happened in Germany, does this feel like a redemptive special win for you and for Mercedes, to come back so strongly?

    LH: I generally don’t like to look at redemption, if that’s the right word. Naturally, you know I don’t really make a lot of mistakes and I think the last one was definitely a massive off-weekend for me, and so this weekend, these two weeks, the team have been really great and supportive and taking off the workload, allowing me to recover and really just giving me the best support group possible to take any extra pressure off. Coming to this weekend, I felt I was back on it. Qualifying didn’t go the way I’d planned and I’d hoped. Then today, once I got into second, I was like ‘OK, game on’. And I could keep up with Max, no problems. So I was like, ‘we’ve got an actual real race on here. How is it going to play out? I don’t know. We’re going to have to figure it out as we go along.’ And obviously we both know where we’re going to strategy-wise. Yeah. I truly believed I could get by him at some stage but we’re also fighting at different points in the Championship. I think if we were level on points today would have been an even more aggressive battle, I would say, in the wheel-to-wheels that we did have but obviously we didn’t need to take extra risks today. So, I think Max was really fair and great with where he positioned his car. I just always made sure I gave extra space, just in case. But, of course, going into the break, this is a great, great uplift for the team, particularly after a difficult weekend for us all in the last one. So all the guys back at the factory, a big, big thank you, and the guys here with the strategy. They’re very, very calm when they talk about the strategy like that today. “No, no, truly believed you could do it.” For sure they were nervous as hell that it wasn’t going to work. I think collectively we made it happen, so it’s good.

    Q: (Luke Smith – crash.net) Lewis, congratulations. We saw that battle you had with Max through the middle of the race. Could you talk us through that? How much do you enjoy these wheel-to-wheel fights with Max? And how nice is it that he’s stepped up and Red Bull have stepped up this year, so you’re fighting with him on a regular basis?

    LH: Yeah. It’s really fantastic to see Red Bull’s progress. Obviously we’re in a period of time, particularly this track has been a track that they’ve always been particularly fast in, in previous years and it’s really awesome for Honda as well, to see their progression. They’ve got a lot of power in that engine. So, don’t for one second think when get the…  I think we all get it… the timings where we all layout… the Red Bull were quicker than us on a single lap this weekend and we thought we were relatively level in the race but we were just able to keep up with them and match their times. I think it’s going to continue for the races to come. Even the faster circuits, the engine’s going to be great in Monza, so hopefully we’ll see this battle continue for the rest of the season. And, fingers crossed, Ferrari also will take a step back towards us at some point over the next races. But going into the break, this is awesome.

    Q: (Vladimir Rogovets – Sb Belarus) Thank you very much guys for a very good job, for very nice race. I am really happy to be here. My question to Max. How do you feel close with nine championship titles.

    MV: I don’t know what to say! I have none! I don’t know what to comment on this! I still have a few years, hopefully in F1, so hopefully one day I can add one. Yeah. That’s it, I think.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – F1.com) Max, at the beginning you were only two-tenths on average slower than Lewis. Then from lap 61, 62, 63 more than 2s. So the tyre disappeared completely? And Sebastian, in spite of what you said to us, that you didn’t expect much from the team here, before coming – did you expect more than sixty seconds the difference between you and the winner?

    MV: Yeah. I think it’s quite normal. Lewis was on a medium tyre, pushing flat out of course to catch up, and I was on a hard tyre trying to go flat out but trying to keep the gap but yeah, I was always trying to keep it within a second because then I knew, OK, we can get to the end but at one point the tyres were gone. I started losing one and a half second a lap and then at one point two seconds, and it was just sliding and you feel the rubber is gone, so there isn’t much you can do. It’s quite normal when you have to push that hard on the tyre quite late in the race, where you normally don’t want to push as hard on the tyre. So I guess it’s a normal progression of the tyre drop off.

    Sebastian?

    SV: I think some tracks you know maybe suit you, some maybe less. Despite that I think I was fairly open-minded and you know, you don’t want to accept that. So I tried everything to prove the opposite. But looking now, after yesterday, we simply didn’t have the pace of those two in particular. So there’s obviously work for us to be done. We have room to improve, in the corners is where we’re lacking. With that obviously comes the advantage on the straight, one goes with the other. But, for sure, if we could make a trade, then we would go for it. We’ve been adding small bits to the car this weekend. They were working but obviously not big enough to really get close on a track like this. There might be tracks coming up next, especially with Spa and Monza that might be better for us – but in the end our ambition is to really force things to happen, be in control of the race. Where we are now, we’re quite far away from that. So, yeah, I think the spirit is good though. The team is willing to give everything they have, continue to give everything they have. And that’s all we can do right now.

    Q: (Tom Jackson – City Press) Question for all three of you. The lack of meaningful running we saw on Friday afternoon went some way to us seeing the variation in strategy that we did today that allowed you to put on fresh tyres and go for the win and things like that. Would you, in the future, be happy to have less running earlier in the weekend, as drivers getting less track time, if it meant we got more unpredictability later on Sunday?

    LH: I never really thought of it. I mean, if it can help with racing, sure. I think this weekend, not many people… I don’t think the Red Bulls did a long run, we did a long run in P1. I think one of few that did. I don’t know how much difference that made. It’s just that we did have an understanding of how far we thought we could take the tyres but somehow the other teams are able to do something similar with their strategies. But yeah… do you think it would make a difference.

    SV: No, I actually like driving, so it would be quite bad to get rid of some. I don’t think it’s a lot of driving anyway. We do a lot of races but overall I don’t think we drive very much. So, it would be a pity, I think. If you want to address the racing then there’s other things to focus on other than adding or taking away a practice session.

    LH: It definitely does help when you go into a race and you don’t know how far the tyre’s going to go. That is quite… I think that is not a bad thing and I think that can add to the spectacle. If you put on a medium tyre or a hard tyre and don’t know how far it’s going to go, none of us do, it definitely makes it more questionable, the strategy. So, I understand what you’re saying but we’ve got more, bigger problems, fish to fry, the way the car’s designed and things like that for the future.

    Max, your thoughts.

    MV: I think anyway, this year already quite often you go into the race on a tyre you haven’t driven on in practice – because you only select one. I think it’s not bad. I like also sometimes the challenge of not knowing what’s happening. I mean, the problem is most of the time, you put that tyre on, if the balance is bad it’s hard to pass, for the guy behind. So it’s more about the following where we need to work on. If the guy behind is faster, he should be able to get by. So that’s all in relation to the tyres as well. Sometimes, of course, on purpose we don’t select the hardest compound more than once because that’s mandatory. Because you know if you stick it on, even without any knowledge, you can stay ahead and just get to the end.

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lewis, lots will be made of the strategy decisions today and obviously while you say it was a great call but Max earlier said that you were on fire today so how highly do you rate your individual performance over those last 20 laps or so?

    LH: Well, it was definitely a really good day today. I think today was clearly… once we got up to second I knew that me and Max were going to have a good race. Did I know I was going to get by? Honestly I was able to keep up with him, I was able to hold on to him within the two second gap and I was just trying to see whether I could make my tyres go longer than him and just kind of really studying him, I guess, really from behind, seeing how that was going. And then he started to drop off a cliff a little bit at the end and it’s really all about trying to make sure you’re in the right place at the right time. It’s not easy to follow, two seconds behind and obviously I had the brake problem as well, so I had to change my driving style quite a bit to enable this brake to go down in temperature so it meant doing a lot less braking and I had much much shorter bursts of braking and then in a lot of other places, half the lap I wasn’t really touching the brakes. So it really changes the balance of the car as well. I’m really glad of how I was able to delegate and work through that and collectively with the team, they did a really exceptional job. It will be interesting when we go back and talk about the two stop because today, this morning, we talked about the strategy and they said two stop was not going to happen and even when we called to do a two stop, I was like Jeez, I don’t know how this is going to work. A gamble’s always a good thing, it felt like a big gamble for us but at the time I felt like I had the pace on Max, I think, as I said, because I don’t know if he was backing off, or he was just controlling the pace but I felt like OK, I’m going to have a few attempts at trying to pass him but at some stage the tyres are going to go off, so I don’t know how many attempts that will be. I really don’t know how long I made those mediums go but I think it was just a collectively… a really bold, risky strategy call and then just doing the job. At the end of the day, I had to do those laps to chew out the gap that he had on me so I think collectively, as a team, we did a really exceptional job.

    Q: (Péter Vámosi – Racing Line) Sebastian, you will become a father again, and with maximum respect to your personal life, can you tell us if you’re waiting (inaudible) girl and if a boy, will you be happy if he would chose your job as a racing car driver?

    SV: Well, I don’t like to talk about my private life so thank you, but I think we will leave it there.

    Q: (Dániel Májer – GP Hirek.hu) Now the summer break has started, the first part of the season is over so could you please rate your own performance from one to ten, one is the worst, ten is the best and explain briefly why you give yourself that mark?

    SV: Five, not happy with the first half. I think I struggled here and there to really get on top of the car. I think we’ve been trying a lot of things so fair enough. Obviously we wanted to squeeze out more so you’re always looking for more but I feel I can do a better job in the second half. And five is my number, so take five.

    LH: So that’s the first half of the season, yeah? I’d say like 8.9, 8.8.

    SV: Go ten, man. Go for it, who cares?

    LH: If it wasn’t for the last one, the last race, it would be a little bit higher. I think the good thing is always to score yourself a little bit lower so you’ve more to work on. For sure, it’s been the best start of the season that I think we’ve ever had as a team and I think it’s one of the best seasons that I’ve had personally to start off, but there are areas that we can continue to work on. That’s the great thing about this sport, you know, no matter how many years and days you race there are always areas you can improve on. So let’s see if we can try and up that into the nines or try to get to the tens in the second half of the season.

    MV: I don’t rate myself in numbers.

    SV: What do you do instead? Letters? Or…

    MV: No, I hate putting a number on it because it reminds me of school as well, which is not that long ago. I’m always quite critical and I think it always can be better. I’ll never be satisfied. I think it’s been very positive and I’ve had good results but there are always things to work on.

    SV: … a number man!

    MV: No I don’t.

    SV: We did it.

    MV: Yeah, I know but… I don’t know, I think it’s… First of all, I cannot rate myself like that.

    LH: Why not, you’ve done a good job man?

    MV: I know, but… I don’t know. I find it a bit weird to say an eight or…

    Q: Lewis, how would you rate Max if you gave him a number?

    LH: I don’t remember all the races that you’ve done other than the last three or four. You could say he’s in the high nines over the last few races but I can’t remember how it went before.

    MV: I’ve had a lot of fourths, P3 and then three times fourth. P5, P3… too many P3, P4.

    LH: It’s easier to rate yourself because you often remember how many mistakes you’ve made, when you’ve done good, when you’ve kind of been under par and he’ll know whether he’s been on par or below par. I think today he drove exceptionally as he has particularly in the past three or four races so if that continues he’s going to continue to operate in the high nines towards tens.

    MV: Nobody’s perfect. No, it’s never perfect…

    LH: It’s like an impossible number to get.

    MV: 9.9?

    LH: It’s a hard one to get to.

    Q: (Dániel Horváth – The Paddock Magazine) Lewis and Max, Fernando Alonso praised your performance on social media. It seems he enjoyed the battle as well. Would you like to see him back in Formula One and race against him again?

    LH: Well, firstly that’s really awesome that he’s supportive… I was just actually watching some of the restarts, the starts of previous years and watching him from his Renault days and I remember just before I even got to Formula One watching how amazing their starts were. I don’t know how old Fernando is now but he’s always going to be a great driver. If he can get a good seat, he’s always welcome here to battle with us. It doesn’t make a difference, really, necessarily for me. I’m here to fight whoever’s here.

    MV: Yeah, I think it was a bit of a shame that I never had an opportunity to fight against him in F1 so yeah…

    LH: Could be a good team-mate for you.

    MV: Fernando? Well, you have experience with it, I don’t know. Well…

    SV: He could be your father!

    MV: Yeah, it’s close! Yeah, I know. As a young father. How old is he? 36? 38! OK, well 17 is possible to be a father.

    SV: Talking with experience?

    MV: I don’t know. At least I don’t know.

    LH: How old are you now?

    MV: 21. Many years, plenty of years…

    LH: Jeez. I like being in this room because I’m not the oldest!

    MV: 34?

    LH: I’m 34, yeah, nearly 35.

    SV: I’ll tell you, the day we get beat by somebody who’s born in 2000 and upwards. We will know it’s time…

    MV: I’m not that young!

    Q: Sebastian, final thoughts on Fernando? Would you like to see him back?

    SV: I don’t mind. I don’t know why… I don’t think he never really liked me. I don’t think we really had a… I don’t mind him. I respect him for what he achieved and for what he can do on track. I don’t know. I guess he’s bored if he has time to write these things. So bring him back, I don’t mind.

    MV: Maybe as a social media manager. To me, he’s always been very nice and good. I like that he is also now looking into other opportunities for racing. He just loves racing and he wants to win, he wants to be competitive. It’s good to see.

    LH: The sport needs the best drivers in the best seats and there is still at least a seat available that’s good enough for winning and he’s good enough for winning so it wouldn’t be such a bad…

    MV: Maybe he could speak to Toto.

    LH: Valtteri’s great; Valtteri’s been winning. You’re the one with the extra seat, I would say.

    MV: I didn’t say that.

    SV: I’m not sure…

  • 2019 Formula 1 Hungarian GP: Saturday Press Conference

    2019 Formula 1 Hungarian GP: Saturday Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)

    2 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)

    3 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    TRACK INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by Paul Di Resta)

     

    Q: Question inaudible

    Max Verstappen: It’s incredible! This one was still missing. The car felt good all weekend and then of course you know it’s always going to be hard in qualifying but we managed to do it and of course a big thank you to the team. The car was flying out there in qualifying. It was incredible.

    Q: If you’d saw how nervous the garage was when you went out for that last run, but I guess when you hear on the radio that you’ve actually nailed that, it’s just growing isn’t it, the confidence with there, and tomorrow you’re in a great position with that.

    MV: Yeah, absolutely. Very happy about today. Still a race to do and that’s at the end of the day the most important, but for me today was an important one, a very nice one and also a great one for the team.

    Q: The Dutch travel in form and you can hear when you drew up… ? 

    MV: They’re loving it!

    Q: …You had the engine noise but you could hear them. You’ve lifted this place. Max, congratulations. Valtteri, you nearly got the job done. I guess after last weekend, Max pulling out a great lap, but you came close and you’re in a good position.

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, I’ve been kind of chasing a little bit this weekend after missing pretty much all practice one, only limited laps in practice two, and I only really started to get into the rhythm this morning. It was getting better and better in qualifying and I’m pretty pleased with the lap in the end. Very close with Max, they’ve been quick all weekend, but, you know, as always it’s tomorrow that counts.

    Q: Can you still win this race from the position you’re in?

    VB: Of course. We are here to fight for the win. There’s lots of support for that, so that’s going to make a difference.

    Q: All the best. Lewis, third position. I guess you would say it’s been a difficult day after your form in qualifying normally. But I guess Max pulling out a great lap, Valtteri there as well, are you happy with where you ended up?

    Lewis HAMILTON: Naturally we’re always targeting first. Max did a great job and so did Valtteri. It kind of got away from me a little bit once we got into qualifying but still we’re in a good position to fight for the win, so we’ll just be pushing hard tomorrow.

    Q: These guys are starting to ramp up the pressure now, Ferrari were very close as well, the Red Bull. Are you relishing this fight that they’re taking to you?

    LH: I’m always down for a fight so…

    Q: I guess you’ll have to pass some cars tomorrow to try and get this win?

    LH: Yeah, I think it’s obviously a long, long way down to Turn 1, so it will be interesting. It’s not the easiest place to overtake, but strategy will come into it tomorrow, so I hope we can give them a run for their money.

     

    PRESS CONFERENCE

     

    Q: Max, what an exciting moment for you. You’ve had a few minutes now to digest it, how does it feel?

    MV: Yeah, it feels good. I think the whole weekend already the car was very competitive. Of course there’s always a bit of a question mark how it’s going to work out in qualifying when we know that they can turn up a bit more power. But we seemed to hang in there and the car actually got better and better throughout qualifying. I was very happy with it, very pleased. It was really enjoyable to drive. I didn’t really have any comments throughout qualifying, I just said ‘keep it going, keep the car going and give me new tyres’ and that’s exactly what we did. Of course to get your first pole is very nice but it’s of course what counts on Sundays always.

    Q: Well, you’ve been brilliant on Sundays, you’ve had seven wins. What’s the overriding emotion now that you’ve finally go this first pole?

    MV: People will stop asking me that question. Yeah, I guess so. For me it never really mattered. I knew it was a matter of time. You need a bit of luck sometimes as well. Of course, I made mistakes myself to miss a pole position shot. And today we got it, so very happy with that.

    Q: Many congratulations, well done. Valtteri, it’s been a difficult build up to qualifying for you, with very little running in practice yesterday. How was the car this afternoon?

    VB: Yeah, it’s been not the easiest of weekends so far. I missed the whole of practice one, I had no track time, and I obviously very limited running in practice two. So this morning it was really important in practice three to find the rhythm and it was really getting better and better. I was getting the confidence in the car. Luckily there were no big set-up issues and I could just fine-tune it for qualifying. And again in qualifying, just learning each lap more and more and it started to feel very nice in Q3. It’s a shame to miss the pole by such a small margin, always, but congrats to Max and to Red Bull, they’ve been strong all weekend. But on how the weekend started, in that sense, I’m quite happy with that, but obviously a lot happier sitting in the middle.

    Q: Thank you and well done. Lewis, you came into the qualifying session seeking your seventh pole position here in Hungary. You’re lining up third. Just talk us through it?

    LH: Firstly, congratulations to Max. It’s an amazing feeling to get your first pole position, so really happy for him. For me a difficult qualifying session. Practice was going quite well. We knew the Red Bulls were quick – they’re always quick here. I think when I got into qualifying the car wasn’t the same as it was in P3 and it just was a bit of a struggle from the beginning and it kind of just plateaued there. It didn’t really get any better. But nonetheless we’re still there in the fight and hopefully for the race we’ll have better race pace than I did in quali.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

     

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speedsport) Max, you have a powerful engine but I think at the start of the season the chassis wasn’t really optimum. How much has the chassis improved from Spain testing to here?

    MV: I never said it was only the chassis, I think it’s a bit of both where we were lacking in the beginning. We made good gains with the engine, but we’re not where we want to be and I think everybody knows that. But we are pushing hard and we are improving and we are getting close to Mercedes and Ferrari, especially Ferrari, they seem very quick on the straights. With the chassis I think since Austria where we introduced a few crucial updates I think the car has been a lot better. From there onwards we kept bringing new parts. Maybe not as major as that one but it always gave me more of a balanced feeling in the car. And that’s exactly what we were looking for in the car and I guess it shows today on a track where you need a lot of downforce that the car was working really well.

    Q: (Vladimir Rogovets – Sb Belarus) My question to Mr Hamilton. Lewis, seven years ago you were here the winner but 2012 we had six champions in the peloton and you were only a one-time champion. Today we have only three champions in the peloton and you are a five-time champion. Do you think tomorrow, will it be easier for you to win than seven years ago – or not?

    MV: I didn’t know we had a peloton…

    LH: Did I win 2012? I don’t really remember that far back. Competition-wise, I don’t think it makes any difference, I don’t think, between those years. We’ve got some fierce competition within the top three teams. Is it easier now to win than before? I wouldn’t say so. It’s different circumstances now, naturally, and with more experience hopefully you are slightly prepared that I was back in… I would hope I’m better prepared than I was in 2012 but you’re still fighting an uphill battle all the time. You’re always finding new circumstances each weekend. This weekend, it started out well and it’s not gone great today but that doesn’t mean tomorrow can’t go great.

    …but you have more experience?

    LH: So, hopefully we’ll see that play its role.

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Max, by getting the breakthrough pole position for yourself and Red Bull with Honda, what message do you think that sends? Obviously you’ve made it clear that qualifying is the area you think you need to improve. And to the two Mercedes drivers, obviously you won’t take your eye off the challenge from Ferrari but do you think that Max is now your nearest, most consistent challenger?

    MV: We know that, if you can start more upfront in the race, it all makes it a bit easier to control a race – but we kept working really hard to improve the engine, to get a bit more out of it in qualifying, and I think that showed again today – that we were able to push it a bit more but of course within the limits of not blowing up. We keep improving. There are positive things also coming in the upcoming races. Of course, very happy to get my first pole position but also with the team, how quickly we turn things around from the beginning of the year where we were clearly lacking and now we are definitely closing up. And this weekend we were there, so that was good.

    Mercedes drivers: Valtteri, how do you see the pecking order at the front now? Do you think Max is your closest rival?

    VB: Well obviously it always depends on the tracks and circumstances but if you look at the trend, let’s say from the last five races, I think Red Bull has been the one who has been improving the most, closing the gap and today qualifying on pole. So, for sure they are doing many things right, and that means we have to work harder as a team but, y’know, I’m sure Ferrari isn’t standing still either. It’s maybe a tricky track for them but we’re going to see a strong performance from them as well.

    Lewis, your thoughts.

    LH: Enough said.

    Max is the top scorer in the last four races

    MV: You need to be the top scorer over the whole season, that’s what counts.

    Q: (Péter Farkas – Autó-motor) Max, you have been quite close to pole on a couple of occasions recently but you had a problem with the throttle application – turbo-lag, I think – is that problem now solved. And do you agree with Lewis the Honda engine is now at least as powerful as the Mercedes one at certain places.

    MV: Yeah, no problems this weekend, so that was all very good. No, I think we are still a bit down, in qualifying especially, but we are definitely closing up.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, you have had only one victory from P2. How tricky a place is this to get the second one?

    VB: Well, for sure it’s going to be a good battle tomorrow. It’s never going to be easy, and that’s obviously the only target as a driver. And starting in the front row and it’s very much possible. If the performance is there from my side, we as a team, it’s possible. It really doesn’t matter where you start from, as we’ve seen in the past, anything can always happen. Good chance. Very upbeat for tomorrow.

    Q: (Luke Smith – crash.net) Max, throughout your career so far you’ve held the majority of records for being the youngest driver to hit certain achievements. This is one of the few things you’ve missed out on. Do you care much for those kind of accolades and records – or not really?

    MV: No. I don’t’ know, I can make it a long story but it’s not so. It’s nice but it doesn’t make me sleep better, or anything.

    LH: Who has the youngest pole?

    MV: I think it’s Seb.

    VB: Now you can’t sleep.

    MV: Yep, now I’ll have a bad sleep.

    Q: (Masahiro Owari – Formula Owari) Question to Max. You struggled with an issue at a couple of grand prix, Hockenheim and Silverstone, how was the issue in today’s qualifying?

    MV: Yeah, I just had the same question before. There was no problem this weekend.

    Q: (Peter Vamosi – Racing Line) Renault claims that the engine is now at 1000bhp. What about Honda and Mercedes engines in this case? And an engineer said it’s impossible right now in this state to break this, also for Ferrari.

    MV: Well, if they claim to have a thousand horsepower they have a really bad car! I think it’s better to do the talking on the track than in the media anyway.

    LH: I have no idea what brake horsepower we have so similar; it’s all very close.

    VB: Actually just yesterday I asked the team – because we had some engine issues, we had some talks about the engine and I asked how much horsepower we had in qualifying and the engineers said they don’t know, they don’t actually know, so no one knows.

    LH: That might be why you’re catching us up.

    Q: (Peter Windsor – Clarksport) Max, you used the phrase earlier on ‘we knew Mercedes were going to turn up the engines for qualifying.’ Just to be clear, are you now able to turn up the Honda engine for qualifying, because you implied that but not actually said that?

    MV: Yeah, we do but it just seems like it’s not as powerful as maybe… well, looking at Ferrari they really turn it up. We do turn it up but maybe not as aggressive.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – liviooricchioF1.com) Lewis and Valtteri, Mercedes presented almost a new version of the car at Hockenheim with great changes in the aero package and here the results were maybe not what the team expected. Is that because the teams needs to understand better the new spec of car or even the upgrade was not one the team was expecting?

    VB: Well, based on everything we saw with the new package and analysis after last weekend as well it’s working as it should, so it’s a reasonable step forward in terms of downforce and efficiency. I guess other teams are moving ahead as well, forward as well with the performance but for sure we kind of expected to have a bit of a step compared to others but I think they are improving as well. It’s still a development race for quite some while before things are done.

    LH: Still trying to understand it. I think there are bits of it that are better and bits of it that are the same. So as I said the other day, we’re just constantly trying to understand it and improve it and I don’t think it’s a negative at all. We definitely have moved forward but clearly the others continue to move forward at the same time, at a steeper pace, maybe.

    Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS) Practice starts, did they go OK, did they give you confidence?

    MV: Yeah, they were all good.

    VB: I had a really good practice start.

    MV: Yeah? I had a wheelie off the line! I was wheelie-ing.

    VB: Yeah? Me too!

    MV: Up to second gear!

    Q: (Daniel Majer – GPHirek.hu) Lewis and Valtteri, track position on this track is very important so tomorrow if Max comes first from the start, he can have an easier task. Do you think it would be good to discuss with the team any kind of tactics to hunt him down and then play it between yourselves or do you prefer just to mind your own thing?

    LH: Where’s the other Red Bull? So we’re in a good position in terms of working as a team tomorrow. We’re in a fortunate position, potentially, if we can hold on to Max to be able to work together to pull him closer to us and give him a bit of a run for his money. It’s a little bit harder when you’re on your own at the front in the team, because you can come under attack from undercuts and all this sort of thing. We’ll see how that plays out but we’ve got a long run down to turn one so hopefully we will have a nice long battle down there and then after that it’s down to team tactics.

    VB: Yeah, for sure we always discuss it, especially if we’re kind of starting next to each other and like Lewis said, we have a good chance as a team because we have two cars very much at the front. Obviously we are both also racing for our own result but also working as a team will benefit both of us so it should be interesting tomorrow.

    Q: (Zsolt Godina – F1Vilag.hu) Lewis, can you please tell us how was your preparation for this race weekend after your problems in Hockenheim?

    LH: It was just sleep. I didn’t get any training done, just literally sleeping a lot all week. That’s all I can really say about it.

    Q: Are you healthy this weekend?

    LH: Yeah, I feel a lot better, a lot better. Sweating a lot still but much better.

    Q: (Viktor Bognar – Magyar Szo) Max, in the past couple of weeks you were quickest in the fast and very hot Red Bull Ring. You were quickest in the wet Hockenheim and now you’re quickest here in the cooler and slow Hungaroring. Can Red Bull and you be favourites in the next races or what makes you think you can’t be?

    MV: I don’t know. We’ve got Spa and Monza coming up. Monza is maybe not our best track. Spa I don’t know actually, but first we have the summer break as well so honestly I’m not thinking about that yet. I feel good. I think the last few races, even on tracks where I didn’t expect to be like really, really competitive we were still there so anything can happen, to be honest.

  • F1 2019: German Gp Review – Verstappen, King of the Ring

    F1 2019: German Gp Review – Verstappen, King of the Ring

    On its day there isn’t a sport that can match the drama, exhilaration, and rapture of Formula 1. And on a rainy day in Germany Formula 1 was most definitely delivered a race to remember.

    Saturday qualifying was as embarrassing a day as Ferrari has experienced in some time. Well set to claim at the very least one spot on the front row neither Vettel nor Leclerc made it to the final shootout as both cars suffered technical failures. It left Hamilton to pick up the pieces and secure pole position with Max Verstappen alongside on the front row.

    Though most of the weekend had seen the Hockenheimring drenched in sunshine race day was markedly different as the rain came down. It prompted a couple of formation laps behind the safety car but conditions were good enough for a standing start. It was Hamilton who led away cleanly from pole as bad start, similar to Austria, dropped Verstappen down the other. It allowed Valtteri Bottas into second while Kimi Raikkonen scythed his way into third.

    Charles Leclerc, starting tenth, made an impressive start to be running sixth within a few laps while Seb Vettel too charged his way through the back-markers to fourteenth. The first Safety Car was brought out by Sergio Perez’s crash, which triggered the first round of pitstops with driver’s swopping full wets for intermediate tyres. The race settled momentarily before the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was deployed for Daniel Ricciardo’s Renault that expired in a plume of smoke.

    As conditions improved drivers dived back into the pitlane for dry tyres. With Hamilton and Bottas still running one-two Verstappen struggled to heat his medium tyres and spun in the stadium section but rejoined without any damage. Again, the VSC would be called on as this time Lando Norris retired from the race with a loss of power.

    2019 German GPThe most dramatic sequence of events was just about to unfold. Leclerc, now in contention for the podium and even the race win, ran wide at the penultimate corner and slammed his Ferrari into the barrier and out of the race which prompted the appearance of the Safety Car. No sooner had Leclerc stepped out of his cockpit when race leader Hamilton lost control of his car at the same corner. Though the Mercedes driver too hit the barrier he was able to rejoin with the need for a few front wing.

    He dove into the pitlane but in doing incurred a five second penalty for failing to enter the pitlane before the bollard that indicates the correct pit entry. It wasn’t the end of Hamilton’s misery though as his arrival in the pitbox caught his team unaware. The pitcrew rushed around for the correct tyres and a new nose but thanks to the Safety Car and reduced speed Hamilton emerged in fifth overall.

    As the race ‘settled’ Verstappen was comfortably in the lead with Nico Hulkenberg in second ahead of Bottas. No sooner had the whispers begun spreading that Hulkenberg could be on for his first ever podium than the German driver found himself in the same barrier as Hamilton and Leclerc moments later. Yet another Safety Car was called on as drivers were back in the pits to swop dry tyres for inters. However, Lance Stroll and Racing Point gambled on dry tyres which worked a treat as the Canadian driver found himself in the lead as the rest of the field to the pitlane. Verstappen regained the lead of the race shortly afterward with Stroll desperately holding on to second ahead of Kvyat, Bottas, and Carlos Sainz. As Kvyat took second place from Stroll a few laps later it was going from bad to worse for Hamilton who flat-spotted all four tyres in a high-speed 360 in Turn 1.

    Mercedes’s day was about to get even worse when Bottas, just like Hamilton, spun at Turn 1. Unfortunately for the Finn he didn’t get away with it and destroyed the front of the Merc prompting yet another Safety Car.

    As the race re-started it was Vettel’s turn to come alive. He produced several brilliant overtakes and was past Sainz, Stroll and Kvyat in quick succession. It was a brilliant drive for Vettel who started 20thand last on the grid, kept his composure amid the chaos, and finished a fabulous second.

    2019 German GPUp ahead and well clear of the pandemonium Verstappen led serenely and apart from the earlier spin had no other issues. Apart from Mexico 2018 nearly all of Verstappen’s other race wins have come in dramatic fashion and Germany 2019 was no different. The seventh victory of Verstappen’s career was likely his most mature and reveals a driver ready to be a championship contender.

    While Verstappen marched to his second win in the last three races his teammate Pierre Gasly had a miserable afternoon. There were some good moments for the Frenchman but they were clouded by several off-track excursions before a coming together with Toro Rosso’s Alex Albon which put him out of the race. You cant help but feel as Gasly brought his damaged car to a halt it likely also marks the end of stint as a Red Bull driver.

    As impressive as Verstappen was it is undoubtedly Daniil Kvyat who deserves driver of the day for a sensational third place finish. It has been a long road back from the doldrums for Kvyat who was first replaced at Red Bull by Verstappen and later sacked by Toro Rosso. It couldn’t have come at a better time for the Russian driver who may find himself back at Red Bull in quick time.

    Elsewhere, Stroll eventually finished fourth ahead of Sainz in sixth who survived his own spin in the penultimate corner. Alex Albon made it a double-points finish for Toro Rosso in sixth. While the Alfa Romeo’s of Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi finished seventh and eighth on the track the two cars were later given a 30 second penalties for a pre-race rule infringement of, effectively, driver coaching. Alfa have stated their intention to appeal the penalties.

    This promoted Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen to seventh and eighth while Hamilton too benefited by being elevated to ninth. It also means that Williams secured their first point of the season with the elevation of Robert Kubica to tenth.

    Although this German grand prix is likely the last for the foreseeable future it went out on a spectacularly high-note. There’s little time for F1 to catch its breath as the paddock head to the Hungaroring this weekend for the final race before the month-long summer break.

  • F1 2019: German Gp Preview: The Case of Seb Vettel

    F1 2019: German Gp Preview: The Case of Seb Vettel

    Sebastian Vettel is a four-time Formula 1 World Champion. In all the noise and criticism that has been flying around the German driver it seems necessary to state this otherwise obvious fact. It needs mentioning because many a pundit, and several so-called pundits, has begun to question his prowess as a racing driver. They aren’t wrong in their criticism of his mistakes but they are wrong in their doubt of his ability and commitment.

    On numerous, if not two thousand, occasions some have stirred speculation that he may walk away from the sport. He did seem fairly disillusioned with the whole shebang after what happened in Canada but has confirmed, directly, that he has no intention of hanging up his helmet. In fact, he is contracted with Ferrari until the end of 2020. But that’s not provocative enough so ‘they’ continue to speculate about it week in and week out.

    The other favourite one-liner is ‘Well, you don’t see Hamilton making these mistakes’. It is quite silly to compare Sebastian Vettel to Lewis Hamilton. If you were making a direct driver-to-driver comparison, then have it at it. But F1 is never only about the individual and through that lens their situations could not be more different. Hamilton shows up to a grand prix weekend fully convinced that he will walk onto the top stop of the podium come Sunday afternoon. Yes, there are dozens of factors that can conspire to prevent this scenario but with all being equal he likely stands a more than 90% chance of winning. He is also in the most clinically efficient teams on the grid. Mercedes operate at a level that demands victory and anything else in inconceivable and unacceptable. More importantly they know how to win and how to solve their issues, almost immediately, if they don’t. In reality, his life is an awful lot easier than Vettel’s right now.

    Austria 2017_Sebastian Vettel_Thursday Press Conference Part 1Now Ferrari. Let’s not kid ourselves the Ferrari of 2019, heck of the last decade and a half, is not the Ferrari of the Schumacher-era. It doesn’t operate as proficiently as it should. That is evident, for example, in the repeated failure of upgrades brought to the car and in the calamity of their decision-making. This pressure isn’t only resting on the shoulders of those in the factory or even just top management. It filters through the entire organization and directly into the cockpit of Sebastian Vettel. Because he is fully aware that he is in car that has a deficit to Mercedes he pushes hard, sometimes over the limit. While Hamilton pushes his car to the edge Vettel needs to push beyond that edge to get on par with Mercedes and then the mistakes happen. Does this mean he isn’t a good driver? That he should retire from the sport? The answer is a resounding no.

    It doesn’t get any easier for Vettel as he returns this weekend to the German grand prix at the Hockenheimring. It is here, in 2018, where he crashed out while leading and handed Hamilton a handy 25-points. It seems as good a place as any then to start turning around his fortunes.

    Long straits dominate the first sector of the Hockenheimring making sector 1 fairly power dominant. The first overtaking opportunities of the lap comes at the turn 4 hairpin before the track evolves in a series of medium to fast corners that will test the aero efficiency of the car. The second half of the circuit layout of the circuit doesn’t inherently favour the strengths of the Ferrari but they have an opportunity to pull something together in Germany. It wont be easy to stop the might of Mercedes or to contend with the canny Red Bulls but Ferrari and Vettel must begin to find their way out of the messy position they find themselves in.

  • F1 2019: British Gp Review – Brilliant from start to Finish

    F1 2019: British Gp Review – Brilliant from start to Finish

    By just six milliseconds Valtteri Bottas snatched pole position for the British grand prix from Lewis Hamilton. It was as important a pole position as Bottas had ever had – beat Lewis Hamilton at Silverstone and you sent a pretty emphatic message.

    And Bottas did everything right on Sunday too. He led cleanly off the start and held teammate Hamilton behind for the first laps of the race. And though Hamilton was able to take the lead of the race into Luffield corner Bottas hit back straight away to retake P1 into Copse corner. It remained fairly close between the two Mercedes and as they gradually pulled away from the rest of the field Bottas seemed to have it all under control.

    Though Ferrari and Red Bull were unable to match the Mercedes race pace a tasty battle that lasted for the majority of the race raged between the four drivers. First it was Leclerc against Verstappen and although it wasn’t for the lead of the race as in Austria it was every bit as exhilarating. Verstappen, somewhat quicker, tried everything to get past the Ferrari driver but just couldn’t pull it off on the track. The two pitted together and some brilliant work from the Red Bull crew had Verstappen emerge ahead of Leclerc. The joy would be short-lived though as Verstappen ran wide out of the pits and allowed the Ferrari back into third.

    Up front Bottas pitted from the lead while Hamilton stayed out. It proved a vital decision as Antonio Giovinazzi beached his Alfa Romeo in the gravel trap. It prompted the deployment of the safety car and handed Hamilton a free pitstop and the lead of the British grand prix. Sebastian Vettel too gained as result of the safety car and emerged in third place. Ferrari had, once again, called a baffling strategy for Leclerc that left the Monegasque driver in sixth overall after being brilliantly dispatched by Verstappen.

    2019 British GPVerstappen quickly eased past teammate Gasly and was soon on the gearbox of Vettel’s Ferrari. A brilliant overtake into Stowe saw Verstappen ahead of Vettel only for the Ferrari driver to midjudge his braking and slam into the back of the Red Bull. It sent both drivers into the gravel trap but able to rejoin the race. While Vettel limped back to the pits with a broken front-wing Verstappen, miraculously, raced on and eventually finished fifth.

    Vettel was, rightly, handed a ten second penalty for causing the collision. Though never intentional the incident was definitely questionable. For one, Ferrari will do well to admit that they are no longer the second quickest car on the grid, that’s Red Bull. Second, while Vettel may be one of the top drivers in F1 with four titles behind his name his driving, in totality, over the last season-and-a-half is rather alarming. The talent is undoubtedly there but Sebastian Vettel cuts a somewhat disillusioned figure at the moment.

    Ahead Bottas would likely feel hard done by the safety car but that’s part of motor racing. The Finn had to settle for second while Hamilton scored a record-breaking sixth British Gp win. Leclerc drove through the carnage of the Verstappen/Vettel crash to take a fourth consecutive podium finish. And in a very timely fashion Pierre Gasly secured his best finish of the season in fourth with Verstappen recovering to fifth.

    It was an overtaking extravaganza behind the top teams with Carlos Sainz and Daniel Ricciardo finishing less than a second apart in sixth and seventh. In eighth was Kimi Raikkonen ahead of Daniil Kvyat in ninth and Nico Hulkenberg in tenth.

    The British grand prix delivered a race brimful of entertainment which makes the news that it will be on the F1 calendar for at least five more years all the sweeter.

    All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport
  • 2019 British Grand Prix – Post Qualifying Press Conference

    2019 British Grand Prix – Post Qualifying Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)

    2 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    3 – Charles LECLERC (Ferrari)

    TRACK INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by David Coulthard)

     

    Q: Valtteri Bottas, pole position here at Silverstone. It’s been a while – Barcelona your last one – but you must be particularly proud of that one?

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, it feels very good. It just reminds you of why you do this, these kinds of feelings, but yeah, it’s been pretty close all weekend, and today, with Lewis and just really, really happy to get a good lap and be on pole.

    Q: Put us in the cockpit. You had the provisional pole you would look at the overlay and realise that Lewis had made a mistake at Brooklands and you know you have to dig deep and find something. You didn’t manage to improve on that time but where was your mind on the lap in terms of know how good the previous one was?

    VB: Yeah, I knew the first lap was good but it was not perfect. Honestly I should have improved on the second run. I didn’t quite get the lap together, especially in the first part of the lap, but I’m glad it was enough. It’s not easy to get a good lap together, it’s easy to do mistakes and I think everyone was struggling a bit, so happy to be on top.

    Q: I’m not sure the crowd are happy with what you’ve done but congratulations? 

    VB: Thank you.

    Q: Lewis Hamilton, it was close and you worked that hard, but we saw you had that little wobble in the second-last lap in qualifying. Tell us about your actual ultimate lap, it’s a tiny gap between you and Valtteri.

    Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, firstly, congratulations to Valtteri, he did a solid job throughout qualifying. Ultimately not good enough, We had worked hard throughout the session but it just got a little bit away from us. We sacrificed a lap in Q2, which would have helped get a reading of where the car was, but we didn’t end up doing that. At the end I had that mistake on the first lap and the second one just wasn’t that great so fair play to Valtteri he did the job. But it’s a long race tomorrow, we’ve got a great crowd here and hopefully I can do something good for them tomorrow.

    Q: The crowd are willing you on. It’s another grand prix, or is it? It’s more than just a grand prix, the British Grand Prix for you?

    LH: Yeah, completely. It’s the best grand prix of the year and it’s really because of the energy the3 people bring. These tracks are great layouts and designs and areas of space but without people like this to fill it up and bring energy it’s nothing. That’s why we’ve got the best fans here in England.

    Q: Charles, well done, fastest Ferrari driver but that’s ultimately not your goal. We looked through free practice and Ferrari looked like they could challenge Mercedes but in the end it was a tough one for you?

    Charles LECLERC: Yeah, well, I think also in Q2, up to Q2 we were quite good but then in Q3 Mercedes turned up a little bit the engine, and they were very, very quick also round the corners, that’s where we need to work, we know it. Third place is the best we could have done today and I’m very happy about it.

    Q: I saw you having a close look at the Mercedes car. This is the one time on a weekend when it’s acceptable to be a little bit nosy. Anything standing out there that you like?

    CL: No, just looking at the state of the tyres, that’s nothing special.

     

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Valtteri, a tremendous lap by you at the start of Q3. Very tight between you and your team-mate. Just how good was that first lap?

    VB: It was good. Obviously good enough for pole. There was not much in it between me and Lewis in the end. But still, going into the second run, there were a couple of place where it was clear there was margin to improve so I wouldn’t say it was a perfect lap, but I doubt anyone got a perfect lap today. It was not easy to get everything right and super-sensitive to tiny mistakes here and there with this new tarmac and also with a bit of wind. But yeah, I’m happy that it was enough and it’s definitely a good feeling.

    Q: Valtteri, you now have more poles this season than any other driver. Is that significant to you and have you worked specifically on qualifying this year, something more than previous seasons?

    VB: It’s not that I have been specifically been working on it. Obviously you always try to improve your performance both on low- and high-fuel, short and long runs. I think the biggest thing for me to work on is the pure race pace definitely, in some kinds of conditions. I mean, year-by-year you are always learning and you get quicker if you work. The main thing is to turn those poles into wins and that’s the main thing for tomorrow.

    Q: Congratulations. Lewis, motorsport is full of ifs, buts and maybes. Had you not made that error at Brooklands on your first lap in Q3 and got a complete lap in might it have been different?

    LH: It doesn’t really matter at the end of the day. You can’t go back, you can only go forwards. Valtteri did the job, so congratulations to him. And for us, yeah, it just wasn’t the best of qualifying sessions. But there’s a long race tomorrow so I just have to see how I can convert the position I’m in to progress forward. I think the long run yesterday was good, so I hope we can utilise the tyre advantage we have, in the sense of starting on the mediums, so hopefully we can do a good job with that tomorrow.

    Q: Did the track conditions fluctuate a lot during that session?

    LH: Not really. It’s a little bit gusty here. That’s why it’s so great here at Silverstone, because it’s spread over such a vast piece of land and sometimes it’s raining on one section of the track and not another and it’s gusty in some places and not so much in other places. It really bodes well for a tough track to finish a lap on.

    Q: Charles, like Lewis, you came on the radio and said you had made a mistake on that first run in Q3. Do you feel there was more out there today?

    CL: No, I don’t think so. Very, very happy with my lap. I think in the last corner I maybe could have done a little bit better, but not much. Overall, I think we are very happy with the performance, very close to Mercedes and we did not expect it. We thought we would be struggling more this weekend. We have been struggling since FP1 with the front end of the car, still in qualifying, but a little bit less. So yeah, it’s a good qualifying session for us. Of course, I would have hoped for a higher position, but third is the best we could have done today.

    Q: As with Austria you will start the race on the soft tyre, the guys next to you are going to be on the medium tyre. How do you see the tyre war playing out .

    CL: Again, it was thought. So we wanted to do that. Again, in Austria it wasn’t a bad choice. That’s not what made us finish second there so we are pretty happy here too.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Christian Menath – motorsport-magazin.com) Charles, just following up on the Q2 and the soft tyre. You made the first run on the medium tyre and then set the fastest lap on the soft. Was it always the plan to qualify with the soft, because yesterday’s long runs didn’t look that great and it was a bit surprising to us that you improved your time?

    CL: Yes, it was planned like this. The race run was not great yesterday but it was not due to the tyre, as I said. We had some issues with the front end and I think it got better today, so we will see tomorrow whether we have a significant improvement on the long runs, but it was not due to the tyre.

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Valtteri and Lewis: Lewis, after practice yesterday you talked about having a little bit of difficulty with the balance of the car, the rear was stepping out a bit. Did that carry into today or were you happy with the car. Valtteri, you started strongly yesterday, has that just continued and do you just feel very happy with the balance of the car?

    VB: Well, yeah, from the very beginning, since the first practice the feeling was quite nice. There was definitely room for improvement, especially with the rear end of the car, mainly on the entry of the corners. I think we managed to get it a bit better. It was still the weakness in a couple of places the rear end of the car but it’s not been a massive drama. I managed to build up from yesterday, except for practice three, I was a bit off the pace. I just tried to reset and remind myself of everything I was capable of doing yesterday and it turned out to be good.

    Q: And Lewis?

    LH: Yeah the car was good. We made a big step forward, so no problems.

    Q: (Simon Amberley – Nevis Radio) To Charles: it was mentioned yesterday that maybe the Ferrari race pace wasn’t quite as strong as Mercedes, but with the gaps today and the difference on the tyres do you think possibly if you get a jump at the start, of getting Valtteri and Lewis, do you think you can maybe dictate the pace a bit more?

    CL: That’s definitely the target  – to try to use our tyre advantage, especially at the start, to gain positions and then try to keep them. Keeping them will be very difficult because they are extremely quick in race runs but that’s the target.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – liviooricchiof1.com) Lewis, from the outside it didn’t appear that you had the car in your hands all the time. Is it because of the circumstances or maybe you have a set-up thinking more of the race?

    LH: No, the set-up suited race trim best and I think yesterday I really did struggle with it on a single lap and of course I was trying to improve it over the evening and into today. It felt great into P3 and it felt really good at the star5 of the Q sessions and it kind of deteriorated through the session, so it got harder and harder, back towards a similar problem we had yesterday – as you saw in Turn 6 for example. But it was also windy. The race trim is still good. I didn’t want to move from the set-up I had, too far away, because it worked so well on the long run yesterday. Fingers crossed the strength in the race should be quite good but again it depends on what position we are in and how the wind is and a bunch of other factors.

    Q: (Yassmin Abdel-Magied – The Guardian) I’ve got a slightly less technical question. Lewis, this is your home race and  there’s lot of British flags out there and you’ve talked about loving coming back to the UK but there’s contention because you live in Monaco, and your accent isn’t maybe as British as others because you spend a lot of time in the US. So, why do you think that people question your Britishness.

    LH: I don’t really know. I don’t really have a good answer for that.

    VB: We all live in Monaco!

    LH: We all do live in Monaco. It’s crazy now because every driver… I remember growing up, you remember watching Jenson Button and all the youngsters come through, and every one migrated to Monaco and no-one ever said anything about it at the time. Of course, when I did, they had something to say about it. But no matter how often you go abroad or elsewhere in the world, you come back to the UK and you see the beautiful countryside, you see this great… y’know, the history of Formula One and motorsport which is really here, and I see all my family who are also here and this is, of course, feels like where my heart is and ultimately fully British. Of course, I still like to honour my family heritage. My family are from the Caribbean. But… I don’t know. People have a right to their own opinion. If you look around, there’s a lot of Team LH caps. The support that I’ve had has been just incredible and it’s been growing over the years, and whilst, of course, there’s always going to be people with negative views on things, I feel like every day is an opportunity to try to turn those that do have a negative view on things. I guess over time I’ll do more and more positive things for the country. Ultimately, I go to all these race and I lift the British flag proudly. There’s no-one else in this sport that’s raised it so high. At the moment, probably that’s not enough. I’ll keep looking out for what else I can do. And for those who do follow me, I really do appreciate their support.

    Q: (Mike Doodson – Honorary) Lewis, there’s been some dramas here at Silverstone with the surface and they seem to have got everything done pretty quickly, but there were quite a lot of incidents at Turn Six yesterday. I wonder if you could tell us – you had one too, I think, there – can you tell us what was wrong there and is it better today and is the circuit settling down?

    LH: Ultimately last year, we’d come out of Turn Four and it was the bumpiest straight that probably you’ve ever been on before, rattling your teeth out for most of us. Also, for the motorbikes, it was quite bumpy then. In other areas it was OK. I think they’ve redone it this year; it’s much better on that straight but there are – and I guess it’s just the way it goes – but bumps into Turn Six are pretty hardcore but I think more so it’s the crosswind people are struggling with there. Maybe the bumps and also the crosswind that you have there, which everyone struggles with, and I’ve also struggled with – but then there’s also Turn Seven, it’s very bumpy but then the straight down to Copse is good, and then up to Maggotts and Becketts it’s good. It’s fantastic, and then after Maggotts and Becketts, down Stowe Straight it’s great, 15, 16, 17. So, it’s pretty much spot-on, perfect, apart from three bumps at the entry of Six and exit of Seven.

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Question to all three drivers. What kind of weather do you expect tomorrow and what is the weather that will suit more the strategy you chose for the first tyre you will start on.

    CL: I haven’t watched the forecast yet, so I don’t really know – but I guess, yeah, in Silverstone it’s often very unpredictable, and as we’ve seen in the last two days, you can have drops any time. So, it will make the race quite interesting if it’s like this. Then, if I can choose, the best would probably have a good start on the Soft, do seven laps and then big rain and keep this position. But I don’t choose. I think it will be very unpredictable anyway.

    VB: Like yesterday there was no proper chance of rain but it still had a bit of drizzle, so I think anything can come from the sky, you never know – and no idea what will be best for us. At least it’s cooler than Austria, so that’s always good news but anything else, we should be OK.

    LH: I’m down for some good old English weather tomorrow! Good old English weather is sunny, hale, rain! Sun, snow, the whole mixture. No, naturally it’s better for all the fans when it’s dry but I don’t mind if it rains either way. It’s really great, this track, in the wet. I guess we’ll all discuss whether we do the rain dance tonight or not.

    Q: (Rob Harris – AP) Hi Lewis, it came down to six milliseconds today. Some quotes around from Nico Rosberg saying that, if he’d been travelling and partying in LA, then he’d be qualifying down in tenth – but you can cope with it, he was suggesting. When you assess things, do you think the clearing of the mind outweighs the travel by… sort of… going to LA between races like that and having the trips?

    LH: I think naturally it’s easy to say that. People to have views. I do have five world titles. They didn’t come on their own. You know me.

    VB: I think you gain time by partying. As a Finn, it’s a feeling.

    LH: Valtteri parties way more than me!

    VB: I have a party, I gain lap time, so…

    LH: I think ultimately, when I started doing the travels and focussing on these other things, people always had… there was always the issue and people would have comments on it. Particularly the pressure of then having to arrive and making sure you definitely delivered the same. It took a long time to break that mould, and I’ve done it time and time and time again. My preparation comes first. I’ve felt fantastic all weekend. The pressure’s quite high here, obviously being your home grand prix, and so I don’t look upon that lightly, and I prepare the best way I can. But also, I do what I want – I don’t do what you think I should do, or anyone else thinks I should do. Only I know what’s right for me – and again, that’s what’s led me to five world titles. And don’t forget the amount of wins I have, all of that stuff, so… yeah.

    Q: (Keith Collantine – racefans.net) Question for Charles, you’ve said a few times in recent races you feel you’ve raised your game in qualifying recently. The clearest way we can see that is you’ve just out-qualified Sebastian for the third race in a row – but how much more do you think there is that you can find in the Ferrari? And particularly today, was there the extra eight hundredths of a second that you needed to be sitting where Valtteri is sitting?

    CL: At the time, as I said earlier, I think out main issue is the front end. Once we’ll fix this, I’m pretty sure there will be quite a bit of performance in that – because also again, in qualifying today, especially the third sector, I was struggling quite a lot with the front end to grip-up. So yeah, there’s still a lot of performance into that, whether we’ll know how to overcome this issue is another matter, so we need to be working very hard on that, and hopefully some performance will come when we fix this.

    Q: (Tom Jackson – City Press) Charles, both Red Bulls split you and Sebastian today. Do you think tomorrow you will be able to comfortably stay ahead of them or do you expect a fight with them more than you do with the Mercedes?

    CL: If we look at the Friday race simulations, I think it’s going to be very difficult to fight with  – or at least Lewis’s race run was very very strong so yeah, we need to work on that but Red Bull seems to be very quick also in the race runs so it’s going to be tricky. If we manage to gain some positions at the start, it’s a track where it’s quite hard to overtake so then we have some chances to keep them but if not I guess it’s going to be very difficult to fight with them.

    Q: (Laurence Edmonson – ESPN) Valtteri, two of your pole positions earlier this year didn’t quite go to plan, the starts didn’t work out. Can you just explain if you’ve anything to try and rectify that and how the other starts have been and whether you’ve found a solution to it?

    VB: Yeah, I’ve definitely been working a lot on the starts this year and especially after the couple of not ideal ones, so I’ve been focusing a lot and feel much more comfortable  with the starts than earlier in the year. Obviously every start is going to be different, we always have different circumstances, different set of tyres, temperatures but yeah, feel more confident and obviously aiming for a good start tomorrow and use the good grid position.

    Q: (Sam Hall – Autoweek) Lewis, this year it seems that you’ve found qualifying a little bit harder to get pole on the Saturdays. Is the car a bit more difficult to get the one lap pace out of or is it something that’s changed with you as a driver?

    LH: No, I think… we’re not halfway through the year yet. We’ve definitely had some poles but Valtteri has done some great laps throughout qualifying. It definitely has been a car that’s a little bit… I think with the tyres it’s a little bit harder to get it perfect every single time but it’s just qualifying, if you’ve seen a lot of the races, it doesn’t necessarily always determine what happens always in the race. Of course it’s great to always start at the front. It makes your day a little bit more simple but nonetheless it’s really great that we continue to work forwards as a team and lock out the front row. I’m really proud to be a part of that and still to get a one-two today is still significant, considering we have all of our team actually coming this weekend. Of course, Valtteri and I, I think we have a great relationship, we always want to beat each other but I’ll go back, look at the data today, did a better job and tomorrow you’ll do a great job as well and the duel tomorrow is who can do a better job tomorrow. There’s plenty more pole positions up for grabs between all of us so just got to keep working hard.

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Valtteri and Lewis; Valtteri, when we spoke you said the time is now for you to start effectively getting your elbows out. Indeed, is this the time that you’re starting to sense that? Lewis, are you prepared to race against what I guess we could call Valtteri 2.1, new version, newly enthused, ready to go again after a good start and obviously a bit of a slump but coming back?

    VB: Well, if you look at the points, for sure the championship fight is still on. Obviously I’m the one chasing, I’m behind with I don’t know the exact number but roughly thirty points or something but so many races to go and it’s going to be a lot up to me and my performance, so definitely every single opportunity there is I need to get those and if I don’t get those then Lewis is going to be far away and not be able to reach in terms of points so tomorrow is super important, but so is the race after and the race after. The season is still long so I really need to try and take those opportunities and for sure will do everything I can to keep that lead tomorrow.

    Q: Lewis, your thoughts on Valtteri 2.1?

    LH: 2.1 or 2.4 or what’s the difference? I work closely with this guy, it’s Valtteri. I just see him as the man he is. Obviously we’re still fighting for the title. I don’t feel necessarily that he’s the only one chasing, I’m still chasing. I try to put an imaginary individual ahead of yourself. For me, I generally kind of put the previous year’s performances so last year’s myself ahead of me, for example and that’s my target: to improve and beat that, but on days like this I’m behind another so he’s now the guy that I’m chasing. So as long as you’ve always got a goal to chase, then you can always make improvements, you always have strides to make and so that’s my approach always.

    Q: (Simon Amberley – Nevis Radio) The past couple of races we’ve had incidents that have been reviewed after the race which have either potentially affected the result or have affected the result. Has this been discussed within the drivers’ meetings and can we expect results to actually stand at the end of the race and drivers to be able to race more aggressively in future races including here?

    LW: I was focusing on folding… I don’t know what the question was.

    CL: I’m always up for hard racing so very happy if they relax a little bit on the fights but I think consistency is key. At the end, I think they also need time to review some incidents or sometimes it be bad to wait for the results but at the end I think it’s the best way to take the right decision.

    VB: Yeah, I’m a big fan of hard racing as well so the harder we can race, but safe and fair, is always good and obviously for everyone it’s always better to have the results as quickly as possible and penalties as quickly as possible but sometimes they need to review more which is understandable.

    LH: I feel exactly the same as these two guys. I still don’t know what the question was really! But close racing is always yeah, what he just said. Sorry. It wasn’t intentional to miss what the question was. About tough racing, was it? I haven’t discussed it. No. I don’t think it was brought up in the drivers’ briefing either. I think the last race was good. I don’t know what Charles thought of the incident he had.

    CL: No, I thought it was OK. The only thing is consistency as I said. I feel like there have been some incidents in the past this year that have been not analysed or penalised, sorry, for much less than that, so that’s the only thing. I think consistency is very important but if it’s clear that we can race that way then I’m more than happy to race like this and I think every driver likes to race that way.

    LH: I agree again! I think it’s really hard with the consistency thing because we’ve got these rules that… but every scenario is different but you have to apply the same rule to it so it’s… that’s why they’ve got some of the guys that are at the stewards, some even have to interpret certain a way what has happened at certain way and as Charles said, consistency is really what we want to try and get. But I think every year you go through all the lessons or they, together in the sport, go through the lessons and learn and improve and people told us that it needs to get better and so I’m sure we will.

  • F1 2019: British Gp Preview – Formula 1 at its British Best

    F1 2019: British Gp Preview – Formula 1 at its British Best

    The adage goes that you’re only as good as your last race. It will take some doing then for Formula 1 to top itself after the thrilling Austrian grand prix of two weeks ago. Nevertheless, the Silverstone circuit and British grand prix is as iconic as it comes in motorsport.

    Rookies

    Being a rookie in Formula 1 is almost always a baptism of fire. But as the F2 champion and runner-up in 2018 George Russell and Lando Norris have been enormously impressive in their respective debut seasons.

    Lando Norris was drafted into McLaren with the team still very much in the doldrums. However, 2019, and especially the last two races, has shown the progress that the Woking-based team has made. Progress means little however if the drivers in the cockpit are unable to capitalize and deliver the results. So far, Norris has produced nearly every time that he has been behind the wheel. With four races in the points he sits eighth in the world driver’s championship. Added to this is that he qualified a brilliant fifth in Austria, his noteworthy race-craft, and the fact that he hasn’t made any major mistakes. At only nineteen years old and with one of the best Instagram accounts in the paddock Norris has all he needs to a star of the future.

    George Russell’s superb and self-determined initiative to personally contact Williams and present himself as the best choice for a 2019 drive impressed Williams enough to agree and draft him into the team. Though he has been unable to trouble the point scoring positions in 2019 he has impressed not only in his demeanour but also in the complete demolition of teammate Robert Kubica both in qualifying and the races.

    Similarly, Russell had kept his nose clean and his car on the black stuff. Williams are expected to bring a major update to the German grand prix weekend and while it’s unlikely to propel them up the grid it may bring them closer to the field in terms of pace. If all goes to plan Russell seems the more likely of the two Williams drivers to extract performance from the car.

    Silverstone under threat

    As much as Silverstone forms part of the fabric of Formula 1 the threat that it could disappear from the calendar is ever present. Commercial rights owner Liberty Media has evidently renewed their interest in a London street race which suggest that it could take over Silverstone’s slot on the calendar.*

    One of the biggest problems for Silverstone and the BRDC (British Racing Drivers Club) is the hosting cost. The suggestion is though that the BRDC and Liberty Media understand the importance of a British grand prix on the F1 calendar. It is not impractical for Liberty Media to consider offering a discount on hosting costs to those venues such as Silverstone, Monza, Spa-Francorchamps, etc. that are historically significant to the sport and thereby ensure their presence on the calendar.

    2010 British Grand Prix StartAs a fan you get a little bit of everything at Silverstone. An incredible track layout highlighted by the incomparable Maggots-Becketts complex, Stowe, and Copse Corner combine for a supreme test of aerodynamic efficiency. It stands to reason then that Mercedes will be in the pound seats this weekend, no pun intended.

    The last few races hasn’t seen the best of Valtteri Bottas and while Lewis Hamilton is habitually exceptional at Silverstone it will be a good place for the Finn to re-state his designs on the world title. To beat Hamilton on home soil would go a long way, mentally, to begin chipping away at the reigning champion.

    But with all being equal it is difficult to bet against another British grand prix victory for Lewis Hamilton.

    *It has since been announced that Silverstone has struck a deal that will keep itself on the calendar for five more years.