Tag: mclaren

Ron Dennis says Button needs to ‘try harder’

Amidst increased speculation around the future of F1’s most experienced driver, Jenson Button, McLaren boss Ron Dennis has called on the Briton to up his game, and try harder.

Rumours have already been circulating that McLaren is hoping to sign a big-name driver for next year, with Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and even Lewis Hamilton linked to the team. Dennis seems to be keeping his options open insisting that Mclaren are “not looking to finalise our driver lineup now”. He has, however, admitted that he would “love” to have drivers of their calibre at the Woking-based team.

“We want to win races and we would always hope that the best available drivers would wish to drive our cars. The key word is ‘available’ because people have contracts and we respect those contracts, but if Lewis was in a position to drive for us next year, as with many of the other top drivers if they were in that position, we’d love to have them on board. No one should ever feel threatened, either drivers or engineers, all we want to do is win and we have to take considered positions and considered decisions on that process.”

But Dennis hinted that the decision will only fall in Button’s favour if he improves his performance – despite having a car that not nearly matches those of the front runners. At the same time, the McLaren boss seems impressed with rookie Kevin Magnussen.

“I’m sure Kevin is giving a big wake-up call to Jenson,” Dennis told Britain’s Sky. “In some ways you say ‘Great, we made a great choice with Kevin’, and in other ways you say ‘Come on Jenson, you are a world champion and absolutely one thing you can do on a consistent basis – and you should be doing it – is beating your team mate’.

“Do I want him (Button) to try harder? Of course I do,” Dennis insisted. “He’s a highly paid grand prix driver, and yes, we’re not giving him the best car, but he could do his bit, and Kevin’s got to make it as difficult for him as possible.”

June 30, 2014
F1 2014: Austrian GP Review – Nifty Nico Bests Hamilton

What was once old was made new again as the Formula 1 paddock jetted into central Europe for the Austrian grand prix for the first time in eleven years.

The practice sessions suggested that the weekend would follow the familiar pattern of Mercedes domination. However, Saturday qualifying was turned on its head as the Williams pair of Felipe Massa and Valterri Bottas stunningly locked out the front row of the grid.

The two Williams drivers were able to spring this surprise due to some good luck but also by delivering a great turn of pace. Pole position for the Austrian GP was Felipe Massa’s first since the 2008 Brazilian GP. Nico Rosberg lined up third while a mistake from Hamilton relegated him to ninth with no time on the board.

Massa led away from the start but teammate Bottas fell to third behind Rosberg. It was Hamilton who blitzed the start to end the first lap in a sensational fourth position. The Williams and Mercedes cars were closely matched for pace on the supersoft tyres and it was Mercedes who led the way into the pitlane. Both Williams drivers were able to complete two more laps but it would cost them track position as Rosberg emerged to lead the train of Bottas, Hamilton and Massa.

In the lead of the race was Force India’s Sergio Perez who started in 16^th position. On the soft compound tyres the Mexican was able to run a long enough first stint to put him in the lead of the race. Despite a five-place grid penalty, from Canada, he was able to deliver consistently fast laptimes without putting a wheel wrong for all of the 71 laps. Checo is known for his ability of making the most of alternative strategies. Add to the fact that he had to overcome a grid penalty and his sixth place finish was one of the drives of the day.

As the Force India driver eventually pitted Rosberg was promoted to the lead of the race and by the end of the second round of stops the Mercedes pair were line astern in first and second. However, the Silver Arrows did not disappear into the distance as in previous races as Valterri Bottas kept the pair honest. The Finn translated his front-row starts into his first podium in Formula 1 ahead of teammate Felipe Massa who saw off a late charge from Fernando Alonso.

For Ferrari there was little good news and a fifth place finish Alonso left uninspired by the performance of his car. Similarly, Kimi Raikkonen endured a difficult afternoon after he was told to slow down and cool his brakes after only the second lap of the race. Raikkonen scored the final point on offer in tenth in what was yet another nail in Ferrari’s 2014 coffin.

McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen finished seventh while teammate Jenson Button’s gamble on a long strategy didn’t yield the same results as that of his former teammate Perez. Button eventually finished eleventh.

Regardless of the fact that the Red Bull company owns the circuit its two teams endured a dreadful afternoon. Sebastian Vettel suffered his third retirement of the season when his Renault power unit failed. Both Toro Rosso’s drivers joined the retirement list to leave Daniel Ricciardo as the only Red Bull driver in the race. The Australian was able to finish eighth after overtaking Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg on the final lap of the race.

Red Bull team Principal Christian Horner branded Renault’s performance as “unacceptable” and insisted that the supplier overcome its issues quickly. “There needs to be change at Renault. It can’t continue like this. It’s not good for Renault and it’s not good for Red Bull,” said Horner.

Sebastian Vettel became the first beneficiary of new driver rules instituted after the Canadian GP. The incident at the end of that race between Felipe Massa and Sergio Perez has prompted race stewards to take a more lenient approach in dishing out penalties to drivers. A driver will be given a penalty only if he is found to be 75% responsible for causing a collision. On Sunday Vettel lost part of his front-wing in a collision whilst trying to overtake Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez. Under the old rules Vettel would have been given a drive-through penalty for causing a collision.

The race ultimately culminated in a fight between Rosberg and Hamilton. The gap between the two was only two seconds but Hamilton was unable to make an impression on Rosberg. Victory in Austria has given Rosberg a 29 point lead in the championship. The German is yet to finish outside the top two in 2014 and it is this sort of consistency which could just be enough to undo Lewis Hamilton.

June 23, 2014
Bottas puts Williams on top in FP3

Williams driver Valtteri Bottas set the quickest time during FP3 ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend.Bottas set a time of 1:09.848 to end the session 0.050s faster than Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton at the Red Bull Ring.

Felipe Massa was third fastest, and Daniil Kvyat put his Toro Rosso in a surprise fourth place. Nico Rosberg had a couple of off-track excursions during FP3 but ended the session fifth fastest ahead of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo.

The Top 10 were rounded out by Kevin Magnussen, Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel.

Sergio Perez, who finished in 15th place on the timesheets, ran wide twice at the final corner, airlifting his Force India the second time around.

Max Chilton and Jenson Button were both unable to set a time on option tyres due to mechanical problems. Button damaged the floor of his McLaren which will need replacing before qualifying, along with his right rear brake caliper.

The session was a positive one for Ferrari and reports are that they will be running their new set up for qualifying and the race tomorrow.

It’s highly unlikely that anyone will snatch the top places away from the Mercedes drivers come qualifying later on, but if anyone poses the slightest threat right now it’ll be the Williams duo. Keep your eyes on that team, they’re really progressing nicely!

Your full FP3 timesheet is below. Join us 2pm GMT+2 on Twitter for live chat and commentary throughout the session. And don’t forget to enter to WIN A VIP TRIP TO THE BELGIAN GRAND PRIX!

June 21, 2014
Video: Schumacher vs. Häkkinen Austrian Grand Prix

Since we’re coming up to the Austrian Grand Prix and with the good news of Michael Schumacher, we thought we’d show you a few clips of races past. In this clip we see an epic battle between one of Formula 1’s greatest rivalries. Schumacher vs. Häkkinen in Austria.

June 17, 2014
F1 2014: Canadian GP Review – Ricciardo Wins Canadian Stunner

There is something about the combination of the circuit Gilles Villeneuve and Formula 1 that delivers the most astounding races.

It didn’t come as a surprise when Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton locked out the front row of the grid. Nor was it unexpected that the two fought a close battle for the lead of the race into turns one and two. It was expected when the pair of them comfortably pulled away from the rest of the field.

First, a crash between Max Chilton and his Marussia teammate Jules Bianchi brought out the safety-car. A significant amount of clean-up was required which had the safety-car out for seven laps. Yet, this would be the least dramatic ‘incident’ of the afternoon, by far.

As the race resumed it seemed like any other afternoon in the 2014 season for the Mercedes pairing of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton. The two Silver Arrows ran within a few seconds of each other and pulled away comfortably from the rest of the field. However, Formula 1 never fails to dish up the most unexpected and the seemingly predictable was about to be obliterated.

Lewis Hamilton, known for his performances around the Canadian circuit, began to make serious charge for the lead of the race by closing the gap to Rosberg to a couple of tenths. As they battled wheel-to-wheel a sudden loss of power struck both at the exact same time. The high temperatures had caused both cars to suffer a devastating MGU-K failure. It meant that both Mercedes’ had lost all of its hybrid power.

The seemingly invincible pair were losing up to three seconds a lap. Too much astonishment Williams’ Felipe Massa emerged as the leader of the race after the first round of pitstops. A momentary recovery for Lewis Hamilton had the Brit in prime position to take over from Rosberg but he ran wide at the hairpin and lost the advantage gained in the pitstop phase. It went from bad to worse for Hamilton as he was forced into retirement with brake failure.

A trip into the pitlane for Massa gave the lead back to Rosberg but the Mercedes was significantly compromised. A throng of cars led by Force India’s Sergio Perez and including Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel quickly closed the gap on the Mercedes. Miraculously, Rosberg was able to hang onto the lead despite running with 160 less horsepower than his pursuers.

The train of cars was quickly joined by Felipe Massa who had armed himself with fresh rubber. It seemed as if Sergio Perez had worked a one-stop strategy to a tee. Perez, known for his ability to run long stints, managed to hold Ricciardo at bay but a daring move around the outside of turn 1 gave the Australian second place.

The Red Bull driver closed the gap to Rosberg and with the help of DRS down the back-straight snatched the lead of the race into the final corner. While Ricciardo crossed the line to start the final lap of the race the drama was far from over. A spot on the podium beckoned Felipe Massa but as the Brazilian lined up a pass on Perez into turn 1 he tagged the back of the Force India. The duo, barely avoiding Vettel’s Red Bull, crashed heavily into the barriers. Both drivers experienced an impact of 27G but were declared fit by medial personnel. After an investigation the stewards announced that Perez had been given a five-place grid penalty for the Austrian GP for “changing his line” into the corner.

As if the result was not astonishing enough Jenson Button brought the McLaren home in fourth place. The former champ started the final lap in eighth position but benefited as Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso tripped over each other.

Fernando Alonso counted himself as “lucky” to finish as high as sixth as the Ferrari continues to struggle for performance. Despite bringing several upgrades to the Canadian GP the F14T showed no improvement whatsoever. Kimi Raikkonen endured a similarly miserable race as early brake issues and traffic added to the gloom. A spin at the hairpin, attributed to a power delivery issue by the power unit, dropped the Finn out of the points. Raikkonen eventually finished tenth but the Maranello team has serious questions to answer after yet another failed attempt at development. The 2007 champion must hardly recognise Ferrari in its current depressing guise. It’s a far cry from the team with whom he won two constructors’ and one drivers’ title.

Daniel Ricciardo may have benefited from someone else’s misfortune but the courageous move around the outside of turn 1 on Perez and the never-say-die style of the Australian is what made him one of the most popular winners in the paddock.

Sometimes the nice guy does finish first.

Photo Credits:
Red Bull images via @redbullracing
Lewis Hamilton retiring via @LewisHamilton
Massa-Perez crash sequence via @WSFMR

June 9, 2014
Canadian GP Qualifying: Rosberg narrowly beats Hamilton to pole

Nico Rosberg secured pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix after putting in a rocket fast final lap in qualifying denying teammate Lewis Hamilton the pleasure of his fifth pole position.

Hamilton dominated the entire weekend in Montreal but a mistake heading into Turn 8 on his final lap meant the Briton had to settle for second place on the grid. Rosberg beat Hamilton to pole by less than a tenth of a second.

Qualifying got underway with only 21 cars after Esteban Gutierrez crashed in the final practice session today, forcing Sauber to change his chassis. Valtteri Bottas was first out on track and posted the initial benchmark at 1.18.270 but teammate Felipe Massa went half a second faster to occupy the top spot on the timesheets until Rosberg came around to put his Mercedes up in first place.

Pastor Maldonado dropped out of Q1 once again – for fifth out of six times this season. He pulled his stricken Lotus over into an escape road ending his session. Things just aren’t going right for Maldonado at all this season and his Venezuelen sponsorship is already rumoured to be at risk.

With 16 seconds left on the clock, Marcus Ericsson brought out the red flag on the session when he binned his Caterham at turn nine. The session did not restart and Maldonado, Chilton, Bianchi, Kobayashi and Ericsson were eliminated from the proceedings.

Q2 got underway with Adrian Sutil first out on track with the entire field heading out on the supersoft tyres. Felipe Massa was the early leader in the session ahead of his teammate, Valtteri Bottas, and former Ferrari teammate, Fernando Alonso. The two Mercedes drivers only headed out a little later in the session but neither could shift Massa off the top of board with their initial efforts. It became clear that the Mercedes duo were not as strong on the supersofts as the Williams drivers were.

Nico Hulkenberg, Kevin Magnussen, Sergio Perez, Romain Grosjean, Daniil Kvyat and Adrian Sutil were all eliminated at the end of Q2.

Q3 saw Bottas first out on track for a bit of clear air, setting the first benchmark at a 1.15.550. Rosberg was the first of the Mercedes to cross the line, going six-tenths quicker than Bottas. Hamilton also managed to go quicker than Bottas but fell just short of Rosberg’s time putting the German on provisional pole.

Both Rosberg and Hamilton made slight improvements on their final runs but Hamilton just couldn’t find the pace to match his teammate and a small error into Turn 8 likely cost him the pole position. Sebastian Vettel pulled a rabbit out of the bag and pushed out a flyer to qualify third ahead of the two Williams drivers, Bottas and Massa respectively.
Daniel Ricciardo qualified sixth ahead of Alonso and Vergne, with Jenson Button and Kimi Raikkonen rounding out the top ten.

Hamilton will no doubt be frustrated to not have been able to convert his dominant performance throughout the weekend into a pole position but the Briton seemed to take it in his stride today and seemed pleased to have another all-Mercedes front row. “Let’s go make history tomorrow,” Hamilton said at the post qualifying press conference.

History will indeed be made whatever happens tomorrow. We’re all set for a crack-a-lacking race and the stage is all set for a good battle upfront between Rosberg and Hamilton. The Williams drivers are looking exceptionally strong and they are definitely making a mark on the grid this weekend.

Please join us on Twitter for live chat and commentary as we watch it all pan out at 8pm GMT+2.

Full timesheets and your chance to win a VIP trip to the Belgian Grand Prix are below.

June 7, 2014
2014 Canadian Grand Prix: Hamilton Quickest in FP2

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton set the pace in the second practice session for the Canadian Grand Prix.

Hamilton set a time of 1:16.118 on the option tyre. His team mate Nico Rosberg ended the session in P2 with a time of 1:16.293, just 0.175s off the pace. Red Bulls Sebastian Vettel who was rather anonymous throughout the session finished the session in P3 with a time of 1:16.573.

The session was relatively straight forward with the odd driver locking up and running wide. There was a scary moment between Sauber’s Adrian Sutil, and McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen. Sutil, who was on a timed lap was coming up to the T13/T14 chicane. Magnussen looked like he was on a slow down lap, looked like he was about to go into the pits but then took the corner. This forced Sutil to jam on the brakes run wide, and take to the run-off area. The incident was investigated, but it was then decided that no action was to be taken by the stewards.

Ferrari do look like they’ve improved quite a bit with the new bits on their cars. While Sebastian Vettel is starting to look more comfortable in his car.

The long run pace of the Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari and Williams cars are very comparable and they were all lapping in the same region. It does have makings of a very interesting race where strategy could determine the ultimate winner.

Below is the complete timing sheet for the session

June 6, 2014
Jenson Button Calm On F1 Future

Jenson Button is in no hurry to wrap up his Formula 1 career. Nor is the 2009 champion under pressure to close on a deal with the McLaren team.

The 2014 season marks Button’s fifth season with the Woking based team. Despite starting the season with a podium finish in Australia the season has been mainly below for team and driver. However, Button believes that the team’s position is steadily moving in the right direction. However, the Brit has stated his determination to turn his and the team’s performances around and that retirement is not in his plans.

“I still feel very young at heart, fitter than ever, and I have all that experience,” Button told Autosport. I am in a great position, I have a lot more to give in the future in F1. I definitely cannot see an end to my career. This is where I want to be in my future.”

Button is no stranger to underperforming cars in Formula 1 having endured several season in an uncompetitive Honda. Nevertheless, thanks to his extensive experience of 253 GP starts he knows that its patience that will be rewarded in the end.

“It just takes time – things don’t change overnight even though we are pushing very hard.”

Jenson Button is currently partnered by rookie driver Kevin Magnussen.

June 6, 2014
2014 Canadian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

DRIVERS:

Adrian SUTIL (Sauber)

Nico HULKENBERG (Force India)

Kamui KOBAYASHI (Caterham)

Felipe MASSA (Williams)

Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

Jenson BUTTON (McLaren)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Jenson, we’ll start with you if we may. A 2011 winner here, of course, memorably, and you’re currently eighth in the championship. This circuit has the famous wall of champions on the outside of the final corner. The back of the cars this year, of these designs, is quite light. I wonder if you could a little bit about how you read the challenge of driving these cars around this track this weekend.

Jenson BUTTON: OK. Good morning. Yeah, it’s going to be tricky here, It always is, especially with the cold circuit temperatures we’ll probably have on Friday. So yeah, the last corner will be tricky, but we’re sort of used to that I think. We’ve been driving these cars all year and if we can drive these cars around Monaco I think we’ll be alright around here. It should be an interesting circuit. It’s a circuit where you don’t really use downforce so much, it’s a lot more mechanical grip. There are long straights, so we can use the power of the engine – for us that’s great, with the Mercedes engine. And it’s about working with the tyres. I think it’s going to be tricky around here. It’s supposed to be hot on Sunday, so you’re going to have to really look after them. But we’re reasonably good at that.

Talking about McLaren’s situation: how do you compare this year to last year and the competitiveness and the problems that you have? Are they more fixable than last year’s problems?

JB: Yeah, I think from the outside it doesn’t look spectacular, our season this year, and you’d say it looks quite similar to last year but it’s very different. In terms of the feel of the car, it’s much better. In terms of the development of the car, it is working and we’re going in the right direction. Yeah, it’s tough. When you’ve been fighting for wins and the team is used to fighting for wins, it’s difficult when you find yourself in this situation. But also there are a lot of positives right now. With Ron back in charge, and Eric, I think they’re doing a great job of really moving the team on and changing certain things so that we will be fighting at the front again. But it just takes time. Things don’t change overnight, even though we’re pushing very hard.

OK, thank you. Coming to you now Lewis. You’re a three-time winner here, three times on pole here. What is it about you and this Montreal circuit and it’s walls around the outside? Is it the braking? Is about technique? What is it that somehow clicks with you here?

Lewis HAMILTON: I’m not sure. Good morning everyone. I guess there are certain tracks you like more than others and this is one of those circuits I particularly like. I really like coming out to Canada, I always have a great response from the fans here. It is one of the best grands prix of the year in terms of the turnout, the city, just in general the weekend, it’s a good fun weekend and I guess all of that packed into one makes it fun to drive.

You’ve said this week that you and your team-mate Nico Rosberg are friends again after Monaco. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?

LH: There’s not really much to say. I said it in my message. We spoke after the race and just like friends we have our ups and down, we’ve known each other a long, long time, so it’s done and dusted and we look forward to working together to try to help this team win the Constructors’ Championship.

OK, thank you for that. Coming on to Felipe. Three seventh-place finishes so far this season, your best result here in Montreal a fourth. Williams is tied with McLaren at the moment in the Constructors’ Championship with 52 points after six races. Is that in line with your expectations?

Felipe MASSA: No. Definitely I think I didn’t have great results until now. It should be much better than what I had until now. So I had not very great races, starting with the race, where I didn’t get to corner two and you know in Bahrain I was fighting for third, fourth the whole race and then I lost a lot of positions because of the safety car. So I think it was not very great results but I’m sure we can do much better and I hope this track can be also a bit better for our car compared to Monaco, compared to other tracks. So really looking forward that we can have a lot better results, starting here in Montreal, a lot better than seventh I hope.

I wonder if you could tell us what Rob Smedley has brought to the team, because you obviously have got a very long working relationship with him. He’s now in a senior role on the engineering side, can you tell a little bit about what he’s brought to the team?

FM: A lot of experience. A lot of good direction, different things in terms of how to work, you know, in many different areas. I think he’s a very intelligent engineer, has a lot of experience. For sure, things don’t change from one day to the other, so it takes a little bit of time but not just him, we have a lot of great engineers, a lot of good people and things are getting better all the time inside the team and I’m really looking forward that from now until the end of the of the championship things will get better and better all the time.

Nico, coming to you. Fifth in the Drivers’ Championship and points scored in every round so far but no podium personally yet. Given the confidence that Force India has in the package for this weekend in Montreal, is this you weekend do you think?

Nico HULKENBERG: I don’t know. Obviously I hope and like every weekend we’re going to try to make the most of our chances here. I think the track should be OK for us. Also, it’s one of my favourite grands prix, so I really look forward to this weekend – the track, the city, everything is pretty cool. So hopefully we can have a strong result again.

Q: Monaco showed that you can get results by doing a different strategy from the people around you. As a midfield team I wonder, is that something you feel you need to do to get the results or do you feel you can compete with front running teams on equal terms?

NH: Not really, and I think looking back in hindsight we made it a bit harder for ourselves, starting on the harder tyre – the other way around with how it turned out, Safety Car etcetera may have been easier – but I think it’s always different and you always have to look at each race and each case and decide then but, generally, we’re having a good package, we’re competitive and that puts us in a good position in general.

Q: Kamui, you’ve twice finished in the points here in Montreal but after Marussia’s result at the last round in Monaco I wonder what the reaction was in the Caterham team? Is it encouragement that it’s possible to score points or concern about the position it leaves you in?

Kamui KOBAYASHI:

For us the Monaco result for us was a bit of a pain but at least we know Marussia made a great step from their updates so I have to say, I think, we have to say it’s a well done job. I think for us for sure I think we need to work. I think what happened in Monaco was a little bit… strange but at least we check with the FIA and that’s through so we have nothing to say but at least we have some upgrades for that first point.

Q: So what is the way forward for the Caterham team this season?

KK: The thing about a Formula One team is we cannot change day-by-day. We progress. Of course, it’s not an easy life for us, it’s a difficult moment right now but for sure everybody is working really hard and we know, I think, that we will progress. We need a little bit of time and we are looking forward to more later on this season.

Q: Adrian, two points finishes also for you in your career here in Montreal – but still none this year for you with the Sauber team. Your thoughts on the start that the team has made and how the upgrades have worked out so far.

Adrian SUTIL: Well, a difficult start of course. I thought it would be a little bit more easy but that’s how it is. That’s how our situation is. We try, of course, to get out and improve the car, improve general performance – yeah, coming here we try it again. We had a tough weekend in Monaco but I think Monaco was a little bit more on the better side, the car was behaving a little bit better and so it’s not only bad everything. There are a few positive things – but it’s very complicated to make it altogether at the moment. To understand the car is quite difficult for us still, so we have to work on that and we need a bit more time and hopefully it really goes soon in the right direction. It’s quite hard to be in the back there always, lot of problems come together in racing at the back.

Q: And tell us from your perspective what you think it will be like to race these hybrid turbo cars around this circuit – the specific challenges of this circuit?

AS: Well I think here we’re going to have quite high top speeds, with the new engines and the low drag the cars have so we should really be quick on the straights, maybe also a quicker overall lap time than last year – maybe – so I don’t know. It should be a circuit that suits the car in general. All the Formula One cars, not only us. And, as everyone said, it’s quite an enjoyable track with a lot of possibilities to overtake. The race should be quite interesting as well. Lot of chicanes… yeah, good weekend and I look forward to it, hopefully with a quite good result in the end.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Ian Parkes – PA) Jenson, I don’t know if you read the team’s pre-race press release this week but there were some very complimentary words from Eric Boullier with regard to yourself, taking about your quality of input, your experience, your ambassadorial role. It all sounded very positive and almost as if they’re looking to next year, perhaps wanting to keep you. Any further progress on that? As I say, it was all very complimentary towards yourself.

JB: er…no. No more progress at all. But that’s just the way it is. We’re here, we’ve spent four good years together already. In our fifth year together. And we both want to work together in the future but it’s just not time yet. Not the right time. We have a lot of other issues to solve first before we start thinking about the future too much. We’re in a good place and y’know, I think my experience does help me a lot. I still feel very young at heart, fitter than ever and I have all that experience. I’m in a great position and I feel I’ve got a lot more to give in the future in Formula One. I definitely can’t see an end to my career. This is my life and where I want to be in the future.

Q: (Bill Beacon – La Presse Canadienne) Because this track is different to most with the braking and long straights and everything, do you think that that in any way will close the gap between Mercedes and the rest of the field?

LH: I’d be guessing but I don’t feel that will be the case. We’re particularly strong on the straights, Mercedes are but I don’t know, maybe we will be surprised this weekend but long straights do suit us very well. We have a very good power curve on our engine, Mercedes have done the best job with the engines. Renault and Ferrari would have to have done an exceptional job coming into this weekend, in terms of that area, to be able to keep up with us on the straights..

FM: Definitely it can be a good track for most of the cars that are using Mercedes (engines) so I think maybe we will see even maybe a big difference compared to Mercedes and the other teams, because as Lewis said, the engine is amazing, it’s been a very good job done by Mercedes and they have a good car under braking and everything, so for sure maybe we can see maybe even a big difference.

NH: I don’t think it will be very different to the other weeks before.

Q: (Chris Medland – crash.net) Lewis, you said that the air has been cleared between yourself and Nico between races. Did you feel the need to do the same with the team and was anything different with the way the team handled the two of you between Monaco and coming here now?

LH: There was no difference. Collectively with the team… me and Nico spoke and we individually spoke to the team and saw the team. Nothing’s really changed. We know the team has done a great job in terms of supporting us and the way it’s run with Paddy and Toto. Their support for the both of us has been great. We’re now full steam ahead. We had dinner with the team yesterday and things have never been better. We’re just going from strength to strength. People have ups and downs, as I said, so it’s no different to any other experience me and Nico have had in our whole – God knows how many years we’ve been racing together. We move on, we’re pushing forward. There’s a long long way to go in the season so we’re looking forward to that battle.

Q: (Gerhard Kuntschik – Salzburger Nachrichten) Jenson, as kind of the older statesman, you raced on the old A1 Ring; we’re coming up to Austria again, Red Bull Ring, in a fortnight; what are your memories of the Austrian Grand Prix?

JB: Lots of campsites and lots of very merry Austrians over the Grand Prix weekend. It’s one of those races that they really embrace the sort of party scene and the camping scene, which is really cool. It reminds me very much of Spa, British Grand Prix and those sort of races. It’s a true racing fan’s Grand Prix, I feel. The circuit itself… you look at it and you think ‘there’s like seven corners, it can’t be that fun to drive.’ But it is, it’s a really good circuit. I’ve enjoyed racing there in the past, I don’t know what it’s going to be like with these cars. I’ve always had fun racing there. I don’t know how much has changed, either. Turn one, we used to drive off through the gravel because that was the quickest way on the exit. I’m sure it’s not going to be the case any more. I think we’re in for a good Grand Prix.

Q: (Luis Fernando Ramos – Racing Magazine) To all drivers: the World Cup is coming and your countries are going to be there, playing, so on a personal note, how much are you interested in football? Are you going to follow all the matches or you don’t care much about what’s going on there? And a second brief question: who do you think is going to win the World Cup?

Q: Kamui, would you like to kick us off?

KK: Me? On soccer? I don’t really care so I don’t follow anything. All I know is that Japan is not really strong so I don’t…

NH: Well I hope that Gemany is going to be good but I’m not a football expert but I’m sure I’m going to be behind the TV following the World Cup.

AS: I’ll be watching, cheering for Uruguay and Germany, because I’m half Uruguayan.

FM: Yeah, I love football, I watch everything, so I will maybe be watching most of the games. I really hope that Brazil can be there in the final. To win the championship at home would be fantastic so I will be there watching and supporting Brazil.

LH: I don’t follow it as much (as I used to) but I will probably catch a few games and I want to try and see if we can go out to one of the games at least. The dream will be to go and watch Brazil and England play, that would be pretty awesome.

JB: Yes, I totally agree. I’m not a massive football fan, I don’t support a team but when it comes to nationalities, countries playing, obviously I will be supporting England and I’m really looking forward to it.

June 6, 2014
F1 2014: Canadian GP Preview – F1 Readies for Canada Clash

Formula 1 crosses the Atlantic to Montreal and the Grand Prix du Canada. The circuit Gilles Villeneuve lies in wait for the paddock and the seventh round of the 2014 season.
Sebastian Vettel swept the pole position and race victory at the 2013 Canadian grand prix. In 2014 Red Bull’s level of competitiveness has dwindled but the team from Milton Keyes are slowly recovering their campaign. However, with the dominant car of the season, Lewis Hamilton, a three time former winner in Canada, looks a shoe-in for victory.

As with most F1 drivers mistakes tend to happen as they test the limits of the car’s performance. A locked wheel, braking a meter too late or having the back-end step out is not uncommon. However, the most striking characteristic of the circuit Gilles Villeneuve is its concrete walls which lie just beyond the edge of the track. Concrete walls and barriers which hold significant consequences for getting it wrong. The two chicanes and the hairpin are areas where lap time can be won or lost but the final corner, outlined by the famous Wall of Champions, is where the biggest risk can yield the most reward. “Some guys will play it safe and sacrifice half a tenth to get through there cleanly; others will take a risk. The nearer you are, the faster you’ll go. Give the wall a kiss and you feel pretty good; kiss it too hard and that’s it!” shared Daniel Ricciardo.

The 4.361 km circuit includes two straights which lend a hand in the overtaking department. The favoured spots for overtaking will be into the turn 10 hairpin and a late move up the inside before the final chicane. Given that the circuit takes some time to rubber in, Pirelli will bring the Soft and Supersoft compound tyres to Canada. The choice of compounds also opens the door for a two or three stop strategy of which the latter can be used to undercut and gain time on a competitor with a fresher, and quicker, set of tyres.

The circuit ranks high on the list of the most power hungry on the calendar. It’s just in time as several teams are planning upgrades to their power units this weekend.

Ferrari’s PR machine has been spinning away as Technical Director James Allison has “vowed” that the team will take a good step forward in Canada – a mantra they have been repeating for years. The Italian team did show improved pace during the Monaco GP and Allison expects to see further improvement this weekend. Nevertheless, he tempered his optimism by saying that their rivals will be making gains of their own.

Ferrari has struggled to make significant improvements on the F14T since the start of the season. After a three-week break Ferrari showed no progress at the Spanish GP. Allison thinks engineers need to be given more creative freedom in their development plans.

“If you force them to operate with their backs against the wall, up against deadlines that are very, very tight, then there’s no time for them to think about how they might approach something differently,” “There is a wealth of talent at Ferrari – the experience and quality of the people on the technical side is the match of any team – it’s a matter of giving them the space and the encouragement to do unusual things.”

The rivalry between Hamilton and Rosberg will resume this weekend with the two having “cleared the air” after Monaco. As much as Rosberg’s affinity for beating Hamilton may have grown since the Monte Carlo weekend Hamilton has a special affinity for the Canadian GP. On paper this is a Hamilton track and the Brit should comfortably be the victor. However, Rosberg showed some steel and as the championship leader has the ball firmly in his court.

June 5, 2014