F1 Madness

Tag: mercedes

  • Sauber Calls off Honda Engine Deal for 2018

    Sauber Calls off Honda Engine Deal for 2018

    Sauber have confirmed that their 2018 technical partnership with Honda been cancelled.

    “It is very unfortunate that we have to discontinue the planned collaboration with Honda at this stage,” said Vasseur

    “However, this decision has been made for strategic reasons, and with the best intent or the future of the Sauber F1 Team in mind.

    “We would like to thank Honda for their collaboration and wish them all the best for their future in Formula 1.”

    It is unclear what Sauber’s future plans are. They could choose to carry on with their Ferrari engine deal. The other options open to the Hinwil based team are Mercedes and Renault. Both have ties to Sauber in one way or another. Mercedes through Pascal Wehrlein and Renault through former Renault team boss and now current team principal of Sauber, Frederic Vasseur.

    The Honda deal was put together by Sauber’s former team Principal Monisha Kaltenborn, but following her departure from the team ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix both parties decided to call of the deal.

    Sauber say that they will announce a new technical shortly.

  • F1 2017: Hungary Gp Preview – Hungaroring Vital Piece In Championship Puzzle

    F1 2017: Hungary Gp Preview – Hungaroring Vital Piece In Championship Puzzle

    In an F1 championship as closely contested as the 2017 edition every race weekend becomes an important one. At this stage, as Vettel and Hamilton are separated by a single point, none are more vital than the last race before the summer break.

    The 2017 Hungarian grand prix runs around the Hungaroring. A tight and twisting cacophony of medium speed corners this circuit is often described as a supersized karting track. It’s flowing nature mandates total precision, as an error in one corner will be carried through an entire lap and ultimately result in loss of laptime. “It has many low and medium speed corners, which demand stability on corner entry and strong traction on the exit. It’s quite hard on both the front and rear tyres so overall it can be characterised as a tough handling circuit,” said Renault’s Nick Chester.

    The circuit is further notorious for being green at the start of the weekend, as it doesn’t see much running for the rest of the year. However, grip improves throughout the weekend for which Pirelli have brought the supersoft, soft, and medium compounds. While the Pirelli compounds have proved to a step harder than in 2016 the hotter conditions in Hungary should allow for better tyre performance. Meanwhile, the belief is that the medium compound will simply be a travelling tyre as it is too hard to be considered for use.

    hungariangp-merc-twitterWhich teams will the flowing corners of the Hungaroring favour? Traditionally, the streets of Monaco have been a good indicator as to who could do well in Hungary. However, a few things have changed since May race dominated by Ferrari. Significantly, the biggest change has been Mercedes’ ability to get on top of their tyre issues by understanding how to correctly bring them into their operating window. While on the face of it seems as if Merc have pulled away in terms of car development it is in fact in this area where they have made the biggest gain. Red Bull too could go well here as the circuit highlights chassis more than power. What’s more is that overtaking around the Hungaroring isn’t abundant.

    Therefore, if Verstappen or Ricciardo can get ahead of either Merc or Ferrari drivers, and work the strategy in their favour, they could have enough pace to step on the podium at the end of it.

    For Finns Kimi Raikkonen and Valterri Bottas Hungary is as close as they’ll get to Finland and it, obviously, brings out a serious amount of support from across the border. Both Finns had good drives in Silverstone too, barring Raikkonen’s late race puncture. With the championship as close as it has been at any point in the season what the teammates of the two title contenders do is equally as important. With two race wins this season Bottas has already shown his prowess and it’s about time that Raikkonen do the same.

  • F1 2017: British Gp Review – Hamilton Untroubled Amid Ferrari Drama

    F1 2017: British Gp Review – Hamilton Untroubled Amid Ferrari Drama

    The phenomenon of home ground advantage has nearly always been touted in the world of sport as a sort of mythical influence that makes the team or a person nearly unbeatable. This advantage was no more evident as Lewis Hamilton took a record-equaling fifth British grand prix win around the famed Silverstone circuit.

    While Hamilton blitzed the field in Saturday qualifying to the tune of half a second he, similarly, ran unflustered towards the checquered flag on Sunday. While the second-place starter Kimi Raikkonen, who shaded his teammate the entire weekend, briefly threatened in the Ferrari he could, ultimately, not get within striking distance of Hamilton.

    The remainder of the podium places seemed set too as Raikkonen ran comfortably in second ahead of Valtteri Bottas who was recovering from a ninth place starting position after a gearbox penalty. Nevertheless, two laps from the chequered flag the thread on Raikkonen’s left-front tyre appeared to come apart and forced him into the pitlane. The easy second place he’d been heading too suddenly transformed into fourth. But the drama was far from over as Sebastian Vettel, now running third, suffered a seemingly identical front-left failure on the final lap of the race. The German was able to limp back to the pits but the chance of salvaging a podium was long gone as he emerged in seventh place.

    012Pirelli has announced that the failures on Raikkonen and Vettel’s car were not caused by the same problem. In Raikkonen’s case Pirelli found that the thread had separated from the tyre, which makes it a manufacturing fault. However, in Vettel’s case the failure was put down to tyre age. But Vettel’s tyres were not being pushed beyond what Pirelli had said were possible. While Ferrari was the only team to pay a price in terms of points several teams revealed post-race that their own tyres were on the edge of suffering similar failures.

    The drama-filled ending to the British grand prix meant that Mercedes strolled to a one-two victory with Raikkonen in third. Max Verstappen provided some early race entertainment in a fight with Sebastian Vettel but ultimately ran a fairly anonymous race to finish fourth. Daniel Ricciardo, starting from the back of the grid due to reliability issues, delivered a storming drive through the field complete with several stunning overtakes to finish an impressive fifth. Renault’s day started poorly as Jolyon Palmer failed to take the start with mechanical issues but the ever-impressive Nico Hulkenberg’s sixth place finish saved the day. With Vettel in seventh the Force India pairing of Esteban Ocon, eighth, and Sergio Perez, ninth, continues to score important points over their rivals Williams who secured the final point in tenth with Felipe Massa.

    052Besides the formation lap retirement of Renault’s Jolyon Palmer there were only two further retirements. A clash between Toro Rosso teammates Daniil Kvyat and Carlos Sainz saw the latter punted out of the race while Fernando Alonso suffered yet another engine failure despite Honda’s introduction of a so-called reliability upgrade.

    While Ferrari has not only fallen 55 points behind Mercedes in the Constructor’s standings Vettel’s late race troubles have all but eviscerated his championship lead over Hamilton from twenty to a single point.

    It is evident now that the early season pressure has transferred from Merc to Ferrari and the Italian team needs to pull something out of the bag for the Hungarian Gp in two weeks time.

    (All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport)

  • 2017 British Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

    2017 British Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

    DRIVERS: 1 – Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 2 – Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) 3 – Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS (Conducted by Owen WILSON and Jenson BUTTON)

    Owen Wilson: Congratulations, what an exciting race. You made it look easy out there.

    Lewis Hamilton: It was not so easy. It’s never easy.

    OW: How are you guys doing? Great British win.

    LH: That was the feeling I can’t really describe. It feels amazing to be up here, so proud to see all these great flags everywhere. The support this weekend has been immense and I’m really proud that I could do this for you all. Thank you so much for all your support, pushing us, the team faultless this weekend. Valtteri did an exceptional job as well so it’s a perfect weekend for us.

    OW: What’s next? Are you going to win the championship?

    LH: That’s the plan. That’s the plan. And then I want to be in Cars 4.

    OW: Done!

    LH: No, it’s been… I really… there’s a long long way to go.

    Jenson Button: I’m actually going to move past you for a second, Lewis. Valtteri, well, starting back of the top ten is always going to be tricky but an awesome strategy and obviously a few issues from these boys over here: P2. 1-2 for Mercedes. How awesome.

    Valtteri Bottas: Yeah, thank you. You know I’m really happy for today. It was definitely not easy, the whole race, to start from P9 and there were many cars not easy to get through but the team did an absolutely perfect strategy and just get my head down, get going and in the end, also with the puncture with Kimi, we got a bit lucky but a perfect weekend for us and well done to Lewis and thank you guys for all the support, thank you.

    JB: Awesome, good lad. But again, you got to make the best of a tough situation and you did that, you brought home some massive points for the team, so congrats, buddy.

    VB: Thank you.

    JB: Kimi, that was a tough race. It looked like you and Lewis were disappearing off into the distance, it looked easy although obviously it’s never easy but it looked it. And then you had the problem, but pretty awesome still to fight back to third position. How do you feel about it?

    Kimi Raikkonen: Yeah, I think we got more or less most of the part of the race, the car in the race. They were just a bit faster today. Tried at some point to go a little bit to go faster but then unfortunately there seemed to be an unlucky situation which keeps following us and for whatever reason the front left not really exploded but the canvas came off from the tyre. Luckily I could get back quite fast and the car stayed in one piece. Unfortunately, Seb had the same thing a lap later more or less the same place. Not happy but better than nothing.

    JB: A strong weekend, which is nice to see. Lastly, Lewis, this is the first time I’ve actually stood on this podium so it’s great to stand here with this guy who did an absolutely amazing job. Look at what you’ve done. Look how happy all these people are with that awesome performance.

    LH: It’s incredible, man. Thank you. You deserved to be up here so many times when you were racing here. But it’s great that there are now two Brits up here still. Thanks so much and again, just a big thanks to everyone. You guys, I’m coming over to crowd surf, just so you know. Be ready for me! And everyone who’s watching, thank you so much for the support, all the kids, Billy, you guys down here. I really want to say thank you so much for coming. You guys have inspired me this weekend, and this race is for you. Thank you.

    JB: Awesome, well congratulations to you guys up here, especially you. And thank you so much for this. This is spectacular. The British fans are the best in world and Silverstone was a very special Grand Prix this weekend because of these guys. That’s it from here; see you in two weeks at the Hungaroring.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Congratulations; the win in numbers: your 57th career win, fourth successive here at Silverstone and fifth overall, tying the record with Jim Clark. And of course in the Drivers’ championship you’re now just one point behind Sebastian Vettel. A very dramatic Grand Prix; you seemed to be completely in control but it was all going on around you. How aware were you of what was going on around you and how in control did you feel?

    LH: Yeah, I was very very fortunate, firstly the team did an exceptional job this weekend. The car felt great and really was generally faultless. So proud of everyone at the factory. Valtteri did an exceptional job to come back from way back in eighth, I believe. Perfect weekend for us as a team. I was up front, got a very good start and after that I was really able to manage the gap between myself and Kimi and just bit by bit, extend… We were planning on stopping on lap 19 or something like that so I was able to extend it by quite a bit and then at the end, I was… I had a decent gap and it was just about managing that 12-14s gap I had to Kimi. I could see on the TV screens at a few places around the track Valtteri’s race. I got to see a bit of the race. And then I heard at the end that there were some tyre blow-outs and I had some graining and some vibration on mine so the last couple of laps I took it easy because I knew that others were having trouble. But yeah, coming across the line, I could have kept going, I felt like I could have kept going. I think we really had the legs this weekend. You just saw the crowd… I’m sweating not necessarily because of the race but because I was just running outside and got to crowd-surf with everyone. The support has been immense this weekend. The crowd… I’m glad that the rain held off. The amount of flags, the amount of support, the energy was tremendous. I had some really great support from some Great Ormond Street children, Starlight Foundation children and Billy Monger has come down and given us… he really blessed the team and also a new friend of mine, Michael, who’s fighting cancer has come down from South Africa and he was down by the car as I was on the podium so really this is a dedication to him and to all those children who are fighting.

    Q: And just very quickly, you really extended either side of the pit stops; the gap went right out to Kimi either side… just very quickly, how did you do that?

    LH: At which point?

    Q: Either side of the pit stops, the gap went right out to Kimi.

    LH: Yeah, I’m not really following. Either side of it, yeah, sorry? Yeah, I think at that point once I got my tyres to balance and temperature, then I started to pick up the pace. I knew that I had three or four laps to go so I gave it everything and in that period of time, I happened to be just over a second up on Kimi per lap so that was really where I was able to make the difference. The pit stop was flawless and so I think overall the whole pit stop period of time was bang on. And then my out lap was great and those next few laps… because Valtteri was behind, it was important that I didn’t hold him up so I was trying to get away and get away enough that I didn’t also disturb his air.

    Q: Valtteri, from ninth to second, 36 laps on the soft. Tell us about that, did you encounter any issues such as the Ferraris did later in the race, towards the end of that stint and also you were looking for that gap to try and attack Vettel. Tell us about that?

    VB: Yes, so for us, as a team, really perfect weekend for circumstances, how we started today, me in ninth place. It’s just amazing what we’ve done today. The car was so good to drive today. It was really quick and the team did a perfect strategy for both of us, I think, me and Lewis. I did start the race on the soft tyre and had to run really long and we actually had to extend the first stint quite a bit because everything was still looking good. Yeah, towards the end, when I went to the supersoft the pace was quick with the fresh tyre. Sebastian was closing on Kimi. I think realistically he would have been a bit too far away, definitely, for me to get P2 but then I got lucky, on the other hand, he got unlucky to lose his second place in the end but 1-2 is perfect.

    Q: Kimi, finally, Max Verstappen held up Vettel in the early stages creating a nice opportunity to build a good lead. Did you think at that point you were pretty comfortable in second place and then tell us about the dramas at the end? Was there any kind of warning before that left front went? Did you hit any debris?

    KR: We were quite comfortable in second place, but it wasn’t the easiest feeling. We had a weekend in which it was quite difficult in some places. In the race it was similar to how it was on Friday so I tried to hang on to Lewis and tried to keep the gap but I just didn’t have enough speed today. Everything was going more or less smoothly and the gap was fine for us but then two laps from the end, I don’t know what happened, just before turn six, the left tyre didn’t explode but the rubber part came off suddenly in the middle of the straight and I don’t think I hit anything. Everything felt normal before that moment and luckily I came back quite fast. I think I destroyed the front wing after that because the tyre was flapping around but we managed to get a decent position. I was very unlucky but in a way lucky. I didn’t want to… the same happened to Seb a lap later. I think the same happened to him. I don’t know, I don’t know what happened. We could have been second today but we didn’t really have the speed against Lewis today. Obviously we have some work to be done. We had a decent start but once we fell behind, we had no real chance to beat them.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Mike Doodson – GP Plus) Lewis, warmest congratulations. You have now equalled Jim Clark and Alain Prost with five wins in this great race and we know how much you treasure that perpetual gold trophy. I was just wondering if you were planning to commission of your own, because you don’t get to keep it, if you haven’t done so already?

    LH: I’ve been wanting to get a copy of it for a long time. I don’t know if I have one yet, to be honest I haven’t seen any of my trophies for a long time; I put them in storage! But one day I will see, but I definitely want to get a copy of that one, it’s a beautiful looking trophy, it has so many legends stamped on it. I’m proud to see that the Hamilton name is there, fully ingrained in it and will be there way beyond my time.

    Q: (Andrew Dillon – The Sun) Lewis, where for the next race will the preparations be – Disneyland maybe, something like that? What does it say about you as a driver and this season that you can go on your controversial trip, as you did, and come back here and win so convincingly. What does it tell us about you that you are able to do that, please?

    LH: I think it… there is no reason to question my preparations. I have more poles than most. I am obviously building up the wins that I have. My performance is second to none. If you don’t know now that my preparation is mostly on point, then I guess you never will. I will be training hard next week in different locations, as I always do. I have work, so I will be working and focusing all week and then I will be in the UK for at least two days when I will be at the factory and then I will go to the race.

    Q: (Don Kennedy – Hawkes Bay Today) Lewis, congratulations on your fifth win. Obviously the speed of the Mercedes indicates that a fourth world championship for you now is more than a real possibility. If you were to achieve that would you consider retirement, which has been mentioned in the media a few times or would you carry on for a fifth title?

    LH: I think that’s so far ahead, to be honest. We’ve got so long to go in the season. At the moment I’m loving driving. I feel like I’m at my prime. I feel like I’m driving better than ever and I’m loving driving with the team. So I can’t imagine… there is no current reason to want to have to stop. I’m still enjoying it and I still have a contract with the team for at least a year so I plan to see that out at the moment.

    Q: (Andrew Dillon – The Sun) Lewis again, two parts please: can you a) can you talk about the feelings of crowd-surfing out there and b) what it means to have cut the lead at the top to just one point at the half way point, and to do it today at Silverstone?

    LH: Growing up watching the TV and seeing Nigel and seeing the greats, to see the reception they got from the fans, I had never seen it on TV at any other circuit with any driver, that kind of experience. It was always “how amazing that would be, I wonder what that feels like?” And every year for the last four years I have got to feel that and each year it feels like it has grown and got bigger, more accepted and like I just now went and did the crowd-surfing and they pulled me out into the crowd. The reception has just been amazing and so energising and really fuelling up the inspiration to go out there and put a weekend’s performance in like that. I saw that… I was constantly looking up where Vettel was and I could see that he was in third and hoping that Valtteri was going to catch him and then I saw the battle and I was like “yes!” I was super happy when he got past him. I was thinking: “we’ll take that”, firstly for the team and secondly it’s great for the result. But then I couldn’t have imagined or dreamed that he would have the problem at the end. So to have that close up this close at the British Grand Prix, that’s fantastic, so happy. Yeah, we just got to keep pushing, keep fighting. Clearly this weekend we have shown we are a team that is pushing. For the first time in history to come into a second era of car and still be in the fight I think it’s great. I think the fans are enjoying it. Kimi drove a great race and he was very quick today and I think it’s great to have this constant battle with the red cars.

    Q: (Sef Harding – Xiro Xone News) Lewis, first of all congratulations and thanks for taking everyone on this wonderful Sunday drive through this beautiful English countryside. I want you to describe this weekend, how it felt to take this win, to equal Jim Clark, to do this in front of people who love. Your brother is here, you have people who supporting you. What’s that feeling been like to do that as a British driver and to keep that lineage of success for British drivers in representing your country?

    LH: It just doesn’t feel… it does feel real I have to say. Not that it doesn’t feel real, it just feels… it’s hard to find the words. When I was racing here I just couldn’t imagine I’d be. I could imagine one day driving a Formula One car and maybe winning the championship but I couldn’t imagine having the poles I have, matching the likes of Jim Clark and Aytron Senna and having the Hamilton name amongst those stars. I’m really proud and I have to really take it back again to the incredible dedication from my family, my dad. The upbringing that I have had is obviously the reason that I’m able to do what I do. The opportunity that was provided by my dad. And then the love that I get here is pretty… It’s one of the most special, if not the most special thing that happens in the season for me. You don’t get it anywhere else and I don’t even think any other driver gets it in any national country like it is at the British Grand Prix. So there is no way we can lose this grand prix. There is just no way it is going to happen as far as I’m concerned.

    Q: (Chiara Rainis – tuttomotoriweb.com) Question to Kimi, at one point you said there was something in your cockpit that was moving around. What was it?

    KR: I don’t remember which part, halfway through the race there was something going around underneath my heels, around the pedals and it moved… I don’t know, there was something. I haven’t looked and it didn’t bother me too much, apart from going under my heels a few times but then, y’know, we’ll find out later what it was. Maybe there’s some rubber than flew into the cockpit or stuff like that. It happens sometimes. It bothered me a few times and then flew somewhere into a corner and didn’t really disturb me anymore.

    Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) Two questions, one for Valtteri, one for Kimi. Valtteri, obviously the first part of the plan went really well when you got past the two Force Indias, Vandoorne and Hülkenberg very quickly – but then you started to close on Max and Seb as they were fighting. Was there a temptation to get into that fight – or you needed to give some space to keep your tyres alive. Second part of the question, are you happy with the way Sebastian defended on the second part of the race. And for Kimi, again, closer in racing then in qualifying – but not close enough as you said. Is this circuit-related or do you think Mercedes has taken an extra step here?

    KR: I don’t know whether we’re closer or not. I think the first part, yes but around the pitstops, probably not, so I have to say, obviously we have to look and try to learn. For sure last few circuits hasn’t been ideal for us. I’m sure Hungary should be a better circuit for us, and our strengths – but we wait and see. Need to keep working hard and try to improve. Try to keep fighting as much as we can.

    VB: For me, in the first stint, that’s when the start of the race was very good. Got through a couple of cars pretty quickly with the strong car that we had, that made it definitely easier with the good pace since lap one really. And when I was getting closer to Seb and Max, they were battling and it is always – even though you have pace – it is always difficult to get through if there’s two cars because one car between has the DRS. So, for me at that point, I knew I had to run long in that stint to make my strategy work. So it was kind of just managing the gap. Kind of hoping they would get themselves into some kind of trouble, by fighting that hard, and just waiting for my opportunity. The opportunity came later: they both pitted, I still had good tyres left and it was up to me to try to maximise whatever was left in the tyre. The fight with Sebastian for first time I tried to get past. I was going on the outside, he was defending on the inside, I think we were pretty much side-by-side. Yeah, for me there was no more space than to go off the track. Yeah, that is racing. For sure he was defending hard and I was trying hard from the outside, so no drama on that. Next lap, tried again, got a bit closer and managed to do the same move. That was OK.

    Q: (Sunni Upal – The Sun) Hi Lewis, five wins here now, going to Hungary soon, another track you’ve won many times at. These are longevity records but you’re still at the peak of your career. How many more years do you think you have in you? How many more wins around here?

    LH: I still feel young, so y’know… I still feel young, still feel fit. I’m sure I can go for a long time if I really wanted but yeah, I really have no idea what the future holds. All I can do is make sure that I maximise every single day and every opportunity that I get that comes ahead of me, I continue to enjoy my life the way I want to enjoy my life, regardless of what people say. Yeah, hopefully continue to make my family proud and my team proud and my fans proud. Yeah.

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Lewis, you were very down after Austria, understandably and you were good with us and explained why, saying you were disappointed because you care so much, you’d had bad luck. This race, you’ve had a great race, good fortune as well with seeing Sebastian go off – just wondered what it does for you mentally, psychologically – a boost in the title race, really. What this actually means, if you can just describe it.

    LH: I personally don’t take much from the incident with Sebastian. More so just on our performance this weekend: through practice, through… even more so arriving with all the smoke and mirrors that was happening around, so much negativity trying to pull the weekend down but obviously it had no affect, and it didn’t affect… the fans were out-and-out loving and supporting all weekend, regardless. Yeah, and just to be able to go out there and perform. Just really proud of all the hard work that all the team have done, the engineers, our work ethic. As I said, in the last few races I think we’ve had the pace, it’s just unfortunate our hard work has really not shown in the results. So to come here and have that weekend, still not perfectly faultless but there’s more faultless races to come in the future. So, yeah, we’ve got Budapest… we didn’t even bring an upgrade here. We’ve got more coming hopefully in the future. It’s going to be a close race, I think. It’s going to go right down to the wire, clearly. But I’m hoping for a cleaner stint of races for Valtteri and I.

    Q: (Stephen Camp – Paddock Magazine) Question to Lewis for the first part and probably to you and Valtteri for the second part. Do you feel that now, at the halfway point of the season, the gap is now one point, do you feel it’s a turning point for yourself in the season – and second part to both of you, do you feel that Mercedes have perhaps maybe stepped ahead of Ferrari in terms of the competitiveness of both cars?

    LH: I think it’s difficult to ever say it’s a turning point. I think ultimately there’s constantly turns and you guys about the pendulum, back and forth. Obviously the pendulum swung a little bit this weekend and I think that’s only good for Formula One, it’s only good for the fans, probably super-exciting for them to see the close battle that we’re continuing to have. Without a doubt we hope it stays the way that it’s swung this time but, as you know, a pendulum swings. We’re just hoping that we can be on our toes to react to whatever is thrown at us in the next races.

    Valtteri?

    VB: Well, like Lewis said, we didn’t bring anything new really for this race. For sure it is always going to be track-specific. This seemed to be a strong one for us but as Lewis said as well, as a team we’ve been working really well together and the team has been flat-out since our struggles earlier in the year. That kind of is now paying off, all the hard work, and the car is feeling better and better, every weekend. So, can’t really still be too satisfied and say that we are ahead. We need to keep trying, try and get the car better, keep working on it, like we are doing now.

  • 2017 British Grand Prix: Post Qualifying Press Conference

    2017 British Grand Prix: Post Qualifying Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    2 – Kimi RAIKKONEN (Ferrari)

    3 – Sebastian VETTEL(Ferrari)

     

    TRACKSIDE INTERVIEWS (Conducted by David Coulthard and Jenson Button)

    David COULTHARD: Lewis, we’re going to come straight to you. Fantastic qualifying, unbelievable. You must be feeling good about that?

    Lewis HAMILTON: I feel great about it, especially with a great crowd like this all the way round the track. Thank you guys so much for your support. I hope you liked the lap.

    Jenson BUTTON: It’s the first time I’ve watched qualifying live and just seeing the cars through Becketts, it just looked awesome. We all love Silverstone, for the circuit itself but these guys… when you crossed the finish line and put it P1, the cheer that went up was absolutely amazing.

    LH: I always try and save the last ‘til best – the best ‘til last. So how much support I’ve had this weekend; I needed to make sure I got that lap in. I didn’t do it the last race so really made sure I saved it this weekend. Thank you guys so much. I hope you’re happy with it.

    JB: Qualifying, around this track anyway, in those conditions, when it was wet at the start of qualifying, I know what it’s like, it’s so tough, when you’ve  got a good crowd, you just want it to be dry the whole way through so wet to start with must have been a bit tricky.

    LH: I mean, I mean, I generally like it to be dry but I quite like the conditions when they’re tricky. These are typical English conditions, this is where I grew up, this is what we grew up racing in, you know, so I felt very comfortable and the team did a fantastic job. And then when it dried up, that’s when you can… particularly when it’s just quite cool, the tyres were working perfectly and that high speed section, as you said, was incredible.

    JB: And Copse is flat?

    LH: Copse is not flat! You can do it flat but it’s actually slower because you’re exiting in eighth (gear) so it’s almost flat but what’s really interesting is turn 11, 12, 13 is flat.

    JB: So Maggotts and Becketts?

    LH: Yeah, you go in and the lefthander is flat which wasn’t before.

    JB: That looked awesome mate and tomorrow, exciting?

    LH: Yeah, well it’s definitely the best position to start from. The long runs were looking great so I need to make sure I do it for these guys.

    JB: Great job, Kimi, how did it feel out there?

    Kimi RAIKKONEN: Felt OK. I think in the morning it felt a little bit more tricky. Obviously conditions were not easy, changing a lot but I think the car behaved as good as it could, the best that it’s been this weekend but obviously still not fast enough for the first place.

    JB: But from my point of view it looks a lot closer to the Mercedes than a lot of us expected. Do you think in the race there’s a good chance that you can…

    KR: We try, we try, we try and see what happens. I obviously have nothing to lose so we try to make a good race for the team and catch up on the podium.

    JB: Good job, buddy. Sebastian! I was saying to Lewis, it was the first time I’ve ever watched qualifying live and to see the cars through Becketts is just awesome. Last year was good but this year to see the cars… with this much downforce, it must be awesome to drive.

    Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, I don’t think we know yet how good it is. One day we will look back and say ‘yeah, it’s unbelievable.’ It’s basically flat until – what’s the last part? – Chapel. Yeah. It’s flat through turn 12, it’s eighth gear, it’s unbelievable. The car just sticks.

    JB: As I was saying to Kimi, you guys seem to be a lot closer than what I expected anyway, going into qualifying. Obviously now I know everything!

    SV: Thank you. It felt good this morning, to be fair. The car really came alive. I think yesterday we weren’t really happy but this morning was really good. Shame in the last run in Q3 I think there was a bit more but I think in the end we got the best that we could.

    JB: I know the fans here are loving that Lewis is on pole, it’s awesome for British motor sport but I must say that having you fighting with Lewis makes the championship. It really does and for me, it’s been awesome to watch you two fighting and that’s what Formula One is all about. So congratulations for that, buddy.

    SV: Thank you, thank you.

     

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Congratulations to Lewis, a fifth British Grand Prix pole position, four years in a row here, sixth of 2017 and, perhaps most important of all, one short of the all-time record. Clearly an inspired lap there, massive challenge with the conditions and pole by half a second. Quite a statement. A statement you obviously came here intending to make, and tomorrow you go for a record-equalling win.

    LH: Well, firstly I want to say a big thank you to all the fans that have come out.  Every year it’s amazing to see how many people are here from the Thursday onwards. I fly in so I get to see all of the campsites and everything and know that they’re there way before the majority of us and just every lap, every time I come through the corners I can see them on the left out of the corner of my eye, waving support. So it really means the world to me, and I can feel it, and that energy absolutely inspires me to get laps like that. It’s your home race. I love this track as well. The track just feels incredible. We worked very hard and the engineers did a fantastic job to get the setup where I needed it and, of course, a tricky qualifying as always with the overcast, and a bit of rain – but as I said on the grid, that’s the conditions I grew up in, so I felt very much at home. And then when it dried up I was really able to utilise the tyres. That final lap felt fantastic. Of course I wasn’t expecting to have a gap like that but the gap… that’s what is the target. It definitely felt great and very proud and, as I said, I’m thankful.

    Q: Kimi, coming to you, saved the best ‘til last clearly. You’ve always been very quick here but what’s it like driving around here with these 2017 cars? And also, given that there’s two of you here and Valtteri’s starting some way back, opportunity tomorrow for the two of you to try something on Lewis with strategy? Undercuts, overcuts, etcetera. What do you think?

    KR: Obviously, there is always opportunities. What we’re going to do, and whatever we do, is it going to work out? That’s a different story always. The car… obviously conditions were tricky, especially at the beginning. It was getting better and better and it was pretty OK in the end. The car felt OK. I don’t know exactly how far we were from first but I have a pretty good guess where we were giving away lap time. I think we have a good car, unfortunately not fast enough but for the race hopefully we can challenge them and give a good run, we’re two, both of us there so we try to make the best out of it.

    Q: Coming to you Sebastian, it sounded on the radio as you came back in to the pits as though you were unhappy with where you’d been put out onto the track. Was it for that final run that it hadn’t worked out for you? Maybe you could clarify that message – and also do you think you’ve got the race pace between you to have a go at Lewis tomorrow?

    SV: Obviously as Kimi said, there’s always opportunities, so we’ll see. Obviously, the target is to put him under pressure but, yeah, they’ve certainly been competitive all weekend. Nevertheless, I think it’s been a positive day for us. We improved the car. In quali the car was great. Last run, yeah, I was a bit compromised, the first sector especially, because the tyres were not where they should have been. Maybe I should have seen that better ont eh outlap but I was a bit in traffic and we were, I think, a bunch of three or four cars. Not ideal but anyways, I think it’s a decent result. As I said, the most important is that the car is good. We improved it for today and also tomorrow should be better.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Congratulations Lewis, great lap. Valtteri ran the soft tyre in Q2. I wondered whether that was an option for you, whether the team wanted the split strategy, and indeed with being on the supersoft for Q2 and being able to do that time in Q3 and have the feel for the grip?

    LH: Well, Valtteri’s on a different strategy due to… he had a gearbox change I believe, so just gives him a bit of a more open strategy tomorrow, being that it sets him back. And this is  a track where I think you can potentially overtake so it was not a bad place to take it. It’s not the greatest when you are on a softer tyre and then you go… on the soft and then to the supersoft next. The balance generally is a little bit different – but nonetheless I’ve experienced that in the last race and this one obviously I was able to stay on plan, on a target without any issues, which is very much needed. The car just felt like it progressed really well. I think actually the rain was a blessing at the beginning because didn’t have to use the slick tyres at the beginning. Saved them to have two runs in Q2 and then two runs in Q3. So it was just a nice, steady build-up.

    Q: (Sara Palmer – BBC Northampton) How would you feel about Silverstone losing the British Grand Prix if they can’t reach a deal with Liberty Media?

    LH: Is that to me? Well, I’ve said it many times, I feel like this is the home of motorsport. The UK, we’ve obviously got lots of teams here. You see the crowd that we have every grand prix. There’s no reason to not have a grand prix. I could understand if there was no-one turning up and it was costing a lot – but the fans save up and spend so much money on these weekends. I think it would be a real shame to lose it. I don’t believe for a second that we will lose the British Grand Prix because the world would erupt, I think. The world of sport. I will do whatever I can to encourage them and make sure it does happen. We do have a lot of great circuits in the UK, be great to be able to utilise this one and another one. We used to have two grands prix in Spain, the second one wasn’t any good – the track – so it would be kinda cool to use another great one here, maybe. Potentially. Who knows?

    Q: (Ysef Harding – Xero Xone News) Lewis, you hooked it up out there today and you have a lot of milestones here, you tied Clark in poles today, you could tie him tomorrow in wins. You see the banners, you see the flags, you see your people out there rooting for you, you have a lot of love pushing you tomorrow. Tell us how that feels heading into tomorrow’s race?

    LH: It’s really hard to put into words because… of course I grew up watching TV, I remember seeing Nigel with the support and thinking, “wow, I wonder what that feels like?” I’m sure we’ve all done that. I wonder what it feels like having all that focus and attention and support pointing into one spot, into me. I’ve been really privileged over the past ten years to come here and receive that love. I feel like I’ve really grown with the fans over this time. It definitely helps when you have good results. The fans leave… regardless if we do win they still have a great weekend but of course it helps when you have a Brit win the grand prix and British flags at P1. It really is, it’s so energizing. I think Nigel mentioned years ago, I think he said it gives you a second, maybe it’s half a second. It definitely feels like it gives you something. You carry that energy. I think that applies to life in general. If you are feeling positive on a day, your day just generally goes a lot better, or if you are around positive people you generally have a better day. Every time I leave the garage, every time I come out of the pit lane, the crowd on the left, go through Brooklands and Turn 7, Priory I guess it is maybe… it’s not Priority is it?

    SV: Is it Woodcote?

    LH: Woodcote? I don’t know, but Turn 7, and you can see the crowd on the left it’s massively encouraging. This weekend I’ve got Billy [Monger] here, my brother’s here, and others, the Great Ormond Street kids are here, the Starlight children are here, so many inspiring kids as well, so there’s just a lot of positive energy, a lot of inspiration around.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Lewis, can you tell us how much different the section from Copse to Chapel is, in terms of gear, speeds. I heard you saying on the TV that Copse could be flat but it’s better not to, can you explain it?

    LH: Yeah, I mean the downforce is incredible. One of the reasons also why this track is so great is that we always generally have through that section a headwind. So it’s like being in a wind tunnel with just the optimum downforce package. Copse… obviously we were building up to it because it was a little bit damp at the beginning. You can take it flat in eighth but it’s not necessarily that quick, you scrub quite a lot of speed off and then the RPM potentially would drop a little bit too much, so I don’t personally do it flat and it didn’t seem to cost me any time. And then when you come through Maggots and Becketts, that section is just on fire, you just can’t imagine how incredible it is when you come through 10, 11… 10 is obviously always flat, 11 has been flat for years, 12, from 2007 to now, just bit by bit, you’re letting off later and later and now you’re kind of still on the gas through 12 or into 12 at least. And then 13 is a fantastic corner because it’s very bumpy through there. You’ve got maximum downforce, a lot of compression on the tyres and it’s all about the exit. And then obviously coming down to Stowe, which is again, the way the corner is it, you’re turning already as you start to brake and you’re trail-braking all the way in. You only dab the brake and you’re straight back on the gas. It’s unbelievable! There’s great G. I don’t know how much quicker we are through those corners but I’m assuming we’re 10k, 20k faster than previous years.

    Q: (Jens Nagler – Bild) A question for Sebastian. Without the problems you described do you think you would have had a shot at Lewis’ time in the end?

    SV: No.

    Q: (Jens Nagler – Bild) Was he some kind of unbeatable today?

    SV: Well, I think the time he put in especially in the end was very strong. I think the one he put in before we were able to beat but yeah, obviously the gap at the end was bigger, around half a second, a bit bigger, so I think he owned the pole position today.

    Q: (Ralf Bach – Autobild Motor Sport) A question for Lewis and both Ferrari drivers: the engine mapping you used in Q3, can you use it in the race as well or do you have to turn down?

    KR: We don’t have much to push in qualifying. At least from what we have seen in the past it’s a bit of a different story with them at least what we have seen in the past and I think probably [inaudible] I dunno if you can run the same settings in the race, so I have no idea.

    LH: I didn’t actually follow what you said there but for me, we are able to use it in the race but the engine has to last a long period of time, so it depends how you want to share it. But I think it’s the same among us all, I think we all have a max power setting and you have to divide the spend over those races, so…

    SV: I’m using the same engine as Kimi.

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lewis, I don’t want to dampen your afternoon, but you are under investigation by the stewards for blocking Romain Grosjean during Q3. Do you know anything about the incident. Did you block him?

    LH: I need to watch the replay. I was coming round to start my lap, Valtteri was up ahead and I was, as we all do, trying to get the space. Behind me was one of the Force Indias who then came in, so there was no one behind me. Literally, as I was about to get on the gas I looked in the mirror and I saw there was a car coming so I went as quick as I could. I don’t know if I got in the way, and if I did I apologise. I obviously wasn’t… I had no indication from the team that there was anyone coming. I think I just got away without blocking him but, as I said, I need to look at the footage… I don’t think he was that close when I had pulled away but I will have a look.

    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Lewis, you were just describing that section with the head wind and the downforce effect. I think yesterday, with the crosswind, you had a bit of a moment going into Becketts and I wonder if you would just describe that characteristic of Silverstone as well: the effect of the crosswind? Because for us, even on motorways, when we feel the car move, it’s pretty scary, and I wonder what it’s like at that speed and how you can react to that?

    LH: Yeah, I think, at that point you’re completely sunken into the seat so you feel absolutely everything, more than ever. You’re just squashed into the car. Every moment, every bump you really do feel that. Yeah, every now and then you commit to 12, as you attack it, sometimes you have… whether it is a crosswind or just the back just gets loose, it’s actually  quite easy to correct it. It’s much harder in the rain, for example. I had another similar… I went in turn 9, Copse, big snap and that’s a lot harder to catch because it happens quicker. I think when you’re at the high speed, I don’t know, maybe just prepared, it’s easier because the grip comes back easier but yeah, the correction, I find doing the correction is not too bad. I might be good at rallying.

    Q: (Agris Lauzinieks – Kapitals) Lewis, do you miss competing against Nico this season or Sebastian is offering enough of a challenge? And why?

    LH: No, to your first question, and the second, I think Sebastian and Kimi are putting up a serious fight. Ferraris have been exceptional this year, they’ve not really made any mistakes. Consistency is really why they’re in the lead, they’ve got a great car and they’re performing on the top level. It’s great that we have this battle going between us all:  at some points to practise within a tenth, just the top three, which is great to see, I think, within Formula One. To see Red Bull picking up their pace as well but I really think you generally have the top top drivers in the bunch, really fighting it out at the front. Obviously there’s a couple of others that could be there if they had the car but it’s obviously not the case.

    Q: (Daniele Sparisci – Corriera della Sera) To the Ferrari drivers: do you expect tomorrow to be closer to Mercedes and do you (inaudible) as it already happens in the other races?

    SV: Yes. I think we’ve always been close on Sundays so I think sitting here, having expectations I think the answer is yes, but we will see tomorrow.

    KR: Nothing more to add.

  • F1 2017: British Gp Qualifying Report – Hamilton Supreme

    F1 2017: British Gp Qualifying Report – Hamilton Supreme

    Mercedes driver and home-town favourite Lewis Hamilton scored the 67th pole position of his career ahead of the 2017 British grand prix.

    There was little in the way of a challenge to Lewis Hamilton under the cloudy Northamptonshire skies as he imperiously took pole position by half a second. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen will share the front row of the grid with the Brit while Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen line up in third and fourth, respectively.

    While Valtteri Bottas set the fourth quickest time in the final part of quali his five place grid penalty for a gearbox change means that he will start ninth. Meanwhile, Nico Hulkenberg punched above his weight and will start fifth in Renault. Equally impressive was McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne. The Belgian driver will start ninth and has out-qualified teammate Fernando Alonso for the first time in 2017.

    Saturday qualifying was already compromised for Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo incurring a five place grid penalty for a pre-cautionary gearbox change. However, to add insult to extreme frustration the Aussie driver suffered a suspected Turbo failure in the first part of the qualifying session which will see him start 19th on Sunday’s grid.

    Qualifying Standings:

    POS DRIVER CAR TIME GAP
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m26.600s  –
    2 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m27.147s  0.547s
    3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m27.356s  0.756s
    4 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Renault 1m28.130s  1.530s
    5 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1m28.856s  2.256s
    6 Sergio Perez Force India/Mercedes 1m28.902s  2.302s
    7 Esteban Ocon Force India/Mercedes 1m29.074s  2.474s
    8 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren/Honda 1m29.418s  2.818s
    9 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes Penalty  –
    10 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 1m29.549s  –
    11 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1m30.193s  –
    12 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso/Renault 1m30.355s  –
    13 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso/Renault 1m31.368s  –
    14 Felipe Massa Williams/Mercedes 1m31.482s  –
    15 Lance Stroll Williams/Mercedes 1m42.573s  –
    16 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1m42.577s  –
    17 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber/Ferrari 1m42.593s  –
    18 Marcus Ericsson Sauber/Ferrari 1m42.633s  –
    19 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull/Renault 1m42.966s  –
    20 Fernando Alonso McLaren/Honda 1m30.600s  –
  • Hamilton Keeps Mercedes Ahead in 3rd Free Practice for British Grand Prix

    Hamilton Keeps Mercedes Ahead in 3rd Free Practice for British Grand Prix

    Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time for the 3rd Free Practice session for the British Grand Prix with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel just 0.032s slower.

    The session got underway under cloudy and windy conditions with and 80% chance of rain forecast for the session. Drivers were out setting times quite early in the session before the rain. The rain did eventually start falling with about 17mins left in the session.

    Hamilton’s time of 1:28.063 on the super softs gave him the top spot. Behind him Valtteri Bottas crossed the line just 0.074s slower than Hamilton in 1:28.137. Vettel was on a very quick lap behind the Mercedes pair and set the fastest 1st and 2nd sectors to go on and split the Mercedes drivers finishing just 0.032s off Hamilton’s benchmark. Vettel’s best time of 1:28.095, split the Mercedes and gave him the 2nd fastest spot of the session.

    Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen finished 4th fastest more than half a second off the pace ahead of Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg in 5th.

    Red Bull were slightly caught out by the rain later in the session with Max Verstappen but Daniel Ricciardo was able to set a time on the super softs to place him 6th fastest. Verstappen caught the rain on his flying lap on the super softs and went off at Turn 6 bringing out the yellow flags. His time of 1:29.904 was set on the soft tyres and earned him 8th place.

    Splitting the Red Bulls was Haas’ Romain Grosjean in 7th.

    Rounding out the top 10 was Felipe Massa in the Williams and Stoffel Vandoorne in the McLaren. Vandoorne this time just edging out Alonso for the top 10 spot.

    The rain that started falling in the last 17mins of FP3 is forecast to stop well before qualifying. We are expecting a dry track for qualifying but we just may see things mixed up with the rain.

  • 2017 British Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference – Part 2

    2017 British Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference – Part 2

    PART TWO: Cyril ABITEBOUL (Renault), Andy COWELL (Mercedes), Jonathan NEALE (McLaren)

    Q: Cyril, 40th anniversary for Renault in Formula One. The retro look that we saw in London, I hear it might roll out again with the team again later this weekend, retro cars on parade. Tell us about this moment and what F1 has meant to Renault?

    Cyril ABITEBOUL: How long have you got! Forty years, that’s a lot. Lots of success. I think the best way I would summarise it, every time we’ve been in Formula One and attacking Formula One we’ve been successful, whether in the late 80s-90s with Williams, 2005-6 obviously with Fernando in the blue car and then later with Red Bull Racing. That’s why obviously the pressure is very big, that we’ve been successful and the expectations are high, that we get back at that level. For Renault it meant also that Renault has moved from being a French carmaker to a European and then a global carmaker. A global brand. Part of a very large alliance and about to become the largest carmaker in the world with Nissan and Mitsubishi. So obviously everything has changed. Formula One has changed. We have changed and that’s what we want to celebrate with this anniversary.

    Q: Now, Robert Kubica. The comeback seems to be gathering pace. He had a second test this week at Ricard. What can you tell us about that. What are the plans for the Hungary post-grand prix test in the 2017 car, and how close is he to being ready to race in Formula One again?

    CA: Well, that’s a second test after obviously a first test. The first test was nothing more than an opportunity for him to get back behind the steering wheel into a Formula One car – but there is a big caveat, is that it’s a Formula One car from 2012 with demo tyres, with V8 engine, normally-aspirated, fantastic noise but doesn’t exactly match the current F1 car. So, whatever we do is not quite representative. That second test, however, we sort-of walked more towards what could look like a plan in order to assess, to give both him and us the opportunity to assess a little bit more his limitation and his abilities. What I can tell you is that he is still quick, he is still very consistent and, more importantly, he still has this energy, this drive, this sort of enthusiasm that he has always had, he always carried to him and to the team. Really too early to talk about next steps. I don’t want to add to the speculation. Right now the focus is on, y’know, getting the most out of the overall line-up and package that we have and then we’ll be thinking about 2018 in due course – which is not just now.

    Q: Has the evaluation shown that he is capable of racing a Formula One car?

    CA: I would not say that – and I don’t want to say yes or no. It’s not like a test that you’re passing at an exam. We’ve not seen any obvious road blocks. Having said that, you know, again testing in this circumstance and testing in a more modern car is something completely different. So, you know, again, this situation is complex. We are not doing that for PR purposes, even though we see that it is creating a lot of media expectation and focus. It’s not what we’re doing. We care so much more for Robert than this.

    Q: Andy, coming to you. New engine for both the works drivers. How far ahead is it from the previous one.

    Andy COWELL: Yes. Phase 2.1 engine, installed for both Lewis and Valtteri today. In terms of improvement compared to the previous one, it’s actually very similar. It’s exactly the same spec as we installed with the customers in Canada and today’s been an exercise in checking the health of it and dialling it in from a calibration perspective.

    Q: We had an interesting discussion in the previous session about the next generation engines – obviously it’s a big decision. Christian Horner was saying that it could be around for ten years. The car industry in 2030 could be unrecognisable compared to where it is today, but it does seem that there is a bit of consensus from the high-ups about what Formula One should do next on the engine rules in terms of parts. From your point of view, as an engine builder, what do you feel about the direction going forward? What would you like to see?

    AC: I think there have been two very constructive meetings held in Paris, chaired by the FIA but with Ross Brawn and his team present, with the existing manufacturers and other OEMs that might be interested in coming in and also independent engine manufacturers and suppliers as well, component suppliers. And everybody’s expressed their opinion on what 2021 should bring and I think you touch on a very good point that we need to make sure that the technology that’s introduced in Formula One in 2021 is ahead of the road car world in 2021 and perhaps mimicking  what will be in the showrooms in 2026, so that it’s a lead in to it but there’s a whole load of other topics that need to be discussed and the conclusion of the second meeting is that we need to do some more work. We need to break out into expert groups and that’s not necessarily us, that’s people from outside of Formula One that understand about engine noise and how that brings pleasure to people that are hearing it and that’s not necessarily (indistinct), the musicality of it, and then more scientific studies that we will be involved in like removing the MGU-H –  we have single turbo or twin turbos. And so the FIA are going to chair several meetings, several working groups that conclude over the summer on their particular subject matter and then in September, bring that back together and try and condense that into one overall package. As ever, there will be compromise but I think if we come up with the best package for Formula One, for the manufacturers, for the fans, for the drivers, for the chassis teams etc then it will be a good step.

    Q: Jonathan, coming to you: obviously now, six, seven months into the new management structure, working with Zak Brown, can we expect restructuring of the McLaren team as you look to the future? What do you… so good evaluation period, six, seven months, what can we expect going forward now?

    Jonathan NEALE:  I think it’s great for the whole business that we have the kind of footprint that we do, where we have the premium sports car business, a Formula One and the applied technology business, the opportunity to bring that back together under one shareholding is something that I think all of us internally are pleased about. Certainly in terms of our customers, then they don’t really differentiate between which group of shareholders own which bit of the product range, so that simplifies things. The executive committee with Mohamed and Mansour are steadfast in terms of the direction of travel of the business and I think what we will see is progressive evolution. I don’t think we are going to see another step change or complete restructuring, just a bringing back together, some re-clarification of what the brand is and what the brand isn’t and we’ve got an exciting growth agenda, both in the sports car business and in the applied technologies group and obviously we’ve got a job of work to do to make our Formula One programme competitive again.

    Q: Obviously there’s an awful lot of talk about the relationship with Honda; can you clarify the decision-making process and timescale from here; does it depend on the step they make later this year to define where the relationship goes and indeed, whether it even continues?

    JN: The simple answer to both questions is no. I can’t clarify the process or the timescale because there is no track or no set path. We have a contract with Honda and we’re working through some of the challenges that we have and I can’t duck the issue that for both Honda and McLaren we’re not where we need to be and that this season is not only challenging but frustrating. I think when Hasegawa-san was here last week he recognised some of that frustration and whilst making progress he also acknowledged – and I thought that was very honest of him – that there is still a long way to go between where Honda are currently and the benchmark with the gentlemen either side of me. So, Formula One is all about where the best come to compete and competition is tough and unforgiving. I don’t think it’s something that we can just sit on lightly – either Honda or McLaren – so that we’re having those kind of conversations. They’re uncomfortable conversations as you would expect and they’re things that we best do behind closed doors. I recognise the speculation, it’s Formula One. I’ve only been in it for 17 years now so one thing I recognise is that when anybody says they’re not talking to anybody, the answer is everybody’s talking to everybody. Drivers talk to everybody, teams talk to everybody so I don’t want to duck that. But we’re working through our issues with Honda. We need to get it fixed. It is not sustainable in its current form.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Marc Surer – Sky Germany) Cyril, you have a new floor on your car. Does it work?

    CA: When you say that, everyone wants to keep from everyone, everyone knows everything about everyone too. I’m sorry about that… it’s a decent step, you know, but more importantly it’s a completely different function philosophy. So it’s not just one part in isolation, it’s also the start of something: a development programme that we’re going to carry through the break and through the later part of the season. And it’s going in the direction that we’re hoping as far as we are talking on Friday afternoon.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Jonathan, you said everybody talks to everybody, so that obviously leads to the assumption that you’ve been talking to Cyril, you’ve been talking to Andy, you’ve probably been talking to Honda again and again, and whatever else. But where do you go from here? I mean have you set a deadline for any form of performance improvement whereby you say ‘right, that’s the notice period’ and can you then just simply tear up the contract and go and strike a deal with Andy? What do you do?

    JN: It’s like speed dating, isn’t it? You can’t tear up contracts… let’s start there. As Cyril and Andy will attest, there are no performance guarantees, looking forward, so of course we all set our plans. We set plans for chassis, plans for drivers, plans for engines, in terms of making that level of progression where nothing is guaranteed. As I said earlier about there being a set process or some set timescale, then I think that’s unrealistic. I think naturally we reach a point of inflection with Honda where we ask ourselves, internally, where do we go from here? What do we have to do differently to restore that level of competitiveness? There are clear constraints and  rules, within the sporting regulations… as you pitched at me this morning, you’re right, in order for an engine manufacturer to supply more than three teams does require FIA approval. The precedent for that –  both the gentlemen either side of me have supplied four teams, I think Andy in ’15, ’16 and I think Cyril 2014. Ferrari have also supplied four teams in the past but there is a… what we want to do is to try and make sure that what we’re doing is professional and good for the sport. It is good having Honda in Formula One and there isn’t anybody who doesn’t want to see a successful Honda in Formula One. And I say that regardless of anything that’s currently going on. Honda are investing a lot and putting a lot of resource into the programme and we’re working very hard with them but the fact is, given where we are in the Constructors’  championship at the moment, we’re not getting the job done. So there are constraints, as I say, in the sporting regulations. Everybody’s talking to everybody, we are making sure that we maintain our good relationships with FOM and the FIA during this process, while we work through a difficult situation.

    Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday) Cyril and Andy, possibly some comments. You are both manufacturers and you both would like to keep Honda in Formula One because more competition is good but clearly they are lagging far behind. Would either of you be prepared to assist them in perhaps improving their performance and have they come to you yet or is that something you are not prepared to say or if they do, would you be prepared to help them?

    CA: I think there has been some speculation in the past about that and the speculation was not in relation to Renault. But you know from here, in Formula One – in today’s Formula One – the engine has become a performance differentiator and even though at the end of this season, as part of the  Constructors’ definition, I think that as soon as it becomes a performance differentiator, it should be in keeping in the spirit of the regulations that there should not be any IP transfer or support for something that is making a primary impact on the overall performance of the package. So frankly I don’t remember anyone volunteering for helping us when we had our problems in the past. I don’t think it’s something that we would love and I don’t think it’s something that Honda would really entertain, in all honesty. I think it’s really a time issue. I don’t think it’s a matter of resource, it’s not a matter of skill set, it’s a matter of… basically when they stepped out of Formula One and when you get out, it takes an awful lot of time to rebuild and that’s the sort of time for the manufacturers on the one hand and the customer on the other hand, that is the main limit. It’s not about an interim measure and plus, it’s extremely difficult to implement such support because their engine architecture will be very different from mine so apart from supplying an engine to Honda, I’m not going to be about to help them. No, I don’t think this is really credible.

    AC: I think collectively we’ve helped with convergence in Formula One in the opening season, performance development through the year, but then the opportunity to do a big change with Honda coming in, we all agreed that Honda could have that same opportunity to change everything in the first year and then the request came from manufacturers in addition to Honda saying ‘please can we take this crazy token table away because it’s bad for the sport?’ It’s bad if somebody can’t train to get better and so we agreed, yeah, take the table away because it’s better for the sport because it means that you can innovate, you can introduce whatever you like and I think none of us should underestimate the technical prowess of Honda and of McLaren and I think my money is on that combination coming good and coming good pretty quickly. No pressure!

    Q: (Matthieu Piccon – Motorsinside) Cyril, you’re lying eighth in the championship. For you is it more linked to the performance of your car or the fact that you’re only scoring points with one driver and not two?

    CA: You know, it’s a combination. I can’t break down the elements like that. It’s true that if we had two times 18 points that it would be 36, we may have a different position in the championship but equally Jo has had several reliability issues that has hurt him, starting in winter, then in the opening races of the season where in particular we were a bit more competitive than we have been in recent races which has sort of eroded the confidence that he had in himself, in the package which we are trying to rebuild. So it’s a combination, but what I can say is that standing eighth in the championship is absolutely not in line with what both the plan and expectation and history that we were mentioning before, of the 40 years of Renault in Formula One. So action must be taken to make a quick change. These things take a bit of time, there are still a number of things happening in the background, we’ve just had our new head of aero who started last week. Obviously that person is not going to make an impact in the next few races, it’s going to take a bit of time but we have to… more importantly, we have to build confidence in ourselves and in the team that what we have, what we are doing will help us be where we want to be which is fighting for the podium in the next few years.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Andy, last year in September, I think, Tobias Moers announced the AMG Project One Hypercar project. Further details have come to light. I wonder if you could confirm some of them please. I believe 275 engines will be built by your factory and also something like a 30,000 service interval or something like that. Will you be building them, do you have that durability in those engines and is it based on your Formula One power unit?

    AC: It’s a fascinating project, the AMG Project One Hypercar. It is taking the Formula One power unit and putting it into the back of a two seater sports car and then two MGU-Ks on the front axle, so independent drive to the two wheels, so 160hp per wheel. So the combined power is over 1000hp. It is a pretty incredible power train, to be honest, both in terms of creating a car that can go round the Nurburgring in impressive lap times but also in terms of driving across town and on a dual carriageway. The fuel economy is impressive; this is something that… Tobias came up with the idea, rang me up, said is it possible? I rang him back after two weeks of doing a little bit of work during lunchtimes, to see what we could. We’ve now got a group of about 150 people. At Brixworth, that group will grow over the coming year and the target is to build 275 power trains so the power train will be built at Brixworth, having done the development work. Fascinating actually doing that development work and doing the transition from Formula One to road car. The vast majority of it carries across. Clearly things like fuel and emissions need to be managed but that works fairly seamlessly. We’re targeting 50,000 kilometers so about that and in terms of the duty cycle it is quite considerably different. If you look at a high performance road car – Jonathan will know this from his McLaren  road cars – if you’ve got somebody that drives at five percent of the time at full throttle, that’s quite remarkable. Today we’ve got people driving Formula One cars round this track with 70 per cent full throttle and so that’s where you gain an awful lot of the benefit, swapped from the bespoke fuels that all the fuel companies develop for Formula One into a pump fuel, the cylinder pressure drops, the loading drops and everything comes to you, so in terms of that, that durability, that’s the easy bit.

  • 2017 British Grand Prix Free Practice Round Up

    2017 British Grand Prix Free Practice Round Up

    Free Practice 1

    Valtteri Bottas kicked off his Friday morning by carrying the momentum from his win in Austria and finished fastest at the end of the first free practice session for the British Grand Prix.

    Bottas’ time of 1:29.106 came courtesy of the yellow-marked soft compound tyres – which they ran for the entire session. Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton was not that far off the pace in 2nd with a best time of 1:29.184, 0.078s slower than Bottas’ time. Mercedes looked quite strong throughout the session with very little drama coming from the drivers. With a green track and few drivers spinning off the Mercedes drivers were able to keep it on the black stuff.

    Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo finished 3rd and 4th fastest respectively for Red Bull. Their times came courtesy of the super soft compound tyres. While on the faster tyre their times were still quite a way off the Mercedes. Verstappen’s best time was a 1:29.604, +0.498s off Bottas’ pace while Ricciardo’s best time was just shy of a second off the pace.

    Ferrari finished 5th and 6th fastest with Kimi Raikkonen faster of the two drivers. His best time was a touch over a second off his fellow countryman’s time in the Mercedes. When the session started Sebastian Vettel ran Ferrari’s interpretation of the new aero-screen head protection for a lap. The two Ferrari drivers worked together with Kimi following and passing Vettel at various points around the circuit to asses the visibility. The test lasted all of one installation lap after Vettel decided he had enough. When asked about it after the session he said that the screen made him feel “dizzy” and that there was distortion from the curvature of the screen.

    Daniil “Torpedo” Kvyat ended his session 7th fastest ahead of the McLaren of Fernando Alonso in 8th. McLaren have brought a “spec 3” engine to Silverstone this weekend and expect to be higher up the order and the results are clear to see. Before the session McLaren changed Alonso’s Control Electronics which was his 5th for the season. This means that he will drop 5-places down the grid for Sunday’s race.

    Splitting the McLarens was the Williams of Felipe Massa. Rounding out the top 10 was Stoffel Vandoorne in the second McLaren.

    There were a few spins and off track excursions with Vettel spinning early on in the session. Lance Stroll took a trip over the grass at Becketts after getting out of shape on the exit.

    Free Practice 2

    Valtteri Bottas picked up right where he left off in FP1 for FP2. Bottas once again claimed the top spot of the time sheets with a 1:28.496 on the super soft tyres. Hamilton was just a whisker off with only 0.047s separating the two Mercedes drivers. Hamilton’s best time was a 1:28.543.

    Ferrari were bound to take things a little conservatively during FP1 with their engine upgrade this weekend, but they turned up the engine a bit in FP2 and finished higher up the order. Kimi Raikkonen, again, finished ahead of team mate Sebastian Vettel. Raikkonen’s 3rd fastest time of 1:28.828 was 0.332s off Bottas’ pace. Vettel was a little bit slower than Raikkonen with a best time of 1:28.956.

    Essentially just swapping around with Ferrari from FP1, the Red Bull duo finished 5th and 6th with Max Verstappen faster than team-mate Daniel Ricciardo. There was a moment for Ricciardo as he got out of shape at the exit of Becketts. The rear of his Red Bull stepped out on him but he was able to catch the slide before it turned into a full blown spin.

    Nico Hulkenberg finished a rather impressive 7th fastest for the Renault F1 Team. His best time of 1:29.936 came courtesy of the super softs.

    Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso were back in the top 10 in 8th and 9th respectively with Force India’s Esteban Ocon rounding out the top 10.

    Before practice it was expected that the new 2017 cars would be much faster around the Silverstone Circuit this year. The question was by how much. The speed the drivers were carrying into the corners baffled some and it was truly impressive to watch the cars take Copse at such an impressive speed. According to data collected by Pirelli, the drivers are doing in excess of 280km/h through Copse with a lateral load exceeding 5G.

    The best thing about these stats is that the drivers are going to get quicker through FP3 and Qualifying.

  • 2017 British GP: Thursday Press Conference – Part 2

    2017 British GP: Thursday Press Conference – Part 2

    PART TWO: Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes), Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing), Daniil KVYAT (Toro Rosso), Pascal WEHRLEIN (Sauber)

    Q: Lewis, four-time British Grand Prix winner, looking to equal the record of five. How have you spent the last few days in the build-up to the race and are we set to get a strong statement from you on track here, as so often in the past?

    Lewis HAMILTON: It’s good to be here. I tried to prepare in the best way I can, quite relaxed the past few days and I’ve come here excited for the weekend, as always. You’ve got the championship, which is obviously the most important thing, but a very close second, if not tied, is the British Grand Prix, being a home grand prix, the home of motorsport, such an incredible, intense weekend. Every year it is a must-win for a British driver, so yeah I tried to prepare the best way I could.

    Q: Daniel, you looked like you were having fun in London yesterday evening, but you’ve also been having fun on track with 70 points from the last four races I think it is, second best tally in the field. What does that say about your competitiveness now?

    Daniel RICCIARDO: It’s certainly getting better. The season started slow but we’ve found some good momentum the last few races. I think Austria was a bit of a breakthrough in a way. It was a third, obviously not as good on paper as Baku, but in terms of actual performance we finished six or seven seconds off the win and there were no safety cars and it felt like really for once this year had genuine pace and we could run pretty much with the pace of the leaders. So that was super encouraging. Last few laps it was looking like it was going to get tight. I’d held that podium spot the whole race and I could see Lewis closing in, so I was relieved to have stayed on the podium when it looked like he was going to come past pretty easily at some point. It felt like from one lap to the next he was in my mirrors. I didn’t really have to look in the mirrors most for the race but then I saw a car and I was hoping it was a car that had come out of the pits, out of sequence, and it stayed in my mirrors for a few corners. Then I had a proper look and it was a silver car and I knew it wasn’t Valtteri, so I knew we would have a bit on the last few laps but it’s been a good run, so we’re building.

    And last night?

    DR: Oh last night, yeah, it was a good event. Look, I’m sure that would have been pretty difficult to organise and get that all going but I felt like it was a success and you know, we had a bit of time on track to try to give the fans what they wanted to see. I doubt they left disappointed.

    Q: Daniil, we had a big discussion in part one about the idea of using street promotions and the kind of thing we saw yesterday. What do you think of the idea of putting events on like that and reaching out to fans, in a place like Moscow for example?

    Daniil KVYAT: I think it would work – not in January! But in summer yes, I think why not. I mean if every year, once a year, they could rotate this kind of event between one of the biggest cities of the world to promote the sport, then I think why not. Like Daniel said it was a good success yesterday I think. A lot of people there in the city centre of London. It was a cool and enjoyable atmosphere and I think it was nice for sure.

    Q: Pascal, coming to you, how are you finding life at Sauber without Monisha Kaltenborn, but with the prospect of Fred Vasseur arriving as the new team principal.

    Pascal WEHRLEIN: I’m looking forward that Fred is coming. I respect him a lot for what he has done in motorsport so far, like in junior categories and last year in Formula One. So, looking forward to working with him and let’s see where he can bring Sauber.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Just repeating a question from a colleague from the previous session. Lewis, Copse corner this year? Do we think it will be flat in eighth and if so what is that going to be like and if so how will it compare with Becketts in terms of fun factor?

    LH: I think Copse is going to be flat this year. I would imagine quite easy, yeah. I would imagine probably eighth, you should get to eighth by then. It’s going to be rapid. I don’t think any of us are prepared for how quick Silverstone is going to be compared to previous years. It was awesome in the last race. Maggots and Becketts, again, are going to be the same. It’s going to be a physical race for us, being that it is mostly medium and high-speed corners. The G that we are going to be pulling is definitely going to be one up, maybe two, who knows, but it’s going to be a lot of fun.

    Daniel, you’re nodding and smiling, as if you’re looking forward to this?

    LH: It’s because he’s got an upgrade package!

    DR: Ha! We’ve got more coming later. It’s going to be fun. I love high-speed corners. From Turn 9 to 15, Copse to Stowe, it’s some of the coolest sequences… probably [the best] mile of race track we go on all year. We got a taste of it, as Lewis said, in Austria. The second, third sector we were carrying some serious speed, so it’s a sign of what this weekend is going to be like I think.

    Q: (Jon McEvoy – Daily Mail) If they organised an event such as last night’s again in London, would you all go?

    DK: You mean every day or what? Probably no. But next year again? Why not. Wednesday? Yeah I think why not, of course.

    LH: I guess I’ll decide when the time comes.

    DR: Yeah.

    PW: Yeah I would and I would do more donuts, as Daniel did.

    DR: That was controlled sliding.

    Q: Is that what you told the council?

    DR: It’s alright… arrest me.

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Lewis, just in your words, why were you the only driver not there when your colleagues were there and you were missing?

    LH: I don’t why I was the only one. Everyone had the right to make their decision for themselves. For me, I felt that it’s been a pretty intense season so far and I felt for me, I needed to prepare the best way that I could for this weekend. The season’s the most important thing for me. That’s really it.

    Q: (Rachel Brookes – Sky TV) Lewis, just following on, from what you saw of yesterday’s event and the crowd that turned out that was there, you’re someone who talks a lot about what you get from the fans and how much it helps you. Looking at those pictures and what happened, do you feel that actually being there yesterday might have helped you coming into this weekend and given you a boost a day early even, coming into the British Grand Prix?

    LH: I generally haven’t been on my phone the last couple of days, I tried to switch off, I switch on a couple of times just to receive a message but otherwise I’ve tried to stay away from it. Personally, I feel I prepared the best way for this weekend and that’s really all I can do. Of course, there are people who have other opinions about it but I’m trying to do the best… it’s a very intense season, I’m trying to prepare the best way I can. Other people will have different ways of doing so. I love this Grand Prix, I love this race so I feel yesterday, personally, plays any role in how great this weekend is for me. Every season, for the last years has been incredible, it’s been growing every year. You get people who have saved up so much through the year to come up to this Grand Prix and I think you will have seen over the previous years how much I appreciate and respect that and tried to give and enjoy the weekend with the fans and that doesn’t change.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Lewis, on the same topic, there’s suggestions that there has been some sort of disagreement over the use of your image for this particular event, that you wanted to be paid or something like that. Can you refute that categorically?

    LH: Yeah, that’s… No, I mean I told the organisers last week that I wouldn’t be going. I spoke to Toto, informed the team which was very understanding and understood and respectful of the decision. Yeah, I think they used my image so that wasn’t a problem.

    Q: (Rob Harris – AP) Lewis, first of all, how is flying for what, seven or eight hours round trip to Greece better preparation than staying in the UK? And you were booed by the fans in London, they obviously are unhappy with you, this was a big event, used by the F1 owners to try and engage with fans. You are the biggest British driver. What were your thoughts when you heard they actually booed you?

    LH: To be honest, I didn’t really know about it. In terms of flying, I don’t live here so I wouldn’t have been here anyway as I was back in Monaco first, but I fly a lot longer than that for trips and I usually arrive pretty good. But you know, right now my focus is on this weekend, making sure I put every bit of energy into this great weekend that we have and I received incredible love from the fans every single year that I’ve come here. Yeah, looking forward to seeing them.

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lewis, sorry to keep harping on about yesterday, but do you still stand by your decision and do you think it was the right decision, given you were the only driver missing? You’re the home star, you’re the home favourite. Do you think you got it wrong?

    LH: Well, I mean, like I said, I think I’ve felt like I’ve answered as much as I really want to. I’m solely focused on this weekend now, I feel great, being here, I feel the best prepared I could be.

    Q: (Stephen Camp – Paddock Magazine) I was just wondering, I asked the last four drivers if there was anything that Liberty had come to you about, what you would like to give back to the fans. Are there any ideas that you would like to give back to the fans, anything that you would like to do to widen the audience of the sport?

    DR: Not anything right now, off the top of my head. Yeah. You’ve kind of got me. I don’t know. I wasn’t expecting to be asked the question. We’ll come back…

    DK: Well, I just drive the car, you know. I think that’s what I should be focused on. I think there are other people who know how to do their job a bit better for that.

    LH: I don’t really have all the ideas. I think there are people who make those decisions.

    DR: Probably more locations, where we go. I think we can keep expanding in different parts of the world perhaps. I guess put F1 on the map in places that it’s not currently. That can always help to raise awareness of our sport and give people an interest. Yeah, that’s something that comes to mind.

    PW: I think that after yesterday some louder engines again. It was really nice to hear the old V8 engines, that was great. Hopefully we can have the same in the future again.

    Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Lewis, I’m not going to ask about London! This weekend – it’s obviously been very close between Mercedes and Ferrari all season – but with the different characteristics between the two cars, do you feel that this might be one of the tracks that’s more suited to Mercedes and it could be a particularly strong weekend for the team?

    LH: I hope so but I think that being that we’re (indistinct) on the car you would have hoped that it would have worked better in the medium and high speed corners but if you look at previous races, the last one, the Ferraris were very strong, the Red Bulls were very strong in all sections but there is also that balance of the high speed as well and drag. I think it will be very very close but I’ve heard that these guys have brought a big upgrade. He’s always smiling anyway so he smiling a little bit more…

    DR: I’m good at bluffing, I always smile because you never know. We’ve got more.

    LH: You’ve got more. They did a great job in the last race so to see Red Bull up there I think is great, to see a three way team challenge competition and I think this weekend’s going to be… you know, they were very very strong here last year, particularly on intermediates, in the race, so I think it’s going to be a spectacular British Grand Prix in that respect.

    Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday) Daniel Ricciardo, you seem to be really getting into the shoey business on the podium and the podiums are becoming more and more regular. You are persuading the interviewers to drink but you’re not having very much luck with your fellow drivers. Can you think of any way to encourage them to join you, and to the other three: should you be up there with Daniel, would you be partaking of the amber nectar?

    DR: Well, most of the last ones have actually come from the others wanting – not the drivers – but the interviewees if you call them (he means interviewers) – they’ve been wanting to do it. I honestly didn’t plan on doing it in even Baku – I was ‘ah, I won’t do it.’ But DC took my shoes off and then Austria, Martin was like frothing for it. So I feel that there are some really sick bastards around here. I never thought it would continue like this. Even yesterday, people were shouting it. I’m just walking along, minding my business and they’re like shouting ‘do a shoey.’ I don’t actually just take my shoe off while I’m walking in the street and drink out of it. I feel like I’ve dug a hole for myself with this one. On that note, I feel like it’s been fun. I want to say it’s run its course. We’ll see what happens but I heard that the Finns drink, I really heard that. But Valtteri did not carry his flag well last Sunday. I mean shame on him! He needed vodka in it, so Valtteri Bottas – disappointed. And that’s it. No more shoeys.

    Lewis, you’ve avoided it so far…

    LH: Absolutely. I still stand firm on… I told you… the juice from the foot is not something that I wish to drink, especially someone else’s!

    DR: It’s risky with back-to-backs. It is! We put – all the podium guys could end up in hospital for a week. Yeah.

    Q: (Ralf Bach – Sport Bild) For all of you: we heard that Red Bull has a great update on the car. What are the updates of Toro Rosso, Sauber, Mercedes, Red Bull here and in the future; what is planned? 

    DK: Well, it’s probably not as much as these guys but we also try, we try hard and hopefully there will be some, maybe Budapest. I think we’re working on it and I think that it will be efficient so let’s see.

    PW: We expect a big one in Budapest. I was in the factory two weeks ago and I was told in Budapest there’s a big one coming, hopefully.

    Q: Any particular reason why there?

    PW: I don’t know. As soon as possible, hopefully.

    So you’ve obviously got a massive upgrade this weekend, Daniel, another one coming…

    DR: No, I do believe we’ve got something significant for Budapest and this weekend it’s usual bits and pieces which we kind of bring now nearly every race but Budapest is probably more of an  advertised update as opposed to this weekend.

    Q: And the reason why it’s there?

    DR: I think mostly it seems it just takes time, but yeah, it’s a high downforce package.

    LH: We had a small upgrade in the last race and I think we’ve got some small bits here but nothing major. Similar to what Daniel was saying, and I think in the next race there will be some small parts as well. I think after the break there will be more substantial bits coming.

    Q: (Jon McEvoy – Daily Mail) The day before the hearing, the FIA hearing into Sebastian Vettel and his accident with Lewis, the boss of Mercedes, Toto Wolff, went to a birthday party to celebrate the thirtieth of Sebastian Vettel. I was wondering, from all drivers, would you be surprised most relevantly for Lewis, but would you be surprised and see it as maybe an act of loyalty or otherwise for your boss to go to a birthday of a rival with whom you’ve just had an accident before the hearing?

    DR: Free alcohol. Doesn’t matter how much money you make, you don’t turn that down.

    Unless it’s out of your shoe.

    DR: Yeah, actually, good point.

    LH: All I can do is laugh at that one. I don’t really have an answer for that one to be honest. That’s the dumbest question I’ve had so far.

    PW: I think Seb is a really nice guy so I would also go to his birthday.

    DR: Why weren’t you invited?

    PW: I don’t know! Maybe he doesn’t think that I’m nice.

    Q: Daniil, were you washing your hair that evening or did you go as well?

    DK: I was hoping you’d forgotten about me already. I don’t have an answer for you. I cannot even imagine.

    DR: There was an invite for the torpedo. I saw it. Not so cool.

    DK: You have a good memory.

    Q: (Giles Richards – The Guardian) Lewis, sorry to return to this but it’s quite a big issue: you’ve always tried to connect… you’ve made a point of trying to connect with your fans. Do you think it was a missed opportunity not attending yesterday, given that a lot of people who were there, who were attending, would be kids and people who can’t afford to go Grands Prix, so this was a really good chance to connect with those people who just can’t make it to Silverstone?

    LH: Like I’ve said, I feel like I’ve said everything I want to say on the subject but I like to think that I do everything I can to connect with the fans. I do have the biggest following in Formula One and I communicate with them as much as I can. The fans mean everything to me and they always have. I’ve made no secret of that. I think hopefully my commitments to the sport over the last ten years and what I do actually outside the sport, things that perhaps you don’t comment on such as when I go and visit the hospitals and spend time with young kids who can’t come to a Grand Prix. That’s not something you report on but that’ s actually very important to me and that’s where I put my energy mostly. I think lots of us have decisions to make and you have to stand firm with the decisions you make and feel proud of the decisions you make and I personally do and this weekend, as I say, coming here and give everything to shine as much light and raise the flag in the best way I can, and try the best I can. The goal is to win the British Grand Prix for my home crowd. I’ve been very fortunate the last few years to do that and the yearning and the need to do that again is greater than ever.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) To the three non-Mercedes drivers: you’ve heard what Lewis said; do you guys feel that you’ve prepared any less intensively for this race by being in London and not being on a beach in Greece, for example? And just because you’re not leading the championship or up there, do you feel that you haven’t prepared as well for this weekend?

    DR: Each to their own. We’re all adults now. Obviously the spotlight’s on Lewis because he was the only one that wasn’t there, out of all of us, so I understand that but yeah, he’s been doing it long enough to know what he needs to do. For me, personally, I thought it was a good event. I thought it was a good opportunity to reach out, obviously, to a few more fans but it also gives Liberty some more encouragement. They’re trying to start something now so just to get behind that and see where we can take it.

    PW: Nothing to add.

    DK: I think Lewis justified it very clearly. I think everyone has different preparations. I think it’s enough said on the topic.

    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing ) Daniil, this year Toro Rosso has shown some real pace on occasions but it seems to be quite difficult for the team to have a consistent weekend from Friday morning to Sunday night, Austria being a good example: very quick and then it fell away in qualifying. What is your feeling about that, why did it happen in Austria, for example?

    DK: I think in Austria we know really what happened in qualifying, and we dropped a bit out of the working window in the important session. Coming to the year, I would say that for my personal case, Sundays, for one reason or another, on the good days the races were not finished and I think it’s very important because that’s when the points are given on that day and I think that’s what I’m looking for really. I’ve had really good Fridays, really good Saturdays, good Sundays until the car stopped but now what we’re looking for is to put all three days together and that should bring good things to my side of the garage