Tag: mercedes

2016 Formula 1 European Grans Prix: Friday Press Conference

TEAM REPRESENTATIVES:

Frédéric VASSEUR (Renault)

Roberto BOCCAFOGLI (Pirelli)

Eric BOULLIER (McLaren)

Gene HAAS (Haas)

Toto WOLFF (Mercedes)

Claire WILLIAMS (Williams)

PRESS CONFERENCE

If I could start with you Eric: you had both cars in the points in Monaco a couple of races ago but it was a tougher race for you in Montreal. How do you reflect on the team’s performance in Canada?
Eric BOULLIER: We know obviously that some track layouts are suiting are package, chassis, power unit, and some others are not. Clearly you have a long straight line in Montreal and downforce level obviously different from the other track layouts, so you have to specifically design your downforce levels there. Conditions were better for us on one lap on Friday and Saturday but the race was a bit difficult and we had also a slow stop due to a technical issue. But I think we are still on the move and proving every weekend that we are improving by bringing more updates and I think this is a positive.

Well, where do you go from here? IN terms of development, the drivers want you to keep pushing for 2016, but is the prudent thing to focus on 2017 now?
EB: I think you still have to mix both of them. We don’t want to stop developing this year’s car. Even if there is a strong change for next year into the technical regulations I think we can still carry over some of the development we are having now.
Thank you. Gene, if I could come to you: Esteban Gutierrez appears to be growing in confidence while Romain Grosjean has struggled a little bit more in recent races. How do you explain the shift in performance between your two drivers?
Gene HAAS: I think a lot of it is just the learning curve of trying to get the tyres to work. We’ve struggled with tyre temperatures. We’ve had issues when the Safety Car comes out that once the tyres come out of their optimum temperature we just lose pace rather quickly. So that’s probably the biggest problem – trying to maintain the tyre temperatures, especially when you’re in back of the pack where you’re always going to be a few seconds off the leaders and that differential makes a huge impact on how hard the tyres are worked and also their temperature.

You had an emphatic start to the season, but your last points finish was in Russia and after a strong start to the campaign do you feel that you are now starting to lose out in the development race?
GH: No, not really. Actually, I think the team is coalescing together quite well. There’s no more scrambling to figure out why this didn’t work or that didn’t work. We had a lot of problems with the simple things like radio communications and electrical boxes and at the last few races we don’t have those issues anymore. So they’re starting to sort out how the cars work, what it takes to put them together. So I think I feel very, very comfortable with the progress the team is making.

Thank you. Frédéric, you’ve said on many occasions that this is a transitional year for Renault, but only the one points finish so far, so how do you assess the team’s performance?
Frédéric VASSEUR: To be honest, even if I told you it is a transition year, we have to stay focused and don’t give up the season. It’s very important to keep everybody under pressure. For sure the last two races were a bit difficult and we had too many issues. But we are on a good improving curve and I’m sure we will be quite soon.

Those issues that you refer to in the last couple of races: both drivers had accidents, unfortunate, but how do you sum up the job that Kevin Magnussen and Jolyon Palmer are doing for you?
FV: You don’t have to forget that Jo is a rookie and Kev didn’t run last year and I think so far they did a good job. For sure we had some crashes over the last weekend but so far they did a good job. I think they are improving in terms of collaboration with the team and we are on a good direction.

Roberto, today the FIA has rubber-stamped Pirelli’s new three-year deal with Formula One. What does that mean for both Pirelli and the sport?
Roberto BOCCAFOGLI: For Pirelli it means a big satisfaction of course. As we can imagine it is the final step of a very long path. We know already for quite a long time that we are remaining in Formula One for the next three years, but when it gets ‘officialised’ by the FIA it gets really true. Now it is. We found a very good agreement, a very good collaboration. Everybody knows that next season many new things will be happening in Formula One from the technical point of view and also many modifications are very strongly related to the new tyres for next year. We are ready to start our job, which is a very important job for next season.

Well, you gave us a glimpse of those tyres at the Monaco Grand Prix a few weeks back. What can you tell us about the testing programme that you are going to do with the 2017 tyres for the remainder of this season?
RB: With the 2017 tyres things are still to start. They are expected to start for possibly, for us, hopefully, in August, very shortly after the grand prix in Hockenheim. We have 25 days’ testing with these wider tyres. As everybody knows we will start with three teams. Many details still need to be fixed but we know the three teams are Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull. We should be starting very early in August and then we should be testing again immediately in September before going away from the long hauls to the east and to America and possibly a last testing session by the end of the championship. It is a very big job to be done.

Thank you. Claire if I could come on to you please. It was a frustrating start to the season in many ways fro Williams, so how much of a shot in the arm was Valtteri’s podium last weekend in Canada?
Claire WILLIAMS: Yeah, it was great for everybody in the team to have that. It’s been a long time coming. I wasn’t there, so I was gutted. I did tell Valtteri not to dare get a podium in Canada if I wasn’t there, but he did and it was great for the team to have that and I think we have come here really much more motivated. This hopefully will be a good race for us as well. We’ve got a string of races coming up where the circuits will all suit our car, so hopefully we’ll have a positive few races in the next ones to come.
Q: Let’s talk about third place in the Constructors’ Championship. You currently lie fourth, 49 points behind Red Bull Racing. Do you feel you have to strike now, at these tracks that you’ve just mentioned if you’re going to stand a chance of regaining that third place?

CW: Yeah, I think we absolutely have to capitalise on these races: this one here and then obviously the ones coming up in Austria, Silverstone, etcetera. They will suit our car and we have to make the most of it. But then that’s not to say we haven’t got to ensure we have a chassis that can compete competitively at all the circuits so that we can take the fight to Red Bull. Obviously all the work’s still going on in the factory to make sure the car remains competitive – or as competitive as it can be for the remaining rounds. Because we do want to take the fight to Red Bull. We aren’t happy lying in fourth. Unfortunately that gap’s opened up a little bit but we have to work hard and make sure we can keep closing that gap and taking the fight to them.

Q: Toto, both of your cars were passed by Sebastian Vettel at the start of the Canadian Grand Prix. Can you just talk up through what went wrong and why with both of your cars?
Toto WOLFF: The purpose of the change in regulation last year was to make the starts more unpredictable and more variable – and this is exactly what’s happening. You cannot see a pattern throughout the field that some teams always get it right or some teams always get it wrong. We have had some amazing starts before Montréal and in Montréal both of the cars didn’t really have a good getaway. This is now the nature of the sport. Having said that, you still need to optimise – and there is room for optimisation in the clutches and its operation and the execution with the drivers, all needing to remember it’s a tricky operation. But we’re working on it.

Q: We’ve seen in the last few races a momentum swing from Nico Rosberg’s side of the garage towards Lewis Hamilton. After Nico’s strong start to the season, how do you feel he’s coping with his current difficulties?
TW: We always have the discussion that if one wins and the other one doesn’t, is there the change of momentum or has the balance swung? It didn’t. As a matter of fact, both of them are very close: Nico had a brilliant run, winning seven races in a row and it was clear that would eventually stop, and it did. And the balance has swung more towards the direction of Lewis and some of the other drivers and that’s normal: it doesn’t mean that he’s going to fall into depression because it doesn’t continue. These guys are very professional and they don’t swing a lot emotionally or mentally – so I have no doubt it is not a big issue for him.

Q: Is there any evidence the current contract negotiations are weighing on Nico’s mind?
TW: No, first of all he had a brilliant adviser who is pretty experienced in negotiating good contacts, and that was very clever because he took himself out of it and I don’t think it affects him at all.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Chris Lines – AP) Question for Roberto. There were reports from some of the teams that the damage on the tyres today from the kerbs, getting cuts and that kind of damage on the tyre. Could you tell me, did you notice anything here in this circuit damage-wise that was different to what you would get in a normal practice session.
RB: We saw during the season some cuts which were, I just want to underline, cuts with no air loss. We told it to FIA as a normal procedure because we normally say, we normally tell FIA when we see something on our tyre which could mean something strange on the track. We simply told FIA. FIA made their checks, you know what was going on afterwards and… nothing strange.

Q: (Ben Edwards – Channel Four) Question for Toto and for Eric. Can we have a summary of today’s running? It’s the first time we’ve been to this Baku street track, so what kind of feedback are you getting from the drivers? Is it as we expected? How’s it going to be in terms of setting the cars up for tomorrow and are we likely to see positions change quite a lot for tomorrow when we get into qualifying, do we think?
TW: For us it went pretty well. Immediately you realise when you put the car down and you just hit the sweet-spot or not. Today that was the case. The track has everything: it has that high-speed straight line, we’ve seen more than 350km/h, that’s pretty exceptional, and then the very narrow part through the old city. It’s still a matter of getting the tyre in the right window mechanically and aerodynamically – and that has functioned pretty well for us. I personally find the track very exciting: it’s something new and certainly very challenging for the race, in terms of virtual safety cars and safety cars. Probably strategy’s going to play quite a crucial role on Sunday.

Eric?
EB: Well first, the drivers didn’t complain, so that means it must be good. And I agree with Toto: it looks a fantastic place. The general feedback from the paddock is very positive. I think you know with the tools we have at home now, the simulation tools, we can see the car was more or less set up for this track. We see there is huge track evolution: this is the first time we are running on this track, the tarmac is very slippery. Couple of glitches this morning obviously but this is normal when we hit a new venue. But I think globally it was a positive day. It is a track where over the weekend there will be huge track evolution, long straight lines so favouring the higher power PUs, so I think the show on Sunday will be good, will be great. You could see a lot of cars went off in the runoff, so that means it is going to be a challenge as well for the race as well on Sunday.

Q: (Christian Nimmervoll – Motorsport Total.com) There is the long straight at the end of the circuit; is slipstreaming between teammates going to be an issue or Saturday, or something that you might consider?
FV: I think that will be difficult to manage, because you will disadvantage one of your two drivers so I don’t think anybody will play this kind of game.
CW: Nothing to add.
GH: Well, I talked to the drivers a little bit. They really like the track, they like the high speed straightaways. I don’t know so much about slipstreaming as much as it is getting your brakes to work, very very high speeds going into a left hand, right hand turn, you have to get that right and I think that’s really where they’re going to pull a lot of their times, getting the brakes to work.
TW: Since I have been in motor racing in the early nineties, I have never seen slipstreaming between two teammates work for both of them in any category so I don’t see that really.

Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas) Question to Claire; Claire I would love to know… you have been given a big honour just a few days ago, coming from the Queen. I would love to know how important that is for you and what it really means for you and if you ever expected anything like that?
CW: No, I’m still a bit speechless about it to be honest. I never expected it and it is a real honour to receive an award in the Queen’s birthday honours. But from my perspective, it’s a team effort, we always say that at Williams. I wouldn’t have been able to have done what I’ve done without the support of all seven hundred people at Williams, so the honour is for everybody at Williams, not just for me.. I’m just the figurehead that gets to run it after their name but is an enormous privilege and I’m delighted that we have it.

Q: (Chris Lines – AP) Toto, do you have any diagnosis yet on what happened with Nico, why he had to pull over? He called it an engine and drive issue.
TW: We don’t know yet. We have to look at it, what exactly it is so I can’t really give you a comment on that at the moment but it’s a Friday engine so whatever the outcome is, it’s not dramatic.

Q: (Christof Becker – Frankfurter Allegemeiner Zeitung) Question to follow up on some of the discussions on the situation of human rights here in Azerbaijan which was going on yesterday. You will have heard what Bernie Ecclestone has said. About the situation today that there were reports that an Azeri news agency did not get accredited although the situation here is being said or handled differently than before at other races of Formula One, there have not been any calls for boycotts. What are your thoughts on the situation here?

TW: Look, I think we are responsible for sport, for the sports and sporting side and sport should unite and not divide and I think if we can add our bit in bringing people together and putting on a good spectacle then this is all we can do. The federation and the commercial rights holder are fundamentally responsible for hosting the race. It’s not that we are closing our eyes, on the contrary, but we need to know what we need to do and this is sports.

CW: As Toto said, we are not politicians, we run sports teams and we’ve come here to race. Bernie and Jean believe that it’s right to race here and we go where the calendar asks us to go. And from our perspective, I think the organisers have done a fantastic job of putting on some great facilities for us to do that, but as Toto says again, sport is supposed to unite people and we just want to put on a good race on Sunday.

GH: … it’s a very controversial topic. I know in the US human rights are extremely important and the American people have a tendency to throw their weight around to make sure that people do get treated equally in the world. But I think, as Toto said, I think racing is a sport that brings people together to see that differences between people can be overcome. Sometimes when I go to races – like I was in Russia and I think the US has had a long history of rub-ins with Russian people but they are so friendly and it was so great to be there. So I really think that our sport can help smooth over some of those problems and hopefully when the politicians get to it, they can come to an agreeable solution.

June 17, 2016

Hamilton Fastest in Baku Second Practice

Lewis Hamilton made it two from two after finishing top of the time sheets at the end of the second free practice session at the Baku City Circuit in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Hamilton set a time of 1:44.223 on the super softs tyres to give him the fastest time of the session. Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg was a little more than a second adrift in 2nd with a time of 1:44.913. The Mercedes powered Force India of Sergio Perez finished 3rd fastest with a time of 1:45.316, 1.113s off Hamilton’s time.

There were issues with the kerbs before the session started after it was revealed that the kerbs at certain corners around the track were causing cuts to the tyres. Drivers were advised to stay off the kerbs at those corners when the session went ahead as planned.

The Baku City Circuit is a power hungry circuit and with the long straights and long periods of full throttle Mercedes powered cars seem to have the upper hand. As evidenced by the top 5 placed cars were all Mercedes powered.

Valtteri Bottas finished 4th fastest in his Williams 1.541s off the pace. Nico Hulkenberg in the sister Force India was 5th fastest with a 1:45.920.

Carlos Sainz in the Toro Rosso was the highest place runner with a Ferrari engine finishing 6th fastest ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen who was the highest placed runner with a Renault engine.

Jenson Button finished 9th fastest with Daniel Ricciardo in the second Red Bull rounding out the top 10.

It was a session filled wide running as the drivers continued to push the limits of the tyres and the brakes to find the latest braking spot possible.

Nico Rosberg had to retire early from the session with a suspected engine issue.

Fernando Alonso was seen coasting around the track with a gearbox problem. He took quick action and pushed the neutral button on the nose of the car which the marshals use to enable to move the car. He was then able to coast in neutral to the pits. He emerged later in the session.

Ferrari, apart from being off the pace the entire session, had problems as well. Kimi Raikkonen came to a halt before the end of the session after his rear wheels locked up. Vettel was then told a few mins later to return to the pits as he may have had the same issue. Riccardo Adami, Vettel’s race engineer, said that there was an issue with the [MGU-]K as Vettel pulled into the pits.

Long run pace suggests that Mercedes have the upper hand going into the weekend. Williams, Ferrari, Red Bull and Force India to some extent are quite close together but are not anywhere close to the pace of the Mercedes cars.

With a few safety concerns which track officials are addressing the circuit seems to have gone down well with the drivers and most of them are enjoying the mix of corners the circuit offers. The layout seems to favor the brave. The drivers will relish the opportunity to take their cars to the absolute limit this weekend.

Pos	Driver	Team	Best Time	Gap	Laps
1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:44.223	–	33
2	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:44.913	+0.690	26
3	Sergio Perez	Force India	1:45.336	+1.113	37
4	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	1:45.764	+1.541	35
5	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	1:45.920	+1.697	37
6	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Toro Rosso	1:46.027	+1.804	35
7	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:46.068	+1.845	35
8	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:46.219	+1.996	36
9	Jenson Button	McLaren	1:46.234	+2.011	32
10	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	1:46.293	+2.07	32
11	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	1:46.498	+2.275	27
12	Romain Grosjean	Haas	1:46.681	+2.458	29
13	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1:46.694	+2.471	32
14	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	1:46.744	+2.521	35
15	Esteban Gutierrez	Haas	1:46.830	+2.607	26
16	Felipe Massa	Williams	1:47.060	+2.837	28
17	Kevin Magnussen	Renault	1:47.329	+3.106	38
18	Rio Haryanto	Manor	1:47.487	+3.264	33
19	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	1:47.772	+3.549	22
20	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	1:47.794	+3.571	35
21	Pascal Wehrlein	Manor	1:48.018	+3.795	36
22	Felipe Nasr	Sauber	1:48.081	+3.858	38

Photo Credit: Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team

June 17, 2016

F1 2016: European Gp – Free Practice 1 Report – Hamilton Tops Baku Practice

Lewis Hamilton set the quickest time in the first free practice session ahead of Sunday’s Baku grand prix.

The first ever official Formula 1 session in Azerbaijan got underway in splendour as the cars and drivers had their first look at the Baku City circuit. Aesthetically the circuit and its surrounds create a terrific view with the architecture around the circuit making the biggest impression.

Several drivers took their time to get the proverbial eye in around the long lap. Turn 15 claimed the most errors with several drivers taking to the escape road a few times throughout the session.

Daniel Ricciardo became the first victim of the new circuit as he heavily clouted the barrier at turn 15 with the right-rear of his Red Bull. The incident brought out the red flag for several minutes as marshals took about clearing the debris and stricken Red Bull.

The rest of the session ran to plan for most of the teams. However, Max Verstappen’s session ended earlier than scheduled with an oil leak. Similarly, Lewis Hamilton’s session came to a premature end as he flat spotted his tyres with several minutes of practice remaining.

While the two Mercedes drivers led the way with Hamilton in first and Rosberg in second the Williams of Valtteri Bottas set the third quickest time overall. Fernando Alonso set the fourth quickest time ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in fifth.

Free Practice 1 Standings:

June 17, 2016
F1 2016: European Gp Preview – In with the new

Too many times new F1 circuits are talked up and promised to be glorious showpieces that will electrify the racing. And then you end up with Valencia, a dull F1 street circuit somewhere in Spain that evokes more winces than grins.

But the new hosts of the European grand prix may have hit on something special. As the most recent addition to the F1 calendar Azerbaijan’s Baku City circuit promises much from the initial glimpses of its layout. At six kilometres it’s second in length only to Spa-Francorchamps and with twenty corners behind Abu Dhabi’s 21 and Singapore’s 23. But the most arresting feature of the circuit is slim width in certain areas of the track. It’s not pancake flat either, in fact it has significant elevation changes and even a cobbled section.

Because it is temporary circuit it isn’t required to subscribe to the FIA sporting code which stipulates a width of twelve meters, with an additional three meters on the starting grid. While the circuit has some areas which stretch to thirteen meter width its narrowest point, on Aziz Aliyev Street, is just 7.6 metres wide. The average speed of lap is currently projected at 210 kph and a top speed of 340 kph.

From an early perspective the Baku City circuit has many positives going for it; high-speed, tight sections, fast corners and for a street circuit, a longer than usual lap. Already it bears some similarities with China’s legendary Macau circuit.

Here a look at Azerbaijan’s Baku City circuit

June 16, 2016
F1 2016: Canadian GP Review – Mercedes Masters Montreal Strategy

As the 2016 Canadian grand prix developed Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel found themselves in front of an open goal. But a dubious strategy call saw the Italian team score an own goal instead.

From third on the grid Vettel rocketed into the lead of the race leaving the two Mercedes to bang wheels into turn two. Here Nico Rosberg got of worse and dropped down to tenth by the end of the first lap. Vettel looked to have a solid grip on the race and was comfortably holding off the second-place Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton. But Vettel had committed to a two-stop strategy and divved into the pits on lap eleven.

Hamilton continued to lead until he pitted for soft tyres on lap 24. It brought him out in second place and eleven seconds behind Vettel where he simply bided his time with the knowledge that the Ferrari had a second-stop to make. Vettel’ second stop on lap 37 had him rejoining roughly eight seconds behind Hamilton. Despite being able to reduce the gap to about four seconds Vettel was nailed into second place as Hamilton ran his one-stop strategy to completion.

At teams like Mercedes and Ferrari nearly six hundred people attempt to combine the best of their abilities to put two cars onto the track. One of these people has the job of chief race strategist. This is the person who makes the call on when to pit and what tyres to run during a stint. It’s not an easy job by any stretch of the imagination. It’s trying to make the right call under extreme pressure in the fastest sport in the world. But this high-speed game of chess demands absolute precision and anything less is catastrophic.

Without some unreliability or a bit of argy-bargy between its two drivers Mercedes has proven near impossible to beat over the last two years. So when the opportunity arises to do just that it has to be snapped up. While the circumstances may be different from the opening round of the season in Australia the result in Canada is the same – Ferrari find themselves in the lead of the race and surrender the initiative without rhyme or reason. Although Sebastian Vettel is refusing to blame the team for the strategy the reality is that Ferrari’s call handed Lewis Hamilton victory on a silver platter. Most galling of all is the fact that Vettel had the pace to beat Hamilton on track.

More than 40 seconds behind Williams’ Valtteri Bottas also made the best of a one-stop strategy to secure third and the ninth podium of his career. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen drove a brilliantly defensive final stint to hold of Nico Rosberg for fourth. The second Merc of Rosberg finished fifth after spinning ahead of the final chicane in an unsuccessful attempt to pass Verstappen. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen took a disappointing sixth place in a race where he was constantly asked to “take it easy” and save fuel.

Daniel Ricciardo completed a fairly lackluster run into seventh ahead of Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg in eighth. Carlos Sainz delivered a stunning drive from 20^th on the grid to ninth by the chequered flag. Sergio Perez wrapped up the final point in tenth for Force India. McLaren’s Fernando Alonso ran a 55-lap stint on the soft tyre but ultimately finished eleventh while teammate Jenson Button retired early on with a suspected engine fire.

As Formula 1 heads to Azerbaijan for the inaugural race in Baku this weekend Hamilton dedicated his fifth win in Canada to the great Muhammad Ali. A resurgent Hamilton leaves Montreal nine points behind Nico Rosberg and with a definite and ominous spring in his step.

(All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport)

June 13, 2016
2016 Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

DRIVERS
1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)
3 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Williams)

PODIUM INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Michael Douglas)

Bonjour Montreal. It’s a pleasure for me to be here and an honour to be able to introduce our podium winners. Lewis, incredible. We have to talk about the first turn. You had Sebastian coming in on your left, you had Nico touching wheels on the right. Tell us about that.
Lewis HAMILTON: It was horrible. Firstly, I want to say a big thank you to everybody who came out here today and made the atmosphere the way it is. Thank you everyone here. We come here every year and we have the best week. The city, they just put on such a great event. The ambiance, the atmosphere is better than ever. Today, I had another really bad start, I’m not quite sure why, I think probably I overheated my clutch. Sebastian and Nico got quite a good run down to Turn One, tyres are cold, big understeer, and I feel very grateful that me and Nico didn’t damage anything on our cars. And otherwise it was just trying to chase this guy down. He was so quick out there. The car felt fantastic and it was set up just right with great work from the engineers and mechanic. Hey man, I won my first grand prix here in 2007, so this just feels like such a blessing.

Congratulations Lewis, well done, fourth time?
LH: I think fifth time!

Yes, fifth time! Sebastian, nice to see you, wonderful, wonderful race. You had a phenomenal run earlier in the race, what were the issues later on?
Sebastian VETTEL: Lewis was a bit too quick! That was the issue. No, I think we had a great weekend. Obviously a fantastic start and then, yeah, lap one was a bit hairy, I just struggled to stop the car in the last corner. It was very windy today and maybe I struggled a bit with the wind from behind but I was pushing all race. I think we committed fairly early to a different strategy, which we were planning to come back. Obviously then Lewis had the chance to stay out and see what the tyres were doing and I think probably the tyres lasted a bit better than what we expected, so that made it quite tricky to refresh the tyres and close the gap but overall a great weekend for us. We struggled a little bit in the last couple of races and the beginning of the season and now to see that the car has performance and to unleash it, it was a really fun race, I really enjoyed it. I can only add on what Lewis said: thanks to the crowd, it’s great to come here. Friday, free practice, to have you guys here at the hairpin, all around the track, waving at us is making our job just much more pleasant, so this is a place we’ll have to come to forever I guess, so thank you very much.

Fantastic, a really, really wonderful run, congratulations. Mr Bottas, really nice to see you up here on the podium again. I think it was Mexico last see [the last time]. The season started a little slow but you’re coming on strong. How was the race for you today?
Valtteri BOTTAS: Well, I’m really pleased with today. As a team, it was really a strong one for us, really good strategy, really good pit stop; the time was perfect, the car felt really good today. I felt I was pretty on it today. So it’s great to be here. I really want to thank Williams, thank you guys; everybody made an amazing job. Thank you Montreal, you’ve been really good to me.

Congratulations. Lewis, that’s two wins in a row, so how does the rest of the year look to you, what do you think?
LH: We’re going to just take it one race at a time. There’s still work to do. We’re going to continue to improve this car. There’s a lot of race so we’re really just trying to stay… we need to try to keep on a roll if possible. There’s a long, long way to go. These guys are getting faster and faster at Ferrari and Red Bull, so collectively as a team we’re just going to keep our heads down and keep pushing. Honestly I’m just overwhelmed with today. I remember, what was it, ten years, nine years ago here, and it feels just as great [as it did] back then.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Lewis, 45th career victory and your fifth in Canada, as you were quick to point out on the podium. You obviously lost the start to Sebastian, but you go this win I guess, in a way again, because for the second race in a row you were able to do a very, very long final stint on the tyres. How much of that was data about what the tyres would do and how much was pure feel?
LH: Well, firstly, if I may, I want to… I never really dedicate wins to anyone but someone who really inspired me so much throughout my life, Muhammad Ali, and obviously he passed just recently, so I’d love to be able to dedicate this to him and his family. The last 15 laps, for some reason all I could think of was him and Rumble in the Jungle, it was really, really weird. I was driving and I was just thinking of him, and thinking maybe he would be watching the race, I don’t know. So, that’s to him and his family. Rest in peace.
In terms of the tyres: It was really feel. The team obviously told us what the tyres could do, how far they would go. I wasn’t really sure how far the ultrasoft would go. I had already seen graining earlier when I was behind Sebastian. So I was a little bit nervous about it, but it seemed to last, which was great. I could have kept going on the ultrasoft, which was interesting; I had a good pace. Then we swapped. It was a long stint on the information we got before that that tyre could last quite a long time and it was just a beauty. I didn’t have to push too much on the tyre at the beginning, just looking after them, but very conscious that this guy behind was pushing. I was really enjoying the race with him, you know, just battling times here and there. He was so quick and it’s great to see how quick they are and they are really giving us a run for our money, and I just happened to be on a one stop. But fantastic job by the team. I’m really overwhelmed to think just how difficult this season was before these last two races and I feel incredibly grateful and very blessed to have had these two great weekends. I’m just going to keep working hard, as you can see I’m super-focused. For me I felt that today was one of my best races for a while, maybe not as good as the last one, but still really happy with it. Onwards and upwards hopefully.

Very well done. Turning to you Sebastian, got the feeling before the race that Ferrari might be able to win this, had that amazing start, and then obviously you committed to that two-stopper with the pit stop on lap 17 under the VSC. Was that because the team thought you wouldn’t be able to do what Lewis did and do that one-stopper and in the final part of the race did you think that a 13-lap tyre offset to Lewis would be enough to challenge?
SV: Yeah, I think that was the plan, so obviously we committed fairly early. We were in the lead. As the second car in the row, which was Lewis in that case, obviously you have the chance to choose – if the car in front pits you might pit, if the car front stays out you might pit. We committed fairly early to that strategy and I think I was probably the right thing to do in terms of getting to the chequered flag the quickest way. But obviously we lost track position and we didn’t expect that the soft tyre that Lewis put on… first of all the ultrasoft and then the soft would last as long. Myself, I was also surprised to see how long the supersoft lasted and then the soft tyre lasted until the end. As Lewis said, we could have kept going. The degradation wasn’t maybe as high as we expected. That’s maybe where we lost the race. But I want to make one thing clear: I’m not a big fan of blaming anyone or anything. I think it was a great weekend for Ferrari. We’ve had a difficult start to the season because we were never really able to show the true performance of the car and this was maybe the first clean weekend if you look at Saturday and Sunday. And actually I enjoyed the race a lot. Didn’t get the result I was hoping for, especially after the start, but I was enjoying it a lot. The last 30 laps I was just flat out – maybe pushing a little bit too hard at times. It just felt great. That’s what racing should be about. The tyres were fairly consistent. I really enjoyed chasing him down but a couple of laps to go I realised that he was just a bit too quick or the tyres didn’t drop enough.

Q: Valterri,, podium here for the second year in a row in Montreal. Same strategy as Lewis that got you ahead of the two–stopping Red Bulls and Kimi Raikkonen; tell us about your drive today and also those strategy calls?
VB: Thank-you, yes. It feels really good to be here again. Montreal has been pretty to me and pretty good to us as a team. For sure it was always going to be one of the good tracks for our car but really pleased with what we have done. Of course, today didn’t come easily. I really needed to thank the team for the decisions they made to commit to the one stop and also the stop lap, it was perfect. This stop was again, massively quick as we’ve seen all season so really thankful for Williams, for today and for the whole weekend. We need more of these kind of results. We just need to keep trying but just very happy at the moment.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Lewis, what happened at the start, more of the same?
LH: Yeah, the start was… I don’t understand it. This time I really don’t understand because practices have been good, the formation lap was amazing, dropped the clutch and the thing pulled away perfectly. Yeah, I stopped, did the normal procedure, let the clutch out and it just didn’t go anywhere. I’m really lost as to know what… Obviously I had really good pace today and that really got in the way. Had it been a longer straight, I would have been a sitting duck. I don’t really know what to say about it. And into turn one, these tyres, these ultrasofts, he(Sebastian) was lightning on the first lap but me, I had no grip. I got to turn one and I had this understeer and I thought that it was going to continue for the rest of the lap. I think the guys behind me were also tiptoeing but very close, obviously, between me and Nico which wasn’t intentional. But fortunately none of our cars were damaged.

Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) And second question is – as Sebastian has said, the cars are pretty good as you’ve said as well, you had a good view of them in the early laps. What’s the power like on the straight, how quick were they on the straight compared with you now?
SV: Quite quick. I think we’re quite quick.
LH: These guys were pretty quick on the straight. I didn’t get quite close enough to really gauge just how quick they are but I think it looked pretty close, I have to say. I was so excited with wheel-to-wheel racing but then he pitted after the VSC and I’m like shoot, I was a bit annoyed. Still it was a good battle at the time.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Speedsport Magazine) Valterri, as you say, a good track for you and the team. However does it give you confidence that you can now start to challenge Red Bull or was it just track and strategy specific today?
VB: It definitely keeps confidence for us that we can do good things. For sure, it is one of the good ones, as a track for us but I think as a team we did such a good job with the strategy but the car was also good today at the beginning and end of the race when everyone was on the same tyres, I did feel that I could put pressure on Kimi in front and even the Red Bulls, so that was a good feeling and even though some of them were on two stop and we were still on one stop and we put pressure, so that was good. I think the next few races should be good. Lot of confidence now and this really makes a lot of good for the team, a result like this, a motivation boost for the next ones.

Q: (Ralf Bach – AutoBild Motorsport) Seb, my impression is that we already saw the race from today in Melbourne, didn’t we?
SV: I don’t think that’s true. I think Australia, you can argue with hindsight, we would do a different strategy. If it’s that straightforward and easy to know what it’s like, then everyone is doing the right thing. As it turned out, we committed fairly early, maybe we were also hoping that the virtual safety car gives us a bit of an advantage and makes the two stop favourable but I will always defend our strategies, what we committed to as a team. I think there were other people as well, favouring the two stop. With hindsight maybe they would do a different job but as I said, that’s a decision we take as a team. Kept in hindsight it’s always easy. Put yourselves in the shoes of those on the pit wall, to make that call is quite tricky and you have to be really quick. Strategy-wise I think we have a very very strong team. I wouldn’t favour anywhere near to criticise them because the guys are really on the money and very strong, reacting very well and if here and there we maybe don’t do the optimum, that’s part of the job but overall I think we end up doing better choices than other people.

Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Lewis, was the tyre management here more difficult than in Monte Carlo because at a certain stage we saw one big, black stripe on one of your front tyres. Was that graining?
LH: Honestly, as Sebastian said, the tyres were really good today, I have to say. I guess with the cooler temperatures graining wasn’t really an issue. I think if it was hot like it was in P2, I think, maybe a one-stop wouldn’t have been possible but yeah, there was a small bit of… on the Ultrasoft there was a little bit more graining but on the soft there was hardly any graining at all. It was like a small band on the front left tyre but otherwise they stayed very, very consistent. Being so cool I think you just had to try to keep the temperature in them more than anything. I was really actually, for once, happy with the performance of the tyre, to be honest. They did a good job.

Q: (Jimmy Gordon – AP) Lewis, we heard you talk about Ali. Can you tell us what it was about his life or his career that made such an impact on you?
LH: I think it’s the same for everyone really. I think he was just a unique, iconic individual who had a character unlike anyone else’s and everyone aspired to be like him. I wish I could have spoken with the charisma that he would have, or the comedic side that he would have, that confidence that he could carry into a fight and outwit and outsmart his opponents. And then for the things that he stood for. Even more importantly politically, I think believing in who you are and not letting anyone dictate who you have to be. I think as a kid, when I saw that, I think I was like: ‘this is the guy I want to be like’. In terms of an athlete I hope one day I can be like him. Coming from a family of similar background in a sense of ethnicity, it was someone to look up to. Obviously in Formula One there was no one of the same colour as us as a family, so it was another athlete for me to look up.

Q: (Luigi Perna – La Gazzetta dello Sport) A question for Seb. Seb, during this weekend we’ve seen one of the closest gaps between Ferrari and Mercedes. Are you confident you feel you can be even closer to a win in the next race?
SV: First of all, I hope that you write exactly that tomorrow: that we were closer than ever. So, I think sometimes it’s a bit surreal. We are an Italian team. I think Ferrari stands for great passion and a lot of values in Italy and sometimes it seems like the Italian press is our biggest opponent. So, maybe you can write something nice, which would be a nice message for all the people in Maranello that are really working their arse off day in, day out to make a strong Ferrari car. I’ve never had a doubt. I know this car is a big step up and I think we had a mixed-up start to the season which was difficult because we were never really in the position to show what the car can deliver. Especially because Saturdays here and there weren’t great. So, I think this weekend was just normal. We had a great Saturday and great pace today. Just look at the opening laps of the race. I was pulling away, pulling a gap to… maybe not so much to Lewis but to all the cars behind. So, it felt great and the car felt great all weekend. So, really happy and happy with the progress the team is making. Again, I ask you to be a bit patient, a bit more patient. The team is on a great path, things are improving and I think we’re seeing results quicker than anyone else so far in the history of F1. So, I think we’re on the right track, it’s a great team and I’m enjoying it a lot.

Q: (Bill Beacon – The Canadian Press) For Sebastian. Can you go over for us what you did off the start? Where you planning that ahead of time? And what exactly did you do to slip by everybody and get first place?
SV: I know it sounds silly saying it now but I sort-of had the gut feel that I will have a good start. Obviously it depends on what the other people are doing but I had the feel that, when the lights went on… [to Lewis] I didn’t know what you were doing but I knew there would be a good start. I had a good feeling the formation lap and I think I reacted well, as well – without giving myself too much credit. I just… I don’t know… I felt it would be a good start. It was, so I was very happy with that and just went for it. Had a big lead in the first lap which, nearly all of it I gave away in the last corner and then it was obviously it was a bit more tricky to keep Lewis out of the DRS until a couple of laps in – until just before the Virtual Safety Car actually. I was a bit distracted, we chatted about it, I have to mention it, I don’t know why but I have to, there were two seagulls. I think it was a couple that wanted to commit suicide. They were at the apex of Turn One. Lewis obviously didn’t care, so he made up quite a bit of time, about half a second, but I didn’t do that couple that favour to say goodbye for good, so by the time Lewis came around they just flew off. Wasn’t fair! I brake for animals, Lewis doesn’t but… yeah. Then the Virtual Safety Car came and freezes the gap at that point.

Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Following on from that Sebastian, I wonder what you felt about the grip level on the in-field of the chicane there? You went through it three or four times just to get it right. What was the racing line like through there? You were very quick the first time you went straight on.
SV: Very quick on the first lap. Braking very late. I think I was a bit caught out by the wind, to be honest. I shouldn’t have – I had all the information but I was struggling a bit. It was very gusty and, here and there, got caught out. So, I was trying everything all around the whole lap. I was getting close to the wall: exit of Four; exit of the last corner, exit of Nine as well. So really trying everything. Eventually in there too much, which obviously loses you more than a second. And then yeah, I think I was around four and a half seconds to Lewis and then back to five and a half. Didn’t do myself a favour but I had to try. For some reason yesterday I was very good friends with the last corner and today not so much. So, yeah, not great from my side obviously to miss the braking. Quite tricky with a bit of bottoming. Just locked it three times in total and didn’t make it.

June 13, 2016
Video: Of Seagulls and Racing Driver Excuses

Watch as Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel crashes Lewis Bamilton’s interview live on air to discuss a pair of seagulls that were on the racing line into Turn 1.

The seagulls in question were in fact at Turn 1

June 13, 2016
Hamilton edges Rosberg by 0.062s for Canadian GP pole

Lewis Hamilton secured his fifth Canadian GP pole position in his career by 0.062s from his Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg.

Hamilton’s first Q3 run was massively imppressive and he posted a 1:12.812 – enough to secure the top qualifying spot. He was not able to improve on his second run but Rosberg messed up his lap into the first corner, locking up, drifting and losing just a little too much time.

Vettel popped himself up into third place with a late run for it and finished a tenth of a second behind Rosberg’s time.
Vettel felt that pole was possible for Ferrari today. “Going into qualifying I thought it was possible,” said Vettel.

“On my last lap I was very happy in general, though maybe a little bit greedy out of Turn 10, not greedy enough into Turn 6. But there wasn’t a lot to grab otherwise.

“I wanted to get below the 1:13 mark – I knew that it would be very close with Mercedes. I did that but missed out by one hundredth, so that little bit missing.”

“Overall I think we have a great car, we did a step, so I’m happy with how the weekend has turned out. I feel in general very comfortable and enjoyed qualifying,” he said.

Ferrari brought an upgraded turbocharger to the Canadian GP and Hamilton thinks the team can pose a challenge during Sunday’s race.

“Ferrari has obviously picked up the pace with their upgrades,” Hamilton said.

“This is a great track to test ultimate speed, so we’re excited to have a race with them.

“Their long runs looked very strong. I don’t know if they were stronger than ours – we’ll see tomorrow.”

Hamilton admitted he had lossed a bit of the advantage he had over his team mate during Friday practices but was elated to have secured his fifth pole in Montreal. “To be honest it doesn’t matter how far you are ahead, as long as you are ahead,” he said.

Red Bull drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen lined up fourth and fifth with Kimi Raikkonen finishing only sixth fastest with his single Q3 effort. Raikkonen seemed less than impressed. “We improved the behaviour of the car, but still I found it hard to put a lap together,” he said.

Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa came in 7th and 8th for Williams with Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso completing the top 10.

Sergio Perez was 11th fastest for Force India, ahead of Jenson Button who lost his chance at Q3 with a lock up into L’Epingle and managed only 12 fastest.

Daniil Kvyat finshed 13th for Toro Rosso. He will however drop 3 places as a result of a penalty for his collision with Kevin Magnussen in Monaco.

Esteban Gutierrez inched his Haas ahead of Romain Grosjean by over 2 tenths to line up in 13th and 14th positions on the grid. Carlos Sainz Jr showed some very strong pace througout the race weekend so far but he clipped the wall on his way out of the final corner during his first attempt at getting through to Q3. He broke his suspension and retired from qualifying. He finished down in 16th place but will start ahead of Kvyat due to the Red Bull driver’s penalty.

Renault’s Joylon Palmer brushed his way against the wall on his wat out of the final chicane and finished 17th, ahead of Pascal Wehrlein . Ericsson and Nasr failed to get out of Q1 and Marcus will be dropping to the back of the grid due to his 3 place grid penalty for colliding with Nasr in Monaco.

Rio Haryanto got a listtle too close to the wall at Turn 4 and spun across the track – only just missing the barrier. This damaged his car though and he tried to limp back to the pits but crawled to a halt on the grass along the back straight.

Magnussen did not take part in qualifying following his crash in the final Canadian GP practice.

Final Canaddian GP Qualifying Classification :

June 11, 2016
Hamilton fastest for second Canadian GP practice session

Reining F1 champion Lewis Hamilton continued to show his muscle as he clocked the fastest time during the second practice session ahead of this weekend’s Canadian GP.

Team mate Nico Rosberg drifted in 0.526s behind with Sebastian Vettel splitting the Mercedes in his Ferrari.

Hamilton’s time of 1:14.212 on Pirelli’s Ultra Soft tyres was 0.272s ahead of Vettel – also on Ultra Softs – and saw the Brit take a clean sweep for the day.

While there is a more-or-less 0.7s difference in Super Soft and Ultra Soft times, the softest compound tyre did show some longevity – with Rosberg completing 29 laps on the purple rubber. This could well turn the Canadian GP into a one-stop race when paired with the soft tyres.

The Red Bull drivers came home fourth and fifth fastest with young Max Verstappen edging in 0.012s ahead of his team mate Daniel Ricciardo. Both drivers were almost a second down on Hamilton’s time.

Valterri Bottas and Jenson posted identical times for the 6th and 7th spots while Kimi Raikkonen brought his Ferrari home in a disappointing 8th place on the timesheets. Following the session, Raikkonen made no secret of his disappointment saying that they “struggled to make any sense of the car”.

Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz Jr. rounded out the top 10.

Fernando Alonso finished the session 11th fastest on used ultra softs ahead of Sergio Perez.

Felipe Massa set the 13th fastest time ahead of Daniil Kvyat and Romain Grosjean who was half a second adrift of the Russian’s time.

Renault’s Kevin Magnussen finished 16th and Sauber drivers Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson were 17th and 19th, with Haas’ Esteban Gutiérrez sandwiched between them.

Joylon Palmer finished 20th for Renault, with Pascal Wehrlein and Rio Haryanto completing the Canadian GP field for Manor – 0.4 seconds between the two. Haryanto’s time was 3.2 seconds behind Hamilton.

June 10, 2016
F1 2016: Canadian Gp Preview – Montreal Test For Mercedes

The St. Lawrence Seaway is transformed this weekend into the seventh round of the 2016 F1 season as it hosts the famed Canadian grand prix.

Named after one of the greatest drivers in F1 history the circuit Gilles Villeneuve has a distinct street-like feel thanks to the close proximity of the barriers. It’s long straights, with a top speed of 330 kph, makes it a highly power sensitive circuit with a heavy focus on braking performance. “The track is quite special as it has a lot of long straights and then slow corners with low grip so we have to find the right balance with our setup. You’re very close to the walls so there is a special feeling to drive there,” says Red Bull driver Max Verstappen.

The track surface, rarely used throughout the year, is relatively green but grip ramps up exponentially as the weekend progresses. Coupled with variable weather conditions, which often tend to the cooler end of the spectrum, it makes getting the tyres to their prime operating temperature tricky. In terms of tyre strategy Pirelli has made the soft, supersoft, and ultrasoft compound available. In particular the Renault and Haas F1 Team will be worth keeping an eye on as neither pair of drivers has chosen a single set of the red-walled supersoft tyre.

Occasionally the lack of proper overtaking opportunity can turn the race in a procession. However, it has delivered several dramatic and memorable races over the years. As if perfectly scripted the first race in 1978 was won by Gilles Villeneuve in a Ferrari. Throughout the years that followed Ferrari’s love affair with the Montreal circuit deepened. With seven victories Michael Schumacher holds the record for the most Canadian Gp victories while Ferrari and McLaren boast thirteen wins each as constructors.

In 2015 Lewis Hamilton led home teammate Nico Rosberg for a Mercedes one-two. However, it wasn’t a straightforward victory for the championship winning team. Twelve months ago sky-high brake temperatures plagued the pair throughout the race and required drastic management. In 2014 the failure of the brake-by-wire system forced Hamilton into retirement and Rosberg on to the defensive, which allowed Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo to take his first grand prix win.

This year the competition appears a bit closer to the Silver Arrows. In Spain and Monaco, circuits that share several similarities with Canada, Red Bull showed their competitiveness. Add to the fact that the Renault upgrade should come into its own around this track and Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen should be more than a nuisance to Mercedes this weekend.

It isn’t just Red Bull snapping at Mercedes’ heels either. Ferrari will be the first to admit that their season hasn’t quite gone to plan. Mistakes and unreliability has cost the Italian team a slew of points in the first few races of 2016 but they’re not letting up any time soon. This weekend Ferrari is expected to run a new rear suspension in the hopes of improving downforce as well as other aerodynamic upgrades. They are also introducing a new Shell fuel and a new turbo, which is expected to yield more hybrid power and improve reliability.

Mercedes are far from sitting ducks and will, just like the others, continue to push ahead. But they’re under a bit more pressure than what they’re used to.

June 8, 2016