Tag: mercedes

F1 2015: Hungarian GP Preview – Racing At The ‘Ring

Formula 1 returns after a three week break to the Hungarian grand prix. However, the excitement has been significantly dulled. The passing of Jules Bianchi has been a surreal and deeply unfortunate reality.

While the mood is solemn the best way to honour the life of Jules Bianchi is by putting on a great show around Hungary’s Hungaroring circuit.

It’s a special place for both McLaren drivers as it is the venue of their first wins in the sport. In 2003 a fresh faced Fernando Alonso took the chequered flag in his blue and yellow liveried Renault and in 2006 Jenson Button turned on the magic on a damp circuit in his BAR Honda to take the top step of the podium.

Times have changed since then for these two who now find themselves teammates at a struggling McLaren Honda team. The 2015 season has been arduous for all involved but Fernando Alonso believes that the Hungaroring and the second half of the season will hold some opportunities for McLaren to show the gains it has made. “I think the second part of the year will show a completely different McLaren, much more competitive,” says the Spaniard. “The steps that are coming are quite big. This is not too difficult when you are at the back of the grid and two seconds off the pace – every step then is half a second or eight-tenths. When you are fighting for a podium you [only] gain 0.1s every two weeks. I think we will get much closer to the top guys in the second part of the championship.”

The Hungaroring’s layout is a flowing mixture of low to medium speed corners with a few elevation changes. This coupled with the lack of any significant straights decreases the demand on the power unit. Due to its flowing nature the circuit offers, in most areas, offers only one ideal line which will limit the chances for overtaking. Consequently, a good qualifying position becomes a major strategic advantage.

Pirelli have selected the medium and soft compounds for the weekend and expect the combination should provide a good balance between performance and reliability. “This selection is soft enough to provide the mechanical grip needed to negotiate all the corners, yet hard enough to withstand the punishing weather conditions and track layout of the Hungaroring. This is not always the easiest circuit to overtake on, so tyre strategy can make a real difference,” says Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery.

Ferrari experienced a difficult British grand prix but Kimi Raikkonen thinks that this was a once-off. “We’ve seen at other circuits it depends a lot on the layout of the circuit and what tyres we run,” said the Finn.”I expect it to be a different story in the next race and at different circuits again. Hungary I’m sure it will [be better]. Silverstone was not the ideal weekend. The others were a bit faster. I’m sure it will be a bit more easy there but we will see.”

Williams delivered a considerably better performance at Silverstone which led Rob Smedley to believe that the team is capable of beating Ferrari to second place in the constructor’s championship. The team believes that a steady stream of small upgrades at every race will make the difference but remain realistic about their potential this weekend. “We know we are still missing a bit in the low speed and we are big enough to hold hands up and say that is the case,” says Smedley.”We’re looking at all sorts of ways of recuperating that.”

For nine months all motorsport fans had hoped to receive the news that Jules Bianchi had woken up and was well on his way to recovery. Sadly, this news will never come and his enormous potential will remain unfulfilled. It is the worst possible outcome but it is not the end of Jules’ legacy. It has reaffirmed the commitment to safety above all else and that is a gift of which the impact and importance cannot be measured. Ciao Jules and thank you.

July 21, 2015
F1 2015: British GP Review – Hamilton Shines At Silverstone

One-hundred and forty thousand fans were treated to quite a race around the famed Silverstone circuit.

Lewis Hamilton thrilled the home crowd with pole position on Saturday ahead of teammate Nico Rosberg while Williams locked out the second row of the grid. At this point you would’ve been forgiven if you’d assumed that it was going to be another Mercedes dominated afternoon. Felipe Massa rocketed off the starting line and straight into the lead of the race followed by teammate Valtteri Bottas.

The Finnish Williams driver soon fell prey to a determined Lewis Hamilton but held of Nico Rosberg to settle in third. An accident involving both Lotus and both McLaren’s brought out the safety car and saw the end of the race for Romain Grosjean and Jenson Button. Fernando Alonso clunked into the side of his teammate but was able to continue after a stop for a new nose.

The restart of the race saw Hamilton launch an attack on race leader Felipe Massa but the canny Brazilian held his line and the position. The move sent Hamilton off the circuit at Club corner and into third as Valtteri Bottas seized second place. The fight for the lead of the race was a welcome sight and more so was Hamilton’s doggedness. In truth Hamilton’s championship fight is not with Massa and he couldn’t have been faulted for choosing the cautious route, but he didn’t. At the heart of Lewis Hamilton is still an out-and-out racing driver whose sole ambition is to win and that is what he put on display in that move.

The Williams driver couldn’t manage to run away from Mercedes but they were holding their own. As if to underline the difficulty of overtaking in Formula 1 Felipe Massa was able to resist a visibly quicker Bottas during the phase of the race. The Williams pitwall initially called off the fight between their drivers but quickly changed course and gave their drivers the freedom to fight. Despite this Bottas was unable to overtake his teammate.

Lewis Hamilton was the first of the frontrunners into the pitlane and used the undercut to perfection as he took the lead of the race as the two Williams made their respective stops. The front running back had now reshuffled with Hamilton in the lead from Massa, Rosberg and Bottas.

It wouldn’t be Silverstone if the weather didn’t have some sort of impact on proceedings. At first the rain was steadily falling on one side of the circuit while the other remained bone dry. As drivers were slipping and sliding their way around several drivers including Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and McLaren’s Fernando Alonso gambled with a switch to intermediate tyres. It proved a touch too early for Raikkonen who shredded his intermediates on the drying surface.

Lewis Hamilton timed his tyre switch to perfection as the rain started falling once more as he exited the pits on the green-walled intermediate tyre and retook the lead of the race. Rosberg made his stop a lap later and emerged in second place where he would remain until the chequered flag. Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas chances of the podium evaporated as the pair struggled for pace in the wet conditions. The duo eventually finished fourth and fifth as a slightly later call for intermediates from Vettel meant that the Ferrari jumped both Williams’ into third place.

Red Bull Racing’s Daniil Kvyat finished sixth while Nico Hulkenberg brought home his heavily revised Force India in seventh ahead of Kimi Raikkonen. The sister Force India of Sergio Perez finished ninth ahead of Fernando Alonso who ended a miserable non-point scoring run with tenth place.

To win on home ground is something special and Hamilton has now done it three times. This win is an invaluable boost of confidence that could carry him all the way to that coveted third world championship title.

July 6, 2015
2015 Formula 1 British Grand Prix: Sunday Press Conference

DRIVERS

1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

2 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

3 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

PODIUM INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by Frankie Dettori)

Well done, Lewis, what a race. How important is it to win in front of your home crowd?

Lewis HAMILTON: Firstly, just thank you to everyone for coming out today and making my weekend. I was gunning the whole way and I really just wanted to do it for you guys… we did it. I’m so thankful for all the support. I couldn’t have done without you guys. Every lap I could see you out of the corner of my eye and I just felt you spurring me along, so thank you so much.

I need to ask you: what happened at the start, a bit of a hairy moment there?

LH: To be honest my clutch was good; it’s just that we had really quite poor grip I think at the start. I think it was particularly the same for Nico. It made the race even more exciting to be honest. We just kept pushing and if I’m honest that probably made it more exciting for the fans.

Do you think the pit stop was the winning move?

LH: I think for the first time probably in my career I made the perfect choice tyre wise and so I’m really, really happy with that. I just managed to keep the car going. I think I lost a lot of temperature in my slicks, so no…. you guys are the best. I love you guys.

Well done Lewis, let me grab a word with Nico. Nico, a good second, how hard was it driving the last few laps in the rain?

Nico ROSBERG: Yeah it was a good race. I was pushing hard to try and catch Lewis under the difficult conditions but then he just made the better call with the pit stop, so that’s where I lost it. Fair play to him, he did a great job all weekend. You’ve been amazing, really absolutely unbelievable, a great atmosphere here, really a pleasure to drive in front of all of you and that’s it.

Well done. I’ll go over to Sebastian. I’m a bit of a Ferrari fanatic, so I have to give you a hug. Do you think the rain made a big difference in the end of grab third place?

Sebastian VETTEL: Yes, without the rain we would not be on the podium. I think we kept our head down and were patient enough to wait until the rain properly started to pour down. In the end, that’s England for you – a couple of minutes later you have sunshine, so obviously it helped us today, we did the right choice, we came in on the perfect lap and the team did a great job on the radio as well. So thank you very much and thanks to everyone, it’s a great atmosphere today.

Well done Sebastian and one last word with Lewis: any message to the fans, they’re all here to see you

LH: My mum’s down here! As I said, I’m so elated; you can’t imagine how happy I am. I started to tear up on that last lap, just really hoping I could hold onto it for you guys and man, I felt you all way. I hope we can come back next year… I’m going to keep pushing for this championship. Thank you so much for all the support. Now, let’s party.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Lewis, maybe one of the key talking points was the pace on slick tyres on a damp track: over a second a lap faster than your competitors.

LH: Firstly, just a very, very special weekend for me. To see so many fans out this weekend, I thought that I’d seen it all here last year but I’m really just… I love those guys – thank you so much for coming. An amazing job done by the team back at the factory, such a large group of people, to make the car that me and Nico have to race as we have. The race was very, very tough. Very slippery off the start, I think for both of us – but it made it more exciting. I was chasing down the Williams. Very, very hard to get close and overtake but yes, very good. I got close enough on the first pitstop. Came out ahead after a really good out-lap. And then the rain came and I think I just lost temperature in my front tyres. It’s always trickier for the guy who’s out in the lead because you’re the first one to get to it and it’s questionable how much risk you take. But yeah, for the first time actually, I think the first time in my whole Formula One career, I made the perfectly right choice in coming in now. I could see the rain coming more and I’ve never had that before, so I feel extremely happy about that. And after that was just… I kept seeing as I was going around, Turn Seven, the last corner I could see in the crowd just cheering me on every time I came by and just spurring me along. I just didn’t want to drop it for them. And really I’m also very honoured just to be here representing the Brits, to have the British flag up there.

Q: Nico, not perhaps the start that anybody expected. It was a Williams 1-2 for the first 20 laps of this grand prix. You, obviously, weren’t able to get ahead of them – because you had second choice of strategy I guess at the first stop – so you found yourself behind them and you were then told, “right, we go Plan B, be aggressive”. Tell us a little bit about that phase of your grand prix.

NR: Yeah, that was not such a great phase because I had these two Williams in front and was completely blocked and couldn’t get close. So that was a bit annoying. And then I was very thankful when the rain came. I felt great when it started raining. I really was able to attack and pass both Williams and close in on Lewis a lot. I was hoping it would stay more or less like that, and I thought I could attack Lewis at some point – and then Lewis boxed. I was pretty sure it was the wrong call because it was still touch-and-go at that time. So I was actually quite happy that he boxed. But then it was the right call in the end. It started raining more on that lap. So, that was it. Anyways, I had to take that chance because just following Lewis into the box is definite lose for me, so I might as well take the chance, stay out and do one lap more at least. It didn’t work out. So that’s it. Gave it everything and didn’t work out.

Q: Sebastian, it’s fair to say it wasn’t looking too rosy up until the point at which it rained. You did the same timing as Lewis. Did you feel the same way as Lewis? Was it something that you motivated yourself? Were you slightly surprised by what was going on around you with the other cars? Did you think it was your birthday when you realised where you were?

SV: I don’t know. I had a bad start but then we obviously, more or less, came back to fifth and sixth – so where we started – but obviously the gap was too big to the cars in front. Then there was some rain around six-seven – so around Luffield. And, yeah, it was only there so it was quicker to stay out on dries. But then I noted… it’s a tough call to make. If it rains, yes, some cars are already pitting, you obviously think about it but if the majority of the circuit is dry, there’s no point. Then I came out of Chapel and down the Hangar straight, noticed a lot more rain. I was trying to look at the clouds, all the laps before and though, ‘well, that’s the lap to go’. Because it was significantly more intense, the rain. It wasn’t just drizzle, it was proper rain and I decided to box. Once I was in the box I was told that Lewis decided to – the leader – decided to pit as well so I thought, yeah, should have been a good call. And then it was a surprise because I had Kvyat behind me when I boxed, and I came out behind him – like I saw him when I came out of the box. I don’t know what happened to him in between. But I guess at that point already the track was quite poor.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Thomas Maher – formulaspy.com) Question for Lewis. Lewis, when you were following the two Williams drivers in front of you, do you think they might have compromised the their own strategy slightly by leaving Massa in front of Valtteri.

LH: I don’t know really. I think it’s too early on to say whether it compromised their strategy but obviously it’s a race. It was a race for them – but Valtteri was quicker, if that was him in second, but I don’t think… say it was me and Nico. It’s not for the team to tell you to let the dude past, because you’re racing. So, but I think Williams were doing a great job up until then.

Q: (Sean McGreevy – CSMA Magazine) Lewis, after a really action-packed exciting British Grand Prix, what’s your response to people and critics claiming that F1 is boring?

LH: Firstly, thank you. It was exciting for me. I think the start really made it exciting, obviously. I don’t know how the rest of the race went but you say it was very exciting. I think the English weather helped with that. I think there’s still some things… their views are probably still valid in many ways but also sometimes I guess it’s a bit of an indication for us not to throw our toys out of the pram and say everything’s wrong, that we’re not too far off the mark, hopefully and hope that we have more races like this.

Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Serra) Sebastian, can you make a final balance of this weekend, because we saw Ferrari struggling and now you’ve got a podium? Is it just like a Christmas gift or there’s something coming also from the team, your talent of course, from the situation? Can you make a summary, please?

SV: It’s not easy. It’s not a Christmas gift. Santa Claus wasn’t there waving me into the pits so he didn’t tell me which lap to dive into the pits. It was our own decision and obviously not a lot of people got it right but we did so that’s our choice and that’s what we achieved today. Other than that, obviously it was not a very good weekend for us. We expected to be stronger. I think we were surprised by the pace of Williams on Saturday in qualifying and also on Sunday. I think you could also see it was not a good weekend from ourselves because the gap simply to the top was larger than at previous events I don’t think that we did a step back but I think we just couldn’t find the right direction this weekend and obviously if you’re not P1, P2 it’s quite tight between us, Williams, the Red Bulls were very quick this weekend. I think they’d taken a step forward and that’s what happens.

Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Lewis, I know the trophy is about ten years old – or out of date, I should say…

LH: It’s not out of date. I’m pretty sure they have an extra slab underneath because they’ve run out of space so I think underneath – no it’s not there but like it goes here but it continues to go here, another pillar.

SV: Why did they give you the wrong one?

LH: It’s not attached though, it sits on top of it. I think so.

Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) But how good is it that rather than a cheap plastic one, compared to last year?

LH: It makes a big difference.

SV: But you need the bottom part.

LH: Last year obviously I didn’t get to have that necessarily on the podium but it’s a very proud moment to be out there and to receive it again. I remember the first time I had the privilege of having that experience in 2008 and the response from the crowd then, but just to see a sea of British fans out there today with the British flag and all the caps and stuff is just a huge day for me, really really special day. I can’t really find the words to explain how happy I am. Hopefully you see it in my smile.

Q: (Simon Cass – The Daily Star) Lewis, about the second stop, that was your call. The first one looked like a great call from your team. After Monaco, I suppose they owed you one with that one and it got you back into the lead. Is that right?

LH: Well, I think overall globally it was just great teamwork. I think the team were continuously speaking to me, the tyres were feeling good so I could have kept going for longer, but it was getting closer to the point that Williams hadn’t stopped and I was close enough… I was actually close enough on the previous lap but close enough finally… literally as I came round that last corner to say ‘guys, you know the tyres are perhaps going to go off quite shortly’ and so they said then ‘box, box, box’ and I came in that lap. It was a real quick decision after that. Then I pushed like crazy on the out lap and it really hooked up a real nice lap and to come back out in front was a great feeling. And after that was really trying to balance the… I know I had a long long way to go. Twenty or thirty laps here is a long way. You do ten and you think you’ve already done thirty. Then I could see the weather getting worse and worse and you’re thinking ‘please hold off’ because if it doesn’t rain, we’re good.. If it rains it makes it a lot harder and I tell you it was one of the trickiest races I’ve had here. Obviously 2008 was very very hard but still, very very tricky.

Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) To the Mercedes drivers: did the Williams have a particularly good start and or did you have a particularly bad start? If it was bad, what happened?

NR: Bad start, no explanation. We need to look into it afterwards.

Q: Lewis, you mentioned on the radio on the parade lap that you had poor traction off your burn-out.

LH: Yeah, just the grip is different from track to track but particularly on my side. As I did the burn-outs to the grid, the wheels were just spinning easily and in some places you try to do the burn-outs and there’s so much grip that you can’t actually get the wheels to light up. This one it was like so easy. As I dropped the clutch, just wheel spinning, I’m looking in my mirrors to see what’s going on but it just keeps on wheel spinning, so I’m thinking jeez, I’m going to lose my position to at least someone and obviously the Williams came past. I fought back and got second back but then I tried to challenge Massa on the restart and just went a bit too risky too early maybe. But anyways, you could see I was trying.

July 5, 2015
Hamilton revels in British Grand Prix home crowd pole

Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton claimed his 8th pole position for the 2015 F1 season at the qualifying session for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Hamilton’s Q3 benchmark time of a 1:32.248 put him on pole ahead of team mate Nico Rosberg.

Hamilton failed to improve in his final flying lap but his first was enough to secure pole with Rosberg almost half a second behind him, the latter claiming his front left tyre felt “strange” in the final minutes of the session.

The Williams team had a very strong session, finishing as the second strongest team with Felipe Massa beating his team mate Valtteri Bottas to third postion – a full 0.8 seconds behind Hamilton.

Ferrari, who were expected to have made progress ahead of the British Grand Prix after spending engine tokens for development, were nothing short of disappointing and clearly have not made as much progress as the Williams team have. Kimi Raikkonen beat team mate Sebastian Vettel to fifth place while Daniil Kvyat took seventh for Red Bull.

Carlos Sainz Jr., Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the British Grand Prix top 10.

Sergio Perez was 11th in the upgraded B-spec Force India, after having his final flying lap deleted due to track limits at Copse – something which seemed to catch many of the drivers out during the course of the session.

Romain Grosjean was 12th, while Max Verstappen who finished 13th made no secret of his frustration with his car which was a very different machine to drive than he’d had during the final practice session.

Pastor Maldonado was 14th fastest, Marcus Ericsson 15th, and Felipe Nasr missed out on a spot in Q2 by just 0.011s and will start from 16th.

McLaren’s miseries continued with Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button only managing 17th and 18th.

Manor Marussia will take up the back row of the British Grand Prix grid with Will Stevens ahead of Roberto Merhi.

The track limits rule will apply during today’s British Grand Prix with stewards taking a zero tolerance approach to drivers leaving the track at Copse.

British Grand Prix Qualifying Photo Credits: Mercedes AMG Petronas

July 5, 2015
2015 Formula 1 British Grand Prix: Saturday Press Conference

DRIVERS

1st Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

2nd Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

3rd Felipe MASSA (Williams)

TV UNILATERAL

Lewis, it was the first run in Q3 again for you – absolutely perfect – that nailed it. Pole position for your home grand prix, how are you feeling?

Lewis HAMILTON: It’s a special day. It’s special when you get the pole position here on your home turf. So many people have come today and this weekend and they really do motivate me through the weekend, so it’s particularly special when you do get the pole. Generally, it’s not been the smoothest weekend, it’s been a bit up and down in terms of set-up and balance and getting laps and throughout qualifying, I made a change to the car, going into qualifying, which was perhaps not spectacular for the quali lap but hopefully will be good for the race. But I’m really, really happy and once I got to Q3 I kind of could just go all out and get that lap in. So, yeah, incredibly happy and my brother’s here with me as well, so big thank you to everyone for all the support.

Thank you. Nico, you missed out today; you were saying on the radio there were a few problems there on the final run, you weren’t completely happy with the balance of the car. Was it something to do with the front tyre?

Nico ROSBERG: Well, first of all the first lap was really good, so there’s not much to say about that, Lewis was just one tenth quicker, which is annoying, but that’s the way it is. Other than that, really awesome to see how many people have come today. Out in the grandstands it’s incredible, it’s full house already more or less today. It’s great to see how enthusiastic everybody is in this country about our sport. And then the last run, something strange. Nobody improved on that one or not many at least. Felipe did? There was something wrong with my left front, so I had big understeer. There was something very wrong, don’t know, we need to look into what it was.

OK, thank you for that. Felipe, you’ve done it again, not only ahead of your team-mate but once again ahead of both Ferraris; good day for you.

Felipe MASSA: Yeah, I think it was a fantastic day for us. As they just said, it’s amazing to see how many people are here. It’s also our home grand prix for the team, so I’m sure it was great to see me and Valtteri third and fourth. We were fighting each other through the qualifying, especially in Q3. I just managed to get a fantastic lap at the end and improve a little bit his lap time. So happy and really looking forward tomorrow that we can have a very strong race, especially in this fight with Ferrari, so today was a very important day for us to see that we can be in front of Ferrari with both cars. I hope we can be also tomorrow. It’s really nice and I’m very happy with what we did today and we just need to concentrate for tomorrow now.

Very well done. Coming back to you Lewis, tomorrow the chance to equal Nigel Mansell and Jim Clark as a three-time British Grand Prix winner. Tell us a little more about what the crowd has been doing to motivate you this weekend and also your two previous wins have come from outside the top three so presumably this makes your task a little easier tomorrow?

LH: I think the previous times… well, naturally I’ve been very fortunate to have had those two wins here and the support has been incredible every year. It’s the banners that are out there, it’s the flags, it’s the team caps, it’s the messages that get sent every day through social media. I was replying to some just before qualifying and they just really create the atmosphere and that buzz. When I’m about to start my lap or when I finish my lap, looking out of the corner of your eye and you know those guys are there, they’re right behind you, so I hope that that wave of energy that they give will help to carry us tomorrow.

Q: Lewis, pole a lot this season, clearly qualifying has been much, much stronger in 2015 than it was at this stage in 2014. What do you think has made the real difference, as far as you’re concerned?

LH: I don’t really know. Naturally that was something that I wanted to improve this year and last year obviously, I think I had seven poles in the whole year. It made the races a lot harder for me, to obviously get past Nico on those occasions, which I did on quite a few occasions – but generally made the races a lot harder to win. So that obviously was a focal point. It’s difficult to say where it’s improved. That first lap in Q3 has been a really important one and generally just through the year I’ve been having good laps in that session. That’s… generally thought the qualifying session wasn’t going great, I had a lot of understeer and… so through the session you’re putting in more and more wing but… and also the wind it all over the place throughout this great track, it makes it very tricky. But, yeah, I’m really happy with that lap, felt fantastic, particularly the middle sector. My favourite part of the track when you go through Copse and then Maggotts and Becketts, it’s fantastic and I really hooked it up on that lap, which made the difference.

Q: It’s interesting that, isn’t it Nico? Because between the two of you since the beginning of last year it’s fairly unusual for whoever gets fastest in the first run of Q3 to be overturned in the final pole position. It does seem to be quite important between the two of you, that first run.

NR: I don’t know. I didn’t see that trend. And yeah, anyway, for me today it was all to play for with the second run – still pushing all out for sure and the chance was there because it was so close.

Q: And a word from you Felipe about the conditions. In the first two parts of qualifying, we saw a lot of drivers exceeding the track limits at Turn Nine and having their times deleted – a lot of drivers – was that ever an issue for you? And how much of a part did the diagonal crosswind into Copse play in that?

FM: Actually it was a problem. It was so easy… it’s a corner where you want to try everything you can – but you have also the wind which sometimes is pushing just a little bit and you lose a little bit of line and you go forwards off. But I was very careful at the beginning not to go off there – but that I was just pushing a little bit harder every lap, a little bit, just to understand what was really the limit but not going to high – and I just managed to do a good job and not passing the lines there.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / Speed Sport magazines) Felipe, you’re really up there at the top of this group here. Do you feel you’re driving maybe even better than in 2008?

FM: I feel good. I feel that I’m driving well, understanding the tyres and trying, y’know, putting the right lap and…

LH: …2008 was pretty good though!

FM: 2008 I had more pole positions – but the car was more competitive. The problem is them! [LH and NR] If they were a little bit slower maybe I could have been on pole today! That’s the problem compared to 2008. But I feel good. I feel really in good shape.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / Speed Sport magazines) Lewis and Nico, I read something about you guys having a barbecue together. Was that last night or tonight? What can you tell us about it?

NR: We’re here with motorhomes, sleeping in the middle of the track, everybody, all the drivers together. Not in the same motorhome obviously. It’s good fun, I invited the team, and Lewis as well, of course, so we had a good evening, team barbecue.

Q: How’s his cooking Lewis?

LH: Nico doesn’t… I’ve never seen him cook! He has this great motorhome, and this nice setting outside for everyone so it was good to have all the team there. It’s a nice evening for everyone and Nico invited me along. I was next door, so I would have gone anyway! The barbecue was great but I didn’t get to eat too much. He put all these sweets out just for me. He knows that’s going to make me heavy – but I didn’t go there – so that’s good.

Q: (Sean McGreevy – CSMA Club Magazine) Lewis, throughout your career you’ve met many personalities, many famous people, Hollywood stars to Nelson Mandela. How did meeting and spending time with the Queen compare to all of them?

LH: I’ve been very, very, very fortunate to meet these people and with the Queen – it’s really strange because people made up some silly stories recently about my meeting with the Queen but it was actually amazing. It was great to… firstly be invited back to sit with her and have lunch. But growing up, seeing her on TV all the time and then having her right next to you, so you can literally have a normal conversation was just…never in a million years thought that would ever happen. And the same with meeting Mr Mandela: when you walk into a room and he’s sitting there in his silk shirt and it’s like walking in to see the King. The atmosphere, as you walked in with him, it was immense, incredibly special man so I’m very, very grateful that I got to be in the presence of both these great people.

Q: (Mike Doodson – Grand Prix Plus) Lewis, I was interested because you were chatting with Felipe earlier and you and he have a bit of history together. At the beginning of your career, the two of you were pretty close and then things went into a rather unhappy phase when you tended to blame each other for things that perhaps you might have regretted afterwards but I wondered if you have healed all that up – looks like you have – but I wondered if there’s another driver from another team in whom you take an interest or who you regard as a particular friend in Formula One?

LH: Well, Felipe was a friend of mine before I got to Formula One, when I was in Formula Three and in GP2. Sometimes he would invite me along to some dinners so we had some great times before then and then obviously had a great battle in 2008, fantastic battle in 2008, he drove incredibly well. Then we definitely had a difficult year, I think. Somehow we always happened to be together on the track and the majority of the time I was behind him and Felipe is very good at making the car as wide as the track. It was very hard to get by.

FM: He was a little vague. You were not really concentrated on that year.

LH: I say it’s the other way round. But I’ve never ever had any problems with him. There was nothing ever to get fixed so…

FM: I was just saying that in 2011 he was not really concentrated you know? But anyway, I have a good relationship with most of the drivers. I think the problem with Formula One is that we are together but everybody is separated, you know? I don’t think this is really nice, so I think the problem with Formula One is that we need to be… We fight on the track, but outside we need to be… I’m sure that nobody knows each other in a proper way but I’m sure everybody’s… maybe most of the drivers are very nice but maybe we don’t know each other because is too separated. We need to be more open, we need to be closer. It’s not a problem to go out to dinner with another driver. For me that’s pretty normal, it’s what we miss in Formula One. At least, that’s what I see.

LH: We do get along with other drivers but I can’t pinpoint a particular one.

Q: (Don Kennedy – Hawke’s Bay Today) Lewis, do you feel extra pressure trying to win your home Grand Prix for the third time, I think? And speaking of pressure, did you happen to catch the Heather Watson/Serena Williams match last night and your thoughts on that?

LH: Honestly I didn’t get to see the big match and I don’t know who won. (Serena Williams) I thought she would, yeah, which is fantastic. There’s definitely extra added pressure. It comes from yourself, mainly because you know that so many people save up through the year to come here, spend a fortune on team merchandise and flags and camping and hotels, whatever it may be, and then they come here and they are here to support you and you just want to make sure that you put the icing on top of the cake. They’re already having a great weekend with the great weather but if you can deliver then there’s that extra bit of pressure to do that. But I think that pressure is a positive pressure in which I would hope that I can thrive off.

July 4, 2015
F1 2015: British GP – Hamilton Tops Final Practice

Lewis Hamilton has set the fastest time in the final practice session ahead of the British grand prix.

The current world championship leader experience a difficult Friday which left him trailing behind teammate Nico Rosberg for both of the free practice session. However, overnight changes made to his Mercedes enable Hamilton to set the fastest time overall in the hour long session. The number 44 Mercedes clocked a fastest time of 1:32:917.

Nico Rosberg kept close company to Lewis Hamilton in second place ahead of the Ferrari’s of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel. Toro Rosso drivers Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz completed the top six. Verstappen was quoted yesterday as saying that his Toro Rosso is second only to the Mercedes in terms of pace. The Williams duo of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas were seventh and eighth with Lotus driver Pastor Maldonado completing the top ten.

McLaren’s continued their plan of saving on engine mileage but Fernando Alonso’s car still ran into problems. A suspected hydraulic issue lef the Spaniard with only six laps on the board and unable to complete a run on the medium compound tyre in the final part of the session.

July 4, 2015
F1 2015: British GP – Rosberg Sets The Pace In FP2

Nico Rosberg set the fastest time in the second free practice session ahead of Sunday’s British grand prix.

The second one-and-a-half hour session is usually reserved to evaluate how the various cars will perform in race trim but it also allows for a quali sim. Pirelli have made the medium and hard compound tyre available to drivers this weekend and it already looks as if a one-stop strategy will be the order of the day. However, with weather conditions predicted to be cooler for Sunday’s race the issue of graining could come into play.

The session was red flagged early on as Romain Grosjean beached his Lotus in the gravel on the exit of Luffield. Fernando Alonso (McLaren) and Roberto Merhi (Manor) had similar incidents at the same corner but managed to recover their cars from the gravel trap. Toro Rosso underlined their morning pace with Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr. ending the session seventh and ninth quickest.

Lewis Hamilton wouldve have been slightly annoyed at his afternoon as the reigning champion never quite seemed to have the Mercedes under him as he would like. His qualifying simulation lap left fourth overall nearly half a second adrift of teammate Nico Rosberg. Kimi Raikkonen’s first quick run on the medium tyres left him somewhat off the pace but the Finn was one of very few drivers to improve his time on a second flying lap. Raikkonen set a 1:34:502 some three and a half tenths of Rosberg’s time.

The long runs weren’t going much better for Hamilton who bailed out after running only five laps in the stint. Rosberg set a competitive and importantly consistent pace on the medium tyre. Sebastian Vettel was able to run close to the Mercedes pace as was Raikkonen on the hard compound tyre. The relative fuel loads at this stage of the weekend is unknown but Ferrari principal Maurizio Arrivabene said after the Austrian GP that he was “tired” of the false Friday pace Ferrari produced on race weekends.

July 3, 2015
F1 2015: British GP Preview – Time-tested Silverstone

The first ever Formula 1 world championship season took place sixty-five years ago in 1950. The British grand prix was the first official world championship race in that 1950 season and it remains, though altered, on the Formula 1 calendar.

The high speed circuit of Silverstone and the famously quick sequence of Maggots and Becketts are where Formula 1 cars are pushed to the limit of adhesion. The circuit and the venue is a part of many team’s history as some make their home’s literally down the street from the Silverstone gates. It’s one that all driver’s love to race on. “I mean, Silverstone’s great in a Formula Renault 2.0. In an F1 car? Epic,” says Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo.

The British weather is always in doubt even with talks of a possible heat wave. Yet, whether it is wet or dry Silverstone presents a stiff set-up challenge for drivers and engineers because of the assortment of low, medium and high speed corners.

It is here two years ago that Pirelli faced its biggest controversy as tyres appeared to completely disintegrate. It prompted an almost instantaneous change to the tyre construction and a complete redesign of the rubber. While tyre safety has improved Formula 1 in 2015 isn’t exactly in a happy place.

Yes, Mercedes’ dominance takes away a bit from the spectacle but they’re only getting their dues. They, like the rest of the paddock, were given a set of rules which they hit perfectly on the head. This is the way Formula 1 has always worked, in cycles. A period of dominance is not unusual as most Ferrari and even Sebastian Vettel fans will know.

But what is detracting from the showpiece is what Pirelli has brought to Formula 1. The Italian tyre manufacturer will say that they are simply dancing to Formula 1’s tune and producing what they are asked for. But to be able to complete 50 laps on one set of tyres is ludicrous. It leaves zero room for any sort of bold strategy which the 2012 and 2013 version of their tyres encouraged. At that stage the tyres were criticised for their fragility but what we wouldn’t give know for teams to have to think outside of the boring Pirelli box on tyre strategy. Hopefully the recent addition of Michelin as a potential tyre supplier spurs Pirelli to supply a range of tyres that will to the sport rather than detract from it.

A driver that needs a good weekend is Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen. The second place to Lewis Hamilton at the Bahrain grand prix feels like a long time ago and a few unflattering results has stunted the Finn’s momentum since then. But while some are questioning the 2007 champion’s future at the team Ferrari team Principal Maurizio Arrivabene has ruled out making a decision “so early in the season.” Nevertheless, a solid run this weekend almost certainly won’t go unnoticed in the greater scheme of things.

The passion of the British Formula 1 fan has never been in doubt. Come serious rain or come shine nothing can stand in the way of these devoted enthusiasts. They have a lot to shout about too as Lewis Hamilton is aiming at world championship title number three. A win this weekend, on home soil, would be big for the Brit too. To win his home grand prix will come with a sort of euphoria that could carry Hamilton all the way to that coveted third title and importantly extend his points lead.

It is quite something to think that sixty-five years ago pundits of a different era sat down to write about the driver’s of their time ahead of the British grand prix. It goes to show that while the times may change where Formula 1 is there the legendary Silverstone will be.

June 30, 2015

Wehrlein Tops The Time Sheets on Day 1 of Rain Hit Austria In-Season Test

Mercedes reserve driver Pascal Wehrlein ended on top of the time sheets after the first day of the final in-season test at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.

The young German set a best time of 1:11.005, 0.187s clear of Force India’s Esteban Ocon who’s best time was 1:11.192.

The session got off to a very wet start on Tuesday morning with just Ferrari Academy driver Antonio Fuoco and McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne heading out for installation laps on full wets. The track remained quiet for the rest of the morning. The session was red-flagged 30mins in due to the heavy rains that showed no sign of letting up.

There was much deliberation between the teams to cancel running for the day and extend the test for an extra day to Thursday. It was eventually decided, as the rain started to ease up, that Monday’s running should be extended by 2 hours.

Cars started firing up and heading out after the lunch break. First on full wets and then on intermediates as the track quickly dried up. Not long after that it was time for dry weather tyres and we were able to see more cars on the track.

Finishing 3rd fastest for the day was Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen. He set a best time of 1:11.328 clocking up 97 laps, the most from all the drivers on the day.

Ferrari Academy driver Antonio Fuoco’s fastest time was 1:11.331 which was 0.326s off Wehrlein’s pace. He’s lap time steadily climbed all afternoon but a slight mistake into Turn 1 saw him spin off the track and hit the wall damaging the front end of the SF15-T. “I am very angry with myself for making a mistake today,” commented Fuoco. “But getting behind the wheel of a Ferrari has always been my dream and today it finally came true. All the same, I am pleased with the work I was able to do, gathering useful data for the team, even if the rain affected our programme today.”

GP2 driver Stoffel Vandoorne ended his day for McLaren 8th fastest 1.525s off the pace with a fastest time of 1:12.530 and managed to rack up 76 laps for the dayLotus’ Romain Grosjean ended his day 5th fastest ahead of Red Bull’s Peirre Gasly. Another Ferrari Academy driver Raffaele Marciello was in the driving seat at Sauber. He racked up 53 laps for the Swiss based team with his fastest time of the day of 1:11.826.

Williams test driver Susie Wolff was 9th fastest for Williams with a best time for her of 1:13.248. Wolff says that her runs in the dry were mainly for aerodynamic evaluations and preparation work for Silverstone. The Williams did emerge from the pits with interesting looking winglets ahead of the rear wheels which, if deemed legal, could provide the team with a really big advantage come Silverstone.

Force India were trailing parts for their B-spec car which they hope to run in Silverstone. Deputy Team Principal Robert Fernley says that the team hopes to have two complete B-spec cars ready for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. At the moment, he says they are on track to meet their deadline.

Wednesday’s driver line up:

Mercedes	Nico Rosberg
Ferrari	Esteban Gutierrez
Williams	Valtteri Bottas
Red Bull	Daniel Ricciardo
Force India	Pascal Wehrlein
Lotus	Jolyon Palmer
Sauber	Felipe Nasr
Toro Rosso	Marco Wittmann
McLaren	Fernando Alonso

Below is the unofficial timing sheet for Day 1 of the Austrian in-season test.

Pos	Driver	Team	Laps	Time	Gap
1	Pascal Wehrlein	Mercedes	67	1:11.005	–
2	Esteban Ocon	Force India	76	1:11.192	+0.178
3	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso	97	1:11.328	+0.323
4	Antonio Fuoco	Ferrari	71	1:11.331	+0.326
5	Romain Grosjean	Lotus	45	1:11.509	+0.504
6	Pierre Gasly	Red Bull	80	1:11.757	+0.752
7	Raffaele Marciello	Sauber	53	1:11.826	+0.821
8	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	76	1:12.530	+1.525
9	Susie Wolff	Williams	39	1:13.248	+2.243

June 23, 2015

F1 2015: Austrian GP Review – Rosberg Strikes In Spielberg

Control is a concept that when given up is difficult to regain. Yet, Nico Rosberg overcame his pole starting teammate and controlled all seventy-one laps for an important victory in Austria.

The multi-lingual German secured his third victory of the season and second consecutive Austrian race win. But for a “vibration” late on in the race the afternoon was smooth as it could be with Rosberg firmly in the lead. This was an important victory for Rosberg to stymie Hamilton’s momentum ahead of the British Grand Prix.

For Lewis Hamilton a supposed issue with the clutch complicated his afternoon. The reigning champion also cut the white line on pit exit for which he was given a five second penalty.

It didn’t influence his second position as he brought the number 44 Mercedes home in a rather quiet afternoon.

The Austrian country side is a beautiful vista of mountains and greenery but Kimi Raikkonen probably had enough of it. A communication error on Saturday landed the Finn at the back of the grid and Sunday’s race lasted all of three corners before a hefty clash with Fernando Alonso ended his race.

The crash itself was quite strange as Raikkonen appeared to lose rear grip and collected the front of Alonso’s McLaren. Some sources suggest that Raikkonen had a rear puncture which contributed to the rear end becoming unstuck but the Finn himself could not pinpoint a specific reason.

Sebastian Vettel fared slightly better and was running third but a problem with a wheelnut cost the German third place as he fell behind Williams’ Felipe Massa. The four time champion was able to close the gap in the closing stages but similar to the Bahrain Grand Prix was unable to overtake the Williams. Vettel declared the Williams the most difficult car to overtake after finishing the race in fourth.

McLaren’s afternoon only got worse and that in the presence of new Honda managing director Takahiro Hachigo. Jenson Button’s McLaren gave up the ghost after only ten laps of which at least six were behind the safety car. Sadly, McLaren’s Honda issues have not gotten any better since pre-season testing and its drivers were given a combination of fifty grid place penalties, in Austria, for changing several parts of their power units.

The issue of power unit penalties has been a point of heated contention. Nevertheless, the validity of this particular gripe is mostly unfounded. All manufacturers started with the same set of rules and the reality is that some, namely Merc, did a significantly better job than others. In all probability the manufacturers in Formula 1 would have thought that the second year of the hybrid power unit era would have looked far better in terms of power and reliability. In Renault’s case it’s showing a significant downturn in performance and reliability. Improvement from year one is possible though as Ferrari has proven. For Honda and Renault the level of frustration is further inflated by penalties but they are a consequence of a much bigger problem.

The race up front wasn’t as exciting as many would’ve liked but there were several juicy battles further down the field. For fifth place, Valtteri Bottas duked it out with an inspired Nico Hulkenberg. Bottas ultimately got the better of the tussle but the Force India driver, still on a high from winning Le Mans, put together a brilliant weekend which culminated with a sixth place finish.

The fight for seventh too was an exhilarating scrap between Pastor Maldonado and Max Verstappen. The teenager’s never-say-die approach made for a great spectacle but didn’t go down too well with Maldonado who felt that the youngster didn’t “respect the rules.” Ninth place went to Force India’s Sergio Perez ahead of Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo.

There are many factors which contribute to the current state of Formula 1 not least of all the tyres provided by Pirelli. Daniel Ricciardo was able to run fifty laps on the yellow-walled soft tyres before having to pit. The blame isn’t solely on Pirelli but surely a nigh indestructible tyre is not going to add to the showpiece. Even the 2012 and 2013 version of their tyres, which dramatically fell away, would be a welcome return at this uninspiring point. Michelin has announced their interest in becoming the official tyre supplier of Formula 1 with a promise of allowing drivers to push to the limit at all times. It’s easier said than done of course but it’s clear that, on the tyre front, things have to change.

The start of the 2015 season didn’t go to plan for Rosberg who was being summarily spanked by Hamilton. But little by little Rosberg has clawed his way back both on the leaderboard and mentally. With his confidence soaring a ten point gap doesn’t seem much at all.

Rosberg Hamilton Photo Credit: Mercedes AMG F1

June 22, 2015