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  • 2014 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    2014 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    Drivers:

    Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull Racing)

    Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes AMG Petronas F1)

    Valtteri Bottas (Williams)

    Sergio Perez (Force India)

    Romain Grosjean (Lotus)

    Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber)

     

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Let’s start with the world championship leader. Lewis, 17 points ahead, the biggest lead you’ve had this year so far, which poses the greater threat do you think: Nico or reliability from here on?

    Lewis HAMILTON: It’s a good question. I don’t know, I think they are both relatively de cent threats. But the guys have worked very hard to eradicate those through the year so I hope that we can all go through these next races together as a tea, without any of those issues.

    Do you feel a bit more in control of things now, though?

    LH: It doesn’t really feel any different to several races ago really. As I keep saying: just fighting and chasing the ultimate goal.

    You’ve won twice here in the US, once in Indianapolis and then the first race here at COTA. You have a great affinity for this country, how do you see the potential for Formula One here in the US?

    LH: I think there is a huge market for Formula One. I think if you watch all the different sports here the people in this country are so passionate about sports in general, whether it be basketball, baseball or NFL or even NASCAR and IndyCar, so they are extremely enthusiastic about competition and wheel-to-wheel racing or just real out and out heart racing or competition. Whilst we only have one race here, there’s lots of opportunity here for it to grow. I’ve just definitely seen from 2007, even though we missed out quite a few years, there’s still quite a lot of growth here. I was in New York yesterday for example and there were people waiting outside this building, with signs and just Formula One fans with our team tops on, which was huge.

    Thank you for that. Daniel, coming to you, nice look you’re sporting this weekend. Third in the drivers’ championship, you’re 10-6 against Sebastian in qualifying, which means that whatever happens from here to the end of the season in the head-to-head he can’t beat you. How does that feel?

    Daniel RICCIARDO: Yeah, I’ve said it I think before that I’ve been really happy with the season. Yeah, I guess it’s exceeded my expectations and probably everyone else’s as well. A few more races left, I would love to get another… or ar least a few more top results. I think Austin is a good chance for us. A circuit I’ve personally enjoyed a lot the last few years. I think it’s not only fun to drive but for racing it provides… I honestly think it’s the best circuit on the calendar for overtaking. I think there are more spots around the lap here for overtaking opportunities than any other, so that’s always exciting. Yeah, so we’ll see how we go. I think we should be alright here.

    Well, the Red Bull boss has obviously spelled out that you’re the new team leader of Red Bull Racing for 2015. The target then is now on your back. How big a threat do you see Kvyat being to you, to do to you what you have done to Sebastian this year?

    DR: I feel a bit still young to the team but yeah I guess I will be the old guy next year. But yeah, I know Dani, I know him pretty well from a few years already. I definitely won’t take him lightly. I know he’s very quick and just because he’s still inexperienced in Formula One I’m sure he’s going to bring a lot to the team and a lot to the table. I’ll keep working on myself, try to keep improving. I feel I’m not at my peak yet, so I’ll try and get there personally first and then see where Dani fits in. I’m sure we’ll have a good working relationship, we joke around a bit already now, so I think that light sort of humour will remain in the team.

    Valtteri, coming to you, you scored your first ever Formula One points here at the Circuit of the Americas 12 months ago, and what a 12 months it’s been since then for you, five podiums and now you’re fourth in the drivers’ championship. Is it realistic to think that you can improve on this for next year, which are the areas?

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, I have really good memories from here, it’s so good to be back. It’s a nice circuit, everyone really likes to drive here. The atmosphere, everything is great. And like you said: what a 12 months it’s been. It’s been really good for us, we’ve been improving step by step, we made a big step in the winter and now we are in a really good position. But I do think we can still improve next year; that’s the goal. We aim to do better than this season and I’m sure it is possible.

    Looking at the characteristics of this Austin circuit, it looks like a track that should suit the Williams, like a number of places we’ve been this year. Is that the way you guys are reading it too? Do you think you can be a bit of a threat this weekend?

    VB: Yeah, I think it should be not bad. I think we can be strong here. It could be difficult to be close to the Mercedes as we were in Sochi but still I think it should be good and we’re going to have a good fight with Red Bull and Ferrari for sure.

    Romain, coming to you, you finished second here last year, great memories there, but you’ve only had two points finishes since that fantastic result. Are you committing your future to Lotus? Can you tell us any more about that and whether Lotus is the right team for you?

    Romain GROSJEAN: Yeah, very good memories from last year, not so good to remind me that I only scored two times this year. For a long time I’ve said that Lotus will be much better next year than they are this year, for a few reasons. There’s been a lot of work at the factory and the fact that the team brings a new nose here just to try to prepare for 2015 is a strong sign. I have a contract with the team. I have the option to leave if I want to – this is from some performance clause. So far there are still places available at top teams or they haven’t been confirmed and that’s there where I want to be in the near future and that’s what we try to do.

    It sounds like the ball is in your court. In terms of news, of course you’ve got some good news. I understand you’re going to have another. So at the end of a difficult year a nice bit of news for you and your wife.

    RG: At least that worked! So, pretty good timing as well for next year. I think personally I had a tough season with the results but outside the track I lost four people that were very close to me, the next one being the boss of Total, Christophe de Margerie, last week or the week before. So I thought it was important to announce good news. We have support in tough times but now we have support in good times and I am glad to be the father of a family of almost four people.

    Many congratulations to you. Staying on the theme of next year, Sergio, if we could come to you, your team-mate, Nico Hulkenberg, has confirmed for 2015 with Force India, where are you with the process? Is the deal almost done?

    Sergio PEREZ: Yes, it’s getting very close. Obviously it’s getting close to the end of the season, so things are getting very close to sort out the deal for the team. I definitely want to stay longer in the team. I want to establish myself in the team. I’m four years in Formula One and I’ve been moving around probably too many times. So I want to do a second year with the team and that’s my target. So hopefully everything goes right and we can announce things soon.

    Obviously we’re very close to Mexico here and presumably you’ve been back home in the past couple of weeks or so. Can you give us any updates on how the track is coming on, what the mood is like, what the expectation is for next year?

    SP: It’s really high. There are a lot of enthusiasts back home and the people are really excited to have the grand prix back home. I know the circuit is getting rebuilt; there was an event a couple of weeks ago. So, yeah, things are moving on very quick and Mexico is very excited to have all of you, all the drivers, all the teams all together, so it will be a very nice event.

    Staying on that theme, Esteban, obviously next year the US Grand Prix will be paired with Mexico on the calendar. What do you think that will do for the development of Formula One in this region?

    Esteban GUTIERREZ: I think it’s very positive in many ways to have more and more races in America. So I think now complimented with the Mexican Grand Prix and to have all the Mexican energy and also the American energy, in combination to that, it’s, I think, very positive to all of that.

    A quick thought on your championship position with Sauber. You’re still behind Marussia in the constructors’ championship, but they aren’t here. How hopeful are you that you will come out ahead at the end in the constructors’ championship?

    EG: Well, we are fighting all weekend. We’ve been doing that in the second half of the season, we have been very close to score the points on many occasions. We’ve had some technical issues which made it very difficult to consolidate those results but we still have three more chances and probably out of those three maybe only one or two! So we have to get the most out of what comes up as an opportunity and we are fighting all the way and, yeah, let’s hope we get the points that we want. 

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / National Speedsport News) A question for Lewis and Romain: Lewis, guys like Lauda and Prost took a year or two off, came back, won races and championships. Given how intense F1 is these days, the lack of testing, how much momentum would you lose if you took a year off. And Romain, you did take a year or so off, how much momentum did you lose?

    LH: It’s not something I’m thinking about. I would imagine, yeah, naturally you would definitely lose some traction and then coming back into testing, you don’t have a lot before the season, and particularly with all the controls, the new updates every single year, the technology’s constantly evolving, so to be on top of that, I imagine that would definitely take a while to come back into. So it wouldn’t be helpful. But perhaps back in the day, there was more running and testing, so perhaps… Niki could tell you more. But I’m sure, perhaps, it was a little bit easier for them to come back in.

    Romain?

    RG: Yeah, I think there it two ways of seeing things. Of course you do lose some of the confidence that you had in the car and the stuff you could do – but on the other hand, you learn in a tough time. And when your car is not so nice to drive, you learn some new tricks and learn to do around. And the day you jump back in a good car, it may feel very easy and quick.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) With the demise of the two teams, there’s been a lot of talk about third cars and teams. For the front running teams that obviously means it could dilute your efforts if the team is running three cars instead of two. And for the mid-grid teams it means you’re inevitably going to finish further down the order than you would at the moment. How do you drivers feel about third cars and teams?

    DR: I think from our position it’s something, if we’re requested to have a third car, I think we’ll definitely look into it and try to make it happen. From my side, let’s say, having another team-mate, I wouldn’t see any negatives. I remember 2008, I think I had six team-mates in Formula Renault, so it was like being in a school classroom. I wouldn’t see any downside from a driver’s point of view.

    Lewis?

    LH: I haven’t really thought about it to be honest but I think, as you said, we would have to expand the team to make sure the efforts aren’t diluted, as you said. But yeah, if it’s a position for a younger driver, it could be quite good. Especially bringing then on, giving them the best experience  and especially putting them alongside top drivers who have the experience. Perhaps they will come along a lot more than they ever have in the past. When I think about the two teams that have dropped out, my biggest concern really is just for all the employees in those teams that have to provide for their families that perhaps don’t have a job now. If we do do this perhaps they still have space in other teams.

    Valtteri?

    VB: Not too much to add really. Just I really think it’s an interesting topic. Everyone wants to see more cars on the grid and the more is better, so we just need to find out how soon that would be possible for the teams to make it happen. I think it would be quite interesting. I don’t see, as a driver, any downside in it really.

    Esteban, does it create opportunities as well?

    EG: Yeah, it could bring more opportunities for the drivers and also I think it would be good for the level of competition overall, so, yeah, all in all, it’s a positive.

    Romain – I’m sure you’ve thought about this.

    RG: Yeah. It really depends where you are. If you are one of the smaller teams, you see it as a non-chance of scoring points and showing what you’re capable of. On the other side, if you put it on a good team and you’re racing in the same cars as what we call the superstars, then it gives you an opportunity to show how strong you and then get called one of those superstars. I think whoever is doing a good job as a driver, bringing them to the good team, like Daniel, showing that he’s capable of winning races. A third car would certainly help some of us to have a good reputation.

    Sergio, your thoughts.

    SG: I think it will definitely help the opportunities of the drivers. Obviously there will be a bit more of a chance. Formula One is really limited. The spaces where you can go and where you can  actually win during a year, so it can create a bit more opportunity to the drivers, as a driver point of view. I think it’s also sad to not have so many people set out from Marussia and Caterham – so hopefully they can be in a better position for the future and, if it’s good for the sport, why not? I think we should all help this sport to get better.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Very probably we’re going to have Sebastian Vettel, who is the World Champion, not taking part in the qualifying on Saturday because of the change of the power unit. Don’t you think this is quite bad of the sport to promote? To have the World Champion not taking part, or any of you not be able to take part in a qualifying session just to preserve the engine?
    Daniel, can you clarify this? Hasn’t there been a question raised about this?

    DR: Yeah, he’s been asked quite a bit and I don’t think anything’s 100 per cent yet.  I think it’s… if he qualifies on pole he still has to start from pitlane so its… why would you put miles on the engine? It’s not 100 per cent but that’s the though behind everything. It’s… yeah… not ideal for him and for everyone, for the fans if that is the case. You want to be out there. You want to drive. For yourself, you want to learn more, you want to be on track, and yeah, you want to give the fans what they came for, so, yeah, we’ll obviously see what happens but that’s the rules and the regs for this year, and unfortunately that’s a negative from it – if that is the case.

    Lewis, do you have a view?

    LH: I agree with Daniel.

    Q: (Sef Harding – Zero Zone News) This questions for Lewis. Lewis, what is it about new tracks that you enjoy so much, being that you won here back in 2012 for the inaugural race, and you won the inaugural race in Sochi three weeks ago?

    LH: I like the fact it’s just a new challenge for us, y’know? We get every year… I’ve been in Formula One now eight years and every year you go to those tracks and you’ve experience them before. You’re always trying to better yourself at the tracks you know but the new circuits, you want to be the one that masters it before everyone else, that kind of thing. Of course, when you get a car that you’re able to do that, it’s even more exciting. One of the most exciting races for me was here in 2012. Being about to follow… it’s very, very difficult to follow in one of these cars but, as Daniel mentioned, this is one of the circuits that enables you to. For whatever reason, it’s just the way the corners are laid out, you can follow a Formula One car. And when I was able to follow Sebastian and actually attack a Red Bull – which was the dominant car that year. And also, the amount of people that were here for that race. Sochi, that was a great new circuit again, and to have a car that I was able to fight and obviously be ahead of. In ten years time you’ll look back and know that Hamilton was at the forefront of those debut races – that’s quite cool for me. I look back at history and at Michael who’s got the world record on all the laps on all these previous circuits and also won the first time. Hopefully in the future I’ll have a couple of these.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – Universo OnLine) Lewis, your numbers, your statistics are the best this year and maybe, in the last race of the championship something bad happens to you and you lose the World title because of the double points in the last race. First, is it fair for you and do you think it should be re-thought for next year? 

    LH: I think the question is ‘what is fair?’ This is the rule that they have brought in for the first time; do I really agree with it? I don’t know if any of us agree with it or do not agree with it, but it is the way it is and you just have to deal with it and just hope for the best really. It would suck if that was the case – big time – but I’m not even going to put that negative energy out there. I’m just going to try and do the best job I can with the car that I have and what will be will be, I guess.

    For the future, I wouldn’t perhaps advise it for the following years but…

    Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Association) Lewis, you touched earlier on your trip to New York yesterday. What do appearances like that do for Formula One, when you appear on a major American TV programme? And secondly, you’re wearing quite an interesting item around your neck, could you give us an insight as to what exactly that is, whether it’s got any significance, any special meaning? 

    LH: New York was just very… it was incredible really. I just remember growing up watching all these movies and you see it in New York, all the cool taxis and then to be in the middle of New York, in the street with the Formula One car and actually people had arrived at 5.30 in the morning for the 8.30 show. There were fans there with team tops and it’s just something I just wouldn’t have perhaps expected over here. It really was a great buzz these guys had. There’s more and more excitement growing here in the States and as I said, they are massive sports fans over here. I really hope that it continues to grow, and obviously with this race, they did such an amazing job from 2012 until now and I hope that continues to grow. Over here, they have a good recipe for good shows. When you go and watch an NBA game you know you’re excited the whole way through. Same with NFL and the same with baseball and so they have a good recipe for entertaining fans and we can perhaps take a bit of that and add it into this race and maybe others and make it even more attractive.

    And then just my piece; I’m really into art. I couldn’t afford the real Andy Warhol painting so I thought I would get it on a miniature scale so that’s what I have, it’s the Mercedes 300SL cars.

    Q: (Greg Creamer – COTA PA) To all of you – perhaps Lewis, as a former winner here, you will take this first – with the changes this season with less downforce, more weight on the cars, more torque, in the past couple of years you’ve been able to do this with one stop. You’ve got these sections from (turns) three to nine and then from 12 through 15, are you seeing anything on the simulator, any kind of indication as to what the toll is going to be on the tyres this year and how they will work? 

    LH: I personally haven’t yet, but I’m going to speak to my engineers shortly after this but I hope that we’re doing more than one stop. One stop is not really particularly exciting and I think it’s good for the fans to see it all changing. To have degradation… I know in the past we maybe complained about too much degradation but having at least two stops I think would maybe be good for the fans to see. Otherwise it becomes a bit of a procession.

    VB: I think it’s definitely going to be more difficult to do one stop just because with all the changes from last year and also we have one step softer set of tyres here so I think it’s definitely going to be more difficult. Let’s hope there’s… for the fans more than one is better so we will see.

    EG: I agree with both of them. I hope that we can get more than one stop to play a bit more with the strategy and to make it more interesting for everybody.

    Q: Sergio, you’ve done a few  strategy things in your time and got good results. Do you see any opportunities here this weekend?

    SP: To be honest not. I think it will quite likely be a one stop. The tyres are just too hard. Most probably we will see one stop for many people.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Sticking to the topic of tyres; since Sochi, Pirelli have announced that they’ve come softer a grade each for Brazil after two drivers had voiced their concerns. Did you people have similar concerns about the choice of tyres for Brazil and are there any other choices in the past where you’ve had particular concerns? 

    RG: I think there have been a few places where we knew we could race softer tyres, especially when you have to remember that this year everything is… tyres are one step harder than they were last year. So it just makes things harder and even the rear we have soft and medium whereas last year was medium and hard. At the end of the story, they’re exactly the same tyres. Yeah, a few places we knew they were too hard. I think Brazil used to be supersoft, I wasn’t racing in Formula One then, it was before I came, it was supersoft down there so when hard and medium came, they were a bit too hard.

    DR: Nothing further.

    Q: Valtteri, you’ve been caught out a few times this year.

    VB: Yeah, well, not much to add really. I think sometimes there have been races where they could have been a bit more aggressive but now at least I think Pirelli’s reacting, making changes for the rest of the year, so that’s a good thing so I think everyone is learning more and more all the time about new compounds and we will see in the future. Possibly there are some things which could have been done better but it’s always easy to say afterwards.

    Q: Final thoughts on this, Lewis, because the Mercedes has always been able to make the harder tyres work this year, hasn’t it?

    LH: Yeah, I think I agree with what was just said. I think it’s important to remember that Pirelli have actually done a really solid job this year, and OK, whilst the tyres are sometimes a little bit too hard for us, it’s what we’ve asked for and they’re learning and they’re improving and hopefully these next steps will be… but you know, safety has not been an issue this year which is huge because this last year it was sometimes a concern. Yeah, it would be good to move forward with a tyre that does (not) allow anything worse to happen. A few more problems in terms of pit stops would not be too bad.

    Q: (Carlos E. Jalife – Fast Mag, Mexico) You’re going to be racing in Mexico in 2015 and Azerbaijan in 2016, yet we do not have a French Grand Prix. What do you think about losing all these traditional sites and yet racing in a place like Azerbaijan – I’m not saying Mexico because Mexico started in 1962 and it’s older than everything else except for seven of the other locations, it has an older tradition. What do you think, starting maybe with Romain, about not racing in France which had the first Grand Prix in 1906? 

    RG: I’ve missed racing in France; I’ve never raced Formula One in my own country. I’m sure it’s something special so I wish it would come back one day, but there are different… I think it’s quite good as well that we discover new places, for example, Austin. Indianapolis was not a very good end and then we came here the first year and I was very surprised to see how many fans came so it’s good to see new countries, it’s good to see new tracks and it’s good to see that fans love it. I think it goes on and off and things change.

    DR: I think it’s definitely nice having some traditional places. It would definitely be a shame to lose some of the iconic – let’s say European – circuits but with that, I also love coming to new places as well. I’ve been very vocal about Austin, my love for this place, my love for the venue, the circuit, everything. I think it’s definitely been one of the (best) if not the best of the new generation circuits in Grand Prix for us. I’m also really excited for Mexico next year. I know Esteban and Sergio are pretty crazy people so I’m sure we’ll get a good following there. We definitely have to keep some of the iconic ones in Europe. It would definitely be a shame to lose those. As for moving further away from those and exploring new places, I think that’s also great for the sport.

    LH: I think it’s probably already been said but the old circuits… growing up and seeing the history of Formula One, I remember when I was younger, watching a lap of Senna’s, for example, around Monaco and then dreaming of one day driving that track and knowing the history of it, even way before and then driving it for the first time, that feeling was just unreal, I can’t really describe it. Obviously you’re into a new circuit, there is none of that history, so there is that difference but we’re coming to a new age where in fifty years’ time people will be talking about these circuits which are at the beginning of the history here. Inevitably, things are going to change a bit. Something in Paris would be cool.

    SP: Obviously I’m a big fan of Formula One for a long time so I love the historical circuits: when we go to Spa, Monza, Silverstone, those kind of races are very special for a driver to live the tradition that those places have but also when we go to new places, for example when we came to Austin, it was great and every time we come here it’s fantastic. When we go to Mexico, there are really some special venues coming up but obviously the traditional ones must remain in Formula One, I think.

    EG: Yeah, I like exploring new places. I’ve been enjoying racing on new tracks a lot, ever since I came into Formula One. To get to know a new track is very exciting and as long as the fans love it, I think we’re going to be very happy anyway.

    VB: Yeah, I also like discovering new places, new tracks, I think it’s nice but it’s also really good to have the history of Formula One as part of the calendar so it’s important to have a good combination of both, I think, which I think, at the moment we more or less have

  • F1 2014: US GP Preview – Formula 1 Goes Country

    F1 2014: US GP Preview – Formula 1 Goes Country

    Judging by the harmonious blend of NASCAR and beer the Americans have a pretty good idea on how to spend most of their weekends. More recently they struck on another golden combination by bringing the world’s premier racing serious to the lone star state of Texas.

    Dubbed the Circuit of the Americas, or COTA, Formula 1’s return to the US was celebrated with a rowdy return in 2012. This circuit too was designed by Herman Tilke but unlike his other occasionally tedious attempts at modern circuit design COTA has been lauded by drivers and fans. “Hand on heart, this is probably the date on the calendar I look forward to the most,” says Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo. “The Circuit of The Americas, in my opinion, is the best of the new breed of circuits. The nature of the corners is interesting. It’s also a very busy track where you don’t get much respite. The first sector is very special and that first turn, blind up the big hill is like nothing else in Formula 1. It’s also a good example of the excitement a late apex can create: you can have a really good lunge there. They’ve done a very good job.”

    A storm is brewing towards the back of the Formula 1 grid as two teams in particular are having a difficult time in coping with the new turbo-charged-money-pit-era of the sport. It has led to the announcement that neither Caterham nor the Marussia team will be taking part in Texas this weekend. The great hopes once held for Caterham now lay in shards as administrators Smith and Williamson, who now own the team, set out to look for a possible buyer. Its debut in 2010 and the following season for Caterham seemed to suggest a lot of potential. They were the team most likely to be snapping at the heels of the mid-field and possibly score a point or two, such was their progression. However, in the last two seasons the team seems to have hit a brick wall and was overtaken by main rivals Marussia. Caterham’s absence, with permission from Bernie Ecclestone, will also include the team missing the Brazilian GP.  At Marussia financial woes have meant that team cannot run either.

    sebusThis should make for an interesting qualifying session. Along with the four cars already missing from the line-up Red Bull has already announced that Sebastian Vettel will not take part in the qualifying session. Vettel has chosen not partake as he will incur a ten-place grid penalty for using a sixth power unit, one more than is allotted for a season.

    Not that long ago the announcement that Formula 1 would transform to hybrid, turbo-charged cars for 2014 was met with serious speculation as to the cost involved. Several teams, some of the big-wigs too, had genuine fears about the financial implication of such an imposing transformation.   With two teams not making the trip to Texas or Brazil; a few others like Lotus and Sauber are in quite a fight to keep their head above water; and with Vettel missing in action from quali you have to wonder if those who pushed for the comprehensive rule changes are still as boisterously confident as before.

    Formula 1 is a sport of extremes and over on the other side of the grid Mercedes is making merry and raking in the prize money. The circuit in Austin, Texas isn’t as power-hungry as Russia’s Sochi track but this will do little to eat into the colossal competitive advantage that Mercedes wields.

    America – the land of opportunity so goes the famous saying. With three consecutive victories Lewis Hamilton has been making the most of hisCOTA and now sits seventeen points clear of teammate Nico Rosberg. What can Rosberg do to break the ominous momentum of his champion teammate, more importantly; does he have the mental fortitude to beat an extremely confident and ridiculously comfortable Lewis Hamilton on an equal playing-field? There isn’t a doubt that Rosberg is a quick driver with some savvy skills. As this championship draws to a climax he’ll need to call on all of it to prove that he has what it takes to be the 2014 world champion. How deep can Nico Rosberg truly dig?

  • Broadcast Times for the 2014 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix

    Broadcast Times for the 2014 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix

    It’s been a rather eventful three weeks in the lead up to Round 17 of the Formula 1 World Championship. We’ve seen two teams exit the sport with very little chance of either team returning. To add insult to injury there are threats that there are more teams that may fold and exit the sport. It has truly been a sad few weeks.

    As sad as these past events are, the show must go on. The F1 circus returns to the Circuit of the Americas in Austin Texas for the United States Grand Prix. This is only the third time the track has hosted the US GP and every year it gets bigger and better.

    With Mercedes winning the Constructors Championship at the Russian Grand Prix, and with Red Bull in a comfortable second, the battle between Williams and Ferrari for third is all to play for. There is just 28 points between the two teams and we can be certain that both teams will be pushing for strong points finishes in the final three races.

    With the Constructors Championship decided. It just leaves the Drivers Championship. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton took victory at the inaugural Russian Grand Prix and extended his championship lead by 17 points. There is still everything to play for between the two Mercedes drivers, although some believe that Hamilton does have the upper hand.

    With the race in the central part of North America we can expect rather late times for this weekend. Below are the TV broadcast times for the 2014 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix(All times are GMT+2)

    Free Practice 1: Friday 17:00

    Free Practice 2: Friday 21:00

    Free Practice 3: Saturday 17:00

    Qualifying: Saturday 20:00

    Race: Sunday 22:00

     

    You can follow us on Twitter (@F1_Madness) for live commentary on all the sessions for the US GP.

  • Video: Mercedes F1 World Championship Celebrations

    Video: Mercedes F1 World Championship Celebrations

    The Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One team have plenty to celebrate about, and they’ve sure been doing just that! Join Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, Niki Lauda, Toto Wolff, Paddy Lowe and the entire Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team as they celebrate their F1 World Championship win at their bases in Brackley and Brixworth!

  • Di Montezemolo Confirms Ferrari Exit for Alonso

    Di Montezemolo Confirms Ferrari Exit for Alonso

    Former Ferrari President, Luca Di Montezemolo confirmed last night that Fernando Alonso will be leaving the Maranello based team at the end of the season.

    Speaking on a television show yesterday, Di Monetzemolo told Italian media that Alonso is leaving for two reasons. “One, he wants another environment. Two, because he is an age when he cannot wait to win again,” he said.

    Di Montezemolo also revealed that Alonso asked him to release him from his contract during the summer break as he believed Ferrari will be unable to provide him a race winning car in the near future.

    His role as Ferrari Chairman came to an end this week after it was announced that Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne would take over the role as Ferrari Chairman.

    It’s no secret that Alonso wants to leave Ferrari at the end of the season. The Spaniard has remained tight lipped about his future in F1 with the strongest rumors saying that he may have a drive with McLaren next year. The other rumor is that he will take a year off and work on a deal with to drive for Mercedes in 2016.

    Alonso dropped a few hints at the at the Russian Grand Prix saying that he does not think that he will be in a Mercedes powered car in 2015. He also added that he thinks that there isn’t a big risk that he wont be in F1 next season.

    We are yet to hear anything from Alonso or Ferrari at this point. Alonso has said that once the announcement on his future is made it will be “obvious”. Lets wait and see, Fernando.

     

    Photo Credit: Suderia Ferrari Formula 1

  • F1 2014: Sochi Success For Hamilton

    F1 2014: Sochi Success For Hamilton

    The most exciting thing about the first ever Russian Grand Prix was … nothing. If truth be told the only moment that induced  any sort of eyebrow-raising was a 60 meter lock-up by Nico Rosberg as he tried to steal the lead of the race from Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton.

    Other than Rosberg’s rather frantic attempt at getting ahead, the Sochi Autodrom turned out to be a bit of damp squib. The layout, once again designed by Hermann Tilke, provided a technical challenge to drivers when it came to stringing a perfect lap together but as far as the track surface is concerned it most definitely did not want to play ball with Formula 1. Pirelli had the difficult task of predicting what the track surface would offer up and based their decision on how other new tracks had performed. While keeping this in mind it is difficult to blame the Italian tyre manufacturer for bringing tyres to Russia which are almost literally bulletproof.

    russian-gp-start-rosbergSo indestructible were the Pirelli’s that Nico Rosberg, forced to pit on lap 1 with severely flat-spotted tyres, was able to run a 52 lap stint on one set of tyres. It wasn’t a gigantic risk nor was Rosberg, at any point, required to tip-toe around and nurse his tyres. No, he was able to push and for most of the stint set a pace comparable,  and sometimes even quicker, than the race leader.

    We commend thee Pirelli for producing the world’s first everlasting F1 tyre. But we implore you to chalk this up to a frightening one-off incident that should never again be repeated.

    Saturday’s qualifying certainly provided more entertainment as Williams’ star Finn Valtteri Bottas nearly snatched pole position from Lewis Hamilton’s grasp. It wasn’t to be for the Williams driver but he put himself in the best position possible to fight for a podium finish.

    The early part of the race and the Finn’s pace suggested that he could perhaps have a go at the leading Mercedes. But this too fizzled out towards the middle part of race as Hamilton started steadily building the gap to the Williams. Bottas eventually finished third and set the fastest lap of the race.

    Jenson Button followed through on the pace McLaren had promised in the free practice sessions with a fine fourth place finish. It was a lonely drive for the Brit who ran as high as third during the opening stint of the race. The second McLaren of Kevin Magnussen recovering from a five place grid penalty induced by a gearbox change,

    Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso finished an uninspired sixth and remained as coy as ever as to his future in the sport. Many have already plopped theLewis Hamilton Sochi 2014 Spaniard into a McLaren seat for 2015 but Sky’s Ted Kravitz hinted, post-race, that the double champ could be off to Lotus.

    Daniel Ricciardo did his level best to get past the Ferrari of Alonso but ultimately could do nothing about it and finished ahead of teammate Sebastian Vettel in seventh.

    Kimi Raikkonen spent most of the 53 laps embroiled in scrap with the two Toro Rosso drivers but eventually got the better of them and finished a distant ninth. Sergio Perez nearly cut it too close on fuel consumption but held on to bring the Force India home in tenth.

    Felipe Massa attempted an aggressive two-stop strategy but never quite recovered from a technical issue in qualifying; the Brazilian finished eleventh.Only Caterham’s Kamui Kobayashi and Marussia’s Max Chilton failed to see the chequered flag. As a sign of respect to Jules Bianchi the Marussia team chose to run only one car this weekend.

    The Russian Grand Prix most probably didn’t even register a blip on the thrill meter. But it did give us another bit of insight into the title fight. Now that Mercedes has been crowned worthy Constructor’s champions it leaves a straight-up fight for the driver’s crown. Rosberg’s crack at snatching the lead was a tad anxious. Still the German has not beaten Hamilton on a level playing field. We’ve talked a lot about the psychological battle between these two. Is it now finally starting to tell on Nico Rosberg?

     

  • 2014 Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix: Sunday Press Conference

    2014 Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix: Sunday Press Conference

    Drivers:

    1st Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

    2nd Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)

    3rd Valtteri Bottas (Williams)

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS
    (Conducted by Alex Popov)

    Q: What a wonderful race guys – thank you very much. I know Lewis you are a real fan of Russia, of Russian racing. Now you’ve won the first Russian Grand Prix in 100 years exactly. How do you feel?
    Lewis Hamilton:     So happy to be here. We’ve had an amazing week. The fans and really the organisers… Russia’s been so good to me and to the team. I’m so grateful for all the support and I’m really looking forward to coming here many, many more times. It’s not very far from where I live so I’m going to be hopping over for some holidays for sure.

    Q: I know you’re impressed by the ski resorts here. Look, 17 points now, you have. Seventeen points in front of Nico. You think it’s enough or not?
    LH:     Obviously Nico did a great job to recover from his mistake earlier on today but the car was performing really well. We did a great job as a team. It’s history for us, so I feel very proud to be a part of it – me and Nico and all the team members. To get the first constructors’ championship for Mercedes Benz is amazing, so it’s a beautiful day.

    Q: Nico, it was a really wonderful fight with Valtteri and you won it. Do you really think the tyres were gone or was it a bluff, like in poker?
    Nico Rosberg:     No, it was a great strategy from the team. The thing is that our car is unbelievable. It’s so good; everybody has done such a great job building this car. That’s why half of me of course is extremely disappointed that I messed up today but the other half, I’m really, really happy, because everybody in the team deserves it so much. For them the most important title of the year is the constructors’ championship, that’s why I can even smile a bit, because I’m happy for everybody to have achieved that.

    Q: Ladies and gentlemen, 52 laps on the same set of tyres, what a great race. Valtteri, on the last lap of the race, you set the first ever Formula One fastest lap in a Russian Grand Prix. But you lost the fight with Nico, so are you happy or not?
    Valtteri Bottas:     Well, I need to be happy for us as a team. You know, what we have been doing since last year is amazing. Again on the podium, so a good amount of points. We were today ‘best of the rest’. Unfortunately, Mercedes is still quite a bit ahead but, you know, we did the best we could from where we started, so we need to be happy as a team.

    Q: This man is still in the fight for third [in the drivers’ championship] with Daniel Ricciardo. But we are back for one quick question [with Lewis] because we all know the Russian story: the evening after the race, we must celebrate. And you have three weeks…
    LH:     Is there vodka?

    Q: It’s OK for you?
    LH:     Yeah, I don’t mind. Thank you.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Lewis, congratulations, tremendous win there. We could see you were pushing very hard by the number of fastest laps you did – but you seemed to have virtually no problems. Any problems with fuel consumption? Any problems with tyres? Just one little lock-up we saw from you.
    LH:     Yeah, it was a good, good day and an amazing weekend. Firstly, I’m just so proud to have contributed to have worked with this great team, to get the first constructors’ championship for Mercedes-Benz. I could have only dreamed of that when I joined this team. So, a great day for that. Huge congratulations to all the guys that are here and back home in the UK and also in Germany. But yeah, today, once I was out in the lead I was really just having to control, just looking after the tyres, managing the fuel was quite straightforward. And then, towards the end of the race the car felt great so I could push or not push. I wasn’t really having to push much and even when I was having to pick up the pace a little bit when I eventually found Nico was behind, it was easy to match the times. And the car’s been amazing this weekend and I really, really enjoyed the track. I tell you, Russia’s been one of my favourite places so far this year, so it’s very cool to have won the first race here.

    Nico Rosberg Press ConferenceQ: Nico, a fantastic drive through the field really – but what happened on the first lap? We heard you say you had a vibration. Did that go with the change of tyres? Tell us about that because that really governed your whole race.
    NR:     Yeah, of course. It was just a mistake on my side, braked too late and that’s it. Very unnecessary because it was my corner and should have been in the lead after that. So, obviously very disappointed with that. After that my tyres were just square. They were vibrating so much I couldn’t see where I was going so I knew that I had to pit. For me, I thought that was it. I thought that was the end of the day – but then of course, partly happy to get back all the way to second, passing Valtteri along the way and then… yeah, it’s just thanks to my car. My car was just unbelievable today and that’s what allowed me to come back through the field. That’s the main thing really. In hindsight really, even if it was a bit…I could have pushed more during the race, y’know? But it’s always easy to know afterwards but even at the end my tyres were fine. So, yeah, that’s a pity but anyway, it’s difficult to know that during the race.

    Q: Valtteri, at one point the pace seemed to be really close to Mercedes, perhaps closer than we’ve seen in any race so far this year.
    VB:     Yeah, the beginning seemed to be very good and I was not far off from Lewis and everything was going into the plan. The tyres were feeling good and suddenly the rear tyres started to go, started to lose pace and was struggling more and more and Lewis was getting far away. Then we stopped for the prime and it took just a really long time to get the prime tyre to work. It was just getting better towards the end. I did my best lap in the last lap of the race. It was really weird. And as it took so long to get the tyres to work, Nico got me in Turn 1. It was a bit of a surprise for me, didn’t expect him to come inside. Luckily I saw him in time so there was no contact. Yeah, as a team I think we again did a good job. We’ve come so much forward from last season so it’s again, really good to be on the podium.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Nico, when you tried to overtake Lewis at the first corner, you were on the inside line; is it because it’s not the racing line, is that line, let’s say, that you normally have to brake a little bit earlier to compensate?
    NR:     No, I don’t think so. It was definitely doable and I just messed up, very simple, no explanation. Just braked too late and too hard.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, last year you had your best result in Austin. Is it going to happen this year also? Valterri Bottas
    VB:     I really hope so. I got my first points in Formula One in Austin last year so it would be nice to have a good weekend there. I think the track should be OK for us so let’s aim for that.

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Nico and Lewis: now that the constructors’ title has been won, will you change your way of racing together or will it be the same?
    LH:     Same.

    NR: It’s the same, you know. Up until now, it’s always been we can fight and it continues to be like that. We can fight, it doesn’t change.

    Q: (Haoran Zhou – F1 Express) Lewis, can you describe your experience on the podium and especially when you were handed the trophy? Be as specific as possible.
    LH:     Well, it was kind of normal really. Kind of surreal for the president to be presenting the award. That was a great experience. The crowd have been amazing this weekend. I don’t know, I just never… I didn’t know that Formula One was something that people followed here in Russia. I didn’t know that there was actually a real love for it. To see the people turn out in their thousands yesterday and the grandstands full and then again today… They’re really enthusiastic, it looks like they’re really excited that we’re here and on top of that they did an amazing job with the track, the layout, with the surface, with the actual event. You would have thought they’d had this event many many times. I take my hat off to them.

    Q: (Leonid Khayremdinov – Red Star) Lewis, you had a wonderful season with this ninth victory and your lead is now 17 points, but I remember this in 2007 and you had the same 17 points behind Kimi Raikkonen. Are you not afraid of repeating the situation as in 2007?
    LH:     I remember 2007 very well. I wasn’t afraid then either but I guess I was perhaps less experienced so I’m a completely different man today so I’m looking forward to the races coming up.

  • 2014 Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix: Saturday Press Conference

    2014 Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix: Saturday Press Conference

    Drivers:

    1st Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

    2nd Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)

    3rd Valtteri Bottas (Williams)

     

    TV UNILATERAL

    Q: Lewis, congratulations on a superb pole today. Tell us what you feel about pole position for this race, this first ever Russian Grand Prix and how important is it to be on pole around here?
    Lewis Hamilton:     I have no idea in that sense but of course pole is a great place to start. Firstly, an amazing job done by the team; constantly improving and moving forwards this year. Thanks to them we’re able to be on the front row quite often. It’s great to come here. It’s a beautiful place and the weather has been amazing and really enjoying driving this track. It wasn’t the easiest session. These guys were looking quite strong. Just hooking up a lap from some reason it wasn’t the same as practice. But I’m really grateful that I got the pole here for the first time. It’s going to be tough tomorrow. It’s a long way down to turn one, so we’ll find out how that works out.

    Q: What is it about the circuit? A lot of drivers have called it ‘cool’.
    LH:     It is very cool. Yeah, definitely. The track surface is great, it’s very smooth but it has a lot of grip. The kerbs are just done really nicely and obviously the surroundings, you know when I landed here seeing the mountains – and also being around where they put the Olympics on, it’s quite an incredible place. And today we had a good turn-out as well for the first Saturday of the race here so I hope that tomorrow is even better and that we can put on a good show for them.

    Q: Nico, second on the grid. This is an important race, isn’t it, to get some points?
    Nico Rosberg:     Every race is important at the moment. We have four to go. They are all just as important. Yeah, today Lewis was quicker – all weekend really. So I’ve been working hard to try to get close but didn’t manage to get closer than those two tenths now but that’s the way it is. I need to accept that. Also, I had the Williams or Valtteri coming up from behind, going quick, so I needed to keep and eye on that. But front row is OK definitely and from there everything is possible tomorrow. It’s going to be an interesting race. It’s very unique here because there is hardly any tyre degradation. The track is so smooth on the tyres or I don’t know what. It’s completely different to everything else we’ve seen this year and that makes it very unique. It’s been a big challenge set-up wise and everything to get to grips with the track this weekend. Yeah, I think it’s going to be a good race tomorrow.

    Q: Valtteri, so, so close. I think the entire grandstand heaved with excitement when you went off, right at the end on that last corner. Nobody else has been off there either.
    Valtteri Bottas:     Yeah, well I didn’t know at that time that it was close to the pole. I only knew how it was compared to my best lap, which was the previous lap, which was not bad. I knew I had one more lap to go. Maybe, looking back I took maybe a bit too much out of the tyres in the beginning of the lap and the last sector became a bit more tricky. As I was gaining time compared to my best towards the end it became more difficult in the last few corners. I risked it a bit too much in the last two corners, went a little bit wide and when you go offline it’s really slippery like everyone saw and that was it.

    Q: Are you very upset about it?
    VB:     Of course, yeah. It’s not nice to make a mistake. I think in the end today it maybe cost one place maximum. Anyway, I think the mistake was taking a bit too much out of the tyres in the beginning of the lap, that’s what made me struggle a bit more in the end of the lap. The lap before, I’m quite happy about that.

    Q: Lewis, some of the corners around here seem to invite errors. What kind of race are we going to see tomorrow?
    LH:     I don’t necessarily think they invite errors. At the end of the day we’re pushing all the time so you’re going to see those mistakes or hiccups occur all the time but they’re generally easy to recover from. It’s a very fast, flowing or medium to high-speed, fast, flowing circuit. I really think that tomorrow is going to be a good race for people to watch. You’ve got the long straight that you can follow on, the DRS. It’s nice and wide so hopefully you should be able to follow quite nicely. It could be one of the better races we’ve had for a long time.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Lewis, an interesting message from your engineer saying he though the track was slowing and then you go and pop it on pole.
    LH:     Was I not on pole at that point?

    You were, but you improved.
    LH:     Yeah, I improved, absolutely. He said that the track looked like it was getting slower. To be honest I couldn’t really hear the message that clear but I kind of worked out what he was saying. But I was up on the next lap. It wasn’t a perfect lap. I think there was more time in it. It’s a fine line obviously; we’re all pushing out there. As I said, it didn’t feel as good as the P3 session but hopefully tomorrow should be good.

    Q: This morning we saw you had a rather strange incident. What happened there?
    LH:     I just basically made a mistake. I had the brake bias set the wrong way, forgot to reset it, had it too far rearwards and as soon as I touched the brakes I just locked the rears. Fortunately, I got away with it without damaging the car.

    Q: And we mentioned a moment that it invite mistakes but we see a lot of people going off that corner, Turn 17. There are certain corners where people do go off – Turn Two, Turn Four as well. What is it about those corners?
    LH:     I would say probably the exit of Turn Four – when you’re going into it it’s very wide and all of a sudden it gets quite narrow on the exit, so it’s very misleading when you go into that corners. For 17, it’s very hard to find the braking point and know how much speed [you can carry through] – the car is at the end of the lap, the tyres are overheating, it’s hard to know how much speed you can take through there. Plus, if you’ve had a good lap, you don’t want to lose it, so it’s a real fine line at those two places.

    Q: Nico, tomorrow, how important is DRS going to be?
    NR:     Hopefully very important! We’ll see. I think the start will be important of course, there’s a great opportunity there. Been having some very good starts lately, so quite confident for that. After that, race pace of course.

    Q: What’s the most significant part around this circuit? What’s that long, long left-hander like?
    NR:     It’s very unique. So long, full lateral G, so it’s quite exciting in an F1 car for sure.

    Q: Any other specific points on the circuit?
    NR:     It’s really a good track because it’s a big challenge to get it right. All those medium-speed corners, the way the asphalt is it doesn’t work the tyres very hard, it’s completely different scenario to everything else we’ve had this year. So we’ve had to adapt to this track and asphalt and the way the tyres are here. That made it a big engineering challenge this weekend. And also driving-wise it’s a difficult track.

    Q: Thank you very much. Valtteri, can you take the fight to Mercedes tomorrow?
    VB:     I really hope so. It’s never easy. They are really quick and you never know how more pace they have than what they showed in the long runs on Friday. So we will see tomorrow. As team we made a really good job this weekend in getting the car set up for this unique track and unique surface of the tarmac. It’s feeling good and I think the car should be a bit better in the long runs than it was in the qualifying.

    Q: It has been another good fight-back from Williams. We’ve seen it quite a few times, that Friday hasn’t been so good but you’ve come through on Saturday.
    VB:     On the Friday we’re always just focusing on our test programme, we’re not really looking in detail about the lap times. We’re doing our thing, doing it all weekend, to improve the car, make the most out of the tyres and the package we have and then, yeah, Saturday is the time when you show what you have. Sunday, in the end, is the day that matters but I’m feeling good for tomorrow.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, after getting so close to the pole, they say you are very critical on yourself. How critical are you today?
    VB:     Well, of course, very. I don’t know if it was possible to be on pole today, it looked like the Mercedes has been all weekend really quick in the last sector, so difficult to say how much we lost there. Maybe one position could have been better – but obviously when you haven’t done a perfect job, you are disappointed – but in the end the race is tomorrow and I’m starting on the clean side, second row, which is not bad at all. I’ll learn from this and we go forward.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Valtteri, after two sectors you were in the lead. Where in the third sector did you lose it. Only in the last corner or already before a little bit?
    VB:     Well, compared to my previous best lap, I started to lose already a little bit in the beginning of the third sector and, yeah, then I lost it completely in the last sector. But I mean the whole weekend and the whole qualifying, Mercedes was really quick in the last sector, so I think they are, in general, still quicker in the corners than us. So, I think anyway with a good lap it would have been difficult to be on pole. But for sure I lost the end of the lap and I think I was a bit more than two-tenths ahead of my best before going into the last two corners so yeah, it is what it is and we’ll see tomorrow.

    Q: (Vladimir Rogovets – Sb Belarus) My question to Lewis. This weekend we have the first race, the Formula One in Sochi, and today you are in the pole position here. Is this, have you feelings of love for Russia?
    LH:     It equals my love for Russia. Really, growing up, I’ve said before in interviews, but growing up seeing footage of Russia in movies and in pictures. It was one of the countries that I’d never really been to. We travel all the time, always get to go and see new places but it was one that I hadn’t really seen. Just the four or five days we’ve been here, to see the beauty of this place is really pleasing. Moscow is a beautiful place, really enjoyed it there seeing these old, beautiful buildings and then landing here was like landing in a real nice holiday destination – with mountains that I hear in the winter you can ski on, which I had no idea you could ski over here. Yeah, so, hopefully this is the beginning of a real positive relationship Formula One has with Russia. And definitely now for me I know it’s only a couple of hours flight from where I live so I think I’ll be hoping over more often for some good weekends.

    Q: (Autosport es Formula Magazin – Balazs Vajta) This is a question for Lewis. This track is also new and a couple of years ago we went to the first time to Valencia, which was also new and, even though the two tracks are not really similar, they do have some similarities. Everybody’s very enthusiastic about the race tomorrow, it will be exciting – my question is what makes you think the race will be exciting because Valencia used to be a kind of boring race usually. What makes you think different this time?
    LH:     I don’t know for sure but I personally wasn’t a big fan of the Valencia circuit. I liked the race track they have which is outside the city but the actually street one wasn’t very exciting. This one is definitely better for me. Whether or not we can follow – we were just discussing, who knows. They’re quite – they’re medium to fast kind of sweeping corners were you need maximum downforce, so tomorrow will be a true showing of whether or not you can follow. But you’ve got the long straights and, for example, Turn 10, you’re coming onto a corner which you should be able to follow through there for example, and then you have the DRS straight. Then you have a slower sector with the last sector which then goes onto the long pit straight, which again is very, very long, should enable people to be close and overtake. That’s why I think, when you were racing in Valencia it was very hard to follow and then when you did get to those long straights, or the couple of longer straights you had, you couldn’t get close enough. So fingers crossed.

    Q: (La Gazzetta dello Sport – Andrea Cremonesi) A question for Lewis and Nico. Tomorrow Mercedes can win the World Constructors’ Championship. Does it change something in the process of the race or it doesn’t matter in your mind this target?
    LH:     For me it doesn’t change much in the race but it’s quite a historic moment, it will be a historic moment for us and for me to be a part of this team and sees its success and be a part of its success. And also, Mercedes-Benz, having never won a Constructors’ Championship, it’s going to be the first time so it’s going to be historic for the team, very special moment when we get there.

    NR: Yes it is. It’s the big, one of the two big targets for the team since five years now. I’ve been there since day one and it’s very, very exciting to think that we’re so close to that now. That would be a really, really fantastic feat for us. I hope we manage to do it tomorrow and then maybe we’re able to celebrate it a little bit.

    Q: (Haoran Zhou – F1 Express) Two questions, one to Nico, how are you finding the DRS zone on the pit straight because it’s a bit like in Shanghai, it’s in the middle of the straight and the case in Shanghai is that the DRS isn’t that powerful. How are you finding that in the simulation? And a question to Lewis is – or perhaps to both of you – you are in a chance to win for Mercedes again, one century later after the 1914 Grand Prix – it’s not Formula One but Benz also won that. Is that in your target to win a hat-trick for Benz anyway, tomorrow.
    LH:     Where was that race?

    1914. There was two Russian Grands Prix, one in 1913, one in 1914, both won by Benz cars. Not Mercedes-Benz back then.
    NR:     That’s a nice statistic. Obviously it would be very special to do it 100 years after again. And it’s always great to hear these legendary stories of the Silver Arrows, y’know? And then with the DRS, it’s always calculated perfectly by the FIA to make sure that the overtaking is not too easy and not too difficult. They try to always get it right. So, I’m confident they’ve done a good job with it and they’ve got it exactly right.

    LH: I already kind of said it but it’s special to – it shows to Russia that Mercedes is the best. So hopefully tomorrow we’ll stamp that onto the first grand prix here in Russia.

  • Hamilton dominates in final Russian practice

    Hamilton dominates in final Russian practice

    Lewis Hamilton set a dominant pace during the final practice session at the Sochi Autodrom ahead of this weekend’s Russian Grand Prix.

    Hamilton’s time of 1:38.726 was comfortably faster than the rest of the pack, despite a spin at the penultimate corner which saw him destroy his tyres and unable to complete his lap. At the time he had over a second advantage over his rivals and was on course to improve his own lap time.

    Nico Rosberg and Valtteri Bottas did improve and Rosberg ended the session 0.29s down on his team mate’s time.

    Daniel Ricciardo finished the session in fourth spot for Red Bull, followed by Felipe Massa and Daniil Kvyat.

    Kimi Raikkonen finished the session ahead of his Ferrari team mate Fernando Alonso. The two were 7th and 8th respectively. Jean-Éric Vergne and Sebastian Vettel rounded out the top 10.

    Jenson Button finished in 11th place, unable to match the awesome pace McLaren had showed during the Friday practice sessions. He repeatedly complained about balance saying that it was “just aweful”.

    His McLaren team mate, Kevin Magnussen had himself a bit of trouble on track. His gear box failed and the Danish driver found himself doing some scary stunt driving to keep his car out of the wall. He managed to do that but the gearbox change will mean a 5 place grid penalty for him.

    Pastor Maldonado did not set a time due to an ERS problem.

    Top times for the session are below. Please join us on Twitter, @F1_Madness for live commentary and chat during this afternoon’s qualifying session.

    sochi-fp3-times

  • F1 2014: Friday Practice Round-up – Mercedes Lead The Way

    F1 2014: Friday Practice Round-up – Mercedes Lead The Way

    Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton finished the first two practice session at Russia’s Sochi Autodrom on top of the timing sheets.

    For the first time in its illustrious history Formula 1 commenced an official F1 race weekend in Russia. The circuit, 5.8 km in length and designed by Herman Tilke, was praised by several drivers.  “It’s got a really nice flow to it, it’s not too bumpy, the corners are challenging – if you can get the lines just perfect you can put together really nice sectors,” said Lewis Hamilton.

    The new track surface also delivered a substantial amount of grip considering that it has never before been used. Set in the undoubtedly inspiring setting of the Olympic Park is providing some challenge for the drivers. “It is more technical and difficult than it looked on paper,” said Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo. “It seemed quite hard to get the lap together and has quite a few off camber corners, which isn’t always fun for a driver, but it does make it challenging.”

    Spain’s Robert Merhi ran in the first of today’s two free practice sessions for Caterham. Elsewhere, Russia’s Sergey Sirotkin made his debut for the Sauber team in place of Esteban Gutierrez. Sirotkin finished the session only four tenths off the sister car of Adrian Sutil.

    According to Daniel Ricciardo the Red Bull team are bracing for a difficult weekend. The Australian’s car broke down during the closing stages of the second free practice session. The three-time grand prix winner described that the weekend would be an exercise in “damage limitation.”

    Reports from the McLaren garage were decidedly more upbeat. A closer analysis of the long-run simulations in free practice two revealed that Jenson Button’s laptimes were comparable to that of the Mercedes drivers. JB was especially heartened by the pace he was able to deliver on Friday.

    “We were very quick from the word go on the prime tyre. On the option tyre and with low fuel I didn’t really have the balance, so hopefully we can improve that tomorrow.,” said Button. “We are obviously behind the Mercedes, but we have a chance to fight everyone else this weekend.”

     

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