Tag: monza

F1 2022: Italian Gp Review – Five in a row for Verstappen

No penalties, no safety cars, no traffic. There is seemingly nothing that can stop Max Verstappen’s determined march towards a second world title. The win at Monza this week makes it five in a row for the Dutchman who is driving and performing to an unmatched level of excellence.

The vociferous Tifosi was buoyed by a stunning pole position from Charles Leclerc on Saturday. And with Verstappen relegated to seventh, thanks to penalties, they would’ve believed it possible that a Ferrari driver may just stand on the top step of the famous podium come Sunday. But such was the pace of Verstappen that it all be negated his five-place grid drop within a handful of laps.

Leclerc started cleanly from pole with George Russell, promoted due to several penalties applied to others, challenged briefly. Ultimately, the Mercedes driver simply didn’t have the pace to live with either Verstappen or Leclerc.

For the first time in quite a while Ferrari’s woes cannot be blamed on a bizarre strategy call. As Verstappen slotted into P2 by lap 5 it was clear that the Red Bull pace wouldn’t be beaten in a straight-out fight. As it were, Vettel’s retirement from the race, with a suspected ERS issues, on lap 12 prompted the deployment of the Virtual Safety Car (VSC). It gave Leclerc and Ferrari the opportunity to opt for alternative strategy and they did. The Monegasque swopped his soft tyres for mediums while Verstappen stayed out. Being on the alternate tyre gave Leclerc at least some chance to upset the Red Bull apple cart, even if it was a long shot.

Verstappen would swop his softs for mediums on lap 26 and hand the lead of the race back to Leclerc. Again, Ferrari made a clever call to pit Leclerc for second time, this time giving him fresher, and hopefully quicker, soft tyres. With 20 laps to go Verstappen stayed out on his older mediums. But despite Leclerc’s tyre advantage he simply was not able to close the gap to Verstappen. A late race retirement from Daniel Ricciardo prompted the deployment of the full safety car on lap 48. The seemingly innocuous retirement of the McLaren became slightly more complex as the car remained stuck in gear and therefore unmovable by marshals. As it were, clearing the McLaren took longer than expected and the race eventually finished behind the safety car.

While ending a race behind the safety car is not the optimal conclusion there was little else race control could do. There are some who say that a red flag should have been brought out, however this option is reserved only for serious incidents and as the very last resort.

Behind the top three of Verstappen, Leclerc, and Russell the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz recovered, yes from penalties, to a solid fourth place. Lewis Hamilton and Checo Perez, also felled by grid penalties, were fifth and sixth ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris in seventh and Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly in eighth. But the drive of the day was delivered by ninth place finished Nyck De Vries. The Dutch Formula E champion was drafted in on Saturday morning after regular Williams driver was told to be suffering from appendicitis. With very little time behind the wheel De Vries delivered a stunning drive to finish with points on debut. He surely hasn’t done his chances of being in that Williams for 2023, any harm either. Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu was tenth at the chequered flag.

After a sprint of three consecutive races Formula 1 takes a collective breath before heading to Singapore in two weeks’ time. Remarkably, such has his dominance been in 2022 that Verstappen will arrive in South-East Asia with a chance of wrapping up the driver’s world title.

All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

September 12, 2022
F1 2022: Dutch Gp Review – 4 in a row for Verstappen

It’s four in a row for Max Verstappen who once again stood on the top step of the podium at the Dutch Grand Prix. The Red Bull driver had to work a bit harder for it, but his tenth win of the season is in the bag. Although he started cleanly from pole Verstappen had to overcome not only an out-of-character pacey Mercedes duo but also a virtual safety car (VSC) and a full safety car to take the chequered flag first.

But first the race itself deserves some unpacking. And where better to start than with Ferrari’s failing championship bid. On Saturday it seemed that both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz had stepped up to the plate. After all, both drivers were less than a tenth of a second off pole position. The stage seemed to be primed for a battle royal. Alas, the Ferrari pace seemed to be restricted to qualifying as Leclerc couldn’t keep tabs on Verstappen from second on the track. For his troubles Sainz had a coming together with Lewis Hamilton that damaged his floor and cost him some downforce and balance and, ultimately, pace. But this wasn’t even close to the worst part of Sainz’s afternoon. First, the Spaniard arrived in the pitlane to a team of mechanics who were still carrying tyres out of the garage. Sainz lost an inordinate amount of time waiting to have his tyres fitted. Next there was a dicey moment when overtaking Esteban Ocon with a stricken Valtteri Bottas parked up near the end of the start/finish strait. This though didn’t get Sainz a penalty but what did was an unsafe release in the pitlane later. The five-second penalty simply added insult to injury on what was already a genuinely poor afternoon. Again, through yet more operational errors Ferrari are masterminding their own demise.

It was going much better at Mercedes. In fact, for a good portion of the race Hamilton had a real shot at winning it. But a bizarre series of events for Yuki Tsunoda, which included the driver stopping the car and then being told to continue by his team. The young Japanese driver then entered the pitlane to have his seatbelts refastened before being released. Moments later he was told to stop the car which prompted the appearance of the VSC.

Leading up to this Verstappen had stopped for medium tyres while Hamilton had opted for hard tyres to carry him to the end of the race. As it stood, Verstappen would have to stop and need to overtake both Mercs, on track, to win the race. The VSC however gave Verstappen a cheap stop and he emerged still in the lead. But Hamilton’s pace was still impressive, and he was still well on course. That is until the full safety car was deployed to scoop up Bottas’s Alfa.

At this point both Verstappen and Russell stopped for soft tyres while Hamilton stayed on the medium. As it were, Russell made the call to switch tyres himself while Hamilton made no such choice. It was clear very quickly that Hamilton would be a sitting duck. And it was confirmed mere seconds after the race restarted as Verstappen swept back into the lead of the race. Russell and Leclerc too passed an irate Hamilton a few laps later. While Russell had taken his own initiative to call for the soft tyre Hamilton blamed the team, using the some colourful language, for not giving him the correct tyre compound.

As it were Verstappen, Russell, and Leclerc occupied the top three positions while Hamilton trundled home in fourth. Checo Perez was fifth in the other Red Bull ahead of Fernando Alonso in sixth and Lando Norris in seventh. Carlos Sainz dropped down to eighth, due to his penalty while Ocon, in ninth, made it a double points scoring day for Alpine. Lance Stroll was tenth for Aston Martin.

There’s hardly any time to recover as the F1 paddock heads to Monza this weekend for the sixteenth round of the season. Verstappen arrives at Ferrari’s home track with a gigantic, and perhaps unassailable, lead of 109 points over Leclerc. With the championship titles seemingly out of their reach can Ferrari give their beloved Tifosi something to cheer about at the cathedral of speed?

All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

September 5, 2022
F1 2022: Saudi Arabia Gp Review – Verstappen v Leclerc from lights-out to chequered flag

It’s only two races in the 2022 season but it appears that the new regulations are delivering on the promise of closer racing. Not only has it pushed Ferrari to the sharp end of the grid, but it is producing spine-tinglingly, edge-of-the-seat racing from the first to the very last lap of the race.

In a record-breaking performance on Saturday, it was Checo Perez who delivered a stonking lap to become the first Mexican driver to secure pole position. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz was second and third while Max Verstappen started the race in fourth. The biggest shock of the day came in the form of Lewis Hamilton who failed to advance beyond the first part of qualifying in his Mercedes.

While Mercedes tried to understand their Saudi Arabian woes Checo Perez led cleanly off the line with Verstappen slotting into third behind Leclerc. It all looked to be going well for Perez who took to the pitlane on lap 15 to fit the hard compound tyres. Unfortunately, Nicholas Latifi’s crash brought out the safety car one lap later. It proved to be the worst possible outcome for Perez who dropped to third behind Leclerc and Verstappen. A dodgy ‘overtake’ on Sainz, exiting the pitlane, meant that Perez had to surrender third to the Ferrari driver.

Further behind the Alpine drivers, Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso, swopped position several times early in the race before settling solidly in the lower end of the top ten. Regrettably, Alonso would retire from the race with a suspected mechanical issue. He would be quickly followed into retirement by McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo. Both drivers ground to a halt at the entry to the pitlane which prompted race control to close the pitlane entry and deploy the virtual safety car. It was bad timing for Hamilton who had started the race on the hard compound and worked his way into the top ten. The 7-time champion had to wait for the pitlane to reopen before being allowed to make his compulsory pitstop.

It was clear that Ferrari, and Leclerc, held the pace advantage through the corners while Red Bull, and Verstappen, had the edge on the straits. But although Verstappen got to within DRS range of the leading Ferrari Leclerc outsmarted his opponent. By letting Verstappen pass him in the first DRS detection point Leclerc ensured himself DRS on the start-finish strait that follows. Still, in a testament to how much better the 2022 cars can follow, Verstappen remained on Leclerc’s gearbox and this time used the Ferrari driver’s DRS tactic against him. As it were Verstappen pulled into the lead of the race and held off Leclerc, by half a second, for his first win of the new season.

Some 8 and ten seconds down the road Carlos Sainz finished third ahead of Perez in fourth. More than half-a-minute behind was George Russell in fifth with Ocon in sixth ahead of Lando Norris in seventh. Pierre Gasly was eighth for Alpha Tauri while Kevin Magnussen finished ninth for Haas. Lewis Hamilton scored a solitary point in tenth more than a minute behind the leaders, despite a safety car bunching up the field. If it wasn’t so before Mercedes’ problems are more than just the bouncing, seen in Bahrain.

Both Verstappen and Leclerc looked properly worn-out which is an indication of just how hard the pair of them had to work. It’s evident that in this new era of F1 drivers are pushing from lights out to the cheqeured flag. It’s only two races into the season and there is an awfully long way to go. But if the rest of the year is anything like the first two races, then we’re in for a heck of a ride.

All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

March 28, 2022
F1 2021: British Gp Preview – Hamilton-mania to Propel Merc?

Formula 1 not only returns to the famed Silverstone circuit but also to a full capacity crowd. With the exception of Monza, and maybe Zaandvoort later this year, there is hardly a more raucous us F1 crowd anywhere in the world.

The Silverstone circuit, based in Northamptonshire, is a marvel too. It’s ultra high-speed layout and iconic corner like Copse, Stowe, and the Maggotts-Becketts complex are as iconic as they are demanding. The black and white painted kerbs become little more than a blur as the cars buzz around the English countryside at one of the most magnificent venues in all of Motorsport.

All drivers will have their supporters at Silverstone not to mention the legendary teams such as McLaren and Williams. But it’s expected that none will have a bigger swell of support than Sir Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time champion arrives somewhat on the back foot and not having won a race since the Spanish Grand Prix at the beginning of May. But it isn’t necessarily an unknown position for Hamilton to be in. After all, in 2018 Seb Vettel looked to be running away with the title before fading in the second half of the season. Nevertheless, Max Verstappen and Red Bull are a completely different equation to Vettel and Ferrari. It wasn’t that long ago that Red Bull were reeling off championship titles much in the same way that Mercedes have done in the last seven years. And it doesn’t seem like they have forgotten how to put together a championship title run.

Mercedes haven’t had an answer to Red Bull for a good few months but they have a fairly big upgrade package to run on the car this weekend. It isn’t only on-track where they’re looking for some answers either. There is also the matter of who Hamilton’s teammate will be for 2022. As is usual there are a slew of rumours making the rounds with the most vociferous of them suggesting that a certain George Russell will be announced this weekend as a works Mercedes driver for 2022. If you were to ask Valtteri Bottas the Finn believes that he has more than a good chance of retaining his seat. An argument can easily be made for and against that. It would make sense for Toto Wolff to maintain the peaceful status quo with Bottas. But they also need to think about the future. And who better for Russell to learn from than Hamilton?

Rain or shine Lewis Hamilton has always been something special around the Silverstone track. He wants to win everywhere but none more so than on home soil. As impressive as Verstappen and Red Bull have been in 2021 a win at the British Gp will be a significant step towards the title. Not only will it mean an extended points gap but also it will unquestionably introduce, if not intensify, any grain of doubt in Hamilton’s mind. And there is every expectation that Red Bull will be the car to beat at Silverstone.

A full capacity crowd anywhere is a rarity these days, almost a novelty. Another novelty will be the re-jigging of the weekend’s format. Friday’s first free practice session remains unchanged but is followed by qualifying at 7pm. This quali session will determine the grid for Saturday’s 100km sprint race. Free practice 2 will take place on Saturday at 2pm while the sprint race is scheduled to start at 5:30 pm. It is important to note than there are no mandatory pitstops in the sprint race and that only the top three will earn points. Also, the finishing order of the sprint race will be taken as the starting grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix. Teams will also not be able to make any changes or adjustments to the cars as they enter parc ferme at the end of the first practice session. The new format, including the sprint race, is considered a trial run. There are some fears that the sprint race will amount to little more than a high-speed train, so says Hamilton, but it’s certainly worth it to see what might come out of it.

July 12, 2021
F1 2020: Italian Gp Review – 100% Full Gas

At the midpoint of the 2019 season Red Bull announced that Alex Albon would replace Pierre Gasly with immediate effect. It didn’t come as much of a surprise given Gasly’s less than impressive run in the Red Bull team. But what has been most impressive about this story is the manner in which Pierre Gasly responded to being thrown out of the senior Red Bull team.

There are likely dozens of points that could be elaborated on when it comes to the last eighteen months of Pierre Gasly’s life. But what is most important and most impressive is the revelation of his incredible character and how risen to the very top of Formula 1. In dramatic fashion the 24-year-old Frenchman became the 109^th grand prix winner on unforgettable day.

The race started as normal with Lewis Hamilton leading away from pole position. Carlos Sainz, who qualified an impressive third, made short work of Valtteri Bottas to run second to Hamilton but was unable to hang on to the rear of the Mercedes. Lando Norris roared off the starting line from his sixth place grid slot and scythed past Bottas to run third behind his McLaren teammate for much of the opening stint of the race. Bottas’s dismal start left him in sixth overall and unable to even get close enough to the Renault of Daniel Ricciardo to affect a pass. It’s clear that Bottas has some big questions to ask himself after this race. Whether he will find the answers though seems doubtful.

At the front the race settled relatively quickly with Hamilton easily extending his advantage over Sainz by roughly half a second each lap. After failing to get either car in the top ten shootout in qualifying it hardly seemed possible that Ferrari’s weekend could get any worse. But it did. Sebastian Vettel became the first retirement of the race with brake failure on lap 17. By lap 20 Hamilton had built a gap of around thirteen seconds when Kevin Magnussen pulled out of the race at the exit of Parabolica with a suspected engine issue.

The Haas’s proximity prompted the deployment of the safety car and seemingly presented Hamilton with a perfect opportunity for a cheap pitstop. Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi seized the same opportunity as Hamilton but both failed to notice that the pitlane was closed to facilitate the recovery of Magnussen’s stricken Haas. Meanwhile all the other drivers stayed out and only made their stops once the pitlane was reopened. The race resumed a few laps later with Hamilton still in the lead but with Sainz now down in P8.

A hefty crash into the Parabolica barriers for Charles Leclerc not only brought an end to the Ferrari driver’s race but also necessitated a red flag in order for the car to be recovered and the tyre barrier to be mended. Hamilton and Giovinazzi’s illegal trip into the pitlane netted each of them a ten-second stop/go penalty. After a twenty-five minute delay the race was restarted with Hamilton still leading but yet to serve his penalty. Through pitting just before the Magnussen-safety car Gasly and Kimi Raikkonen found themselves at the sharp-end. The decision to put Raikkonen on the soft tyre for the remainder of the race did not pay dividends as the Finn ran out of the rubber and eventually finished thirteenth.

With Hamilton serving his penalty and emerging in last place it left Gasly in the lead while Raikkonen was quickly swallowed up by the pack. In P2 was Carlos Sainz and the McLaren had a better pace than the Alpha Tauri. But Gasly had crucially built a bit of a buffer while Sainz was making his way to second place. Meanwhile Lance Stroll was fairly secure in third while Norris, in fourth, held off Bottas in fifth. In sixth was Daniel Ricciardo with Lewis Hamilton recovering to seventh overall. Esteban Ocon, Daniil Kvyat, and Sergio Perez rounded out the points paying positions.

Though he came agonizingly close Williams’s Nicholas Latifi ultimately finished eleventh overall. It was a monumental day for F1 as earlier in the week it was announced that the Williams family would be stepping aside from the team after its sale to Doritol investment. Despite being asked to remain as team principal Claire Williams declared her decision to leave the team. Though the team will continue to run under the Williams name it is an end to an unforgettable era of the sport. As the last of the independent teams Williams reached epic heights of a staggering sixteen championship titles, 114 victories, and 312 podiums. And even during their lowest moments they never lost the ethos of what made the team great – never, ever giving up. Through Williams Racings’ 43 years Sir Frank and Claire has written an indelible part of Formula 1’s history. The sport will be irrevocably poorer without them.

As a new era dawns for Williams so does it for Pierre Gasly too. In his return to then Toro Rosso he showed incredible mental strength and gave us all a glimpse of his steely character. And again in Italy we were let into something a bit special as he delivered, under significant pressure, a stunning drive to the chequered flag and the first win of his F1 career.

It may not have been the race that Mercedes, Red Bull, or Ferrari fans would’ve wanted. But many are likely to agree that days like these reaffirm why Formula 1 is greatest sport in the world. Grandé Pierre!

All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

September 7, 2020
2020 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix: Sunday Press Conference

DRIVERS
1 – Pierre GASLY (AlphaTauri)
2 – Carlos SAINZ (McLaren)
3 – Lance STROLL (Racing Point)

TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Jenson Button)

Q: Lance, fantastic podium finish. Are you happy with that P3?
Lance STROLL: I am. It’s been a couple of years since I stood on a podium. It feels good to be back. It was such a crazy race. I’m so happy for Pierre. He really deserved it. He had a great start and he just stayed consistent all the way throughout the race. It’s a bit of a bummer as I think it was mine to lose, starting from second. But I just had no grip at the start and I had a ton of wheel spin and everybody flew by me. I had a good scrap with Carlos there in the first couple of laps. I overtook him around the outside and then he got me again into Turn 1. We were battling out there and I’m happy to pick up third. I think the win slipped away from us today but third is great.

Q: It’s a fantastic result. It’s such a young podium. The young guns on the podium is fantastic to see. How strange is it starting a race again half way through?
LS: It’s bizarre. You’ve got to reset. We’re not used to that intermission half way through a race, but great to finish third.

Q: Carlos, what a drive. You’ve been getting the maximum out of the car for so many races. I’m sure it’s exciting and it’s great to get a P2 but you were so close. You pushed him so hard at the end.
Carlos SAINZ: Yeah, it’s incredible. I’m half way disappointed with P2 you know. I wouldn’t have believed that I would have got a chance to fight for victory today, we were very, very close. Honestly, with a normal race I think I would have got P2 behind Lewis because we had really, really good pace. So I think it’s what we deserve. But with Pierre there in front is like, ‘wow, how could that happen?’ I guess a bit of bad luck with the safety car but then we did a good job to recover it and with the red flag also. Very happy with P2, we’ve been super-quick all weekend and I felt like I could dominate the midfield pretty easily today, so I’ve got to be happy with that.

Q: This isn’t a lucky P2. You didn’t luck in with the safety car or strategy. You guys have just been quick all weekend?
CS: I was faking it! No, especially getting back from P6 to P2 and then chasing Pierre and managing to finish three or four tenths behind him at the flag, we need to be proud of that, we need to be proud of the pace of the car and then that red flag I think I would have finished behind Lewis today, but it is what it is.

Q: Pierre! Pierre, I mean sensational. In your short period in Formula 1 you’ve been through so much, so many emotions, highs, lows… This is phenomenal. It must feel very special?
Pierre GASLY: Honestly, it’s unbelievable. I’m not realising what’s happening right now, you know. It was such a crazy race. We capitalised on the red flag. The car was fast. We had a pretty fast car behind us. As you said, I’ve been through so much in the space of 18 months. My first podium last year, I was already like ‘wow, with AlphaTauri and now my first win in Formula 1, in Monza, I struggle to realise.

Q: The emotion for your team. In Italy, they won as an Italian team. You can see what it means to them and it must be so nice celebrating with them?
PG: I’ve got no words. This team have done so much for me. They gave me my first opportunity in F1. They gave me my first podium and now they are giving me my first win. It’s crazy, honestly, it’s just crazy and I’m so happy, I can’t thank them enough. Everyone from AlphaTauri, to Honda. I mean, it’s a power sensitive track and we won the race ahead of all the Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault cars, so just an amazing day.

Q: I’m not sure I’m 100 per cent correct but I think you are the first French winner since 1996.
PG: That’s right. Olivier Panis was the last one. I’ve always said coming in F1 that’s one thing we need to change because it’s been so long but I never expected that it would happen to us with AlphaTauri and we just kept focusing on ourselves since last year, working, improving step by step. It’s crazy. I’m just so happy.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Pierre, such a happy podium today. No doubt you’ve dreamt of this moment. How does the reality compare to the dream?
PG: It’s amazing. Honestly, I’m lost for words right now. I’m still struggling to realise what’s happened for us. My first win in Formula 1… A couple of months ago I got my first podium in Brazil and then today it’s my first win, in Monza with AlphaTauri, which is an Italian team. It could not have been better and we worked so hard, day by day, race after race, after everything that happened to me in the last 18 months, I could not have hoped for a better way to get my first win.

Q: And it seems you really did want to soak up that podium. You didn’t want to leave?
PG: I didn’t want to leave, because these kind of moments… You never know how many times you are going to be able to enjoy these kinds of times. I wish we could have had all the tifosi and all the grandstands full of people, because it’s probably one of the best races to be on the podium, right up there. Obviously 2020 style is a bit different but nevertheless I just wanted to sit down and take a moment for myself to go through the thoughts that were crossing my mind and just enjoy that moment.

Q: And just about the race: the timing of your pit stop was perfect but also those last few laps when Carlos Sainz was closing in on you, how much pressure were you under?
PG: After the restart I think we had 28 laps to go. I managed to pass Lance into Turn 1 and I think this really helped me for the rest of the race. Lewis pitted, I think on lap one, and then after that I was on my own. It reminded me of my Formula 2 days when you are leading the race and just focusing on your own driving, corner by corner. I pushed so hard at the start because I wanted to break the tow from the guys behind and I didn’t have anyone in front on me so I knew I had to make the time in the corners and the last five laps were really hard and my tyres were completely gone. I was sideways in every corner and I could see Carlos slowly closing the gap and I know myself I would have been so pissed with myself if I would have lost that win in the last few laps. I just gave everything I had and I’m so happy I managed to get my first race win in Formula 1.

Q: Carlos, coming to you, lovely to actually see you on the podium this time, unlike in Brazil where you got promoted after the race. Pierre has already told us that his tyres were shot at the end of the race. What conditions were yours in?
CS: Well, my tyres were four laps older and obviously I was struggling also. But the pace we had today was incredible. Honestly, the gap that I managed to open with the rest of the midfield in the first stint and after that, managing to go through the whole five cars I had in front to end up chasing Pierre. Definitely felt really nice and felt like I had a good shot for victory. Then once I got to 1.5s I got stuck. The tow, as we see with these cars and the dirty air, starts affecting you a lot in traction, in braking. Mini lock-ups, oversteers and I think we were both a bit rallying for a minute because we were both struggling with tyres. But yeah, happy. Happy to finish in P2. Obviously disappointed to not get the win because today we had a lot of pace and we felt that without that red flag it would have been a different story because I know I was the virtual race leader with Hamilton’s penalty. But that red flag came, and I managed to recover my positions and made it nearly to Pierre – which would have been nice but I think he deserves it and congrats.

Q: As you say, you were running P2 on merit. Are you surprised by the pace of the McLaren this weekend?
CS: Yeah, a bit surprised, of course – because we didn’t expect to be that strong. Especially what I didn’t expect is for everyone behind us to not be able to overtake us and to open that five-second gap that gave me that buffer before the first stop, then the Safety Car came out and I knew I had lost all that hard work earned. And then I very quickly realised that Lewis was going to get a penalty and I would have been the virtual race leader on the fresher tyres, and I just had to go through the field and get myself to P1 and push like mad – but the red flag came out. It was a rollercoaster of emotions because I was then lying in P6 with the same tyres as everyone in front of me. Even on a used tyre for me from the Safety Car, and I was a bit angry – and a bit disappointed, to say the least. But I managed to recover, and nearly made it. I think we can be proud because today I left nothing on the table in Monza. So I’m going to bed calm that I know that I didn’t leave one single tenth out there.

Q: Many congratulations, well done Carlos – and many congratulations to you too Lance. First podium since Baku in 2017. How sweet does this feel?
LS: Yeah, it’s been a long time coming. A part of me is a little bit frustrated. I had a terrible restart after the red flag. I fell back to P6 and had a good fight with Carlos in the first lap after the restart but lost out to him and then I made my way back to third. Yeah, I gave it everything I could – but I’m very happy for Pierre and I think everyone drove a great race in this room. It was an awesome race and I’m really happy to be back on the podium.

Q: We’ve seen great pace from you and the RP20 this weekend. Is it fair to say there’s been a bit of a breakthrough in performance with the car?
LS: Yeah, we made a big step from Friday to Saturday. I didn’t have the best day yesterday, to be honest, so I was bit on the backfoot coming into today but, y’know, this game, a big part of it is luck and timing and staying out on the Soft tyre for that long gave us an opportunity to fit a new set under the red flag and make up some positions. We gave it everything today and I’m just really happy for the team to get this great result.

VIDEO CONFERENCE

Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Question to both Pierre and Carlos please. What were you thinking in terms of tactics when the gap was coming down right at the end. Pierre, at one stage we saw you weaving to try to break the tow. Carlos, you mention sliding and both of you rallying at one point. What were you thinking about? Where to attack and where you were stronger or weaker compared to each other.
PG: I knew the closer Carlos was getting, the more slipstream he would get, so I knew he started around four seconds and then at three seconds which was probably the idea gap for the slipstream. So he was going to get closer and closer. I tried to push as hard as I could in the corners on the tyres, which obviously means you have more degradation but it was my only way to make lap time. The last few laps I had big, big moments through the Lesmos, through Ascari, just trying to give everything because I could see him becoming bigger and bigger in my mirrors. I knew I was struggling with traction a lot in Turn One. So, there was one place he could try was either DRS the first chicane or the second chicane but I tried to… yeah I saw he wasn’t getting closer and closer and once he got to 1.5s, except for that last lap, I managed to save the energy, just to be able to defend in case he would try something. And yeah, we kept him behind but lucky the race wasn’t much longer because with this Medium tyre I think I didn’t have any rubber left at the end. So, it was the right time to finish the race.

Carlos?
CS: Difficult to explain everything that was going on but I guess since the moment I started catching Pierre, my main target was to get within DRS and then knowing that he would have to defend and use the battery to defend. Honestly, we’ve been very strong here on the straights this weekend, we’ve been very, very quick all weekend on the straights and the only thing I haven’t done this weekend is to get a tow – because I know that our car doesn’t work very well on the tow, we are very affected by the dirty air. So, as soon as I got to within 1.5s I started feeling that dirty air; I started feeling the car a lot more loose, a lot more difficult to get the lap time and the grip in the corners. So, I was trying to maximise the tow, maximise everything I could but the car was starting to struggle a bit behind Pierre. Then suddenly in the last lap and a half I saw him start doing the small mistakes that allowed me to get into the DRS and then I crossed the start finish four-tenths, which would have given me a good run into Turn One if it was one lap more. But, unfortunately it wasn’t one lap more and it is what it is. He did a tremendous job defending and I’m not going to say anything. I know I left nothing on the table. I think those four-tenths reflect very well what we both did and I think it’s a good finish to the race.

Q: (Julien Billiotte – Auto Hebdo) Question to Pierre. First of all, many congratulations. It’s fair to say French fans were not really emotionally ready for a day like this. Are you aware of how big this is on the scene of French motorsports? And also, what went through your mind at the end on the podium when we saw you sitting in a reflective mood?
PG: How big it is? Personally I know how important it was for me to get my first race win in Formula 1 and in the end it’s only my third season in F1, even though I’ve been through a lot in the last two years, I still feel I’m quite new to this world and improving year after year and just getting better the whole time. So, I would have never expected that a year ago when I got back to Toro Rosso. The podium was already unexpected and a big, big highlight last year. And then I wasn’t ready for that win today, even though you always try to imagine the best scenario, the best car, the best race, everything the best way. We know that it happened only once in the whole history of Toro Rosso in Formula 1. Franz actually told me, “you know we’ve done it in the wet, I’m really proud of you because today we’ve done it in the dry now.” Yeah, it was very difficult but I’m just happy to show my speed. I’ve worked on myself day after day, race after race since last year and just trying to get stronger all the time. I’m really happy that today I get the reward for all the hard work that we’ve done with AlphaTauri and also with Honda.

And all that was going through your mind on the podium?
PG: Yeah, exactly. I sat down and had a lot of things crossing my mind. First of all, I through of my family, my friends, my brothers and all these people that supported me and just kept pushing me the whole time, and you just remember everything you’ve been through. I was just trying to imagine all of these people down from the podium, all the tifosi that should be there. It was a very special moment. As I said, being a crazy ride in the last few months and it’s just unbelievable. I’m still struggling to realise what we’ve just achieved.

Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Pierre, the only guy to have won a race for your team was also at Monza and he was fast-tracked up to Red Bull pretty quickly. I just wondered is that a move you would like next season, is it a good move, and are you ready for it?
PG: I think I’m ready but as I said, it’s not up to me to make that call. The only thing I’ve done since they moved me back to Toro Rosso has been just to focus on myself and just show what I can do. When I get the right tools in my hand I’m really happy that the performance we’ve shown – and I’m not only talking about Brazil but I think generally, we’ve been pretty strong most of the time. We’ve had some really strong qualifyings, really strong races since. We’ll see what happens but I think there have been many, many strong drivers in Toro Rosso. I’m really happy to be one of the two that have managed to get a win for this team. Obviously I guess the strong results should be rewarded with something but we will see what happens. At the moment it’s not something I really want to think about. I just want to enjoy this moment, because it’s my first win in F1 and I will have time to think about this later.

Q: (Abhishek Takle – Midday) Carlos, as a future Ferrari driver, what would it have meant for you to win at Monza today? Not winning, not withstanding, what was it like to stand on the Monza podium? I know there weren’t any fans today but if you could describe that, especially as a future Ferrari driver.
CS: Well, what I’m sure is today, if there would have been tifosi there, they would have been pretty happy and proud and that makes me excited about the future and a bit gutted that there was no one today down there, apart obviously from my team and everyone involved in Formula 1, but it makes me excited and makes me look forward to the future and hopefully it’s my first podium in Monza, not my last and hopefully many will come with Ferrari. I’m ready for it, I cannot wait for it to happen and I just cannot imagine what it would have been with 100,000 people. We get to finish on the podium in the coolest race of the season and no one is there to see us. Hopefully we will get it in the future. I think we all have the potential to do it again so let’s see.

Q: (Edd Straw – The Race) Pierre, obviously the key was the timing of the first pit stop but what were you thinking at the time that happened, because it could have gone a lot of different ways and it also seemed that maybe the early timing was partly motivated by having to release your teammate on the other side, behind you, so were you thinking that could have actually been a bad move at the time, even though it turned out, the way the race happened to be the making of it?
PG: Yeah, to be fair, once we pitted and I just exited the pit lane I saw safety car, I came on the radio and I was like ‘is that a joke? We just pitted like exactly at the worst time possible.’ They just told me ‘OK, the pit entry is closed’ so that’s what happened, and in the end it turned out to be a very lucky move. There was no way we could have planned this. I think today we’ve had a little star with us, a little angel, let’s say, taking care of us and obviously we’ve got pretty lucky on that one and after obviously there was still thirty laps to do which were very difficult but that was clearly a turning point.

Q: (Laurence Edmondson – ESPN) My question is about the red flag period because at that point we knew that Lewis was going to have to take that penalty, so you were all in contention for the win so for each of you, what was going through your head in that moment, how much were you talking to your engineers and how did you get yourself in the frame of mind to go and actually race again?
LS: Yeah, it definitely threw a curveball at us. We’re not used to getting out of the car halfway through the race. I think it was just important to re-set and get back into it. It was an amazing opportunity in the race to start from second, knowing that Lewis had a ten second time penalty. I wasn’t actually aware of the stop and go, I just thought it was a ten second time (penalty). It was unexpected but it created a lot of excitement in the race, that’s for sure.
PG: Yeah, to be fair, they told that to me when we had the red flag and I was like, just not focused on Lewis because he was just going to pit and come back through the field and finish 20 seconds ahead of us to I was like let’s do our own race, focus on the guys around. I think for us it was a tricky call between the hard tyre and the medium tyre at the time because we didn’t know if it was a rolling start or a standing start. We opted for the medium, which was better for the race start and yeah, he boxed on lap one and to be fair, I expected him to come back through the field and the same with Valtteri. I thought these two guys would just coming flying past us but it wasn’t the case but yeah, the team knew, apparently, that it wasn’t going to be that easy for them to catch us and yeah, apparently it was the case.
CS: Yeah, a roller coaster of emotions really. As you can imagine, I was very, very disappointed with the red flag and angry and I had rage in myself and again, I was again thinking about the bad luck and this season and everything and we had to re-start on four lap old medium tyres which is not easy and I knew that the two Alfas in front of me had new softs, one of them had to pit, Hamilton to pit so maybe I was in contention for a podium but maybe the win with Pierre knowing how quick they had been all weekend, I knew it was going to be tricky if Pierre and Lance got a good start. So disappointed because I knew it was going to be a race with them and maybe I could make it to third but honestly, since the restart, I just put my head down, tried to do everything I could to focus on catching them both and had a great battle with Lance on lap one and then from there on, with that medium tyre that didn’t feel great, I just pushed as hard as I could, to try and making it to Pierre and I nearly did but at the point of the red flag I was negative and I was disappointed and I thought I had lost the chance of a win and potentially of a podium also, which would have been nice. But we recovered nicely and we didn’t make it.

Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Pierre, you’ve obviously been through a lot in the last year. Can you tell us how you’ve managed to stay strong in your self-belief after your demotion back to Toro Rosso last year and then of course you lost Anthoine Hubert as well and how you rebuilt yourself to this position, to get this win and how it feels to achieve this?
PG: That was a purely a tough moment last year. I grew up with four brothers and I think, like personally, as a child, I had to work through quite difficult moments, which built me a pretty strong character and I always had to fight for everything I wanted. I always, in some way, managed to turn that negative energy into something positive and I knew last year what happened, deep inside me, obviously I felt hurt and I didn’t feel it was fair to myself and I really wanted to make a clear point in that moment but look, I know I’m fast, I know what I can do, I know I can believe, I’ve been fighting for victories, for pole, championships in my early years, in my career and that’s what I want in F1. I really worked very hard with the team and I knew that with them I had everything in my hands to show my potential. After, I just tried to focus on my own performance, not really looking at the others, taking race after race, looking at what I can improved on my side, what I can improve with the team, with my engineers, just to extract more from myself and more from that package and combination and yeah, honestly I can’t be happier with the team I have at the moment. They are doing an amazing job; they are giving me everything I need to be competitive every single weekend. Sometimes we are fast enough for the top eight, sometimes for top ten, sometimes top twelve but at the end of the day, they really put all the energy for my own performance which I really appreciate and I’m really thankful for because thanks to that, today gave us my first race win in Formula 1.

September 7, 2020
F1 2020: Belgium Gp Review – Hamilton, One hand on the trophy

The writing was on the wall as early as Saturday qualifying during which Lewis Hamilton secured a dominant pole position. The only chance, and it was a small one, that anyone would have of delaying his progress was at the start of the race. However, he led serenely from the front and strolled on to the top step of the podium for his fourth win in Belgium.

Valtteri Bottas came home in second place some eight seconds adrift of Hamilton. The Finn now languishes a massive fifty points behind in the driver’s standings and has seemingly no chance of getting his hands on the coveted trophy. For some of the opening laps Bottas kept himself relatively close to Hamilton’s gearbox. However, we he asked for an increased power mode in order to attack his teammate it was shot down by the pitwall. Effectively, the team had ordered Bottas not to race his teammate and he obeyed. For Mercedes Bottas is the perfect wingman to Hamilton. Yes, he may sometimes score a pole and maybe even a few wins but he is never going to disrupt Hamilton enough to truly take the fight to him over an entire season. The chance to win the title this year has already gone for Valtteri Bottas. Since joining in 2017 he has never mounted a serious and sustained challenge and is very much in danger of becoming F1’s nearly man. For while Mercedes will be happy with Bottas as a second driver at this stage there is some serious talent, in the form of George Russell, ready and waiting to slot into the Mercedes team.

Max Verstappen racked up another podium finish but described his race as fairly boring. The Red Bull driver was caught somewhat in no man’s land, as he wasn’t quick enough to challenge the Mercs and saw no one behind mounting an assault on his third place either. There is no doubt that Verstappen is ready to win a championship however he simply doesn’t have the car to challenge the might of Mercedes weekend in and weekend out. He can try his level best and sometimes even snatch the odd win but the reality is that Mercedes will not be conquered in 2020.

Formula 1 has always been better off when it has produced a battle for the championship titles but in 2020 the question is not if Hamilton will take his seventh crown but rather when. A dominant pole on Saturday saw the writing on the wall for 47 points It will have to be a bungling of monumental proportions for Mercedes and Hamilton to lose the titles from here.

Daniel Ricciardo not only set the fastest lap of the race but also drove a stellar race to finish fourth in the Renault ahead of teammate Esteban Ocon in fifth. The low-downforce setup adopted by Renault for the race paid huge dividends and will bode well for this weekend’s race in Monza too. Alex Albon was sixth in other Red Bull ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris in seventh. Pierre Gasly’s choice to start of the hard compound tyre paid off the final stint of the race as he netted an impressive eighth place finish. Racing Point would likely have hoped for more on the power-dominant Spa circuit but has to be satisfied with ninth and tenth for Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez respectively.

While Carlos Sainz was unable to take the start of the race due to an exhaust failure only two driver retired from the race proper. Antonio Giovinazzi lost the rear of his and destroyed his Alfa Romeo. The pursuing George Russell had to take avoiding action which pitched the Williams into the barriers. Though both drivers escaped unscathed the incident brought out the safety car.

It was by all accounts as miserable a day for Ferrari as they have experienced in some time. With thirteenth for Seb Vettel and fourteenth for Charles Leclerc there was never even an inkling of scoring any point. In fact so poor was the works Ferrari team performance that Kimi Raikkonen easily finished ahead of the pair of them in a customer Alfa Romeo. It used to be an honour to don the red overalls and drive for Ferrari and maybe one day it would be again. But what is happening in 2020 is utterly embarrassing. Some serious conversations need to be had over the next while and some serious changes will need to be implemented if Ferrari is ever going to recover from the doldrums.

To add insult to an epic lack of pace F1 heads to Monza this weekend, an even more power sensitive circuit. If Spa was a painful experience Monza is likely to be even more so. The only saving grace is that the grandstands around Monza will be empty which means that, at the very least, Ferrari wont have to face up to the Tifosi.

All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

August 31, 2020
F1 2020: Opening Races Officially Announced

For most 2020 has been an unprecedented year, so far. Nearly all the plans and ideas and intentions have fallen by the wayside or at the very least significantly delayed. Amongst many other areas of life the world of sport has found itself in suspended animation for several months. Astonishingly, it has been six months, or half a year, since the last F1 race in Abu Dhabi.

Fortunately the official announcement of the opening eight races for the 2020 season signals an end to the long wait. With due considerations towards health and safety Formula 1, in partnership with the FIA and teams, has facilitated a return to the track. F1 will look markedly different in this new world, as all eight races will take place behind ‘closed doors’. The thought of no fans at Monza, devoid of the passionate Tifosi is nearly unimaginable. But these are the compromises that had to be made in order to go racing.

The opening two rounds will take place at Austria’s Red Bull Ring. The race scheduled for 3 – 5 July will officially be known as the Formula 1 Rolex Grosser Preis von Osterreich while round two, slated for 10 – 12 July will be known as the Formula 1 Pirelli Grosser Preis der Steiermark.

The paddock will be sans motorhomes for the opening stint of the season and team members will make use of the paddock club facilities for mealtimes. Teams will also keep to themselves during the race weekend and not mingle with members from other teams so as to insure a relative isolation.

The third round of the season will take place at Hungary’s Hungaroring from 17 – 19 July. Though the 2020 cars have not turned a wheel in anger Austria’s Red Bull Ring and the Hungaroring are traditionally strong circuits for Red Bull. It could be just what Max Verstappen and co needs to be serious contenders right off the bat.

After several long consultations Formula 1 and other elite sports have obtained a special exemption from the British government to forego the compulsory 14-day self-quarantine upon entering the country. It means that the British grand prix can go ahead. In fact, the brilliant Silverstone circuit will host back-to-back race weekends with the first to take place from 31 July to 02 August. The second race, on 07 – 09 August, is being billed as the Emirates Formula 1 70^th Anniversary Grand Prix. As the site of the first ever Formula 1 world championship race in 1950 it seems more than fitting.

From 14 – 16 August Formula 1 will be at the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya in Spain for round 6 of the championship. Interestingly, the much hotter weather could have a significantly impact on the racing as Spain’s traditional slot on the F1 calendar sees much cooler conditions. Round 7 of the calendar has been reserved for the Belgian grand prix around the famed Spa-Francorchamps circuit. The Belgium grand prix retains its original of 28 – 30 August. One week later, on 04 – 06 September, Monza has been penned in as round 8

While only eight races have been announced the expectation is to run a calendar of 15 – 18 races, which is expected to end in December. Ferrari, which owns the Mugello circuit, has given their consent for a race to be run on the Italian track. Amongst others, Hockenheim and Imola are also believed to be in the mix for addition to the 2020 F1 calendar.

June 9, 2020
F1 2019: Italian Gp Review – Leclerc Dazzles with Home Win

On lap 69 at the Red Bull Ring in Austria Max Verstappen sent his Red Bull up the inside of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, banged wheels, and snatched the lead of the race and ultimately the victory. This was a significant moment in Leclerc’s fledging F1 career. To that point he’d been refined, a bit too polite for the cutthroat world of Formula 1 racing.

But he learned from Austria and with it his mentality shifted. And it’s a good thing it did for he needed all of that ruthlessness in Monza. Ferrari arrived in Monza fresh off a win in Spa and with the knowledge that their car should be the favourite at Italy’s famed Cathedral of Speed. This was confirmed as they secured pole position with Leclerc on Saturday. The shambolic final few minutes of quali all drivers, except Carlos Sainz, missed the chance to set a laptime because of jockeying for a slipstream. It left Hamilton on the front row and Vettel down in fourth.

It was a bit of a nervy start for Leclerc who had to fend off Hamilton into the first chicane. But he held his own with Hamilton running within 1.5 seconds in second. While Bottas remained in third Vettel momentarily lost out to Nico Hulkenberg but quickly recovered fourth by passing the Renault down the start/finish straight on the start of lap 2.

Vettel’s failure to make inroads at the start wasn’t a particularly big problem as he held the front three well within view. However, a handful of laps later and seemingly out of the blue he spun in the middle of the Ascari chicane. The German rejoined the track and in doing so hit the Racing Point of Lance Stroll. While Stroll attempted his own recovery he too rejoined in an unsafe manner which forced Pierre Gasly into taking avoiding action in the Toro Rosso. Vettel was subsequently, and rightly, handed a ten second stop/go penalty for rejoining the circuit in an unsafe manner while Stroll was handed a drive-through penalty for his own infringement.

It spelled the end of Vettel’s race who ultimately trundled home in 13^th. Elsewhere, Kimi Raikkonen too was given a ten second stop/go penalty for starting the race on the incorrect tyres. The Finn was forced into a pitlane start after a crash in quali and started on the medium compound whereas his run in Q2 and advancement to Q3 meant he was locked into starting on the soft compound. Newly minted Red Bull driver Alex Albon too was given a five-second time penalty for cutting the chicane and gaining a lasting advantage.

At the front Hamilton continued to hound the rear of Leclerc’s Ferrari but the Monagasque driver was more than equal to the task. There were a few chinks in the Leclerc-armour though. A lock-up into the first chicane late on meant he had to cut the corner, which allowed Hamilton ever closer. Leclerc close the door into the second chicane but crowding Hamilton towards the edge of the track. Opinion will undoubtedly be split on whether the move deserved a penalty but the stewards felt that it required no investigation and, therefore, no penalty. Here is where Leclerc’s experience in Austria stood him in good stead. Had he not learned from that scenario and vowed to take a more aggressive approach Hamilton could well have been passed and into the lead of the race.

Through all of this Leclerc supplied a master-class in absorbing pressure from Hamilton. Consider the factors: he is 21-years-old, in a Ferrari, at Monza, and with a five-time world champion glued to your gearbox. The level of pressure is off the charts and for Leclerc to take it in his stride the way he did is telling. Lest we forget this is only his second F1 season. He is a driver still very much in his infancy but this performance in Monza demonstrates an enormous potential if everything goes according to plan.

Hamilton himself locked up in the first chicane and lost his chance at taking the lead and the win. It was Valtteri Bottas’s chance next but even on fresher tyres Leclerc was too canny, and too quick in the straight. He held off both Mercs and sailed to a hugely popular win that sent the Tifosi into raptures.

While Bottas and Hamilton completed the top three Renault enjoyed their best day of the season with a fine fourth and fifth place for Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg respectively. Albon recovered from his earlier penalty to finish sixth ahead of Sergio Perez in seventh. Max Verstappen recovered to eighth from starting at the back of the grid while Antonio Giovinazzi finished ninth on home soil. Lando Norris completed the top ten for McLaren.

Ferrari and Leclerc will leave Italy having achieved something truly special. And while Mercedes were bested they are safe in the knowledge that extended their lead in the constructor’s championship heading into Singapore where they are expected to be extremely strong.

September 9, 2019
2019 Italian Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

DRIVERS

1 – Charles LECLERC (Ferrari)

2 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)

3 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

TRACK INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by Martin Brundle)

Q: Charles, what a brilliant drive. That will go down in Ferrari legend, well done.

Charles LECLERC: Thank you so much. What a race. I’ve never been so tired. Can I speak in Italian? (Continues in Italian).

Q: The great Mercedes Benz team threw everything at you, two against one, but you didn’t succumb to the pressure.

CL: Yeah, I did a few mistakes but at the end I finished first. Very happy with this. I need to be careful with the mistakes but obviously none of them made me lose the position today.

Q: Well done, brilliant race. Valtteri, the fresh tyres at the end looked quite good but not quite enough to pass young Charles.

Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, I think we had a good strategy with me and I was able to go pretty long in the first stint and that opened up some opportunities at the end. But I’m gutted, you know. I was trying everything I could to get him and there was no way past. Always when I was getting close enough I started left-front locking, because of the lack of downforce and they are so quick in the straights as well. But I tried and I think it was the best I could do today.

Q: He was very strong off Parabolica, the last corner, wasn’t he, and then down the straight, so difficult to overtake.

VB: Yeah, it was really difficult. We were trying everything we could with engine modes and everything, but not quite enough. Yep, we move on.

Q: Third consecutive podium here but maybe not the place you wanted to be. Thanks Valtteri. Lewis, what a dice, what a battle that was! It got a bit fruity in places.

Lewis HAMILTON: Fruity?

Q: A little bit close. His elbows were coming out here and there. What would be your word?

LH: He did a great job. Congratulations to Ferrari and to Charles, he did a great job. A lot of pressure from Valtteri and I. I did the best I could, I think, but obviously following so closely for such a long time the tyres eventually just went off the cliff. Nonetheless, they were just quicker today – much quicker in a straight line, so even

if we did get close we couldn’t pass. Not our day but still strong points for the team. We pull away from Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship and ultimately that’s what really matters.

Q: And you must be homing in on your sixth title? It must be starting to come into range in your mind?

LH: Honestly, I’m just trying to do better each race. I’m not really focused on that at the moment. But of course, a healthier lead than I’ve been in in the past, so obviously I’m grateful for that. But today wasn’t a perfect race. I think this weekend some improvements to be made to my set-up and obviously within myself, so I’ll focus on that for the next race.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Valtteri, congratulations, you took second place with 12 laps to go. Another lap or so do you think you could have got the win today or did Ferrari have the pace?

VB: First of all, well done Charles. (General laughter, as CL is absent). We tried everything we could today as a team and personally I was giving everything I could for the win. For sure, it’s annoying because it’s so close – finishing less than one second behind the leader. But, yeah, at least I tried everything I could. We tried. The tricky bit was that they were so quick on the straights. It required us to be so close in the corners that it was not really possible to follow, leading the straight (sic), and also getting issues with brakes locking up once getting so close to the car ahead. I was pushing hard, so what can I say? Just not quite enough. Otherwise, it was a good race. I enjoyed it a lot, hunting for the win and the pace was pretty good especially in the second stint.

Q: Thank you and well done. Lewis, you put a lot of pressure on Charles today. How much pleasure do you get from that race?

LH: There’s not a lot of pleasure from finishing third. Going backwards is never a great thing. Still, it was a great race. He did a great job. It was nice and tight for a long time and they deserved the win – they did a better job.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Lewis, during the race while you were trying to hunt down Charles, we heard a couple of times that it got a bit ‘dicey’ with him. There was the move at the second chicane, where he pushed you onto the run-off, and I think there was another one at the Curva Grande where you were going around the outside and he moved to the left? Was it just heat of the moment frustrations in the car or on reflection, a bit calmer, do you still think he was a bit on the limit or over the limit at times.

LH: Uhh, that’s racing. Yeah, it’s just racing I guess. I had to avoid colliding with him a couple of times but I guess that’s how the racing is today. You just move forwards.

Q: Thanks Lewis. Charles has joined us. Many congratulations. Second race win in the bag. It was an incredible grand prix, an incredible podium. Can you just describe the last two hours of your life?

CL: It’s quite difficult – a lot going through my mind, during the race, after the race. A lot of emotions. Obviously it was very difficult during the race. Lewis was behind me. I think the biggest gap there was was maybe 1.7 or 1.8 seconds, so right behind me. I knew that Lewis rarely makes mistakes, so obviously I had to stay on it. I did a few, which never cost me a position – once was very, very close. It was crazy and then finally in the last two laps I started to believe that the win was possible. I think that with the traffic Valtteri dropped a little bit and that helped me to get a little bit of space. And then finally going on the line, I let go all my emotions through the radio. I don’t think you can understand anything that I have said on the radio, but it felt absolutely amazing, and the podium also. It’s going beyond all the dreams I’ve had since I was a child. To see so many people cheering for one team, singing all together, it’s amazing.

Q: If we were to discuss the decisive moments in today’s race, was it that choice of the hard tyre at the pit stop?

CL: I don’t know. I think the strategy was good. Obviously we were in a tricky situation because we had the two Mercedes behind and I was the only Ferrari and they could play the game of going long with one car and earlier with the other. It was very tricky but in the end I rthink we made ther right choice with the hard.

Q: (Mike Doodson – Honorary) Following up on that response from Charles, I’d like to ask Mr Hamilton if he had the choice of white tyres and if they had been available would the result have been different in your opinion?

LH: I mean yeah, if I had gone onto the hard tyre I probably would have had the pace to have finished second, with a tyre that goes longer, but I wouldn’t have changed the position between myself and Charles I think. They were ultimately just a little bit too quick today. I did ask in the morning if I could go to the hard tyres and they said no. They said that because we hadn’t run it they didn’t it was quick enough. I think the tyre we were on was quick but I did say in the meeting this morning that the tyre was potentially going to go off the cliff. It was because I was following so closely behind for so long, just really on the ragged edge, trying to get as close as I could to get in shooting distance of trying to overtake. But every time I opened up the DRS – I don’t know if you were going to a different power mode – but the gap would stay the same. It’s pretty incredible the speed they have on the straights.

Q: (Peter Windsor – Clarksport) Charles, congratulations. Speaking of cliffs, I’m just wondering how your tyres were in the last 10-15 laps and how much tyre management was involved? Car looked a bit squirrelly on some corners, had a few moments, a few lock-ups. How near the cliff were you?

CL: The hard were quite difficult to manage. From the beginning, apart from the first two laps, or, no maybe a bit more, maybe three, four laps, I felt quite good, but then there was like a drop off of grip from all four tyres and then I’ve been struggling a little bit with front locks, and towards the end I’ve started to lose the rear, and that’s where the performance started to… where I started to slow down a little bit. They were not in a very bad shape. I believe they could have stayed where they were for quite many laps still – but yeah, I was just struggling with the rear left especially.

Q: (Luke Smith – crash.net) Charles, you said since Austria and the incident with Max, you changed your approach, being more aggressive. I think we saw that most clearly today in your fight with Lewis. Could you talk us through battle with Lewis, and do you think without this change in approach, you made that you would have won today’s race?

CL: Obviously I think since Austria it’s clear that we can go a bit further in the way that we defend and overtake and yeah, just the aggressivity of us drivers. I believe that Austria helped me to change this approach and today it’s also thanks to this that I’ve managed to win. It was obviously very on-the-limit but… yeah, I’m happy to race like this.

Q: (Diego Sanchez – thebestf1.es) Charles, can you describe how you feel right now, just in one word – and how you chose this word?

CL: I don’t know how you say it in English: Libération.… yeah, freedom. More or less this. How many laps were there in the race? 53. 53 laps felt a lot longer than 53 laps. As I’ve said, I felt a lot of pressure from behind. So, obviously, from once I crossed the finish line until now is just pure happiness.

Q: (Godina Zsolt – f1vilag.hu) Charles, congratulations. After this race win, how do you see your chances for the next races – and do you think that this could be a turning point for Ferrari in terms of the Championship?

CL: We need to stay realistic. I think we expected that Spa and Monza would be very good races for our car but we also know that the next few races will be a lot more difficult for our car. So, we need to be realistic and, yeah, it’s not going to be easy. I think especially Singapore. I think it will be a nice surprise if we are better than what we expect – but what we expect – but we expect to struggle there. We’ll see in two weeks.

Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Last year Verstappen got a five second penalty for a move that looked similar to what happened at the Roggia chicane today between Charles and Lewis. What do the three of you think about the black-and-white flag being employed for that move today?

CL: I’ve been aware on the radio that I took a black-and-white flag for moving under braking but I’m not so sure of which move you are speaking about. If it’s the one in the right hander where we were flat-out or… after that. What it after that?

Q: The first one, where Lewis went slightly off the track to the right, on your outside, on the entry to the chicane.

CL: OK – to be completely honest, obviously I knew he was on the right, he braked a little bit early which I think was probably on purpose because he didn’t’ want to try around the outside. I thought I had left a car width. I haven’t seen the images to be honest. But I was pretty sure there was a car width.

Q: And Charles, what do you think of the use of the black-and-white flag?

CL: As I’ve said, I think it’s good if we can race harder. Again, I haven’t seen the images so I cannot say particularly in this case but overall I’m happy if we can race harder. So… yeah… I’m fine.

Q: Lewis, can we get your thoughts?

LH: We’ve just constantly asked for consistency. So, there was a rule put in place, and then it wasn’t abided by today and they used difference consequences for the rule today but I don’t really know why that was the case. It’s motor racing, I guess, and I guess the stewards woke up on a different side of the bed this morning. I don’t know.

Q: So do you not welcome the use of the black-and-white flag?

LH: Well, that’s what… Verstappen should have got that last year. We’ve asked for consistency. So the same rule should apply each time – but yeah… I don’t know what else to say about it.

Q: Valtteri, your thoughts

VB: I haven’t seen the whole thing, so I can’t say anything.

Q: (Daniele Sparisci – Corriere della Sera) Question to Charles. Was it more difficult to win here or in Belgium, with all this battle?

CL: Here. I think it’s the first weekend in my life where the only thing I’ve got in my head is winning. Normally I focus on just the job I have to do in the car, which normally is more successful and it works better. But, since Wednesday, seeing the support we’ve had, was just, yeah, incredible. The only thing I wanted this weekend was to win in front of all the guys that are supporting us, for the team. So, it was very difficult because also during the race I was thinking to that win and how much it would mean to everyone in the grandstand here. So it was adding a bit of pressure, and as I’ve explained earlier, also I had quite a lot of pressure from lap one to the last laps.

Q: (Stephane Barbe – L’Equipe) Charles, could you describe especially your feelings on the podium, which is so different here from other places perhaps.

CL: Well, it felt amazing. I have never had a podium with… I’ve never been on a podium with so many people underneath it. And to see that the whole straight was full of people – mostly red – 99 per cent red – was great to see. Yeah, as I said earlier, hearing them cheering, singing was just… a lot of emotions.

Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, seven times a Finnish driver is second in this race. Is it an impossible place to win here?

VB: No, it’s not impossible! Not far away today, it just happens that a Finn hasn’t won here. so, maybe one day. Try again next year, obviously. Like I said earlier, I think we tried everything we could and it felt like we maximised everything with the strategy and all – but just not quite enough.

Q: (Jon McEvoy – Daily Mail) Charles, what are your earliest memories of Ferrari? Do you remember, for example, Michael Schumacher winning the Italian Grand Prix? Maybe just a little on that sort of background as a boy; it’s quite a while ago…

CL: I’m very bad with history and I’ve got a very bad memory for my own races so yeah. For the others races, I really don’t remember anything. The only thing I can remember is maybe one of the first Grand Prix I’ve seen in Monaco, which was at the exit of turn one, I remember looking for the red car. I was playing with the small cars that you have when you are a child – I was maybe five years old or something like this. This is the only memory I have from a Formula One car probably.

Q: Can you tell us about your first visit to Maranello?

CL: I went there with Jules Bianchi, who had to go there for some TV stuff and obviously he tried to let me in with him but they decided I couldn’t go in the factory. Now it’s a little bit easier to go inside but yeah, I remember obviously of dreaming of one day going through these doors and seeing how a Formula One team works, especially Ferrari. But I remember I was very impressed by the way as soon as you arrive in Maranello, which is a city, you can feel that everyone is just here, all working for Ferrari or completely crazy about Ferrari. That was very very special.

Q: Can you remember what year that was?

CL: No. No. I’ve got a very bad memory!

Q: (Rodrigo Franca – VIP Magazine) Charles, speaking of that, you are in the Ferrari Driver Academy since a long time, in the Ferrari family so can you tell us of the importance of the programme and if that makes this podium so special and your winning here in Monza for the fans and for the Ferrari family?

CL: Well, at the end, if I’m here, it’s also thanks to the FDA. There are a few people in my career who have helped me to get there but definitely the Ferrari Driver Academy is part of these persons or group of persons. We did a lot of mental preparation, physical preparation. They also helped me a lot with the simulator work so I was on the simulator quite a lot and they have tried to give me as much experience that they had from Formula One to me to grow as a better driver so obviously I believe it’s a great proof that the Academy is working properly and there are also a lot of talents coming who are very strong and I’m pretty sure they will come very soon, joining obviously me but all of us in Formula One soon.

Q: (Joe van Burik – RacingNews 365) Charles, how much did you miss the support from Sebastian in the race today? Was it extra hard, considering you didn’t have him?

CL: Obviously it’s always an easier situation to have two cars instead of one but obviously yesterday Seb was extremely unlucky, he couldn’t do the lap in the second run of Q3 so yeah, but I’m pretty sure it will be better in the next races.

Q: (Fabio Seghetta – TuttoMotorsport) Charles, obviously with this win you’ve overtaken Sebastian in the drivers’ standings. Do you think the next races, apart from the good or bad performances, you will stay there or do you think that together you can try to get as many points as you can to go over and maybe challenge the two guys to the left and right of you?

CL: To challenge Lewis and Valtteri will be very difficult because, as I said, I don’t think we will be as competitive as we’ve been in Spa and Monza but let’s see, obviously . I don’t know if I will keep the position ahead of Seb in the drivers’ championship. I think we need to work together and to try and have the best performance for the team. He wants to beat me, I want to beat him as much as he does but yeah, we’ll see at the end of the championship. I can’t know.

Q: (Giovanni Messi – News Formula One) Charles, two questions: the first is, what did you think of during your final lap and if you have an opinion – I don’t know – on Sebastian’s mistake during the first laps of the race?

CL: On the last two laps I started to see in the grandstand that there was quite a lot of agitation, that all of the fans were jumping so yeah, I was telling myself ‘stop looking at the grandstand, look at the track, focus on what you are doing as a driver and then you can enjoy whatever there is outside.’ But it was quite difficult to stay focused on driving, seeing how much movement there was in the grandstand. And then I haven’t yet seen Seb’s mistake.

Q: (Davide Russo – Russ Formula One) Valtteri, you still believe in this championship?

VB: Well there’s no point ever giving up when there’s still statistics to say it’s possible. Obviously it’s a bit of a long shot, honestly, if you’re realistic with the way Lewis is performing and the consistency he’s having. But obviously you never know. This is F1, we’ve seen crazy things happening so there’s no point giving up, I just focus as an individual, my best performance I can and for us, as a team, to keep those improvements coming, that we are doing together and by the end of the year we will see, but there’s no point in giving up.

Q: (Daniel Horvath – The Paddock Magazine) Charles, you need to beat a four time World Champion first if you want to win a race. Do you think Sebastian is the toughest teammate you’ve ever had, considering the lower categories as well?

CL: Yeah, definitely. He’s definitely the most complete driver I’ve been in the same team with. I’ve learned a lot from Sebastian. He’s an amazing driver, very quick. He has a lot of experience too so the way he works is very methodical and very detailed and of that I’ve learned a lot.

Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Lewis, you’ve had an apparently very warm and respectful relationship with Charles so far this season, when seen from the outside. Will anything change in that as a result of your unhappiness today?

LH: I’m not unhappy; of course, as I’ve said, I don’t like to go backwards but he did a fantastic job today. I gave him as much pressure as I could and we had a couple of close moments, we could probably talk about it in private together but it’s nothing major and we continue to race. I’m looking forward to many more races together.

Q: (Peter Windsor – Clarksport) Charles, amazing that you mentioned that you were thinking during the race about winning and what it meant, and I’m just interested to know what part of the lap, given the amount of pressure you’re under constantly, you were able to think about that. Where on the circuit were you actually able to think about things like that?

CL: Maybe on the long straight for like 200 meters, I had the time to think. We were quite quick down the straight… not for the whole straight, only for part of it. I was thinking very quickly.

September 8, 2019