F1 Madness

Tag: nico hulkenberg

  • F1 2019: Abu Dhabi Gp Review – Hamilton Dominates Season Finale

    F1 2019: Abu Dhabi Gp Review – Hamilton Dominates Season Finale

    For the eleventh time this season Lewis Hamilton stood atop the podium on a weekend that he well and truly dominated. Not only did Hamilton win the Abu Dhabi grand prix at a canter but he also lead every lap, set the fastest lap, and started from pole position.

    Car number 44’s advantage over the field was never in doubt as Hamilton cruised to the 83rd victory of career in his 250th grand prix start. Nearly seventeen seconds adrift Max Verstappen was second for Red Bull. The Dutchman also finishes third in the driver’s standings behind Valtteri Bottas in second.

    Further adrift and never truly in the picture this weekend Ferrari was third on the road with Charles Leclerc. Ferrari were lucky to escape penalty after providing misleading information as to the amount fuel left in Leclerc’s car after Saturday qualifying. Instead the FIA imposed a fine of 50,000 Euros. Valtteri Bottas recovered to fourth after starting last due to penalties incurred for fitting a new power unit. Ferrari pace deficit was obvious all weekend and confirmed further by Sebastian Vettel finished fifth without ever troubling the frontrunners. It’s been a difficult season for the Italian team – most of it from their own making.

    On a one-stop strategy Alex Albon was sixth in the other Red Bull while Sergio Perez beautifully mastered his tyres for an incredible 37-lap stint on the medium compound. His fresher tyres and brilliant move on Lando Norris around the outside at Turn 11 on the last lap meant a fine seventh place finish for the Mexican. It also ensures that Checo Perez finishes tenth in the drivers’ standings.

    2019 Abu Dhabi GPIn eighth was Lando Norris just ahead of Dani Kvyat in ninth and Carlos Sainz in tenth. Sainz’s late move on Nico Hulkenberg netted him the final point on offer and, exceptionally, sixth place in the driver’s championship. McLaren end the 2019 season as the fourth best team in what can easily be declared their best year in the hybrid era. It is evident that the atmosphere at McLaren has dramatically improved since 2018 and credit is owed the management of the team. But outside of the ‘Big three’ McLaren have easily the most exciting driver line-up in Norris and Sainz. They’ve proven to be formidable competitors and if McLaren can produce a car able to fight higher up the grid they do so with the knowledge that their drivers will be more than equal to the task.

    Though he had run most of the 55 lap race in the points it wasn’t to be a fairytale end to Nico Hulkenberg’s F1 career as he eventually finished twelfth. Further down the field Robert Kubica brought his full time driving career to an end in much the way that it started – unspectacularly and plumb last.

    The domination of Mercedes continued in 2019 and for a record breaking sixth consecutive time they have won both the driver’s and constructor’s titles. They have been utterly relentless and merciless and it seems difficult to fathom that they can be beaten. But the teams will work, they will believe and in 104 days they will go again.

  • F1 2019: Abu Dhabi Gp Preview – From Dusk to Darkness

    F1 2019: Abu Dhabi Gp Preview – From Dusk to Darkness

    The Abu Dhabi grand prix is here and it brings with the end of the 2019 Formula 1 season. Race number twenty-one on the calendar is hosted at easily one of the most impressive venues that F1 visits. A gigantic complex that comprises the Ferrari World theme park, the Yas Hotel and the 5.5 kilometer long Yas Marina circuit.

    The race, unique for its transition from dusk to darkness, is run over 55 laps for which the current lap record of 1:40:279, set in 2009, is held by Sebastian Vettel. Designed by Herman Tilke, who else, the track is dominated by a 1.2 kilometer back straight interrupted by the slow-speed ‘chicane’ of Turns 7 and 8. This stretch of the circuit is of particular interest as it does induce several overtaking moves throughout the race.

    Conceptualized in 2006 The Yas Marina circuit, situated just outside of Dubai has never been one to produce big drama. But it’s had its fare share of striking moments since in 2009 introduction. It is here in 2010 that Sebastian Vettel won the first of his four championship titles. And where in 2012 on his way to victory Kimi Raikkonen famously quipped over team radio “leave me alone, I know what I’m doing”. In 2016 Nico Rosberg too was crowned champion in Abu Dhabi and followed the biggest moment of his racing career with the even bigger bombshell of retirement.

    Who will it suit? All indications, and the enormously long straight, suggest that Ferrari should be in a strong position. But the Italian team has fallen short on Sundays in the last few grand prix. And they have the cloud of the Vettel/Leclerc relationship hanging over them too. There’s no doubt that Vettel and Leclerc will tow the PR line this weekend where the press in concerned. But they’ll still try to one-up each other, as they should.

    Mercedes, in particular Lewis Hamilton, has always gone well in Abu Dhabi but it is Red Bull who may just spring a surprise. The performance of the Honda power unit in Brazil was eye-catching. Given the final sector of the lap is dominated by medium to slow-speed corners that calls for good mechanical grip Red Bull could well in be an excellent position this weekend.

    Motor Racing - Formula One World Championship - Hungarian Grand Prix - Preparation Day - Budapest, HungaryAs far as we know Formula 1 will bid farewell to Nico Hulkenberg and Robert Kubica this weekend. Hulkenberg, to be replaced by Esteban Ocon in 2020, will leave F1 as its nearly man. While no doubt a talented driver Hulkenberg simply never delivered the outstanding performances that he was expected too. He’ll have one more opportunity, though it’s a far-fetched one, to score that elusive podium.

    Robert Kubica’s story is an unforgettable one. He burst onto the scene and immediately impressed with his speed. But for a nearly fatal rallying crash he would likely have ended up at a top team sooner rather than later. Unfortunately it never panned out for the Polish driver. His comeback with Williams though is an incredible testament to his character, willpower, and determination. Ultimately though he was comprehensively outperformed by rookie teammate George Russell. But all is not lost, as Kubica may still be seen in the paddock as a test and development driver.

    Though some Formula 1 journeys and so to the 2019 season may be coming to their conclusion there are 55 more laps of the Abu Dhabi grand prix before signing off.

  • F1 2019: Mexican Gp Review – Hamilton one step closer

    F1 2019: Mexican Gp Review – Hamilton one step closer

    The Mexican grand prix had all the makings for a potentially epic showdown for the race win. Unfortunately none of it ever materialized.

    On Saturday Max Verstappen set the quickest time in qualifying for only the second time in his career. But failing to slow under yellow flags, brought out by Valtteri Bottas’s crashed Mercedes meant that race stewards demoted the Dutchman to fourth on the grid. The irony is that Verstappen may just have gotten away with it had he not boasted about failing to slow under the yellow flag in the subsequent post-quali press conference. It was rather arrogant manner of declaring that not slowing didn’t really matter that prompted stewards to call him and award him a three-place grid penalty.

    Verstappen is an exciting talent who, potentially, has the speed to become an F1 champion one day. However, his approach to this incident, and some others, is foolish. There can be absolutely no judgment call from any driver when it comes to the safety of marshals or other drivers. Claiming that drivers are well aware and capable is certainly true but it is not acceptable reasoning for ignoring safety protocols. These safety protocols have been instituted as a result of Formula 1 learning hard and painful lessons not least of all with the crash and death of Jules Bianchi. Therefore to dismiss the safety protocols are not only arrogant it is deeply disrespectful.

    2019 Mexican GPVerstappen’s grid drop translated to a front-row lock out for Ferrari with Charles Leclerc led teammate Sebastian Vettel off the starting line. The two were relatively evenly matched. Behind the Ferrari pair Hamilton, starting third, battled with Verstappen to the point of touching and running off track. This allowed Alex Albon and McLaren’s Carlos Sainz to slip through while Hamilton was now fourth and Verstappen down in eighth.

    There was a brief delay in the action as a virtual safety car was deployed to clear debris from the Hamilton/Verstappen clash. Racing resumed with Verstappen surprising Bottas with an overtake into the hairpin in the stadium section. Unfortunately for the Red Bull driver his right-rear wheel was clipped by Bottas’s front-wing endplate resulting in a puncture that eventually dropped him dead last.

    Up ahead Leclerc was holding off teammate Vettel by 1.5 seconds with Albon running comfortably in third. The Thai driver was the first to take to the pitlane on lap 15 with Leclerc following a lap later, both drivers opting for a two-stop strategy. Mercedes called in Hamilton on lap 24 and fitted the hard compound tyre with the aim of running to the end of the 71 lap race. Hamilton wasn’t convinced that the tyres would last the distance but was repeatedly reassured that the plan would work.

    Meanwhile Vettel and Bottas extended their first stints on the medium compound and only stopped for new rubber on laps 37 and 38 respectively. All indications were that the pair of them, with significantly fresher tyres, would cruise up to the back of race leader Hamilton and pass the number 44 Mercedes. However, the big showdown never materialized as Hamilton brilliantly managed his tyres all the way to the chequered flag for race win number 83. While Hamilton’s ability to run a 48 lap stint on a single set of tyres was impressive there is something for F1 to consider and Pirelli to consider here – it does little for the ‘show’ if one set of tyres lasts for two-thirds of a race.

    2019 Mexican GPIt was a bit of a missed opportunity for Ferrari as Vettel’s pace was easily a match for Hamilton. But they needed to be sharper on their strategy calls to make the difference in Mexico. Valtteri Bottas took the final step of the podium and delayed Hamilton from securing the driver’s title. Leclerc brought the second Ferrari home in fourth ahead of Albon in fifth while Verstappen recovered impressively to sixth.

    A jubilant Mexican crowd cheered home Sergio Perez in an outstanding seventh place while Daniel Ricciardo brought his Renault home in eighth. Pierre Gasly was ninth for Toro Rosso ahead of Nico Hulkenberg in tenth despite a late acquaintance with barriers. Daniil Kvyat was awarded a ten-second time penalty for punting Hulkenberg into the barriers in the final corner.

    Four points is all that Lewis Hamilton will need in Texas this weekend to become a six-time champion.

    All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport
  • 2019 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference

    2019 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference

    DRIVERS – Nico HULKENBERG (Renault), Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing), Charles LECLERC (Ferrari), Carlos SAINZ (McLaren), George RUSSELL (Williams)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: George, you haven’t raced at Suzuka before, so how excited are you about what lies in store this weekend?

    George RUSSELL: Yeah, extremely excited. It’s a circuit I’ve been looking forward to driving for years actually. It’s actually one of the best and purest out there, so just hoping we don’t get rained off tomorrow or Saturday.

    Q: Is there one particular aspect of the track you’re looking forward to the most?

    GR: I’d say the thing I’m looking forward to the most is probably the ‘Esses’ to start with, you know, such an amazing flow of corners. But just generally I think the whole circuit is really incredible, so just the whole experience of it.

    Q: Can we take stock and reflect on your first season in Formula 1. What have you learned and has F1 met your pre-season expectations?

    GR: I think it has met my pre-season expectations, just the whole Formula 1 rollercoaster itself. I wasn’t 100% sure what to expect but I’m really happy with how the season has gone generally. From the good moments personally to the tougher times I wouldn’t change anything at all because especially from the tougher times I’ve learned a huge amount and generally being in the position I have been, at the back of the grid, it’s given me an opportunity to just explore a bit more and go under the radar and hopefully that will help me out in years to come when we should be fighting.

    Q: Thanks, enjoy the weekend ahead and good luck. Max, Hondas home race this weekend. Has it been a particularly busy build-up for you?

    Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, yeah it has been. On Tuesday the whole day. But actually I got to drive the very first Honda F1 car so that was actually quite cool. But I guess it’s more than normal that you start a bit early this week with some commitments.

    Q: And how was the RA272, the car with which Honda won that Mexican Grand Prix back in 1965?

    MV: I didn’t fit in very well; I was a bit stuck. It was just a really cool experience.

    Q: Now let’s throw it forward to this weekend. What can we expect from you and Red Bull. You’ve scored a podium for the last three years at Suzuka. Given a clean race is a fourth consecutive podium realistic?

    MV: That’s definitely the target. First, also, let’s wait and see how the weekend is going to go and also with the weather, but of course we’ll try to do our very best this weekend to have a good result.

    Q: Thanks. Nico, you’ve enjoyed a purple patch recently and you’ve reached Q3 in the last four races. You’ve also go a new front wing this weekend, so what are you expecting from the car and from yourself this weekend?

    Nico HULKENBERG: I think it’s kind of the same build-up business as usual. Obviously we want to score as many points as possible on Sunday. We’re still fighting in the championship and it’s just about getting the maximum out of the car and ourselves, especially Saturday but Sunday.

    Q: And this new front wing?

    NH: Yeah, it’s new, so we’ll see how that copes and if it brings something to the party or not.

    Q: OK, let’s throw it further forward now. Lots of your fans are waiting to hear about your plans for next year. Has there been any movement? Is there anything you can say?

    NH: No, frankly not. There’s no news, so it’s a little bit more of a patience game, so I’ll have to and see a little bit longer.

    Q: Carlos, great race in Sochi for you and you’re now looking to score your 50th points finish in Formula 1. How confident are you of achieving that this weekend at Suzuka?

    Carlos SAINZ: Fairly confident. I think this year whenever we have been doing solid weekends like we did in Russia we have been in a very strong position to score points. Those first three races at the beginning of the season and those first three races in the second half of the season that put us a bit on the back foot but hopefully after Sochi we are back to scoring points. I didn’t know that stat, that 50th points scoring, but it would be a nice thing to do here in Suzuka.

    Q: You talk about some races that put you on the back foot. Well, you’ve already scored 66 points this year, which is more than any others season in your Formula 1 career. How much satisfaction does that give you?

    CS: Yeah, it’s quite a lot of satisfaction obviously because we didn’t know coming into the year more or less where we were going to be so scoring so many points, seeing the hard work of the tea, paying off and putting together, whenever we’re in the points, solid points finishes – P6s, P7s, P5s. It’s really good news. We’re still very far from where we want to be. We want to make good progress in the next couple of years but at least this year we made a very big step forward and that’s a good starting point.

    Q: You say you want to make progress, well in 2021 McLaren are going to be using Mercedes power units. Your thoughts on that deal?

    CS: Obviously it’s a deal for the future. At the moment we are focused on our relationship with Renault, which honestly has helped us a lot – to realize our own problems and to realize where we need to work the most, thanks to last year’s competitiveness with Renault and Red Bull we could judge our package better thanks to that engine and thanks to the progress Renault has done on this year’s power unit we are actually scoring a lot of points. The Mercedes deal is part of the plan, to our road to recovery, let’s put it like that, and hopefully that will also give us another good step.

    Q: Charles, thank you for waiting. You’re top scorer in the last four races. How confident are you of Ferrari’s performance this weekend?

    Charles LECLERC: Yeah, it’s working pretty well since we came back from holidays. The car feels great. We’ve had, I think, four poles in a row, which is always nice. The last two races have been a bit… not what I expected, but the performance is there, which is the most important, and there are no reasons for us not to be competitive this weekend. So, yeah, we’ll see how it goes. I think we need to focus on the Friday especially. Saturday seems to be very tricky, if not impossible to drive, so Friday will be very important. And I hope we can have a very positive Sunday.

    Q: You say the last couple of races have been a bit tricky, obviously Russia didn’t go as smoothly as you would have hoped. How were your discussions with the team and with Sebastian after the race?

    CL: Yeah, obviously there was some misunderstanding from the car but I think we’ve had a discussion and everything is clear now. Obviously it felt like it was a huge deal from the outside – which it definitely wasn’t but yeah, now everything is fine.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / Speed Sport) George, on paper, the car on race results is where it was at the start of the year – but how much has the car improved?

    GR: It’s definitely improved a lot, just in the driveability side of things. So, from within, it’s definitely a nicer car to drive. It is obviously, always difficult to make huge leaps forward for any team but I think the foundations we have in place now are really positive going into next year. We’re trialling a new front wing this weekend, which shouldn’t necessarily bring much performance to this year’s car but should hopefully unlock quite a lot for us moving into 2020, so I’ve got faith we should be fighting. Probably towards the lower end of the midfield but hopefully in the mix much more than we are at the moment.

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Question for Charles Leclerc. Sorry to come back to the subject. Did you have talks with Mattia Binotto and Seb Vettel since last race in Russia. Did you go to Maranello when Seb was there?

    CL: No, unfortunately I had some things happening on the day he was in Maranello, so we didn’t have the chance to meet-up together – but I had a meeting with Mattia and he had one with Seb the day earlier. Yeah, everything is fine, as I’ve said.

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) To all five drivers please. At the moment we do have the topic of the typhoon that’s expected to hit the area on Saturday. Obviously the FIA and F1 are monitoring the situation – but just from a drivers’ perspective, you know what it’s like driving these cars and these tyres in the wet. How much rain do you really need where it’s a position where it’s unsafe for you to go on track? Do you want to be consulted when it comes to deciding whether it goes ahead on Saturday?

    NH: Yeah, I think we’ve seen in recent years that, in terms of rain, we don’t need too much for it to be unsafe. Especially when you throw wind in there as well. It gets, I think, pretty tricky. We can obviously debate a lot and discuss but I think we just have to wait and see what actually hits us and how bad it is, or not, and make the right call at the time. Obviously there’s a lot of fans here. We want to race; they want to see us drive. So, I think we need to try and make this weekend happen – but obviously we need to see what happens and we’re at the mercy of the weather there.

    Q: Max?

    MV: I’ve got my speedboat on standby so I’m ready to go for Saturday.

    Q: Max, would you like to see the drivers being consulted about the conditions?

    MV: Yeah, I guess so, but it’s going to be very clear anyway if it’s possible or not. At the moment, it doesn’t really look very likely on Saturday. Sunday looks fine. Yeah, let’s see.

    Q: Charles?

    CL: Yeah, as Max said, I think it’s pretty clear if the typoon is going to come here there’s no way we can drive but off my previous experience – and I’ve only done one year and a half in Formula One but they’ve always been quite safe with the conditions. So yeah, they’ve always asked what we thought about the track once we’re in the car. So, yeah, happy. We will see.

    Q: And Carlos?

    CS: Nothing to add. I have full trust in Michael and his team that we will run in safe conditions if we do so. Hockenheim is a good example. The first five laps of the race it was clearly a bit too wet and until the drivers there in the midfield, we didn’t say it was safe enough, it wasn’t clearly green flag. So, it’s not a problem for me.

    Q: And George?

    GR: Not much to add. As the guys said, it will be pretty clear come Saturday what the situation will be. I think we can handle quite a lot of water. It’s just the standing puddles and the aquaplaning that is the biggest limitation for us. So, like Carlos said, I’m sure they’ll make the right decision.

    Q: (Rik Spekenbrink – AD Sportwereld) Question for Max. If qualifying will be postponed until Sunday, how would that change your approach and routine towards qualifying and the race, and also for the team?

    MV: Bit more free time on Saturday and waking up a little bit earlier on a Sunday. I mean, we have done it before. From my side, I have experienced it once before, I think in Austin 2015? So, yeah, it is what it is. It doesn’t really affect me.

    CS: More FIFA!

    MV: Yeah, I brought it here, so if you want to have a game on Saturday.

    CS: Always up for it.

    MV: If you’re ready to lose…

    CS: Hmmm… we will see.

    Q: (Giusto Ferronato – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Charles, at this point of the season what is more important for you: to help Ferrari to stay in front of Red Bull or stay in front of your teammate?

    CL: Well, I think as a team it’s always a priority to do good for the team but then as (in) every team, Seb wants to beat me, I want to beat him as much but yeah, the priority is to do good for the team which (is what) we all do.

    Q: (Jake Michaels – ESPN) To the four guys who have driven here before: can you just describe what it’s like to drive this track, particularly the first sector, the difficulties and why it’s so enjoyable?

    CS: I think not only the first sector, I think the whole track just has a very good flow and a very good sequence of corners. I think the fact that the track also penalises mistakes in the first sector and maybe put a wheel wrong you have a chance of… not crashing but putting it in the gravel also makes the adrenalin and also the difficulty of the track a bit harsher. Because of that, I think many Formula One drivers we miss these kind of tracks. I wish, like in the future, we can go towards designing these kind of tracks instead of others where – and I’m not going to mention now – but yeah, I really like it, the fact that it’s also a bit narrower than the average track and in sector one makes it a bit more demanding. So it has a lot of things – elevation changes… a lot of things that make it really special.

    CL: The first sector, I absolutely love it. As Carlos said, you can’t make any mistakes and the fact that you need to be so precise in every corner otherwise you are late for the other and you lose quite a lot of lap time makes it quite challenging for us. I really enjoy driving here.

    MV: Yeah, good flow. Yeah, it’s the first sector, right, that you wanted to know (about). We were actually talking about the first sector. Really good combination of corners, especially in qualifying on low fuel it’s really enjoyable. Of course it’s more enjoyable if you have a good car balance as well but I’m counting on that. It’s always good to be here, it’s one of my favourite tracks. Is that good enough?

    NH: Yeah, it’s just very quick and dynamic and everything that these guys have said. It’s a very good package as a track.

    Q: (Jens Nagler – Bild) Nico, you have had a pretty good run since the summer break, closing up to your teammate points-wise, but still no drive for next year. Is there any scenario you can think of that doesn’t see you in a race car next year? What are the options?

    NH: Pizza baker? No. You mean in Formula One or in general? General. I guess there is that scenario but to be honest, if it wasn’t to continue here, after that, honestly I haven’t given (it) that much thought. I think, also for me personally, I would take some time to get clarity over what I want, find a new challenge. Of course I will be in some racing car again in the future because that’s what I love doing, it’s my passion so I think only time will tell what happens then.

    Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Charles, you said everything’s clear now between you and the team and Sebastian. What exactly is clear? How do you all have to behave in those situations in the future? Do you have to obey team orders as didn’t happen in Russia? How’s it going to work?

    CL: Yeah, I think that’s clear from the beginning of the season, we need to obey team orders and what is clear is that the situation wasn’t clear for both of the drivers, starting the race, and I think that’s the most important (thing). So we spoke about it and we’ll make sure that this situation doesn’t happen again in the future.

    Q: (Julien Biliotte – AutoHebdo) Max, you sounded disappointed if not resigned after Sochi. How much more patient are you willing to be with Red Bull Honda before looking at other opportunities to find a championship-winning car?

    MV: I was not really disappointed but I was also, of course, not very happy but I think that’s pretty normal when… for me it was a pretty boring race, you know. I think you will always sound happier when you win or you have a really exciting race and you finish on the podium and of course maybe the last few races they have not been our strongest but I believe we can do better and we are working very hard of course to make that happen but I think it would be wrong if I would come out of the race in Sochi and be very happy to the cameras, so we just keep pushing very hard and for the future, I don’t know. I’m not too worried about it, I just want to win and I will do my very best all the time and so is the team trying to do so. Yeah, let’s see.

  • 2019 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    2019 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    DRIVERS – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari), Charles LECLERC (Ferrari), Antonio GIOVINAZZI (Alfa Romeo), Pierre GASLY (Toro Rosso), Nico HULKENBERG (Renault)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: A question for you all to start with. Confirmation came through last night that the Italian Grand Prix will remain on the Formula 1 calendar for at least another five years. Can we get your reaction to that and can you tell us what this race and this track mean to you? Sebastian, can we start with you?
    Sebastian VETTEL: Very happy obviously. I don’t know if I’ll be here for five years. I think it belongs in the calendar, so I’m very happy that it was confirmed. It’s not really necessary to mention the importance of the Italian Grand Prix for Ferrari. It’s our biggest race of the season. It belongs here. Obviously for me, a lot of memories. The win in 2008, my first win, for sure was very special. The ones after that people weren’t so happy, but I guess nowadays they would be happy again.

    Q: Charles?
    Charles LECLERC: Obviously very happy. There’s nowhere else you can see as many passionate people as there are here. As Seb said, driving for Ferrari it feels very, very special and I definitely hope that I will still be here in five years.

    Q: Pierre?
    Pierre GASLY: Same comment. The passion you see in Monza is really special. The whole atmosphere during the weekend is really amazing. Plus, the track is really cool and usually good racing, so it’s fantastic news.

    Q: Nico?
    Nico HULKENBERG: Yeah, definitely good news. It’s always a good weekend and to secure another iconic European in the long term is very positive.

    Q: And Antonio?
    Antonio GIOVINAZZI: Of course, really important. For me it’s the home grand prix. My first time here in F1, so really great to have the news yesterday that we’ll be here for at least another five years. Good for Italy, good for Ferrari, good for Italian drivers, so yeah, really grateful.

    Q: Antonio, staying with you. You say this is your first time here in F1. You won the GP2 feature race back in 2016, which was a big moment in your career then. Can you compare your emotions now coming into this race, your first Italian Grand Prix?
    AG: Yeah, it’s incredible, I would say. This was one of the grands prix I always watched when I was young, of course supporting Ferrari. Back in 2016 it was one of the best races of that season and of my career as well – coming from last and I won the race in front of all the tifosi, my friends, my family, so it was a really great memory. Now I am here in F1, so I’m looking forward, I have a lot of people coming here to support me. I hope to have a good result and just enjoy my first weekend here in Italy.

    Q: Now, you’re the first Italian to race in the Italian Grand Prix since 2011. Why do you think it has taken so long for another Italian, you, to come through?
    AG: I think in go-kart already when you are young and you start to dream of becoming a Formula 1 driver, I think karting now has become too expensive, so there is not much support in Italy to give to the young drivers. I think we have a lot of good Italian drivers now, from watching now like some races in go-kart but of course it is really difficult to do already the next step from karting to Formula 4. I hope this can change. From my side, I did a lot of sacrifices. I was lucky to find [Ricardo] Gelael to support me until here, but it is not easy. This is one of my points that Italian drivers are not any longer in F1, but I think it’s difficult also for the other countries. But I’m really that Italy is back after a long eight years.

    Q: Thanks and good luck this weekend. Pierre, it’s been a very eventful month for you. Can you describe how you were able to re-set head of the race at Spa last week and get that great result?
    PG: For sure it’s quite a challenging time for me at the moment that I’m facing. Coming into Spa they were really busy and intense days – to get on top of all the new things with Toro Rosso, being back with the team, also a new crew around my car. It was just really intense ahead of the weekend. I tried to extract the best and deliver the best performance straight away and that’s what we tried to do. Yeah, I think just now I know that I have eight more races coming with Toro Rosso. I’m just trying to focus on myself, improve myself and to deliver the best performance I can for the team. For sure, what happened in Spa, it was really tough before the race on Sunday and it was difficult to keep the focus, especially in this kind of moment, it’s really tricky for everyone. It was tough mentally but it was important to deliver the best race I could for the team and for Anthoine and I think we can be really happy with the two points we scored for our first race back together.

    Q: What are you goals for the remainder of the 2019 season?
    PG: I think it’s quite clear – just be fast and deliver the maximum points for the team. They are in a good position in the championship and I will do everything I can to offer the maximum points to the guys.

    Q: OK, good luck with that and with this weekend. Nico, on the face of last weekend’s announcement regarding Esteban Ocon moving to Renault next year leaves your future uncertain. The 2020 grid still seems quite fluid, however, so are your plans taking shape?
    NH: Not concrete yet, but there are definitely talks going on. But I think it will still be a while. Like I said last week, the situation is what it is now, but it needs to be the right deal, a good sporting perspective, and I’m in no urgency or hurry to sign anything, just to have signed anything. I think there are options out there but nothing to talk about right now.

    Q: And looking ahead to this weekend, what can we expect from you and Renault, because it was a difficult one at Spa for you guys?
    NH: Yeah, it was a tricky weekend but quite rewarding in the end, getting four points back on the board. That was quite positive and we’re trying to take that momentum here. It’s obviously a new weekend, so a new approach and we’ll see how the car performs here. But there’s no reason to be skeptical about it. We’ll just be pushing and working hard and for me, in terms of my mindset, I just want to get the maximum out of it every weekend, take it weekend by weekend, enjoy it, and maximum attack.

    Q: Thanks for that, Nico. I want to come to both Ferrari drivers now. We saw a fantastic celebration at the Duomo in Milan last night. How was it? Sebastian, tell us what went on?
    SV: Very busy, packed! I think it’s very difficult to put into words. It’s a very iconic on it’s own, it it’s empty, that place, but with the red sea, or flooded with people dressed in red, it was definitely prettier than I remembered it. Probably I should never go back, because it’s never going to be as pretty. I think it was special for us as current drivers, but there were also a lot of recent drivers, older drivers from the past of the Scuderia, so I think that was a nice thing to get together and have a chat also later on with them. Obviously some of them are very around, but others you don’t see so often, so enjoyed that. A lot of old important cars, important pieces of the team’s history, so for me it was a great day.

    Q: Charles?
    CL: Yeah, it was unbelievable. I think Seb said nearly everything. For me it was also the first time I arrived here in Italy for the Italian Grand Prix as a Ferrari driver. Obviously I knew it was going to be special, but as a first day I could not expect any more. So many people, so much passion, it was just incredible and very, very impressive to see so many people coming together on a Wednesday for us and for Ferrari of course. It was crazy.

    Q: Staying with you, you’re now Ferrari’s youngest ever winner in Formula 1. You said on Sunday you were struggling to process what had just happened, so how do you reflect on that achievement now, a week later?
    CL: Obviously it was a very tough weekend for different reasons – obviously with what happened on Saturday, but also because we knew with the performance we had in the race it was going to be difficult because Mercedes were very, very strong with their race pace so it was a tough weekend. But in the end we managed to put everything together. I think there was great teamwork between myself and especially Seb, who did the job of keeping Lewis behind for a few a laps that have been very helpful for me towards the end of the race. Looking back obviously I am very happy that this first win is done. It’s always difficult to do this first step but once you do it, it takes quite a bit of weight off your shoulders and of that I’m very proud. Not much time to actually think about it because we are already four days later here in Italy and we need to focus fully on the job that we have to do here.

    Q: Sebastian, Charles made reference to the race pace of Mercedes at Spa, how do you think it’s going to play out here?
    SV: I can’t predict but I think it should be… It’s a similar track, very different but in terms of the way the cars are set up similar to last weekend. I hope we can be as competitive as we were there. In relative terms it’s difficult to say. For sure we’ve seen the trend that in qualifying we have a bit of an edge on these types of tracks, whereas in the race everything moves very close together. As Charles said, they were very quick last weekend, so I expect the main challenge to be looking after the tyres, finding the right set-up, the right balance in the car, to feel comfortable to extract the maximum. I can’t give you any predictions but I guess it will be very tight. I hope we have something to say. Obviously Mercedes has been in a position to win nearly every race this season but for us it hasn’t been like that, so the more chances we get the better it is for us.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Luke Smith – crash.net) Question for Sebastian. We saw Charles take his maiden grand prix victory last weekend. He’s made a very strong start to life with Ferrari, only 12 points behind you in the Championship. How impressed have you been with Charles start with the team and has he surprised you at all with how good he’s been this year?
    SV: No. I think it’s positive that he’s surprised probably a lot of people outside but inside I think we obviously… he’s been with Ferrari, with the Driver Academy for a while and it was clear to see that he has a lot of potential. I think he had a very strong rookie season with Alfa, so, y’know, it’s good to see that he’s right on the pace straight away and obviously form a team point of view I think the most important is that we work together, not against each other. That seems to work, so that’s important. Otherwise it would be a bit of a waste of energy. So, yeah, I think those are the key things. It’s obviously good, I think it was a big weekend for him last weekend, even though it was shadowed by the circumstances, the passing of Anthoine, so not great but as he said, obviously it was his first one and I’m sure he’ll be around for a while so there will be a lot more.

    Can I put that question to Pierre as well. Pierre, you’ve known Charles for such a long time. Have you been surprised, impressed by what he’s done with Ferrari this year?
    PG: I’m going to say no, because I know he’s like, super-talented and a super-fast guy but it’s the case and we know each other since we were eight years old. He’s been always on top of all the series he’s competed in. So, we’ve been team-mates. I was always surprised and impressed when we were team-mates how fast he was, and all the battles we had, so no, in a way, I’m not surprised but in a way it’s good that he proved it with his first win and I’m sure there will be many more.

    Q: (Joe van Burik – racingnews365.nl) Question to Charles, after the race you mentioned you didn’t say a word during the race. Can you describe the state of mind while you were going for that victory?
    CL: To be honest, I’ve got no ideas why I didn’t speak but the engineers… they thought there was something wrong on the radio actually because I was not speaking. I had nothing to say. They were giving me the information I needed, and that’s it. I just focused on the job behind the wheel, and that’s it.

    Q: (Jonathan McEvoy – Daily Mail) To both Ferrari drivers. I was wondering, in light of the sad events of last week, whether the drivers thought there was any consideration maybe needed be given to the nature of run-off areas. There’s been less and less gravel for reasons that are well-known, but whether that should be examined, whether gravel could actually slow drivers down and make them stick to track limits better. And b) is there anything that the GPDA have discussed about last week that you will now speak to the FIA about?
    SV: I think it’s a question for all of us really but I think the answer will probably be the same one – or should be the same one. I think what happened couldn’t be any worse. I think it will be examined in a very detailed way, which is, I think, correct and what everyone would expect – but I think to draw any conclusions now is probably not right. I think we need to have a full picture of a lot of elements. The ones that you mentioned are definitely part of those – but there might be, or there are, also others. Obviously I’m a fan of holding races in Spa, because it’s a great track, has a great history, a lot of the corners are very unique but for sure, we need to have a very close look and take some time to understand exactly what happened before drawing any conclusions.

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Slightly following on from that question. There were some comments Jackie Stewart this week, who said that last weekend’s accident might serve as a bit of a wake-up call, and drivers perhaps are taking too many liberties, particularly on the first lap. I was just wondering what your responses would be to that?
    NH: I think obviously some of it is true. Tarmac runoff areas do invite us to keep pushing – because it doesn’t have an immediate consequence. I think it needs to be policed. There is always the right balance somewhere. Maybe it’s also a case where we need to have a customised solution for particular corners like Eau Rouge which is quite unique in the way that we don’t really see that corner until we come up on the hill and see what’s going on. But yeah, sometimes things get a bit hectic and out-of-control on lap one. I think more particularly – even though that wasn’t lap one it was lap two, but still, early in the race when everyone is very bunched up – sometimes you see that happening more in the junior series. We’ll see. They’re motivated, maybe a bit too excited but yeah, like I say, maybe there’s a solution for every corner a little bit different.
    SV: I think, looking back obviously he was racing at a horrible time where drivers passed away, not regularly but obviously a lot more frequently. So, for sure, you cannot compare his era to our era. Obviously he’s been around at that time, he’s been racing so he knows what it felt like and is able to judge whether it’s different or not. I don’t think we can have that judgement. But yes, again, as far as I understand it, it was a bit of a chain of happenings, of situations that led into the final accident but, yeah, I think we all had our moment on Saturday and obviously Sunday, going to the race track and driving the race but to some extent it’s part of motorsport. It is dangerous, it’s part of the thrill – but certainly obviously the last years have been a wake-up with the passing of Jules and now Anthoine. It shows that there are still things – even if people think it’s too safe and boring – I think there are still things we can do better, we must improve, we must work on, because I’d rather have boring Formula 1 championships to the end of ever and bring him back – so I think there’s no question about that trade.
    CL: On my side I think I was always aware it was a dangerous sport because any time you go at that speed it will always be dangerous. On the other hand, ever time I’m getting into the car, I’m going with the same mindset. I think we are all trying to do that. Even with what happened on Saturday, which was obviously extremely sad and I think it has shocked all of us. Especially the new generation, we haven’t known that – or actually the generation that is in Formula 1 like Seb, it’s a much safer sport than a long time ago, so yeah, at the end, once you are going into the car, you are trying to be in your zone, trying to think to what you need to do, and you need to race as hard as you can to finish as high as you can. So yeah, I think I’ve always been aware that there was some risk, but sometimes it’s obviously a shock when something like this happens.
    NH: I agree with all the comments.
    AG: Me too.

    Q: (Davide Russo – newsf1.it) Question for Charles. How would you describe your relationship now with Seb?
    CL: I think very good. I think we found the right compromise with Seb between competition and also working together to try and improve the car and to work for the team. I think this is extremely important for team-mates. Any time we are getting into the car I want to beat him as much as he wants to beat me – but whenever we are out of the car, we manage to share information, speak together and, yeah, just try to do our best to help the team to move forwards and to bring the car where it should be. I think it’s a very good relationship.

    Sebastian, how different is your relationship with Charles to the one you had with Kimi Räikkönen?
    SV: More words! That’s it. As Charles touched on, we try to work together. We try to push the team. Our car is not where we want it to be. I said earlier that we didn’t have the car and the ability to win every race so far, and that is our objective, so I think it serves both of us if we push in the same direction because I believe one day we will have that car and then we can fight it out.

    Q: (Umberto Zapelloni – L’Automobile) Can you give yourself a vote from one to ten for the first 13 races of this year?
    NH: Eight. That’s too short for you, right? You want more! Why not? It wasn’t a ten because it hasn’t been the best of seasons. I’ve also left out a couple of opportunities hence two away from ten.
    AG: I would say, looking back, I lost a lot of opportunities for issues or whatever. I don’t know. Five and a half? 5.5, yes.
    SV: I don’t know. We have had a question like that. I don’t remember what I answered so maybe I should say nothing now because otherwise I say something different. No, I don’t remember so I’m not going to go with that.
    Q: Five? Same as Hungary.
    SV: Well, we’ve had one race since Hungary. Was it after Hungary or before? I don’t know. Yeah, I think the bottom line is that we know we haven’t had the season we wanted so far. Obviously we started off in a good place in the second half and hopefully we can keep that up but we know also, being realistic, that Mercedes is the clear favourite. As I said, they’ve been in a position to win every race this year so yeah, that’s something that we haven’t been in and we need to get there, that’s the point.
    CL: Yeah, I also think I’ve answered one of those questions. I might change my answer but probably the six first races weren’t that positive for me so maybe around six. After that, more seven and a half. Bit happier in qualifying, especially and now I’m targeting to move a bit higher for the rest of the season.
    PG: I never like these kind of ratings so… It hasn’t been the best start of the year but now the new goal is to raise this mark.

    Q: (Zsolt Godina – F1Vilag.hu) Sebastian, we have seen some pictures of the new 2021 car in the wind tunnel. How do you like it and how will the new regulations affect your decision regarding the future?
    SV: I don’t know, I think we’ve probably also seen renderings from Renault in the past and other teams so I don’t know whether the pictures we’ve seen are actually what it will be because as far as I understand there are no regulations yet for ’21 so it’s a bit pointless to post pictures but maybe that’s what some people would like the cars to look like, I don’t know. I think that there are no rules yet for ’21, no decisions, no hard decisions so it’s a bit pointless to look at pictures. Yeah, I think there’s a great chance to make things better. I think we, as drivers, addressed our main points. Obviously it was very nice and very respectful that we had a sort of say or at least people asked our opinions for the first time ever in this kind of decision, the people who make the decisions asked our opinions. We were definitely pushing to keep things simple. We want closer racing. From our side, I think it’s very clear and then however the cars look, I guess it’s a bit secondary. I think if the racing is great and so on, then the cars will look great as well.
    Q: Will the regulations for 2021 have a bearing on your future?
    SV: Yeah, for sure. Obviously I don’t know how long the decision to stay with these kind of rules will be but obviously my contract now finishes next year. Everything after that is based on the new rules so for sure you have a look. As I said, I think it’s a huge chance for the sport to position itself in a better… or to be in a better place. Having said, it’s not that now everything is awful so I think we need to remember that. It’s a fine balance but every change is a chance – a chance to do better or worse and hopefully we do better.

    Q: (Luke Smith – Crash.net) You spoke about the passion you saw from the Ferrari fans yesterday at the event. It’s been nine years since the tifosi have been able to cheer on a Ferrari driver to victory here at Monza. How much will it mean to you to end that drought and take that win and be up on that podium?
    SV: Well, we’ve been on the podium a couple of times but never on the top step, not that it’s a big thing. This is the biggest race for us, no doubt. It’s a big weekend. Obviously we saw the passion that there is yesterday and I’m sure we will see it throughout the weekend. So hopefully I’m sure it will give us a boost, how much, we will see. I mentioned before, it’s difficult to predict but certainly I think now is the time to sort of over-deliver. Yeah, it’s a big weekend so hopefully we can make it count this time. I think we have a good chance, so we will see. We’re ready, I guess.

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Just along the same sort of lines: Sebastian does this race offer you your best realistic chance of ending your drought, if we can call it that: twelve months now since your last win. Must it be this weekend?
    SV: I don’t think so. I think we have lots of races ahead but I’m not looking to… I don’t know, where I am in ten races time; this is the weekend I’m focused on. As I said, we’re not the clear favourites. Obviously there are signs that we are aware of and put us in a good position but I think we have to be carefully optimistic and realistic. There’s a lot of elements during a Grand Prix that can make a difference. One lap is one thing but then obviously there’s a lot of laps on Sunday, plus the weather, plus, plus, plus. There are a lot of things. I don’t see it that way, I see it as a chance, simple as that, but then again, I think you always have a chance when you’re on the grid no matter where you start from but surely we want to make sure we start from the front which gives you a higher chance and then carry that into the race.

    Q: (Jon McEvoy – Daily Mail) Charles, obviously it was a great day in your life to win your first Formula One race, albeit laden with other emotions but is there anything that you’ve done in the last few days to celebrate or bought yourself anything, and what does it feel like, generally, in your mind to be a Formula One winner?
    CL: No, I haven’t done much to celebrate that. Hopefully I will be able to celebrate after this one. As I said earlier, there was not much time to celebrate anything.
    SV: He asked what you bought.
    CL: I didn’t buy anything.
    SV: They tell me you bought a boat!
    CL: No, no, that’s not true! Obviously it feels good, it’s something that – until you get it, it feels very far away but once you have it it feels obviously very, very good and it gives you a bit of a confidence boost too, so it’s great. Now it’s done and I can focus on the future and hopefully many more will come.

    Q: (Jens Nagler – Bild) Nico, you didn’t always have the best of luck this season but suddenly in Spa that seemed to change. I think Pierre locked up, Antonio crashed out, Lando did not finish. Might that be a turning point for you in that season and do you feel you need a turning point in order to secure a seat for 2020?
    NH: If you look across a year, it levels out with luck. Sometimes it’s on your side, sometimes it’s against you. In Spa we did get lucky. We picked up two positions from other people who were unfortunate but yeah, I believe it does somehow, across a year, level out one way or another. I don’t think it needs to change for me to secure a seat. I just need to do my job, for me to focus on it and extract what I can from the car and basically perform. I think then it will all be good.

    Q: (Stephane Barbe – L’Equipe) Seb, we’ve seen in Spa a tense game in qualifying with drivers going slowly, looking for a good tow. Do you think you could have the same here in Monza, and what is the importance of the slipstream here in Monza in qualifying and the race?
    SV: Yeah, obviously if you look on paper, this is the place where you expect this kind of strange games. Yeah, there’s very little you can do to sort of prepare because it depends on the timing of the session. Here I think the lap is a bit shorter so maybe it buys you a bit more flexibility but yeah, we’ll see on Saturday. I don’t know if it’s going to be dry or wet but obviously in the wet there’s no point, not as much as in the dry. Yeah, it does make a difference, how much it’s difficult to quantify but certainly last year it made a difference and yeah, you need to be on the good side, obviously, and it also depends a bit on tyres, whether it’s easy to prepare them or whether it’s really critical. And then you need to make the trade between tyres being in the right window or being in position for the tow. Could be entertaining but you also hope that obviously you get a nice shot, at least one of the two.

    Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas) Pierre, in a way, could it be more relaxing for you, driving for Toro Rosso than for Red Bull?
    PG: No. I think as a driver you always need to deliver the best of yourself with the car you have. Targets are exactly the same on my performance side.

  • F1 2019: German Gp Review – Verstappen, King of the Ring

    F1 2019: German Gp Review – Verstappen, King of the Ring

    On its day there isn’t a sport that can match the drama, exhilaration, and rapture of Formula 1. And on a rainy day in Germany Formula 1 was most definitely delivered a race to remember.

    Saturday qualifying was as embarrassing a day as Ferrari has experienced in some time. Well set to claim at the very least one spot on the front row neither Vettel nor Leclerc made it to the final shootout as both cars suffered technical failures. It left Hamilton to pick up the pieces and secure pole position with Max Verstappen alongside on the front row.

    Though most of the weekend had seen the Hockenheimring drenched in sunshine race day was markedly different as the rain came down. It prompted a couple of formation laps behind the safety car but conditions were good enough for a standing start. It was Hamilton who led away cleanly from pole as bad start, similar to Austria, dropped Verstappen down the other. It allowed Valtteri Bottas into second while Kimi Raikkonen scythed his way into third.

    Charles Leclerc, starting tenth, made an impressive start to be running sixth within a few laps while Seb Vettel too charged his way through the back-markers to fourteenth. The first Safety Car was brought out by Sergio Perez’s crash, which triggered the first round of pitstops with driver’s swopping full wets for intermediate tyres. The race settled momentarily before the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was deployed for Daniel Ricciardo’s Renault that expired in a plume of smoke.

    As conditions improved drivers dived back into the pitlane for dry tyres. With Hamilton and Bottas still running one-two Verstappen struggled to heat his medium tyres and spun in the stadium section but rejoined without any damage. Again, the VSC would be called on as this time Lando Norris retired from the race with a loss of power.

    2019 German GPThe most dramatic sequence of events was just about to unfold. Leclerc, now in contention for the podium and even the race win, ran wide at the penultimate corner and slammed his Ferrari into the barrier and out of the race which prompted the appearance of the Safety Car. No sooner had Leclerc stepped out of his cockpit when race leader Hamilton lost control of his car at the same corner. Though the Mercedes driver too hit the barrier he was able to rejoin with the need for a few front wing.

    He dove into the pitlane but in doing incurred a five second penalty for failing to enter the pitlane before the bollard that indicates the correct pit entry. It wasn’t the end of Hamilton’s misery though as his arrival in the pitbox caught his team unaware. The pitcrew rushed around for the correct tyres and a new nose but thanks to the Safety Car and reduced speed Hamilton emerged in fifth overall.

    As the race ‘settled’ Verstappen was comfortably in the lead with Nico Hulkenberg in second ahead of Bottas. No sooner had the whispers begun spreading that Hulkenberg could be on for his first ever podium than the German driver found himself in the same barrier as Hamilton and Leclerc moments later. Yet another Safety Car was called on as drivers were back in the pits to swop dry tyres for inters. However, Lance Stroll and Racing Point gambled on dry tyres which worked a treat as the Canadian driver found himself in the lead as the rest of the field to the pitlane. Verstappen regained the lead of the race shortly afterward with Stroll desperately holding on to second ahead of Kvyat, Bottas, and Carlos Sainz. As Kvyat took second place from Stroll a few laps later it was going from bad to worse for Hamilton who flat-spotted all four tyres in a high-speed 360 in Turn 1.

    Mercedes’s day was about to get even worse when Bottas, just like Hamilton, spun at Turn 1. Unfortunately for the Finn he didn’t get away with it and destroyed the front of the Merc prompting yet another Safety Car.

    As the race re-started it was Vettel’s turn to come alive. He produced several brilliant overtakes and was past Sainz, Stroll and Kvyat in quick succession. It was a brilliant drive for Vettel who started 20thand last on the grid, kept his composure amid the chaos, and finished a fabulous second.

    2019 German GPUp ahead and well clear of the pandemonium Verstappen led serenely and apart from the earlier spin had no other issues. Apart from Mexico 2018 nearly all of Verstappen’s other race wins have come in dramatic fashion and Germany 2019 was no different. The seventh victory of Verstappen’s career was likely his most mature and reveals a driver ready to be a championship contender.

    While Verstappen marched to his second win in the last three races his teammate Pierre Gasly had a miserable afternoon. There were some good moments for the Frenchman but they were clouded by several off-track excursions before a coming together with Toro Rosso’s Alex Albon which put him out of the race. You cant help but feel as Gasly brought his damaged car to a halt it likely also marks the end of stint as a Red Bull driver.

    As impressive as Verstappen was it is undoubtedly Daniil Kvyat who deserves driver of the day for a sensational third place finish. It has been a long road back from the doldrums for Kvyat who was first replaced at Red Bull by Verstappen and later sacked by Toro Rosso. It couldn’t have come at a better time for the Russian driver who may find himself back at Red Bull in quick time.

    Elsewhere, Stroll eventually finished fourth ahead of Sainz in sixth who survived his own spin in the penultimate corner. Alex Albon made it a double-points finish for Toro Rosso in sixth. While the Alfa Romeo’s of Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi finished seventh and eighth on the track the two cars were later given a 30 second penalties for a pre-race rule infringement of, effectively, driver coaching. Alfa have stated their intention to appeal the penalties.

    This promoted Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen to seventh and eighth while Hamilton too benefited by being elevated to ninth. It also means that Williams secured their first point of the season with the elevation of Robert Kubica to tenth.

    Although this German grand prix is likely the last for the foreseeable future it went out on a spectacularly high-note. There’s little time for F1 to catch its breath as the paddock head to the Hungaroring this weekend for the final race before the month-long summer break.

  • F1 2019: British Gp Preview – Formula 1 at its British Best

    F1 2019: British Gp Preview – Formula 1 at its British Best

    The adage goes that you’re only as good as your last race. It will take some doing then for Formula 1 to top itself after the thrilling Austrian grand prix of two weeks ago. Nevertheless, the Silverstone circuit and British grand prix is as iconic as it comes in motorsport.

    Rookies

    Being a rookie in Formula 1 is almost always a baptism of fire. But as the F2 champion and runner-up in 2018 George Russell and Lando Norris have been enormously impressive in their respective debut seasons.

    Lando Norris was drafted into McLaren with the team still very much in the doldrums. However, 2019, and especially the last two races, has shown the progress that the Woking-based team has made. Progress means little however if the drivers in the cockpit are unable to capitalize and deliver the results. So far, Norris has produced nearly every time that he has been behind the wheel. With four races in the points he sits eighth in the world driver’s championship. Added to this is that he qualified a brilliant fifth in Austria, his noteworthy race-craft, and the fact that he hasn’t made any major mistakes. At only nineteen years old and with one of the best Instagram accounts in the paddock Norris has all he needs to a star of the future.

    George Russell’s superb and self-determined initiative to personally contact Williams and present himself as the best choice for a 2019 drive impressed Williams enough to agree and draft him into the team. Though he has been unable to trouble the point scoring positions in 2019 he has impressed not only in his demeanour but also in the complete demolition of teammate Robert Kubica both in qualifying and the races.

    Similarly, Russell had kept his nose clean and his car on the black stuff. Williams are expected to bring a major update to the German grand prix weekend and while it’s unlikely to propel them up the grid it may bring them closer to the field in terms of pace. If all goes to plan Russell seems the more likely of the two Williams drivers to extract performance from the car.

    Silverstone under threat

    As much as Silverstone forms part of the fabric of Formula 1 the threat that it could disappear from the calendar is ever present. Commercial rights owner Liberty Media has evidently renewed their interest in a London street race which suggest that it could take over Silverstone’s slot on the calendar.*

    One of the biggest problems for Silverstone and the BRDC (British Racing Drivers Club) is the hosting cost. The suggestion is though that the BRDC and Liberty Media understand the importance of a British grand prix on the F1 calendar. It is not impractical for Liberty Media to consider offering a discount on hosting costs to those venues such as Silverstone, Monza, Spa-Francorchamps, etc. that are historically significant to the sport and thereby ensure their presence on the calendar.

    2010 British Grand Prix StartAs a fan you get a little bit of everything at Silverstone. An incredible track layout highlighted by the incomparable Maggots-Becketts complex, Stowe, and Copse Corner combine for a supreme test of aerodynamic efficiency. It stands to reason then that Mercedes will be in the pound seats this weekend, no pun intended.

    The last few races hasn’t seen the best of Valtteri Bottas and while Lewis Hamilton is habitually exceptional at Silverstone it will be a good place for the Finn to re-state his designs on the world title. To beat Hamilton on home soil would go a long way, mentally, to begin chipping away at the reigning champion.

    But with all being equal it is difficult to bet against another British grand prix victory for Lewis Hamilton.

    *It has since been announced that Silverstone has struck a deal that will keep itself on the calendar for five more years.
  • F1 2019: French Gp Review – Mercedes Dominate…Again

    F1 2019: French Gp Review – Mercedes Dominate…Again

    A cursory scroll through social media comments would easily lead you to the conclusion that the 2019 French grand prix is not one that will down in history as a great race. Heck, it’s likely to be remembered for the exact opposite.

    Unlike Canada’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, with several pitfalls mere centimeters away, the acres of run-off area at the Paul Ricard circuit doesn’t offer anywhere close to the same on-the-edge challenge. Here the vast asphalt run-offs do nothing more than take away the challenge of driving an F1 car.

    But sanitized racetracks are hardly F1’s biggest issue. The teams, Liberty Media, and the FIA are currently in discussion about regulations for 2021 and they would do well to use the French grand prix, and the fans’ response to it, as a case study for what needs to change in the sport.

    Before then there is still a season, or two, to run and the latest race in France was little more than a Sunday afternoon drive for Lewis Hamilton. The Mercedes driver led every one of the 53 laps and seemingly had more pace to unleash if he felt like it. As it were Valtteri Bottas could mount no serious challenge and Hamilton won the race by 18 seconds. A late race VSC and Bottas’ difficulty in getting his tyres switched on afterwards nearly gave Charles Leclerc a run at second but the Ferrari driver ultimately finished third. Max Verstappen maintained fourth in a rather lonely race as Sebastian Vettel recovered from seventh on the grid to finish fifth.

    Perez penalty

    While most of the drivers kept their noses clean into the first few corners after lights out Sergio Perez quick decision to take to the run-off area netted him a five-second penalty. The Racing Point driver followed the letter of the law by rejoining the track at the stipulated point. But his trip through the run-off gained him a position and therefore a lasting advantage warranting the penalty.

    lecatselletsunday45-797703Ricciardo penalties

    The only bit of excitement surrounded the fight for seventh between Lando Norris, Daniel Ricciardo, Kimi Raikkonen, and Nico Hulkenberg. Norris well in control of his seventh place was hit with hydraulic issues that meant not only an inability to use DRS but also the gradual loss of power steering. Nevertheless, the impressive rookie soldiered on until the very last lap when he fell victim to Ricciardo, Raikkonen, and Hulkenberg.

    Ricciardo’s move on Norris saw the McLaren driver forced off the track which he followed up with a pass, with all four wheels off the circuit, on Raikkonen moments later. The three drivers were summoned to the stewards after the race which resulted in Ricciardo receiving two five-second penalties. Unfortunately for the Aussie driver the rules are rather black and white and clearly state that a penalty must be awarded for, first, crowding another driver off the track, and second, for completing a pass with all four wheel off the track. The Renault driver dropped out of the points to 11th overall but wasn’t apologetic about providing “some entertainment” for the fans.

    Carlos Sainz finished a remarkable sixth in what has been McLaren’s best race to date in 2019. The rejig of the results, following Ricciardo’s penalties, means that Raikkonen finished an impressive seventh with Nico Hulkenberg in eighth for Renault. Despite his issues Norris was ninth ahead of Pierre Gasly in tenth.

    Pierre Gasly

    One of the things that are almost always a certainty is that when a driver gets to his home race he ups his game. But this wasn’t the case for Frenchman Pierre Gasly whose weekend was nothing short of embarrassing. While teammate Verstappen was solidly in fourth Gasly trundled around behind both McLarens, both Renaults and an Alfa Romeo.

    lecatselletsunday13-640986Riccardo’s penalties meant that Gasly was classified as tenth but in reality the Red Bull driver finished 11th on the track. As a Toro Rosso driver Gasly impressed Red Bull enough to earn the call-up to the big team but he has come nowhere near to proving that he deserves to be in the seat. While Verstappen has scored 100 points in 2019 Gasly’s tally is a mere 36.

    Christian Horner’s demeanour after the race was one of barely-concealed irritation at Gasly’s performance. History reminds that Red Bull, in the form of Horner and Dr. Helmut Marko, can be ruthless when it comes to driver demotions, just ask Dannil Kvyat. If Gasly continues in the same vein he may well be replaced, ironically, by Kvyat before the year is out.

    No such issues exist at Mercedes who roll on in 2019 with yet another victory. There are those who would point out that the Ferrari and Red Bull eras were as dominating as this era’s seemingly unconquerable Mercedes. But even the heyday of Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel doesn’t quite stack up to the utter command that Mercedes has over Formula 1.

    Lewis Hamilton’s latest win in France takes Mercedes’ tally to ten consecutive race win if you include the last two races of 2018. Of the 107 races, so far, in the Hybrid era Mercedes have won a staggering 80 of which 50 have been one-two victories. It is difficult to imagine that this number wont increase to 81 victories at this weekend’s Austrian Gp.

  • 2019 French Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    2019 French Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    PART ONE: DRIVERS – Nico HULKENBERG (Renault), Carlos SAINZ (McLaren), Romain GROSJEAN (Haas), Pierre GASLY (Red Bull Racing), Antonio GIOVINAZZI (Alfa Romeo)

    Pierre and Romain, it is your home grand prix. Just describe your emotions coming into this weekend and how busy the build-up has been. Pierre, perhaps we can start with you?

    Pierre GASLY: Yeah, I think we are pretty lucky because we didn’t have the French Grand Prix for many years; it just came back on the calendar last year, as I started my first full season in F1. I feel pretty lucky to have this chance to have a home race, with the crowd. I think France has always been part of the sport and it’s great to have it back and yeah, I’m just really excited for the weekend.

     

    Q: How has the build-up been for you? I think you were playing football last night weren’t you?

    PG: Yeah, we played for Jules [Bianchi]. We played this soccer game for Jules’ association, with all the family, so it was just nice to get all together on the pitch and just to remember him. Then we had another activity with Sébastien Ogier, as a co-pilot, which was pretty intense. Not being at the wheel but like really impressive, so really enjoyable so far.

     

    Q: And Romain how has the build-up been for you?

    Romain GROSJEAN: So far it has been quiet and good. Media duty today is a bit more than normal. But nothing too crazy, son happy to be here enjoying the time, and the south of France weather, which has been good, so hopefully we can have a nice event this weekend.

     

    Q: Thank you. Pierre, if we can come back to you. Tell us about car performance, where Red Bull is at? I think you have a new power unit this weekend. What are your expectations coming into this French Grand Prix?

    PG: Yeah, we have a new spec, a third-spec Honda. The last we introduced was more on the reliability side, this one will be focused more on the performance, but we don’t expect a massive gain from it. I think the overall performance will be slightly increased, but it’s not like it’s going to change massively, or we’re going to catch the teams ahead of us massively. Let’s see what we can do during the weekend. It will give us a bit more in the race. It’s not going to be a massive difference in qualifying, but a bit more in the race.

     

    Q: And are you hopeful of being more competitive this weekend than you were two weeks ago in Canada?

    PG: Yeah, I think it’s a track that probably suits our package a bit more than Canada. You still have many long straights, which for sure are still a bit tricky for us, even though we are making progress. But I think we have new, little bits on the car coming and I think we should be more competitive than we were in Canada.

     

    Q: Thank you. Romain, coming back to you: we’re talking car performance, what can we expect for you and Haas this weekend?

    RG: We’ll see. It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster. Generally, I think there’s been really good performance but other place we’ve been struggling a little bit more. So I’m hoping that here we get a good package that’s works well, that we get the tyres to work correctly and if that’s the case it should be a track that works quite nicely for us, so I’m hoping we’re going to give the midfield a hard time and why not even Red Bull and see where we can end up on the weekend.

     

    Q: And do you expect the new asphalt here at Paul Ricard to help tyre performance on your car?

    RG: I do not know. I guess we’ll find out.

     

    Q: And Romain, a quick word about the track layout. Having been here now last year, how much better prepared do you feel coming into this weekend?

    RG: Another one I don’t know! I think last year we did some simulator work before coming here and it felt like the starting set-up we had on the car was a good package, so that’s good. Obviously we’ve got the data from last year, which always helps and we’re going to focus on fine-tuning and making sure we understand everything. I think the conditions this weekend are going to be quite hot, so we need to make sure that we get the best of everything in those conditions – tyres and cooling and all of that on the car – to not have a bad surprise on Sunday. So the baseline set-up I think is already pretty good and it’s now just fine-tuning all the bits and pieces on the car to get the best race performance.

     

    Q: Good luck this weekend. Antonio, we spoke to the other two about their preparations this weekend. I know you had an amazing weekend with the Trofeo Bandini in Brisighella last weekend. Perhaps you could tell us about it and what happened?

    Antonio GIOVINAZZI: Yeah, it was really nice and I’m really proud to receive this important trophy. It was really a good Saturday, a good day, a lot of Italian fans there. So just really proud and also the list of the drivers that won the trophy before is unbelievable, so I’m just really proud, but of course now I have a quite a lot of responsibility to be there. But in the end I think it was really nice to drive on the normal roads – I did 13km. So it was really nice and it was a really good day.

     

    Q: It’s your first time here in a Formula 1 car. What are you expecting from the track?

    AG: Yeah, I don’t have many miles here. I just did two days back in 2017 with an F2 car, so it’s quite new for me the track. It’s a little bit confusing to be honest, it is difficult. I did some work on the simulator and we’ll see tomorrow. The midfield will again be really tight, like every race, but we have a good package and we can be fast enough.

     

    Q: You say you have a good package but it was a difficult weekend for the team in Canada. How confident are you of making a step forward here?

    AG: Yeah, the last three races I would say we have been struggling a little bit more compared to the first part of the season, especially compared to the first part of the season. As I say, the midfield is really tight, so small details can make a difference so we are trying to find those details and with a small few tenths you can jump quite a lot of cars. So we are working really hard with the team; I believe in my team, like I think the team is believing in me, and we just need to work hard and find the last details for a good result.

     

    Q: Carlos, coming onto you, I’d like to take you back to Canada as well. That immense stint – 67 laps on one set of tyres – just how hard was that race for you and what lessons have been learnt by you and McLaren?

    Carlos SAINZ: Yes, it was hard because it was unexpected and when you got through unexpected circumstances, you definitely have to improvise at bit. We didn’t want to pit in lap three but unfortunately one of these tear-offs got stuck in my brake duct, which meant I had to pit, remove it and try to finish in the points on a 67-lap stint. It nearly worked: we were five seconds away, of race time, from making it. I still think if we had done a perfect job, we could have still have finished in the points, so the whole weekend was a bit messy since Saturday and we missed out on a good points opportunity. I think we’ve learned from it. We know what we need to do better for France and… yeah, hopefully we can improve it.

     

    Q: It’s an increasingly tight midfield battle. McLaren are now only two points ahead of Renault. How confident are you of taking the fight to Renault this weekend?

    CS: I’m confident we can take the fight. It’s going to be difficult because I still think teams like Renault and Haas, in qualifying they have a bit more compared to us, so it means that we need to do a better job on Sundays – but it’s good fun because it’s quite an intense battle, it’s super-close, qualifying is incredibly tight and tense in Q2 and Q3. You see drivers always finding the last limit, making small mistakes – and that will give you the opportunity. I’m enjoying it a lot. I think it’s a great battle and I still think we need to do a better job on Sundays because Saturdays are a bit more difficult for us.

     

    Q: Nico, thank you for waiting. Your thoughts on this midfield battle.

    Nico HÜLKENBERG: Yeah, there is one, I guess! It’s usually pretty tight and yeah, small margins can make a big difference so it’s important to get it together, like always. Feel good and strong. Obviously this weekend is important and a big one for us but I think the approach is like every other race. You keep calm and do what you have to do, go through the ranks on Friday and Saturday – but of course we want to have another strong finish here and team result like in Canada.

     

    Q: How much progress has Renault made with its car in the last few weeks?

    NH: It seems maybe that way if you look at the results prior to Canada and then Canada. I think it was more that the car has been a victim of circumstances. I think the race pace has always been pretty good but for various reasons often we were compromised on the starting position, coming from behind. It’s very difficult to drive through the midfield in the race when there is DRS trains, when cars are difficult to race. So, honestly I feel the car has always been pretty competitive but we just had a lot of issues and also human errors that happened in the first five-six weekends of the year. And we paid that price. For me, Montreal was one of the first weekends where we just stayed clear, made no mistakes and did a solid job and straight away, we got a good reward for it.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

     

    Q: (Laurie Vermeersch – F1Only.fr) For Nico Hülkenberg. With the update of the car, and the fact that you had a good result in Canada, Do you think you would be able to offer your first podium for Renault here in France, and the first podium for you too?

    NH: I would love to  but I think that is still quite some distance away. It is true we have some updates here. But I’m sure other teams are bringing new things as well. I’m curious obviously about how it helps our car. Hopefully we can take a step towards the top three teams and eventually, at some point this year, make their lives harder. Firstly, the main target of the season it to really become clearly fourth team and this upgrade is just part of the journey, part of the process of that year. But, of course, it’s an exciting weekend for us and we want to do France proud.

     

    Q: (Luke Smith – Crash.net) There’s been a lot of debate about the penalty given to Sebastian Vettel following his fight with Lewis Hamilton in Canada. I just wondered what your thoughts were on it and whether you feel there needs perhaps to be a revision of the rules at all? And does it stifle you from having more hard racing?

    NH: There was a penalty? I did not notice that in the press! Hmm. I think my opinion and view of that is just that it’s racing, it is tough to control a car on the grass and how you then make the entry to the race track because we are simply not in full control and we don’t have normal grip. So for me, yeah, it seemed like a racing incident. In terms of rules, I think there are different judgements every weekend, different stewards so I don’t necessarily fear a reason why we need to tweak the rules there now.

    RG: So the second part of the question… I think everything that we do on track has a line and a rule and then it’s very hard to deviate from those. I believe there are too many guidelines with penalties that are applied to that guideline and sometimes two penalties that can be very different… ah two incidents that can be very different but with the same penalty. I take an example like I crossed the pit exit line in Monaco with part of my wheel, got a five second penalty and one point on my licence and Verstappen got an unsafe release in the pit lane and had a touch with Bottas and it was a five second and one point penalty because that’s what is written. So I think sometimes it’s hard for the stewards just to decide where they want to go, because everything is written but you never know if you’re in that case or that case. Talking of Seb, I think he’s the only one to know if he could have controlled the car better and left more room on the right hand side. We do not know, we do not have access to his telemetry and I think only Seb knows if he actually saw Lewis, went on the throttle on the grass and made his way fully to drive out. I won’t discuss the penalty or not, I think it’s not my job but I can only say that Seb knows if he could have left more room or not.

    PG: I’m going to agree with what has been said but I think it’s really tough when you cross the line first on track and then after we tell you you’re second. I think it depends which perspective you look at it. I think if you look at Seb’s side for sure it’s really tough and really harsh penalty. If you look at Lewis, you say that maybe I could have won the race without this incident, but I think at the end of the day, when you race Formula One cars at that speed, pushing to the limit these things happen and it’s part of racing so it’s difficult to draw a line but I think for me it was quite harsh to lose a victory that way.

    CS: Yeah, I think like any other Formula One fan I was disappointed when I saw a penalty, first of all because as a driver I think I would have done exactly the same as Seb. I would just rejoin the track and try and keep first position independently of where the car is. Was it dangerous? Potentially, but what’s not dangerous in Formula One? There’s always a bit of danger, you’re always close to the walls and I think that at any point Lewis was on the real threat of having a huge accident so there was not… I think there was no reason to give a penalty but the rule is written and the stewards applied the rule. So I also don’t understand all this criticism that the stewards have received over the last few weeks because they are just trying to do their job and they have a rule, which they need to interpret and they need to apply and that’s what they did. So it’s not the fault of the stewards, it’s not the fault of Seb, I think, it’s not the fault of Lewis either, it’s just that there is a rule that I don’t think should be there, which is a bit too drastic and a bit too black and white and doesn’t interpret well the rules of racing, that is race hard and enjoy.

    AG: Yeah, I think in the end it’s not nice to lose a race like that but I think it’s the rules, like they say and in the end the important thing is the rules are consistent at every race and to every driver, so I think this is the main thing.

     

    Q: (Mickael Guilmeau – Franceracing.fr) For Nico and Carlos, are you worried that you’re probably losing the German and Spanish GPs respectively?

    NH: Carlos, can you start?

    CS: Yeah. Am I worried? The question is if I’m worried? Yes, I’m worried because I don’t like losing my home Grand Prix and I think it’s a big loss, not only for Spanish people but for Formula One. I think Barcelona has been part of the calendar for many years, it’s a great track, great venue and everyone enjoys being there. I consider now that it’s one of the classical tracks, like I consider Silverstone or Spa, so losing Barcelona is a big loss for Formula One, I think, and myself. Does it depend on me? Not really or not a lot, it’s a matter of politics and money which I’m not involved in, so we will see what happens.

    NH: Yeah, I like going to Hockenheim. I’ve raced cars many, many times there since I’m in a single seater so that goes back to 2004/5. It’s a cool place. I think last year was a huge success, I’ve never seen Hockenheim that busy and so vibrant. So it would be sad to see it go and lose that home Grand Prix but like Carlos said, at the end of the day it’s not down to us, it’s commercial aspects but of course I would prefer to keep it on the calendar.

     

    Q: (Laurie Vermeersch – F1Only.fr) Romain, could you please tell us a few words about your special edition (helmet) design for this Grand Prix de France?

    RG: Last year, obviously, I did blue, white, red which is a very nice one, but this year I wanted to do something a bit different so I contacted Richard Orlinski because I’m a big fan of his artwork and I met him here last year and I sent him a white piece of paper and I said can you produce a helmet(design) for me for the French Grand Prix? And he answered yes, I would love to and I was super excited about it and then I received the artwork and I think it does represent Richard very well in the way that the design is done. It’s very very different to anything I’ve been wearing up to date so I like it even more and I think it’s just great that it’s part of the whole show. Richard is doing the trophy for the podium, we can see the ‘Kong’ everywhere around the racetrack and I know there will be my helmet racing on track so it’s pretty cool.

  • F1 2019: Race Preview – The French Connection

    F1 2019: Race Preview – The French Connection

    With the Canadian grand prix and all its accouterments consigned the history books Formula 1 turns the page to the eighth round of the season and France’s Paul Ricard circuit.

     Renault progress

    The season so far for the French works team has been well below par. Team principal Cyril Abiteboul and others in charge of the F1 project are likely to admit that the team has not achieved its projections, so far, in 2019.

    The big money signing of Daniel Ricciardo from Red Bull would have been a morale boosting shot in the arm for most at Renault. The highly rated Australian has won several grand prix and is expected to excel no matter the car he drives. But there have, expectedly, been some teething issues in joining a completely new environment. So much so that apart from a standout Canadian grand prix weekend Ricciardo has been somewhat anonymous in 2019.

    Nevertheless, Renault and Abiteboul appear to be committed to Formula 1 and making their way back to the front of the sport. A repeat performance of sixth and seventh this weekend for Renault would go down well on home soil.

     gaslyPierre Gasly

    As Ricciardo’s replacement at Red Bull Pierre Gasly hasn’t had any easy time of it. The Frenchman has struggled to find his feet at the team and has been emphatically out-performed by teammate Max Verstappen. Yes, Verstappen, with his heaps of talent, isn’t your average teammate but Gasly is in a top-flight team where he is expected to turn in performances befitting the equipment at his disposal.

    There is every chance that Gasly could come good in the Red Bull but for his sake it has to be sooner rather than later. Rumours linking Reanult’s Nico Hulkenberg to the Red Bull seat are already making the rounds and given Gasly’s run of results this season it isn’t unfathomable to imagine Hulkenberg in the Red Bull cockpit.

     Romain Grosjean

    Although he was born in Switzerland Romain Grosjean is very much a Frenchman and will be keen to do well in his home race. It hasn’t been an easy season for Grosjean as Haas F1 has struggled to unearth their tyre issues on race day. So far, Grosjean has contributed only two points to the team’s tally of sixteen points in 2019.

    grosjeanOnce a teammate to Fernando Alonso at Renault Grosjean’s career has been somewhat of an anomaly. As a bonafide winner in the GP2 series he came into F1 with a good reputation. His speed though never materialized. His second go at F1 at Lotus alongside Kimi Raikkonen finally began to reveal his talents. A slew of podium finishes in 2013 upped his stock in F1 but it was followed by a miserable two years in which Lotus produced an equally miserable car. Still, he secured a hard-earned podium at Spa in 2015 but his career was blotted by several outrageous first-lap crashes.

    His move to Haas F1 came on the eve of Renault’s announcement that they would return to F1. Nevertheless, he seemed to slot into the newly formed American team with ease. But despite again slowing flashes of real talent and speed he simply hasn’t been consistent enough to catch the eye of any of the top teams. At the age of 33 Grosjean could be one of the unfilled talents in F1.

     Paul Ricard

    The Paul Ricard circuit’s 15-turn layout comprises a variance of corners that dictates a compromise on set-up. The first sector of the lap consists of lower speed corners where traction and good braking performance is most rewarded. Quicker corners characterize the middle sector of the circuit while the medium-downforce track also features three long straights that demand a lot from the power units.

    The higher speed sections of the track will mean that lateral grip is increased and therefore the tyres are put under more stress. It might place enough strain and wear on the tyres to open up some intriguing strategies for Sunday’s race.