F1 Madness

Tag: nico rosberg

  • Vettel slams “bullshit” updated radio ban rules as a joke

    Vettel slams “bullshit” updated radio ban rules as a joke

    Sebastian Vettel has slammed Formula One’s updated radio restrictions as “complete bullshit” after the FIA tightened the radio rules ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

    According F1’s sporting regulations, drivers must drive their car “alone and unaided”. The rule however has been put under the microscope following the British Grand Prix where Nico Rosberg was demoted from 2nd to 3rd place following a breach of the regulations. The Mercedes pitwall had informed Rosberg on how to fix a faulty gearbox towards the end of the race, which ensured that the German avoided having to retire his car from the race.

    Teams must now call a driver in to the pits if he suffers a similar issue. Teams will be allowed to advise drivers while they are driving through the pit lane, effectively resulting in a drive-through penalty.

    Vettel told the media that the new rules are, “Complete bullshit. I think all the radio issues we had, I think it’s a joke. I looked at the race after and I found as a spectator it was quite entertaining to hear a driver a little bit panicking on the radio and the team panicking at the same time.

    “I think it puts the element of human being in our sport that arguably is very complicated and technical, so I think that’s the wrong way. There’s a lot of boring stuff on the radio that got banned, I don’t see the point, I think if you want to change it you should change the cars. I have no problem, let’s go back to V12s, manual gearbox, two buttons, one for pit speed limiter and one for radio just to confirm when we are coming in and other than that, not much electronics to look after, which there’s no point then to memorise a lot of things.”

    Vettel also insists that F1 drivers should not be punished for how technical other people have made their cars, highlighting how much steering wheels have changed since the 90s.

    “I think all of the buttons that we have on the steering wheel today are there for a reason. It’s not like ‘ah yeah, we can build buttons, let’s put them on the steering wheel’, so I think if you just look at a 1995 steering wheel for example, or speak to a lot of experts that are still around in the paddock, what they raced with, it was a simpler just because the cars technology was a lot simpler. It’s not our mistake, as in the drivers, that the cars are so complicated these days that they need a manual this big and a steering wheel full of buttons to operate it. I think we’re going a little bit in the wrong way so that’s why I think it’s bad and we should just go back to being able to say what we want.”

     

  • F1 2016: Hungarian Gp Preview – Three-Way Battle Around The Ring

    F1 2016: Hungarian Gp Preview – Three-Way Battle Around The Ring

    When the FIA announced a 21-race calendar for the 2016 it’s likely that few really took notice of what this actually meant. As the paddock heads to the Hungaroring in Budapest, Hungary for the 11th round it will, astonishingly, only reach the halfway mark of the season on lap 35 of the race.

    The 70 laps of the Hungaroring are akin to a street circuit thanks to its tight and twisting layout. The second sector especially highlights the flowing nature of the circuit, as it comprises eight medium to high speed flowing turns that demand absolute precision.

    The price for its kart-like layout and lack of straits is that overtaking opportunities are not obvious or abundant. The most predictable overtaking opportunity is an out-braking maneuver into turn one.

    The top two teams in the championship are split on tyre strategy. Pirelli is bringing the white-walled medium, yellow-walled soft, and red-walled supersoft tyre compounds to the race. Ferrari has loaded up on nine sets of supersoft tyres each for Raikkonen and Vettel while Mercedes have opted for eight sets of the softest tyre for Rosberg and Hamilton. The Hungaroring is a circuit that is notoriously low on grip for which the supersoft tyre is ideal.

    Daniel Ricciardo_Monaco 2016The Red Bull team are primed for a good weekend in Hungary. The improved Renault power unit is not quite to the standard of Mercedes and Ferrari but it’s not far off. But they do excel in the aerodynamic department and with a better power unit than ever bolted to the back of the Red Bull and the tight and twisting nature of the Hungaroring Christian Horner and his team can be more than bullish about their chances, pun intended.

    The inter-team rivalry between Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen will be especially interesting to note this weekend. In their six races, so far, as teammates Verstappen has scored 77 points to Ricciardo’s 64 points. But the Hungarian grand prix will be a big test for the Verstappen vs. Ricciardo battle.

    Ricciardo has an affinity for the tight and twisty circuits as he has proved on several occasions including earlier this year in Monaco. The Aussie knows his way around the Hungaroring too as it was here, in 2014, that he pulled off several magnificent overtaking moves to win a memorable race. This will be a good indicator of how Verstappen is progressing. “I have to up my game compared to where I was before in Toro Rosso because he [Ricciardo] is very quick,” said Verstappen.

    Ferrari-SF15-T-Jerez-01It should be a better weekend for Ferrari too. As it stands Kimi Raikkonen currently sits third in the championship with 106 points while teammate Sebastian Vettel is fifth on 98 points. However, the team experienced their worst race weekend, in terms of performance, at Silverstone. But Raikkonen believes that the team’s struggles in Britain were a once off. The biggest issue, which plagued Ferrari at the last race weekend, was the cooler weather. It’s a well-documented fact that both drivers struggle to get the front tyres to the correct operating temperature in cool condition. This shouldn’t be an issue this weekend as the Hungarian grand prix weekend in hot summer conditions.

    But while Red Bull and Ferrari are likely to be in better shape for Hungary the ever-dominant Mercedes will still be lurking. The qualifying pace advantage will be a big asset around a circuit where overtaking is difficult. Nevertheless, while the two Silver Arrows are in prime form they should, and likely will, face stiff competition for the top step of the podium in Hungary.

  • WATCH: Nico Rosberg Previews the Hungaroring

    WATCH: Nico Rosberg Previews the Hungaroring

    MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team driver Nico Rosberg, together with Chief Race Engineer Andrew Shovlin, discuss the challenges of the Budapest Grand Prix. Rosberg comments: “Thinking of the immense heat, I`m aware that this is the sort of race I`ve been doing all my training for.”

  • F1 2016: British Gp Review – Hamilton Scores 4th Home Win

    F1 2016: British Gp Review – Hamilton Scores 4th Home Win

    The notoriously unpredictable British weather was surprisingly docile right up until ten minutes before the race start.

    As the rain came down on the Silverstone circuit race director Charlie Whiting declared that it would start behind the safety car. Although safety is of paramount importance the safety-car start deprived everyone of the battle, into turn one, between the front-row starting Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

    The safety-car pulled into the pitlane after five laps most of the field switched to intermediate tyres while Hamilton continued to build a gap to second-placed Rosberg. Hamilton, Rosberg and the two Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo had not swopped their wet tyres for intermediates. They would have been at a disadvantage to those behind was it not for Pascal Wehrlein aquaplaned his Manor into the gravel trap and out of the race on lap seven and brought out the virtual safety-car.

    As the race settled after the first round of stops Hamilton comfortably led the way from his teammate. On occasion Rosberg threatened to close the gap to Hamilton but never follow through. He also had to deal with a spirited Max Verstappen snapping at his heels. After a few laps of hounding Rosberg’s gearbox the 18 year-old pulled off a stunningly brave move around the outside of Chapel to take second place. The season still has some way to go but this overtaking move will take some beating.

    GP GRAN BRETAGNA F1/2016As the circuit continued to dry the next round of stops saw everyone switch to dry medium compound tyres. Behind Hamilton, Rosberg, and Verstappen Daniel Ricciardo was running a very distant fourth with Sergio Perez and Kimi Raikkonen even further behind. Despite no rain falling the circuit was slow to dry and several drivers including race leader Hamilton had several off track moments.

    Though it would take some time Rosberg eventually found a way by Verstappen. He closed the gap to Hamilton from eight to six seconds but never truly looked likely to threaten the lead of the race.

    Hamilton masterful in wet condition just as in 2008, which to date it arguably his best grand prix win. While Ricciardo drove an uninspiring race to fourth Ferrari’s newly re-signed Kimi Raikkonen was able to close down a substantial gap to Perez for fifth. Perez finished sixth ahead of Force India teammate Nico Hulkenberg in seventh and Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz in eighth. Sebastian Vettel completed a miserable day for Ferrari in ninth. The German driver started the race in eleventh after suffering yet another five-place gearbox penalty. Though there was nothing deliberate about it he was slapped with a 5-second penalty for forcing Felipe Massa off the tack. The penalty didn’t affect his final position in the race. The second Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat scored the final point in tenth.

    GP GRAN BRETAGNA F1/2016Controversy enveloped the Mercedes team as Rosberg ran into gearbox problems late in the race. The pitwall gave instruction on which setting to change and coached Rosberg to shift through seventh gear. By telling the driver to shift through the gear the team breached the driver communication rule, which prohibits the team from giving instructions to fix a performance issue. Nearly four hours after the race the stewards imposed a ten-second penalty on Rosberg, which dropped him to third in the race classification. Mercedes has stated their intent to appeal the decision.

    A new precedent was set as it’s the first instance where a penalty had to be imposed for the breach of driver communication rules. However, a ten-second penalty isn’t much of a deterrent if the alternative is retirement.

    Nico Rosberg started the season with four consecutive wins but has only claimed victory in one of the last six races. Add to this that a fourth win on home soil has put Hamilton only one point adrift of the championship lead and it appears as if the Brit is gaining an ominous momentum.

    (All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport)

  • 2016 Formula 1 British Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

    2016 Formula 1 British Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
    2 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)
    3 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)

     

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by Mark Webber)

    Lewis, please…
    Lewis HAMILTON: How are you going? How you guys doing? You good? I don’t know if you guys can be as happy as me. I’m really happy. I’m so grateful. Thank you so much for all coming out today. We’ve got the best fans here. Thank you so much.

    Your 47th career victory, now equaling Nigel Mansell here too with four wins at Silverstone, three on the bounce. How did you make it looks so easy? Tricky start, very, very wet, lot of aquaplaning and then some tricky decisions to make on the tyres, so run the fans through how the race was for you today?
    LH: Well, firstly I’m glad that the good English weather came out. We went out and did the formation lap and it was dry and then all of a sudden it rained and it was so tricky in those conditions. It was drying pretty quickly but obviously when we started the race I was the first to really have to attack it. So trying not to make any mistakes was difficult for all of us. But that’s what I love about this race, because it’s never just plain, smooth sailing. There are always these things that just happen through the race that make it spectacular, that’s why the British Grand Prix is the best grand prix we have. Plus, look at these guys, you don’t see this anywhere around the world. And you don’t hear a lot of booing, which means we’ve got good British spirit here.

    That’s right, yeah. We’ve got 100,000 people here, so I’m just going to jump across to Nico. Nico, today… c’mon guys, he fought valiantly, he did what he could. I think tricky race at the start there. How did you feel? A bit like Monaco, you didn’t seem to be quite in the groove there when it was tricky at the start and then obviously the race slipped away. A small error with Max, getting the move done there, and then the gearbox as well, so run us through that.
    Nico ROSBERG: Yeah, so it was a bit of a trick start of course. Max got me and then it was an exciting race against him. I managed to get him around the outside, which I was so happy about. And then, yeah, just congrats to Lewis, he did a great job this weekend and I just couldn’t reach him, no way. So that’s it, second place, which I have to live with today.

    Great job Nico. Let’s go across to this young guy, who is making… yes, that’s right, Nico, well done, mate, sensational. That’s what motorsport is all about. Hey [Max], you just passed your dad, you’ve got three podiums. Have you ever experienced anything like this before and what was the race like for you – incredible drive?
    Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, it was amazing. First of all, just look at the fans; they are great. From there on, the race was very exciting, very tricky at the beginning, I managed to get past Nico and even at the end of the stint I was catching up to Lewis. I think I stopped one lap too late, but from there on I just did my own race. Unfortunately Nico got past but then we still had great [ace, I could still see the top two. In the end I just have to thank Red Bull for giving me such a great car, I think they deserve a lot of credit here.

    Absolutely; phenomenal drive. Enjoy the champagne here; you’re just legal that you can have a drink. Lewis, four points off this fellow here, mate. You’ve both been having some phenomenal runs in terms of performance but a bit of reliability creeping in. Nico had some issues today, which definitely didn’t cost him a race win, but both of you have had some ups and downs with reliability. You’ve still got a long way to go with engines, but four points, closing the gap and Budapest is a track which I’ve seen you fly around that joint mate, so looking forward to that?
    LH: I love it there. I’m working hard. I did everything I could in that race to try and save this engine, as obviously I’m on my last one. So I made it go as long as possible and I saved it for quite a long period of time. I just want to say a big thank you to everyone here. I hope that you continue to keep your fingers crossed. I’m catching him, so let’s keep going.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Nico, obviously you had an issue with your gearbox at one point. There was a radio message from the team instructing you how to fix it. We understand that’s with the stewards now. Can you tell us your side of the story and how confident are you that what you were told was within the rules?
    NR: It was a very critical problem. I was stuck in seventh gear and I was about to stop on track, so they told me “change default” and try and fix it.

    And you are confident it’s within the rules?
    NR: Yes.

    Lewis Hamilton, our British Grand Prix winner, for the fourth time in your career. Here you are again, soaking it all in, the adulation of the crowds – crowdsurfing even, a great moment there. How much did they lift you today and also was there just that one moment, when you went off at Abbey? You weren’t the only one to do that, but that was the only moment when you had your heart in your mouth or was it generally quite a tricky afternoon?
    LH: That was definitely the only moment. It was quite a big moment. But ever since 2007 I’ve felt this incredible energy from these fans here, the best fans in the world, without a doubt, and the best crowd we have anywhere. I really feel like I’ve grown with them over the years and obviously, naturally, when you have success that speeds up the bond, that connection you have, but, yeah, they really do make a huge difference. Every time… when it was wet, every time I made it through certain corners I could see in the corner of my eye the fans right there with me. And obviously the last few laps I could see them, every time, every year, and every time I came through Brooklands, Turn 7, I can see them up shouting and that just spurred me on all the way. So a huge thank you to them. I’m very honoured and it’s a very humbling experience to be here in this sport, particularly in a time of difficulty in the world, and to see so much love out there. I think when you see… there are people out there from all walks, from all different places, poor, wealthy, going through difficult times, and on this day we come together and I think that’s as beautiful thing and I hope people see this on TV and I hope they tell their friends and they feel that to.

    Q: Nico, let’s drill down a little bit into the battle with Max. The two battles with Max: the one at the beginning of the race and the one at the end of the race.  He got you early on, you got him back later on. Tell us about those from your point of view.
    NR: Yeah, it was a cool fight. On the Inters not so much of a fight, it was done pretty quickly and then on dry, yeah it was great. You’re playing around with your ERS deployment, I’m trying to get him to empty his battery so that then I can have a good shot – but then when his was empty mine was empty too. So that didn’t work! At times I was doubting, ‘am I going to make this happen or not?’ And then it worked out really well though in the end. He did a good job, defending and everything. It was cool.

    And from your point of view Max, you said here yesterday, 24 hours ago, you’d be happy if you could be sitting here today in the same position – but you came pretty close to sitting one place further up – and who knows after the stewards have finished today you may be sitting one place further up. Tell us about the pass first of all into Becketts.
    MV: I think in general, first of all, on the Intermediates we had good pace but in the beginning I was struggling to have visibility because of the spray, especially in the first sector. I couldn’t really keep up because I couldn’t see where I was going! But once that cleared a bit I could push. I got past Nico around the outside, car had a lot of grip so you can make that move and from there on the pace was good. You don’t want to switch too early on a slick tyres so, yeah, that I had one guy in front of me, got blue flags but I could clearly see slick tyre was faster now. I pitted, maybe one lap too late but you just take it a bit safe and from there on the pace was pretty good. Lewis was not pulling away too much and from there on, yeah, Nico was pushing hard, giving me a hard time and we had some good fights into Stowe. At one point we were struggling a bit of course on the straights but he pulled off a great move around the outside and from there on I was just doing my own race. I had no pressure from behind, it was a very big gap. Soon I heard Nico had a problem. I tried to get past and tried to close the gap but once you get in the dirty air it’s difficult to get even closer on this track. I think in general we can be happy. We finished only eight seconds behind or something. I think in general the car was working really well the whole weekend so I have to say thank you to the team for giving me such a great car the whole weekend.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Mike Doodson – Auto Action) Congratulations Lewis, whoever knew Silverstone had a mosh-pit? We knew how fond you are of the perpetual trophy and you threw it around up there as if you already owned it permanently. Is there room in your place back at Monaco for a full-size replica?
    LH: Well I was taking care up there – I wouldn’t want to drop that thing! I don’t even know if I have a replica, I can’t remember, if I’m honest. My Dad has all my trophies so I don’t have a lot of space – but there’s definitely space for at least that one at home as it is such a special trophy. I’m so proud to… I remember the first time that I got to stand up there with it in 2008 and the feeling today is just as great, if not actually greater – because I’m able to appreciate it more I guess, with age and the hard work that goes on around. I guess more understanding of the world in a way. Yeah. It’s my gold trophy, my gold medal. Very, very proud.

    Q: Lennart Wermke –  Bild) Question for all three of you: was it really necessary to start the race behind the safety car? What do you think?
    NR: Yes. For sure. Because there was some big, big rivers in places, so it’s important to let us have a look at least where they are before getting going.

    Max?
    MV: yes, I think so. Especially on the main straight there was quite a lot of water but maybe it was a bit too long. I was ready to race after maybe two laps.

    Lewis, we had a radio message from you saying you thought it was ready to go. You called to Charlie to release the cars
    LH: I personally start we could have started on the grid – but for sure there were patches  all over the place  and it would have been tricky – but that’s what motor racing’s about. But then we did stay for sure out far too long. It was pretty much intermediates by the time we let us go. It was pretty much intermediates by the time they let us go, so… but it would have been fun. It was easily just as wet, if not… there was more water on the track when we started in 2008 when we started from the grid, that’s why I say that.

    Q: (Sean McGreevy – CSMA) I asked you this question on Thursday – but now you’ve actually won. So you’re the most successful British F1 driver at Silverstone with four wins, the first to win three consecutive F1 GPs at Silverstone. You’re tearing up the record books today – so how do you feel about making more F1 history?
    LH: I think I’m just going to have to sit on it and try to let it sink in because it’s just so strange. It’s very, very surreal to think that I’m here and I just saw Nigel in the corridor there and he said “welcome to the club”. It’s just crazy to think that I’m up there with them. I know whilst I’m here – and I’ve been here for a while – I should just be used it or it shouldn’t be so surreal – but it just is. I think it’s because it’s that special and I’m incredibly proud. It’s crazy to think that, if I was to stop tomorrow, that will remain for some time. I will still be able to come back in many, many years, way beyond my driving experience and come and experience this great crowd and always be accepted. It’s an amazing feeling.

    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Three very quick questions if I may: nearly out-braked the Safety Car into Copse I think, if you could talk about that; secondly, sector one didn’t appear to be your strongest sector when you were in a defence mode – if that’s that right way of phrasing it, I don’t know if you were just cruising at that point but then you had that big moment on Lap 27, perhaps we could hear about that… and finally Massa holding you up.
    LH: I’m not going to remember all three. The Safety Car, I’d glazed my rear brakes and they were really low on temperature so I was trying to pick them up. The Safety Car’s so slow, you can’t imagine. I’m sure he’s going as fast as possible but our car is so fast that… and you can’t see really that well even behind the Safety Car. There’s a lot of spray but yeah, I braked and the thing wasn’t stopping. So I nearly hit the Safety Car. It’s a first. Fortunately I didn’t. And then after that, in the first sector, I was never in defence mode. At the beginning just taking it easy. I had quite an over-steering car so just took it easy through the first part, and the second, I knew I was quicker in the second and third sector so I utilised the time there. And then I had that over-steer moment and after that I continued to take my time. If there was any point I needed to pick up the pace, there was plenty of pace in that first sector for me to have picked up. With Massa, he just came out on new tyres. We were obviously doing a long stretch on tyres. However I’m pacing at the same pace as him and within a second or two. It’s like these two racing each other: whoever’s being was in dirty air, and he wasn’t particularly racing anyone in front of him but I think he got a lot of blue flags and after God-knows how many blue flags he decided to pull aside. If you notice, after that my pace picked up almost a second. So, it’s crazy how big a difference it does make.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Almost every driver went off at turn one. What was the particular problem there because obviously you made it on some laps and some not? Was there a patch of water, did you change the line on that lap when it happened?
    MV: Yeah, I had a few moments. No, it’s very difficult because I think when everybody touched the water sometimes the spray goes to the left so you just approach it exactly the same way but suddenly you pick up a little bit of water on the tyre and you just slide off. I think Lewis went off and I went off on the same lap so I think because of the spray it comes onto the normal racing line and then you have a bit of a moment when you have to go off.
    NR: Early on in the race, because there were just rivers but afterwards on slicks it was difficult because there were still wet patches.

    Q: (Don Kennedy – Hawke’s Bay Today) Lewis, we heard about you setting new records in Formula One; I think we can probably now include the first F1 driver to go crowd-surfing. Was that planned and if not, what are you planning to do tonight to celebrate this fourth win?
    LH: That wasn’t planned, no. Every time we do a podium,  straight after the podium, apart from standing there holding the trophy up and the bottle, there’s no real way of connecting with people otherwise. Usually we just come back and here and it’s the same old same old so I was going to give them a hard time and I put the trophy down and I ran down and I could see the crowd there and I just wanted to connect with them in some way and then as I got there I was like, I wanted to go over the top. I was hoping that I would crowd-surf further in and then I would have to say ‘take me back’ but I got right to the edge and I stayed there for like a second and then they pushed me back on. But very very cool to see the support here, as I said, it is just phenomenal. And then the heavens opened at the beginning and then the sun came through and it turned out to be the most beautiful day. In terms of tonight, I think we’ve got a team family… I think the team have got the family event this evening so I get to see the team’s families and then tonight there will be a nice dinner in London and then a little bit of party.

    Q: (Tomas Slafer – Car and Driver, Spain) Nico and Lewis, well you’ve won your home Grand Prix for the last three seasons; Nico you’ve won the last German Grand Prix, so Nico, do you feel pressure to win in Germany again this season, and Lewis, if you win in Germany, will that mean something more than a big victory for you, for the championship?
    NR: Pressure? No, I don’t feel pressure. It would be great, it would be good fun and that’s the target for sure but let’s see how it goes. It’s going to be a good battle against Lewis and whoever else. Maybe the Red Bull or Ferraris. Let’s see.
    LH: When was the last one (German Grand Prix)? Was it 2014? I remember that one. I think I had brake failure or something and it meant I had to start last. But the pace has always been good there so I’m absolutely going there hoping to redeem that kind of result that we had last time. Again, that is a great place for the German fans, they are fantastic. They actually have more than one amazing circuit in Germany but this is one with great history and it’s a great place for Mercedes Benz so I hope we can really shine the silver star there.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Nico, many times this year mainly you make the life of Lewis very hard but this weekend, particularly, is maybe the one where you’ve spent most of the time following far from him. My curiosity is after Max overtook you, you did the fastest lap of the race at that stage. Can you explain this contradiction please?
    NR: No, no contradiction just Lewis was quicker in qualifying and then in the race I was feeling really good once I got onto the slicks, as you saw. Pace was great, I was just a bit too far away once I got off the intermediates. That’s it.

    Q: (Frank Woestenburg – De Telegraaf) Max, like many you were sliding around at Abbey, especially. Can you tell me how much you enjoyed racing under those circumstances and do you think the FIA is sometimes too conservative at keeping the safety car out too long?
    MV: Well, first of all, I think from the FIA side I think they want to have a safe race and OK, maybe it was a bit too long but everything went well, so I don’t really have much more to add about that. And in general, I have always enjoyed tricky conditions, especially in the rain. We have a lot of rain in Holland as well so in go-karting, yes, you had a lot of time to practise that. If you have a great car you can make the difference and I think we definitely did today, I was definitely enjoying myself and even when we went onto the slick tyres I definitely had some fun. The pace was good and it was of course very tricky in turn one as you could see but that’s all part of it and at the end, great fun.

    Q: (Daan Coronel De Geus – AD Sportwereld) Max, another podium finish, you’ve been adamant about this year being a learning one since you switched  to Red Bull. How normal are these results beginning to feel to if they are beginning to feel normal?
    MV: Well, I haven’t really thought about that. I just try to do the best I can every race and now it’s again on the podium so two races in a row and I think that’s very good and if only we can keep going like this and we can close the gap to Mercedes. I think that’s our main target and first of all we still have to overtake Ferrari as well in the Constructors’ championship. I think those are our first targets, to overtake them and then close the gap.

    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Lewis you’ve spoken very descriptively about your emotions in the closing laps but can you just describe what it was like on the last lap, just hoping the car was going to make the finish, nothing was going to go wrong and then the sudden switch in taking the chequered flag and what that feeling of elation was like in a millisecond?
    LH: Honestly, I approached the race with an incredibly positive attitude and approach so I didn’t at any point think I hope the car doesn’t fail on me. I was only feeling positive energy rather than letting any negative energy come in. Of course, those last three laps the car was feeling good, I had turned down my engine on the last ten laps or fifteen laps. Those last three laps, I knew I had a good buffer between me and the cars behind so I didn’t have to lean on my tyres, it became kind of really nicely flowing and trying not to take too much notice of the crowd and then get carried away with it. That’s generally the feeling but it wasn’t until I came into the last corner that I knew that I had it. I was like I’m going to roll across the line if anything happens now and again, I could see the crowd cheering from Stowe onwards, I could see them already beginning to stand up and cheer in the excitement and I felt exactly what they felt. And on that down lap, once you come across the line, it’s just the most amazing feeling, when you come across the line as the winner of the British Grand Prix. I’m sure it’s the same in Germany for Nico, for example. You just want to jump, go jumping but you’re obviously strapped into the beast still.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Nico, you spoke before about the battle with Max an there’s a lot about energy deployment. When you are behind, is it a slight advantage because you see the car in front when it’s de-rating, does it give you an idea of what state it’s in or what condition the other guy is?
    NR: No, it’s not easy to understand so no, that doesn’t help, it’s just a matter of keeping the pressure on and Max needs to use it up and hopefully he runs out before me. That’s it. But we ran out at the same time so that didn’t help.

  • Rosberg Handed 10-Second Penalty for Breaching Radio Regulations

    Rosberg Handed 10-Second Penalty for Breaching Radio Regulations

    Nico Rosberg was handed a 10-second time penalty after the British Grand Prix race for breaching radio regulations.

    At the end of the race Rosberg was classified at second with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in 3rd. This time penalty will drop Rosberg to 3rd and promotes Verstappen to 2nd.

    The penalty was a result of Rosberg’s race engineer giving him instructions on how to drive the car in the closing stages of the British Grand Prix. Rosberg had a problem with 7th gear and was told by Tony Ross his race engineer to “avoid 7th gear”. Rosberg asked:”What does that mean. Do I have shift through it?”

    “Affirm Nico, you need to shift through it,” came the reply from Ross.

    That bit of the radio transmission was under scrutiny by the stewards and was found to have breached Article 27.1 of the Sporting Regulations which states that “The driver must drive the car alone and unaided.

    “Having considered the matter extensively, the Stewards determined that the team gave some instructions to the driver that were specifically permitted under Technical Directive 014-16,” said a statement by the stewards.

    “However, the Stewards determined that the team then went further and gave instructions to the driver that were not permitted under the Technical Directive, and were in Breach of Art. 27.1 of the Sporting Regulations, that the driver must drive the car alone and unaided

    “10 Second Time Penalty imposed after the race in accordance with Article 38.3 (10 seconds added to elapsed race time)”

    The penalty not only drops Rosberg to 3rd in the race classification but it bring team-mate and title rival Lewis Hamilton to within 1 point in the drivers championship.

    Update: Mercedes have lodged an intention to appeal the stewards’ decision. Mercedes have 96 hours from lodging the intention to appeal to decide if they want to go ahead or not. Win or loose it will provide much more clarity on the regulation.

    Radio Transcript

    Rosberg: “Gearbox problem!”

    Tony Ross: “Driver default zero-one. Chassis default zero-one”

    Tony Ross: “Avoid 7th gear, Nico. Avoid 7th gear”

    Rosberg: “Well what does that mean? I mean I have to shift through it?”

    Tony Ross: “Affirm Nico. You need to shift through it. You need to shift through it“

  • F1 2016: Austria Gp Review – Hamilton, Lord Of The Ring

    F1 2016: Austria Gp Review – Hamilton, Lord Of The Ring

    Over the course of a grand prix weekend a driver normally runs close to two hundred laps. It’s uncanny then that everything can be made or undone by one lap.

    In Saturday qualifying, a wet and dry session, Lewis Hamilton steered his Mercedes to pole position in dominant fashion. While teammate Nico Rosberg qualified second on the road he moved down the grid due to a gearbox penalty. It promoted Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg to the second front-row starting position of his career. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, also hit with a gearbox penalty, fell down the starting grid, which promoted McLaren’s Jenson Button to third place.

    As Hamilton led cleanly from pole position it didn’t take too long for Hulkenberg and Button to fall by the wayside. Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen, now into second, kept Hamilton relatively honest with a gap of 3.5 to 4 seconds in the first stint. A recovering Sebastian Vettel was soon running third behind teammate Raikkonen.

    Ferrari’s advantage rested on the fact that, as Hamilton’s closest rival, Raikkonen started the race on the supersoft tyre, which, theoretically, should last longer than Hamilton’s ultrasoft tyres. However, for a reason unbeknownst to most Ferrari called Raikkonen in only one lap after Hamilton’s own visit to the pitlane. It dropped the Finn to sixth behind both Red Bull drivers. Ferrari’s strategists, not for the first time this season, had made the wrong call.

    GP AUSTRIA F1/2016As Hamilton and Raikkonen dived intot he pitlane it left Vettel in the lead of the race. However, as the German driver started lap 27 he suffered a violent delamination to the right-rear supersoft tyre. It speared the Ferrari into the pitwall and out of the race. Ferrari do not believe that they pushed the tyres beyond their limits and Vettel’s laptimes before the incident would suggest that the set of tyres were well within working range.

    After a short safety-car stint to clear up Vettel’s tyre debris Rosberg resumed the lead of the race on lap 32 with Hamilton in second. After both Merc driver made their second stops Nico Rosberg was delivering a drive at the Austrian grand prix worth remembering. He fought he way through to the lead of the race with consistent speed and superior strategy.

    But Hamilton wasn’t giving up and closed the gap to four tenths of a second on lap 67. Rosberg seemed unflustered right until the final lap of the race. The German driver made a mistake into Turn 1 handing Hamilton the advantage. Hamilton had a run on the lead into Turn 2 as Rosberg let his car run wide and made contact with Hamilton. Rosberg got off worse in the exchange as he limped home in fourth with a damaged car. The stewards imposed a 10-second penalty on Rosberg for causing a collision but he remained fourth overall. As it were Rosberg’s brake-by-wire system went into passive mode on the pit-strait. However, it’s clear from on-board footage that he was trying to run Hamilton wide.

    GP AUSTRIA F1/2016Behind race-leader Hamilton Red Bull’s Max Verstappen narrowly held onto second after running a 56-lap stint on the soft tyre. Kimi Raikkonen recovered Ferrari’s dubious strategy call to finish third as Rosberg limped home in fourth. Daniel Ricciardo finished fifth ahead of one of the stars of the race Jenson Button. The Brit out-performed his McLaren to finish in sixth ahead of Romain Grosjean (7th), Carlos Sainz (8th), and Valtteri Bottas (9th). The other star of the afternoon was Manor F1’s Pascal Wehrlein who scored his first career point in tenth.

    There is no rest of the sport that never sleeps as the F1 paddock heads straight to legendary Silverstone circuit for this weekend’s British grand prix.

    (All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport)

  • Penalty For Rosberg, Keeps 4th

    Penalty For Rosberg, Keeps 4th

    Nico Rosberg has been handed a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision with Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton on the final lap of the Austrian Grand Prix.

    Rosberg made contact with Hamilton at Turn 2 after a brake-by-wire failure at Turn 1 which saw him run wide. This allowed Hamilton, who was already within DRS range, to close up to Rosberg and pick up the slip stream on the run to Turn 2. Rosberg defended the inside line. Hamilton took the outside line into Turn 2.

    Rosberg went a bit too deep on the brakes and went straight on. Hamilton meanwhile took a wide line around the outside. Rosberg made contact with Hamilton’s right sidepod which sent the Brit on to the run off. Rosberg with a collapsed front wing made the corner and pushed on. Hamilton off the track tried to rejoin but was momentarily blocked off by Rosberg and had to lift off and rejoin the track.

    Hamilton eventually got passed Rosberg on the run to Turn 3 just before a yellow flag zone where Force India’s Sergio Perez had crashed. It is at that moment that Rosberg’s wing worked its way loose and became lodged under the nose of his Mercedes.

    With Verstappen and Raikkonen not far behind. it was only a matter of time before Rosberg was passed. He eventually crossed the line in 4th dragging the broken front wing under his car.

    Austria 2016_Rosberg_Hamilton CrashAfter the race the stewards had summoned Rosberg and Hamilton to explain themselves after the race. In addition Rosberg was also cited for breaching Article 12.1.1 h) of the FIA International Sporting Code.

    After a quite a lengthy deliberation the stewards handed Rosberg a 10-second time penalty to his race time for causing a collision and 2 points on his license.

    “Having taken note of the extensive evidence given by both drivers and the video and telemetry data, it was apparent that Car 44 (HAM) was in front of Car 6 (ROS) – i.e. more than fully alongside – and that the driver of Car 44 could have clearly made the turn (T2) on the track, if not for the resultant collision,” said a statement by the stewards.

    “Car 6 did not allow Car 44 “racing room” and hence the driver of Car 6 was responsible for the collision,” the statement concluded.

    Rosberg also received a reprimand for breaching Article 12.1.1 h) of the FIA Sporting Code.

    “It was disappointing to lose the race like that,” said Rosberg after the race

    “It got quite difficult on the final few laps as I had to manage my brakes and I was confident that I could bring the victory home.

    “I had the inside line and we both went into the corner a bit long. I was surprised that Lewis turned in and it ultimately meant that we came together – that’s how the sport goes sometimes but it’s really difficult to lose the race in that way.”

  • 2016 Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix: Post Qualifying Press Conference

    2016 Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix: Post Qualifying Press Conference

    DRIVERS
    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
    2 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)
    3 – Nico HULKENBERG (Force India)

    TV UNILATERAL

    Lewis, it was one of those days when I guess it was all about the timing of the switch onto the slick tyre and then actually coming across the line it must have been extremely exciting, the final few minutes of that session?
    Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, it was a really fun session. It was one of those sessions that it starts off dry, goes wet, and quite incredibly here it dries up so quickly, it’s like driving through fog at some stages. I think it just added to the excitement of the while thing. I’d never driven here in the rain before and being a new surface as well it was very, very slippery. It was drying up corner by corner and at the end it was about getting that last lap. The previous lap was a good lap as well but if I had finished that lap I would have been right behind Daniel Ricciardo, so I backed off, which was a big risk really. If I didn’t finish my lap or there had been a yellow flag I wouldn’t have been able to get pole, but it was the risk I took and fortunately it paid off, so very happy with it.

    Well done. Turning to you, Nico, you’re second but it’s a bittersweet feeling I imagine, knowing that you’ve got to go back five places on the grid after the accident this morning and the subsequent gearbox penalty. A shame really, because your preparations for the race up to that point had been pretty ideal. Tell us about your day and your prospects from here?
    Nico ROSBERG: First of all, a really unbelievable job from everybody, even Lewis’ mechanics came on to my car to try to get it out in time, so that was a huge team effort. We got it out 11 minutes to go in Q1, so it was really tight and awesome, so that was great. And then a very exciting qualifying, going dry-wet-dry and it was unbelievable how quickly it dried in the end then to get back on to slick tyres. I think Lewis just did a good job there in the very end, so that’s it. Second not first, but it’s OK. The five places will be quite costly… well, very costly of course for tomorrow, unfortunately. I’ll make the best of it anyways and try to get a good race from there.

    OK, thank you for that. Nico Hulkenberg, welcome back. Reminiscent, conditions-wise and the way you drove, of Brazil a few years ago, in the Williams days. You must be absolutely ecstatic and set yourself up now, moving up to the front row of the grid with Nico Rosberg’s penalty, for a great day?
    Nico HULKENBERG: Yeah, no, absolutely, it reminded me a lot about Brazil and I was feeling really good in the car and it was just a flashback to back then. I was feeling really good and to be honest, I was expecting a little bit better, so when he said third… I wasn’t disappointed. A great effort from the team. Not an easy session to be out there at the right time, it’s all about timings. The car performed well, we put it together, so a very solid job and a very good starting position for tomorrow.

    Very well done. Lewis, coming back to you, on a serious note we saw a couple more suspension failures during that qualifying session with Kvyat and Pérez. What’s the feeling among the drivers, what’s the conversation going to be this evening and what’s the concern there?
    LH: I can’t speak on behalf of all the drivers, but for me those yellow kerbs are quite dangerous. We’ve now seen a couple of incidents already. I don’t know how many more of those it’s going to take before a car ends up in the wall and perhaps someone gets hurt. I’m sure Charlie and the FIA are looking at it but that’s definitely an area we can improve. The idea is good, because they definitely don’t want us running wide and using the outside of the circuit but perhaps another solution is going to be needed.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Lewis, one of the interesting talking points arising out of the second part of qualifying was the decision by Ferrari and Red Bull to go out and set their time on the supersoft tyre. You and Nico had both used the ultrasoft but then right at the end you went out and had a bit of a look on the supersoft just as some rain began to fall. So, your thoughts on why you went the way that you did in the first instance and what happened at the end there.
    LH: I just did what I was told! I think our strategists understand that that ultrasoft was the better tyre. We had the supersoft available I think they perhaps saw – I’m guessing – I’m assuming they saw that the Ferraris had gone out and they thought we might try to go out and see if we could do a time on it, even though we think there is a time delta between the two. Naturally a hard tyre often goes further so that doesn’t seem like such a bad option. They have qualified on supersofts?

    Yes – they’ll start on the supersofts and so will Red Bull
    LH: OK, that’s not a bad thing. I think the ultrasoft is not a good tyre for the race. It’s going to be a struggle to get a lot of laps out of it so the strategy will be interesting tomorrow. Obviously those guys are starting behind me so I’m hoping I have a bit of an advantage at the start just from being on the softer tyre but… yeah, in practice my tyre lasted for four laps, so I think for Nico it lasted maybe eight? He says five. So it’ll definitely be tricky but we’ll do the best we can with it.

    Q: OK, the same question to you Nico. Your race, the first stint is going to be much more complicated because of where you’re starting. So your thoughts on this situation going into the race tomorrow. And also, picking up on what I was asking Lewis before about the kerbs, is it just a case now of, for the rest of the weekend, staying off them – or is there more to it than that?
    NR: For sure yeah, need to stay off them. I even stayed off them in qualifying now most of the time, except for when it really counted. Tyres is going to be tough tomorrow but the thing is we don’t really know because the temperature is going to drop so much so who knows how the tyres are going to be? For sure in the hot it was really tough but maybe in the cold it’s going to be better.

    Q: Nico, coming to you, obviously your team is going through a bit of a purple patch at the moment with podiums in Monaco and Baku recently. You’re still looking for your first Formula One podium personally. You must be feeling that tomorrow may well just be your day. Are you very optimistic and excited going into tomorrow’s grand prix?
    NH: Yes. First of all I’m happy and excited about today. Special circumstances obviously with the rain in Q3 and then the drying-up track but for sure starting second is a very good starting position. Tomorrow we’ll do what we can. I’m not thinking too hard about that now. We’ll do that in the next couple of hours and tonight and tomorrow but our car has made huge steps forwards since Barcelona really and ever-since we’ve scored a lot of points and a few podiums so yeah, we’re on a good slope, we have good momentum and just try to carry it into tomorrow and make it into another good Sunday.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Angélique Belokopytov – AutoDigest) Lewis, yesterday you considered that you were not at your top level. So what did change? Did you improve since yesterday? Was it work more on your mental, or the car or maybe both?
    LH: A little bit the car but mostly I just had to find time today. Nico had been performing well all weekend and it was just chipping away at improvements, constantly looking at my data, trying to figure out where I was losing the time and how I could improve. Bit by bit, corner by corner… at one point there’s five corners where I’m down, then it’s four corners I was down, then two, then just one corner where I was down. That’s something that… then it rained and I was thinking ‘Jeez, I’ve finally got into this position where I can perhaps battle for pole with Nico’ and then it rained – but fortunately those are conditions I like as well, so it made it a little bit easier, I have to say, when it got into those conditions ‘cos it’s then a bit more about who takes the most risk, I guess.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Hulkenberg, we received indication on the screens that you were under investigation because of the yellow flags in Q2. Are you aware of this?
    NH: No, I wasn’t aware that I’m under investigation. I think it was the incident where Sainz’s car’s engine blew up and he was parked on the right on the main straight. I did lift, I did lose time there but still with new tyres, track improvement I might have gone faster, I don’t know but we will see. I’m not too concerned.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Lewis, when you came in here, you stopped to watch your lap – all the lap – what was your view of it, what was your analysis of your own lap?
    LH: I could have been faster! I was looking at some places where… you know, when you do a lap like that it’s really difficult to… you know, the previous lap maybe I had an oversteer moment in one corner, you don’t know if it’s dried up and what… it probably has dried up on that next lap so you don’t know just how much you can push on each corner. In hindsight… hindsight’s always a great thing – there were drier patch and more grip and more potential in some corners that I did, but it doesn’t matter because I’m where I need to be. That’s what happens when I watch it. I’m just thinking could be a little bit more there, a little bit more there.

    Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas) Nico, I would like to know – maybe you said it before but I don’t know – but when this accident happened, was it because you touched the kerb or is it because there was a mechanical problem in the car and the suspension was broken?
    NR: The suspension broke. On the kerb, on the normal exit kerb, the first one, the thin one.

    Q: (Peter Vamosi – Vas Nepe) To all of you: there’s a possibility that next year maybe we will have a bigger version of the Austrian Grand Prix, a new track layout but of course the old one, the Osterreichring. Are you satisfied with this information? Would you like to compete with Formula One cars on this  or is it OK now?
    LH: Me personally? That’s the best news I’ve probably heard in Formula One for a long time. They’re going to take a track back to what it should be or what it was previously. The track is nice as it is now but I’ve not seen the old track but I can imagine going up into the mountains and into the woods it’s going to be epic so I really hope they do that personally.
    Q: Nico, your Dad raced here on the old one, any thoughts on that?
    NR: I just watched the video from 1982, one of the closest finishes with my Dad finishing second and definitely it looks very exciting so yeah, if they do that, cool.
    NH: I wasn’t even aware. Don’t know what the layout was but yeah, whatever. Fine.

  • Hamilton claims dramatic Austrian GP pole

    Hamilton claims dramatic Austrian GP pole

    Lewis Hamilton claimed the pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix during a dramatic Q3 qualifying session at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.

    Rain arrived towards the end of Q2 to wet the circuit and leave drivers starting the Q3 session on intermediate tyres before the track dried really quickly enouch for slicks to be viable.

    Nico Hulkenberg was the first driver to switch to ultra-softs and set a sequence of fastest laps before Hamilton bettered his time with a 1:07.922. Rosberg finished second, half a second behind Hamilton but is set to drop to start from seventh thanks to his gearbox penalty.

    Hulkenberg will therefore move to second with McLaren’s Jenson Button starting from third – pending an investigation by the stewards for Hulkenberg not slowing down on the yellow flags for an incident for Carlos Sainz Jr.

    Kimi Raikkonen will start from fourth tomorrow, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, Valterri Bottas, Rosberg, and Max Verstappen. Felipe Massa completes the Top 10 behind the demoted Vettel who qualified fourth but will start 9th after his gearbox penalty.

    Esteban Gutierrez only just missed out on Q3. He’ll start the Austrian GP from 11th place.

    Pascal Wehrlein scored a career best for himself and the Manor F1 team qualifying in 12th place. Romain Grosjean and Fernando Alonso will start from 13th and 14th place.

    Carlos Sainz Jr and Sergio Perez follow – Perez suffered a rear suspension failure.

    The guys over at Renault didn’t make it through to Q2 with Kevin Magnussen and Jolyen Palmer finishing 17th & 18th ahead of Manor’s Rio Haryanto and Daniil Kvyat.

    Austrian GPKvyat suffered a right-rear suspension failure in a a pretty hectic crash, spinning out, clipping the wall at Turn 8 and ending up in the gravel at the final corner. Drivers are raising concerns about the kerbs causing the multiple suspension failures over the weekend so far. Hamilton expressed concerns in the press conference as did Kvyat and a few other drivers. Lewis went as far as calling the kerbs dangerous

    Kvyat was not able to continue after his car was pretty much written off leaving the Toro Rosso team with a big task to complete to prepare for tomorrow’s race.

    Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr did look capable of competing for Q2 but will start from the back row of the grid.

    Join us for live chat and commentary for tomorrow’s Austrian GP on Twitter @F1Madness.