Tag: nico rosberg

2016 Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

DRIVERS
1st Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)
2nd Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
3rd Kimi RAIKKONEN (Ferrari)

PODIUM INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Martin Brundle)

Congratulations Nico. Wow, a man who can’t stop winning – seven in a row. Only three other drivers in the history of Formula One have done that: Alberto Ascari, the great Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel, and now you. Well done.
Nico ROSBERG: Thanks very much. It’s been an awesome weekend. The car has been fantastic all weekend, really even in qualifying and in the race today. It felt very special out there. So, very, very happy. Thanks to everybody. Thanks to all of you in Russia who have come here. The sport is growing; 60,000 of you – amazing, great atmosphere, it’s been a great weekend.

Full house for you today: pole position, led every lap, fastest lap, and you won the grand prix. You were putting in some spectacular times at the end, just to make a point I guess?
NR: I just like to it for concentration; just keep going, because if I slow down otherwise, you start making some mistakes and I was enjoying it out there, just flat out until the end.

And you were aware obviously that Lewis was up into second place, so you and to keep an eye on his pace?
NR: Yeah, of course. Great job from Lewis to come up through to second so quickly from down in tenth and I was always aware of what he was doing and trying to keep the gap as big as possible.

Lewis, you stayed out of trouble on the first lap and there was plenty of that going on in front of you?
Lewis HAMILTON: Absolutely. It was not the easiest first corner but all races have been the same so far.

So are you pretty happy? Yeah, you’ve had a difficult weekend, but you must be pretty satisfied to be up here, even though it’s only second place?
LH: Yeah, absolutely. I’m really happy for the team and you know, I got the points.

Some critical overtakes you made that really made your afternoon – one on Kimi and the other on Valtteri Bottas.
LH: Yeah, I mean with Kimi I don’t know if he was expecting me to overtake there, which was great and with Valtteri it was from quite far back but he didn’t seem to defend, so it was quite easy.

You got the gap down to 7.7s; you must have just have seen down the pit straight. Was there a moment. Was there a moment where you thought ‘I could still win this’?
LH: There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that I could win it. I had the pace but then I problem with the engine again, so I had to back off.

That was the water pressure situation we hard about? So you had to get out of it a little bit to protect the engine?
LH: Yeah, I wasn’t at full throttle down the straights, so just trying to look after it.

Thank you. Over to Kimi. Kimi Raikkonen your third place man today. Very popular man out there, Kimi, and you have the honour today… this is the 700th podium for the Ferrari team. How are you feeling about third place in particular today?
Kimi RAIKKONEN: Of course it’s not exactly what we want. We want to win races and put the two cars as far up as we can. We tried to today. I had a pretty OK start, managed to get Valtteri on the first lap but again after the restart, same like last time here, we just don’t have the speed. He managed to get me and then when I tried to get past him obviously Lewis got past me, but we just had to try to run a bit longer and pass them and we managed to do the Williams but not fast enough for Mercedes. Then we had a good speed but with the fuel saving we had to take some measures, so obviously you cannot push as fast as the car can go.

Lewis says he’s not sure you knew he was coming through. Did you know?
KR: yeah, I could see him. When I tried to pass Bottas then I was obviously close to him in there and got some understeer and ran wide, so he got a good run on me. I tried to block a little bit but it was too late, so I had to let him go.

OK, good stuff. Back to you, Nico. We head off to Spain of course. You have a 43-point in the World Championship. A long way to go, but that’s pretty healthy.
NR: Yeah, but it’s four races from 21. Lewis is going to come back of course. He’s on it and as motivated as ever. So, early days, just taking it race by race, looking forward to Spain now. We have such an incredible car, which is really a pleasure to drive, so just want to try to win races.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Nico, many congratulations, four from four, seven in a row. It was a superbly-controlled drive right from the start. There was a moment when Lewis was catching you midway through the middle of the second stint. Was that still under control? Were you fuel-saving and tyre-managing at that stage or he genuinely catching you, was there an issue?
NR: No, for sure, I mean I knew the gap to Lewis and it was just through the traffic. If I get the traffic first I lose a couple of seconds, then he gets it and it opens up again. No, I was feeling really comfortable today, especially at the end of the race, in the last 15 I opened the gas and pushed a little bit more because I knew it was safe to push and definitely get to the end of the race with that set of tyres. It was working really well. The whole weekend. Even in qualifying. Seldom had such an awesome car. So, special weekend.

Q: Lewis, you were probably one of the only drivers up here to see what happened at the start, to make your way through the chaos. How was it from your point of view, how difficult to get through? Then your problem with the water pressure late in the race. How serious was that?
LH: I just caught a small glimpse of some drama happening, in the corner of my eye. I knew someone looked like they were spinning so I drove wide to avoid that. Then when I got to Turn Three, one of the Ferraris was right next to me and all of a sudden I heard a big bang almost and he was gone – so I don’t know really what happened. After that, I don’t know how criticial the engine was. There was no indication for me in the car but I did have to slow down.

Q: Kimi, you obviously had a good battle with Valtteri at the beginning and then you were slightly ambushed by Lewis after the restart. Beyond that it seemed to be a pretty regulation race for you. Was it a lonely experience to some degree?
KR: I think a little bit yes – but the start is so important here because it’s such a long straight to the first corner, so I got a very good – well not very good but as good as the other two in front of me – start and then you get the big tow effect and I managed to get past Valtteri. I was surprised how little Nico pushed, or went fast in the first lap and obviously it was a Safety Car and after the Safety Car the same happened as last year, that Williams with the long straight just towed past me and nothing that I could do on that. Then I was able… speed-wise the lap time was good. I was able to follow and then I tried once to overtake in the first corner and was a bit unsure. I lost some speed a few corners later and made some small mistakes, so Lewis got next to me. I tried to squeeze him a little bit but then he was there and I had to let him go and the only chance was to follow them and run a little bit longer and push when we had free traffic. We managed to get Williams. Think the car behaved pretty nicely but there was quite a bit of fuel saving to do, limiting us on the lap time. But it was a fine race. Definitely want to be more higher up with two cars – not ideal on that side. I had quite a big struggle the whole weekend so I’ll take third place but in the race the car was good, like I wanted, but qualifying we struggled, and in the practice. OK, fine but not what we want.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globoesporte.com) Lewis, you said you didn’t have any indication on the dash that you had a problem with the power unit, right? So it was the team that signalled it for you. Without this problem, do you think it would have been possible to fight with Nico? At one moment you were 7.7s behind him.
LH: I think it’s impossible to really say right now but the car felt good. At that time I was lapping a little bit quicker than Nico so I was chewing away… there was quite a big gap but it did come down from 13s to 7.5s or something like that. At that point it was when I had to back off and drive a second slower through the laps, just to try and hope that the car was going to make it. Because I had no indication or didn’t really know what the biggest issue was or whether the engine was going to make it so I just tried to nurse it home.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globoesporte.com) Were you surprised?
LH: I’ve been surprised every weekend… the last two weekends.

Q: (Kirill Zaytsev – 66.RU) Kimi, will we see you here next year?
KR: I don’t know.
Q: (Kirill Zaytsev – 66.RU) What about your contract, I mean?
KR: I have a contract until the end of this year so who knows what will happen next year but I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t enjoy what I do. Obviously I have a passion for racing but many things are not in our hands. We can only try to do our best and then see what the future will bring. We go race by race. I’m sure at some point this year, latest next year we will know.

Q: (Angelique Belokopytov – AutoDigest) So before the season began, there was some expectation that Ferrari’s performances which were announced and now after a few races we see that it’s not really achieved so my question is for you Kimi, I’m asking for your point of view, what Ferrari is missing to be a real threat to Mercedes?
KR: I think it’s not very easy to pinpoint what we need but I’m sure we know quite a few small things that we want to improve and we know that there’s some improvements coming but Mercedes were very fast for the last few years and they are fast this year. I don’t think that so far this year we have ever really put together a really clean weekend either so that doesn’t help. You cannot give anything away and expect to beat a team like them. We definitely have it to be done but I am quite confident that once we get everything as we want that we can be very strong as a team. We’ve been failing to finish with two cars in the position that we probably deserve so yes, it’s been disappointing but now we have a good way of doing things. We are behind where we want to be but I’m sure as a team we will get there.

May 1, 2016
Paddy Lowe: “We’ve Let Lewis Down”

After Lewis Hamilton was forced to retire from qualifying after an MGU-H problem, Executive Director Technical at Mercedes was very apologetic to his fellow Briton.

Hamilton, although making it through to Q3, was unable to take part in the final shoot out after a repeat MGU-H problem saw him retire from qualifying before the end of Q2. This is the same issue, says Hamilton, that forced an engine change at the Chinese Grand Prix.

After qualifying Mercedes Director Toto Wolff called the issue as “bizarre” and that the root cause of the problem will be investigated.

Qualifying for the Russian Grand Prix was building up to another Rosberg-Hamilton pole battle. During Q1 and Q2 Hamilton held somewhat of an edge over his team mate but Rosberg was fighting back and the pair of them were trading fastest times.

“Our day has been tainted by a failure which deprived Lewis of a shot at pole – and deprived the fans of what would surely have been a thrilling climax to an immensely close battle between our two drivers,” commented Paddy Lowe

“We’ve let Lewis down for the second weekend in a row, so our apologies go to him once again,” he added

“It’s a cruel twist of fate that, out of eight Mercedes-Benz Power Units on the grid, the problem should befall the same driver twice.

“We’ve been working very hard over the past couple of weeks to understand what happened in China – but unfortunately there is clearly still more work to be done.

Our focus for the immediate future, however, is on making sure Lewis’ car is in the best possible condition for tomorrow’s race to give him the best chance of making the kind of strong recovery we’ve seen him pull off so many times in the past.”

Photo credit: Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team

April 30, 2016
2016 Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix: Post Qualifying Press Conference

DRIVERS
1 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)
2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)
3 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Williams)

TV UNILATERAL

Nico, congratulations. How nervous were, though, after making a mistake on that final attempt, with your helmet off and strolling down the pit lane that somebody might pip you for pole position?
Nico ROSBERG: Well, to be honest, I was quite confident that the lap was good enough out there, because in quali two, Ferrari was quite far away and I knew that Lewis was not able to participate in the last part of qualifying, so I was very sure that it was going to be enough. But you never know, your know, so there’s always still a remaining uncertainty and so I was glad eventually when Sebastian finally crossed the line that it was good enough.

Nico, we’ve seen Lewis had the same engine problem as he did in China, Sebastian has to take a five-place penalty – this championship’s just coming your way naturally isn’t it? Do you believe in good luck?
NR: Well I didn’t know these facts, I mean, of course I knew about Sebastian but I didn’t really know what Lewis had until now. I was just focused on myself out there and really going for it and feeling great about it. It was really going really well today. From Q2 onwards it just felt awesome. Of course the others have been unfortunate today, extremely unfortunate, and that makes my race a little bit easier tomorrow, but an F1 race is never easy. Of course even from where Sebastian is, where Kimi is and with Valtteri behind the opposition is still there and so still need to keep focused and get the job done as good as possible.

OK, turning to you Sebastian. How was today, obviously important to get a lot of laps in after losing a lot of time yesterday. Was it a good recovery today?
Sebastian VETTEL: I think so. Of course I would have liked the gap in the end to be a bit smaller. But yeah, I think in Q2 we saw that Nico in particular is very strong getting the lap in, so good job from his side. I think from us it was the maximum. Obviously we benefit from what happened to Lewis, which I’m not sure exactly what it was but it allowed us to go P2, which helps for tomorrow with the penalty. We are a bit closer, starting on the clean side of the track. I think we can have a good race from there. It should be quite exciting. The car feels good and yeah, I think all weekend it had been quite strong. Obviously we lost some time but obviously we made it up this morning, as you touched on, so it shouldn’t be an issue.

Of course, it’s second in qualifying, but with the gearbox penalty it will be seventh on the grid, ahead of any other penalties we don’t know about. How frustrated, if at all, are you getting with Ferrari’s unreliability?
SV: Not frustrated at all. Obviously it’s not nice if these things happen, because they don’t make your life easier, but equally it’s part of racing, these things can happen. They didn’t happen in purpose; they weren’t planned. But I think we are pushing very hard trying to catch up, which I think, especially in race pace, we’ve proven already this year. Obviously we didn’t have a properly clean race yet but maybe we’ll have one tomorrow, you never know, it’s a long race, a long way, especially around here, there’s a lot of things that can happen. So I think we have to wait and see, but you know, now it’s still April, tomorrow is May, it’s a long, long way to go, so it’s a long championship. At the moment I think it’s important to do your best to get the maximum points every single time and the rest you’ll find out anyways.

Thank you Seb. Valtteri, to you, how good does it feel not only to be third in qualifying but as it will be on the grid for the Russian Grand Prix tomorrow it will be second on the grid and nobody in front of you?
Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, he’s a little bit in front, but yeah, very good in qualifying. Really pleased with how it all went. This weekend has been very positive. We have some new bits on the car and the car has been feeling better. It’s also a good track for us. I’m glad we could maximise the qualifying today. Pleased with that but it’s tomorrow that counts. So far my Sundays haven’t been so great but I’m sure tomorrow we have a good chance to have a good one.

Nico a final thought from you: you’ve won every race there is so far this season, you’re on pole again, after a few times off the front row, you must be thinking that this is your race to lose tomorrow?
NR: At the moment I’m still feeling happy with how qualifying went, because it just felt awesome out there. The car was balanced perfectly and through the weekend we just progressed so much and then to hit it in Q2 and from then on it was just going really well and that’s what I’m really pleased about and I haven’t thought too much about tomorrow yet. Of course starting from pole position will be great. As I say, it’s never easy but the way the grid is it does help me out a lot for sure to try and get that win tomorrow.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Nico, in China you said you had looked forward to the battle with Lewis and it didn’t happen. It didn’t happen here again today. That’s obviously gives you a good opportunity tomorrow but how disappointing is that for you?
NR: No, I can’t say I’m disappointed after today. All in all I’m really satisfied because it really felt great out there. It was awesome balance. We got my car together well for qualifying and from Q2 onwards it was just going great. Sao I’m really satisfied with that and that’s a good sign for tomorrow’s race and that’s about it.

Sebastian, the gap was quite significant, were you surprised by that? What’s the recovery plan for tomorrow?
SV: Well, obviously Nico starts from pole, which I think he deserves; he has done a great job today in all sessions. For us obviously with the penalty we are a bit further back. Kit would be nice to start on the front row, but it doesn’t happen. But nevertheless I think we can have a very good race. The car feels good. Obviously we know that on Saturdays we are probably a little bit still further back than we want and a bit further back than on Sundays, so high hopes for tomorrow. As I said the car feels good. I think we’ve done our homework, so I expect a strong race. Obviously it’s never easy when you start further back – overtaking is possible but usually people don’t wave you past, so we’ll have to work for it but it should be good fun.

Q: Valtteri, third time here qualifying in third place, you start second. Power was obviously a significant element of today’s qualifying. Did today’s qualifying bring Williams back to where it should be?
VB: Well, obviously we want to be higher than this, of course. I think this season it is extremely difficult to beat Ferrari and Mercedes. Of course we’re trying to really close the gap but it is nice that now, today, we’re clear of Red Bull and Toro Rosso who’ve been really challenging us in the last few races. So I’m pleased with today, with the result, and it gives us a good position for the race tomorrow to really make some good points. We need those points so, pleased with today. It was all about team-work and bringing some updates here, so also people at the factory have been doing the right job.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboSport.com) Nico, from Q1 to Q2 you did a great step in performance. Did you change the car? Did you put more power in the engine? And, also a question to Bottas: if your performance here related to the new aero front you have in the car or maybe to the characteristics of this track?
NR: Q2, that’s when it really came together for me. It felt just so great out there. It was mainly the front flap. Went up on the front flap to take away some understeer – so that was good. I thought there would be some downsides but it was just positives.

Valtteri?
VB: I think it’s both, to be honest. The updates we bring here, they help us a bit, and also the track suits us better than the first three races so far. So I think it is a combination of both – but I would really hope, I would like us to be better than the first three races in the coming races, so we need to keep progressing.

Q: (Vladimir Rogovets – Belarus Segoduya ) My question to Nico. Your partner Lewis Hamilton has a lot of problems this year and you, from last year to today are showing very, very good stability. How long will you be staying without engine problems?
NR: I need the crystal ball now. You have one? We look together! I don’t know, I can’t look into the future. You’re saying this year: it’s only three and a half races from 21. You can’t really say ‘this year’, it’s been a couple of races and yes, it’s been consistently working well for me and I’m happy about that but normally over a season – and especially over 21 races – in F1 things have always evened-out at the end of the year.

Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Sebastian wanted to challenge Mercedes this year but now it seems that the gap gets bigger rather than smaller. Is that a concern for you?
SV: I don’t know. Bloody Germans! Always pessimistic. Show some optimism! I think it’s only three and a half races. We’ve hah… yeah… quite a trip so far with not everything going according to plan. We could have won the first race if things go a little bit different. So overall, it’s not so bad. We have shown great pace, especially on Sunday, and that’s where you get the points. We know that we need to work and we are pushing very hard – but it’s not so easy. Mercedes is doing a great job, those two guys driving the car are going a good job, so it’s a difficult team to beat. We are not playing… it’s not a kindergarten, I think it’s for grown-ups and therefore the challenge is tough – but ultimately we want to be the best so we need to be ready to tackle the best and, so far, we’re very optimistic we can turn it around.

Q: (Krill Zaytsev – 66.ru) Question for Sebastian. After a penalty tomorrow do you have chances to get a podium. Here in Sochi there are lots of straights and your engine works good here – so do you have any chances to get up?
SV. Yes. Obviously when you qualify second, that’s were you sort-of belong. With a penalty you start further back and I think we’re quicker than those cars so I think we have a good chance to make progress. Having said that, it’s never easy. Yes, there are straights – but there’s also a couple of corners, we know it’s not so easy to follow, etcetera. So, we’ll see.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboSport.com) Sebastian. Once you would be penalised, did you expect your team-mate could be in the first row in order to help your team?
SV: Well, I don’t know how the session went for him, obviously. Once qualifying kicks off, it’s very difficult to know what happens on the other side. You’re quite busy yourself/. I think Nico said the same thing before: he doesn’t know what happened to Lewis. I don’t know if he had an issue but we’ve been fairly close this weekend, so I think it would have been ideal for him to be third today and therefore starting on the front row – but equally, being third and on the clean side is not bad either. It’s a long way to Turn One, so I think still as a team we are positioned probably as good as possible.

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, have you found with the new power unit some benefit today?
SV: Well, we brought it here, it was always the plan, we brought it because we believe it is better. As of now, it is doing what it should, so I’m confident that it helps us today and tomorrow.

April 30, 2016
F1 2016: Russian GP Free Practice 1 Report – Rosberg On Top

Nico Rosberg set the fastest time for Mercedes in the first free practice session for the 2016 Russian grand prix.

All eyes focused on Red Bull Racing as it trialed the aeroscreen for the first time. The aeroscreen is Red Bull’s offering for head protection to be introduced in 2017. The aeroscreen was run for only one installation lap as team principal admitted that it has a “huge impact” on the car’s cooling.

The two Mercedes of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton set the early pace in the session. With Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo and Williams’ Valtteri Bottas rounding out the top four early on. Williams teammate Felipe Massa was unable to set a time due to a gearbox issue. The Brazilian did make his way out for an install lap in the second half of the session. Mass eventually ended the session with the fifth quickest time.

Nico Rosberg set the quickest time overall, a 1:38:127 followed by teammate Lewis Hamilton on a 1:38:849. Both drivers used the red-walled supersoft tyre to set their fastest times.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel set the third quickest time, a 1:39:175 ahead of the sister Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen who set a 1:39:332. The Ferrari’s quickest times were set on the yellow-walled soft tyre.

Mexican driver Alfonso Celis took control of Nico Huldenberg’s Force India for the practice session. Elsewhere Sergey Sirotkin ran the first free practice session for Renault in place on Kevin Magnussen.

Final Standings for Free Practice 1:

April 29, 2016
F1 2016: Russian GP Preview – Russian Showdown

When you think of motorsport Russia isn’t the first place that comes to mind. In fact, it’s probably not even in your top five. However, this weekend the Formula 1 paddock puts Russia front and center as it heads to the Sochi Autodrom for the fourth round of the 2016 season.

The Sochi circuit hosted its first grand prix race in 2014 and is the first purpose-built Formula 1 site in Russia. The 5.8 kilometer track was built under the watchful eye of F1’s favoured designer Herman Tilke and has a capacity of 55 000. The most striking feature of the circuit is its integration to the Olympic Park that hosted the 2014 Winter Olympics.

The circuit, second in length only to Spa and Silverstone, requires compromise in terms of car setup. The start and end of the lap demands good traction and braking performance while the middle sector requires a more technical approach to master the flow of the corners.

“It’s a very modern track with a few corners that look quite similar by they are never as easy as they might look, because you have to try and driver the car in the limit each time you turn,” says Russian driver Daniil Kvyat.

In the two races it’s put on the Sochi Autodrom has shown little tyre wear. So little in fact that in 2014 Nico Rosberg was able to complete a stint of 52 laps on one set of tyres. But the introduction of a third compound choice in 2016 means that we’re unlikely to see a repeat of what happened here two years ago.

The Red Bull and Haas F1 Team have opted for an aggressive tyre strategy by selecting ten sets of supersofts, two sets of softs, and one set of the medium compound tyre. It’s an expected choice for these two teams who have been able to make the supersoft tyre last longer than their closest rivals. The Red Bull drivers, Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat, may not have a straight forward shot at the podium but will be ready to pounce should either of the Merc or Ferrari drivers have an issue during the Russian GP on Sunday.

There is a marked difference between Mercedes and Ferrari’s Russian GP tyre choices too. While all four drivers have only one set of mediums on the shelf Hamilton and Rosberg have opted for eight sets of supersofts, and four sets of the yellow-walled soft tyres. In contrast, Raikkonen and Vettel have chosen six sets each of the soft and supersoft compound.

The thinking behind Ferrari’s tyre choice could be to do one less stop than Mercedes in the race by running the more durable soft tyre for a longer stint. As the supersoft is generally the quicker tyre to run on much will depend on how big a time deficit there is between it and the more durable soft tyre.

The run down to the first corner is a long one, which dramatically tightens into turn one. Ferrari will be extra vigilant after Sebastian Vettel got into the side of Kimi Raikkonen in China. In every round so far Ferrari has faced some issues whether through their own making or uncontrollable reliability problems. If the Italian team is to mount a serious challenge for the top step of the Russian GP podium, which it seems likely they can, the first order of business will be to have a clean race.

The last time we visited Russia, Mercedes were on the brink on clinching a constructor’s title and Lewis Hamilton had been outperforming teammate Nico Rosberg by a considerable margin. In 2016, the story so far reads much differently. Now it’s up to Lewis Hamilton to show what being a three time world champion really means.

April 28, 2016

Broadcast Times for the 2016 F1 Russian Grand Prix

The Russian Grand Prix was moved up in 2016 and it’s now Round 4 of the Formula 1 World Championship. The Sochi Autodrom is a semi permanent facility that was built as part of the Winter Olympics park. Built on the shores of the warm waters of the Black Sea the popular seaside area is being called the Russian Rivera.

The circuit hosts its third F1 Russian Grand Prix race in as many years. No major changes have been made to the layout of circuit and the low degradation characteristic of the asphalt seems to have remained over the years. The super soft, soft and medium compound tyre should throw up a few surprises although we may not see that many pit stops due to the low degradation levels.

With Nico Roaberg’s championship lead at 36 points, his team mate Lewis Hamilton will need to put in a strong performance this weekend to show some intent. Red Bull put in a strong performance in China and would’ve had two cars on the podium had Daniel Ricciardo not suffered his puncture.

Ferrari will be looking over their shoulder a bit more after China while focusing their efforts chasing their first victory for 2016. Ferrari have pushed their engine development and are expected to debut their upgraded engine at the Russian Grand Prix weekend together with a new front wing in the hopes that it may bring the Scuderia their first win of the season.

Herewith your broadcast times for the 2016 Russian Grand Prix weekend:

	CDT	GMT+2	GMT	Local
Free Practice 1	04:00 (Fri)	09:00 (Fri)	07:00 (Fri)	10:00 (Fri)
Free Practice 2	08:00 (Fri)	13:00 (Fri)	11:00 (Fri)	14:00 (Fri)
Free Practice 3	06:00 (Sat)	11:00 (Sat)	09:00 (Sat)	12:00 (Sat)
Qualifying	09:00 (Sat)	14:00 (Sat)	12:00 (Sat)	15:00 (Sat)
Race	09:00 (Sun)	14:00 (Sun)	12:00 (Sun)	15:00 (Sun)

April 27, 2016

F1 2016: Chinese GP – Rosberg Makes Hay In China

For years we’ve been frustratingly calling for Nico Rosberg to up his game. With a third win out of three in 2016 he’s done it.

The German driver effortlessly converted pole position into victory as the chaos unfolded behind his Mercedes. However, it was second-placed starter Daniel Ricciardo who snatched the lead of the race off the line in his Red Bull. Behind this pair the two Ferrari’s of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel, starting third and fourth, looked set to challenge for the race win until Vettel barged into the side of Raikkonen to avoid the sister Red Bull of Dannil Kvyat on his inside.

Although Vettel recovered to second place in the end it was a sloppy race for the four time champion. The clash with teammate Raikkonen caused damage to his front-wing which was required replacing. But it would be damaged again as he tried to find his way passed the Williams of Valtteri Bottas.

Visibility in F1 car is limited but into such a tight corner Vettel should’ve been aware of Raikkonen on his outside given that he started close to him on the grid. Though the German did his best to shift blame to Dannil Kvyat the Russian driver was well within his rights to place his car alongside Vettel’s Ferrari into turn one. Kvyat eventually finished third and despite a confrontation with Vettel after the race wasn’t unhappy at all to secure only the second podium of his career.

Raikkonen’s front-wing damage and punctured tyre meant into turn one meant he had to crawl around the entire lap to make it back to the pitlane. It dropped him right to the back of the field and onto an alternative strategy which had him running on the white-walled medium tyre in the middle stint of the race. The Finn had shown great pace throughout the weekend was able to resist an attack from Hamilton on quicker tyres. It left the soft, yellow-walled, tyre for the final stint of the race and with it Raikkonen was able to make up enough positions to ultimately finish fifth.

Even Lewis Hamilton was involved in the mess of the opening lap. After starting last following an overnight power unit change the Brit also lost his front-wing and sustained damage to his barge board into turn one.

In the lead of the race Daniel Ricciardo’s hopes evaporated as he picked up a left-rear puncture on lap three. Ricciardo was able to recover to fourth. If it wasn’t clear before why both Mercedes and Ferrari refused to provide the Red Bull team with an engine from their shed it is surely clear now. The 2016 Red Bull car is a great chassis, with two great drivers and all they’re missing is a great engine.

Debris from Ricciardo’s blown tyre prompted the deployment of the safety car and drivers took the opportunity to fit the more durable soft and medium tyres. Behind Raikkonen in fifth Williams’ Felipe Massa was able to hold onto sixth while Hamilton had to settle for seventh. Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen finished eighth ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz in ninth and the second Williams of Valtteri Bottas rounded out the top ten. Despite numerous incidents throughout the race all twenty-two cars saw the chequered flag at the end of the race.

Since the start of the 2016 season things haven’t been going Lewis Hamilton’s way. Less than ideal starts off the line, unreliability, and damage early in the last two races have severely tested the champion. He’s response has been to remain remarkably cool about it all. However, three victories and a thirty-six point lead in the driver’s championship for a perfect Nico Rosberg is getting to be a bit tight. It’s a good thing Lewis Hamilton likes a fight because he has a big one on his hands now.

(Featured image courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport)

April 18, 2016
2016 Formula 1 Pirelli Chinese Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

DRIVERS
1 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)
2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)
3 – Daniil KVYAT (Red Bull)

PODIUM INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Kai Ebel)

Congratulations, Nico, amazing gap, fantastic race, but just tell me why could Daniel Ricciardo pass you at the start?
Nico ROSBERG: Ni hao, hello China. Yeah, the start was not quite good enough, Daniel got a good one. But then I had a really quick car today, so I was feeling great, I attacked him straight away and I managed to pull a great gap after that.

Lots of action, most of them behind you, so have you been aware of what happened in your back?
NR: No, I didn’t see anything, I had no idea. I just knew the gap and I just know that I just had to try to extend it as much as possible and I’m happy that worked out?

I see those guys are still arguing, so coming over to you Seb. Seb, right after the start you crashed into your team-mate. Very spectacular and then you said, well, Daniil was coming out like a madman. Do you still think so?
Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, well, obviously it’s difficult to judge how it looked from his point of view, but my start wasn’t so great, so I was a bit on the back foot into turn one and then I think Kimi locked up, went a bit wide, I wanted to go on the inside to overtake him. I think Daniil was trying to do the same thing with me, but then Kimi came back and I had to sort of be in the middle. He was coming with a lot of speed into that gap. I was very surprised, so I had to steer some sort of left. At the same time Kimi was coming across and there was no way, so we made contact, which is a shame because you don’t want the same cars, same colour touching each other. In the end we were lucky – I could continue, he could continue, but surely not the best result for the team, so sorry for that. But after, it was a very entertaining race, a lot of cars that I had to overtake; it was good fun. I think the car was great this afternoon, so a big thanks to all the team, and all the Chinese fans. I think they have been fantastic once again, great support for all of us, you feel really, really special when you come here with so much attention, so Xièxie, thank you.

Just a short word from Seb! So Dany I guess you have the right to give an answer to what happened at the start, your rocket start?
Daniil KVYAT: Well, yeah, I mean, vice versa to Seb I had a really good start. You see the gap, you go for it on the inside, you see one car, usually it’s hard to see both cars… yeah, it was a risky move of course, I agree with Seb, but these kind of moves can bring you a podium, so I’m on the podium, he’s on the podium, it’s fine. I will keep on risking like this and everyone should expect that!

At least you can shake your hand again together, that’s good news? So Seb, in Formula One everyone is talking about aerodynamics, then you lost almost your full front wing, but why didn’t you change when you pitted later on, why didn’t change the front wing again then?
SV: We did.

No, no, but you later carried on with a front wing which was damaged?
SV: As far as I remember, obviously the safety car came, I wanted to see how bad it is. I can see now the front wing is damaged…

I told you.
SV: Maybe I damaged it later on again.

With Bottas, exactly.
SV: OK, so I didn’t even see that, which didn’t help. But I had, when I made contact with Kimi I felt that the car wasn’t 100% and then we changed the nose in the first stop and then I damaged it obviously again, which I didn’t see! Yeah, but it was still OK, the pace looked alright, so overall a great recovery.

OK, right, now you know Seb. So coming back to the winner again. Nico, I know after Mexico you had a fantastic party on a plane, so they almost kicked you out of the plane for partying, so what kind of party you will have tonight on the flight back home to Germany.
NR: We’re going to party now in the garage. That’s going to great fun, because everybody in the team deserves it so much and then straight back home to my family, can’t wait to see them.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Nico, that’s your second career win in China, 17 career wins, sixth win in a row, third win this season. How long can it continue?
NR: I’m happy with today, of course, it was a great weekend for me here in China. It’s a special place for me, first pole, first win here. It’s great and it really was a pleasure to drive today out there. Seldom had such a great feeling out there. And everything worked out well, the strategy and everything. The tyres held up pretty well, so I’m really pleased.

Q: You were on the radio complimenting the team on the balance you had. You were 37s ahead at the end of the race, it looked like it was a controlled race after the start. You had a little bit of an issue there.
NR: Yeah, the start, it wasn’t too bad, my start, but Daniel got an even better one – but then I was a lot quicker and especially him on a supersoft when his tyres started to degrade and I could just fly past him. I didn’t expect it to be that easy. [Vettel interjects] Oh, he had something at the beginning? And then after that I was just pushing to try to get the best gap possible and I’m glad that it worked out so well.

Q: Sebastian, obviously you had your issues at the start of the race which you talked about on the podium – but after that it was a terrific recovery to come back through the pack. Maybe talk us through how difficult it was given that you had shipped some damage.
SV: Well I was obviously disappointed that I made contact in lap one. Lucky that the car was still intact. I was reporting to the team, initially I thought I had to box straight away but it was actually OK. The steering wheel was a little bit off-centre, so had a bit of damage all through the race. It was actually more difficult in left-handers than right-handers. Fortunately there’s more right-handers here. If it was the other way around could have been a bit more difficult but yeah, I think the Safety Car helped. Then we had a different strategy to most people with the supersoft tyre which helped me to clear the traffic and make good progress – which was fun. A lot of cars. I didn’t count but it felt like a lot! They just kept coming – but we managed to clear them, which was obviously essential. Then with Daniil in the end, the last car to pass was a bit more tricky. He was quite good at the end of the stint with his soft tyres but then we knew that he would pit to a medium tyre and we still had a new set of softs. So we tried to be as close as possible, which worked. I was gaining a bit on the way into the pits, then on the outlap able to jump him, which was obviously important to get P2. So yeah, incredible recovery, which at that point, when you make contact in Turn One, you know things cross your mind, thatit might just all be lost from here and the race just has just started – but very, very happy with the recovery. Good that we had both cars as well in the finish. Obviously terribly sorry for Kimi but there wasn’t anything I could have done differently. I was a bit in the sandwich of Kimi on the left and Daniil on the right. Bit unfortunately but afterwards was good fun. I think the car was good today and P2 was probably the maximum. So, very glad it worked out and the strategy for tonight, I think I had to work a little bit harder than Nico, so I think he has to drink the double amount compared to me and maybe I get him at the bar.

Q: Dany, coming to you, your first podium since Hungary last year, it comes just before your home race, how encouraging is it for you to set the pace you set today?
DK: Well, first of all it feels excellent to finish on the podium. After Hungary it felt like a quite long time. So yeah, you always want to see the result and today it confirmed itself. Yeah, the start went well, corner one, corner two was a bit risky obviously. In the end we can talk about it forever but it paid off and I’m on the podium so it feels good. The race itself was quite controlled. Obviously I think our main competitor through the whole race was Sebastian. I think he made an excellent recovery. We probably missed out a little bit not having a soft tyre in the end for the last stint and on the medium we couldn’t really resist for too long to him. And yeah, he overtook us. But all in all, it was a very encouraging weekend. We are consistently third-fastest team on the track and I think with a bit of development in the future we can give a fight to these guys even a bit more. It’s all looking quite promising for the future.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Bernard Bernke – Bild) Seb, you overtook two cars on the way to the pits, that looked like a close one. Could you tell us what exactly happened there?
SV: I’m allowed to overtake so I don’t know what happened to Force India, I don’t know who it was. It was very slow and the Toro Rosso decided to queue so I decided to go halfway over the grass and jump both of them. Obviously we had to change the nose so we lost the positions again but we’re free to race in the pit entry. It looks like I was the only one to remember, which was good.

Q: (Keren Wang – Top Driver) Seb, obviously you didn’t realise the damage on the front wing after contact with Bottas, but did it even have a little effect on the balance of the car?
SV: I think it did. It’s not ideal when bits are missing but it wasn’t huge, to be honest, plus the fact that the car was sort of damaged from lap one, it was a little bit difficult to distinguish but I think the fact that it was alright, also for looking alright in terms of the numbers, the team decided to keep the nose and keep going. I was very aggressive, I think I damaged it into turn three. I thought I was just OK but obviously I was surprised when Kai mentioned on the podium that my front wing was damaged. I looked down and I was a bit surprised myself. I think, in the end, with the contact I had in turn one or two I was very lucky to be able to continue anyway. It was a big hit with Kimi and as I said, the steering wheel was a little bit off-centre for the whole race. I got used to it but surely not ideal.

Q: (Vincent Willtet – Host) I was wondering, what can you learn from this race, going forward and what do you plan on improving for the next races?
DK: Like I said before, overall it was quite an encouraging race. I thought we were close in our pace to Ferrari; through the race we were challenging them but we had to fit medium which is the stiffer compound compared to soft. When we both were on the soft, I think our pace was very similar and obviously Mercedes is still a bit of a step ahead but with the developments in the future races, probably around Canada, I think we can make a bit of a step forward. In some circumstances, I think we can be quite a big challenge to them and today, after the contact at turn one my car was also quite damaged. I don’t know at the moment how much, I still haven’t spoken to the team but there was a side pod damaged and I could see some pieces flying away. I still have to discover how much it was but all in all today the race was promising and we are on the right way.
NR: What we take away is that we are still the quickest car out there at the moment but I think Ferrari really haven’t shown what they can do yet. They have had so many issues in the first three races so we need to keep on it and keep pushing because I think they are much closer than they have shown but we will push and I’m looking forward to the next races and I think we’re going to go well there as well.
Q: Is that what you take away from these first three races?
SV: Yeah, definitely. I think obviously I only had two races and the two races I had were OK. Obviously there was a chance to win in Australia, we didn’t take it, fair enough but obviously today, with a bit of luck, a strong recovery for both cars after what happened on the first lap, so overall not the smoothest road to Russia. Hopefully we had a more solid weekend there. Last year the car felt pretty good, I think we made a step forward with the whole car and power unit so quite confident for Russia, a couple of bits coming so it should be a bit stronger and hopefully we will have a smooth weekend.

Q: (Oleg Karpov – motorsport.com) Dany, are you confident you could have managed to keep Seb behind if you had had another set of softs?
DK: Obviously when we were both on soft tyres it all felt quite controlled. We obviously had very similar pace, I thought, but I was controlling him and obviously it was quite close but then once we pitted for mediums and Seb had softs, obviously, I could straight away feel him on my gearbox and he managed to pass me quite easily on the straight with DRS and then it was hard to keep up, even though we thought maybe we had a chance at the end with a bit better degradation but we didn’t so probably having another (set of) softs would have helped us but all those are ifs and buts – however he’s P2 and I’m P3.

Q: (Oleg Karpov – motorsport.com) Seb, were you cautious before the last pit stop, were you not giving your maximum given that you knew that he would have to go for medium tyres?
SV: We sort of guessed that he had a set of mediums on hand and not a set of softs. I was probably expecting him to jump into the pits a bit earlier to avoid us going for the undercut. In the end we came in on the same lap so maybe I was a little bit too close too early. A couple of laps before the stop I was actually within DRS range and then lost a little bit of contact. Obviously it’s never easy when you are following about a second( behind) so at that point lost the fronts a little bit and he was opening the gap up a little bit more and just before the stop then I was able to close in again a little bit but obviously we came in at the same time and it was a race in the pit lane and a race for the different crews which was quite fun and then I knew that I had the advantage on tyre warm-up and performance, especially on the first lap so I went for it as hard as I could and it paid off. I knew that afterwards it gets a little bit more tricky to just follow him, even though the tyres were quicker. Once I was ahead I just tried to control the gap until the end.

Q: (Alwin Chew – China Daily) Many people have said in recent years that there’s a lack of a buzz for the Chinese Grand Prix. Can I just find out from the drivers what did you think of the crowd turn-out today, the general atmosphere and how do you find the Chinese fans?
NR: The grandstand was full today so that’s great to see and every driver has their section, you know, which is a good fun and I can also tell you that the lobby of the hotel is completely packed every evening and every morning, so I think the enthusiasm here for our sport is really great and I’m happy to see how all of you Chinese fans are so excited that we’re here to race and to watch us race here.
SV: Fairly simple: I would say best fans in the world, great to see full grandstands. I think it’s a massive honour to stand on the pit straight or the main straight when we’re about to start the race, looking left and seeing so many people being excited, so many German flags for myself, for Nico, for the other German drivers and generally the enthusiasm is great. It’s fantastic to see that people enjoy what we are doing so much. It makes us feel very very special. It’s a great pleasure to come every year. I think I’ve been coming for eleven years now and I think it’s just getting better so a big big thank you. I think it’s a massive privilege and it’s the days that you remember one day when you retire. I hope that I won’t retire too soon but I think stuff like that when you come back and people screaming and just smiling at you I think is really what you take beyond apart from the silverware which is nice but it’s really the emotions and the enthusiasm that people transfer onto you, the positiveness, the smiles, so a big big thank you to the fans and already looking forward to coming back next year.
DK: Well obviously I back up what these guys said. China has always been very passionate fans. As a track it offers good opportunities for racing. The weather can sometimes be unpredictable which makes it a bit more unpredictable and yeah, these kind of things make racing exciting. Today we saw those combinations on the first laps of the corners… there are so many trajectories to be taken which can offer great racing. The fans are always there supporting you which feels really great.

Q: (Haoran Zhou – Top Driver) Nico, is this the best start you’ve ever had in any of your Grand Prix seasons and do you think you are at the peak of your career at the moment?
NR: Well, it’s too early to make any summaries, you know? It’s three races now and they’ve gone really well for me but it’s the longest season in F1 history with 21 races so that’s 18 to go or whatever it is. It would not make sense to make any premature conclusions if the start was good or bad, let’s wait and see. Of course I’m happy with the way it’s gone and I’m feeling good and the car’s there but I don’t want to say more than that. Let’s see. Of course Lewis is not many points behind, I don’t know, something like 30 points, that’s not much, that’s a race and a bit and he’s as focused and motivated as ever. He will never give up and he’s the benchmark, he’s been the benchmark for the last years so the battle is going to be a big battle as always.

April 17, 2016
2016 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix: Post Qualifying Press Conference

DRIVERS
1 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)
2 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull)
3 – Kimi RAIKKONEN (Ferrari)

TV UNILATERAL
Q: Nico, it all looked fairly in control, a little bit of a glitch at the start of the session with Lewis, but how does that feel for you?
Nico ROSBERG: I’m pleased of course. The whole weekend has gone well. The car was handling well in qualifying, you know, so to get the lap done and to put it on pole, I’m happy about that of course. Not ecstatic, because of course Lewis had bad luck and his car broke down so the fight didn’t happen but anyways I’m pleased.

Q: Daniel, you pulled that one out of the bag at the last minute, your second time on the front row here. Where did that come from?
Daniel RICCIARDO: I’m not sure! To be honest the qualifying – I didn’t think we started in the best position in Q1 in terms of it being a disrupted session. Just with the balance we didn’t seem like we were really going to be in a fight with the front few rows today and then in Q3 we found a bit more speed. The option here, the supersoft, it’s a tricky tyre to manage. To get the one lap out of it is not exactly easy, it gets chewed up quite a bit as the lap goes on. I think just understanding that as the session goes on and obviously between me understanding a bit more what to do on track and the engineer making a few adjustments with pressures and front wing and I think we got a good package at the end and second is pretty awesome, we didn’t expect this.

Q: Thank you. Kimi, coming to you, Ferrari look good on the supersofts, but there was a maybe a mistake on your last run. Was there more to get out of it?
Kimi RAIKKONEN: Yeah, I mean even the previous run, same corner I ran really deep, too deep, and in the last one I was quite a bit up on that lap and I just ran wide on the hairpin and obviously I lost a lot of time. It’s a shame, I think we had a chance to be even on the top today, but that’s how it goes and we try to make the best out of it tomorrow.

Q: Thank you. Coming back to you Nico. Looking ahead to tomorrow, you obviously went on the soft tyre in Q2, so that’s the tyre you start on. Does that leave you with a significant advantage tomorrow do you think?
NR: I’m not sure, I haven’t dug into strategy stuff so much yet, but I would think that it’s going to a good thing, for sure, to start with that tyre and maybe it gives me a bit of an advantage over the others but as I say I’m not sure yet, we need to look into it tonight.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Nico, once again you seemed able to pull out another half second gap in that final run in Q3. Where’s that coming from. Where are you finding that?
NR: Well, I think the team is just doing a great job and we have the fastest car out there – and that’s it. We’re putting it together in qualifying and it’s great to see. But Kimi did a big mistake – apparently, I haven’t seen it – and lost quite a lot of time, so it would have been… my lap was very good, so it would have been very, very close. That’s what we were expecting actually. That’s why I needed to pull one out, to make sure that I can be on pole today. And I’m glad that it worked out.

Q: Daniel, you’ve been on the front row here before but it looks like you’ve definitely found something here. It bodes well for the future?
DR: Yeah. The start of the season, obviously we’ve only had a couple of races but up until now, this point, I think we’ve exceeded or maximised everything that we’ve got. We showed true dry pace today. I got a front row here a couple of years ago but that was in the wet. We always know we’re a bit stronger in the wet, at least the last few years, so to get a front row in dry conditions, it’s awesome – and yeah, it’s testament to how far we’ve come since the end of 2015. We’ll try to keep doing it. It feels good to be back up here. I know it’s only quali but the plan is to be back here tomorrow after the race We’re kicking goals at the moment. Really happy.

Q: Kimi, what’s likely to happen for you tomorrow in the race? What can you do? Especially with Nico starting on that soft tyre and being able to go a lot longer in that first stint.
KR: I don’t know! Not going to start guessing or anything. Quite disappointed about what happened in qualifying but third is not a bad place to start. On the better side still. We have to make a normal good start and go from there – obviously then see how it pans out. I’m sure the circuit is not in ideal conditions today after the rain. Hopefully tomorrow it is more close to what it was yesterday. But who knows? We’ll try to make the fastest race and see what it brings, if we can fight against the guys that are in front of us or not, we will see.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action/Speedsport magazines) Daniel, as you say, great one lap pace, and you hope to be back here tomorrow but how do you see the race going over a whole race distance with the pace of the car?
DR: I think today’s encouraging. If we can have this on one lap, in the race we should still be pretty competitive. We’re normally a bit better off in the race. Let’s see. I think the race will be… hopefully we’ve got a race with Ferrari. I think Nico, starting on the softs, should be in good shape but let’s see. I hope to have a race with the Ferrari and if we can battle for the podium, that will be awesome. The track changed quite a lot today, this afternoon. Compared to yesterday I felt the balance was quite a long way different. Depends if it goes back towards yesterday track conditions or if it stays as today. That will probably dictate where we end up in the race, what the track temp does tomorrow and if it wears out the front tyres or wears out the rears. I think that’s going to be a determining factor. Hopefully we’re on the good end of that. I think we should be. Looking forward to it.

Q: (Haoran Zhou – Top Driver) Question to all drivers. Because of the unique structure of the grandstand we have a wet patch just before the start line and another at the entry to Turn One. We would like to know, did that affect how you approached the start of your flying lap at all – especially in Q1?
NR: It was difficult initially, quite tricky, as we saw with Wehrlein also, and so even on the last lap, just to keep it safe, I didn’t use DRS over the patch, for example.

Kimi?
KR: Yeah, at the start it was slippery but at the end it was OK to go full speed DRS but it wasn’t completely dry. Not ideal but that’s how it is.

Daniel?
DR: It was the same, first Q1 and Q2 without the DRS, just to play it safe and then Q3 we managed to keep it open. It’s not so much the wet patch, it’s the bump, which then unloads the rear and then, on the wet it’s coincidence where the bump is and where the bridge, I guess… yes, it’s more the bump than the wet patch itself causing some issues. It was, yeah, a bit edgy the first few runs and then it was OK.

Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Kimi, did you consider like Sebastian to save a set of Supersofts for the race and, if not, why not? And can you say where you lost the time – I didn’t see your lap, unfortunately.
KR: Obviously we had different options what to do but we will not know what was the best for tomorrow. I decided to go out again and it was a good lap until, I think, Turn 14, the end of the back straight, the hairpin. I almost ran off the circuit there. Not idea but that’s how it is.

Q: (Keren Wang – Top Driver) One question for Nico. As Lewis has encountered some engine situation or power unit failure, have you encountered any similar situations today, so far?
NR: No, I haven’t. I had an issue yesterday. Need to have a look and try to understand that. Of course it’s bad luck for Lewis today, definitely.

April 16, 2016
Rosberg beats Ricciardo to Chinese GP pole, Hamilton last

Nico Rosberg resisted what seemed to be a mighty threat from Ferrari to claim the pole position in what turned out to be an action packed qualifying session ahead of the Chinese GP.

Kimi Raikkonen threatened to claim the pole with Rosberg trailing him after the initial Q3 runs but going too deep into the penultimate corner, and a perfect 1:35.402 lap from Rosberg handed the German the pole.

Team mate Lewis Hamilton, who already headed into qualifying with a five place grid drop for a gearbox change, will start from the back of the grid tomorrow.

Mercedes are still trying to fix the problem with Hamilton’s ERS but seem confident that they will be able to solve the problem in time for the race. Hamilton has won the last four Chinese grands prix – he’ll have to really earn his pounds tomorrow if he wants to make it five in a row.

Rosberg cruised his way through Q2 on Pirelli’s soft tyres, meaning that he will be starting the race on the soft compound rather than the super softs which are expected to only last only a few laps.

Ricciardo stormed through his final lap to start on the front row for Red Bull, finishing second – just over half a second down on Rosberg’s Chinese GP pole time.

Raikkonen managed to salvage third – the Finn very disappointed in his result after making the mistake into the penultimate corner.

After having his fans at the edges of their seats with the hopes that the Iceman would claim his first pole position since 2008, the disappointment was more than obvious.

Ferrari team mate Sebastian Vettel opted to go for only a single run in Q3 in a likely effort to save an extra set of tyres for the race but rand deep at the hairpin and finished only fourth.

Valtteri Bottas finished 5th for Williams with Daniil Kvyat, Sergio Perez and the Toro Rosso drivers behind him.

Nico Hulkenberg had made it through to the Top 10 Chinese GP pole shootout but could take no part in it after his front left tyre simply slipped off at a thankfully low speed during the final minutes of Q2 which brought out the second red flag of the session.

Interestingly there was no word of any investigation from the stewards into the incident.

Felipe Massa only just missed out on a slot in Q3 after being caught out by the red flag.

McLaren drivers Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button also felt they had a chance of getting through before the red flag came out, with Alonso repeating a good few ARGH’s over his team radio after being told he wouldn’t be able to have a go at it. Button, just as frustrated responded with a, “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

The McLaren Honda team looks to have made some good progress. Both drivers never got to show their true pace but they will however have a free choice of tyres for the race start tomorrow which could help them make out the deficit suffered today.

Romain Grosjean was 14th for the Haas F1 team with Felipe Nasr behind him.

Renault drivers Kevin Magnussen and Jolyon Palmer finished 17th and 19th with Esteban Gutierrez splitting the pair in 18th place. Rio Haryanto finished in 20th place.

Pascal Wehrlein took part in only five minutes of Q1 after he lost control on a bump along the main straight and brought out the first red flag of the session. The delay lasted for 20 minutes as marshalls spent time drying wet patches of water.

Many fans took to Twitter to voice their frustration that such action was being taken for what really amounted to puddles considering the fact that these – the best drivers in the world – do have wet and intermediate tyres available. Wehrlein was running on slicks at the time.

Will Lewis Hamilton be able to fight his way through the pack and pose any sort of a threat up front tomorrow? One thing is for sure – this is definitely going to hurt his title prospects. Rosberg has the Chinese GP pole in his pocket, but not the race victory just yet … Perhaps the Ferrari team could unsettle things at the top a little further with both Raikkonen and Vettel hungry for a win. And, with Daniel Ricciardo in the mix up front, we could just be in for a proper cracker of a race tomorrow. Join us for live commentary, banter and opinions on Twitter @F1_Madness before, throughout, and after the Chinese GP.

Photo Credits: Screengrabs as broadcast by FOM

April 16, 2016