Tag: nico rosberg

F1 2016: Brazilian Gp Preview – Sao Paolo Ready For Drama

There is something about the Brazilian grand prix that brings out the very best that Formula 1 has to offer. For years the South American circuit has delivered some of the most memorable races and visuals in the sports history.

The Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace has immortalised itself by crowning five world champion in the 21st Century, so far. In 2005 and 2006 Fernando Alonso wrapped both of his titles here and in 2007 Kimi Raikkonen won the championship by one point over then rookie Lewis Hamilton. In 2008 one of the most dramatic endings to any championship season culminated in Hamilton’s first title. The unlikely story of Brawn resulted in Jenson Button’s title at the end of the 2009 season. The last champion here was crowned in 2012 as Sebastian Vettel swept to his third driver’s crown.

In 2016 the opportunity for another champion to be crowned has once again come to the fore. Nico Rosberg currently leads his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton by nineteen points with a maximum of fifty still on the table. For Rosberg the equation is clear – win the race and he will become the world champion. It sounds like a simple enough task but there is of course one rather large obstacle in way – Lewis Hamilton. Granted, Hamilton doesn’t have the greatest of records in Brazil but he must throw caution to the wind in order to stop Rosberg. This weekend there is no percentage game to be played, no damage limitation. It is the type of situation where a true champion thrives and one that, arguably, all F1 fans relish.

The Autodromo is one of the shortest circuits on the calendar but still provides a specific challenge to drivers. “The track is quite a technical layout, especially sector 2, it’s important to get this right for a quick lap. Like many of the circuits we race at it has had a lot of history and great moments over the years, this makes it one of the ‘special’ ones on the calendar,” says Red Bull driver Max Verstappen. Red Bull could be in with a good chance this weekend as despite the long start/finish strait the layout should suit their car.

Sebastian Vettel is likely to lay off the radio commentary this weekend after his rather colourful Mexican grand prix. The German driver apologised to all parties involved and will most likely opt to do his talking on track where Ferrari should be able to deliver a turn of pace which could make proceedings quite interesting.

The track surface is quite an abrasive one for which Pirelli have brought the hard, medium, and soft compound. This doesn’t provide any profound insight as to what will happen in the race though. In truth, over the years the Brazilian grand prix has been one of the most unpredictable races of the year with a tendency to err towards the dramatic. Naturally, the expectation is that Mercedes are the favourites going into the weekend but at this history-laden South American circuit nothing is a given.

It’s already primed to be a weekend of high stakes but it’s likely to be an emotional one too. Brazilian driver Felipe Massa will contest his final home race ahead of his retirement from the sport. The image of Massa winning this grand prix amid the euphoria of the crowd is a special memory. What’s more, few will ever forget the gracious manner in which Massa conducted himself as he fell agonisingly short of winning the 2008 title. While his star may have waned slightly over the last few seasons we will never forget Felipe Massa’s prodigious quali speed, his glorious wins in Brazil, and the grace he showed in 2008. Obrigado Felipe.

November 9, 2016
2016 Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

DRIVERS

1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

2 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

3 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

PODIUM INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by Juan Pablo Montoya)

Q: Hello México! Lewis, hell of a day, win number 51, how was it today?

Lewis HAMILTON: It was amazing because of all these people – Viva México! This is honestly the best crowd we get anywhere. In our home country it’s always a great thing, but I don’t know, these guys… I guess this stadium helps, but they turn up and they have such passion for the sport, it’s great to see.

Q: Great, how is Mexico?

LH: I love it here. I’ve had tacos every night and I’m super light, so maybe I need to have tacos every day for the rest of my life.

Q: Congratulations again. Nico, long weekend for you but you still came out second. What do you feel about the championship?

Nico ROSBERG: Que tal México? Los mejores del mundo! Muchas gracias, muchas gracias. It’s been a good day. Lewis has been too fast this weekend, so I just have to accept second place. We’ve had some massive battles out there. At the start I got shunted and then with Max later on and everything, so it’s OK to be second.

Q: Perfect. Sebastian, a lot of people got really excited there at then end there; talk us through it?

Sebastian VETTEL: Well I was using a lot of sign language and using a lot of your language I think. Probably looking back I felt like you when you got angry in the car. No, you have to understand the adrenalin was pumping, I put him under pressure, which was difficult enough, our tyres both were pretty old and then obviously, yeah, he left the track and didn’t move, so you can understand why I really was annoyed. But what a turnaround. I was really disappointed when I crossed the line and then all of a sudden I was told to come up here and being here in front of the crowd is fantastic.

Q: There you go, great day. So Lewis, the championship, what are you thinking?

LH: Well, Nico is doing a great job to pull in the position that he has to finish. I’m really grateful to the team, they did a fantastic job. It’s great for us to have another 1-2 this weekend, and it’s my first time here to win in Mexico. I don’t know where my sombrero is but I do love it here and can’t wait to come back next year.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Lewis, for several reasons that was a bit of a landmark victory for you. It’s your 51^st victory, meaning you now tie with Alain Prost for second on the all-time list. It’s also Mercedes 17^th victory of the season, meaning they become the first constructor to achieve that record. Your thoughts on those two please.

LH: Well, the most important one is the team one. That’s just incredible. Fantastic. Over half of the victories I’ve had have been with this team. It’s a true showing of just how incredible the group of people we have and how well we work together and for the third year in a row proved that we are the best team. So, very proud and, as I always say, really proud to be a part of it. That was the plan, coming here to this team, being hopefully a part of that growth and success. I couldn’t have dreamt it to be any better than it is.

Q: From your races’ point of view it looked to be quite uneventful – perhaps apart from Turn One of the first lap. Could you talk us through that?

LH: Yeah, basically on the formation lap I had a glazed front right brake. I couldn’t wake it up. So, I had 500°C in the left front and 150-200°C in the right front. So I’m on the grid…

SV: How do you know?

LH: They told me. So, I went into Turn One and the right front eventually woke up and just locked. I was carrying such speed. I was lucky I didn’t go in the wall or something. And after that I had just the biggest vibration. I didn’t know if I was going to be able to make it in the first stint. Honestly I thought I had to stop, the vibration was so big I would barely see, to be honest. It was really nice when I got some new, fresh tyres, and it was much smoother.

Q: Coming on to you Nico, it seems that you and Max Verstappen rubbed wheels quite regularly today, can you talk us through the two incidents with him, on lap one and again towards the end of the race on lap 49.

NR: Yeah, it’s a bit on the limit but it’s good racing I guess, so good, I’m sure it was enjoyable to watch on TV. From in the car it was pretty exciting stuff and I’m very happy that I managed to come out on top every time and finish second.

Q: Do you feel that Max was a little bit too aggressive with you?

NR: As I say, it’s on the limit and it’s not for me to judge after that. I haven’t even seen it really. But I think it’s good racing.

Q: And any other dramas for you during the race or just a controlled race to second place?

NR: No, apart from that everything was OK, yeah. Just Lewis was a little bit too quick today and the whole weekend. So he did a great job and I have to live with second place this weekend.

Q: Coming on to you Sebastian. Talk us through those last few laps with both Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo.

SV: I don’t think there’s much to add. I think it’s pretty clear I was quicker. I was closing the gap, got into DRS and put him under a lot of pressure and he made a mistake, which I think was clear he should have moved. He didn’t move. Obviously that battle, that fight, being stuck behind him, losing time, fighting with him allowed Daniel to close in. He was on a superior tyre. I think there was one incident into Turn Four which I need to look at again to be honest. I obviously knew that Daniel is quite jumpy and sometimes a bit optimistic with these kind of situations, which partly fair enough, we’re racing and for him it’s a podium to grasp. Obviously he came back and is now having the advantage on a better tyre. So I need to have a look at that again. It was very close, we made contact. I was pretty lucky. I thought initially I have a puncture. But obviously lost out to Max again and had to close again and couldn’t put him under serious pressure again before the race ended but I think it was pretty clear that he had to give the position back. As far as I learned on the radio he was told, he ignored that. You can understand that adrenaline was pumping and I was very angry. I think when Maurizio came on the radio I calmed down and tried to finish my race.

Q: You drove a very long first stint. Is there a sense of what might have been had you qualified better yesterday?

SV: Well, it doesn’t matter now. Yesterday was a disappointing day. Today we turned it around. And we used the benefit of being on the harder – as in soft – tyre, not on the supersoft for the first stint. I was disappointed that I lost a position to Felipe. I made contact in Turn Two, right after the start. I wasn’t sure if I have a puncture. I don’t know what it is about Mexico, I always think I have a puncture because last year I got one. But yeah, turned out not to be a problem. I don’t think there was any damage to the car so very lucky. Then I really struggled behind the Williams to get past. They were very, very quick down the straights. Really difficult. He pitted and then I just said “OK, let’s try and go,” and it worked really well. We were opening the gap to the leaders, with Lewis right behind. Had free air and could just unleash the pace the car had. For sure, if we start higher up then I think we sail to third without any problem at least. Probably even in a position to put them under pressure but, I don’t know. I think the pace was very good. We sensed it right from Friday onwards. So of course it’s a bit of a shame. But then again, we did a very good job today so, finally, I’m quite happy.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globo Esporte.com) Nico, I know you don’t much like these questions but one win in Interlagos next race you will be world champion. Could you make a comment please.

NR: I hadn’t thought of it that way now, but yeah, if you say that, I can see that. Sounds good. At the moment I’m more thinking about the missed chance to win the race here today. But of course, from tomorrow on I’ll look forward. But I’ll stick to my plan of just going there and trying to win – which satisfies both things!

Q: (Carlos Alberto – Reforma) For the three of you. Is there something to improve at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez? It’s the second time you raced here. Is there something to improve?

Lewis, let’s start with you

LH: I would say that we should bring a much, much softer tyre here. One stop, I don’t know if that’s exciting for the fans but more stops, maybe a tyre that, for once, doesn’t go as far. The medium tyre we could do the whole race with. So, I don’t know, maybe that would enable us to have more battles, more struggles out there as today was generally very easy on those tyres. So it makes the race a lot easier.

Nico, any thoughts?

NR: Well, for one we as Formula One can be really, really thankful because the Mexicans have embraced our sport in an incredible way. A huge, huge crowd coming here and the atmosphere amazing out there. Really so cool to see. And yeah, just a big thank you. And for what can be improved, don’t know, I can’t think of much. I think the race was… seemed to be pretty exciting. With lots of stuff going on, so… nothing.

And Sebastian, from your point of view?

SV: Well, I think we owe a big thank you to the fans. It’s a very special feeling to stand on that podium. You feel very, very special to see… it’s unreal that amount of people that come… already Friday there’s a lot of people but on Sunday it peaks. Drivers parade, yeah, it’s so loud because the people are just celebrating this event and the Formula One to be here. It’s one of the days that, on the day, obviously the race turned out for me to be quite eventful but I think, yeah probably at the age of 60-65 when you sort-of get a bit fat and lazy, sit in your chair at home, it’s these days I think you look back to…

LH: What the hell are you talking about?

SV: Well, it’s just how I feel! Is those days you look back to, the incredible atmosphere, the people celebrating our sport, what we love, I think you feel very, very special.

And anything to improve?

SV: Yeah, the traffic! But I think the mayor is probably very busy trying to sort that out so I have no suggestions on that front. It’s find, it’s part of Mexico.

Q: (Jorge Mendoza – La Prensa de San Antonio) Nico, I know you were expecting a win from this weekend. Is there anything you did differently from your last race in 2015, regarding mental preparation, nutrition preparation, everything it takes to prepare for the race?

NR: Well, first of all, expecting to win? No. I was going for the win, yeah. Expecting is a big word but it didn’t work out. Lewis just did a better job this weekend and apart from that, compared to last year, I’m generally feeling very good this year. I’ve had a great season which I’m happy about. The only thing that I can think of is that in my private life I’m very very happy, because I have a lovely family with a daughter who is a year and two months old and that’s very very special and I think that carries over into the sport, because when you arrive with a smile on your face it makes a difference.

Q: (Seff Harding – Xero Xone News) Nico, to go back to your comments earlier this week when you said that you are just here to win races and not please everyone. You may possibly win this championship two weeks from now. Who are you winning this championship for, because fans – especially American fans – want to find a champion that they can connect to?

NR: I’m really sorry, that’s going a bit too far down the road. At the moment, that’s not something that I have got into.

Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Sebastian, your former team was arguing that you moved under braking when you defended your position against Daniel. Did you?

SV: As I said, I want to look into it again. I knew that when I saw my exit out of turn three which wasn’t great because I was fighting Max into the first two corners and yeah, he obviously tried to trick me a bit. Maybe I could have done better to have a better exit, braking testing me a bit into turn one and then turn two, but nevertheless I didn’t get the best exit so I knew it would be tight with Daniel and I know Daniel in these situations: he’s jumping into the gap even if he doesn’t make the rest of the corner. I think I knew exactly the situation – or in my head – the situation in Barcelona came up where he dived down the inside last minute. I gave him enough room but in fact he didn’t make the first corner. But obviously today’s not Barcelona. He was obviously upset about it and he told me to look at it again. I will do that but yeah, I think I gave him just enough room, it was very late. I think both of us just about made the corner. Obviously it’s never ideal if you make contact because our cars are not built to make contact. I initially thought I had a puncture, I don’t know if he had any damage, he certainly lost a bit of time after that so, as I said, I want to look into it again.

Q: (Jens Nagler – Bild) Sebastian, we heard you saying on team radio ‘he is a beep, that’s what he is.’ Would you be so kind and fill in the missing word? And the second question is do you intend to talk to Max about giving up the position?

SV: No to the first question, I will not answer. Second question, I don’t think there’s anything to say.

Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Sebastian, just one for you I’m afraid, your message to Charlie (Whiting – race director). Do you wish to apologise for that message? I know it was in the heat of the moment but you obviously used a bit of a crude word.

SV: Well, I think it was very clear. Obviously I was very emotional so in fact I’ve already asked to go and see him so I think, yeah… when you’re in the car, emotions are… I was full of adrenalin, you can imagine because I don’t think it was right what Max did. I was told that they were looking into it for three laps and I was sort of getting upset as you can imagine.

Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Lewis, Max Verstappen got a five second penalty because he was short-cutting the first corner, gaining an advantage, that was what race control said. Did you gain an advantage on the first lap when you short-cut the corner?

LH: Well, I had a completely flat-spotted tyre so that definitely wasn’t an advantage but I think I was still in the lead going in so I was in the lead coming out, so that’s not… I don’t believe so.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Any event or punishment is up to the FIA concerning Max Verstappen, but you were there, fighting with him. What comment do you make concerning Max, is he too aggressive, because he’s too young, he will learn? Your comment please.

LH: I didn’t see it. It doesn’t affect me so not really.

NR: Nothing to add. I made some comments already before. I’m going to leave it at that.

SV: Nothing to add.

October 31, 2016
F1 2016: Mexican Gp Review – Hamilton Conquers Mexico

A crowd of nearly one hundred thousand fans looked on as Lewis Hamilton secured his first victory in Mexico and the 59th of this grand prix career.

For the Mercedes driver the 71 laps around the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez went exactly to plan. Despite a bit of a messy start he was able to control proceedings and notch up a second win in seven days. It was a vintage Hamilton weekend in many respects. He dominated from the first session on Friday, through qualifying and never came under pressure in the race. For his part he did all he needed to keep his championship hopes alive. Nevertheless, Nico Rosberg finished an omnipresent second to maintain his points advantage. He didn’t sail through to second though and had to withstand a few dicey moments with Max Verstappen and the start and later on in the race.

Most of the drama was reserved for the battle between the two Red Bull’s of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo and the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel. For the majority of the race Verstappen was running third and extolling pressure on Rosberg for second. Aussie driver Daniel Ricciardo opted for alternate strategy by taking a second tour through the pitlane and emerging with soft tyres for his final stint. This promoted Vettel into fourth and onto the gearbox of Verstappen. Under significant pressure from the Ferrari driver Verstappen took the grass in order to maintain his position. The fact that the Dutchman gained an advantage by doing so was evident however he did not cede the position. This refusal from Verstappen didn’t settle well in the paddock where is already facing backlash for his debatable technique.

There is no question that Vettel’s drive was a good one but it was soured by his foul-mouthed tirade over the radio. While well within his right to be upset with Verstappen he profanity-laced rants were shocking and unacceptable. While not an excuse by any stretch of the imagination his exaggerated reaction is telling and reveals the effect and pressure that a subpar season has exacted on him.

Subsequently, Verstappen was, rightly, slapped with a five second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. This promoted Vettel to third but a few laters this too would be undone as he was given a ten second time penalty for erratic driving in defense of his position. The rejigging of the order promoted Daniel Ricciardo to third with Verstappen fourth and Vettel in fifth.

The other Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen came home in sixth with what could only be described as a odd pit stop strategy. The Finn was holding his own ahead of teammate Vettel on the medium tyre when he was called into for a second stop. The strategy call from Ferrari, who have had their fair share of dubious calls this season, made little sense as several other drivers, including Vettel, ran the race on one stop.

The Force India of Nico Hulkenberg finished seventh ahead of Williams’ Valtteri Bottas in eighth and Felipe Massa in ninth. Local hero Sergio Perez was embroiled in a race-long battle with Massa but his inability to overtake the Williams consigned him to tenth. Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson deserves an honourable mention for his eleventh place finish in what has been a dire season for the Swiss-based team.

While Hamilton didn’t face any pressure from behind there were some concerns on his car. An overheating turbo and sky rocketing exhaust temperatures had the team a bit nervous and eager to avoid any sort of failure. As a result Hamilton was instructed to tune down his power unit performance towards the end of the race. It didn’t cost the reigning champion anything who has now closed to within nineteen points of Rosberg with two rounds of the 2016 season to go.

October 31, 2016
2016 Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix: Post Qualifying Press Conference

DRIVERS

1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

2 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

3 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)

TV UNILATERAL

Q: Well, Lewis, a very exciting qualifying session this afternoon. How tough was that battle for pole position from your point of view?

Lewis HAMILTON: It’s always a tough battle. Trying to pull out the perfect laps when it counts is always a difficult thing, particularly with these tyres. Sometimes it’s on the first lap and sometimes it’s on the second lap that the tyres are ready. Definitely very challenging, as this track always is. But the track has got a lot better because there’s more grip on the track now. Last year we were sliding around a lot more. Today it feels a lot more like a racetrack. Again, not really sure why, but we have a huge turnout here and I’m anticipating seeing a lot more Mexicans here tomorrow.

Q: Well done Lewis. Nico, coming to you, a brilliant final lap from you in Q3 saw you get on to the front row. You made up a lot of time.

Nico ROSBERG: Well, brilliant is two and a half tenths from Lewis, so Lewis’ lap was brilliant, not so much mine. But no, I put it together when it counted in the end, so I’m relatively pleased with that, to definitely make sure I’m on the front row, even though it’s not pole position of course. But still that gives me a great chance for tomorrow anyways.

How have you been struggling with the car so far this weekend?

NR: yeah, it just took a bit longer this weekend to find the way, just generally with tyre temperatures, them being on the cold side all weekend, so it’s a bit nervous out there and just to find the way with that took a bit longer, but got there in the end, so that’s OK.

Max, coming to you, third, best of the rest if you like. Did you ever think pole position was on, because you were fastest in Q2?

Max VERSTAPPEN: You have to be realistic in Q2, because some of the other guys were on soft tyres. But in general, you know, the qualifying felt good. I had a good feeling with the car, actually, all weekend. It was behaving pretty well. It was getting better and better, it was just a shame in Q3 that we couldn’t really get the lap together, otherwise I think P2 was definitely possible. But we are not too far behind and we have a different strategy for tomorrow as well, so it will be interesting.

Coming back to you Lewis, the grand prix tomorrow, there’s potentially a lot riding on this race. Your team-mate can win the world championship tomorrow, what’s the tactic from your point of view?

LH: There is no real tactic. I turned up to do the job and I’m going to try to do the same thing as a Id last week here. So far this weekend has gone well. Yeah, looking forward to the race, the long runs seem to be good, the car feels great, so I’m just looking forward to getting out on track.

Nico, last one, tell us about tomorrow, the race pace of your car, the situation in the championship?

NR: Feeling good, generally of course optimistic. As we have seen this year pole position isn’t everything on Sundays, so for sure there are still some opportunities. Just going to try to do the best I can tomorrow and try to get that win here in Mexico, that was awesome.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Lewis, the practice sessions gave very little indication as to what the ultimate lap time was going to be in qualifying. Can you tell us something about how the track has changed in the two days that we’ve been here?

LH: It’s just gripped up a lot. It’s cleaned up a lot, when we got here on Friday it was obviously a little bit dusty, and also being cold really struggling to get tyres into the working range, I think that’s the same for everyone. Obviously with the temperatures coming up today it made it better, but yeah, otherwise, as I said before, it’s much better to drive the track now with more grip as last year we were sliding round a lot.

Q: Nico, both you and your team-mate will be starting the grand prix on the soft tyres, can you explain what sort of an advantage you expect that to give you?

NR: Oh just that the supersoft, yes it’s going to be OK to start the race, but then it disintegrates pretty quickly, so in terms of strategy that’s definitely going to be a disadvantage and we just think our tyre is the better one, but let’s see how it goes tomorrow.

Q: Same question to you Max. You’re starting on the supersoft. It seems that the Mercedes drivers think that it’s not going to last very long. How have you found the supersoft tyre in a race run?

MV: Well, of course there is more degradation than a soft so it’s up to me, and with the car balance, to make it last as long as we can. But definitely in the start with such a long run to the first corner, if we can have a good start then we have a lot of opportunities from there onwards.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / Speed Sport) Question for Nico. You were on the podium last year. Yesterday there were 93,000 people, more today, more tomorrow. Tell us what it’s like when you come into that stadium section, maybe on a cool-down lap and see all those people.

NR: Yeah, this is what F1 should be like. It’s just incredible. Even now on the slow-down lap I was given them a wave in the stadium and they all went nuts. It’s just great to see the atmosphere, y’know? Very, very thankful that everybody’s come out and even more tomorrow. It’s one of the best podiums in the world here, so it’s a special one to win.

Q: (Seff Harding – Zero Zone News) Question for Nico. With the pressure of possibly winning the championship tomorrow, are you going to feel that from Max Verstappen being that you to have had some interesting runnings-in with each other this season. He’s pretty much giving you a difficult time. Will you be able to deal with that pressure tomorrow?

NR: For me, I’m looking forward. There’s Lewis in front of me, he’s in the way for me to win the race so that’s what I’m going for. Just look forwards, go for it, try and win the race and that’s it.

Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS.NL) For Max, how important is it to beat Daniel today?

MV: Well, that’s not my only target. I’m here to try and fight for the victory. I’m just very happy to be third. It’s not a very special meaning to me. We are a team.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globo Esporte.com) To all drivers, concerning the difficulty you have in the weekend until now to heat the tyres, at the start and mainly in the first lap will it be an issue?

Lewis, let’s start with you.

LH: I don’t think it was last year and tomorrow’s supposed to be as hot as it is today I heard, so, for sure the tyres are not going to be in the window but everyone’s in the same boat.

Nico, anything to add?

NR: I think it will be OK. I think as per normal it takes a bit of time but it will be fine.

And Max

MV: I had my tyres in the window in P1 with the fire! But, no, it will be hard, but it’s the same for everyone so you just have to adapt to the situation.

Q: (Jorge Mendoza – La Prensa de San Antonio) This question is for Max. Were you expecting this kind of success in Formula One in your early stages of your career?

MV: That’s always very difficult to judge. As a driver I think you always try to do the best possible job every single race and just every session and qualifying session. So that was always my main target – and yeah, I’m pretty happy with how it’s going so far.

Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS.NL) Question to all drivers, what is your favourite part of the circuit?

Again, let’s start with Lewis.

LH: I think the middle sector is fun. Turn Seven to 11 is really nice, fast flowing. It’s the fastest part of the track.

NR: Does the podium count?

Max, do you have a favourite?

MV: The same, like Lewis. I think the fast corners. If you have the right momentum, you have a good balance for the car, it’s a lot of fun.

What do you classify as a ‘fast’ corner? Anything over 200km/h or…?

MV: No, I think more up to 250km/h, something like that.

Q: (Seff Harding – Xero Xone News) Lewis, the practice sessions looked solid, you looked so solid, the car looks solid, are there any areas where you feel tomorrow you can gain a little more time?

LH: Well, the long runs were really strong and as you said, practice was really good. Q3 was actually the worst session of the whole weekend so far. But I know going into tomorrow we have hopefully the right strategy and I think the car is in a good place for the long runs. Naturally, during the race, you’re constantly trying to evolve your driving style and technique to make sure the tyres go the distance etc. It’s always a tough race here, particularly as these tyres they seem to go a long way.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speed Sport) Max, was it a close call between the soft and the super soft in Q2 or were you always going to go for the supersoft?

MV: No, I don’t think we even had them in the garage. No.

Q: Same question to the Mercedes drivers. Was it a close call for you?

LH: It wasn’t because… before Q3 I had a lot of pace so we believed that it was possible on the soft and we also did a long run yesterday and knew that the supersoft tyre was a bit of a mess. It may not be for them but it was for us so we opted for the soft.

NR: Always going to be soft.

Q: (Jorge Mendoza – La Prensa de San Antonio) How do you rate the Mexican track compared to the other ones? Do you see the Mexican track quite challenging or do you see it in the middle range?

MV: Well, it’s definitely challenging because it’s quite slippery compared to some other tracks so to get a perfect, clean lap is more difficult than on some other tracks where we have more grip. But in another way, with all the fans around, especially in the stadium section, that makes it one of the favourites, that’s for sure.

NR: Yeah, they’ve done a good job with it. It’s challenging because of the fact that the tyres are cold in general so that makes it challenging here but apart from that, no, it’s cool and of course they’ve done some really amazing things with the stadium section, as Max said, it’s phenomenal.

LH: I’ll be as honest as I can. It is very unique in the sense that because of how high we are, so the air is obviously less dense up here so there’s less drag, we have maximum downforce but we actually have less downforce than at a lot of other circuits so that’s a real serious challenge for us, especially getting the tyres into the window; incredibly fast on the straight so I think we must have close to Monza speeds. The track has got some very challenging parts. Sector one – turn one, two and three – is actually not that easy, it’s quite difficult through there and there are a couple of parts that are a little bit tiny, for example turn four, particularly turn five is very very slow. Again, because we’re going so slowly, the grip isn’t great, but it has a real good combination of all those corners. The finale, at the end, when the tyres are at the end of their life and you see that crowd in your peripherals… we don’t see a stadium like that anywhere so in terms of where to put it on the list, I would say… it’s not in my top three but it’s definitely in the top ten, I think

October 30, 2016
F1 2016: Mexico Gp Qualifying Report – Hamilton Seizes Pole

Lewis Hamilton put his Mercedes on pole position for Sunday’s Mexican grand prix.

A ninety thousand strong crowd looked on as Mercedes locked out their eleventh front row of the season. Crucially it was Lewis Hamilton who took the team’s 18^th pole of the season ahead of championship rival Nico Rosberg.

Max Verstappen was best of the rest in third and will share the second row with Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo. Nico Hulkenberg delivered a brilliant fifth for Force India ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen in sixth and Sebastian Vettel in seventh. Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa secured eighth and ninth for Williams with the ever-impressive Carlos Sainz in tenth for Toro Rosso.

Pascal Wehrlein underlined his credentials with a fine sixteenth place for Manor while Fernando Alonso, in eleventh, will the first driver with free tyre choice. Renault’s Jolyon Palmer missed out on the qualifying session as the Renault team uncovered a crack in his chassis.

Final Qualifying Standings:

October 29, 2016
F1 2016: Mexico Gp Free Practice Three Report – Verstappen On Top

Max Verstappen has set the quickest time for Red Bull in the final free practice session ahead of the 2016 Mexican grand prix.

The Dutchman’s quickest lap of 1:19:137 was roughly one tenth quicker than the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton who set his quickest time at the third time of asking after encountering traffic earlier on. The second Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo was third ahead Nico Rosberg in fourth and Valterri Bottas’ Williams in fifth.

The first of the Ferrari’s was sixth with Sebastian Vettel ahead of teammate Kimi Raikkonen in seventh. Neither driver delivered their best on the the first laps of their quali sim runs but will nevertheless be disappointed with the gap to Mercedes and Red Bull. Felipe Massa, Nico Hulkenberg, and Carlos Sainz rounded out the top ten.

All eyes now turn to Nico Rosberg as the leader of the championship. Can he find the pace to secure another pole position or will teammate Lewis Hamilton strike a crucial blow. Will Red Bull find the pace to take them to the front row of the grid?

Final Free Practice Three Standings:

October 29, 2016
F1 2016: Mexican Gp Preview – All Eyes On Rosberg

The eyes of the racing world will be on Nico Rosberg this weekend as the Mercedes driver has his first chance to win the driver’s title.

It isn’t a straightforward chance though. For Rosberg to clinch his first title he’ll have to win the race and Lewis Hamilton will have to finish tenth or lower. While it’s certainly not impossible [insert image of painful Malaysian engine failure here] it does seem improbable. Many are waiting with bated breath to see how Rosberg will react to the situation he now finds himself in. There probably won’t be a reaction from Rosberg because one isn’t needed. He’s gotten himself to this point and this position with a method that has worked for him the entire season, why change that now? A smart person once said: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The reality is that Rosberg has to keep doing what he’s done since the end of the 2015 season. It’s up to Hamilton now to pull something out of his bag of tricks.

Rosberg’s first chance to take the crown comes at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez just south of Texas. If there is one thing that is true about Mexico it’s that they love Formula 1. A record-breaking crowd at last year electrified the grand prix. The final sector’s stadium section is likely one of the most visually stunning aspects of any circuit anywhere in the world. The hundreds of thousands of fans clambering for a glimpse of the heroes and raucous passion of all of them is truly something to behold.

It might have something to do with the fact that they have two Mexican drivers on the grid in the form of Sergio Perez at Force India and Esteban Gutierrez at Haas F1. “It’s a very special week for my whole career. It’s probably one of the best two weeks of my career because it represents so much to racing, to motorsports in Mexico in general, and to me,” says Gutierrez. “It’s a kind of connection where I can share my passion for racing and what I do with all Mexicans. I feel grateful for their support”.

Besides the second highest top speed, after Baku, the Mexican circuit provides several other challenges. “The primary feature of the circuit is its altitude which tests the turbo charger of the power unit, as well as the vehicle’s cooling systems. The altitude is not only a test for the car, but indeed the drivers and the whole pit crew,” says Williams’ Chief Technical Head, Pat Symonds. “Of particular note is the brake duty cycle, with this circuit now being one of the highest benchmarks we need to achieve. For the second time in a row, the teams also have to handle back-to-back race events as we continue through the busy final stint of the season.”

The circuit’s demand on power unit performance will be prevalent this weekend. Normally, this would mean that Ferrari should have the edge over Red Bull and their Tag Heuer branded Renault engine. However, it has been a season of decline for the Italian team and not just on car performance. If they are to get anything out of this weekend they’ll have to inch perfect.

Nico Rosberg stands on the cusp of realising his biggest dream – to become a Formula 1 World Champion. Despite this overwhelming prospect there is a feeling that Rosberg will continue to do what he’s done best this season and see how the chips land at the end of it. One thing is certain though he will not relent.

October 28, 2016
2016 Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

DRIVERS – Sergio PEREZ (Force India), Esteban GUTIERREZ (Haas), Carlos SAINZ (Toro Rosso), Esteban OCON (Manor), Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes), Marcus ERICSSON (Sauber)

PRESS CONFERENCE

There is an incredible sense of excitement ahead of this Mexican Grand Prix. Checo, last year, those scenes of you being swamped on the drivers’ parade by the fans, just describe what that sense of adulation is like coming into this race.

Sergio PEREZ: Yeah, first of all, I’m so happy, I’ve been waiting the whole season for this race and finally to be here with all my people, arriving to Mexico City – as soon as I arrived here on Tuesday for an event, I can see all the energy from all the people is getting bigger. Formula One is getting bigger, it’s growing. It’s something that makes me very proud and I’m so much looking forward to give them a lot of happiness on Sunday. Hopefully I can give then a strong race, a strong performance. They always say that racing at home is an extra two tenths that you have on you. There really is, because the energy that I feel throughout the weekend is just phenomenal and I’m sure that this weekend will be a lot of that and I will be there to give them my best. The weekend goes to fast to me because I’m full of events and full of commitments that I just want to enjoy every single moment and give my best to them.

And Esteban, same for you really: are you going to find those two tenths in what is your first Mexican Grand Prix?

Esteban GUTIERREZ: Well, it’s an incredible feeling to be here and see how all the people are excited. I feel honoured to be able to share this great weekend, this great moment, with all the people that are going to be here supporting us – family, friends, fans – it’s just an incredible feeling. It feels like a whole big party through the whole weekend. So, yeah, everybody is excited. I’m very grateful for the support and I’m going to give my best to give the best result possible this weekend and I’m lucky to be here, with another opportunity, thinking that it’s going to be in Mexico, in my home country and enjoying all together.

Esteban, staying with you, one year ago you were announced as a Haas Formula One driver, how are your plans shaping up for 2017?

EG: I think Gene has been very clear in the media, they want to wait a few races. Fortunately, we have other options, which we are now considering strongly, and I think it will be important to close something soon, because we cannot risk to just wait a few more races until the end of the season and risk to fall in between two chairs. So we are doing our best and things are looking very good for next season.

Have you put a deadline for those negotiations to end?

EG: Yeah, that deadline should be in the next two weeks.

Checo, back to you, your current team-mate is moving to a works team in 2017, so what do you see in Force India that convinced you to stay there?

SP: I see a good potential. If you see, since I arrived up to now, every season we have been moving forwards. It hasn’t been easy. Right now we are fourth in the Constructors’ and to go up the next top teams are locked out, they don’t have any vacancy, so really I felt like my next move was going to be sideways or probably backwards. I see going to a new generation of cars that my best future is staying where I am, knowing the people that I am working working, having the stability, and as well Force India has done so much for my career I want to be loyal to them.

Moving on to Esteban Ocon, you’ve made huge progress in the six races you’ve driven in Formula One and you’re being linked with pretty much every available seat on the grid. How are those negotiations going and who will ultimately decided your future? Is it your decision or is it Mercedes’ decision?

Esteban OCON: Well first of all I’m already really happy to make the progress we made with the team. Together we have done a really strong job. It hasn’t been an easy thing to arrive half way through the season but I’m happy with the progress. Mercedes is managing my career, so at the moment I’m trying to focus on the remaining races and, yeah, we will see from there on how it goes.

Do you feel ready for a bigger team or do you think you’d benefit from another season with Manor?

EO: I don’t know, you know, as I say I’m focusing as much as I can on the remaining races. If you do a strong job there will always be talks and opportunities.

Marcus, you ran as high as 11^th in Austin last weekend. Do you feel that Sauber are now starting to make real progress for the first time since the buyout?

Marcus ERICSSON: Yeah, I think so. The last few races we’ve really been taking steps in the right direction, starting from Singapore really. Every race we are getting closer to the top ten, both in qualifying and in the races, and as you say, in Austin we had another really good weekend. In Q1 I was P14 on pure pace and that was really positive and then in the race I was running in P11 for a long time and I think it was with less than 10 laps to go I was still 11^th but then obviously we struggled with the tyres and I dropped back a couple of positions. But as a team we have been pushing really hard and moved in the right directions. Also, the updates we brought to the car we got to work now better and better, so we realty see we are going in the right direction. But we just need to continue that now, really push our maximum these last three weekends. It’s no secret, we need to aim for that point to jump Manor in the championship and that’s what we are aiming for, but we are definitely moving in the right direction.

Well, you’re absolutely right, the team really does need that point. Where do you think is your best chance at the remaining three races?

ME: I think every one of them will be a good chance, but obviously on pure pace it’s going to be difficult because we still miss a couple of tenths it feels like to really take the fight for the top 10. It should be some races where there are some retirements or something like that and that should be a chance for us to benefit. We need to be there and do our maximum and be as high as possible in the races that we can take advantage of these surprising things that can happen. If this race is more chance than other races it’s difficult to say but we just need to be there to take the opportunities when they present themselves.

Carlos, a tremendous race from you Austin and a great battle with Fernando Alonso. You’ve often said that he is your inspiration. Do you get an extra sense of satisfaction when you are racing him as opposed to the rest of your peers?

Carlos SAINZ: Well, it’s already a big satisfaction to be a Formula One driver, because you are racing against the 21 best drivers in the world, but yeah, maybe that battle with Fernando was that tiny bit more special. I’ve been growing up looking up at him since he’s in Formula One in 2003. I’ve seen all his races and suddenly I saw myself in a position to fight on the last lap against him in Austin for a P5. It was special, but at that point you don’t really realise the thing you are doing. Maybe when you go to bed and you think a bit more about it, it’s that tiny bit more special, but it was an exciting one I enjoyed it a lot. I didn’t have all the grip available to put up a stronger fight, but I definitely enjoyed it a lot.

Toro Rosso confirmed last weekend that Daniil Kvyat will be your team-mate next season. It’s going to be one of the most experienced driver line-ups Toro Rosso have ever had and when you combine that with the Renault engine coming your way, how does that affect your ambitions for next year, what do you think you can achieve?

CS: I think Toro Rosso is in constant progress at the moment. Obviously this year we have been a bit hampered by this power deficit that you all know by now. But if you look at the car and how it was performing in Austin, it’s a pretty decent car I must say. I really enjoy driving it. So as James Key and his team they do a very similar job to this last couple of years and the Renault engine works well, I think Toro Rosso has a good line-up next year to exploit this full potential of the car with Dany and myself and I really think we can move a bit forward in the Constructors’ Championship. We have the right people on board and we just need a bit of straight line speed, a bit more things coming together to put together some stronger results.

Q: Nico, it’s been a great season for you so far and the upshot of that is that you can clinch the world championship here in Mexico this weekend. You wouldn’t be human if you didn’t think about that. How does it change your mindset?

Nico ROSBERG: I’m well aware of that, and yeah, it’s been a great season so far, which has put me into this position, y’know? It’s exciting to be in this championship battle now with Lewis towards the end of the season. We’ve been there before but anyways, it’s very cool. And that’s it. As I’ve said before, that for me, my way at the moment of achieving the best possible performance is really just to focus on the things that are within my control – and that’s, here in Mexico, try and win the race, and that’s it.

Q: Given the intensity of your battle with Lewis, how is the atmosphere in the team at the minute? Are there echoes of 2014 or is this different somehow?

NR: The atmosphere is really, really good. As an example we had a great party on Sunday night after Austin. All the mechanics, engineers together, it’s great. The team has come a long way and, in every area, we’re just so strong now. Even just this team feeling. Pulling in one direction, having a good time together. Everything. The atmosphere is awesome. I think everybody is thrilled by this battle which we’re finding ourselves in.

Q: What about the dynamic between you and Lewis?

NR: Not something I think about too much really. I try and do my thing and get the best possible result. That’s it. Of course it’s intense – but at the same time there’s an easy-going side lately.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) To Nico Rosberg, in Austin we heard some quotes from Bernie Ecclestone. Can you reply to what he said? He said if you win it could be good for you and for the Mercedes team but not necessarily for the sport because there’s nothing to write about you. What do you say about it?

NR: I spoke to him personally and he said that’s not exactly the way he said it. And anyways, for me it’s not something that’s important to me. For me, I focus on my thing and that’s it.

Q: (El Grafico – Enrique Gutierrez) Checo, what is your great fears in your life?

SP: To be honest it’s snakes, probably! Apart from that I don’t fear anything. To me, I don’t have a lot of fears, to be honest.

Second question, what do you think about the death?

SP: Nice questions. It’s a point in life that you don’t want to reach but everyone will reach death in their life. Sooner or later everyone will reach it but it’s a point of life no-one wants to reach.

NR: I wish all Mexicans a great celebration of the dead.

SP: He asks the question because we have this celebration this Sunday, I think.

Q: (Daniel Johnson – The Telegraph) Question for Nico, you’ve been racing your entire life: you’ve been in Formula One for ten years, been fighting for the championship for the last three, what would winning the World Championship mean to you?

NR: It’s a childhood dream. But that’s where it ends for me. As I said, what’s important for me this weekend is winning the Mexican Grand Prix.

Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Question to Nico. How do you work with Lewis with the battle? Do you copy his settings, do you watch his telemetry or do you work all alone, apart from him?

NR: It’s as-usual. Everything is open, everything is shared and that’s it. So nothing has changed.

Q: (Jonathan McEvoy – Daily Mail) Here we’re a long way up in the air. What’s it like to drive at altitude or is there anything that you feel when you’re driving and is there anything extra that you need to do to be ready for that?

NR: Have you noticed that on your run this morning? What do you do 21k? No, for sure you notice it. So it’s one of those races where the fitness is important and it’s one of those I’ve worked towards. But it’s OK because there are long straights also to relax – so it’s not the toughest race of the year.

Checo, do you have anything to add about racing at altitude?

SP: You obviously feel it. Whatever you do, not only racing, running, whatever activity you do, you feel it a lot more. As Nico said, the circuit probably helps us with the layout. It has one of the longest straights in the calendar so physically it’s not one of the toughest: we’ve been through those already: Singapore, Malaysia – but it’s quite demanding as well, the race here.

NR: But it’s just as difficult for car. Not just for us drivers, because the car having less air volume density makes a big difference. For cooling.

Q: (Lazaro Montano – Record) Nico, how special will it be to get the championship here in Mexico, considering that last year your good streak started here? After Austin, you began to win here in Mexico? How special would it be to complete the year with a championship here?

NR: I have great memories from here last year. Winning here was awesome, and also to get so much support from the Mexican people, even after that, through the whole year, social media, it’s really nice to see, so I look forward to meeting everyone again this weekend. The podium is one of the best in the year, in the baseball stadium, it was absolutely phenomenal and in terms of the championship, it’s not within my control if I get it this weekend, so for me it’s all about just winning the race and then we see what happens.

Q: (Luis Alberto Aguirre – Reform) To Marcus, do you see any chance for yourself to go to Force India next year? Is there any possibility; do you see that seat as a possibility for you?

ME: I think all the drivers who don’t have a contract for next year are looking at the seat. Obviously Force India is the second best available car at the moment, so it’s definitely an option but also Sauber is exciting for me looking at next year, because they have a very strong project building. So yeah, for me and my management, they are keeping their options open and talking to different teams that have seats left and hopefully sooner rather than later I will know what will happen for next year for me.

Q: (Ben Hunt –The Sun) Nico, two questions to you: do you think it’s unfair when people say that you’re only leading the championship due to Lewis’s failures? And also, just to bring you up on Bernie’s point, 2016 he said it would not be good for the sport if you were to win. Last year he had another pop at you and said it would be bad for business if you won the title. He seems to be doing you a bit of a disservice, don’t you feel?

NR: Well, you’re talking a lot about what other think and their opinions. I’m here to win races and not to please everybody that’s out there. There’s always going to be people that have opinions that will be going against me in some way or other. Those are two examples that you’ve given me and that’s the nature of the business, it’s always going to be like that so I like to focus on the people who really support me. And that’s it.

Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Bernie’s come out and said that he’d like to see walls put around circuits. Now I know that you’re quite keen on driver safety; what do you make of that? He would like to see walls to stop people going off track, increase the drama, to increase the danger. It sounds a bit bonkers to me but I just wanted to get your opinions.

NR: Well, my opinion is that there are ten other areas which we should look at before… if we want to make the sport even better than it is before we start looking at turning back time on safety. That would be my view on that.

SP: I certainly agree with Nico. There are so many more areas where we can improve the sport before starting to put safety at risk. I think we can definitely make the circuits a bit more challenging for the drivers, not necessarily with walls but making the driver pay for mistakes if you go off, having a gravel trap and losing time, that kind of thing I think is good for the sport because that forces the drivers not to make any mistakes.

CS: I fully agree with Checo on that one. For me, obviously safety comes first but also challenges for drivers. I just did a track walk this morning and you know when you see so much tarmac run-off where you can go wide like in Austin, it’s good for safety but I’m convinced we could use some devices to make it a bit more challenging, to make sure you use a bit more of the track. At least you pay something, you don’t gain an advantage. At the moment it’s too risky for us to just miss the braking point a bit, nothing happens, continue and you don’t even lock up the tyres. I fully agree on that one with Checo.

Q: (Thomas Goubin – AutoHebdo) Sergio, about next season, for you, at what point will it be difficult to replace a competitive driver like Nico and what kind of a driver would you like for next season as a teammate?

SP: Obviously having someone at the level of Nico is going to be difficult but I just want someone who comes with the right attitude to help the team, that gives good feedback and understands what’s going on with the car and hopefully if he can be fast as well, who pushes me, that would be great. I think that has worked really well with Nico because we push… (Esteban interjects) A Mexican as well, maybe would be good. Someone who pushes you, I think that’s for the benefit of the team and I think a lot of the success that the team has had has been because Nico and I have been pushing each other really hard. Since practice one up to the race, it’s always within half a tenth and that’s always good for the team.

Q: (Luis Alberto Aguirre – Reform) Regarding that subject, would you like to become Checo’s teammate; would you like to be Esteban’s teammate, Checo?

EG: Yeah, why not? It would be fantastic. Any teammate is good. Sure.

Q: Is there any chance we can see you guys wrestling out there later on?

SP: Why not?

Q: (Juan Pablo Sanchez – Millenio) Nico, what do you think are the keys to repeat (your victory) here in Mexico on Sunday?

NR: Well, we’ve seen this year that the results from last year don’t really make a difference to this year except for a positive memory, so we’re all starting from zero and the keys… I think to have a good rhythm through the weekend, starting from FP1, building it up and then the usual things: good qualifying, good start, race pace, those things.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Carlos, we’re in the land of the chilli and your nickname is Chilli. A reader called attribalF1 would like to know who gave you the nickname, when and whether you think it’s descriptive?

CS: Yeah, this name comes probably from my friends, maybe on nights out or something, they get a bit too drunk and they come up from Carlos to Charlie from Charlie to Chilli and that’s how it ended up being… I don’t like chillis, this the interesting part, that I hate spicy stuff. Yesterday I went to have some tacos and I couldn’t have them because they were too spicy. Chilli is not my favourite.

Q: (Jon McEvoy – Daily Mail) Again to Nico, it seems that your mindset is very much each race and your mind isn’t on the broader story. Is that a decision that you’ve reached, the way that it works for you or is it as a result of you having had a word with an expert in the area of mind management? I was just wondering how you stumbled on or decided that the idea that it was one race at a time and that was it.

NR: It just feels right, it feels right to focus on the things I can influence to keep it simple, be in the moment and it’s been working so just stick with it.

Q: (Diego Mejia – F1 Canal Latin America) To maybe Nico and if Checo can answer it as well: how would you expect the track to have evolved twelve months on, how will it be different or not from last year and how would you expect the supersoft tyre to be a factor after last year’s experience?

NR: Normally the track surface gets a bit rougher and that will make it a bit different on the tyres, so that’s the main thing we need to learn and discover and see how that’s gone.

SP: Same as Nico. I think the track will be rougher and that will have an impact on the degradation and now that we have a compound a step softer that might help the degradation so we might see different strategies. I think last year a lot of people went for one stop and now probably that’s not going to be that easy to be on a one stop.

RELATED NEWS

F1 – TV SHOWS, VIDEO GAMES, SOCIAL MEDIA AND LESSONS: MUCH TALK IN TODAY’S FIA PRESS CONFERENCE

F1

20.10.16

DRIVERS – Romain GROSJEAN (Haas), Kevin MAGNUSSEN (…

F1 – 2016 MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX – THURSDAY PRESS CONFERENCE

F1

29.09.16

DRIVERS – Jenson BUTTON (McLaren), Felipe MASSA (…

F1 – SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX – THURSDAY PRESS CONFERENCE

F1

15.09.16

DRIVERS – Marcus ERICSSON (Sauber), Felipe NASR (…

F1 – 2016 ITALIAN GRAND PRIX – THE ITALIAN JOB

F1

01.09.16

DRIVERS – Esteban GUTIERREZ (Haas), Carlos SAINZ (…

F1 – 2016 BELGIAN GRAND PRIX – THURSDAY PRESS CONFERENCE

F1

25.08.16

DRIVERS – Esteban OCON (Manor), Romain GROSJEAN (…

F1 – 2016 GERMAN GRAND PRIX – THURSDAY PRESS CONFERENCE

F1

28.07.16

DRIVERS – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari), Nico…

F1 – 2016 HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX – THURSDAY PRESS CONFERENCE

F1

21.07.16

DRIVERS – Marcus ERICSSON (Sauber), Felipe MASSA (…

F1 – 2016 BRITISH GRAND PRIX – THURSDAY PRESS CONFERENCE

F1

07.07.16

DRIVERS – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes), Jenson BUTTON…

SEE ALL

October 27, 2016
F1 2016: Texas Gp Review – America Brings Victory For Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton has returned to winning ways with a measured drive to victory at the United States grand prix.

Lewis Hamilton ran perfectly controlled race to take his 50th career win and with it a fifth victory on American soil at the Circuit of the Americas. While the perception from the outside made it look like an easy afternoon for Hamilton the Mercedes driver admitted to being “petrified” that his car would suffer a reliability issue as it did in Malaysia earlier in the season. “I was just the whole race concerned the car was not going to make it,” said Hamilton. “Right up until the line, I was just in fear of the same thing, the same feeling I had, the sound I heard in Malaysia. So I was grateful the car made it across the line.”

Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg was an ever-present second ahead of Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo in third but he had to work for it. The German dropped behind Ricciardo at the start of the race and faced serious pressure from Max Verstappen after the first round of stops. Nevertheless, the rub of the green went Rosberg’s way and he emerged in second.

Aussie driver Ricciardo was on his way to the second step on the podium but the deployment of the virtual safety car afforded Rosberg a de facto free pitstop and, crucially, track position ahead of Ricciardo. As if to add insult to serious misfortune the virtual safety car was deployed to recover the stricken Red Bull of his teammate Max Verstappen who suffered a catastrophic gearbox failure.

There was a second high profile retirement in the form of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen as an embarrassing mistake from the pit crew at the Finn’s final stop meant he left the box with a loose wheel that eventually led to his retirement. As one side of the Ferrari garage suffered a costly self-inflicted blunder Sebastian Vettel was able to bring his Ferrari home in a lonely fourth in what was the best the team could have hoped to achieve regardless of the circumstances.

Fernando Alonso embraced the Texas spirit as he delivered a bigger and better performance than McLaren has seen in a while. The Spaniard’s feisty driving showed his fighting spirit as he battled his way into fifth while Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz finshed sixth ahead of Williams Felipe Massa in seventh. Force India driver Sergio Perez recovered brilliantly to eighth after a first corner incident while Jenson Button made up ten places to finish ninth in the McLaren. The Haas F1 Team became the first American team to score a point on home soil as Romain Grosjean collected tenth place.

The grand prix in the lone star state delivered good news all around for Mercedes. The team secured its fifth one-two victory of the season and Lewis Hamilton stemmed Rosberg’s momentum and sliced his championship lead to 26 points. The good news for Rosberg is that he delivered exactly what he needs with his second place finish.

Nico Rosberg’s lead in the championship has been sliced to 26 points with the Mexican grand prix just days away.

October 24, 2016
2016 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

DRIVERS

1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

2 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

3 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

PODIUM INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by Gerard Butler)

Q: Hello Austin! Congratulations Lewis.

Lewis HAMILTON: How are you guys doing! What an incredible crowd we have here. It’s you guys that make this race so special. Thank you for so much for coming out.

Q: So, Lewis, you needed the win, you got it, how do you feel?

LH: I feel OK. This has always been a good hunting ground for me. I love being here in the States. It very much feels like home and, as I said, we have had some incredible support this weekend, which I’m so thankful for. So a big, big thank you to everyone and the team did a great job this weekend to put us both up there and I’m very proud to be a part of it.

Q: So you’ve won, what is that, four times here now, five times in America, you love this track, and it’s your 50^th grand prix win! One off Alain Prost – amazing.

LH: Oh, finally! Finally. I completely forgot. Thank you very much.

Q: [Nico] How do you doing? How are you feeling, talk us through it, an unusual opening?

Nico ROSBERG: Yeah, I mean I lost out a bit at the start unfortunately, then gave it everything to come back. Second place is OK, it’s damage limitation here today of course. I wanted to win here in America, that would have been awesome, but it wasn’t to be. Next time, maybe.

Q: Were you playing the percentages? Were you playing safe a little bit?

NR: No, no, definitely not. Flat out all the way to the end.

Q: Daniel! I hope you’re going to speak to me not in your Aussie accent. I’m a Red Bull man so, like you, I’m very happy. What a great start.

Daniel RICCIARDO: Thank you very much. I hear Mr Butler does not drink alcohol, I respect that completely – but I believe he’s going to drink some Red Bull out of my shoe right now. The race wasn’t that exciting but hopefully now…

Q: I did not… Listen, I love Red Bull but you’ve got to be kidding me! I hate you… actually quite tasty…

DR: Thank you very much for that sir. That was an absolute… display.

Q: I though you did absolutely fantastic. Tell us a little bit about the start for you

DR: This is quite overwhelming. So yeah, the start went nearly to plan. The start was OK. The plan was to try and get both Mercedes. We at least got Nico, which was a positive. Then we were looking like we were holding second quite well and then the Virtual Safety Car. It is what it is, it’s a bit of a frustrating one sometimes. Nico was able to jump me through that procedure. Bit of a shame obviously. I think we would have had a good fight at the end, so sorry about that but a bit out of my control.

Q: OK Lewis, gloves are off.

LH: How did that taste? Bit of toe-jam and Red Bull?

Q: Well Red Bull’s quite a powerful drink – so fortunately I could taste mostly the Red Bull.

LH: Good, good, good.

Q: So, gloves are off, what are you feeling now. You’ve tightened it up a bit…

LH: All I can do is do my best and continue to drive as I have this weekend. Nico’s been driving fantastically well all year. So the battle will continue – but I know we’ll have all this support that will continue as well. So please keep your fingers crossed guys

Q: Are you going to take him?

LH: I’ll be going for it.

Thank you guys, thank you very much.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: We’ve got to talk about this milestone: fifty Grand Prix victories. Only two men have ever done it before: Alain Prost and Michael Schumacher. You must be so proud.

LH: I had completely forgotten that it was going to be the fiftieth. It’s been a long time coming. Once again, and I know I’ve mentioned it before but I’ve been here for ten years, I’ve had lots of ups and downs and lots of great opportunities to work with some incredibly gifted people who have helped me get here today. Then my family as well without whom I wouldn’t be here today. It’s kind of very surreal, for sure. I can’t believe that there are only three of us but hopefully onto bigger and better things.

Q: It was important today that it went this way for you because if it had gone the other way it would have been forty points with three races to go, which would have looked a bit of a tall order. It was interesting to see you on the grid though, you looked extremely relaxed. Why was that, why were you so calm going into this race?

LH: I’ve generally been relaxed all weekend. I feel like… I knew that the start was going to go well so that’s the first time in the whole year that I’ve known that that’s going to go well. Great work done by the guys and great work done in the factory last week and it worked perfectly today.

Q: Nico, we’ve got to talk about the start You got away well, you went across to the outside and Daniel came up the inside. Talk us through it.

NR: Yeah, got away really well. Not quite enough to give it a go down the inside so Lewis would just have closed so no point in trying that so just went round the outside. All was looking good, actually, I just struggled for a bit of grip then out of the corner and Daniel had that extra grip and that’s it. We knew that that was going to be a risk with that supersoft. Then flat out after that and it worked out of course with the VSC.

Q: You knew the recovery strategy was obviously based on the medium tyre, you were playing a long game but you were very quick on the medium tyre as well. Once you got onto it, you presumably knew that you were going to finish second today.

NR: Yeah, I felt really good out there in the car, we found a great balance and I was feeling really comfortable and so I was just able to push really well and so that was a good feeling, yeah.

Q: Daniel, we’ve got to talk about the start. From your perspective, were you a bit surprised Nico went to the right? How did you read it and talk us through how you got ahead?

DR: Yeah, I think the actual launch itself didn’t seem that much stronger than the Mercedes on the soft tyres so I was hoping it would go a bit better but then, yeah, Nico opted to go to the outside so I had some room on the inside there. Yeah, I got one at least. I was obviously hoping to get two but that was better than nothing and then yeah, I think the first part of the race we sort of just seemed to… everyone just seemed to have similar pace. I guess Lewis was probably controlling it at the front but we seemed at that stage to be able to hold on to second and then the virtual safety car, I think we lost ten seconds it worked out to be, with Nico. I believe after the pit stops we would have had about five seconds on him. And then after the virtual safety car he had close to five seconds on me so that was frustrating, I guess. It just would have been interesting, even if he caught me at the end, just to at least have a fight. I think the race, after the virtual safety car, became a bit… not that exciting. I guess without it it would have made it a bit more spicy at the end. That was that. Unfortunately third was the outcome but it was still nice to be on the podium. It’s a cool place, I’ve always loved it here for everything: the anthem before the race kind of gives you goosebumps and then the crowd… obviously on the podium is pretty cool. It’s been a good weekend.

Q: Does it make it worse that the virtual safety car was actually triggered by your own teammate?

DR: Absolutely sir. When I saw Max out there I thought ‘ah, hell. My boy’s done it again!’ So anyways, that was a devastational moment but we’ll keep soldiering on. We still got some points over Ferrari today so I’m pretty pleased with that.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speedsport) Daniel, what are your thoughts regarding the upcoming three races if you can get close to these guys again?

DR: We’ll try. I think looking at it, on paper I would say Abu Dhabi is probably where I fancy my best chances. It’s been a strong circuit for me and I think us as a team have normally been pretty good there so that’s probably one. Mexico is still new. I think the surface is going to be a lot different when we go there next week, it will be more rubbered in. I think it’s going to be a completely different track to last year and we will see. Brazil, it’s been a while since we had the sort of magical Brazil downforce so maybe we can get one of those this year and have a chance. We’ll keep trying, keep doing what we can. Obviously they’re hard to beat but maybe next time the virtual safety car will help us out. We’ll see.

Q: (Seff Harding – Zero Zone News) Nico, you put in another one-two for Mercedes; do you feel like you’ve lost any momentum after this race this weekend, heading into Mexico?

NR: I just feel that it’s a pity that it didn’t work out with a win this weekend. I was going for that. It would have been awesome here in America but it didn’t work out. Lewis did a great job this weekend, all the way through, qualifying and race so it just wasn’t to be. I’ll live with second place now and next race is another great opportunity.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globo Esporte.com) Lewis, there’s no way not to question the mathematics of the championship. To Nico, two second places and one third would be enough to be champion. Do you think about it and what can you do to maybe change it or are you just going for the races and trying to win?

LH: Honestly, I just focus on doing the best job I can. Honestly today, beyond doing the job… I felt comfortable doing the job, I was just the whole race concerned the car was not going to make it so right, I’ve been told the line, I was just in fear of the same thing, the same feeling, the sound that I heard in Malaysia, so I was grateful that the car made it across the line and I have a lot more confidence in his reliability. It’s going well for him. I’ve just got to continue to do my job and hope for the best.

Q: (Laurence Edmondson – ESPN) Lewis, having Daniel put a bit of pressure on Nico through that race, does that give you some extra hope that maybe the Red Bull will be able to finish between you and Nico and give you a better chance of taking this championship?

LH: I don’t really think about that. I just kept focusing on doing my job to the best of my ability. I can’t control what’s behind and there’s no point in even hoping for anything, just hoping to do the better job on the weekend and have more weekends like that. That would be great.

October 24, 2016