Tag: nico rosberg

F1 2013: German GP Review – Vettel breaks his German jinx

The 2013 German grand prix is one that will stay in the memory bank of Sebastian Vettel for quite some time. Bested in Saturday’s qualifying session by Lewis Hamilton the reigning world champion had it all to do in Sunday’s race.

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton finished a tenth clear of Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel to take pole position for the German grand prix.

The biggest casualty of qualifying was teammate and British grand prix race winner, Nico Rosberg. An initial run in the second part of Saturday’s qualifying appeared to be enough for the German to advance to the top ten shoot-out. However, a late flurry of flying laps in the closing stages of the second session of quali pushed Rosberg down to eleventh and out of contention for the front row of the grid. The German commented that the team had “underestimated the pace of the track.”

Ever dependable Jenson Button managed to drag his McLaren into the top ten and continually impressive Daniel Ricciardo and Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg advanced to the final part of qualifying.

But Saturday once again belonged to Lewis Hamilton. The 2008 champion pipped championship leader Sebastian Vettel to pole position but a tenth of a second. Former German grand prix winner Mark Webber will start third and Kimi Raikkonen, in the Lotus, fourth. Romain Grosjean and Daniel Ricciardo will start fifth and sixth ahead of Massa, Alonso and Button.

Acing the start was the easiest part of Vettel’s afternoon as he had to fight both the Lotus’ Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen. Vettel grabbed the lead of the race straight away and controlled the pace easily ahead of teammate Mark Webber.

The soft compound Pirelli tyres dictated early pitstops for the frontrunners and pushed Lotus’ Romain Grosjean into the lead of the race. Mark Webber’s first pitstop, on lap nine, took a dramatic turn as his right-rear wheel was not attached correctly. It bounced through the pitlane before striking and FOM camera-man, Paul Allen. The cameraman was being held for observation with a concussion, broken ribs and a fractured collar bone. Red Bull have been fined 30 000 Euro for unsafe release of Webber’s car.

A pitstop from Grosjean re-instated Vettel to the race lead but the German looked unlikely to maintain the lead under serious pressure from Grosjean’s Lotus. Nevertheless, the nearly ten second gap to third placed Raikkonen would soon be wiped out.

For what seemed like a fairly innocuous retirement from Marussia’s Jules Bianchi soon took a dangerous turn as Bianchi’s driverless car started to roll down the middle of the circuit. This prompted the deployment of the safety car on lap 24 and spurred a flurry of activity in the pitlane.

By the time the safety car pulled into the pitlane Vettel had both Lotuses breathing down his neck. Romain Grosjean tried his level best to overtake the Red Bull driver but it proved a bridge to far for the Frenchman who subsequently pitted on lap 40 for a fresh set of medium tyres. Vettel followed into the pitlane a lap later and relinquished the lead of the race to Kimi Raikkonen.

The Lotus driver was leading the race by 15 seconds over Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel and felt that the tyres and the car were, possibly, performing well enough to hold on to the lead. However, communication problems between the pitwall and Raikkonen ultimately led to a late pitstop for the Finn.

“I could run longer and we had to think about if we should try to run until the end,” said Raikkonen. “But I had massive problem with the radio. I could hear the team but they couldn’t hear me, apart from at two corners.

Raikkonen last pitstop switched him to the soft compound Pirelli tyres and left him roughly three seconds adrift of the Red Bull. Despite closing down Vettel in the closing stages of the race and getting to within the DRS zone, the Finn was unable to regain the lead of the grand prix. Raikkonen finished one second behind race winner Sebastian Vettel.

Ferrari’s qualifying strategy hadn’t quite gone to plan with Felipe Massa retiring and Fernando Alonso only salvaging fourth. Polesitter Lewis Hamilton’s difficult afternoon was blighted with tyre issues but the Brit fought his way back to finish fifth overall. Jenson Button returned McLaren to the points paying positions with a fine sixth place ahead of a recovering Webber in seventh. Perez, Rosberg and Hulkenberg rounded out the top ten.

The dismal run of form for Williams continued this weekend as the team failed to score even a single point on the weekend they are celebrating 600 grand prix starts.

Just seven days ago Sebastian Vettel walked away from the British grand prix without a single point in the bank. But he’s no three champion by mistake and this is not the impetuous Vettel of 2009. A mature, in control, winning machine is what Vettel has transformed himself into – and that is going to take some stopping in 2013.

As impressive a collection of achievements as Sebastian Vettel has been able to put together winning his home race has always eluded him. But a finely judged drive and resisting big pressure from Raikkonen has earned the championship leader a coveted home race victory.

July 7, 2013
F1 2013: Qualifying Report – German GP

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton finished a tenth clear of Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel to take pole position for the German grand prix.

Briton Lewis Hamilton has taken his second consecutive pole position and twenty-ninth of his Formula 1 career at the home grand prix for his team, Mercedes.

The biggest casualty of the day was teammate and British grand prix race winner, Nico Rosberg. An initial run in the second part of Saturday’s qualifying appeared to be enough for the German to advance to the top ten shoot-out. However, a late flurry of flying laps in the closing stages of the second session of quali pushed Rosberg down to eleventh and out of contention for the front row of the grid. The German commented that the team had “underestimated the pace of the track.”

Ever dependable Jenson Button managed to drag his McLaren into the top ten and continually impressive Daniel Ricciardo and Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg advanced to the final part of qualifying.

The gap between the soft and medium compound tyres this weekend has been anything from one to one and a half seconds – a run for pole, or anywhere near the sharp-end would require the yellow marked tyres, no doubt. However, the medium compound tyres have also proven, through long run stints in qualifying, to have a much better wear rate than their softer counterparts. As ever Ferrari chose to play the long run and focus on race day by choosing to run only the medium compound tyres in the final ten minute session of qualifying. The result was seventh for Felipe Massa and eighth for Fernando Alonso. Barring any incidents in the first corners the Ferrari’s should bring themselves nicely in to play in Sunday’s race.

But Saturday once again belonged to Lewis Hamilton. The 2008 champion pipped championship leader Sebastian Vettel to pole position but a tenth of a second. Former German grand prix winner Mark Webber will start third and Kimi Raikkonen, in the Lotus, fourth.

Romain Grosjean and Daniel Ricciardo will start fifth and sixth ahead of Massa, Alonso and Button.

July 6, 2013
Vettel fastest on softs in Free Practice 2

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time during the second free practice session in Germany beating Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg by two tenths of a second.

Mark Webber who had a very consistent run finished the session in third place and proved to be very quick on the medium tyres. He was followed closely by the two Lotus drivers.

Alonso, who did not manage to set a time in FP1 managed to place his car in 6th ahead of team mate Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton.

Jules Bianchi did not complete the session due to feeling ill.

The Mercedes drivers still seem to have the advantage over a single lap but it’s still early days – we have FP3 and Qualifying tomorrow.

Below are the results for the session.

July 5, 2013
Rosberg wins dramatic Silverstone British Grand Prix

Nico Rosberg took the win at a dramatic Silverstone British Grand Prix riddled with tyre delamanations and blow outs today.

The two favourites for the win – Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel both lost their hopes of winning when Lewis suffered a tyre blow out and Vettel suffered a gearbox failure.

It was a thrilling race from start to finish but many questions will be raised around the Pirelli tyres and their safety going forward.

Full race review to follow.

Here are the results of the Silverstone F1 British Grand Prix.

June 30, 2013
F1 Silverstone Qualifying Team and Driver Quotes

Team and Driver quotes following today’s qualifying session at Silverstone.

Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton (1st, Q3 – 1m 29.607s)

“It feels incredible to be on pole, just like it did back in 2007. We have the greatest Formula One fans in the world here in Britain and there was a great turnout today, which makes the atmosphere so special. My lap in Q3 was a lap for the fans out there around the circuit. I haven’t been feeling comfortable in the car all weekend, so I was really happy to find a good lap and this feels fantastic. The team has done a phenomenal job and it’s a great reward for the guys here at the track but also back at base, especially as our two factories are so close to the track. But we know that tomorrow is another day and our Sunday performance isn’t quite as strong right now. Our long run pace looked ok yesterday and we were able to manage the tyres quite well. It’s going to be tough to keep Seb behind but we will give it everything we’ve got.”

Nico Rosberg (2nd, Q3 – 1m 30.059s)

“A fantastic team result today and it’s great to see how much progress we have made together since last year. The feeling of confidence that our car will be quick in qualifying is fantastic and I love going to a race knowing that we have a shot of a strong grid position. The team are doing a great job and we are keeping up the development so a big thank you to everyone at the factories, many of whom are here today watching. My lap was good and starting from the front row is great but Lewis did a fantastic job today. I hope we have improved our race pace; it will be all about tyre management tomorrow and keeping the others behind us. I’m confident that we can get a good result.”

Ross Brawn, Mercedes team principal

“The team has worked incredibly well over the past few months to achieve a result like today’s. We have been chipping away at the performance, quietly bringing new updates and continuing to push, while also focusing our efforts on how we could improve our tyre management issues, and it seems to be paying off. The engineers and drivers got the cars into the perfect place for qualifying and, as the wind dropped towards the end of the session, both Lewis and Nico were able to deliver strong performances. Lewis put in a stunning lap at the end of the session and it’s great to see him and Nico pushing each other so hard in every session. It will be more of a challenge to remain as competitive in the race but we gathered good information yesterday and hope to be able to build on that tomorrow.”

Toto Wolff, Mercedes team executive director

“A fantastic result for the entire team to take our third front row lockout this year. Fair, sporting competition is what Mercedes stands for and, while a lot has been said and written this weekend, the only thing that really matters is what happens out on track. The focus this afternoon should be on our drivers, Lewis and Nico, and on this fantastic team who have pushed so hard to keep developing the car in tough times and solve our problems. Lewis put in a mega lap: I don’t know if it’s the Silverstone factor or something else, but that was an incredible performance. Nico has been strong all weekend and second position gives us a great platform for the race tomorrow. Tomorrow should be warmer and we have struggled with race pace at some circuits so far this year. But the trend is going in the right direction, and I hope we can continue that tomorrow.”

Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel (3rd, Q3 – 1m 30.211s)

“We will see what happens tomorrow. It’s a long race, but I’m happy with today. Either Lewis found a short cut or he has something special round here, it was a phenomenal lap and he wasn’t in reach today. I was very happy with the lap I did at the end, it was very close with Mark also. We did what we could for the team and it’s always nice to position well in qualifying, especially around here – qualifying is good fun and I’m enjoying the high speed corners. We’ll see how we get on with the tyres tomorrow and with looking after them. I’m happy for the team today, our factory is very close to this track, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Mark Webber (4th, Q3 – 1m 30.220s)

“We were up against it to get on the front row against the Mercs, they’re on another level as they have been for the last few events. It was disappointing to get pipped by Seb there at the end by a hundredth, it was very close. I was happy with the first part of my lap, but I could have done better in the last sector. We have a good balance for qualifying and race pace in terms of where we prioritised things. It should be an interesting race, we can get a good result from there.”

Christian Horner, Red Bull team principal

“We could see this morning that Mercedes were very fast over a single lap and they’ve demonstrated that again this afternoon, so congratulations to Lewis on his pole position at Silverstone. It was a great performance from both of our drivers with only one hundredth of a second separating them on the second row. Hopefully we can give Mercedes a good run for their money tomorrow from there, and I’m sure it’s going to be an exciting British Grand Prix.”

Thierry Salvi, Renault support for Red Bull

“Silverstone is one of the hardest circuits on the engines, with some of the fastest series of corners we see all year and one of the highest average speeds, but also some of the tightest complexes. As a result, getting the maps correct is always a compromise, but we were on the right side today. While it would have been great to get a front row start at the team’s home race, we did the best we could. We’re still in a good position to let the race come to us and hopefully we can win for the fourth time in five years.”

Force India

Paul di Resta (5th, Q3 – 1m 30.736s)

“I’m over the moon with the qualifying result and I think the whole team can feel very satisfied with fifth on the grid. The morning practice session was quite difficult so it feels great to come through and end up just behind two Mercedes and two Red Bulls. This track takes a lot of commitment and you need to build up your speed, but I think we saved our best till last – and that’s when it mattered. For tomorrow our tyre wear looks healthy and we’ve given ourselves a good opportunity to get in some clean air during the race. I will sleep well tonight and hope that we can have a straightforward race, and come away with lots of points.”

Adrian Sutil (7th, Q3 – 1m 30.908s)

“Seventh place is a great result today. The car was not easy to drive this morning, but we made some improvements before qualifying and found more speed with each session. If we can do our homework tonight then we have the potential to have a great race. There are still some unknowns with the tyres over long runs because I haven’t really done more than ten laps on a set of tyres, but I feel comfortable on both compounds. So we can be happy with the result, but we need to concentrate on tomorrow because that’s what counts. In terms of strategy we need to keep an open mind and have several options going into the race so that we can react as the race develops.”

Dr Vijay Mallya, Force India team principal and managing director

“I am delighted with today’s qualifying result. The sun was shining, the grandstands were full, and we put on a fantastic show. Fifth place for Paul at his home Grand Prix is a tremendous effort, especially on this high-speed track, which has not been our strongest race in previous years. Adrian’s seventh place confirms just how competitive we are this weekend and we know that we have good race pace. For tomorrow it’s important that we maximise these starting positions and hopefully give our supporters and partners something to celebrate at our local race.”

Toro Rosso

Daniel Ricciardo (6th, Q3 – 1m 30.757s)

“Coming off the back of a bad couple of races, I expected to be strong here and I was more motivated than ever. However, if I’d been told I could be sixth this afternoon, I would have been surprised. We were very close to Di Resta in fifth, but we can be happy with this position. We showed good pace all weekend, including this morning when I was sixth, so it was nice to confirm that this afternoon. Now I am looking forward to the race when I hope I can come away with a good handful of points. I’d like to think I could finish at least in the same place I am starting from. It would be nice to do even better and I will be pushing hard to achieve that. I believe it will be a few degrees warmer tomorrow, which could make the track conditions change quite a lot. This is a very demanding circuit with lots of high speed corners, so the tyres don’t get much of a rest, therefore tyre wear will be an important factor tomorrow.”

Jean-Eric Vergne (13th, Q2 – 1m 31.785s)

“I made a mistake on my quick lap in Q2 and that’s the plain fact and I’m very upset about it, as it lost me the chance to get into Q3 which was definitely possible. As to what happened when I got it wrong, I am not exactly sure what was the reason: maybe I was too close to Vettel in front of me, but I felt I lost downforce and then just went straight on. Anyway, I am not looking for excuses. The car was working well, as it has done all weekend, so now I must make up for it in the race tomorrow. Looking at Daniel’s performance this afternoon, it’s a good sign as it shows the car is quick and we will have something to work with tomorrow afternoon. I think it’s still feasible to have a good race tomorrow and to bring home points.”

James Key, Toro Rosso technical director

“It’s good to have got through to Q3 with one car here. We’ve been reasonably on the pace right from the start of the weekend, even if neither driver has been completely happy with the balance of the car. However that did not stop them from setting what we consider a competitive lap time. We were not sure what to expect at Silverstone, as it’s such a different track to the last three venues, especially to Monaco and Montreal. We did a lot of work to ensure we had the car in its sweet-spot for here and that paid off. Daniel did a fantastic job to get to Q3 and then to P6 completely on merit, while it was a great shame for Jev, who had matched Daniel’s pace all weekend but just did not get the maximum out of his Q2 lap. Overall, it shows that the steps forward we are making on the performance front are working consistently and a two car points finish is a realistic target tomorrow.”

Lotus

Romain Grosjean (8th, Q3 – 1m 30.955s)

“Whilst were very quick on the hard tyres at the beginning of qualifying, we weren’t as competitive on the mediums, I don’t know if it’s the weather or something else, but we weren’t as good on them as in free practice this morning meaning we didn’t have enough to qualify further up the grid. We are working hard and in the right direction, but the tyres are still playing a key part. I’m quite satisfied with my performance today.”

Kimi Raikkonen (9th, Q3 – 1m 30.962s)

“It was a close qualifying session between both of the team’s cars so I think we both got pretty much all there was from the car today. It’s not ideal as we’d like to be nearer the front of the grid, but it is what it is. We’ll go into the race wanting to get a better result than we did in qualifying. Usually this is what happens for us and and hopefully that is the case again tomorrow.”

Alan Permane, Lotus trackside operations director

“I’m reasonably happy with both cars making it into the top ten but, of course, we would have liked a bit more from today. Romain didn’t have a perfect last lap and suffered from understeer in Turn 15 whilst there didn’t seem to be much more pace in Kimi’s car. We had quite a dilemma as to whether we should run Romain on the harder tyres in Q3 as he went very well on them in Q1. Other than that, both compounds are well suited to the demands of Silverstone and there should be a range of strategy permutations available tomorrow. Like many of the crew, the E21 certainly prefers warmer temperatures. The cloud cover today can mean a reasonable temperature drop, so we’re certainly hoping for clearer skies and a warmer track tomorrow.”

Ferrari

Fernando Alonso (10th, Q3 – 1m 30.979s)

“This weekend has been complicated for us by problems that we haven’t managed to get on top of, concerning various aspects such as the balance of the car, its driveability and performance. We can consider this the worst Saturday of the season so far, having never finished so far down, but now we must react immediately to try and return to the form we showed at the start of the year. We definitely expected a lot more here, because this is a track that suits our car’s characteristics better than others. In Q3, we hesitated a bit over tyre choice: we went out on the Hards because they had worked well in free practice this morning and in Q1. Then we switched to Medium with the idea of just coming back to the pits if it did not go well but then we decided to finish the lap and nevertheless our rivals were quicker. Now, we must try to do the same, starting from tomorrow: even if the race will be an uphill struggle we are well aware how things can change during a race. We hope we can stage a good climb up the order and bring home as many points as possible.”

Felipe Massa (12th, Q2 – 1m 31.779s) “It was an extremely difficult day as we did not have the car we were expecting and we had no grip whatsoever with new tyres. Compared to other cars, we struggled to put together a good lap. The time lost when I went off the track yesterday and the interruption this morning to change the engine definitely cost me valuable kilometres and in qualifying I lacked the few tenths necessary to make it through to Q3. Now we must think about tomorrow, as the race is an altogether different matter and I hope that, with a full fuel load and higher temperatures, things can change in our favour. If the car is more competitive, I’m sure I can pull off a few passing moves and fight for a good result.”

Pat Fry, Ferrari chassis director

“Today, the much awaited sunshine didn’t manage to push the temperatures up as much as we had hoped, especially on the track. The surface stayed rather cold and already in the final free practice this morning had created some problems with grip, with several drivers going off the track. Things only improved slightly in qualifying, but not enough to improve the grip levels. Looking at our start positions, it’s obvious that our cars suffered more than others, even if the gaps in the small group of cars ahead of Fernando are very close. While trying to improve the balance on the car, we tested various solutions, trying to increase driveability in both the high and low speed corners, always keeping in mind what will be the key factors in tomorrow’s race. We can be more confident when it comes to the race and we will be counting on the performance we have seen over a long run, which is encouraging. During the opening laps it will be important to try and make up a few places. Then, our strategy will be aimed at helping the drivers as much as possible in their efforts to close up to our direct rivals.”

McLaren

Jenson Button (11th, Q2 – 1m 31.649s)

“I’m higher on the grid than I expected after practice. Yesterday, I didn’t think we’d qualify ahead of one Ferrari and just behind the two Lotuses. But I was much happier in qualifying than I’d been all weekend – we should be positive that we’ve improved the car. I think 11th was the best we could have realistically achieved today. Even if we’d got into Q3, we’d probably have been 10th; so starting 11th means I’ll have a new set of tyres and will start from the clean side of the grid. After Q2 I walked down the pit lane to the FIA scales, waving to the crowd. There were so many Union Jacks and rocket-red caps out there, and the fans have been unbelievably supportive all weekend. You always want to do a good job in front of your home crowd, so I want to say a big ‘thank-you’ to them for their support. You never know what will happen tomorrow: starting 11th isn’t great, but we can race well from there. I will drive my heart out for a good result.”

Sergio Perez (14th, Q2 – 1m 32.082s)

“It’s been a difficult day. The puncture in FP3 wasn’t the best preparation for qualifying – and it made it more difficult, because we had to change the damaged floor for the older-spec version. This afternoon, I struggled a little with the warm-up of my tyres during Q2; I lost temperature when I was stopped and weighed at the FIA scales. We’ve been a bit unlucky all day. Still, we were a lot closer today than we were yesterday. Even if it’s not apparent, we’ve definitely made some improvements, and I think we might have had the potential to slip into Q3 if we’d been a little bit luckier. Our race pace should be better than our qualifying pace. Tomorrow is still going to be difficult, but I’m positive we can go forwards from here.”

Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren team principal

“It’s been a difficult weekend for the team, but our pace in qualifying shows an upturn in form that we hope to carry into the race tomorrow. Jenson was unfortunate to miss out on Q3. In Q2, he lost out to 10th place by just 0.057s, and was only 0.659s from the fastest qualifier. Checo had an unlucky day: his poor luck started with his puncture in FP3, which damaged his floor and meant we had to fit an older-spec floor to his car. Into qualifying, he was called to the FIA weighbridge, which lost him tyre temperature, and then encountered traffic on his critical run, which lost him time. However, both our drivers are fantastic racers: Jenson will have the support of the home crowd behind him, and Checo will be determined to recover from the setbacks that affected him today. So I think our drivers are both set for charging races tomorrow.”

Sauber

Nico Hulkenberg (15th, Q2 – 1m 32.211s)

“Unfortunately P15 is reality. It was more or less the best we could do today. The car was difficult to drive, especially at high speed with a little bit of wind the car is very sensitive. We are simply not quick enough. Of course, a lot can happen during the race tomorrow, and maybe a bit of English rain would help us. But I think points will be difficult, then again you should never say never.”

Esteban Gutierrez (18th, Q1 – 1m 32.666s)

“Compared to the practice sessions yesterday, I think we made a step forward, but it’s tricky because we find ourselves in a position where everything is on the limit. Whatever we do there is always a compromise to it, which is challenging. It seems I am losing a lot of time at the exit of the corners, and this is tricky, because that is usually when I try to push and get things right. I believe I did my best with overall good and consistent laps. But it is just not quick enough. This is something we have to evaluate and see what we can do to be better in order to progress.”

Tom McCullough, Sauber head of track engineering

“We struggled with the car’s balance in FP3, but were able to improve it for qualifying. P15 and P18 on the grid is clearly not where we want to be and will make the race difficult tomorrow. The current forecast is dry, so we will work hard tonight on the strategy in order to maximise our chances.”

Monisha Kaltenborn Sauber team principal

“We can’t be happy with a result like that. Nico did a good job, while Esteban was struggling. Of course, this is not the position you want to be in looking ahead to the race tomorrow. It won’t be an easy race for us.”

Williams

Pastor Maldonado (16th, Q2 – 1m 32.359s)

“We were expecting to be a bit closer to the top ten today, but we were struggling to put everything together in the car for one lap. Hopefully tomorrow we can work on our race pace and fight with the teams around us to move up a few positions. We need to keep improving as a team because we’re not where we want to be still, but race by race we are aiming to close the gap.”

Valtteri Bottas (17th, Q1 – 1m 32.664s)

“We were unlucky to miss out on Q2 today as I was very close to my teammate and we could have both made it through. There are always things you can do better during a lap but we didn’t have the pace to be in the top ten today so we need to do everything we can to get closer. We will look at our strategy going into tomorrow and try to maximise our potential for the race.”

Mike Coughlan, Williams technical director

“It was a difficult session for us, after a promising FP3 we were expecting more from qualifying. In the high speed corners here we feel we are competitive but we still have work to do in the low speed sections. There is always a great crowd here at Silverstone and we are looking forward to the race tomorrow. We will be aiming to put on a good show for all our fans here supporting us at our home event.”

Caterham

Charles Pic (19th, Q1 – 1m 33.866s)

“The final lap in quali is one of my best laps of the year so far so I’m very pleased with how today’s gone. We made some good progress in FP3 with the balance and that carried over to qualifying, and breaking into the 1.33s and finishing ahead of the Marussias was about as much as we aimed for today, so it’s gone to plan. It changes from race to race but it does look like we have a small advantage over our nearest rivals this weekend, but having seen good race pace all year I’d like to think we’ll be fighting with a couple of cars ahead as well in the race tomorrow. We’ve been close to the Williams cars this year in a few races so with a good start, decent deg levels and no reliability issues tomorrow could be a good day.”

Giedo van der Garde (21st, Q1 – 1m 35.481s)

“It’s been an interesting day as we ran a different plan to the normal FP3 and then did just the one run in quali. It’s finally dry so we used some of FP3 for aero evaluation and then switched to race prep, bearing in mind the penalty from the last race which meant we knew pretty much where we’d end up in quali. We worked a lot on managing the tyre degradation, not really looking at quali at all but we still ended up beating one of the Marussia cars in quali which was a bonus, but really today’s all been about getting ready for Sunday. I think we’re in pretty good shape now and after the work we did today the degradation levels look manageable, even with the warmer track conditions we had today and which it looks like we’ll have tomorrow, and we have a good setup for the race so let’s see what happens.”

Marussia

Jules Bianchi (20th, Q1 – 1m 34.108s)

“It’s good to have one Caterham behind us but less good to have one ahead. In the short space of time that we have had to work on our dry set-up, I don’t think we are quite there yet, so we’ll be spending the time we have now to see what we can do to give us the best chance for tomorrow.”

Max Chilton (22nd, Q1 – 1m 35.858s)

“Today was a challenging day. We had some work to do this morning trying to get the balance right and it felt like we had made a good step forward, but so did everyone else. We still have quite a bit of work to do but our race pace yesterday looked more promising, so that’s what we’ll focus on now. We’ll do what we can to have a better race tomorrow.”

John Booth, Marussia team principal

“Following on from yesterday we had two differing car balances to contend with and Jules was slightly happier with his car than Max. We made some changes to Max’s car in order to equal up the set-ups, however this morning both cars appeared to be suffering with balance issues. During and after FP3, the engineers and crews worked hard to make significant changes to the cars to gradually improve the balance, however at the end of our qualifying session we still have two cars for which the balance is less than perfect. Overall we are slightly disappointed with the result and need to understand how we can improve our pace in qualifying. For tomorrow it looks like we will have a better race set-up and I am sure that with the top speed we have and the improvements we have made to our race pace, we can have a better day. It looks like the race will be dry and temperatures up from today and these conditions should suit us better.”

Pirelli

Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director

“The wet conditions yesterday morning meant that the teams had to work hard in the morning to make up for time lost gathering data on the slick tyres. All of them managed to find plenty of pertinent information: vital not only for qualifying today but the race tomorrow as well, which we expect to be dry. During the final free practice session this morning we saw a deflation on the rear left tyre of Sergio Perez. First findings show that this was unequivocally caused by a cut in the inner sidewall: something went into the tyre, pierced it, and then came out again, in the direction of travel. Whether that was a piece of debris or the edge of a kerb is hard to say at the moment and it is important to point out that this incident was unrelated to any of the delamination issues we have had in the past. Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton for sealing a great pole position with a stunning lap at his home grand prix. Yesterday’s rain meant the fans didn’t get a chance to see much on-track activity but today was action from start to finish. We’re looking forward to an exciting grand prix tomorrow with between two and three pit stops per car if conditions stay largely the same.”

June 29, 2013
Mercedes lock out front row at Silverstone Qualifying

Lewis Hamilton stormed to pole position in Silverstone qualifying today a massive four tenths ahead of team mate Nico Rosberg for a Mercedes front row lock out.

Hamilton’s time, a 1.29.607 proved too fast for Rosberg, or the Red Bulls to contest. The Red Bull team mates locked out the second row, a mere 0.009 seconds apart.

Ferrari were in a very bad place today – Massa did not make it through to Q3 and Alonso struggled and managed to qualify in 10th place.

The McLarens faired no better – neither getting through to Q3 either.

Below are the results for today’s Silverstone Qualifying session.

June 29, 2013
F1 Canadian Grand Prix Team Preview Quotes – Mercedes

Here are the preview quotes from the Mercedes F1 team ahead of the 2013 Canadian Grand Prix.

Nico Rosberg: The Canadian Grand Prix is always a great event as the fans in Montreal are so enthusiastic. The whole city really loves the race and it’s such a lively place to be over the weekend. We receive so much support out in Montreal and it’s great to see that enthusiasm. The circuit itself is one of my favourite tracks on the calendar and I love the challenge of driving there. It’s a very difficult layout to drive because of the low downforce levels required for the long straights and it will be tough on the tyres. Monaco was a fantastic weekend for the team and I’m so proud of the victory that we achieved there. We’ll be hoping to maintain that momentum in Canada this weekend and will be going all out for another strong performance.

Lewis Hamilton: The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve has been a strong circuit for me and I’ve been lucky enough to win there three times in my career, including last season. It’s always a great weekend in Montreal with a fun atmosphere in the city and at the track. The circuit itself is really special; it’s very high-speed, great fun to drive and it’s definitely a track where late braking helps. It’s not too far off a Monaco-style circuit where you need a similar set-up to bounce off the kerbs so we should be quite competitive, although looking after the tyres will be our main challenge. There’s a really good feeling in the team at the moment following Nico’s win in Monaco and we’re continuing to work hard to make sure we have the potential for more victories this season.

Ross Brawn: The Canadian Grand Prix is always one of the most atmospheric races of the year and everyone looks forward to our annual visit to Montreal. The high-speed characteristics of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve make for a real set-up challenge where engine power, brakes and good tyre management are the key to having a successful weekend. The last race in Monaco was a very special weekend for our team, and moved us substantially closer to the top three in the Constructors’ Championship, but we know the hard work that lies ahead. Both Lewis and Nico have spent time in the factory with us since Monaco and with Paddy Lowe starting at Brackley today, I’m confident that all efforts are being made to sustain that level of performance.

Toto Wolff: We enjoyed a fantastic weekend in Monaco but, as I have said before, yesterday’s home runs don’t win tomorrow’s games. We will be heading to Montreal this week with realistic expectations about what we can achieve. The high-speed circuit will definitely suit our Mercedes-Benz engine. Our car has been on pole position for the last four races, which shows our basic speed, so the focus in that time has been on improving our performance on Sunday afternoons. We managed this in Monaco, partly thanks to the unique characteristics of the circuit. This weekend will give us a more representative indication of how much progress we have made.

June 5, 2013
F1 2013 Canadian Grand Prix Preview: Canada, a game of chance

In 1978 Canada’s Île Notre-Dame circuit bowed to the country’s greatest Formula 1 driver. In a short amount of time Gilles Villeneuve captivated the racing world with utter class and driving talent. Despite not becoming a world champion the Canadian great remains revered as one of the greatest drivers in the history of the sport.

In celebration of Villeneuve the Île Notre-Dame circuit now bears his name and remains an essential part of the F1 calendar. The paddock crosses the Atlantic for the first time this year as it heads into the seventh round of the 2013 championship.

The stop/go nature of the circuit Gilles Villeneuve offers a technical challenge both teams and drivers. With few real high-speed corners, and the requirement to ride all kerbs in sight, most of the corners throughout the 4.361 km layout can be taken at first or second gear. In previous years a lot of time and energy would have been spent on brake wear in preparation for the circuit with the highest demand on brake energy. However, with the evolution and development of brake discs in the last several years the only concern will be ensuring that brake temperatures remain in the optimal working range.

But this is not the only pitfall that lingers around the famous track. The close proximity of the walls and limited run-off areas amplifies the chance of crashing and makes the appearance of the safety car highly likely. The changeable weather conditions can also play a part in tyre performance for which Pirelli have chosen the super-soft and medium compounds. Neither of these compounds may cause a problem if the current weather forecast remains as is. The rain in Canada has a tendency to come down in biblical proportions and looks set to make an appearance this weekend.

The Canadian Grand Prix is renowned for its unpredictable nature giving the race a distinct lottery-like ambiance. Qualifying remains an important piece of the puzzle but the few opportunities that exist for overtaking will add to Sunday’s showpiece. Seventy laps in total are what Lewis Hamilton will have to get the better of teammate Rosberg. Although Nico Rosberg is nurturing some very special form as a three time previous winner of the Canadian Grand Prix, this is a track where Hamilton should be able to turn the tables.

By Sebastian Vettel’s standards it has been a relatively quiet start to the season. Despite this he leads the championship by twenty-one points from Kimi Raikkonen. Ultimately, the Red Bull has not been the fastest car this season and their tyre woes, although not as obvious, have been well documented. Nevertheless, if Raikkonen and Alonso are to make a serious play for the title the Canadian Grand Prix seventy laps seems as vital a time as any to do just that. In the fight between the two challengers Alonso would be expected to hold the upper have in changeable weather conditions in terms of car performance.

Twenty-two raring-to-go racing drivers and a famous stretch of Canadian asphalt looms large in a grand prix weekend filled with potential for both drama and electrifying battle.

June 5, 2013
F1 2013: Monte Carlo Review – Lights to flag victory for Rosberg

It has taken thirty years for a son to emulate his father’s victory around the tight and twisting streets of Monte Carlo.

Mercedes’ chances in Saturday qualifying had always looked good but the test would come in the 78 lap race. The team’s struggles with tyre degradation had been well documented and many had expected them to fade on this Sunday as they had on so many other occasions. However, a controlled race from lights out had Nico Rosberg in the pound seats from the very first lap.

The first thirty laps of the Monaco GP was an exhibition by Rosberg and Hamilton as the two Mercedes set a steady pace and managed their race to within an inch of perfection. The two Red Bull’s of Vettel and Webber had made better get-aways but the tight entry to Ste Devote meant they had nowhere to go and the pair of them slotted in behind the two Silver Arrows.

So docile was the pace of Rosberg and Hamilton that the Caterham of Giedo van der Garde ran as the fastest car, by quite some margin, for a limited period of the race. Nevertheless, the twenty-five points and glory of winning the Monaco grand prix was the end goal and how they went about reaching it wasn’t of any concern.

After this display of ‘controlled aggression’ as coined by Mark Webber, the questions around Pirelli and what they are offering Formula 1 will deepen. Critics of the 2013 tyre compounds were undoubtedly armed with new ammunition after the Monaco GP and rightly so. Cruising around, three seconds a lap off the possible pace is not what fans want to see and more than likely not what drivers want to be doing. Formula 1 has always been about pushing the limits, daring to go the very edge of what is possible. It may be easy and comfortable to poke holes in Pirelli’s brief Formula 1 sojourn but it is also clear that something needs to change. A second tyre manufacturer to stir the pot perhaps?

Despite the monotony of the opening sting of the race by lap 30 the most famous race on the calendar would be turned on its head. A car problem pitched Ferrari’s Felipe Massa into the barriers of turn one and deployed the safety car. The Brazilian was held at the side of the track for a while but was later reported as uninjured. Two Red Bulls, Raikkonen, Alonso and the two Macca’s made use of the safety car and dived into the pits for a fresh set of boots. It didn’t quite go to plan for Mercedes as they had to stack Rosberg and Hamilton in the pitlane with the latter slipping from second to fourth as a result.

While Rosberg was easily holding Vettel and Webber at bay, a crash triggered by Marussia’s Max Chilton would bring the race to a stop. After failing to see him, Chilton clashed with Pastor Maldonado on the entry to Tabac sending the Williams airborne into the barrier. The track, partially blocked by the Tecpro barrier, had to be cleared on debris before the race could be restarted.

The carnage was far from over and to say Romain Grosjean had been experiencing a tough weekend could be considered the understatement of the year. The Lotus driver had crash on three separate occasions earlier in the weekend and the race was going to be no exception. Saving the most peculiar crash for last, Grosjean ran into the back of Ricciardo’s Toro Rosso on the exit of the tunnel. Grosjean’s Lotus was strewn across the track and the safety car deployed for a second time. Grosjean later remarked that he didn’t anticipate Ricciardo braking at that point. Can we deduce that in future he would prefer the car in front not to brake for the corner? Scarily, that almost makes perfect Grosjean-esque sense. The Frenchman has been given a ten place grid penalty for the next race and is believed to be on the brink of being replaced by his team.

The drama was far from over when the race restarted on lap 67 as a rejuvenated Adrian Sutil first passed Button and then Fernando Alonso. A ridiculous call from the stewards instructed Alonso earlier in the race to give his sixth place to Sergio Perez after avoiding a collision with the Mexican. Spotting that it had already worked once, Perez tried the same move on Raikkonen into the Nouvelle chicane. Perez, nowhere near enough to attempt an overtake, collided with Raikkonen. Checo was finally put out of his misery with a broken left-front suspension. There is no hesitation about the fact that the young Mexican has talent but his current way doing business and mistaking the rest of the field for bumper cars already has him well on his way of being branded F1’s newest crash-kid.

As a result of the incident Kimi Raikkonen was forced to pit with a puncture and exited the pitlane in 16^th place with seemingly no chance of scoring any points on the day. But with fresh tyres the undoubtedly angry Finn lapped six seconds a lap faster and passed five cars, in two laps, to take tenth and the final point on offer.

Nico Rosberg drove a composed race to clinch his second career victory and he deserved every one of the twenty-five points for it. He wasn’t expected to rattle Hamilton’s cage the way he has in 2013. Rosberg has been the nearly-man in F1 for too long but the way he has upped his game with the arrival of the illustrious Lewis Hamilton has boosted his shares and earned widespread respect. Good on you Nico!

May 29, 2013
FIA Monaco Grand Prix post-race press conference

Below is the transcript of the post race press conference following the Monaco Grand Prix.

Q: Nico, you controlled the race from pole position but you had to deal with two safety cars, a red flag, a lot of mental resets no doubt, but describe your feelings right now, you’re a Monaco Grand Prix winner?
Nico Rosberg: Yeah, amazing! This is my home, I’ve grown up here lived all my life here, I’ve gone to school here. So now to win at home is very special; a very special day for me. The whole weekend really went perfectly, qualifying [everything]. The start was very close. I had a terrible start! I was close to Sebastian and then with Lewis also, but then that worked out well. After that I could control the pace. The car was really good, the tyres held on ok, so that was really the key to the victory. So massive thanks to the team for having improved from Barcelona and I’m just ecstatic

Q: Sebastian, podium for you today, I guess you must be delighted that you’ve extended your championship lead?
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, I think overall I’m very happy and pleased with the result. We know that it’s very difficult to overtake here. I think first of all congratulations to Nico, he did a very good job, a very controlled race. I think he had the pace and the tyres to respond whenever we tried to get a little bit closer, yeah. The start of the race… fantastic start but no room. I think I could have gone past both Mercedes but didn’t have the room, had to lift. Then Mark came and it was tight into the first corner. And after that I was a bit surprised by the slow pace in the opening laps. Usually you expect two silver arrows in front of you and there were two buses today going for a cruise – at least in the first couple of laps. But obviously the strategy was clear and they did a very good job. We were lucky on the strategy point of view. The team did a fantastic job to get past Lewis, so yeah. After that, with the restart: pretty difficult. Warm-up was very, very tricky. I saw Lewis was all over Mark behind me, so I think we can happy with the result. Great achievement from the team again. We seem to like this place the last couple of years so very happy. Congratulations, thank you, thanks to our partners as well. Thanks to Infinity, they are pushing an awful lot in the last couple of months to help us and I think it goes without saying, thanks to Renault as well, two cars out of three on the podium again powered by Renault – in ‘Little France’ in a way, so it’s sort of a home grand prix for them so congratulations as well. Overall, as I said, pretty happy.

Q: Mark, fourth in the opening stint but obviously the safety car at the first stop gave you and the team the opportunity to jump ahead of Hamilton. Important moment for you?
Mark Webber: Yes. First of all, congratulations to Nico. It’s a very special place to win at so, yeah, he had a seamless weekend and that’s what you need to do here. It’s never easy when you’re leading, you still have to pull it off. So, well done to Nico and Mercedes. For us, we knew it was a little against us starting on the second row but got an absolutely incredible start – and sod’s law it’s the shortest run to the first corner so, I think Seb and I had nowhere to go really so we were lifting. It’s looking like Nico and Lewis had pretty tricky ones, so we’ll try to save some of those starts for future reference. And then after that it was just basically saving tyres and making the one-stop work. It was completely predictable that if the race was going to stack up then the two-stop was not really an option to come back into traffic. So we had to go very long, all the drivers were nursing the cars very aggressively and as you say, it was nice to get Lewis. Obviously it’s never nice to lose positions around the stop so I’m sure he’s not too pleased with it but in the end we’ll take that position. It was difficult to get the restarts going on the primes but in general just really driving around, saving the tyres and waiting for the chequered flag.

Q: Nico, first son of a former Monaco Grand Prix winner to repeat the feat. Congratulations. 30 years on from your father Keke’s victory here at Monaco. Did that add a certain extra-special something to this win today.
NR: It is special to hear that, yes but honestly that’s not what I was thinking about when I was crossing the finishing line, definitely not. Just extremely happy to win this race. Also, we’ve had again such a difficult time behind us. In the last couple of races pole position and dropping back so much. There was always that a little bit in the back of my mind today in the race: ‘I hope that it’s going to last and I’ll be able to pull it off today and not drop back again.’ Because it’s not nice when you’re starting in front and dropping back. And then today the team gave me a great car. It’s really fantastic to see how they’ve been able to improve in such a short space of time. Little improvement here and there but on this track – this track suited us anyway – and so it was enough to make it happen.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Nico, what was it like to be in control of a race but then have to mentally reset each time? There was nothing straightforward about the way that race unfolded for you today.
NR: No, definitely not. It wasn’t very nice y’know? Because I was in a great rhythm on those prime tyres, trying to nurse them towards the end and then all of a sudden a race stoppage. It’s never nice to get out of that rhythm y’know? Because especially around Monaco it’s so easy to have a quick concentration error and then you’re in the tyre barrier and it’s the end of the race. So, it was really important today to remain concentrated and that didn’t make it easy, all those safety cars and the red flag and everything – but fortunately in the end it all worked out.

Q: Did you think at any point about the school runs you used to do down these roads and the fact that you were actually going to be winning a race on the roads you used to go to school on?
NR: No! There was a lot of thoughts going through my mind, definitely, but not about the roads to school. Various things. Even, to be honest, winning Monaco in a silver arrow. I was thinking about that and that’s very special to me.

Q: Sebastian, you hinted in your answer in the unilateral that the Mercedes were slower in the opening stint than you expected them to be. You said it was fair play to them but you could tell they were driving to a tactic today.
SV: Yes, definitely. I think we could see that the field didn’t spread out, so as I said, they did what worked best for them. Obviously Lewis lost a couple of positions with the safety car – I’m sure he’s not too pleased about that – but we took that, no question. Yeah, I think it was very marginal on one stop. I think the red flag helped all of us to put a fresh set of tyres on to save that ten, eleven laps, total race distance. It was clear what they were doing a couple of laps after the start. They were going quite slow and trying to obviously make the one stop happen. And fair play, they were in the lead, around here it’s very tricky to pass. Every time I tried to get a little bit closer with Lewis… in the beginning with Lewis it was quite close, yeah they reacted, they had the pace, so they could afford to go slow and then if they had to, they had the pace to pick it up again. In that regard, not the most exciting race because you just wait for the chequered flag. It’s still a lot of laps, looking after the tyres wasn’t straightforward for us today – so overall, happy with the result we got.

Q: Obviously when the safety car came out that caught Lewis out, the Mercedes had just completed a lap. Where exactly were you when you got the message to come into the pits.
SV: The safety car wasn’t out yet. Obviously it was a very, very good call from the team. Initially we wanted to pit a lap earlier but then we aborted that. Obviously there was a yellow and in the end I think we were just a little bit lucky. So we decided to pit and when I changed tyres and went back out, at the same moment the safety car came – which probably helped us a little bit. I don’t know if Lewis had a problem with the stop or if it was just down to the fact that the safety car came at the wrong time for him. But, yeah, it was nice. At some stage I was hoping that it might be enough to get Nico as well but he obviously was in the lead by quite a bit at that time, before we came in.

Q: Mark, there were quite a lot of incidents today, obviously a couple of safety cars, red flags. Some drivers were making passes today but did it feel very touch-and-go, very marginal out there to you?
MW: To make moves? Yeah, I think so. Especially when you’re with the guys I was with today, very experienced and they know what they need to do and where to put the car so, unless you had a big discrepancy in tyre performance, like I did after my pitstop – I had to clear Nico Hülkenberg pretty quick and try to make that undercut work a little bit – but in general after that, as the guys have touched upon, it was measured, controlled aggression, if you like, trying to nurse the tyres as best you can. It became very, very obvious early in the grand prix that the tyres were going pretty well. Obviously the pace wasn’t electric and, fair enough, that’s how… you can do that if you’re at the front of the race, as I did last year, so you can do that. And when the options were starting to go that far – the supersoft – the one-stop started to become viable for everybody and that’s why it probably wasn’t a super-exciting race today for the fans. But even if it was two-stops, it would probably have just been a bit more action around the pitstops and obviously not much on circuit because that’s the sort of track it is.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Ralf Bach – Der Spiegel) Nico, the two secret test days that you had in Barcelona. How helpful were those days for you?
NR: That you have to ask, you have to ask Pirelli about all this, about this issue. I’m not going to comment. I’m not going to comment on that. You have to ask Pirelli.

Q: (Kate Walker – GP Week) Nico, we often hear drivers say that the most exciting race to win other than their home Grand Prix is Monaco. Obviously this is both for you. Could you please give us a bit of a sense of the elation and euphoria you must be feeling? What was it like doing that slowing down lap?
NR: Unbelievable. If there’s maybe a childhood dream… when I was quite young, watching the race, always. First memories were of Ayrton Senna with his yellow helmet, red and white winning, a childhood dream to one day win the Grand Prix of Monaco, because it is my home and that’s the most special race for me to win, so the feeling was just incredible, it was unreal. That’s what’s so special about the sport: these emotions that you then get and that makes up for all the difficult moments that have gone before, those great moments of joy and winning. Amazing.

Q: (Vincent Marre – Sport Zeitung) Nico, now that everything is going well, I would like to rate the percentage of your chances of winning the title?
NR: I haven’t thought about that at all yet, because just two weeks we ago were seventy seconds away in the race and even today, tyre degradation was still an issue. I think we were in a better position, much better definitely, but it’s also a different track, very different track, different circumstances. I had the possibility of taking it easy and dictating the pace initially to save tyres, so we shouldn’t get over-excited now, for the next couple of races. We still have a bit of an issue with our race pace and that’s still what we need to work on, and also the development race. Everybody’s pushing forward, flat out, and we need to make sure to keep up with that as we have been doing at the moment, which is great to see, because that was one of our weaknesses last year, we dropped away mid-season. For now it’s going really well, so thanks to everybody back in the factory, doing a really cool job. But we have to wait and see. I’m definitely not thinking about the championship, I’m just thinking about today, winning Monaco.

Q: (Jussi Jakala – YLE) Nico, do you think this was maybe the final seal to get rid of the status of being Keke’s son, so that you have achieved everything by your own skills now?
NR: Don’t know, that’s for you to judge. I don’t think about that in that sense so you need to judge that for yourself. I can’t comment on that.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action/National Speedsport News) Mark, before the red flag, Lewis got right up alongside you at Rascasse. What happened, did he maybe catch you by surprise there?
MW: No, I was probably just saving my tyres a bit too much and yeah, he was going for a little bit of a surge also, I think. They were probably a little bit more comfortable on the primes in certain performance areas of the circuit and also the car characteristics, so, yeah, he was a little bit more comfortable on that section of the track. I was also just… we knew we had a long way to go in the race and also I had four or five laps less on my tyres, because I did the undercut on these guys. I had to give him room. I think experience helps in those scenarios. I thought he might tap me… I could just see him in the mirror. I thought ‘mmm, he’s in there somewhere’ but I had to give him the room and then thank God we got round Rascasse together somehow. I think that was probably not that straightforward. Not possible for GP2 drivers but us boys managed to pull it off which we should be able to so it was a rewarding little battle.

Q: (Bob McKenzie – Daily Express) Nico, referring back to that previous question about your father; have you at times, when you were younger or when you came into Formula One, did you feel any pressure from the fact that your father was so well known, being a World Champion, that sort of thing?
NR: I’ve always felt very fortunate to have had my father… what he achieved and everything… to have his support and extra pressure? It’s a normality for me you know, having my father World Champion. I grew up with that, started racing like that, so it’s not something where I feel any extra pressure because for me that’s normal.

Q: (Jacqueline Magnay – News LTD Australia) Mark, I’m just wondering whether you have an opinion on this secret tyre testing, whether it had any impact, and whether you think there was any advantage to Mercedes having done the testing?
MW: That’s a fair question. I think we were probably a little bit surprised that it happened. I don’t think it probably had a huge bearing on today’s result. I think their car was always going to perform pretty well round here, to be fair, but yeah, you can’t unlearn what went on at the test obviously, so we need to see how the test came about and whether it’s within the rules or not. I’m sure Mercedes thought it was OK, so that’s why they did it, so time will tell. But I don’t think it affected today’s result.

Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Nico, what was the most difficult thing for your victory today, getting the pole yesterday, starting after the safety car, or the last lap with the emotion?
NR: Qualifying was difficult because of the conditions. The start was very difficult because I had a bad start. Those were the two keys. Once those two things were done, from then on it was OK. There were still some challenges with the safety car, because the tyres were very cold on those prime tyres, for example so there were other challenges but the main ones were qualifying and the start.

May 26, 2013