F1 Madness

Tag: qualifying

  • 2017 Austrian Grand Prix: Post Qualifying Press Conference

    2017 Austrian Grand Prix: Post Qualifying Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)

    2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

    3 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

     

    TRACKSIDE INTERVIEWS (Conducted by Davide Valsecchi)

    Q: What a qualifying! Valtteri Bottas on pole position, was a spectacular lap. Valtteri please, your lap was amazing. Less than one tenth in front of Sebastian. Great job my friend.

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Thank you. Yes, it feels good. You know I really enjoy driving here in front of you guys, so thanks for the support but I enjoyed it today. The car was getting better and better as the grip was coming up and a decent lap in the end – not quite perfect but it was good enough.

    Q: Very well done. It was spectacular. First row, Sebastian, very well. Good improvement – all for you my friend. How was your lap?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Not quick enough, but I was very happy. The car was really good, last qualifying also for the last run, but then it was a bit of anti-climax with the yellow flags but yeah, very happy. It’s a great track, shame it’s a bit short but really enjoyable with a lot of high speed corners and the car’s been really phenomenal so looking forward to tomorrow. Should be a good race.

    Q: Lewis, look, they love you, they love you, there’s no way… Tell me about your last try. First corner maybe you lost the car a bit. How was the feeling on the car?

    Lewis HAMILTON: Well firstly, congratulations to Valtteri. He did a fantastic job. He’s been driving well all weekend and obviously Sebastian’s very quick this weekend so happy to have been third. Of course I would have loved to improve my lap but yeah, just wasn’t meant to be today.

    Q: Guys, sorry Lewis, come here. Seb, I would like to understand; now you have a good chance. You are on the first row, maybe Lewis is a bit behind because of the penalty. Can be good for tomorrow for you, no?

    SV: We will see. It’s a long race so a lot of things that can to happen. I think we have to look after ourselves, do our own race. It will be a tough race with Valtteri. He’s been quick all weekend, also yesterday, setting a good pace, so we will see. I think it should be a good race.

    Q: And Lewis, will it be the aim to catch this driver tomorrow or no? I mean the red cars, they are there…

    LH: I will do the best job I can, obviously. I want to get up there and try and get a one-two with Valtteri so I will do the best job I can to get further up.

    Q: Maybe also the soft tyres that you’re going to start on tomorrow can be the key of your race, no?

    LH: I have the supersofts for tomorrow. I think it’s generally a slower tyre than what they are on but it can go maybe longer, we will see.

    Q: Good luck to you. And Valtteri, please, last chat because today was amazing, I’m really happy for you. Tell me, which is the aim for tomorrow: not easy to stay in front of Sebastian but here you have a good chance. But you are outside on the start, maybe it can be…

    VB: I think like Sebastian said, it should be an interesting, good fight for tomorrow but there’s targets, the target is not less than winning, of course for us and I’m sure Lewis still has a good race ahead, a lot of time to come back and get good points for us as a team. I can’t wait for tomorrow, honestly.

    Q: Best of luck, best of luck. Please guys, I need a handshake with you both, you [Lewis] with Sebastian. Handshake. Please my friend.

    LH: We’ve already stood together.

     

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Valtteri, you looked pretty hooked up throughout that session. How good was the car, how good was that lap?

    VB: Yeah, I really enjoyed it today. Always when you enjoy, normally the result is good. Definitely got the car nice and stable for the qualifying and just was able to build up the confidence and this is a track where you really need it in those high-speed corners. Yeah, found the balance, didn’t really touch the car at all during the qualifying. The laps were getting better and better and that was the result. As a team again we have done a great job over the weekend to make the car better and I felt good today.

    Q: Well done. Sebastian, so close between you and Valtteri in the end. Can you pinpoint where you lost out? How good was the session for you?

    SV: I think it was pretty good. I think Q3 was pretty good, I was very happy with the lap. But in all fairness, what goes around, comes around. I think I have been on the lucky side a couple of times, especially against Valtteri, with tight gaps. I think the four hundredths today is tight. The story continues between us two. Well done, obviously, to him. He said that he still had a bit of margin. I was pretty happy with my lap to be honest. Maybe there was a sniff in the last corner. It’s a short track, not easy to get everything right, so overall I was pretty happy. The car was good. I think we did a good step from yesterday to today, so hopefully we can carry that into the race.

    Q: Lewis, it’s been a difficult day for you, with problems in the final practice session and then having to run a different strategy during qualifying, just talk us through the session itself.

    LH: It was a pretty straightforward session, no real issues. The car was good. Valtteri did a fantastic job today, so really happy for him. I just didn’t hook it up when it got to Q3. Q1 and Q2 were good and then Q3 was just so-so.

    Q: Was Q3 somehow compromised by having to run the supersoft tyre in Q2?

    LH: I wouldn’t say too much. Of course the tyres are a little bit different but generally I’m experienced enough, shouldn’t be really a big problem.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Tom Slater – Soymotor) Lewis, here in Austria in 2014 you started the race P9 and you ended P2, so do you think you will be able to do this result tomorrow and if you do will you be happy with it?

    LH: I’m pretty sure that back then there was a bigger difference in speed deltas between us and other cars so I think it’s more unlikely than it was then, but I will give it everything I can and of course I would be happy if I could get up there.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Question for the Mercedes drivers. Valtteri, congratulations for the pole position, you’ve always been quick at this track, there’s a win to take tomorrow but I don’t want to suggest any gamesmanship but obviously it would be quite an easy strategy for you to go a bit slower in the front so Lewis can keep the pace and then he would be in a strategic advantage at the second part of the race. Would you be willing to do that? And Lewis, how much longer do you think you will be able to go with the supersoft than with the ultrasoft?

    VB: Well, what I’ve seen on the pre-race strategy notes, that kind of plan is not on those notes so, yeah, we need to focus on having a good start of the race and we need to win the race. And for sure Lewis can fight back from where he’s starting. Y’know, if you start playing games like that here it’s quite tricky. If the car behind gets within the DRS zones and gets a good slipstream, it only needs one mistake and you can lose the win. So not planning on that at the moment.

    And Lewis, your strategic options for tomorrow?

    LH: It makes no sense for Valtteri to slow down. That will not be the case. It makes sense for him to push as hard as he can to win the race.

    And starting on the supersoft tyre instead of the Option?

    LH: I don’t think it’s going to make a big difference if I’m really honest. It’s a slower tyre so, I think in the first stint, it’s just about length. But lots of different things could happen: safety cars, rain, who knows?

    Lewis, how confident are you of winning this grand prix from P8.

    LH: I couldn’t say I was… Valtteri has been quickest all weekend, so it’s not really on my mind at the moment.

    Q: (István János Simon – Automagazin) My question is mainly to Sebastian and Lewis. The weather forecast says there’s a high percentage of rain for tomorrow for the race. Do you count on that? Can you calculate with that and do you think you will be able to do a strong race if it rains when we’ve had all the practice sessions in dry?

    SV: I think it’s fair also to ask the question to Valtteri as well, he’ll be racing tomorrow as well so if it rains we’re all affected. But, I don’t know, I think we have a different weather forecast then. I need to check with our guys – but, yeah, we’ll see. We have the wet tyres, they are ready. It’s always tricky if you haven’t done a single session in the wet but I think we had some experience last year so if it rains, it rains, we fit wets or inters and we try to race. We’ll see.

    Valtteri, wet weather?

    VB: Yeah, it’s so difficult to predict here if it’s going to be wet or not. A bit like Friday, we just need to wait and see what happens and react to that. But of course we all want to race if it’s wet – but it depends on the conditions.

    LH: Not really much more to add. Could be helpful being that I’m eighth or something like that. Makes it a bit more of a lottery.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Lewis, when you know already before the weekend that you’re going to lose five grid positions, what is the mindset, is it still a normal race weekend or do you have different strategies during Friday and Saturday?

    LH: You still approach it exactly the same. Nothing changes at all, if I’m honest. It’s just really trying to get yourself as high as possible and when it comes to the race it’s about damage-limitation. You try to minimise the damage. I found out on Tuesday, I think it was and, of course, you go in with a very positive mind about coming back and fighting and then of course something like that hits us. It’s difficult for us all to swallow but we pull together as a team and we work as hard as we can. We’ve still got great performance and hopefully I can do a good job for the team tomorrow and get some good points.

  • 2017 Canadian GP: Post Qualifying Press Conference

    2017 Canadian GP: Post Qualifying Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

    3 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)

    TRACKSIDE INTERVIEWS (conducted by Will Buxton)

    Q: Sixth career position, here in Montreal, 12,000 friends to celebrate with. That was an exceptional lap.

    Lewis HAMILTON: What’s up Montreal? How are you guys doing? I’m so happy! Thank you so much for coming out here every year, you guys are the ones who all make this grand prix as special as it is for us. Thank you so much. Montreal’s been good to me over the years; it was a close battle with the Ferraris, they were so quick. They’ve been quick all year, but I was gunning, I was pushing — I’ve got great support out here and I just wanted to give them a good lap.

    Q: The first flyer in Q3 was exceptional. The second almost defied belief. What a lap!

    LH: It was a sexy lap! It was a great lap. I can’t believe it came together so well — the first section was fantastic and I just managed to be a little bit up on each one. The team did a fantastic job to learn from our mistakes in the last race and really build up for this race, so I owe it all to them. To everyone back at the factory, a big thank you.

    Q: Seb, it was close man, it was so close, particularly on that first run. We’ve got the Montreal Ferrari Fan Club there. Yeah it’s front row, but can you win it tomorrow? Have you got the pace?

    Sebastian VETTEL: I think we have. I’m not so happy with the last run I had in qualy; I’d like to repeat the second run, just find a little bit. I probably pushed a bit too hard, lost a little bit in sector two, and then I tried a little bit of catch-up. Not ketchup to eat, catching up the lap times! It was a good qualifying session, though, getting better at the end. At the beginning I was struggling to find a rhythm. Great atmosphere, people cheering, free practice they’re on it, so it’s really great to be here.

    Q: And no seagulls this year, just this man to get in your way.

    SV: Yeah, I mean, the seagulls were in Turn One last year, so I’m pretty sure we should be fine.

    Q: Valtteri, this is a track that’s always suited you. Once again, another phenomenal job – talk me through your qualifying.

    Valtteri BOTTAS: It was close here, as I expected. Lewis had a mega run today. For me, on the second run I tried to go faster, but I went deep into Turn Ten [unclear]. So well done to Lewis, as I said

    Q: Lewis, today you equalled your great hero Ayrton Senna to go second of all-time in pole positions. The Senna family wanted to give you something to congratulate you on equalling Ayrton’s record. It’s not a replica, it’s race-worn. From your hero, to you. Lewis, you’ve had a few emotions in Formula One. How does that one rank?

    LH: I’m shaking. I’m speechless. Ayrton… I know for many of you he was your favourite driver. It was the same for me – he was the one who inspired me to be where I am today. To match him, and to receive this, is the greatest honour. A big, big thank you to the Senna family, and to everyone here. God bless you all. Thank you.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Many congratulations, Lewis. An inspired drive today, and obviously a very special moment with this amazing memento you’ve been given. A tremendous battle continues, with you and Sebastian clearly pushing each other right to the limit. Perhaps you’d like to tell us a little bit about that lap in detail and where you found it from.

    LH: We’ve obviously been working very hard over the past two weeks to try and rectify the issues we had with the car. Needless to tell you, the guys worked harder than ever and did an amazing job to firstly understand where we went wrong and then figure out how we can progress forwards. I’m really so grateful for all the hard work back in the factory. We’ve known all weekend that it was going to be really close, but Ferrari really did seem like they had the upper hand. Being as it is a street circuit, being that there are risk factors in terms of how you push on your lap, you always save your best for last. We’ve been building up, honestly… We thought they might have another power mode to step up, Seb had been very very strong. Yeah, and I just went out and tried to do very consistent runs, and just build upon each lap, each time I went out, but knowing there are a few places to improve on. Working the ultrasoft tyre for the first lap is not easy, and obviously that’s been an issue in the past and it’s something I’ve been working very hard to make sure I fully understood and how to capitalise on the use of the tyre. Today was the day that I needed to do that – I knew that number 65 was there in the waiting, I knew that Montreal has been a beautiful place and a beautiful home for me in the many years since my first win here. So I was like ‘if I’m going to get a pole, get that special pole, if anywhere it’s going to be here. Of course, you go into your last lap and you can’t imagine it. You can only hope and imagine it’s going to go well, but often it doesn’t. The lap just started perfectly on the exit of the last corner; I built it on the foundations I had already set on the previous lap. Very smooth, no mistakes, just a little bit up everywhere. And then the last part was in the last corner, which has always been a strength of mine throughout my time here. And an incredible reception from the fans, so a big thank you to them. For the Senna family to send me this… I don’t actually own any of Ayrton’s artefacts, anything from him, so this is the most special thing I have, above and beyond all my trophies and everything. A big, big thank you – I’m honoured to be honoured by that family.

    Q: And only three behind the all-time record, might be achievable in the near future. Very well done. Well, in any great duel there is always the other side of the story, Sebastian. Two great champions pushing each other to the limit at the moment. It was four one thousandths between you after that first run, but were you dismayed by the lap time he pulled out?

    SV: Well I didn’t know at that point, I was still on my lap but I knew I had to improve, even just by five thousandths. First of all, congrats to him, it’s a massive achievement, so he was the better man today. I’m not entirely happy. We had a bit of a different run in in qualifying, which was fine and it just got better and better and for the last run I thought OK, we can step it up and I should be able to find a little bit of time but I lost the car a bit in Turn 2, I was on the back foot already, losing two tenths out of the second corner and then I knew I had to catch up which I did until the end of the lap but just enough to do the same time as before so not entirely clean. I would have loved to get a better lap at the end. But that’s how it is but nevertheless I think the car is very good. I was happy this morning, I was happy this afternoon and it should be very good in the race so looking forward to tomorrow.

    Q: Valtteri, this has always been a very strong track for you. Were you surprised by the pace Lewis was able to pull out of the car today? And thoughts on the race for tomorrow because it looked to me on the long runs yesterday that you had pretty low degradation on the tyres. You looked very strong yesterday in the long runs.

    VB: Yeah, first of all, big congrats to Lewis for his 65th pole position. It’s a great achievement matching Senna, so well done. He had a mega-lap today. I was really trying hard. It was a tricky day for me, especially Practice Three with the balance of the car. It really hasn’t happy at all but a lot better for qualifying. Q1, Q2 felt good but in Q3, when I came down to getting those last hundredths and tenths and pushing harder, the car became unstable again and not so easy to predict. I struggled more with the car today than Lewis did and couldn’t get a lap together. But yeah, long runs seemed OK. Again, it’s going to be close with Ferrari I think, so I felt good in the car on the long runs and it’s all about tomorrow.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Mike Doodson – Honorary) Lewis, Ayrton himself always placed more importance on pole positions than he did on race wins. What is your policy in that area?

    LH: I can understand that because obviously it makes the Sunday often easier. Even though it’s still difficult it gives you the best possible opportunity and the optimum position to start the race. So, I can agree with that, and obviously I equalled Ayrton in race wins a while ago so this had been focus. Literally as a kid, I’d come home and, like, one day if I’m really lucky and I can get to Formula One, I’d want emulate Ayrton. The fact I’ve now reached him in that area… I just can’t believe it. Honestly, I can’t believe it. I remember coming home from school and putting on the videotape of Ayrton, so it’s really strange to think that now I’m here and level in poles. And being that it is the most difficult season, I would say, in my career, racing against these two great drivers, and Kimi, and having us so close, really, then pushes us all to the limit and relies on us all being perfect. And, of course, we can’t always be perfect. Today I got as close as I could get.

    Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS) For Lewis. I can imagine this is far better getting his helmet near the people, near the audience, in the public than in the press conference?

    LH: Sure, I’ve really grown a lot with the fans here. There’s a lot of Ferrari fans here, as there are around the world – but there’s a lot of Team LH fans here that have really grown with me from my first pole position, my first win in 2007. So, there’s been a lot of growth over those years and I really feel welcomed in Canada when I come. Not only here but just, when I go to Toronto, for example. It’s a place I love. I really do love this track, and when you’re able to pull out a lap like that, it just cements the love that you have for it again. And to receive that in front of the crowd, it’s a huge, huge fillip. Sold out crowd I think today – they always turn out in their thousands and really, really create the atmosphere. As I was driving towards them, outside the car, I could feel the roar. I can feel it when I do the out-lap, when I do the in-lap, when I’ve finished the lap, I can see them in the corner of my eye. They’re just out-and-out sports fans. I think they just have an appreciation for competition.

    Q: (Chris Medland – Racer.com) Lewis, you said that was a near-perfect lap. Obviously 65 is a lot of pole positions – but is this one of your best, or maybe even your best?

    LH: If I’m really honest it’s really hard to remember every single pole. If I’m really honest… they’ve all been special and unique in their own way. I think being that it’s hard to remember them, it also feels like it’s the first time. Honestly, coming across that line, almost holding your breathe, hoping, fingers crossed, waiting, knowing that Sebastian was still on a lap, Valtteri was still on a lap, not sure. It was a good lap but you don’t want to get your hopes too much up because you’ll be disappointed if they do a better lap – but in the intensity of the moment, I don’t really recall having as intense a moment, in terms of this intense battle that we’re having I would like to think that it is one of the best, yeah. And being that it is equalling Ayrton as well, makes it a little bit more special.

    Q: (Bill Beacon – Canadian Press) A question for Lewis and Sebastian. Given that the two of you are so close in every way this year, what sort of race are you expecting tomorrow? Is it one of those races that’s going to go down to the last lap?

    LH: I believe it will, being that we are so close. Ferrari have great single lap pace but very, very strong always, as they have shown in the races. I anticipate tomorrow… it was a close battle last year between us and I can only imagine that tomorrow it’s going to be pushing all the way to the end. It’s definitely going to be a good one. I’m excited about it.

    SV: I expect a close race! I think it has been very close in every race so far. Maybe Monaco they were struggling a bit more in terms of pace but everywhere else we went it’s unfair to say that one was quicker than the other. I think we were in the same tenth in race pace. That’s great. Not so easy to overtake if you are that close, no matter where you go, but we’ll see. It will be a long race tomorrow. Canada is always nice, so looking forward to tomorrow.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Lewis, three more pole positions and you will equal the record. Will that be a similar emotion, because it seems that the 65 of Senna stands out more than the 68 of Michael?

    LH: I haven’t got to the 68 of Michael so I can’t really say. I can’t really look that far ahead at the moment. I just have to be really grateful and appreciate this moment, because it was, as I said, Ayrton was the guy that I noticed at the beginning… I think it was the colour of the helmet. That’s what kids notice, the colours, and then you kind of get hooked – ‘that’s my driver’. But of course a big fan of Michael’s and to think that I am that close to his incredible record it would be… I’m going to be racing for a while so I plan on getting there. That would be an honour in itself at that moment but that’s all ifs and buts and whens and I have to appreciate this moment. You never know when it’s you last day.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, how would you rate your own chances tomorrow for winning the race, if these two are only concentrating on each other?

    VB: For sure starting third you have all the chances. It’s a long race tomorrow and we are all in the first few rows going into the race so try and win it. For us, as a team, it would be best to try and get a 1-2 but of course as a driver you always go for the best and try to win it and there is a chance. But it’s going to be a long race, so we’ll see.

    LH: Heikki, do you have questions for the non-Finnish drivers? I’m actually part-Finnish, I spend a lot of time with Finnish people. He [Seb] has a home in Finland!

    Q: (Jeff Pappone – Inside Track) It’s not a Senna helmet, but last month there was a set of stamps unveiled in Canada to mark the 50th anniversary of this race featuring Jackie Stewart, Gilles Villeneuve, Aytron Senna, Michael Schumacher and yourself. I just want to know how you feel about that? Have you seen the stamp and what’s your feeling about included among those drivers as one of the drivers of the decades of this race?

    LH: I have seen the stamp. I’ve got the stamp. I posted it the other day…

    SV: To who?

    LH: No, no, I posted it on Instagram! That’s actually a good idea! I should post it to someone! Yeah, I’m honoured to be amongst those great drivers, those previous legends. I posted an image on Instagram, of an image that had the other drivers on there, that showed me amongst them. Ultimately just very proud of… it wouldn’t be possible without the all the hard work of my family. My dad standing here for the time when I won my first grand prix here, all the work that went in before that which no one really gets to see. Right now all the stuff you see is the tip of the iceberg and no one know how big an ice berg is and no one knows how hard we work to get where we are today, so I really owe it to a lot of people who are behind me. I’m proud that I can put the Hamilton name there and if today is my last day on the Earth then the Hamilton name will remain in the sport forever and that’s something we can be proud of.

    Q: (Ralph Woodall – L’Equipe) Seb, the two Ferraris were very quick during practice. How do you explain the bit of struggle you had during qualification?

    SV: I don’t know what happened to Kimi. I was quite busy in Q3, doing three runs, so I didn’t see much and I didn’t know what times Lewis was doing until qualifying was over. I don’t know, I think we always expect Mercedes to be quick, especially in the last segment. It’s true that maybe I didn’t get the best lap, but I think Lewis did just a better job today and got a really, really good lap. I don’t know, maybe Kimi struggled with the car but otherwise we were fairly close all weekend.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Seb, about the three runs in Q3: was that meant from the beginning and is it here more important to have an extra run in Q3 than other circuits?

    SV: No, not really but we spoke about it before obviously and then made the call. I was quite confident at the time to go with the first lap. Before, the session were a bit mixed, you saw that the lap times were getting better and better and when we made the call then I didn’t run again in Q2 and the others put in the fastest lap on their first lap, so I was pretty confident we made the right call.

    Q: (Chris Medland – Racer.com) Lewis, you referenced the fight with Ferrari, how much is this tight battle pushing you to improve yourself and perform at your very best? And to Seb and Valtteri how much more being in the fight for pole positions and wins at every race, does it produce your best?

    LH: It’s a good question. I would say my opinion is that it is a little bit more so for us because we are having a car that is not working everywhere. It’s a great car but it’s a trickier car to set up than the cars I’ve had in the past. It appears from the outside that the Ferrari is easier – while they are working hard – it works everywhere it seems. If we are staying level and we are up and down all the time, for sure it puts a lot of emphasis on us pulling together more than ever and as a team we are closer and more united than we have ever been. Utilising every engineer to the absolute max and utilising everyone’s abilities as a team. In the five years I have been with this team I’ve never seen such great teamwork and communication. We are all just talking more than we have ever done. It’s great today to be able to say the fruits of that hard work. It’s not just chatting for nothing. It’s going to continue to be a tough, tough, tough race with the Ferraris, because they are so strong but today we have shown we can have an answer if we put the work in.

    SV: I’m not sure I remember the question! I think it’s always great if you step into the car knowing you can have a great weekend. I’ve always been very fortunate so far in my career that I have had very, very good years but I’m sure if you speak to the other half of the grid they are longing to be there, longing to have the chance, but for sure it’s more enjoyable when you race for trophies – and maybe helmets as well!

    VB: I think you are always trying to [find new limits] especially now being Lewis’ team-mate and fighting with Seb and Kimi, for sure you are always trying to find new limits, and you are. You can improve as long as you want to. That is exciting but today was a tricky day for me. I didn’t get everything… I wasn’t so comfortable with the car and that’s why I was behind but tomorrow is a new day.

  • Hamilton Snatches Pole in Spanish Grand Prix Qualifying

    Hamilton Snatches Pole in Spanish Grand Prix Qualifying

    Lewis Hamilton secured his 64th career pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix on Saturday just narrowly beating Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.

    Hamilton, in the Mercedes, set his best Q3 and pole time of 1:19.149 on his first run in Q3. This was enough to get him pole over Vettel by just 0.051s.

    Vettel who improved on his second run in Q3 improved his times and was up on Hamilton until the final sector where he lost about 0.5s to the Brit. The final chicane has been irksome to Vettel over the years and it seemed to be the difference between pole position and second place.

    Vettel made his feelings known over team radio after being told he was P2. “Ah I f**ked up the chicane!” exclaimed Vettel over the radio. “Sorry guys. I had him. I had it. The last chicane. I missed the apex at T14 all weekend. Sorry guys”.

    Vettel almost did not take part in chicane after he was told to stop the car on his out lap during Q1. Vettel asked his engineer if he was sure if he should stop and carried on. By the end of the lap it looked like what ever gremlins were in the Ferrari were gone and Vettel got on with it.

    Valtteri Bottas did his best on an engine way past it’s use-cycle and got 3rd fastest just 0.224s off Hamilton and just 0.066s clear of Kimi Raikkonen.

    Raikkonen looked quick after FP3 and on his final run in Q3 looked like he could pull an upset, but he lost time in sector and and sector three and his time was good enough for 4th.

    Red Bull finished qualifying in the same positions they ended P3 in with Max Verstappen leading Daniel Ricciardo. Ricciardo struggled through the session and was consistently slower than Verstappen. The updates brought by Red Bull to the RB13 suggest that they’ve gained one second a lap compared to where they were in the first 4 races of this season. Both the drivers have said that they could feel the speed of the car was quicker.

    Fernando Alonso pulled off a stunner of a lap to place his McLaren MCL32 in 7th place in front of his home crowd. His disappointing start to the weekend seems like a distant memory after today’s performance which the Spaniard called a gift.

    Force India’s Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon once again made the top 10 and qualified 8th and 10th respectively and was split by Williams’ Felipe Massa.

    Ferrari seems confident that they have the race pace to fight with Mercedes. The run to Turn 1 is quite long. A good slip stream and good grip around the outside of Turn 1 will place you in a good position for Turn 2 which follows right after. The driver arriving first at T1 will have to place his car in just the right spot to defend his place. It’s still all to play for in the race.

     

     

    Photo credit: Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team

  • 2017 Spanish GP: Post Qualifying Press Conference

    2017 Spanish GP: Post Qualifying Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

    3 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)

     

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Lewis the 64th pole of your career and your third of this year. Sixty-fourth pole puts you one behind Ayrton Senna, I’m sure you’re well aware of that, but did you feel you had control throughout today or did the red cars give you a bit of a scare?

    Lewis HAMILTON: It started out that we were potentially a tenth ahead of the Ferraris, but in P3 it seemed that we were lot closer, so, quite level. So it was really intense for us, making sure we pulled out every millisecond we can. We made some changes as we got into qualifying and the car felt great, so I was very happy with it. The Q1 lap was very, very good. The Q2 lap was so-so, but good enough. Then the first lap of Q3 was very good and the second lap was up, I think almost two tenths. I didn’t finish it that way but still it was good enough to keep me ahead.

    Q: That’s interesting. Was that conditions or was that you, because Sebastian also had an issue in the final sector? 

    LH: It’s difficult to know. I didn’t make a mistake. I didn’t lock up or go wide or anything like that. I did the corner perfectly, but it’s very gusty out there, so from corner to corner… sometimes you arrive in the corner and you brake in the same spot and understeer off because you have a tail wind or a head wind and you stop quicker. Particularly for me, I feel for that moment maybe I didn’t have a tail wind, because the car stopped really well, as opposed to the previous lap where it was more on the limit. I don’t know if that was the same for Sebastian but it was tricky for us all.

    Q: A quick final thought on the race pace. It looked very strong yesterday and particularly the degradation on the soft looked really good, so you must be feeling pretty strong going into the race tomorrow?

    LH: Yeah, I mean firstly, I have to say the team have done an incredible job; the guys back at the factory, as always really… I don’t know if they get tired of hearing it, but they really have done an incredible job to make small increments, steps forward and bring a great package for this track to keep us in the fight with the Ferraris. Very grateful for everyone’s hard efforts and we want to work as hard as we can to make sure that doesn’t go to waste.

    Q: Sebastian, I’ll bet you’re glad when they told you to switch the engine off in Q1, you questioned it for a minute or two and didn’t switch the engine off? Otherwise you wouldn’t be sitting here and you’d be looking at losing your championship lead tomorrow afternoon wouldn’t you.

    SV: I don’t know. You never know. Obviously much better that way. But I have to say the team did a phenomenal job. By surprise we had an issue this morning and had to change the engine. Normally that’s close to a three-hour job, if you’re rushing. I don’t know how they managed. They did it in sub-two hours. I was basically, at 10-to-2 or five-to-2, I was ready and we were ready to fire up and go out in Q1. So really a big thank you to them. Kimi’s crew helped out too. It was quite funny at one point: one side of the garage there was one or two mechanics and the other one was completely crowded, like bees hovering around the car. A great effort, so big thanks. I think we could have had pole today, so not the ideal end, but when I consider where we were this morning, then obviously with the change we made it out, as you talked about in Q1, a small issue there, so I think it’s a really good recovery. Yesterday I wasn’t happy with the car balance at all and today it was phenomenal. I felt yesterday that it was in the car but I just couldn’t get to it. And today, as I say, was really a pleasure, especially the first two sectors. Conditions were very tricky, with the wind, never easy, never knowing what to expect. And I think I got caught out a bit in the last sector – my favourite place – which Mark Webber teached me many lessons over the years and I still haven’t got it. I don’t know, I need to go back to school maybe and sit down and have a proper look. I have done so many laps but still the last chicane is a bit tricky so I’m sure with the race and with the rhythm tomorrow it will be fine, but for quali today it could be a bit better.

    Q: There was a lot of talk about the upgrades everybody was going to have coming here this weekend. Are you very encouraged to be sitting here now after they turned up with all these Starship Enterprise bits on their car and all the rumours and you’re actually so close and, as you say yourself, you could have been on pole in terms of ho the season goes from here?

    SV: Yeah, I think from the outside at least it looks like they had a smooth weekend, at least Lewis, I think Valtteri had a surprise engine change as well this morning. Overall, I think they looked a bit more in the rhythm. As I said yesterday, for us it was a bit more up and down. Then I did a long run on the medium compound, which was quite slippery. So, as I said, today I was a lot happier. The car is good. You mentioned Starship Enterprise: I’m not a Starship Enterprise fan, but I guess you can look at it from the outside and from the inside. I’m happy with the bits we brought here. Maybe they’re not as flashy and bling, but they’re working, so our guys back in the factory are pushing really hard. We brought some stuff in Russia, we brought again a lot of stuff here, so yeah, I’m really happy with how it’s going.

    Q: Valtteri, we heard you say on the radio “not good enough.” Were you talking about yourself or the general picture? Just that middle sector on your final run that caught you out?

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, just myself. I think the team has done an amazing job with the car, managing to still battle so close with Ferrari and for most of the weekend we’ve been quicker, so it’s only really Q3 where they raised-up their game and we were slightly, nearly, trouble with them, especially me. For me, starting the day with the engine change, going back to the old engine, I was always going to be slightly on the back foot, and just really struggled through the qualifying with the rear stability – that was the main issue. It was difficult to find a good rhythm from one quali to another, like I normally do. Just every lap, the car felt a little bit different. It wasn’t one of my best quali but very happy for the job the team has done and Lewis was very strong today, very quick, so yeah, as always the race is tomorrow and I’ve done some good things from P3 before.

    Q: As we were saying earlier, the Mercedes race pace is strong, the deg was low – but it’s always about fine margins, isn’t it: you had an extra lap on your start set of tyres and you had a couple of lock-ups, so a couple of flat-spots there – or are you not too worried?

    VB: No, the tyres had felt good and the extra lap was just a second out-lap so it was a good feeling with that set, so no issues.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Sef Harding – Xiro Xone News) Lewis, it looks like The Force has been strong with you all weekend, everything looked good for you. This guy [Vettel] is going to be right next to you tomorrow: do you expect a tight run off to the first corner – and is the Jedi Knight ready for a battle tomorrow?

    LH: You’re obviously a big fan of the movie, right? Thank you for always being such a positive person – you’re always positive when you come into this press conference, so thank you for that. Yeah, I think it’s going to be a tough race tomorrow, for sure. You see how close it is between us and it’s all milliseconds between us. It’s a long run down to… I think it’s the third longest run down to Turn One so of course it’s going to be important to get a good start but we’ve worked hard on them so I’m going to try to do the best job I can. Valtteri’s had some great starts so I’m going to try and follow in his footsteps there and then yeah, positioning can help a lot here and being on the clean side of the grid is an advantage generally. Usually it’s a little bit of an advantage and hopefully I’ll be able to utilise that – particularly compared to Sebastian – and then in the race it’s just about looking after those tyres. It’s a very, very long, hard race, both physically and mentally and for the car and the tyres – but we’ve prepared in the best way we can and I think hopefully got the car in a much better position than I did in the last race.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, how much more difficult is it here to make the same kind of striking start like you did in Sochi?

    VB: For sure it’s a much shorter run into Turn One than to Turn Two in Sochi. So, it’s always more tricky – but it’s still, if you have a good start you can gain places. We’ve seen in the past many times here people starting from the second, even the third row, have made many positions so anything is always possible –– but I can’t always rely on a good start, y’know? For sure the other guys are going to have good ones as well at some point. But yeah, good starting point, everything is still wide open and we feel our race pace is good and still upbeat for tomorrow.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Still on this question of the start tomorrow, this circuit is very difficult to overtake historically, even now more here this year. And Sebastian, you are in the dirty part of the track – and you have a long straight into the first bend and, in this case it’s normally a small advantage to who’s behind, in this case Valtteri. Is there anything that you can defend yourself against the possible attack from your opponent?

    SV: Yeah, there’s a lot of things. I need a perfect start, simple as that. There’s a long way but I think the grip will be the same. I don’t think it will be much different. There’s a lot of racing series this weekend: you have the Porsche Cup, GP3, F2. Usually they put a lot of rubber down everywhere so I don’t think that’s a real disadvantage – and then as I said, I just need to do everything right and that’s the best way to attack and defend.

    Q: (Luigi Perna – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Seb, are you happy to see that despite all the new stuff that Mercedes put on the car that Ferrari was able to reply with other stuff and you are at the same level of performance like some races before?

    SV: Well, we will see tomorrow but I think so far for us this weekend has been a bit more up and down. Yesterday was a bit wobbly, I wasn’t really feeling the rhythm yet. Today was a lot better. I think in terms of performance it’s really close. We will see in the race. I think looking after the tyres with the conditions will be key. Strategy, there should be some options so we will see. The plan for now it to go back and say thanks to all the guys because thanks to them I made it to qualifying and then we focus on the start, the beginning of the race and I think then we will see. I think it will be close. As I said, maybe they brought more visual stuff but I’m happy with what we brought and it seemed to work well and bring us very close. We could have been ahead today, that’s down to me, but I had lost enough to miss pole, like a tenth or something. But that didn’t happen, now we start P2 and take it from there but I’m confident for tomorrow.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Sebastian, when you were asked to stop the car on the track, was it always clear for you to carry on? These engines are so complicated, you never know, you could have risked the engine as well by continuing.

    SV: We had an issue, it turned out to be a programming issue but for sure I’m blind in that moment, I don’t know what to do. I was quite far away from the garage and I was sort of cruising down already so I just wanted to double check that I got the message right. I think I got it but that’s the last thing you want to do. Still, if I had the confirmation I would have stopped in the next convenient place. I just missed the opening on the track so that’s why I also had time to ask are we sure because I had time to go round turn four and then look for another opening.

    Q: (Barna Zsoldis – Nemzeti Sport) I think you’re all aware of the difficult situation of McLaren-Honda, but still Fernando managed to get seventh position, beating his teammate by 1.5s. I’m just wondering how you rate his performance?

    LH: Yeah, looks fantastic. I think that’s amazing for McLaren and Honda to get in the top ten. Shows progress.

    You (Sebastian) were with him in the press conference on Thursday and joked about seeing him in the final corner – you might!

    SV: Yeah, you never know, so that’s why we’re here, we’re here to race. Looks like he had a good session. I think Stoffel went out in Q1 so obviously the track improves a lot. If you look at our times between Q1 and Q3 it’s not fair but it looks like he had a good session. I think the car’s really good. This track’s not so sensitive on power so see what happens tomorrow.

    VB: I think he had a good session personally and the team is making progress.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) To all drivers, we saw massive changes in the cars for this race but the picture of qualifying didn’t change much, even the gap is more or less the same. In race conditions, do you think we can see these changes or are you predicting that we will see more or less what has been seen yesterday and today?

    LH: I’ve not really looked at the long run pace but I would imagine so, yeah. It is crazy that we keep… Sebastian said that they’d brought an upgrade to Sochi and we’ve only brought an upgrade here so… I think it’s going to remain a close battle of development through the whole of the rest of the season. Clearly Ferrari are pushing very very hard as are we. I think for us it’s more about quality rather than quantity or upgrades so we’re just working hard to make sure that the ones we do stick on the car… but it is strange when you bolt all this stuff on and you remain within half a tenth of each other. I think that’s great for racing.

    VB: I think maybe our upgrades were a bit more visible. You know we make progress all the time, we had a more visible package but it seems like it’s been a similar improvement with both teams so I think tomorrow’s going to be close.

     

     

    Photo credit: Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team

  • Front Row Lock Out For Ferrari at Russian GP Qualifying

    Front Row Lock Out For Ferrari at Russian GP Qualifying

    Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen locked out the front row in qualifying for the Russian Grand Prix. The first time Ferrari had locked out a front row since the French Grand Prix in 2008.

    Raikkonen, who held provisional pole in Q3, was beaten by Vettel on his final throw of the dice at a flying lap after a two lap warm up. Raikkonen had issues with traffic on his warm up during his final attempt and was slightly compromised at the end of the lap. In the end Vettel was able to improve on his time while Raikkonen did not.

    “I had a good start to Qualifying , then in Q2 I lost a bit the rhythm,” said Vettel.

    “My first run in Q3 was not very tidy, so I left it to the last run.

    “For us it’s so important as Mercedes had done an impeccable job in the last few years, so it’s great for the team and for me that we managed to break that.

    Vettel’s 1:33.194 was 0.059s quicker than Raikkonen’s 1:33.253. Valtteri Bottas in the Mercedes missed out on the front row by almost one-tenth off Raikkonen with his best time of 1:33.289. At the end the top three were covered by less than 0.1s.

    Lewis Hamilton could only managed 4th fastest after the Mercedes struggled for grip in the final sector which is dominated by slow 90-degree corners. Hamilton was more that half-a second off the pace from Vettel.

    “I just wasn’t quick enough today,” said Hamilton.

    “It was all in the last sector, I was losing half a second there. I’ve been struggling there all weekend with the balance and it’s been tough to utilise the tyres.

    “We’ll go back to the drawing board tonight and try and improve. Ferrari did a great job.”

     

    Toto Wolff felt that Bottas could have got a place on the second row of the grid and possibly pole, but a mistake in the final sector cost him 2nd place.

    In a distant 5th and 7th were the Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen, split by the Williams of Felipe Massa in 6th. Red Bull, according to Riccardo were not expecting anything higher than 5th today. This point enforced by the fact that the Red Bulls were more than a second off the pace.

    Felipe Massa was quite happy with his lap time which split the Red Bulls and feels that he can fight the them tomorrow in the race.

    “It’s so nice to see that we are in the middle of the two Red Bulls,” said Massa after qualifying.

    “They were better than us in the first three races, on qualifying and race pace, but this is a good track for us and we are fighting with them.”

     

    Nico Hulkenberg put in another great performance for the works Renault team to finish 8th fastest ahead of the Force India’s for Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon.

    Hulkenberg’s team-mate, Jolyon Palmer was a bit unlucky after bouncing over the kerbs at Turn 4 and ending up in the barrier at the exit of Turn 4. That after the team were forced to make and engine change between Free Practice 3 and Qualifying. Palmer was eliminated at the end of Q1 and will start the race from 16th.

    A fighting Fernando Alonso was able to drag his McLaren through to Q2 but was unable to much after that and was eliminated at the end of Q2 in 15th. The Spaniard did come on the radio with some praise for the McLaren chassis saying the car was well balanced and his lap was near perfect. “Car felt really good. Well balanced, lots of grip. The lap was nearly perfect,” was the call from Alonso.

    Romain Grosjean in the Haas was unable to get a clean lap together after suffering with braking issues all throughout Free Practice 3 and in Qualifying and at the end of Q1 was the slowest. Grosjean did say that he was compromised by a yellow flag caused by Sauber’s Pascal Wehrlein who spun on the entry to Turn 13.

    Going into the race Mercedes will be focussing on getting ahead of the Ferrari’s at the start. It’s a long run to Turn 2 before the long swooping left of Turn 3. The two long straights make overtaking possible around the Sochi Autodrom and with a one-stop race the more likely strategy most of the passing will have to be done on track.

    Russia 2017_Qualifying Class

  • Hamilton in control, snatches Abu Dhabi GP pole

    Hamilton in control, snatches Abu Dhabi GP pole

    Lewis Hamilton says he felt in control as he stormed to pole position for the F1 world championship title decider at the Abu Dhabi GP.

    Hamilton beat championship leader and team mate Nico Rosberg by 0.303, with a 1:38.755. Twelve points stand between Hamilton and his fourth world title but the Brit maintains he is well in control.

    “The first section I knew I had pace for the rest of the lap so I was relatively not cautious but didn’t want to cook it into turn one so that is where a little bit of time went to Nico,” Hamilton said. “Otherwise the rest of the lap I had it under control so I made sure I maximised it in those areas.

    “So far this weekend I have been solely focused on getting to this position which I truly believed I could and it worked.”

    Hamilton also made it clear that he doesn’t feel the same pressure he did back in 2014 because he has nothing to lose now.

    “This is a much different scenario to 2014,” he said. “The reason I couldn’t sleep before the race was because I worked so hard during the year and faced different challenges but had more wins and yet I could have thrown it all away that week.

    “Having lost the championship in 2007 that had played on my mind but tomorrow is a complete opposite of the spectrum.”

    Hamilton needs Rosberg to not make it onto the podium if he has any hopes of taking the title home on Sunday.

    “I knew I had pace throughout the rest of the lap so I was relatively cautious, well not cautious but I didn’t overcook it into Turn 1 so that’s really where a little bit of time was to Nico,” the three-time world champion explained. “Otherwise the rest of the lap I had under control so I just made sure I maximised those areas.

    “This weekend so far I’ve got the car in a real sweet spot, great work done by my engineers and my faultless mechanics again, they’ve done a fantastic job. Everyone back at the factory as well, I just want to thank everyone.

    “I can’t believe I have 61.That’s four more to go to try and catch Ayrton [Senna] but it’s been a great weekend so far. I wouldn’t have the 61 poles I have now without them so a big thank you to them. It’s the perfect position for tomorrow.”

    Daniel Ricciardo was third, 0.834s down in his Red Bull, with Kimi Raikkonen a further 0.015s off the pace for Ferrari.

    Sebastian Vettel was fifth fastest ahead of Max Verstappen. Nico Hulkenberg was seventh ahead of Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, who qualified tenth fastest for his final grand prix.

    Williams team mate Valterri Bottas was 11th fastest with Button qualifying in P12 for his final F1 race. Gutierrez came in 13th fastest for Haas with Grosjean, Palmer, Wehrlein, Kyvat and Magnussen behind him. Sauber’s Felipe Nasr, Ocon, Sainz and Ericsson completed the grid.

  • Ocon Penalized for Impeding Palmer during Brazilian GP Qualifying

    Ocon Penalized for Impeding Palmer during Brazilian GP Qualifying

    Manor Racing’s Esteban Ocon will drop 3 places down the grid after stewards found that he impeded Renault’s Jolyon Palmer in Q1.

    Palmer, who was on a flying lap at the time, had to run wide at Turn 4 to avoid Ocon. Despite Palmer still making it through to Q2 Ocon was penalized 3-grid spots and 2-penalty points on his super license.

    “At the end of the Q1 session, the Driver of Car 31 (Ocon) was on a slow lap having aborted his lap previously, while the Driver of Car 30 (Palmer) was on a fast lap,” read the statement by the Stewards in the decision document.

    “Entering the braking area of Turn 4 Ocon stayed on the racing line at the moment when Palmer was approaching, forcing Palmer off the racing line.

    “At that time, Ocon was on the radio with his team, who did not inform him of the approaching car.

    “When Ocon did see Palmer, he moved as far as possible to the right to avoid a dangerous situation, but the Stewards concluded these were not mitigating factors, and that  Ocon clearly impeded Palmer.”

    Photo credit: Manor Racing Formula One Team

  • 2016 Singapore Grand Prix: Post Qualifying Press Conference

    2016 Singapore Grand Prix: Post Qualifying Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

    2 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

    3 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    TV UNILATERAL

    Nico, congratulations, that was a stunning lap, half a second quicker than anyone else, tell us about it?

    Nico ROSBERG: yeah, definitely happy with that one for my 200th grand prix. For sure one of my top three laps ever, so happy with that. It really went well. At times it wasn’t clear in qualifying how we were going to stack up against Red Bull for example, because they were very quick on the supersoft in Q2 for example, so I knew I had to give it everything and really pull one out of the bag, which was cool. Great feeling.

    Congratulations. Daniel, you left it late but you are on the front row. How pleased are you with that final effort in Q3?

    Daniel Ricciardo: Pleased enough. The aim was to try to be on the front row. We knew it would be hard to try and get in front of the Mercedes, so it was nice to at least get one.  We made improvements for qualifying through practice. We were still trying to find some stuff with the car and it finally came good in qualifying, got better, the rhythm for the session was good. We qualified on the supersoft for Q2, so we’ll start the race on that tyre. Obviously we feel it’s a good thing; let’s see if it makes a difference tomorrow, but the last lap in Q3 was clean. It probably wasn’t as good as Nico’s but it was clean and good enough for the front row.

    Well done to you. Lewis, coming on to you, it was clearly a frustrating session for you, just talk us through it.

    Lewis HAMILTON: It wasn’t really a frustrating session, it’s just not been my weekend so far. Just not really got many good laps out there and I’ve not been able to string them together, and that was the case today. Nico did a great job and showed the true potential of the car. Hopefully tomorrow, try and at least get one step up ahead to give that front row for the team.

    Thank you. Coming back to you Nico, as you say, you’re starting your 200th grand prix from pole position in what promises to be a long and dramatic race. Are you worried about the man next door to you on the front row starting on a different tyre?

    NR: Worried no, but for sure I will be keeping an eye on him, because they were quick on race pace on Friday, I think probably more so than on the qualifying pace, so for sure he is going to be a threat especially with that supersoft tyre.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Nico, you said that lap in Q3 was in the top three of your career. I was going to say ‘tell us which one were better’, because that lap really did look particularly good.

    NR: It’s difficult to say. There’s always a little fraction here or there that could be better, but it felt great all around. It was really cool.

    Daniel, was it always the plan to go through from Q2 on the supersoft tyre? Were there any nerves that you wouldn’t make it without putting the ultrasoft on?  

    DR: No, it was always the plan, even before the weekend. We expected other teams to do it as well. I would say we are but surprised we are the only ones. Yeah it was always the plans. Obviously we have to pick the tyres a long way before the race. I don’t know if it was the case that Mercedes or Ferrari for example didn’t have enough supersofts to perhaps qualify on them…

    NR: We had them.

    DR: Oh, you had them? OK! So, yeah, let’s see tomorrow. It’s a bit like Monaco. We did that thinking it would be the right thing, then we didn’t get a chance to see it with the wet start. But tomorrow, I think it’s going to be dry here so we’ll get a chance to see if it works.

    Lewis, it didn’t work out for you in qualifying, but how is the car performing on the longer runs. Do you have high hopes for tomorrow’s grand prix?

    LH: I’ve not really looked at the long runs to be honest. Obviously I didn’t get to do long runs yesterday, so I’m not quite sure. I think Nico did some running; our cars are set up a little bit different. I don’t think we’re in a bad position but I’ll find out tomorrow for the first time.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Candra Kurnia – Jawa Post) For both of you, Nico and Daniel. Singapore GP has been won only by World Champions. Do you think new history will be written tomorrow?

    NR: It may be time to change that then. I’ll give it everything tomorrow. But I was surprised to hear that, actually, that only three people have ever won the Singapore Grand Prix in all these years. But anyways, I’m feeling good for tomorrow and, of course, I have a good chance.

    Daniel, more thoughts from you about tomorrow?

    DR: Yeah, obviously would love to win it. I think we’ve created a good opportunity, starting on the front row. I think as Nico touched on, our race pace was pretty good yesterday. Here track position can dictate a lot and Safety Cars as well. We’re in a good position. Hopefully for our sake it’s a new winner. Obviously Seb had his problems today, so I think he was potentially a contender but I think he’s going to be out of the picture, so out of the front guys it’s probably Lewis that will be the closest World Champion to threaten. Otherwise we’ll hopefully try to get it done. Well not ‘we’. ‘I’. We can’t both win. Sorry.

    Q: (Wojciech Paprota – Swiatwyscigow.pl) Lewis, I have a question for you. We saw you going wide in Turn Seven. What makes this corner a bit more difficult than the other ones?

    LH: It’s not more difficult than any of the other corners on the track, honestly. It’s one of the two or three highest braking corners, it’s quite bumpy but that’s about it.

    Q: (Ian De Cotta – The New Paper) You said that you want to get Monaco back in Singapore, do you think you can do that? And Lewis, you are a little bit on the back foot for tomorrow’s race in the World Championship, what are your thoughts on that.

    DR: Sure, I would love to get a win this year, obviously we’ve come close but haven’t held the big trophy on Sunday. I’ve put myself in a good position. Obviously pole would have been ideal but second is the next best for today. You get a good start, if you get good track position then you can try to control the race as well as possible. There will be some curveballs I’m sure tomorrow with safety cars and whatnot but yeah, at least we’re at the pointy end. Hopefully stay out of trouble and then try and get that victory this year.

    And Lewis?

    LH: I’ve kind of been on the back foot all year long so there’s no real difference to me. I’ll do the best job I can from there and try and fight my way through. It’s a very hard track to overtake so, you’re usually stuck where you are but there’s lots of safety cars at this race so lots can happen during the race.

    Q: (Don Kennedy – Hawkes Bay Today) Nico, since you came back from the summer break you seem to be on fire, not only in terms of your driving but mentally as well. Do you think you’ve now turned the corner psychologically in your battle with Lewis for the championship?

    NR: I don’t think of it in that sense and I don’t think of trends or anything like that. I’m feeling good at the moment but I was feeling good before the summer break as well and just focusing on the weekend that I have at hand here in Singapore and my aim is to try and win this race and for now, of course, it’s looking like I have a very good chance for tomorrow and that’s it. I don’t think beyond that so no, sorry.

    Q: (Wang Meng Meng – Straits Times) Nico, just now you said you were surprised to find that there were only three men who won the Singapore Grand Prix. Here’s another stat: six out of the eight men who were on pole won a Grand Prix here. What are your thoughts on this?

    NR: I like that statistic!

    Q: (Berk Serioglu – Motorsport.com) Lewis, as a driver, the strongest part of your driving style is the braking. This weekend we could see that you struggled too much with your braking. What’s the issue behind it?

    LH: Well, in qualifying it wasn’t a problem. We had a problem in practice with something happening with the front suspension, it was not working properly and that was it. They fixed that and then it wasn’t a problem in qualifying.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) I would like to ask you why you didn’t use the supersoft tyres in Q2 for example? It’s a question maybe also for Nico.

    LH: I trust our strategist. He’s done a great job. I think we’re on the right strategy but of course they’ve done a good job. Time will tell, I guess, tomorrow. They’re on a harder tyre which should generally go longer but obviously Nico’s in the front so he will probably control the race from there and make it as hard as possible for Daniel to get or for us to get by. I think they’ve done the right job.

    NR: Strategy is one of our strengths, one of our many strengths so I don’t have any concerns there but of course we need to work out the best plan for tomorrow but I think we’re looking good. The final thing is just to say that it shows the quality of our team at the moment  that this being our most difficult track last year we really came away and learned what went wrong and really turned things round and now dominated this weekend up to now in qualifying. Of course there’s still the race but last year we were nowhere in qualifying so it really shows the quality of the team to understand something like that and turn it around in such a way.

  • Perez Handed 8-Place Grid Penalty

    Perez Handed 8-Place Grid Penalty

    Force India’s Sergio Perez was handed a cumulative 8-place grid penalty for two incidents, both for ignoring yellow flags during Q2 for the Singapore Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

    The first incident was when Romain Grosjean crashed his Haas into Turn 9. Perez, who was on a flying lap, failed to slow down for the double waved yellow’s that were out in the section of the track. The stewards found that Perez had failed to slow down approaching Turns 9 and 10 and was in breach of Article 2.4.51. (b) of the FIA International Sporting Code.

    “The driver of car 11 failed to reduce his speed significantly and be prepared to change direction or stop as required under Art 2.4.5.1(b) when double yellow flags were being waved at both Turns9 and 10,” said the stewards in a statement.

    “The stewards took into consideration the fact that driver had two corners in which to slow down significantly and failed to do so and both of which were blind corners (including one where the accident had taken place and where the damaged car was still in the barriers) and where the driver would not have known if the track had a hazard wholly or partly blocking the track and/or marshals working on or beside the track”

    The Mexican was handed a 5-place grid drop and three penalty points on his super license for the incident.

    The second incident was when he passes Esteban Gutierrez under yellow flags after Jenson Button had stopped on track at the end of Q2 at Turn 16.

    Perez was handed a further 3-place grid penalty.

    After qualifying in 10th Perez will now start from 18th on the grid.

     

    Photo credit: Sahara Force India Formula One Team

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

    2016 Formula 1 German Grand Prix: Post Qualifying Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

    2 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    3 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

     

    TV UNILATERAL

    Nico, under pressure there: only one run in the end in Q3 after, we understand, an electronics glitch on your first run. How satisfying is this pole under those circumstances?

    Nico ROSBERG: Yeah, it was a great feeling. Just a great lap. Not only was it just one lap that I had but I also had extra fuel to make sure that I would have an extra shot if a mistake or something happens. So I had fuel for three laps. So that was some more time in the bag there, so I was really satisfied with that one. That was really cool.

    Very well done. Lewis, a little lock-up there, I think into the hairpin, on your final run, only a tenth off Nico. It looks like it’s been a little bit of a tricky weekend, but did you feel it was all coming together for you in qualifying?

    Lewis HAMILTON: It’s been a good weekend, I had no problems. I had the pace today I just didn’t finish it off in the last lap, so…

    Was it the lock-up ?

    LH: I didn’t really have much of a lock-up. It was subtle; I didn’t lose any time.

    Thank you for that. Coming to you Daniel, obviously a very close battle between Red Bull and Ferrari there. Do you feel though that you could have been a little bit closer to the Mercedes in the end than the two and a half tenths that it was?

    Daniel RICCIARDO: I think we got pretty close to be honest. My first lap in Q3 was really good and I knew there probably wasn’t that much more on the table in the second run and in the end a couple of mistakes in that run. There was maybe a tenth or so in it with the perfect lap, but not enough to challenge the pole. We’re close enough. I said yesterday that if we could be within half a second that’s not a bad day in qualifying, so hopefully it means something tomorrow. From what I understand we might have different tyres available for us for the race, so hopefully that makes it interesting.

    Just coming back to you Lewis: your thoughts ahead of tomorrow’s grand prix? It’s going to be another tough battle in prospect?

    LH: It’s should be a good day for Mercedes. That’s the goal and yeah, we’ll race it out.

    And the final word from our pole sitter: your thoughts Nico then, the race in prospect? Another tough battle in prospect, not only with Lewis but with Daniel as well, and any worries for you on the electronics glitch going forward into the grand prix?

    NR: No, I don’t know what it was. It just suddenly… how do you say… it just suddenly lost the throttle. So just cut completely the engine, just at the end of the lap. That was disappointing but I’m sure we’ll fix it for tomorrow. It’s never happened before, so I’m sure it will be OK. Definitely it will be an exciting race against Lewis and the Red Bulls and maybe also the Ferraris but they’re a bit further back it seems.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Nico, maybe you could just tell us a little bit more about what you experienced with that electronics glitch – and also, I’m interested in the mental reset after that. You obviously get yourself psyched-up, you know you’ll have another run but to know it’s all on that one lap after you’ve had a setback, just tell us about that mental reset you have to do.

    NR: Yeah, it was frustrating at the time because it was a good lap and then to lose it two corners from the end in a way that I’ve never experienced before was definitely tough in that moment. And then also to know that I had to put extra fuel for the last run, to be able to do three laps because just to have a little bit of a contingency plan in case lap one doesn’t work out. And then, yeah, just very happy with that first lap. That was awesome, it really came together well. Yeah, so as a result it was quite challenging to do that last run.

    Q: Lewis, obviously it’s been a very strong couple of months for you. You’ve come right back to the point where you’re now leading the championship going into tomorrow’s grand prix. Just tell us a little bit about the importance for you of going into that summer break with a win under your belt. Is that something you particularly target? And how do you look back on this last few weeks?

    LH: I think the importance is not particularly relevant. We’ve had, what, five out of six races wins, so it’s been a good mid-stint of the season, and hopefully tomorrow we get the first or second and that’ll still be great. We’ll still be in good position. Of course, every race you approach to win.

    Q: Daniel, going into tomorrow’s grand prix, just looking back on your comments yesterday after the long runs, it seemed that you felt reasonably optimistic in terms of your pace relative to these guys. So tell us a bit more about that.

    DR: Yeah. I felt that, on low fuel yesterday, Mercedes had a pretty good buffer over everyone and the long run pace we looked to be closer than that, so that was giving us a bit of optimism coming into Sunday. Obviously today we’ve got a bit closer on one-lap pace than we were yesterday so let’s see. Hopefully it translates into something tomorrow. Even to put a little bit of pressure on them at some point in the race would be nice. But yeah, we’ll see. Obviously tomorrow, you never know what can happen, and racetracks change day to day with the temperature and whatever but yeah, obviously we’re looking pretty good. Obviously a lock-out with the second row and hopefully we can do something with it.

    You hinted there that you have something different on the tyres there, so you think obviously strategies going to play a big part in the race tomorrow.

    DR: Yeah, from what I understand, we’ve got different tyres available for the race, so there could be some different strategies amongst the first few cars. Hopefully it works out. If it does, the fans might have a race on their hands.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Speedsport and Auto Action) Nico and Lewis, last weekend the start  and the first couple corners set the race. How much different is it this weekend and how much easier is it to get past on this track?

    NR: It’s a different world here because you can overtake on this track if you get a significant speed difference. Nevertheless it’s still going to be a good battle off the start and in the first couple of corners, for sure.

    LH: It’s a much easier track (on which) to overtake. But that doesn’t mean you can but it is much easier, it’s one of the easier ones.

    Q: And your thoughts just on that first corner and then the run down to turn two?

    LH: Only one car can go through turn one so it’s whoever gets there first.

    Q: (Graeme Keilloh – Grand Prix Times) Lewis, you said earlier that you just didn’t get it done in the final qualifying lap. Did you feel that pole was on today, was there a particular mistake or something else that denied you?

    LH: Well, I’d been first in every qualifying session so yeah, it was definitely on. I was two tenths up on the lap and I just didn’t finish it. That’s it.