Tag: qualifying

Rosberg secures pole position for German Grand Prix

Nico Rosberg secured pole position for his home German grand prix, beating Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton by just over a tenth of a second. Hamilton drifted a little at Turn 1 and locked up into the hairpin on his final lap, pretty much costing him the pole position.

Rosberg had suffered an electronics issue on his first Q3 run to take the top spot with a 1:14.363. Rosberg’s lap was outstanding and held nothing but signs of sandbagging by the Mercedes team during the FP3 practice session.

Lewis Hamilton had been under investigation following FP3 – for an unsafe release. The stewards decided to fine the Mercedes team, but there was no penalty for Hamilton so he will retain his 2nd place.

The second row of the German Grand Prix grid will be locked out by the Red Bull team of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen.

Kimi Raikkonen beat Ferrari team mate Sebastian Vettel to fifth place and Nico Hulkenberg, Valterri Bottas and Sergio Perez lined up behind them. Felipe Massa rounded out the Top 10 for the Williams F1 team.

Esteban Gutierrez finished 11th – only just missing out on his first Q3, ahead of Jenson Button for McLaren. Carlos Sainz Jr is under investigation for impeding Felipe Massa at Turn 2.

Fernando Alonso finished in 14th place ahead of Romain Grosjean who will have to take a five place grid penalty for his gearbox change following FP3.

Jolyon Palmer finished 16th for Renault ahead of team mate Kevin Magnussen who has Pascal Wehrlein lining up behind him.

A frustrated Daniil Kvyat lined up 19th for Toro Rosso with Manor’s Rio Haryanto beating both Sauber drivers, with Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson at the back of the grid.

Join us tomorrow on Twitter @F1_Madness for live chat and commentary throughout the German Grand Prix.

July 30, 2016
Stewards Clear Rosberg for Ignoring Yellow Flags

The stewards have ruled that Nico Rosberg did, in fact, slow down for the yellow flags in qualifying and will keep pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Rosberg was called to stewards late on Saturday evening after an alleged breach of Appendix H, Article 2.4.5.1 b) of the FIA Sporting Regulations. It was alleged that Rosberg did not slow down for the yellow flags at Turn 9 in Q3 after McLaren’s Fernando Alonso spun and came to a stop with his car partially on the track.

Rosberg’s team-mate Lewis Hamilton was on a flying lap and the yellow flags meant that he had to back out of the lap. By the time Rosberg had reached Turn 9, Alonso had already cleared the area and was on his way back to the pits. The yellow flag conditions, however, persisted. When Rosberg had reached T9, the yellow flags were still out. On board shots of Rosberg going through Turns 8 and 9 showed that he had lifted off.

The stewards ruled that no further action should be taken on Rosberg as telemetry had showed that he had slowed down.

In a statement the stewards said: “The telemetry demonstrated that the driver reduced speed significantly into turn 8.”

Photo credit: Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team

July 23, 2016
2016 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix: Post Qualifying Press Conference

DRIVERS

1 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

2 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

3 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

TV UNILATERAL

Nico, what a dramatic qualifying session. How difficult was it out there and just describe your elation when you saw you had taken pole position at the end?

Nico ROSBERG: Yeah, it was a really challenging qualifying: the conditions changing all the time, very exciting out there. In the end it was pretty amazing that it did full dry out towards the end. I mean some kerbs still had some patches – going on to the start-finish straight, you had to be really careful opening DRS, I think you saw a lot of moments coming on to there. Then, yeah, I just got a really good lap in on that last lap – awesome, I’m very happy with that.

Lewis, I guess you must feel disappointed? You had set the fastest first sector and then you came across Fernando Alonso’s spinning McLaren. Do you think pole position was on for you today?

Lewis HAMILTON: I don’t know how much Nico was up, but obviously as you said I got the fastest first sector, I was four tenths up, so I felt good on the lap. Bit unfortunate with Fernando, but these things happen. I’m not really too disappointed, it was a tricky session and I did the best I could do and yeah, we still have a long race ahead of us tomorrow, so I’ll give it everything I’ve got from there.

Daniel, as Lewis says, it was a tricky session. You had a big moment exiting the final corner during qualifying. Describe what happened there and also your performance during qualifying, do you think you got the maximum out of the Red Bull package?

Daniel RICCIARDO: I think yeah… the maximum? I don’t know. We got hurt by the yellow as well. I was pretty angry on that last lap, because I was up a bit and I think it would have put me closer to pole. It would have been interesting without the yellow, so I’m a little bit disappointed, because it’s a maybe what could have been. But at the same time I think the session went really well. I think in all conditions we were competitive. It was crazy. You had to adapt quickly – when to go on the slicks in Q2 and even just little things: getting out of pit lane on the slick tyre when it was so wet, yeah it was sideways coming into turn one. It was fun, it was challenging. On the last corner, I think it was in Q3. There was still a little bit of a wet patch just next to the kerb and it sort of just sucked me in as I opened DRS as well, so I was in for a little bit of a ride but in the end I survived.

Nico, looking ahead to tomorrow’s race: you’ve never finished on the podium here at the Hungaroring and I guess looking to put that right tomorrow?

NR: I don’t really think of the past in those ways, just looking forward to it now, yeah, because of pole position and I’ve been really feeling good out there the whole weekend, in all conditions – wet, dry, even with high fuel on Friday – so it’s been a great weekend so far. Looking forward to the race and a great opportunity tomorrow.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Well, Nico that was an unbelievably exciting qualifying session ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. Timing seemed to be so important: when to be out on the track to ensure you were there when the track was at its driest. Just give us an insight into how tricky it was?

NR: Yeah, it was unbelievable. Just changing all the time, and so many things count, even just getting a gap at the end of the lap, everybody is backing off and to make sure you get a good gap there was difficult, even for there, because the time was quite tight. And then, yeah, I really nailed that last lap, so I’m very happy about that.

Congratulations. Lewis, I look to Q2 when I look at you. It was a very tense moment. You just got through into Q3 in P10; you heart must have been in your mouth?

LH: I wouldn’t say my heart was in my mouth, but yeah, obviously when I came in and saw how close it was, that wasn’t great. I went wide at Turn One. The rest of the lap I pushed as hard as I could. I was up on my previous, but of course I knew that everyone else would be quicker, so I lost too much time there. Very fortunate to get through and so that’s why even though I’m second I’m just grateful I got through and this puts me in a position to be at least be able to fight for the win tomorrow.

Well Daniel, Lewis wants to fight for the win tomorrow, do you think you can fight for the win?

DR: That’s the plan. We’ve more or less fought for it the last two years and I think we’re even closer this year than we have been in the past, in terms of pure pace. We’re getting stronger and we were close today and in all conditions we weren’t too far off pole. Tomorrow should be interesting. As always the Mercs have had good long run pace, we’ve seen [that] in free practice, but we’ll be there and obviously we start close enough to the front to make a fight of it and so hopefully it’s an exciting race.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Balazs Vajta – Eszak Magyarorszag) My question is for Lewis. Well, first of all, unlucky last lap of course, and it seems you have been struggling a little bit more on this weekend than usual. Would you be able to explain why you are struggling? That’s question number one and question two: looking at your qualifying today, rainy conditions, do you prefer rain conditions tomorrow or a dry race?

LH: Obviously I missed a lot of time yesterday. It was probably the first time, at least in the ten years that I have… actually in 2006 I had a spin in qualifying which meant I started at the back in GP2, otherwise in Formula One I’ve not really had any shunts here. Yesterday really put us on the back foot. Sometimes a missed session doesn’t really make too much of a difference but with a track as technical as this it’s really about building a solid foundation and I didn’t obviously get that yesterday and that was my fault. Today has been just trying to catch up from being on that back foot. I was kind of grateful it was wet at the beginning of qualifying because that levels the playing field a bit more, kind of helps you get back to the rhythm. As I said at the end it felt good. In terms of a wet or dry race, I hope it’s going to be a dry race tomorrow, but I don’t mind it being mixed because those are conditions I seem to go well in, so we shall see. For the fans I hope that it’s dry but for them also I hope that it’s a fun race like it was at the last one.

Q: (Istvan Simon – Auto Magazin) Nico, we were lucky enough to see replays of your quickest lap in Q3 and it looked like there were double yellow flags right after the chicane. How do you remember that lap? How was it from the cockpit and aren’t you afraid of losing pole, perhaps after the investigation?

NR: I don’t know. For sure there were double waved yeah, but I had a very, very big lift and lost a lot of time as a result and I was also slower than on my previous lap in that yellow sector, or in that yellow segment, or whatever it’s called, so I’m sure it will be OK.

Q: (Péter Vámosi – Vas Népe) Question to all drivers: the Hungarian government will rebuild the whole building here, it’s now official here, in two years. The whole media centre, this building, the boxes. Can you give us some advice what you need? Elevators? Bigger places? Whatever?

NR: We don’t really… it’s great that they’re doing it because yes, it’s a bit out-of-date, and that’s awesome because this place deserves to have Formula One for many, many more years y’know? So many fans come to watch us and the track is awesome – it’s a very, very exciting track – so it’s cool that they’re redoing it.

Lewis, anything to add?

LH: I love it here. I don’t think people need elevators! Could be a fun weekend but also one that you lose weight, bit of a workout! As Nico said, this is a historic grand prix, one of those that we cannot miss. I don’t think they need to go too overboard, we just need slightly bigger garages. I don’t know how it is for the hospitality but, just sensible improvement I would say.

Daniel, your thoughts.

DR: They’ve said it, yeah.

Q: (Barna Zsoldos – Nemzeti Sport) How did you find the new surface and the new kerbs in the wet conditions? Is it any different to how it was in the past? To all.

NR: It’s good. The grip is very high and that’s a great feeling, to be able to go so fast. Even in the wet, grip is very high. Yeah, I think they’ve done a very good job. Feels good. The only thing that still needs work are the two track limit areas where they just need to figure something out for there. Otherwise it’s been done very well.

Lewis, your thoughts on the track surface and the kerbs?

LH: I still don’t think they needed to do it, but obviously it’s done. I hope they don’t resurface it for a long time because it’s a track with age it gets better, it gains character. Yes, there are bumps and stuff but that’s what… as long as it’s not like a monster track bump then it’s fine; that means it’s more technical for us. But it’s very, very smooth now. And as Nico said, for one of the track limit kerbs, we have to find maybe a different solution – but the one seems to work now, so maybe that is the way forwards.

And Daniel?

DR: I’m sort-of on both sides. I definitely agree with Lewis that a lot of tracks have character through some bumps or some little parts on the track which… it’s like Monaco, for example, out of Casino Square we always avoid the bump, or the drain, whatever it is. If they smooth that out it would lose a lot of Monaco. It wasn’t to the extent here with Budapest, but there were some corners, like Turn Five, which was always really bumpy and sometimes uncomfortable but it was a challenge to work your way around that and setup the car around that particular corner. Thankfully it’s still got a lot of character, the track is still very flowing and still a lot of fun. Having a new surface, it does make it a lot grippier, so I think when you’re going faster as well, you are having fun. But yeah, they’ve done alright here. Hopefully they don’t resurface every track on the calendar because it does create a bit of atmosphere around it.

Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Nico, you have now 26 poles like Mika Häkkinen, do you feel that you equalled the Finnish record in this way?

NR: I didn’t know and, I don’t know…it’s not really… yeah it’s great to here that. But it’s not something that I think about. It’s just statistics. I’m not really focussed on that. I’m focussed on this weekend, happy to be on pole because it’s the best chance of winning the grand prix tomorrow.

Q: (Attila Lénart – Autó Stílus) I would like to ask all of you guys, after what we have seen here, we had more than an hour-long Q1, aren’t you feeling you are a bit over-protected?

DR: The only thing I feel is Hungry. I had a light lunch and now I’m hungry.

Can you elaborate a little bit for us? What were your thoughts about the conditions at the start?

DR: I think, a lot like these new surfaces, they do… because they haven’t bedded in, there’s not many cracks and whatever, the water does seem to sit on top of these very smooth types of asphalt. You could see that even the Safety Car, at least from what it looked like, the first ten minutes after two o’clock, it was even aquaplaning a bit. Normally if the Safety Car’s having problems then it’s very hard for us. Sure, we want to be out there, we don’t want to wait but at the same time, the car can only handle so much water and the tyres can only handle so much. I think they made the best of the situation with what it was. I think all of us where amazed at how quickly it then dried. From extremes to then Inters and then slicks in 10-15 minutes nearly.

Nico, do you feel the right decisions were made in Q1?

NR: Yeah, for sure because these puddles, they make it unbelievably uncontrollable, the car, this aquaplaning. You can’t drive in that. Even when we did drive, there were still a lot of those as you saw people going off everywhere. So, it was fine, it was good.

And Lewis, your thoughts on Q1.

LH: I agree with them. Honestly. I’m pretty crazy and I like to go out in conditions like that but I had crazy aquaplaning at one point Nico was mentioning. I was ahead of him. And so I think they made the right calls. Unfortunately the tyres… there is water sitting on top of the track and the tyres cannot disperse the water quick enough, and so I think they made the right call and the right steps.

Q: (Ralf Bach – Auto Bild Motorsport) A question to Nico and Lewis. We will see a total free race tomorrow between you guys, or could it be that we hear “keep position” at one moment of this race?

NR: For sure we can expect a good battle and free racing.

Lewis?

LH: Good to see you smiling Ralf! We’re supposed to race, same as always.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globosport) To Daniel, your team-mate comes from two podiums, two second places. What is the importance for you in this race to be in front of him?

DR: Always you want to beat your team-mate. That’s always, in a way, your first target. Everyone wants to win but if you can’t win you want to try to win the team battle, as it’s called. So yeah, I want to have a good race tomorrow. I really feel we can fight for more than just a podium – but let’s see. Yeah, I’ve obviously put myself in a good position I think from the start of the weekend, things have been working well. Obviously Max has done very well and he’s got some great results since he’s been here and I really believe we’re pushing each other to that next level and I think it’s showing in the team’s results. But also on myself I want to make sure I’m doing everything I can. So I focus on me first, and then try to understand a little bit of what’s happening around me.

Q: (Silvia Arias – Revista Parabrisas) For all of you, I want to know how difficult it’s going to be tomorrow: Avoid three times the corners Four and 11 out of the limits with the electronics.

NR: It’s OK. You can see the white line and I’m sure it will be fine.

Lewis, anything to add? Track limits.

LH: I don’t think it’s going to be a problem. It is relatively easy, you just don’t go through as fast as you would if you could go wider.

Daniel?

DR: Yeah, just being disciplined. That’s all it is really. It’s good that they are applying it. I think three times is definitely enough. Some people try to say ‘what if this happens? Or in this scenario…’ Three times is enough and that’s that. We can see it. It’s not like, as Lewis said, we can see the kerb, we can see the track limit. So, just be disciplined, be sensible and not too greedy.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Speedsport) Daniel, your team-mate reported on one run in Q3 that he lost ‘sync’. What does that mean, and did you have a similar glitch?

DR: Yes, so normally when you download from iTunes… I’m not sure what Max is using but obviously the music must have stopped. Weak wifi! Anyway, it’s normally just for the gears. Like a quick shift setting.

Did you have any problem?

DR: No, it was all good.

Q: (Péter Farkas – Autó Motor) Daniel, it was difficult to judge because of the conditions but based on what happened in P3, Red Bull seemed to get closer to Mercedes today than it was yesterday. How confident were you of fighting for pole if the conditions were staying dry?

DR: I think we would have got close on the last run, with the yellow. It sounded like Lewis was improving as well but looking at the 19.9 that Nico did, I did a 20.2, I think and I was three-and-a-half tenths up a the time of the yellow on my time, so I think it would have been very close at least to the time Nico set, so I was pretty frustrated on the radio. But anyway. It is what it is. I think we’ve definitely made some ground today over yesterday which is really nice because, particularly in qualifying Mercedes seem to, if not hold the gap, normally increase it, generally speaking. So I’m really happy with what we’ve done today. I did a little long run this morning which I was more comfortable than I was yesterday, so the signs are going there to be more competitive for tomorrow. Let’s see, give it a good crack.

Q: (Agris Lauzinieks – Kapitals) Nico, as a leader this season and your contract just being signed now, how can it be justified that you are earning less than Lewis?

NR: How do you know that?

I can feel it

NR: Well you need to check your feelings maybe. I don’t want to talk about such details.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globosport) To all drivers. In dry conditions, what do you project concerning tyres.

NR: Concerning tyres, it’s going to be, I think quite straightforward. Of course the supersoft is going to be very difficult initially, that’s going to be interesting how that goes. There could be some big differences there. After that, it’s going to be OK.

Lewis, you all did a lot of laps on the supersoft in Q2. How’s that going to impact on that first stint tomorrow.

LH: I only did the one lap on the supersoft in Q2. I think it’s the same for both of us. Only one lap on that tyre. I’m pretty sure that’s the case.

Daniel, how do you think it’s going to play-out tomorrow?

DR: I think if it’s hot the supersoft, it’s quite hard to get a lot of laps out of it. Or at least fast laps. It depends what the weather is doing. If it’s cooler, you can definitely run it longer but it does suffer more in the heat. Let’s see. I don’t think it’s going to be a one-stop race. We’ll see if anyone proves me wrong but at this stage it looks like a two stop and whether people do… obviously we’ve got three compounds to choose from. They might mix it up a little bit – but I don’t think we’ll see extremely long stints at the beginning with the supersoft.

July 23, 2016
Nico Rosberg takes dramatic Hungarian GP pole

It was Nico Rosberg who claimed the pole position today during a pretty dramatic qualifying session today ahead of the Hungarian GP. His time of 1:19.965 secured him the first spot on the grid during a dramatic qualifying mostly as a result of the rain that lengthened the session considerably.

Team mate Lewis Hamilton may have had a shot at pole but had to back off on his final lap when Fernando Alonso spun out at Turn 9. Alonso’s car was cleared just in time for Rosberg who was then able to grab the pole from Hamilton who had been almost four tenths up on his team mate in the first sector before he had to slow down.

The start of the Hungarian GP qualifying session was delayed by 20mins after a torrential rain storm struck the Hungaroring during the lunch time break. Once the session got underway all drivers frantically headed out on track only to be red flagged again when the rain came bucketing down again.

A number of red flags decorated the session with Marcus Ericsson crashing at Turn 10 and Felipe Massa going off the track at Turn 4. It was Manor driver Rio Haryanto though who brought the Hungarian GP Q1 session to an early end though when he went off at Turn 10.

Q2 saw the track drying enough for slick tyres to come out in the closing stages, with Williams driver Valtteri Bottas first to head out on the super softs.

Hamilton followed Bottas on the supersofts but had a bad scary first sector and ran deep into Turn 1, leacing him at risk while his rivals improved on the drying track.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was caught out by the improving track and ended up down in 14th on the grid, with Esteban Gutierrez behind him and Felipe Nasr in 16th place after leading the Q1 pack ever so briefly.

Q3 for the Hungarian GP saw Hamilton initially leading the back before the German charged ahead following Rosberg’s spin.

Red Bull seemed to show the only possible opposition to the Mercedes with Daniel Ricciardo taking third spot on the grid and Max Verstappen finishing fourth fastest after missing out on his final flying lap.

Sebastian Vettel finished 5th fastest after being frustrated with traffic along the way with Carlos Sainz Jr coming home 6th ahead of Alonso and Button. Nico Hulkenberg and Valterri Bottas rounded out the HUngarian GP Top 10.

Here’s the full grid for tomorrow’s Hungarian GP. Join us on Twitter @F1_Madness for live chat and commentary throughout the race tomorrow.

July 23, 2016
Hamilton edges Rosberg by 0.062s for Canadian GP pole

Lewis Hamilton secured his fifth Canadian GP pole position in his career by 0.062s from his Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg.

Hamilton’s first Q3 run was massively imppressive and he posted a 1:12.812 – enough to secure the top qualifying spot. He was not able to improve on his second run but Rosberg messed up his lap into the first corner, locking up, drifting and losing just a little too much time.

Vettel popped himself up into third place with a late run for it and finished a tenth of a second behind Rosberg’s time.
Vettel felt that pole was possible for Ferrari today. “Going into qualifying I thought it was possible,” said Vettel.

“On my last lap I was very happy in general, though maybe a little bit greedy out of Turn 10, not greedy enough into Turn 6. But there wasn’t a lot to grab otherwise.

“I wanted to get below the 1:13 mark – I knew that it would be very close with Mercedes. I did that but missed out by one hundredth, so that little bit missing.”

“Overall I think we have a great car, we did a step, so I’m happy with how the weekend has turned out. I feel in general very comfortable and enjoyed qualifying,” he said.

Ferrari brought an upgraded turbocharger to the Canadian GP and Hamilton thinks the team can pose a challenge during Sunday’s race.

“Ferrari has obviously picked up the pace with their upgrades,” Hamilton said.

“This is a great track to test ultimate speed, so we’re excited to have a race with them.

“Their long runs looked very strong. I don’t know if they were stronger than ours – we’ll see tomorrow.”

Hamilton admitted he had lossed a bit of the advantage he had over his team mate during Friday practices but was elated to have secured his fifth pole in Montreal. “To be honest it doesn’t matter how far you are ahead, as long as you are ahead,” he said.

Red Bull drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen lined up fourth and fifth with Kimi Raikkonen finishing only sixth fastest with his single Q3 effort. Raikkonen seemed less than impressed. “We improved the behaviour of the car, but still I found it hard to put a lap together,” he said.

Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa came in 7th and 8th for Williams with Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso completing the top 10.

Sergio Perez was 11th fastest for Force India, ahead of Jenson Button who lost his chance at Q3 with a lock up into L’Epingle and managed only 12 fastest.

Daniil Kvyat finshed 13th for Toro Rosso. He will however drop 3 places as a result of a penalty for his collision with Kevin Magnussen in Monaco.

Esteban Gutierrez inched his Haas ahead of Romain Grosjean by over 2 tenths to line up in 13th and 14th positions on the grid. Carlos Sainz Jr showed some very strong pace througout the race weekend so far but he clipped the wall on his way out of the final corner during his first attempt at getting through to Q3. He broke his suspension and retired from qualifying. He finished down in 16th place but will start ahead of Kvyat due to the Red Bull driver’s penalty.

Renault’s Joylon Palmer brushed his way against the wall on his wat out of the final chicane and finished 17th, ahead of Pascal Wehrlein . Ericsson and Nasr failed to get out of Q1 and Marcus will be dropping to the back of the grid due to his 3 place grid penalty for colliding with Nasr in Monaco.

Rio Haryanto got a listtle too close to the wall at Turn 4 and spun across the track – only just missing the barrier. This damaged his car though and he tried to limp back to the pits but crawled to a halt on the grass along the back straight.

Magnussen did not take part in qualifying following his crash in the final Canadian GP practice.

Final Canaddian GP Qualifying Classification :

June 11, 2016
Max Verstappen Q&A

All eyes were on Max Verstappen heading into Spain following his surprise promotion from Toro Rosso to Red Bull. 18yr old Verstappen put in a stellar performance during Saturday’s Spanish Grand Prix qualifying session. Max finished in fourth place with team mate Daniel Ricciardo only narrowly beating him.

Q: Max, did you envision starting this race from the second row when you got promoted to Red Bull Racing?

Max Verstappen: How can you expect something like that? But believe me: I am happy how it turned out – that’s for sure! (laughs)

Q: Then to ask in a different way: did you expect to be so quick – that the car would be so fast and that you would have such a super weekend without any difficulties transitioning?

Max Verstappen: To be honest, I did not know what to expect. And what happened – and how it happened was super positive! (laughs)

Q: In the way that qualifying unfolded, did you believe that you would beat Daniel (Ricciardo), your team mate?

Max Verstappen:: I really never thought about beating him or anything like that. I was fully concentrating on how the car behaved and enjoying every single lap when I realised that it runs so super smooth! To know that we are competitive and that we are fine and without any issues – that was all I had on my mind. I believe it is good for the team that we saw today that Daniel and I can push each other. That should be a good signal for the future.

Q: You were faster than Daniel in Q1 and Q2, but dropped back in Q3. Do you have any explanation for that? Was it not in the car or just not a perfect lap?

Max Verstappen: It is my first qualifying for Red Bull Racing so it is in no way about ‘the perfect lap’! I am just happy with the progress I am making. Every time over the weekend I got into the car I felt better and that is all that matters.

Q: Do you feel that it is a big step up from Toro Rosso to Red Bull Racing?

Max Verstappen: Ha, you can clearly see it in the lap times. It was just a super positive feeling, but I am also aware that I have to find the limits step by step.

Q: Was it your limit today?

Max Verstappen: It was clearly not the limit – but I am satisfied in how qualifying went today. Rome wasn’t built in one day! (laughs)

Q: From the pace you’ve seen in the car today – and also probably from the lack of pace at Ferrari – is there the podium on your mind?

Max Verstappen: I will now focus on the race and not start dreaming! What will happen will happen…

Q:…but do you expect some hiccups, as the procedures are different at Red Bull Racing than at Toro Rosso?

Max Verstappen: I will find that out in the race. It will definitely be an interesting learning curve!

Q: History has shown that your races tend to go sink or swim. Will you mentally prepare differently for tomorrow?

Max Verstappen: No, not at all. Isn’t it my style to go about races in the style that brought me here?

Q: When you and Daniel get close in the race will you fight him as hard as you fought Carlos (Sainz) in the past?

Max Verstappen: How would I know now? I would have to imagine all kinds of scenarios – and to be honest my time is too precious for that.

Q: Were you surprised that both Red Bull cars are in front of Ferrari?

Max Verstappen: I am not surprised – just thankful. We had great pace today. And if it stays that way in the race I will even be more thankful!

May 15, 2016
FIA post-qualifying press conference – Spanish GP

Full transcript of the post qualifying press conference ahead of the Spanish GP.

Drivers: 1 – Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 2 – Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), 3 – Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull).

TV UNILATERAL

Q: Lewis, a bit of pressure on you there in the final run after that mistake in the first run of Q3 but 1 minute 22 flat is some kind of lap time around this place?

Lewis Hamilton: Yeah, very, very happy with getting the lap. Obviously Nico has been very strong all weekend, so it was crucial that … you know bit by bit, stepping stone, one step at a time, I’ve been really trying to bring the pace together. Firstly, I really want to say a big thank you to all the time, all the guys back at the factory, for working so hard over the past two weeks to try to rectify the issues we’ve had. This is three out of three for me. So I’m pretty happy. Obviously I didn’t get to compete in the last two qualifying sessions, so very, very happy with it and very grateful as well. The car was great. Yesterday was a bit of a difficult day, so to be able to start on the right foot today is a real blessing.

Q: OK, thank you very much indeed. Coming to you Nico, you had the strongest first run in Q3 but are you a little bit disappointed with the outcome at the end of qualifying or are you taking a view at the long game here?

Nico Rosberg: No, for sure I’m disappointed to be qualifying second, yeah. I wanted to be first today, of course. But Lewis was just quicker in qualifying today and that’s it. Fortunately, it’s the race that counts so there are still a couple of opportunities tomorrow for sure. at the start for example. And then strategy-wise it’s not going to be an easy race tomorrow, so I’ll try and take my chances there.

Q: Thanks for that. Daniel, you looked delighted at the end there after that qualifying lap. You only had one run to do it in and also a fair bit of pressure from your new young team-mate?

Daniel Ricciardo: Firstly, really happy to be back here in this press conference. Try to be here tomorrow. I think happy to be in front of both Ferraris as well, both of us. Max obviously was doing really good. We’re both on the second row, that’s pretty awesome. Yeah, we chipped away it, but it took a bit of time to come. Yeah in Q3 I knew I had one lap and just knew I had the pace and where I could do it and it was just about putting it all together. Up until then I hadn’t really got it all together but Q3 is what counts and yeah, did what I had to do, so I was very happy.

Q: Very well done indeed. Coming back to our polesitter, Lewis Hamilton. It’s always a close race here in Barcelona, as Nico was referencing a moment ago. Clearly there are more strategy variables this season than there has been in the past, but I guess from your point of view you’ve got to look forward to the race and to coming round at the end of that first lap at the front for the first time this season.

LH: Yeah, hopefully everything comes together. I’ve been working on starts obviously at the past races and yeah, we’re in the best position to start from. We’ll try to get off on the right foot and you know tomorrow could be a good day.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Lewis, coming back to you: one little talking point just before the end, it was quite close in the pit lane as you went out for your final run in Q3, with Kimi Raikkonen coming out of the Ferrari garage. Your thoughts on that?

LH: Yeah, I found it quite unusual. I mean, I was pulling out and all of a sudden he appeared and I thought he was going to hit. A little bit of an unsafe release from them, but it’s not a race, so whether or not that affects…

Q: Did you have to jump on the brakes?

LH: Yeah, I think I did have to brake and just lift, or at least lift. But I think he saw me, so…

Q: Nico, looking at the difference in your performances in the second part of qualifying, which is obviously the one that dictates the tyres you start the race with, there was quite a big difference between the two of you, I think it was about half a second, six tenths, something like that. Was that performance or was that you taking a tiny bit less out of the tyres with a view to the opening stint of the race?

NR: No, I was pushing. So it wasn’t saving tyres…

OK, fine…

NR: Unfortunately!

Q: I thought I’d just check! Finally, Daniel, talk a little bit about the atmosphere inside the garage this weekend and the atmosphere inside the cockpit of your car when you were looking at some of those lap times that Max was turning on his first acquaintance with this Red Bull car of yours?

DR: Sure, it’s been a bit different this weekend. Not so much from what I’ve been doing, obviously my side of the garage hasn’t changed. Sure, there has been a bit more attention surrounding the team and sure, I’ve got another guy directly opposite me, who is doing very well. We’ve both locked out the second row of the grid. Obviously very happy to be here, but for both of us to be in front of Ferrari and on the second row, I thought maybe one of us could sneak in and get a P4 and split the Ferraris but to both be in front is really cool. We know from the start Max is quick and he’s shown that throughout, also yesterday he showed speed as well. It’s been a good start for him and I think for us as a team really good for this weekend.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Ralf Bach – Autobildmotorsport) – A question for Nico. Nico, you were one of the experts, you were right warning for the strength of Ferrari, so I guess you’re not surprised they’re so close, only one second?

NR: Yeah, it makes look like not so much of an expert, huh! Anyways, we’re surprised. We’re surprised to be so far ahead. At the same time we’re also surprised how close Red Bull now is. It’s really changing around quite a lot. The only constant is us, we’re always there and always up front and we always have a gap to whoever is in second at the moment. That’s been impressive to see. Very pleased with that of course, it’s just a great job by the team, that on every track we manage to keep the car working perfectly and that’s really fantastic to see.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – globoesporte.com) Daniel, when you saw in Q2 that Max was 407 thousandths faster than you, did it bring you any special emotion: ‘I need to beat this guy in Q3′. Something like that?

DR: Your mentality is you need to beat everyone. Sure, my Q2 definitely didn’t go as good as his. His first lap was on the money. I didn’t feel we had to run again but obviously the team wanted to play it safe, so we ran again and even the second lap I did in Q2 wasn’t great. So sure, I knew there was more to come in Q3 – but also I knew where the time was and I knew just putting it all together would give us a bit of lap time. So, I think the only disadvantage coming into Q3 was that I knew I just had one set of tyres – but been in that position before and, sure, it creates a bit of excitement. Max had already set one time in Q3 with one set, so yeah, obviously you look across at your team-mate but I was also looking at Ferraris. And yeah, to get in front of one of them I thought would be good but to get in front of both, and also for Max to jump them as well… it’s a good day. I never doubted myself but yeah, left it pretty late.

Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Two questions if I may. First to Lewis: you weren’t very happy with the car yesterday Lewis, I was wondering how much the car has gone to the other end of the spectrum in terms of feel and balance and grip level now, whether it was the circuit perhaps coming in as well? And was the lock-up in that first Q3 run indicative that maybe things still aren’t 100 per cent?

LH: Nope. I had a problem yesterday with something on the car so it wasn’t the easiest of days and almost a bit of a waste of a day for me. So today was really starting from scratch, the car felt great from the get-go once that was rectified. We made a few changes to the balance – but very few, just a couple of changes. Nico was very comfortable in the car so kind of more in the direction he was going. They weren’t very far apart anyway. But to get out today and feel the car beneath me once again was a great relief. But still, Nico was incredibly strong, as you can see, so there was areas I knew I needed to pick up and that was really what I was trying to do – and in Turn Ten a little bit too much. When I came in I was just laughing, believe it or not, like between that session because the lap was so good. Between those runs I was just giggling. Just thinking ‘it was such a good lap’. It would have been easily pole – but I’m glad I got it with the second one. Whilst it put a bit more pressure on the second lap, I was still able to get it, so happy with that.

Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Daniel, the traction of the Red Bull is brilliant around here, sector three looks great for you – but I’m wondering – we didn’t see the lap on TV – how much could you push through sectors one and two knowing your lap was really going to come together in sector three?

DR: Yeah, I think, surprisingly, the track got a bit better for sure as qualifying went on, but it was getting hotter as well a bit so it wasn’t… I thought sector three would have dropped off more to be honest as the track got warmer but it wasn’t too bad and you could still push. I think the lap times – I’m not sure how they were compared to last year – but you could push pretty much the whole lap and not really worry about the tyres too much, so that was good. At least for us. We were able to go for it, the majority of the lap. Sure, the last sector, you get a little bit of overheating, particularly the last corners, traction, you’re fighting a bit. But, as you said, the last sector is still relatively strong compared to Mercedes and Ferrari, so yeah, it’ll be interesting in two weeks’ time in Monaco. Hopefully we can get even closer.

Q: (Angélique Belokopytov – AutoDigest) Two questions to you Daniel. My first is, it’s a long time we didn’t see you here, so how will you manage to be back tomorrow, to carry on the tradition tomorrow? And the second is, we saw an impressive Max today, you are here, there are Ferraris behind so is it a new Red Bull era?

DR: I think… yes for sure it’s great to be back up here and in dry conditions it’s nice. A bit like China. This is really the first track of the year that we’ve probably, all of us, put on the majority of downforce that we currently have on the car and it’s shown our strengths are coming back. I think for us as a team we’ve shown signs already this year and today that’s shown again. That we do have a good car underneath us and it’ll be interesting come even tighter, twistier circuits. Monaco, as I said, in a few weeks’ time will be interesting: should be fun. And yeah, to be back here tomorrow, I think just do what I guess I’ve been doing. I feel I’ve been driving really well this year and just to keep it up. Yeah. I’d love to say we can fight with them but I’ll just try to hang with them. Hopefully get a slipstream and they can drag me down into Turn One. And yeah, stay close.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Speed Sport magazine) Lewis, in the unilaterals you thanked the team for working so hard to improve, change the car. What is different about the car now?

LH: We obviously came with some small upgrades. Obviously the car is constantly improving but I would say, obviously I’ve got an improved turbo for this week, which was coming probably a race or two away, and just to really rectify and understand the issues that we’ve had in the last races. I just know everyone was working hard, whether or not we’ve actually rectified and fixed everything, we will find out. One thing I know is that the guys are working flat out. Everyone was feeling the pain over the last couple of races with the faults, and so just grateful to them for putting the work in because hopefully because this weekend and moving forwards we’ll see the results of that.

Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Daniel, if the engine upgrade brings what is promised, do you think that’s enough to close the gap to Mercedes, or is there still more needed?

DR: I think there will still be a little more, but sure on some circuits it could be enough. So if we were to have it here, for example, I think there’s still 0.6s off Lewis today so I don’t think we’re expecting 0.6s from the upgrade so we would probably still not quite be there but it would certainly put us a lot closer. Monaco and Budapest, some of these tighter circuits, I think (it) would give us a real shot so hanging out for the next few races, really.

Q: (Ralf Bach – AutoBild Motorsport) Lewis, I read some English papers today which say there’s a possibility that you could take a sabbatical next year. What are your plans in this time?

LH: A sab… a year out? No way! Yeah, the guy whoever wrote that was smoking something. Probably good stuff.

Q: (Christopher Joseph – Chicane) Daniel, you said you don’t need motivation in general as an F1 driver, but surely a hot new teammate must have had an effect today, so how will you approach the race tomorrow, both strategically for yourself and collectively for the team?

DR: That’s alright. Again, I said I don’t need any extra motivation because I feel I’m my own motivation. I love the sport, I love the competition so as long as there’s someone to compete against, sure I’ll always have a high level of motivation but I would say sure, it’s another challenge, having Max in. At the moment I guess he’s the hottest young property as the up-and-comers are concerned. At least he’s created the most hype I would say out of the new kids on the block and I think it showed today, he was very quick throughout qualifying. It’s good for me, obviously: more challenges and more people to measure myself against. I do believe he is very quick and today I managed to put in a good lap in Q3 and we will see how the season progresses but sure, it’s exciting.

Q: (Rodrigo Franca – VIP Magazine) Nico, do you see a difference in your life as an F1 driver being the World Championship points leader and after seven wins in a row, you have more pressure or have more attention from fans and media etc?

NR: No, no difference. We’ve been fighting now for the championship for the last two years now, so it’s no different again this year. The battle with Lewis and the battle trying to stay ahead of all the other teams, nothing has changed. And I did lead the championship already anyway in 2014 for example, so even that is not the first time.

Q: (Fabrizio Cognati – diariodelweb.com) Daniel, Max said on Thursday that now he doesn’t see a reason to leave Red Bull now that he’s been upgraded to the top team. Seeing that Red Bull is so competitive, I think that you as well will stay in the team and see no reason to leave.

DR: Sure, the position we’re in now is getting stronger and obviously you want to put yourself with the best team or the best position available and for sure, Max moving up now he’s very happy and for me as well, I’m very happy with the progress I’ve seen, especially after last year, there was a bit of a dip in performance and then we started to creep it back up in the second half of the year and we’ve really continued that. I think we’ve done a bigger step forward already than what we expected so sure, if it keeps going like this then I think both of us are very happy here.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Lewis, you didn’t have good starts in the first two races and then you had problems in the last two races and tomorrow the start will be very important to win the race. Will you do any special preparations for this race, knowing the importance of the start here?

LH: Like meditation or something? No! In China I had the best start of the whole grid. The last start actually was so-so. So I’m hoping for another good start. I think whatever issues we had they definitely have been rectified and I think ultimately with starts, I think for all of us in Formula One, it’s always up and down. The starts have been great so far this weekend so I don’t see why they won’t be tomorrow.

Full transcript of the post qualifying press conference ahead of the Spanish GP.

Drivers: 1 – Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 2 – Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), 3 – Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull).

TV UNILATERAL

Q: Lewis, a bit of pressure on you there in the final run after that mistake in the first run of Q3 but 1 minute 22 flat is some kind of lap time around this place?

Lewis Hamilton: Yeah, very, very happy with getting the lap. Obviously Nico has been very strong all weekend, so it was crucial that … you know bit by bit, stepping stone, one step at a time, I’ve been really trying to bring the pace together. Firstly, I really want to say a big thank you to all the time, all the guys back at the factory, for working so hard over the past two weeks to try to rectify the issues we’ve had. This is three out of three for me. So I’m pretty happy. Obviously I didn’t get to compete in the last two qualifying sessions, so very, very happy with it and very grateful as well. The car was great. Yesterday was a bit of a difficult day, so to be able to start on the right foot today is a real blessing.

Q: OK, thank you very much indeed. Coming to you Nico, you had the strongest first run in Q3 but are you a little bit disappointed with the outcome at the end of qualifying or are you taking a view at the long game here?

Nico Rosberg: No, for sure I’m disappointed to be qualifying second, yeah. I wanted to be first today, of course. But Lewis was just quicker in qualifying today and that’s it. Fortunately, it’s the race that counts so there are still a couple of opportunities tomorrow for sure. at the start for example. And then strategy-wise it’s not going to be an easy race tomorrow, so I’ll try and take my chances there.

Q: Thanks for that. Daniel, you looked delighted at the end there after that qualifying lap. You only had one run to do it in and also a fair bit of pressure from your new young team-mate?

Daniel Ricciardo: Firstly, really happy to be back here in this press conference. Try to be here tomorrow. I think happy to be in front of both Ferraris as well, both of us. Max obviously was doing really good. We’re both on the second row, that’s pretty awesome. Yeah, we chipped away it, but it took a bit of time to come. Yeah in Q3 I knew I had one lap and just knew I had the pace and where I could do it and it was just about putting it all together. Up until then I hadn’t really got it all together but Q3 is what counts and yeah, did what I had to do, so I was very happy.

Q: Very well done indeed. Coming back to our polesitter, Lewis Hamilton. It’s always a close race here in Barcelona, as Nico was referencing a moment ago. Clearly there are more strategy variables this season than there has been in the past, but I guess from your point of view you’ve got to look forward to the race and to coming round at the end of that first lap at the front for the first time this season.

LH: Yeah, hopefully everything comes together. I’ve been working on starts obviously at the past races and yeah, we’re in the best position to start from. We’ll try to get off on the right foot and you know tomorrow could be a good day.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Lewis, coming back to you: one little talking point just before the end, it was quite close in the pit lane as you went out for your final run in Q3, with Kimi Raikkonen coming out of the Ferrari garage. Your thoughts on that?

LH: Yeah, I found it quite unusual. I mean, I was pulling out and all of a sudden he appeared and I thought he was going to hit. A little bit of an unsafe release from them, but it’s not a race, so whether or not that affects…

Q: Did you have to jump on the brakes?

LH: Yeah, I think I did have to brake and just lift, or at least lift. But I think he saw me, so…

Q: Nico, looking at the difference in your performances in the second part of qualifying, which is obviously the one that dictates the tyres you start the race with, there was quite a big difference between the two of you, I think it was about half a second, six tenths, something like that. Was that performance or was that you taking a tiny bit less out of the tyres with a view to the opening stint of the race?

NR: No, I was pushing. So it wasn’t saving tyres…

OK, fine…

NR: Unfortunately!

Q: I thought I’d just check! Finally, Daniel, talk a little bit about the atmosphere inside the garage this weekend and the atmosphere inside the cockpit of your car when you were looking at some of those lap times that Max was turning on his first acquaintance with this Red Bull car of yours?

DR: Sure, it’s been a bit different this weekend. Not so much from what I’ve been doing, obviously my side of the garage hasn’t changed. Sure, there has been a bit more attention surrounding the team and sure, I’ve got another guy directly opposite me, who is doing very well. We’ve both locked out the second row of the grid. Obviously very happy to be here, but for both of us to be in front of Ferrari and on the second row, I thought maybe one of us could sneak in and get a P4 and split the Ferraris but to both be in front is really cool. We know from the start Max is quick and he’s shown that throughout, also yesterday he showed speed as well. It’s been a good start for him and I think for us as a team really good for this weekend.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Ralf Bach – Autobildmotorsport) – A question for Nico. Nico, you were one of the experts, you were right warning for the strength of Ferrari, so I guess you’re not surprised they’re so close, only one second?

NR: Yeah, it makes look like not so much of an expert, huh! Anyways, we’re surprised. We’re surprised to be so far ahead. At the same time we’re also surprised how close Red Bull now is. It’s really changing around quite a lot. The only constant is us, we’re always there and always up front and we always have a gap to whoever is in second at the moment. That’s been impressive to see. Very pleased with that of course, it’s just a great job by the team, that on every track we manage to keep the car working perfectly and that’s really fantastic to see.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – globoesporte.com) Daniel, when you saw in Q2 that Max was 407 thousandths faster than you, did it bring you any special emotion: ‘I need to beat this guy in Q3′. Something like that?

DR: Your mentality is you need to beat everyone. Sure, my Q2 definitely didn’t go as good as his. His first lap was on the money. I didn’t feel we had to run again but obviously the team wanted to play it safe, so we ran again and even the second lap I did in Q2 wasn’t great. So sure, I knew there was more to come in Q3 – but also I knew where the time was and I knew just putting it all together would give us a bit of lap time. So, I think the only disadvantage coming into Q3 was that I knew I just had one set of tyres – but been in that position before and, sure, it creates a bit of excitement. Max had already set one time in Q3 with one set, so yeah, obviously you look across at your team-mate but I was also looking at Ferraris. And yeah, to get in front of one of them I thought would be good but to get in front of both, and also for Max to jump them as well… it’s a good day. I never doubted myself but yeah, left it pretty late.

Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Two questions if I may. First to Lewis: you weren’t very happy with the car yesterday Lewis, I was wondering how much the car has gone to the other end of the spectrum in terms of feel and balance and grip level now, whether it was the circuit perhaps coming in as well? And was the lock-up in that first Q3 run indicative that maybe things still aren’t 100 per cent?

LH: Nope. I had a problem yesterday with something on the car so it wasn’t the easiest of days and almost a bit of a waste of a day for me. So today was really starting from scratch, the car felt great from the get-go once that was rectified. We made a few changes to the balance – but very few, just a couple of changes. Nico was very comfortable in the car so kind of more in the direction he was going. They weren’t very far apart anyway. But to get out today and feel the car beneath me once again was a great relief. But still, Nico was incredibly strong, as you can see, so there was areas I knew I needed to pick up and that was really what I was trying to do – and in Turn Ten a little bit too much. When I came in I was just laughing, believe it or not, like between that session because the lap was so good. Between those runs I was just giggling. Just thinking ‘it was such a good lap’. It would have been easily pole – but I’m glad I got it with the second one. Whilst it put a bit more pressure on the second lap, I was still able to get it, so happy with that.

Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Daniel, the traction of the Red Bull is brilliant around here, sector three looks great for you – but I’m wondering – we didn’t see the lap on TV – how much could you push through sectors one and two knowing your lap was really going to come together in sector three?

DR: Yeah, I think, surprisingly, the track got a bit better for sure as qualifying went on, but it was getting hotter as well a bit so it wasn’t… I thought sector three would have dropped off more to be honest as the track got warmer but it wasn’t too bad and you could still push. I think the lap times – I’m not sure how they were compared to last year – but you could push pretty much the whole lap and not really worry about the tyres too much, so that was good. At least for us. We were able to go for it, the majority of the lap. Sure, the last sector, you get a little bit of overheating, particularly the last corners, traction, you’re fighting a bit. But, as you said, the last sector is still relatively strong compared to Mercedes and Ferrari, so yeah, it’ll be interesting in two weeks’ time in Monaco. Hopefully we can get even closer.

Q: (Angélique Belokopytov – AutoDigest) Two questions to you Daniel. My first is, it’s a long time we didn’t see you here, so how will you manage to be back tomorrow, to carry on the tradition tomorrow? And the second is, we saw an impressive Max today, you are here, there are Ferraris behind so is it a new Red Bull era?

DR: I think… yes for sure it’s great to be back up here and in dry conditions it’s nice. A bit like China. This is really the first track of the year that we’ve probably, all of us, put on the majority of downforce that we currently have on the car and it’s shown our strengths are coming back. I think for us as a team we’ve shown signs already this year and today that’s shown again. That we do have a good car underneath us and it’ll be interesting come even tighter, twistier circuits. Monaco, as I said, in a few weeks’ time will be interesting: should be fun. And yeah, to be back here tomorrow, I think just do what I guess I’ve been doing. I feel I’ve been driving really well this year and just to keep it up. Yeah. I’d love to say we can fight with them but I’ll just try to hang with them. Hopefully get a slipstream and they can drag me down into Turn One. And yeah, stay close.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Speed Sport magazine) Lewis, in the unilaterals you thanked the team for working so hard to improve, change the car. What is different about the car now?

LH: We obviously came with some small upgrades. Obviously the car is constantly improving but I would say, obviously I’ve got an improved turbo for this week, which was coming probably a race or two away, and just to really rectify and understand the issues that we’ve had in the last races. I just know everyone was working hard, whether or not we’ve actually rectified and fixed everything, we will find out. One thing I know is that the guys are working flat out. Everyone was feeling the pain over the last couple of races with the faults, and so just grateful to them for putting the work in because hopefully because this weekend and moving forwards we’ll see the results of that.

Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Daniel, if the engine upgrade brings what is promised, do you think that’s enough to close the gap to Mercedes, or is there still more needed?

DR: I think there will still be a little more, but sure on some circuits it could be enough. So if we were to have it here, for example, I think there’s still 0.6s off Lewis today so I don’t think we’re expecting 0.6s from the upgrade so we would probably still not quite be there but it would certainly put us a lot closer. Monaco and Budapest, some of these tighter circuits, I think (it) would give us a real shot so hanging out for the next few races, really.

Q: (Ralf Bach – AutoBild Motorsport) Lewis, I read some English papers today which say there’s a possibility that you could take a sabbatical next year. What are your plans in this time?

LH: A sab… a year out? No way! Yeah, the guy whoever wrote that was smoking something. Probably good stuff.

Q: (Christopher Joseph – Chicane) Daniel, you said you don’t need motivation in general as an F1 driver, but surely a hot new teammate must have had an effect today, so how will you approach the race tomorrow, both strategically for yourself and collectively for the team?

DR: That’s alright. Again, I said I don’t need any extra motivation because I feel I’m my own motivation. I love the sport, I love the competition so as long as there’s someone to compete against, sure I’ll always have a high level of motivation but I would say sure, it’s another challenge, having Max in. At the moment I guess he’s the hottest young property as the up-and-comers are concerned. At least he’s created the most hype I would say out of the new kids on the block and I think it showed today, he was very quick throughout qualifying. It’s good for me, obviously: more challenges and more people to measure myself against. I do believe he is very quick and today I managed to put in a good lap in Q3 and we will see how the season progresses but sure, it’s exciting.

Q: (Rodrigo Franca – VIP Magazine) Nico, do you see a difference in your life as an F1 driver being the World Championship points leader and after seven wins in a row, you have more pressure or have more attention from fans and media etc?

NR: No, no difference. We’ve been fighting now for the championship for the last two years now, so it’s no different again this year. The battle with Lewis and the battle trying to stay ahead of all the other teams, nothing has changed. And I did lead the championship already anyway in 2014 for example, so even that is not the first time.

Q: (Fabrizio Cognati – diariodelweb.com) Daniel, Max said on Thursday that now he doesn’t see a reason to leave Red Bull now that he’s been upgraded to the top team. Seeing that Red Bull is so competitive, I think that you as well will stay in the team and see no reason to leave.

DR: Sure, the position we’re in now is getting stronger and obviously you want to put yourself with the best team or the best position available and for sure, Max moving up now he’s very happy and for me as well, I’m very happy with the progress I’ve seen, especially after last year, there was a bit of a dip in performance and then we started to creep it back up in the second half of the year and we’ve really continued that. I think we’ve done a bigger step forward already than what we expected so sure, if it keeps going like this then I think both of us are very happy here.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Lewis, you didn’t have good starts in the first two races and then you had problems in the last two races and tomorrow the start will be very important to win the race. Will you do any special preparations for this race, knowing the importance of the start here?

LH: Like meditation or something? No! In China I had the best start of the whole grid. The last start actually was so-so. So I’m hoping for another good start. I think whatever issues we had they definitely have been rectified and I think ultimately with starts, I think for all of us in Formula One, it’s always up and down. The starts have been great so far this weekend so I don’t see why they won’t be tomorrow.

May 15, 2016
F1 2016: Spanish GP Qualifying Report – Hamilton On Top

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has secured pole position for Sunday’s Spanish grand prix.

The one hour qualifying session got underway under bright Spanish skies and in front of an excited crowd. The biggest casualty in the first part of qualifying was Williams driver Felipe Massa who will start 18th on the grid.

It was good news for McLaren as Fernando Alonso was able to advance to the top ten shoot-out for the first time since Honda has returned to the sport.

The first minutes of the top ten shoot-out belonged to newly promoted Red Bull driver Max Verstappen as he ended the first round of laps in second position overall. However, it was never his to maintain as the two Mercedes duked it out for pole position. Lewis Hamilton got the better of teammate Nico Rosberg with a quali lap of 1:22:000, 0.280s faster than the German.

Daniel Ricciardo, in the other Red Bull, left himself one shot at a final quail run and delivered. The Aussie will line up third with his teenaged teammate, Verstappen, in fourth.

Despite showing well in the morning’s third practice session Ferrari failed to deliver. Kimi Raikkonen managed the fifth quickest time ahead of teammate Sebastian Vettel in 6th. Team principal Maurizio Arrivabene was quoted as saying, about the pace, “we have to check.”

Williams’ Valtteri Bottas (7th), Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz (8th), Force India’s Sergio Perez (9th), and McLaren’s Fernando Alonso (10th) round out the top ten.

May 14, 2016
Rosberg beats Ricciardo to Chinese GP pole, Hamilton last

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Photo Credits: Screengrabs as broadcast by FOM

April 16, 2016
F1 2016: Bahrain Qualifying Report – Hamilton Wraps Up Pole

Lewis Hamilton wrapped up his second consecutive pole position of the season for the Mercedes F1 team.

The much maligned qualifying format got underway on the floodlit Sakhir International circuit and claimed its fist victim as Sergio Perez. The Force India driver and his team miscalculated the timing clock which left the Mexican driver towards the back of the grid. Pascal Wehrlein impressed in his Manor F1 car and will start Sunday’s race in 17th place.

The second session of qualifying saw the red light at the end of the pitlane malfunction prompting a marshal to wave a green flag to set the drivers on their way. Stand-in McLaren driver Stoffel Vandoorne out-qualified teammate Jenson Button and will line up in twelfth position. French driver Romain Grosjean sported a big smile as he will line up the Haas F1 car in ninth place on the grid.

The final session of qualifying produced a surprise for Daniel Ricciardo who will start in fifth position ahead of both the Williams drivers. Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner remarked earlier that they would have to deliver something special to come out ahead in the intensely close mid-field battle.

The first run between both Mercedes and Ferrari team’s drivers saw laptimes split only by a couple of tenths. However, Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton upped the ante for the final run. The reigning champion secured pole position ahead of teammate Nico Rosberg but less than a tenth of a second. Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen will share the second row of the grid as they did in Australia.

Attention now turns to the start of Sunday’s race and the run down to the all-important first corner. Mercedes will be keen to improve on their starting prowess following the opening round of the season. And with the longer run down to turn one it will have to be inch perfect.

April 2, 2016