F1 Madness

Tag: race

  • 2018 Singapore GP: Sunday Post Race Press Conference

    2018 Singapore GP: Sunday Post Race Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    2 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)

    3 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

     

    TRACK INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by David Coulthard)

     

    Q: Congratulations Lewis, you are a serial winner. That’s your 69th victory.

    Lewis HAMILTON: I’m spent. That was a tough race. But I have such great support here. We had a great start. The team have just never given up faith and belief in me and in Valtteri and in our ability, and it is a blessing. It was a long race. That felt like the longest race of my life, so I’m glad it’s over. Max put up a good fight as well, but what a day, what a weekend. I feel super blessed.

     

    Q: My knees can’t take this, can we stand? A man of a certain age. It got interesting around lap 38, there was a little bit of traffic there and they were in their own battle. You had to go defensive with Max, tell us about that moment?

    LH: Yeah, I was a little bit unlucky with the traffic. These guys were moving around, it was quite difficult to follow. I think Max was a little bit luckier getting by some of the guys in terms of what point on the track and the guys weren’t letting me by. Jeez, it was definitely close and my heart was definitely in my mouth for a minute but once I got clear of them I was able to put the pedal down and pull away.

     

    Q: This has been an incredible September in your life, in all of the Septembers you’ve lived. You’ve won the Italian Grand Prix, you’ve been off launching fashion lines, you’ve come here and you’ve now taken the lead to 40 points over Sebastian Vettel. It doesn’t get much better.

    LH: Definitely not. I mean they put up a good fight this weekend and I’m not really quite sure where their pace disappeared to, but as I said, I’m just grateful for everyone’s hard work, and the fans here. A lot of British flags come out Singapore, so thank you guys, love you, team LH all the way.

     

    Q: Enjoy the moment, congratulations, fantastic moment. Max, come and join me up here. A brilliant result.

    Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, it was not bad. A shame from the first lap, but you can clearly see we miss top speed. But from there on the team had a great strategy so we could get back into second. Basically we did our own race, tried to follow Lewis a little bit and at the end we knew second was going to be result so you just bring it home.

     

    Q: We saw you have a little stumble as you were coming out of the pit box, it looked like you were between gears, you were in second and then you went down to first. Even with that you still managed to get out in front of Seb.

    MV: It was not a perfect getaway, but also behind the safety car it was almost bogging down, false neutrals, so a lot of problems but still, very happy with second.

     

    Q: Well done, Max, great result. Seb, congratulations, but I’m a little bit confused. You were quick all through free practice on a track you’ve been exceptional on in the past, it just didn’t seem that you were in the fight today. Any ideas?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, it’s true. I think overall we were not fast enough. We didn’t have the pace in the race. But also I think we tried to be aggressive in the beginning and obviously it didn’t work out. After that I think I had a different race from the other guys, on a different tyre, and I wasn’t very convinced that we could make it to the end, but pitting wasn’t an option because you lose too much time in the pit stop. So we just focused on making it home.

     

    Q: The hopes of the tifosi rest with you. Have you got some light at the end of the tunnel? Lewis has started to open that gap up and time’s running out. How optimistic are you for the future races?

    SV: It doesn’t help. Obviously I’m mostly thinking about today’s race. I think today with the way we raced we didn’t have a chance. There might be something extra in the fact that maybe we were not quick enough but I think I said before the weekend we can only beat ourselves and we didn’t get everything out of the package.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

     

    Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-Magazin.com) Seb, you said it was pretty obvious what you have tried with the ultrasoft. But could you explain that a little bit, because even if you had jumped Lewis with the ultrasoft you would probably have been on the worse tyre for the rest of the race?

    SV: Well, I mean, obviously the first stint was a cruise for most of it, and then Lewis was picking up the pace. Overall, if you see the gap in the end it is clear that we were not fast enough today in the race. We need to understand why. Obviously it’s largely due to how we decided to race, on which tyres, for how many laps etc. With what we did we tried to get to first position but Lewis was too quick and then… once you are ahead you can control the pace around here but we never got ahead, so it’s a bit pointless to answer.

     

    Q: (Edd Straw – Autosport) Sebastian, you said you and the team didn’t get everything out of the car this weekend. Can you just talk through the progression over the weekend, where you went in the wrong direction? And just in general, do you think the team is not necessarily making the right calls and doing the right things with the way they play the weekend to maximise your chances?

    SV: No, I will always defend the team. I think the decision we took in the race, the decisions to try to be aggressive, if it works it’s great, today it didn’t work. Obviously it didn’t work by quite a bit and we need to look into that. But I believe we saw something and that’s why we go for it. Obviously inside the car it’s difficult to be on top of everything because you cannot see where you come out etc. We were aggressive in trying to get ahead, taking into account that we have to go through traffic, which in the end bit us also, to lose the second place. If it doesn’t work it is always easy to criticise but I will always defend what we did. Overall, we had a very strong package, both Kimi and myself, I think we looked very competitive throughout practice but in the end if you look at the race result we finished third and fifth. Like yesterday, probably not where the speed of our car belongs so that’s what I mean by saying we didn’t get everything out of ourselves.

     

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lewis, you said earlier that you didn’t expect to leave here adding ten extra points to your championship lead – so how big a boost is it to your title chances, winning here again, given that we always seem to think this is a Ferrari circuit?

    LH: Well, we’re really just taking it one race at a time, knowing that Ferrari have had quite good pace for the last few races. Generally, whilst we’ve finished on front foot, we start on the back foot, kinda thing, each weekend – but with a mentality that, if we do a good enough job, maybe we’ll come out ahead. Right this second it definitely feels… it was a tough race. It was a hardcore race. The cars are much quicker than usual, and obviously that moment we had with the backmarkers and the crazy day we had yesterday, with the crazy week that I’ve had… the last two weeks have just been intense. So, I’m looking forward to a couple of days off, these following days – but, of course it feels great but I’ve been here a long, long time so I don’t let… I know I can’t get ahead of myself; we can’t get ahead of ourselves. We have to continue to remain humble and just keep working as hard as we can. So, right now, I just feel, job done. I’m really happy with it. Still lots of points available but with this performance, and this focus that we have as a team, I truly believe that we can deliver impactful weekends like this for the rest of the season. So that’s the goal.

     

    Q: (Laurence Edmondson – ESPN) Question for Seb. Looking at the weekend as a whole, how costly were those lost laps in FP2, in understanding the tyres and putting together the race strategy?

    SV: Not at all. I mean, I’ve done enough laps around here. Obviously, it’s never great if you miss out but I think Friday and Saturday morning we were first in practice, so I don’t think that made a big difference. And also, late on in the season, you know enough about tyres and you can read from other people, so I think we got all the information and the fact that I think today we made it until the end with the most laps on the tyre you probably least expect to go that far, shows that we didn’t have any problems with the tyres. But obviously, you know we had to manage our race differently than the other guys.

     

    Q: (Julien Billotte – AutoHebdo) Question for Seb again. Did you guys pit earlier than expected because you misheard what Lewis reported on his tyre at the start of the race, in the early phase of the race?

    SV: What did he report?

    He said “I’ve got a lot left in my tyres,” and your engineer reported the opposite – which you didn’t believe actually. So did you pit earlier than expected?

    SV: I did not believe it, I said it’s not true – because we were going quite slowly in the beginning, and I think a couple of laps after that, Lewis decided to push, so obviously, when your tyres are fresh you can choose the pace a little bit here and not be under threat because the corners that matter, you still have very good exits and it’s difficult to get close. So yeah, in the end I think we were fine in the first stint. We probably dropped back a little bit too much, so I think, overall, we did not have exactly the pace that we wanted – but also, if you are the first car it is always easier because you have nobody in front, you manage your tyres and then, at some point, you decide to go. Whereas if you are behind, you always need to be sort-of ready. If you drop back too much then you’re too far away, so it’s natural that, being behind, you lose quite a lot. Even if you go slower, being behind, you damage your tyres more than being in front, going slower. So, it was not a big surprise but that’s how the game is played here, and he did it very well, and they executed well. For us, we tried to do something, it didn’t work full stop and from their obviously we were more on the back foot and defence. So, we had a different race after that point.

     

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Question to Sebastian. After starting the season so well, still got the fastest car, is there a sense now that you might be losing your grip on this championship?

    SV: Well, Lewis said he didn’t expect to come here gaining ten points, we probably didn’t come here expecting to lose ten points – but, having had the race that we had, I think there’s a full justification for losing those ten points and we take it. Obviously, there is still a long way to go and a lot of points to score. I never believed that we had the fastest car by a big margin, as people said. I know that we have a very good car. I think we started the season well and then we were about half a second behind in qualifying and it was crucial to get back, which we manage to – and then we had a bit of a rough time but overall I think the speed is there but I think it’s a match in qualifying as much as in the race. Today, if anything, I think we were a little bit slower, which we need to have a look and understand – but also it’s difficult to draw the conclusion because our race, my race was very different. I was on the oldest tyres and probably on the tyre that was not supposed to last that long. You would probably like to go out and do the same stint on the same tyres, just to be able to compare – but that’s not the race that we had today. So, you know, that’s what it was this weekend. Russia, I think, has been getting better the last years for us, so it should suit our car as well. I don’t think we have any tracks to fear that are coming. I think our car is working pretty much everywhere and that’s a strength of our car, so no need to be afraid of what’s coming.

     

    Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Sebastian, earlier you said you need to look as to why you were third and fifth and yesterday you had some questions about what happened in qualifying. Why is it that you can’t put your finger on what’s going wrong at the moment for Ferrari?

    SV: I think first of all we’re not playing a silly game, we’re quite serious and it’s quite tough competition, so the level of competition is very high and if you have the slightest mistake obviously there are people there who are usually there to benefit from it. I think today, you know the race that we had showed that Max was there straightaway to benefit. Maybe sometimes you are lucky and it’s not showing as crucial but today it caught us and what we tried didn’t work and also caught us out so it didn’t help but I’m happy to try, I’m happy to try being aggressive to try and win. That was the ambition and especially on a track where it’s difficult to pass you need to try and figure something out. Yeah, but overall I think it’s not the result that we wanted and it’s a disappointment because we came here thinking that we are very strong. I think we were but not strong enough, not as strong as we probably wanted to be in terms of raw race pace. Yesterday, I still believe we could have had a better day but it’s history so – same as today – we need to look forward. There are a couple of differences that are standing out about yesterday, about today, things that we can learn from the others, because they simply did a better job if they finish ahead of us by half a minute, so clearly they did some things better than us.

     

    Q: (Daan de Geus – Formula 1 Magazine NL) Max…

    MV: They are like the Finnish, you know…

     

    Q: (Daan de Geus – Formula 1 Magazine NL) Max, you and Red Bull earmarked this as the best opportunity of the second half of the season. How important is it to deliver with a good result, and does it change your expectations heading into these last six races?

    MV: No. I mean. Yeah. Well, it’s quite straightforward. This race was better for us than Monza, for example, so I think we maximised the result with the problems we had with the engine which was a shame, because I was very happy the safety car was gone because I was almost stalling on the track so even my pit stop was not great. Yeah, looking forward to now… I don’t know which track will come up as maybe good again. Maybe Mexico a little bit but we lose a lot on the straight, so I’m not expecting it to be like last year but you never know. You always have to be positive I guess and try to be there if something happens.

     

    Q: (Joost Nederpelt – NU.NL) Max, was there any point in this race – pace-wise – where you thought you could win this race?

    MV: Laps to the grid, I think. No, you can’t pass, it’s impossible. You could see that once in the first stint when we were all going quite slowly, even if you wanted to push a bit more you can’t get close so you’re just following a train. Yeah, you just have to do your own race, try to look after the tyres and that’s what we did, that’s why we could do the overcut which of course was great and once I was in second again, I know I would just try to follow Lewis to the end and bring it home.

     

    Q: (Edd Straw – Autosport) Sebastian and Max, you had two battles, one on the first lap…

    LH: Do you have a question for me?

     

    Q: (Edd Straw – Autosport) You were just too good.

    MV: Oh thanks, mate!

     

    Q: (Edd Straw – Autosport) Sebastian and Max, you had two battles, one on the first lap and one after the pit stop. Could you just talk through those battles and if you could have done anything differently to reverse them? Could you have stayed there first time Max and Seb could you have got ahead second time?

    MV: They were fine. I was a disappointed the first one and I guess Seb was a bit disappointed the second one.

    SV: That’s a good summary. I had a very good start, I tried in turn one but Max was covering the inside and from there I tried to line things up for the next corner which was successful and I got a bit of a tow from Lewis down the straight so that worked well. The pits it was tight so I lost it again, it was a pity, obviously.

     

    Q: (Kate Walker – New York Times) Lewis, the perceived wisdom for most of this season is that you’ve got the second best car on the grid but you have also got the biggest advantage in the championship. Where are you finding these performances where you are able to outstrip both your car and your competitors’ equipment?

    LH: Good question, thank you, I appreciate it. It’s hard up here because it’s like an anti-climax. Naturally it was a hard race but we need to keep the energy up because this is a special moment for me and for the team. Was it an exciting race, or not really for you guys? That’s probably why. I definitely heard a couple of people snoring here. Honestly, it’s just great teamwork, very very diligent engineering. The guys obviously back at the car, we’re constantly learning about the car and refining it but we’re bring out upgrades every now and then but it’s pretty much the same times as they (Ferrari) bring theirs. But it’s more understanding the tyres, it’s more getting more comfortable with hitting the nail on the head with the balance of the car and really just eking out each little bit and each weekend we’re got incredible communications. The debriefs are really really solid, there’s a lot of direction that comes from the debriefs. I give quite long debriefs nowadays and we work to the point that we leave no stone unturned, there’s not a single stone unturned each weekend that we arrive and so it’s a real collective, it’s just the strongest the team has ever been in terms of how we communicate. We’ve got great people in the team, both at the factory and here and it’s a real privilege to work with everyone and also we’re all so comfortable with each other and there’s a huge confidence within the organisation. And in terms of my driving, as I said, I have these others things that I do outside which are stimulating. I know there were questions at the beginning of the week whether it is distracting and naturally you come here and if I put one foot wrong, people are going to point to the things that I do outside as a result of it. You can see, it doesn’t affect my performance and if anything those things they add to the performance really. Healthwise, I’m super healthy. As I said, I went on a plant-based diet last year – here, actually, I started here last year – and it’s been the best year of my life physically.

  • 2018 Azerbaijan GP: Post Race Press Conference

    2018 Azerbaijan GP: Post Race Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    2 – Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari)

    3 – Sergio PÉREZ (Force India)

     

    TRACK INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by David Coulthard)

     

    We have our top three here. Lewis Hamilton just being weighed in. We just have to wait for the guys to get their helmets off. We’ve got a very happy Checo Pérez there and Kimi Räikkönen. Checo, you’re first with the helmet off: fantastic, absolutely brilliant, last time you were on the podium was here.

    Sergio PÉREZ: Yeah, two years ago. I think today I did the best two laps of my whole career. The last two laps with Sebastian behind, with cold tyres, it was so difficult. I was on the supersoft tyre. I had to keep a very strong rhythm, trying to keep close to Räikkönen, to make sure that Sebastian didn’t get close enough, and in the end we did a real… I’m speechless.

     

    Great stuff, great job indeed. We’ll come across to our race winner, Lewis, that was the perfect example of you never give up, running down with cold tyres at the re-start. Could you predict what was going to happen with Seb?

    Lewis HAMILTON: Definitely not. Really quite an emotional race to be honest. Valtteri did such an exceptional job today and really deserved to have the win. Also, Sebastian did a great job. I think it was really, really fortunate today, so it feels a little bit odd to be up here, but I’ve got to take it. I didn’t give up, I keep pushing but definitely a very untidy race from me.

     

    Well, it was absolutely a fantastic race to see, congratulations Lewis. We’ll jump over to Kimi Räikkönen. Tough start to that grand prix, you came together with Ocon. The Clerk of the Course thought it was a race incident. I guess you have a different point of view?

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Yeah, well, obviously I was inside and I think he probably didn’t see me. It’s pretty difficult sometimes to see. So obviously he just turned in and I was there. It wasn’t ideal the start for me but I didn’t get worse off from that, so I was lucky in that way. A difficult race after that. I tried to come back and at certain moments I felt good but I struggled a bit with the tyres, to keep them warm enough. I just tried to pay the long game and to stay there, expecting issues. It paid off, but it wasn’t easy.

     

    PRESS CONFERENCE

     

    Q: Lewis, many congratulations, win number 63. You’ve already said it wasn’t the easiest – but are you happier with the car this weekend than in China last time out?

    LH: A little bit, yeah. In all honesty, I think I struggled throughout the weekend and I’m definitely struggling to extract, I think the car’s potential but also my potential so it’s definitely been a little difficult, particularly the last two races but also with the tyres in Bahrain. But I have to be happy with today. I have to be thankful and grateful for today because it is such a tricky race and you don’t know what’s going to happen: Safety Car comes out and you can lose out and lots of different things happening within this race but what’s important is just to keep your head down and keep going and live to fight another day. I came out in the lead and honestly I couldn’t believe that I was where I was, that I had a Ferrari behind me and I was just praying that I could keep it together, stay focussed and bring it home. So, we’ve definitely got a lot of work still to do, we still are behind, whilst we finished ahead today that was due to, as I said, lots of different circumstances getting in the way. But Kimi was nearly on pole yesterday, two-tenths ahead of Sebastian, their pure pace is a lot ahead of ours at the moment. Then, within the race, I’m sure Sebastian was managing but I’m sure their pace also in the race is a little bit up on ours. We definitely are there in the mix and we’ve not got a terrible car at all, by any means. We’ve just got to refine it a little bit and make it a little bit easier to drive. She definitely isn’t as easy to drive as it was last year. So yeah, that’s what we’re going to continue to work to.

     

    Q: And a sense of relief to be back at the top of the Championship?

    LH: Hmmm… I definitely don’t feel relieved at the moment. I have really mixed emotions. Obviously, I could hear constantly I was battling with my team-mate over time, over the pitstop window and ultimately Valtteri had done an exceptional job. Obviously, I did a good job in qualifying and put myself in a good position – but there were a lot of faults in the race, which is rare for me – but I struggled with the car, struggled with the tyres and that’s something I don’t take lightly, so I’ve definitely got to go away from here and work even harder to make sure that there’s not a repeat performance-wise of today for myself.

     

    Q: Kimi, so close yesterday, so close today. Is there a sense of frustration building inside you now, of what do you have to do to win a grand prix?

    KR: No, not really, yesterday I can only look in the mirror and the reason is easy to know. Yeah, it was frustrating, as I said earlier, I was taking it easy into the corner and I still managed to throw it away, so that is more painful that just if you happen to know that you have to try something to be fast enough – but that wasn’t the case. Yeah, pretty eventful race today. Got a destroyed front wing and tyre in the first few corners. I had a good feeling sometimes but was struggling to switch the tyres on. It was kind of on and off. I had a great many close moments. Even on the way to the grid I was pretty certain that it’s in the wall already but I managed to get it away from it. Too many close calls. The feeling was there but not consistently. I thought, OK, I just try to go as fast as I can and a little bit safer and the Red Bulls, looking at what they were doing earlier in the race it was pretty certain something will happen later on when they get close to each other. Everything changed after that and once put the other tyres on and again it felt OK and it all played into our hands. Very definitely a better day than yesterday but it still… second is not what you want but looking where we were earlier, you take it and we go from there. We know we have the speed. We just have to put things together, and I’m sure it will come.

     

    Q: Checo, great to see you and Force India back on the podium. It’s been a dramatic turnaround by the team over the last month. How confident are you that you can stay where you are going forwards?

    SP: Well, obviously, this result is a coincidence of so many things happening but it’s not a coincidence that we are always there to take anything that is offered to us. I think our battle is not here, to be honest, it’s the midfield and finally we got plenty of points today with this podium, that we can close up the gap to the cars ahead, to the Renaults. I think we were definitely the fourth-best team this weekend. In two weeks’ time, we have a very important challenge. Barcelona is where really the car is… you show all of your potential there. It will be very interesting to see where we are. I believe that we are making good progress. Up to now we only had one point as a team. It’s definitely a massive motivation for all the boys that are doing a fantastic job. They did an incredible job with the stops. With the strategy. Yeah, what else can I say? Amazing job.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

     

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Kimi, you’ve had a lot of bad luck in the races this season. You’ve had some big results go amiss through no fault of your own. Do you feel that you got a bit of that luck back today and how important is this for you to really kick on for the rest of the season?

    KR: Well, I wouldn’t say that I have had a lot of luck over the years, but I don’t count on luck. You cannot count on that. I think you get what you deserve in a way and sometimes you are a bit luckier than other times but if I take over the years, I’m far from on the positive side yet. Maybe today certain things worked in our direction but then whatever happened in front of us are self-made issues in many ways. Stay out of trouble in this kind of race and definitely knowing what happened last year, it’s going to pay off. I’m more happy that I have the speed  – I know that I have the speed. We just didn’t do it: the mistake yesterday and some issues earlier. That’s the main thing, that we have the speed. We just need to put it together and I’m sure that we can do even better.

     

    Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) Lewis, we didn’t see Valtteri hit anything; did you see him hit anything on the lap he had in front of you? Do you think there was still debris around the area where Romain had crashed before?

    LH: For me it was impossible to see. I was obviously chasing Valtteri and it was so blurred, the vision is quite blurred at that high speed so all I could see was a few things fly away from his car and his speed reduced massively so I lifted and I didn’t really know what had happened, so I couldn’t tell you. And I couldn’t see any debris on the straight but the guys were telling me there was some debris there but there was also debris where Grosjean had crashed. It was all on the right side, before the left, fast lefthander so I can’t honestly say where it came from.

     

    Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) Kimi, Checo hit you on the first lap, then you had the incident with Ocon. Was your car damaged for the rest of the race? Did you feel there was something lacking there?

    KR: Honestly, I don’t know. Obviously we destroyed the front wing and right tyre but then they changed the front wing so I didn’t check the car at all. Then also, I think on the first lap, after the restart, on the little kink, coming on the last part of the straight, I hit the inside wall at full speed so I’m pretty lucky that the front wheel didn’t go. I was expecting to go quite fast but I was lucky. It felt OK, the car, honestly. I struggled a bit with the tyres sometimes but apart from that I’m sure there wasn’t big damage.

     

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Lewis, you mentioned that you think Ferrari’s still a bit ahead of Mercedes at the moment. We saw exceptional pace from you in Australia, you’ve sort of struggled since then. So do you think that in order to get back on terms with them or get ahead it’s going to be upgrades that you require or just unlocking more from the package you have at the moment?

    LH: I think the performance upgrade battle will be important, to see how that development goes between both teams, so that will definitely be important. I think more unlocking the potential of the car. Australia, we started on the right foot on the Friday and it progressed and got better and better. Since then, every weekend we’ve generally started a couple of steps – at least – behind the Ferraris and struggled to catch up. So whilst there has been a lot of work that has been done, we are still, today, performance-wise, we are still behind them. If you look at them, they had a little bit more downforce this weekend yet they were a little bit slower on the straights but quicker through all the corners. The middle sector was always three tenths up, three or four tenths up, which we just couldn’t catch up so their package really suited this track perfectly, I would say. Maybe ours did in Australia but I would imagine they just didn’t unlock their potential in that race, particularly, and since then have. But I don’t think we’re under any illusions that we have the fastest car or that we don’t have work to do. We know that. Everyone’s working as hard as they can but we’ve got to keep pushing, really got to keep pushing. I’ve got to figure out how to get on top of this car a little bit more. Australia, as I said, I was really comfortable with it and since then I’ve not been and I don’t really know why, so I’ve got to try and work on that.

     

     

    Photo Credit: Sahara Force India Formula One Team

  • 2017 Formula 1 Mexico Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

    2017 Formula 1 Mexico Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

    DRIVERS: 1 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull) 2 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes) 3 – Kimi RAIKKONEN (Ferrari) 9 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes, Champion)

    PARC FERMÉ INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by David Coulthard)

    Q: Lewis, you’re a four-time world champion?

    Lewis Hamilton: Viva Mexico!

    Q: Lewis we can see some battle scars on your car, you had to fight hard for this one, almost as hard as I’m fighting to get you to say something. Lewis, it wasn’t the way you wanted to win the world championship, but you won this world championship. Tell us about the race and tell us about the emotion.

    LH: I just want to say a big thank you to everyone that came out to support us. I hope we gave them a great race today. The Mexican fans are, I think, the best I’ve seen around the world. Honestly, you don’t get to see this everywhere. We’ve got great fans around the world, but this is… you guys really create this atmosphere, so big thank you. I did everything I could. I had a good start. I don’t really know what happened at Turn 3, but I gave him plenty of room. I tried my hardest to come back. Just a big thank you to my family, to my team – Mercedes have been incredible for the past five years and I’m so proud to be a part of it.

    Q: You’ve had time to think about this championship, does it mean than the previous three, now that you are in an elite club of only five men that have achieved that amazing record?

    LH: Honestly, it doesn’t feel real, man. Obviously that’s not the kind of race that I want, when you’re 40 seconds behind or something. But you know, I never gave up and that’s really what’s important, what’s in my heart. I kept going right to the end. I’m grateful for today and I just want to lift it up to my family and to God and, as I said, my team.

    Q: Congratulations, Lewis Hamilton, our four-time world champion. Max, meanwhile, you won your third grand prix. Impeccable start to that race, that’s really what made that opportunity. You won by a massive gap, you must be delighted?

    Max Verstappen: Yeah, of course the start was very crucial, I went around the outside, so that worked out well. From there on I was just basically looking after the tyres and the car, which just performed brilliant in the race. Of course, a big thanks Red Bull, because of course without them this was not possible. After last week, this is a perfect race.

    Q: You don’t even have a sweat on your brow, just how good was that race, controlling it out from the front?

    MV: Yeah, I was cruising. It was great.

    Q: And the start, that was crucial. It was oh, so close. Behind you, you had multiple world champions all touching each other.

    MV: yeah, that was good to see for me, and from there on I just pulled away.

    Q: Great stuff, Max, enjoy that victory. Valtteri, 20th podium, steady race, but it didn’t really look like you had the car under you this afternoon, so what’s going on in the cockpit?

    Valtteri Bottas: Well, first of all, I would say big congrats to Lewis and massive congratulations to our team for winning both titles. It’s been really nice to be part of it. And thank you Mexico. Red Bull was just too quick today. We tried everything we could, but we just couldn’t match them and this was the result

    Q: Kimi, you’re a model of consistency, this is your 90th podium. I know you don’t really care about that, because you’re all about victories but again the start compromised you and then it was just a question of damage limitation?

    Kimi Raikkonen: Yeah, actually the initial start wasn’t too bad but then all the guys… I was next to, I think it was Valtteri… but all the guys behind me got a massive tow and I was kind of left alone, and then the people behind me managed to tow past me. It was a disaster after that. But I just had some patience and once the guys in front of us stopped we had enough speed to improve but obviously not a lot happened after that.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Max, the third win of your career, and your second win in the last four races. It seemed it was crucial on that run down to the first corner and what you managed to get done there. Just talk us through the opening 20 seconds of the race.

    MV: Yeah, so initially, I don’t know, with the pre-start limiter I was a bit too high and I almost touched the limit so my start was not great, but then actually because of that I was in a good position, because then I had a good slipstream from Sebastian. I went on the outside and I was like ‘I’m going to try around the outside and see what happens”. I just saw we had a little bit of a touch into Turn 2 but luckily nothing happened there. From there onwards I could do my own race. I was pulling away every single lap. The car had a great balance, I could look after the tyres and, yeah, I managed to bring it home like that. Very happy. I knew that the car was good but I didn’t know that it was going to be this good in the race.

    Q: Any nervous moments? You were the only Renault-powered runner still going at the end of the grand prix?

    MV: Well, I think Pierre was also still going, but I could see a lot of cars blowing up and retiring, so I was definitely a bit worried but we looked after our engine and everything seemed to work pretty well.

    Q: Well done to you Max. Valtteri, turning to you, you end a three-race streak without a podium, so how good was the Mercedes car in Mexico this afternoon?

    VB: Well, in summary, I think it was not good enough. We couldn’t keep up with Red Bull, with Max. We couldn’t fight for the win today, which is unfortunate. Of course it was a pretty straightforward race, there were no safety cars or anything like that to help us, to give us any opportunity. Handling-wise, it was all not too bad, but just missing grip, sliding a bit around, lacking grip in the corners. I think that’s where Red Bull is still at an advantage in places like this. But I really need to say at this point, massive congrats to Lewis for the world title. I think he really deserves it. And also big congrats for the team, winning both titles this year. Of course, for me it’s unfortunate it’s not me winning the drivers but it is good for Lewis and I’m happy for him.

    Q: Kimi, Valtteri says the Mercedes wasn’t good enough here in Mexico, how was the performance of the Ferrari?

    KR: I don’t know really! It’s hard to say, because I was on my own most of the race. Again, in the beginning I was stuck behind a Force India and I couldn’t get past, but once he went to do his pit stop I had decent speed, but it was quite a handful the handling, it wasn’t the nicest. But I don’t really know as I was on my own since that point. The guys in front of me were so far [away], and behind there was not really anything. It’s hard to say. It wasn’t too bad but I kind of expected it after a difficult day yesterday. I think the biggest issue was not being very strong in the start. The initial start wasn’t too bad but then I was side by side with Valtteri and then everybody in the front formed one line and I was outside of it and behind me guys were towing me and I was left kind of alone and then I had a pretty disastrous first two corners. Anyhow, it was what it was.

    Q: Can we just a few words from you on the achievement of Lewis Hamilton, now a four-time world champion?

    KR: I think you have to go and talk to him.

    Q: We will do, but the achievement?

    KR: Well, it’s great for him, a lot of wins, a lot of championships. Good, but what can I say? I think…

    MV: Basically, you don’t care, right?

    KR: No, I don’t! Can we be happy about it? In a way yes, but…

    MV: I think we’d prefer to be in that position, right?

    KR: You can be happy for him but inside, you know, you…

    Max, anything you can add about Hamilton’s championship? I appreciate you have won the grand prix and your time will come I’m sure, but just your thoughts on Hamilton please.

    MV: Well, I think in general this year he has been the strongest and also the car was the most reliable between Ferrari and Mercedes and if you combine those two things you can achieve great things and that’s of course a world championship.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speedsport) Max, your teammate retired with some technical problems. Did the team tell your or warn you about anything that might happen?

    MV: No, but I saw on the TV screen that he retired and then I saw another Toro Rosso in front of me on fire and I was like “Oh, my God, don’t let this happen to me”. So we turned down the engine quite a lot and everything seemed to be fine. Luckily, I have quite a new engine, so maybe that helped out quite well, but then again Daniel was with a very new engine as well, so I don’t know. I had my bad luck in the beginning of the year, so I’m very happy that this time nothing happened to me.

    Q: (Mariana Jiménez – Record) Max, after what happened last weekend in Austin, what does it mean to have this result here for Red Bull and for you and how did it feel to celebrate your victory here in Mexico?

    MV: After last week I was very fired up and very motivated to do well, so that’s why I was yesterday I think I was giving it everything. Of course I missed out on pole, but I was very determined to win this race and I gave it all in the start, in Turn 1 and it feels great. Of course it makes it very special also here in Mexico with a lot of fans. They are very passionate about Formula One and it’s a great podium to be on, which last year I think I should have been on already but I missed out at the very last moment but luckily now no penalties

    Q: (Erwin Jaeggi – Motorsport.com) Max, do you think Red Bull can fight for poles and victories at every track now?

    MV: Poles, it’s difficult to say, because we don’t have this power mode in Q3, but our car in the race has improved a lot, even in qualifying. I think we still miss out a little bit to really be comfortably fighting for pole position but if we have a track where we can overtake then I’m sure we can fight for victories, otherwise you don’t win a race like this.

    Q: (Jaap de Groot – De Telegraaf) Max, can you tell me a little bit about how you were in curves one, two and three. You knew that was probably the crucial part of the race, so you just said. Can you go into more details?

    MV: So, I was in the two of Sebastian and then I went to the left and then I saw Lewis, I think it was, also pulling to the left. So I was just hoping that I had enough top speed and luckily it was alright. And then, under braking, I was on the outside so he can brake a bit deeper into the corner and yeah it worked out quite well, it was on the limit, because it’s quite slippery on the outside but then in the next corner you are on the inside. I just saw on the video that we did touch a bit but I didn’t really feel anything, so it was a very light brush, but it was very crucial for the race, for sure.

    Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) Valtteri you had a grandstand view of what happened in Turns 1, 2 and 3. How did you see it and did it affect your race at all, or just helped? For Kimi, once you were on your own, you sort of kept the pace with Valtteri, but were you just keeping the pace or was that as fast as the Ferrari could do today?

    VB: Yeah, for me in the start I was going in the second row of cars into Turn 1 on the inside. Lewis was a bit ahead, so he managed to get ahead of me, so there was a bit of a train immediately after Turn 1, but then Turn 2 things started to happen and I could see a couple of cars, I think Sebastian and Max side by side, so personally I decided to go for a good exit out of Turn 3 for Turn 4. I cut the inside line, and for me that was worth it and at the same time I was cutting inside I could see on the outside of Turn 3 some carbon bits and that was it, it all happens quite quickly. After that there was not much action for me in the race. We had to save quite a bit the brakes, the power unit, everything, so it was a bit of a shame. But still, even though full power and flat out we could not have matched Max.

    KR: Obviously we were far from anybody and if we really wanted to go faster, for sure we could go a bit but we were so far away that it really didn’t make any sense, we really didn’t have the speed to catch up 20 seconds, so what can you do? You just end up bringing it home and you try next time.

    Q: (Juan Pablo Garcia Noriega – Capital Motor) Kimi, you were closer this season to Mercedes. What is the biggest challenge for 2018?

    KR: Obviously I think it’s the same for everybody. We try to improve, we try to do things better and make a faster car. Overall we made quite a big step from last year. I think it’s small details that made a difference this year, but for sure the aim is always to improve and make things better and you know we are not the only one, everyone is going to do the same and to be honest we are only going to see in the first race next year where everybody is, and who has made what. In testing you get some idea but we have still two races to go and we do them as well as we can and start preparing for next year.

    QUESTIONS TO LEWIS HAMILTON

    Q: Lewis, many congratulations. This is number four, just give us some of your emotions. What does it mean to you?

    LH: Well, firstly, everyone, thank you so much for the warm welcome. It’s been a long journey with all you guys, these past ten years. For the all the stories, positive or negative I appreciate all the support from all of you. Yeah, it’s very difficult to come from a race, one which you, firstly, have not won, which was your target – but I feel still great – but then to be surrounded by so many people. Obviously there’s a lot of emotions. I would love to start by thanking my team. Mercedes signed me when I was 13, alongside McLaren and obviously I had exceptional years with McLaren. Very, very special time there, and will always have a special place in my heart. Meeting Ron when I was 10, telling him that one day I wanted to be a world champion in his car, and him giving me that opportunity, wherever he is today I hope he knows how grateful I am for that. And then moving to this team which was obviously such a… people through it was a big risk, and gamble, but I had every belief in my heart, one hundred percent belief in my heart, that it was the right thing to do. Even if in the beginning it may have been difficult, I knew at some stage we would have this kind of success. It’s really weird how I had that. And then just to see the team grow. It’s trickled down from the top, with great bosses, great board members who support the team one hundred per cent. So to everyone back in Stuttgart, a big, big thank you. The guys back at Brackley and Brixworth, those guys. I mean, when you go there and see what’s happening, see all these great creative minds working day and night to do something firstly, that they love, that they’ve worked for years, obviously going through school and university, and then to see this beautiful piece of art come together in December and January, and I’m one of two people that get to go out and test drive it, it’s the greatest feeling in the world. I think the FIA and Formula One did such a great job this year with this car. Whilst it’s difficult to overtake, it’s still an awesome car to drive. Formula One cars should be faster than anything out there. And yeah, this week I’ve just been reminiscing a lot about where I came from, y’know? Growing up in Stevenage, dreaming of one day being in Formula One. And where I am now is way beyond my imagination. I think dream big is definitely something we should all do – but to be four-time world champion… four definitely feels a lot better than three, and four is my number, obviously, so yeah. And I’ve got such great support all around the world and I want to say a big thank you to all the fans. A lot of fans here in Mexico, some Brits, some Mexicans. I love coming out to Mexico, so to do this on Mexican soil, particularly to shine this kind of positive light on the country, since it’s going through a very difficult time over the past months. I hope this shines some positivity on everyone. Through the race I was just thinking to myself, ‘Still I Rise, just don’t give up’. To never give up. I was going back to when my Dad put me in the boxing ring when I was young and this kid beat the crap out of me. My nose was bleeding and I didn’t want to go back in, and it felt very, very similar to Turn Three today. I got the puncture. Could have easily resorted to giving up, making mistakes, but I felt, I remembered that moment and I was like ‘I’m not going to give up, I’m going to keep pushing, even if I’m 40 seconds behind, I’m still going to give it everything, so that when I cross the line I can be proud of myself.’ And I definitely am.

    Q: (Ysef Harding – Xiro Xone News) Lewis, one of our great American sports journalists Howard Cosell always told Muhammad Ali how much he respected him inside and outside the ring, the history that he was making, and I’d like to say that to you. I appreciate being in this business and it’s a joy watching you do what you do on track and making the history that you’d made to this generation. Now to my question. Has this come full circle for you, given how you’ve come up, the history that you’ve made, being that you’ve had to struggle through what your family have gone through, has it bought it full circle winning your fourth world championship.

    LH: Definitely. In life, in the heat of the moment, when you’re going through difficult times, or even good times, you wonder how much further to push. Do you stop, do you turn around, do you turn left or right and go a different direction? I think it’s just that when you eventually get there you realise it was all worth it. The way I’ve prepared this year, contrary to what people may think, training on your own, no-one can train on their own, that’s what people would say, travelling around the world the way I do, all these different things, but just doing it your own way and finding your own way I think, it’s a day like today, when you win a championship, in front of so many people, it just solidifies your belief in yourself and your families belief in you, and what they stand for. So, I’m proud of all my family and it’s crazy to think that I’m continuing to stamp the Hamilton name in the history books. Beyond my time there will be kids that will know the name and that’s probably what I’m most proud of. My Dad did… I can’t even tell you what my Dad did to help me get where I am today. No matter how many wins I get, no matter how successful I am, I can never pay that back, but I just try and grab it with both hands, the opportunity that they’ve provided me and know also that there’s a lot of kids, a lot of people around the world, that are watching me, whether it’s for inspiration or for guidance, and so I’m trying to be the brightest light I can to shine that in their direction.

    Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday) Lewis Hamilton, four times world champion, congratulations. You said four’s your magic number. Does that mean there’s not a number five?

    LH: Actually 44’s my magic number but I’d be here a long time to get 44 championships! Four is a part of it. I like four. Jeez… I wonder what the people at my school are thinking, when I was growing up, there’s a couple of teachers that said “you’re never going to amount to anything,” so I wonder what they’re thinking now when they watch me today? For sure, they’re probably watching. Or at least they’ll read the news tomorrow. I wonder what they’re thinking? I wonder if they’re thinking ‘I helped that young lad,’ or are they thinking ‘you know what, I regret what I said and I’ve grown from it.’ I hope that’s really the case. I hope they’ve grown though it. I hope that whoever’s kids they are teaching today, they’re encouraging them, rather than pulling them down. But yeah, four is a great number. I want number five now. I’m going to stick with four, enjoy number four but I think, y’know, you just take one step at a time. It’s really about embracing, firstly what you love, the people that you work with, your family. It’s really about not listening to people who try to tell you what to do. It’s about you finding your centre and your core. Because we’re all different and we’re all unique in our own way, we’re all bright stars. There’s no-one in this room that’s not a star. If you feel that the person next to you is a brighter star, it doesn’t mean you can’t be as bright as them. If anything, you should use that as inspiration, to shine even brighter. I hope my winning the fourth time, world champion from Stevenage, I hope that’s a testimony to show that you really can do something from nowhere. I hope one day I’m able to help find the next me because he’s somewhere out there.

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Congratulations Lewis, well done. Just going back to the race, you said on the team radio, or you asked on the team radio whether Sebastian had deliberately crashed into you. Do you think that he did hit you on purpose? Do you think it was a bit of desperation from Seb, and would you like to speak to him about it?

    LH: I’m going to take the negativity, swing it back and send you positivity dude. It doesn’t even matter what happened. Today Still I Rise was on the top of my mind, and you get knocked down and you get back up and you keep pushing as hard as you can. Dude, I was 40s behind today and I don’t know how it looked from outside. It didn’t feel great – but I just never gave up, I just kept pushing. I knew that I couldn’t win the race, clearly, but I was ‘you know what, I’m going to have the best race I can possibly have from wherever I am. It took forever to catch one guy, and then eventually catch them and so hard to get past – but I enjoyed every battle. I tried to use all my skill. Turn One, I didn’t give up. You guys are always wondering if I’m going to take the step back and not push, and I think I was balanced with my aggression in Turns One, Two and Three, I don’t think I was too aggressive, didn’t lock-up, I didn’t make any mistakes and that is something I’m really happy with – ‘cos naturally under the pressure, I could have done too much or too little. I was, of course, surprised to be hit and yeah, I left a lot of room so to wonder why the dude behind, that I was fighting, touched me, of course it was on top, y’know, we’re great drivers, he’s a four-time World Champion, it’s quite easy not to hit each other – but in the midst of things it can also be quite easy to touch. So, I don’t really care and I don’t feel like analysing it. I’ve enjoyed racing against Sebastian and to race against a four time world champion, and even today, to have the battle with Fernando, I was like ‘this is one tough mofo’. Back and forth, back and forth, I’m like… Formula One, just wait ‘til this guy gets a good engine, because the car was great through other sections, and I really hope for McLaren, who I’ve already told you has a special place in my heart, I really hope next year is a better year for them. I hope they have a stronger engine a stronger car, and Fernando’s a tough bugger – a tough cookie, I prefer that word – and I enjoyed the little battle I had with him and I hope we get to have many more like that.

    Q: (Rebecca Clancy – The Times) Lewis, congratulations, you’re now the most successful British driver ever, you stand alone on four championships, is that something you’re able to get your head around? What does that mean to you?

    LH: I think at the moment it’s too far out of reach. It’s like I’m in space. It just really doesn’t… it’s not registering at the moment. That often happens when you win a championship. Of course there’s all the energy from all the people around you and you’re riding on Cloud Nine but it’s really hard to it’s really hard to… it takes a while for it to really, truly sink in. But when I think about everything that’s gone on this year, the past two years, and everything that’s had to be put in place to produce the results we have today, y’know, I don’t sit here… while I’m sitting here on my own, there’s over a thousand people who backed me up, who lift me up, who create the machine in which I’m able to exploit my talents, my abilities and for that I’m just so grateful. I wonder how many people in here thought it was the worst move to Mercedes? Of course it’s been years already before you’ve changed your opinion – but isn’t it cool. Isn’t it cool to see someone take a risk like I did and it to come out the way it has? I’m really, really happy about it and proud of all the people that have helped me achieve it and looking forward to the future.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Congratulations. This battle was hard-fought this year against Ferrari and your car was up and down. Sometimes you didn’t have the best car in the field. Overall, would you say, from a sporting point of view, that was your most valuable championship? Did you have to give more than in the other three?

    LH: I think every one has been difficult, different in its own way. Of course, if you look back to 2015, consistency was good and obviously it came in a different way. Still, I think individually, it felt challenging on a personal level – but I think this year is a championship of whcih I’ve been hoping for, a little bit like 2008, where you’re fighting another team, fighting this historic team, which Michael raced for and won championships in. Ferrari is… the red car… red’s my favourite colour so it’s such a beautiful car to see on the track – but to fight it with a silver sword is, y’know, it’s like the master sword, you want to say. I’m really proud of that and to be able to battle someone else who is a four time world champion, a proven world champion, who’s got great skill and a team also that knows how to win championships, to extract the most from my guys, to compete with that. That’s how every championship needs to be, and I hope there’s more championships like this one where we have this tough battle. I think every single year there’s going to be things that are… reliability is always a challenge, which has been exceptional, thanks to the team but fighting the other teams is what we want to see. I think what Formula One wants to see. I remember growing up watching Formula One and that’s what I wanted to see. So I’m sorry if the last couple of years weren’t the greatest for you but I hope this year was more exciting.

    Q: (Inaudible) Toto told us that you asked the team if there was any possibility of Sebastian arriving second and the team said to you, “no”. From this moment, did you react in a different way. You were on track, it’s looks like the moment you were trying to overtake Alonso and Magnussen.

    LH: I don’t know how it is for you guys watching this race. It’s a great race as a spectacle but it’s a very, very challenging race because, one, obviously we’re very high so we’ve got maximum downforce, very small drag, so overtaking is very difficult. Following is, I mean is so difficult, almost impossible to follow another car, we almost need special wings or tyres for this race because a one-stop is boring, so I hope they make some changes. We need specific Mexico tyres, so that we can have more than one stop, and, I don’t know, somehow adapt the configuration or have a different strategy that can create overtaking, because there’s so many people that come to watch this race. It’s one of the most attended grands prix that we have and the energy is spectacular, so… what did you say? What was the question again?

    Did you react differently Lewis, once the team had told you…

    LH: Oh, no. I could see the TV screens, I could see where I was and, damn, it sucked being 12th. It took forever to get 11th and I was seeing… he was not as unfortunate as I was to get a puncture and be 40 seconds behind, he was at least able to remain in the fight so he had a much better opportunity and obviously drove fantastically well in the race after Turn Three. But I could see he’s climbing and I’m thinking, ‘Jeez, I know he has to finish second, I knew that Max was 70 seconds up the road, so I don’t know. I just try to keep a gauge of what’s happening up ahead. I was thinking ‘do I have to get eighth to win it? But all I could think of was trying to get up as high as I could. I’d look back, I’d look at the laps and think ‘maybe I could have pushed a little harder here and there’ but at the time my soft tyre had to go to the end, and it wasn’t feeling good, so I was just trying to look after it initially, that’s why I didn’t have great pace. Then we had the pitstop and I still went in 26 seconds behind, came out 30 seconds behind and I’m like ‘what the hell?’ But y’know, this is one of those things that are sent to test me and, as I said, that giving up factor is very, very easy to do. It’s always easy to take the easy route, just back off, turn the engine down, not push, hope for the best. But I kept racing and that’s what I live for. That’s what I started out karting, when I had a crap go-kart, when I first started, I started last and I made my way through, and that’s what I tried to do today.

    Q: (Mike Doodson – GP Plus) Lewis, let’s not beat about the bush here, because we journalists just love a personal feud between drivers. We got one last year with you and your teammate. This year, we were expecting really good fireworks between you and Seb but instead of which, you sit together in press conferences and you really seem to like each other’s company, in spite of the fact that you’re constantly knocking bits off each other out on the track.

    LH: You sound pissed off, man!

    Q: (Mike Doodson – GP Plus) Tell us about Seb; what so special and enjoyable about him?

    LH: You do sound upset. I’m kidding. Look, we’re not 20-year olds, we’re grown men now so I think if you watch tennis, you watch the great players, the great golfers, great athletes in the world and the mind is everything. The mind is what is in control, not the things that surround it. Naturally you’re having a battle with the guy behind. There’s that famous saying, in the art of war, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. I watch Sebastian, I know what he’s achieved in the past years, I know how consistent he’s been, I know where his strengths and weaknesses are. I know where the strengths and weaknesses of his car are. I do think it’s still very very important… if you look at Nadal and… when they came to… the composure that they have through a game, and then also how they present themselves after a win or a lose. I think stars and athletes like that really set an example and I try to follow that, really, take a lot of inspiration from that. I think there’s times probably he hates me more than I have any of that feeling… but I try not to contain any negativity in my life, no matter what is written, no matter what people say, I’ve managed to build this kind of barrier to bounce off negativity because I think love conquers all and positivity conquers all. So whilst you do want that feud after Baku and all of that, and even today, which seems a little bit odd, at the beginning of the race, it doesn’t matter. I think what matters is… as I said, it’s how you get up. I do hope that many of you here, whether or not you’re British, obviously Mercedes is German, so hopefully some of the Germans can still feel grateful but I hope the Brits, I hope you guys… this is not just my win, it’s our win, for all of us, wherever. I’ve got a cap here, it’s got a US flag on it. I hope everyone can really enjoy this year and some of the great battles we’ve all had and I’m not going to try and give even more controversy next year. I hope that we just give you more raw racing, you know? That’s what the sport needs, that’s what we’re struggling towards. I hope today was exciting. The little battles I had… I had so much fun. The one with Fernando was… I was like, really Dude? Come one. It was cool. What’s a shame is that Formula One cars, in particular here, overtaking is so difficult and so… there’s got to be some way of creating that battle without creating a deficit in engine power or something. There’s got to be some other way to have more fight back. We had this great race today and that’s the only battle I really remember that I’ve enjoyed as much.

    Q: (Stuart Codling – F1 Racing) Lewis, throughout this year and possibly even more so in the second half of the year you seem to have been able to get more out of what is quite a difficult car than your teammate. What have you found within yourself to do that and why is it such a difficult car to extract this performance from?

    LH: It’s obviously got great qualities but generally the philosophy of how a car has been designed… over the years it’s got some of the same traits of the previous years but being this year bigger tyres, longer car, it’s exaggerated some of those things and in a year when the losses are even greater than the previous year… I’m sure you’ve heard on the radio some of these things we’ve talked about and some of the things we’ve talked about in the car, and the loss of downforce which we don’t see on the other cars. It’s been a great year of course, because we’ve really sat down in these debriefs, places like after Malaysia, when we sat down and had the longest debrief with the guys. What’s amazing is to have guys who really listen to every single thing – feedback – you give back about the car. They’re just wanting more information. These engineers, they love that stuff: more numbers, more information the better. So me and Valtteri have really been working hard to give the best feedback. These guys come from Harvard and Cambridge and Oxford so they’re on another level to us drivers so to be able to convey what you’re feeling is not the easiest. But I’m proud of its flaws because she’s not been perfect. Whilst people have written that we’ve had the best car, I don’t believe we’ve had the best car. I think we’ve been the best team, we’ve done the best job but there have been times when we’ve not had the best car, particularly on race weekends we’ve done a great job. And times when we’ve – Singapore for example – like we’re not going to do so well this weekend but we’ve come out with more than we had hoped for. And really that’s what it’s been about. I think next year – hopefully it’s not too late – but I hope we will improve on some of the fundamental issues we have on this year’s car, but then others will come out of woodwork. I think on my side of things, the operational side, working with my engineers, I’ve had the same engineers for some time. Bono (Pete Bonnington) has been with me from the beginning and his and their commitment… you don’t get to see what happens back in the office but they’re constantly analysing, just wanting to give the driver the best package. I couldn’t have done it without these guys. My guys in the garage, my mechanics, who take the car apart every single week and put the car back together. Do you know how many pieces there are for that car? There are so many components, they’re faultless in what they do. I have so much respect for that because I’ve taken things apart and put them back the wrong way. I’m sure some of you guys have. So it’s really exceptional to see people talented like that doing great things. And then when you get in the car, you know that you’ve got that belief in you and you deliver as they deliver. It’s the greatest feeling.

    I’m really enjoying giving you long answers.

    Q: (Chris Medland – Racer) Lewis, you referenced the fact that Seb was a four time World Champion and people often compare World Champions from different eras but is there almost an added edge and enjoyment that the two of you are going head to head for fourth, fifth and maybe more World titles at this moment in time?

    LH: Definitely. Definitely. It’s kind of cool to be in this battle with him. He got 50 poles yesterday and I’m kind of like, I don’t want to give him any more poles because he gets closer to me. That’s inspiration to keep pushing it, you know? Then the same with wins, same with championships and so then I see him sign for another three years with Ferrari and I’m like, Ferrari are not going to like me for the next couple of years. But it’s OK, because we’re going to make it as hard as it can possibly be for them to win championships but I really am looking forward to that battle with them. They’ve been such a great team this year, it’s been great to see Ferrari back on form and as I said, I really hope others join that battle. Red Bull have been great today, big congratulations to Max, he’s really the brightest young star that we’ve seen for some time and I was hoping today to have a bit of a battle with him but it wasn’t meant to be. But there will be many more to come and I hope that in his early era that I can be a good force and a good battle for him.

    Q: (Christoph Becker – Frankfurter Allegemeine Zeitung) Lewis, picking up on that question; you just said you remembered Michael (Schumacher) racing in the red car and you said a couple of days ago that you’re not sure how much longer you want to be racing; you said a couple of years. In this moment, today, at this emotional day, if you listen to your inner voice or to your gut feeling, is there something that says: you know what, I can catch those other records that he holds? I can get to 92 GP victories, I can get to seven or eight World Championships, and I want to do that.

    LH: I think, first and foremost, we all know how exceptional Michael was and his records have lasted for so long and he will always… there’s one particular record which is going to be very hard for anyone to catch. Each year I don’t set a goal to make records. I have a goal of somehow… improving certain areas where you feel you could be better. I love racing, I love the… I’m different. I love my different qualities, compared to the others. That doesn’t mean they’re better or worse, I’m grateful for the qualities and the abilities I have in the car. It is very very crazy to think that I’ve matched certain records from people; weekend in, weekend out, someone tells me of a new record that I’ve crept up on, but there potentially many many more years to go. I do look at my life… I travel so much, there’s so much that I do, it’s a lot sacrifices. People talk about Michael’s singlemindedness about his job but to stand out in the world today, it’s a lot harder, I think, to stand out today in this world, because it’s all been done before, so to do something different as a Formula One driver, not only be the greatest you can be as a racing driver but also do other things, prepare your afterlife to be just as great, not as good because Formula One is just the pinnacle of the sport. You arrive on the biggest wave and afterwards there are going to be much smaller waves but that doesn’t mean you still can’t do great things. So doing something different that helps you stand out, that really highlights your individuality I think is really important and that’s really something I’m working on, so I’ll continue to race while I love it. As I’ve said, I’ve enjoyed it this year more than ever. I do think about Jeez, it would be so nice at some stage just to live in one place, a lot more socialising, walking your dogs every day or surfing, whatever it is, but staying in one place for a period of time. But then I’m thinking there’s a lot of life to live beyond forty, there’s a lot to go and so the balance is: I can’t come back to Formula One, so there’s going to be a point in which OK, I’ve had enough. I’ve already been blessed and had such a wonderful time here in these ten years. Hopefully I have my place here and I’m going to continue to – whilst I’m at my best – continue to try and… and I want to go out on top so that’s my goal. Obviously each year, I could do the easy thing like obviously Nico did which is just stop and retreat with these four titles, but I think there’s more in me, I think there’s more to come, more of a challenge, as there’s harder times ahead and I like that, I love that, that’s challenging.

    Q: (Rafael Bolaños – Televisa Deportes) If you can reflect on your career, how can you compare yourself with your idol, with Ayrton?

    LH: I don’t myself ever really compare myself to Ayrton. I think it’s very hard to compare oneself to previous eras, you know? The cars are always different. What I would say is that ultimately us racing drivers, what we’re great at is getting in a car and exploiting its strengths and weaknesses and putting it to the limit. All the drivers back to Fangio, no matter what vehicle you put them in, whether it’s a car, jetski, whatever, we will take it to the limit because we have this certain sense of awareness and higher limits than others, I guess. I do feel very proud to be in and amongst those legendary drivers and we’re in a different era where safety is so much further ahead but technology also is too. The challenge Ayrton would have faced in his time is a lot different today, mentally, maybe less physically challenged but mentally more with all the electronics that you have to control. It’s not one era that is more difficult than another, they’re just unique in their own way. I really do think that these great drivers, Ayrton would have continued to win more if he was fortunate enough to have more life to live. That bright life of his was cut short. I’ve always said it, since I got the first championship, I kind of liked the idea that I’m carrying a baton on and seeing how far we can push it. He inspired me as a kid, arrived at home on the weekend, he’d be the one I would be looking out for. And even when he was gone, I still came back and watched his videos like it was just yesterday he was racing.

    Q: (Carlos Jalife – Fast Mag) Keeping a little bit the idea of the last question, can you compare your four mounts, the McLaren, the W05, the W06 and the W08, and tell us which would be your favourite? You don’t name them like Sebastian does but which would be your favourite mount among the four cars that have given you the title?

    LH: The reason I don’t name my car is because it’s not the same car you’re driving throughout the year. We have four, five, six chassis so it keeps changing, so you would have to have four, five different names and that’s a pain in the backside. So I don’t name the car. But you still obviously have a close connection with the car that you’re in, that keeps you safe. Each one is different. Obviously when I got to Formula One, 2006, so I don’t know what chassis that was, the MP4/22 is it, something like that? That was a different car, at the time I thought it was the most physically demanding thing that I had ever come across. And then obviously body then becomes accustomed to it but then we had bigger wings, then we went to lesser downforce, the grip was poor, I think ’14, ’15, the car was still good but today I think is definitely the best allround car in terms of its size, the tyre size, it looks a lot like the olden days. When you watched the old legendary cars go round today the cool thing you see is the sound, the big tyres that they have, I love that and it’s a lot closer to what you dream Formula One being like. I think this, for me, is definitely the best car I’ve driven but I’ve had the privilege of driving different cars. I drove Ayrton’s car from 1989 which is cool because they had the stick shift, you know? I really wish we had that here. Imagine that battle I had with Fernando, having to take my hand off the steering wheel. That would have been awesome. But it’s not meant to be in this world of technology but I hope Formula One grows from here and I hope to be in that period of time where hopefully it grows into a better series than it already is.

    Q: (Ramón Treviño – El Universal Autopistas) Going back to the race, was there any time when you were 16th or 12th when you thought I’m World Champion and you think I have Brazil to be the World Champion?

    LH: No, neither of those really ever come to mind. I honestly didn’t know that… I hadn’t calculated what I needed to or where Sebastian had… obviously at some stage they said that he had to finish second so then I’m like OK, I guess if I finish where I am that’s enough but for me that’s not enough. Backing off in a race is never fun, that’s why you see me battling Fernando at the end. I gave it everything, I took risks… a little bit more risk with him than I really needed to but hey man, it could be my last race so I was like I’m going to give it everything. I was pushing right to finish line and that’s something I love. I had no tyres left. So there was never a moment that I thought to myself we’ll wait to Brazil. I think there was a moment for sure when it did dawn upon me which I may have to… I was like, it doesn’t… we touched in turn three, it’s OK, I’ve got two more races and it’s not going to happen again, because I’ll put myself on pole and make sure I’m ahead, so it’s not close enough. But no, I just thought, keep going, keep giving it everything and keep rising.

    Q: (Bradley Lord – Mercedes AMG F1.com) Would you like to come and celebrate with your teammates and do a great big photo?

    LH: I would love to. I’m enjoying sitting here guys… Thank you.

  • 2017 Japanese Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

    2017 Japanese Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    2 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)

    3 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

     

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by Takuma Sato)

     

    Lewis, a sensational win, congratulations. How do you feel today? 

    Lewis HAMILTON: Wow, you got some bling! Where’s this from?

    Yeah, look at this. It’s a 500 winner’s ring.

    LH: I love that! I need that ring! Hi, everyone. We’ve had such a great crowd here this weekend. In Japan they always look after us so well here, so very, very grateful for that, and the support has been immense. So, it’s great to have a beautiful day here, it’s probably the first time I’ve really seen the sea from here. The track was fantastic; the team did an incredible job. Max drove an outstanding race and honestly it wasn’t an easy one for us at all.

    You had a sensational lap, breaking the track record yesterday, but it didn’t look like you had an easy afternoon today. At one stage Max was coming on a charge. How did you manage that, were you just calm, were you just controlling the situation?

    LH: Yeah, I mean, today… the Red Bulls just seem to be rapid in race trim. Obviously we’re quick in qualifying trim. But still I was able to just hold him behind. But it definitely got very close a couple of times, particularly at the end with the VSC and then when we restarted the tyres were cold, I had a bit of traffic, so he caught right up, so it was very, very close.

    Well done, congratulations. Max, congratulations, a fantastic charge. Obviously [last weekend] in Malaysia you had a sensational win and look at your fans here in Suzuka, you’re charging almost to a win. How do you feel today?

    Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, it was a great day again. I think Suzuka is great to me. I really love the track, already last year. I think the pace today was really promising. The first stint on the supersoft I was struggling a bit with the left front, but as soon as we switched to the soft tyre it was actually very competitive and I was always with Lewis and especially in the last few laps I think we had great pace. It’s just really hard to pass. The last two or three laps I gave it my all to try to try to close the gap. But we had a really good day again and the car is definitely improving race by race and I’m really happy about that.

    Fantastic Max, congratulations again. Daniel, you look a happy boy. Suzuka fans, says hello them maybe?

    Daniel RICCIARDO: Yeah, this is my first podium here. My objective this weekend was get a Suzuka podium and I have it and it feels great, so arigato.

    You mentioned that this is your first podium at Suzuka. Obviously this is a track you love and this is your ninth podium of the season. You’re looking strong. At the end you had a charge from the other guys, so how did you manage in the last few laps?

    DR: Yeah, it’s a circuit I’ve always enjoyed and now with this year’s cars it’s a lot of fun. You know, the race, after the start it started to spread out and it wasn’t that exciting from my point of view but then I had Valtteri coming at the end so actually to have a bit of pressure at the end made it more exciting. It was good fun…

    Excellent, fantastic, two Red Bull guys [on the podium]. Lewis…

    LH: Can I try this ring? Can I just see if it’s worth me going and doing [the Indianapolis 500] one day. Can I try it?

    Of course, anything for you. Lewis Hamilton with an Indy 500 winner’s ring!

    LH: It’s pretty good. Congratulations. I was about to run!

    The championship: you now have a massive 59-point lead. Obviously it was a little bit fortunate for you and a bit unfortunate for the red cars but there are four races to go, so what’s the strategy, how do you feel about it?

    LH: Yeah, honestly, I could only have dreamed of having this kind of gap. Ferrari have put on such a great challenge all year long. All I can really say is that I have to put it down to my team. They’ve done a phenomenal job, reliability has really been on point. They are just so meticulous and that’s really why we have the reliability we have and the result we have been having. So a big thank you to the guys. I think a lot of them have already gone back to start packing up. But I owe it to everyone here and back at the factory and again the support that we get, it really does help lift us, so a big thank you to everyone.

    Q: Well Lewis, an emphatic victory in reality. Perhaps you could talk us through it in chronological order. Let’s start with the start, who made the better getaway, yourself or Sebastian – and when did you realise he had a problem?

    LH: The start was OK. It didn’t feel initially the greatest but I think the initial getaway was not spectacular, there was a bit of wheel spin but then from then on, had a good start but I guess everyone around me, or at least Sebastian, had the same kind of thing. So, he slotted in behind me. Then it was pretty much under control from there, and then I saw that Max had done a big lunge into Turn 11, in my mirrors, so I just saw them drop back a step and really from then I was just trying to manage the pace, manage the tyres. It was a long way to go, the hottest the track had been all weekend – so it was really crucial, knowing that particularly the Ferraris and also the Red Bulls are very, very quick in the race, it was important in those moments that I looked after the tyres the best.

    Q: Was a two-stop ever a reality or was it always a one-stop as far as you were concerned?

    LH: A one-stop was the way. There was no way we could make a two-stop work, and knowing the others would be two-stop, just missing a stop makes a big difference – but I think it was definitely on the limit with tyre life and tyre wear. Yeah, these guys seem to have a bigger wing: slower on the straights but much, much quicker, it seems, through the first two sectors, and particularly if he’s right with me, he’s able to follow. When I was with someone I was not able to follow. So, I guess under-winged for the mid sector and fine down the straight. Then it just got a little bit close towards the end. I had a comfortable gap going into the pit-stop and then I think Max did the undercut thing and gained a bit of time. Then my out-lap, I took it easy, just trying to look after the tyres again, so he closed up to 1.5 seconds and then after that I pulled it back out to two and a half or three seconds or something like that, so I was just controlling the pace but towards the end the VSC lost a lot of temperature in the tyres and waking them up was not so easy. Then I got traffic, I was stuck behind Fernando and I think it was Massa, at the time and I was just losing so much time. His car was so big in my mirrors. I was thinking ‘Jeez, this is very, very close’ with a couple of laps to go – but once I got by just managed to keep it together. So yeah, it was not an easy walk in the park today. It was very much one that I had to work very hard for. Great race by Max and enjoying racing with him.

    And a 59 point lead in the World Championship now. Just one hundred on the table. One and a half hands on that championship trophy – how are you feeling about it?

    LH: I think it’s kind of unbelievable really, to think that we are where we are. I was excited actually to have a good race with Sebastian here, as I was in the last race – but he’s obviously been incredibly unfortunate. In the world today, in Formula One it is a lot about reliability, it is about the team’s whole performance, not just speed on the track, and I think the team has shown, through and through for many years now that we have a very, very solid platform. The guys do such a phenomenal job with how they build the car, in terms of reliability. Mercedes are the real leaders in that area and so I really owe it to everyone back at the factory for providing me with a car that I can utilise, and use my abilities in. So, big thank you to everyone back at the factory. There’s still a long way to go. One hundred points is a lot of points. Anything can happen in life. I’ve just got to try and keep my head down and hopefully continue to perform like this – but I feel very, very fortunate and really blessed and enjoying the experience.

    Q: Max, coming on to you. We were getting excited at the end there. Was the win really on? What were you thinking in the car?

    MV: difficult to say. I could see Lewis was managing his tyres and of course, with the traffic it just seems like it was a bit more difficult for him to follow other cars, compared to me. So I closed up – but also when you are really close you start to lose a lot of downforce, so I couldn’t really attack him – but at least I tried. Before that, the start for me was very crucial. From there on I could basically do my own race. Once I got past Seb in the Hairpin I quickly realised that he had an issue, so that was good for me, of course, and yeah, the first stint, I think it was alright. I think Lewis was just a little bit faster and then after the pitstop we had great balance on the soft tyres and yeah, I just managed to keep it around 2.5s-3s. I didn’t want to close-up more because then you destroy the front tyres. In case you maybe needed them at the end. So, yeah, I think the car lately in the race has been really competitive. I think like Lewis said, we have a bit more wing, so we are quite competitive through the corners. Of course, then on the straight we have an even bigger deficit than normal but it seems to work for us in the race so far, so yeah, of course happy to be here on the podium again. It seems like Suzuka is pretty good to me.

    Q: And concerns about that front-left, you mentioned.

    MV: Well, it was all on the limit I guess – but for many people.

    Q: Daniel, your first podium here at Suzuka. You had your mirrors full of Valtteri Bottas at the end there, kept it exciting at least.

    DR: Yes, exactly. The race was pretty lonely after I lost out on the start. And then yeah, lost touch. Little bit like last week, lost touch of Max and Lewis and then it was just trying to do my pace. It was a bit lonely and then yeah, actually Valtteri coming at the end actually made it a bit more exciting for me. Made me feel pushed until the end basically. Kept it open. For the rest, I think there were parts of the race where our pace was pretty good but I think once the start is done here it’s very difficult to overtake. You need a pretty big speed advantage. Front left, yeah, you could see it was wearing and getting a few blisters but yeah, the race itself, not very exciting but for sure I’m happy to be on the podium here. I said from the start of the weekend I wanted my first Suzuka podium and, yeah, I got it.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday) Question for Max. You’re on a charge in the last five laps and you came across the battle with Alonso and Massa. How did that affect you? Alonso cut right in front of you as Lewis went by him and you seemed to drop back a bit. Was that basically the defining moment that stopped your charge?

    MV: Yeah, didn’t help – but for me the last lap was more with Massa, but at the end of the day I think I wouldn’t have passed Lewis anyway because it’s really hard once he’s in free air. It was more like when Lewis was getting held up then I could close up and then maybe you can do something but once he got past, even when I got held up, y’know, it’s done. It’s of course not ideal but it wouldn’t have made a difference.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speedsport) Max and Daniel, you swapped positions at the start, could you just talk us through how that first little bit went?

    DR: I saw a little bit of a replay now at the back but honestly, I couldn’t see… I mean the cars this year, they’ve got more of a blind spot basically, so after the start – I knew my start wasn’t that good and I was expecting to see Max but I didn’t see him for a while so thought maybe his start was also not good so I thought I would cover the inside but I wanted to leave some room because he could be there and then as we got to the apex, I saw he was there. I don’t think I could really have done anything else. I guess if I came across straightaway, he was there the whole time I imagine. Yeah, I think it was just the jump off the line that wasn’t that great. Then I was on the outside and I didn’t get a good drive off turn two being hung out on the outside and that’s where I think Ocon got the better exit. I think it just all the start with the initial launch, we stuffed it there. So I’ll look into it, see if it was something I could have done better

    MV: I think I had quite a good start and like Daniel said, it’s really difficult to see in the mirrors but luckily we all had enough space afterwards so that was all good.

    Q: (Lennart Bloemhof – Volkskrant) Lewis, you said you enjoyed fighting with Max at the front. It’s the second consecutive race now that that’s happening. Can you tell us a bit more about that; how was it to fight against him?

    LH: Well, we didn’t really have a massive fight as such on the track but we all know how quick Max is, he’s doing a great job, very consistent. Yeah, the last race he was just too quick. I think today he was quicker – maybe just a little bit quicker – but I think I was able to match the times we were doing at the time. Yeah, we’re quicker in qualifying but they are at least within a tenth or so of us in the race. Today was I was kind of like – he won the last race, I’m not letting you have this one. It was really just about not making mistakes. I was driving down the back straight at one point and I’m thinking ‘Jeez, the guy behind me is so much younger than me, I’ve got make sure I kind of man up and show my age and make sure that I stay ahead. Show that I’m actually still very young at heart.’ That was kind of my thought process for you behind. I was kind of like I’m not letting…

    MV: I was thinking ‘this guy’s so old in front of me.’

    LH: Yeah, I’m not letting this little… that was the kind of thought I was having. No, I’m enjoying being in an era with such great young talent coming through. He’ll be here far beyond after I stop. But until then, I will try and not give him too many poles or too many wins.

    Q: (Luigi Perna – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Lewis, you now have a huge advantage over Sebastian Vettel. Will you change your approach in the next races or will you go to win anyway?

    LH: To be honest, there’s not really any need for me to change the approach. The points are still what you go out there to achieve but also you try and look after your car. I just don’t think there’s any need to make any changes. I’m not really particularly taking crazy risks in order to be in the position I’m in. So yeah, I think we’re just going to try and continue to do what we’re doing. Of course, we want to try and look after the car and the engine but I’m already doing that throughout the races so there’s not really much more I can do and I think if sometimes you come off the gas a little bit you actually cause yourself more trouble than you need.

    Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday) Lewis, reliability is everything this year. On your cooldown lap you were talking to the engineers, speaking about vibrations. Is there anything possibly wrong with the engine or anything that might run over to Austin that needs changing?

    LH: I don’t think there’s… I don’t honestly think there’s any wrong with the engine. I just felt a couple of things so I just… you just point out things that you might forget to tell them after this next meeting. You make lots of different switch changes and the turbos make strange noises and different vibrations come in, so I’m hoping there’s nothing. I don’t think there is anything, I think it was just low… shortshifting which the engine doesn’t like so much. So I think that was it.

    Q: (Arjan Schouten – AD Sportwereld) Max, again a good result; what about the confidence in the car? Is the bad luck over now do you think?

    MV: Confidence was always there, so now I’m finally having luck so that’s good.

  • No Further Action on Turn 1 Carnage at Singapore GP Race

    No Further Action on Turn 1 Carnage at Singapore GP Race

    The FIA race stewards have decided that no further action will be taken following the Turn 1 carnage at the start of the race for the Singapore Grand Prix which saw both Ferrari’s and the Red Bull of Max Verstappen collide subsequently putting them out of them out of the race.

    After average starts from both Vettel and Verstappen, Vettel cut across the track to defend his position on the run to Turn 1. Raikkonen, who started 4th, had a better start that Verstappen who was lined up directly ahead of him on the grid. Raikkonen went down the inside of Verstappen and was almost clear of the Red Bull when Verstappen’s rear left tagged Raikkonen’s rear right, swinging the Ferrari around the front of the Red Bull and into the side of his team mate Vettel.

    The move left Verstappen with no where to go and the “pincer” like movement executed by the Ferrari’s contact looked inevitable.

    All three drivers were summoned to see the stewards after the race and after meeting with teams they decided that no driver was wholly to blame for the incident.

    In a statement the stewards said: “The Stewards examined video evidence and heard from Sebastian Vettel,the driver of Car 5, Kimi Raikkonen, the driver of Car 7, Max Verstappen, the driver of Car 33 and the team representatives.

    Singapore 2017_Start“Driver of Car 7 had a very good start and was able to attempt overtaking of Car 33 on the left hand side.

    “At the same time, Car 5 which had a slower start, moved to the left hand side of the track; Car 33 and Car 7 then collided resulting in a chain collision with Car 5 and ultimately Car 14 (Fernando Alonso) at the next turn.

    “Cars 7, 5 and 33 had to retire immediately as a result of the incident; and Car 14 retired some laps thereafter.

    “The Stewards consider that no driver was found to have been wholly or predominantly to blame for the incident and will therefore take no further action.”

  • Penalty Fiesta at the 2017 Italian Grand Prix

    Penalty Fiesta at the 2017 Italian Grand Prix

    One of the things the 2017 Italian Grand Prix will be remembered for is the number of engine penalties handed down to drivers over course of the weekend.

    Some would agree that the situation is quite laughable as only one driver will start in the position that he qualified in and that’s the pole sitter, Lewis Hamilton. It’s so comical that Kevin Magnussen who failed to get out of Q1 in 16th position will start in 10th.

    Penalty Round up

    Daniel Ricciardo (Car 3) – Red Bull Racing

    Total drop of 25-grid position

    • 10-place grid drop for 6th MGU-H
    • 5-place grid drop for 5th internal combustion engine (ICE)
    • 5-place grid drop for 5th Turbo Charger (TC)
    • 5-place grid drop for new gearbox

    Carlos Sainz (Car 55) – Scuderia Toro Rosso

    • 10-place grid drop for 5th MGU-H

    Fernando Alonso (Car 14) – McLaren Honda

    Total drop of 35-grid places

    • 10-place grid drop for 9th TC (1st 9th element used)
    • 5-place grid drop for 9th MGU-H (remaining element used)
    • 5-place grid drop for 7th ICE
    • 5-place grid drop for 7th MGU-K
    • 5-place grid drop for 6th energy store (ES)
    • 5-place grid drop for 5th control electronics (CE)

    Max Verstappen (Car 33) – Red Bull Racing

    Total drop of 20-grid places

    • 10-place grid drop for 5th ICE (1st 5th element used)
    • 5-place grid drop for 5th MGU-H
    • 5-place grid drop for 5th TC

    Nico Hulkenberg (Car 27) – Renault Sport

    • 10-place grid drop for 5th MGU-H (1st 5th element used)

    Jolyon Palmer (Car 30) – Renault Sport

    Total drop of 15-grid places

    • 10-place grid drop for 5th TC (1st 5th element used)
    • 5-place grid drop for 5th MGU-H

    Stoffel Vandoorne (Car 2) – McLaren Honda

    Total drop of 25-grid places for new ICE, MGU-K, MGU-H and TC

    Romain Grosjean (Car 8) – Haas 

    • 5-place grid drop for new gearbox.

    Sergio Perez (Car 11) – Force India 

    • 5-place grid drop for new gearbox
  • 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

    2017 Hungarian Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

    2 – Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari)

    3 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)

     

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by David Coulthard)

    Q: Sebastian, 46th victory in Formula One, very measured but looked like you had some issues there with the steering, we heard lots of radio transmissions saying “keep off the kerbs”. First of all, congratulations on your win and tell us about what you had to manage there…

    Sebastian VETTEL: I’m over the moon. I mean it was a really difficult race, maybe it didn’t look like but I had my hands full from three or four laps after the safety car. There was something wrong, I don’t know why the steering started to go sideways and it seemed to get worse. Then I stayed off the kerbs, tried to save the car. It wasn’t easy. I didn’t do a favour to Kimi who obviously could go faster. I didn’t have the pace. But then towards the end it did come back a bit. I had a couple of laps where I had a bit of a cushion and I could breathe a bit. But yeah, I really had to stay focused the whole race. I was hoping for a couple of laps to breathe but they didn’t come, so really tough. But great result, great day. Thank you for the support. There was a guy out of the chicane, every single lap he was thumbs up, thumbs up and keeping us going, so it was really great.

    Q: So you had one eye on the fans and one eye on the steering?

    SV: And one eye on the steering, because it wasn’t straight.

    Q: Can you explain that? Can you explain what can give you that?

    SV: I don’t know, we’ll have a look, but to be honest it doesn’t matter now, we won the race. It was a weird feeling because basically it was tilted to the left so you go down the straights and the steering isn’t straight and then in right-handers it’s sort of OK, but in left-handers you have to get used to it. After a couple of laps it’s OK but if it’s changing all the time it’s difficult because you have to further than you want and than you think in your head. Not ideal, but as I said, it doesn’t matter. A big thank you to the team, it was a great race.

    Q: Kimi, there’s huge Finnish support here, maybe a couple of words of Finnish for your fans before we got to English…

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Oh, I think they all understand English. Obviously great support, unfortunately I couldn’t give them the win. We had a one-two as a team, so I had a great car today, but obviously when you… I had a mistake yesterday in qualifying. I got a good start but I didn’t want to force the issue and obviously after that just kept following the 71 laps. Not ideal, obviously I want to win, but it’s great for the team.

    Q: You have been very consistent on this race track, this is your eighth podium here. Sadly, six of those have been second place. Clearly you had the speed today; it’s just impossible to overtake on this circuit… 

    KR: Yeah, the other guy has to do quite a big mistake or have some issue. It’s not easy to overtake and especially with team-mates you take more care. But at least they are still happy – that’s the main thing.

    Q: Valtteri, we saw a very sporting gesture from you, at the request of your team, to move over for your team-mate. You must have thought towards the end that he as not going to be able to give that place back because of all the traffic and because of Verstappen hunting you down. What are your thoughts on this great sporting gesture?

    Valtteri BOTTAS: For sure in the end I was getting a little bit worried as the gap was increasing. I really struggled with the backmarkers today and was a little bit unlucky also with those. But really, thanks to Lewis to keep the promise and let me by in the end, because I gave him the shot to try and get past the Ferraris. It’s a shame, we had good pace in the end today but with the starting position we couldn’t finish any better. Just want to say thanks for all the support this weekend. It’s been really cool to drive here with all this support and Finnish flags.

    Q: Did you doubt at any point whether the team would make the call on Lewis given that you are in the championship battle, absolutely, but given that he is the lead driver? Did you have any moment of doubt or absolute trust in the team?

    VB: Well, for sure when the gap was big I knew it could be a problem but in the end I just want to thank the team.

    Q: So, Sebastian, 14-point lead, that’s a nice way to go into the summer break?

    SV: I don’t mind; it’s OK. It could be worse!

    Q: What are your plans for this break from Formula One. You’re notorious for being a hard worker, are you going to be at the factory simulator or are you really taking time out?

    SV: Well we have a test here in a couple of days, but after that to be honest no big plans, I just want to enjoy the time at home. We spend so much time on the road travelling and I know you have a family as well, so you know how it is, so it’s nice just to have a couple of days at home and rest and enjoy that.

     

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Sebastian that’s win number 46, your fourth of the season but it didn’t look like it was one of your easiest. When did the problems with the car first materialise?

    SV: Well, it was a tough one. I was hoping for a bit more quiet afternoon. I had a very good pace and I think Kimi had a good pace, so I think he could go a lot faster than me for the majority of the race. I don’t know, I felt already that there was something not right when we dropped the car on the grid. Now, driving the car to the grid was fine but then for the formation lap when we dropped that the steering wheel was not straight and then… well, I did the start and then there was a safety car and then during the opening laps I felt that it wasn’t right but it didn’t impact too much because it was only small. Then it did get worse and towards the end of the stint it started to ramp up and gradually get worse. It was more and more difficult. Simply… I think after this race I am quite certain there is a reason why the steering wheel is straight and not shifted to one side. Because it’s very tricky – left-handers to right-handers and then if it keeps changing to adapt. I did try to adapt and I obviously knew that we can’t change it. Then I tried to save the car, also we spoke a little bit on the radio about it. I was talking through the problem and they told me to avoid the kerbs, which I was doing already, but on a track where you use the kerbs nearly on every corner it’s obviously also compromising your performance. In the second stint then I just wanted to make sure that I’ve got enough tyres with whatever problem I might face, so just towards the end of the race I’d have enough tyres. So of course I was holding it back a little bit. It’s not like I had an awful lot more pace. Also, in the end I was really going flat out and obviously they were all behind me, queuing and it’s good that you can’t overtake that easily around this track but I had no room for error. It was a tricky race, with the lapped cars not the easiest to go through. As I said, there was no room to the cars behind. It was difficult but the mindset that I had half way through the race was “it doesn’t matter. I can’t change it now – I’d love to but can’t. We keep going and just try to hang in there as much as possible.” The race felt very, very long. Every lap I was looking down; it didn’t end. The last couple of laps I was able to find a bit of a rhythm, opened a bit of a gap, which helped me to take the very last bit of the race a bit easier through the traffic and controlled the race to the end. The result is great. How we got there was very tense but very happy, obviously great result for the team.

    Q: Kimi, how do you feel after that one? You’ve said that you had a very good car, do you think you had the pace to win this grand prix?

    KR: Yeah, definitely. But obviously… I had a pretty decent start, our starts were pretty similar but obviously I get the tow effect and braked slightly later but obviously I’m not going to force the issue in the first corner. We’re going to fight, but we’re going to fight fair. Since that moment there is not an awful lot you can do. I had a very good car today, like it was yesterday, but obviously my mistake didn’t help. The biggest chance was in the start and then took it quite easily at the beginning and my car was handling well and I was closing up. We were pretty on the safe side in the first stint because we pull away from Mercedes and then I catch up with Sebastian again in the end of the first stint but once he went in I had very good speed, I could have stayed longer out. I guess there are reasons – maybe the Mercedes they stopped earlier and they fresh tyres so… Anyhow, the whole race, basically, following Sebastian and hoping that he goes as fast as he can but not saving tyres because then there was a Mercedes catching me. Once you are in the middle it’s a bit awkward place, because if you get a bad exit in the last corner or something the guy behind you with the DRS might get you with a good run but actually maybe once when I got a little bit sideways. I must say the car was great today. I was just, basically, following my own rear wing, same looking at least. Obviously I want to win but great for the team.

    Q: Valtteri, I guess it was an afternoon of damage limitation for Mercedes? It seemed to be just a tense, difficult race for the team. Radio problems etcetera, just talk us through it.

    VB: Yeah, unfortunately we couldn’t really gain any positions today. First of all the start was quite average so I couldn’t really attack in Turn One. The initial bit of the start was OK but then I had bad upshift from first to second gear so I lost a bit of momentum and after it was tricky. In the beginning Ferrari seemed to be just really strong with the supersoft but then when we went to the soft, with the issues of Sebastian, everything started to be a bit more interesting. We were struggling with radio communications – sometimes they couldn’t really speak to me. I don’t know what was the issue – but anyways, I was trying to get close enough to Kimi at some point to attack but there was no opportunities, and then we swapped, as a team, and Lewis tried it as well. When he was trying, at the same time I really struggled with the backmarkers. I felt that I was really unlucky with a few of the guys, being behind them for full laps and losing time, losing the rhythm but then the team promised me that once we did the swap and I let him go and try that, that we would swap again back, if he couldn’t make it. And he couldn’t make it and the team kept the promise, which I’m really, really happy about and really thankful for the team that we swapped again at the end. Big thanks to Lewis as well because I don’t think every team-mate would have done the swap back. If you’re running for a podium place – so I think that was nice from the team and nice from Lewis. But unfortunately, damage limitation.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) Question to both Ferrari drivers. Can you tell me how did you deal with the situation, especially from the mental point of view, having such big pressure from Mercedes behind – was it one of the toughest tasks of your career?

    SV: Well, I didn’t have a Mercedes behind me so it was quite… I saw obviously that Valtteri was closing in. I didn’t know about the Lewis swap and stuff but yeah, I was very busy driving to be honest and trying to keep it on the track without using the kerbs, which wasn’t easy. I saw that Kimi sometimes got closer, sometimes not. At some point I think they were asking how much faster I can go. I knew that Kimi doesn’t feel comfortable because he was a lot faster. I know that I wasn’t very quick, so not a great position, as he said, to be in the middle for him but for me obviously it was good because I had Kimi and then, let’s say, other people, so it was OK. In the end it’s not so easy to pass here. I still had some pace – I don’t think I was completely off the pace, which obviously helped. But not an easy on, as I touched on before.

    And Kimi, that pressure from Mercedes?

    KR: I was really not too worried. Obviously I talk with the team in the radio but I was not too worried because my car was handling so well. Even though I was very close, the whole race, to Sebastian, my car was still very good and no issue with the tyres. I could follow very well through the last corners. I had only one… two times a small issue in the second-last corner and then in the last corner pushed a bit too much, really the only time my car snapped, even once. But it wasn’t ideal, obviously, because I felt I had speed and I was stuck in the middle because then it’s always… we know how fast they can be on the straights sometimes, Mercedes. I also felt pretty comfortable because my car was so good that I didn’t really… once there was traffic or something and I dropped a little bit back, I could just speed up and make the gap before the last few corners. So, that was just… to know what we were going to do because I could have slowed down in the first part and speed up in the last part. It helped me a bit. Not a big worry.

    Q: (Tomasz Kubiak – ŚwiatWyścigów) Question to Sebastian. You said you wanted to answer the critique which came after the last race. Would you say now that it’s a job done?

    SV: I didn’t say that. I don’t remember. Maybe I have a bad memory. What I said I think, what I meant is that there’s always a lot of talk and it’s good to move on and get to the next race and then the talking usually stops. I think it’s normal, based on what you did last race. People say something good or say something bad. I think something that has always worked for me is that you’re never as good as they say, and you’re never as bad as they say, so… yeah, if the Silverstone race was the worst race of the year, then that’s fine, we move on. But it’s a long year, a lot of races, normal to have some ups and downs. It was a nice race here. Really enjoyed it. Obviously yesterday was great, today was a bit more difficult but the result in the end matters and that’s what makes us very happy, obviously, that’s what the team deserves. I think they are working very hard. Again, you mustn’t forget where we were last year, the end of last year, and the step that Ferrari has made is bigger than anyone else. That is easily forgotten when you are fighting, challenging – but there’s a lot of things that the team can be proud about, and they can be proud of themselves, so I’m very, very happy. I think we’re both very happy where we are with the car. The car felt good today and the whole weekend overall. So, yeah, it’s been a good day.

    Q: (Péter Vámosi – Vas Népe) Question to both Finnish drivers. Are you interested in a day competing in the Race of Champions as Team Finland? Mostly the question is for Kimi as you had opportunities with testing Peugeot at World Endurance Racing, NASCAR, whatever, so you have really tried out many cars. And Valtteri, what are you interested in more; to compete in Race of Champions or Stars and Cars?

    KR: I’ve been asked to be there many times but I always said that once they go back to how it started with rally cars and then the proper circuit with the two lines, with the gravel and asphalt, I’ll be in – but before that, forget it. It’s not… it’s a show, that’s it.

    VB: Yeah, I’d be up for it, I like to drive anything with an engine and at least two wheels, so I’m up for it. I don’t really know much about those competitions, I’ve never really looked into it but I’ve always liked driving so…

    SV: …but you need a team-mate and you’ve just lost him…

    VB: Better change the competition then…

    Q: (István Simon – Auto Magazin) Question to Kimi. Had President Marchionne not been here today, would you have tried a proper overtaking manoeuvre against Sebastian? Because you’re car has been obviously faster today…

    KR: No, it makes no difference. Obviously we know as team-mates what we have to do and like I said, I had a pretty good run into the first corner on the first lap but being team-mates… we can fight but we probably leave a bit more space and not going to force the issue as maybe against somebody else. At the end it was obviously for a one-two and I can only look what I did yesterday and complain to myself I was not in a very good chance to win the race – but nevertheless my car was good and, as I said, we had a plan as a team and, y’know, it was a fair game. Seb was yesterday first and he got away first and obviously the aim was whichever way we finish we’re going to finish one-two. That’s the aim. No difference would the president be here or not. To be honest I haven’t seen him – apart from podium. Haven’t had time so far today…

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte) To Sebastian. Sebastian you know Ferrari history of team orders and giving privilege to one driver. Could you comment please on Mercedes having one driver that is your main driver that is your main competitor for the world title asking to him, give this place back to Bottas?

    SV: Well, I don’t know. As far as I understood, Lewis was behind you, and he said he wanted to try, and the team’s decided to swap as I understand and then swap back, so it’s pretty straightforward. I don’t think it’s the first time that somebody has done it. Obviously if it works, great, if it doesn’t work, then you have to give the position back – so I think it’s pretty straightforward, otherwise you overtake yourself and you don’t need to give positions back. Not sure I understood the question still…

    Q: (Ysef Harding – Xiro Xone News) This is for Kimi and Valtteri: after speaking with a number of Finnish fans last night who were very passionate about you guys, and finding out that saunas are a thing in Finland, they asked me to ask you guys what you plan to do for the break and how will you celebrate being on the podium today?

    KR: Obviously we have the test on Wednesday so from that point there’s not an awful lot of plans. The biggest plan is to be with the family; obviously we have some time and spend time with them. We have to travel an awful lot so it’s great to have some freedom now.

    VB: We’ll be testing here on Tuesday but then we’ll go back home to Finland. We’ll go to the sauna and have a beer. That’s my plan.

    Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) We are in a unique situation in which the three podium finishers don’t have a contract for next year as far as we know. Is this going to be a priority for the next four weeks or are you happy to sort it out later in the season? 

    SV: I think there’s a bit more time to talk about these things but I’m also quite keen to find out how long Valtteri lasts in the sauna and what type of beer he is drinking, so I’m waiting for an invite.

    KR: No different than any year. It’s not really my decision. For the team knows what is my preferred option and then see what happens.

    VB: Yeah, for sure soon we will start to… we need to speak (about) what’s going to happen, obviously. I have no idea about the future yet so for sure we will speak at some point but the problem is that the mobile phone is not so good in the sauna. It doesn’t work so it could take a while so don’t expect anything in Spa.

    Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Sebastian: you said just now we mustn’t forget where we were last year. Ferrari’s made a bigger step than anybody else; a 14 point lead with nine races left. Could you have ever imagined being in this position at the start of the season or is this beyond what you would have dreamt of?

    SV: No, it’s what I dream about to be honest. I want to win so that’s where you want to be. I don’t have very precise dreams in terms of gaps, points and stuff like that. I think I’m more basic on my dreams as long as I remember; most of the time I forget but yeah, I think all in all, the mission has been to get back to the top so obviously we had a great year, I’m only two and a half years in with the team. I think we had a great year in ’15 which helped to get the project going. ’16 was difficult, I think, for many reasons but I think it was a great year to set things up, a lot of change for the team but yeah, over the winter I think we were the team that made the least noise. There was a lot of talk about the new cars and the new regs and how it will favour one team over the other and how it will bring back other teams and so on. I was very happy that we just worked, we just kept  to ourselves and did the job. We have a great car. We know, I think, by now with a lot of races done, what the strength of the car is, where the weaknesses are, that’s where we need to work on.  For sure you cannot expect it to change overnight but yeah, I’m very confident the group of people… We have a lot of people that you maybe don’t know because from the outside people try to identify a team with one person in terms of who is the driver or obviously it’s easy because there are only two but in terms of who is designing the car, it very often ends up with one… you point the finger at one person. It’s not fair. The team is very big and there’s a lot of people so we have a lot of great people, young people coming up and a great culture, people taking risks and that’s what we need to do. We want to win so very happy where we are going but it’s not yet enough. Today’s great, we got a one-two but that’s what we want every weekend. We haven’t done it so far, I know it’s difficult but it’s not impossible so we keep working.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Kimi and Sebastian, the Mercedes guys seem to think that now it’s clear that the balance of power between the two teams is track-specific so as you were very quick in Monaco and then the Hungaroring, two very twisty tracks and at Silverstone they were quicker; do you agree with that, that’s it’s track specific and if so what do you think will be particularly strong tracks for Ferrari until the end of the season? 

    SV: I find it’s a bit difficult… I mean you have very little time during the weekend to change things so I think it’s normal that some tracks are more in your favour, also from a driving point of view. You mustn’t forget that we are all different so some things we maybe prefer at some tracks over other tracks and it’s not always the same. It doesn’t mean that (because) you won the year before that you are always great on this track, you know. Maybe over a couple of years you can draw other tendencies but yeah, overall, I know we have a very strong car, we have a car that is competitive everywhere. We have had circuits on which it was less competitive. If you want to point out Silverstone, we weren’t quick enough to win, that’s a fact but we weren’t horrible. It’s not like we were tenth and eleventh on the grid so we still qualified well. We outqualified one of them on Saturday so I think we are at the right track, but it’s normal that some tracks maybe you struggle a bit more, some a bit less, then you can draw conclusions of the car which might not be wrong, so it’s fair to say that we were very competitive here and Monaco; Mercedes was less so but equally if you pick the races out, it wasn’t like we were miles ahead and lapping them so… It also depends how your race goes. I think the most important thing is that we were always there so far, we always had good pace so I don’t think there’s anything to be afraid of in the next couple of races.

    Q: Kimi, you have a great record at Spa; do you think Ferrari can challenge Mercedes there? 

    KR: For sure there are some circuits that fit us better because there are areas that we have to improve, probably especially for qualifying, the Mercedes has better horsepower but it depends on so many things. It’s not just purely that you look at the layout of the circuit – ah this is going to be good for us and this is going to be… The tyres… We can’t have it which conditions there are going to be and a lot of small things which will make a difference. Let’s have a holiday first and see what happens at Spa but obviously if you purely look now, you would say it’s not going to be as easy for us as here but obviously we try to improve and we are going to do our best.

    Q: (Zsolt Godina – F1vilag) Kimi, do you feel that you could have done a better job with the strategy with the pit stop with a possible longer first stint to win this race? 

    KR: I wondered it but obviously I had no idea what was happening behind us when Mercedes stopped before us and then Valtteri went a lot faster with the fresh tyres so the team asked me to come in. I had good speed on the in lap so I wanted to stay longer but I have to trust what the team is telling me and obviously they see the big picture so… We got close but it’s OK

  • 2017 Austrian Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

    2017 Austrian Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)

    2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

    3 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull)

     

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS (Conducted by Martin Brundle)

    Q: Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, what a cliffhanger of a race that was, wasn’t it? I hope you enjoyed it. And your three stars of today are up here on the podium. Valtteri, that was a tough one. This man was catching you at the end but you kept your head, you kept your tyres. It looked like you had it under control at the beginning but it ended up very close indeed.

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, I had a bit of a déjà vu in the end, what happened in Russia. He was catching up but the problem in the last stint was that I had a massive blister in the rear left since lap five or so; that made it quite tricky. In the beginning I could control the pace but in the end the backmarkers made it quite tricky but I’m really happy. It’s only my second win in my career. Thank you guys for the support and a massive thank you to the team (for) making this possible so thank you guys.

    Q: I’ve just seen a piece of paper from your start. You were right on the edge of the perfect start almost to a few milliseconds. You got away with that one! You took off well, didn’t you?

    VB: Yeah, I think that was the start of my life. I was just really on it today so it was good.

    Q: Good stuff. Second victory for you, third consecutive podium, you’re on a roll.

    VB: Yeah, there’s still a long year ahead. We’re not even at halfway so this makes good for the points but it’s still early days and we’re still developing as a team.

    Q: OK, moving on to Sebastian. Well, you’re twenty points ahead now in the World Championship, second today, a lot of people out there very happy about that. How do you feel about the race?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Well, how would you feel if you were just shy of half a second behind the winner. It was very close. Yeah, I was told he was in trouble; I was pushing anyway. I felt much happier in the second stint, second part of the race. In the first part of the race I was struggling a little bit to feel the car but then as soon as we put (on) the supersoft tyre, the car came alive and I had really good pace. I was catching little by little but then he obviously struggled so the last laps it was getting really close. I think I had Perez which cost me a bit of time with lapped cars. I think I needed one more lap because he was really struggling to get up the hill but yeah, obviously (I) wanted to win but nevertheless it was a good result.

    Q: You were on the radio, talking about the start. You felt it was a bit keen, did you?

    SV: No, I don’t think he… I was pretty sure he jumped it. Ask Daniel about it.

    Q: Yeah, because Daniel was on the radio… I will do exactly that. Daniel Ricciardo, fifth consecutive time on the podium and once again Daniel, it was a mega-overtake that was the key for the race for you, down into Turn 3 at the start. You got your elbows out against Kimi.

    Daniel RICCIARDO: Yeah, it was a fun race, some decisive moments at the start and then defending from Lewis the last couple of laps. It got pretty close but I just stuck to my braking points and when I thought the limit was and held (him) off. Five in a row is awesome, but to get it here in Austria… You know Max got the home podium last year and I was a bit envious, so it’s nice to be up here this year. It’s nice to see all the Red Bull and F1 fans here.

    Q: And Lewis was homing in as well. You were pretty under pressure at the end.

    DR: Yeah. I think the second last lap was the tightest. He got the DRS and he got a good exit out of (turn) one; mine wasn’t so good and he got close but yeah, nice to hold it off and I was very pleased to see the chequered flag.

    Q: He had a run down the outside into turn four; I thought he might have you there.

    DR: Yeah… I wasn’t going to brake if I didn’t need to but yeah, I thought it was clean and fair so that’s good.

    Q: Now I haven’t been up on the podium since you started the shoey stuff, so I hope you’re not going to deny me the honour… as long as I can keep it, as long as I can keep it for charity as well. I think we need four shoes though. I think it would be good to have some other shoes as well. Valtteri’s not up for… Valtteri, I need one more word with you.

    DR: I didn’t start this! I didn’t start this!

    Q: Valtteri, you were Driver of the Day, the fans voted you Driver of the Day, so congratulations on that, and I also believe, as I’m sure you do – thank you very much, you’ve got to do it quickly, haven’t you? This is going for charity. Thank you very much. You’ve got to finish it off if you don’t mind. This is the world expert at shoe-eys. That’s how you do it. Valtteri, you’re now a contender for the World Championship. You’re now really bringing yourself into play.

    VB: Yeah, we’re not even at the halfway of the year so I definitely believe – and the team believes – so it’s still a long year ahead and like I said, we are still developing so I’m just loving every moment and it’s very good.

     

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Congratulations to the top three finishers of the Austrian Grand Prix, our winner Valtteri Bottas, second place Sebastian Vettel, and third place Daniel Ricciardo. Well Valtteri, second win, how does this one compare to Russia, your first?

    VB: Well, the first one is obviously very special but it is only the second in my career, so that is also very special. It is important in the championship, at the moment, to get closer to the guys in front, Seb and Lewis. So it feels very good, very happy and we really had a strong car today and for me it was like the perfect weekend: pole position and a win so it’s really good to continue from here.

    Q: Just about the start; you said on podium it was the perfect start but were you a little bit nervous on those opening laps; did you think you might have over-cooked it?

    VB: No, when the car was moving, the lights were off so that was the main thing, so probably one of my best starts, maybe even quite risky, I think, but there’s not much more to gain at the start and I knew I had to make a good one.

    Q: Sebastian, talking of starts, how good was yours?

    SV: I think it was OK. Obviously, it’s always distracting… from my point of view he jumped the start but… obviously I was sure that he did; it looked like it from the inside of the car but it’s not for me to judge at the end of the day so I probably was a bit late because it’s quite tricky then to keep standing still but yeah, I think it was OK. I had a bit of wheelslip later on but overall I thought it was a good start.

    Q: Valtteri’s reaction time: 0.201s.

    SV: Don’t believe that.

    Q: OK. A few comments please about the end of the race; the supersoft tyre was marking up quite a lot. Just how much of a handful was it?

    SV: Marking up?

    Q: Blisters and…

    SV: Well, not for us. I think obviously Valtteri was more in trouble than us. For us, I think it was OK. I struggled a bit on the qualies… sorry, on the ultrasoft tyre. Yeah, second stint it was much better. I preferred the car, just not enough time, like Russia, I ran out of time.

    Q: Half on eye on the championship today, you’ve extended that gap to Hamilton.

    SV: I wanted to win. It’s been a race where the last couple of years it wasn’t really going in my direction so I’m happy to be on the podium, I think it’s a really nice trophy. The race here means a lot. Obviously I have a bit of a background with Austria so yeah, I really wanted to win so probably not entirely happy because I didn’t.

    Q: Daniel, you seemed particularly elated on the podium and on the slow-down lap. What does this one mean to you?

    DR: Yeah, quite a lot. It’s, for us as a team, as a brand, y’know, Red Bull, this weekend’s always a big one. On paper it’s not our strongest circuit and yeah, if it was a dry race we didn’t really… probably expect a podium if all the top guys finished. We knew Lewis had his grid penalty but yeah, we thought he was going to come through the field quicker,  I guess quicker than he did. So, it was a race where we had good pace. I was surprised that we were able to… I could see Seb for most of the race in the distance and he could see Valtteri, so just impressed with the pace that we had. And then Lewis has putting on a charge at the end. I think he was on the ultra-soft and yet he was really able to get some pace out of it. The second-last lap I didn’t get the best exit out of Turn One and he got a good run, so I defended into Three, and then I knew he had DRS so I had to defend in Four and yeah, I was just going to do all I could, basically, to keep the podium and I knew it wouldn’t be easy but I’m happy to have held that and, good for the team, good for the fans.

    Q: Your fifth consecutive podium. Do you feel you’re here on pace now? Legitimate pace. Do you feel you’re an equal to Mercedes and Ferrari?

    DR: Yeah, I think that’s probably the biggest satisfaction with today. Don’t get me wrong, the kind of relief over the finish line was for sure for the podium but I’d say the biggest happiness for today is that we had raw pace. Obviously Baku was a victory, but things happen in the race. Today we earned a podium on a circuit which for sure isn’t our strength. The car is certainly getting there and it’s all I can ask for.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Angelique Belokopytov – Autodigest) Daniel, congratulations, quick question, how do you feel, how are your thoughts when you are at one lap to be sure to step on the podium and you see Lewis Hamilton jumping so close suddenly. What happens in your head and how did you manage to keep your head cool?

    DR: I think the first thing that comes in my head is the word ‘fight!’ I know there’s going to be a fight on my hands and it’s just get prepared for that, get excited for that and just the main point is just to keep cool. I knew I would probably get to a point where I needed to defend, so in the heat of the battle still make sure you know where you need to brake, you still keep your wits about you, even if there’s a car alongside you, still look at the apex, still look at your braking point and just know where the limit is. I know if I brake at the very limit, if I’m on the inside I should still theoretically hold my line. So, yeah, it was a tough last few laps, I had some sweat coming down and my eyes were burning a little bit – that made it a little more exciting, the last few laps. Just a bit of a novelty one, otherwise it was fine. Just had to keep it clean, the traffic, the backmarkers… you’re always a bit nervous when you come across them, and at what point on the track but fortunately they didn’t affect the outcome of the race.

    Q: (Dan Knutson ­– Speed Sport/Auto Action) Valtteri, Seb said he needed one more lap: what do you think?

    VB: Well, for sure he was getting very, very close and they had more pace at the end. In that stint I was really struggling with the rear left, I had a big blister which was getting bigger and bigger and it was affecting more and more the stability of the rear, and also the backmarkers: sometimes I was losing time, especially in the last one, he lost more time so it was quite tricky with those – difficult to say, one more lap. Anyway, in other words I was happy the race ended that lap.

    Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) To Sebastian, we saw you in the first part with some struggling situations and in the second one you were flying. So, in the end of the day the buzz is that Ferrari is just a little bit behind Mercedes – or almost at the same level? Looking at Silverstone, above all.

    SV: I’m looking forward to Silverstone, should be a lot of fun with this year’s cars, first of all. Thinking about today the pace, again, it was a match, I think we were racing for the same tenths. In the first stint Valtteri was quicker, no doubt he was pulling away, opening a significant gap which allowed him obviously to come in later. Second stint he had fresher tyres, he ran into a problem – but overall in the second stint overall for us it was better in terms of balance. The first stint, probably for Valtteri was better. So I don’t think you could say that they were quicker on the ultrasoft, we were quicker on the supersoft. I think it was very close and probably he was happier with the car in the first stint than I was and the other way around in the second stint. We started from zero, he had eight metres advantage when the lights went off, and then we finished half a second behind each other. In the end, I think we had the same pace.

    Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) Valtteri, you had nearly eight seconds on Sebastian when he stopped and normally the leader stops the lap after but you stayed out quite a while. Were you doing that because you were not so confident about the supersofts or because you were trying to clear Kimi before the pitstop?

    VB: That is a good question – the team was controlling the stop and they just kept me out. I could see from the pitboard that the gap to Kimi was around 20 seconds. So, it was really close to getting ahead of him with the pit window. I was just trusting the team really and in the end of the stint the ultrasoft started to wear, which was quite late. It was a really robust tyre as well. For me the supersoft in the first three laps was good and then I had a blister in the rear left, which compromised the stint. I think it was good to stay out and minimise the time on the unknown supersoft really.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte) Sebastian, now it looks like Valtteri is definitely in the fight for the world title, and it may be that he can take some points off your main competitor, Lewis Hamilton – which is not the case with Kimi Räikkönen who is coming behind. What analysis do you do of this situation. Also, if you are more worried with the FIA more rigorous to check especially the floor of your car that supposedly was bending.

    SV: I think we have a very quick car. I had obviously the… I was fortunate in the past to have very quick cars and they have always been checked a lot because people believe that something isn’t right. So, I guess if you go back to Mercedes and ask them about the last three years, they’ve been checked many times, so I see it as a compliment which I pass on to our aero department, chassis department, vehicle dynamics, everybody working really close with each other, we’ve done massive improvements, obviously, since last year, new set of regulations so I think it’s a compliment. I’m not worried. I know the guys are pushing but there’s no intention to build something that is not legal. What was the first part of the question?

    The championship fight

    SV: I don’t really care. Obviously, I’m not too happy today because I didn’t win. At the end of the day I had the clear aim today to win. Yeah, didn’t quite make it, it was very tight. Points-wise I know that the higher-up you finish, the better it is with points but whether it’s Valtteri, Lewis or someone else I think you’re fighting anyone out there for the race. That’s been the primary target today, the last races and will be next races. Then I think you change your minds fairly quickly in terms of who is a contender and who is not. We’re still quite early, there’s a lot of points to get, so I’m not too bothered at the moment.

    Q: (Ysef Harding – Xero Xone News) Daniel, congratulations, you’ve been really been putting in a lot of work for Red Bull, obviously. To get a podium here at Red Bull Ring, what does it mean for the team? What’s been doing it for you? Has it been Odessa, the trips to LA? Has it been ribs? What is it, man, what’s been keeping you on form in these last few laps?

    SV: If it’s ribs you have to share, you know that.

    DR: Yeah. Actually I did have ribs last night. I did have ribs! Yeah, certainly the schnitzel and the ribs are helping.

    SV: I had schnitzel! So maybe next race, Saturday night we have to dinner together and I’ll have what you have.

    DR: What, bangers and mash? Look, for sure I’m getting more comfortable with the car this year. Things are moving forward and I don’t know I can just see a little bit of a little sweet sport and it’s nice you know. I feel like we have got good momentum. The team is getting more positive, I’m getting more positive, so all that kind of forms into one and then you get a taste of a few podiums and you kind of want more. I knew the start would be important today, trying to clear Kimi and then once we got into that third spot then it was just trying to be relentless and keep the pace on. Yeah, outside of F1, sure, life is good. America is great when I go there, so I still need to go for those chicken waffles, so yeah, soon!

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Sebsastian, Valtteri, regarding the start again: Valtteri you said that the important things was the car only moved after the lights went out. So, does that mean that you actually gambled a little bit and you were just lucky that the car didn’t move because you started your start procedure before that. And Sebastian, what you do mean by not believing that Valtteri had the reaction time of 0.2 seconds. The computer said that, so how can that not be. Can you please elaborate on that?

    VB: So, the start lights there is always the different variation since the five lights are on, since they go off, but the variation for quite a long time has not been massive, so you know more or less the zone when it is going to be off and you are so alert at that point and you are gambling between your reaction and guessing. Sometimes you get a mega one and sometimes you’re a bit late and today was my best reaction for the light. It is as long as you’re positive and it was fine. So all good.

    SV: First of all, to clarify it, I don’t want to take anything away from Valtteri, I think he drove an excellent race. Obviously at the end, with a difficult car he didn’t do a mistake, so he performed well. But when I said I don’t believe, it’s because I don’t believe. I think normally the reaction times are around 0.2 for everyone. I don’t think that everyone was that much slower today, that’s why I don’t believe that Valtteri was that much quicker. I had a strong belief at the time that he jumped the start. Turned out he didn’t, so I’m guessing that there is a reason to be believe he didn’t but I can’t believe that his reaction time was 0.2. That would be normal and in my point of view his reaction was inhuman, so… He said earlier that he is not human.

    VB: Just joking.

    SV: He’s Finnish.

    DR: Can I elaborate. Just to put my two cents in. As Valtteri said, the main thing is it was positive. The lights were held for a long time, more than normal. There is always a window but it did seem longer and when you are there and your revs are high and you’re waiting, waiting. For sure, he went, but the lights went out but I guess he got lucky. I did it in Formula 3 before, once. Yeah, it was on the edge, I’m sure you react, but at that same point the lights went out. In theory it’s not a natural reaction I don’t believe, but as Valtteri said if it’s plus then he’s safe. But I don’t believe he reacted to the lights.

    Q: And you were convinced at the time that he had jumped?

    DR: Yeah, I commented, I said it looked like Valtteri jumped. So yeah in the end he didn’t jump, because it was positive, but for sure he got a bit lucky. But as Seb rightly said, you can’t take the win away from him, so he did well. But that’s my opinion of how it went.

    Q: (Peter Vamosi – Vas Népe) Valtteri, Lewis Hamilton is telling the media that you are his best ever team-mate, he likes you very much. But have you ever told him that you beat all your Williams team-mate year by year?

    SV: You had only Felipe, no?

    VB: Maldonado as well. It is still only my fifth year racing in Formula One… or fourth? Fifth? Hah, hah! But yeah you know you are still at that point developing every single year. For sure, I think that Felipe Massa was an underrated driver, he is an extremely quick driver and it was not easy to be quicker than him and to get more points than him. But of course, now being against Lewis, he is definitely the best team-mate I have ever had. He is a three-time world champion; he is one of the best qualifiers ever in F1. But like Lewis said, we have a good team spirit and that is only positive for the team and we are working well together and that is good for us.

    Q: (Istvan Simon – Auto Magazin) A question for all three drivers. Silverstone is next, probably one of your favourite tracks, everybody seems to like. Do you think there are going to be some corners this year that are going to be flat with the new regulation cars and are you looking forward to that?

    VB: Definitely. The old Turn 1…. I’m not ever good with the corner names, you tell me!

    Q: Turn 9, Copse.

    VB: Yes, for sure that’s going to be flat. Then all the corners after that, Maggots, Becketts, they are going to be really quick, so it should be a lot of fun, so definitely we are going to enjoy it.

    Sebastian?

    SV: Well, I think the better question is which corners aren’t flat! I think we are all keen to find out. Silverstone is one of the best tracks. In all honesty I preferred the old Silverstone, I don’t like the new bit so much. But anyways, a lot of the old track is still there. So really looking forward to the fast corners. I think our car has been really strong this year in fast corners so I think it should be quite nice.

    Daniel?

    DR: Yeah, I got asked in one of the media sessions yesterday about Silverstone and I started giggling. Because, yeah, I love fast corners. I’ve been on the sim already and it looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun. This weekend we got a taste for it, particularly the second last corner here, Turn 9, was seventh gear. It was seriously quick compared to last year and I think that’s a sign of what Silverstone is going to be like. Copse – I would be very surprised if it’s not flat in qualifying. Yeah, between Copse and Stowe, that section of race circuit is probably if not the best part of a racing circuit we have all year, so I think this year it’s going to be a lot of fun.

  • Monaco GP 2017: Post Race Press Conference

    Monaco GP 2017: Post Race Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

    2 – Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari)

    3 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

     

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by Nico Rosberg)

    Q: Sebastian, great weekend, first Ferrari win in 16 years, how does it feel?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Unbelievable. I think it was a very intense race. I was hoping at the start to have a bit of a better launch but Kimi had a good start. I had nowhere to go, so I had to be patient. Then, there was a phase in the first stint that was really tricky, The tyres started to slide, I think you remember how that feels, it was quite uncomfortable. I think Valtteri and the pack was catching up a bit; we were facing some traffic. But then I had a… I don’t know, a second attempt, a second set of tyres. I had a couple of laps where the car was really, really good. I pushed, everything I had, because I knew if there is a chance to win then that’s it. So I was able to use that window and came out ahead, so at that point I could control the race. After the restart it was really tricky with the cold tyres. I think every one of us was really struggling, Daniel said he brushed the wall in Turn 1 first lap. So it was really difficult but after a couple of laps I was able again to control the gap to behind, so fantastic job, the team has done really well, so great thanks to them and a fantastic weekend for Ferrari.

    Q: Was that planned, that when Kimi comes in, you stay out a bit longer?

    SV: No, not really. I don’t think there… we couldn’t plan much. The plan was to try and pull away, which we did. Then, Valtteri had really good pace. I think we were struggling a little bit, both, with our rears and at that point the window opened. So as soon as Valtteri pitted, Kimi responded. For me, I think I still had a bit of a gap, nothing to lose in P2, so I tried to push as hard as possible and within two laps I was surprised myself to be able to pull a gap to be able to come out in front.

    Q: Congrats. Kimi, I think it’s fair to say the whole F1 community would have been very happy as well to see you get that win today. What are your thoughts? You lost it during the pit stops of course, what are you thoughts on that?

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: It’s hard to say really. Obviously it’s still second place, but it doesn’t feel awful good but this is how it goes sometimes and we go for the next race and try to do better but it’s one of those days that you wish you get a bit more.

    Q: I know how it feels. It is not a good feeling. But great result anyways. Daniel, a great recovery after a problem in qualifying. You’re pleased with that?

    Daniel RICCIARDO: Yeah, happier today, for sure.  Just yesterday I felt that we had so much more to offer and it was just a shame not to be able to really show our potential around here. I got my chance today when Max and Bottas pitted. I had the track to myself for a few laps and just managed to get some good times, good times in those tyres. I did some consistent laps and got in the overcut, so I was happy with that.

    Q: Turn 1 after the Safety Car looked like a bit of a hit, was it scary in the car?

    DR: Yeah! I didn’t enjoy that. I wasn’t sure if I damaged anything and then I saw Bottas trying to get inside me. These tyres, man, when you get a Safety Car they’re like driving on ice. It was hard. That was not a fun moment, but happy to hold it.

    Q: Sebastian, back to you, the Ferrari car is looking good at the moment, do you think you are going to be able to keep it up for Canada?

    SV: We hope so. Canada is a completely different track but to be honest, for now I am just going to enjoy the win here. You know yourself, it’s very, very special to win here. I think we’ll have a fun night and then we have enough time to prepare for Canada.

    Q: Where’s the party?

    SV: I don’t know, you tell me! You won more times than me here!

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Sebastian, there are wins and there are big wins. First Ferrari Monaco victory for 16 years, as Nico was saying, first Ferrari one-two since 2010 and more importantly perhaps a 25-point lead over Lewis Hamilton in the drivers’ championship, so what does today mean to you?

    SV: If you want the honest answer, I think it’s most important that we had a very, very good day, a win. A supreme day for Ferrari; it’s been a long time. Yeah, I think it means an awful lot to the team. I will not find the right words but for me it was a pretty special race. At some point I was thinking, “there must be a Safety Car” and then it came at the end when I didn’t really need it but fine. I dreamt all night about how to get ahead of the start because I knew that would probably be the only chance I would get. It didn’t work. Kimi had a good start, mine was OK, so I couldn’t really go anywhere. Then, I think in the first stint I was just trying to pace myself, trying to stay within range. At some point I was really uncomfortable with the rear tyres, they were sliding quite a bit. I think when the gap opened again that’s when Kimi pitted. I knew that if I have any chance that might be it until I get the call because Valtteri was on fresh tyres so it’s likely that he will go quicker, so I just tried to push as hard as I can and wait for the call to box. When it came and then when I came out ahead of Kimi even, I was surprised myself. But for sure I take it. It’s a great win. Those couple of laps were really crucial, I was pushing flat out. I had better laps than in quali today in the race. I was very happy with how the race went. The car was great. So to sum it up, it’s just been fantastic, a fantastic weekend for the team and a great reward. This team is working very hard. Obviously this year is very different to last year but the people are the same, the spirit is the same, so it’s important that we keep pushing, improving the car. We had again a couple of new bits for this race. Yeah, the next race will be completely different but I don’t really care now, just looking forward to tonight.

    Q: Kimi, coming to you, obviously you lost the race in the pit stops. The normal wisdom in Monaco is that when you’re leading you’re not the first one to make a move. But just before you made your stop we heard a radio message exchange with your engineer in which you were asking about pitting. So to be clear, were you asking for the stop or did they call it?

    KR: No, I was called in and that’s about it.

    Q: How do you feel about the first one to move?

    KR: I don’t know, obviously it didn’t work out very well for me. But apart from that, I have no idea. I mean… that’s about as much as I can say about it right now. I got the bad end of the story today. I mean it’s still second place but obviously it doesn’t count a lot in my books at least.

    Q: Thanks for that. Daniel, the story today was that the overcut was more effective: Hamilton gained six places, Sebastian got the win because of it, and you picked up two place spectacularly through that pit stop sequence. Extremely fast once you got some clean air. Tell us about your approach today?

    DR: Yeah I’m really pleased to be up here. You don’t often start fifth and get a podium here. It’s hard to make any positions. I was just frustrated yesterday because I knew we had so much more to offer here, so much more to give than what we showed. I felt like I didn’t really also get to show my pace around here. It was how the pit stops worked, the two cars pitting before me and that allowing me to show a bit more my pace. That was perfect and we got into a realty good rhythm, I think we were doing 16 dead, 16 dead and at the time I think that pace was really strong and I was able to do a good overcut. It was a good combination of obviously the lap times coming from me and the team leaving me out there and allowing me to run in clean air. That was fun. That definitely made my race. The Safety Car nearly ruined my race. At the restart I hit the wall in Turn 1. I hit it pretty hard, so I thought I had damage. I assumed I would have damage. And then I saw Valtteri. You don’t see much in these mirrors. I know Jenson has talked about it. Obviously he hasn’t been in the cars this year, but he has been vocal about it. You certainly see it here and I knew Valtteri was kind of there, in my blind spot but I just managed to hold on at the restart and then I was quite happy to see the chequered because the tyres after restarts are so tricky to get going.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Viktor Bognar – Magyarszo) Kimi, do you think it would have been possible to cover Sebastian if you are stopping later?

    KR: I don’t know. Obviously, this is what we got today. The end results. And obviously for the team it’s a great result. Who knows? This is really the end, we can say ‘if’ as much as we want but it doesn’t change anything.

    Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Kimi, when you pitted you came out behind some traffic and Bottas was also behind Sainz at the time. Have you had an explanation as to why they pitted you at that point?

    KR: I don’t know. Obviously, I have just finished the race. I have no idea. Obviously they have reasons for whatever we did do. It doesn’t matter here or any other race. It’s not up to me to answer that.

    Q: (Ben Anderson – Autosport) Kimi, in the first stint, you seemed to have really strong pace in the early part and then from about lap 20 your pace dropped off quite substantially. Was there an explanation for that? Were you struggling with something in the car?

    KR: Not really. I think the worst place was when we had lapped cars and got stuck behind them on quite a few laps but apart from that the car was behaving well. Not really having any issues. I think we had to take it a little bit easier here and there but nothing to complain really. The most lap time we lost behind the lapped traffic but that’s about it.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / Speed Sport) Daniel, yesterday you told us maybe you’d go for the overcut but was that a decision on the fly by the team – and how did the team decide whether to pit you first or Max first?

    DR: I’m not sure what position Max was in with the tyres at the time – I don’t know if he wanted to make the pitstop and try to undercut Valtteri. I assume that was probably the thinking behind it. Obviously I was at the tail of that pack and we had pretty good communication with my engineer. We were going back and forth and I think he had a pretty good idea of what my pace was and what I could do. Yeah, then once we got clear air, I think probably a couple of laps before that I closed in a bit on Max who I think was closing in on Valtteri, so we seemed to bunch-up. And it looked like they were struggling more, probably, with the tyres at that time, from what I could see, so yeah, I was happy certainly to stay out there. Then it was pretty evident that I could keep going quicker and quicker. So, it was nice to push. Especially… if you don’t start on pole here you’re normally in traffic for a lot of the race and you can’t really get a time to feel the car on the limit on Sunday – but it was good to get that block of laps in. Even though the tyres were sliding around a bit with the rear, it was still quite fun in that session of the race.

    Q: (Paul Johnson – Australian Associated Press) Daniel, obviously really encouraging performance with the pace you had today throughout the middle sector of the track. How encouraged are you moving forwards? Also, can you take us through exactly what happened coming out of the Safety Car into Turn One?

    DR: Yeah. Today I felt like, particularly that point of the race where we had clear track and were able to show our speed, I felt that was more representative of what we could of probably done yesterday. It was nice to at least show something this weekend and now at least get a podium for it. After the Safety Car… I knew getting behind the Safety Car, I could see Kimi in front of me trying to warm the tyres – well, keep them warm. I was trying to do the same: doing burnouts and trying to scrub the front tyres and get them going. They just turned to concrete blocks. They’re so slippery. So, I think we were all dreading the restart, to be honest. At one point you see it as an opportunity and I saw it as a potential opportunity to maybe jump Kimi but as the same time it’s… you see it as a potential risk. Coming into Turn One I didn’t feel like I came in hot at all – but as soon as I turned it, I just kept going straight and the wall got closer until I hit it. I think I hit it flush, which meant I avoided damage. Yeah, not fun.

    Q: (Mike Doodson – Honorary) A bit more about the same thing. There were several incidents at Turn One you may not have known about – several people, a couple of other people crashed there. The track was breaking up – did that contribute to your accident – or your smack of the wall?

    DR:  If I can use it as an excuse, sure! No, certainly not. It was in my control. The excuse I guess is just cold tyres. We can see the temperatures on our dash, so we’re aware when they’re cold. We can feel them, we don’t always need to see the numbers but I could see they were very cold. They just lose temperature really quick. We’re all aware of that but we’ll see. Maybe in years to come we can have a super, super, supersoft tyre for Monaco. I think will that be not only more fun in quali but avoid scary moments like that in the race. I guess it keeps it exciting for everyone at home.

    Q: (Luigi Perna – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Question for Seb. Seb, you looked very emotional on the podium. What were you thinking about in those moments? And what does it mean to have 25 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton at this point in the season?

    SV: It’s a long way so I’m not really bothered about that. It was more the fact to stand up there and see the team. I think obviously, it’s a small part that we have here at the track but thinking of everyone else back in Maranello in the factory. We got a lot of hard times last year and this year everything seems to be upside down – but the team is the same, the people are the same so it’s really clear to them. I guess in these small moments you just realise that it’s a special group of people. If things go well, we’ll work hand in hand, we must make sure we keep the momentum up in the next couple of races – but I think we’re just having a great time. Obviously, we wanted today to have the one-two and we got it. So for the team obviously it means a lot. It’s been a long time – you know the numbers better than I do – since Ferrari won here and then to get a one-two is just fantastic. I think you can see when the guys are singing the Italian anthem. I think it’s impossible not to get goosebumps and feel very special standing up there representing them. For me, I think that’s what makes racing so special. I love driving, I loved driving today, I loved a couple of laps that I had where I could really, really push to the limit and I was so close to touch the wall, a couple of times I thought, ‘OK, I’ll lose the car’ and I just managed to get it back, so that’s obviously great fun. Big adrenaline around here because you don’t have any room for error – but then to have the rewards, standing on the podium, just send a message to base, to the factory, is what it’s made for.

    Q: (Beniamino Casadei Lucchi – Il Giornale) Question for Seb. It’s a fantastic victory. But now, if you were Kimi, what do you think?

    SV: Well, obviously I… we were right behind each other. In that case I think it’s normal that the lead car gets the priority because you go normally faster on the new set of tyres, and I when I got the lap times from Valtteri, he was doing 16.1, I think, and Daniel was a little bit faster with the old tyres with 16.0. I was, at that point, at 16.4, so I was a little bit slower, so I was assuming Kimi must do something like Valtteri. So I just… I knew that the team would call me as soon as we were really tight to Valtteri. We had a little bit of a cushion. I was just going flat-out, trying to go as fast as I can because for me it means that I’m staying ahead of Valtteri, first of all, and close to Kimi. I was surprised myself when I came out ahead. So, yeah, I think the warm-up on the supersoft was fine. Arguably you can say it worked for Daniel and for myself today, it worked well to stay out longer but I think if you were looking at it before the race then you couldn’t predict. We are racing, we get along well, I can understand that Kimi’s not entirely happy today. He drove well in the first stint and then obviously you get the message to go in. You do the pitstop and then you push. Obviously it’s a bad surprise when somebody comes out ahead. For me, I take it, there’s no reason to lie, obviously I’m very happy but I can understand obviously that he’s upset.

    Q: (Daniele Sparisci – Corriere della Sera) Seb, how do you feel to be the first Ferrari driver to win here after Michael Schumacher and compared to the other victories with Ferrari, does Monaco have something special?

    SV: Well, I think Monaco is always something special, it’s just the nature of the weekend: a lot of attention, a lot of people which is great, a lot of support. Definitely I felt that with the beginning of the season that we had, Ferrari fans and Ferrari flags are increasing so that’s nice. A lot of people screaming, from outside, Forza Ferrari. A lot of Italian lines which in the recent years maybe I didn’t get so much so that was great to see. It’s obviously a great day for the team. I’m just… I’m pretty exhausted now, to be honest, so I’m very happy and it’s great to get the points, it’s great to get the win so it’s been a fantastic day for all of us. To be the first one after Michael for Ferrari – I don’t know, I wasn’t aware (of that). I think the most important thing is that we won today. I’m sure there were occasions more recently where Ferrari could have won but the most important is what happens today.

    Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Seb, there’s nothing wrong with team orders, they’re not illegal and you are the leading driver in the championship and it wasn’t clear before the race whether the overcut or the undercut would be the best strategy. So was there a plan to give you a chance to get ahead of Kimi at some point?

    SV: Not really. We spoke about the race before. It was clear that, as I said, I think they had the same plan to be honest so the lead car normally gets priority so if I had a choice at that point, sitting behind Kimi, if I was going in the pits first, that’s maybe what you like to do because you are sooner on the fresher tyres so I think it’s probably one of the rare occasions where the overcut turned out to be positive, so I’m really glad I made that work. From the team point of view, there was no plan of any team orders or anything and as I said, I can understand that obviously Kimi’s not happy, I would feel exactly the same, one hundred per cent the same, but as I said myself, I was surprised that the overcut… I don’t think Daniel had priority over Max going into the race. I don’t know where they are in terms of points and so on so I don’t think they look into that but I think the rule of thumb… the rule is pretty clear when you qualify ahead and you are ahead in the first stint, you get priority on the first stop and that’s what happened. As it turned out, obviously today it worked in my favour which, as I said, I will take it but we are a team at the end of the day and I can see that Kimi’s not happy.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) To Kimi and Sebastian, obviously now it seems that Mercedes is sometimes very quick but at other tracks they have serious problems. Of course it’s early in the championship but do you think this consistency of the Ferrari car can really win you the championship this year?

    SV: I don’t know.

    KR: It’s quite an early part of the year so we’ll see. It’s very hard to know what happens in the future but we will keep trying and try to make the best out of every weekend and just do what we can do. We cannot control what the others will do but no, I’m sure everybody will have some difficult weekends during the year. We will try to minimise those. When you have a hard time, try to make the best out of it.

    Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas) Kimi, talking about lapping cars, do you think the blue flag for Button came out a little bit too… not at the right moment? The blue flag which signals to let you past immediately?

    KR:  I don’t know. There are obviously rules and I’m pretty sure I was – I don’t know if it was one second or one and a half seconds but I was pretty close in the hairpin and I was told that I have to be longer inside their time, so it was not enough to be once, it was something that I’d never hard before but anyhow that’s what happened and it cost a bit but that’s how it is.

    Q: (Stuart Codling – F1 Racing) Kimi, given that your team will have known that when you pitted you would emerge in the vicinity of traffic, with those two slower cars ahead, do you feel that you could have gone quicker in those laps, before your pit stop, had you known this?

    KR: I don’t know. We tried to figure out something that is impossible to know right now, at least from my side. No, obviously it wasn’t ideal to end up behind a lapped car and obviously it is something that definitely doesn’t help but the end result is what it is but we have to see. We just finished the race and I only know what happened and that’s it. Obviously I got second place but yeah, for the team good but not for myself, not so great.

    Q: (Marco Giachi – Paddock) Kimi, as a driver, could you reject the instructions? From a technical point of view, did you have enough information to decide by yourself or are you 100 percent in the hands of the engineers?

    KR: Obviously I can stop the car if I want! I’m driving it. We have a team, we work as a team and if you start… if you don’t believe what you’ve been told or how we work then it will get very complicated sometimes because we always try to work as best as we can and today, as a team, we won it one-two, that happened, but as for myself it could have been better, but like I said, we just finished the race  and who knows? We will talk about it and I guess there are some reasons for everything that happens in life but we will see. As a driver, I can obviously do what I want but that’s not how we work as a team. Simple as that.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Sebastian, did you expect that Kimi would stop on lap 33 before the first part of the race and then when you knew that, did you think this is my chance to overtake him? And were you informed of Lewis’s position during the race?

    SV: Well, I was told at some point where Lewis was but I didn’t really care so… You have to do your own race around here. Daniel clipped the wall at the restart, I brushed the wall on the laps to the grid so it’s really close. You try to go as close as possible to the walls and you must not allow yourself to drift away… your thoughts to drift away for even one corner so you need to stay at it. Small mistakes, like Ericsson had yesterday in qualifying, they have a big consequence and this can happen to all of us. We all try to chase the limits, we all try to go close. I wasn’t too keen to know what others were doing. Obviously we have a plan before the race. I didn’t look down and count and say OK, we are getting to the window but when I saw that Valtteri pitted, I saw it also on the screen, and then I was told that Bottas is in the pits at the same time, then I knew that he would try to undercut, otherwise what was the point for him to pit. If he believes that it’s faster then he will stay out and try to put us under pressure once we pit, so he was obviously waiting for his chance, went for it and then I was told in the same lap that Kimi’s obviously getting the pit stop and I know that I can’t pit at the same time, we were too close behind each other to come in on the same lap, so I knew that at least I get one lap, maybe I get two, I don’t know, depending on the gap to Bottas which increased again to three, four seconds before the stop. At that point I was just trying to go flat out, that was my race, obviously it made my race today which, looking at the final result, it’s easy to say but at that point it was impossible to predict.  When I heard the lap times of Bottas, the first lap, I think 16.1s, I was really… OK, I need to stretch myself. As I said, I was surprised that I could take so much pace from the car and I was going even below the 16s. At the same time, Daniel was lapping in 16.0s so there seemed to be a second tyre somehow, because the laps before I was struggling as much as Kimi was with the rears so yeah, I think there were a couple of laps where we weren’t comfortable at all, Valtteri was closing the gap, that was not the plan.

    Q: (Ben Anderson – Autosport) Kimi, when you look back at a race, do you feel that you were just unlucky with traffic and the way things fell or do you think Ferrari’s strategy just cost you the victory?

    KR: I don’t know. Like I said, I haven’t seen… I only know what happened when I was in the car but I haven’t seen the bigger picture. I only know that we came second, Seb won, the team got one-two, obviously great for the team, but the rest… Until we have our meeting then obviously you can see all the graphs, I don’t know.

  • 2017 Russian Grand Prix: Post-Race Press Conference

    2017 Russian Grand Prix: Post-Race Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)

    2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

    3 – Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari)

     

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by Eddie Jordan)

    Valtteri, tell us, what does it feel like, your first ever win in grand prix racing?

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Amazing. It took quite a while, more than 80 races for me, but definitely worth the wait, worth the learning curve. This strange opportunity came to me in the winter to join this team and they made it possible today, so I really want to thank to the team, without them it wouldn’t be possible, so feels amazing.

    It’s like a fairy tale isn’t it? Four or five months ago you were going to drive with Williams, a particularly good team, but you got the chance to come to this team – a winning, world champion team – and you’re one the top [of the] podium at the moment.

    VB: yeah, we’ve had a tricky beginning of the year, you know the fight with Ferrari was again very close. We managed to be on top, but we need to keep pushing, we need to keep finishing with both cars all the time one and two, that’s the plan. But just very, very happy now.

    Just going to interject here for a second because we see Toto down there and he of little faith gave you a one-year contract. I’ve got a pen Toto, we need a three-year extension on that minimum with proper money, is that OK? Coming back to you… where’s he gone. [Sebastian], Felipe Massa, tell me about him, what happened on that last lap?

    Sebastian VETTEL: I obviously tried everything to catch Valtteri and maybe I thought there might be some opportunity on the back straight. I was sure [Felipe] would lift around Turn 3, it’s flat out, and let me be, so I wouldn’t lose much time, but then I think I just wasn’t sure what he was going to do and I ended up losing a bit more than I was hoping for. But it doesn’t matter. This is the man of the race today, big congrats to Valtteri, it’s his first grand prix win, so it’s his day.

    Very well said. I have to ask you, your strategy: you ran much deeper into the race on those tyres and it looked like it was paying off.

    SV: Not really, we didn’t come out ahead. Yeah, we had fresher tyres in the end. Obviously there was a gap to Kimi behind and we just decided to try and extend as much as possible to hope for maybe Valtteri running into trouble with traffic, us having a clear track. That was the plan. So I think we tried everything, but obviously we lost the race at the start, which was a bit of a shame. I had a good start but…

    I was going to ask about that. You were a bit unlucky, both of you, on the front row of the grid but you have the longest run to the first corner but you got out-dragged?

    SV: Yeah, that’s basically it. I think our start was basically a match with Valtteri, maybe he gained a bit of momentum in the beginning but then obviously he had a massive tow. I defended the inside but by the time we approached braking he was already in front and able to shut the door on me, so well done, and that’s where he won the race. And then he did a superb first stint, I couldn’t stay with him, he was very, very quick all; race, no mistakes and as I said – man of the race.

    Ladies and gentlemen, year on year Kimi has been voted the most popular driver in Formula One and you have your fans here.

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Yeah, I’m very happy that I have here support but whatever country they come from I’m very happy to have the. Unfortunately today we could only give third place but we try next time more so.

    We have to talk about the podium and the lock-out on the front row. We weren’t sure how it would wind up and today both of you are on the podium. It shows a great sign for the future of this season and the championship and the excitement of it?

    KR: Yeah, I think I have had a little bit of a rough start to the season. Far from ideal but this weekend for sure has been a step forward. We have been more happy with how things have been running but we still only finished third. We lost out at the start and then not a lot happened after that. We keep trying and keep improving and I’m sure we’ll get there, but it’s all about… all the small details have to be exactly there and then you will get the first place. The four or five of us are very close most of the time, so it’s the small differences that make a big difference in the end.

    Valtteri, special day for you as we have already said. You also got driver of the day; that’s another little celebration you didn’t know about. Got to talk to you about that start: [Sebastian] said you more or less but you couldn’t have, you absolutely out-dragged both of them.

    VB: Yeah, I mean, I think here normally starting from the second row is not too bad. I had a good start, if anything maybe slightly better than the guys in front. Obviously slipstreaming managed to get the inside for Turn 1. That was OK, but I’m a little bit more happy about the safety car restart actually.

    He has big shoulders, he has a lot to live up to because he’s got Kimi, Keke Rosberg and of course Mika [Häkkinen], all world champion Finns. Are you going to be the next world champion Finn?

    VB: For me that’s the only goal in my career, so we will keep pushing for that.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Valtteri, has the reality of what you’ve just achieved sunk in?

    VB: No. It’s going to take a while. I have to say, normally I’m not that emotional but hearing the Finnish national anthem is something quite special for me – felt good. But it is a little bit surreal: first win, and hopefully first of many. It was definitely one of my best races, personally, ever. It’s a good feeling and just, yeah, happy.

    Q: How was the pressure towards the end of the race when you had Sebastian gaining on you and you were hitting traffic?

    VB: It was OK. Just the main thing was with the lapped cars and trying to get past those and with these new cars we definitely lose more downforce, already two seconds, three seconds behind, so it was tricky to get close and pass them without losing time. That was the main thing at the end and I wasn’t quite happy for a few occasions. I also had one lock-up, maybe 10 or 15 laps to go, which hurt a little bit the pace. Other than that it was OK. I did ask for a bit more radio silence from the guys on the pit wall, just for me to get on it and focus for it and feel a bit more like home. Quite nice and quiet and that helped.

    Q: How much confidence do you think this victory will give you going forward?

    VB: I think a lot. I’ve always know I could do good results if everything goes right. I always trust in my ability but it’s nice to get confirmation that the results are possible, that anything is possible, so definitely good to continue from here.

    Q: Sebastian, in reality it all came down to the start, didn’t it? How was your getaway from pole position?

    SV: I thought it was OK. [To VB] Was it bad, my getaway?

    VB: I had a little bit better one…

    SV: Well, later on, yes. No, I thought there was a bit in the very beginning where I could have been a bit more aggressive but it was a bit hard to tell because for the formation lap, for some reason… I have the time of day in the car and it was two o’clock and the lights didn’t go off. So I was ready to go. I don’t know why there was a delay. Maybe whoever’s responsible to turn the lights off, didn’t turn the lights off! What I mean by that is that I didn’t get a proper read of how the grip was at the grid, so I think I ended up maybe a bit too conservative. Still, I had a good start. I had a look in the mirror, mine was I think better than Kimi’s. I saw Valtteri coming and I thought ‘OK, it will be close’ but it felt like I had a tent dragged behind me and he was gaining a lot. He was able even before we hit the braking to come back and shut the door. So I did well but nothing I could have done, I had the outside line but nowhere to do so in reality that’s part of where we lost the race. And then the first stint: we were just not quick enough to stay with him. In the end of the day we can talk about my race but today is Valtteri’s day. He drove a fantastic race, he had incredible pace. Also, if you look all weekend where he’s been compared to his team-mate, so, y’know, he’s done a superb job, it’s his day and he deserves to win today because he drove better than all the rest of us. So… it’s not easy to swallow. I would have loved, obviously, to come back but that’s the way it was today. Well done.

    VB: Thanks.

    Q: Kimi, coming to you, similar problems to Sebastian at the start? Just talk us through your getaway.

    KR: I had a pretty poor start, comparing even to Seb. Got wheelspin straight away and then I really thought I was going to lose a lot more but then luckily, both of these cars went side-by-side and I started to get the tow and I managed to stay ahead of Lewis in the end. But, I don’t know what happened. It was slippery and lost a lot, so, not ideal. If you look last year it’s all about starts, and if you lose a place in those, it’s going to be a boring race. Not a lot happened after that. Mercedes, Valtteri was a bit too fast but then we were kind of holding our positions but nothing really happened the whole race, so, yeah, all about the start. Happy for Valtteri. People always think that we have something against each other because we have come close to each other and into each other a few times but no, I’m very happy for him to win. It doesn’t mean that I’m not happy if Seb wins. It’s good for him and things will turn out to be for sure good for him. It’s going to be close between both of the Ferrari and both of the Mercedes drivers this year, so it will be exciting – but unfortunately a lot of times it will depend of what happens in a first lap. That’s how it’s going to play out. Hopefully it goes better. I’m more happy this weekend but obviously not happy to be third but this is how it goes sometimes.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) To both Ferrari drivers: do you think if you had jumped in front of Valtteri and Lewis do you think you could have kept the leadership of the race considering the pace of Bottas with the ultrasoft – if you were surprised with that. And also, for you Kimi, were you surprised that Bottas was in front of you?

    KR: At what point?

    During the race you said on the radio that you were surprised that Bottas was in front of you.

    KR: Yes, because I was not sure which one it was in the front of the race. I was asking – I was not sure because it was a bit confusing for me after the pitstops. Obviously I realised straight after. For me it made no difference: there was one Mercedes in front of us. I didn’t ask before.

    And Sebastian, had you got the jump on Valtteri and made it to Turn One first, are you confident you could have stayed ahead?

    SV: Well, it’s difficult to pass, let’s put it that way. I think it would have been difficult for Valtteri to put a lot of pressure on, even though I would say he had superior pace in the first stint. I think if you look at the stint I was struggling in the beginning, then sort of froze the gap and then was able to close. Now, if Valtteri’s closer to us, let’s say if we were in the lead, then obviously I don’t know the gaps behind, whether they have changed their strategy or not – but didn’t turn out to be that way but for sure, if we had track position then I think we had the pace also to keep it. At the end I think we were quicker on the supersoft but we were behind so, yeah. Also I was on fresher tyres so it’s not entirely fair. Overall he was a bit quicker in the first stint. For the race overall it was a good match, so yeah, the first lap mattered. As I said, he executed the start well, which obviously this year is crucial. It was in our hands so he did a good job and then he drove a very good first stint which didn’t give us the opportunity to put him under pressure and do something around the stop because we were simply too far away.

    Q: (Kiril Zaytsev – 66.ru) Question for Valtteri Bottas. Valtteri, I have a theory about your win, please tell me am I right or not. I think that you won because you were very angry about all of these questions what it’s like to be number two in the team and so on. You were so angry you won and now you are number one, yes?

    VB: I don’t think that was the reason for the success this weekend! Good theory but I don’t think it’s right. It really doesn’t matter in the car if you’re angry or not. Anyway you are doing your best. When I drive there is not much emotion in there. I’m just trying to get everything right and get every lap, every corner perfectly. All the questions, all the speculation, number two driver and so on, it doesn’t get into me. It doesn’t matter.

    Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) To Sebastian. Now you turn to the European leg of the Championship with 13 points of advantage on Lewis. How much is it in accordance with your dreams and how much is it a surprise?

    SV: I don’t know if I have an answer for you. We had a good run up in Barcelona at the tests, so looking forwards to Barcelona, the car felt good. I think we’ve improved it from early March to now – but yeah, I don’t need to think about the Championship because you’re kind enough to remind us where we are. I think we’ve had a very good start. It would be wrong to sit here and say that’s what we expected – but we’re here to win, we’re here to do our best. If we look back I think we have more or less extracted the maximum. So very happy with where we are as a team – but we can still learn and we can still improve and I think that’s the way we go forward. Nothing is for granted, Barcelona is just another race and we have a lot of races to go this year. But before that we have two weeks’ time to look at what we have done so far and improve. Today I think the speed in general was there, the balance dropped away from me a little bit in the first stint. I struggled with the fronts and couldn’t attack as much as I was hoping for and as much as I was probably able to in qualifying. So things that we could have done better but the race is done today so yeah, I’m generally looking forwards: we have a strong car, a strong team, the spirit is good, so lots of positives.

    Q: (Tony Dodgins – Channel 4) Valtteri, I think in Australia and last summer you struggled in the first stint on the softer compound. Today, Sebastian said he couldn’t stay with you. Have you made progress on that generally or is it surface specific here and did that surprise you?

    VC: Well, I think it was very different to Bahrain, for example, with the temperatures and the surface of the tarmac and the track layout, so I can’t say we’ve fixed some of the issues we had in the last race but I think we did a better job here in general, to get most out of ever being in these conditions on this track. I think from Friday until Saturday, Sunday we made good progress, we managed to optimise everything and that made the win possible today. We were a little bit afraid of struggling at the beginning of the stints but that didn’t really seem to be the case and also the tyre life was good compared to Ferrari so the guys did a very good job this weekend.

    Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) Two questions for Valtteri: you talked about the start but the restart was even better because you were more than one second ahead of Sebastian as you crossed the line, so talk us through that and just before your pit stop you were losing a lot of time behind backmarkers. Were you frustrated there or did you know that you needed those extra laps because the pace on the harder tyre was not so good?

    VB: The restart was very good and kind of a surprise actually by the gap but that was good. Obviously it worked. You have few opportunities where you start going. I think the main thing is not to catch the safety car before the safety car line but that obviously worked, so that was good. Yeah, the back markers, getting through the traffic, that was the main worry for me and especially at the end of the race, that was losing more time with these cars, following… already when you’re within two, three seconds and you start to lose some lap time, especially in the mid-sector in those medium speed corners so that was quite tricky and I wasn’t quite happy at times but I always knew that Seb and Kimi behind would have the same problem as I had with the guys so in the end it was OK.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Valtteri and Sebastian, is there any technical explanation about what happened before turn two and the overtaking? Was it just a question of the slipstream or was there some technical explanation?

    SV: I didn’t see much. You had a better view, I guess.

    VB: Yes, so from my side I felt like I had a good start, maybe initially slightly better than Seb but very close I think, and obviously here the slipstreaming is the main thing. It’s nearly one kilometre into turn one. If you can get a tow, you can carry the speed and I managed to do it, even though I was on the outside I managed to get in front of Seb and close the door and that was it really.

    SV: The straight was a bit too long so maybe we can move the grid further up. For me there was not much I could do. I think it was a drag race. Obviously I didn’t have a tow. There was a bit of headwind as well, the wind was blowing the wrong way so it’s another 10/15kph off, the speed that you lose with the wind blowing against you rather than from behind. I guess it helped him but it didn’t help me today.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) For sure you don’t have a crystal ball but next race most of the teams will present very different cars and these changes have been conceived using all the knowledge gained in the first four races of the season with these new regulations. What do project for the next phase of the season with all these cars? Do you believe it’s possible there can be some dramatic changes to what we have been seeing until now?

    VB: I think it’s just going to get quicker, every car is going to get a lot better through the season and always when there’s a big rule change and the progress is bigger, the steps are bigger, the performance… more lap time gained during the year. I think it’s going to be the same for each team and I think the top teams with more resources can obviously improve more. Hopefully we can improve more but I don’t think there will be anything dramatic; just the cars are going to be quicker, more downforce really and better tyre understanding with the tracks and all of the compounds.

    SV: Well, I was just thinking whether I should buy a crystal ball. So many times we get questions up here, looking into the future. You said we don’t have one, which is right, which is why I was thinking maybe I should get one. I think it will be same as everything else. It will be a surprise, I think it will be a very close race between Mercedes and us, I hope, and I also hope that Red Bull find some pace. There’s a lot of rumours around. They are a strong team, they know how to build a quick car so I expect it’s a question of when rather than if but the sooner, the more exciting it will be but for us. I’m confident that we have the right people, the right tools on board and we will make progress. It obviously depends on what others are doing.

    KR: We’ll see what happens in two weeks at the next race. There’s always a lot of talk because it’s the first real European round. Let’s wait and see.

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Valtteri, you spoke on the podium about Nico Rosberg, the chance his retirement gave you for the possible victory. Have you planned to go and see Nico when you are back in Monaco or will you call him tonight?

    VB: I didn’t actually speak about Nico. Obviously I respect him as a driver and World Champion and everything but I just said there was this strange opportunity for me that happened in the winter that made this possible. You never know in life what’s going to happen and it was a great opportunity. I wasn’t planning on calling him really. I think I’m going to call my wife first and then see who I’m going to call afterwards