Tag: red bull racing

F1 2016: Sainz At Toro Rosso for 2017

Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner has announced that Carlos Sainz Jr. will remain at Toro Rosso for 2017.

It believed that Red Bull has enforced its option to retain the young Spaniard for next season. “We took up his option earlier this week, so he is committed to Red Bull for an extra 12 months,” said Horner.

“As with all the drivers they are contracted to Red Bull Racing, and then we have the ability to place them where we want.Of course, he is currently at Toro Rosso which is where he will be next year.We had until the end of the year to take up the option, and we chose to do it early to put his mind at rest.”

The 21-year-old driver is currently in his second year at the Toro Rosso team and has scored 36 points to date. His best finish to date is 6th with a best qualifying position of 5th place.

June 29, 2016
Verstappen labels Bottas’ qualifying behaviour ‘dangerous’

Max Verstappen was more than a little frustrated with Valtteri Bottas following the first ever qualifying session at the Baku International Circuit on Saturday.

Red Flags ruined Verstappen’s best qualifying effort for the session and subsequent efforts were also ruined while he fought with Bottas for track position.

Here’s what young Verstappen had to say to reporters …

Q: Max, what was that thing going on between you and Valtteri Bottas in qualifying?

Max Verstappen: I think it was just not clever from him. I was preparing for my timed lap and I understand that he wanted a tow – but there was not one point for him being able to overtake me – and brake – under normal conditions. The result was he ruined my lap and destroyed his lap as well. If that happens once, okay, forget about it – but if you do the same thing again in Q3, that’s not smart.

Q: Did you see him after qualifying and have a word with him?

MV: No! Because I don’t need to be the person to go to him – he should come to me!

Q: Do you expect him to get a penalty?

MV: I don’t know about a penalty – but it was dangerous what he was doing. It was dangerous and unnecessary – and not clever!

Q: For you it had pretty grave consequences. Your lap was destroyed and any hope for a good grid position gone…

MV: Yes. That was the consequence!

Q: And the incident before, where you went wide in Turn 1?

MV: Yes, same story…

Q: You went wide because of him?

MV: Because he was locking up and I was afraid that he would hit my side so I thought that it is better to go wide. But I’d lost my set (of tyres) – I had to come in and had only one run in Q2. So that was all not really pleasant!

Q: That all sounds as if the two of you will never be best buddies…

MV: Ha, in Formula One you can never be best buddies – no matter what. The moment we speak I am over it and hopefully he learns from it.

Q: You said you have not spoken with him but aren’t you interested what was going through his head?

MV: My guess is nothing was going through his head that very moment!

Q: Without all these incidents what would have been your chances?

MV: If I check all the data before the red flag I could have challenged for P2. So it is a massive frustration, as we know that the speed is there. I know there are chances for overtaking in the race, but I prefer to start from row one than P9 – that is for sure.

Q: The first GP2 race in Baku was pretty chaotic with a first corner incident taking out four cars. There was also a lot of slipstreaming. Do you expect that to happen also tomorrow?

MV: I think so. But let’s hope we don’t lose four cars on the first lap. And never forget GP2 cars all have similar engines – and that will be the biggest difference to the F1 race.

Q: The Bottas incident aside, how would you sum up your driving on this track? Are you satisfied?

MV: Yes, actually very happy. I built it up very differently to what I did in Monaco – and it worked super well. I was improving with every session. And finally I arrived in Q3 and would have had a good lap. I am satisfied with myself, the car and the team – we all did a great job to improve the car compared to yesterday, so it is really annoying not to have the result that we would have deserved.

Q: You ran very little downforce…

MV: …yes, we’ve been slower than our competitors on the straights! You’ve probably seen that our rear wing is pretty tiny. We probably lose a bit of downforce through the low speed corners – but I think we’ve found a good compromise. But there is no magic stick that gives you more horsepower suddenly on the straights! (laughs)

Q: You been running now for two days on this new track: what is the hairiest part for you?

MV: I think it is sector two – corners eight to twelve. It is difficult and tricky to get to the limit. If you lock up going into the corner it is game over. In Q1 and Q2 you are trying to build up – to get it right in Q3.

Q: When you just said that you’ve learned from Monaco – what does that exactly mean?

MV: Well, it is basically about understanding the car more. We have a great car so there is no need to go on the limit straight away as you have margins to improve. So in Q1 you don’t need to be at one hundred or ninety-nine per cent – you will also make it into Q2 with ninety-two per cent. And then step it up for Q3.

Q: Isn’t it also a different psychological approach to a race having a car that is eligible for front rows?

MV: Yes, it is of course – and you probably need some weekends to grow into that!

Q: After the red flag and only a bit over two minutes left of qualifying all the cars lined up at the pit lane exit. Your teammate Daniel (Ricciardo) was at the front: wouldn’t it also have helped you being more at the front of that queue?

MV: Maybe. We can speak in the team about it. But in the end that is not the main reason why my qualifying was not as it should have been.

Photo Credits:

Max Verstappen – Red Bull Racing

Verstappen vs Bottas – FIA screengrab

June 18, 2016
F1 2016: Red Bull Extend Ricciardo Contract

Australian racing driver Daniel Ricciardo is believed to have agreed to an extension to his contract with Red Bull Racing.

Ricciardo and the Red Bull team have been making news the last few weeks for all the wrong reasons. In Spain Ricciardo believed the team opted for the wrong strategy and cost him a shot at the victory. Two weeks later in Monaco the Aussie was left stranded in his pit box as the team scrambled to bring his tyres from the back of the garage. This time it cost Ricciardo a near certain victory.

However, all of the issues have seemingly been put aside with the announcement of Ricciardo’s contract extension. It is believed that the driver has signed a deal that will provisionally keep him with the team until the end of the 2018 season.

Daniel Ricciardo is currently fourth in the race for the drivers world championship title.

June 16, 2016
FIA post-race press conference – Spanish Grand Prix

Full transcript of the post-race press conference following the Spanish Grand Prix.

Drivers: 1 – Max Verstappen (Red Bull), 2 – Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari), 3 – Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari).

PODIUM INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by Placido Domingo)

Q: Max Verstappen, of course you are aware that you are the youngest winner ever in Formula One. How does it feel?

Max Verstappen: It feels amazing. I can’t believe it. It was a great race. I have to say thank you to the team to give me such a great car to win straight away in the first race – amazing feeling!

Q: Your father must be so proud of you?

MV: I think so. From a very young age my Dad helped me a lot and to achieve this – amazing.

Q: This is amazing. Just to change from the Toro Rosso to the Red Bull in this week and to win and oh my God, just having behind you someone who is known to be really persistent, like Mr Raikkonen? [Kimi] How do you feel having just a young pilot, like you were at the beginning of your career?

Kimi Raikkonen: No, obviously I’m happy for Max but disappointed for myself, but that’s racing. We have our best today after quite a difficult day yesterday and then a pretty poor start. We tried and tried. I was fast but once I got close I could not follow close enough through the last corners and losing downforce behind. I tried and tried but it wasn’t enough today. I think after yesterday we would have been happy to take second and third but obviously we got so close today that it’s even more disappointing, but that’s part of racing and at least we scored good points for the team.

Q: It was unbelievable to have four drivers fighting for it until the very last turn. Sebastian, you are well deserved the third place. Just one question: of course you have been champion four times with the Red Bull and today having the Red Bulls recovering and also the Ferrari, in a way it’s growing. It’s wonderful. It’s a pity we have the Mercedes gone in the first round but it shows how much excitement the cars being equal could happen with the great drivers.

Sebastian Vettel: I think first of all, many congratulations to Max, it’s a great achievement and in the end it’s his day. For sure, for us we would have loved to be a little bit closer and in front but we tried everything. We tried with strategy but it didn’t quite work today. Nevertheless, I think it’s a great effort from the team after a not so good day yesterday to come back and recover. But as I said, it’s Max’s day and as a sportsman I think we have to respect that, so well done again to him and to the team.

SPANISH GRAND PRIX PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Max, the reception said it all and Sebastian just said it: it’s very much your day. Just sum up your emotions, as an 18-year-old, winning your first ever Formula One grand prix?

MV: It’s amazing. I mean, this race felt like an endurance race to me, especially the last 10 laps. I couldn’t believe that I was leading the race. And yeah, today just everything went well. I could hold on to the tyres and I think we did the best strategy possible and yeah, unbelievable, I can’t believe it.

Q: Max, youngest ever winner of course of a Formula One grand prix race. So many questions. Obviously the strategy came towards you after Sebastian pulled your team-mate into a different kind of tactic. Nevertheless, you had to remain very calm under sustained pressure from Kimi Raikkonen on your right there. What’s the most surprising aspect of this win for you, or is it not a surprise to you?

MV: It is a very big surprise. Of course I didn’t expect that. On the first stint on the soft I could keep up quite well after the two Mercedes crashed. But at one point, if you are so close behind the first you start to destroy your tyres so yeah I lost a bit of ground there and we decided to pit and again there, when we went onto the medium tyre, the car felt great. From there on I was just managing my speed, my tyres; I was just managing everything. At the end I think we did the best strategy possible. Especially in the last stint I got quite a bit of pressure from Kimi behind, but on this track it’s quite difficult to overtake so for me it was a case of not making mistakes, no front locking, so that’s what I tried to do and it worked. This feeling to be first… I was targeting a podium but then to win straight away, it’s an amazing feeling.

Q: Coming to you Kimi, second today and second in the championship. Swings and roundabouts for you: the start cost you but then the strategy came towards you. Youngest driver in the field against the oldest, what were you thinking in the final laps?

KR: yeah, I had a poor start. When I released the clutch I got wheelspin and it’s impossible to recover from the first part of wheelpsin when that happens. Luckily, I managed to go around the people in Turn Three and I didn’t lose too badly. It could have been an awful lot more worse. I think speed-wise it was pretty OK. I was able to catch the three guys in front of me. But in the end when I got to Max, I got close but I could not follow close enough or get a good enough exit in the last corner because I was close and obviously I gave quite a hard time to my tyres to following him for so many laps. It’s disappointing not to win but after yesterday and after a bad start I take what we got today and especially for Ferrari as we quite a good points today with two cars. It’s going forward, not what we want, but I’m happy for him [Max]. We all know he is a good driver and he’s in a good team now. When it comes to youngest and oldest, it happens to be like that. I raced against his father. That actually sounds even more scary. In F1! That’s how it goes.

Q: Fantastic, thank you very much. Sebastian, you were behind the two Red Bulls, you needed to do something different, so you threw the dice on the strategy with three stops. But it turned out for both of you not to be the fastest way today and then you had a real ding-dong with him in the closing stages of the grand prix?

SV: Yeah, it was an interesting race. Obviously we tried everything. We tried to get ahead. In the end I think we were surprised at how superior the two-stop was, but yeah, from their point of view, they tried to cover as much as they can. They tried to cover with the lead car, which made sense, but I think you could see for both of us, Daniel and myself, that the three-stop wasn’t really superior. Then I had an interesting race trying to hold him off. They were quite competitive on the medium tyres. Bit quicker than us in the last sector, so bit difficult to hold him off. Once it was very hairy, it was quite close into Turn One, if I didn’t open up we just crash. In that instant for sure I was on fire and complaining, because if I don’t play according to his move there is a crash. Then again it is racing and I can see that he is trying the one chance he had. I had a bad exit and he has to go for it. In the end I have raced him many times and it’s always good fun. It was very entertaining for me trying to hold onto it, trying to hold onto the podium, so I’m very happy I made it. Obviously it took the tension away when he had the puncture in the last two laps, I don’t what happened there. But all in all, high hopes after Turn Four for all of us to have a go and win the race. We tried everything. We split the cars. Obviously on my side it was in hindsight probably the worst strategy, but you know, all this talk doesn’t matter now. Max won the race. I can just pass my congratulations. It’s very special to win your first race and it’s his day. He deserves it. He did a great race. I saw those two fighting a little bit in front of us two fighting, so well done.

Q: Final thought, did you have a good view of the accident between the two Mercedes and your thoughts?

SV: Not really, I was just losing track position to him [Max] in Turn Three. I think I probably took the wrong line. I think I was behind Daniel. I got a lot of understeer, lost a lot of downforce following him so close and Max did a good job, going on the outside, clean bit track, go the clean air and just used it to pass me so well done to him. As a consequence I lost also position in Turn Four to Carlos, but I couldn’t see what really happened. I just saw two silver or grey cars crashing into each other.

Q: Did you see it [Max]?

MV: I just saw one car going onto the grass and as soon as you go onto the grass and you spin, then you can’t do anything. I think it was Lewis unfortunately, he spun and hit Nico but I don’t know why he got into the grass.

QUESTIONS FROM THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX PRESS FLOOR

Q: (Christopher Joseph – Chicane) Question for Sebastian. I spoke earlier with Jackie Stewart about the need for mind management and controlling your emotions when racing. Just wondered how you approached that in today’s race and in general at different phases of the race – whether you’re challenging, holding someone off, chasing etcetera, etcetera.

SV: I think as the race panned out, start, I had a very good start, very good traction straight away. I was basically P4 into the first corner then, as I said, just lost out to Max and then Carlos. But at the point was trying to attack and make progress. We all benefitted from the two cars crashing ahead. Then I tried to… yeah, I know we’re quicker than the Red Bulls, I tried to pace myself catching up, once I got past Carlos, so the mindset was, y’know, you have 60-odd laps, whether you win or whether you gain or lose a second here or there doesn’t matter now. It’s 66-laps that matter from now onwards. But I think, as I said, strategy obviously, with hindsight we decided the wrong way but we had to try, going into the lead, trying to put the leader at that time under pressure, which was Daniel and, yeah, in terms of mindset obviously there’s various stages where you attack and where you have to, sort of, control. Once I was starting the last stint on the medium tyres I felt after a couple of laps that I wasn’t really that much quicker than the two cars ahead so I could figure out myself that the degradation wasn’t huge of the medium tyres. Overall I think for us we struggled a bit more compared to the Red Bull on this compound. So I sort of focussed on what was going on behind. I knew that Daniel would come at some point because he’s got a fresher set of tyres. I was able to hold him off, which was the most important, which… yeah, was all I could do at that stage: trying to defend the podium. The gap to the cars ahead was a bit too bit to attack and close it because there were practically at the same speed.

Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Seb, you had just mentioned the last stint, did you have a problem because initially you caught up quite quickly on the first two but then quite early the lap times were the same?

SV: In all honestly, first lap I felt really good and then I think we just struggled on the medium compound. I think the whole afternoon that was the slower tyre for us. I think I said it on the radio, so it was probably broadcast, I don’t know but I think in all fairness we were quicker than the Red Bulls on the softs, around half a second and then on the mediums probably the same pace. Not enough to really create something, as you could see in the second stint already. I was closing – but I wasn’t really able to really put Max under pressure. Yeah. So, obviously it was difficult at that point. Then we tried to go a different route with the three-stop. On the soft again I was able to close after no so successful pitstop, close the gap to Daniel fairly quickly I would say, with around about half a second per lap but overall there was the difference on the medium tyre which today for us didn’t quite work, and that’s what we spent most of the race on, so… yeah, something for us to understand and to learn.

Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, is this the closest to winning in your last 59 races without victory? How does it feel to be second in the Championship after three years?

KR: I think first of all it’s always disappointing when you don’t win. But when you get close, this close, and still don’t win, it’s more hard to accept. The others did a better job, we had quite a difficult weekend. Like I said earlier, after yesterday if it had been offered, second and third, we’d happily take it – but whatever happened in the first lap with Mercedes and all the rest, getting there, having the speed but not being able to really challenge or try to pass, it was not ideal but I’ll take the points and we go for the next race and try again. At least as a team, as Ferrari, we got some points back on Mercedes and as drivers we got some points back. So we have to be happy, even though we always want more and we want to put the Ferrari where it belongs on the top step.

Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Max, congratulations, brilliant win for you. In the closing stages of the grand prix, grip was at a premium, as you said, and massive pressure from Kimi. Can you give us some idea of how you split your time in terms of driving the car and looking in the mirrors – or perhaps not looking in the mirrors?

MV: As soon as we pitted I knew we were going to the end. So the first few laps, I didn’t really push. I knew the Ferrari was a bit faster than us today but I just let him catch up and then you’re just controlling the gap. Of course sometimes he got DRS so using a bit to stay ahead. It worked well until eight laps from the end. We were also catching some traffic and then it was all about managing the last sector really; not to slide too much and get a good exit out of the chicane. Yeah, you’re looking a bit in the mirrors but yeah… always.

Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) When you started as a test driver it was said you were too young for Formula One. Is this an answer to those comments?

MV: To be honest, I’m not here for that. I’m enjoying it. I’m trying to do my best and today that was first. That was just a great feeling.

Q: (Mike Doodson – Auto Action) Seb, both you and Kimi had a particularly good opportunity to study the performance of the Red Bulls today. I wonder whether you can tell me, and perhaps Mr Marchionne, exactly where Ferrari needs to improve to be in front of the Red Bulls.

SV: Should you become president in the next week I will tell you for sure but I don’t know your chances to be honest. I am sure we will tell him. At the end of the day there is no big secrets to hide. I think I’ve said it already. I think we were quicker today, we know that we’re quicker, but we didn’t win today. Overall they did a better job. Congrats to Red Bull, congrats to Max in particular. They did everything right. I think I’ve said it, on the medium tyre we didn’t feel as – at least on my side – didn’t feel as happy, even if I had an advantage… I don’t know how much earlier these guys stopped but I had a fresher set of tyres and then Daniel again had a fresher set of tyres but you could see even with a fresher set it wasn’t straightforward to overtake and just use the pace. Plus, I think, as I said, for us on the medium tyre we struggled a bit more. I had a bit more oversteer, challenge to keep the rear calm, challenge to get on power, use the exits and as where Red Bull were stronger today, the last sector, the nature of the last sector, in that regard favoured them, which allowed Daniel to be quite close all the time and, I guess, vice versa which allowed Max to always open up a bit which made it harder for Kimi.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – globoesporte.com) To Max. You did your second pitstop on lap 34. You have 32 laps ahead. Did you have an indication it could be possible go until the end and mainly to keep the pace in the final part of the race because some drivers would be on fresh tyres at that stage?

MV: To be honest I knew it was going to be very hard but from there on you know you have to set your mind and try to control the tyres, especially the first ten laps. Of course you are not pushing hard on them, you are just controlling it and I have to tell you, the last ten laps, you are driving on ice. It’s like driving on ice. Sliding a lot but it’s all about managing the last sector and get a good exit. I think that’s how a lot of races are won here in Barcelona.

Q: (Giorgio Terruzzi – Corriere della Sera) Max, who helped you more, yourself, your father, Dr Marko? I’m asking in which way they helped you.

MV: I think from when I was four until 16, I think it was mainly my Dad.

SV: What happened in the first four years?

MV: I was just living.

SV: Your mother…

MV: Yeah, my Mum did a lot of work there, yeah. In the end she brought me into the world so… she did a very good job. Yeah, from there, from 16 onwards I think it was a bit of a combination: my Dad, Dr Marko of course. They gave me the opportunity to get into Formula One so it’s great. From there on, you get prepared, physically prepared, you get a great chance at Toro Rosso and then they moved me up to Red Bull, so I think it’s a bit of a combination.

Q: (Barna Zsoldos – Nemzeti Sports) Max, now at your first Formula One Grand Prix victory, Sebastian and Kimi are sharing the podium with you, but can you remember what you were doing and where were you when they won their first F1 Grands Prix?

MV: (To Sebastian) When was yours? 2008? Monza. Probably I was go-karting, yeah, somewhere, having fun. Yours?

KR: 2003.

MV: I was six years old so I can’t remember. I don’t know

SV: Got picked up from the kindergarten.

MV: Yeah, probably.

Q: (Frank Woestenburg – De Telegraaf) Max, can you tell us a little bit about your emotions during the last lap and just after the race, what kind of things were you thinking?

MV: To be honest, I think on the last lap I got a bit of cramp. I was getting very excited. I couldn’t believe it. I was looking up to the big boards, I saw my name, first, with ten laps to go. OK, I was already first before but then I started to watch the board. I was just thinking to myself, don’t look at it any more and focus on the tyres and bring it home and that’s what we did. A great feeling. I absolutely didn’t expect this.

Q: (Rodrigo Franca – VIP Magazine) Max, congratulations, you’re so young that probably you’re racing with your heroes on the grid, so I would like you to tell us about that, who are your racing heroes and you can also mention from the history that you watch on old videos or history or something like that?

MV: To be honest, I don’t really have racing heroes. You have respect for each other and I think also you have respect for what other people have achieved in their careers. Winning a race is one thing but to win a championship is another thing. We have a lot of respect for each other.

Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Sebastian…

SV: Are you sure it’s not for Kimi? I just said to Max earlier that there’s a 99.9 percent chance that the question will always go to Kimi, so I feel quite honoured actually. Thank you.

Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) You have said many times that you don’t care that much about getting those records. Does it feel any different now when you seem to lose them?

SV: Not really. I think records are there to be broken so I was very excited when I achieved that (being the youngest winner) but in the end I think it’s the day that matters and today I tried to win, I didn’t try to… having the mindset when I saw Max was in the lead to hold him off. I was hoping at some point to see a caravan trailing his car and the yellow number plates, but unfortunately we weren’t on the autobahn so… I thought that this would slow him down but he didn’t stop and pick up a caravan after the pit stop. I guess he was quite smart to say ‘no guys, no caravan yet’.

MV: Does the Ferrari have a hook on the back?

SV: No, you have. I think you have a thing sticking out. No, I think again, records are there to be broken. I was so excited when I won my first race that I didn’t care if I was twenty or 25 or whatever age, and I think the answer to the question earlier, that Max had to answer about his age, I don’t think it matters. If you’re quick enough you belong here and then as soon as you are you belong here and as long as you are you belong here so I don’t think it matters whether you’re 18 or… I think Michael kept racing until he was 43? I met Stirling Moss a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately he only raced until his thirties but I think he was there to race until his fifties. Obviously cars these days are a bit easier to drive than when I started but still I think there’s nothing that speaks against… I don’t know how old Kimi is actually but 35 year old to keep fit and to drive these cars if you’re still quick enough, you’re still young enough, so that’s the bottom line.

Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas) Max, congratulations, I would like to know if you have already talked with your father, what did he tell you in this case and your hopes or your opinion for the next Grand Prix in Monte Carlo?

MV: No, I haven’t seen my Dad yet but I think he’s happy. For the next race, to be honest, I don’t know. I’m still learning the car. Before I got into the car, I didn’t even have a hole for my drink tube. I still had to make it. We’ll see. I think our car will be good on a street circuit so I’m definitely looking forward to that and it will be a great feeling to start there in FP1 that’s for sure.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globoesporte.com) Sebastian and Kimi, when you did your pit stops did you expect that maybe Max could make another pit stop or did you think he was going to the end of the grand prix, to the chequered flag?

SV: I think I wasn’t worried about Max at that point, I was trying to attack the leader of the race which was Daniel, so I think at that point I was obviously going onto the soft tyre. I committed to a three stop, Max then obviously – or Red Bull – had the opportunity to split their cars, they tried to cover with Daniel and obviously do the opposite with Max. As it panned out, obviously that was the quickest strategy but again, that was the race, everybody had the same chances when the lights went off so in the end Max and his team did the best job, crossing the line first. That’s how simple the rules are. With hindsight you’re always smart, you could have done this, could have done that but I think on our side we tried everything. On my side we tried everything, I guess on Kimi’s side so yeah, not much more to say.

KR: It was for both of us. I knew that he was going to the end so basically it was the same for me. Not much to really say.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globoesporte.com) Max, do you think the performance of Red Bull is also related to this track or the engine is not so so important or the chassis, and we can see Red Bull in the next rounds of the championship as strong as here?

MV: For me, I think this track in general with this car suits us a bit better but still you want more and more power and soon I think we will get some more power, so that’s very positive, but I think a street circuit will be even better for us, but let’s wait and see. We have to wait until we have driven there.

Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) This is a question for Sebastian on the three stop strategy. Did you go back onto the mediums at the end because the soft was not what you thought it would be, or was that the strategy that you actually wanted to run, and could you even have run another second set of softs? Would that have been an option?

SV: I don’t know if we actually had another one, probably we had but honestly at that point, when we went for the undercut to get ahead of Daniel which we did, it was thirty-odd laps to go and I tried to squeeze even another extra lap by staying out and thirty laps on the medium I think was tight. Thirty-odd laps on the softs I guess was impossible to be honest, so even if we had another one, which I’m not sure we had, we would not have made it so yeah, how do you outweigh to jump into the pits early to get ahead, to get track position and then to probably go on the set that is the least preferred but also was a new set versus a scrubbed one, so I think it was fairly clear what we…

Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) But did the softs go off sooner than you thought?

SV: No, they were holding on longer than I thought, to be honest, so I was much happier on the softs. I think you saw in the first stint that once I cleared Carlos I was quicker. I caught up and on the third stint we had a bit of a messy stop, we lost a bit and Daniel was six seconds down the road and within a couple of laps we closed up and as soon as we were close enough, obviously then it was who dares jump into the pits first, knowing that you will only stretch your final stint but at that point we had already committed to a three stop.

May 15, 2016
Max Verstappen Q&A

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Q: Was it your limit today?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TV UNILATERAL

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PRESS CONFERENCE

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

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

Q: Did you have to jump on the brakes?

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

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

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

OK, fine…

NR: Unfortunately!

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

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

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TV UNILATERAL

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PRESS CONFERENCE

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

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

Q: Did you have to jump on the brakes?

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

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

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

OK, fine…

NR: Unfortunately!

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

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

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

May 15, 2016
F1 2016: Spanish GP Preview – All eyes on Spain

Traditionally the first European race of the F1 season sees a raft of updates made to the cars. It’s no different in 2016 as teams look to take a crucial step forward at Spain’s Circuit de Catalunya.

Red Bull Racing dropped the bombshell a few days after the Russian grand prix that Dannil Kvyat and Max Verstappen would swop seats. Ostensibly, the move appears to have been made following Kvyat’s attempt at playing bumper cars with Sebastian Vettel in Russia but there’s a fair bit more at play than that.

For one, Russian driver Kvyat hasn’t been that impressive in the Red Bull alongside Daniel Ricciardo. Then, there’s that incident with the Ferrari in Russia. However, neither of these two things are enough to warrant a demotion to the junior team. Drivers go through indifferent patches and make mistakes but they aren’t dropped at the first sign of strife, usually. Romain Grosjean’s troublesome season at Lotus and Pastor Maldonado’s F1 career is testament to the fact that teams usually stick it out. But not in Kvyat’s case.

The incident in Russia is nothing more than an excuse to promote Verstappen from Toro Rosso into the senior team. While the teenaged Dutch driver may be singing Red Bull’s praises and swearing that he’s never looked elsewhere for a drive we know better. Despite being in only his second F1 season it’s obvious that Verstappen has enormous potential. This makes him a hot commodity for other teams and there’s no better way to keep him close than to move him to the senior team. Well played Red Bull.

What a difference twelve months can make. In 2015 Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg arrived at the Spanish grand prix under pressure to perform. This time around he arrives at the fifth round of the season with four race wins under the belt and a dominant lead over teammate Lewis Hamilton in the standings. Now the questions shifts from can Nico do it to can he keep doing it? The German is convinced that Hamilton will hit back soon and he’s likely right. However, it’s also a great mental space Rosberg to operate in – take it one race and one lap at a time and don’t take it for granted.

Besides a bit of brooding on the Russian Gp podium Hamilton has appeared decidedly chilled, even apathetic, to his dreadful run so far in 2016. But don’t be fooled by his supposedly indifferent approach. The reigning champ more than has the skill to hit back hard and just needs to find the sweet-spot for it to be unleashed.

From the Ferrari garage the hope is that the performance deficit in the last race was specific to the circuit. It could’ve been given that the Russian circuit is power dominant. But though they may be closer in Spain it will extremely tough to beat the Silver Arrows around Catalunya.

McLaren, already vastly improved in 2016, is planning to introduce a significant upgrade to their car this weekend. They hope that a new floor, wings, and various bits of other bodywork will be enough to propel them into the top ten in qualifying and a solid points score with both cars.

The Haas F1 Team will run the upgraded Ferrari engine, introduced in Russia, in Spain. The Renault team will run an updated version of their front and rear wings in the hopes of upping their game in a tight mid-field battle.

Seven drivers on the current grid have won the Spanish grand prix and thanks to its status as a test venue everyone knows their way around these parts. But as familiar as they are with the Circuit de Catalunya it doesn’t do anything to lessen the challenge.

May 11, 2016
BREAKING NEWS: Red Bull Announce New Driver

The Red Bull Racing team has announced that Max Verstappen will partner Daniel Ricciardo in its F1 team.

From the Spanish grand prix onwards teenager Verstappen will replace Russian driver Daniil Kyvat in the senior Red Bull team. Kyvat, meanwhile will return to the Toro Rosso team alongside Spain’s Carlos Sainz Jr.

Christian Horner, team principal says: “Max has proven to be an outstanding young talent. His performance at Toro Rosso has been impressive so far and we are pleased to give him the opportunity to driver for Red Bull Racing.”

“We are in the unique position to have all four drivers across Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso under long term contracts with Red Bull, so we have the flexibility to move them between the two teams.”

“Dany will be able to continue his development at Toro Rosso, in a team that he is familiar with, giving him the chance to regain his form and show his potential.”

The move comes after a disastrous Russian grand prix in which Kyvat twice rammed into the back of Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel.

May 5, 2016
Red Bull to run canopy in Russian GP practice

The Red Bull Racing F1 team is set to debut its canopy protection system during the first free practice session ahead of the Russian Grand Prix at the Sochi Autodrom.

The sport has been making attempts to increase driver head protection in recent months, with the ‘halo’ device which was recently trialled by Ferrari, currently being favoured by the FIA.

The halo was trialled by Kimi Raikkonen on Ferrari’s SF16-H during pre-season testing and was met with divided opinions.

Red Bull will run the canopy, which it has labelled the ‘aeroscreen’, on one of its RB12s during today’s first practice session. The system was fitted to the car on Thursday afternoon.

Photo Credits: Red Bull Racing / Getty

April 29, 2016
Russian GP tyre choices – Red Bull and Haas go aggressive

F1’s official tyre supplier Pirelli, has announced the tyre choices for the upcoming Russian Grand Prix.

The Red Bull and Haas F1 teams have gone super aggressive with their selections – both choosing 10 sets of super-soft tyres per driver for the race weekend.

Teams are able to select 10 of the 13 sets of tyres available to them for the grand prix weekend with the remaining three sets being determined by Pirelli. The tyre manufacturer earmarks one set of each compound for the race weekend – in the case of the Russian GP, the medium, soft and super-soft tyres were chosen.

The Red Bull and Haas teams both chose 10 sets of super-softs per driver, with two sets of softs and one set of mediums each for the remainder of the weekend.

As was the case for the Chinese GP, tyre choices are very varied across the field with Ferrari being the only team to choose six softs and six super-softs.

In quite a contrast, Mercedes’ tyre choices are for four sets of soft tyres and eight sets of super-softs. The Manor F1 team is the only team on the grid including more than one set of mediums in their tyre choices with Pascal Wehrlein & Rio Haryanto each getting five sets of softs and six sets of super soft tyres each.

Soft and medium tyres are usually allocated as race tyres (at least one of which must be used on race day). The new tyre rules which allow tyre choices for the drivers have been applauded for increasing the amount of differing tyre strategies available for a race weekend and are likely to remain for the foreseeable future.

In previous seasons, we’ve only seen two compounds available per race weekend. These tyre choices certainly make the forecasting on race weekend strategies a lot more interesting than we’ve seen in the recent past.

Below is the table of tyre choices as released by Pirelli:

April 19, 2016