F1 Madness

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  • Nico Rosberg takes German GP practice hat trick

    Nico Rosberg takes German GP practice hat trick

    Nico Rosberg completed a hat trick of the German GP practice sessions, leading the way during the final practice session ahead of this weekend’s race.

    Rosberg posted a time of 1:15.738 on his second super soft run, which was 0.057s clear of Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton has been summoned to the stewards for an unsafe releas ahead of Romain Grosjean in the pit lane. Paddy Lowe commented that the pit garage exit is extremely tight and there’s not much room to bring the drivers out.

    Red Bull and Ferrari finished within spitting distance of the Mercedes drivers with Daniel Ricciardo completing his session only 0.099s behind Rosberg’s time. Kimi Raikkonen finished 0.164 behind the German.

    Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen finished 5th and 6th fastest, Vettel completing the session with some damage to his front wing. Verstappen had complained earlier in the session that his battery was not charging.

    Williams drivers Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa were the only other drivers along the grid to lap within a second of Rosberg’s time.

    Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the Top 10.

    Carlos Sainz Jr and Daniil Kvyat posted the 11th and 14th fastest times for Toro Rosso split by the Mexicans – Sergio Perez and Esteban Gutierrez.

    Renault finished 15th and 16th with Kevin Magnussen going a dash faster than team mate Joylen Palmer. Button set the 19th fastest time amid plenty complaints of a loose rear and very low grip. He completed only 6 laps.

    Manor drivers Pascal Wehrlein and Rio Haryanto finished 20th and 21st with Romain Grosjean only managing four laps before spinning out at Turn 3 with gearbox complaints. Grosjean will need to take a gearbox change resulting in a five place drop following qualifying.

    Join us at 14:00 GMT+2 on Twitter @F1_Madness for live commentary and chat from qualifying for the German Grand Prix.

    Nico Rosberg Photo Credit: Mercedes AMG Petronas

  • F1 2016: Free Practice 2 Report German Gp – Rosberg Tops Timing Sheet

    F1 2016: Free Practice 2 Report German Gp – Rosberg Tops Timing Sheet

    Nico Rosberg topped the timing sheet at the end of the second free practice session for the German grand prix.

    The Mercedes driver out-paced teammate Hamilton by four tenths of a second to end the 90 minute practice session with a quickest time of :1:15:614. Lewis Hamilton, 0.394 adrift, finished the session in second overall ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.

    Max Verstappen slotted his Red Bull into fourth ahead of Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo in fifth and Kimi Raikkonen in sixth. Nico Hulkenberg was seventh quickest in the Force India ahead of Jenson Button, Sergio Perez, and Fernando Alonso.

    The long runs suggest an advantage for Mercedes especially on the red-walled supersoft tyre but the Red Bull of Max Verstappen was able to turn laptimes on the yellow-walled soft tyre not far off the Mercedes pace. At the end of Friday Ferrari is currently the third best team behind Mercedes and Red Bull. However, their pace should improve on Saturday as they bolt in some fresher engines.

    McLaren’s Jenson Button made a trip to the hospital after complaining for an eye irritation but the visit is believed to only a pre-cautionary matter.

    The issue of track limits was shoved into the spotlight as the stewards warned that they would clampdown on anyone who ran over the white line on the exit of turn 2 more than three times.

     

  • 2016 Formula 1 German Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    2016 Formula 1 German Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    DRIVERS – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari), Nico HULKENBERG (Force India), Pascal WEHRLEIN (Manor), Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing), Rio HARYANTO (Manor), Felipe NASR (Sauber)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Sebastian, let’s start with you, if we may. News yesterday that Ferrari is replacing technical chief James Allison with Mattia Binotto. Can you give us your thoughts on that?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Well, not much to add. I think we have stated in the press release what happened. I think Mattia has been in the team for a very long time so he is very experienced and knows the team inside out. Obviously there will be a difference but in the short term it doesn’t change that much.

    The timing of the switch means that he’ll be in charge with plenty of time to influence the direction of next year’s car. Would you like the emphasis of the team now to shift to the 2017 car?

    SV: We are already obviously working flat out on the ’17 car, I think everybody is, the rules are very different. Still there’s stuff I think we can learn from this year, so that’s why I think it would be wrong to forget about this year’s car. So I think still directions are very important heading into next year with the different approach but of course there is a very large group in the factory focusing on next year’s car.

    Thank you. Coming to you Rio, you’ve out-qualified Pascal five times in 11 races; that’s quite a statement isn’t it?

    Rio HARYANTO: Yeah, it’s a good result. It’s good to be able to be quote competitive in qualifying but I still want to improve also a lot in the races and we are clearly working hard on that and there are some occasions in the race where I’ve been having a split strategy to him and I just try to keep learning and to move forward.

    The fact that you’re here in Germany this weekend, does that bode well for the rest of the season in terms of your involvement with the Manor team?

    RH: I have a contract for one year. Of course there are certain obligations that we need to fulfill. My management is working very hard and I would like to say thanks to the team and also to the people in Indonesia who have been very supportive and hopefully I can keep my seat for the rest of the season.

    Thank you for that. Nico, coming to you, you’ve scored points in five of the last six races but after Budapest you seemed to be a little bit downbeat in your assessment of the team’s chances at this race, sating it could possibly be a bit like Hungary. Don’t you think this track should suit Force India a little better than that?

    Nico HULKENBERG: Difficult to judge. I think in Hungary we had a bit more potential in the car, but it was kind of a tough weekend with the mixed qualifying and then in the race also the race, how it happened, it just evolved against us. I think there was more potential than what we got at the end, only a tenth place. Hopefully here this weekend we’re a bit more competitive again and obviously we’d like to beat the McLarens, the Toro Rossos and put on a fight with the Williams and not be behind them.

    Now, Vijay Mallya told us in Silverstone that both you and Checo are confirmed for next season. Checo was a little more non-committal than that last weekend. What’s your situation?

    NH: Everything is easy and relaxed, there’s not much more to add. I think Vijay said what the situation is and we’re just focused on this year now, trying to get as many points as we possibly can and that’s the main focus really.

    So you’re staying for next year

    NH: Yes.

    OK, thank you. Felipe, we had the news last week about the takeover of Sauber. What difference can you notice inside the team and where is the focus of attention now?

    Felipe NASR: Well, first of all, it’s good news. I was happy for the team to have these new investors taking over. It brings a lot more stability to the team, especially to all the employees at the team. I could see in their faces already that people are happy again, back in their work, they can just focus on the job they do pretty much. We were very limited on the things we could do this year, talking about development and car performance. We couldn’t unlock anything, just because we didn’t have the resources to do so. I think now looking to the short and the long term there’s a lot that can happen. I believe there are serious people behind it. We expect to see some decent, let’s say, updates to be on the car after the summer break, which I’m really looking forward to. I want to put the car back competitive, I want the team to score points, I want to score points as well, which is the only thing missing until now.

    Well, you mention that, the team is still looking for it’s first point as we reach the half way stage in the championship. So are you taking some encouragement that you’ll get there soon?

    FN: Well, I believe so. I’m doing all I can. Sometimes in the last few races we have been close to it, we just need that little bit extra from the car to be more competitive, especially in qualifying, being able to qualify a bit higher, Unlocking performance is all we look for and hopefully it will come soon and I can celebrate that first point as well.

    Thank you. Coming to you Pascal, your first Formula One grand prix at Hockenheim, first home grand prix in a Mercedes-powered car as a Mercedes protégé, sum up the emotions?

    Pascal WEHRLEIN: Yeah, it’s a very special race to me. I’ve already said in a few interviews that when I was five years old, in 2000, I was here in the grandstands watching my first Formula One race live and it’s amazing to be in the car now in 2016.

    You’ve had podiums here, I believe, in DTM and in Formula 3, so it’s a track you clearly know well and like. Is there a belief that you could repeat the result from Austria?

    PW: I hope so. The track shouldn’t be that good, as Austria was for us, but as soon as I am in the car I will push as hard as I can and hopefully I can do the same again.

    Thank you. Daniel, coming to you, your 100th grand prix start this weekend, congratulations. Obviously a very strong weekend in Hungary last time out but do you feel that after that double setback of not winning in Spain and Monaco it took a few races to get your mojo back?

    Daniel RICCIARDO: No, not at all, if anything it increased it. The way things turned out after Spain and Monaco, yeah, the race results weren’t as high as I was hoping for sure. It wasn’t a lack of mojo or anything like that. It was probably too much of the other! Obviously it was nice to be back on the podium last weekend; that was cool. Obviously I had a podium in Monaco, but unfortunately I didn’t really enjoy it, so it was nice to actually enjoy the one in Budapest and appreciate it, because you don’t get a podium every race. To see the fans and everything and to spray the champagne on Sunday afternoon, it’s a nice reward. It’s a beautiful feeling, so it was nice to soak that in. A hundred grands prix – I would say it’s gone quick, but at the same time it hasn’t. It’s taken a lot of steps to get here and yeah, I look back on HRT and it does feel like a long time ago. Yeah, 100 feels about right.

    There was optimism before Budapest that Red Bull would be able to challenger Mercedes there. Obviously it was a slightly complicated weekend, particularly with the rain in qualifying, but in the end they did manage to keep you at arm’s length. You personally now are third in the Drivers’ Championship, it that the limit of what’s possible this season?

    DR: There should be another chance or a slight chance you’d think in Singapore. It’s a strong circuit for us and for whatever reason last year it was a weakness for Mercedes, so if it’s a similar trend then we can genuinely have a crack there. But otherwise probably a wet race is our only real opportunity on an even playing field. Now we’re close with Ferrari in the Constructors’, I’m third in the Drivers’ Championship, it’s really close from third to sixth. But that’s fun, so hopefully we’’ just try and keep that. Some more consistent podiums would be good and yeah leave Sundays feeling happy, that’s always important.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FOOR

    Q: (Daniel Johnson – The Daily Telegraph) A questions for Seb or two actually. When you first came here when you were a kid the grandstands were full, there were 100,000 people, and if you look at Michael’s heyday the sport was massive here. It’s not secret that now it’s struggling for popularity compared to that. Do you have an explanation for why that is? And the second question is, from a driver’s point of view what was Michael’s impact on Formula One, what’s his legacy would you say?

    SV: Starting with the second one, I think he was obviously the first German world champion and the first one that made Formula One really popular in Germany. Obviously Formula One has been around for a long time and also there were a lot of races in Germany, but I think the real difference is that we didn’t really have a local hero for a very, very long time. There were Germans participating, but obviously if there is one really, really successful one, winning a lot of races, that’s what attracts a lot of the attention. That’s what also caused the hype initially and caused the grandstands to be full. I think entering the motodrom in the old days was a bit different than nowadays, because the track was different, all the other parts of the track there was only trees, so I think that’s different now, you have big grandstands around the track, a bit more spread. Plus the fact that it’s clear nowadays, let’s say the last couple of years haven’t been that popular, there’s been a lot of negative in the press and obviously people, fans, follow that as well and that doesn’t help. I think Formula One has lost a little bit of its excitement in terms of just if you listen, the cars are a lot more quiet, which also then looks a little bit less spectacular, even though it’s not true, corners speeds are as high as they’ve ever been. Just when we go on power it doesn’t sound as nice as it probably did in the past. So there’s a couple of reasons and I think it general grandstand tickets are too expensive. In my point of view they should be a lot cheaper, a lot more affordable, so a lot more people would be tempted to spontaneously say ‘yes, let’s go, we want to be part of it and let’s not miss it’. So I think there are a couple of reasons.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) To Sebastian. Sebastian, until September of 2014 Mr Marchionne didn’t have great approach to Formula One and then came Arrivabene also. All of them for sure hard workers, competent and they were doing their time – and now we have also Binotto, also another guy without experience to concept a car globally. He comes from engine side. Are you worried that you have very good people behind you but all of them, the mainstream leadership of the team with no experience in Formula One?

    SV: No, I think we have the right people on board. I think obviously, yeah, it’s been a lot in the press, especially about our president and what he expects from us and so on…  I think first of all it’s good to see, as I’ve always said, that he’s involved. Obviously he’s pushing the team very hard, and also in Maranello, he spends a lot of time there. I think he knows what he’s talking about and generally has been trying to understand what’s going on, in the last year in particular. So, I think things are heading in the right direction. Obviously it’s a big change now, which doesn’t impact on tomorrow’s work but obviously for the future. No doubt about it but I think things are heading in the right direction. When you say that they didn’t have access, I think it’s not entirely true. Obviously I haven’t followed that close but in Maurizio’s case as well I think he’s been in Formula One and involved for a long time, so I think he knows the business very well and I think he’s doing a very, very good job. That’s how we all feel in the team. He’s our leader, he’s the team principal and we’re happy he’s with us.

    Q: (Sandor Van Es – Formula 1 Magazine, Netherlands)  Daniel, I have a question for you. Congratulations with your third in Hungary, your team-mate hinted that in the first part of the race he was a little bit held-up by you because he was driving like his grandma.

    DR: His grandma’s fast!

    How satisfying was it to finish clearly ahead of him and, related to that, how are you going to approach your little battle in the second part of the season?

    DR: Yeah, it’s part of… especially the early stages of the race, there’s always, a lot of the time, when there’s some tyre-saving, you always go through a phase where you try and make it to lap number X and sometimes the approach is to build up to it and make sure you get to that point, that you don’t throw yourself in a three-stop strategy, say, when you’re planning a two. So, from my side, at the start, I was just trying to do what I had to do. Try to hang with Nico and Lewis. It was sort of there – and then to the end of that stint they seemed to pull away but it seemed like my tyres had a bit more life at the end of the stint than perhaps Max’s did. Yeah, I don’t know if it was necessarily a shot at me, it was more, I think, as well, the way sometimes we have to manage the tyres. Especially at the start of the race with high fuel. You do have to be quite conservative and yeah, it doesn’t always feel that fast. I am impressed with the speed of his grandma. That’s pretty good.

    Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS.NL) For Sebastian and Daniel. What do you need to beat Mercedes on Sunday. Help from above or something else?

    SV: I think we both have the cars that we have and both of us are very happy. Obviously we’re missing a bit to really take it on to Mercedes in lap time. It’s been, on this type of track, probably around three-four tenths to seven-eight tenths per lap, which is a lot and obviously allows them to take it fairly easy but we will try to extract everything we can, try to do the best job possible and I think that way we enhance our chances to put them under most pressure. Then, I think, there’s always a lot of things that can happen. We’ve seen it in the past. That’s why we go racing. Otherwise, y’know, there’s no point for us being here.

    Daniel?

    DR: Yep, you always hope for some variables. I think all things even they’re clearly the quickest at the moment. Rain definitely helps us. We seem to be able to close the gap there, and also the rain, whether it suits our car more or not, it also opens up more opportunity for the driver to make a bit more of a difference. It’s easier to make mistakes with things like this. Even if they were quicker in a wet races there’s still more chances they might make a mistake, or whatever. So, yeah, otherwise, as Seb touched on, we’ve just got to try and do what we can do with what we’ve got. It if does open an opportunity, obviously Barcelona, on lap one, that opened an opportunity for everyone, these sort of things can still happen. It would be nice if we could beat them with them still on track. That would be, I think, more satisfying.

    Q: (Joe Van Burik – De Telegraaf) Another question for Seb and Daniel. Do you have faith F1 will change much with the new 2017 technical regulations.

    DR: Yeah. I’m confident the cars will be quicker, the cornering speeds will be quicker. I think that’s one thing which obviously we’re all going to be open to. If it does become a bit more physical – not that it’s not, I was sweating quite a lot after the race last weekend – I think more to just feel the car a bit more in the high-speed corners. I know our car is very strong in high-speed corners and I still feel like I want to do more, so I can imagine midfield teams, they’re not really experiencing a massive amount of gees and grip. So, looking at that, the wider tyres and more downforce, it should make that part a lot more fun. How much it’s going to change, I don’t know. I am having fun, as Formula One is now, but of course you can always improve things. Even if this improves one part of it, then that’s a positive.

    Q: (Graeme Keilloh – Grand Prix Times) Question for all of the drivers. We understand a decision about whether the Halo is to be introduced for next year is fairly imminent. Jolyon Palmer said earlier today that most drivers he talks to are against the halo but reluctant to say so. Do you all agree this is the case? That perhaps drivers aren’t expressing all of their concerns or drawbacks about it?

    Nico, why don’t you start with that one.

    NH: Yeah, I think there is some mixed opinions amongst the drivers. Some favour it, some don’t favour it. Obviously the aesthetics are not so good – it doesn’t look very attractive – and yes, in some cases it would probably have been better and saved lives. But as it is I think F1 is already pretty safe and we also need to keep an element there, of danger, to keep it exciting, to keep it spectacular – but it’s not in our hands, our decision, what’s going to happen with it. So, I think today there is a meeting about Halo. We’ll wait and here about that.

    Rio, what are your thoughts?

    RH: Same comments

    Pascal?

    PW: I’m for the halo, especially after the presentation we had last week in Budapest. I think it’s a very good solution and maybe it doesn’t look so nice but it can save our lives, I think – until 17 per cent – so I’m clearly for it.

    Felipe?

    FN: I’m in favour as well. I think it doesn’t look great, as everybody pretty much says a similar thing. On the other hand, safety being the priority, I would be in favour. I believe it’s, for now, with what we have, it’s something better. There can clearly be, as I said, in the priority list of safety, it can be improved, but there’s also to consider that people will have to get used to it, if it does happen. Because it looks very different.

    Daniel, your thoughts.

    DR: I think what people from the outside need to understand is that, when we say it’s going to make it safer, it will – but it doesn’t mean the risks we take are any less. So it will not change our approach to a corner, for me, as much as I understand it, it’s to help the freak accident, or to support the freak accident, or if something comes flying in the air to stop it hitting us on the head, as some incidents happen, and y’know, with last year as well with Indy. It’s purely just to, I’d say, get rid of that risk, which I think it will do a good job. For us getting behind the wheel and going flat out in Eau Rouge or something, it does not change if we’ve got the halo on or not. So, I think that’s what people from the outside who are against it, need to understand, that we’re not all just turning into… y’know… we’re still race car drivers, it’s just trying to eliminate that freak accident side of it.

    Sebastian?

    SV: I’m a bit surprised because it doesn’t sound as if we were clear about what we want in the future, so I’m a bit surprised about these comments and I think 90-95 per cent voted for it – so I don’t know why all of a sudden it comes up the way it does. I think it’s the wrong impression. As I think the majority in here said as well, we don’t like the looks of it but I don’t think there’s anything really that justifies death. So, I think we’ve always learned from what happened, incidences that happened on track, and we’ve always tried to improve. Now, that would be the first time I would think in human history that we’ve learned a lesson and we don’t change. I think it’s up to us to make sure it does happen, otherwise I think we’d be quite stupid.

    Q: (Daniele Sparisci – Corriere della Sera) Question to Seb. What do you expect from this race? A podium would be a good result for you here?

    SV: Yeah, I think the nature of the track should suit us probably a little bit more than last week. But having said so, our main rival for victory will still remain Mercedes so we try to line all of our ducks up so we can deliver the strongest Ferrari that we can. Of course it would be very nice for me to be on the podium. Racing at home I think is something very special and, in that way, to give a little bit back would be great. It depends on how the race unfolds: if there’s a chance to win and you don’t, you cannot be happy. But yeah, I think, if everything goes, let’s say, normal, we should be fairly competitive and should be aiming at a podium.

    Q: (Daniel Johnson – The Telegraph) Seb, on the halo, you said that you had a vote among the drivers. How do you feel about the fact that it’s something the teams are deciding on rather you. It would be in the FIA’s hands to just impose it but they’ve put it to a vote of the strategy group. Do you think that’s really fair on you guys?

    SV: I think ultimately the FIA can do what they want, because based on safety grounds, they can do what they want so I think the message is clear, I think the feedback from the drivers so far – apart from the odd one or two here and there – has been clear. I think it’s fairly clear.

    Q: (Walter Koster – Saarbrucker Zeitung) Nico, after your inter-mezzo with the Sauber team, you turned back to Force India in 2014. What is for you the main difference between your first time in Force India formerly and today? What has changed?

    NH: Well, I think obviously the team has grown and really become a more solid, stronger competitor since. When I initially joined the team in 2011 as a reserve driver and then 2012 I was there as a racing driver, and then when I came back in 2014, I think we’ve really made a good step. The team has employed a lot of good people, changed structures back at base at Silverstone and I think just taken a lot of good directions, made some good decisions and hired some right people and that usually then sets you up, puts you in the right direction and makes you competitive on the track. So I think all in all the team has matured and grown a lot in a very positive sense.

    Q: (Rzeczpospolita – Mikolaj Sokol ) To all gentlemen, after last weekend when you now see a double yellow flag, what will you do?

    SV: I don’t know, whatever comes up, spontaneously.  I was the car in front of Nico (Rosberg) and I lifted as well but maybe I lifted too much, I don’t know. What to say? I think double yellow is still… should be double caution and I think in the rulebook it says ‘prepare to stop’. I think after what happened last week, we shouldn’t change our mindset. I think it should still remain the same in terms of that you are aware that someone’s in trouble, marshals might be on the track to help him, whatever, so you should be aware of that and be prepared to lift. That’s it.

    Q: Daniel, do you still have some question marks about this after last week?

    DR: I voiced my comments in the post-race briefing. I couldn’t have done anything different. Fernando was still on the track so I was prepared to slow down a lot and that I had to because he was there. So yeah, for me, I even get thing when people go quicker on a single yellow. The double yellow, I think, has to be clearly… there has to be a difference between a single and a double. When I see a single, sure, I slow but I’m aware that there probably isn’t anyone on the track but when you see a double it’s a lot more of a stronger sign, at least for me, and yeah, you know there’s a bit more going on. I think it’s something we’re still going to talk about, discuss and make a bit more clear. There needs to be a big difference.

    PW: I think there will be a big meeting tomorrow and let’s see what’s the discussion and solution after that.

    NH: I will take some food and drink into that one, I think. It’s going to be long. Every double yellow, of course, means there is some danger and obviously we know (we have to) prepare to stop. Every case is different, though. It’s difficult also for Charlie (Whiting) and for those on the outside to judge. Obviously in that incident, if you come around turn eight in Hungary you look into turn nine so some cars saw Fernando sitting on the kerb there, so you know you have to lift, you’re forced (to) because he was right there on the ideal line and I think when Nico came he was clear and it was different so it’s difficult but yeah, we all definitely have to have great respect for yellow flags.

    FN: I agree on what the others are saying too. There has to be a clear message. Tomorrow, when we all sit down together, there has to be something that is really being followed by everyone, I guess. We don’t want to get in those doubts of the position there, well the car wasn’t there… It has to be something clear that we have to do and then everybody respects that.

    RH: I think a double yellow says you have to prepare to stop. I think tomorrow we will discuss things together and clarify the position to take from what happened two weeks ago.

    Q: Just for clarity, Sebastian, from a leadership point of view amongst the drivers, will that meeting tomorrow bring forward something that you will take to the FIA? What will happen?

    SV: Well, first of all we will see how the discussion goes but I assume it will be a bit longer, it won’t be dealt with in two minutes so I think we will have to wait and see.

    Q: But it would be some sort of protocol that you would all agree between you from then on. Is that the idea?

    SV: Well, to be honest, I think the difficulty is that with that, since we have the… again you could argue that modern technology didn’t do us a favour. Since we introduced the loops, the timing loops so that not just the sectors one, two and three but also in the individual sectors we have different loops and then there was a sort of guideline that if there was a single yellow waved flag you have to lift off by two tenths. If there’s a double yellow waved you have to lift off by five tenths but that was verbal, there’s no way (you will) find that in the rulebook and basically apply common sense. But then again the problem is that you leave it up to us and then where’s the limit, so you had a guy last weekend that arguably if a lot of other guys were in his shoes, we would maybe have done the same. He comes around the corner, sees the double yellow… first of all, comes around the corner, sees the track is clear, obviously then still has a shot at the rest of his lap, where do you draw the line? In the past it was probably more simple just because we didn’t have the ability with the loops, it was clear: sector two, in that case, if you go green or purple you abused the rule and yeah, in that sense it made it a lot easier for us in the car. Now you have to think about how much time you have to lose and so on and that, I think is what we need to discuss tomorrow and hopefully we will find a common agreement to move forwards.

    Q: (Barna Zsoldos – Nemzeti Sport) Nico, Sebastian and Daniel, a follow-up on the 2017 changes, Stoffel Vandoorne recently made some interesting remarks comparing SuperFormula and Formula One. He said that in SuperFormula the tyres are rock solid so he can push, it’s quite enjoyable but that’s why the racing is not exciting. Now, next year we will have more aerodynamics, grippier and bigger tyres. Don’t you agree that the same will happen with Formula One and what is more important for you: having fun in the car or providing a good show? Because it seems to be a controversy.

    DR: For me, the perfect or the ideal scenario would be to have something in qualifying with a lot of grip, that you can get the maximum out of the F1 car and push it to its limit and feel a real step but then yeah, the race, you don’t want it to go where it’s follow the leader and everyone’s going so quick and the braking points are too late and then you can’t overtake or anything so… I think the balance in racing hasn’t been too bad. I think the tyre deg and all that is not too bad. I think if we could just have that but with more grip like with quicker lap times but still the same rate of deg or whatever then I think that would still be a decent solution or outcome. So I think that’s what – looking at it – we probably will get, I think we will get just generally faster lap times but still the same amount of pit stops or whatever and hopefully in qualifying, we just get a bit more of a rush. Let’s see. I do believe it will go in the right direction, how much we achieve I’m not sure yet.

    NH: Yeah, not much more to add really. Obviously we’re going to go faster for sure but we will also still see deg in the race which then allows a good show and overtaking and wheel-to-wheel racing so I think for now we will go in a good direction.

    Q: Seb, to the gentleman’s point about it not just being about you guys having fun but also the wider show and spectacle.

    SV: Well, I think on that it needs to be real so I think now you can argue that obviously we all know how much faster our car could go if there was a fresher set of tyres on the car, less fuel in the car, that’s what is not so satisfying in the race. I think that’s the point that Stoffel made and also amongst us that he can push all the way through the race and that’s how, to be fair, Formula One has been some years ago and to what people refer when they say this was the best time, in the year 2000 through 2005. You didn’t see a lot of overtaking but if someone made it stick it was real and that generally got appreciated. Nowadays, we also have arguments whether there have been too many overtakings, whether some of the overtakings have been too easy and that’s where, I think, it sums it up, where we say it has to be real. If we enjoy it, I think the people enjoy it, our passion transfers also to the people in the grandstands and following it on the television. I think that has to be the target. Whether we will achieve it or not we have to wait and see.

    Q: (Ralf Bach – Autobild Motorsport) Question  also about flag-gate in Hungary: Lewis went to Charlie’s office to get a clarification and he called him later in the evening as well; why didn’t you do this?

    SV: Well, I think in that regard the rule is clear, in that if you read what it says under double waved yellow or yellow flag I think it’s clear. Obviously there was still the option to continue the lap which Nico did, fair enough to him and he made it stick and put the car on pole and then I think it means exactly that. What we are now all talking about is how much do you have to lift and every situation is different. I think we’re not too happy with that because there are certain inconsistencies there because then somebody has a different feeling or approach to somebody else. But to answer your question: I don’t know, I think to me it was clear what double waved yellow means so I didn’t feel that I had to go and ask.

    DR: Yeah, I guess the team… I made my thoughts clear to the team and left that with them to deal with so I know… I think they were on to Charlie as well and seeing what the outcome was going to be.

    PW: I don’t have Charlie’s number!

    NH: Not much to say.

    Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas) Sebastian, talking about flags. You have been complaining during the race on radio about the blue flags. How much does it need to make you complain about other drivers? Does it affect your driving? What can you say about that, about these things happening?

    SV: I think it’s emotions. I think in the race you want to… I was catching Daniel at the time, I believe, and yeah, it always feels that you’re losing more time than the guy in front which I don’t think is true and I have been in the other situation as well. It’s not easy, you know. The mirrors are small, you see the car coming and two or three corners later the car is a lot closer and maybe closer than you expect. Equally you’re racing someone, you’re doing your own race. Yeah, I think in that moment I was a bit emotional and complaining. After the race I was a lot more relaxed about it, maybe I got a bit tempted by Max in the last couple of races so I started to complain a lot about blue flags during the race. But yeah, i think we’re all trying to do our best and I think most of the guys most of the time do a very good job, especially because it’s not easy and it’s not a nice position to be in. I think we all come from a racing background where we were not used to seeing blue flags and especially not used to moving over so it is a pain but people are doing what they can.

  • F1 2016: Hungarian Gp Review – Lewis Hamilton, Hungaro-King

    F1 2016: Hungarian Gp Review – Lewis Hamilton, Hungaro-King

    The Hungarian grand prix marked the theoretical mid point of the 2016 season. Yet, after ten races a singular point was all that divided Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton in the championship fight.

    Throughout the weekend’s practice sessions and qualifying it was Rosberg who looked most comfortable. But it wasn’t long before Hamilton got the drop on his pole-starting teammate and seized the lead of the race. Although it was not as dominant a drive from Hamilton he always maintained a big enough gap to Rosberg to ensure his fifth win around the Hungaroring.

    The Silver Arrows held a distinct pace advantage over the rest and were hardly challenged by third placed Daniel Ricciardo. The Red Bull driver threatened Rosberg’s second place by momentarily closing the gap to 4.5 seconds in the second half of the race but couldn’t make any further impression.

    The embattled Ferrari’s ran better in race trim but still fell short of reaching the podium. Sebastian Vettel, who started fifth, closed to within half a second of Ricciardo as the race drew to its ends but was unable to overtake on the notoriously difficult Hungaroring.

    GP UNGHERIA F1/2016Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen were embroiled in a fight for fifth towards the end of the race. Verstappen managed to hold off Raikkonen who started 14th after a timing error on Saturday. However, the manner in which Verstappen defended his position was questionable, at best. In trying to keep Raikkonen at bay Verstappen changed direction twice which is prohibited under FIA regulations. While stewards saw no cause for investigation the young Red Bull driver’s actions was met with scorn on social media.  Raikkonen eventually brought the Ferrari home in sixth and set the fastest lap of the race.

    Although a fair distance adrift Fernando Alonso scored some points for the McLaren in a legitimate seventh place ahead Carlos Sainz in the Toro Rosso and the Williams of Valterri Bottas. The final point went to a rather anonymous Nico Hulkenberg as the only retirement of the day came in the form of a Jenson Button whose McLaren suffered an oil leak.

    Lewis Hamilton landed a hammer blow as he not only secured a fifth win at the Hungaroring but with it took over the lead in the driver’s championship. By successfully overcoming a 43 point deficit it also strikes a significant psychological blow to Nico Rosberg. Remarkably, the battle for championship glory is far from over and has all the possibility of turning on its head once more as ten races still remain on the 2016 calendar.

    (All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport)

  • 2016 Hungarian Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

    2016 Hungarian Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    2 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

    3 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by Kai Ebel)

    Congratulations Lewis, you are the leader of the world championship right now, was it due to a tailor-made start, man?

    Lewis HAMILTON: Well, firstly a big thank you to all the fans here, they’ve been amazing this weekend. It’s because of these guys that this race is so spectacular. We always have such a great time here, the track is great, the city is great, but the fans really make the event, so big, big thank you. With the race, yeah the start was everything. I got a good start… I mean I had one of the Red Bulls was on the inside of me, so I was pressured quite a lot into Turn One. But the team did a fantastic job with the strategy, preparing the car as always, the guys back at the factory continuing to push flat out, so a huge thank you to them, because this is a great result as a team, so yeah, what a day!

    There was a crucial situation in between when the lap Gutierrez was blocking you a little bit, so I guess he’s not the next to be invited on one of your sailing trips?

    LH: No, it’s good. But definitely traffic today was difficult to navigate through but… love you guys!

    Coming to you Nico, even you had a fantastic start but just not good enough. Big question mark?

    Nico ROSBERG: Yeah, it was down to the start in the end. I lost out a little bit and then into Turn One, with Daniel on the outside, Lewis on the inside, I ran out of space, so I had to bail out of it. That was it really. I was happy to take Daniel back in Turn Two and from then I was trying to put all the pressure possible on Lewis but of course it’s not possible to pass on this track.

    So is it some kind of good news maybe that the next race is already on next Sunday in Germany on your home turf, you can hit back?

    NR: That sounds very good. The next race is coming up very quickly, it’s my home race and that’s going to be awesome.

    Coming over to Dan Ric. Dan, you are familiar to this podium here. They all know you, you have been here a couple of times. So was this third position enough to get the famous Dan Ric smile back on you face?

    Daniel RICCIARDO: Absolutely. If that noise doesn’t, I don’t know what does. Yeah, thank you guys. It’s great to have another podium this year. Obviously the first one was a bit bittersweet but this one I can definitely enjoy and for sure the smile’s back. Super happy to be here today. It’s three years in a row I’ve been on the podium at this circuit. It’s been good to me and as Lewis said the fans are amazing, so thanks to everyone. Thanks to the team, we are continually getting better, so that’s great, and yeah, I’m having fun.

    Coming back to Lewis, you guys are battling each other on the track but I know you are working out as well as Danny in the boxing business. So how about a charity match between Daniel and you in the paddock. You both work out at boxing, so would that  be another idea, not only battling on track but in the squared circle?

    LH: You never really have very good ideas, do you, so I’ll leave you to your ideas. But, to the man in the orang suit! Ha! Some of my best friends out here, thank you so much for coming and lastly to the fans: thank you all for coming out and we’ll see you next year!

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Lewis, many congratulations. You’re now the most successful driver here at the Hungaroring, surpassing Michael Schumacher. What does that statistic mean to you and how does this victory compare to the four that came before at this racetrack.

    LH: It’s pretty incredible to hear those words and to… especially when you think I grew up watching Michael so to now have had similar, if not one more, than he had here, is just incredible. But, y’know, I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the great people I’ve worked with, both at McLaren-Mercedes and now here. It’s a result of great work from such a large group of people. I’m really just a chink in the chain. I love it here. I hope there’s more to come before I stop. Yeah, it was not the easiest grand prix I’ve had here in the ten years, nine, ten years – but definitely one I enjoyed. And a great battle between the three of us.

    Q: Nico, it seems that so much was won and lost in the opening ten seconds of this race. Could you just talk us through what happened?

    NR: For sure, yeah, the race was decided there. My start was OK but slightly down on Lewis’ start and Daniel also, ever so slightly. And then Daniel obviously got a tow and Lewis had the inside line. Just lost out there into Turn One. Got a bit tight between the two of them also so had to back out and then, OK, I was glad to at least get back second place from Daniel in Turn Two, that was cool, around the outside – but lost the win there.

    Q: Daniel, moving onto you, it was a very close battle with Sebastian Vettel at the end of the race. Are you pleased to have beaten Ferrari or disappointed not to have challenged Mercedes harder this afternoon?

    DR: I’m pleased with the podium. Obviously we got close at the start and tried around the outside of Turn One and I couldn’t really see I think at the time Lewis, when Lewis and Nico were in my blind spot, so at the apex of Turn One I thought I was in the lead and then saw one of the Mercedes sneak up on the exit. And then, yeah, into Turn Two, I was just on the inside and Nico had a clear run and got better drive. I think the first part of the race we looked quite competitive. But then yeah, it looked like Mercedes had a bit more in their back pocket and were able to improve the pace as the race went on. In the end the fight was then with Sebastian. It got pretty close at the end; did quite a long stint on those tyres. It wasn’t easy. The last lap, I’m sure he had DRS and, at least in my mirrors, it looked like he got quite close in Turn One. So, yeah, bit of a fight. So it was a bit of a relief actually coming across and keeping third.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: Barna Zsoldis – Nemzeti Sport) Lewis, you mentioned many times that you love it here, so do you plan some celebration in Budapest maybe?

    LH: I do. I definitely will go and have a nice meal in town and see what the nightlife has to offer but obviously we race next week so nothing too heavy. And then I might go and spend the day sightseeing tomorrow before I head back to the UK.

    Q: (Peter Vamosi – Vas Nepe) Lewis and to others, Lewis you are a fashion addict, how do you like the new dresses of the Hungarian grid girls?

    LH: I like it very much, actually. I think they looked amazing. It’s not always that we have the best grid girls or outfits, should I say. This year it worked well and for some reason, Hungary just has an abundance of beautiful women. It’s perfect for us, we’re single, not so much for Nico but really enjoyed it.

    DR: He (Nico) has to be careful what he says! Yup, they looked great. It’s hard, it’s hard for us obviously, you know that Sunday we’re focused on the race and the task ahead but it would be nice if we raced on Saturdays and then had Saturday evening to explore the city a bit more.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Lewis, it looks like you controlled the race as you wanted. The moment Nico approached you, suddenly in one lap you could increase the gap easily.

    LH: Compared to practice we knew that the temperature was a lot higher. I think it was 43 degrees track temperature in practice and today was about 53. It’s an unknown how long these tyres are really going to last. We have a target which need to get to so once I got into the lead, I was able to just manage my tyres, my car and manage the gap and react only when I needed to. For sure, I think the backmarkers caused a little bit of trouble towards the end but generally I was able to keep the buffer to the right amount. There was one moment… I was thinking… the whole race I was thinking, this has been great, I’ve not made any mistakes and in one moment… I can’t remember if I was behind someone but I locked up one or two front wheels and I went slightly wide and Nico then was all of a sudden on my tail which wasn’t exactly a moment… but then after that  it was just head down and increase that lead.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Daniel, I realise you don’t have a crystal ball but if you’d taken the lead of the race at the start, would it have been possible to keep it?

    DR: I think for a part of the race, sure. You know there were moments when we looked competitive compared to Mercedes. I think once the first stint settled, they had a bit more pace than us but at the start of the second stint with the soft (tyres) we seemed really competitive but in the end it looked like Mercedes were just doing what they needed to do and then it felt like their pace got stronger and stronger. Little parts of the race where we thought we were  quick enough but I think as the stints got on then they were able to keep a bit more pace. Probably wouldn’t have lasted the 70 laps if I had the lead at the start but yeah, what if? I don’t know.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Lewis, in yesterday’s Mercedes team press conference, your session, you said that you’d asked for urgent clarification of the double yellow flag ruling, regulation. In fact your words were ‘it just needs to be clarified now.’ About an hour later, Nico got called to the stewards. Do you believe that you influenced it in any way, did you contact anybody or was it purely coincidental that Nico was called in an hour after you made that comment?

    LH: Well the stewards needs to come up with some kind of solution because it is… the whole 23 years of racing, it has been ‘if it’s yellow flag, you slow down’ and if it’s double yellow flag, you be prepared to stop and Nico was doing the same speed at the apex as I was doing on the previous timed lap. If there happened to be a car that was spun or a marshal on the track, it would have been pretty hard for him to have slowed down in that case, so that’s why… and the fact that he didn’t get penalised for it means that we need to be careful because the message we’re sending not only to the drivers here but also to the drivers in the lower categories is that it’s now possible for you to lose only one tenth of a second in a double waved yellow flag section which is the most dangerous – one of the most dangerous scenarios with the double yellow flags. They need to clear that up because before it was two tenths that you were meant to lose with one yellow flag and half a second with two yellow flags. It wasn’t the case yesterday and there was no penalty, so going into the next race, we could be battling for pole position and we see double yellow flags and we know we only have to do a small lift and lose one tenth of a second and we’ll be fine and go purple in the sector. So that’s why it does need to be clarified and I’m sure Charlie and the stewards are going to do so because it needs to be clear.

    NR: Can I respond? Thank you very much. Thank you for making that statement, so now I’m going to put my response. What you have to do with a double yellow is significantly reduce your speed and make sure you go safe. I went twenty kilometres per hour slower into that corner, twenty kilometres per hour is a different world in an F1 car. Twenty kilometres per hour, you are going proper slow. It’s completely… everything is safe. That’s how I did my speed and lifted off thirty meters before my braking point, so I was just rolling there, twenty kilometres per hour slower until I got to the apex. Then of course when you’re in the apex, I would have a much tighter line because I went in slow and then so I could accelerate out again. So definitely I significantly reduced my speed and that’s what it says you need to do and that’s why for the stewards that was completely acceptable. It was very very obvious what I did, very clear and of course on a drying track you’re going to get massively faster every lap. It’s not like the track was consistent. On a drying track, it’s irrelevant what the sector time was because you’re going to get so much quicker every time you go out there because there’s wet patches and when they dry, you just go so much quicker. And so in that segment, I was slower, where there was the yellow flag but of course in the big sector, yeah, I’m quicker because the track is getting quicker and I’m pushing in all the other corners. So it was a pretty clear case for the stewards and that’s why I didn’t get any penalty.

    Q: Daniel, can we just get your thoughts on what happened in qualifying yesterday?

    DR: Yeah. With that incident? Yeah, for me, I think at least the principle, whether it was the situation yesterday or not but I think Lewis touched on the principle. It’s something which we’ve actually been wanting to probably discuss further for a long time or quantify because a single yellow, people are getting away with a micro lift and showing the stewards that look, I slowed down where you’re not really. But a double yellow is a significant… it’s a big risk on the track, perhaps and in my case, Fernando was still at the apex, pointing towards us on the racing line so I had no choice but obviously ,looking at the double yellows before that, it’s a little bit blind so already I was willing to drastically slow down, I guess. I think the double yellow needs to be very different to the single yellow and I think that’s what we’re not too pleased with at the moment.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Nico, sorry to ask you but it was impossible not to notice that you were drinking a lot. Was it because maybe your drinking system failed in the car or was it a particularly hard race physically, and is it fair to say and also to Lewis and Daniel, that this is one of the hardest because it’s so hot, there are so many corners, you cannot really rest?

    NR: Definitely it’s a difficult race, it’s very hot out there, but I’m just thirsty, because we sweat a lot and it’s nice to drink this good stuff and that’s it, nothing more than that. My drink system was working fine.

    DR: Yeah, it was definitely hot, I’m still sweating. We don’t have a whole lot of liquid in the car. You could drink probably four litres during the race if you had it, so sure, we’re hydrating a lot after the race, a) because we’re thirsty and b) because it helps, I think, with recovery. But also this track has always been physical, because there’s not much rest. Obviously you’ve got the one main straight but after that it’s a lot of corners  and you keep very busy. It’s probably top three on the calendar, I would say, for most physical circuit.

    Q: Faster lap times this year, did that impact on the physicality of the race?

    LH: Not really. It’s always hot here, it’s always physical but today wasn’t actually the most physical I’ve had here. I’m sure next year will be.

    Q: (Sandor Meszaros – Kelet Magyaroroszag) Nico, for the first time this season, Lewis is the leader of the championship. How do you see the rest of your campaign?

    NR: Well, it’s very close. It’s been a good season so far up to now, it’s been a good battle with Lewis and as I’ve always said, I’m not counting the points, there’s still a long long way to go. Everything’s still possible and I just want to focus on winning races, that’s what I wanted to do today, I had my full focus on that, it didn’t work out unfortunately, just losing out in turn one and now I move my focus to Hockenheim, because it’s my home race and I’m really looking forward to going there, racing there.  I love the track and so I’m going to try and win there.

    Q: (Istvan Simon – Auto Magazin) Daniel, during the podium interview you referred that the smile, the famous grin is back on your face. Is it due to the fact that you more or less managed to keep in touch with those guys in the silver cars, here in this physical race or more, due to the fact that you’ve managed to beat your teammate Max for the first time since Azerbaijan?

    DR: Yeah, for me it was, I think for quite a few races, I think the qualifying generally has still been really strong. The Saturdays, I’ve put them together well but the Sundays, whether it was circumstances, bad luck or just not being quick enough, haven’t really felt like I’d get the most out of a Sunday. With Barcelona and Monaco which was so close and then it just felt like… I wouldn’t say, it looked like momentum, sort of swings a bit, but just the way racing goes. It was just nice to… I feel from Friday onwards until the last lap today, I got the most out of it, so I’m more pleased with that this weekend, to leave Sunday feeling happy again and knowing that I got everything I could out of the car and package and it’s nice to be rewarded with champagne and a very nice trophy here.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action) Daniel, you came in for your stop on lap 33, way before anybody else. Why so early and how difficult was it to keep the tyres alive for so long?

    DR: Yeah, at the time we looked quite competitive to Mercedes. I think I was closing on them a few tenths a lap and basically, yeah, we were looking to maybe… we thought perhaps they were struggling, so we thought we’d try and just be aggressive and try and get closer to them, basically, if they were going to pit very soon. And also, I think Seb wasn’t too far behind but I think it was more trying to fight for the win at that time, as opposed to defending, I think, what was happening behind us. That was pretty much that, but then once we pitted, it looked like they just turned up the volume, unfortunately.

    Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas) Lewis, we know how much you like music. I would love to know, at this moment in your life, on the top of the wave, as you said two days ago, what is the song which describes this moment in your life?

    LH: Right now I need to go the toilet so… It’s killing me, it’s something else! I don’t know. The song that was playing in my head today was LL Cool J, Mama Said Knock You Out. OK, can I go?

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

    2016 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix: Post Qualifying Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

    2 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    3 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

    TV UNILATERAL

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    PRESS CONFERENCE

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

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

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

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

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

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

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Lewis, anything to add?

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

    Daniel, your thoughts.

    DR: They’ve said it, yeah.

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

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

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

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

    And Daniel?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    And Lewis, your thoughts on Q1.

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

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

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

    Lewis?

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

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

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

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

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

    Lewis, anything to add? Track limits.

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

    Daniel?

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

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

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

    Did you have any problem?

    DR: No, it was all good.

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

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

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

    NR: How do you know that?

    I can feel it

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • F1 2016: Hungarian Gp Preview – Three-Way Battle Around The Ring

    F1 2016: Hungarian Gp Preview – Three-Way Battle Around The Ring

    When the FIA announced a 21-race calendar for the 2016 it’s likely that few really took notice of what this actually meant. As the paddock heads to the Hungaroring in Budapest, Hungary for the 11th round it will, astonishingly, only reach the halfway mark of the season on lap 35 of the race.

    The 70 laps of the Hungaroring are akin to a street circuit thanks to its tight and twisting layout. The second sector especially highlights the flowing nature of the circuit, as it comprises eight medium to high speed flowing turns that demand absolute precision.

    The price for its kart-like layout and lack of straits is that overtaking opportunities are not obvious or abundant. The most predictable overtaking opportunity is an out-braking maneuver into turn one.

    The top two teams in the championship are split on tyre strategy. Pirelli is bringing the white-walled medium, yellow-walled soft, and red-walled supersoft tyre compounds to the race. Ferrari has loaded up on nine sets of supersoft tyres each for Raikkonen and Vettel while Mercedes have opted for eight sets of the softest tyre for Rosberg and Hamilton. The Hungaroring is a circuit that is notoriously low on grip for which the supersoft tyre is ideal.

    Daniel Ricciardo_Monaco 2016The Red Bull team are primed for a good weekend in Hungary. The improved Renault power unit is not quite to the standard of Mercedes and Ferrari but it’s not far off. But they do excel in the aerodynamic department and with a better power unit than ever bolted to the back of the Red Bull and the tight and twisting nature of the Hungaroring Christian Horner and his team can be more than bullish about their chances, pun intended.

    The inter-team rivalry between Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen will be especially interesting to note this weekend. In their six races, so far, as teammates Verstappen has scored 77 points to Ricciardo’s 64 points. But the Hungarian grand prix will be a big test for the Verstappen vs. Ricciardo battle.

    Ricciardo has an affinity for the tight and twisty circuits as he has proved on several occasions including earlier this year in Monaco. The Aussie knows his way around the Hungaroring too as it was here, in 2014, that he pulled off several magnificent overtaking moves to win a memorable race. This will be a good indicator of how Verstappen is progressing. “I have to up my game compared to where I was before in Toro Rosso because he [Ricciardo] is very quick,” said Verstappen.

    Ferrari-SF15-T-Jerez-01It should be a better weekend for Ferrari too. As it stands Kimi Raikkonen currently sits third in the championship with 106 points while teammate Sebastian Vettel is fifth on 98 points. However, the team experienced their worst race weekend, in terms of performance, at Silverstone. But Raikkonen believes that the team’s struggles in Britain were a once off. The biggest issue, which plagued Ferrari at the last race weekend, was the cooler weather. It’s a well-documented fact that both drivers struggle to get the front tyres to the correct operating temperature in cool condition. This shouldn’t be an issue this weekend as the Hungarian grand prix weekend in hot summer conditions.

    But while Red Bull and Ferrari are likely to be in better shape for Hungary the ever-dominant Mercedes will still be lurking. The qualifying pace advantage will be a big asset around a circuit where overtaking is difficult. Nevertheless, while the two Silver Arrows are in prime form they should, and likely will, face stiff competition for the top step of the podium in Hungary.

  • F1 2016: British Gp Review – Hamilton Scores 4th Home Win

    F1 2016: British Gp Review – Hamilton Scores 4th Home Win

    The notoriously unpredictable British weather was surprisingly docile right up until ten minutes before the race start.

    As the rain came down on the Silverstone circuit race director Charlie Whiting declared that it would start behind the safety car. Although safety is of paramount importance the safety-car start deprived everyone of the battle, into turn one, between the front-row starting Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

    The safety-car pulled into the pitlane after five laps most of the field switched to intermediate tyres while Hamilton continued to build a gap to second-placed Rosberg. Hamilton, Rosberg and the two Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo had not swopped their wet tyres for intermediates. They would have been at a disadvantage to those behind was it not for Pascal Wehrlein aquaplaned his Manor into the gravel trap and out of the race on lap seven and brought out the virtual safety-car.

    As the race settled after the first round of stops Hamilton comfortably led the way from his teammate. On occasion Rosberg threatened to close the gap to Hamilton but never follow through. He also had to deal with a spirited Max Verstappen snapping at his heels. After a few laps of hounding Rosberg’s gearbox the 18 year-old pulled off a stunningly brave move around the outside of Chapel to take second place. The season still has some way to go but this overtaking move will take some beating.

    GP GRAN BRETAGNA F1/2016As the circuit continued to dry the next round of stops saw everyone switch to dry medium compound tyres. Behind Hamilton, Rosberg, and Verstappen Daniel Ricciardo was running a very distant fourth with Sergio Perez and Kimi Raikkonen even further behind. Despite no rain falling the circuit was slow to dry and several drivers including race leader Hamilton had several off track moments.

    Though it would take some time Rosberg eventually found a way by Verstappen. He closed the gap to Hamilton from eight to six seconds but never truly looked likely to threaten the lead of the race.

    Hamilton masterful in wet condition just as in 2008, which to date it arguably his best grand prix win. While Ricciardo drove an uninspiring race to fourth Ferrari’s newly re-signed Kimi Raikkonen was able to close down a substantial gap to Perez for fifth. Perez finished sixth ahead of Force India teammate Nico Hulkenberg in seventh and Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz in eighth. Sebastian Vettel completed a miserable day for Ferrari in ninth. The German driver started the race in eleventh after suffering yet another five-place gearbox penalty. Though there was nothing deliberate about it he was slapped with a 5-second penalty for forcing Felipe Massa off the tack. The penalty didn’t affect his final position in the race. The second Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat scored the final point in tenth.

    GP GRAN BRETAGNA F1/2016Controversy enveloped the Mercedes team as Rosberg ran into gearbox problems late in the race. The pitwall gave instruction on which setting to change and coached Rosberg to shift through seventh gear. By telling the driver to shift through the gear the team breached the driver communication rule, which prohibits the team from giving instructions to fix a performance issue. Nearly four hours after the race the stewards imposed a ten-second penalty on Rosberg, which dropped him to third in the race classification. Mercedes has stated their intent to appeal the decision.

    A new precedent was set as it’s the first instance where a penalty had to be imposed for the breach of driver communication rules. However, a ten-second penalty isn’t much of a deterrent if the alternative is retirement.

    Nico Rosberg started the season with four consecutive wins but has only claimed victory in one of the last six races. Add to this that a fourth win on home soil has put Hamilton only one point adrift of the championship lead and it appears as if the Brit is gaining an ominous momentum.

    (All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport)

  • 2016 Formula 1 British Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

    2016 Formula 1 British Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
    2 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)
    3 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)

     

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by Mark Webber)

    Lewis, please…
    Lewis HAMILTON: How are you going? How you guys doing? You good? I don’t know if you guys can be as happy as me. I’m really happy. I’m so grateful. Thank you so much for all coming out today. We’ve got the best fans here. Thank you so much.

    Your 47th career victory, now equaling Nigel Mansell here too with four wins at Silverstone, three on the bounce. How did you make it looks so easy? Tricky start, very, very wet, lot of aquaplaning and then some tricky decisions to make on the tyres, so run the fans through how the race was for you today?
    LH: Well, firstly I’m glad that the good English weather came out. We went out and did the formation lap and it was dry and then all of a sudden it rained and it was so tricky in those conditions. It was drying pretty quickly but obviously when we started the race I was the first to really have to attack it. So trying not to make any mistakes was difficult for all of us. But that’s what I love about this race, because it’s never just plain, smooth sailing. There are always these things that just happen through the race that make it spectacular, that’s why the British Grand Prix is the best grand prix we have. Plus, look at these guys, you don’t see this anywhere around the world. And you don’t hear a lot of booing, which means we’ve got good British spirit here.

    That’s right, yeah. We’ve got 100,000 people here, so I’m just going to jump across to Nico. Nico, today… c’mon guys, he fought valiantly, he did what he could. I think tricky race at the start there. How did you feel? A bit like Monaco, you didn’t seem to be quite in the groove there when it was tricky at the start and then obviously the race slipped away. A small error with Max, getting the move done there, and then the gearbox as well, so run us through that.
    Nico ROSBERG: Yeah, so it was a bit of a trick start of course. Max got me and then it was an exciting race against him. I managed to get him around the outside, which I was so happy about. And then, yeah, just congrats to Lewis, he did a great job this weekend and I just couldn’t reach him, no way. So that’s it, second place, which I have to live with today.

    Great job Nico. Let’s go across to this young guy, who is making… yes, that’s right, Nico, well done, mate, sensational. That’s what motorsport is all about. Hey [Max], you just passed your dad, you’ve got three podiums. Have you ever experienced anything like this before and what was the race like for you – incredible drive?
    Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, it was amazing. First of all, just look at the fans; they are great. From there on, the race was very exciting, very tricky at the beginning, I managed to get past Nico and even at the end of the stint I was catching up to Lewis. I think I stopped one lap too late, but from there on I just did my own race. Unfortunately Nico got past but then we still had great [ace, I could still see the top two. In the end I just have to thank Red Bull for giving me such a great car, I think they deserve a lot of credit here.

    Absolutely; phenomenal drive. Enjoy the champagne here; you’re just legal that you can have a drink. Lewis, four points off this fellow here, mate. You’ve both been having some phenomenal runs in terms of performance but a bit of reliability creeping in. Nico had some issues today, which definitely didn’t cost him a race win, but both of you have had some ups and downs with reliability. You’ve still got a long way to go with engines, but four points, closing the gap and Budapest is a track which I’ve seen you fly around that joint mate, so looking forward to that?
    LH: I love it there. I’m working hard. I did everything I could in that race to try and save this engine, as obviously I’m on my last one. So I made it go as long as possible and I saved it for quite a long period of time. I just want to say a big thank you to everyone here. I hope that you continue to keep your fingers crossed. I’m catching him, so let’s keep going.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Nico, obviously you had an issue with your gearbox at one point. There was a radio message from the team instructing you how to fix it. We understand that’s with the stewards now. Can you tell us your side of the story and how confident are you that what you were told was within the rules?
    NR: It was a very critical problem. I was stuck in seventh gear and I was about to stop on track, so they told me “change default” and try and fix it.

    And you are confident it’s within the rules?
    NR: Yes.

    Lewis Hamilton, our British Grand Prix winner, for the fourth time in your career. Here you are again, soaking it all in, the adulation of the crowds – crowdsurfing even, a great moment there. How much did they lift you today and also was there just that one moment, when you went off at Abbey? You weren’t the only one to do that, but that was the only moment when you had your heart in your mouth or was it generally quite a tricky afternoon?
    LH: That was definitely the only moment. It was quite a big moment. But ever since 2007 I’ve felt this incredible energy from these fans here, the best fans in the world, without a doubt, and the best crowd we have anywhere. I really feel like I’ve grown with them over the years and obviously, naturally, when you have success that speeds up the bond, that connection you have, but, yeah, they really do make a huge difference. Every time… when it was wet, every time I made it through certain corners I could see in the corner of my eye the fans right there with me. And obviously the last few laps I could see them, every time, every year, and every time I came through Brooklands, Turn 7, I can see them up shouting and that just spurred me on all the way. So a huge thank you to them. I’m very honoured and it’s a very humbling experience to be here in this sport, particularly in a time of difficulty in the world, and to see so much love out there. I think when you see… there are people out there from all walks, from all different places, poor, wealthy, going through difficult times, and on this day we come together and I think that’s as beautiful thing and I hope people see this on TV and I hope they tell their friends and they feel that to.

    Q: Nico, let’s drill down a little bit into the battle with Max. The two battles with Max: the one at the beginning of the race and the one at the end of the race.  He got you early on, you got him back later on. Tell us about those from your point of view.
    NR: Yeah, it was a cool fight. On the Inters not so much of a fight, it was done pretty quickly and then on dry, yeah it was great. You’re playing around with your ERS deployment, I’m trying to get him to empty his battery so that then I can have a good shot – but then when his was empty mine was empty too. So that didn’t work! At times I was doubting, ‘am I going to make this happen or not?’ And then it worked out really well though in the end. He did a good job, defending and everything. It was cool.

    And from your point of view Max, you said here yesterday, 24 hours ago, you’d be happy if you could be sitting here today in the same position – but you came pretty close to sitting one place further up – and who knows after the stewards have finished today you may be sitting one place further up. Tell us about the pass first of all into Becketts.
    MV: I think in general, first of all, on the Intermediates we had good pace but in the beginning I was struggling to have visibility because of the spray, especially in the first sector. I couldn’t really keep up because I couldn’t see where I was going! But once that cleared a bit I could push. I got past Nico around the outside, car had a lot of grip so you can make that move and from there on the pace was good. You don’t want to switch too early on a slick tyres so, yeah, that I had one guy in front of me, got blue flags but I could clearly see slick tyre was faster now. I pitted, maybe one lap too late but you just take it a bit safe and from there on the pace was pretty good. Lewis was not pulling away too much and from there on, yeah, Nico was pushing hard, giving me a hard time and we had some good fights into Stowe. At one point we were struggling a bit of course on the straights but he pulled off a great move around the outside and from there on I was just doing my own race. I had no pressure from behind, it was a very big gap. Soon I heard Nico had a problem. I tried to get past and tried to close the gap but once you get in the dirty air it’s difficult to get even closer on this track. I think in general we can be happy. We finished only eight seconds behind or something. I think in general the car was working really well the whole weekend so I have to say thank you to the team for giving me such a great car the whole weekend.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Mike Doodson – Auto Action) Congratulations Lewis, whoever knew Silverstone had a mosh-pit? We knew how fond you are of the perpetual trophy and you threw it around up there as if you already owned it permanently. Is there room in your place back at Monaco for a full-size replica?
    LH: Well I was taking care up there – I wouldn’t want to drop that thing! I don’t even know if I have a replica, I can’t remember, if I’m honest. My Dad has all my trophies so I don’t have a lot of space – but there’s definitely space for at least that one at home as it is such a special trophy. I’m so proud to… I remember the first time that I got to stand up there with it in 2008 and the feeling today is just as great, if not actually greater – because I’m able to appreciate it more I guess, with age and the hard work that goes on around. I guess more understanding of the world in a way. Yeah. It’s my gold trophy, my gold medal. Very, very proud.

    Q: Lennart Wermke –  Bild) Question for all three of you: was it really necessary to start the race behind the safety car? What do you think?
    NR: Yes. For sure. Because there was some big, big rivers in places, so it’s important to let us have a look at least where they are before getting going.

    Max?
    MV: yes, I think so. Especially on the main straight there was quite a lot of water but maybe it was a bit too long. I was ready to race after maybe two laps.

    Lewis, we had a radio message from you saying you thought it was ready to go. You called to Charlie to release the cars
    LH: I personally start we could have started on the grid – but for sure there were patches  all over the place  and it would have been tricky – but that’s what motor racing’s about. But then we did stay for sure out far too long. It was pretty much intermediates by the time we let us go. It was pretty much intermediates by the time they let us go, so… but it would have been fun. It was easily just as wet, if not… there was more water on the track when we started in 2008 when we started from the grid, that’s why I say that.

    Q: (Sean McGreevy – CSMA) I asked you this question on Thursday – but now you’ve actually won. So you’re the most successful British F1 driver at Silverstone with four wins, the first to win three consecutive F1 GPs at Silverstone. You’re tearing up the record books today – so how do you feel about making more F1 history?
    LH: I think I’m just going to have to sit on it and try to let it sink in because it’s just so strange. It’s very, very surreal to think that I’m here and I just saw Nigel in the corridor there and he said “welcome to the club”. It’s just crazy to think that I’m up there with them. I know whilst I’m here – and I’ve been here for a while – I should just be used it or it shouldn’t be so surreal – but it just is. I think it’s because it’s that special and I’m incredibly proud. It’s crazy to think that, if I was to stop tomorrow, that will remain for some time. I will still be able to come back in many, many years, way beyond my driving experience and come and experience this great crowd and always be accepted. It’s an amazing feeling.

    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Three very quick questions if I may: nearly out-braked the Safety Car into Copse I think, if you could talk about that; secondly, sector one didn’t appear to be your strongest sector when you were in a defence mode – if that’s that right way of phrasing it, I don’t know if you were just cruising at that point but then you had that big moment on Lap 27, perhaps we could hear about that… and finally Massa holding you up.
    LH: I’m not going to remember all three. The Safety Car, I’d glazed my rear brakes and they were really low on temperature so I was trying to pick them up. The Safety Car’s so slow, you can’t imagine. I’m sure he’s going as fast as possible but our car is so fast that… and you can’t see really that well even behind the Safety Car. There’s a lot of spray but yeah, I braked and the thing wasn’t stopping. So I nearly hit the Safety Car. It’s a first. Fortunately I didn’t. And then after that, in the first sector, I was never in defence mode. At the beginning just taking it easy. I had quite an over-steering car so just took it easy through the first part, and the second, I knew I was quicker in the second and third sector so I utilised the time there. And then I had that over-steer moment and after that I continued to take my time. If there was any point I needed to pick up the pace, there was plenty of pace in that first sector for me to have picked up. With Massa, he just came out on new tyres. We were obviously doing a long stretch on tyres. However I’m pacing at the same pace as him and within a second or two. It’s like these two racing each other: whoever’s being was in dirty air, and he wasn’t particularly racing anyone in front of him but I think he got a lot of blue flags and after God-knows how many blue flags he decided to pull aside. If you notice, after that my pace picked up almost a second. So, it’s crazy how big a difference it does make.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Almost every driver went off at turn one. What was the particular problem there because obviously you made it on some laps and some not? Was there a patch of water, did you change the line on that lap when it happened?
    MV: Yeah, I had a few moments. No, it’s very difficult because I think when everybody touched the water sometimes the spray goes to the left so you just approach it exactly the same way but suddenly you pick up a little bit of water on the tyre and you just slide off. I think Lewis went off and I went off on the same lap so I think because of the spray it comes onto the normal racing line and then you have a bit of a moment when you have to go off.
    NR: Early on in the race, because there were just rivers but afterwards on slicks it was difficult because there were still wet patches.

    Q: (Don Kennedy – Hawke’s Bay Today) Lewis, we heard about you setting new records in Formula One; I think we can probably now include the first F1 driver to go crowd-surfing. Was that planned and if not, what are you planning to do tonight to celebrate this fourth win?
    LH: That wasn’t planned, no. Every time we do a podium,  straight after the podium, apart from standing there holding the trophy up and the bottle, there’s no real way of connecting with people otherwise. Usually we just come back and here and it’s the same old same old so I was going to give them a hard time and I put the trophy down and I ran down and I could see the crowd there and I just wanted to connect with them in some way and then as I got there I was like, I wanted to go over the top. I was hoping that I would crowd-surf further in and then I would have to say ‘take me back’ but I got right to the edge and I stayed there for like a second and then they pushed me back on. But very very cool to see the support here, as I said, it is just phenomenal. And then the heavens opened at the beginning and then the sun came through and it turned out to be the most beautiful day. In terms of tonight, I think we’ve got a team family… I think the team have got the family event this evening so I get to see the team’s families and then tonight there will be a nice dinner in London and then a little bit of party.

    Q: (Tomas Slafer – Car and Driver, Spain) Nico and Lewis, well you’ve won your home Grand Prix for the last three seasons; Nico you’ve won the last German Grand Prix, so Nico, do you feel pressure to win in Germany again this season, and Lewis, if you win in Germany, will that mean something more than a big victory for you, for the championship?
    NR: Pressure? No, I don’t feel pressure. It would be great, it would be good fun and that’s the target for sure but let’s see how it goes. It’s going to be a good battle against Lewis and whoever else. Maybe the Red Bull or Ferraris. Let’s see.
    LH: When was the last one (German Grand Prix)? Was it 2014? I remember that one. I think I had brake failure or something and it meant I had to start last. But the pace has always been good there so I’m absolutely going there hoping to redeem that kind of result that we had last time. Again, that is a great place for the German fans, they are fantastic. They actually have more than one amazing circuit in Germany but this is one with great history and it’s a great place for Mercedes Benz so I hope we can really shine the silver star there.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Nico, many times this year mainly you make the life of Lewis very hard but this weekend, particularly, is maybe the one where you’ve spent most of the time following far from him. My curiosity is after Max overtook you, you did the fastest lap of the race at that stage. Can you explain this contradiction please?
    NR: No, no contradiction just Lewis was quicker in qualifying and then in the race I was feeling really good once I got onto the slicks, as you saw. Pace was great, I was just a bit too far away once I got off the intermediates. That’s it.

    Q: (Frank Woestenburg – De Telegraaf) Max, like many you were sliding around at Abbey, especially. Can you tell me how much you enjoyed racing under those circumstances and do you think the FIA is sometimes too conservative at keeping the safety car out too long?
    MV: Well, first of all, I think from the FIA side I think they want to have a safe race and OK, maybe it was a bit too long but everything went well, so I don’t really have much more to add about that. And in general, I have always enjoyed tricky conditions, especially in the rain. We have a lot of rain in Holland as well so in go-karting, yes, you had a lot of time to practise that. If you have a great car you can make the difference and I think we definitely did today, I was definitely enjoying myself and even when we went onto the slick tyres I definitely had some fun. The pace was good and it was of course very tricky in turn one as you could see but that’s all part of it and at the end, great fun.

    Q: (Daan Coronel De Geus – AD Sportwereld) Max, another podium finish, you’ve been adamant about this year being a learning one since you switched  to Red Bull. How normal are these results beginning to feel to if they are beginning to feel normal?
    MV: Well, I haven’t really thought about that. I just try to do the best I can every race and now it’s again on the podium so two races in a row and I think that’s very good and if only we can keep going like this and we can close the gap to Mercedes. I think that’s our main target and first of all we still have to overtake Ferrari as well in the Constructors’ championship. I think those are our first targets, to overtake them and then close the gap.

    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Lewis you’ve spoken very descriptively about your emotions in the closing laps but can you just describe what it was like on the last lap, just hoping the car was going to make the finish, nothing was going to go wrong and then the sudden switch in taking the chequered flag and what that feeling of elation was like in a millisecond?
    LH: Honestly, I approached the race with an incredibly positive attitude and approach so I didn’t at any point think I hope the car doesn’t fail on me. I was only feeling positive energy rather than letting any negative energy come in. Of course, those last three laps the car was feeling good, I had turned down my engine on the last ten laps or fifteen laps. Those last three laps, I knew I had a good buffer between me and the cars behind so I didn’t have to lean on my tyres, it became kind of really nicely flowing and trying not to take too much notice of the crowd and then get carried away with it. That’s generally the feeling but it wasn’t until I came into the last corner that I knew that I had it. I was like I’m going to roll across the line if anything happens now and again, I could see the crowd cheering from Stowe onwards, I could see them already beginning to stand up and cheer in the excitement and I felt exactly what they felt. And on that down lap, once you come across the line, it’s just the most amazing feeling, when you come across the line as the winner of the British Grand Prix. I’m sure it’s the same in Germany for Nico, for example. You just want to jump, go jumping but you’re obviously strapped into the beast still.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Nico, you spoke before about the battle with Max an there’s a lot about energy deployment. When you are behind, is it a slight advantage because you see the car in front when it’s de-rating, does it give you an idea of what state it’s in or what condition the other guy is?
    NR: No, it’s not easy to understand so no, that doesn’t help, it’s just a matter of keeping the pressure on and Max needs to use it up and hopefully he runs out before me. That’s it. But we ran out at the same time so that didn’t help.

  • Rosberg Handed 10-Second Penalty for Breaching Radio Regulations

    Rosberg Handed 10-Second Penalty for Breaching Radio Regulations

    Nico Rosberg was handed a 10-second time penalty after the British Grand Prix race for breaching radio regulations.

    At the end of the race Rosberg was classified at second with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in 3rd. This time penalty will drop Rosberg to 3rd and promotes Verstappen to 2nd.

    The penalty was a result of Rosberg’s race engineer giving him instructions on how to drive the car in the closing stages of the British Grand Prix. Rosberg had a problem with 7th gear and was told by Tony Ross his race engineer to “avoid 7th gear”. Rosberg asked:”What does that mean. Do I have shift through it?”

    “Affirm Nico, you need to shift through it,” came the reply from Ross.

    That bit of the radio transmission was under scrutiny by the stewards and was found to have breached Article 27.1 of the Sporting Regulations which states that “The driver must drive the car alone and unaided.

    “Having considered the matter extensively, the Stewards determined that the team gave some instructions to the driver that were specifically permitted under Technical Directive 014-16,” said a statement by the stewards.

    “However, the Stewards determined that the team then went further and gave instructions to the driver that were not permitted under the Technical Directive, and were in Breach of Art. 27.1 of the Sporting Regulations, that the driver must drive the car alone and unaided

    “10 Second Time Penalty imposed after the race in accordance with Article 38.3 (10 seconds added to elapsed race time)”

    The penalty not only drops Rosberg to 3rd in the race classification but it bring team-mate and title rival Lewis Hamilton to within 1 point in the drivers championship.

    Update: Mercedes have lodged an intention to appeal the stewards’ decision. Mercedes have 96 hours from lodging the intention to appeal to decide if they want to go ahead or not. Win or loose it will provide much more clarity on the regulation.

    Radio Transcript

    Rosberg: “Gearbox problem!”

    Tony Ross: “Driver default zero-one. Chassis default zero-one”

    Tony Ross: “Avoid 7th gear, Nico. Avoid 7th gear”

    Rosberg: “Well what does that mean? I mean I have to shift through it?”

    Tony Ross: “Affirm Nico. You need to shift through it. You need to shift through it“