F1 Madness

Tag: sebastian vettel

  • 2017 Japanese GP: Post Qualifying Press Conference

    2017 Japanese GP: Post Qualifying Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    2 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)

    3 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

    TRACK INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by Jenson Button and David Coulthard)

    JB: Lewis this is your first time qualifying on pole in Suzuka. Absolutely immense, great job buddy, but it’s not just that, you have just shattered the qualifying lap record of Felipe Massa, set back in 2006 by 1.7 seconds. How does it feel?

    Lewis HAMILTON: Incredible. Firstly, look at this crowd – we have such a great crowd. It’s been a really good day and every lap was fantastic. You were rapid here, Nico was rapid here, I never really got a great balance in the past and I never did great in qualifying, so to finally get the balance behind me, with the great work of my engineers, and the great timing from all the mechanics, I finally got on track and did the time. And the car is crazy here, I wish you could feel it, man!

    JB: Yeah, watching you through the Esses, it looks unbelievable, the changes of direction. But from the word go in qualifying it was there.

    LH: Yeah, it’s my first time. I’m running out of opportunities to get this pole, so I was like “I’ve got to make sure I make it stick today”. Valtteri did a great job. Obviously he is going to have the penalty at the start but still he has a great opportunity in the race to get up there with us.

    JB: Let’s go and speak to Valtteri. Good job buddy. We had breakfast, sort of, together this morning and obviously it’s not been the easiest weekend for you, but pretty awesome to come away with P2.

    KR: Yeah, it’s been a really difficult weekend and obviously went off this morning. The guys did a great job getting the car back together. My driving was really getting better through the qualifying. I think there was still something to be found. But P1 and P2 at this point, but obviously with the gearbox penalty I’m starting seventh.

    JB: Yeah, it’s not easy as we know starting further back, but the car looks immense around here and you, as you said, have done a fantastic job today. But watching from the outside, watching the cars through here it’s the only time I really, really miss driving these beasts.

    VB: I tell you, you are missing a lot!

    JB: I know, good job buddy. Sebastian, how are you doing?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Fine.

    JB: These two were just unbelievably quick today, especially Lewis. He’s definitely sorted out his qualifying around Suzuka. P3 but obviously you’re starting the race from second. We all know that’s not a bad position to start here. How are you feeling, buddy?

    SV: Ah well, I mean qualifying has been quite good to be honest. I’m reasonably happy. I tried everything on the last run. I know I had to take a bit more risk, but it didn’t work, I ran out of track at the exit of the Esses. But I knew that if Valtteri got past, we would still be on the front row. I would have loved to have been a bit quicker, but quite amazing with the new cars around here. I love the track and it’s been a very special day. Thanks for the support, there are a lot of Ferrari fans, so arigato.

    JB: And as we know, Turn 1, you never know. Starting on the front row there is always the possibility of making it stick at Turn 1, so have a good one buddy, good job. Lewis, do you want to jump in here DC?

    DC: Lewis, that was spectacular to watch. Standing in the commentary box there were moments when I couldn’t believe how fast that car was going through the corners. Big congratulations, it sets you up perfectly for tomorrow, looking forward to the race?

    LH: Yeah, it’s going to be a different view here. I’ve never really had this view here, you know what it’s like. We’ve worked hard for the car to hopefully work well in the race. Those Esses really kill the tyres, so I’m hoping we’re in a good position for that. Naturally the Ferraris will be rapid, as they always are, but I plan to keep them behind.

     

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Well Lewis, you obliterated the lap record. Every lap you did during that session was faster than the one before. It looked very smooth from where we were sitting. Talk us through the session and how good was that last lap?

    LH: It definitely was a fantastic session. I don’t know if people watching realise, but how your team time everything in terms of what time you go out, positioning, the preparation with the mechanics – all that stuff has to work perfectly. The team were just so on form, as they always are, but that worked perfectly and enabled me to get out in the right time and in the right space and deliver the laps, so hugely grateful to everyone for all their hard work. And the laps: yeah, very much on it. Didn’t make one mistake each lap, just got better and better. It’s really about building a foundation, which you do in Q1, and then building upon it lap after lap and hopefully you don’t have any mistakes. It was just every single lap apart from the last lap, which was up, but I think it was Q3 run one, which was the lap. Just incredible to come here with this car. This track has always been one of the greatest, if not the greatest circuits, and with this car it’s just mind blowing. I wish you could feel what we feel. It’s always been one of the craziest rollercoaster rides but with the downforce we have now – I think it’s three seconds faster than we’ve been before – it’s insane the speeds, this car is throwing us around inside. But the way you are able to throw the car around is like the craziest rollercoaster ride, which I love. So I hope the cars continue to get better, as they have this year. It’s incredible for me…. Ten years or whatever it is, my first pole position here. So tenth time lucky, so I’m grateful for that.

    Well, it was a great qualifying performance. I think a lot of people will be wondering what’s the race pace going to be like, particularly after what happened in Malaysia last weekend. Are you confident you’ve got that as well?

    LH: Well, we got some running in P1 and P3. P1 felt better than P3. The car is a lot different this weekend and a lot more enjoyable to drive. Last weekend was a bit of a disaster but we still got pole, which was unusual. Generally, I believe, we take step a bit slower when we get to the races, whereas the Ferraris do the opposite. I think that’s really the philosophy of how our cars are designed, difference-wise. I think in the race we’re going to be OK. But for sure the Ferraris were very, very quick in the last race so it will be interesting to see the pace they have. Kimi did a decent run, as well as Sebastian, today. We’ll see. We’ve put ourselves in the best fighting position and obviously it’s me and Sebastian on the front row – I wouldn’t want it any other way.

    Q: Valtteri, coming to you, it’s been a topsy-turvy kind of day for you, that accident in final practice and then pulling it all together and getting that lap together at the end. Talk us through how difficult it was to claw it back from the low of final practice.

    VB: Well, first of all I want to say well done to Lewis again for the pole. And I really want to thank the team. Like Lewis said, they’ve done a great job through the qualifying. We’re always the right time on the track and in perfect gaps. Just everything went very smoothly so that allowed also me to just really focus on the driving itself. With the incident, I had in practice three, there was some extra work for the guys. They did really well to get the car together. It worked perfectly, so thanks for that. It’s been a tricky weekend, not quite so clean so far, and going slightly over a kerb in practice three can make a massive difference. Had to reset, go for it. I used the soft tyre in quali two, so that mixed my rhythm slightly, I think but could get some improvements step by step. The lap in the end, it was not perfect but not that far off.

    Q: Sebastian, talk us through your session. Third fastest. You’re going to be, as we’ve heard, on the front row of the grid tomorrow, due to that penalty for Valtteri but first of all, qualifying, how was it for you?

    SV: Pretty good, I’m pretty happy, to be honest, the car balance was getting better and better. Obviously, we were lacking a bit of performance but all in all I think it was a positive day. I think the car should be a bit better in the race. The last run in Q3, I tried a little bit more than there maybe was but I obviously knew the gap behind was quite big and Valtteri wasn’t really a threat because he gets the penalty tomorrow. So, took a bit more risk, didn’t work but still happy with third and then a front row for tomorrow. We’ll see. I think our starts lately have been quite good. We’ll see what we can do.

    Q: And are you confident you’ll have the legs of the Mercedes in race conditions?

    SV: I don’t know which sort of pace they will have. Obviously, you always know what you are doing but they have been a bit up and down: last week they weren’t very quick; this weekend they seem to be back to normal, so I think so far this year has been very close. I expect it to be very close tomorrow. For us, I think normally we are a bit stronger in the race compared to quali, so that’s where I guess we get together and see what we can do, at the start and then during the race.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Lewis, last week you struggled and nobody in the team really seemed to have an explanation for it. This weekend, only seven days later, you are flying. Do you know why?

    LH: I think we have an idea. I think there’s a lot of analysis that’s gone in to understanding it so I think we do understand, yes. It’s not something we can particularly rapidly change, but we’re in a cooler climate here, so that’s definitely one thing that adds to it.

    Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday) Question for Lewis. Your first pole at Suzuka, you’ve never really hooked it up here, you’ve had competitive cars in the past – what’s so different this year? You seem to be absolutely blinding through every corner.

    LH: It’s interesting because every single time I’ve struggled here. Struggled with finding the right balance, generally not always… often not starting on the right foot and then just struggling where to find the placement. Sometimes I’ve started on the right foot and led the car in completely the wrong direction. Yeah, so it’s always been up and down. This is the first time – and I would say definitely the first car that I’ve really felt that it’s been underneath me all weekend. Small tweaks here and there but in the right direction. So, I think fundamentally a better job done globally. Particularly with my engineers. My engineer understanding what I need from the car and vice versa: what I need from my engineers and the car. It’s worked out better this time. My knowledge of the car is better than it’s been before – which has enabled me then to go out and do the job, so I’m really… it’s really, really a confidence builder for us as a group, me and my engineers and mechanics. I don’t mind that it’s taken that long. I hope that I can capitalise on today’s great work.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, how important was it for you to beat Kimi as you seemed to be on the same tactic as him?

    VB: Yeah, of course it is good to start ahead. I think he also got on the softs in Q2 so we are mostly likely going to be on a similar strategy for the race, so I’ve definitely got the upper hand in the race in that way but we’ll need to see how their race pace is and again it’s going to be a long race but it’s just a real shame… it would have been better to start one and two as a team, that would have been nice but that is what it is.

    Q: (Mark Mann-Bryans – Press Association) Lewis, your car in the last few months has been labelled capricious, a diva – I believe you even said on Thursday it’s a bit stubborn. But is it days like today when she makes it up to you?

    LH: Definitely, definitely. It’s been a great car in qualifying this year particularly, and qualifying for me is probably the most enjoyable part of the weekend, so being able to put together laps like today is the one you wait for, all weekend: Q3, round one and two are really what motorsport is all about. It’s about ultimate performance from myself but also from the car. So it is definitely great when she comes together on days like this which is important. We were perhaps on the back foot here, perhaps won’t be as great a position to be in but let’s hope that she’s not stubborn tomorrow.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Sebastian, how important would it be for your championship campaign to have a normal qualifying for both of the Ferraris?

    SV: Well, I don’t know. Obviously there was a small issue this morning that lead into the problem with Kimi’s car, certainly not ideal but it is what it is. I think the car is quick so even if… I think last weekend showed that even if you – well, not necessarily qualify out of position – but if you start out of position then you can still get back. I’m sure that he can have a strong race from where he starts.

    Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday) To all three of you: with missing FP2 basically yesterday and this morning’s practice session having two reds, did this affect any of your programmes, leading up to qualifying and do you feel you have enough laps in and also the changing characteristics of the circuit? FP1 was essentially dry and the rest were wet or damp. How did this affect your qualifying going into qualifying?

    VB: Yeah, definitely you would always prefer to do more laps, there’s always more track time, possibilities to learn more and make the car better and fine-tune your driving, get the confidence, so definitely for me, missing practice two and then half of the practice three wasn’t ideal. Then you need to make the most out of the limited time you have and try and improve during the qualifying.

    LH: Fortunately, it didn’t get in the way of it really. I got a bit of a run in in P3 in the rain. If anything, that might have been a benefit to me , because if I’d had P2 in the dry maybe I wouldn’t be on pole, because we would push the car to make changes and whatever and wouldn’t have ended up where we were so pretty grateful for the rain that came. Often when you miss a session, it does definitely put you a little bit further down the ladder from where you potentially could be but I think I managed to still reach there so I do think it was potentially a benefit for me, missing P2.

    SV: Don’t think much impact. I think we got enough laps for performance runs. Obviously the long run preparation wasn’t as usual but by the end of the season you know the car, you know the tyres so it’s not a big deal. I think the biggest change for tomorrow will be the conditions. I think there should be sunshine which makes everything a bit hotter, so let’s see how that goes.

  • 2017 Japanese GP Preview: Red Bull Resurgence

    2017 Japanese GP Preview: Red Bull Resurgence

    As quickly as the pack up in Malaysia had started, teams were in Suzuka, Japan preparing for the 16th Round of the Formula One World Championship.

    The Suzuka Circuit has been a regular feature on the Formula 1 calendar and traditionally has hosted the final Grand Prix of the season which saw many drivers crowned world champions.

    The current F1 layout of Suzuka is 5.807km long with 18 turns. Some famous corners such as 130R, sector one with the esses, Spoon and of course Degner 1 and 2 make this a real drivers track and it is a well known favourite of drivers.

    “It’s just a great circuit. It’s extremely fast, and you have the section in sector one with all the esses – that feels amazing going through there in a Formula One car,” says Haas’ Kevin Magnussen.

    The drivers probably cannot wait to get these 2017 cars around the track. With all the downforce this years cars produce we can expect times to be very quick. There’s a possibility that Degner 1 could be taken flat out.

    Pirelli goes one step softer

    Pirelli are bringing going one step softer this year and for the first time will not bring the hard compound tyre to Suzuka this year. Instead they are bringing the white marked medium compound, yellow marked soft compound and the red marked super soft compound.

    Suzuka is one of the hardest tracks on the tyres in terms of longitudinal loading on the tyres. The long fast corners like Spoon and 130R and in the Esses put large amounts of energy through the tyres. High downforce configurations are usually run by teams around Suzuka.

    Pirelli expects high tyre wear and high degradation, and with the fast cornering graining can also be a factor.

    Although the tyres this year are more durable we could see a two-stop race this weekend.

    Red Bull Resurgence

    Red Bull have been looking increasingly competitive since coming back from the summer break despite being down on power. A Red Bull car has been a regular feature on the podium since the summer break the team from Milton Keynes are the team in form at the moment.

    Red Bull head into Suzuka on the back of a dominant Max Verstappen victory in Malaysia less than a week ago on a track which Mercedes were, on paper, supposed to dominate. It could be argued that Ferrari had the faster car over the Malaysian Grand Prix weekend but engine problems for both Ferrari’s cost them and they were not able to capitalise on Mercedes’ lack of pace.

    The Suzuka circuit characteristics will suit Mercedes, but Red Bull will fancy their chances this weekend. They clearly have a very good package and with two drivers hungry for wins and nothing to lose, we can expect them to get in the mix between Mercedes and Ferrari.

    Over in Maranello Sergio Marchionne has reportedly made some changes to the team structure following the engine problems that plagued Sebastian Vettel after FP3 and Kimi Raikkonen just before the race for the Malaysia Grand Prix. There were also concerns that Vettel may have to take a gearbox penalty following his collision after the race on the cool down lap with Williams’ Lance Stroll but Ferrari have come out and said that everything seems to be fine with the gearbox and that they will conduct tests during Friday Practice in Suzuka as a final check.

    Mercedes will want to put their Malaysia weekend behind them and will no doubt be in a fighting mood come Friday in Suzuka. It’s a track where the W08 will feel right at home. Hamilton will see this as another chance to extend his championship lead over Vettel and put some breathing room between himself and German and who knows may already have one hand on the Championship trophy come Sunday.

     

    Photo credit: Red Bull Racing Formula One Team

  • F1 2017: Malaysian Gp Review – Magnificent Max Wins In Malaysia

    F1 2017: Malaysian Gp Review – Magnificent Max Wins In Malaysia

    There is a word in the English language that is often overused without the context of its full meaning but as I arrived at the Sepang International Circuit for my first live Formula 1 experience I was finally able to comprehend what the word surreal truly means. And yes, I’m still pinching myself.

    As the crowds streamed en masse to the final hosting of the Malaysian grand prix expectations were high among the colourful fans of Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull, and many others as various nationalities converged to relish in and share their passion for Formula 1 racing.

    While the excitement of race day reduced the sweltering heat and humidity, which consistently hovers in the high 80s, to a mere footnote it was Ferrari who looked the real deal in practice and qualifying with Raikkonen on the front row. But while Hamilton racked up yet another pole position, albeit by half of a tenth, Sebastian Vettel ran into reliability issues, which relegated him to 20th on the grid.

    Still, Ferrari looked to have, in the form of Raikkonen, more than enough pace in the pocket to stroll to the chequered flag. It wasn’t to be though as, much to the crowd’s despair, the Finn did not even make the start of the race thanks to a similar electrical issue that afflicted his teammate Vettel in Saturday’s qualifying.

    image1It seemingly left the door open for Hamilton to inflict maximum damage on his rival but the Mercedes team and championship leader suffered a humiliating defeat to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen who turned a stunning pace which relegated Hamilton to second and without any possible chance of victory. The young Dutchman was a definite crowd favourite who elicited cheers from the packed turn one grandstand every time he passed it.

    Imagine the roar then when Verstappen snatched the lead from Hamilton and proceeded to easily pull away from the Mercedes. With consummate ease, Verstappen produced a fabulous race to secure only his second victory in F1.

    Hamilton, a distant and disconsolate second, trailed home more than ten seconds adrift. Meanwhile, Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo held onto third ahead of Vettel who charged through the field to finish fourth. Valtteri Bottas’ lackluster form continued with an unspectacular fifth place some twenty-six seconds adrift of Vettel’s Ferrari.

    While Sergio Perez finished a solid sixth, one of the definite stars of the day was McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne who finished an impressive seventh overall. The Williams driver pairing of Lance Stroll and Felipe Massa finished eighth and ninth respectively while Esteban Ocon took the final point on offer for tenth in the Force India.

    image3Despite not winning amid the more than one hundred thousand vociferous and passionate fans packed into the Sepang circuit Lewis Hamilton extends his championship to thirty-four points ahead of this weekend’s Japanese grand prix. The Suzuka circuit is one too that, on paper, should suit the Mercedes better than the Ferrari but as the situation stands the Italian team must throw all caution to the wind if they, and Sebastian Vettel, want to salvage anything from the 2017 season.

  • 2017 Formula 1 Malaysian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference – Part 1

    2017 Formula 1 Malaysian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference – Part 1

    PART ONE: DRIVERS – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari), Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari), Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Start with a question to all of you. Clearly a painful moment in Singapore, three cars eliminated on the first lap of the grand prix, how do all three of you assess it now and how do you move forward?

    Sebastian VETTEL: I don’t think there’s much assessment necessary. Obviously on Sunday all three of us were unhappy, but you move on.

    Max VERSTAPPEN: It happened, you know. You can’t change it any more — it was just a very unfortunate moment. But there’s nothing you can do about it — we just come here and we try again.

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Not really anything. Obviously moved on since Sunday, since the weekend.

     

    Q: Sebastian, you’re a four time winner here. Since the summer break you’ve gone from a 14 point championship lead to a 28 point deficit to Hamilton. You’ve obviously seen quite a fluctuation throughout this year and in your previous title-winning years. Do you still think it’s possible to get back on terms? Or do you rely on him to have problems?

    SV: I don’t know. I think we have a lot of races left. I think we have a strong car. I’m not too fussed about the amount of points. Obviously it’s never good to be behind, I’d like to be in front but we’re not so I’m not thinking about that.

     

    Q: Max, it’s your 20th birthday on Saturday. You’re committed obviously to Red Bull for next year. What kind of progress does the team need to make next year to satisfy you?

    MV: I think for next year, the team and I, we want to win, so that’s our priority and we’ll see what happens afterwards.

     

    Q: And Kimi, it’s the 19th and last Malaysian Grand Prix. You’ve raced in most of them, all but three, and you got your first win here. What do you think this event has contributed to the world championship over the years?

    KR: I think to start with it’s a very nice circuit, I think there’s been quite good racing over the years here. I think the layout obviously helps that, and conditions have been always tricky. I think everybody has got more used to it since the early days, but nevertheless I think the racing has been good and that’s the main thing. Obviously all the rest, it doesn’t matter because we are here for racing and if that’s good then that’s fine.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

     

    Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) Question to Sebastian. A 28 point gap is tough for sure, but in some ways could it help you because there is maybe less pressure and you don’t have anything to lose?

    SV: I don’t look at it that way. I think it depends on the points you have at the end of the year or not, so yeah. As I said, if you would choose you want always to be ahead. I would rather not be a little bit behind, but overall it doesn’t change anything for how you tackle the last six races from here.

     

    Q: (Jonathan McEvoy – Daily Mail) Leaving aside yourselves, who would you each nominate as the most able driver out there, the best?

    MV: I find that one really difficult. I think you can only compare with your teammate, because you don’t know what’s going on in the other teams. Also, the car you know, it can suit you better, so I don’t know to be honest.

    SV: I agree with Max, I don’t want to answer.

    KR: I think it’s pointless to answer this one. It’s up to you guys, you’re very good on it at least over the years, so do it again and we can obviously read it then.

     

    Q: (Ysef Harding – Xiro Xone News) Question for all three of you. Nineteen years of Malaysian Grand Prix, this is the final one. What have been some of your fondest memories of this race?

    SV: Obviously it’s a while ago, but for sure one of the nicest ones was 2015, my first win with Ferrari. It certainly was very special — we came here early in the season, at the very beginning of my time with Ferrari. There’s still a lot of very nice memories coming up, I’m thinking about that day, and how the race happened, what happened after the race. I had a really good time. I think the other races, I’m not sure I remember all of them, but 2013 obviously was a bit of a special one — which came with a bit of noise after the race — but still I think it was a good race.

    MV: Well, I haven’t done that many races but I always enjoy coming here. It’s a good track, and I think last year it was good to be second. I would have preferred to win, of course, but still you know for the team it was a great day. That’s my fondest memory. Hopefully this weekend will be better.

    KR: Obviously I won my first race here, it was a while ago now, but it obviously meant a lot. Then there was the win in 2008 with Ferrari, I mean it was a good fight with Felipe and obviously good memories, some bad memories over the years, but that’s when you go many times in the same place that will happen — you have some good years and some not so good. But it’s been pretty good.

     

    Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Question for Sebastian. You seem to have got over Singapore quite quickly, quite easily. How do you put that frustration aside so easily?

    SV: Well, I think it would have been more difficult if I had lost the car somewhere in the race and it’s obviously different but with collision at the start like that, I think we all three after the race, that was when we had to go to the stewards. What can you do? The lights went off, obviously, we did our starts, everyone was trying to move at the start and it was the way it happened. It ended up really bad for all three of us and that was it. Obviously I could continue a little bit more, but the damage was so bad that I had to stop anyway. Not much you can do — I think it’s part of racing. It’s also not the first time I’ve been in a situation like this and probably it will not be the last time. Hopefully it won’t happen again, but it’s part of racing. It happened, there’s not much you can do, and therefore not much point in trying to look at it again and again, I think it’s much better if your time and energy is spent looking forward.

     

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) This is more or less in line with the last question to Sebastian and Kimi. Sebastian, you are the leader of the championship since the beginning of the season till Monza, and then you lost it and you saw your one race lead to 20 points. What is the psychological impact of that in you and in the team? Will you discuss it so that it does not interfere in the rest of the season?

    SV: I don’t think it’s necessary to discuss. As I said, with things like this happening, what can you do? We could have had major problems with the car, or I might have made a mistake, and it might be a different story. There’s something you need to change, some way you need to react quickly to make sure it doesn’t happen again, and it might be a different story. Looking at it now, obviously there’s been one race where we didn’t finish. Certainly didn’t help that Lewis scored a lot of points, but that’s the way it goes. Certainly we would all three love to have had a different race, championship yes or no. We just want to race, and that’s what we set out to do in Singapore. All three of us didn’t get very far.

     

    Q: (Jonathan McEvoy – Daily Mail) To Sebastian. At the beginning of this race, will you go about it in any, will you try to protect your lead, maybe be slightly less rash? How will you, what will be going through your mind on lap one of the race? And b, everyone’s saying — all the experts — that the next five races or so all suit the Merc rather than the Ferrari. How do you respond to that? You obviously I guess believe it’s all still alive?

    SV: Some might say that in order for them to remain experts we have to prove them wrong every now and then, otherwise they will maybe be out of a job if they are never wrong! The second thing is I wanted to say it was flattering that you said ‘when on Sunday you are starting from the lead’ — providing, obviously, that we qualify on pole, so it’s nice to have you on board as a fan! Not really. Every start is different, and the way Singapore happened you can look at it again and again; it doesn’t matter. First of all it’s done, and second I think it was pretty unfortunate for all three of us so we want to move on. Having said that, I can’t promise you now what will be on my mind on Sunday when I leave the grid, but normally I don’t, I never thought about the last race, so I’m pretty sure I’ll be focussed on seeing what I can do on that race start on Sunday.

     

    Q: (Lennart Bloemhof – Volkskrant) Question for Max. It was obviously not your first frustration this season. Do you still expectations for this race or is that already something you completely don’t have before a new race because of all the frustration you have?

    MV: I’m here, I always try to do well. It’s not my year in terms of Sunday finishes, but in general you have to try to stay positive, and to look at the positives. I think the speed is there, so we need to try again here in Malaysia, and see how competitive we are. It’s a bit difficult to say. But last year I think was pretty alright, and we’ll just try again.

     

    Q: (Lennart Bloemhof – Volkskrant) Question for all three drivers. How do you guys cope with the heat during a race weekend like this? Do you have any tips and tricks during the race? Is the preparation different?

    KR: I don’t think it’s an awful lot different, really. It’s obviously a bit more hot than other races, Singapore is quite hot. At least myself, I don’t feel that we do an awful lot different things and it’s probably drink a bit more, but that’s about it.  It doesn’t feel too bad in the past, at least in the car, you more feel it in the practice when you keep stopping in the box and all the heat comes from there, but during the driving it’s not too bad.

     

    Q: Sebastian? How much do you need to drink before the race in terms of litres?

    SV: I don’t know, I generally try and hydrate, I think everybody does. You’re always thirsty, and you sweat a lot, but you stay hydrated — there are no big secrets. I think at some point you try and not to drink too much because you don’t want to stop during the race doing another stop if you know what I mean, yeah. Once you go normally you sweat so much that it’s not really a big problem. Normally they say you should drink around two litres a day, at least, here I think it’s at least double on race day, maybe a bit more.

     

    Max, any special preparations?

    MV: I agree with what Sebastian and Kimi said.

     

    Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Question for Max. When you say you’re looking at next season, and we’ll see what happens after this, do you have a specific target in mind in terms of race wins? What are you actually aiming for next season?

    MV: I want to be able to fight for the championship. If you win one race and you win the championship, that’s wonderful. It’s a bit difficult to say at the moment, when you’re not in that position. Hopefully we are next year, but it’s a bit too early to say so. We just have to wait and see till we go to Melbourne.

     

    Q: (Jonathan McEvoy – Daily Mail) To Seb. How would you feel about Max joining you one day at Ferrari. And to Max, how would you feel joining Ferrari with Seb.

    SV: I don’t know. I feel that you need to be prepared to race anyone on the grid, so obvioiusly Max is still quite young and has more years left than we have, but yeah, you never know. Obviously I have a longer contract now than him but Formula One… some things they take time. Other things they tend to change very quickly. So it’s a bit pointless to look too far into the future. For now I think we are pretty calm inside the team: myself; everyone – because we know what’s going on this year, what’s going on next year and then I think it’s more for the team as well…

     

    Max, your side of that.

    MV: Yeah, I mean, to be honest I don’t want to look too much in the future. I just want to focus on the job I have now and try to finish it off in a good way this season and then for next season, I know where I am and, well, before we finish next season is still such a long time, so, just have to wait.

     

    Q: (Livio Oricchio  – GloboEsporte.com) Sebastian and Kimi, the last results of the team were not so good: Monza and Singapore. Do you think it’s due to circumstnaces of the competition or maybe again Mercedes did a step forward that Ferrari didn’t and could not follow it, concerning the project of the six rounds to the end of the season?

    SV: It’s normal. It’s the way that people look at the races. If you then highlight the last two, certainly they were not good. We’re not proud, not happy with them. Singapore is fairly quickly explained: didn’t make it very far and then in Monza I think we didn’t do our best, Saturday and Sunday, probably a bit of a combination and, equally, Mercedes was very strong. So yeah, it’s been very tight all season. At Monza we didn’t have a very good weekend and lost a little bit, but still, I think we had a very good recovery from the Saturday that we had. So, yeah, I think it you look at those two races you can argue that they were not great – but I think it’s mostly Singapore where we didn’t race. Monza, I think third was not that bad, given that we were just not competitive to fight for the win.

     

    Kimi, your perspective.

    KR: Not really different. Singapore, Seb was first in the qualifying, I was fourth. So, if you purely compare to Mercedes, it was better. Obviously the race didn’t go that way but I don’t see why you would look at everything so negative. It’s your question, obviously. It’s up and down: some circuits are better for one guy and others for other guys – but it’s a normal story, every year it’s the same thing: some races go better, others not and there’s so many reasons for those. In the end the whole season is one season and in the end wherever the points are, are the best. It’s pointless to look at one race here, one race there. It’s over the whole year.

     

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) A question for the two Ferrari guys and one for Max. The two Ferrari guys, I would like to know if you talked, after the Ferrari race to the president Marchionne. What did he say to you? And the second question, if you think you have the same chance here as Singapore, and for Max, if you lost the last chance to win a race this year, due to the characteristics of the track there in Singapore – or there is some other track that you can stay in front, and fight for the victory?

     

    OK, Sebastian, have you spoken to the president?

    SV: No, I haven’t. Not spoke but I’ve been in contact. Obviously not a great day, as you can imagine. Fairly quickly, the response also from the whole team has been very positive. It’s been a bad day, no doubt about it but I think by Monday – Tuesday, everybody moved on and there has been a lot of excitement in the factory. We had family days last weekend which obviously is very special for all the team members and all the Ferrari employees, so there has been a lot of positives, to be honest, and yeah, what’s done is done. You have to look at what’s coming. And that’s what we are excited about. The car is strong this year, we know that, we’ve seen that, so there’s plenty of positives to look forward to. And, yeah, I think that partly answers your second question, if the car will be competitive here. I think there’s so many things on paper and you tend to look and you tend to say one way or the other – but we have to go here, and that’s the good thing about racing, the part that I enjoy. You go here and you find out. That’s what you fight for, you fight for every centimetre, every tenth that you can find somewhere, over a lot of laps in the race or over one lap in quali, to make the difference. So, I’m sure that, as a team, we can make that difference.

     

    What’s your feeling Kimi? Is this a track that you think the Ferrari, as you feel it, will go well around, compared to Mercedes?

    KR: Very hard to answer. It’s like any weekend when we go we don’t really know our self any more than any of you guys. You are always guessing a bit how it’s going to be and hoping the best – and then we will see tomorrow some ideas. To be honest, some weekends you seem to start a bit better and more straightforward and everything seems to go more easily, and some you have to… you struggle a bit to find the right way and then come Saturday it turns out to be pretty OK, so, it’s impossible to really answer. I’m feeling we should be OK here, but I might be wrong. I might be right. I don’t know.

     

    Max, did you feel that was the last, best chance to win a race – or is there another one that you can see that Red Bull might win before the end of the year?

    MV:  It was definitely a good opportunity of course in Singapore. But never say never. A lot of things can happen. As you can see, the lights go out in Singapore and there are immediately three cars out. So, yeah, you have to stay positive and we’ll see what happens.

     

    Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Question for Sebastian. I just wanted to get your thoughts on Charles Leclerc who’s going to drive in first practice for Sauber. Quite a promising driver, lot of expectation surrounding him.

    SV: Well, I mean, in terms of expectations, I think he has proven enough so I don’t think you need to have high expectations. Obviously he’s helped us a lot developing this year’s car, done a lot of work on the simulator and had a fantastic season so far in GP2, bit up and down at times but the speed I think has been quite incredible. I’m sure he’ll do well. I don’t think he needs a word of advice, or yeah, any sort of expectations. He looks like he loves racing, enjoys that, and that, I think, for me is the key recipe.

     

    Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS) for all drivers, what will you miss from Malaysia next year when we are not returning?

    MV: I think the track in general. I always enjoyed driving the track, so I think that’s the biggest part we’ll miss. The heat, to be honest, maybe not so much.

    SV: I don’t know, I don’t think there’s one specific thing. It’s the mixture of the circuit, the conditions, the element of rain at any time during the day being possible. Yeah, I think it’s provided very good racing. I’m not obviously involved in why we’re not racing here any more but, who knows, maybe we’re back after a year break or two. I don’t know.

    KR: To be honest, I don’t know if we’re going to miss it. It’s a nice circuit but the only thing you see is the airport, the hotel next to the airport and the circuit, so you can choose from that what you’re going to miss.

     

    Q: (Arjan Schouten – AD) Question for Max again. You already mentioned your birthday. Is there time in a busy race weekend to spend some attention on a birthday, to do something for a birthday – or not?

    MV: Well, it’s so humid here and warm, you make a cake but who wants to eat cake on such a warm day?

    SV: I do!

    MV: I’ll bring it to the garage before quali.

    SV: ten to three…

    MV: It’s fine. Do I need to serve you as well in the car?

    SV: Yeah, five to three.

    MV: OK, I’ll wait a bit in Q1 and then go out…

    SV: No! Actually the quali’s at five…

    MV: OK, that’s a plan then…

  • F12017: Malaysian Gp Preview – Must Win For Ferrari

    F12017: Malaysian Gp Preview – Must Win For Ferrari

    To finish first, first you must finish. These are likely the words that have been rolling around Sebastian Vettel’s mind following the start-line crash in Singapore, which now has him at a 28-point deficit to Lewis Hamilton.

    There’s little doubt that this weekend’s Malaysian grand prix is vital for Ferrari’s and Vettel’s championship aspirations. The Formula 1 paddock travels little more than 300 hundred kilometers to Sepang, just outside the city center of Kuala Lumpur, in Malaysia for this weekend’s 15th round of the 2017 season.

    The Malaysian circuit, famed for its hot and humid conditions, has been on the F1 calendar since 1999 and is making its final appearance in 2017. As, arguably, Herman Tilke’s most-liked circuit design the Sepang International circuit is one of the biggest technical challenges of the season. It’s combination of medium and high-speed corners and the ever-present long back- and start/finish straits means that somewhere drivers and teams will have to compromise on the car set-up.

    Some in the paddock will have you believe that the Mercedes will stroll to victory this weekend given that the Malaysian circuit suits the Silver Arrow to a tee. While the strengths of the Mercedes are likely to be highlighted by the more aero-dominant sector of the lap Ferrari are unlikely to simply be reduced to also-rans. Kimi Raikkonen believes that Ferrari can be in the mix for victory this weekend. “You [the media] assume that it’s difficult. We don’t,” said Raikkonen.

    “We go there [to Malaysia], it’s another race, another weekend, and we go there full of fight and we’ll do our best”. Team principal Maurizio Arrivabene echoed Raikkonen’s sentiments by saying that the battle is not over but has simply become more difficult.

    Sebastian Vettel - Italian Grand Prix qualifyingWhile the two main rivals in the 2017 championship dominate the headlines what then of Red Bull cheekily snatching the prize from both of them. The stats suggest that the Austrian team has indeed made significant progress since the start of the season. And while they’ll be snapping at the heels the top step of the podium, barring unreliability, crashes, or a sudden and opportune cloud-burst, Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen are unlikely to have the raw pace to match Merc and Ferrari.

    As if to add more intrigue to the mix Ferrari and Mercedes have chosen different tyre strategies for this weekend too. With the medium, soft, and supersoft compounds available Mercedes has chosen to focus more on the yellow-walled soft tyre. With five sets available to Hamilton Mercedes have looked especially strong on the soft tyre on several occasions this season. In contrast, Ferrari has chosen to focus on the supersoft compound by selecting nine sets each for Vettel and Raikkonen with Red Bull taking a similar approach to Ferrari. The weather forecast, never devoid of the threat of a thunderstorm, predicts scorching temperatures for the duration of the weekend, which could swing the advantage to Ferrari and the supersoft compound.

    There is no doubt whatsoever that Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel must win the Malaysian grand prix in order to keep their championship hopes alive. Ferrari has been adamant that they are, categorically, not out of the championship. It’s time now to underscore their bullish belief where it matters most – on track.

  • F12017: Singapore Gp Review – Ferrari Pain, Hamilton Gain

    F12017: Singapore Gp Review – Ferrari Pain, Hamilton Gain

    IN 2008 Singapore became part of Formula 1 as the first night race on the calendar. Fast forward a decade and delivered another first by becoming F1’s first ever night race in the rain.

    As uncertainty ran rampant the rain wasn’t enough to induce a safety-car start. Sebastian Vettel, after producing a scintillating lap on Saturday, lined up in pole position with Max Verstappen alongside. The Singapore grand prix should’ve been one where Ferrari could inflict serious damage, in terms of points, on Mercedes given that Hamilton and Bottas were fifth and sixth respectively. But yet again Formula 1 has proved itself to be the most unpredictable sport in the world.

    Both the front-row starters, Vettel and Verstappen, were solid if unspectacular off the start-line. In contrast, the fourth-place starting Raikkonen hooked up his start perfectly and rocketed to the front. However, Vettel, in trying to cover his position swept across the track to block Verstappen not realizing that Raikkonen was on the other side of the Dutchman. It resulted in an enormous crash which brought an end to all three’s prospects and collected Fernando Alonso for good measure.

    Singapore 2017_StartAfter the fact the crash was deemed a racing incident, and rightly so. While many would cast Vettel as the villain for cutting across the circuit this reasoning would be tenuous, at best. Firstly, Vettel wouldn’t have known that Raikkonen had made an amazing start and was on the other side of Verstappen. Some would argue too that Vettel shouldn’t have cut across the circuit in the manner that he did but consider the fact that any driver, in any conditions, in any race, would have done the same. In fact, cast your mind back two weeks to Hamilton cutting across the track in Italy, in exactly the same manner, to cover the Williams of Lance Stroll.

    Whatever your opinion on the incident the one thing everyone would agree on is that it was a disastrous day for Vettel and Ferrari. Where he was expected to take back the lead in the driver’s standings Vettel leaves Singapore significantly on the back foot. Because through all the chaos Lewis Hamilton emerged in P1 and was never troubled on his way to the chequered flag. The expectation that Daniel Ricciardo could take the fight to the Merc was nipped in bud early on as the Aussie had to manage an oil leak from as early as lap 15.

    Valtteri Bottas may have finished an uninspiring third but with it has ensured a more than one hundred point lead for Mercedes in the constructor’s standings.

    0069In fourth Carlos Sainz delivered the drive of the day while Sergio Perez in the Force India snapped up fifth place. In sixth, and scoring his first points of the season, was Renault’s Jolyon Palmer who is to be replaced by Sainz in 2018.

    Stoffel Vandoorne was able to translate his good form to a seventh place finish for McLaren while Lance Stroll, Romain Grosjean, and Esteban Ocon rounded out the top ten.

    As Ferrari rue what might have been Hamilton’s victory has gained him a twenty-eight point lead in the driver’s standings with six races remaining.

    On such things do world championships turn.

    All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

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

    No Further Action on Turn 1 Carnage at Singapore GP Race

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • 2017 Singapore Grand Prix: Post Qualifying Press Conference

    2017 Singapore Grand Prix: Post Qualifying Press Conference

    DRIVERS

    1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

    2 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)

    3 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

     

    TRACK INTERVIEWS
    (conducted by Will Buxton)

    Sebastian, the crowd went crazy, the noise was huge when you crossed the line, and deservedly so. That lap was absolutely massive. You struggled yesterday, where did you find that time?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Oh, I don’t know. I struggled also this morning, or this afternoon. I shouted probably as loud as them, it was unbelievable. I’m still full of adrenalin, so maybe whatever I say doesn’t make any sense but, yeah, I love this track. The car was tricky but it came alive and it was getting better and better and better as the night progressed, so really happy we got it done.

     

    And these guys have been so quick, and there is no margin for error around this circuit. To take those kind of risks, to push… there’s a little bit down there, that’s how close you pushed, all the way to the edge and a little bit over it as well. In terms of laps you have set for pole position where does this one sit, because I can see you are shaking a little bit? 

    SV: I don’t know, I think I need to calm down first. But for now, very, very happy. The car was amazing and it’s an amazing track if you feel that the car is coming alove and you can do what you want to. I knew we had it in us; it was a bit of a struggle to get there, but now I’m just happy.

     

    Huge. Many congratulations. Max, wow, it was going to take something special to beat you today and that was a special lap. But the pace you’ve shown all weekend, this has got to be promising for you?

    Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, it is. Just a shame we couldn’t put it on pole, I think the final lap was not great. But we were quite close and I’m pretty happy with that.

     

    We’ve seen how hard Sebastian has had to push this weekend to beat you guys this weekend. It’s not the first time he’s done it. Are you hoping for more of that from him tomorrow?

    MV: Hopefully for him, not. We’ll see. During the race it will be difficult to pass him so we will have to see in the first lap.

     

    Awesome. Daniel, are you asking the man how he got that lap out of the car?

    Daniel RICCIARDO: Yeah, I’m a little envious today. I will accept a little bit of defeat but I’m still confident we’ll get victory. I think we’ve got a good package. Seb turned it on in qualifying but I’m looking forward to tomorrow.

     

    So better race pace then them tomorrow?

    DR: Yes.

     

    Now Max… Daniel come down. Now last time you started alongside each other, back in Hungary, there was a little bit of a ding-dong between you on the first lap. There’s going to be none of that tomorrow. Christian isn’t going to be tapping his foot is he?

    DR: What happened?

     

    Is it all forgotten then?

    MV: I mean that race happened. Now we’ve got Singapore. We’ve got great starting positions, so we don’t think about that.

     

    Good stuff, thanks guys. Seb, have managed to calm the shakes down a little bit. Lewis is starting back on the third row of the grid tomorrow.  How much do you need this win in the championship fight?

    SV: I don’t know. I’m happy that we got the car where it deserved to be and we take it from there. Tomorrow is a long race; these guys are very, very quick. We had a difficult night yesterday, a better night today and I’m sure the car will be like today, tomorrow but I’m sure it will be a very close race.

     

    PRESS CONFERENCE

     

    Well, many congratulations Sebastian, your fourth pole in Singapore – bit of a specialist around this place – and your 49th career pole, just one short of the magic 50. But a really open session, one of the most open sessions for a while. And one can just sense in the way you came over the radio at the end, not only a great effort but also a great emotion. Tell us the feeling?

    SV: Yeah, it’s a long lap. There are a lot of corner – a lot of things to get right, and equally a lot of things you can get wrong. No, I’m really happy. Obviously the weekend so far has been a bit up and down for us. Yesterday was difficult. This afternoon was difficult. Tonight the car really came alive and it was just getting better. These guys were extremely quick. Q1, I didn’t know how the hell I was going to find a second and a half. But then, by Q2, the car was like a switch, from off to on – much better. I knew that the track would ramp up but probably I didn’t expect it that much. But, yeah, at the end, Q3 I was very happy with both my laps. A bit lucky in my final lap, because I brushed the wall quite severely out of 19. It was not just a little brush; it was actually a hit. I thought, “OK, I have to keep going”. It was fine until I approached the last corner; I had huge vibration. Thankfully there was only one corner left but I really pushed as hard as I could. I knew in the final run that even if I had the upper hand going in, these guys… the track would come up, these guys would have something in their pocket, so I needed to get it absolutely right. I was very relieved when I crossed the line. I looked at the screens behind and I waited for the call. I knew that Daniel was behind me so… I was very, very happy obviously. I think right now I’m starting to cool off.

     

    While you’re doing that analytically, that’s the bit you can control. The bit you can’t control is where your championship rival is – Lewis Hamilton. He’s not only got these two cars between you and him, you’ve also got your team-mate as well. Just purely looking at the race, you must be pretty pleased about that?

    SV: Yeah, I mean, we have a long race and a lot of things can happen. Certainly grid position is king or crucial, but still it’s a long race. The fact that our car was good this evening I think is promising for tomorrow. Yesterday we had a scrappy car, I lost the car, I had damage, so the runs after that were compromised. But the feeling was there. I knew that the car has got it, we just needed to get it out and that’s what we did tonight. I’m confident for tomorrow. For the others? Max is next to me, so first of all I guess I’m racing him and then Daniel and so on and so forth, so not too bothered where other people are. I think there is a long race ahead and there are a lot of things we need to get right, so we should focus on ourselves.

    Q: Max, almost, almost that first pole, almost the first ever teenage Formula One polesitter. This place is all about ramping it up, as Sebastian’s just said, tell us why you couldn’t find that step in the final run in Q3.

    MV: I think I did – just not as much as Sebastian but all in all I think the weekend was a good progression, getting better and better. And qualifying also was constant improvement. Even though the whole weekend we’re a bit down on power. I don’t know why, we couldn’t really solve it. Lost a bit of top speed there. It’s not idea but at the end of the day, to be second here, on this track, I think is very promising. We are not too far off so I can be quite happy with this qualifying.

     

    Q: Daniel, we could tell by one of the radio messages partway through the quali, you couldn’t quite live with these two in the final part of qualifying. There’s clearly some disappointment there but you told us yesterday that you think you can win this race. You’re the man who takes his opportunities on a Sunday, do you still believe in it?

    DR: Yeah, I still believe so. Today I’ll accept a little bit of defeat but there’s still a lot to play for tomorrow. For sure I would love to be in Sebastian’s position today. I thought pole would be on but yeah, we couldn’t quite run with him in that last qualifying. It’s a long lap, you gain a bit, you lose a bit, you kind of say ‘I could have got more there’ but I think the gap was, in the end – three or four tenths – was quite significant. So yeah, look at what we can do tomorrow. I think it’s really on the cusp of one and two stops, so it’s going to make it exciting. You might have to carry us out of the cars tomorrow but I’m sure I’ll have a very strong race and get, yeah, get some big points.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

     

    Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-Magazin.com) Question for all three of you. How much would you say your car is developing during qualifying session – just in terms of power output. Do you have something for Q3 special in the engine or is there nothing coming once you’re in the qualifying.

    SV: Well I think it’s normal that you start off a bit more conservative and then ramp it up. If you look at the importance of the session Q1 is the least important – I mean it’s very important to get through but least important to set a really, really competitive lap time. Q2 you need to make it to the top ten, obviously I think the quick teams have the luxury that they have a very quick car and it’s not a big secret we run a bit more conservative in the beginning and then gradually progress so that by Q3 obviously yeah, we ask for maximum power.

     

    Is the same true for the Renault engine, Max?

    MV: Maybe not as much. A little bit. Fine tuning. We know that we have to still work hard to improve, so it’s still not, of course, where Ferrari or Mercedes is.

     

    And Daniel?

    DR: No further comments. I mean, once qualifying starts we pretty much put it all in, so yeah, no secrets for Q3.

     

    Q: (Jerome Bourret – L’Equipe) Question to all of you. This race is usually one of the most demanding of the year in terms of physical conditions. What do you expect for tomorrow with the new cars – will it be much more harder than last year and how did you prepare for that?

    DR: Eat lots of pizza, drink lots of alcohol. It’s really important to dehydrate yourself before you get here! No. These two… it’s funny, the irony is that we go from probably the least physical is Monza, all the long straights, and it’s normally a quick race in terms of time itself, so you go from the easiest race of the year to the two hardest with Singapore and Malaysia. So, all last week I was just home, training and trying to get acclimated to the hotter conditions. And yeah, how much you need to drink is something as well: so simple. Yesterday I felt like I had a bottle in my hand all day and I was still struggling to go to the toilet, you sweat it out so much, so yeah, you’ve just got to stay on top of it. End of tomorrow you’ll see it in our faces, and Malaysia as well.

     

    SV: Just to get that straight, you were struggling to get to the toilet because you were struggling to keep balance because you were drinking so much, or…?

     

    DR: ah…

     

    SV: Don’t worry, you’ll get it back.

     

    DR: So what do you do?

     

    SV: Basically I think you try to prepare the whole year as much as you can. This year’s cars are more physical, I think that’s more fun. This race has always been the biggest challenge in terms of what it demands from the driver. It’s a very long track, a lot of corners, it’s hot, humid, a night race, so no room for error. Yeah, all these things together, the race is very long, as Daniel touched on, in terms of preparation, not so much I get. There’s no big secrets ramping up to the Grand Prix, you just try to be recovered once you get here. I like the Finnish culture so I did a couple of sauna intervals. Maybe that’s something special just to get used to the hot weather.

     

    What about you Max, what did you do?

    MV: I think you always try to prepare as well as you can but it’s always going to be hard. If you train a lot – or not, when you come here you’re going to sweat a lot. It’s just very tough because there are not a lot of straights where you can just rest – because even the straights here you have to turn a lot and you’re always busy. Bumpy. Lot of concentration going on because there are so many corners here, so for sure it will be a tough race – but hopefully when I’m in the lead I can just, like, slow down a bit and we can cruise home. Right? Is that OK for you? No?

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, how do you change on the car between yesterday and this afternoon and tonight? How is the balance between your effort and the effort of the mechanics?

    SV: I think it’s been phenomenal, the amount of work. Obviously yesterday we were a little bit caught off guard. The car wasn’t behaving the way we wanted it to but it’s been pretty special, I think:  the amount of effort that has gone in overnight, the support from Maranello. Charles (Leclerc) has been in the simulator – usually it’s swapping between Antonio Giovinazzi  and Charles so that’s very very important for us. They answered a lot of questions that we couldn’t, simply because we didn’t have time enough and a lot of questions remaining. And then, as I said, a lot of support from the factory, the guys down here – I don’t know when they went to bed, probably around lunchtime. The car was a lot better today but as I said, obviously with the conditions, I think it was helping us as well. The car really came alive towards the evening or throughout the evening, which I think is mostly the track. We went out very early this afternoon and very early in qualifying as well so maybe not ideal but the car was better today than it was yesterday, for sure.

     

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, you are the winning-most driver here on this track; what is the secret to win so much on this track, which is…

    SV: I guess I was lucky I didn’t brush too many walls. Usually I got it done by latest Saturday, like today. It’s a long race, anything can happen. For sure it helps the further up you start but still it’s a long race. I don’t know if there are any secrets. It’s always a place that I enjoy and it’s the sort of race that you want to go to to test yourself as well, because it’s such a big challenge, but equally you don’t want it to start because you know it’s going to be so tough. For sure I will be ready and excited to start tomorrow to see what we can do. For sure we’re in a good positon so we have lots of reasons to look forward to.

    MV: Do you think you’ll have a good start?

    SV: Yeah.

    MV: I hope not.

    DR: Your starts haven’t been that good, have they?

    SV: Yeah, they have been. Monza, no, but the other ones have been.

     

    Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-Magazin.com) To all three of you: Seb, do you have a different risk assessment at the start in the first corner when you’re challenging against two guys who are not in the championship battle? And for Daniel and Max, the same question, just the other way around…

    MV: Am I not in? Am I not in the championship battle?

    Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-Magazin.com) Probably not, sorry.

    SV: I guess the answer to your question is no because I don’t think anybody on the grid has the intention to stop the race in the first corner. I think you’re focusing on the start and then you go from there. No, I guess is the answer to your question.

    Q: Max, nothing to lose? Go for it from the start?

    MV: Yeah, but controlled, right? I mean you always go for it if there is a gap and if it’s possible but if not you just settle down and you go into the race and like Sebastian said, it’s a very long race so a lot of things can happen.

    DR: For sure, you know my intention is always to try and go forward. I think here, a track where it’s hard to pass, obviously the start is a big opportunity so yeah, the intention is to go for it but see what happens. It always seems to tighten up at turn one but we’ll see, see how we go. I think mathematically I can still win the championship so I might just play it real conservative and settle for a top six or something!

     

    Q: (Jens Nagler – Bild) Sebastian, you had a close look at the Red Bulls after the session, what did you find out about the cars?

    DR: He misses us.

    SV: It’s probably the best chance to… well, it looks like ours, yeah. I actually asked them yesterday already if they do the parts in blue as well because…

    MV: Yeah, we can swap?

    SV: Probably it’s the best time to look at the cars. I mean, what do I understand, basically, but it’s interesting to have a look.

    MV: Emotional.

    SV: Yeah, close to tears.

     

     

    Photo Credit: Scuderia Ferrari Formula One

  • F12017: Singapore Gp Preview – Advantage Ferrari?

    F12017: Singapore Gp Preview – Advantage Ferrari?

    The Formula 1 paddock heads east as it readies for the final stretch of the 2017 season.

    More specifically, Singapore’s Marina Bay Circuit will be the spectacular backdrop to the ever-intense battle for championship glory in 2017. As it stands Lewis Hamilton leads the driver’s standings by three points after winning back-to-back races in Belgium and Italy.

    However, while these past two races, and their low downforce configurations, were always slated to highlight and play to Mercedes’ strength the streets of Singapore hold a completely different connotation in prospect. At five kilometers with twenty-three relentless corners the Marina Bay Circuit is one of the most demanding layout of the season. Add to that the closeness of the barriers and the humidity and it becomes, arguably, the most physically demanding race on the calendar. “As a track, it’s really tough and physically demanding – arguably one of the hardest of the season. The lap is long with lots of corners and some tight and sharp bits. The high temperature and humidity, combined with the fact that it’s a street circuit, makes it quite hard,” says Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg.

    Singapore, on the calendar since 2008, has delivered some memorable races in its time. The inaugural race itself likely saw one of the shadiest incidents in the 21st century for Formula 1 and it had nothing to do with the fact that the grand prix is run at night. Instead controversy swept through the Renault team, as it was later revealed that Nelson Piquet JR. was ordered to deliberately crash to prompt a safety car and setup then teammate Fernando Alonso to win the race. It led to a lifetime ban for teamboss Flavio Briatore and Piquet JR. was never seen in F1 again. Contrastingly, it’s also delivered some superb races as in 2013 when Kimi Raikkonen, then a Lotus driver, stormed onto the podium despite starting thirteenth with severe back pain.

    singapore-vettelThe Marina Bay Circuit, as a high-downforce track, is expected to suit Ferrari in the way that Monaco and Hungary highlighted the strengths of the Scuderia. Pirelli have nominated the same range of compounds as in Monaco, which include the ulta- and supersoft tyre. While Mercedes have made some progress in getting their tyre temperatures perfectly balanced there’s no telling how much progress they’ve made and they’ll not like having these spread of compounds available this weekend. As it stands Niki Lauda believes that Mercedes have zero chance of seeing the top step of the podium in Singapore. What’s more is that Red Bull has made significant strides since the start of the season and could be factor for Mercedes and perhaps even for Ferrari.

    The fact that Marina Bay is a street circuit exponentially increases the likelihood of the safety-car making an appearance, which makes strategy that much harder to predict.

    Off the track it’s been announced that Carlos Sainz is joining Renault for 2018 with McLaren being expected to announce an engine supply deal with Renault in the coming days. It’s further expected that Honda will remain in F1 by partnering with the Toro Rosso team.

    As Hamilton holds a slender championship lead of three points over Vettel the expectation is, barring unreliability, that the German driver will soar into the lead of the 2017 standings on a circuit tailor-made for his Ferrari.

  • F1 2017: Italian Gp Review – Hamilton Dominates At Monza

    F1 2017: Italian Gp Review – Hamilton Dominates At Monza

    If you thought that you were somehow transported back to 2016, or even 2015, during this weekend’s Italian grand prix you’d have been forgiven. The level of domination that Mercedes and their drivers delivered to win the latest round of the 2017 season was simply staggering.

    By the end of 53 laps of the Italian grand prix there was half a minute, and a Bottas shaped Mercedes, between Lewis Hamilton and the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel. Not only that, but Hamilton’s dominant win also secured him the lead in the driver’s championship for the first time in 2017.

    As the rain played havoc with Saturday qualifying it was, again, Hamilton who delivered a spectacular lap for pole. With 69 to his name he now holds the record for the most pole position in the history of the sport. Such was the farcical penalty count at this weekend’s grand prix that despite qualifying in the top three both Red Bull drivers dropped effectively to the back of the grid. It promoted Williams’ Lance Stroll to the front row and into the history books as the youngest ever front row starter. Similarly, another up-and-comer in the form of Esteban Ocon lined up his Force India in third. Meanwhile, after a miserable session, the best Ferrari, Kimi Raikkonen, was fifth and teammate Vettel sixth.

    With the younger drivers right at the sharp end there was trepidation in air ahead of the start. However, they were very well behaved, if not a bit too cautious, and got through the start unscathed. It allowed Hamilton the perfect buffer to get away in the lead of the race from which he never looked back.

    While Bottas made relatively short work of Stroll and Ocon it was clear that he was maintaining position behind Hamilton who now appears to have the backing from Mercedes for the championship. While Vettel got into third relatively quickly there was nothing he could do about the pace of the Mercedes. On home turf Ferrari would’ve undoubtedly been disappointed with their performance but they wouldn’t have been overly surprised by it.

    M132570The low downforce configuration of Monza and the fact that 79% of the lap is spent at full throttle is Mercedes territory through-and-through. When they consider the weekend’s events Ferrari and Vettel will likely come to the conclusion that it could’ve been worse. Late in the race Daniel Ricciardo, on an alternate strategy, mounted a charge on third and fell only a few seconds short of snatching it from Vettel. Verstappen’s pace too suggested that he could’ve been a factor were it not for a puncture incurred in a first corner clash with the Williams of Felipe Massa. As it stands Hamilton takes a three-point lead to the Singapore grand prix where Ferrari is expected to lead the way.

    As Hamilton, Bottas, and Vettel completed the top three with a charging Ricciardo in fourth Kimi Raikkonen trundled home in fifth. In sixth was Esteban Ocon, followed closely by Stroll in seventh and Williams teammate Felipe Massa in eight. Sergio Perez was ninth in the other Force India while Max Verstappen recovered to tenth, albeit a lap down. The anguish continued for McLaren with a double retirement who are expected to announce a 2018 deal with Renault within the coming days which will likely be followed by a confirmation that Fernando Alonso will be remaining with the team.

    The Italian grand prix marks the final European race of the season. Formula 1 next heads East to Singapore’s Marina Bay Street circuit where Ferrari is expected to dominate.