Tag: sebastian vettel

F1 2015: Abu Dhabi Friday Practice Round-up

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg topped the timing sheets for Mercedes in the first and second free practice sessions for the Abu Dhabi grand prix.

The first of the one-and-a-half hour sessions started under bright sunlight and was topped by the number 44 Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton. The reigning champion set a quickest time of 1:43:754 which was roughly one-and-a-half tenths quicker than teammate Nico Rosberg. The Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen followed in third albeit a further six tenths back. Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat was fourth fastest ahead of Sebastian Vettel in the Ferrari.

Jolyon Palmer, who has secured a race seat for 2016, was out for the Lotus team but experienced a water leak and missed most of the session. Alexander Rossi has vacated the Manor Marussia seat to focus on the GP2 finale. Roberto Merhi has rejoined the team for the final race weekend of the season. In the inter-team battle at McLaren Jenson Button edged teammate Fernando Alonso for 13th place on the timing sheets.

As the sun set over the Yas Marina circuit the second free practice session got underway with considerably more running by the teams. This session is more representative of conditions that will be experienced in qualifying and the race, hence the increased work rate for the drivers.

Ultimately, Nico Rosberg’s 1:41:983 was the quickest time of the session on the red-walled supersoft tyre. It left the German a tenth-and-a-half clear of teammate Lewis Hamilton. Force India’s Sergio Perez finished the session in a surprising third place but did so twenty minutes early thanks to a brake issue.

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo was fourth quickest ahead of Sebastian Vettel (5th), Daniil Kvyat (6th) and Kimi Raikkonen (7th). The second Force India of Nico Hulkenberg, the McLaren of Fernando Alonso, and the Lotus of Pastor Maldonado rounded out the top ten.

In the long runs the pace comparison between Kimi Raikkonen and Nico Rosberg was especially noteworthy. Although there is no indication of fuel or engine modes run during the session the pace difference between the two drivers was, on average, a tenth of a second. A further interesting point was that Raikkonen was able to maintain a consistent pace for longer on the supersoft tyre than any other driver.

While Ferrari appear to have a competitive, perhaps even equal, race pace to Mercedes its qualifying pace still adrift of the Silver Arrows.

November 27, 2015
F1 2015: Abu Dhabi GP Preview – Abu Dhabi Ready To Dazzle

From Australia to seventeen different cities and circuit Formula 1 makes its final stop of 2015 at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina circuit.

The first race around the visually stunning circuit was held in 2009. It remains unique to the F1 calendar for its twilight start and in its six grand prix has delivered dramatic outcomes and significant duels that are hard to forget.

In its first year on the calendar Jenson Button arrived already crowned as champion after a dominant season in his blindingly quick Brawn. While Sebastian Vettel was up the road and on his way to victory a late race scrap between Button and then Red Bull driver Mark Webber is what truly ignited the first-ever season finale in Abu Dhabi. Not far out from the chequered flag Button pitted for a new set of tyres and proceeded to close down second-placed Webber at a blinding pace. The newly-crowned champion gave it his all to overtake the Aussie and though it wasn’t to be it still produced an exhilarating and memorable wheel-to-wheel battle. “I was giving everything to take second place from Mark,” said Button, “but I couldn’t quite make the moves stick. He’s a very difficult guy to overtake but it was a good clean fight and we were really on the edge.

Since this 2009 duel the Abu Dhabi circuit has crowned Sebastian Vettel champion on two occasions in 2010 and 2013. In between Kimi Raikkonen won a memorable race for the Lotus team which is remembered for the now famous radio message of “leave me alone, I know what I’m doing.” Coincidentally, Raikkonen’s famous victory was the only time a driver has won this grand prix after not starting on the front row of the grid.

Sebastian Vettel isn’t the only world champion that has been crowned at the season-ending race either. In 2014 Lewis Hamilton was crowned with his second driver’s title after a season at the wheel of the absurdly dominant Mercedes. “Last year, this place brought probably the most intense weekend of my life,” recalls Hamilton.

Twelve month on Hamilton arrives in Abu Dhabi a triple world champion but still with something to play for. A 50^th pole position is in the offing if the Brit can recover his qualifying mojo. Recently, teammate Nico Rosberg has well and truly had the beating of Hamilton on Saturday and stands on the cusp of joining quite an elite group. Should the German secure a sixth consecutive pole position he will join a list of only four drivers who has achieved this feat in the sport.

As far as the Yas Marina circuit layout goes it isn’t the most technically challenging on the calendar. Instead, the layout is mostly dominated by medium speed corners and long straights. “The first sector is generally medium speed with a couple of high speed corners and not too technically challenging; a reasonable level of downforce works fine here. The second sector is more power hungry with two good straights and two low speed corners – a low speed hairpin and a low speed chicane so it’s important to manage these well. The final sector is quite technical with a number of low and medium speed corners where the car needs to be well balanced and work well to achieve a good lap time,” explains Lotus technical director Nick Chester. “Putting all that together is key – you need a car that works well in low speed corners and be good in the long straights.”

In 2015 the United Arab Emirates is celebrating its 44^th national day. It is a day which marks the unification of the seven emirates and the founding of the country. It could be just per chance that it matches Lewis Hamilton’s number 44. Or is it a sign that the three-time champ is set to light up the Abu Dhabi grand prix?

November 26, 2015
WATCH: Highlights – The Abu Dhabi GP Through The Years

Watch the best action from the spectacular Yas Marina circuit in this official Formula One video package of the Abu Dhabi GP through the years, including some highs and lows for Sebastian Vettel, a famous win for Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton’s 2014 title triumph. The Abu Dhabi GP will be our last race for the season and we’re counting on an action packed race to end our season off. Remember to join us on Twitter @F1_Madness for live commentary, news updates and chat throughout the Abu Dhabi GP weekend.

November 25, 2015
F1 2015: Brazilian GP Review – Rosberg Rules Brazil Race

As far as the show is concerned the Brazilian grand prix didn’t quite live up to its dramatic heights. Nico Rosberg led into turn one followed by Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton and the two Ferrari’s of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen.

The battle between Rosberg and Hamilton carried on for quite some time but the German was doing an impressive job of controlling his three time world champion teammate. By being in the lead car on the track it afforded Rosberg control of tyre strategy and the call on when to come in. It left Hamilton at his mercy but the Brit still tried everything to snatch the lead of the race. He stayed within a second of Rosberg for a good number of laps but was unable to create a real overtaking chance. This approach was soon abandoned as it meant that Hamilton’s tyres wouldn’t last the stint if he continued to hound the back of the no.6 Mercedes.

In third place Sebastian Vettel kept a good pace but never truly threatened either Mercedes. He opted for an alternative strategy and ran the soft tyre midway through but still couldn’t threaten. Teammate Kimi Raikkonen was some way off in fourth in what he described as a boring race. The Finn had a late engine change but incurred no grid penalty as it was a unit that had been previously used. Such was the rush job on the engine that Dave Greenwood, Raikkonen’s race engineer, was providing instructions for engine set-up during the race. At a point in the race Greenwood could be heard on the radio apologising to the driver “sorry for all the changes, we’re just trying to get this engine set up.”

Nevertheless, it wasn’t a disastrous weekend for Ferrari as they experienced in Mexico. In fact, the pace has been the best the team has shown in quite a few races. Add to the fact that all but four cars, two Mercedes and two Ferraris’, were lapped on the day and the Italian team can feel darn good about their progress.

Hamilton noted after the race that overtaking on the Interlagos circuit was impossible. However, it didn’t seem too difficult a task for 18-year-old Max Verstappen. The Toro Rosso driver pulled off a few stunning moves around the outside of turn one which any driver on the grid would be proud to achieve. There are many factors which stopped Hamilton from just sending a move up the inside of Rosberg. His experience would’ve told him that he just wasn’t close enough. Mercedes too would’ve strongly cautioned him on the potential outcome of a collision.

How is it then that an 18 year-old Max Verstappen is given the license to even attempt those audacious overtaking moves and a three time champ is not. The argument could be made that Verstappen and Toro Rosso has little to lose should he be involved in a shunt. And yes, it’s only spectacular until it ends in a lot of carbon fibre pieces. But really Verstappen has earned his ‘license’ by proving that his overtaking prowess is no fluke. In China, Belgium and Brazil his moves have been extravagant but clean. And now he is already building his reputation as an uncompromising overtaker which future teams will be familiar with, come to expect, and hopefully not try to suppress. Here’s hoping that Verstappen never loses the fearlessness he has now.

Behind the two Ferraris’ Valtteri Bottas finished in a very distant fifth for Williams while Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg held off the Red Bull of Daniil Kvyat for a sixth place finish. Felipe Massa finished the race eighth on the track but was later excluded from the results after stewards found that his right-rear tyre “did not comply with the maximum permitted temperature ahead of the start of the race.” The Williams team has announced that it will be appealing the exclusion.

It meant that Lotus driver Romain Grosjean was promoted to eighth ahead of Max Verstappen and the second Lotus of Pastor Maldonado. Despite running an upgraded Renault engine Daniel Ricciardo finished outside the points in eleventh. While McLaren’s Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso ended the race in fourteenth and fifteenth Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz was the only retirement with an engine failure.

By winning the Brazilian grand prix Rosberg has secured second place in the driver’s standings and as in Mexico has proven that he has the skill to beat Lewis Hamilton. All that remains now for the championship runner-up is to deliver when it counts most.

November 16, 2015
2015 Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference

DRIVERS
1 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)
2 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
3 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

PODIUM INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Martin Brundle)

Nico, your 40th time on the podium, surely one of the sweetest? Another great drive, your second victory in a row.
Nico ROSBERG: Yeah, for sure, thank you very much. It was a great weekend for me here. Of course everything relative with what happened back in Paris. But still, very, very happy, it went perfectly. Lewis put on a good challenge but I was able to control it and never give him a chance, so I’m pleased with that.

There was a time, around lap 16 or 17, when you were really slow down into Turn One, when you braking early. What was the reason for that?
NR: I don’t know!

Well, maybe Lewis was just mighty on the brakes then. It looked like you were pacing yourself, tyres, brakes, or were there any kind of issues you were carrying?
NR: No, no issues. It was just controlling the pace – never overdoing doing, not to risk doing a mistake and also to not risk having too much degradation. We saw Lewis dropping off a lot with degradation in the second stint and that confirmed that it was important to take care of the tyres.

We heard you on the radio saying ‘don’t talk to me anymore’, the pressure was intense, Lewis was trying his hardest towards the end.
NR: It just depends. Sometimes I need the information but at that point I just wanted to focus on driving and get the job done.

You’ve got to do this earlier in the year, so you can have a fight in the world championship….
NR: Thank you very much for that piece of advice, I could figure that out for myself!
So how can you do that, how can you change that?
NR: Well, I’m pushing now and I was pushing in the beginning of the season. I don’t have an exact explanation for why it’s going so strongly now but I just want to keep it going.

Well, what a brilliant drive again today, congratulations. Lewis, fastest lap of the race but you didn’t quite have enough pace to challenge your team-mate today.
Lewis HAMILTON: Hola Brazil! No, I had the pace, it’s just you can’t overtake around here.

You were on the radio complaining, [saying] “I just can’t follow around this track” and then dropping back towards the end.
LH: Yeah, I mean obviously I was behind Nico and in traffic for some time and it just killed my tyres. It’s a shame because it’s such a great track but you just can’t get close enough to race. I don’t know if there were other people overtaking. Unless you have a huge advantage on the guy in front… Motorsport is about fine lines, you know, about tenths of a second, but you can’t get close enough within a tenth of a second to be able to fight. It’s a shame because it would be good if we did some overtaking here.

You were on the radio saying “give me a different strategy, let me get ahead somehow”, but you can’t do that within the team I guess. Is that frustrating?
LH: Well, I mean, I’m here to race and when you both have to do pretty much the same order it’s kind of already set from the beginning, so for sure I’m like “if there are any other strategies, let’s do it, let’s take a risk, let’s do whatever” and they’re like “look after the tyres”, and I’m like “No, I’m racing”, you know and I think that’s what people want to see, but unfortunately today, as I said, I couldn’t get close enough to ne able to really put on a great, so it was relatively boring following in a tow.

This guy has got the legs on you at the moment. You’ve got to come back for Abu Dhabi somehow.
LH: Yeah, Nico has been driving fantastically well. He did a fantastic job in qualifying, especially in the last few races. The last race he drove fantastically well, today no mistakes, so he did good.

Sebastian, it seems that you’ve got the VIP invitation for the 13th time this year on the podium to the Mercedes-Benz party up here.
Sebastian VETTEL: Thank you but… I think it was a good race for us. I was hoping that at the start maybe we could do something, but it wasn’t possible. The start was OK, but it wasn’t any better than Lewis or Nico’s. After that, I thought halfway through the first stint that maybe we could stay with them, but then they were starting to pull away. Overall, I think we have to admit that they were just a bit quicker. But overall, I would say we were probably closer here than in many, many races before in terms of race pace – only one, two, three tenths maybe at the time – and in the last stint we were even a bit quicker. Overall, it felt like a good race but yeah, for sure, it was not very exciting, we were a bit in no-mans land, we didn’t have anybody to fight with but hopefully next race we can be again a bit closer.

You put the soft tyres on, trying to do something different but you just didn’t have the speed.
SV: I didn’t hear! They are so loud!

It’s wonderful. Alright, we’ll go back to Nico. Nico, you’re on a roll. It’s not through luck, it’s through speed, but maybe you should go to the casino or play the lottery or something – everything is running for you at the moment.
NR: Well, I’ve been working hard also, because Lewis had the upper hand for a lot of the season and I needed to try to turn it round, so at the moment it’s going really well, I’m pleased with that and next race now Abu Dhabi, I want to try to go for the win there again.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Congratulations Nico, another good reception from the crowd. Win number 13 for you, which confirms your second place in the Drivers’ Championship 2015. Does it good to be in control, second consecutive win from pole?
NR: It feels great to win the races, for sure. Two in a row now, with pole positions as well. It’s just going a lot better at the moment, which I’m happy about that. I don’t have an exact explanation unfortunately, otherwise it would make it all a lot more simple. But of course I’ve been working at it a lot, because Lewis had the upper hand for the first part of the season and so, yeah, I’m pleased that it’s turned around at the moment.

Thank you. Lewis, it seems that win number 44 for the driver of car number 44 will have to wait for another couple of weeks, possibly. Interesting talking point for you: I think second stint in particular you were looking to do something different, try to see if there was another strategy, it’s not uncommon for you to do different things between the team, and you were told plan B wasn’t really option, but then, when we got into the mid-30 laps there was a switch of strategy for everybody. I wonder if you could just talk us through how you felt about that, your thinking around the strategy and how it all evolved?
LH: I think the strategy was good. The team had anticipated that the tyres would go longer than they were, which I wasn’t sure would be the case before the race, and it turns out it wasn’t. No, it’s just in the race you’re just trying to see… I love this track, it’s such a great circuit but unfortunately it’s so difficult to overtake. You get to within a second and you just lose downforce and there’s no way you can get any closer. And the DRS zone is kind of maybe not long enough, if that was to be the thing to make the difference, it’s almost not long enough. So I was just trying to see if there was any other kind of strategy. I mean, I’m our there racing so I’m looking for any kind of options. Surely there are not only two options for pit stops.

So looking back on it, if you had done gone out and down two different things – split the strategy from the outset, one of you on two and one of you on three, see what happened at the end – it would have been more interesting?
LH: No, no. A three-stop was generally slower or it was supposed to be slower, but obviously at the end it turned out that the three stop was probably better as the tyres didn’t last, so… I have no idea about that, but the team made a good choice.

Q: Sebastian, coming to you, you obviously, like them, made a switch it seems – but you went to the softs on lap 33. Talk us through the thinking and the discussion with the team that went into that.
SV: Well, obviously we were too far away to really put big pressure on Mercedes and safe from the cars behind so we thought to try something different, put the soft tyre which, in the end, was very good. I was very happy on the soft tyre, probably a little bit happier than on the medium. Unfortunately we hit a lot of traffic to make a benefit or to keep catching up – but I guess it was the same for them out in front – but the idea was simply try to do something different. Yeah. We knew that the soft doesn’t go as far but probably a little bit quicker in the end. As I said, it lasted fairly well and I think it was a bit quicker so it was fair enough to try. Also, in the end I think we had good speed. We were in clean air, catching a little bit. Then again, it’s difficult to say how much Nico was controlling with Lewis behind. Obviously when you’re in the lead it’s always a bit different and not necessary to push into the unknown. Over all I think it was a good day for us. Good race. We were closer than many, many races previously, so I think it’s a good effort and shows our real standing right now.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Lewis and Nico. We’re all searching for explanations as to the turnaround in qualifying form. One of the things that someone’s pointed out today is that this has happened since the tyre pressures were increased from Monza onwards – I know you were on pole in Monza Lewis – but since then it’s been Nico all the way. Do you think that’s one of the influencing factors potentially?
NR: No, I don’t. I don’t think so. I think I’ve just raised my game. That’s it.

Lewis?
LH: Well, from Singapore onwards there’s been a change to the car – but whether or not that’s made a difference, I don’t know really. We’ll have to see. But it has changed since Singapore.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Honorary) A question for all three. This track might be worse, but it’s not the only track where you can’t follow a car closely. Is it time for a fundamental change in the technical rules – so that you can actually follow closely?

Lewis, maybe you start with that one.
LH: At the end of the day it doesn’t really matter what we say because it can’t happen. The big bosses make the decisions and whether or not they make the right ones for many years, who knows. Something’s got to change y’know? Because some races you can follow which enables you to have some good racing, obviously places like Austin where there was the last decent race but otherwise there are some places it’s just… I guess for fans it’s probably not too exciting to watch. Of course, it’s always nice when you’re at the front, as we have been for some time now – but still, being able to race is what… and also down the back, the rest of the field is probably what fans want to see. That’s probably a change that would be looked positively on.

Nico?
NR: Yes, we always need to keep improving the sport – but I don’t know how the battles were further back. Up front I had the pace advantage over Lewis today so of course he’s not going to come by me because in the end of the race I was six seconds in front. So it’s normal he’s not going to pass me in that case. Behind, I don’t know how it’s going but of course it’s always difficult in F1 to pass – that’s why DRS has come onboard and that’s really made a lot of progress for us. So we’ve seen a lot of excitement because of that – but we need to keep working at it for sure, and keep thinking about it.

Sebastian, anything to add?
SV: I think on paper this is one of the easiest tracks to overtake. Sure, if you’re behind you always want the DRS zone to be longer because artificially it helps you to get closer. Naturally if you are only a tenth or two quicker then it’s very difficult to pass – whereas if you’re a second quicker it becomes more easy. I think in general what we need to follow another car closer in medium speed, high speed, slow speed corners is more mechanical grip. So shift the percentage between aero – mechanical more towards more mechanical. How to do that? I think we need better tyres that allow us to go quicker. Drivers want to be quicker. So, I think the solution is very simple. Unfortunately the sport is very political with different interests from different people. Yeah. I think it’s fair enough to give whoever tyre manufacturer, in this case Pirelli, the chance to improve their tyres – but we need to run. But since the responsible people, the teams, whoever, can’t agree on something, it will be difficult to make progress. Unfortunately the people who literally are paying for that are sitting on the grandstands. So, we would love to go quicker. I think they would love us to go quicker and have more excitement but bottom line is, if you look ten years ago, 20 years ago, it wasn’t like there was a lot more overtaking in the race. So it’s also not a disaster what we see now.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globo Esporte) Sebastian, you have already said something about it at the beginning but you finished six seconds behind Lewis in a race without rain, without safety car. Can you extend your analysis, is Ferrari really approaching Mercedes, does it project something better for your team for next year?
SV: Yeah, I think overall it’s true that we are closer compared to Australia. Obviously Malaysia was a bit different for us but I think in general if you look at the beginning of the season to now we are a lot closer. I don’t know what happened to Lewis in the end, I think the real gap we have to look at is the one to Nico. I think they were dropping a bit of pace, I was catching up as well but we are a lot closer than previous races. I think already in Mexico – obviously my race didn’t go too well – but I think the pace was strong so yes, I think we are closer, that’s due to hard work. We’ve improved on the engine side, the motoristi in Maranello have done a miracle this year, that’s due to the car. We have raised our game but yeah, for sure we want to be closer, a lot closer, ideally ahead next year. That’s a massive step but that’s the challenge and that’s the target for next year. We know we set high targets but in the end we want to be favourites going in and not hoping for something to happen in front to benefit.

Q: (Daniel Johnson – The Telegraph) Lewis, particularly given that the Constructors’ championship is done, the Drivers’ championship is wrapped up, you’re ahead of Ferrari in this race, would you like a bit more freedom to – as you said on the podium – to take a risk and do a strategy that’s different because at the end of the day, if you fell back, you haven’t lost anything in championship terms? And to Nico as well: you must have been in a position where you were behind Lewis and had to follow the same strategy. Is that frustrating for you as well?
LH: I think we have to rely on the team. As I said before, of course I was looking for whatever other opportunities there may be because on the track it was not looking great and contrary to what Nico was saying, there was one point where I was all over him but I just couldn’t get by, I just couldn’t get close enough in that last second and I did have the fastest lap, so I obviously had the pace today. As I said, it would be great to sometimes be able to do something different, to do something rather than just… you know, you’re lap 15, you’re lap 16 and lap 42 or whatever it was. Our targets were lap 41, 42… to have some options. Hey, do you want to do this, do you want to do that and see how it plays out? Ultimately I think they do so many strategic simulations that they pick the best two and that’s what we’re stuck with.
NR: Yeah, of course it’s been a discussion that we’ve had many times. The thing is you don’t know in advance which strategy… In advance you can only go by what you think the computer tells you, which strategy is best and it wouldn’t really be fair for the guy who is running second to go for the other strategy and then for it to turn out that it was massively the quicker strategy in hindsight, after the race, and as a result, he won the race just because of luck, of the other strategy being so much quicker, and that’s the big problem in there and that’s why it doesn’t make sense in the battle when we’re just battling us two, because it should be just me against Lewis and that’s it and no luck involved from one strategy being a bit better than the other and that’s the reason behind it.

Q: (Rodrigo Franca – VIP Magazine) Question for all you three: I would like to comment on the enthusiasm of the Brazilians for the Grand Prix and of course, we see a big party in the grandstands, even without a Brazilian driver, so I would like you to comment on that and if you feel a difference in this weekend?
SV: Well, I think it’s a great place to come to to be honest. Every year it just seems to get better. At the beginning, maybe I was too young when I came here. I was a bit frightened by the size of the city, 20 million people, I was a bit scared. Where I come from there’s 25,000 people and I already thought that was a big place. Yeah, so maybe I was a bit lost in the beginning but since you come back every year and you get to see different parts of the city, I think it’s a great place and obviously as soon as we come here, we are treated like super-heroes. We can’t really fly but obviously it’s nice to see the passion for races, for the sport and as you said, there’s a lot of flags around the track, Ferrari flags, German flags, English flags, for all of us to support. Obviously a place like this needs a local hero so it would be even better if a Brazilian was fighting for the podium but in principal I think it’s one of the best races we’ve had. There was never any discussion about the sport struggling here because the grandstands were not packed or were not full, and even if it’s not entirely full, people create an atmosphere and that’s what makes the day special. They’re having a good time and they just enjoy being here which, as we’ve seen in Mexico… maybe it’s a Latin American thing. People are very enthusiastic. It obviously makes our day very very nice when people shout our names, when we are on the grid trying to focus but at the same time we hear people shouting our name and wishing us good luck. It’s nice.
LH: It’s been fantastic. Always coming to Brazil, there’s obviously a lot of love in the hearts of the Brazilian fans for the sport and that’s shown 100 percent every time we come, so a big thank you to the people who run this circuit for doing such a good job with the circuit in terms of looking after it. The tarmac has been great generally and the new paddock has been fantastic so it’s bringing it up to standard and it continues to be a track that we can not miss. This is actually the first weekend that I’ve actually been aware of the old circuit so I would love to see an amendment to this track. It used to be one of the longest circuits on the calendar. Who knows whether that track has more opportunities for overtaking, but the one that we have now could definitely be better.
NR: It’s just awesome, we’re very thankful for this massive atmosphere that everybody’s putting on here and in Latin America in general, the races now. It’s fantastic. Some of the races elsewhere can learn from the emotions that everybody is bringing to the race track.

November 15, 2015
2015 Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix: Saturday Press Conference

DRIVERS
1 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)
2 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
3 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

TV UNILATERAL

Nico, five poles in a row – quite a statement.
Nico ROSBERG: Yeah, of course pleased with today. Best place to be in for tomorrow’s race. It worked well in qualifying. I was playing catch-up a little in Quali 2, that didn’t quite go to plan, but then Quali 3 really got going and got some good laps in. The last lap was on the edge, there were a couple of big moments in there, but it still worked out to be a good time, so happy with that.

You’re in the same position as you were 12 months ago in Brazil, which you then went on to win. How important for you is it to end the season with this kind of momentum?
NR: I’m just thinking about the individual races. I’m here, I want to win and that’s it really. Of course, as a side effect, P2 in the championship is there, still to be had, which is better than P3 for sure. And also it’s always better to end on a high than a low, for sure, the season, also thinking about next year.

Conversely for you Lewis, no pole now since Monza back in September, which is unusual as a pattern for you. Is that anything you’re concerned about at all?
Lewis HAMILTON: No.

Can you tell us a little about how today went then?
LH: It was good today, actually. I got a really balance with the car, I was very happy with the work we did with the engineers, the laps were looking quite good, very good through Q1 and Q2 and just Q3, I just wasn’t able to find that small bit of edge. I think at the end I didn’t maximise the first sector but the other two sectors were OK.

You’ve never won Brazil, how important a piece of unfinished business is that as far as you’re concerned?
LH: Well, my main job is done this year, so it’s not the most important thing, but of course that’s the target. I’ve come here, a circuit that I haven’t actually won at, so… last year I was strong in the race and I hope to be able to carry that through to tomorrow and try and see if I can make the difference.

Thank you. Coming to you Sebastian, Q2 looked as though you were getting quite close to the Mercedes, only a couple of tenths off, maybe that gave you some hope, but in the end it was around six tenths again – your thoughts on the last hour?
Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, it gave us a bit of hope in Q2 definitely but I saw that Nico had quite a couple of mistakes in his lap in Q2, so I knew that Q3 would be really difficult to get really close. I think in the end we were able to improve the car from yesterday, which is the most important thing, also looking for tomorrow’s race. Yeah, no doubt I would have loved to be a bit closer. Nevertheless it’s the optimum for us today. Tomorrow could be an interesting one. Yesterday we saw a lot of people sliding, including ourselves, so with the tyres it could be an interesting race.

The other thing we saw yesterday was what looked like reasonably consistent race pace from Ferrari. Do you think it might be enough if either of these two gives you an opportunity?
SV: Well, you should ask them! But we will give everything we have. I think probably on the race pace, looking at the last couple of races, we’ve always been a bit closer on Saturday. Hopefully we can confirm that again tomorrow and put some pressure on these two guys. If there is a chance then yeah, we’ll go for it.

Final thought from you Nico: what do you expect from tomorrow’s grand prix. Last year, here, strategy was decisive, but once again you’ve got the advantage of track position at this stage.
NR: Yeah, it will be an exciting race for sure. Strategy-wise we’re quite comfortable because we got all the work on Friday – I’m not sure if that was the case last year – so we know we’re in a better position and we know what to expect, that should help. Then of course keeping an eye on Ferrari also, who were quick on Friday in the long run… well, close to us at least. So we need to be careful about that but I think definitely we’re going out there for the win.

PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Nico, it seemed that, particularly sectors one and two seemed to be your strong suit throughout. Why was it in particular that you managed to get those two quite different sectors so right?
NR: I think all sectors were OK – just sector three is a bit more variable because it’s just one corner and huge tow influence. So if you happen to have a guy in front it makes a huge different on lap time – so that’s why that sector’s just more variable. No, all three sectors felt good, I was happy with all of them.

Q: Coming back to you Lewis, picking up on the question I asked you earlier in the unilateral there, you were saying you weren’t concerned about qualifying as its gone basically in the last couple of months. Maybe you could just say a little about finding that qualifying rhythm – because you hit the ground running so hard this season, you were just completely dominant in qualifying throughout the year. Is there anything we should read into this last couple of months? Have you missed something, or…?
LH: Not really. I’ve had the most poles of the year and I’ve won the World Championship so there’s nothing really to read into it. You don’t always get it right; you can’t always get it perfect every single time, so…

Q: Sebastian, on the theme of qualifying, you’ve been in front of Mercedes during races and you’ve been able to stay there this year, so is qualifying pace the number one priority for you and Ferrari to find over this winter period to come back strong in 2016?
SV: Well, I think what you do in qualifying is you try to go as fast as possible, so it’s pace in general that we are still lacking – but, y’know, the season is coming to an end slowly. I think generally looking at the last couple of months we managed to get closer. Of course from race to race, from track to track the gap can vary a bit but overall I think things are heading in the right direction. Also, in-season, it is possible to bring updates – everyone is – but difficult to make really, really big changes to the car. So I think next year should give everyone the opportunity to refresh and renew a couple of things and hopefully we can be in a stronger position. But first of all, looking forward to tomorrow. As you said, we managed to get in front and stay there, so the first opportunity could be the start. Let’s see, it’s a long race here – usually crazy things happen. All eyes on tomorrow and we try our best.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Question to the three of you. It’s not Formula One. How did you live the events of yesterday in Paris and are you planning to do something special tomorrow apart from the minute of silence?
NR: For sure what happened yesterday makes everything else relative, y’know? That’s real tragedy and today is really not important compared to that. With the media nowadays and Twitter and all of these things, when you look it takes you so close even though you’re so far, you’re so close to what’s going on, and that makes it all the more intense and just very shocking, very shocking. That’s the best way to describe it. Tomorrow on the grid we’re doing… not sure.

LH: I don’t know what we’re doing tomorrow. It’s not something I really want to comment on.

Sebastian?
SV: I think it was a huge shock. I was in the car on the way back to the hotel, saw what happened. Obviously I think it was a strange feeling to fall asleep to. As Nico said, in the end our thoughts are with the victims and their families. In the end there is nothing really you can do to help. Very tragic.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globo Esporte) Nico, Lewis said that there is nothing that can really explain your five poles in a row, it’s just the result of competition. Did you change your approach for the weekend, set-up of the car, the way you organise yourself to explain these five poles in a row?
NR: You know, it was an area I had to work on so I have been working on it of course, through the season, but I don’t have a direct explanation of any precise thing that’s now different. So I’m just happy that it’s going that way, it’s better, better this way of course but I don’t know why.

Q: (Rodrigo Franca – VIP Magazine) Lewis, Formula One is a very competitive sport and environment and there are people that say that in order to be World Champion you can’t be Mr Nice Guy, especially on the track. Why do you think people get this impression?
LH: Erm, I don’t know, it’s competition and in competition that’s just how competition is. There’s one that’s more aggressive than the other one – that’s sports in general, whether it’s football, whether it’s tennis. I really don’t know the answer to it or the psychology to it but it’s because it’s fierce competiveness.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speedsport magazines) Sebastian, you say that the gap has varied from track to track. There’s one more track to go, how do you think your car will go now in Abu Dhabi?
SV: I don’t know. I think we have reason to be confident, I think the car was working in general on all types of circuits, maybe some suit us less but I think Abu Dhabi should be alright for us. Looking at the nature of the track, there’s no real high speed corners. I think only the beginning or just the first sector, after that it’s fairly much stop and go, 90 degree corners. I think we’ve been reasonably competitive, also if you compare to maybe Singapore. Conditions will be very different but I think we have reason to be confident.

Q: (Vladimir Rogovets – Sb Belarus Segodnya) Mr Hamilton, you are already the champion but if we talk about tomorrow’s race, what would you prefer: to be first after the first lap and without problems to be first at the finish line, or to combat all race long with five or ten drivers and maybe to be first or second at the finish line? Which would you prefer?
LH: I would much prefer to be racing with five or ten drivers but it’s just not how Formula One is and how Formula One’s been for a long time but those races are for sure the most enjoyable ones. Starting from pole position or at the front and having a little battle with one person or leading the race is a great great thing but… One of the best races I had here was – I don’t know if it was 2009 or 2010, I think it was 2009, I think Jenson won the championship here maybe – I started 18th and I came through to third and those are the most enjoyable races, when you have to… you’re constantly challenged, coming up against another competitor and they have different skills and techniques and so you have to really use your skills and your driving vocabulary to understand the different dynamics that are happening while you are racing. That’s what I enjoy most but Formula One… it’s very rare that you see that, for whatever reason.

November 14, 2015
F1 2015: Brazil GP Qualifying Report – Rosberg Nicks Pole

Nico Rosberg has secured pole position for Mercedes team ahead of the 2015 Brazilian grand prix.

The first part of the hour-long qualifying session was highlighted by yet another issue for McLaren’s Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard grinded to a halt in the first session and them comically continued to sun himself at the side of the track.

Whilst the sister McLaren of Jenson Button also failed to advance to the next session Alexander Rossi once against bested his Manor teammate Will Stevens in their qualifying battle. Surprisingly, the Lotus of Pastor Maldonado also failed to advance beyond sixteenth place.

The second of the three sessions saw Lotus driver Romain Grosjean fail to advance to the top ten shoot-out after flat-spotting his yellow-marked soft tyres. An incident between the two Brazilian drivers Felipe Nasr and Felipe Massa is still being investigated. Massa, in the Williams, had to take avoiding action of the Sauber of Felipe Nasr who was driving, quite slowly, on the racing line. A penalty seems inevitable for the younger Brazilian.

The final shoot-out commenced with Rosberg setting the quickest lap from Hamilton with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel rounding out the top three. The second run saw an improvement of roughly two-and-a-half tenths from Rosberg and whilst Hamilton came within less than a tenth it wasn’t enough to deny his teammate.

Sebastian Vettel secured third on the grid and will share the second row with his Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen after Valtteri Bottas’ penalty for overtaking under the red flag is instituted.

Provisional Qualifying Standings:

November 14, 2015
Hamilton tops final Brazil practice session despite issues

Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets ahead of Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg for the final Brazil practice session ahead of this weekend’s grand prix, despite a few issues with his car.

20 minutes into the Brazil practice session, Hamilton’s car stopped on the Interlagos circuit at Bico de Pato while the Briton complained of a gearbox issue before heading back to the pits. He then spun his Mercedes heading in to Mergulho and was forced to abandon his lap.

Hamilton returned to circuit again on Pirelli Option tyres to set a top Brazil practice time of 1:12.070, 0.123s clear of Rosberg.

The Mercedes duo proved once again to be leagues ahead of the rest of the field with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel’s Brazil practice session time almost seven-tenths of a second off Hamilton’s pace.

Kimi Raikkonen hit the fourth spot ahead of fellow Finn Valtteri Bottas – albeit over a second off the pace – with Nico Hulkenberg, Romain Grosjean, Sergio Perez and Pastor Maldonado following suit for their Force India and Lotus F1 teams.

Maldonado faced a bit of a scare during the final moments of the final Brazil practice session when his Lotus went wide through the super fast Ferradura corner.

Young Max Verstappen rounded out the top ten in his Scuderia Toro Rosso only 0.024s faster than Daniel Ricciardo. Ricciardo of course faces a 10 place grid penalty for the race, after changing his to the upgraded Renault engine.

Felipe Massa brought his Williams home 12th fastest, just ahead of the second Red Bull driver Daniil Kvyat in thirteenth not too far off Ricciardo’s time, despite not also changing to the upgraded engine.

McLaren Honda’s Fernando Alonso finished 14th with his British team mate finishing down in 18th with the not-so-unusual-or-unexpected complaints of understeer.

Carlos Sainz Jr was 15th behind Alonso with the Sauber duo of Marcus Ericcson and Felipe Nasr lining up behind him.

That leaves us with the two Manor Marussia drivers Will Stevens and Alexander Rossi who rounded out the final Brazil practice runners.

We’ll be back just before 18h00 GMT+2 for the Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying session, hoping for a cracker! Do join us on Twitter @F1_Madness for live chat, news and commentary throughout.

November 14, 2015
F1 2015: Brazilian GP Free Practice 1 Report – Hamilton Quickest

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton topped the timing sheets in the first free practice session for the Brazilian grand prix.

The one-a-half hour session got underway with the track temperature soaring towards the 40 degree centigrade mark. The track surface provided a low level of grip for the drivers as they re-familiarized themselves with the famous Interlagos circuit. The Mercedes driver pairing of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg traded quickest times during the initial part of the session before the Ferrari’s of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel took to the track.

Ultimately, Vettel and Raikkonen ended the session third and fifth fastest. The Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo was fourth fastest with the newly upgraded internal combustion engine, from Renault, fitted to the Aussie’s car. No major incidents came to the fore during the session save for a few lock-ups into turn one and late session spin, into turn 4, for Raikkonen.

Local heroes Felipe Nasr and Felipe Massa ended their session, for Sauber and Williams, in fourteenth and seventeenth respectively.

Final Free Practice 1 Standings:

November 13, 2015
F1 2015: Brazilian Grand Prix Preview – Brazil – A spectacle for the ages

In the last several years the Brazilian grand prix has moved around quite a bit on the F1 calendar. It’s gone from the second race of the year to being the season-ender a few times. Now, it finds itself settled as the penultimate race of the year. But regardless of when the Brazilian grand prix is run it always delivers a stunning show.

History reveals that the land which the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace is built on was first bought with a housing development in mind. Luckily, part of the Sau Paulo land was not suitable for housing and a so a racetrack, named Interlagos, was born. Several decades later the successful arrival of Emerson Fittipaldi on the world motorsport stage became the catalyst for a Brazilian grand prix in the 1970s. By 1981 Rio had taken over as host of the Brazilian grand prix. But thanks to the fervour that surrounded Ayrton Senna, a Sau Paulo native, the race has returned and been run at Interlagos ever since.

The circuit isn’t a long one at 4.309 kilometres and its lap record is just shade over seventy-one seconds. It doesn’t have any corners in its layout to really trouble the drivers either. “There’s just not a corner that gives you any real satisfaction. I don’t want to make it sound dull, because it isn’t, but like Russia, there isn’t a corner that makes you go ‘Woooo-Hoooo!’ It needs a few more corners and something really high speed,” says Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo. “There’s a couple that look good on paper but because of the cambers, you never really have the grip to go barrelling in.”

From the Aussie’s perspective it doesn’t sound very challenging and it looks like it could be a bit of a damp squib. But somehow, year after year, the circuit and the boisterous fans combine with an untouchable force to deliver astounding Brazilian Grand Prix races.

The stunning 2012 race in which then Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel had to fight back through the field after a first-corner incident comes to mind. In 2007 Kimi Raikkonen beat the odds to win the driver’s championship. In 2008 the driver’s world title race between Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa climaxed in the most dramatically breathtaking fashion. As local hero and Ferrari driver Massa crossed the line as world champion only to be denied as McLaren driver Hamilton found his way past the Toyota of Timo Glock on the last corner of the last lap. These stunning races are merely what are in the recent memory bank of Formula 1. The Brazilian grand prix has been delivering this kind of drama for decades.

Last year Nico Rosberg put together a faultless weekend to win from pole. It comes as no great revelation that Mercedes is the overwhelming favourite for victory going into the weekend. However, there are a few factors that could change the outcome of Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix. The weather around the Interlagos circuit looks set fair with temperatures predicted to reach into the early 30s. It will mean a considerably high track temperature which will play to the strengths of the Ferrari, as it did in Malaysia.

The factor of racing on home soil should never be diminished and given Felipe Massa’s adoration for his home race he will undoubtedly feature in some way this weekend. A podium finish may not be out of the question for the Williams driver.

Often we try to predict what will happen over a grand prix weekend. We base our view on car performance in relation to a specific layout, weather forecasts, and occasionally a gut feel. But in Brazil you do so at your peril. Because this race has the uncanny ability to surprise and deliver a spectacle to the level no one can possibly imagine.

November 11, 2015