Category: Formula 1

The top-three drivers who attended the post-race press conference are:

Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes); Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes) and Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)

TRACK INTERVIEWS (Conducted by Martin Brundle) 

Q: Lewis, it seemed to me that you had this race under control from qualifying yesterday with those two outstanding laps but you had some nursing to do at the end? 

Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, it wasn’t the easiest of races. I had a lock-up into Turn 5 that started to give a bit of vibration and then one into the last corner. The tyre temperatures were slowly dropping, no matter how much you were pushing. I guess as you lose rubber you start to lose temperature in the tyres. It was a bit of a struggle but nonetheless I think it was OK. I was a little bit nervous that we might have a scenario like Silverstone with that right front towards the end, so I was nursing it. It looks like the tyre has got plenty of rubber on it, so maybe it was just fine and maybe just all worry for nothing.

Q: You’re unstoppable at the moment – you’re 89^th victory, just two behind the great Michael Schumacher now, your fourth victory here, matching Jim Clark. You’re on a roll!

LH: I know it’s not necessarily what everyone always wants, to see the Mercedes at the front but no matter how much success we have, we just keep our heads down. When I go back into the office now there’s no guys celebrating, they’re like, ‘OK, how can we win the next race’. It’s an incredible mentality to work around, and environment to work around. We’re continuing to learn about ourselves, about the car, how we develop and improve weekend-in, weekend-out. And honestly, it’s crazy to think, I’m 35, going towards 36 but I feel better than ever, so that’s a positive. I’m really, really grateful to the team, everyone back at the factory, thank you for their continued support. It actually worked to my benefit to be honest that snap, because it meant he was right up my chuff and I’m sure he had to lift. And that meant that when we go to the top of the hill, I don’t know if he had to lift or not, but he didn’t have enough time to slingshot. No shake and bake today, so I’m grateful for that.

Q: On to Valtteri Bottas. P2 today Valtteri, tell us about your race? There was a point early on when you were saying ‘let me have a go, let me use my power up and have a run at Lewis’?

Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, of course at the start it would have been a good opportunity but I think Lewis played it pretty well that he wasn’t too fast out of Turn 1 and I couldn’t really get momentum behind him and also today there was a tailwind into Turn 5, so a bit less of a tow effect. Same thing in the restart – I just couldn’t catch him on the straight. So, I think those are the main opportunities and otherwise, yeah, with the same car and Lewis driving pretty much mistake-free it was tricky, but you know, I tried.

Q: You made me smile when you said on the radio ‘I didn’t hear that instruction that we’re not allowed to race each other’.

VB: Yeah! Actually I had no clue about that! Maybe they said it, but I don’t recall.

Q: Good stuff and more world championship points. What can you take away from this weekend, we go straight into Monza of course?

VB: Well, I think Lewis was faultless today and yesterday he was quick. We earned more points this weekend. At least it was a clean weekend for me, with no big issue. But, definitely I want those race wins and I’m just happy that there’s an opportunity next weekend again.

Q: Max, 33, you keep finishing P3. You could see the Mercedes at the end of the race again. A bit tantalisingly frustrating or satisfied with the day?

Max VERSTAPPEN: No, it was pretty boring, to be honest. Not really interesting; not much to do. I couldn’t really keep up with them when they were pushing and from my side I ran out of tyres at the end. The last eight laps I was just backing it out, saving the front tyres. It was not really enjoyable out there today. On the medium I didn’t really have a lot of grip and on the hard tyre, initially I was trying to put a bit of pressure on Valtteri, but then they told him to speed up and I couldn’t keep up. Yeah, a bit lonely.

Q: Yeah, I can imagine for you. There was some really good action through the field. I wondered if you might come in before the end, put some pressure on Mercedes with some fresh tyres and try to get a world championship point, but Daniel Ricciardo was, annoying for you, in your pit stop window wasn’t he?

MV: Yeah and I was not sure with their top speed if it was easy to pass, so I said we just stay out. I think I was very close to a puncture but, yeah, we finished P3. More than that was anyway not possible today. OK, maybe it was not the most satisfying P3 but it’s still better than nothing, so I’m pretty pleased with that.

Q: It was probably a wise choice. Daniel did the fastest lap of the race on the 44^th lap of the race, the last lap, so he had some speed.

MV: Yeah, well, we just had no tyres left, so I was not taking any risks. It was probably a good weekend for them and just maximised what we could.

Q: Straight on to Monza looking forward to that.

MV: Yeah, we’ll try again and see where we end up.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Lewis, many congratulations, that was a hugely impressive weekend from you and Mercedes.

LH: Thank you. Yeah, it was definitely impressive from my point of view, just seeing this team continue to come here weekend-in, weekend-out. You know, we’re constantly learning and constantly improving and I don’t know how we continue to do that. What we learned from the last race, which was also a great race, we’ve brought updates here, we’ve understood our tyres a little bit better coming into this weekend, and qualifying obviously was incredible for myself and I managed to have that same pace today that I had yesterday. Even though I was on my own out there, it was still very, very tough with these tyres, in terms of looking after them. I think at the end everyone had to back off to manage the tyres to bring these cars home with these long one stops.

Q: As you say, hugely impressive qualifying yesterday and a great race today. Of the five wins so far in 2020, was this the smoothest weekend for you?

LH: Ooh, I would say the last one probably was. Barcelona, particularly the race, was the smoothest race I think I’ve generally had. This one was positive but it’s very stressful with the start, as is Barcelona, but the start is not easy. And the restart also. I think it was a pretty straightforward weekend but there are definitely areas we can improve.

Q: Great stuff, Lewis, well done. Valtteri, solid second place in the race. How did the car perform, did you feel faster than Lewis at any stage today?

VB: It’s difficult to say because of course when you are in the lead you can control the pace and you have the free air and when you are behind and if you try to get close, you are always using more of the tyres than the car ahead, so it’s impossible to say whether I was quicker at any point. But I felt in general that the pace for me was good and I think that our car was strong today. As Lewis said, as a team it was a really solid Sunday for us. So, yeah, it was pretty straightforward. Of course, I tried to use the opportunities, the first one was at the race start. Out of Turn 1 I felt a better run than Lewis and I really actually had to lift not to run into the back of him and I tried to leave a bit of a gap to get a good momentum off the tow, but today I was surprised how small the tow effect was, maybe with the tailwind into Turn 5 it made a different. Actually, it was the same on the restart. I was hoping to catch him but I just couldn’t.

Q: You said on the radio that you had numbness in your left leg. How much did that hinder you? Are you OK now?

VB: Yeah, all good. I just got a bit of numbness with the brake pedal we have in the car there have been a couple of race where my leg gets a bit numb and it happened today again. It’s difficult to say how much I was affected. It can lead to mistakes but there were no big mistakes apart from one lock-up that I can recall.

Q: Coming to you Max…

MV: This music playing in the background is more exciting than my race. Let’s keep it going.

Q: I was going to say, it was a quiet race for you today but you did keep in touch all the way through. How much satisfaction does that give you?

MV: Well, not all the way through. On the hard tyre I was trying to follow with Valtteri but then they told him to speed up, so then I lost a bit of ground. At one point, with ten laps to go, I started to have really bad vibrations on the tyres and then I started to have a lot of understeer. Then we discussed: shall we do a pit stop? But I had Daniel in my pit stop window, so I said “well, let’s just go to the end then, and I’ll just manage it.” It’s a shame. I mean, it’s such an amazing track and then you can’t really push. So, it was pretty boring to be honest. It’s a shame. I mean, I really enjoy driving here and honestly, we did 44 laps right? So, I probably did 38 of them managing a lot. It’s not been the most exciting today.

Q: We saw a nice little dice between you and your old team-mate Daniel Ricciardo at the start. Very respectful.

MV: Yeah, we gave each other room. Honestly, I didn’t see him after Turn 7 but he was on my inside, but, yeah, I could only see one Renault in my mirror but that was not Daniel, so I had no clue where he was, so I just gave him a bit more space than I think was necessary in Turn 8. But all good, it was nice. It’s always nice anyway racing him; he’s a good guy. It’s a lot of fun.

VIDEO CONFERENCE

Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC) Lewis, this one’s for you. You spoke before the race about focussing on improving your qualifying for this year after last year. How do you do that without compromising anything else?

LH: It’s a good question. Last year Valtteri was putting in great laps as he always does but I think I was definitely under-performing in qualifying, which is generally… usually… a strength of mine. It was really understanding these tyres and how I utilised it with my driving style. For this year I’ve had to make a couple of adjustments and on top of that, with this car, seems to work quite well. So now I’m back to being able to produce qualifying laps that I was able to do before last year, and on a more consistent basis. It’s just work in the background. It’s work that we do on the simulator; it’s stuff we do with set-up but getting that right without affecting the race. As you saw, last year the races were incredibly strong. It’s the fine line.

Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Lewis, you only really looked vulnerable today – although that might be a bit of a stretch – on the run up to Les Combes at the top of the hill. In the past you’ve used a few special tactics, like having 90 per cent throttle going on runs through Eau Rouge. Did you do anything like that today on lap one, and also at the restart?

LH: On the start itself I had a big snap out of Turn 1 and Valtteri was all over we, and as I had wheelspin, I had a de-rated shift as well, so that wasn’t particularly exciting, so I had to already block, I think, coming out of Turn 1. But the goal is to go in there in the lead and bridge a gap to the car behind – but in this instance, it worked out to my benefit, to be honest, a mistake, well, not a mistake, a snap, it was just the tyres, the way they are. It meant that Valtteri didn’t have a gap behind to slingshot alongside me. That’s definitely the stressful moment of the race. And then the restart, it’s horrible when you get the Safety Car. I’m glad that everyone’s safe. Controlling at the front and trying to bridge the gap on the restart to the car behind, because that’s another opportunity for them to slipstream you, is not easy. I think today we were lucky because in previous years we’d have had a headwind into Turn 5 and so you’re obviously more draggy and the car behind gets a better tow. This weekend it was a tailwind, so I think that really helped keeping Valtteri behind.

Q: Valtteri, how difficult was it to follow Lewis through Eau Rouge, in dirty air, on heavy fuel, on that opening lap? Is it easy-flat?

VB: To be honest, yes, it’s not really an issue. I remember a few years back with less downforce it was more tricky but now it’s actually… following through Eau Rouge is fine. I think it was just a question that, with the issue Lewis had at the exit of Turn 1, it was tricky to really build any gap to get proper momentum because of the car behind.

Q: (Christian Menath – motorsport-magazin.com) Question for Max and probably for the Mercedes drivers as well if they want to comment. Max, you said you had to manage pace on 38 out of the 44 laps. Was it just tyre management or did you have to manage anything else? If it was just the tyres, do you think it was because of the early pit stop for the Safety Car?

MV: For sure the pit stop was early. For sure that was not the best for us but yeah, it was just not really an enjoyable race, especially towards the end. The last eight laps, with so much vibration and understeer. Yeah, I don’t know what to say! It’s just not really exciting.

Lewis, how many laps of tyre management did you have to do today, out of the 44, just to continue the theme?

LH: Yeah, probably the same. It’s not particularly exciting, as Max said, but it’s a medium-high speed circuit so there’s a lot of force that goes through these tyres, and you know, they allow us to do these one-stops and you lose so much time in the pit stops so it wasn’t that exciting to have to manage to go the distance every time. It’s not something I particularly enjoy. You want to be able to attack, and push-push-push-push-push, do a stop, push-push-push.

MV: And besides that, also, they let us do a one-stop and then also the cars, it’s so hard to follow. It makes you really push for that one-stop.

Valtteri? Same for you?

VB: Yep.

Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Question to Lewis. Can you quite believe how well it has gone for you this season? And also to Valtteri, is there anything you can do to try and stop your team-mate from beating you every weekend? Is there anything you can do mentally, physically just to stop the rot, as it were?

LH: The plan is obviously, for all of us, we prepare ourselves in the best way we can to win. A lot of work has gone into this year. I was talking about qualifying, for example, on my side, really trying to elevate certain areas without letting others drop. So yeah, of course, I can’t tell you that I predict that I was going to come to the weekend and have half a second advantage in qualifying, and  have the pace that I’ve had in these races compared to others but obviously I’m grateful that it is going so well. It’s really nice to know that I’m delivering the way I know that I can. No matter what, the work never stops. You just have to keep pushing, keep working, keep trying to evolve because that’s what everyone else is doing. So, after this, for example, we have a debrief. It won’t be all smiles. It will be like: ‘OK guys, this could be better; this is the weakness of the car; this is where we really need to focus on.’ Communication. Whether it’s set-up or the aero level that we had this weekend, whether it’s engine driveability. Got to push on all the areas, guys, back to the drawing board, let’s keep pushing – and that’s how we continue to elevate ourselves.

VB: Of course I’m trying everything I can. The fact is that it’s not over. There’s ten or something races. Obviously I had that one kind of a DNF with a puncture at Silverstone, lost points with that. If I would give up now then I would rather stay home, so I will keep pushing, I will still keep trying to find anything from myself that I can and it just really trying to perfect everything. Yesterday I didn’t in qualifying, Lewis was on pole, he was faster on that lap then today with that pole he could turn it into a win. Of course the weekend really starts with qualifying, trying to be on pole and then those weekends that don’t go for you, you really need to maximise the points. I felt, for a long term now – actually this week has been at least like a smooth weekend, without any issues, just the qualifying was not good enough but I’m working on everything, I’m trying but there’s still many positives I can take. I feel my race pace this year has been better than any year before, so that’s a positive so I feel like always in the race I’m there and I can fight for it so now it’s just about trying to perform better and more consistently in qualifying sessions.

Q: Have you noticed the improvements that Lewis has made in qualifying this year?

VB: I think yesterday I found it hard to match. Of course it always comes from so many details, the out laps, getting the tyres in the perfect window, front and rear, the set-up and driving style and when that one lap counts yes, yeah, Lewis has been really consistent, not making any mistakes in qualifying and as you look at the numbers, has had the upper hand this year in qualifying, which honestly pisses me off but of course I’m trying and I do enjoy the challenge and I can’t wait for the next qualifying session next weekend.

Q: (Giles Richards – The Guardian) Lewis, you acknowledged after the win that it’s not what everyone wants to see, another Mercedes at the front, and Max has said he found the race boring as well. Does it concern you at all that if your level of dominance and Mercedes’s level of dominance continues like this for the rest of this season, it might actually prove to be off-putting for many fans?

LH: I can’t speak for the fans but having been a fan, growing up, having lived in different eras watching the Schumacher era of course, I know what it’s like. As soon as the start was done and the restart, you generally know that I don’t make too many mistakes so you kind of… and the same with these drivers, you know, they’re very very consistent. It’s very difficult to overtake in this circuit so I can imagine, it’s definitely not the most exciting. I feel exactly the same as Max; it wasn’t the most exciting… I mean, I generally really enjoy myself in the car because it’s… if you don’t enjoy the moment, what’s the point in doing in it. I’m still enjoy the battle. Every time I come through turn 15, I look in my mirror, I see where Valtteri is, whether he’s closer or further behind, taking in the knowledge of what times he’s doing, the gaps between him and Max and really trying to get the perfect balance each and every single lap. That’s still a massive challenge for me. It’s just perhaps not as fun for people to watch but when you’re in it; it’s a little bit different. But of course, I would love to have a real race. I’ve definitely had races in the past here which are a little bit closer, trying to follow the Ferrari and stay on top of them but they could overtake because they had all that extra power. I hope the next races, we have the… I think the Red Bulls have improved. I really hope that we have more of a race because I think everyone wants to see us all battling together.

Q: You mentioned the Schumacher years at Ferrari. As a fan, back then, what did you make of that dominance?

LH: I can’t remember. I was a teenage kid, I would have woken up, had my bacon sarnie (sandwich) and probably watched the start and gone to sleep and then woke up to watch the end. If I was watching today I would do the same most likely and watch the highlights because it’s much shorter, unless a friend told me there was a super exciting race on TV so that you watch the whole thing. Ultimately, this is not what fans… and I hope that people need to hopefully understand that this isn’t our fault. At the end of the day we’re drivers, we’ve come through all the ranks, we’ve earned the positions that we have and we come in weekend in, weekend out, devoted and give absolutely everything to go out there and perform at our best. Ultimately the decision makers who design the cars, who set rules and those kind of things, are the ones that you could apply pressure to to ultimately do a better job moving forwards, if that’s possible. I’m hopeful that’s what they’re going to do in 2022 and with that new type car, maybe we’ll see a different form of racing where you can follow. Wouldn’t that be something if we can follow closer and have more close races?

Q: (Edd Straw – The Race) Lewis, the team and yourself included always seem to overcome whatever obstacles you’re faced with, whenever they appear. Next race, there’s a new obstacle, the engine mode changes which are going to require plenty or work to adjust to regardless of the impact on performance. So does it give you a lot of confidence when you know there’s something like this, that this is a team that does, as you always say, how to get better improvements to tackle these problems and is that why it’s not too much of a concern because you think you know the team’s going to get its head down, get on top of it and probably get to the next race with the performance not really affected and everything running pretty smoothly again?

LH: Yeah, naturally I know and I’ve spoken to the engine crew. I know the implications of the rule that’s come in to try and take away… try to slow us down but as I said before, I don’t think it’s really going to make big difference. But of course we are both confident that whatever is thrown at us we go to the drawing board, we hash it out, we communicate, we delegate and then we execute it. That’s what we do. Keep throwing the punches and we will do our best to return back just as hard.

Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Lewis, you mentioned yesterday about wanting to come into the track and make a statement but you can’t just will yourself to be half a second faster than everybody else, otherwise you’d do it every weekend, so what’s the mentality that you were in, that got you there yesterday? And are you performing this year, do you think, at a level that you’ve not reached before?

LH: I would definitely would say… I mean last year I think was one of my best years, if not the best year. But, as I said, qualifying was all of a sudden… I had a bit of a slump and the goal every year, of course, is to improve physically, mentally and with the methods that you apply… and I definitely think that I’ve been able to do it this year so yes, I feel like I’m driving at my best. Oh yeah, coming into this weekend?

Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Willing yourself to be half a second. You can’t do that so, how do know what’s going on there?

LH: Yeah. No. I think that naturally we had that week off, I got good training at home and arrived here feeling fairly relaxed. And then obviously I woke up yesterday morning and… I mean, I’ve generally been feeling a lot of weight on my heart, spirit. You know, when you’re watching the news, when you see what’s happening around the world and I feel really quite affected by it and then obviously I was so incredibly proud when Chadwick was Black Panther because as I mentioned all the reasons yesterday, as a kid, dreaming of super heroes and finally see someone, a super hero of a similar colour to me, was really just such a remarkable moment, I think, for the black community so when I woke up and I got the news from a friend who has said I’m crying writing this message to you about Chad, and then reading the news I just broke down. I remember, just trying to pull it together and make sure I delivered on that day. Of course, you don’t know if you’re going to be able to deliver laps, you don’t know if you’re going to be distracted but when you find purpose, when you find your purpose, when you know what you’re going for, what your target is, will, I think, can get you quite far and so naturally we have to do the work with the engineers, they do great work in the background and I got the car where I needed it and was able to execute. But of course, I think it is also partly also a mental thing for me. Sorry for the long answers, guys!

MV: All good!

Ends

Spa Francorchamps, 30 August 2020: Lewis Hamilton further extended his Formula 1 Driver’s Championship with a dominant Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps as Valtteri Bottas took second place to wrap up Mercedes third 1-2 finish of the season. Max Verstappen took third place to score his sixth podium finish in a row. 

Lewis Hamilton said: “Spa is such a special circuit, I could just drive around here for lap after lap. It’s not always been an easy one for me, so to come here and get pole and the win this weekend is fantastic. The first lap can be a nightmare, because of the huge tow down the big straight, but I managed to keep Valtteri behind me on lap one and from there I had a strong race. Of course, I’d love to be able to win every race wheel to wheel, but today was a different kind of race, it was all about managing the tyres and the gap to the cars behind. I was slightly nervous at the end that we might see a repeat of the tyre issue we had in Silverstone, but thankfully it held in there. Huge credit to the team, both here and back home in Brackley and Brixworth. No matter how much success we’ve had over the years, everyone just keeps their heads down and focuses on trying to improve. It’s an incredible mentality to have and it’s inspiring to be working in that kind of environment.”

When the light went out at the start of the race Bottas made a good start from P2 on the grid and he seemed poised to challenge pole sitter Hamilton as they went through La Source, but Hamilton had a small lock-up and that forced Bottas to slow. Lacking momentum he was unable to get a run on Hamilton as they went through Eau Rouge and down the long Kemmel straight. 

There was a tougher battle happening directly behind the lead pair, however. Verstappen made a good getaway to hold his grid position of third place but on the long straight fourth-placed Daniel Ricciardo was able to pull alongside and the pair went into Les Combe side by side. Verstappen ran wide on the exit but he was able to fight back as they went through Pouhon and he closed the door on his former team-mate to retain third place. 

Behind them Versatppen’s team-mate Alex Albon also came under pressure from a Renault’s Esteban Ocon on the run down the hill to Eau Rouge and on the long straight he lost the position to the Frenchman. 

The race then settled in the opening 10 laps, with the Mercedes pair eking out a slim gap back to Verstappen as the Dutchman pulled away from Ricciardo. On lap 10 Hamilton held a 1.8s advantage over Bottas, but the complexion of the race then changed when Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi lost control on the exit of Fagnes and crashed into the barriers on the right side of the track. His car bounced back on track and a detached wheel then hit the Williams of George Russell, who then arrowed off track into the barriers on the left side. Fortunately, both drivers emerged unscathed but the Safety Car was immediately deployed. 

With the race neutralised, the bulk of the field pitted and during the stops Albon managed to jump ahead of Ocon. Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez and AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly opted to stay out on track, however, and they rose to fourth and fifth respectively. 

Following the restart on lap 15 Hamilton held his lead ahead of Bottas and Verstappen while Ricciardo and Albon soon Pérez and Gasly who were beginning to feel their starting tyres go off.

At the front, Hamilton began to stretch away from Botta. Verstappen doggedly hung onto the Finn for a while, but as the laps ground down the gaps at the front slowly began to spread and in the final third of the race Verstappen began to complain that his tyres were causing vibrations. With eight laps remaining and a healthy gap back to fourth-placed Ricciardo, The Red Bull driver opted to throttle back and cruised to his sixth podium in a row 15 seconds behind race winner Hamilton and with three seconds in hand over Ricciardo, who took the point for fastest lap on the final tour of the circuit. 

Behind them Albon and Ocon provided the entertainment in the last 10 laps Albon was beginning to struggle on the mediums he had taken during his sole stop and Ocon closed in. In the last five laps the Thai driver was forced to fend off a series of late attacks by the Renault driver and though he managed to defend well, on the final lap he ran out of pace and on the long run to Les Combes Ocon powered past and Albon was forced to settle for sixth place ahead of the McLaren of Lando Norris and Gasly who powered through the order in the late stages to claim eighth. Ninth place went to Racing Point’s Lance Stroll and the final point went to Pérez. 

Hamilton now has 157 points to Verstappen’s 110, with Bottas in thrid place in the Driver’s Championship with 107. In the Constructors’ battle Mercedes have 264 points, with Red Bull on 158. McLaren are third with 68 points. 

2020 FIA Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix – Race 
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 44 1:24’08.761 
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 44 1:24’17.209 8.448
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 44 1:24’24.216 15.455
4 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 44 1:24’27.638 18.877
5 Esteban Ocon Renault 44 1:24’49.411 40.650
6 Alexander Albon Red Bull/Honda 44 1:24’51.473 42.712
7 Lando Norris McLaren/Renault 44 1:24’52.535 43.774
8 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 44 1:24’56.132 47.371
9 Lance Stroll Racing Point/Mercedes 44 1:25’01.364 52.603
10 Sergio Pérez Racing Point/Mercedes 44 1:25’01.940 53.179
11 Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri/Honda 44 1:25’18.961 1’10.200
12 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 44 1:25’20.265 1’11.504
13 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 44 1:25’21.655 1’12.894
14 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 44 1:25’23.681 1’14.920
15 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 44 1:25’25.554 1’16.793
16 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 44 1:25’26.556 1’17.795
17 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 44 1:25’34.301 1’25.540
     Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 9 17’03.552 Spun off
     George Russell Williams/Mercedes 9 17’05.778 Collision
     Carlos Sainz McLaren/Renault 0 Not started

DRIVERS who attended the FIA post-qualifying press conference on Saturday: 1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes); 2 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes) and 3 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing).

TRACK INTERVIEWS (Conducted by Paul Di Resta) 

Q: Lewis, I think anyone watching that session would just think you were on another level. Very dominant, how did it feel?

Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, today a very, very clean session. Every lap was just getting better and better. We did a lot of great work in the background. It’s a really important pole for me because I woke up to the saddest news of Chadwick passing away. It’s been such a heavy year for all of us and that news just really broke me. It was not easy to get back in focus coming in today with that hanging on my heart, but I was like ‘I want to go out there and drive to perfection’. What he has done for our people, what he’s done for… this superhero shows all these young kids that it’s possible. He was such a shining light. So we carry that forever.

Q: I think the greatest respect goes to your focus, Lewis. Everybody else was looking for tows, you were just out at the front very confident in the job you had to do personally and that’s what you did.

LH: Yeah, I studied that and of course there have been times where we have had to try to get a tow. You’ve got these three difficult sections where you’ve got the straight line in the first section, which is pretty straightforward, but getting the right wing level here is not so easy and some, as you can see, are really quick in the first and last sector but not so good in the middle sector. We are not the strongest I would say in the first and the last but the middle is really, really strong and I think for me this weekend it was my choice to go first or second out of Valtteri and I chose to go first. I just wanted to be out in the clean air not having to worry about people up ahead of me, getting a gap in the last corner, wondering whether it’s four or eight seconds gap – because you’re still getting a tow from someone at seven seconds behind and I didn’t want anything coming in my way so it worked out perfectly I think.

Q: And driving these cars around Spa? It must be pretty special?

LH: Oh man, it was incredible. That session, as I said it was going better and better but it’s really been learning to exploit… the track’s a bit different to when you were driving it, in the sense of the run-off areas, so you can really pick up the gas a lot earlier. Focusing on the exits around here is actually important. I didn’t make any mistakes on any of my laps but the Q3 run one lap was ace and I was thinking ‘there’s probably no way I’m going to beat that’ but Turn 1 has probably been a weakness for me the last few years, just got stronger and stronger through there and I saw I was up out of Turn 1 and then I just kept beeping away throughout the lap, so that was a very, very, very, very good lap so I’m happy with that.

Q: Valtteri, it was your birthday yesterday, you had a very good session but it looked like you were struggling through Turn 1 and from there on in the lap you just didn’t have the edge on Lewis?

Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, Turn 1 was a bit inconsistent. I think we got the car right there, just in Q1 (sic) in the first run, the tyres were too cool or something at the start of the lap, so I had a bit of a lock-up. The first run was there. The second run felt actually pretty good overall, so I don’t really know why the gap to Lewis [is big]. I’m not too bothered, because I know that second place is quite a good place to start here. It should be an interesting run into Turn 5.

Q: I was going to say the slipstream here is big and if you can tuck yourself in there ahead of Eau Rouge there are benefits above that. More importantly you’ve got to beat Lewis tomorrow to really think about the championship don’t you?

VB: Yeah, of course I need to attack if I still want to keep the title hopes there. It’s not over until it’s over and I’m definitely going to go for it. The first lap is a great opportunity because here the racing is always pretty good. I know already there will be opportunities to do it.

Q: Max, lining up P3, I guess you’ll be satisfied with that coming into the session but to narrowly miss out by one hundredth at the end of the lap and I heard you say you had some energy that left you right at the end of that?

VB: Yeah, for us overall it’s been a very positive weekend so far. We came here and we thought it was going to be really tricky for us and actually to be P3 and that close to Valtteri. Of course we are still half a second to Lewis but I think overall I can be very pleased with that. The lap was decent. I might have run out of energy a bit, but of course it’s distributed around the whole lap, so it was probably the fastest way of getting the lap time, so very pleased, a good day and a lot of opportunities for tomorrow.

Q: Do you think you can fight the Mercedes in the dry or are you going to be doing a rain dance tomorrow morning to try to get some mixed weather in there?

MV: I don’t know. Of course if you look at the lap time difference to Lewis I don’t think we suddenly in a race can start to fight him. Around here you never know, like you said, with the weather as well, I hope that will come into play it makes it a bit more difficult for everyone, and it’s a bit more fun as well, especially on this track. If there’s a bit of weather around it’s a lot of fun.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Lewis, what a lap, what a session. It’s a sizeable margin over the entire field. Where did you find the time?

LH: I think it was just a little bit everywhere. Ultimately, the team did such a great job over these past couple of days – just timing, as you saw, getting out on front of everyone at the end. It was nice to have a clear straightaway ahead of me and then otherwise just working away at the set-up. With the engineers we are just constantly pushing each other to improve. It’s not an easy thing to do and continue to raise the bar but I think we’ve done a really great job this weekend with the guys here and the guys back at the factory, so a big thank you to them. And then otherwise it was just focusing, studying the lap and then executing. That’s got to be one of the cleanest qualifying sessions I think I’ve ever had. Every lap was bang on the dot. No mistakes, no real issues. Q3 is always a hard one because you want to get the first lap and the first lap was great and I thought it was pretty much a perfect lap and then I managed to go out and find a little bit more in a couple of other areas. It was nice to have that gap, that six tenths in the first laps, then I could really explore on that next one and try to take even more of a risk. Yeah, a phenomenal feeling driving around this track, because it’s incredible how fast it’s become.

Q: …and 1.3s faster than last year as well.

LH: Again, that’s the evolution of our cars, of the technology and the evolution of our engineers who continue to elevate. They’re just getting smarter and more efficient every year. I was saying downstairs, it’s not been an easy day for the world. Our superhero, a superhero died last night, so that was really weighing heavy on me today, so I was so driven to deliver a good performance today so I could dedicate it to Chad who I was really, really lucky I got to meet him once and tell him how awesome he was. Because not all these… I remember when I was a kid, Superman was the hero. Didn’t look like me but I still thought Superman was the greatest. And so, when Chad became the king, when he became a superhero in Wakanda, it was such a special day for so many people because I know that young kids, like myself, will be able to now look up to him and see that is possible to be able to do what he did. So this one’s dedicated to him.

VB: Valtteri, coming to you. It looked like you were slightly chasing the car during that session. How was it for you at the end of Q3?

VB: It was not too bad. I would say Practice Three was OK, just the second runs, I think I had some traffic or something so didn’t get really clean laps, but then in qualifying itself, everything was feeling pretty OK. Just the first run in Q3, I had a lock-up into Turn One. I don’t think I got my tyres warm enough on the out-lap. So, at the end it was down to the second run. I knew everything was still possible, and it was a clean lap. Not maybe the best Turn One but it was OK and otherwise the lap was nice and clean and really felt like I was pushing the limits. Obviously quite a bit gap. Not sure yet why but Lewis did a good job today. I’m not too bothered because I know second place is quite a good place. It’s always quite an interesting run into Turn Five. So, looking forward to tomorrow.

Q: A lot is going to rest on that opening lap tomorrow. How much can you plan?

VB: Of course you can plan something but then in the end every start is always different. Of course we look at all the other starts here in previous years and try to take learnings and be prepared for any situation – but you have to go with instinct as well. We will try to find a way to make things interesting.

Q: Max, so close with Valtteri today, what was it, one-hundredth of a second? Were you surprised to be that close to a Mercedes around here?

MV: I don’t know. I think overall, it’s been a very positive weekend, I think. We expected to come here with the long straights around here, it’s never going to be the easiest for us but I think we managed to find a good a good balance on the car actually straight away when we came here, from FP1, so that helps. Yeah, it’s been a positive weekend. I didn’t really have a lot to complain. If I’m not mistaken, this is the closest we’ve been to Mercedes in qualifying, on a track where we didn’t expect it to bet like this – so yeah, very, very happy with that. Qualifying went pretty smooth. It was all about, for us, well, trying to have a little bit of a tow, to have a little bit of top speed but of course, you try not to be affected in the middle sector but of course everybody is trying to get that tow. So, getting to the last chicane to prepare the lap and sometimes I was not ideal, getting into Turn One but I think in in Q3 it was fine, and I could do my lap like I wanted it. Very pleased to be here again.

Q: How confident are you for the race? You were fastest in second practice yesterday.

MV: Yes, well, over one lap yesterday. Friday is just Friday, as you can see. It will not be easy but I’m of course going to try to follow and see what happens. And also, we have to wait and see what happens. Also, we have to wait and see what the weather is going to do because, around Spa, you never know if it’s going to be dry or rainy.

VIDEO CONFERENCE

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Max, given the lap being 7km here and given the power nature of the circuit, how surprised are you that the gap is so small – roughly half a second?

MV: I think in general we just had a very positive weekend, so we find a decent balance in the car. Of course, that helps. I think some qualifyings I wasn’t that happy with the balance of the car so that automatically of course the gap is probably a bit bigger so, yeah, so far a positive weekend.

Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Question to Lewis. Obviously very emotional, when you were speaking, when you got out of the car, and just then as well. I just wondered, well you can tell us when you met Chadwick, and just how much you stayed in touch with him during his career and whatnot. He’s obviously had a big impact on you.

LH: I didn’t know him-know him. I wasn’t in touch with him, unfortunately. I wish I had the privilege of that. We met in New York, during Fashion Week, possibly last year, or maybe the year before. We were out at the same dinner. I also met him at the Met Gala. I think it was the Met Gala Week, and had the opportunity to meet him then. And I saw him a couple of times throughout the rest of the night and we actually partied away together. We were on the same table basically. It was an incredible scenario and I just remember talking to him. But I do remember when Black Panther came out and huge, huge Marvel fan, so just knowing how Hollywood has been for a long, long time and to see the first black hero, superhero come out I think was just… everyone was just so proud. To really represent. And again, I think the whole thing in general, this under representation is such a common thing and so to be able to see somebody make it like him, and be such a powerful figure within the Avengers world, y’know, it was incredible. Such an honour and inspiring, as I said, young kids. I can imagine a young kid looking up and seeing that it’s possible to be a superhero now. A young black kid, as I said. I think his legacy will always live on.

Q: (Edd Straw – The Race) Max, we heard on the radio when you were told how close you were to Valtteri’s time there was a little bit of a frustrated noise and I think you said you ran out of energy a bit at the end of the lap. Do you know what the reason for that was? Was it just not quite the correct state of charge at the start of the lap, and do you think that with that, that would have just given you that tiny bit of time you needed to be second?

MV: No. Well… I mean. Automatically throughout qualifying I think you stay a bit more… like longer on open throttle and of course you try to manage the energy throughout the lap, but I think probably it was the fastest way around the lap but it’s just always when you get out of the last corner and then you feel that the engine is not as accelerating as normal because you run out of that energy where you probably use it up somewhere else, yeah, it’s always that feeling, but probably when I go back and look at the data it’s still the fastest way but it’s just… yeah, bit of an odd feeling sometimes.

Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsportmagazin.com) Another question for Max: half a second looks big in Formula 1 – as a gap – but as we’ve mentioned earlier, it’s the longest circuit of the year and from next race onwards there is a technical directive which should cut down the party mode of the Mercedes-powered cars. Do you think you are in a position to fight for pole positions from then onwards?

MV: I don’t think so personally, but if it can bring us a little bit closer that would be nice but let’s wait and see if that’s actually going to happen because I also don’t know.

LH: Definitely don’t have…. half a second more power than you, that’s for sure.

Q: (Scott Mitchell – The Race) Question to the two Mercedes drivers, sort of in line with that (last question): were you still using full power mode from the engine here or was there any indication of turning it down slightly in anticipation of this new technical directive coming into force?

VB: Yeah, we were using the engine normally as we’ve usually being doing in qualifying. As we’ve seen all weekend, it’s been pretty close with Red Bull and even other teams in the mix. We didn’t feel that we had that big of a margin to start saving. As long as we can still use the power we might as well use it because in the end, yes, like in the previous question, I don’t think it’s going to make a massive difference.

Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Lewis, we saw a lot of drivers trying to get a tow and debating whether to go for that. Max said he didn’t feel he needed to go for that but on both your runs in Q3 you were out ahead of the pack. How did that feel and what was the reason for doing that?

LH: From weekend to weekend, Valtteri and I have a choice… one weekend it’s his choice to go first or second and others it’s mine and this weekend it was my choice and I decided to go first and I just wanted to be out in the clear and not have to back up in the last corner behind people. I just wanted clean air in front of me. I think it worked. I think there’s potentially a small gain from being in the tow but then there’s equally a potential danger of being caught behind someone, someone making a mistake and causing a yellow flag ahead of you, all sorts, so I just made sure I was clear of that so I could pull out the best lap I could do.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Lewis, I can’t help but notice that after the podium ceremony before you come in here for the media session, you change out of your overalls. What’s the reason or that?

LH: Literally… well, when you’re in your suit, this year, even more so, the suits are a little bit thicker and so it’s heavier and so you’re sweating through qualifying. I don’t want to sit here… I know I could change my top but I have time to change fully so get a towel, wipe off, and I put clean clothes on. Just feels better if I’m sitting here ultimately.  We’re doing this press conference and then we have media outside, total of an hour. I would just rather not be sitting in my sweat.

Q: (Scott Mitchell – The Race) Quickly, for all three: can you just talk about the compromise behind straight-line speed and sector two here because we’ve seen what looks like Ferrari… if you get it quite badly wrong or have so little power from their engine now that they’re having to make a massive sacrifice? They’re the only team, I think, that are slower this year compared to last year.

MV: Well, everybody, I think, went faster compared to last year but they didn’t in terms of lap time so…

LH: What sacrifice did they make?

MV: Well, it’s never easy round here to find the right wing level but yeah, you can chose low downforce. I mean I tried it and you go a bit more like I’m running now. It’s honestly what you like, what you think is better for tyres but of course it’s not going to make a… it’s like within a tenth, low downforce to medium or whatever, so yeah, even if they would stick a big old wing on it, they would have the same lap time so I don’t know what’s going on. I can’t talk for them anyway, I also don’t want to. What is there to say about it? I can’t really judge what’s going on. I just focus on what’s happening in my team. I think that’s the most important (thing) and yeah, let’s leave it there.

Q: Lewis, what was the compromise down at Mercedes? The twists of sector two or the straight lines of one and three?

LH: I mean, we come here with a package and we hope that it’s the right one. I was much the same: we tried a low wing but the loss was quite big in the middle sector and so it was just trying to find the right balance and the engineers do a fantastic job with their simulations and understand where we need to be and we stuck with it and I think it was the right choice. I think inevitably it’s different in the race when you don’t have DRS and there are those that are quicker… slightly quicker in a straight line but hopefully that doesn’t get in our way tomorrow.

Q: Valtteri, where did your car feel strongest, which sector?

VB: I think overall we’re pretty strong everywhere. I think maybe a bit more so in sector two but I think the compromise we had was best for the lap time overall so it’s always just a compromise but I think it was a clear winner for us, for our car, the wing we chose.

Ends