Your basket is currently empty!
Blog
-
A good gamble and great strategy from the team, says Hamilton
DRIVERS: 1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes); 2 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull); 3 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)
TRACK INTERVIEWS (Conducted by Jenson Button)
Q: Max, a bitter pill to swallow that one. You looked like you had it in the bag.
Max VERSTAPPEN: In a way I could see it coming. Already at the end with the softs he was faster and when we put on the mediums he had a lot more pace, he could just stay within one second, so there was not much we could have done. They went for another stop and then I knew it was over. I was already struggling with the tyres and he was just getting closer and closer, so I was a bit of a sitting duck.
Q: The first pit stop, you guys seemed to a fantastic job getting in. Obviously it was a slightly longer stop, but they didn’t jump straight after and it looked like you guys were doing a fantastic strategy and the second time they were able to jump just before you. It’s always tricky when it’s the car behind that jumps first. You don’t know whether to jump behind them or do a different strategy and it was always your plan to do a one-stop?
MV: Yeah, I mean also when you are in the lead with the cars behind, with traffic and stuff, you don’t want to pit into traffic. But of course it makes it a lot easier when you have a clear advantage, more pace in the car. So for us of course if we would have jumped for another stop I’m not sure I would have caught up again. Just clearly lacking pace. Nevertheless, I tried everything I could.
Q: To be fair, this circuit has always been a Mercedes track hasn’t it, so for you guys to be so closing in qualifying and so close to the victory it must bode well for the coming races?
MV: Yeah, it does, but it shows that we are not there where we want to be. We still have to push hard and catch up because at the moment we are a little bit slower. But still nevertheless, compared to last year it has been a big jump forwards for us.
Q: Valtteri, tough race out there? How do you look at that race and find some positives to take from it?
Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, I think what made it more tricky for me was that I lost a place to Charles on lap one out of Turn 3. I didn’t see him actually so I think he chose a better line through Turn 3 and he got me and then I was stuck behind him for a while and that compromised the race a bit. Otherwise the pace wasn’t too bad. It’s a bit of a shame but at least I could make it to the podium.
Q: Do you think there was another strategy you could have done with your car to take yourself back into the fight a little bit more?
VB: I think it’s just small details today – lap one, Turn 3. I think otherwise the pace there and as a team we are still scoring solid points but not perfect points so there is work to do. Monaco is obviously going to be quite a unique track and I look forward to that.
Q: Yeah, it looked like you got a fantastic start down into Turn 1 but you were just blocked. These cars are just so big and with Max getting a good start there was nowhere really to go for you?
VB: Yeah, there wasn’t really much space and it’s so close between the first three cars, so hard luck.
Q: Lewis, this has always been your circuit. I remember being your team-mate, it was always impossible to get anywhere near you around here and you’ve proved it again. What a fantastic way to win?
Lewis HAMILTON: Thank you so much. First, I want to acknowledge all the fans that are here because this is one of the first races, the first race this year at least, that we’ve had people come which is great to see. There’s even a British flag there, which we haven’t seen for a long, long time. I feel great after this. I feel like I could go again. Obviously the training is paying off. It was such a close start, obviously there was a lot of rubber down on the right hand side and the Red Bull obviously got a great start. After that I was just hunting. And I was so close for so long and I didn’t think in doing that I was going to be able to make the tyres last but I was just able to keep them in somehow and it was a long way to come back from some 20 odd seconds back but it was a good gamble, a really great strategy from the team.
Q: Yeah, obviously the pace was fantastic on that tyres but you must be also so thankful, as you said, that the team was able to come up with that great strategy to get past the Red Bull?
LH: Yeah, well, it had been the plan all weekend, to make sure we had two mediums to do a two-stop. Even thought a one-stop potentially looks better, I know from experience here that a one-stop is very, very hard to pull off. As soon as we had the pace that we had, I knew as I soon as I could get past him… and I was about to, I think, have a shot before I pitted right at the end and I was really conflicted. Do I come in or do I ignore the call and stay out? Obviously, I did what the team asked and natural that’s because there is a great trust between us. Just a remarkable job by everyone in this team through and through. Yeah, what a day.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Lewis, many congratulations. It was a thrilling strategic battle with Max and Red Bull today. How much satisfaction does this win give you?
LH: Well, I’m continuing to love this battle we are having. I didn’t know whether we would be able to follow them as closely as we did in the end. Obviously, Turn 1, the start was not ideal and we are going to have to review it and see how we can do better in the future. But as soon as we got passed in Turn 1, I was like, ‘OK, switch into a different mode’. It was actually a really good day. I learned a lot about Max today, perhaps more than all the other races put together. This has been a good one in that sense and great, great teamwork from all of us. We were here until late most evenings discussing strategy, last night and this morning and we had all the bases covered in that respect. Of course it just meant that I had to do the job on track. Coming back from 20 odd seconds wasn’t easy but I think it was the right one in the end.
Q: You say you learned a lot about Max today. Can you elaborate a little bit about what you learned today?
LH: Not particularly, no! It was just a good… When you are with people on track you get to see different things and watch closely and obviously I was following relatively closely and I learned a lot about his car and how he uses it, so it was a good race in that respect.
Q: Now, when you came out 20s behind him after that second stop, how confident were you at that point of getting the job done?
LH: Not a huge amount. It was really interesting because all weekend, a one-stop strategy was the quickest way to the end of the race but this is one of the most abrasive circuits that we go to in terms of how aggressive it is with the tyres. It isn’t easy to make these tyres go that distance – even when the track was a lot cooler this weekend than perhaps it was last year here, and compared to how it was yesterday. All these little details have an affect on how these tyres last – but still, it is a really challenging circuit to save them and make them go the distance. So, I think it was quite clear early on to me, particularly of how close I was pushing to keep within a second, or just over a second behind Max. I knew that I was going to a two-stop strategy and then the team told me and I was like: ‘nothing new’. Of course, when I came out 20-odd seconds behind, I thought that’s going to be… it seemed so far, it’s such a huge gap to close but when you see the time difference that we had. I was in the mid-20s and he was mid-22s, or sometimes late 22s. I had plenty of laps to catch-up – but I didn’t know whether or not I would have enough pace at the end tyre-wise but then you just have to offset: he’s going to have even worse pace at the end. It was, as I said, the perfect strategy.
Q: Final one from me Lewis: 94 points from four races. This is your best-ever start to a Formula 1 season. Does that stat surprise you?
LH: It’s… every year I come back and I’m always trying to improve. Most often it tends to be, or it seems impossible, but it’s a necessity. The Red Bulls have started off incredibly strong. Max has a… They do both have a championship-winning car and opportunity. As do we. It’s going to take everything from us, not only me bringing my A-game but the team bringing their A-game, weekend-in, weekend-out. Otherwise these guys will be winning.
Q: Max, coming to you next, really well done. It looked so good for you after the start, you took the lead and had a 1.5s gap after just one lap. How do you sum up what happened after that?
MV: Too slow. That’s how you sum it up. There’s not much else to really discuss. I tried everything to manage it as good as I could, looking after tyres and stuff, but it’s just not enough when behind you they are just pushing you at the rate you see there’s clearly a bit more pace. You, of course, try to keep up with it and do the best possible strategy you can, but even if I think we had gone, let’s say, for that earlier second stop, I don’t think I would have caught Lewis up after that – because on the Mediums I think I was just a bit slower – because for Lewis to be that close on a track like this, all the time within a second, sometimes having DRS it just shows that, yeah, there was not much I could do out there to make a difference. But, nevertheless, I think still, of course, a good result. Of course, you always want more. I think that always needs to be the aim. I think that we shouldn’t be happy with a second place at the moment, but yeah, nevertheless, we tried everything. I got ahead at the start, so basically you really try to go for it. And then, of course, it looks good when you are leading for so long in the race – but you have to also look to all the things that are happening throughout the race and, I think, overall, we were just lacking a little bit of pace in the race. It has been like this a little bit so far this season where it seems like qualifying, we are quite competitive and in the race struggling a little bit more.
Q: Can you tell us about the run to Turn 1?
MV: yeah, the launch was good. And I, of course, ran a little bit less wing, I think, compared to Mercedes and, of course, that helped a bit, to get alongside Lewis and then I went for it in Turn 1.
Q: Valtteri, coming to you: podium number 59 for you and your 50th for Mercedes. Is it a case of what might have been for you today?
VB: I think, if I would have been a tenth quicker yesterday then the race would have been probably a bit different and a bit better battle. Today, the main issue was in lap one, Turn 3, Charles got by and here, if you lose track position, it definitely means trouble. It was costing me a lot of time in the first stint and also at the Safety Car restart I couldn’t get him, so I was stuck behind and losing ground to Lewis and Max, so that was it really. To be honest, I didn’t see Charles in Turn 3. Once I saw him, on the outside going a lot quicker than me, then it was too late. So, yeah, need to review that.
Q: Had you lost a bit of momentum, because of these two guys scraping in front of you at Turn 1.
VB: Turn 1? Yeah, for sure, but I mean, Turn 1, 2, there’s only one line, you can’t do much. I knew that I could keep my place there but then in Turn Three I was really trying to follow closely Lewis on the inside and had no chance that Charles was so close and managed to get good grip and a line from the outside.
Q: Final one from me. Were you happier today with the pace of your car than you were in Portugal last weekend?
VB: I think we had a good car. It’s not a huge difference to Red Bull but I think today we were strong. I’m happy that we could get more points than them as a team. That’s always good – but obviously it was not perfect, and we always aim for perfection and, of course, personally, I’m not happy to be third. Wouldn’t be happy to be second. That’s how it goes. So, there’s always more you can do, and I’ll keep pushing and, as a team, this weekend again we learned a lot and hopefully we can take that to the future.
VIDEO CONFERENCE
Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Question to Lewis. Lewis, I know you said you’ve got to review what happened at the start but what were you thinking on that run down to Turn 1? Was there a moment that you could have defended more against Max? And what were you thinking right in the moment about his move there at the apex? Thank you.
LH: So, I know Valtteri was obviously starting in third and the goal is to work as a team. So I stayed to the left. I think in hindsight there could have been a moment, looking back, that when Max moved in behind me for a second, I could have pulled across and sealed the job there – but I didn’t. And then, as we went into Turn One, I just made sure I gave as much space as I could to Max. In my mind, it’s always a marathon, not a sprint, so I’m just always thinking the long game and sure, you could be a little bit more aggressive. Do I need to? Well, I’m in the position that I’m in because I don’t get too aggressive when I don’t need to be.
Q: (Christian Menath – motorsport-magazin.com) Question for Max. Can you talk us through the situation before the first stop because we’ve heard there was some miscommunication? The team didn’t want you to pit at that moment.
MV: Yeah, just miscommunication. Between when to pit. I thought I had to pit that lap and clearly it wasn’t – but luckily we didn’t lose too much time with that.
Q: (Scott Mitchell – The Race) To the two Mercedes drivers: there was obviously the moment during the race when Lewis, you were coming up to Valtteri; Valtteri had to move out of the way. What happened there, in terms of the communication on making that swap basically, because we know, Valtteri, we heard the message to you to say don’t hold Lewis up but obviously it took some time for Lewis for you to get past? Both your thoughts on that please?
VB: Yeah, I got the message and obviously we were on different strategies at that point so unless something crazy would happen, I wasn’t really any more with him. But the thing was, at that time, I was trying to get Charles off my pit window so I could stop again and try and be ahead of him, so I was really conscious that I didn’t want to lose too much time, and I was really focusing on my race so it was about balancing things. Of course, as a racing driver, you prioritise yourself, your race, because that’s what we do but also we work as a team, so you don’t want to ruin the win for the team if that is possible; if it is not possible for you. So I tried to do the best thing I could for us as a team and for myself. It’s always hard doing those kind of things and either know… ask the other driver if he predicts what’s going to happen and where to go but I think in the end it was kind of OK.
LH: I think we’re the best teammates so… honestly I didn’t know that he had a message so in my mind I was like ‘we’re racing’ and that’s totally fine for me, particularly early on in this part of the season so in my mind I was ‘so I’ve got to get close and hope for an overtake’ but then obviously when we went into turn ten, we were on massively different strategies so I was going to get him at some stage because I had much better tyres. And we were going into turn ten and I thought there was a gap there and I wasn’t quite sure and then there was a gap and Valtteri was completely fair, I wouldn’t lose too much time but this is how we win as a team. We sometimes have to… sometimes we’re in that position where you just… you’ve got to put the team first and getting a second and a third is good but getting a first is obviously max points and that’s key.
Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) One for Lewis: yesterday Damon Hill tweeted about you, that you’re one of the most talented people to have ever walked the earth. What’s your response to that? Do you think that you’re operating at the highest level you’ve ever operated in your F1 career?
LH: Well, firstly I saw that yesterday and I felt so much gratitude to Damon, because I remember growing up watching Damon and having – as I do now – so much respect for him. And I remember rooting for him, as a Brit, wanting him to succeed, even when he didn’t have a great car or a good team so it’s definitely humbling when you see people who you’ve admired, you’ve watched and grown up taking inspiration from or whatever it may be, and having them say respectful things and positive things. That’s an amazing moment when that happens. As I just said to you just before, this is a period of time where I have to be at the best, weekend in, weekend out. These guys are… Max is driving exceptionally well as is Valtteri. Valtteri’s qualifying laps are hard to beat. It’s so close between all of us. You saw yesterday, it’s going to take perfect delivery each weekend and I don’t think anyone can do that but I am trying to get as close as possible.
Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Lewis, you said on the TV that you’re still feeling fit and your training’s all paying off. There’s obviously plenty of life in the old dog, if you’ll excuse that phrase. I just wondered how much of your attention is now going to be turning to next year? Toto said that he wanted to get the contract done early. I wondered if you had had any discussions or any thought about next season yet?
LH: Yeah, thanks Ben. There’s still some life in this old dog! I would say I’m more conscious than ever about my body, about my training regime. I’ve been training myself for a long time now but constantly growing and learning how to look after, naturally, the vessel that I’m given and feeling great. Contract-wise? Yeah, we never want to be in the position that we were in in January, in February. It ruined my whole winter and I’m sure it wasn’t helpful for Toto’s, in terms of being out to be off and relaxed, so it felt like we didn’t really have much of a break. I think we have to be sensible. Naturally we don’t have to rush anything but I think we have to be sensible and start conversations. They’re very complex, it’s never a super simple procedure and so hopefully soon we can start, as long as it doesn’t interfere the actual job. We still have 19 races to do but it would be great to get something in place before the break so then we could, again, be in that break and have a clear picture of the future.
Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Max, this race bears a lot of similarities to Hungary 2019; I think that might have been mentioned to you over the radio at one point as well. What do you think Red Bull has to do so that this situation won’t come up again, to win one of these situations?
MV: Just need a faster car. It’s very simple. Then you don’t need to get into a situation like that. That’s what we have to focus on.
Ends
-
Dennis Hauger scores 2nd win for Prema Racing: F3
Barcelona, 9 May 2021: Dennis Hauger scored PREMA Racing’s second win of the weekend in Race 3 with a controlled lights-to-flag victory over Trident’s Jack Doohan and HWA RACELAB’s Matteo Nannini at Barcelona.
Recovering from a sluggish getaway when the lights went out, Hauger was assured out in front and crossed the line with a near 4s gap over Doohan for his first win in Formula 3. The Trident racer getting over a difficult start of his own to take a first podium at this level.
At one stage, Matteo Nannini appeared to be Hauger’s most likely challenger, but the Italian couldn’t sustain the pace and fell back behind Doohan.
AS IT HAPPENED
Lining up from pole, Hauger was desperate to make amends after colliding with Nannini in a battle for the lead in Race 2 on Saturday. His start was far from ideal though, the PREMA struggled off the line and found himself in a four-wide battle for the lead heading down to Turn 1.
Nannini, Victor Martins and Doohan all pulled up alongside him, but the PREMA began to respond, benefitting from the lengthy 600m run-up to the first corner and breaking daringly late to drag himself narrowly ahead.
Of the four drivers, Doohan was the one to luck out, falling from second to fourth as Nannini snatched P2 ahead of Martins. Hauger began to pull away as Doohan dusted himself off and got back ahead of the Frenchman for the final spot on the podium.
Doohan looked to have rediscovered the pace that secured him second in Qualifying, quickly pulling into DRS range of Nannini, before picking off the HWA ace at the first corner.
Race 2 winner Olli Caldwell pulled off a DRS-fuelled move over Martins for fourth, stealing the racing line at Turn 1 and making the most of the MP man’s heavily worn tyres.
The top three remained unchanged at the line, but there was a late shuffle further down in the top 10. Logan Sargeant and Clement Novalak began a battle for sixth, but the Charouz Racing System driver was struggling for grip and lost out to the Trident, before falling all the way to ninth, with Frederik Vesti and Caio Collet also clambering ahead of the American.
With less than a lap to go, there wasn’t enough time for Roman Stanek to get ahead of Sargeant as well, with the Hitech racer too busy defending the final points’ place from Alex Smolyar.
KEY QUOTE – DENNIS HAUGER (PREMA RACING)
“Really happy with Race 3, we finally got the win in the end, and it was in the race that gives you the most points. We got back in the Championship and I am really happy with that. I have to keep the momentum going in Round 2 at Paul Ricard, but I will enjoy this moment now.”
-
Antonio Felix da Costa gets big win to kick start title defence: Formula E
Reigning champion emerges on top after thrilling three-way scrap for supremacy on streets of the Principality
Monaco, 8 May 2021: Arriving in Monaco sitting outside the top ten in the points classification, reigning champion António Félix da Costa knew he needed a big result to kick-start his title defence in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. On Saturday (8 May), in Round 7, the DS TECHEETAH ace dug deep indeed to clinch his first win of the season at the end of a hugely entertaining encounter.
Da Costa began the Monaco E-Prix – held, for the first time, around the full grand prix circuit – from pole position, but he conceded his advantage to Robin Frijns early on when his Envision Virgin Racing rival pulled out of the slipstream and dived to the inside at Ste Dévote.
The Portuguese star thereafter stayed close enough to the new leader so that each time Frijns activated Attack Mode, he was able to reclaim the spot – albeit only briefly before the Dutchman used his extra power to redress the balance.
In an enthralling cat-and-mouse duel, the momentum then swung again when – after closing the gap – da Costa used his FanBoost to re-pass Frijns upon emerging from the tunnel. His lead, however, was short-lived, as Jaguar Racing’s Mitch Evans – who had shadowed the top two throughout – dispatched the Virgin and DS TECHEETAH cars in swift succession to hit the front at two-thirds distance.
The New Zealander’s move on da Costa – squeezing past on the sprint up Beau Rivage – was particularly impressive. What’s more, it was made just before the safety car was summoned to allow René Rast’s stricken Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler car to be removed, after the German swiped the barriers having fought his way up the order into seventh.
When the action resumed with just over seven minutes remaining, the scene was set for a grandstand finish, with Evans in the lead but his immediate pursuers – spearheaded by da Costa and Frijns – all having more useable energy available.
As the Jaguar driver began defending, da Costa went on the attack, attempting the same manoeuvre that had been pulled on him at Beau Rivage earlier but to no avail. Undeterred, he tried again, darting to the outside exiting the tunnel on the last lap and somehow managing to slow the DS TECHEETAH down in time to successfully navigate the chicane. It was an ultra-committed move – and it paid off richly.
As the 29-year-old sped clear to take the chequered flag first for a victory that has vaulted him up the title table, Evans was left to try to fend off the marauding pack behind. Approaching the finish line, Frijns shot out from under the Jaguar’s rear wing and nosed in front by barely two hundredths-of-a-second to secure the runner-up position – and with it, the championship lead.
Following a gritty effort, Evans ultimately placed third, ahead of the second DS TECHEETAH entry of double champion Jean-Éric Vergne. The Frenchman – one of only two current competitors to have previously won in Monaco in Formula E entering the event – had to produce a late fightback after missing his second Attack Mode and needing to activate it again, dropping him briefly to eighth.
Amongst the drivers that Vergne re-passed to claim fourth at the flag was BMW i Andretti Motorsport’s Maximilian Günther, who ran as high as third but spent much of the time battling with Nissan e.dams’ Oliver Rowland. The pair made contact late on but Günther held firm for fifth, with Rowland winding up sixth.
Fellow Brit and former championship leader Sam Bird performed well to rise from 16th on the grid to seventh in the final reckoning for Jaguar Racing to keep his own title bid on-track, with series rookie Nick Cassidy (Envision Virgin Racing), Mahindra Racing’s Alex Lynn and Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler’s Lucas Di Grassi completing the top ten.
Elsewhere, there were no points for Mercedes EQ duo Nyck de Vries and Stoffel Vandoorne, who had begun the weekend at the summit of the standings.
The 2020/21 Formula E campaign will now take a six-week break before resuming in Mexico for the Puebla E-Prix double-header on 19/20 June.
ANTÓNIO FÉLIX DA COSTA, DS TECHEETAH
“Winning a race in Formula E this year is very tricky. We all have a very good understanding and make each race more challenging for each other. Mitch lost a lot of time fighting with JEV and that helped me a lot. There were different factors that led me to the first step of the podium. It was a pleasure racing against Robin and Mitch – They raced super fairly. I put a lot of pressure on myself to win this race, we haven’t excelled this year and this weekend I worked a lot to get in the right mindset and come here and be successful.”
ROBIN FRIJNS, Envision Virgin Racing
“I am frustrated I didn’t get the extra three points from the Julius Baer Pole Position but I think I can be happy with this result. Today I felt strong and confident in the car and this showed in our performance. We all enjoyed ourselves today and it was a good race. In Season 5 I was in the same situation at this time in terms of points. I need to keep the momentum going and maximise our potential for the reminder of the season.”
MITCH EVANS, Jaguar Racing
“I am really gutted but I’ve got myself into that position because I burnt energy during the race. I had track position, but Antonio was very strong. I knew he was going to overtake me so I was only trying to delay it as much as I could. This result hurts because it’s Monaco and everyone wants to win here. It felt like a very good race in the car and I look forward watching the replay!”
-
I feel very humbled, very grateful. I’m ecstatic, like it’s my first: Hamilton
DRIVERS: 1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes); 2 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull); 3 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes);
TRACK INTERVIEWS (Conducted by Pedro de la Rosa)
Q: Max, well done, what a lap. After Q2 we thought no one would break into the 16s. You nearly had it there, only three hundredths. How was your lap?
Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, it was good. I struggled a little bit in Q1 but I think then we sorted out the balance for Q2, which was pretty good. In Q3 for me both laps were pretty decent. I think only the second run was a little not worse for whatever reason. It’s quite dusty around here so the wind changes a lot. Nevertheless I think second for us here on this track was very good today. We know that they are hard to beat around here, so to be that close we have to be happy with that.
Q: And for tomorrow, starting second. I mean you have done it from further back. It is possible here. It’s nearly 600 metres to Turn 1.
MV: Yeah, it’s a long run to Turn 1 but of course first you have to make sure to have a good start. Since the pace is there, so of course I hope we can have a good race as well.
Q: Tyre management tomorrow will be key do you think?
MV: Yeah, around here with all the fast corners and tyres overheating, tyre management is very important so we need to make sure that we are on top of that tomorrow.
Q: Did you have to manage the tyre temperature during quali as well?
MV: As you could see, our out laps were so slow. Just to make sure that in the last sector the tyres survive everyone is more or less doing the same thing. But it’s nice around here. It’s a proper track with a lot of fast corners and especially in qualifying with low fuel it’s amazing to drive.
Q: I’m so happy to be interviewing here on your 100th pole. Lewis, this is a magic number and a magic moment, so how was your lap? Was it perfect, Mr Perfect?
Lewis HAMILTON: Well, P3 was looking really good. I think we have been strong all weekend. We made some changes and I had a bit of anxiety about the changes we were potentially going to make for qualifying and you are always trying to make the car better. But it is a bit of a gamble because you’ve also got to keep the race in mind also. Anyway, we made this change and as soon as I got out I was like: “this is immediately the wrong one.” It was my call at the end but it was really hard. So that’s why I was behind the whole way through qualifying and I was making small tweaks here and there and trying to elevate pace-wise but the first lap was the best lap I got through the whole session, which was great. I tried to improve on the next lap and I think I was a tenth up but I couldn’t keep it. But wow, I can’t believe that we are at 100 and it’s really down to the men and women back at the factory who are continuously raising the bar and just never giving up. The support that I have… it’s been a dream for me to work with these guys and the journey we have been on has been immense. Who would have thought that at the end of 2012 when we made the decision to partner that we would be qualifying at 100. I feel very humbled, very grateful. I’m ecstatic, like it’s my first.
Q: Tell us about the lap because in Q2 you couldn’t break the 16s, you were in mid 17s, but then, bang, the first lap was like… where did that come from?
LH: Yeah, so as I said, the set-up I had made, I just had so much understeer. The car was very lazy. It wouldn’t turn round corners the way I want. So you’re waiting and waiting. I made small adjustments within what we are able to change in order to get the car to turn and that’s a combination of many things and then it’s just pulling every millisecond together and it was my cleanest lap. I will always remember that one.
Q: Valtteri, congratulations, third position, on the clean side, everything can happy from there.
Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, that was close. I was definitely in for the battle for the pole. I think the first runs in Q3 were faster runs. I’m just a bit gutted because in Turn 10 I had a snap at the apex of Turn 10 and I lost a tenth and that’s the margin for the pole. But otherwise, yeah, we have a strong package and it’s going to be a good fight tomorrow, no doubt.
Q: How was the tyre degradation during the long runs on Friday? Can you fight for the win tomorrow?
VB: I think it’s going to be very close between us and Red Bull and here if you can keep the tyres in good condition you are going to be more competitive around the pit stops. I think there is even the possibility of people doing one stop or two stops. I’m not going to reveal to you ours but we’ll see tomorrow.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Lewis, you’re not one for statistics, you’ve told us that many times, but 100 is a magical milestone and you are clearly buzzing. Can you tell us what this means to you?
LH: Yeah, it’s naturally when you’ve just got out of the car… it’s always difficult to assess in the moment but wow, I’ve been racing a long time and the 100 mark is something I don’t think anybody and particularly me thought I would ever get to that number. But when I think about it I just think about all the people that have helped me get there. It’s not only the amazing team I have here but it’s also the incredible group of men and women back the factory, at both factories, who just never cease to amaze me, who continue to raise the bar. There are so many people we don’t get to see each other all the time but we are connected. There are these great debriefs that we have but this journey that we have been on all these years has been remarkable and it’s been so enjoyable and it’s crazy that it is 100 and it felt like one of the first. That for me is even more special. There have been so many qualifying sessions, so many near misses, so many mistakes and so many moments of growth and I love how close it is between us all. I think that’s great for the fans and I think that’s exciting for me also. And also the people that are only just behind us.
Q: How different are the emotions now after pole 100 compared to pole number one back in Montreal in 2007?
LH: I would say very similar. I can’t remember exactly the feeling in 2007. I think back then it was where I was pushing for equality in terms of fuel load alongside my team-mate and the first time they gave us the equal fuel load… I don’t know if people know but like 10 kilos of fuel here is worth over three tenths of a second, so if you’re carrying an extra lap or so of more fuel that’s a tenth and a half or so… That was special and kind of felt amazing firstly to reassure that I was able to do what I did back then and here we are 100 qualifying sessions or whatever it is, 100 poles, and I still feel as young. I’m good. Keep going.
Q: And Lewis, just a quick word on Q3 in particular. You had yellows in the final sector in your first run, did that cost you, or had they stopped by the time you get there?
LH: I don’t remember seeing that.
Q: Checo Pérez had gone off at Turn 13…
LH: There was a bunch of gravel on the track and there was a puff of smoke. I came up on Turn 13 and didn’t know, so I’ve lifted and let a bit of time on the table. Max obviously did an amazing job in Q2 and there was no way we could do seven-tenths quicker and then, naturally for them, they’ve picked up a lot of pace today with the change of wing. It’s given them some nice speed on the straight, and so that’s put them in a lot more contention with us, yeah, but that last lap was everything because, going into qualifying I made a change to the car and, as soon as I did the first lap I was like: “that was not a good change!” It’s crazy that, after all these years, you’re still trying to find those small improvements. Our cars are quite a bit different so I was just trying to see if I could just get maximum out of it, because that’s all I got. And it was just about enough.
Q: Max coming to you, well done, your first time on the front row here in Spain and just three-hundredths of a second behind Lewis. First up, can you visualise that three-hundredths? Where you might have been able to get that pole position today.
MV: I don’t know, I haven’t looked into the data – but it doesn’t matter. It was a good qualifying session. Q1 was a little bit of a struggle. For me the wind picked up a bit differently and yeah, just not a great balance – but then we sorted it out for Q2 and that was a pretty good lap – but around here it’s quite gusty and these cars are super-sensitive to it and yeah, I think it was just perfect conditions and a very good lap. But then even in Q3 we managed to improve again. Like Lewis said, there was a bit of gravel going into 13, I think it was, so you can’t do your normal line, but of course it’s the same for everyone. But nevertheless, it was a good lap. I was pretty happy with it, how the whole of qualifying went, to be honest.
Q: We haven’t talked much yet about tomorrow’s race. How close do you think it’s going to be between yourself and Mercedes?
MV: It’s of course difficult to predict at the moment. I think we were quite decent in the long runs but they also of course looked strong. So, we know that it’s hard to overtake around here and to be following closely, so we’ll have to wait and see tomorrow – but I’m always optimistic and positive that we can do a good job and have a good race, and I hope, of course, that it’s going to be as close as today.
Q: Valtteri, coming to you, pole last time out in Portugal, very close again here, just one-tenth of a second behind your team-mate. How pleased are you with how things went today?
VB: First of all, massive congrats to Lewis for the 100. It’s a crazy number, so well done. Yeah, I was always expecting to have a close qualifying and I’m gutted because in the first run, which was the fastest run for the top three cars at least, in Turn 10 I had a bit of a snap at the apex and lost a bit more than tenth so, you know, those kind of things, they’re annoying but obviously can happen. Overall, in the qualifying session, the pace was good, the speed was there. It was all about the fine details at the end and I couldn’t quite get it right today.
Q: And what about the long-run pace, both for yourself and Lewis. Are Mercedes looking good for the grand prix here.
VB: I think the long run place is good but it’s honestly very similar to Red Bull as we’ve seen in the last races. So, expecting a good fight.
VIDEO CONFERENCE
Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Question to Lewis. First of all, congratulations on 100 poles and pole today – but you mentioned just with the gravel from where Pérez had spun, you left a bit of time on the table on your first run. So I wondered why didn’t you go faster on the second run? Was something different with the track conditions, or things like that?
LH: Yeah, thanks Alex. No, not Q1, I think it was Q2 with the gravel?
MV: No, run one, Q3, I guess that’s where Sergio spun. That’s why the gravel was there. It was run 1, Q3.
LH: Hmmm… I thought it was the one before that but…
MV: I mean, more people go wide and put gravel onto that corner.
LH: I have a feeling it was before that – but that’s what I remember. I was up a tenth and a half on my last lap until Turn Seven and then it was down, I was down the exact same amount already after Turn Seven, or out of Turn Nine, so the rest of the lap was really just on the edge. I think it was a little bit windier in the second run. I don’t think I left anything on the table Q3 run 1 through that corner, as far as I’m aware – I thought it was before that, the previous lap and I got it right that lap – but maybe I’m wrong. Short-lived memory.
Q: (Christian Menath – motorsport-magazin.com) First of all congratulations Lewis. Question is to all three of you. No-one tried to qualify with the Medium tyre in Q2. Do you think it was too close with the other cars? Or is it not a big advantage from a strategic point of view?
MV: No, I think we could have easily qualified on it but I don’t think it was necessary to do so.
LH: It’s 600m down to Turn One, so 6m difference between the tyres. So, it’s less… there’s no advantage, especially if you do happen to get the Medium in position and the car behind is on a Soft, for example, and they box, they pull you in anyway, so you don’t have the benefit and you’ve just given up extra opportunities, so that’s generally why.
Q: Valtteri, did you think about it?
VB: Yeah, I think here the track position is pretty important so just don’t want to lose any ground at the race start. I think that’s the main thing.
Q: (Christian Nimmervoll – Motorsport.com) Lewis, can you explain the logic of running a scrubbed set of soft tyres for your Q2 run which will be your starting tyre?
LH: Ah, there’s no real logic to it. It’s simply that I didn’t do a good enough job in Q1 on the medium tyre. They said that I was on the edge, so I had to go out on the soft tyre which I wasn’t planning to do. I think we did an out lap and came in and then we started on a new tyre for the first run and then went onto the one lap scrubbed second tyre and it was quicker so I just finished the lap and that’s the tyre I was on. So it’s basically got a lap more than everyone else.
Q: (Scott Mitchell – The Race) Lewis, we know and Tom mentioned this earlier that you’re not big on statistics: with all the records that you’ve broken, you’ve tended to be played down but I just wondered if 100 poles is a little bit different because in other sports, obviously, a century is something quite special whether it’s a cricketer scoring a hundred runs or a Premier League footballer getting the 100 goal club, so does a hundred poles feel a bit different to other records that you’ve achieved?
LH: I can’t really… I don’t really feel like I can compute it right now. It’s a huge number. Yeah, it’s difficult to say, really. I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel but as I said, I’m excited that it was so close and it felt amazing to… qualifying’s so special, when you come across that line and you find out you’re just ahead and you’re thinking OK, how am I going to squeeze out more, will the other guys find a tenth or two or three on the next run or none at all. It’s nerve wracking, I’m sure, for the fans and it’s the same for you. It’s such a big number that it’s hard to express just how crazy it is and amazing it is but I don’t really know what else to say.
Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC) Lewis, you’ll probably hate me for asking this because I know you’ll say you probably can’t remember or something but hundredth pole, was that a lap that was worthy of the achievement, if you like? It looked like hard work to get to that level. Max was so quick in Q2. If you think back to great qualifying laps in the past like Canada 2007 or Singapore 2018 or Styria last year; was this one up there? Can you remember enough to say that?
LH: I think it was a really good… I think it was a great lap and I think… it’s the journey that… you know, sometimes you start qualifying and you’re quick from the get-go and you’ve got the right balance and then it’s really just down to you doing the job. I didn’t have the right balance and I was behind… the changes that I was making still slightly behind, still slightly behind, still not quite there so I was making these changes and hoping that by Q3 this is all I’ve got so make the best of it and so I do feel that it was a very, very clean and precise lap and I guess that’s why I managed to just be ahead of Max. So yeah, I’m proud of it, that’s for sure.
Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Max, we saw you doing quite a lot of overtaking on your out lap ahead of your final run in Q3. Why was that? Did it have any impact on why you didn’t improve with the second run?
MV: No, I just didn’t want to be in the back of the train, because I saw when I left the garage there were seven cars in front of me and I know, of course, through experience that you go through turn ten and suddenly you almost have to stop so I didn’t want that so I just passed them. My tyre temps were still fine when I started my lap but yeah, I just didn’t want to get into a mess where people start, you know, I want to overtake you into the last two corners or whatever.
Q: (Christian Menath – motorsport-magazin.com) Lewis, you mentioned earlier why your second lap wasn’t faster than your first one in Q3. I want to ask all three of you because it seems like to be a little trend this year that the second attempt in Q3 isn’t necessarily faster. Is it just coincidence, are the conditions getting worse or do you think you’re risking too much because it’s so tight up there?
VB: I really felt also that the Q3 run two was a bit slower. It felt like gradually, corner by corner, it was just losing time a bit and actually I was really looking forward to it because I made a mistake in turn ten in run one but it just didn’t come so I think it was conditions, whether it’s the wind or something but yeah, the cars are obviously sensitive to wind direction, strength, gusts so from one run to another it can be quite different.
LH: Yeah, not really a lot to add, I think. The whole car is hotter for the second run, the brakes are hotter, the tyre rise is going to be different, different profile compared to run one and yeah, I would say we are pushing more but for some reason the drop-off, the track or the car drops off in that second run but it’s the same for all us and the wind does play a bit of a role.
MV: I don’t think there’s a trend because I think we improved in Bahrain, we improved in Imola – at least, I did, even going off the track. Just depends on how you nail your first lap as well. There’s never a trend because sometimes you nail your first lap and then you know that it’s tiny margins. If, of course, you don’t nail your first lap it’s quite easy to improve on the second one but today… and on tracks where it’s quite open and you have a lot of wind variation and gusts as well like today, with these cars we have, they are just super-sensitive to it, so even if it increases with a few kilometres it can make a difference into a certain corner and when you are driving like you are on the limit and you know suddenly you have a little bit less rear grip or a bit more understeer it can, of course, completely change the balance to the corner and that’s basically what happened in the last run.
Ends
-
Hamilton becomes 1st driver to reach 100 pole positions
Barcelona, 8 May 2021: Lewis Hamilton beat Max Verstappen by just 0.038 seconds to make history as the first driver to reach 100 pole positions in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix. Verstappen finished ahead of Valtteri Bottas at the end of a tight session in which the top three drivers were covered by just 1300ths of a second.
At the start of Q1, Mercedes opted to send its drivers out on medium tyres and Bottas took top spot in the session with a lap of 1:18.005. Verstappen slotted into P2 on soft tyres with an opening time of 1:18.090, while AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly took third place in the early part of the session. Hamilton’s opening time 1:18.245 was not solid though and as the segment neared its final stages he began to slip down the order. The champion went out on a set of softs for a precautionary final run that he abandoned after his out lap when it became clear that his progress to Q2 would not be threatened. It was Lando Norris who put in the segment’s fastest lap, however. The McLaren driver had been disadvantaged by traffic early in the session and required another attempt on a new set of soft tyres. He rose from the drop zone to P1 with a lap of 1:17.821.
Norris’ jump to the top of the timesheet meant that AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda slid into the drop zone. The Japanese driver then went wide in Turn 9 on his final run and he was thus eliminated in P16 ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen, Haas’ Mick Schumacher, Williams’ Nicholas Latifi and the second Haas of Nikita Mazepin.
Verstappen set the pace in the opening runs of Q2. Mercedes were first across the line with Bottas setting a lap of 1:17.400 to edge Hamilton by two tenths but Verstappen set blistering pace to cross the line almost half a second clear of Bottas thanks to a lap of 1:16.922.
It was a different story for the Dutch driver’s team-mate Sergio Pérez however. The Mexican driver was struggling to find a comfort zone with his car and his opening lap of 1:180.69 left him in P12 and in the drop zone ahead of the final runs. He improved on his final run, however, and jumped to P5 and safety with a lap of 1:17.669.
While Verstappen stayed in the Red Bull garage for the final runs, Mercedes sent it’s drivers out again and Hamilton improved on the set of softs he had used for his precautionary lap in Q1. He finished in P3 behind Bottas with a time of 1:17.166.
Eliminated at the end of Q2 were Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in P11 ahead of AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, Aston’s Sebastian Vettel, Alfa’s Antonio Giovinazzi and Williams’ George Russell.
Verstappen’s Q2 pace seemed to indicate that the Dutch driver would deny Hamilton a historic 100th pole but in the opening runs of Q3 the seven-time champion responded to take provisional pole with a lap of 1:16.741. Verstappen got closest to that benchmark, finishing his opening flying lap just 0.038s behind the Mercedes driver and a tenth clear of Bottas.
It set up a knife-edge finale but soon after the start of the final flying laps it became apparent that none of the top three drivers was improving and Hamilton took his 100th pole with his opening time, while Max had to settle for a 17th career front-row start ahead of Bottas.
2021 FIA Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:16.741 –
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:16.777 0.036
3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:16.873 0.132
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:17.510 0.769
5 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:17.580 0.839
6 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:17.620 0.879
7 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 1:17.622 0.881
8 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 1:17.701 0.960
9 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:18.010 1.269
10 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 1:18.147 1.406
11 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:17.974 1.233
12 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:17.982 1.241
13 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:18.079 1.338
14 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:18.356 1.615
15 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:19.154 2.413
16 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 1:18.556 1.815
17 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:18.917 2.176
18 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 1:19.117 2.376
19 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:19.219 2.478
20 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 1:19.807 3.066 -
Smolyar takes victory from Novalak in frenetic season’s 1st race
Barcelona, 8 May 2021: Alex Smolyar sealed an impressive first victory in Formula 3 for ART Grand Prix, scampering ahead of Jonny Edgar in the early stages before managing out the remainder of Race 1 to finish ahead of Trident’s Clément Novalak and MP Motorsport’s Caio Collet.
After a convincing opening stint, Smolyar was spared a late encounter with Novalak as the race ended under Safety Car conditions, following a spin from Oliver Rasmussen. The Trident had risen from fourth and begun to close the gap to P1, but wouldn’t get the chance to have a go at him.
MP rookie Collet briefly dropped off the podium but recovered to seal a rostrum on his first start in F3, ahead of 2020 title challenger Logan Sargeant.
Despite dropping down to P5 at the flag, 17-year-old Edgar did at least come away with plenty of points on his debut, finishing ahead of PREMA’s Olli Caldwell.
AS IT HAPPENED
Lining up on reverse grid pole, Edgar’s first F3 race start was delayed by an issue for his teammate, Ido Cohen, who had struggled to a stop on the formation lap. The Israeli was pleased to get his Carlin going, albeit from the pitlane, as the grid were forced into a second formation lap, shortening the action from 22 laps to 21.
The additional formation lap meant Edgar had plenty of time to think about his start, and he made no mistake when the five lights did eventually go green, thundering off into the distance with a great getaway.
Smolyar brushed off a challenge from Collet to hold onto P2, as Novalak and Logan Sargeant tussled their way through to fourth and fifth.
Having kept his cool at the start, Smolyar was picking up the pace and fast catching the race leader, Edgar. The polesitter had spoken about tyre management in the leadup to his debut, saying that he wouldn’t fight an overtake if it meant destroying his Pirellis, and that bore out on Lap 4, as Smolyar glided past with the aid of DRS.
Further down the order, Smolyar’s teammate Frederik Vesti was struggling to keep Caldwell at bay. The PREMA had dropped back at the start, but recovered to go on the charge, picking off Vesti and David Schumacher for P6 within a matter of laps.
An all-rookie battle was emerging for P2 between Edgar and Collet, but the duo’s clash took them away from the racing line and allowed the more experienced Novalak to sneak in between them, after Collet skewed ever so slightly onto the marble.
Having briefly managed to hold off Novalak, Edgar eventually succumbed to the Frenchman, who clinically swept around the outside at the first chicane for P2. The Briton was visibly struggling and watched on as Collet and Sargeant followed Novalak past.
Having looked so controlled out in front for much of the race, Smolyar’s lead was suddenly under threat from Novalak, who was nearly within DRS range after eating into the gap between them. So, Russian was relieved to see a Safety Car come out with three laps to go, after Rasmussen spun off into the gravel.
The length of the clear-up meant that the Safety Car led the drivers over the finish line, allowing Smolyar to clinch a maiden victory over Novalak and get his title challenge up and running.
He may not have been able to hold off Collet and Sargeant, but the late drama ensured Edgar kept P5, ahead of Caldwell and Vesti. Friday’s form driver, Dennis Hauger, took P8 ahead of Victor Martins and Matteo Nannini. Enzo Fittipaldi will start Race 2 from reverse grid pole, ahead of Schumacher.
KEY QUOTE – ALEX SMOLYAR (ART GRAND PRIX)
“My first win of the season and I am really happy with the race. I had quite a comfortable lead at the beginning, but then had to fight off the pace of Novalak.
“I am quite pleased with the win and I will now try and keep earning as many points as I possibly can this weekend.”
-
Lewis Hamilton tops timesheets in FP2: Spanish GP
Barcelona, 7 May 2021: Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheet in second practice for the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya beating Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas by over a tenth of a second as Max Verstappen finished in ninth place following an error during his qualifying simulation.
Bottas, the morning’s fastest man, set the early pace in the one-hour afternoon session, working his way to a time of 1:18.419, with Hamilton 0.042s slower than his team-mate, while Verstappen sat in third place, three tenths off the pace.
The session was briefly slowed when a Virtual Safety Car was deployed after 10 minutes to allow marshals to clear a piece of bodywork that had become dislodged from Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari.
When the track went green again teams set about preparing for their qualifying simulations with Bottas getting down to 1:18.309 before Hamilton toppled him with lap of 1:18.170.
It was then Verstappen turn to bolt on soft tyres and after losing a small amount of ground to Hamilton opening sector the Dutchman then went wide on the entry to Turn 10 and as he tried to recover he got a snap of oversteer that sent him off track. He kept going but backed off in the final corners and finished in ninth thanks to his earlier lap on medium times.
With Verstappen down the order, third place in the session went to Charles Leclerc. The Ferrari driver was just 0.165s slower than Hamilton. Esteban Ocon took fourth place just ahead of team-mate Fernando Alonso on an encouraging afternoon for improving Alpine, while Pierre Gasly finished in P6 ahead of AlphaTauri team-mate Yuki Tsunoda.
Sainz was eighth for Ferrari ahead of Versatappen and the Dutch driver’s team-mate Sergio Pérez, finished in P10 as he too failed to complete his qualifying simulation. He ended the session 0.748s off Hamilton’s best time.
2021 FIA Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix – Free Practice 1
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 32 1:18.170;
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 31 1:18.309 0.139;
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 28 1:18.335 0.165;
4 Esteban Ocon Alpine 29 1:18.466 0.296;
5 Fernando Alonso Alpine 30 1:18.518 0.348;
6 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 32 1:18.593 0.423;
7 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 30 1:18.619 0.449;
8 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 30 1:18.674 0.504;
9 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 26 1:18.785 0.615;
10 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing 23 1:18.918 0.748;
11 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 30 1:18.947 0.777;
12 Lando Norris McLaren 28 1:19.092 0.922;
13 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 29 1:19.122 0.952;
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 29 1:19.134 0.964;
15 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 28 1:19.195 1.025;
16 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 30 1:19.213 1.043;
17 George Russell Williams 29 1:19.957 1.787;
18 Nicholas Latifi Williams 26 1:20.046 1.876;
19 Mick Schumacher Haas 30 1:20.326 2.156;
20 Nikita Mazepin Haas 27 1:20.753 2.583. -
Hauger takes first F3 pole beating Doohan
Dennis Hauger continued his excellent start to life with PREMA Racing to take his first ever pole position in Formula 3, beating out Trident’s Jack Doohan by 0.006s. The Red Bull juniors traded places throughout the session, but it was the Norwegian who came out on top, with MP Motorsport’s Alpine prodigy Victor Martins nabbing third late on.
Barcelona, 7 May 2021: Track temperature had risen from 28 to 39 between Free Practice and Qualifying and the majority of the field opted to head out at the first opportunity. At the front of the queue were Hitech Grand Prix, with Jak Crawford the first to complete a flying lap, but it was Trident’s Doohan who set the standard, beating the fastest time from Free Practice with a run of 1:33.580.
The fastest man from practice, Hauger, very briefly nabbed first with a storming final sector at the start of his second run, going round at 1:33.138, but Doohan responded by reclaiming the position at the first opportunity.
Hauger had more luck on his third run, with the Red Bull junior setting a purple middle sector to snatch pole from Doohan by 0.006s.
The top two were in a league of their own, but there was a flurry of late activity behind them, as Frederik Vesti and Matteo Nannini both briefly held third, before falling to fourth and fifth. The duo were dropped down the order thanks to a last gasp effort from Martins, who came within 0.055s off the front two, beating Nannini by two tenths.
Olli Caldwell and Clement Novalak beat 2020 title challenger Logan Sargeant to sixth and seventh, with the final Trident of David Schumacher settling for P9. Caio Collet completed the top 10 ahead of Alex Smolyar.
Jonny Edgar beat Juan Manuel Correa to reverse grid pole for Race 1 by less than a tenth, with the Carlin Buzz racer finishing 12th.
-
Formula E moves to Monaco to tackle most-iconic street circuit
The hunt for honours is wide open as ABB FIA Formula E World Championship protagonists prepare to unleash more Monaco magic
Monaco, 7 May 2021: The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship is Monaco-bound this week, as competitors in the all-electric single-seater series get ready to tackle the most iconic street circuit in the world in the glamorous Principality on Saturday (8 May).
The three previous editions of the prestigious Monaco E-Prix have all proven to be hard-fought and thoroughly entertaining affairs, and the forthcoming race – round seven of the 2020/21 Formula E campaign – looks certain to deliver more of the same, especially as it will use the full track (3,33 km) for the first time, lightly modified in the chicane layout at T11 on the harbour front at the exit of the tunnel to suit the series’ requirements. Its tight, twisty and technical layout is sure to pose a stern challenge, and its unforgiving nature means no mistake will go unpunished.
Mercedes EQ’s Nyck de Vries and Stoffel Vandoorne lead the Formula E field into the weekend, separated by nine points at the summit of the standings following the opening three double-headers. Between them, the pair have won half of the races disputed so far this season, but they have also notched up four retirements and neither scored in the most recent contest in Valencia. They will be determined to regain their momentum in Monaco, where de Vries twice triumphed in FIA Formula 2 and Vandoorne emerged victorious in GP2
Jaguar Racing’s Sam Bird and his former team-mate, Envision Virgin Racing ace Robin Frijns, are the Mercedes duo’s nearest pursuers, currently tied for third place in the classification. Bird was a winner in Diriyah and reached the rostrum again in Rome but endured a difficult weekend in Valencia, while Frijns has enjoyed a strong start to the campaign that he is aiming to build upon this weekend.
Mitch Evans in the second Jaguar entry is just behind in fifth, and like Bird, the New Zealander is eager to quickly bounce back from a subdued Spanish double-header for the British outfit.
With four top six finishes to-date in 2020/21, René Rast has been a model of consistency for Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler and has twice tasted victory champagne in Monaco in the Porsche Supercup. DS TECHEETAH’s Jean-Éric Vergne, meanwhile, is one of only two drivers on the grid to have won around the streets of the Principality in Formula E, leading from lights-to-flag in 2018/19 en route to his second championship crown.
The other active driver to have mastered Monaco in Formula E is Nissan e.dams’ Sébastien Buemi, who converted pole position into the top step of the podium in both 2014/15 and 2016/17. The Swiss driver is searching for a repeat performance this time around, following a disappointing start to the season that sees him just 22nd in the title table. His team-mate Oliver Rowland qualified fastest for the race in 2018/19 prior to a grid penalty being applied, so hopes are high for a bumper points haul on Saturday to fire the pair up the order.
Fellow Briton Jake Dennis launched himself spectacularly into the top ten in the standings courtesy of a brilliant maiden triumph in only his sixth Formula E start a week ago in Valencia. The BMW i Andretti Motorsport man has never previously competed in Monaco, but buoyed by his breakthrough success, he is excited to push for more silverware.
Edoardo Mortara and rookie ROKiT Venturi Racing team-mate Norman Nato have both displayed flashes of real pace over the six rounds so far, with the latter in particular unfortunate not to have more to show for his efforts. The Frenchman won in Monaco in Formula Renault 3.5 and raced to the runner-up spoils in GP2, so will surely fancy his chances of securing his first big Formula E result this weekend on his team home event.
Pascal Wehrlein has also shone in the Principality in the past – posting fastest lap in the Formula E race there in 2018/19 – while TAG Heuer Porsche stablemate André Lotterer finally got his challenge off the mark with a superb second place in Spain, following a troubled opening five outings.
Somebody in need of a similar result – and who has twice finished second in Monaco in Formula E – is 2016/17 champion Lucas Di Grassi (Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler), who is languishing down in 19th place in the points at present. Both the Brazilian and fellow title-holder António Félix da Costa (DS TECHEETAH) have been left ruing missed opportunities to win this season, but both are more than capable of kick-starting their campaigns around a circuit renowned for springing surprises.
The Monaco E-Prix is set to begin at 16:00 CET on Saturday, 8 May.
-
It is a good learning process for me, says Arjun Maini ahead of DTM season
Lausitzring, 6 May 2021: Arjun Maini, who is set to race for the Mercedes-AMG Performance Team GetSpeed in the upcoming 2021 DTM season at the wheel of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 expressed that he is looking forward to seeing how he goes up against the best, during an official DTM virtual media conference on Thursday, “One thing that I have had to get used to is the small margin for error. Even a small mistake can cost you and of course the level of the drivers is extremely incredible, like it always is in DTM. And I think the main thing is going to be that we cannot afford to make any mistakes throughout the season. I am looking forward to seeing how I can go up against the best.”
Maini, who is backed by JK Racing and Mumbai Falcons so far , has completed a three-day pre-season test in Lausitzring, Germany from May 4 to 6, further added that he has shown a lot of improvement since the first time he drove a DTM car, “It’s been a really good learning process for me. The team has been absolutely great while helping me get up to speed with the car and the way everything works, and also adjusting the car a bit to my driving style. I have shown a lot of improvement since the first time I drove. We have been focussing on our own program so far and it’s going really well.”
Maini posted the fastest time in testing over the two and a half days so far but when asked about it said that the real times will come out in Qualifying at the First Race in Monza.
The 23-year-old expressed that it’s a privilege for him to be a part of DTM and the Mercedes AMG family with the support from the GetSpeed team, “I first saw the DTM atmosphere when I was racing in Formula 3 in 2015 and you could realize how big it was already back then. It’s a massive privilege for me to be a part of DTM and the Mercedes AMG family with the support from the GetSpeed team. I am really looking forward to getting the season going with a lot of support coming in from home.”
The racer, who will be taking part in eight rounds (16 races) in the series, which will be held across Europe from June 2021 to October 2021, said that he is looking forward to making the DTM series more popular in India.
“It’ll be great to have a race in India sometime in the future. With me in the race, I think a lot of Indians will start following the DTM series and I think this series will be quite interesting and different for them. This type of racing is not quite well known as of now in India, so I am looking forward to making it popular for the Indian people and hopefully entertain them,” said Maini.
