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It is hard to hold pole here, but I will try my best to the 1st corner
DRIVERS
1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
2 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)
3 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Johnny Herbert)
Q: Valtteri, how frustrating was that. That was so close, I think it was seven-hundredths of a second. You tried your best eh?
Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, I knew it was going to be close with Lewis as always and in the end in his first run the lap was really nice and clean, especially in sector three. All-day today I’ve been (inaudible) in sector three, so it was getting better and better, but still not quite good enough. Of course, it’s annoying but he did a good job and as a team again, the first row.
Q: For the championship, you’re still in it. You’ve still got a chance being on that front row. Do you think you’ve got the car to beat Lewis tomorrow?
VB: I think the start will be the best opportunity for me. Again, on Friday my long runs were competitive. I will have the pace but still, the start will be the best chance.
Q: Is it quite simply that you have to get into Turn 1 first or is there more to it?
VB: I’ll try to get there first. Trust me.
Q: Lewis, 92nd pole, your fifth in Barcelona. How difficult was that session? Because the temperatures are so high, something that you guys are not used to at all.
Lewis HAMILTON: I mean it’s summer man! But it’s definitely the first time I’ve been in Barcelona when it’s this hot. It’s tough. It’s so fast around here. It’s the fastest we’ve ever been around here. The forces through your body are pretty intense. The tyres are what we’re really struggling with. You see us crawling around on the out lap, it’s just to keep the temperature out of the tyres. But even with those sort of laps you still have temperatures rising. That’s what we are trying to manage on the laps. I couldn’t go quicker on my second lap. I thought I could but it just wasn’t a great lap. The first one was decent I guess, which did the job thankfully. These guys do such an awesome job. We’re constantly learning. I was here with the guys until 10 pm, just looking over all the details, how we can improve and what are the areas, particularly for the race, that we could get better because these Red Bulls are super fast.
Q: Give us an idea of how difficult it is to drive around this circuit in these hot conditions. What are your problems – is it understeer or oversteer?
LH: The problems are all physical. The amount that you are able to brake now, the amount you have to apply to the brake is even heavier before, so there is a lot of stress through your core. You’re flat out through three and through nine, so there is a lot of stress on your neck and your whole body just wants to move to the side of the car. As it’s so hot you have to be even more careful on the throttle not to overheat the tyres. Balance-wise it’s quite windy if you look at the flags. We have a headwind into Turn 1 so it’s pretty good into Turn 1 but then in Turn 4 you have a tailwind, Turn 9 you have a tailwind, 10 you have a tailwind, so there are corners where you know you can push and some that you can’t and you are still trying to find that limit and that’s when the car snaps away. But that’s what we all do and I have a huge amount of respect for all the guys here who are battling the same issues as myself.
Q: Briefly about tomorrow. Starting on pole position, the perfect place but you’ve got Valtteri who was so close to you in qualifying and Max is there as well?
LH: Yeah, it’s such a long way down to Turn 1 here, so the job is not done that’s for sure. It’s very hard to follow here. Positioning is good but it will be hard to hold pole position, but that’s what I’ve got to work on and try to get the best out of it I can.
Q: Max, I suppose that was what you were expecting to happen today. Were you happy with the performance?
MV: Yeah, I mean that’s the maximum we can do at the moment. The whole weekend we have been P3 so yeah, pretty happy with that. I just hope we can be a bit closer in the race. Yesterday in the long runs it didn’t seem to bad but of course tomorrow is a different day so we’ll have to see.
Q: You had some good long runs, do you expect it to come your way tomorrow? Do you expect to challenge the Mercedes?
MV: Difficult to say at the moment. I felt happy in the car. I just hope that I can apply a bit of pressure. I know that it is very hard to overtake around here, but we’re going to do everything we can to be close to them and top try to make a bit difficult.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Lewis, thrilling session. You were fastest in all three sessions of qualifying, how satisfied are you with pole number 92?
LH: It’s definitely been a good Saturday. I’m smiling under this. But it had been a really big challenge this weekend for us all – the physical demands of this track, being that we’re faster than ever before, but more so just managing these tyres in the temperatures. It’s very, very hot out there and as you can see different people were trying different things on out laps. Also there is always a bit of a gust in the afternoon always here in Barcelona, so it makes for quite a tricky session but overnight progressed forwards rather than backwards, which is always a good thing. Each first lap was strong, which I was happy with. The one in Q3 was solid, but I felt like I could improve, but I wasn’t able to do it on the second lap. Fortunately neither did the strong dude next to me. He’s keeping me honest and it’s obviously very close between us and so every millisecond counts. I’m really just incredibly grateful to the guys for continuing to push. It’s not easy to do weekend in, weekend out. I’m constantly impressed by the open-mindedness and the things we are doing. But tomorrow is going to be tough when we get to the race. The scenario is different. Over a single lap we seem to have the edge over the Red Bulls but this weekend we seem to be pretty much on par on race pace, so it’s going to be a tough battle with Max tomorrow.
Q: Lewis, you’ve told us many times that you are not motivated by stats, but that is your 150th front-row start in F1. What does that mean?
LH: Wow! I don’t know really what to say except for… Look, we are the ones who get to sit here and front all this incredible effort from so many people and I have been really, really fortunate over the years, even back to my McLaren days, to work with incredibly intelligent and driven people who have helped me sit in this room. So I am incredibly grateful to those that have helped. And blown away, still to this day, by the decision to move to this team and see the growth that we have had. I don’t’ think we have plateaued at the top with the championships we have, we continuously get better each year, as people see. I’ve been saying for a long time that I am a chink in the chain, without realising that chink is not actually a good thing. I’m just another link in the big chain of so many people and I just try to play my part as best I can.
Q: Let’s come to you now Valtteri, so fast in that qualifying session, fastest, in fact, in Sectors One and Two – but you weren’t able to grab pole. Are you a little bit frustrated?
VB: Well, for sure, you know I was trying to get the pole and it was always going to be pretty close, I think between me and Lewis at least, and I knew it was going to be about milliseconds in the end. Sector 1 and 2 started to feel pretty good, so I think by Sector 3… I have to say since this morning Sector 3 was a bit of a problematic Turn 10, Turn 12 was a bit of an issue for me in terms of balance and finding the best way around it, because every day here, with the wind, with the track temperatures different but it was getting better and better in the qualifying – just not quite good enough. I think Lewis was pretty consistent in Sector 3 and he managed to get a good lap in Q3. So yeah, he did a better job today. Of course, it’s annoying for me but I have to look at the big picture. Still starting on the front row, really strong team performance, which always I’m really proud of. And still, there’s all the opportunities for tomorrow.
Q: How much slippier, compared to normal is this track, in these track temperatures, off-line? Because you’re starting on the inside tomorrow. It’s going to be a drag race down to Turn 1. Do you think it’s going to be difficult to make a good start from P2.
VB: I have no idea, to be honest, how the track conditions is left and right. Normally we get all that information in the reports. The team will analyse that. For now, I don’t know. I hope it will be good enough grip to grab the lead.
Q: Max, congratulations, your first top three start here in Barcelona. Was it a clean session for you?
MV: Yeah. I mean it seems like I have a subscription on P3. I think I’ve been P3 the whole weekend. It was alright. I tried of course, to be as close as possible. Also, pretty happy with my lap. I think we extracted the most out of the car. We can’t complain really. I think the car was pretty competitive. Of course there are still areas where we can do a better job – but we are definitely improving the car, which is good.
Q: And have you got the car underneath you to beat the guys next to you tomorrow in the race?
MV: Well, I felt very happy in the long run yesterday, with the balance of the car and the wear of the tyres as well. But yeah, tomorrow again, is a new day and we’ll have to try and show it again. Of course, I hope that I can be close to them and put the pressure on.
VIDEO CONFERENCE
Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Question to Max. You and Red Bull have made a nice habit of going on a contrary strategy in Q2. Obviously nobody did that this time around. Could you just explain why you didn’t go that way this time?
MV: Basically because I think the soft tyre is good enough to start the race on. Normally the softest compound is a bit more tricky as it falls apart quite quickly. I think it’s alright at the track here.
Q: (Christian Menath – motorsport-magazin.com) Question for Max. You said in Q1 that the car feels a bit weird. What was the reason for that and the change afterwards?
MV: I don’t know. I went through Turn 2 and I could see the left-front wheel coming up – which was very odd – but it didn’t happen afterwards. They checked everything, and everything was fine, so I honestly don’t know what felt so weird. It was quite gusty out there as well. Bit odd but luckily it didn’t come back.
Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Question to all three but starting off with Max. Max, you twice referenced the tyres in your previous answers. Pirelli had said, coming into this weekend that this could be one of the hardest weekends for tyres and, mindful of what happened at Silverstone, what are you guys expecting during the race? Would it be anywhere near what Pirelli have possibly predicted?
MV: I think, first of all, since the new tarmac is on this track, I think it’s a bit better on tyres. Seems like a bit more rear grip. So, I guess that helps. And, of course, the energy in the tyres is not as high as in Silverstone. So, for sure, that is helping to keep the tyres a bit more under control – but that last sector, there’s so many tight corners, you still have to, of course, manage them.
LH: We expect these guys to be, probably a little bit better I would imagine. It’s definitely not going to be easy for us. I don’t think we’ll have the same problems we had last week – but obviously we’ll find out when we get in the race. We’ve got those hot conditions but we have a harder compound, so fingers crossed that helps. I wouldn’t put it past us having problems tomorrow but we’ll see.
VB: I think we are expecting less issues than last weekend, just because it’s a different type of track and so far we’ve seen no issues with blistering or things like what happened at Silverstone. I think it’s going to be difficult. Here always if it’s hot it’s just always about the overheating, especially the tyre surface overheating and trying to manage that. And yes, we’ve seen Red Bull is pretty strong when it’s warm, and when it’s all about tyre management. Hopefully better that Silverstone.
Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Question to Lewis and Valtteri. Toto yesterday spoke about his future at the team. It was hardly a tub-thumping ‘he’s going to stay’. He’s weighing up his options. I just wanted to gauge your feelings. Will you be happy to sign a new contract with Mercedes knowing that he’s not here? Valtteri, does that change your thinking? Will you miss Toto if he wasn’t part of the team? And if I may, a question to Max as well, which is, is it just a case of putting the pressure on the Mercedes, or it tomorrow just trying to get a result.
LH: What you’ve got to remember is that it’s a team of so many people. There’s almost 2,000 people in the team, or something like that. It’s not just down to one person, one individual. So yes, that’s not determining whether or not I stay. I think what we’ve built… I’ve been a part of growing with this team and growing with that growth. The strength is there through and through, so, as I said, it’s not just one individual. I think everyone has to do what’s best for them. What’s best for their career and happiness at the end of the day. I think it’s smart for him. I think everyone needs to sit, take a moment and evaluate what they want to do moving forwards. Whether it suits them and their families and their future dreams. We’ve done so much already together in this period of time. I hope he stays because it’s fun working with him, and it’s fun negotiating with him and fun having the up and downs. So, I’m truly grateful to Toto and I’ll be fully supportive in whatever he decides to do.
VB: I think Toto has been a really important part of the team and being a big part of helping the team to get to the state where it is now but just like Lewis said, it’s not all about one person, we’re a big team, there are so many important personnel in the team and everyone needs to be able to work together so I really agree that whatever he does, I just hope he makes a decision what he really wants to do and it makes him happy. That’s it, that’s what life’s all about: only do things that make you happy, follow your dreams. But of course, it would be a shame to see him go. I have no idea, to be honest, what’s happening in the background. I’m just focusing on driving and yes, I would definitely sign with the team even though Toto wasn’t here because, as Lewis said, it’s not about one person but (he’s a) very important man.
Q: Max, coming to you, looking at the race tomorrow, is it just a case of putting pressure on Mercedes?
MV: Well, I mean, I just keep driving behind them. On a distance, it’s not going to happen so yeah, if I have that opportunity, of course, to be close then you have to be there, you have to push it but let’s just wait and see tomorrow. Yesterday I felt good, let’s hope it’s going to be the same tomorrow and then I hope that we just have an entertaining race at the end of the day.
Q: (Scott Mitchell – The Race) Question to all three, slightly leftfield but it was a fairly straightforward qualifying session. All three of you are in a situation at the moment where the two Mercedes drivers have pretty much each other to focus on in qualifying and Max, as you’ve said, you’ve got a subscription to P3. In The Last Dance, the documentary about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, Jordan talks about making up little animosities in his mind and things like that, stories lines, to motivate himself when he wants to take himself to a new level. How do you guys motivate yourselves to go to the new level and at the moment, when things are fairly straightforward in qualifying, do you ever employ any tricks like that?
LH: Me first… I don’t think I’ve had to… I mean Valtteri is on my tail and pushing things to the limit and is exceptionally fast so I don’t really need to find new motivation. Every year, of course, you have to re-focus and figure out what is going to be your motivating factor but yeah, that’s Michael, what works for Michael won’t work for me. Every individual probably has a different way of getting in the zone, finding that courage to go where others perhaps won’t.
Q: How have your preparations for qualifying changed over the last 14 years?
LH: Jeez, I don’t even remember but it’s definitely… I mean, I’m a lot older now so the things I know now I didn’t know back when I was 22/23. I naturally had raw ability back then but I had no control and understanding of who I really was and what made me tick, what was good to do, what was not good to do and so a complete different machine to today, I would say. And that’s probably why you see… my consistency was pretty good in that first year but I would say that my consistency has definitely got better over these last five or six years, probably. I think that’s probably been my greatest strength.
VB: For me I find the motivation is the goal that I have in my career and that dream and goal that I set to myself as a young kid so that gives me motivation, that keeps me pushing myself for more and yeah, when there’s tough times in the end, there’s always that same reason that gets me to get up and move and try to do things better. That’s producing it for me.
MV: Yeah, I think like Lewis said, everybody is different in the end of it. You find different ways of preparing yourself or the way you behave, the way you perform, so yeah, for me it’s… from a very young age I always had somebody around me, like my Dad, pushing me hard because of course when you’re a little kid initially there’s a lot to learn and I definitely learned that, the motivation, always wanting to perform, always trying to get the best out yourself and how to get the best out of yourself is by never stop learning, never think that it’s good enough. When you win races, when you take pole positions, whatever, there are always things you can improve, there are always little details. In F1 it’s never big things, it’s marginal things but you can always improve so that’s what I just try to look at, even though sometimes it’s not good on my own, P3 whatever, I can all the time, I think there is always room for that improvement so that’s just how I keep myself pushing forward and of course try to close that gap to the guys ahead.
Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Question to the two Mercedes drivers please: what was the reason why you didn’t improve on your final laps in Q3? Was there a slight change in the conditions or something on the track, because Lewis, in particular, you said at the start of this you felt that your first run in Q3 was solid but you felt that you could improve but you didn’t, so yeah, why was that?
VB: I don’t think conditions really changed, at least it felt like they didn’t really improve for the second run. I thought I was going to improve because when I crossed the line I was one tenth up from my previous time but then obviously it went to zero so maybe I just got a bit more distance, that’s how the time delta works. I don’t know, I thought it was a bit better on the second run, but it just wasn’t. I don’t think the track really changed.
LH: I’m not really sure. There is track ramp and then the track temperature can vary and the wind can vary. Yeah, the first lap felt OK but then in some areas within the limit and so I knew that there were some areas where I could improve and then when I just went on the next one; the tyres just didn’t feel the same and the grip wasn’t the same for me so it was just overall a really poor second lap, but I kept going but it was nowhere near as good as the first one. -
Nobuharu Matsushita wins Feature race starting from P17
Barcelona, 15 August 2020: Nobuharu Matsushita won his first race of the season in incredible fashion, rising all the way from 17th to first, thanks in part to some clever strategic work from MP Motorsport. A well-timed pitstop handed him the opportunity, but his racecraft ensured the job was done as he finished ahead of Robert Shwartzman and Guanyu Zhou.
For most of the afternoon, pole-sitter Callum Ilott had looked certain to seal a third victory of the year, but the UNI-Virtuosi driver ended up in fifth after a chaotic climax.
A late safety car period forced a number of the grid to pit for a second time, including Ilott. This shuffled the pack and allowed the podium finishers the opportunity to get ahead of him, which they gleefully took.
Championship contender Christian Lundgaard’s weekend didn’t get any better after a disappointing Qualifying yesterday, as he finished in 11th place and out of the points.
AS IT HAPPENED
Shwartzman secured his first front row start in an F2 Feature Race on Friday and made his getaway count, sending it furiously off the line to fire ahead of pole-sitter Ilott. The UNI-Virtuosi driver was too busy fending off Mick Schumacher around the first corner.
The PREMA man – the highest placed driver starting on the hard Pirellis – had thundered down the left from fifth place and was attempting to nab second from the Championship leader. The duo nearly kissed tyres the exit, as Ilott just about clung on.
Shwartzman was given an early breather at the front as fellow F3 graduate Marcus Armstrong skidded into the gravel trap and came to an abrupt halt to bring out the safety car.
The field got back underway cleanly as Ilott fought out of DRS range from Schumacher and got back to battling Shwartzman. It took him a couple of laps, but Ilott was closing in on his title rival and eventually launched past the Russian down the main straight and into the first corner to reclaim the lead.
Yuki Tsunoda nipped ahead of Jack Aitken and into seventh before leading the Campos driver into the pits to ditch the soft tyres on Lap 7. Having lost the lead, Shwartzman followed a lap later, while Ilott remained out until Lap 9, clearly comfortable with his management of the Pirellis.
Schumacher had been handed first when those on the primary strategy pitted, but his attempts to build a gap at the front before his stop were hampered as he slipped a little due to a lack of grip, and ran wide. He kept it together, thanks to some razor-sharp reactions.
Degradation was always likely to play a defining role in Barcelona, and with track temperature hitting 47 degrees, that was certainly proving to be the case. PREMA’s decision to run Schumacher on the alternate strategy was causing the German some problems. His Pirellis were heavily degraded, with Ilott just 4s behind, and he was forced to dive into the pits on Lap 23, with more than 10 to go.
Schumacher returned way back in 13th, with Ilott returning to P1. The German was then handed the opportunity to rest his soft tyres as Sean Gelael and Giuliano Alesi touched tyres, spinning the HWA RACELAB machine and bringing him to a halt to spark another safety car period.
UNI-Virtuosi rolled the dice and pitted Ilott for a second time for a fresh set of soft tyres. Felipe Drugovich, Shwartzman and Zhou all joined him in pitting again. Ilott returned in P2, behind Tsunoda, who opted not to change.
Tsunoda clung on when racing resumed, but Ilott did not. Coming almost out of nowhere, Matsushita benefitted from the SC period, pitting just before the collision and returning in third. Having done everything right until this point, Ilott surrendered second to Matsushita at Turn 4, and then lost a further place to Shwartzman.
Tsunoda could only hold on for so long though, as both Matsushita and Shwartzman forced their way through just before a third safety car period, after Roy Nissany lost control and dumped his car into the wall at Turn 3.
Racing resumed with just one lap to run, and Matsushita calmly held on to first place ahead of Shwartzman. Zhou managed to dash ahead of Tsunoda for the final podium place, with Ilott dropping down to fifth. Schumacher managed sixth, followed by Drugovich, Luca Ghiotto, Dan Ticktum and Louis Delétraz.
Ilott retains his grip on the Drivers’ Championship with 120 points, but Shwartzman has leapt to second and closed the gap to 17 points. Lundgaard falls to third with 87 points, ahead of Zhou and Tsunoda.
In the Teams’ Championship, UNI-Virtuosi lead with 196 points ahead of PREMA Racing on 172. ART Grand Prix are third, ahead of Hitech Grand Prix and Carlin.
KEY QUOTE – NOBUHARU MATSUSHITA (MP MOTORSPORT)
“I am really happy. I have been struggling for pace this season at times, but we had mega pace today. The Safety Car was perfect timing, but I will get confidence from this race. Starting from P8 tomorrow, I think I can have another good race and will keep pushing.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
Ghiotto will be attempting to win for the second time in 2020 on Sunday, when he starts from reverse grid pole in the Sprint Race, at 11.10am local time.
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Stoffel Vandoorne wins final round of Formula E season
Berlin, 13 August 2020: Stoffel Vandoorne led a Mercedes-Benz EQ one-two as the 2019/20 ABB FIA Formula E Championship reached its conclusion at the final Berlin E-Prix today (13 August), with the Belgian’s breakthrough victory vaulting him up to second in the standings.
With a mixed-up grid – and five of the nine contenders for the championship runner-up spoils starting right at the rear – the scene was set for a fascinating finale on the extended Tempelhof Airport circuit.
From his second career Formula E pole position, Vandoorne was in imperious form from the moment the lights went out, and he only briefly relinquished his lead when he employed ‘ATTACK MODE’. That aside, the 28-year-old was untroubled, and his superb maiden triumph made it five different winners from six races in Berlin.
Behind, former champion Sébastien Buemi and series rookie Nyck de Vries waged a fierce duel for second place. Buemi – another driver with designs on the championship runner-up spot – held the advantage for the majority of the race for Nissan e.DAMS, despite the pair trading positions on a number of occasions, but de Vries had an ace up his sleeve.
In an ultra-efficient performance, the Dutchman saved more energy than his Swiss rival while keeping the pressure on, and after maturely biding his time, he finally made his move in the closing stages with a bold pass to steal second place. The result marked the 25-year-old’s first podium finish in Formula E and enabled Mercedes-Benz EQ to climb from fifth to third in the final Teams’ table.
Buemi proceeded to hold off a resurgent René Rast for third to leap from eighth to fourth in the Drivers’ Championship, just a point ahead of stablemate Oliver Rowland, whose Wednesday success must have felt like a distant memory as the Briton started at the tail of the field and could make little progress before retiring with ten minutes remaining.
After losing a position to de Vries on the first lap, Rast claimed a solid fourth-place finish for Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler ahead of Sam Bird, who charged up the order from 14th on the grid in his last appearance for Envision Virgin Racing at the end of a six-year stint. Having economised on his energy early on, the Briton enjoyed an excellent end to the race to pick his rivals off and climb to fifth.
Lucas Di Grassi fought his way past Neel Jani (TAG Heuer Porsche) and Sérgio Sette Câmara (GEOX Dragon) in the opening stages, before engaging in a late battle with Robin Frijns. It took the Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler man two attempts to find a way past after his initial attack was rebuffed, but he finally got the job done by selling the Envision Virgin Racing driver a dummy into Turn Seven before diving to the inside to snatch sixth position.
Having for a long time run inside the top five, Frijns dropped out of contention towards the end due to a puncture, with the Dutchman’s misfortune elevating Jean-Éric Vergne to seventh. Both the Frenchman and his team-mate – recently-crowned champion António Félix da Costa – had started at the back of the pack, but Vergne produced a feisty effort that lifted him into the top ten by lap 25 and he would gain three more places by the time the flag fell.
Da Costa wound up two spots further back in ninth – the DS Techeetah duo sandwiching the Mahindra Racing car of Alex Lynn – with Edoardo Mortara completing the points finishers in tenth, as the ROKiT Venturi Racing ace slipped down the field slightly after a bright start.
Stoffel Vandoorne (Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team)
‘We had the perfect race, no threats from behind, Seb was always close but we had him under control. We couldn’t have dreamt of a better way to finish the season than with a 1-2 for Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team. Being second in the championship it’s definitely a bonus. Over the past week we had showed we had a good race pace but to execute that from the front whilst leading the race it’s quite different. I’m super happy we managed to pull that off. The whole team has done a fantastic job, I have been struggling in qualifying in the past couple of races but today everything was picture perfect!’
Nyck de Vries (Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team)
‘I feel so relieved, it feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. We’ve done a great job with energy management, and that allowed me to create an energy advantage which led me behind Stoffel. We’ve come close to the podium in many occasions this season and to finally achieve this goal on our last day here in Berlin it’s very satisfying.’
Sebastien Buemi (Nissan e.dams)
‘We weren’t quick enough today. I didn’t have the pace, we tried something new on the setup and maybe it wasn’t the right way to go but at the end we still managed to have a podium finish and a clean race. I think I took the ATTACK MODE at the wrong time, maybe if I had waited longer it would’ve been better. I’m happy for the team we’re second in the team standing and that’s definitely a great achievement!’
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Jake Hughes takes maiden F3 win of the season
Jake Hughes continued his resurgence in FIA Formula 3 to take his maiden win of the season, his first ever on a Saturday, in Barcelona. The HWA RACELAB driver battled past pole-sitter Logan Sargeant at the midway stage and dashed off into the distance.
Sargeant, the Championship leader, went on to lose a further position to title rival Liam Lawson who punched ahead of him for P2. The American did at least gain further ground on teammate Oscar Piastri in the race to the crown, with the Australian driver finishing back in sixth.
Clément Novalak kept up his fine recent form to score fourth ahead of David Beckmann, who kept his own title ambitions alive with another top five finish.
Meanwhile, Jenzer Motorsport scored their first point of the season as Matteo Nannini sealed tenth place and reverse grid pole for Race 2 tomorrow.
AS IT HAPPENED
Sargeant was calm and controlled off the line in the morning heat of Barcelona, as were Hughes and Lawson from second and third. Piastri didn’t enjoy as strong a start, as he was leapfrogged by Novalak in the only change to the front two rows. Sebastián Fernández struggled from fifth, as he dropped six places to 11th.
The race had an early safety car as Bent Viscaal was shrugged off the road and dumped in the gravel. Sargeant fired off in the lead when the race went green again, as Piastri dived back ahead of Novalak down the inside.
Hughes set the fastest lap in his bid to catch up with Sargeant, and was eventually able to power around the outside of the American with the aid of DRS into the lead. The Briton was then able to do what Sargeant wasn’t, skipping ahead to get out of DRS range.
This would turn out to be in vain, at least in the short term, as the gap was cut short by another safety car on Lap 9, after Frederik Vesti slowed to a stop on track. Hughes maintained the lead at the restart, but Piastri went wide and fell to sixth, behind Novalak and Beckmann.
The Briton dashed off into the distance once again, leaving Sargeant in the clutches of Lawson who started attacking the PREMA. The Hitech racer twice attempted a move around the outside of Turn 1, but Sargeant resisted. The New Zealander feinted down the inside of the same corner on the following lap, before making it stick outside for P2.
Hughes was unrelenting in first and calmly closed out the win ahead of Lawson, with Sargeant forced to settled for third place. Novalak held on to fourth, ahead of Beckman and Piastri. Théo Pourchaire sealed seventh, with Alex Peroni, Richard Verschoor and Nannini taking the final points positions.
Sargeant retains his grip on the Drivers’ Championship with 125 points, 12 ahead of Piastri. Lawson leaps to third on 95, ahead of Beckman and Pourchaire. In the Teams’ Championship, PREMA Racing remain first with 308.5 points, ahead of Trident on 142.5 and ART Grand Prix on 120. Hitech Grand Prix are fourth, ahead of MP Motorsport.
KEY QUOTE – JAKE HUGHES (HWA RACELAB)
“I am really, really happy. A massive congrats to the team. We seem to have taken a step since the second Silverstone round and the car was feeling really good. I had good pace at the beginning and was able to get past Logan and then it was about managing after that.
“The safety car made it a bit difficult with tyre temp, but it seemed quite straightforward for us, so hopefully we can have more fun in Race 2 tomorrow.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
Nannini will have the chance to take his first F3 victory from reverse grid pole in Race 2 tomorrow, at 9.45am local time.
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Callum Ilott takes pole again: F2
Championship leader Callum Ilott sealed his second successive pole position in FIA Formula 2, ahead of title rival Robert Shwartzman. The UNI-Virtuosi racer finished just one tenth faster than the PREMA man, and clinched what could prove to be four crucial points in the race to the crown. Ilott’s teammate Guanyu Zhou finished just 0.2s off pole himself in third.
Temperature was always going to be a factor in Qualifying, with the track hitting 47 degrees as Nikita Mazepin led the cars out onto the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The Russian was the first man to set a flying lap, and the first to put a quick time on the board, running just above the 1m 30s mark.
Shwartzman set the benchmark time thanks to a strong first sector, punching round in 1:28.862. His title rival Ilott couldn’t quite match him for pace, diving into P2 ahead of the second PREMA of Mick Schumacher – the three of them separated by less than a tenth of a second.
Ilott’s teammate Zhou had opted to remain in the pits at the start of the session, and headed out onto the track as the rest of the grid returned to the pits for a tyre change. The UNI-Virtuosi racer’s decision proved to be a good one as he posted a tour quick enough for P2, just a hundredth of a second off provisional pole.
Ilott was the first back out onto the circuit, on fresh soft Pirellis, and found an extra half a second. He smashed the second and third sectors to take provisional pole with nine minutes to go. The Ferrari junior returned back to the pits with 1:28.381 on the board, and clambered out of his car to watch on as the rest of the field attempted to better his time.
Shwartzman and Felipe Drugovich both found more pace around the track but couldn’t match the Briton’s time, diving into second and third, 0.1s and 0.3s short of pole.
The tyres didn’t have enough life in them for another push lap and the field all headed back into the pits, bar Zhou, who had returned late after running in the gap earlier. With the track completely to himself he found more pace, but like those before him couldn’t match Ilott, running 0.2s slower and sealing third.Drugovich finished in fourth, ahead of Schumacher, Yuki Tsunoda and Jack Aitken. Free Practice pacesetter Dan Ticktum took eighth, ahead of Mazepin and Louis Delétraz.
Ilott has the opportunity to further stretch his lead at the top of the standings in the Feature Race tomorrow, at 4.45pm local time.
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Riders get ready to face the Red Bull Ring: MotoGP
The pre-event Press Conference gets us in gear for the first of two race weekends in Spielberg
Spielberg, 13 August 2020: It’s that time of the week again: Press Conference time. As the paddock sets up in Styria for the myWorld Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich at the Red Bull Ring, a few familiar faces gathered to debrief recent track action and look ahead to the weekend.
Championship leader Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) was joined by premier class podium finisher Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT), rookie Brno winner Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Czech GP poleman Johann Zarco (Esponsorama Racing), nine-time World Champion Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and Portugal’s Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3), with Quartararo kicking things off.
FABIO QUARTARARO: “(In Brno) I was surprised because on Friday we had a difficult moment with the bike but in FP4 I had a really great feeling with the medium tyre. With 10 laps, I had a great feeling even more. As soon as we started the race, I had a small moment at Turn 3 and then I was pushing in a different way to make a lap time. At the end everything was so difficult to manage. I forced everything on the front and the rear tyre was destroyed from the start; I couldn’t do anything. The most important thing was to finish the race, because it was already difficult to ride in these conditions. We can say that P7 in this kind of race, one of the toughest I’ve ever had, was a great result.
“I arrived here on Monday and when we looked at the forecast, it says it’s raining everyday. But really it’s for about an hour, today it was predicted much earlier. Looks like it’ll rain on Friday and Saturday, sun on Sunday, we will do our best in every condition. But it’s true that it’s not easy to have a GP in these conditions.
FRANCO MORBIDELLI: “I enjoyed it a lot in Brno. I enjoyed it a lot all weekend. I was able to be as fast as I’d always like to be. And I was able to get my first podium. It’s a nice feeling – a good injection – to jump into this weekend, which on paper looks more difficult because historically this track isn’t Yamaha’s best one. But, looking at Yamaha’s pace right now they are fast in every condition and every situation so far, so why not keep believing in achieving top results, including at this track.
“I like this track. I finished 2nd in 2016 and 1st in 2017 and it’s a track that is a little bit special, so finally I like it. This is positive, and as I said, I have a great injection of self-trust and I’m really looking forward to jumping into this weekend.”
BRAD BINDER: “When I last spoke to you I think it was safe to say I was in shock like everyone else. Its been a super cool week, I got to do things I’ve never done before. It’s a day I’ve always dreamt about and to finally get a victory was fantastic. It was really amazing for my whole team, Red Bull KTM and everyone that supports me. All in all it was a great weekend and a day I’ll never be forgetting.
“I did a couple of laps around Jerez at the end of last year but at that stage I was still not sure how things go on a MotoGP bike. It will be super cool to try out the rain conditions again, I’m looking forward to it strangely enough. It’s a really important weekend for Red Bull and KTM, their home Grand Prix, it’ll be fantastic to have a good weekend for them but it’s important to keep my feet on the ground, reset, I want to carry on exactly how I’ve done in the previous weekends and just try and have a clean weekend overall.
“After my first season in 2012 I was at the Valencia GP and I thought I was on my way home. I never had a contract for next year and I was really fortunate that Ambrogio Racing picked me up and gave me a ride for the following season. If it wasn’t for that I’d probably be at home sitting behind a desk, so hats off to them, thank you so much and I look forward to this weekend to see how we get on.”
JOHANN ZARCO: “It’s given me a lot of motivation after the podium in Czech Republic. This podium gives me confidence, plus I know the Ducati is strong on this track which gives me some hope, high hopes, but as Brad says, keep your feet on the ground, because I’m still learning the bike and trying to control it so I can be faster, focusing on doing the right things step by step, because it seems here on the Ducati that if you ride it correctly the bike goes fast! Let’s see what is possible.
“I’ve got no idea why the other (Ducatis) have been struggling over the weekend. I don’t want to know too much. Things are working for me, even the pole position, the way I did the lap, everything went well and then I got the surprise of the lap time and pole position. So, from the Saturday afternoon then all went well and also the race was good for me because I started at the front and when you do the first 10 laps with the top group the second half gets better, not easier, but with the used tyre you can control it better and I think all of this from Saturday afternoon went well and this made the difference in comparison with the others.”
VALENTINO ROSSI: “In the end the race (in Brno) was positive for me. Unfortunately, I did some mistakes in qualifying and I had to start from the fourth row, and then it’s difficult to recover. I had good pace and I felt good with the bike, also in the second half of the race I could push. We recovered position by position, tried to ride clever and make clear overtakes. We stayed a lot with Rins, we did the race together from the bottom to arrive to Johann in the last laps but it wasn’t enough for the podium. On one side it’s a positive feeling because I enjoyed the race, I can ride in a good way and also in difficult conditions, and it was not so bad. From the other side we need to improve something, especially on Saturday, to try and start in a better position.
“On paper this race is not good for the M1 because the top speed is not very strong for us, but like in 2019, the bike was good to ride and we did a good race with the M1. We were a bit too far from Ducati and Honda but we fought for the podium. We have to try to be strong and try to fight for the podium and after, the forecast will be very important. It looks like it can change from the morning to the afternoon, it’s not clear what’s going to happen. So we need to be strong and ready in all conditions.”
MIGUEL OLIVEIRA: “The weekend in Brno was going quite well on Friday. It was already a positive day for us being inside the top 3 but then I made a mistake in FP3 and crashed on my fast lap and that lap could have been very good, maybe 7th or 8th. Going through Q1 I almost got it by a little bit, but then I had to start on the fifth row. It’s already quite tricky when you have to overtake some riders, to make clever overtakes and not go backwards. It’s not easy. Looking at the race on paper we had the pace to challenge for the podium which is positive so, at the end of the day, I don’t need to take it as a frustrating point, I can be happy about the position and my riding.
“You know every rider wants to give the factory a win, especially the first win. I don’t compare myself with Brad or Pol because I think Pol in this case would have been the rider that would have loved to give KTM their first race win because he’s been there since day one. So, for me, I don’t need to take it as a frustrating point. I’m happy for Brad that he won because he rode well. I don’t feel less of a rider for not having won the first race to be honest, we need to focus on the next opportunities.”
It was also important, of course, to get a reaction to the news that MotoGP™ will race at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve for the season finale…
“It’s exciting news, of course! For me, as a Portuguese rider I would like to have a home race and it’s happening at the end of the season. I couldn’t be happier that we’re going to race at Portimao. It’s a super technical track, very demanding, so I think it will be fun to race in MotoGP there.”
First, though, it’s time to attack the Red Bull Ring. MotoGP head out for FP1 at14:10 IST (GMT +2) on Friday and the race starts on Sunday at 17:30 IST. TUNE IN
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Oliver Rowland takes maiden Formula E win
Oliver Rowland produced a peerless performance to convert pole position into victory in the penultimate Berlin E-Prix (12 August), leading home Robin Frijns and René Rast in what turned out to be a race to forget for some of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship’s biggest names.
Berlin, 13 August 2020: From his third career pole position, Rowland led the 24-strong field away when the lights went out, and by lap ten, he had established a two-second margin over nearest pursuer Frijns.
Not putting so much as a wheel out-of-place, the Nissan e.DAMS star maintained that margin throughout, never once surrendering his lead – although Frijns got close when Rowland employed ‘ATTACK MODE’ for the first time. Taking the chequered flag just over 1.9 seconds ahead, his maiden win vaulted the Briton from ninth up to second in the title table with one race remaining.
Frijns extended his run of good results at Tempelhof Airport, adding another runner-up finish to the second and fourth places he achieved for Envision Virgin Racing last week, with the result helping to make up for a failure to start Sunday’s race due to a powertrain issue.
Behind the top two, all eyes were on the tussle for third. Following an excellent qualifying effort, Neel Jani held the position for much of the race but subsequently conceded ground to TAG Heuer Porsche team-mate André Lotterer and Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler’s Rast, who proceeded to engage in an enthralling battle for the final spot on the podium.
Lotterer – one of the race’s main movers early on as he scythed his way past Rast and Alex Lynn – looked to have the situation under control in his defence against his countryman, but with less energy remaining, he found himself under increasing attack in the closing stages. In an incredible duel, the pair went side-by-side through several corners on the last lap, as Rast boldly prised the door open and eventually made a pass stick.
Lynn took fifth for Mahindra Racing, the Briton sagely conserving his energy in order to pull off a late overtake on Jani, who nonetheless scored his first Formula E points in sixth after what was by far his most competitive performance to-date.
From 14th on the grid, Mitch Evans (Panasonic Jaguar Racing) climbed through the field well. Despite losing ground when he was baulked on lap two, thereafter he picked his rivals off and made full use of ‘FANBOOST’ to cross the finish line in seventh and remain in the mix for the championship runner-up laurels.
Edoardo Mortara claimed his second points finish of the week in Berlin with eighth place for ROKiT Venturi Racing, ahead of Mercedes-Benz EQ’s Stoffel Vandoorne, who raced up the order from 18th at the start.
The points-paying positions were completed by Rowland’s Nissan e.DAMS stablemate Sébastien Buemi, who enjoyed an entertaining duel with recently-crowned champion António Félix da Costa (DS Techeetah). The pair had started at the rear of the field following a disastrous qualifying session for all four Formula E title-winners, but fought their way through to the fringes of the top ten. Da Costa was on-course to finish 11th until he dropped out of contention on the last lap.
Fellow champions Lucas Di Grassi (Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler) and Jean-Éric Vergne (DS Techeetah) were similarly in the wars; the Brazilian picked up a puncture and a five-second penalty for a collision with da Costa, while the Frenchman was handed a drive-through penalty for battery over-cooling.
BMW i Andretti Motorsport’s Maximilian Günther – third in the standings heading into the race – had to pit for repairs after contact early on left him with a punctured tyre, but he remains one of nine drivers still in the hunt for the championship runner-up spoils, a battle that will be decided tomorrow (Thursday, 13 August) in the season finale.
NISSAN E.DAMS – OLIVER ROWLAND
“I didn’t expect that today. The team has done a fantastic job, qualifying went well and in the race the car was amazing. I can’t believe it, it is an amazing feeling so let’s work for more of these moments.”
ENVISION VIRGIN RACING – ROBIN FRIJNS
“I was struggling to hang on to Oliver at the beginning since he was very fast – he just pulled the gap since he was one lap longer in ATTACK MODE. I was trying to get back, but Oliver did a great job and he was much quicker than me. I’m quite happy with second place but we are here to win so we need to keep working towards that goal.”
AUDI SPORT ABT SCHAEFFLER – RENE RAST
“The team told me I had more energy left than Andre on the last lap and I saw he was struggling in sector two. He was lifting quite early so I tried to overtake him and we had some contact and then went side-by-side in T12 and T13 and there was a bit of rubbing. If I have learned something over the past few races, it is that rubbing equals racing in Formula E, so I tried it today and had a much better result!”
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Faster Mercedes cars suffering high tyre degradation
Max Verstappen won the F1 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday, overcoming the challenge of the mighty Mercedes. Pole man Valtteri Bottas slipped to third and a late electric charge saw Lewis Hamilton finish second. Verstappen became the first non-Mercedes race winner this year.
New Delhi, 10 August 2020: As expected, Mercedes locked out the front row of the grid in qualifying, this time Bottas in pole and Hamilton starting in P2. Nico Hulkenberg put in a solid lap, out-qualifying his teammate Lance Stroll and Verstappen. He started P3 and Verstappen P4. Stroll was in P6 and Verstappen’s teammate Alex Albon lined up in P9, behind the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. Daniel Ricciardo put in a mega lap to start P5, Pierre Gasly was in P7 and Lando Norris completed the top 10. Sebastian Vettel lined up P11, after a 3-place grid penalty applied to Esteban Ocon for impeding George Russell in Qualifying meant that he started P14, alongside Russell in P15. Second McLaren of Carlos Sainz started in P12 and Romain Grosjean gave Haas the highest grid position of the season in P13. Daniil Kvyat’s mistake in qualifying meant he could only achieve P16, behind him were the second cars of Haas and Williams. Alfa Romeo locked out the last row of the grid. Contrasting to the first-ever Formula 1 race held at the same venue in 1950, where Alfa Romeo’s started P1, P2, P3 & P4 on the grid. Get in touch with Jeep Dealership, if you need to buy such cars.
Important to note that Verstappen was the only person to start on hard tyres in the top 10. This was the first race since Pirelli became the exclusive supplier to Formula 1, that no car started the race on the softest tyre available.
This weekend’s tyres were one step softer compared to last weekend and with hotter track temperatures. This meant that there would be high levels of tyre degradation. Optimum predicted strategy was a two stops, with one set of medium tyres and two sets of hard tyres.
The race start was uneventful apart from Vettel spinning at turn 1 and falling to the back of the grid. Hulkenberg had a poor getaway and Verstappen stole P3 running behind the two Mercedes cars. It looked like the two Mercedes cars on medium tyres would pull away from Verstappen, who was on hard tyres. Albon was the first driver to pit on lap 6, to get out of traffic and dirty air of other cars. Gasly followed suit a lap later.
Around lap 8, both Mercedes cars started to show blistering on their tyres and were radioed to warn them about tyre temperatures. By lap 11, Verstappen was all over Hamilton, lapping faster than the Silver Arrows. Bottas pit for fresh hard tyres on lap 13, Hamilton did the same one lap later, releasing Verstappen in the lead to manage his own pace.
As the Racing Points and Leclerc pitted, Bottas and Hamilton emerged in 2nd and 3rd respectively. They were unable to make inroads into Verstappen, as the gap between them kept increasing, even though the Mercedes drivers were on fresher tyres. As soon as they tried to push, the tyres were overheating and blistering making them back off. Verstappen lapped faster on older tyres. He pitted on lap 26 emerging just behind Bottas, but by turn 7 overtook him and bolted off. Red Bull and Verstappen had pulled off a great overcut on the Mercedes cars.
A Pirelli graphic Lap 29 onwards the midfield cars started pitting for the second time. McLaren’s Norris was the first one to do so, trying to undercut the cars in front of him. Stroll, Hulkenberg and Albon covered Norris by pitting on lap 30 and 31. Ricciardo had an uncharacteristic spin which dropped him out of contention for points as he had to pit again.
At the front, after only six laps on the mediums, Verstappen pitted with Bottas on the same lap, both going for hard tyres. Meanwhile, Hamilton was left out in the lead to take an advantage if the safety car emerged. Hamilton on his blistering and worn tyres, maintained a gap to Verstappen of around 10 seconds. At one point, it looked like he would try and go to the end of the race. Ultimately, he pitted on lap 41, as Mercedes did not want to risk tyre failures similar to last week.
Bottas could not keep up with Verstappen as he was overheating his tyres when pushing them. Meanwhile, Hamilton’s pit stop meant that he emerged in P4. Ahead of him was Leclerc who had pit only once, and his teammate Bottas. Using the fresh tyres, he overtook Leclerc and then Bottas with two laps to go. In the process setting fastest lap of the race. Hulkenberg pitted for a third time due to vibrations on his set of tyres. He bolted on softs, the only driver to use them for the race. His teammate Stroll, was overtaken by Albon on the penultimate lap.
Verstappen cruised to victory, Hamilton finished second and Bottas in third. Leclerc miraculously pulled of a one stop strategy – one of only three drivers to do so. He finished P4. Albon had a good recovery drive after disappointing qualifying as he finished P5. Racing Point got a double points finish in P6 and P7. Ocon was in P8 and Norris in P9. Their teammates finished out of the points. Alpha Tauri’s Kvyat completed the top 10. Vettel finished a disappointing P12. Williams, Haas and Alfa Romeo were unable to score points. There was no safety car appearance in the race and only one retirement of Kevin Magnussen.
Mercedes struggled with tyres in the hot conditions. They had unexpected blistering on medium and hard tyres. Also, the minimum tyre pressure increase by Pirelli meant that it was difficult to manage overheating. Mercedes is still class of the field as they qualified almost a second faster to the nearest team. Mercedes were at the worst end of the spectrum regarding tyre blistering. It could be due to their car being much faster than last year, therefore, increasing the load on the tyres, which are 2019 specification. Red Bull have worked on the balance of their car, as both drivers showed good race pace and tyre management. Red Bull did not suffer any blistering issues on the tyres. Verstappen qualifying on hard tyres was an advantage as he was able to go longer in the race and overcut the Mercedes cars. Ferrari still lack qualifying and race pace as they only managed to qualify in P8. Leclerc made the one-stop strategy work to get P4 but his teammate was way behind outside the points.
Racing Point looked the strongest behind Mercedes and Red Bull. Ferrari’s one stop strategy, Albon’s recovery and an extra pit stop for Hulkenberg meant they were unable to finish higher than P6 & P7. Ocon, similar to Leclerc pulled off a one stop strategy to finish in points. Renault and McLaren showed similar race pace, though in qualifying McLaren seemed to lose out to their Anglo-French rivals. Behind them is Alpha Tauri as they were the second team apart from Mercedes to struggle with heavy blistering. Williams once again in the hands of Russell showed good qualifying pace. Both drivers were happy with the balance of the car but still lacked the pace to compete with their rivals in the race. Haas too showed promise in qualifying but withered away in the race. Alfa Romeo looked to have improved their race pace but to capitalise on that they need to qualify higher, which is their current Achilles Heel.
*Malhaar Khaladkar is an intern with INDIAinF1 and will be writing on F1 and technical aspects of the sport. The passionate student is also a keen student of the sport. This is his third article and you can read the first and the second articles here. We invite your comments below.
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Antonio Felix da Costa wins Formula E championship
Berlin, 9 August 2020: António Félix da Costa has been crowned the 2019/20 ABB FIA Formula E Champion after finishing second behind DS Techeetah team-mate Jean-Éric Vergne in round nine at Berlin’s Tempelhof Airport today (9 August). The Portuguese driver claimed his maiden all-electric title with two races to spare, while Vergne converted pole position into his first victory of the campaign. The one-two also wrapped up the Teams’ Championship for DS Techeetah, while Sébastian Buemi completed the podium, taking third for Nissan e.dams.
Racing on the regular configuration of the Tempelhof circuit, reigning champion Vergne started the race from pole position after pipping da Costa by just over one tenth-of-a-second in the Super Pole shoot-out. And the two DS Techeetahs enjoyed excellent starts when the lights went green, holding station through Turn One ahead of Oliver Rowland and Buemi.
However, the race was immediately neutralised when the safety car was deployed after Maximilian Günther and Oliver Turvey came together at Turn Four. Vergne controlled the re-start perfectly and once again led away from Da Costa, although a light sprinkling of rain began to create difficult conditions.
Nissan ace Rowland was the earliest of the leaders to take ‘ATTACK MODE’ and was rewarded by jumping up to second ahead of Da Costa when the champion-elect similarly activated his additional power boost. But the DS Techeetah duo were not separated for long with da Costa getting back past Rowland into Turn One, using his ‘ATTACK MODE’ after the Brit’s had expired.
And it was then all change at the front, as Vergne ceded the lead to Da Costa in order to conserve energy. The pair swapped back again in the closing stages and ran line-astern to the finish, although Da Costa was forced to defend against a late charge from a fired-up Buemi. The Swiss driver had been bottled up behind team-mate Rowland for much of the race and was also caught out by the Mercedes-Benz EQ of Nyck de Vries after taking his second ‘ATTACK MODE’.
However, Buemi swiftly re-passed the Dutchman before swapping places with Rowland and attempting to hunt down the DS Techeetah pair. De Vries vaulted himself back up to fourth spot by overtaking Rowland on the final lap, while the Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler car of Lucas Di Grassi came home sixth. The Brazilian had started down in 12th but made a number of eye-catching passes, taking full advantage of ‘FAN BOOST’ along the way.
Despite losing out to Di Grassi, Mitch Evans enjoyed a strong race as the New Zealander piloted his Panasonic Jaguar through from 11th on the grid to seventh at the chequered flag. André Lotterer completed a trio of regular Formula E front-runners fighting their way up from lowly grid positions, bagging eighth for TAG Heuer Porsche after starting only 18th.
Alex Lynn finished ninth for Mahindra Racing, fading in the closing stages after mixing it in the top six during the early running. Felipe Massa rounded out the top ten for ROKiT Venturi Racing, although the Brazilian was left ruing what might have been after producing an excellent lap to reach the Super Pole session.
The teams and drivers will be back in action next week for the final two rounds of the 2019/20 season. Taking place on Wednesday (12 August) and Thursday (13 August), the finale of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship will be held on a reconfiguration of the Tempelhof track. From Turn Four, the new circuit features a more technical middle sector with a series of tight-and-twisty turns leading to the usual hairpin and long left-hander that runs to the flag.
Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Techeetah)
“As a team we couldn’t dream of a better day. We won the teams’ championship, Antonio won the drivers’ title and I jumped to second in the standings. With two more races to go, I’ll keep my head down and race for the runner-up spot. It’s a fantastic day and I’m extremely proud to be a part of this team. I know the feeling that hits you on the last lap just before crossing the chequered flag and you’re about to win your first championship. It’s probably the best moment in the life of a racing driver and Antonio should enjoy every second of it.”
Antonio Felix Da Costa (DS Techeetah)
“I’m speechless. Sometimes I’ve been so close to giving up during the tough times, and thanks to the people around me I never did. I’m very grateful to these guys who believed in me and my capabilities, even when I was finishing nowhere near the podium. Massive thanks to JEV, I know this is hard for him, but he pushed me all the way and helped me out a lot and it’s mainly thanks to him I settled so quickly in the team. Today we had a plan and we executed it perfectly. JEV and myself helped each other out, but it was very intense at the end since both Seb and Oli were always there. Everyone was very fair today and raced as the champions they are!”
Sebastien Buemi (Nissan e.dams)
“I tried to save as much energy as I could, and I felt the call to overtake Oli was a bit late to be honest. By the time I managed to do so, it was the end of the race. I’m a bit disappointed because I feel like I could’ve had the opportunity to finish second, if I had used the energy properly. I’m sad for Oli as he deserved better today. We scored some good points for the team and congratulations to Antonio, he has done an amazing job and I’m happy for him. But there’s still work to do. It’s my second podium here in Berlin and I’m looking forward to the final double-header.”
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Jonathan Rea wins Race 2 to take Championship lead: WorldSBK
Portimao, 9 August 2020: The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship standings have a new leader in 2020 following Race 2 at the Motul Portuguese Round as Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) moved to the top of the standings following his third race win in 2020 at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve.
Rea initially faced a challenge from Toprak Razgatlioglu (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team) and Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) with the Turkish sensation on the inside at Turn 1, but Rea swept around the outside of both Razgatlioglu and Baz to keep the lead and pulled out a gap to claim a dominant victory; moving to the top of the Championship by four points.
Scott Redding (Aruba.IT Racing – Ducati) claimed a stunning second place after making up three places from his starting position, the British rider ensuring Rea could not pull too far away in the Championship standings, having an almost race-long battle with Michael van der Mark (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team); the Dutch rider finishing the 20-lap race in third place.
Redding’s Ducati teammate, Chaz Davies claimed a fourth place finish as he fought his way through the field, finishing two seconds clear of Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) as the Spanish rider secured his best finish of the 2020 season; battling his way through the field to secure a top five finish. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team GOELEVEN) claimed a sixth place finish after showing another solid performance as he continued his impressive recent form.
Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) secured a seventh placed finish for BMW, two seconds back from Rinaldi but almost 12 seconds clear of the recovering Razgatlioglu in eighth; the Turkish sensation battling back from a crash at Turn 5 to claim a points finish. He battled with Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team) in the latter stages of the race, taking advantage of the Italian running wide at Turn 5 with just a couple of laps to go.
Leandro “Tati” Mercado (Motocorsa Racing) secured his best result of 2020 with 10th place, holding off a challenge from American star Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team) who finished 11th. Gerloff had an incident with five laps to go with Xavi Fores (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) with the pair coming together at Turn 2; Fores having to retire from the race while Gerloff could continue. Eugene Laverty (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) bounced back from a Turn 5 crash to claim points with 12th place, while Leon Haslam (Team HRC) finished 13th; also after a fall at Turn 5.
Marco Melandri (Barni Racing Team) finished in 14th place with Sylvain Barrier (Brixx Performance) in 15th; Frenchman Barrier securing his best result of 2020 as he picked up the final point available in Race 2.
Baz was forced to retire after a high-speed crash at Turn 15 in the early stages of the race while Maximilian Scheib (ORELAC Kawasaki VerdNatura) retired from the race following an incident on Lap 2. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) joined the list of fallers at the Turn 5 hairpin as he came off his bike on Lap 7, remounting the bike but bringing it back to the pitlane to end his race early.
Rea taking the Championship lead means there have now been four different Championship leaders after Razgatlioglu, Lowes and Redding.
