INDIA in F1

Tag: F1

  • Lewis Hamilton takes pole in unpredictable wet qualifying: Hungarian GP

    Lewis Hamilton put in a superb lap in difficult wet conditions at the Hungaroring to claim his 77th career pole position and his fifth of the season ahead of Mercedes’ team-mate and the Ferraris of Kimi Räikkonen and Sebastian Vettel.

    A hugely unpredictable qualifying session began on a wet track due to earlier rain, and though there was no rain falling at the start of the session all driver started the session on intermediate tyres. That meant that the expected order was maintained as Kimi Räikkönen led the way ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton.

    However, as the rain held off, drivers began to move to slicks and when Carlos Sainz eclipsed the intermediate tyre times by more than two seconds the leading drivers also took on ultrasoft Pirelli tyres.

    One of those who opted for a different strategy was Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian took to the circuit on soft tyres and as the clock counted down he see-sawed up and down the order, slipping into the drop zone in the final minutes of the session. He kept grinding out laps, however, and eventually climbed to P12 at the end of the session to make it through to Q2.

    There was no such luck for McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne, though, as improvements elsewhere pushed him to P16 and out of the session ahead of Sauber’s Charles Leclerc, the Force Indias of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez and Williams’ Sergey Sirtokin. At the top of the order Sebastian Vettel took P1 ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, with Bottas third ahead of Hamilton and Räikkönen.

    Ricciardo was soon in trouble in Q2 as well. The Australian, along with McLaren’s Fernando Alonso, took to the track later than their rivals in Q2 and by the time they were into their runs on intermediates the rain was intensifying quickly.

    Ricciardo’s opening time left him mired in the drop zone and as the rain became heavier and the intermediate tyres ceased to cope with the conditions, there was no way out of trouble.

    Ricciardo and Alonso both continued to circle on full wet tyres but neither improved significantly and the Spaniard was eliminated in P11, while Ricciardo exited the session in P12. Behind them Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg also exited, in P13, with his team attributing his late entry to the session to a problem with the fuel bowser. Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson went out in P14, and the last man eliminated in Q2 was Williams’ Lance Stroll.

    At the top of the order in the unpredictable conditions Vettel was quickest ahead of Renault’s Carlos Sainz and Verstappen, with Hamilton fourth. Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly was fifth ahead of Bottas, with the second Toro Rosso of Brendon Hartley seventh ahead of Räikkönen and the Haas cars of Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean.

    The rain began to back off in Q3 and for the top 10 qualifiers it was a case of playing a waiting game as the track improved. And it was Lewis Hamilton who got his timing just right.

    Kimi Räikkönen had established himself in provisional pole with a good lap of 1:36.186 early on. In the final runs it looked like he might hold onto it as team-mate Sebastian Vettel found an improvement, but not enough to rise above the Finn. Mercedes, though, had other ideas and Valtteri Bottas moved ahead with a time of 1:35.918. Hamilton though was just behind and the got the best out of the Mercedes in the conditions to post a time of 1:35.658 to take his 77thpole position.

    Behind fourth-placed Vettel, Sainz qualified fifth, with Gasly in an excellent sixth for Toro Rosso. Verstappen could find no improvement in the final runs and so he qualified in seventh place ahead of the second Toro Rosso of Hartley. Haas drivers Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean qualified in ninth and 10th places respectively.

    2018 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix – Qualifying
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:35.658
    2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:35.918 0.260
    3 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:36.186 0.528
    4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:36.210 0.552
    5 Carlos Sainz Jr. Renault 1:36.743 1.085
    6 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 1:37.591 1.933
    7 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:38.032 2.374
    8 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 1:38.128 2.470
    9 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:39.858 4.200
    10 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:40.593 4.935
    11 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:35.214 –
    12 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:36.442 0.784
    13 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:36.506 0.848
    14 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:37.075 1.417
    15 Lance Stroll Williams –
    16 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 1:18.782 –
    17 Charles Leclerc Sauber 1:18.817 –
    18 Esteban Ocon Force India 1:19.142 –
    19 Sergio Perez Force India 1:19.200 –
    20 Sergey Sirotkin Williams 1:19.301.

    ends/db

  • Hamilton powers to 66th career win, after starting from P14; Vettel crashes out from lead

    Hamilton powers to 66th career win, after starting from P14; Vettel crashes out from lead

    Hamilton wins German GP on Sunday. An FIA image

    Hockenheim, 22 July 2018: Lewis Hamilton powered from 14th on the grid to a 66th career victory, and back into the lead of the FIA Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship standings, as Sebastian Vettel crashed out of a dramatic, rain-hit German Grand Prix.

    Hamilton had climbed from 14th on the grid to fifth place by the midpoint of the race but with Vettel holding a solid lead after starting from pole position it looked the Briton’s best hope would be to minimise damage in the title race.

    However, rain then began to fall. With the shower expected to be brief, the leaders stayed on slick tyres but on lap 52, in worsening conditions, Vettel lost control and slid into the barriers and out of the race.

    Hamilton inherited the leader under the resultant safety car and despite the threat of rain in the closing stages the Mercedes driver powered to his fourth win of the season ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas and Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen.

    At the start Vettel made a slower getaway than Bottas but the German took up a good defensive position into the first corner and held his lead. Behind them Max Verstappen attacked Räikkönen, but again, the Ferrari driver held his never and third place as the field swept across the line to begin the second lap. Further back Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg passed Haas’ Romain Grosjean to steal sixth place.

    Hamilton, meanwhile, was beginning to charge and by lap six he was up to tenth place and into the points. That became P8 by the start of lap nine as he worked his way past Renault’s Carlos Sainz and the Haas of Romain Grosjean who was struggling with his rear tyres.

    At the back Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, the only man to start on medium tyres, was also scything his way through the pack and by lap 11 the Australian had climbed to 13th place. He now sat half a second off Fernando Alonso’s McLaren.

    Hamilton’s drive forward continued, and after 14 laps he was in fifth place. Räikkönen then made his first stop, taking on soft tyres. The Finn emerged in fourth place, directly ahead of the Mercedes man. Räikkönen was in control, however, and within a few laps he had pulled out a 3.5s gap over the Briton.

    At the front, Vettel was controlling the race perfectly and on lap 19 the home favourite was 4.6s ahead of Bottas with Verstappen a further 5.8s back.

    Hamilton was now locked in fourth place behind Räikkönen. Ricciardo, however, was still on the move and by lap 20 he was up to 10th place having powered past Alonso and Sauber’s Charles Leclerc.

    Vettel made his first stop from the lead on lap 25 and took on soft tyres. He re-joined the action in fourth place, just ahead of Hamilton, who had yet to make his pit stop. There was no threat though and Hamilton, on 27 lap-old starting softs, could not keep pace with the German and he had soon eked out a 3.0s gap to the Mercedes driver.

    On lap 28 Ricciardo, who had enjoyed a productive run to sixth place suddenly as he went through Turns 9 and 10. “Losing power, something’s wrong,” he said before pulling over and stopping at Turn 11.

    Verstappen then pitted to take on soft tyres and after 31 laps the order had Räikkönen in the lead, 1.3s clear of Vettel with Hamilton, who had yet to stop, in third ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas. Verstappen was fifth ahead of Magnussen, Hulkenberg and Grosjean, with Force India’s Sergio now ninth ahead of Sainz.

    Vettel soon began to complain that Räikkönen was holding him up and that he was not only losing time but also destroying his tyres. After a lengthy conversation with Ferrari chief engineer Jock Clear the Fin moved aside and Vettel resumed in the lead.

    Hamilton made his pit stop on lap 42 and took on ultrasoft tyres for his final stint, hoping that added performance would allow him to close on the leaders.

    The race then took a hugely dramatic turn as rain began to fall at the hairpin. It grew in intensity but with forecasts predicting a rapid end to the shower the leaders chose to stay on slick tyres – and it cost Vettel dearly.

    The German lost control in the stadium section and slid off track and into the barriers. What had seemed like a comfortable march to a sizeable points lead over Hamilton had gone disastrously wrong.

    The SC was immediately deployed and under the caution, Mercedes pitted Bottas. The crew weren’t ready, however, and the Finn was left sitting on his marks for almost 16 seconds as the team found a set of ultrasofts for him.

    Räikkönen, too, pitted and like Bottas he fitted a new set of ultrasoft tyres for a final blast, if conditions allowed.

    The SC left the track at the end of lap 57 and despite a strong attack from his team-mate Hamilton held the lead ahead of Bottas and Räikkönen. Bottas was then told to hold position and 10 laps later Hamilton crossed the line to take his 66th career win ahead of his team-mate and Räikkönen. Verstappen then took fourth place ahead of Hulkenberg, Grosjean, Perez and Ocon. Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson was ninth and the final point went to Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley.

    2018 German Grand Prix – Race
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
    2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 4.535
    3 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 6.732
    4 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 7.654
    5 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 26.609
    6 Romain Grosjean Haas 28.871
    7 Sergio Perez Force India 30.556
    8 Esteban Ocon Force India 31.750
    9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 32.362
    10 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 34.197
    11 Kevin Magnussen Haas 34.919
    12 Carlos Sainz Renault 43.069
    13 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 46.617
    14 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 1 lap
    15 Charles Leclerc Sauber 1 lap
    16 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1 lap
    17 Lance Stroll Williams 14 laps
    18 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 16 laps
    19 Sergey Sirotkin Williams 16 laps
    20 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 40 laps

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  • Vettel takes pole at home race; Hamilton hits trouble

    Sebastian Vettel took his 55th career pole position in front of his home crowd at Germany’s Hockenheimring in a qualifying session that saw chief title rival Lewis Hamilton ruled out when he damaged his car running wide at the end of Q1.

    Vettel put in a superb performance in Q3 to set a new track record at Hockenheim with a time of 1:11.212. The German’s lap was more than three seconds faster than Nico Rosberg’s pole time of F1’s last visit to this track in 2016. Valtteri Bottas will line up on the front row beside Vettel tomorrow, with Kimi Räikkönen third in the second Ferrari.

    After the early pace in Q1 had been set by Sauber’s Charles Leclerc, with a time of 1:13.562, the Ferraris and Mercedes drivers took to the track. Vettel was soon on top with a time of 1:12.765.

    As the circuit improved, Räikkönen took over at the top of the order with a lap of 1:12.505 that left him ahead of Vettel, Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas, Haas’ Romain Grosjean and the second Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton.

    Hamilton’s session would end soon afterwards, though. As Q1 entered its final minutes, the Briton ran wide at Turn 1 and bounced hard over the kerbs as he rejoined the track. The impact clearly caused damage and within moments his team told him to stop his car due to a “PU risk”. Hamilton stopped at Turn 10 and pushed his car off track with aid of marshals. His session was over.

    Qualifying ended, too, for Force India’s Esteban Ocon. The Frenchman was an unlikely candidate to be eliminated in P16 but his best effort of 1:13.20 wasn’t good enough to beat Williams’ Sergey Sirotkin. Also eliminated at the end of Q1 were Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly in P17 followed by team-mate Brendon Hartley, Williams’ Lance Stroll and McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne.

    At the start of Q2, Bottas was quickly into P1 with a time of 1:12.152 ahead of Räikkönen and Vettel. However, eight minutes into the session the red flags were shown when Marcus Ericsson went off track at Turn 13. In re-joining, the Sauber driver dragged a load of gravel onto the circuit and the session was halted for nine minutes while a road sweeper cleared the mess.

    Max Verstappen, who had set his opening time on soft tyres to sit in P9, erred on the side of caution as the action resumed and the Dutchman took the track on ultrasoft tyres.

    With the purple tyres on board his final push lap of 1:12.188 vaulted him to P2 behind Q2’s fastest man Bottas and ahead of Räikkönen, Vettel and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen. Romain Grosjean took sixth in the second Haas, with Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg seventh ahead of Leclerc, the second Renault of Carlos Sainz and 10th placed Sergio Perez of Force India, who set a time of 1:13.072.

    Eliminated in P11, with a time of 1:13.657 was McLaren’s Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard finished in front of Sirotkin, Ericsson, Hamilton and Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, who faced with a barrage of PU-related penalties and a back-of-the-grid start elected to stay in the garage in Q2.

    It was Vettel to the fore early in Q3. Ferrari team-mate Räikkönen set the opening time of the final session with a lap of 1:11.880. However, powered past that to take provisional pole with a time of 1:11.539, bringing a huge roar from the German’s home crowd. Bottas then slotted into P2, 0.170s behind Vettel, leaving Räikkönen third ahead of Verstappen and Grosjean.

    In the final runs Bottas was the first to show what kind of improvement he could make and the Finn found a sizeable chunk of time to move into P1 with a time of 1:11.416.

    That left Vettel needing to find 0.123 over his opening time if he was to secure his 55th pole position. The German, boosted by his home crowd, was more than up to the task and he found a over three tenths of a second on his final run to claim pole position with a lap of 1:11.212.

    Behind P2 man Bottas, Räikkönen took third ahead of Verstappen, with Magnussen fifth and Haas team-mate Grosjean sixth. Hulkenberg took seventh place in qualifying for the fifth time this year ahead of team-mate Sainz, Leclerc and Perez.

     

    2018 German Grand Prix – Qualifying 
    1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:11.212
    2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:11.416 0.204
    3 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:11.547 0.335
    4 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:11.822 0.610
    5 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:12.200 0.988
    6 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:12.544 1.332
    7 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:12.560 1.348
    8 Carlos Sainz Renault 1:12.692 1.480
    9 Charles Leclerc Sauber 1:12.717 1.505
    10 Sergio Perez Force India 1:12.774 1.562
    11 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:13.657 2.445
    12 Sergey Sirotkin Williams 1:13.702 2.490
    13 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:13.736 2.524
    14 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
    15 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing
    16 Esteban Ocon Force India 1:13.720 2.508
    17 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 1:13.749 2.537
    18 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 1:14.045 2.833
    19 Lance Stroll Williams 1:14.206 2.994
    20 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 1:14.401 3.189

    eom/db

  • I think the season started very slow, but we are making good progress: Sergio Perez of Force India

    19 July 2018: Ahead of the 11 round of the Formula One World Championship, the German GP began with the usual FIA press conference on Thursday.

    Q: Brendon, go back to two weeks ago at Silverstone. That was a horrible-looking crash. How are you now? No lasting effects, I hope.

    Brendon Hartley: Actually, waking up on Sunday, I was ready to go. Almost no knock-on effects, which was a surprise after watching the replay myself and seeing how spectacular that looked. In fact, the impact was smaller than what I had in both Canada and Barcelona. I think I’ve probably taken the top three crashes of the season all by myself! Hoping something like that doesn’t happen again. But no, I was physically ready already on Sunday and felt perfectly fine.

    Q: Let’s talk to you now about the relationship between Toro Rosso and Honda, if we can. How do you feel that has developed as the season has gone on? Do you feel the development rate has increased as the year has progressed?

    BH: It was a really positive start from the first laps in Barcelona testing where I think a lot of people had written us off before the season had even started. I think collecting nice laps on that first test was a really positive start and I think everyone at Toro Rosso saw it as a good opportunity having Honda on board. We’ve had an update already in Canada and yeah, the progress keeps moving forward every weekend. I think it’s only positive, I would say, the relationship between Toro Rosso and Honda.

    Q: Do you sense there’s pressure to introduce engine upgrades this year, to help prepare Honda for next year when they’re going to be with Red Bull Racing as well.

    BH: I think there were always updates planned, one of which has already come and I know there’s some other stuff in the pipeline – but at least from what I’ve seen. I haven’t seen any added pressure. Of course, we’ll welcome all the performance gains that we can – but honestly the way the team’s working together and systematically going through it, collectively as a team, Toro Rosso and Honda together. I mean, it’s all going in the right direction.

    Q: Brendon, this is your first time here since 2009 when you raced in Formula 3. What are your expectations of Hockenheim in a Formula One car?

    BH: Yeah, looking forward to it. It’s a proper track, it’s got history. Obviously not the same one that was raced many years ago through the forest. Yeah, I like it, I’m remaining optimistic. Surprisingly optimistic after the last few races I’ve had. Most of these bad results over the last few months have been out of my control, and I still feel strong and in good spirits and ready to take on this weekend. As we’ve all seen from P7, the last of the top three teams, to the very back, it’s an extremely tight battle. If we manage to eke two more tenths out of the car, from any area of development, that could mean securing quite a few points – or not securing. It’s extremely tight and we just have to bring our A game and get everything together over the next two days.

    Q: Nico, Brendon’s just giving his thoughts on the German Grand Prix. There was no German Grand Prix last year – just how special is it for you to be racing on home soil this weekend?

    Nico HÜLKENBERG: Yeah, it’s definitely good to be back. Hockenheim, which is a place with a lot of memory for me. My first ever race in single-seater racing, Formula BMW in 2005 was here; lots of racing in Formula 3, so, I’ve always had good moments here, the circuits always been treating me well. Good results, even in Formula One, two times seventh. So, it’s good to be here, I like the place, like the area. I hear it’s pretty sold out for this weekend, which is great news so looking forward to starting the weekend here.

    Q: We’re pretty much at the halfway point of the season. Just wanted to get your assessment of yours and Renault’s progress in 2018.

    NH: I think it’s been OK. Of course, we missed out a few opportunities and results here and there. Sometimes technical issues, sometimes just with having a few difficult weekends. I feel the last two, three, four weekends have not been brilliant for us, we’ve always had a little hiccup somewhere and we’ve given away a little bit – but I think that’s just how it goes. Over 21 races it’s really hard to be perfect all the time. I think in the bigger picture, we’re fourth in the Constructors’ Championship, which is pretty decent. We have more developments in the pipeline over the next few weeks, which hopefully puts us in a good direction for the rest of the season. Obviously, we want to be more competitive and stay where we are.

    Q: Neither car was in Q3 at Silverstone. Did that track reveal the car’s shortcoming?

    NH: Not necessarily. I think it’s a little bit track dependent. We feel Silverstone wasn’t great for our car. It was just a little bit difficult. We were boxed in a bit, we felt. Before that we’ve been to Q3 many times. Not all the time. It’s not always the most important in the midfield battle. Sometimes it’s actually good to be outside and on a different strategy, to upset a little bit. Of course, we’re pushing at Renault, everybody, to make the car more competitive, faster, trying to keep a gap in the midfield battle. But it’s really tight and it is track-specific. So one tracksuits better Haas or Force India, the next weekend the Toro Rosso is faster. I think, on balance, us as Renault, we have been pretty consistent.

    Q: You say the team is working hard to put a performance on the car – so how much quicker is the car than it was in Melbourne?

    NH: It’s hard to quantify in terms of lap-time – but for sure we’ve developed the car since. There have been quite a few new parts since. Here and there, some little things. It’s hard to measure – but if you see the gap to the top three teams, then you still think ‘that’s too big’. We don’t like that, but they’re doing at the same time, an amazing job and it’s really hard to catch-up. Yeah, especially as race drivers you always feel you want more. You want it quicker, you’re impatient. This weekend we had some stuff which I’m excited to try tomorrow and see how it goes.

    Q: Sergio, coming to you. We’re doing a bit of a half-term report. So, tell us, what’s your assessment of yours and Force India’s season so far?

    Sergio PÉREZ: It’s been a bit up and down in the first half of the season. We were expecting more, up until now but we’re certainly improving; getting closer to the top of the midfield battle. I think we’re definitely getting closer and improving there. Still a long way to go and we should be in a good position. We’re certainly making good progress. I think the season has started quite slow for us but then we made some good progress and I think right now we are in a good position to start fighting for good points.

    Q: So, who do you feel you’re battling with at the minute. Can you go, on performance terms, toe-to-toe, with the guy on your left, for example?

    SP: I certainly think so. I think there is a good chance. Definitely, the midfield battle, as Nico described, is so much track dependent, track-to-track, small margins so everything down to the Sunday you know? To the Sunday afternoon. There’s a lot to gain, even if you don’t have a great qualifying, there are still plenty of points that are valuable there. So, I think we should be in a good position. I still think fourth place is possible for us in the Constructors’, so that’s the main target.

    Sebastian, first thoughts, concerning this new spec, 2017-spec cars really. It’s the first time we’ve used them here at Hockenheim. How much of a different experience will it be, compared to 2016 with the old-spec cars?

    Sebastian VETTEL: I think it should be more fun. Cars are faster, faster mostly, or mainly in the corners, so I think it’s always great if the cars are faster. I think here you have some corners, high-speed corners – Turn One and also the entry to the stadium, which, yeah, they should be a lot more fun – but also the medium-speed sections around the track. I think generally the cars are better, more fun to drive, so it should be better, more enjoyable than two years ago. And hopefully we are more competitive – that’s also more enjoyable!

    Q: Pole position in 2016 was 1m14.3s. How much do you believe you might be able to shave off that this weekend?

    SV: We’ll see. I think it’s not always straightforward to compare. I think the cars are faster, as we mentioned, but we also obviously but a lot of downforce on, so we lose a bit of speed down the straights – but I think we should be faster. We also have the ultrasoft this weekend for qualifying, so yeah, how much I don’t know but by quite a bit. As I said, the faster you go, the more fun it is.

    Q: You’re leading the Drivers’ Championship; Ferrari leading the Constructors’ Championship. The development curve at Ferrari this year has been very impressive. Have you noticed a step up in that area compared to last year?

    SV: Well, the team is still improving, still growing. Obviously, the team has been around for a long time and I have been now part of the team for three and a half years – but I think we are getting stronger, we have a very, very good group of people, a good mix of people on board. Yeah, you’re trying all the time. Sometimes obviously, there’s also the element of the stuff working better than expected, sometimes it works less than expected but I think overall, I think you can say over the last two years maybe, since the last time we were here, that, yeah, I think by the end of 2016 we had a sort of lock opened, and since then I think there was a certain momentum starting to keep going and to develop. Since then I think we kept it going. Obviously the ’17 regs gave us the chance as a team to catch up, because before we were a bit behind – but since then, also last year, I think we had a great pace, a great car and we were able to develop it. Missed a little bit of performance at the end of the year. I think we learned from that and hopefully we can do it better – which still have to be seen but I think the car has potential.

    Q: You’ve won at the Nürburgring but not here. Would winning here on Sunday mean more to you than simply 25 points?

    SV: Yeah. Absolutely. I think the fact that racing in Germany, I’m afraid that probably this is the last time for a while, as far as I understand – which would be a shame to lose one of the classic races, and the fact that I’m literally from here – it’s just half an hour away were I was born and grew up – so yeah, the area means a lot to me and it would be great to have a good weekend.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Sonja Kreye – Speed News) Question for Sebastian. As far as I remember, Nico Rosberg, when he became World Champion in 2016, he dedicated some of his success to some mental work that he does, like meditation and hypnosis – don’t know what he does – but do you also follow something like this? Do you have a mental routine? Do you do some mental work?

    SV: I think it’s a very broad subject: I don’t know what Nico was doing or not but I think we all have our routines. Some of it is conscious, some of it – a lot of it – is probably sub-conscious. I think everybody knows from their own experience that you have some things that you run through before the start, or before a test, or whenever it gets important, we all have some sort of routine that we follow. Something that we do differently to other people around us. It’s the same for us. Obviously, when it comes to qualifying on Saturday or preparing the race, I think yes, I have certain things that I try to go through, I try to visualise and go through the track and so on. I’m not practising meditation or doing some of things that people maybe think of when they talk about mental preparation. So, as I said, most of it I think is a certain routine. We have the qualifying, it’s always the same things happening, so you know what’s coming and it’s important to be there, to be sharp, to prepare – but yeah, I think we know what to do.

    Q: (Wolfgang Monsehr – Rennsportpresse-Agency ) Two questions for Brendon Hartley. Number one: is there a regular exchange of info or experience with your sister team, either you and your Red Bull driver colleagues or engineers. And question number two: you come from a relatively small country, New Zealand, but with a very rich motorsport background, starting a long time ago with Bruce McLaren, Mike Thackwell, Chris Amon etc. You’re representing Formula 1 as a New Zealander, over in America it’s your countryman Scott Dixon. Both are totally different championships but nevertheless do you have with him a regular contact and exchange of experience – Formula 1 to IndyCar and IndyCar to Formula 1?

    BH: OK, so the first question was regarding Toro Rosso and Red Bull. They are two very separate teams. Obviously we share the same catering, so there is some crossover and I’m also good friends with Max and Daniel, as I am with some other drivers in the paddock. The crossover in information is relatively small but probably not my area to discuss but I’m not well informed on exactly how much information is passed, but I should mention that they are two different teams and everything on the Toro Rosso is manufactured by Toro Rosso in Faenza and in Bicester, where the winds tunnel. The next question: I am very aware of the rich history and I knew Chris Amon very well. Especially when I travelled away from New Zealand I realised how rich the history is and you mentioned Scott Dixon and yeah we do keep in contact. I think that’s the nature of being from a small country and flying the flag and we’re all very proud of that. I think we’re not the only two. It’s fair to say there are many other New Zealand drivers representing on a very level and yeah, I’m proud to be one of many.

    Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Seb, Lewis’ deal with Mercedes as a two-year extension was announced today. He’s locked in for two years, you’re at Ferrari for two years and Max is at Red Bull for two years. Your thoughts on how the future is lining up?

    SV: Well, congrats. I don’t know why it took so long. I think it was pretty clear. Yeah, no reactions. For me it’s clear, that’s what matters to me and what the others are doing doesn’t really matter. I have my place and my mission and what I want to achieve and in all honesty, that’s all that matters.

    Q: (Udo Döring – Darmstädter Echo) As you mentioned, Sebastian, it could be the last German GP maybe, so another question to both of you who are from Germany, what are you thinking about this and why do you think it’s so difficult to keep the grand prix in Germany in these times?

    NH: Yeah, of course it would be a big shame, Germany being the car nation that we are, and to not have a grand prix would be disappointing and sad. I guess it comes down to commercial questions, simple as that. Germany has a big history in racing and in Formula 1 in particular. Maybe the nation is a little bit full or tired or racing, I don’t know, but we’ve always been around for decades, with Michael, with Mercedes, with Seb, with Nico before. Germans are a bit spoiled when it comes to that, because we’ve always been successful, we’ve always been around and I don’t know if it’s an effect of that, but I think ultimately it’s the commercial aspects that play the biggest part.

    Sebastian, have you got anything to add?

    SV: I think it would be a shame to lose the German Grand Prix because it has so much history. As Nico said, for car manufacturers Germany is well known. We are a car nation. I think probably it’s to do with the fact that generally you have to pay money to get a grand prix. Other nations are prepared to pay money. Other countries are prepared to fund the grand prix and I think that’s where the main problem is; Germany is not ready to spend money on having the grand prix, to advertise Formula 1, to advertise racing, to advertise Germany, to attract people coming here. So I think the view on that is different to other countries and that’s where probably the problem is. I mean, I know the track well here, I know the people that work for it and they are working very hard for the event to get people coming here and it’s tough for them to actually make some money, because simply they have no funds backing them up from the county or state or I don’t know the country, supporting them financially.

    Q: (Jo van Burik – Autocar.nl) To follow up on Alan’s question regarding Lewis’ contract, a question to Seb. The battle between you and Lewis’ has seemed to bring a lot to Formula 1 over the past few years and this season most notably. Do you look forward to maybe continuing that for another two years?

    SV: Yeah, with the result the other way round, yeah, I look forward to that. I think any battle is good. Obviously it’s always great if it’s tight at the top, it’s always great if you have a lot of cars fighting for podiums, for wins. Now this year already we have six cars, which is already a lot better, also being part of it, than the previous years I think some years ago we had even more cars on the podium, fighting for race wins and so on, so that would be great to see the gap closing. Normally that’s something that happens naturally if you just let things be. I don’t know what… obviously for ’19 we have a small change and ’20 should be fairly stable and then we see what happens in ’21, but that’s quite far away. But in general it’s always exciting as a driver if you can fight for points and fight for podiums and then fight for wins and you want to fight the best and Lewis has been one of the best since he entered Formula 1, so it’s good to be there.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Seb, how different would it be for you if Charles would be your team-mate instead of Kimi?

    SV: I don’t know. I don’t know Charles much. I know him a little bit through the programme. Kimi is Finnish, Charles is French; I think they are quite different… or Monegasque. Sorry, sorry… sorry. I like Kimi. I think we get along. We have never any issue. Sometimes on track. I remember I drove into him, crashed into him. But I think the way we handle things is very similar, very straightforward, so I think it’s great to work with and great for the team, but it’s not my decision so we’ll see what happens.

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Seb, we saw after the last race some comments from Lewis and from Mercedes about the events that happened on the first lap. I know Lewis has since retracted those comments but do you think, in a way, that you and Ferrari are getting under Lewis’ and Mercedes’ skin this season?

    SV: I’m not a big fan of getting more out of it than there seems to be. I think it’s fine, you know. Obviously it was silly to say it but we are racing and we’ve all been there, it’s never great if you get hit without doing anything wrong, then it’s also fine to express your opinion, even it’s not right or reasonable, but it’s human. I think it’s fine, so we shouldn’t… it’s two weeks ago, we move on.

    Q: (Frédéric Ferret – l’Equipe) Seb, if you win on Sunday, do you think it could change the future of the German Grand Prix? And do you feel more pressure than usual?

    SV: No, more excitement. I hope since we had a bad World Cup that people didn’t put their flags away and they turn up at the weekend and wave them for Nico and myself. We get a lot of support. From what I hear it should be packed, so I’m looking forward to that. Obviously if there is a chance to win, I want to win and if that helps to keep the grand prix, that’s a bonus. As I say, it would be a shame to lose it. It would be great to come back next year, or the year after.

    Q: (Luke Smith – Crash.net) Sebastian, following up on Heikki’s question: do you have a strong preference for Ferrari to keep Kimi for next year or are you more open-minded than in previous years about your team-mate?

    SV: What do you mean ‘previous years’? Well, I like Kimi. As I said, I’d be happy to continue like that, but it’s not for me to mention, to decide. Charles, one way or the other, will have a great career. He’s a great guy, he’s fast, he’s got everything, so yeah, definitely, he has no rush. He’s young, but if you’re young you’re always in a rush with everything. I don’t know. I don’t know when, what and ultimately who but as I said it really doesn’t matter to me. For me it’s clear where I am next but I think both of them would suit into the team.

    Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-magazin.com) Seb, on paper, at least two of the three last races of the triple header we’ve had were a bit more in favour of the Mercedes. Mercedes said they had the strongest car the last three races. Do you have the feeling you survived the worst part of the season now?

    SV: No, generally I would agree. I think they had the fastest car in the last couple of races. I think in Silverstone we were a match. Obviously in quali we just missed out by a little bit. If it’s within the same tenths I don’t think you can say one is stronger than the other. I think in the race also we had good pace, which was great for us, because Silverstone has been a place where we were weak. The places before they were a bit stronger. We’ll see how things evolve here. We brought some stuff to Silverstone, which should also work here. I think it’s a constant chase to find the advantage and then one track suit you more than others but I think we have a great car and we still have great potential to make it better.

    Q: (Alvero Rodriguez-Martin – Momento GP) Nico, sometimes it seems Carlos and you struggle more than the other teams with degradation. How do you work on that and do you expect that to be a problem here?

    NH: Maybe at some races that’s true, not every race. Again, I think it depends a little bit on the track and temperatures. Yes, we had some problems, I think. It comes down to how your car is using the tyres and I think there are some cases where our car is quite hard on the tyres and then we pay a price with degradation. We know about it, we try to address it, we work on it, it’s a constant subject. I think this weekend here with the temperatures being very hot is going to be a good test for us to see if we’ve made some improvements there.

    Q: (Walter Koster – Saabrucker Zeitung) Seb, during the last race at Silverstone your teammate Kimi asked for more power but his engineer refused his wish. Kimi answered indignantly ‘It’s not permitted for me to think for myself?’ To what extent can you make your own decisions on track and how much is decided remotely on your behalf by the team? I can tell you all that I know a lot of people who don’t watch Formula One because the technology is too complicated and they feel the races are manipulated. Formula One seems to be more removed from the fans than before. Do you agree with this, and please remember my first question?

    SV: I don’t remember the question! Yeah, I do remember the question. What was the question now? I think that what happened in Kimi’s race as far as I remember was more about strategy, not about engine power or energy so it was more about strategy. In that situation I think it’s fairly simple, you drive your car and you have a feeling about your tyres, of where you are in the race. You’re racing the others around you but you can’t see everything that’s going on around you which obviously the team on the pit wall can see, all the cars, all the lap times and if you were going to pit, then they know where you’re going to come out, which is something which we can’t see because we can’t see 20 seconds behind us. So I think that was the argument or misunderstanding at the time. I think yes, I agree with your view that people get the impression from outside that a lot of it is remotely controlled but that’s not fair. The cars are very complex, the technology inside the cars is very complex and it needs more than one or two, three mechanics which maybe Formula One had 40/50 years ago to run a car. You need a lot of people. Obviously in terms of technology it’s also very impressive but my view is also that from outside the engine… most of the car is covered anyway so you can’t see. Some people… if you’re a tech nerd it’s great but not everybody is and from the outside you want to see cars fighting, you want to see cars race and are driven by us to the limit and that’s what matters. I think there’s always been an interaction between technology and racecraft, driving the cars, in the past. I think the driver is the key element to driving the car, even though the technology behind it is complicated to run but equally it’s not our fault and for the future, I would love to simplify things so that people get a better impression. But I can understand why they get the impression. Do I think it’s fair? No it’s not, because I know I’m driving the car and I know these guys are driving the cars.

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) To all of you: if you owned a Formula One team, would you spend £40m a year on a driver?

    SP: Yeah, I would hire myself!

    NH: I agree with you, it’s a good way out! I think an individual driver can make the difference and be worth that. It’s possible, yeah.

    Q: Brendon, how important is the driver these days?

    BH: I guess the question was is if you’d pay 40 million but I guess it depends on the budget and which currency. Total budget and currency It’s a good answer by Sergio, look after ourselves if we’re still driving.

    Q: (Lennart Bloemhof – Volksrant) Sebastian, you’re the World Championship leader driving a Ferrari, still the future of German Grands Prix is unclear. Getting back to the remark of Nico, I’m curious: are the Germans too spoilt regarding F1 wins, especially during the Schumacher era? What is your opinion on that?

    SV: Well, by the sounds of it you’re Dutch so… I think Nico has a very valid point, I think it’s normal that if something happens for the first time there’s a lot of excitement and I think in Germany Michael was the one that kicked off Formula One and made Formula One popular. Now it’s different in different countries. I think in the UK for example, for some reason… they invented racing maybe, they always had great racing drivers, no matter what era. Now in the Netherlands, if you look, obviously Max… there’s a certain boom is created for us, all of us, all the drivers because there’s a lot of fans coming. Obviously for him it’s fantastic but also for all of us and also for Formula One, we all benefit from it because people are very excited about Formula One. We can see that in a lot of places in Europe mostly but yeah, in Spa but also Austria it was great to see. For Germany, I think it’s true that Michael was the one that probably had that boom initially and since then, obviously, it’s great for Germany to have German drivers. We had a time, I think, when we had five or six Germans. Eight? A lot of German drivers on the grid, now it’s only Nico and myself. I think that’s something that’s going up and down but yeah, it’s probably true. Then in general, Germans are a little bit difficult to get excited. I think other nations are a bit easier to trigger in that regard so maybe that’s also one of the things but as a I said, I hope that because of the fact that we failed in football this year that people saved a little bit of money on barbecues and so on and they can come here and go camping this weekend. Weather’s supposed to be great.

    Q: (Jo Klausmann – Racingline.hu) Nico, you surely followed the record runs of Porsche with the 919 Evolution car in Spa and the Nordschleife. Question: would you have liked to have driven that car and would you like to do something similar with an evolution Formula One Renault?

    NH: Yeah, I would have liked to drive that car but I would have been way off the record or the pace, you know. You really need an expert for the Norschleife there. Timo was perfectly qualified for that, I’m not. I’ve done a few laps there but it’s a crazy circuit and you probably watched the on-board and you see how bumpy it is, how dynamic. It’s a hell of thing and the speed he goes, it’s pretty insane, positively insane and a cool thing to do by Porsche to go and crack a few track records and do some funky stuff. Yeah, very tempting. I know that car, obviously, but in that conversion it must be so much fun and cool. The thing with a Formula One, we would be struggling with ride heights and damper travel and stuff.

    SV: We can resurface the track. It’s the fashion these days, so re-surface the Nordschleife. Let’s go there.

    Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS.nl) For all drivers: if you would change something in Formula One or you could say let’s keep it more or less the same, what would you do? Would you be open to reverse grids? Two races in one weekend for instance?

    SP: I think we have a great sport. My main target would be to make it more competitive. At the moment we seem to have got used to talking about two groups in Formula One, whether they are a midfield group and the front runners. I would like to make it a lot closer so that everyone can have the chance to fight for victories or podiums and I think that would make the sport a lot bigger.

    BH: The reverse grid would have helped me the last few races. I think it’s a good point from Sergio that the top three teams are obviously out of reach but actually the midfield battle is really really good but if we could be a bit closer that would be a way. I don’t know about the technology point that was raised before. I personally like the fact that Formula One has always pushed the limits of technology and I like being involved in that but I guess just making it in a way where the fans can understand it a bit more. I know, for example, the engine regulations are very tricky to understand, even for the team members sometimes so maybe a bit more simplicity in certain areas.

    NH: I think we want to have more racing, more wheel-to-wheel action, guys battling all over the field for corners and I think the aero has become very dominant; it always has been but especially now maybe more and that obviously doesn’t create the best racing so if there is a way to desensitize, keep the performance but lose that characteristic of the cars to allow a car to be close. Make a move now, it’s really frustrating sometimes, you make an effort you know you can get behind the car but as soon as you get there it’s like somebody’s pulling the plug and you’re left with not much then, your tyres overheat and it’s a downward spiral. So anything to fight that would help to make a better show, more racing and it would close the field like Checo says.

    SV: I think they’re all valid points. Probably the first action: double the cylinders, take the batteries out, maybe we need one to start the car, that’s enough usually.

    Q: Sebastian, your reaction to two races in a weekend?

    SV: No, no, I think the format is fine. I think it’s wrong to look at changing the format. It’s not my decision so it’s a bit pointless to talk about it but I wouldn’t be a fan. I think it has been like that for a long time for a reason. I think the 300 kilometer Grand Prix is a Grand Prix. If you should make it half, then maybe for some people then a boring race is only half as boring but that’s not the way I look it. I think it’s a challenge, it’s a Grand Prix distance and it’s something that… you do your first race and you’re surprised by how long the race can be and that’s a physical and mental challenge for that duration and I think it would be… yeah, if it becomes a sprint race, I think it would be a different sport in a way and I wouldn’t mess with the format. I think we need to find other ways to get excited and get the grid together and whatever but not the format.

    eom/db

     

  • Sahara Force India gets ready for German GP

    Hockenheim, 17 July 2018: As Formula One moves to Germany for Round 11 of the F1 World Championship, Sahara Force India prepares to gain some more points in its race to keep the fourth place. Quotes from the Indian outfit’s drivers Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon and Team Principal Vijay Mallya.

    Sergio: “Hockenheim is an amazing track in a country with so much racing history: it’s a race we really missed not having in the calendar last year. I remember the early years of my career, living and racing in Germany, and it’s always very enjoyable when I go back to visit. I really love German food too!

    “Hockenheim is a track that gives you good overtaking opportunities, especially on the approach to the hairpin. You arrive there so fast and it’s a very big braking zone so it’s always a good place to have a go. It’s probably one of the best circuits for creating exciting racing.

    “I was happy to rescue a point last weekend in Silverstone after a big recovery. The main focus for Germany is to have a clean weekend because if we maximise our performance we can be at the front of the midfield. There is a long way to go [11 races] and lots to play for. We are finding a bit more performance with each race and I still believe we can target fourth place in the championship.”

    Esteban: “I feel ready for the final two races before the summer break. We have been finding performance as a team with strong results in the last few races and I want to have two good ones before the holidays.

    “Hockenheim is one of the tracks I know the most. I have been driving there a lot in my career, first in F3 but also during my experience in DTM with Mercedes. It’s one of those historical tracks that are important for Formula One and there are always a lot of fans coming to see us with cards, messages and letters. It’s important to have a German Grand Prix and it’s always a special feeling racing there.

    “I think the weekend can be a good one for us. The track should suit us because of the long straights and slow corners, so it’s a chance to score more points. I enjoy the circuit. It has good overtaking opportunities, especially the hairpin at the end of a long straight and the sharp left hander a bit later. The racing is usually quite close so hopefully we will have an entertaining race on Sunday.”

    Vijay Mallya: “It’s been satisfying to get both cars in the points for the last two races. It’s what we need to do for our fight in the constructors’ championship. Germany marks the half way point in the season and it feels as though we have some momentum now. The updates we introduced in Silverstone helped and there’s more performance to be unlocked. We’ve been a bit unlucky in the first half of the season, especially getting caught up in first lap incidents, so I think we are due a change in fortune. Scoring points in all of the remaining races is a realistic target, but I expect the midfield fight to get even closer in the races to come.”

  • Sebastian Vettel wins; Hamilton recovers to finish second: British Grand Prix

    Sebastian Vettel wins; Hamilton recovers to finish second: British Grand Prix

    Vettel waves after winning the British GP on Sunday. An FIA image

    Silverstone, 8 July 2018: Sebastian Vettel capitalised on a Turn 1 collision between Kimi Räikkonen and Lrewis Hamilton that sent the Briton to the back of the field to claim his 51st career win at the British Grand Prix. Hamilton later staged a superb recover to finish second ahead of the second Ferrari of Kimi Räikkönen.

    At the start, Vettel got away superbly to take the lead ahead of pole position man Hamilton. The Briton’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas also swept past and Hamilton found himself third as the field went through Abbey.

    The situation was then made worse for Hamilton as Raikkonen braked too late and collided with the right rear of the Briton’s Mercedes. Hamilton spun off track and dropped to 17th place. Raikkonen later received a 10-second time penalty for causing the collision.

    At the front, Vettel was free to pull away and by lap eight the German had built a 5.7s lead over Bottas, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen a further four seconds behind. Raikkonen was now fourth ahead of the second Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo and the Renault of Nico Hulkenberg.

    However, Hamilton was powering through the pack, and on lap eight he had climbed back to eighth place behind Sauber’s Charles Leclerc. He was, however, now 25.7s behind Vettel. He made light work of passing the Monegasque and then breezed past Hulkenberg on lap 10 to sit 13.0 behind fifth-placed Ricciardo.

    Raikkonen pitted on lap 13 to serve his penalty and after the hold he took on medium tyres to emerge in 10th place.

    Verstappen was the next to pit, on lap 17, with the Dutchman also taking medium tyres. The Red Bull driver emerged in fifth place.

    Behind him, Raikkonen was now on a march and in short order he dismissed Carlos Sainz, Esteban Ocon, Leclerc and Nico Hulkenberg to sit in sixth place ahead of the next pit stop, on lap 18, for Ricciardo.

    Leclerc was the next to visit pit lane but immediately after his pit stop he reported a problem and he was told to stop his Sauber. He pulled off track at Turn 3 where his strong run of recent points finishes ended.

    Vettel then pitted on lap 20, taking on medium tyres. He rejoined in the lead and after Bottas made his stop the German led ahead of the Finn and Hamilton. Hamilton was now 5.8s behind the championship leader but he required a pit stop.

    That stop arrived on lap 25, with the Mercedes driver taking on mediums. He rejoined the action on sixth place, 11s behind Raikkonen and 28.2s behind race leader Vettel.

    The German was now 3.5s clear of Bottas, with Verstappen almost 10 seconds further back and with Ricciardo fourth ahead Raikkonen.

    Bottas then began to close up to Vettel and on lap 30 the gap was down to 2.8s. Hamilton too was picking up the pace and by lap 30 he was running quickest and closing in on Raikkonen.

    Red Bull then pitted Ricciardo for a second time on lap 30, with the Australian taking on a fresh set of soft tyres. He rejoined in sixth place, behind Hamilton, who was now just 4.9s behind Raikkonen.

    The complexion of the race changed completely on lap 32. Marcus Ericsson overcooked his entry to Turn 1 and he lost the front end of his car. He spun and careered off track and into the barriers.

    The safety car was immediately deployed and during the caution, Vettel, Verstappen and Raikkonen all pitted for fresh soft tyres as the field bunched up.

    Bottas now led the race behind the SC, with Vettel second ahead of Hamilton, Verstappen, Raikkonen and Ricciardo.

    On the restart Bottas held his advantage ahead of Vettel and Hamilton, bit behind them Raikkonen attacked Verstappen. He passed the Dutchman but the Red Bull driver returned the favour in the next corner and he held onto fourth place.

    The Safety Car was almost immediately deployed again as behind the leaders Carlos Sainz tried to pass Romain Grosjean in to Copse. It was tight, with Sainz leaving little room, and the result was that the Frenchman clipped the back of the Spaniard’s Renault and they both went off track and out of the race.

    The Safety Car left the track at the end of lap 41 and Bottas again held the lead ahead of Vettel and Hamilton, with Verstappen fourth ahead of Raikkonen and Ricciardo.

    Vettel than began to exert pressure on Bottas and after a long tussle the German managed to sneak past the Finn with a good move under braking into Brooklands.

    Behind them Verstappen spun and then retired from the race.

    Bottas, whose tyres were fading, was then passed by Hamilton and he quickly slipped into the clutches of Raikkonen who brushed past his compatriot to take P3.

    And that was the way it stayed with Vettel crossing the line ahead of Hamilton to take his 51stcareer win, putting him tied third with Alain Prost on the list of most wins in F1.

    Hamilton’s superb recovery from the back of the field was matched to some degree by Räikkönen’s march to the podium from 10th after serving his penalty. Bottas was fourth ahead of Ricciardo with Hulkenberg sixth for Renault. Esteban Ocon took seventh for Force India ahead of McLaren’s Fernando Alonso, Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and the Toro Rosso of Pierre Gasly.

    2018 Formula 1 British Grand Prix – Race 
    1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari –
    2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 2.264
    3 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 3.652
    4 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 8.883
    5 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 9.500
    6 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 28.220
    7 Esteban Ocon Force India 29.930
    8 Fernando Alonso McLaren 31.115
    9 Kevin Magnussen Haas 33.188
    10 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 34.129
    11 Sergio Perez Force India 34.708
    12 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 35.774
    13 Lance Stroll Williams 38.106
    14 Sergey Sirotkin Williams 48.113
    15 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 6 laps
    16 Romain Grosjean Haas 15 laps
    17 Carlos Sainz Renault 15 laps
    18 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 21 laps
    19 Charles Leclerc Sauber 34 laps
    20 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 51 laps.

    eom/db

  • These Ferraris pulled something out in Q3, says poleman Hamilton

    Silverstone, 7 July 2018:  Reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes who took the pole at the British Grand Prix, the 10th round of the Formula One World Championship attended the post-qualifying Press Conference along with Ferrari drivers Sebastian Vettel who took P2 and his teammate Kimi Raikkonen, who will start from P3 on Sunday.

    Track Interviews: (Conducted by Martin Brundle)

    Q: Lewis, congratulations, fantastic. Your fourth consecutive pole position here, a record sixth pole position at the British Grand Prix, your adoring fans looking on. That was a very special lap you had to find there?

    Lewis HAMILTON: These guys are the best.

    Q: You’re shaking with emotion, literally!

    LH: Oh man, I needed… I gave it everything I could. It was so close between these Ferraris. The Ferraris pulled something out when we got to Q3. I was just praying I could do it for you guys, and I’m so grateful for the support, because without you guys I wouldn’t have been able to do it.

    Q: Where do you think you made the difference on that last lap?

    LH: I don’t even remember it! I honestly don’t remember it, man. Maybe Turn 13… love you too guys!

    Q: Congratulations again. Let’s have a quick chat with Sebastian Vettel. Second place, Sebastian, you look like you’re walking wounded here, on your neck. 

    Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, I had a bit of an issue in practice, but it was fine in Quali.

    Q: Did you think you could take that pole position?

    SV: To be honest, this morning, no. I wasn’t sure if I could do Quali. It was very close. I don’t know, the last lap I was very happy with it, but I seem to lose a lot of time in the straights, so I think I’m missing some… missing a bit of tow, but I think it was very close, so I’m happy with second and it gives us a good chance for tomorrow.

    Q: Well done. Kimi Räikkönen, it’s the seventh day of the seventh month and you put car number seven in third place. Are you satisfied with that?

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Not really. I think I had all the tools today to be faster but I locked the front wheel into 16 a bit on the last lap and for sure gave away enough time to be in front but that’s how it goes.

    You told me two days ago that you’re driving as well as ever, do you still think you have a chance of victory tomorrow?

    KR: Yeah, I think I’ve got a good car and my car should be good tomorrow. Obviously it’s hot and it will not be an easy race with the tyres, so I think we might see a few different things happening there, but we’re aiming for the top for sure.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Lewis, it was an incredibly tight qualifying session and ended up with your fourth consecutive pole position here at Silverstone. How does it compare to the ones that came before?

    LH: It feels night and day different. These guys really pulled something special into Q3. I don’t know what they did yesterday, but they’ve come so strong today. I knew we were up against it but to really put together the laps was the hardest I can remember it being. It’s such a technical circuit and such a tricky circuit and to really position the car in the right place and get the maximum from the tyres it took everything from me to get it. But the fans were there and I could see them. And I knew they were here so I really, really wanted to do it, and if anything, with the pole, give a boost to England maybe. They won’t be watching obviously, because they’ll be playing, but you know what I mean – maybe start the wave and let them continue it. Huge amount of pressure on today, but so grateful for my team working so hard. Ferrari obviously have picked up a lot of pace this weekend, but we’re in the best position we can be and our long run pace was good yesterday, so I’m excited for a close race tomorrow.

    Q: Thank you, Lewis, well done. Sebastian, simply, what was the difference between you and Lewis today?

    SV: Half a tenth.

    Q: Four hundredths.

    SV: Less than half a tenth!

    Q: Can you just elaborate a bit more? How did that gap manifest itself on the racetrack today?

    SV: I don’t know. It’s so little time, it’s practically the same lap. I was pretty happy with the first run in Q3 and I knew had a little bit more in Sector 3, and bits around the track, which I think I got right on the second attempt, but I seemed to lose a little bit down the straights, I’m not sure why. But more or less I had two laps that were identical. Half a tenth you can always argue you find somewhere. I think he was just a little bit better in the final run, but for tomorrow I think we should be fine.

    Q: Kimi, you set the fastest first sector there in Q3. Can you just talk us through the rest of your lap, because you were less than one tenth of a second behind Lewis as well?

    KR: Yeah, I think we had first and last sector but in the middle obviously I think I had a small moment on the first try, the first set, into Turn 7, so I took it a bit easier. I was still gaining but I’m sure there were places to gain a tenth easily but obviously it didn’t happen today, so this is what we got. It was close but third is not too bad.

    Q: Sebastian, could you just explain the problem you had with your neck after FP3 and the problem it gave you going into qualifying.

    SV: It wasn’t the most enjoyable session but it’s not… nothing. I did the session, so I was fine. We had to call it a bit earlier this morning that I wanted but yeah, it was fine in quali.

    Q: Another question for Seb on the neck. How confident are you that tomorrow it’s going to be OK – and can you describe how it all started? Was it a bump the circuit or lateral forces? What was it?

    SV: No, I don’t know what happened but it went a little bit stiff. We loosened it up and for tomorrow I think the night will help. I’m not worried. Also, the speed tomorrow is less than in quali, because you have more fuel and you’ll be a bit slower so it’s going to be OK.

    Q: A question for Lewis. Lewis, can you tell us a little about your poll position lap please? Where are you flat out around this superfast Silverstone circuit now? What does it feel like? And also, the gap to your team-mate Valtteri is quite big today, and a very small gap to the two gentlemen either side of you. How much of this is down to the car and how much is down to the driver?

    LH: This is, as I was saying before, it’s such a technical circuit and it’s about car placement and you’ve got to have, obviously, the package. Our downforce level, I think, has been good but, I mean, you see how close it is between us. This has been a strong circuit for me for years, as you can see and my job is try to make… it is to make the difference. So, I think there was… I didn’t leave anything on the table today. The lap was… I mean it was just intense. I left the pit lane, I think the first lap was OK, it was pretty good, and then I saw that I’d dropped to second. Obviously, that naturally just adds a little bit more pressure. Because you know that he’s going to improve again, so I’ve got to improve the same and a bit more. So, to push over the limit just a little bit more, without losing it is one of the toughest positions to put the car. And this is the fastest track in the world, this is. We’re flat-out through Turn One, we’re flat-out through Copse, it’s insane, to turn in there at 300-and-whatever-it-is-kilometres we’re doing. It’s flat-out into Maggotts and Becketts, all the way to 11, 12…

    SV: The last one’s called Chapel…

    LH: I don’t know all the names but you’re flat-out all the way into it. You have a small lift, then you have a full lift, then you’re back on the gas again. Also, Stowe is just… with the headwind that we have there, it’s incredible how fast it is. I think on the TV it doesn’t look like we’re lifting – but we are. I got to the end of the lap, I think I was up 0.17s, and I came around that last corner and it started to diminish a little bit. I think I came across the line 0.90 better than my previous lap, and you’re just praying that’s enough – that little bit… because you’re gaining and losing throughout the lap. So, yeah, I can’t tell you how happy I am, happy for the fans, and I hope that I can deliver for them tomorrow.

    Q: Congratulations Lewis on your lap. You looked like you were on the ragged edge throughout the lap, and obviously when you got out of the car, you were pretty pumped. Where does it rank in terms for you, that pole lap?

    LH: I think it’s, for me, with the whole build up, with the whole intensity, with the whole spur-of-the-moment thing, knowing how close we were, for me it feels like one of the best laps that I’ve been able to produce. I would say it felt like the most pressurised lap that I’ve ever had. And then afterwards I was just… I can’t tell you how… I was shaking through the emotion, through the adrenaline rush was way above the limit that I had experienced before, which is kind of crazy for my 76th. But the 76th is so special. I’m so, so happy, and, as I said, the team have just been doing a great job and I’m really happy I have been able to deliver for them as well.

    Q: We have a bumpy track, hot weather, extra downforce this year; will this maybe be one of the toughest or the toughest British Grand Prix ever for you guys?

    KR: In which way? I don’t think it’s any different. Obviously there’s a big difference in the speed in the race, especially at the beginning of the race to qualifying. I think in the past the circuit layout was different but you could do qualifying laps every lap because you had refuelling and all these things. I think it’s less bumpy, it’s just smaller bumps; last year there were bigger bumps here and there.

    LH: I think it is, yes, with the heat the track is the hottest I think we’ve driven on for a long time. The speed that we’re going through the corners, it is up and even on the long runs yesterday, the G-force we’re pulling… the car is faster than last year. I definitely think it’s going to be physically tougher and more intense, being that we’re so close as well. It’s not going to be a case of either of us pulling a big gap, it’s going to be close all the way, so I personally think it’s going to be one of the toughest, yes.

    Q: Sebastian, do you side with your teammate or Lewis with this one?

    SV: In the middle. I hope it will be, not sure. I think those are the fastest cars we’ve ever had and I hope it will be because next year, I guess, the cars will be a bit slower. I think it depends largely on the tyres to be honest. If they are holding up well, and consistent enough then I think we can push. If not, then obviously it takes a lot of intensity out of it.

    Q: To both Ferrari drivers: you had a very impressive simulation race Friday, especially you Sebastian, on medium tyres. You said you were confident for tomorrow. Can you give more details, explain more? It really looks like you have a really fast car in the best conditions.

    SV: Yeah, it was yesterday, it was a good Friday for us and I’m confident we can be faster tomorrow. Usually… we  see today that we are able to pick up pace on Sunday as well. The race has always been better for us the last couple of races so I’m confident with everything that we have here this year, it seems we are stronger and I believe we can be faster.

    Q: Kimi, do you expect to be more competitive tomorrow?

    KR: Than today? Impossible to say, hopefully it’s a close fight, not easy to overtake as always but we will see what we can do and so far it’s been OK.

    Q: Kimi, in Austria you had the best start among the front runners, it’s quite a difficult track to overtake here. Are you prepared to take a bit more risk than you did in Zeltweg to try and get to the front at the start?

    KR: For me? If I didn’t take risks last time then maybe. I don’t plan to do anything different. Obviously we try to make a good start as well as we can but there are things that you will never be able to plan, you do it what you think the right outcome might be different that you expect but that’s how it goes sometimes. Try to make a good start and go from there, see what we can come up with.

    Q: Lewis, is it because it’s Silverstone that Mercedes and Lewis are in front of Ferrari? The circuit made the difference or what else? Was it because there is a superiority of driver and car or in your performance…

    LH: Both

    Q:  … or was Silverstone the secret?

    LH: All three, I hope. I think for sure, when you come to Silverstone it’s a home Grand Prix so just like when we go to Monza, Ferrari get a boost. It’s the same for us as a team. The team has all their families around, the support we have from the fans is there so we get lifted up from that. There’s obviously an extra push in effort above and beyond to try and make sure that we can pull everything out. Same for me as a driver. I think it’s all those as a whole come together for this race.

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  • Hamilton edges out Vettel to take British GP pole

    Hamilton edges out Vettel to take British GP pole

    Hamilton jumps for joy after taking the British GP pole on Saturday. An FIA image

    Silverstone, 7 July 2018: Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton delivered a stun, ning final lap in Qualifying for the British Grand Prix, the 10th roaHen third for the Italian squad ahead of the second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas.

    Vettel claimed provisional pole with a lap of 1:25.936 in the first run of Q3 shading Hamilton by five hundredths of a second. But the Briton found the pace needed in the final run to haul himself ahead of the championship leader by 0.044s.

    Q1 was red-flagged with just over three minutes on the clock when Lance Stroll went off at Brooklands. With a recovery vehicle needed the session was halted for six minutes as his car was removed.

    With Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley not slated to take part in Qualifying following a heavy crash in final practice that left the team needing to build up a new chassis, Stroll’s exit meant that just three drivers would drop out of the session at the end of the 20 minutes.

    When the session resumed Kimi Räikkönen jumped to the top of the timesheet with a lap of 1:27.549.

    There was then a brief moment of further drama for Williams when Sergey Sirotkin went off track at Stowe, but the Russian was able to keep his car going and he limped back to the pits to recover.

    Vettel then took over at the top with a time of 1:26.585, with Hamilton taking P2, just over two tenths behind and with Valtteri Bottas third on a time of 1:27.025. Max Verstappen was fourth for Red Bull ahead of Räikkönen and the second Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo.

    The top six elected to sit out the final run and as the times came in the Red Bulls were split by the impressive Charles Leclerc who took sixth place with a time of 1:27.962, 0.017s ahead of Ricciardo.

    At the bottom of the order Renault’s Carlos Sainz and McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne were the men in trouble as the final runs started. Sainz briefly jumped up the order but as the final times arrived he was shuffled back to P16 and eliminated. The Spaniard cited traffic, in particular the Haas of Kevin Magnussen, as the reason for his uncharacteristic slump.

    Vandoorne also failed to find more pace and he exited the session ahead of Sirotkin, who managed to set a time, but one that was only good enough for P18.

    At the start of Q2, Vettel set the immediate pace with a time of 1:26.372. Hamilton, meanwhile was forced to back out of his first lap after making a mistake at Turn 4, but a second attempt handed him top spot with a time of 1:26.256. Behind Vettel, Bottas was third for Mercedes ahead of the seconds Ferrari of Räikkönen and the Red Bulls of Verstappen and Ricciardo. Grosjean was best of the rest after the first runs, two tenths shy of Ricciardo’s time, with Magnussen eighth ahead of Leclerc and Force India’s Esteban Ocon.

    Four of the top six elected to sit on their first-run times in the closing phase of the segment, but Hamilton and Bottas both took to the track. The Briton abandoned his run while Bottas completed a lap without improvement.

    The top 10 remained unchanged in the final runs, and behind Ocon, Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg was eliminated in P11, along with P12 man Sergio Perez of Force India, McLaren’s Fernando Alonso, Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly and the second Sauber of Marcus Ericsson in P15.

    At the start of Q3, Hamilton laid an early claim to pole position with a time of 1:25.993, but he was dislodged from top spot by Vettel who went clear by 0.057s. Bottas slotted into P3 ahead of Räikkönen, Verstappen and Ricciardo. The Australian reported that he had lost DRS and he sat over four tenths adrift of his team-mate.

    Hamilton, though, found the reserve he’d been seeking in the final run and he jumped to P1 with a time of 1:25.892, four tenths clear of his title rivals.

    Vettel was unable to improve and he hung onto second place, He might have been dislodged by Räikkönen, who set the quickest time of all in S1, but a mistake in Turn 16 cost him dearly and he finished third, just five hundredths of a second behind his team-mate.

    Bottas qualified fourth ahead of the Red Bulls of Verstappen and Ricciardo, while Magnussen edged team-mate Grosjean by two tenths of a second to claim the front of row four. Leclerc finished an excellent ninth ahead of Ocon.

    2018 Formula 1 British Grand Prix – Qualifying 
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:25.892
    2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:25.936 0.044
    3 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:25.990 0.098
    4 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:26.217 0.325
    5 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:26.602 0.710
    6 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:27.099 1.207
    7 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:27.244 1.352
    8 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:27.455 1.563
    9 Charles Leclerc Sauber 1:27.879 1.987
    10 Esteban Ocon Force India 1:28.194 2.302
    11 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:27.901 2.009
    12 Sergio Perez Force India 1:27.928 2.036
    13 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:28.139 2.247
    14 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 1:28.343 2.451
    15 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:28.391 2.499
    16 Carlos Sainz Renault 1:28.456 2.564
    17 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 1:29.096 3.204
    18 Sergey Sirotkin Williams 1:29.252 3.360
    19 Lance Stroll Williams
    20 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso.

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  • It is just speculation and Force India is `Not for Sale’, says Vijay Mallya

    It is just speculation and Force India is `Not for Sale’, says Vijay Mallya

    Vijay Mallya at the Friday Pess Conference. A Force India image

    Silverstone, 6 July 2018: Indian liquor baron and Sahara Force India team Principal Vijay Mallya was invited to attend the FIA Friday Press Conference of Team Representatives and he candidly says that the speculation that Force India is for sale is just that and categorically denies that the team is for sale. “We have completed 200 GPs in Austria last week and whether I am there are the GP or at the Press Conference or not, the team is doing a great job and that would continue. If all goes well, we will finish fourth once again, as our team is used to punching above our weight,” says the Indian businessman, who is fighting a legal battle due to the loans borrowed by the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

    Q: Zak, since the last grand prix in Austria, you’ve announced some management changes at McLaren, so let’s deal with those first. First of all, why did Eric Boullier resign?

    Zak BROWN: Well, ultimately you’d have to ask Eric that questions, but in my conversation with him earlier this week, you know we’ve been under an immense amount of pressure, really even before Eric started, and I think ultimately the pressure and the desire to have McLaren move forward, I think he felt that a kind of a fresh start would give us the best opportunity, so he took that decision, accepted it earlier in the week. He’s been in racing a long time, won a lot of races and I’m sure we’ll see him in a pit lane soon, again winning.

    Q: So, how are you filling the void left behind?

    ZB: Well, we’ve done a few things. It’s the start of a journey to get back to our winning ways. It’s going to take a little bit of time and a lot of hard work. We’ve got the energy, we’ve got the support from our shareholders. We promoted Andrea Stella to Performance Director and ultimately he’s responsible for getting the most out of the race car at a race weekend. We brought in Gil de Ferran, who we worked with at Indianapolis last year and who has been doing some consulting and advisory work earlier in the year, as Sporting Director, and his role is to work with the team, the drivers, Andrea, and all of us to ultimately get the most out of the team environment at a weekend. And then Simon Roberts, who reports to me as COO, stays in charge of all the technical aspects to make sure that when we show up on a Friday at a race weekend we have as fastest a race car as possible and as many new bits to throw at a car to continue to develop it. And that’s going to be what you see here this weekend, but as I said, it’s the start of a journey, so we’re just getting started, we’re not finished.

    Q: And how have the drivers received the news?

    ZB: Very well. I spoke with Fernando, Stoffel and Lando just the morning before we made the announcement. I think they have got a lot of trust in the team. We communicate very well. Fernando is someone who has a tremendous amount of experience. Like with all the team members, when I walk around the factory, I seek information, draw on experience, because we have so much experience inside McLaren, so many great people who have won a lot of championships and races, and Fernando has had the benefit of being at multiple different teams. I know there has been some conversation about was he consulted. I think sometimes people take words a bit too literally. It’s my role to talk and communicate with all the team – drivers, engineers, mechanics – all throughout since I started. So I take on all that information and then work with the leadership team and the shareholders and make some decisions and move forward.

    Q: Thank you. Claire, we’ve just heard about the changes being made at McLaren. Are further personnel changes needed at Williams to get you guys more competitive?

    Claire WILLIAMS: Listening to Zak, it’s a very similar story that is going on at Williams at the moment. We’re in fairly similar positions. Of course in order to effect change, you need to make changes and you need to make some hard decisions and we’re going through that process at the moment but it’s not a case of rushing into it. Sometimes when you rush in you can make decisions you don’t want to make and end up regretting those decisions. We’re undertaking a full evaluation of our internal structures and processes at the moment. We haven’t completed that work yet, so we don’t have any news to announce. But it’s mostly about identifying the talent that we do have in-house. We have a lot of great people at Williams that are working really hard at the moment in this difficult situation that we’re in. So it’s focusing on that, focusing on the good that we have and then seeing whether we need to augment that talent, augment that resource we have and then move forward from there.

    Q: So, promote from within – that’s the message?

    CW: [Nods]

    Q: OK, what about Silverstone this weekend: it’s your home grand prix, how frustrating is it for you personally to be turning up at the track where the team won its first grand prix, its 100th grand prix, with the team in such an uncompetitive state?

    CW: Yeah, I think I was quoted as saying that I was dreading coming here, earlier this week, and I have been because as you said this is a track that holds a very special place in everyone’s hearts at Williams, for a variety of different reasons. This is our home race, there are a lot of Williams fans here, Finally I’m seeing some fans with Williams Martini Racing t-shirts around the place, which is great to see, and we have let our fans down. And for us that is as equally disappointing as we all feel at the moment with our performance. However, coming here and being here yesterday has been a really nice boost for everybody and for me in particular. You get to see all our great fans, who do still support us through these difficult times. They continue to support us and I think yesterday, just being here amongst the British fans, has given us a real boost. We had a good morning this morning in practice. As I said, we’re doing a lot of work to bring upgrades to the car, but really considered upgrades as well, and that’s taken a bit of time to get the upgrades here to this race. But hopefully with the result of that hard work… I’m not saying that Sunday is going to be a turnaround in our performance, it’s still going to be a long road for us, but hopefully we will do a better job for our fans this weekend.

    Q: Claire, just a final word, your father was at the track yesterday. Is he in good heart?

    CW: He is. He is thrilled to be here. It’s really lovely to see him back in the motorhome. I think he’s causing a bit of panic in the garage at the moment. The boys haven’t had him in the garage for a number of races now. So it’s good, it keeps everyone on their toes, but it’s just lovely to have Frank back in the paddock, he’s a real icon of the sport and this is where he belongs.

    Q: Thank you Claire, good luck this weekend. Vijay, it’s the first time we’ve seen you in an FIA press conference this year, so could we just have your assessment of the team’s progress in 2018?

    Vijay MALLYA: Well, we’ve not had the best start that we were hoping for. We haven’t managed to get both cars into the points. We’ve had three of four first-lap incidents, all of which contribute to where you are in the Constructors’. I have every confidence in my people across the road at the factory. They are used to punching above their weight, which is something that I truly appreciate. We find ourselves two points behind McLaren and seven behind Haas, thanks to their special performance at the last race, and we’re 20 points behind Renault. We have been 20 points behind Williams two years ago and we still managed to secure fourth. I remain cautiously optimistic that we will get fourth again in the Constructors’ Championship in 2018. We brought a small upgrade to the car here at Silverstone and FP1 has shown it. Whether I’m at the race, or at an FIA Press Conference or not, the guys are doing a great job.

    Q: Certainly the two guys in the cockpit are doing great jobs – Esteban and Sergio. Both very talented, very consistent. With the driver silly season hotting up what do you feel you have to do to retain both your drivers for 2019?

    VM: The drivers are very happy in our environment. They have said that several times to the media when asked. We are very happy with both Checo and Esteban. If, of course, they get a seat in a world championship-winning team it’s going to be a tough task to retain them, but if they are not offered any such opportunity, I see no reason why they should not stay with us, because we give them the opportunity of being best of the rest. We have shown that for the last two years and hopefully we will show that this year as well.

    Q: Guenther, an unfortunate incident for Romain in that first practice session, what can you tell us about the state of his car?

    Guenther STEINER: We need to change the chassis, so he will not be going out in FP2. As simple as this, yeah, he had some damage on it and he will not make FP2.

    Q: A frustrating day for him and the team. But let’s look at the positives; if I can take you back four days to Austria, where things went better. What was the overriding emotion for you when both cars crossed the line?

    GS: I think it was like… because we knew we could do this. We had a few races where we could do and for one or another reason we never got to do it. We performed at this level. For sure, we were a little bit lucky with some of the first six dropping out, half of them basically, so that’s why we ended up fourth and fifth, otherwise we would have been seventh and eighth. But we knew could do this and it’s just ‘OK guys, this is what’s possible. It happened now and let’s try to do more coming here’. It’s one thing when you have a result like this, you cannot wait for the next race to go to. It was a long wait, but now we’re back to a normal day in the office: one car we need to change chassis, the other driver is with the stewards right now. We’re just getting normal now again. I hope we can get it back together tomorrow and have a good race on Sunday, more like Austria. You cannot always think it’s going perfect because it went perfect once. We still have work to do.

    Q: I asked Vijay to assess the performance of his team a moment ago. Can I ask you specifically about Romain Grosjean – the ups and downs of his season. To go from fourth last weekend… How important was that fourth place, first of all for the team?

    GS: For the guys that work on Romain’s car, they were getting anxious because we had so many good moments and then we never got it home. So for finishing fourth they were very happy and I think the morale was fantastic week as you can imagine, they are back home, and plus they finished fourth – and now they have to change a chassis.

    Q: And how important was it for Romain?

    GS: I think very important. He knows he can drive a car. It just didn’t happen. As I said before, for one reason or another it never happened this year that got into the points. And then on his first points scoring getting 12 points was very good. I think he was relieved, I would say.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Question for all four of you. We’re now reaching the end of a triple-header and there’s talk of about the calendar possibly expanding next year. Could I get your respective thoughts on the possible repeat of the triple-header next season and whether you think we’re already at the limit for the number of races over the course of the season?

    ZB: I think it’s been difficult, the three races back-to-back. Everyone’s tired, everyone’s powering through it. My understand is its most-likely not going to have a triple-header again next year. That’s what was discussed at the FOM strategy meeting earlier this week but I don’t think that’s set in stone. If we have to do three again, we obviously will. I think most of the teams, if not all of the team – I’ll let them speak for themselves – would probably not prefer three races. And as far as the expanded calendar, that discussion I don’t think applies to 2019. The conversation around 22-23 races is, I think, a few years out. I think we’ll probably see 20, maybe 21 again, next year. And as far as having 23 races, you have to take budget into consideration, and we obviously have budget caps coming, which we support and is going to be very healthy for the sport and the competition. We need to take into consideration all the men and women that work at these racing teams and travel and the big sacrifices they already make to go to 21 grands prix – but at the same time, commercially, if you put another two or three races on the calendar: a Miami, a New York, another one in Asia, some big markets, it’s pretty attractive commercially to our partners, to go there. I don’t think there’s a magic number. We’ll ultimately race at however many are put on the calendar.

    Claire, your thoughts.

    CW: I share Zak’s thoughts. Personally, for me, I’m quite enjoying it, I quite like going racing, so three in three weekends is great. Equally, it means that our season will be over quicker, if you’ve got three race weekends in three weeks that’s a good thing for us at the moment! I think the most important thing is about the people, and taking into account, the guys, the boys and girls that work for us, they put in an enormous effort, and to put in a triple-header, when they’re not able to get home, is a tough thing for them and for their families. We’ve had to do quite a lot of work around ensuring our guys can get a break and to go home. And even if that’s just for 24 hours, that’s really important. But again, that’s additional management for people that have got to cover that off and how we bring in people to cover those people to cover those people that aren’t then there for that day. Covering the work that they need to do. So it’s a really difficult logistical piece. Just moving our motorhomes, you’ll have seen in the paddock in Austria, half of us didn’t have our normal motorhomes that we have. I actually think, for the Austrian promoter, that was probably a shame that they got our test hospitality units. It doesn’t make the paddock look good over a race weekend. Just small considerations that that that sometimes we don’t necessarily think through when these decisions are made. As Zak said, I don’t believe a triple-header will appear on the calendar again. I think maybe we’ve learnt our lesson that it is quite a tough gig for everybody. And as far as more races coming on the calendar in the next few years, great from an entertainment perspective for our fans. Great to have different locations coming on the calendar – particularly for partners if they’re activating in those markets – but as long as that’s balanced and race weekends are looked at in their entirety, maybe to shorten them to mean that people are away from home as much as they possibly need to be, then I think that’s important.

    Vijay, can we have your thoughts please.

    VM: I agree with what Zak and Claire have said. My major concern is, of course, for our race team personnel. Triple-header is hard, 21 races is hard, but as Zak said, more races means more revenue, and if I can have one and a half or two race teams and I get paid by Formula One Group, I’d certainly consider it because we want the revenues to improve and we want to certainly get more money. But if things stay the same, then I think more than 21 races and these triple-headers are just too taxing for our engineers and mechanics and all those involved in the race team.

    Guenther?

    GS: Nothing to add. I agree with everything. I think we all agree on what we said.

    Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Question for Claire. You mentioned the situation with your situation and McLaren. McLaren have had a couple of years thinking they had the best chassis but blaming it on the engine. You’ve known you’ve had the best engine in the sport and have done for several years. So how’ve you got into this predicament and what are the financial implications of it?

    CW: There are a variety of reasons as to why we found ourselves in tenth. You don’t get to tenth without having a number of issues. I think it’s probably clear to see that our aerodynamic package is probably the key to that, and unlocking the issues we have around the aero performance of our car is going to be critical to moving us forward. As we’ve gone through this recovery programme, we’ve identified a number of other weaknesses within the car and the team itself. I think as you go through that analysis invariably you always find other fires that you’ve got to put out. To be fair, it’s probably been a very useful exercise from that perspective, to go through that process and identify all your weaknesses, which we decided we were going to do when we realised the car wasn’t where we needed it to be after testing. And that’s going to give us an opportunity to actually make greater steps forward for us. But it is a long road. I think Zak was talking about two to ten years earlier. This isn’t going to be the work of a moment for us, unfortunately. With the environment, as well that they’re operating in, in Formula One at the moment. The teams that were weaker than us last year have suddenly catapulted ahead of us, and they’ve made great in-roads for a number of reasons. And those are challenges to us, being an independent team now in this sport is a very different world now to face than that which we were facing a few years ago. From a cost perspective, inevitably, this situation in which we find ourselves is going to have ramifications for us financially. Not least the prize-fund money we’ll receive for taking home tenth place will be considerably less than our forecasted P5. We lose Martini as our title partner at the end of this year. As much as we were expecting that and can budget for it, it still leaves a hole and finding sponsors when you’re in P10 is not going to be an easy piece of work for us. We had to spend additional money as well, in order to activate our recover programme. It’s not easy but we’ve got some very clever people working within that realm at the moment. We have a great CEO, we have a brilliant CFO who are doing everything they can to make sure we have a strong and healthy budget to go racing and compete successfully next year – but it’s not an easy world at Williams at the moment.

    Q: (Anthony Rowlinson – F1 Racing) Claire, obviously your name is above the door, as a Williams. Could you just explain what Williams mean to you?

    CW: I’m Harris now! Is that a good excuse, not above the door anymore? For me personally, this is very difficult, it’s heart-breaking and it’s a little bit soul destroying. This is mostly my family’s team and it’s been within our family for four decades now and the sacrifices our family have made for the team over the years have been great – but we’ve also had an enormous reward and feel enormously privileged as a family to be involved in this amazing sport. And I took on this role as DTP back in 2013. I felt that I could contribute and I think we’ve done some good work to turn the team around and take us back to where we wanted to be. This year hasn’t been great for us but it is a blip. We had in 2014 and 2015 two third places and in 2016 and 2017 two fifths, and we must look at this is just a trough. Every team in any sport goes through those moments. Personally for me it’s incredibly difficult to see the team go through this. We all hold our hands up and take responsibility and not least I have a part to play in that and we must all look at ourselves and make sure we’re doing the best job that we possibly can for this team because this team deserves to stay in Formula One. This is all we do. We’re in Formula One because we love going motor racing and we have to make sure that we create a world at Williams that keeps our team viable in this sport and relevant in this sport and still maintains our status in this sport. That’s hugely important to me.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, Racefans.net) Zak, on Wednesday you announced that Eric had resigned the previous evening, yet you were almost immediately able to announce a complete restructure including the appointment of two directors, both of whom have very close ties with your drivers. This implies a flat-pack resignation so was Eric pushed or did he jump?

    ZB: No, Eric resigned but as I mentioned earlier, I’ve got really good communications with everyone in the team and so I’ve been working with Eric now, the last year and a half and there’s been a lot of pressure on him, really ever since I joined him before then. So this wasn’t something that was a surprise, it was something that we had started to discuss previously as we were working together on what was the best way forward for McLaren.

    Q: (Abhishek Takale – Mid-day) Vijay, I know you get asked this every year but there has been renewed speculation about your future ownership of Force India. How do you respond to that speculation that the team is for sale?

    VM: In your question, you said renewed speculation, right? People have been writing about the ownership of my team for years now. I’m proud that we finished our 200th Grand Prix in Austria. It’s a big milestone for me, since I owned this team. I’m sure you will not see anybody in Force India, or indeed myself, walk around with a For Sale sign. And as far as all these rumours are concerned, and all the statements that keep appearing in the media, all I can say is if there is a credible offer with cash on the table, I will be the first one to discuss with my shareholders, see what they feel, and if, in the unlikely event we wish to sell the team, if there’s an offer that we cannot refuse, I will be the first one to announce it. Until then, speculation remains speculation.

    Q: (Cezary Gutowski – Przeglad Sportowy) To Mr Steiner, you seem very supportive and understanding towards your drivers so my question is what are your requirements and what qualities does a driver need to have to drive for Haas F1 team?

    GS: In the end, what I expect is that they make points and bring results, that is what I expect. With Kevin, he’s doing very well this year, so everything is achieved. Romain had a little bit of a difficult start to the season, the first third of the season, but Romain is with us now for the third year and he did very well the first two years. He did take a bit chance when he joined us because we were not given a lot of chances to succeed in Formula One as a new team, because some of the teams before us didn’t make it, so I think out of respect we need to give him the support to give him the chance to make points and he did in Austria, so I hope he’s doing the same here but I expect points from the drivers with a car like ours every weekend.

    Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday, MotorsportWeek.com) You represent typically the lean, independent teams and Zak, you spoke about the cost cap that you wholeheartedly support. There’s been much speculation that the leading three teams have got more money than they actually need and they are prepared to spend it and spend as much as they need to win. You actually don’t have that luxury. How are you going to breach that impasse where the big teams keep threatening to walk away if they are told to spend less?

    GS: I think that’s a job FOM has to manage because it has to do a balance with payouts and budget cut and so on. I think we as Haas F1 have no influence in these negotiations, to keep them on board, so we support it and I think that there is positive talks going on even with the big teams that this will happen. We just have to find a compromise that the big teams are happy and that we are happy and FOM is doing a good job in doing these negotiations with us and with the big teams and I hope later in the year we come to a conclusion to it and we move forward in 2021 with a little bit of a level playing field.

    VM: I wholeheartedly support the cost cap concept. I have also repeatedly appealed to the Formula One Group that the lopsided payments must be corrected and that independent teams such as ourselves deserve a lot more money. The basic concept is that money should not buy performance. We have to level the playing field and independent teams should also be given a fair opportunity to win a race. But if the manufacturer teams have an unlimited budget with the singular motive of winning races then we are being defeated not because of lack of technological skill or driver skill, we are being defeated by money power which shouldn’t be the case in any sport.

    ZB: I agree with everything Gunther and Vijay said. I think my build would be and I’ve commented earlier on the recovery plan for McLaren and I hedged my bets at between two and ten years for not wanting to get into the same mistakes we’ve made in the past couple of years of making predictions and statements that ultimately hadn’t come true. What I meant by that is the budget cap and until that comes in it’s fiscally almost impossible to challenge Mercedes and Ferrari. If we had an unlimited budget or their size of the budget we’d be doing the same thing, so they’ve done an outstanding job, but now they’re spending so much more than the rest of us, then they also have partner teams which not only benefit the partner teams who are doing an excellent job but it’s also benefitting Ferrari and Mercedes having alliances with multiple teams. So I think, as Gunther said, it’s Formula One Group’s responsibility to bring a better balance to the sport and let the best team win, so that’s why the next couple of years we’re going to be fighting very hard to get down to our championship fighting weight, if you like, and then be ready that when we’re all playing with the same size bat, which we aren’t today, that may the best team with the best technology, the best people, the best teamwork win and I’m excited and I think that’s coming and I think it’s coming in 2021.

    CW: I think whatever the rest of the panel have said, I would echo. I think that what we need to achieve in this sport now is absolutely fundamental for the very survival of certain teams in this sport, and I don’t think that that should be underestimated or taken for granted, the challenge that some of us are facing at the moment because of the circumstances in which this sport has arrived at over the past few years. It is incredibly tough for teams like ours and it shouldn’t be underestimated how important these new regulations for 2021 are in the influence that they could have over our teams’ survival.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, RaceFans.net) Vijay, you said earlier on that if your drivers got an offer from the front running teams, obviously it would be very difficult to retain them. Does the same not apply to your key personnel as well, because you’ve obviously had a very loyal staff but there are teams looking around, restructuring etc. Are you concerned that you may be losing some key personnel?

    VM: I have to admit that that’s something that I will not ignore but having said that, I have a fantastic team who love working for Force India. The culture across the road in our factory is very unique, very motivational and I have a passionate team of people. Yes, money is important and I guess people work to earn better but other teams have tried to tempt our people away in the past. They have not left us because there’s more to it than just a pay check, working at Force India. Great team, great leadership and they’re doing a wonderful job and I’m very proud of them. But, if people wish to leave, I obviously have to take action to replace them with equally good talent.

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  • Sebastian Vettel tops FP2: British GP

    Sebastian Vettel tops FP2: British GP

    Vettel tops FP2 at the British GP on Friday. An FIA image

    Silverstone, 6 July 2018: Sebastian Vettel set the pace in the second practice for this weekend’s Formula One World Championship’s 10th round, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, with the Ferrari driver edging Friday morning’s quickest man, Lewis Hamilton, by just under two tenths of a second. Sahara Force India’s drivers Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon remained in 8th and 9th in the second practices session too.

    There was more trouble for Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, however. The Dutch driver had stopped on track at the end of the morning session with a mechanical issue and his afternoon session ended early when he crashed out midway through his opening run.

    Verstappen lost control of his RB14 on the exit of Luffield corner and spun into the barriers, damaging the rear of his car. The impact to his car was severe enough that he would play no further part in the session.

    At the time the red flags were shown for the Red Bull driver’s crash, Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkonen sat at the top of the timesheet and when the session re-started, the Finn was one of the first to bolt on soft tyres for his qualifying simulation. His His best time of 1:28.045 gave him a solid margin at the top of the order but team-mate Vettel was preparing for his run and his time of 1m27.552s sent him to the top of the timesheet.

    Mercedes Valtteri Bottas then slotted into P2 behind the championship leader but then Hamilton crossed the line a time of 1:27.739 to secure second place – 0.187s behind Vettel.

    Raikkonen dropped to fourth ahead of the second Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo who ended up 0.856s off Vettel’s best.

    The Australian was the last man within a second of the German, with McLaren’s Fernando Alonso best-of-the-rest in sixth place a sizeable 1.754s behind Vettel. Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg was seventh ahead of the Force India pairing of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez. Charles Leclerc rounded out the top 10, a full two seconds adrift of the P1 pace.

    Verstappen wasn’t the only driver to encounter problems during the session. Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly was also forced out of the session early on with a suspected power unit issue.

    2018 Formula 1 British Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
    1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 36 1: 27.552
    2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 32 1: 27.739 0.187
    3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 30 1: 27.909 0.357
    4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 34 1: 28.045 0.493
    5 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 31 1: 28.408 0.856
    6 Fernando Alonso McLaren 31 1: 29.306 1.754
    7 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 35 1: 29.354 1.802
    8 Esteban Ocon Force India 33 1: 29.467 1.915
    9 Sergio Perez Force India 32 1: 29.522 1.970
    10 Charles Leclerc Sauber 30 1: 29.557 2.005
    11 Carlos Sainz Renault 36 1: 29.563 2.011
    12 Kevin Magnussen Haas 33 1: 29.617 2.065
    13 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 16 1: 29.831 2.279
    14 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 32 1: 30.046 2.494
    15 Lance Stroll Williams 34 1: 30.069 2.517
    16 Sergey Sirotkin Williams 36 1: 30.103 2.551
    17 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 31 1: 30.121 2.569
    18 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 36 1: 30.404 2.852
    19 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 2
    20 Romain Grosjean Haas 0.

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