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Brilliant Ricciardo wins Chinese Grand Prix ahead of Bottas; Vettel finishes eighth
Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull celebrates after winning the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday in Shanghai. Photo: FIA Shanghai, 15 April 2018: Daniel Ricciardo took a thrilling victory at the Chinese Grand Prix, the third round of the Formula One World Championship, here on Sunday. While Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari who won the first two races of 2018, could only finish eighth, reigning World champion Lewis Hamilton was fourth. Both Force India cars finished just outside points with Esteban Ocon taking 11th ahead of Sergio Perez in 12th.
Benefiting from a mid-race safety car to rise from sixth to first in a handful of laps, thanks to fresh tyres and brilliant passing moves, Daniel Ricciardo, was at his best and did not hesitate to do his `shoey’ drinking from the winning shoe, once again.
Mercedes’s Valtteri Bottas finished second ahead of Kimi Raikkonen as pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel dropped to eighth place following a collision with the second Red Bull of Max Verstappen.
At the start, Vettel made a slightly slow getaway and as Räikkönen got away well, the German moved right to cover his team-mate. That allowed Bottas to go around the outside of the Finn and steal second place.
Behind them Verstappen made an excellent start from fifth place and was quickly past Hamilton through Turn 1 as the Briton tried to attack Räikkönen. Verstappen then closed on the Ferrari driver and made a good move past the Finn to take third by the end of the first lap.
The first stint saw Vettel etch out a lead of more than four seconds over Bottas, who in turn built up a five-second gap back to Verstappen, with Räikkönen fourth and comfortably ahead of Hamilton. The race then settled until the first round of pit stops.
Verstappen was the first of the front-runners to stop, arrowing into the pit lane at the end of lap 17 to take a set of medium tyres. Seconds later he was followed by sixth-placed team-mate Daniel Ricciardo who also moved to mediums as Red Bull enacted an impressive double stop on the same lap.
The move was designed to give both drivers an opportunity to attack the Mercedes driver in front of them but when Hamilton pitted he was able to rejoin ahead of Ricciardo. It was a similar story for Verstappen whose stop failed to dent the advantage enjoyed by Bottas, who was able to pit and rejoin ahead of the Dutchman
Vettel was next in and as the German moved to medium tyres Mercedes told Bottas that he had to push as hard as possible. The Finn obliged and Vettel exited the pit lane to see Bottas sweeping past him.
The race was now led by Räikkönen who had yet to pit. As the Finn’s pace ebbed on fading tyres, Ferrari tried to use him as a bulwark, backing Bottas towards Vettel. The Mercedes driver was alive to the threat, however, and attacked, passing Räikkönen on lap 27 in the slow ‘Snail’ section of the circuit.
The complexion of the race changed moments later when the two Toro Rosso drivers collided at the hairpin, with Pierre Gasly running into the back of Brendon Hartley, scattering debris across the track.
The Safety Car was deployed and Red Bull took the decision to again double stop its drivers, this time for soft tyres. With the other front runners staying sticking with their medium tyres, it proved a decisive move.
Verstappen rejoined in fourth place behind Hamilton and Ricciardo sat in sixth behind Räikkönen, but their tyres soon gave them a pace advantage and on lap 37 Ricciardo muscled his way past Räikkönen to claim fifth. Ahead, Verstappen was pressuring Hamilton and attempted a move. Hamilton was not for moving, however, and the Red Bull driver was forced off track as the Mercedes man tightly held the racing line.
That allowed Ricciardo to move past his team-mate and take up the fight. The Australian was more decisive and dived down the inside of Hamilton into the hairpin to claim third place.
Ricciardo was now in full flight and after dismissing Vettel with relative ease he closed on leader Bottas. The Finn tried to defend as the Red Bull driver again attacked at the hairpin, but despite the gap narrowing, Ricciardo somehow slotted through and then kept control on exit to take the lead.
Behind him Verstappen was also lining up a move at the hairpin to pass Vettel. Again though it didn’t work and the pair collided, with Verstappen dropping to fifth and Vettel to seventh.
The Red Bull driver made it back to fourth past Hamilton but then was handed a 10-second time penalty by stewards for causing a collision.
In the final laps Ricciardo stretched his lead over Bottas to eight seconds, who slowly fell back towards Räikkönen. The Ferrari driver made several attempts to get past but couldn’t find a way and the flag fell with Ricciardo claiming his sixth career win ahead of Bottas and Räikkönen. Hamilton was fourth ahead of Verstappen with Hulkenberg fifth.
Vettel had held seventh until the closing stages but on the penultimate lap he was passed by Alonso in bold move that left the Ferrari driver complaining that the move was illegal. The stewards, however, ruled the pass to be a fair one. Behind the German the final points positions were taken by Sainz and Magnussen.
2018 Chinese Grand Prix – Race
1 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing –
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 8.894
3 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 9.637
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 16.985
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 20.436
6 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 21.052
7 Fernando Alonso McLaren 30.639
8 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 35.286
9 Carlos Sainz Renault 35.763
10 Kevin Magnussen Haas 39.594
11 Esteban Ocon Force India 44.05
12 Sergio Perez Force India 44.725
13 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 49.373
14 Lance Stroll Williams 55.490
15 Sergey Sirotkin Williams 58.241
16 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1’02.604
17 Romain Grosjean Haas 1’05.296
18 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 1’06.330
19 Charles Leclerc Sauber 1’22.575
20 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 5 laps. -
Jonathan Rea of Kawasaki RT wins Race 1 to increase lead: WorldSBK
Aragon (Spain), 14 April 2018: Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) had mixed feelings about his bike throughout Friday and the Saturday Superpole, but in Race 1 of the Motul FIM Superbike World Championship Round 3, he put to bed any worries he or his team may have had with a dominant performance at MotorLand Aragon. The reigning WorldSBK champion increased his lead to 14 points now, as Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) could finish only fourth here on Saturday’s restarted Race 1 of Round 3.
The race was red flagged after three laps, after a collision involving Leon Camier (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team), Jordi Torres (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) and Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia). The Honda rider was immediately taken to the medical centre for evaluation, while Torres and Savadori exited the track on their own feet, although the Spaniard could not make the restart in time.
Jonathan Rea of KRT wins Race1 at Aragon on Saturday. A WorldSBK image Before the incident, a wild start had completely turned over the starting grid for Race 1. Poleman Marco Melandri moved down to fifth in lap one, with Rea taking the lead ahead of Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team), up from fifth. Behind them, Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) had made an extraordinary start, coming through from 11th to 4th in just one lap, and beating Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) on the next lap to move into provisional podium positions.
After the restart, it was Rea again at the top, leading the first half of the new race bar one lap from Lowes. The champion later found himself under pressure from Xavi Fores (Barni Racing Team), who made his move over the Northern Irishman with just nine laps to go, taking the lead in front of his home fans. But, ultimately, Rea found his moment a couple of laps later, racing away from the Spaniard and taking his second win of the season.
The final laps displayed an extraordinary three-way Ducati fight for the podium, between Fores, Melandri, and Davies, up the field again. With Melandri going long with two laps to go, it was a fantastic race to the finish between Davies and Fores, exchanging places throughout the final lap and with the Welshman just squeezing ahead at the checkered flag.
Behind them, Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) came in fifth, leaving him in a promising position for Race Two. The British pair of Sykes and Lowes followed in sixth and seventh, with Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Junior Team) taking a good eighth position on his WorldSBK debut.
At the back, a thrilling battle emerged for ninth, and thus a privileged starting position in tomorrow’s Race Two. At the end, it was Toprak Razgatlioglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) who came in ahead of the pack, with three more riders less than a second away.
P1 – Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
“It was a good race, I want to thank all my team as it’s their home race – we have a lot of team friends here and they gave me a good bike. After Friday morning’s FP1 I was throwing the toys out the pram, but step by step we worked in a good way and this morning we were fast in FP4. But today it was good with the temperatures, to keep the tyres cool and tomorrow we need to keep an eye on the temperature to see what our pace is like.”P2 – Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“It was an all red battle at the end! But I was really happy with the last few laps. It was a really hard race starting from 11th on the grid, I didn’t really have anything extra to give and I gave it all. To be honest it felt like I was struggling a bit and it felt like I made the best out of what I had. Congratulations to the other guys, it was a hard fought race.”P3 – Xavi Fores (BARNI Racing Team)
“It was a funny race overall, we had a good fight overall with Jonny, Marco and Chaz. At the end I was struggling in the last four laps so I was pushing hard to defend the second place, but on the last lap Chaz overtook me on the rear straight. Anyway it was a good result because yesterday I felt bad with the bike in these conditions, but I am happy with this result and I look forward to tomorrow.”#AragonWorldSBK at MotorLand Aragon: Race 1
1. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
2. Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +1.450
3. Xavi Fores (Barni Racing Team) +1.473. -
Vettel and Ferrari burn competition with a hot lap; tough task ahead for Hammy!
Vettel….continues his charge. Photo: FIA By Harish Samtani
Shanghai, 14 April 2018: The fans of Mercedes and those who believed that Ferrari couldn’t possibly
sustain its superiority over the German outfit, are currently busy consuming big portions of humble pie after Saturday’s qualifying session in the Chinese Grand Prix here.The Scuderia steamrolled Mercedes with over a half second advantage in qualifying in a relatively cooler environment and circuit than in Bahrain that had Hamilton incredulous and questioning Ferraris’ back-to-back superior performances in qualifying.
Vettel, the eventual pole-sitter, is on song and his last minute record breaking lap had even his team-mate stunned and Mercedes humbled. His car is not only reliable and quick, but seems to be running on rails with nary a twitch.
The Renault-powered Red Bulls were not exactly slackers, but were made to appear so by the Maranello outfit’s duo. Even Kimi was stunned by Vettel’s last second gasp which dethroned him from his almost certain pole.
At this rate, Hammy’s quest for title No. 5 has to wait patiently. In hindsight, the five championship title holders of the past have to be acknowledged with greater respect. There will be ifs and buts, but every year and era has its own set of challenges. No one has it easy.
The top six cars qualified within a 0.853 seconds of each other. Grosjean rounded up the 10th position 1.760 seconds adrift in his Ferrari-powered Haas! That’s quite a bit as it is. So, it would be safe to assume that around 12-14 cars will be lapped in the 56-lap race.
Force India had a decent outing with Perez eighth on the starter board. I suspect that they have taken a step back to go two steps forward. So, the aero package or something else has not delivered as expected, but the good thing is that once they get sorted, they are going be in the thick of action and will leapfrog over a few of the pretenders such as Haas etc. Their fourth overall in 2017 will gain even more legitimacy.
While it is early days, the die is cast and some serious action is on the anvil on and off the track!!!
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P13 and P14 for Alonso and Vandoorne, but McLaren hopeful of scoring points on Sunday
Photo: McLaren F1 Team Shanghai, 14 April 2018: McLaren’s former double World champion Fernando Alonso and team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne on Saturday qualified 13th and 14th for Sunday’s China Grand Prix while admitting that they lacked the pace to make it to Q3 and also straight-line speed.
Alonso, however, opined that by finishing outside of top 10 in the qualifying, they had free choice of tyre option and not having to start on the ultrasoft that is susceptible to degradation given the degradation due to track temperatures which are expected to be high going by the sunny weather forecast for Sunday’s race.
Alonso said: “We didn’t have the pace to make it into Q3 today. After we were P9 in Q1, we were a little bit more optimistic and thought we could make it into the top 10, but then in Q2, we weren’t quick enough.
“We were P11 in Australia, P13 in Bahrain and here, and that’s where we are at the moment for qualifying. Not enough, we know, as we seem to be slow on the straights, but we have the potential to improve that.
“Anyway, making it into Q3 would’ve meant starting the race tomorrow on Ultrasoft tyres, which I believe will degrade quite quickly on a hotter track due to the sunny weather forecast for tomorrow. So, in the end, I’m happy with P13 and a free choice of tyres.
“Our race pace is a little bit better than our quali pace, so by taking good care of the tyres, and with a good start and a good strategy, points are still very possible for us.”
Vandoorne said: “Today’s result is obviously a little bit disappointing, but we’re more or less in the positions we were expecting to be in. Since the start of the season, we’ve been around these places in qualifying, so this is how it is at the moment. There’s some work ahead of us to improve our performance.
“On the positive side, our long run pace from Friday practice looks very promising, so we have something to play for tomorrow. We’ll also have free tyre choice, which looks to be something pretty crucial again here and will make a difference.
“The higher temperatures expected for tomorrow will play to our advantage in terms of tyre degradation, as most people ahead of us will be on the Ultrasofts. We’re looking to be ambitious again, take any opportunities, make no mistakes and have a strong race.”
Eric Boullier, Racing Director, said: “Given that the Bahrain and Chinese Grands Prix take place on consecutive weekends, we knew we wouldn’t be expecting a significant change in performance from one to the next.
“Of course, since Bahrain, we’ve taken steps to adapt our approach to qualifying, but any direct improvement is part of a longer-term development plan that is in the pipeline for the coming races.
“Nevertheless, the team has been meticulous in our preparation for every session this weekend using our learning from Bahrain and the data we’ve been gathering here. Although we’re not expecting overnight miracles, we believe our race pace will continue to be more representative of our true performance.
“As we know, the all-important result from any Grand Prix weekend comes in the race, and that’s where our focus firmly lies. Tyre strategy will be key and having a free choice is a certain advantage over the cars further ahead of us. Our aim is to continue our momentum from the past two race days and bring home some more valuable points tomorrow afternoon.”
The final practice session of the weekend provided the team with a good indication of conditions and track evolution in preparation for Sunday’s race. Both drivers reported strong wind at key sections of the track, but neither was particularly troubled by it. Both cars completed their programmes, the data from which is used to inform the direction for set-up for the following sessions and most importantly, the race.
In Q1 both cars completed two runs each and were never threatened by the chasing pack, comfortably progressing through to Q2.
The next session was always going to prove to be more challenging in the tight midfield pack. Both drivers completed one run each and qualified next to each other on the grid – Fernando in 13th and Stoffel 14th.
Source: McLaren Press Release
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We look a bit more competitive, building a fair bit on Bahrain: Fernley of Force India
Force India’s Perez will start P8 while Ocon is on P12 after Saturday’s qualifying session. Photo: Sahara Force India Shanghai, 14 April 2018: Sahara Force India who began the year with zero points as both the cars finished outside top-ten in Australia recovered to get a point in the second GP at Bahrain with Esteban Ocon managing to slide into top-ten after senior teammate Sergio Perez crashed out early.
At the third GP in China, the team managed to qualify P8 and P12, with Perez taking the lead with his VJM 11-02 setting 1:32.758 in Q3.
Sergio Perez said: “I am very pleased with our performance today as a team. My Q3 lap was very strong and I feel that we really maximised qualifying. The wind was very tricky because it changed completely from yesterday and I knew it could offer us an opportunity. Q2 was quite close and I made it through at the last attempt, and in Q3 we only did one flying lap, which was enough for P8. I am pleased we are so close to our rivals and I hope we can stay in that mix and come out on top of the midfield group tomorrow. The strategy will be interesting because starting on the UltraSoft may not be ideal, but we will try and make it work. We are feeling positive: we are getting closer and closer with every race, understanding more about our car and unlocking its performance.”
Esteban Ocon who failed to make it to Q3 said: “I’m not totally satisfied with today because I’d prefer to be starting further up the grid. The difference between making Q3 and not was just over a tenth, which I probably lost in the final corner with a small mistake. It shows just how close everybody is in the midfield. It’s a shame to miss out on Q3, but on the positive side I can start the race with a free choice of tyres. The targettomorrow is to score points again.”
Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal, said: “We’ve looked a bit more competitive here, building on the progress we made in Bahrain, and I think today’s result is a fair reflection of where we stand at the moment. The team is working hard to improve the car session by session and we’re seeing the result of all those efforts. Sergio’s lap in Q3 was excellent and eighth place on the grid presents a good opportunity to score points. Esteban has been matching Sergio all weekend and was unlucky to miss out on Q3 today. Starting outside the top ten gives him some more freedom with tyre strategy tomorrow which could play into his hands.”
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Sebastian Vettel heads Ferrari 1-2 in qualifying; Lewis Hamilton takes P3
Ferrari qualify 1-2 for Chinese GP in Shanghai on Saturday. Photo: FIA Shanghai, 14 April 2018: Sebastian Vettel led a Ferrari one-two and set a new track record in qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix, the third round of the Formula One World Championship here on Saturday. The German edged out teammate Kimi Räikkönen by just 0.087s while Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas finished third ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
Raikkonen set the early pace in Q1 with a lap of 1:32.474, with the Mercedes cars of Bottas and Hamilton slotting in behind. However, seven minutes into the 18-minute session Vettel jumped to the top of the order with a lap of 1:32.171.
Vettel’s time was good enough to keep him on top for the remainder of the session, with Raikkonen eventually finishing in second, three tenths of a second behind his team-mate. Bottas was third and Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen fourth ahead of Haas’ Roman Grosjean and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.
There was a race against time for Verstappen’s team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, however. The Australian suffered an engine failure midway through the final practice and as the 18 minutes of Q1 counted down Ricciardo’s side of the garage was a hive of activity as his crew raced to complete an engine change.
Ricciardo eventually made into the track with a little over two minutes to spare and his only flying lap of the session saw him clamber up to P13.
That became 14th place as Renault’s Carlos Sainz powered through to seventh place but the drop stopped there for Ricciardo and he repaid his mechanics’ hard work with qualification for the second session.
He would be joined by Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley who edged out of the drop zone and into P15 with his final flying lap.
The margin was fine, though, with the New Zealander finishing just five-hundredths of a second clear of Williams’ Sergey Sirotkin and 0.88s ahead of his Toro Rosso team-mate Pierre Gasly who finished ahead of Williams’ Lance Stroll and the Saubers of Charles Leclerc and Marcus Ericsson.
Raikkonen set the pace in Q2, with the Finn posting a lap of 1:32.286 as Ferrari and Mercedes looked to qualify on soft tyres and thus start on those sets. The Finn sat 0.099s ahead of Vettel, with a more comfortable Ricciardo, on ultrasofts, a further three tenths back. Bottas was fourth ahead of Verstappen and then came Hamilton.
The Briton went for a second run on softs, however, and duly took top spot with a lap of 1:31.914 that put him just over a tenth ahead of Bottas, with Raikkonen third in front of Vettel, both of whom abandoned final runs on ultrasofts. Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg was fifth ahead of, Grosjean, Ricciardo, Verstappen, Force India’s Sergio Pérez and Renault’s Carlos Sainz.
Out went 11th –placed Haas’ driver Kevin Magnussen followed by Force India’s Esteban Ocon, McLaren’s Fernando Alonso, and Stoffel Vandoorne, while Hartley stayed in the 15th place he’d occupied at the end of Q1.
Raikkonen set the pace in the first runs of Q3, with the Finn finishing 0.161s ahead of Vettel. Bottas was third, 0.425 behind his fellow Finn, while Hamilton was fourth, five-hundredths of a second behind his team-mate. Verstappen and Ricciardo were fifth and sixth respectively.
But it was Vettel who made the biggest step in the final runs. As Bottas failed to improve and small errors led to Hamilton abandoning his lap and settling for fourth, a lap of 1:31.182 looked to have sealed an 18th career pole for Raikkonen, but Vettel edged ahead, principally in the final sector, and the German claimed his 52nd pole and a new track record with his lap of 1:31.095.
With Mercedes in third and fourth, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took fourth place ahead of team-mate Daniel Ricciardo. Hulkenberg was best of the rest in seventh place, ahead of Perez, Sainz, and Grosjean.
2018 Chinese Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:31.095
2 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:31.182 0.087
3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:31.625 0.530
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:31.675 0.580
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:31.796 0.701
6 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:31.948 0.853
7 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:32.532 1.437
8 Sergio Perez Force India 1:32.758 1.663
9 Carlos Sainz Jr. Renault 1:32.819 1.724
10 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:32.855 1.760
11 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:32.986 1.891
12 Esteban Ocon Force India 1:33.057 1.962
13 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:33.232 2.137
14 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 1:33.505 2.410
15 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 1:33.795 2.700
16 Sergey Sirotkin Williams 1:34.062 2.967
17 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 1:34.101 3.006
18 Lance Stroll Williams 1:34.285 3.190
19 Charles Leclerc Sauber 1:34.454 3.359
20 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:34.914 3.819. -
Front row is a great result for the team; It is also nice to see the fans going crazy: Vettel
Shanghai, 14 April 2018: Sebastian Vettel led a Ferrari, as Kimi Raikkonen set the second fastest lap for P2 to lock the front row while the Silver Arrows Valtteri Bottas outpaced teammate and reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton to fourth. As usual, the top three attended the mandatory FIA Saturday Press Conference after the track-side interviews which were conducted by Davide Valsecchi.
Q: Sebastian, what a lap, it was just amazing. And then the last sector, how good it was, it was something unbelievable.
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, I was happy with the whole lap, not just the last sector. The car was really amazing. It just kept getting better, so really happy. I knew that on the first lap I had some mistakes. I lost the rear at Turn 3 at the exit of the low-speed, and then 6 again, so I was a bit beaten up, but then I knew that if I got a tidy lap and I have a little bit of margin then I could push.
Q: Do you ever check the reaction of the fans? They love it!
SV: Yeah, really good. Also in the hairpin, in Turn 14, just under braking, outside, I see the people going crazy. It’s really nice.
Q: Kimi, you were on pole just until the last sector of Sebastian Vettel. You have to be proud of your quali? I know it must be disappointing but your drive was excellent today.
Kimi Raikkonen: It was ok, but not good enough. It’s not exactly what I wanted, so, yeah, we go tomorrow and see what we can do.
Q: About tomorrow: what do you think you can do?
KR: Well, we try to improve. Obviously, it’s going to be a long race. We need to stay out of issues and go from there and see what it brings.
Q: Valtteri, how was your quali? It seemed that you were struggling a bit but then just at the end you could improve. What do you think, how was your Mercedes today?
Valtteri Bottas: I think for us it was quite straightforward honestly, as a qualifying, run by run understanding the tyres, getting them to work better. But we never could achieve similar grip levels to Ferrari today.
Q: Let me check it out, tomorrow, first row, Turn 1, how is it going to be?
SV: I don’t know. We find out tomorrow. Looks like on Kimi’s side there’s more rubber, so I need a good start!
Transcript of the Press Conference:
Sebastian, just talk us through that session and how you built up to that incredible time of 1:31.095?
SV: Yeah, it was indeed a crazy session – the car was unbelievable and it just got better. I think right from the first lap in the first of part of qualifying, in Q1, I was really happy and in the end, we didn’t have to do much on the car. I didn’t have to fight so much finding the last fine tunings. I was very happy with the settings I had from the beginning. Usually, you change quite a lot, you change your mind… it was tricky because also the wind was changing, sometimes more, sometimes less, and a bit gusty as well. Trying to look around the lap to see where the flags are, trying to get a reference. The last lap in Q3 I knew I could step it up. I knew I had a bit more in me, because on the first run I had two moments, out of Turn 3, accelerating I was probably a bit keen. The same out of Turn 6, I lost the rear twice, so I lost a bit of momentum in those places. So I knew that I had a little bit more and obviously in the last lap I got it all together and very happy that when I crossed the line I was looking up to see the screen and I saw something green, which is usually good, and a little bit of purple. Really pleased; it was a tight session but I think again a great result for the team.
Your car seems to be getting stronger by the race. Are you surprised by the gap to Mercedes this weekend?
SV: Yes, we are. I think the first three races have been a bit different now. The tracks are quite different to each other and to have that much of a gap is a bit of a surprise. But I think it’s also a track where you just need to get in and find that sweet spot and if you are a little bit out then easily you drop a little bit of time, so I wouldn’t be surprised tomorrow if that gap disappears and it will be a very tight race. Obviously, I wouldn’t mind if it stays there but I think it will be a tight race amongst the top three teams, and a long, tough race, but obviously, it’s good to start from the front.
Q: Kimi, coming on to you, you’ve been hooked up all weekend. Very, very close to your team-mate. Just talk us through the session from your point of view.
KR: I think it was pretty straightforward. Not much really happened. Obviously, after the morning it was a bit unknown where I was going to be with the wind and everything. I was pretty OK. Not much to say that was wrong. For sure there are things that we can improve always – but that’s a never-ending story. It was close. How close I don’t even know but close enough to make a difference, a few corners here and there. So, yeah, not ideal but tomorrow is another day. We’ll see what happens.
Q: You say tomorrow’s the day. You’re going to be starting the race on the soft tyre, as are the top four drivers. Was that a straightforward decision – or were you tempted to start on the ultrasoft?
KR: It was quite an easy decision, at least in the minds. If you cannot be fast enough… that we only find out in qualifying always but I think it was a quite straightforward decision. We’ll see how it plays out tomorrow. It’s a bit unknown tomorrow.
Q: Valtteri, just talking about that gap to Ferrari. Sebastian has already told us that he’s surprised at the size of the gap. Are you?
VB: Yeah, we are. We thought coming into today that we would be fighting for the pole position but it was definitely out of reach today, there was nothing in the lap that we could have gained that much. I think there’s a little bit in terms of getting the tyres absolutely perfect for the lap – but it’s not half a second. You could feel it if it would be that big. So, I think they have a really strong car. We can see it, especially in long corners, Turn One-Two, they make some good gains to us and obviously not without any speed difference on the straights, they can keep the gains they make in the corners – so we definitely have work to do but yeah, tomorrow is a different day. Again, a long race ahead and like we saw last weekend it probably will be close. Hopefully we can make it up tomorrow what we lost today.
Q: Can we elaborate a bit more about tomorrow. Do you think you’re going to have a more competitive race car than you had today?
VB: hmmm… it’s difficult to say. We expected to go into today, that we would be fighting for the pole. From our numbers, it’s going to be very close between us and Ferrari – but as they were quicker today, we don’t know. But we will for sure try with everything we can. Obviously, we start on similar tyres so there’s not going to be massive differences with the strategies but yeah, we need to try and take the opportunities.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: Question for Kimi. Kimi, the first two sectors of your final lap were the fastest in the session so far, what happened in the final sector?
KR: Nothing really. I lost some time but… I don’t know why. It wasn’t like I did some big mistake but yeah, need to see, I don’t know right now.
Q: Question for the two Ferrari drivers. It’s always a balance between race pace and qualifying pace. Now, as you’ve seen the gap to the Mercedes, do you feel you’ve sacrificed race pace a bit too much for qualifying pace?
SV: No. No, I think we try to look at both, obviously, and tomorrow the forecast is quite different so I think we kept that in mind. Obviously we see how it works tomorrow but the answer is still no.
Kimi, anything to add?
KR: I honestly don’t know how you could sacrifice something today to be better tomorrow. We have nothing that you could change like that. I never… as long as I remember, there has never been a case like that. You have somehow different setups for two days. It’s what you have. If it’s fast in qualifying it’s fast in the race, if it works.
Q: Kimi, very good qualifying lap but still not good enough so what details do you think can be improved if you want to overtake your teammate, if it’s possible, in tomorrow’s race?
KR: Well, obviously first of all we need to make sure that we run a troublefree race. Obviously that’s the first point and then we have to see how it pans out, obviously, so it’s a long race. We know what we’re going to do between ourselves so there’s nothing… I think the start will be a big part of it and who knows? We will see how it pans out and what it brings but we need to make the best out of it.
Q: Valtteri, you mentioned that you were struggling to find the grip level that you had yesterday. Was it because of the low temperature, does that mean that your car is less competitive under low temperature conditions?
VB: Well, I think the grip levels came up, for sure, from yesterday so in a way it was better but I think I said, I just struggled to find as much grip as Kimi and Seb. I said maybe some part of it can be from the tyres but I think some of it must come from the car. I don’t know if yesterday… it’s (tomorrow) going to be quite different to today, definitely warmer, a few degrees warmer with the air and definitely on the track; with the sun it’s a question mark. But we don’t think we are less competitive on a cold track. I thought we struggled a bit in Bahrain with the heat! For sure, we always need to understand everything better but for sure we need to make the car better as well.
Q: Seb, you had some problems yesterday; I don’t think the balance was alright and on the long run the lap times dropped a bit. Why did it go so much better today? Did you change something dramatic in the car or what happened?
SV: We made some small changes but I think it was already pretty OK yesterday afternoon. I think in the long run I was catching traffic and (on) the other one it started to rain so I think for everyone it was a bit compromised, the amount of laps that you got. Yeah, I think overall I was happier today. Obviously it helps a little bit to focus on one lap as well, if you get the P3 session right you get the better feeling for the car so between practice and qualifying we didn’t do hardly anything. I think the overnight changes that we did, they were working and they made the car a little bit better. I was a little bit happier with the front end overall. I hope we can carry that momentum and feeling, obviously, into the race tomorrow.
Q: Valtteri, are we seeing a recurrence of Mercedes’s struggles on the softest compound Pirellis from last year? And in those scenarios why do you think you are able to get more out of the car than Lewis?
VB: I think we saw in the races before that in general we’ve been a bit better with the harder compounds. That is something that we’re still working on, to get more out of the softer compounds and I think Ferrari is doing something better on that so yes, for that. I think the gap between me and Lewis was really small, it’s been quite small all weekend so it’s about fine details. I haven’t seen the lap so it’s difficult to say, really, why I was ahead but yeah, it’s been close between us all season so far so that’s how it is.
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Argentina preparing for WorldSBK arrival in October; El Villicum confirmed as 2018 Circuit
Madrid, 14 April 2018: FIM, The Government of San Juan, OSD and Dorna WSBK Organisation are delighted to confirm the Argentinean WorldSBK Round will go ahead from October 12 to 14, following a meeting held between all parties last week.
Confirming the event will take place at the new El Villicum circuit means the 2018 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship will have 13 Rounds this season, and no changes will be made to the provisional calendar.
WorldSBK fil photo by Dorna WSBK Sergio Uñac from the Government of San Juan is looking ahead to Round: “We are looking forward to the World Superbike Championship arriving in October for the first time. We are working hard to make this happen and it will be a fantastic boost for tourism in the area. Working with a long-term project in mind, we are building the El Villicum circuit to be one of the best venues for motor events in South America. We look forward to inviting you all to our province, and we will offer the best possible welcome.”
Orlando Terranova, OSD adds: “We want to make WorldSBK in Argentina a unique Round for all lovers of motorcycling in Latin America. After the success of the fifth MotoGP™ visit to the Termas de Rio Hondo, we are now working in this integral project with passion. We look forward to fans arriving in San Juan in October along the stunning Route 40, and enjoying two magnificent races with the worlds fastest production motorcycle series.”
Daniel Carrera, WorldSBK Executive Director, explains: “We have a very challenging project in front of us due to the time frames, but after the meeting last week we have been able to design a plan which ensures that the essential facilities to run the event will be provided at adequate levels next October. El Villicum is set to be a reference circuit once 100% completed, and will be the perfect destination to host WorldSBK, bearing in mind also the amazing location of the race track, in front of the Andes foothills and surrounded by vineyards.”
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China GP: With chasing pack closing in on the front-runners, frenetic action on the cards!
Circuit Map – Courtesy China Grand Prix By Harish Samtani
Shanghai, April 13: The land of mystique spoke with me on arrival at the airport in Shanghai. The customs department was scrutinizing incoming passengers and
I had to restrain myself from asking the stern looking officer as to what on earth was he looking for! Everything that I had with me, including my luggage and my undies, were made in China! Maybe, they had a bizarre reverse smuggling regulation in force!All that flippancy transformed quickly to respect once I reached the F1 circuit. China had exceeded itself in building a state-of-the-art circuit that has the approval of all the teams. From the perfect surface of the track itself to the facilities on offer were bang on.
Add to this a picturesque location – the team paddocks are located idyllically on the banks of a meandering river and the Media Centre that has the best view ever of the circuit’s many corners and looking out on to the start/finish line. Top class. Period!
One tends to overlook the shortcoming of lack of the English language and the overwhelming presence of the Special Forces on duty. There was a sign posted on the glass window stating that it was dangerous to take pictures from there and strictly not permitted! In short, you shoot pictures and we shoot you. Fair.
The 5.45 Km circuit allows for a maximum straight line speed of about 320 KPH and seems to be favored by most drivers. Tyre wear isn’t all that much and hence one can expect – I am guessing – that most teams will opt for the ultra super soft option of tyre and then stop just once for a change after about 15 laps. Looks like, it’s going to be fast and furious all the way to the checkered flag.
The other rhyming word is curious, as to the tremendous build up of tension in the midfield. The time difference is tantalizingly close from 6th downward to the 14th position. With fractions of a second separating them, finally boredom may have to take a back seat, thankfully. That is, if the cars get thru’ the first two laps without taking each other out, like they stupidly did in Bahrain.
Photo: McLaren F1 team Alonso’s team McLaren had brought grief upon themselves in Bahrain by opting to focus more on cornering speed via better downforce and which as a downside affected their straight line speed by about 7 Kph. Their Bahrain Sheikh sponsor didn’t quite enjoy that event from his royal box obviously! So, one can hopefully see this legend back and thrilling his legion of faithful followers.
Now, if one was to throw in Max Verstappen (good news that he and a forgiving and forgetting (?) Hammy have kissed and made up) and Ricciardo into the mix, it’s going to be frenetic action surely. This will hold good through the entire season, of this I am sure. Practice timings only flatter to deceive and hence I won’t dwell on that for now for the Chinese chapter.
Photo: Redbull Racing The leaderboard will have its independent numbers and stories since the big boys such as Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull are in a different league and only major mishaps can derail their charge to the top. But they are a bit confused and worried about the emergence of team Haas and Toro Rosso as challengers.
Gasly (Toro Rosso, 4th in Bahrain) and Magnussen (Haas, 5th in Bahrain) have been quite proficient behind their respective wheels. Vicious rumors are doing the rounds about probable reasons for their superlative performance, but I think that’s rather unfair and uncalled for. Time will tell and time can be a bitch when push comes to shove.
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McLaren boys put in the extra miles during FP sessions and hoping for good results
Photos: McLaren F1 team Shanghai, April 13: Expressing satisfaction over his team McLaren’s preparedness for this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso, who finished 12th and 10th respectively in the two Free Practice sessions, here today, felt that they needed to “improvise” over the next two days during the qualifying and race.
Alonso’s team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne, despite a wobble during the practice session, said he was confident that everything will come together over the next two days. According to a McLaren press release, about 15 minutes before the end of the session, Vandoorne was released from the box with a loose rear right wheel, the cause of which the team is still investigating.
The release said the morning session was a productive one for the team, where the run plan focussed primarily on set-up, correlation and tyre work. Minus a short trip across the gravel for Stoffel Vandoorne, the session ran smoothly and the team completed its planned run programme.
In the afternoon, the team focussed on the normal set-up correlation and longer runs in preparation for the weekend ahead. Again, both sessions were productive despite the impending threat of rain out on track.
The rain finally began to fall five minutes before the chequered flag, at which point the team opted to put Fernando on Intermediate tyres to gather data on the conditions in the event of similar conditions on Saturday or Sunday, the release added.
Fernando Alonso Alonso said: “The first session today was primarily spent testing some new parts we have on the car, while in the second session we focussed on the tyres. Since the degradation here is quite high, especially on the front tyres, it was important for Stoffel and me to test both compounds.
“We also managed to check the car in wet conditions, on Inter tyres, even though it was only for a few minutes at the end of the session. It’s always good to have an idea of engine mapping and everything else, which is different in the wet.
“We’re expecting good weather for the race – dry, sunny and wind blowing in a different direction – therefore not very similar conditions to today, so on Sunday we’ll need to improvise.
“We completed all the items on our programme and now we need to go through all the data and find performance for tomorrow.”
Vandoorne, who was 18th and 14th quickest in the two practice sessions, said: “It’s not been the smoothest Friday for us. We had a few problems in FP1, and FP2 wasn’t perfect either with the issue with the pit-stop, but I did feel a lot more confident in the car this afternoon.
Stoffel Vandoorne “In general, we’ve learned a lot again and FP2 was a much better session. The most positive thing from today, as we’ve learned over the last couple of weekends, is that our race pace looks promising and there’s a lot of effort going into our race preparation. Our qualifying performance we still need to work on a bit and understand a few things, but generally I feel okay.
“There’s plenty to play with here – the weather might look a bit tricky tomorrow and we’ll have a few different possibilities in terms of allocating tyres, but I think we have everything we need. There is quite a big difference between the Prime and the Option tyres as they behave quite differently so it will make things pretty interesting.
“We’re prepared and we know what we want for the race, so we should be in a strong position. It was also quite windy today and I think everyone was affected by it, but generally we had no major issues.”
Regarding his incident, Vandoorne said: “After the pit-stop I left the box and I didn’t feel that there was anything wrong straight away. It was only as I turned left into Turn Three that I felt something happen, and when I looked in the mirror I could see that the right rear wheel was wobbly, so I immediately parked the car as a safety precaution. At the moment, we’re still investigating, so it’s a bit too early to say what caused it.
“Pit-stops are part of Formula 1 and I think they always will be in some way. Of course, we don’t like to see incidents like we saw in Bahrain – we’ve seen a couple of cars having to park up and it’s definitely not what we want – but it happens every now and then.”
Eric Boullier, Racing Director, said: “Today was a useful day for us in terms of setting up the car for the weekend ahead. We managed to complete a solid amount of work and test a lot of different components, compounds and configurations, and now we’ll focus on analysing the data ahead of tomorrow.
“The threat of rain over the weekend puts a question mark over set-up for all the teams in the pit-lane, but we’re working hard to prepare ourselves for any eventuality using the data we have and read the situation as best we can. We managed to get one run in on the Inters at the end of the session so at least we have some information and feeling for the car’s behaviour in these kinds of conditions here in Shanghai.
“We don’t know yet what caused the issue in Stoffel’s practice pit-stop. It appears the right rear wheel didn’t attach properly, but we’re still investigating.”
Source: McLaren F1 team Press Release
sustain its superiority over the German outfit, are currently busy consuming big portions of humble pie after Saturday’s qualifying session in the Chinese Grand Prix here.
I had to restrain myself from asking the stern looking officer as to what on earth was he looking for! Everything that I had with me, including my luggage and my undies, were made in China! Maybe, they had a bizarre reverse smuggling regulation in force!
