INDIA in F1

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  • I am hoping I will get to battle with at least one of them (Vettel, Max): Hamilton

    I am hoping I will get to battle with at least one of them (Vettel, Max): Hamilton

    Sebastian Vettel who took the pole, flanked by Max Verstappen (left) and Hamilton on Saturday in Mexico. Image by FIA

    DRIVERS at Saturday FIA Press Conference after qualifying: 1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari); 2 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing); 3 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    TRACK INTERVIEWS (Conducted by Damon Hill)

    Sebastian, what a great lap, tell us all about it?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, it was quite a lap I have to say, I’m really, really happy. It’s very difficult here. It’s very slippery and difficult to get everything in one lap. I had a little bit in the first sector and I managed to get that right, so I had a good start. Then I had a bit of a moment in I think Turn 6. I nearly lost it there, I had to go down to first gear, but I didn’t lose any time and then I knew in the last sector if I just kept it clean across the line it should be enough and it was, so really, really happy.

    You’ve had to work really hard, I think Ferrari have really been working all weekend trying to get close. Is the car the racecar you want to have tomorrow?

    SV: Yeah, yesterday wasn’t that good for us in all honesty, but I think overnight we improved, we had a lot of things we worked on and changed and they all worked. So for now I’m really happy. For tomorrow, we’ll see what happens, but the race pace should be good.

    Max, what a tremendous effort. We really thought you had pole there. I expect you thought you had it too. Great performance, great qualifying, tell us about your laps?

    Max VERSTAPPEN: I’m super annoyed. I don’t know. Actually in Q3 it just got a bit more difficult, couldn’t really get the tyres to work. Of course, yeah, second is good, but not in the way I want.

    Well, I’m thinking you probably feel like you deserve a podium don’t you?

    MV: Well, deserve is a big word but I gave it my all today in qualifying but it was just not enough. I really wanted that pole position but at least we have a decent starting position.

    Well, we’ve seen what you can do today, what a terrific effort. Thank you very much for showing us what your talent is all about. Lewis, you tried everything today, but maybe the Mercedes is not the car for this track today. What’s going on there?

    Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, I mean those guys did a great job, they’re obviously very quick. I gave it everything I could, honestly I think the last lap could have been a couple of tenths quicker but still I wouldn’t have been able to match these guys.

    As far as the championship goes, you’re not concerned with where Ferrari is, where Seb is, they’ve done everything they need to do?

    LH: We’re still in the running for the win I think. We’ll see what happens with Max, but I’m hoping that I get to at least have a battle with one of them.

    Big day tomorrow, wishing you all the best for tomorrow. Seb, what needs to happen? You’ve got a slender chance left now for the world championship. You just have to go down that empty track and take the race for yourself do you?

    SV: I mean we have to maximise every session, whether it’s practice or qualifying. Obviously today is really important and tomorrow we see. You know yourself, it’s not as much in my control as I would like it to be, so it depends on what Lewis is doing, but for us we go all out. We attack and see what we can do. We deserve a good result, Ferrari deserves a good result so let’s see what we can do tomorrow.

     

     

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Well, Sebastian it looked like a great lap, but let’s start by talking about 50 pole positions. What does that number mean to you?

    SV: It sounds like a lot. I guess it is a lot. I don’t know really what to say. It’s a big number. I’m very, very happy with today. Before qualifying I didn’t look at it that way, so I was surprised myself to hear just now. I think every session you try to get the best. Quali has obviously been tough for us, and really rewarding when it worked, just like today. So really, really happy with the session that we had, with the lap I had at the end. So I think at the moment, right now, that probably means more than the raw number, but for sure overall it’s a great achievement.

    And how confident were you of getting pole position in Q3 given the pace of the man sitting on your right?

    SV: Yeah, he was very quick in Q2. I don’t know where he pulled that one from, so we had to stretch, I think, all of us. It’s very difficult around here because there is not much running I believe. The altitude has a different affect on the asphalt in terms of ageing, so it’s very slippery for all of us, very easy to do a mistake, very difficult to find that limit, to understand where exactly it is, where you can push, where you can’t, where you have to be careful. And then he foes four tenths quicker than everybody else, it’s a bit “how do I do that?” But I knew if I get the first sector together then I’ll have a better chance and yeah, it worked just in the end, so I was really happy with my first sector, so I was really happy with my first sector. And then I was able to build on that. Had a moment in six, where I nearly lost the car, but managed to go through without any time loss. From there I felt really comfortable and again able to push to the end. Obviously when I saw how much I was up crossing the line, I knew it would be close, but it should be enough. But I didn’t know what the others are doing; I guess the track improved a bit. When I heard it was enough, then, yeah, it’s like an explosion in the car. I had one yesterday with the extinguisher but today was a real one, so I’m really happy.

    Q: Coming to you Max, Sebastian has just been eulogising about your pace in Q2, so how frustrated are you that you’re not the man sitting in the middle this afternoon?

    MV: I mean you always try to go for pole position and Q2 was looking really good but somehow in Q3 I couldn’t switch the tyres on and, yeah, I couldn’t go faster, simple as that. On this track, it’s really slippery and for me the front tyres were not working, so just a bit of understeer and, on this track, you need to turn the car very quickly in the very low-speed corners and that was not happening in Q3, so I couldn’t improve. Yeah, of course, I mean second is still a good place but I think, yeah, especially after Q2 I was hoping for more.

    Q: Is there anything you might have done differently, with hindsight in Q3?

    MV: It’s difficult to say. Basically, we did exactly the same thing as in Q2 but both sets, they didn’t really switch on as well as I had in Q2. Somehow also the last sector was a bit more difficult. So yeah, really difficult to understand but sometimes you have that in qualifying, that you put a new set on and somehow it’s a bit more tricky.

    Q: Lewis, can you just talk us through that session from your point of view – because the gap between yourself and pole is unusually big.

    LH: Well, firstly, congratulations to Sebastian with the Number 50. I tried to deny him it but it wasn’t to be this weekend. Yeah, I think it was a difficult session in general. I think it’s been a difficult weekend, I would say, overall. As Max was saying, it’s very slippery here. I think some of the issues we have with the car are a little bit highlighted here. Perhaps not as big as places like Singapore but a little bit more here. I gave it everything I could. I think the gap really is a couple of tenths more. My last lap I was two-tenths up and I didn’t finish it, but still that’s a significant gap. I think they just did a great job. I think their car was working a little bit better this weekend, and yeah, we’re still there in the fight. I think our long run pace is definitely better than our qualifying pace.

    Q: I was going to say, you did a very long run in practice. How confident are you of your race pace?

    LH: As I said, the race pace is good, so not worried about that – but you can’t overtake here, you need a big delta to overtake, I think it’s over a second delta to the car in front, as far as I’m aware – 1.3s or something – so positioning is important but there’s a long way down to Turn One. So, we should have some fun tomorrow.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Rodrigo Amozurrutia de Anzorena – Récord) Sebastian, will it be special for you to win the race where maybe Lewis will get the World Championship.

    SV: Well, I don’t think we need to debate what’s the bigger cup. For us, it’s pretty straightforward. I don’t think it’s much point looking at what others are doing, what Lewis is doing. I think the position we are in, we need to try and maximise everything we can and then, depends on him. It’s pretty straightforward, I would say but for sure this is a very nice race, a very nice atmosphere and I think tomorrow there will be even more people than today and yeah, last year I think we were fighting for the podium and weren’t sure who was supposed to be there, so this year I hope that y’know.

    MV: I’m used to it, I’ve had practice…

    SV: … so when we get to the podium, we end up there and deserve it.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globoesporte.com) Max, what influence the new engine of Renault engine you use already in Austin, this qualifying? And Lewis, maybe you have some problem in the power unit. Are you worried concerning the race?

    MV: A tickle difference. But y’know, every step is positive so I think they can learn a lot for next year, which is positive already, in terms of reliability, so it’s always good to already have that right now.

    And Lewis, any engine dramas for you? We did hear you in practice on the radio.

    LH: It’s not something I’m thinking too much about but it has not been a clean weekend in terms of the power unit, so we’ll see what happens.

    Q: (Rik Spekenbrink – Ad Sportwereld) Question for Max. What do you make of the incident with Bottas?

    MV: Which incident? I was on the inside, he was just doing his line and he locked up, so there was no incident.

    We heard there was some investigation

    MV: That can be. But for me, there is no incident.

    Q: (Mariana Jiménez – Record) Lewis, you said the race pace is better for tomorrow than the qualifying but what could stop you from winning tomorrow and would you like to get your fourth title, even though you don’t win tomorrow?

    LH: Yeah, I mean that’s obviously the goal. Pole position was obviously the goal today but it just wasn’t meant to be. Honestly it was so close through practice and I think it’s the first time it’s been so close between five or six of us which is exciting and put us all under pressure but as I said, a lot of very good qualifying sessions I’ve had this year… it wasn’t at the top of those. But I think, as I said, overtaking here is very difficult but the start’s going to be fun. I’m hoping I’m able to move forwards there if possible and then after that it’s a one stop strategy here so it’s really how you look after your tyres’ degradation but there’s not really much degradation if any. I think in the race it’s going to be very very tough but I hope that I will remain at least close if I’m not where I want to be in turn one but yeah, winning here would be…. If you’ve seen the crowd today it’s such a spectacle from above. I saw the camera from the helicopter, it looks incredible. There’s a lot of energy in the crowd so to do it on Mexican soil would be pretty neat.

    Q: (Jim Vertuno – Associated Press) For all three of you: at one point in different points of the race last year you all had issues, adventures around that first turn. How do you think the kerbs and the changes there are going to affect how aggressive you can be off the start between the three of you?

    SV: Well, you don’t want to go there, simple as that. I know that last year we had a bit of discussion here and there but personally I don’t like… we might as well put a wall. I think for the guys it’s probably the same. We all try to get the corner, every time we go round. Obviously sometimes we don’t but it is what it is.

    MV: I do think this year it’s normally a little bit easier. We don’t arrive as fast and we have more downforce compared to last year so the locking is a little bit less of an issue but of course turn one, if you really want to go for it, you can always brake a bit too late but I think those kerbs really stop you from like braking ridiculously late, for sure.

    LH: I don’t really have much more to say, it’s the same.

    Q: (Ysef Harding – Xiro Xone News) Max, you’ve often shown that you’re a young man without fear, you don’t care if it’s a red car, silver car and you’ve often said that these guys have everything to lose and you don’t. Are you planning to take advantage of that tomorrow?

    MV: You’re always careful. I think everybody here in the paddock wants to win races so if you see that opportunity of course you go for it but I think you always respect your competitor.

    Q: (Frank – Woestenburg De Telegraaf) Max, you’ve been here a couple of days. The altitude, is that a factor for you?

    MV: Personally not, because it’s actually quite nice because you don’t sweat as much but of course for the car it’s a lot of downforce loss, I think it’s even less than Monza so yes, it’s a bit more tricky and then also with the track I think in general being a bit slippery, then with a lot of loss of downforce compared to normal tracks yeah, that’s a bit more difficult but personally or like physically it’s all good.

    Q: (Carlos Alberto Velázquez – Reforma News) Lewis, have you thought how you will celebrate tomorrow if you win your fourth championship here in Mexico?

    LH: I haven’t and I won’t think of it until I achieve it.

    ends/FIA transcript

  • Vettel takes 50th pole; Hamilton P3: Mexican F1 GP

    Mexico City: Sebastian Vettel took a superb 50th career pole position in qualifying for the Mexican Grand Prix ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen and championship leader Lewis Hamilton.

    Vettel must win tomorrow’s race and hope that things go wrong for Hamilton in the race, but should Hamilton finish fifth or better, even victory for Vettel will not be enough to prevent the Briton taking a fourth career title tomorrow.

    Hamilton set the pace in Q1 with a lap of 1:17.518 that put him six hundredths of a second clear of team-mate Valtteri Bottas. Both Mercedes set their times on ultrasoft tyres while behind Verstappen slotted into third on supersofts. Vettel also opted for the red-banded Pirellis to take fourth place ahead of McLaren’s Fernando Alonso and Force India’s Sergio Perez. The only other drivers to book Q2 places on supersoft tyres were seventh-placed Kimi Räikkönen in the second Ferrari and Daniel Ricciardo in the second Red Bull in P8.

    At the lower end of the table Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson was the first man eliminated, the Swede missing out on a Q2 berth by just under two tenths of a second to Williams’ Lance Stroll. Behind Ericsson, team-mate Pascal Wehrlein finished 17th ahead of the Haas cars of Kevin Magnussen and 19th-placed Romain Grosjean. Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly failed to set a lap during the session, as his team were unable to fix an engine issue encountered in FP3 in time for qualifying.

    After aborting his first lap in Q2, Hamilton then set the pace for the majority of the session with a time of 1:17.035. That put him two hundredths of a second ahead of Vettel with Bottas third.

    Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley then ground to a halt in Turn 6, reporting a loss of power, and the yellow flags came out. Behind him Verstappen has just set a session-best first sector time but had to abandon the lap.

    It didn’t disadvantage the Red Bull driver, however, and on the next lap he blasted past Hamilton’s time, setting a lap of 1:16.524 to top the timesheet by more than half a second.

    Vettel leapfrogged Hamilton to claim P2 at the end of the segment, with the German closing the gap to Verstappen to just over three tenths of a second. Hamilton took third ahead of Bottas, Räikkönen and Ricciardo. Also through at the end of Q2 were Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz in seventh place, team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, and the Force Indias of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Pérez.

    Out though went Williams Felipe Massa in 11th place, the Brazilian finishing ahead of team-mate Lance Stroll, the unfortunate Hartley and the McLarens of Alonso and Vandoorne.

    Verstappen was again in command in the first runs of Q3. After setting a quick time in the first sector of his first flyer, he then abandoned the lap in Q2, winding up for another attack.

    In the meantime, Hamilton took P1 before being beaten by Vettel who set a time of 1:16.833. Verstappen, though, was flying again and the Red Bull man soon jumped to the top of the order with a time just two thousandths off his Q2 best. With Hamilton third, Ricciardo slotted into fourth place ahead of Ocon, Sainz, Perez, Räikkönen, Hulkenberg and Bottas who suffered a large lock-up on his first run.

    It was Vettel, though, who dug deep to find the time necessary to claim pole in the final runs. As Hamilton and Verstappen made small errors that prevented any improvement, the German put in a superb lap to brush past Verstappen’s first-run time by eight hundredths of a second.

    Verstappen held second, for the third time in his career, but the Dutch driver was placed under investigation for possibly blocking Bottas in the opening runs.

    Bottas then finished fourth ahead of Räikkönen and Ocon. Ricciardo, in the other Red Bull, also failed to improve in the final runs and finished seventh ahead of Hulkenberg, Sainz and Perez.

    2017 Mexican Grand Prix – Qualifying
    1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:16.488
    2 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:16.574 0.086
    3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:16.934 0.446
    4 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:16.958 0.470
    5 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:17.238 0.750
    6 Esteban Ocon Force India 1:17.437 0.949
    7 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:17.447 0.959
    8 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:17.466 0.978
    9 Carlos Sainz Jr. Renault 1:17.794 1.306
    10 Sergio Perez Force India 1:17.807 1.319
    11 Felipe Massa Williams 1:18.099 1.611
    12 Lance Stroll Williams 1:19.159 2.671
    13 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso
    14 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:19.176 2.688
    15 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber 1:19.333 2.845
    16 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:19.443 2.955
    17 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:19.473 2.985
    18 Fernando Alonso McLaren Honda
    19 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso Renault
    20 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren Honda.

    eom/release

  • Pedrosa takes impressive pole; Marquez 7th despite early crash

    Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa took a fantastic pole position for tomorrow’s Malaysian GP—his third this year, his 31st in MotoGP, and the 49th in his career.

    After struggling in the wet on Friday, Dani was able to consistently improve his pace in today’s sunny and hot conditions, setting the third fastest lap time in FP3 and the fifth quickest in FP4 before besting Johann Zarco and Andrea Dovizioso by 0.017” and 0.024”, respectively, in the last minute of an incredibly hard-fought qualifying session.

    After ending FP3 in ninth place, Championship leader Marc Marquez found a good pace in FP4, securing the top spot. He also once again demonstrated his unbelievable bike control, saving a front-end slide in turn one, although he was subsequently unlucky in qualifying, crashing at turn 15 during his first flying lap, on which he had been setting the fastest lap as he entered the third sector.

    He immediately returned to the garage, mounted his second bike, and recorded what at the moment was the third fastest time. He improved again on his last run, but not enough, and had to settle for the seventh spot on the grid despite having the pace and speed to run at the front.

    Tomorrow’s race will begin at 3 p.m. local time.

  • Jehan Daruvala for FIA F3 World Cup at Macau on Nov 19

    This year’s FIA F3 World Cup will be fought out exclusively by the cream of young drivers seeking to make a name for themselves in world motor sport. Touted as the future F1 driver from India, Jehan Daruvala is the only driver from India who made it to the Macau event.. Along with four other Carlin teammates, he will be behind the wheels of a Dallara Volkswagen.

    Eight of the top ten drivers from the 2017 FIA Formula 3 European Championship will all take to the track in Macau, as well as five of the seven rookies who contested their first year of F3 competition in the world’s premier series.

    This of course means that newly-crowned FIA F3 champion Lando Norris will once again be facing his main rivals going up against the likes of Joel Eriksson, Maximilian Gunther and Callum Ilott.

    Three of the top four runners in the 2017 All-Japan Formula 3 Championship will also contest the event in the form of Sho Tsuboi, Alex Palou and Ritomo Miyata.

    While last year’s inaugural World Cup was weighted towards more experienced competitors, with Antonio Felix Da Costa winning his second Macau GP in five years from Felix Rosenqvist who was making a bid to become the first person to win three Macau GP’s in succession, this year it is guaranteed that a new winner will take to the top step of the podium.

    2016’s front-running drivers have moved on to race in the FIA Formula E Championship, although Rosenqvist will debut in the FIA GT World Cup at the Guia circuit.

    While none of the drivers on this year’s grid have won at Macau, many have some experience driving the challenging Guia Circuit. Ilott, fifth in the 2016 FIA F3 World Cup and fourth in this year’s European F3 Championship knows Macau well. His form in 2016 following Da Costa into second in the qualifying race and battling for an early lead in the final marked him as one of the fastest of the young guns at the circuit.

    Likewise Eriksson, second to Norris in the European championship with seven wins and thirteen podiums, will surely be one to watch.

    Norris also knows the undulating Macau circuit, although arguably not as comprehensively as Ilott or Eriksson. Norris first raced at Macau in the inaugural FIA F3 World Cup in 2016 when he finished 11th, after qualifying in the top ten on debut and testing the track limits when his nose cone was torn off in a qualifying race incident.

    The demanding Macau circuit with its bumpy surface, high speed main straight and 19 wall-enclosed corners is a constant challenge for both rookies and veteran drivers alike.

    This year nine of the FIA F3 World Cup contestants will be new to the track.

    The most prominent will be Mick Schumacher, son of seven time World F1 champion Michael, twelfth outright and third in the Rookie Championship of the FIA F3 European title.

    His father won the Macau GP in 1990 in spectacular fashion from Mika Hakkinen.

    Other key drivers to look out for will be:

    Sergio Sette Camara: Third in 2016 FIA F3 World Cup. Set the lap record around the Guia circuit in 2015 – a 2:10.186
    Kenta Yamashita: 2016 All-Japan F3 Champion. Impressed in the first FIA F3 World Cup finishing 4th. Currently racing in Super GT and Super Formula in Japan
    FIA Director of Single-Seater Championships, Charlie Whiting, said: “It’s very exciting to see so many young stars contesting the second FIA F3 World Cup. This is exactly what the event is all about – bringing together the top talents from the top F3 series around the world for an end-of-season showdown on this incredible circuit. Macau always resets the form book, and it’s sure to be an intense and unpredictable battle for a new driver to be crowned FIA F3 World Cup winner.”

     

    eom/FIA press release

  • I need to fight and I will fight: Marc Marquez at Sepang press meet

    I need to fight and I will fight: Marc Marquez at Sepang press meet

    Championship leader Marc Marquez at the Thursday press conference in Sepang. Photo by Srinivasa Krishnan for INDIAinF1.com

    Ahead of the Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix, the pre-event Press Conference brought Championship leader Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team), rival Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Franco Morbidelli (EG 0,0 Marc VDS), Valentino Rossi and teammate Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) together to talk about the weekend ahead – with both the MotoGP™ and Moto2™ titles in play for the first time.

    First to speak was Marquez, as he arrives 33 points ahead of Dovizioso and has his first shot at the title: “One of the main targets is try to finish, and try to be on the same level with the same mentality but obviously you feel a little bit different and it’s a special weekend. But on the other hand, I have the same motivation and mentality and I’ll try to push in the practices to the maximum to prepare the race, and we’ll see how we can fight and finish on Sunday. A lot of riders are fast here, and we did a lot of laps here during the preseason test so it will be a tough weekend. Here in the past I’ve had some ups and downs, it’s not one of my best tracks. We will see where we can arrive this weekend. But I have a good advantage, there are two races remaining, and we’ll try to be on a good level and think about the Championship. But if I need to fight, I will fight.”

    Andrea Dovizioso similarly had some fighting talk, saying he’ll try everything to try and keep the title open: “After a bad result at Phillip Island, I went to Langkawi for three days, and I enjoyed the weather and the beach to be ready for this weekend. We know it’s difficult but the Championship is open and we’ll try everything. We have to be ready in all conditions. Last year it was an amazing victory and battle with Valentino and Iannone. I have good memories and I really enjoy riding this track. In the past in the dry we’ve never been very competitive, but I expect it will be different this year. We’ll try and get the best result, and then we’ll see what happens with Marc and the other riders. Before we approached the weekend looking to win the race, and we won’t change that.”

    With a two-horse race for the crown now, the pressure is off for Viñales. And after a big step forward at Phillip Island, the rider from Roses is confident ahead of Sepang – and could complicate matters at the front. “I enjoyed Phillip Island a lot. I didn’t expect to be on the podium because I lost some seconds when I had contact with Iannone but I pushed to the limit. But we recovered the feeling, especially with the front tyre, and that’s important for Sepang. Let’s see what we can do this weekend but I’m convinced we can do another great job. This is a track I really like, I’ve always been fast with good results, and also it’s good for Yamaha. And I feel good in the tough conditions. We were struggling all year in the wet and then in 20 minutes we found the key! Here there should be some rain so it will be good to prove we’ve made that step.”

    A lot of the riders talked about the Australian GP and the incredible battle, and that included Rossi. The most successful rider at the venue with six wins, the Italian says he very much likes the track – but it’s the hardest weekend of the year: “It was a great pleasure to fight in that race at Phillip Island, it was very fun. And it was an important result, especially for me after injury, and for the team. We arrive here in good shape but here it’s completely different. I like this track a lot, I was on a 250 when we rode here for the first time and it’s a great pleasure to ride on a MotoGP bike. But It’s like the bad weather has followed us everywhere all season! We’ll try to be competitive in all conditions. In the wet this year I’m not as strong as last year, but we hope to be strong. This is the most demanding race of the season because it’s very hot.”

    Johann Zarco, meanwhile, thinks the Australian GP marked an important step forward – and knows he arrives back in Malaysia with a lot more experience compared to testing: “When I watched Phillip Island, seeing all those overtakes…I’m happy I was part of them, fighting at the top level – and I’m happy with the weekend we had, we had a good improvement that I hope we can have here too. If I can find the same feeling, I would like to be part of the fight for the podium or even for victory. I keep some hope of being back here on Sunday! Being fast at Phillip Island was a special emotion, but here is a bit different because we tested here. And I can feel the experience I’ve gained from February to October.”

    After Marquez and Dovizioso held court to begin the Press Conference, Franco Morbidelli was the final contributor in the first round of questions. Not quite with the same advantage as Marquez, it is still 29 points – and gives him a high chance of taking the title this weekend. Calm and collected as always, the Italian says he’ll try and keep it business as usual: “I will try to face this weekend as I usually do. I know it’s going to be hard and it won’t be a usual GP but I’ll try to stay calm, do my job and set up the bike to be as fast as possible. I really like Sepang, especially with the new surfaces with less bumps. It’s really nice to ride around here. Hopefully it will be dry or completely wet, I prefer clear conditions. In Australia both KTMs were really fast, I tried to get more points and battle with Binder but couldn’t beat him at the end. But third was good for the Championship.”

    The Championship, in both MotoGP™ and Moto2™, is sure to remain the talk of the weekend. Now track action begins on Friday morning, before everything is on the line on Sunday.

  • MotoGP stars play badminton against Olympians before Malaysian GP

    Pre-Event pitches MotoGP against Olympians as a game of badminton fires up the engines for the Malaysian GP

    Ahead of the Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix, points leader Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) and Ducati Team’s Jorge Lorenzo faced a different kind of rivalry – on the badminton court. Teamed up with Olympic Silver Medalists Yap Kim Hock and Rashid Sidek at the Velodrom National Malaysia in Nilai, the two went head to head to see who would win the first competition of the weekend.

    “It’s quite difficult to play,” smiled Marquez, who went into the event as a rookie. “It was the first time I’ve played and it’s hard to understand the speed of the shuttlecock. I was sweating a little bit!”

    Marquez was up to speed fairly quickly, however, and was able to pull out a lead – with Lorenzo playing through the pain barrier after his crash at Phillip Island.

    “I tried but I knew it would be difficult,” said the Ducati rider, who suffered a big crash in practice for the Australian GP. “I still have some pain in my shoulder and ankle so it wasn’t easy, but we had fun with Marc and the professional players. It was a good experience…similar to tennis but a bit different!”

    After the first few games, MotoGP™ Legend Mick Doohan made a wildcard appearance near the end as he tagged in to replace the Majorcan. “It’s not easy,” explained the Australian in the aftermath. “Initially, I thought it was going to be and the first few hits were ok…but then I lost the game! But it was a fun little event and I’ve never tried it before, so it was fun.”

    Marquez was similarly happy to have taken part, and on the eve of the first race weekend on the calendar at which he could take the title, says it can be useful to switch off from the world of two wheels for a while: “It’s good to have this kind of event. It helps you to forget about motorbikes a little bit and forget about the race weekend!”

    But not forget about competition, and it was the number 93 who took the win – something he’ll be looking to repeat this weekend as the title fight hits boiling point at Sepang International Circuit.

    Lorenzo is looking forward to getting back on track, with the venue more suited to the Ducati. “It’s a very different track,” explains the Majorcan. “Hard braking and slow corners, unlike Phillip Island. It’s much wider as a track…it should be better for our bike. Phillip Island was a difficult weekend so we just hope to have a better race.”

    Marquez’ mentality remains the same ahead of the weekend despite the opportunity he has to take the title, with the focus on pushing and staying calm under pressure.

    “We will try to give 100%, focus and have a similar mentality as in other races,” affirms the reigning Champion. “Now we have a good advantage we need to be calm and finish the race. From Friday my mentality is the same – start pushing 100% and check how our level is on Sunday.”

    That Sunday sees lights out at 15:00 local time (GMT +8).

    eom/MotoGP press release

  • Can Ducati’s Dovizioso spoil Marquez party at Sepang…. MotoGP on its penultimate leg

    Ducati rider, Andrea Dovizioso won’t go down without a fight, despite the low-down of the previous round and the reigning world champion, Marc Marquez, will have a fight on his hand when MotoGP returns to Sepang in Malaysia for the next Sunday’s penultimate round.

    “You need to be more stupid than them, more aggressive than them,” said the 38-year old multi champion who is a sporting legend on his own winning and fighting with elite younger riders with the aplomb the once brought him podiums galore. While Valentino Rossi, the nine-time World Champion was quipping with his delightful quotes, Marquez said: Amazing, amazing…. it was an amazing fight! That is what we need for the MotoGP to enthuse and enlighten the fans. “During the race, I was just waiting, waiting, waiting…” he said of the apparent chance to overtake the leader for a victory. But he will be waiting for just one more round, as patiently to clinch the issue.

    But the waiting games, the dogfights and the seat-edged battles are thrilling the fans and bringing more people to the event.

    At the Phillip Island race last Sunday, in 0ne of the most stunning dogfights of the modern era, it was reigning Champion and table topper Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) who emerged triumphant from the melee after breaking away from Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Andrea Iannone (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Valentino Rossi and Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) to take a well-deserved victory.  And it was a tough day out for title rival Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), as he suffered an early run off and was forced to fight back from P20; making it to thirteenth…. once has to see that if those three points will matter in the end, only if he can come back at Sepang and take the title fight to the last round in Valencia. He just needs to reduce the gap to 24 points, which means, he needs to get 9 points more than Marquez and bingo… the battle will pr0long.

    Now Marquez is 33 points clear as we touch down in the melting pot of Sepang. Searing heat, humidity, uncertain weather and a challenging and technical track make for a mammoth weekend on which the crown will first be in play, and there’s one thing squarely on Dovizioso’s side despite the pendulum having swung the other way: the Italian won there last season.

    Then, it was his first win since 2009. Now, it’s the first of six in a year – and a tough weekend at Phillip Island does little to diminish the Italian’s claim to the crown. Dovizioso won’t go down without a fight, and this is his final stand.

    The standings may be a two horse race for the title, but the race itself will surely not be. Rossi and Viñales were back on the podium at Phillip Island in style, and both will be aiming for the top once again. The rider from Tavullia has won at Sepang more times than anyone. Zarco – who won the Moto2 crown there in 2016 – is another who fought it out on the Island, and another who will be fired up to do it again. Likewise Andrea Iannone, as he looks to keep the momentum going after two top six finishes in two races – and some stunning moves in Australia.

    Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) could be a dark horse for the win. Pedrosa is the next most successful rider at the venue after Rossi, and has taken five wins – three of which have been in MotoGP™. Wet or dry, Pedrosa has reigned. He also equals Rossi’s pole position count – four – and has the pole record: a searing 1’59.053 lap of the venue in 2015.

    Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) is the race lap record holder and will want to bounce back after Phillip Island, Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) continues making huge progress and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing likewise – with another triumph at Phillip Island as they took two top ten finishes and had both bikes in Q2.

    Independent Team riders Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) and Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing) will be back chasing Zarco for the honour of being the first in that fight, and there will be a new name on the grid: Michael van der Mark.

    Originally called up to replace Rossi at Aragon, the Dutch WorldSBK rider will instead make his debut at Sepang replacing the absent Jonas Folger at Monster Yamaha Tech 3. The 2017 Suzuka 8H winner and former WorldSSP winner at Sepang races with no pressure, ready to get his first taste of the premier class.

    33 points separate the title contenders, two races remain and Sepang will bring it to boiling point: will Marquez hold his nerve, or can Dovizioso strike back? Action begins on Friday as the field prepare for battle.
    MotoGP World Championship Classification
    1 – Marc Márquez (SPA – Honda) 269 points
    2 – Andrea Dovizioso (ITA – Ducati) 236 points
    3 – Maverick Viñales (SPA – Yamaha) 219 points
    5 – Valentino Rossi (ITA – Yamaha) 188 points
    5 – Dani Pedrosa (SPA – Honda) 174 points

  • At the moment, I am just focussed on winning (the title): Hamilton

    DRIVERS: 1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes); 2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari);  3 – Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari).

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS (Conducted by Usain Bolt)

    Lewis, so this right here, is your fifth win in Austin, how are you feeling about the championship? 

    Lewis HAMILTON: I feel amazing. Firstly, look at this crowd.

    It’s brilliant.

    LH: These guys have been amazing. Since 2012 this crowd has been growing year on year. We had a beautiful day today; I love this track. I think this track is now my favourite track to be honest. I just… Honestly, I loved the swing of the corners today. Because the wind is blowing that way, it gave us the best platform to work with. Big congratulations to the team. They have worked so hard, everyone back at the factory, the guys here, they really true deserve… they’ve been the best team this year.

    Going to Mexico now, you’re in pole position to win, so how you feeling? 

    LH: I feel great man. How are you feeling after our drive?

    I’m still a bit nervous.

    LH: Honestly, bro, I’m honoured that you’re here. It’s a humbling experience. It’s a dream job and I know that many of you perhaps would love to drive a Formula One car and all I can tell you is it’s the greatest experience and feeling in the world and I wouldn’t be here without my family. My brother’s down here, my mum’s all the way back up there – sending you guys love.

    Thank you Lewis. Sebastian, a pleasure. So, you kept the race alive until the end. It was a real exciting race. You really pushed yourself at the end?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, I did. At the start it was looking good, obviously we got past Lewis. But then fairly quickly we had to realise that we couldn’t go his pace today, so well done and congrats to him. Then I think we were a bit in no-man’s land, not quite sure. It was close after the first stop again, but then obviously stuck again and towards the end we decided to pit again and fit a fresh set of tyres, which was a bit more exciting, the last couple of laps especially but overall not the result we wanted.

    Did you feel like Mercedes came here with a good strategy today?

    SV: Well, I mean, there was no real secret other than that they were quicker than us. I think we have to admit that today in the race we couldn’t go their pace. So I don’t think it’s down to strategy, it’s just… You should know, whoever is fastest usually has a good chance of winning.

    Thank you very much. Kimi, congratulations. At the end it was a really dramatic race, but are you happy with the points?

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Yeah, obviously I was pretty disappointed just after the race when I thought I’d finished fourth, but there was some issue with Max. It was a great race. My car was very good all the way, I just had to fuel save a bit in the end so I had to back off but apart from that the car was working very good.

    Your final thoughts on the race? It’s the 62nd win of your career.

    LH: Well, I’m trying to catch you up, dude. You led the way. It’s been an incredible year so far. Really enjoyed driving the car. I was not expecting to have the pace we had on Sebastian today. The car felt fantastic. We got the right balance at the start… Still three to go, so three more to win. Let’s go guys.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Lewis, you sixth win in the United States, your fifth at the Circuit of the Americas. You’ve only missed out once at the Circuit of the Americas in all the time we’ve been coming here. Mercedes clinch the Constructors’ Championship today. You made two very nice passes for the lead during the course of the race, which doesn’t happen every day, so maybe drill down into those and I think, fifth place in Mexico and you’re world champion.

    LH: First of all, I want to say a big congratulations to everyone in the team, all the partners, everyone back at the factory and everyone here. There has been an incredible push for this kind of performance this year. We’ve really pulled together more than I’ve experience or seen over the last five years this year to really pull together and create something quite special. So, really proud for everyone, especially in going from one era of car to another, which has not been done before, just shows strength and depth and I’m really proud to be part of it. The race was great. I have to say probably one of the most fun races that I’ve had for a while. I mean there’s been quite a few fun ones this year. Didn’t get away to a great start, not really sure why, but Sebastian got a great start. But I was kind of chilled about it, just knowing in the past that you can overtake here. Yeah, it was great just having those… I don’t know how many laps it was, but having that battle. Trying to get close; trying to get in the DRS. It was very reminiscent of 2012 here, seeing Sebastian up ahead and wanting to have a wheel-to-wheel battle. I had a lot of fun trying to get closer and obviously it came down to the overtake in Turn 12, which again was the same as 2012. That’s what I love for. That’s what I didn’t enjoy most. I was a little bit surprised Sebastian didn’t defend more, I would have, but still it was fair and then after that I think I had a little bit of a battle with Verstappen, which was like karting days, from one corner to the other. It was good fun. But overall I think today the wind changed around 180 degrees and it really made the track so special to drive being that through the high-speed section… Yesterday, coming out of Turn 1 you had massive wheelspin and today you had great traction and then going the ‘Esses’ with a headwind, it’s fire through there. It’s incredible. You’re throwing the car around and I guess the car is at its optimum performance through there, like it would be in the wind tunnel, so that’s where you get to enjoy it the most. Then you got to different corners and you have a tailwind, so you are having to push and pull. But just really grateful for all the support that I’ve had this weekend. My mum has been here, my brother and a bunch of friends. Usain has come out to support, with Puma, so that’s been great. Woody Harrelson came out in support. My close friend Gayle King, my best friend’s come, so a lot of support here and particularly in the crowd, a big thank you to everyone.

    Q: Sebastian, I guess your side of the story on the overtake. Great start, and also we have to ask you why you reacted when Verstappen made that extra stop, why you felt you had to do that, to react to cover it. And also, that insane move on Bottas through the middle with the lapped traffic, which was reminiscent of Mansell on Senna in Hungary back in the day. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen that but it was another one a bit like that anyway. A lot to digest.

    SV: Yeah. Started off well with a great start but then we were just not quick enough. Obviously, I felt the car and the tyres suffering quite a lot after three or four laps only, and Lewis was easily able to stay with us, close the gap and easily get into DRS, which usually is not easy after the fast section, so he was just quicker. And then, yeah, not so easy to see. I tried to block. Maybe I could have done a bit more – but on the other hand I think he was just so much quicker that it didn’t really matter. So, yeah, disappointing to lose the lead when you have it but I think with the difference in pace they had on us today, it wasn’t probably our race to win. After that, yeah, I struggled. Stopped quite early. It got close around the first stop with Lewis again and yeah, after that, managing the race, trying to get to the end – but I felt the tyres on the first stint were quite bad so I wasn’t sure on the second, and we talked about it by radio and decided then obviously to do something different, which at the time, was difficult to predict what was going to happen but I think if you look in terms of where we were three or four laps to the end, it’s probably the right choice. Obviously we had two cars racing for the podium today and we managed to both be up here. Trying to help Kimi in the end a little bit with a tow on the straight which worked but I think then the tyres… Max and my tyres I guess were just so much fresher it was quite easy to get past. The move on Valtteri was quite spontaneous. I wanted to go around the outside, I saw the lapped traffic, hesitated for a second, didn’t know where to go then I thought ‘OK, there’s a little bit of a gap, I just go for it.’ When I was in the middle of them I thought, ‘OK, just try to get out of here.’ It worked. It was very close. It also felt special. I think Valtteri was trying to wait and block the inside, so I had a bit of momentum and yeah, made it stick, so that was quite nice. Obviously overall not the result that I wanted today.

    Q: Coming to you Kimi, obviously, you decided to not cover Verstappen. So, what was the thinking there? Sebastian had, you didn’t. When he made his extra stop I mean. And then, can you give us your side of the story, because obviously it’s a quite a controversial end there with him losing the position on the podium with a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits and gaining an advantage. Can you give us your perspective on that please?

    KR: Well, I have no idea what happened with him. Apart from obviously he got past me in the third-last corner but, to be honest, my car has been all day very good. Not really any issues: the handling was good; the tyres lasted well and really the only thing was that I had to fuel-save in the end really quite heavily. So, I had to back off and, once Seb got behind me I let him past easily in Turn One and then tried to get some tow from him on the straights to try to save a bit more fuel – but that was really the only tricky point today, whey I had to slow down in the end. Apart from that, my car was good. But like I said, I have no idea what happened with Verstappen, why did he get a penalty, I don’t know.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Omar Alvarez – Graining.es) Question for Lewis Hamilton. Now you have the most wins in the US Grand Prix, ahead of Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher, what makes you different from both?

    LH: Apart from the obvious, I think… I don’t know. I think we all possess unique qualities in ourselves. Obviously I’m massively proud and honoured to be there amongst these incredible elite drivers that I grew up watching, and I would say we all have something very similar within us, in terms of pushing the limit, pushing the boundaries. What makes me a little bit different. I don’t know. As I said, I’m my own person, I’m a little bit outgoing. I guess I dress differently. I have different opinions – but it’s difficult to say how we would fare in a race all together, what differences you would see with us on track together. I wish we had the opportunity for that – but that’s all a dream.

    Q: (Did not declare his name) Lewis, you have 66 points more than Sebastian, the mathematics is totally in your favour. Can you please comment if you yourself maybe half-champion already or not? And to both Ferrari drivers, are you surprised by the fact that in this race Mercedes was more able to manage the tyres than Ferrari?

    LH: Not Mercedes. Lewis! I’m kidding. No, I don’t really let my mind get there. At the moment, I’m just focussed on winning, clearly, and I’m enjoying driving more than ever. I just really… the challenge, the pressure’s intense. Just always want to elevate yourself and shine brighter each time you get in the car. Today I had to make a couple of changes; adjustments with the temperature ramping up as it did. I just got it right on point. I guess all the experience of all the years really came into play because I got the balance just perfect. If I hadn’t made those changes I probably would have gone backwards. Yeah, so, there’s still three races to go. In my mind, I’ve still got three races to win. Still a lot of points available. So I don’t think until it’s ever properly done and sealed you can ever get ahead of yourself.

    And to the Ferrari drivers. Why was Mercedes able to look after the tyres better than Ferrari today?

    SV: Well, I don’t know the complete answer. I think, for my part, I wasn’t expecting to struggle that much, especially in the first stint. I think towards the end it was a bit more normal – but obviously by then the race was lost. I think coming here, looking at the track, it was probably more Mercedes ground but the last couple of races gave us a lot of hope and confidence and I think we’ve been OK. We were fairly close yesterday, closer than we expected. And unfortunately, today we were not gaining compared to normal where on Sunday we seem to be a bit closer – but not today.

    And Kimi? I think you were saying it was more about fuel saving than a problem with tyres.

    KR: I don’t think my tyres were at all in a bad shape. It all felt good and it wasn’t really any problem to push harder but, like I said, I had to fuel-save quite a bit in the end and that was the only limitation. For me, all race, the car was very good, so no complaints.

    Q: (Jorge Mendoza – La Prensa de San Antonio) Question for Sebastian. Sebastian, I know you had a lot of pressure on your shoulders this weekend. How was your approach for this coming race? I know you had to deliver, and you delivered a good second place with the car you had. Did you do something different from the previous races in regards to your mind and your attitude? What was the difference making you to deliver? Because you did a very great move this morning in the first turn. Did you risk at all? You weren’t able to pull it through. What was your approach for this race?

    SV: Thank you very much. Yeah, to be honest, I wanted to win, so not that different to other races, obviously the situation coming here is not what we wanted it to be, which the last couple of races not really on our side. To be honest it was fairly straightforward. I was confident we have the car, we have the speed and yeah, yesterday was important to get the front row. As we saw today, I was quite confident today would be better but it wasn’t the case. I probably realised a couple of laps in, and more or less a lap before the lap that Lewis passed, I was suffering more with the tyres than maybe he was or other people were in the race. So I need to understand why that was – but yeah, for sure it’s bitter. Nevertheless, we tried to fight and in that regard, at least it was a lot better than the other races where we didn’t have a chance to fight. Today we had. We got beaten fair and square so congrats to Lewis – but obviously yeah, there were a couple of things I think we could have done, should have done better. We were missing the Friday this weekend, which probably didn’t help – but the mindset was fairly straightforward. It was an easier weekend in that regard because we knew, and I knew we had to deliver – but I wanted to deliver as well. So yeah, that maybe made it a bit easier.

    Q: (Luis  Vasconcelos – Formula Press) Kimi, the reason Max was penalised was because he was judged to have completely cut the corner when he overtook you. At that moment, did you feel it was a fair moment? And also can you comment on the move that you did on Ocon and later in the race on Bottas?

    KR: Obviously I was half surprised… I saw him in the mirror and I tried to slow down the whole thing before the previous corners just to try to save enough fuel to be honest and then I thought I had enough cover on that corner, and I lifted because for the obvious reason that I said but suddenly I saw a bit of him in the mirror and I was a bit surprised. But obviously at that speed I was more looking forward than rearwards so I was pretty pissed off that he got past me but I didn’t have a chance and I slowed down but let’s say I was utterly surprised that I got to go on the podium but like I said, I haven’t seen it. It was part of the whole story but I don’t really know where he went. I think passing – was it Ocon? – was quite straightforward. I was expecting that it was going to be a lot harder but maybe he didn’t expect me to go inside but it was actually quite OK. I just had to make sure that I had enough speed there, that he was going to notice that I was there before he turned in. It was a bit more of a struggle with Bottas to get close enough and then finally I went and outbraked him and I managed to get past but that took a little bit of a while. I think they were a bit lacking… they were very fast on the back straight so it was very hard to… I was catching him but too late. I could follow him around the rest of the circuit but…

    Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday, Motorsport week.com) To all three drivers: the start of the race today with the pre-race ceremony was a little different to normal. Usually this is a time when you want to be yourself with your trainer and talking and quiet. This was anything but that. Could we have some comments? What did you think, pluses, minuses?

    LH: I think it was amazing. There was a little bit of waiting in the hallway, waiting for everyone to go out. That part felt a little bit long but I think they just made the SuperBowl here, they made the race, I think the entertainment was the best I think we’ve seen, with the drum line, the whole band. Yeah, I think the whole set-up. It was great to see something different. For many many years, the whole ten years, it’s been the same old boring thing on the grid except for now you have the national anthem but not really too exciting. I think this one was just much more like an NFL game which is exciting, with the fireworks and everything so I think they did a really great job and I think even from this they will learn and grow from that but we also had such a great turnout today. Not quite sure there’s such a great reception here in Austin but the fans, that big grandstand and up into turn one, they really make the atmosphere. When I’m driving down that straight, I can see them, also when you come down to turn 12, massive grandstand, that makes you feel like you’re in the most exciting arena. Then they let them all out on the track… immediately after this I’m going to see everyone.

    SV: I think for the people it might be nice if they like it and obviously it’s a nice idea. For me, yeah, I don’t really care to be honest. I like jumping in the car and racing. I’m not a big showman.

    KR: Yeah. I really don’t mind it as long as it’s done at the right time in the right place but it doesn’t make everything a big hassle because usually we have to run around quite a bit on Sunday and it’s far from ideal but I don’t mind these things as long as they are done well and actually if it works out it’s nice. I think it’s something different but everybody knows my option, what I would take.

    Q (Lennart Wernke – Bild) Follow up on the previous question, is that something you might see in Germany maybe next year? Did you like it that much that you maybe enjoy it at Hockenheim next season?

    SV; No, I don’t think so. I think Germans are very difficult to get excited so…

    LH: I don’t have a problem with it.

    SV: Yeah, I think Americans appreciate that sort of atmosphere and entertainment a lot more. I think Germans are maybe a little slower on that front.

    Q: (Priscilla Von Sorella – Huffington Post) Lewis, over the course of your lifetime or career or even a single race, how do you find it in yourself to overcome certain challenges and how do they make you a better driver?

    LH: Naturally, I’ve got good people around me, making sure you have… keep the family close is always an important thing. I’m very close to my faith. I rely a lot on God. I think my brother’s always been a kind of real inspiration. My brother was born with cerebral palsy and growing him, seeing him fall, he would always stumble and get back up. He would never even blink an eye or complain. And I know in my lifetime I’ve met a lot of other really inspirational individuals who have either suffered some kind of form of disability or certain setbacks in their lives and taken a lot of inspiration from that, so I think it’s really about… I love the battle against adversity. There are so many people in the world who obviously have that and to find a way within yourself to rise above it, rise above the negativity, remain positive, able to try and keep a positive frame of mind can overcome so much. And again, if you have good people around you, love really conquers all. I’ve got a lot of love this weekend within the close people who are around me, who really lift me up. And again, from the fans who I’ve met here that, from the moment I leave my hotel to the moment that I arrive at the track, they’re standing there with a banner at the gate, that kind of stuff just fills me up so… I’m only human, so there are days that I stumble and I struggle but I never give up, I just always get back up and there’s always a brighter day ahead.

    Q: (Alejandro Bulle – Graining.es) I want to ask the three of you if there’s anything special that you like about the Mexican Grand Prix, thinking that we are very close to it next weekend?

    SV: Usually there’s a lot of people – we haven’t been there too many times but… The track’s a bit so-so but there’s a lot of people, a huge city and yeah, hopefully we will have a lot of support again this year. It’s a fun place, so overall I’ve been enjoying the time there so looking forward to going back. Is there anything in particular? Not really. Tacos, maybe.

    KR: No, it’s a new place, not new this year but a few years back. It’s a different feeling but the people are very passionate about it and it’s not been very strong races for me there so hopefully this year a bit better, but it’s something different, for sure.

    LH: Hey man, I get a lot more excited than these two about it. Mexico, you’ve got sombreros, you’ve got great music, there’s real culture. The people, love their tequila. Every Mexican I’ve met they’re always smiling so it’s always a great time. I actually get to spend… I do a bit of my winter training in Mexico, beautiful place. The city… it’s quite breathtaking just how big the city is and how many people are there. Driving into that arena that has that huge grandstand and it’s always full, from the bottom to the top. And the food is great, tacos but on my plant-based diet, I don’t know how it’s going to go in Mexico. But what I can say is that I feel the best I’ve ever felt. Maybe some people can take that upon them too.

    eom/FIA transcript of the Press Conference

  • Mercedes AMG Petronas team wins 4th consecutive World Championship

    Mercedes AMG Petronas team wins 4th consecutive World Championship

    Mercedes AMG Petronas team after winning their 4th consecutive team title at Austin on Sunday. Photo by Steve Etherington/Mercedes

    F1: #4TheTeam 

    One down, one to go…! 

    So, how does it feel like to be world champions? Well, it never gets old, that’s for certain! No matter whether it’s your first title, or a repeat experience, every single time brings with it a unique cocktail of emotions. A mixture of delight, pride and humility – savouring an objective achieved, yet already looking ahead to the next challenge to be tackled.

    As the team emerges from a night of celebration in Austin, and prepares to recognise its achievements back at base in Brackley and Brixworth, we turned to some of our leading lights to try and capture this incredible, intoxicating feeling in words.

    “It is an awesome achievement – and it has been a tough year,” smiled Andy Cowell, Managing Director of Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains. “Ferrari have been formidable opponents and that has been energizing for all of us. Everybody has raised their game, pushed really hard and been driven to make sure that we secure another championship. The effort that goes in at the factories – day in any day out, seven days a week – is very humbling to see, and that’s what puts this total car together and delivers these results.”

    While the focus of fans and media is, quite naturally, on the battle between the gladiators of our sport, the fight between the teams for the constructors’ title is just as intense. And while a team’s effort is expressed through the car and engine it produces, the reality is that these machines embody countless hours of creativity, inspiration and diligence by a team of hundreds behind the scenes. They are the expression of a team’s desire and determination to succeed.

    “Fans know this is a complicated sport,” acknowledged Technical Director James Allison. “But only the people in the teams really understand how many people have to do their job exceptionally well to make a result like this possible. And you don’t just have to do your job right once, it has to be right every two weeks for the lion’s share of an entire year.”

    The challenge of 2017, of course, was magnified by the rule changes coming into the new season. They had the objective of speeding up the cars but also of shaking up the competitive order. So to come out on top after such a test of the team’s mettle is even more rewarding.

    “When we set our objectives, it was to win both championships and to be the first team to do it through a regulation change like this,” continued Toto Wolff. “To achieve it here in Austin with three races to go feels unbelievable. The fact is that we have a really great dynamic in the team, we enjoy doing what we do and bringing it home feels just super.”

    “This regulation change was designed to make it incredibly difficult to win again,” agreed James Allison. “So to do something that no team in the sport’s history has ever managed – to stay in the mix, and to come out on top, after a major rules change – is just the most enormous credit to everybody involved in the team from top to bottom. It is simply not possible to win a championship without their skill, dedication and, in many cases, sacrifice. It is a truly brilliant feeling to be part of a team capable of doing this.”

    Not only has this been a year of accomplishment but also of profound learning. We have experienced not just highs like Austin but the lows of weekends such as Monaco. Yet they have proven a source of new strength.

    “We have a motto in our team: Difficult days are the days that our competitors will regret,” explained Toto. “The painful experiences just make you so much stronger. If you keep calm, analyse what happened, and try to improve, it’s just adding to your knowledge and adding to your strength. We’ve seen that happening all through the years, particularly this year we’ve had those painful experiences, and they are part of the development of the team.”

    “The team effort, the combination of Brackley, Brixworth and all the individual departments and teams, they’re all focused on one thing: making the race car as quick as possible in qualifying and over the race distance,” concluded Andy Cowell. “It is that tireless, relentless obsession that pays off and that’s what binds us together.”

    Yet, while the team savours a first championship of 2017, nobody has lost sight of the fact that we have completed only half the job so far. Our ambition – and our clear intention – is to become four-time double world champions and to make sure Lewis seals his own fourth world title in style.

    That quest continues in Mexico next weekend…

  • Hamilton moves closer to 4th world championship with a facile win: US GP

    Lewis Hamilton moved one step closer to a fourth Drivers’ Championship title with a convincing sixth career US Grand Prix win at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas. The win, ahead of the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen, allied to a fifth place for Valtteri Bottas also handed Mercedes their fourth Constructors’ Championship crown in a row.

    Hard-charging Vettel took the lead into Turn 1 at the start, but when Hamilton grabbed first place with a good overtake of the German on lap six and quickly opened a two-second gap there was little doubt that, barring mechanical issues, the Mercedes driver would cross the line in first place to open a 66-point lead over Vettel with a maximum of 75 points on the table from the remaining three rounds.

    There was more drama at the end of the race as Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen was denied a podium finish. The Dutchman was handed a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining and advantage when passing Räikkönen for P3 in the last sector of the last lap. Verstappen was demoted to fourth and the Ferrari man took the podium alongside Hamilton and Vettel.

    At the start, Vettel made the best getaway and despite Hamilton moving across to the inside to try to take first place, the Ferrari driver snuck past on the entry into Turn 1 to take the lead. By the end of the first lap, third-placed Valtteri Bottas was coming under heavy pressure from Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, though the Finn managed to hang on to third place.

    Ricciardo’s team-mate Max Verstappen was having more success in gaining places and by lap six the Dutchman had claimed the scalps of Williams’ Lance Stroll, Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson, Haas’ Romain Grosjean, Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat, Force India’s Sergio Perez and the second Williams of Felipe Massa to sit in ninth place.

    Ahead, Vettel’s lead didn’t last long. On lap six, Hamilton attacked and under DRS on the back straight he slipped past the German on the inside to re-take the lead. By lap nine he’d built a 1.8s lead over the Ferrari driver.

    Verstappen’s march continued and with the dismissal of Force India’s Esteban Ocon to take sixth place, the Dutchman had taken 10 places in 10 laps.

    Meanwhile, team-mate Ricciardo’s pursuit of Bottas was beginning to hurt. The Australian was struggling with worn starting ultrasoft tyres and by lap 11 he was being harried by Räikkönen. The solution was for the Red Bull man to pit, and on the next tour he made his first stop, for supersoft tyres.

    It would all end for the Australian on lap 16, however. Towards the end of the lap he slowed and then went off track at Turn 15 where he eventually pulled over, telling his engineer “engine’s gone, I think the engine’s gone”.

    At the front, Vettel, now 5.4s in arrears to Hamilton pitted on lap 17 and took on soft tyres. Mercedes then pitted Bottas and a lap later Hamilton, with both drivers taking on the same compound. Hamilton rejoined in third place behind leader Räikkönen and second-placed Verstappen, both of whom had yet to pit.

    Räikkönen’s lead was short-lived and at the end of lap 20 he dived toward the Ferrari pit box and bolted on a set of soft tyres. Verstappen was now the race leader, but again it was a brief stint, as on lap 23, Hamilton, armed with fresh tyres, muscled past the Red Bull driver.

    The order then began to settle and on lap 28 Hamilton led Vettel by four seconds. Bottas was still third, but with just 2.9s in hand over Räikkönen. Verstappen was now fifth, ahead of Massa, Ocon and Pérez. Carlos Sainz was ninth for Renault ahead of Kvyat.

    Sainz, though, was charging forward and when the now traditional battle between Perez and Ocon began to result in Perez asking to pass his team-mate and being denied, Sainz saw an opportunity. He closed hard on the Mexican and over the course of four corners in the final sector he built a move that he eventually made stick as the pair headed for the start/finish straight.

    Towards the front, Vettel, struggling for pace on his soft tyres, was asking Ferrari to consider strategic options as behind Bottas closed in and Raikkonen, much happier on the softs, closed on his fellow Finn.

    Behind them Verstappen began to close on the battle between Räikkönen and Bottas but with 50-seconds in hand over Ocon, Red Bull chose instead to pit the Dutchman, bolting on a set of supersofts for the final 19 laps.

    And that was the strategic option Vettel and Ferrari then also took, chiefly to cover the Red Bull. The German pitted at the end of lap 39 and he emerged just in front of Verstappen.

    Räikkönen, meanwhile, finally got some reward for his efforts. He dived down the inside of countryman Bottas at the end of the back straight, got past and then made his car wide through the next sequence of corners to secure second place.

    Vettel, meanwhile, was narrowing the gap to Bottas and on lap 51 he powered past the Mercedes driver to claim third place. It wasn’t long before he found Räikkönen and sensibly the Finn moved across to allow his title-hunting team-mate back to P2.

    Hamilton, though, was 14 seconds further up the road and there was no hope of Vettel using his better pace to close so large a gap and after 56 laps the Briton crossed the line to take his sixth career US GP win with 10 seconds in hand over the German.

    Behind the top two there was plenty of drama in the final laps. Soon after Vettel passed Bottas, Verstappen closed in on the second Mercedes and he quickly got past the Mercedes man who was visibly struggling on worn tyres.

    Verstappen then hunted down Räikkönen and as the last lap began he was told by his race engineer that he would likely have one chance to pass. Verstappen chose the long right-hander at the end of the lap. He elbowed his way past the Finn and seconds later was punching the air in celebration of a podium finish from 16th place on the grid.

    Within seconds though the Red Bull driver’s move was placed under investigation by the race stewards and he was quickly handed a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. “Car 33 did leave the track, with all four wheels clearly off the track by at least half a metre,” the stewards’ report said.

    Räikkönen, then, held his third place and took the podium with Hamilton and Vettel. Verstappen, who had four seconds in hand over Räkkönen at the end, managed to keep fourth place ahead of Bottas.

    Esteban Ocon was sixth ahead of Carlos Sainz, who put in an excellent performance in his first race for Renault. Sergio Pérez was eighth in the second Force India ahead of Williams’ Felipe Massa and Daniil Kvyat, on his racing return, took the final point for Toro Rosso.

    2017 United States Grand Prix – Race
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes –
    2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 10.143
    3 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 15.779
    4 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 11.768 *
    5 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 34.967
    6 Esteban Ocon Force India 90.980
    7 Carlos Sainz Renault 92.944
    8 Sergio Perez Force India 1 lap
    9 Felipe Massa Williams 1 lap
    10 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1 lap
    11 Lance Stroll Williams 1 lap
    12 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 1 lap
    13 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 1 lap
    14 Romain Grosjean Haas 1 lap
    15 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1 lap
    16 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1 lap
    Fernando Alonso McLaren
    Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull
    Pascal Wehrlein Sauber
    Nico Hulkenberg Renault
    * Five-second penalty.

    eom/FIA press release