INDIA in F1

Tag: featured

  • Bottas continues to set pace at Silverstone

    Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas maintained his grip on the top of the timesheets at Silverstone but he was pushed hard by team-mate Lewis Hamilton who finished under five hundredths of a second adrift of the Finn.

    Bottas had topped the opening session by just seven hundredths of a second but his time of 1:29.106 was eclipsed early in the session as Hamilton quickly dipped into the 1m28s bracket on soft tyres. He then improved to time of 1:28.543 to sit six tenths ahead of the rest of the field.

    Half an hour into the session Bottas bolted on supersoft tyres and once again rose to the top of the timesheet with a time of 1m28.496s.

    Hamilton then also moved to the supersofts but an off-track excursion scuppered his chance of beating Bottas and the Finn’s time stood until the end of the session.

    After a muted morning session for Ferrari in which its drivers finished fifth and sixth, the Italian squad bounced back in the afternoon with Kimi Raikkonen third-quickest. The Finn finished the session 0.332 behind Bottas but his progress wasn’t entirely smooth and late in the session he spun off into the gravel at Becketts. He was able to rejoin the circuit, however. Sebastian Vettel, meanwhile finished fourth, just over a tenth behind his team-mate and just under half a second behind Bottas.

    Red Bull Racing were best of the rest, with Max Verstappen quickest for the Milton Keynes team. The Dutchman took fifth place, 0.602s off Bottas on supersofts, while teammate Daniel Ricciardo was sixth, nearly half a second down his team-mate on the same tyre. Verstappen was the last man inside a second of a Bottas’ time.

    Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg took seventh place, 0.350s behind Ricciardo, while Felipe Massa was eighth for Williams.

    After finishing eighth in the morning session using Honda’s ‘Spec 3’ engine, Fernando Alonso continued McLaren’s good start to the weekend by taking ninth place on the timesheet with a lap two tenths behind Massa. Esteban Ocon took the final top 10 place for Force India.

    2017 British Grand Prix – Free Practice 2 
    1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 31 1:28.496
    2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 35 1:28.543 0.047
    3 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 36 1:28.828 0.332
    4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 36 1:28.956 0.460
    5 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 32 1:29.098 0.602
    6 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 35 1:29.586 1.090
    7 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 37 1:29.936 1.440
    8 Felipe Massa Williams 36 1:30.006 1.510
    9 Fernando Alonso McLaren 28 1:30.238 1.742
    10 Esteban Ocon Force India 42 1:30.383 1.887
    11 Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso 26 1:30.555 2.059
    12 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 34 1:30.562 2.066
    13 Sergio Perez Force India 43 1:30.624 2.128
    14 Romain Grosjean Haas 33 1:30.661 2.165
    15 Lance Stroll Williams 37 1:30.695 2.199
    16 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 31 1:30.782 2.286
    17 Kevin Magnussen Haas 33 1:30.835 2.339
    18 Jolyon Palmer Renault 25 1:30.879 2.383
    19 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 27 1:31.616 3.120
    20 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber 30 1:31.929 3.433
    eom/FIA press release

  • Every year British GP is a must-win for a British driver, says Hamilton

    Every year British GP is a must-win for a British driver, says Hamilton

    Hamilton at the FIA Press Conference on Friday at Silverstone. An FIA image

    PART TWO: Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes), Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing), Daniil KVYAT (Toro Rosso), Pascal WEHRLEIN (Sauber)

    Q: Lewis, four-time British Grand Prix winner, looking to equal the record of five. How have you spent the last few days in the build-up to the race and are we set to get a strong statement from you on track here, as so often in the past?

    Lewis HAMILTON: It’s good to be here. I tried to prepare in the best way I can, quite relaxed the past few days and I’ve come here excited for the weekend, as always. You’ve got the championship, which is obviously the most important thing, but a very close second, if not tied, is the British Grand Prix, being a home grand prix, the home of motorsport, such an incredible, intense weekend. Every year it is a must-win for a British driver, so yeah I tried to prepare the best way I could.

    Q: Daniel, you looked like you were having fun in London yesterday evening, but you’ve also been having fun on track with 70 points from the last four races I think it is, second best tally in the field. What does that say about your competitiveness now?

    Daniel RICCIARDO: It’s certainly getting better. The season started slow but we’ve found some good momentum the last few races. I think Austria was a bit of a breakthrough in a way. It was a third, obviously not as good on paper as Baku, but in terms of actual performance we finished six or seven seconds off the win and there were no safety cars and it felt like really for once this year had genuine pace and we could run pretty much with the pace of the leaders. So that was super encouraging. Last few laps it was looking like it was going to get tight. I’d held that podium spot the whole race and I could see Lewis closing in, so I was relieved to have stayed on the podium when it looked like he was going to come past pretty easily at some point. It felt like from one lap to the next he was in my mirrors. I didn’t really have to look in the mirrors most for the race but then I saw a car and I was hoping it was a car that had come out of the pits, out of sequence, and it stayed in my mirrors for a few corners. Then I had a proper look and it was a silver car and I knew it wasn’t Valtteri, so I knew we would have a bit on the last few laps but it’s been a good run, so we’re building.

    And last night?

    DR: Oh last night, yeah, it was a good event. Look, I’m sure that would have been pretty difficult to organise and get that all going but I felt like it was a success and you know, we had a bit of time on track to try to give the fans what they wanted to see. I doubt they left disappointed.

    Q: Daniil, we had a big discussion in part one about the idea of using street promotions and the kind of thing we saw yesterday. What do you think of the idea of putting events on like that and reaching out to fans, in a place like Moscow for example?

    Daniil KVYAT: I think it would work – not in January! But in summer yes, I think why not. I mean if every year, once a year, they could rotate this kind of event between one of the biggest cities of the world to promote the sport, then I think why not. Like Daniel said it was a good success yesterday I think. A lot of people there in the city centre of London. It was a cool and enjoyable atmosphere and I think it was nice for sure.

    Q: Pascal, coming to you, how are you finding life at Sauber without Monisha Kaltenborn, but with the prospect of Fred Vasseur arriving as the new team principal.

    Pascal WEHRLEIN: I’m looking forward that Fred is coming. I respect him a lot for what he has done in motorsport so far, like in junior categories and last year in Formula One. So, looking forward to working with him and let’s see where he can bring Sauber.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Just repeating a question from a colleague from the previous session. Lewis, Copse corner this year? Do we think it will be flat in eighth and if so what is that going to be like and if so how will it compare with Becketts in terms of fun factor?

    LH: I think Copse is going to be flat this year. I would imagine quite easy, yeah. I would imagine probably eighth, you should get to eighth by then. It’s going to be rapid. I don’t think any of us are prepared for how quick Silverstone is going to be compared to previous years. It was awesome in the last race. Maggots and Becketts, again, are going to be the same. It’s going to be a physical race for us, being that it is mostly medium and high-speed corners. The G that we are going to be pulling is definitely going to be one up, maybe two, who knows, but it’s going to be a lot of fun.

    Daniel, you’re nodding and smiling, as if you’re looking forward to this?

    LH: It’s because he’s got an upgrade package!

    DR: Ha! We’ve got more coming later. It’s going to be fun. I love high-speed corners. From Turn 9 to 15, Copse to Stowe, it’s some of the coolest sequences… probably [the best] mile of race track we go on all year. We got a taste of it, as Lewis said, in Austria. The second, third sector we were carrying some serious speed, so it’s a sign of what this weekend is going to be like I think.

    Q: (Jon McEvoy – Daily Mail) If they organised an event such as last night’s again in London, would you all go?

    DK: You mean every day or what? Probably no. But next year again? Why not. Wednesday? Yeah I think why not, of course.

    LH: I guess I’ll decide when the time comes.

    DR: Yeah.

    PW: Yeah I would and I would do more donuts, as Daniel did.

    DR: That was controlled sliding.

    Q: Is that what you told the council?

    DR: It’s alright… arrest me.

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Lewis, just in your words, why were you the only driver not there when your colleagues were there and you were missing?

    LH: I don’t why I was the only one. Everyone had the right to make their decision for themselves. For me, I felt that it’s been a pretty intense season so far and I felt for me, I needed to prepare the best way that I could for this weekend. The season’s the most important thing for me. That’s really it.

    Q: (Rachel Brookes – Sky TV) Lewis, just following on, from what you saw of yesterday’s event and the crowd that turned out that was there, you’re someone who talks a lot about what you get from the fans and how much it helps you. Looking at those pictures and what happened, do you feel that actually being there yesterday might have helped you coming into this weekend and given you a boost a day early even, coming into the British Grand Prix?

    LH: I generally haven’t been on my phone the last couple of days, I tried to switch off, I switch on a couple of times just to receive a message but otherwise I’ve tried to stay away from it. Personally, I feel I prepared the best way for this weekend and that’s really all I can do. Of course, there are people who have other opinions about it but I’m trying to do the best… it’s a very intense season, I’m trying to prepare the best way I can. Other people will have different ways of doing so. I love this Grand Prix, I love this race so I feel yesterday, personally, plays any role in how great this weekend is for me. Every season, for the last years has been incredible, it’s been growing every year. You get people who have saved up so much through the year to come up to this Grand Prix and I think you will have seen over the previous years how much I appreciate and respect that and tried to give and enjoy the weekend with the fans and that doesn’t change.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Lewis, on the same topic, there’s suggestions that there has been some sort of disagreement over the use of your image for this particular event, that you wanted to be paid or something like that. Can you refute that categorically?

    LH: Yeah, that’s… No, I mean I told the organisers last week that I wouldn’t be going. I spoke to Toto, informed the team which was very understanding and understood and respectful of the decision. Yeah, I think they used my image so that wasn’t a problem.

    Q: (Rob Harris – AP) Lewis, first of all, how is flying for what, seven or eight hours round trip to Greece better preparation than staying in the UK? And you were booed by the fans in London, they obviously are unhappy with you, this was a big event, used by the F1 owners to try and engage with fans. You are the biggest British driver. What were your thoughts when you heard they actually booed you?

    LH: To be honest, I didn’t really know about it. In terms of flying, I don’t live here so I wouldn’t have been here anyway as I was back in Monaco first, but I fly a lot longer than that for trips and I usually arrive pretty good. But you know, right now my focus is on this weekend, making sure I put every bit of energy into this great weekend that we have and I received incredible love from the fans every single year that I’ve come here. Yeah, looking forward to seeing them.

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lewis, sorry to keep harping on about yesterday, but do you still stand by your decision and do you think it was the right decision, given you were the only driver missing? You’re the home star, you’re the home favourite. Do you think you got it wrong?

    LH: Well, I mean, like I said, I think I’ve felt like I’ve answered as much as I really want to. I’m solely focused on this weekend now, I feel great, being here, I feel the best prepared I could be.

    Q: (Stephen Camp – Paddock Magazine) I was just wondering, I asked the last four drivers if there was anything that Liberty had come to you about, what you would like to give back to the fans. Are there any ideas that you would like to give back to the fans, anything that you would like to do to widen the audience of the sport?

    DR: Not anything right now, off the top of my head. Yeah. You’ve kind of got me. I don’t know. I wasn’t expecting to be asked the question. We’ll come back…

    DK: Well, I just drive the car, you know. I think that’s what I should be focused on. I think there are other people who know how to do their job a bit better for that.

    LH: I don’t really have all the ideas. I think there are people who make those decisions.

    DR: Probably more locations, where we go. I think we can keep expanding in different parts of the world perhaps. I guess put F1 on the map in places that it’s not currently. That can always help to raise awareness of our sport and give people an interest. Yeah, that’s something that comes to mind.

    PW: I think that after yesterday some louder engines again. It was really nice to hear the old V8 engines, that was great. Hopefully we can have the same in the future again.

    Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Lewis, I’m not going to ask about London! This weekend – it’s obviously been very close between Mercedes and Ferrari all season – but with the different characteristics between the two cars, do you feel that this might be one of the tracks that’s more suited to Mercedes and it could be a particularly strong weekend for the team?

    LH: I hope so but I think that being that we’re (indistinct) on the car you would have hoped that it would have worked better in the medium and high speed corners but if you look at previous races, the last one, the Ferraris were very strong, the Red Bulls were very strong in all sections but there is also that balance of the high speed as well and drag. I think it will be very very close but I’ve heard that these guys have brought a big upgrade. He’s always smiling anyway so he smiling a little bit more…

    DR: I’m good at bluffing, I always smile because you never know. We’ve got more.

    LH: You’ve got more. They did a great job in the last race so to see Red Bull up there I think is great, to see a three way team challenge competition and I think this weekend’s going to be… you know, they were very very strong here last year, particularly on intermediates, in the race, so I think it’s going to be a spectacular British Grand Prix in that respect.

    Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday) Daniel Ricciardo, you seem to be really getting into the shoey business on the podium and the podiums are becoming more and more regular. You are persuading the interviewers to drink but you’re not having very much luck with your fellow drivers. Can you think of any way to encourage them to join you, and to the other three: should you be up there with Daniel, would you be partaking of the amber nectar?

    DR: Well, most of the last ones have actually come from the others wanting – not the drivers – but the interviewees if you call them (he means interviewers) – they’ve been wanting to do it. I honestly didn’t plan on doing it in even Baku – I was ‘ah, I won’t do it.’ But DC took my shoes off and then Austria, Martin was like frothing for it. So I feel that there are some really sick bastards around here. I never thought it would continue like this. Even yesterday, people were shouting it. I’m just walking along, minding my business and they’re like shouting ‘do a shoey.’ I don’t actually just take my shoe off while I’m walking in the street and drink out of it. I feel like I’ve dug a hole for myself with this one. On that note, I feel like it’s been fun. I want to say it’s run its course. We’ll see what happens but I heard that the Finns drink, I really heard that. But Valtteri did not carry his flag well last Sunday. I mean shame on him! He needed vodka in it, so Valtteri Bottas – disappointed. And that’s it. No more shoeys.

    Lewis, you’ve avoided it so far…

    LH: Absolutely. I still stand firm on… I told you… the juice from the foot is not something that I wish to drink, especially someone else’s!

    DR: It’s risky with back-to-backs. It is! We put – all the podium guys could end up in hospital for a week. Yeah.

    Q: (Ralf Bach – Sport Bild) For all of you: we heard that Red Bull has a great update on the car. What are the updates of Toro Rosso, Sauber, Mercedes, Red Bull here and in the future; what is planned? 

    DK: Well, it’s probably not as much as these guys but we also try, we try hard and hopefully there will be some, maybe Budapest. I think we’re working on it and I think that it will be efficient so let’s see.

    PW: We expect a big one in Budapest. I was in the factory two weeks ago and I was told in Budapest there’s a big one coming, hopefully.

    Q: Any particular reason why there?

    PW: I don’t know. As soon as possible, hopefully.

    So you’ve obviously got a massive upgrade this weekend, Daniel, another one coming…

    DR: No, I do believe we’ve got something significant for Budapest and this weekend it’s usual bits and pieces which we kind of bring now nearly every race but Budapest is probably more of an  advertised update as opposed to this weekend.

    Q: And the reason why it’s there?

    DR: I think mostly it seems it just takes time, but yeah, it’s a high downforce package.

    LH: We had a small upgrade in the last race and I think we’ve got some small bits here but nothing major. Similar to what Daniel was saying, and I think in the next race there will be some small parts as well. I think after the break there will be more substantial bits coming.

    Q: (Jon McEvoy – Daily Mail) The day before the hearing, the FIA hearing into Sebastian Vettel and his accident with Lewis, the boss of Mercedes, Toto Wolff, went to a birthday party to celebrate the thirtieth of Sebastian Vettel. I was wondering, from all drivers, would you be surprised most relevantly for Lewis, but would you be surprised and see it as maybe an act of loyalty or otherwise for your boss to go to a birthday of a rival with whom you’ve just had an accident before the hearing?

    DR: Free alcohol. Doesn’t matter how much money you make, you don’t turn that down.

    Unless it’s out of your shoe.

    DR: Yeah, actually, good point.

    LH: All I can do is laugh at that one. I don’t really have an answer for that one to be honest. That’s the dumbest question I’ve had so far.

    PW: I think Seb is a really nice guy so I would also go to his birthday.

    DR: Why weren’t you invited?

    PW: I don’t know! Maybe he doesn’t think that I’m nice.

    Q: Daniil, were you washing your hair that evening or did you go as well?

    DK: I was hoping you’d forgotten about me already. I don’t have an answer for you. I cannot even imagine.

    DR: There was an invite for the torpedo. I saw it. Not so cool.

    DK: You have a good memory.

    Q: (Giles Richards – The Guardian) Lewis, sorry to return to this but it’s quite a big issue: you’ve always tried to connect… you’ve made a point of trying to connect with your fans. Do you think it was a missed opportunity not attending yesterday, given that a lot of people who were there, who were attending, would be kids and people who can’t afford to go Grands Prix, so this was a really good chance to connect with those people who just can’t make it to Silverstone?

    LH: Like I’ve said, I feel like I’ve said everything I want to say on the subject but I like to think that I do everything I can to connect with the fans. I do have the biggest following in Formula One and I communicate with them as much as I can. The fans mean everything to me and they always have. I’ve made no secret of that. I think hopefully my commitments to the sport over the last ten years and what I do actually outside the sport, things that perhaps you don’t comment on such as when I go and visit the hospitals and spend time with young kids who can’t come to a Grand Prix. That’s not something you report on but that’ s actually very important to me and that’s where I put my energy mostly. I think lots of us have decisions to make and you have to stand firm with the decisions you make and feel proud of the decisions you make and I personally do and this weekend, as I say, coming here and give everything to shine as much light and raise the flag in the best way I can, and try the best I can. The goal is to win the British Grand Prix for my home crowd. I’ve been very fortunate the last few years to do that and the yearning and the need to do that again is greater than ever.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) To the three non-Mercedes drivers: you’ve heard what Lewis said; do you guys feel that you’ve prepared any less intensively for this race by being in London and not being on a beach in Greece, for example? And just because you’re not leading the championship or up there, do you feel that you haven’t prepared as well for this weekend?

    DR: Each to their own. We’re all adults now. Obviously the spotlight’s on Lewis because he was the only one that wasn’t there, out of all of us, so I understand that but yeah, he’s been doing it long enough to know what he needs to do. For me, personally, I thought it was a good event. I thought it was a good opportunity to reach out, obviously, to a few more fans but it also gives Liberty some more encouragement. They’re trying to start something now so just to get behind that and see where we can take it.

    PW: Nothing to add.

    DK: I think Lewis justified it very clearly. I think everyone has different preparations. I think it’s enough said on the topic.

    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing ) Daniil, this year Toro Rosso has shown some real pace on occasions but it seems to be quite difficult for the team to have a consistent weekend from Friday morning to Sunday night, Austria being a good example: very quick and then it fell away in qualifying. What is your feeling about that, why did it happen in Austria, for example?

    DK: I think in Austria we know really what happened in qualifying, and we dropped a bit out of the working window in the important session. Coming to the year, I would say that for my personal case, Sundays, for one reason or another, on the good days the races were not finished and I think it’s very important because that’s when the points are given on that day and I think that’s what I’m looking for really. I’ve had really good Fridays, really good Saturdays, good Sundays until the car stopped but now what we’re looking for is to put all three days together and that should bring good things to my side of the garage.

    eom/FIA transcript of the Press Conference

  • 2nd career win for Bottas; Hamilton finishes 4th

    Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas took his second career Formula One victory with a powerful yet controlled drive lights to flag win ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo held off a late surge from Lewis Hamilton to take the final podium position.

    Bottas got away best at the start, but so good was his getaway that there was the suspicion the Finn had jumped the start. Further back Max Verstappen made the poorest start, bogging down badly when the lights went out. He was swamped by rivals and dropped back to where 14th-place starter Fernando Alonso was profiting from taking an inside line.

    The Spaniard was followed by Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat but as they went into Turn 1, Kvyat braked too late and collided with Alonso who in turn hit Verstappen. The McLaren and Red Bull sustained significant damage and though both made it back to the pits they were forced to quit the race. Kvyat was later handed a drive through penalty for causing the collision.

    Ahead Daniel Ricciardo, who had made a good start, was on the attack. He pressured Kimi Raikkonen into Turn 3 and stole third place from the Finn. Pushed wide, Raikkonen was also passed by Haas’ Romain Grosjean, though he passed the Frenchman on the next lap.

    Bottas meanwhile was carving out a solid lead. By lap 17 the Finn had built a five-second to Vettel, with Ricciardo a further 3.5s back. Raikkonen was fourth but he was being hunted down by Hamilton, who had risen to fifth place from eighth on the grid. Grosjean was now sixth ahead of the Force Indias of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon, while Williams had profited hugely after the start, with Felipe Massa now ninth from P17 on the grid and team-mate Lance Stroll in 10th from a P18 start.

    After closing to within a second of Raikkonen, Hamilton’s pursuit of the Finn stalled and by lap 31 he was looking for options as he failed to find a way past on track. The response was for him to pit on lap 32 for supersoft tyres.

    That caused a ripple effect and two laps later third-placed Ricciardo stopped for supersofts, with Vettel pitting immediately after. Bottas and Raikkonen stayed out however and by lap 38 the Mercedes driver was 19.5s ahead of the Ferrari driver, with Vettel now third and 7.1s further back having made a stop. Ricciardo was now fourth, 4.5s ahead of Hamilton.

    Bottas eventually pitted from the lead on lap 41, taking on supersofts for his final stint. Raikkonen, though, soldiered on with his starting ultrasofts. Bottas though was closing on his newer tyres and retook the lead on lap 44. That was the cue for Raikkonen to finally pit for supersofts at the end of that tour. He rejoined in fifth place behind Hamilton.

    Hamilton’s task was then to chase down third-placed Ricciardo. The Australian was alive to the threat and as the Briton upped the pace, the Red Bull driver responded. That he was able to almost match the pace of the Mercedes was to the credit of the Australian and his team.

    Inevitably though Hamilton began to eat into the gap and 10 laps from the flag the Briton was just 2.3s adrift of the Red Bull.

    With three laps to go Bottas was a slim 1.2 ahead Vettel, while Ricciardo was just 1.1s ahead of Hamilton. It looked like a grandstand finish was in the offing, but in the end both the Finn and the Australian held their nerve well and despite both gaps shrinking to less than a second, Bottas took the win ahead of Vettel and Ricciardo held third ahead of Hamilton. Raikkonen finished fifth ahead of Grosjean, while Perez was seventh ahead of team-mate Ocon. Williams enjoyed a positive day as Massa finished ninth and Stroll came home in in tenth.

    eom/FIA press release

     

     

  • Double delight for Rajiv, Amarnath: Bike Nationals

    Double delight for Rajiv, Amarnath: Bike Nationals

    Amarnath Menon after winning a double in Chennai on Sunday. Image by Anand Philar.

    Chennai, 9 July 2017: Riders from Honda Ten10 Racing team put in dominant performances as Rajiv S


    Mithun Kumar, winner of the Pro-Stock race on Sunday 9Jul2017 Image by Anand Philar

    ethu and Mithun Kumar hogged the limelight even as another youngster Amarnath Menon of Gusto Racing achieved a grand double in the second round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship which concluded at the MMRT track, Sriperumbudur, near here on Sunday.

    While 18-year old Sethu, in scoring a double, led a 1-2 finish for Honda Ten10 Racing in the premier Super Sport Indian (up to 165cc) class with Mathana Kumar finishing second, the team, spearheaded by Mithun Kumar, swept all three podium spots in the Pro-Stock (up to 165cc) category.

    Equally impressive was 21-year old Amarnath Menon from Kozhikode who extended his domination in the Super Sport Indian (300-400cc) class to repeat his performance of the first round at Coimbatore last month. Menon, thus, has won all four races in his class.

    Peddu Sri Harsha (Sparks Racing) survived an incident-filled Stock (up to 165cc) race that boasted a grid of 39 riders and red-flagged after two laps following a series of crashes before re-starting to complete the scheduled five laps.

    Much of the focus today was on the Super Sport Indian (up to 165cc) and the Pro-Stock (up to 165cc) classes which were run on a combined grid. Like in the first outing on Saturday, Sethu rode a well-judged race. Starting from pole, Sethu yielded ground to reigning champion Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) who made a daring pass on the left-hander in the Bridge Complex only to crash out at Turn-4.

    Jagan’s exit came a lap after his team-mate KY Ahamed who was shadowing Sethu had crashed. It gave Sethu a clean run up front and he opened up a gap. for a comfortable win ahead of team-mate Mathana Kumar while Prabhu Arunagiri (RACR) finished third.

    “I had a tough fight with Jagan initially and after he passed me at the Bridge Complex, I decided to bide my time before trying to regain the lead. But he crashed soon after and I broke free to win,” said Sethu who through meditation has learnt to reign in his aggression and impatience.

    Mithun Kumar more than compensated for a horrendous first race where he finished sixth after starting last on the grid due to an errant bike, by destroying the Pro-Stock field for his third win in four races. His team-mates Anish D Shetty and Aravind Balakrishnan, winner of the first race yesterday, came in second and third, respectively.

    “I was very disappointed yesterday when my bike had some electrical issues. Today, I started from pole and managed to open up a big lead. In the latter half of the race, I decided to play safe and just cruised,” said 23-year old Mithun who had won both the races in the first round.

    The results (Provisional): Super Sport Indian (165cc, 9 laps): 1. Rajiv Sethu (Honda Ten10 Racing) (18 mins:11.528 secs); 2. Mathana Kumar S (Honda Ten10 Racing) (18:15.594); 3. Prabhu Arunagiri (RACR) (18:16.178).

    Super Sport Indian (300-400cc, 10 laps): 1. Amarnath Menon (Gusto Racing) (11:54.706); 2. Deepak Ravi Kumar (MotoRev) (11: 54.865); 3. Vivek Pillai (Rockers Racing) (11:55.134).

    Pro-Stock (165cc, 9 laps): 1. Mithun Kumar PK (Honda Ten10 Racing) (18:55.557); 2. Anish D Shetty (Honda Ten10 Racing) (19:06.148); 3. Aravind Balakrishnan (Honda Ten10 Racing) (19:06.610).

    Stock (Novice, 165cc, 6 laps):1. Peddu Sri Harsha (Sparks Racing) (11:23.303); 2. Vysakh Sobhan (Speed Up Racing) (11:25.804); 3.Anup Kumar M (RACR) (11:28.032).

    One-Make Championship – Honda CBR250 Open (Race 1, 6 laps): 1. Hari Krishnan (Honda Ten10 Racing) (12:35.539); 2. Arvind Balakrishnan (Honda Ten 10 Racing) (12:36.307); 3. Rajiv Sethu (Honda Ten 10 Racing) (12:40.917). Race 2 (9 laps): 1. Rajiv Sethu (Honda Ten10 Racing) (2:02.550); 2. Anish D Shetty (Honda Ten10 Racing) (18:59.675); 3. Aravind Balakrishnan (Honda Ten10 Racing) (19:00.290).

    Honda CBR150 (Novice, 6 laps): 1. Satyanarayana (Hyderabad) (13:28.437); 2. Amala Jerald A (Chennai) (13:28.861); 3. Vysakh Sobhan (Kerala) (13:29.072).

    TVS Apache RTR 200 (Open, 6 laps): 1. Prabhu V (Chennai) (08:56.086); 2. Sivanesan S (Chennai) (08:56.781); 3. Yashas RL (Bengaluru) (08:57.054). Novice (6 laps): 1. Peddu Sri Harsha (Hyderabad) (13:22.472); 2. Shankar Guru A (Chennai) (13:25.083); 3. Romario J (Chennai) (13: 40.846).

    eom/MMSC press release

  • Both Force India cars to start in top-10: Austrian GP

    Both Force India cars to start in top-10: Austrian GP

    Sergio Perez signs autographs in Spielberg on Saturday. A Sahara Force India image.j

    Spielberg, 8 July 2017: Sahara Force India once again came up with a top-10 performance in the Austrian GP with Sergio Perez taking 8th place ahead of Esteban Ocon in 9th for Sunday’s F1 race, the eighth race of the Formula One World Championship.

    Starting the season with a string of strong double points finish, the team got stuck with both the teammates fighting with each other. However, they recovered and got into points again  and the team is keeping its fourth position in the constructors’ championship intact with 79 points and hoping to continue the good run. The last race, they were in a good position to bring home a podium or even a win, but with the two teammates coming into contact, Perez had to retire.

    Perez is in 7th position with 44 points ahead of Esteban Ocon in 8th place with 35 points.

    Sergio Perez

    “I’m feeling happy with our performance today. I think it was one of my best qualifying sessions when you consider how difficult things have been leading up to the session. I was P17 in second practice and P18 in final practice this morning. So to end qualifying in eighth place shows the mega steps we have taken to improve the car. It’s been a huge effort by the whole team. I was a bit unlucky with the yellow flag at the end of the session because there was an opportunity to improve my time. I’m really looking forward to this race and I think we will be even stronger in race conditions. We need to keep an eye on the weather, but wet or dry I think we can have a great race tomorrow.”

    Esteban Ocon

    “I am not completely happy with ninth place, given all that happened in the session, but it’s still a good starting position. My fastest lap in Q3 was set on used tyres, but the yellow flags meant I couldn’t finish my attempt on fresh tyres. I feel I could have been a couple of places higher up, but it’s the way racing goes sometimes – you have to take your chances when you can. We need to review if there is something we could have done better, but I am still feeling positive about the weekend. We improved a lot since yesterday and the feeling I have with the car is much better now than it was during practice. I enjoy this track and it’s a place where you can overtake so hopefully we can bring home some good points tomorrow.”

    Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal

    “After a challenging Friday, it’s great to see both cars qualify well this afternoon. It sets us up nicely for a strong race tomorrow knowing that we have a competitive car with solid race pace. The team has done an incredible job to get on top of the balance issues we had during yesterday’s practice sessions and the car is now much more to the drivers’ liking. The yellow flag towards the end of qualifying meant we didn’t necessarily maximise the session with either car, but we can’t be disappointed with the outcome of today’s qualifying session.”

    eom/with inputs from Sahara Force India

  • Bottas beats Vettel for pole; Hamilton to start 8th

    Bottas beats Vettel for pole; Hamilton to start 8th

    Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas scored his second pole position in Austria, edging Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel by just four hundredths of a second. Lewis Hamilton finished third but a grid penalty for a changed gearbox is set to drop the Briton to eighth for tomorrow’s race start.

    Bottas established the narrow advantage in the opening runs of Q3 and when Romain Grosjean’s Haas broke down on track as the quickest men began their final flyers, the yellow flags shown as a result meant that there could be no improvement.

    Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, who had finished in P7 in FP3, set the early pace in Q1, before he was first usurped by Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Riccairdo and then sidelined by a suspension failure. The Haas driver would eventually go through to Q2 in P12 but did not take any further part in the session and qualified in P15.

    As the segment got into its stride it was Vettel who established himself at the head of the pack with a time of 1:05.585. The Ferrari driver set the time on suspersoft tyres and sat back and waited to see if he could get through without resorting to the ultrasofts almost every other driver was using.

    Lewis Hamilton’s 1:05.064 dropped Vettel back, as did Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen’s 1:05.148, set on ultrasofts, but otherwise Vettel went safely through on supersofts in P3 ahead of Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz, Bottas (the only other man to just use supersofts in the opening segment) and the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo in sixth and seventh respectively.

    Sainz’s excellent lap came right at the end of the session and was much needed, with the Spaniard languishing in the drop zone in the final minutes. There was to be no escape for the Williams drivers, however.

    As the final time arrived, Felipe Massa and team-mate Lance Stroll found themselves lodged in 17th and 18th places respectively and unable to find the pace to make up the time to vault past 16th placed Jolyon Palmer of Renault. The Williams drivers went out ahead of the Saubers of Marcus Ericsson and Pascal Wehrlein.

    In Q2 it was Bottas who seized the initiative. With ultrasofts onboard he powered to P1 with a best time of 1:04.316, almost half a second clear of second-place Vettel and third-placed Hamilton, who this time was the one to opt for supersofts, meaning he’ll start on that compound.

    Verstappen was fourth for Red Bull ahead of Raikkonen and Ricciardo. Grosjean was seventh for Haas ahead of Force India’s Sergio Perez, Sainz and the second Force India of Esteban Ocon.

    Eliminated at this stage, though, were Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg in P11, followed by the McLarens of Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne, Daniil Kvyat in the second Toro Rosso in P14 and the unfortunate Magnussen.

    After the first runs in Q3 Bottas held a narrow advantage over Vettel and it proved crucial. As the drivers warmed-up for or began their final flying laps, Haas’ Romain Grosjean stopped on track and the resulting yellow flags prevented improvements at the front.

    The top three positions remained unchanged, with Hamilton in third and set to start from eighth place once his gearbox penalty is applied ahead of the race start. Raikkonen was forced to settle for best of the rest in fourth, half a second down on his team-mate.

    Ricciardo outqualified team-mate Verstappen for the first time since the Russian Grand Prix. The Australian qualified fifth and is set to start fourth. Verstappen, meanwhile, might have improved by he made a mistake on his final lap and went off in Turn 7. Grosjean qualified seventh, with Force India duo Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon in eighth and ninth, and Carlos Sainz making up the top 10 for Toro Rosso.

    2017 Austrian Grand Prix – Qualifying
    1 Valtteri Bottas  Mercedes 1:04.251
    2 Sebastian Vettel  Ferrari 1:04.293 0.042
    3 Kimi Raikkonen  Ferrari 1:04.779 0.528
    4 Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull 1:04.896 0.645
    5 Max Verstappen  Red Bull 1:04.98 0.732
    6 Romain Grosjean  Haas 1:05.480 1.229
    7 Sergio Perez  Force India 1:05.605 1.354
    8 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:04.424 0.173
    9 Esteban Ocon  Force India 1:05.674 1.423
    10 Carlos Sainz Jr.  Toro Rosso 1:05.726 1.475
    11 Nico Hulkenberg  Renault 1:05.597 1.346
    12 Fernando Alonso  McLaren 1:05.602 1.351
    13 Stoffel Vandoorne  McLaren 1:05.741 1.490
    14 Daniil Kvyat  Toro Rosso 1:05.884 1.633
    15 Kevin Magnussen  Haas
    16 Jolyon Palmer  Renault 1:06.34 2.094
    17 Felipe Massa  Williams 1:06.534 2.283
    18 Lance Stroll  Williams 1:06.608 2.357
    19 Marcus Ericsson  Sauber 1:06.857 2.606
    20 Pascal Wehrlein  Sauber 1:07.011 2.760

    eom/FIA press release

    Bottas beats Vettel (left) for Austrian pole at Spielberg on Saturday. An FIA image

  • Russell flies to maiden win in Austria; Maini 10th

    George Russell, Jack Aitken, Nirei Fukuzumi, ART Grand Prix, Red Bull Ring 8jul2017 Photo courtesy GP 3 Series

    George Russell has claimed his first GP3 Series win with a fine drive from pole position in this afternoon’s Race 1 at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria: the Briton squeezed past fellow front row starter Jack Aitken when the lights went out to lead the grid into turn one, and held position all the way to the flag to head Aitken, Nirei Fukuzumi and Anthoine Hubert for an ART Grand Prix 1-2-3-4.

    The race opened to muggy but dry conditions, but it was of no concern to poleman Russell: at the start Aitken had a slightly better reaction but Russell had the better line, slightly squeezing his teammate to shut down any attack into turn one before heading off into the distance. Behind them Dorian Boccolacci had a poor start and fell back, opening a line up the inside into turn 2: Hubert filled it but bounced off the kerbs into Leonardo Pulcini who hit Arden teammate Steijn Schothorst, prompting a VSC period to remove the Italian’s car.
    Quick work by the marshals saw the race run live before the end of the lap, and Russell controlled the restart well ahead of teammates Aitken and Hubert, with Giuliano Alesi leading Dorian Boccolacci, who dropped back at the start from P3, Ryan Tveter, Fukuzumi, Schothorst and Alessio Lorandi, who was soon promoted when Schothorst too had to stop by the side of the track due to a damaged car.
    Hubert was handed a 10 second time penalty for causing a collision but ran at the same pace as his teammates, who were pulling away from the rest of the field from the front. There were time penalties for Tatiana Calderon and Bruno Baptista too, with the DAMS pair picking up 5 seconds each for overtaking under yellow flags during a collision between Julien Falchero (who also received a 10s penalty) and Niko Kari at the start of the race at turn 1, but who were running P10 and 11 as they looked to climb up the order.
    Fukuzumi and Tveter found a way past Alesi early in the race, but at temperatures rose the time gaps throughout the field held still as everyone looked to preserve their tyres to the end of a long race. And it was only at the end that anyone looked for a little more than they had: Boccolacci tried to get by Alesi but ran wide and lost a number of places, promoting Lorandi and Raoul Hyman on the penultimate lap.
    And when the chequered flag dropped it was Russell who received the plaudits, leading Aitken by 2 seconds at the line. Hubert was next on track but was dropped to P4 with his time penalty, promoting Fukuzumi to the podium while the Frenchman picked up the fastest lap on his final tour. Tveter won the bragging rights at Trident after holding off Alesi for almost the whole race, ahead of Lorandi and Hyman in P7 and 8: Calderon was 9th on track but 13th on the classifications, promoting Boccolacci and Arjun Maini for the final points positions.
    Provisional Qualifying Classification
    Driver
    Team
    1.
    George Russell
    ART Grand Prix
    2.
    Jack Aitken
    ART Grand Prix
    3.
    Nirei Fukuzumi
    ART Grand Prix
    4.
    Anthoine Hubert
    ART Grand Prix
    5.
    Ryan Tveter
    Trident
    6.
    Giuliano Alesi
    Trident
    7.
    Alessio Lorandi
    Jenzer Motorsport
    8.
    Raoul Hyman
    Campos Racing
    9.
    Dorian Boccolacci
    Arden International
    10.
    Arjun Maini
    Jenzer Motorsport
    11.
    Kevin Jörg
    Trident
    12.
    Marcos Siebert
    Campos Racing
    13.
    Tatiana Calderon
    DAMS
    14.
    Bruno Baptista
    DAMS
    15.
    Julien Falchero
    Campos Racing
     
    Not Classified
    Niko Kari
    Arden International
    Santino Ferrucci
    DAMS
    Steijn Schothorst
    Arden International
    Leonardo Pulcini
    Arden International
     
    Fastest Lap  
    Anthoine Hubert
    1:21.298 on lap 24
  • Rajiv Sethu wins as Jagan suffers mechanical failure; Double for Ryhana: MMSC Bike Nationals

    Rajiv Sethu wins as Jagan suffers mechanical failure; Double for Ryhana: MMSC Bike Nationals

    Ryhana Bee bags a double on Saturday. Photo by Anand Philar
    Ryhana Bee celebrates after winning the Honda all-girls race at MMRT on Saturday. Photo by Sriharsha Nadiger
    Aravind-Balakrishnan-No.13-winner-of-Super-Sport-Indian-Pro-Stock-up-to-165cc-race-at MMRT on Saturday 8 July 2017. Photo by Anand Philar

    Chennai, 8 July 2017: Rajiv Sethu of Honda Ten10 Racing, showing maturity far beyond his 18 years, came up with a stunning ride to win the premium Super Sport Indian (up to 165cc) class race in the second round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Morocycle Racing Championship at the MMRT track, near here on Saturday.

    Aravind Balakrishnan, only 22, brought more cheer to Honda Ten10 Racing team by topping the Pro-Stock class that was run on a combined grid with the Super Sport Indian (165cc) while Kerala’s Amarnath Menon (Gusto Racing) scored a dominant win, his third in as many outings, in the 300-400cc category.

    In the Girls (Stock, up to 165cc) category, Ryhana Bee, the 23-year old from Chennai studying shipping and logistics, pulled off a fine win over pole-sitter Aishwarya Pissay (Apex Racing Academy) with a late-braking manoeuvre at Turn-4 mid-way through the five-lap race.

    Aishwarya, winner of the first-ever National championship race for girls in Coimbatore last month, eventually came in third behind Madhya Pradesh’s Kalyani Potedar (Team Speed Up Racing).

    Sethu, starting from pole position, yielded ground to reigning National champion Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) early in the six-lap race. However, in the third lap, Jagan dropped out of contention due to a technical problem with his bike and Sethu needed no second invitation to forge ahead. He gradually increased the lead to win from TVS Racing’s KY Ahamed and Prabhu Arunagiri (RACR) with about three seconds to spare.

    “Early in the race, I had some problems with the bike and had no choice but to allow Jagan to pass me, but when he dropped out, I moved in front and did not look back. The team did an excellent job in giving me a winning bike,” said Sethu on notching his second in three outings.

    Further down the field, another intense battle raged in the Pro-Stock class after pole-sitter Mithun Kumar (Honda Ten10 Racing) was shifted to the back of the combined grid for having missed the warm-up lap due to mechanical problems.

    It left Aravind Balakrishnan and Aravind Ganesh (Team MotoRev) to fight for top honours. The duo kept trading leads before Balakrishnan got his nose in front to win with little to spare.

    In sharp contrast, Menon, though starting second on the grid behind Deepak Ravikumar (Team MotoRev), was in a league of his own in the 300-400cc class race once he got into his stride that saw him move up from third to first and then extend his lead with each lap for another commanding win. Vivek Pillai (Rockers Racing) finished second while Ravikumar came in third.

    The results (Provisional):

    National Championship – Super Sport Indian (Up to 165cc) (6 laps): 1. Rajiv Sethi (Honda Ten 10 Racing) (12 mins, 02.236secs); 2. KY Ahamed (TVS Racing) (12:05.154); 3. Prabhu Arunagiri (RACR) (12:07.398).

    Super Sport Indian (300-400cc) ( 6 laps): 1. Amarnath Menon (Gusto Racing) (11:56.238); 2. Vivek Pillai (Rockers Racing) (11:59.744); 3. Deepak Ravikumar (Team MotoRev) (12:03.661).

    Pro-Stock (Up to 165cc) (6 laps):1. Aravind Balakrishnan (Honda Ten10 Racing) (12:50.292); 2. Aravind Ganesh (Team MotoRev) (12:50.712); 3. Naresh Babu (RACR) (12:50.912).

    Girls (Stock, Up to 165cc) (5 laps): 1. Ryhana Bee (Speed Up Racing) (11:43.645); 2. Kalyani Potekar (Team Speed Up Racing) (11:46.130); 3. Aishwarya Pissay (Apex Racing Academy) (11:46.783).

    One-Make Championship – Honda CBR 150 (Novice – 5 laps): 1. Amala Jerald (Chennai) (11:28.014); 2. Vysakh Sobhan (Kerala) (11:28.196); 3. Mahesh Murali (Thiruvananthapuram) (11:28.226).

    TVS Apache RTR200 Open (6 laps): 1. Prabhu V (Chennai) (13:20.820); 2. Sivanesan S (Chennai) (13:20.867); 3. Yashas RL (Bengaluru) (13:26.414). Novice (6 laps): 1. Peddu Sri Harsha (Hyderabad) (13:49.082); 2. Shankar Guru A (Chennai) (14:01.893); 3. Venkatesan I (Chennai) (14.06.260).

    Support Races (Girls – 5 laps) – Honda: 1. Ryhana Bee A (Chennai) (11:51.658); 2. Shruthi (Chennai) (11:56.585); 3. Kalyani Potekar (Madhya Pradesh) (11:58.728). TVS (5 laps): 1. Soundari A (Chennai) (11:55.836); 2. Aishwarya Pissay (Bengaluru) (11:56.091); 3. Priyamvada Saradhi (Bengaluru) (12:36.799).

    eom/AP Media Comm. press release

  • Pole for Rajivi, Mithun, Deepak: Bike Nationals

    Pole for Rajivi, Mithun, Deepak: Bike Nationals

    Deepak Ravikumar in action at the MMRT on Friday. Image by Anand Philar

    Chennai, 7 July 2017: Young Rajiv Sethu of Honda Ten10 Racing put the hammer down with a blistering lap to grab the pole position ahead of reigning champion Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) in the premium Super Sport Indian (up to 165cc) class as the second round of the MRF MMSC Fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship got off to a flier at the MMRT track in Sriperumbudur, near here, on Friday.

    Also topping the qualifying session in their respective categories were Mithun Kumar of Honda Ten10 Racing (Pro-Stock 165cc), Deepak Ravikumar (Super Sport Indian 300-400cc) and Apex Racing Academy’s Aishwarya Pissay (Girls, Stock up to 165cc).

    Sethu, the 22-year old from Chennai, who has been improving with each outing and a regular in the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship, clocked the fastest lap of one minute 59.344 seconds while Jagan Kumar, who went out at the fag end of the session after sorting out his bike and managed just three laps, had a best of 02:00.396) while KY Ahamed, also of TVS Racing, completed the front row with a 02:00.497.

    Championship leader Mathana Kumar (Honda Ten10 Racing) was placed sixth after clocking 02:03.820, behind Prabhu Arunagiri (02:01.842) and S Kannan of TVS Racing (02:03.174).

    Bengaluru’s Aishwarya Pissay expectedly took the pole position in the girls category ahead of Chennai’s Rhyana Bee (Speed Up Racing) and Ann Jennifer.

    In the Pro-Stock (up to 165cc) qualifying session, Mithun Kumar, who won both the races in the first round at Coimbatore last month, was the quickest in 02:06.403, followed by Shyam Shankar and Naresh Babu.

    Meanwhile, local entrant Deepak Ravikumar, who missed the Coimbatore round, snatched the pole position (01:58.716) in the Super Sport Indian (300-400cc) class as he pipped championship front-runner Amarnath Menon (Gusto Racing) by four-hundredth of a second while Vivek Pillai of Rockers Racing was third quickest in 01:58.882.

    The results (Qualifying – Provisional):

    National Championship – Super Sport Indian (up to 165cc): 1. Rajiv Sethu (Honda Ten10 Racing) (01min, 59.344secs); 2. Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) (02:00.396); 3. KY Ahamed (TVS Racing) (02:00.497). 300-400cc:  1. Deepak Ravikumar (Pvt) (01:58.716); 2. Amarnath Menon (Gusto Racing) (01:58.758); 3. Vivek Pillai (Rockers Racing) (01:58.882).

    Pro-Stock (up to 165cc): 1. Mithun Kumar PK (Honda Ten10 Racing) (02:06.403); 2. Shyam Shankar (Pvt) (02:06.868); 3. Naresh Babu (Pvt) (02:07.022).

    Girls (Stock up to 165cc): 1. Aishwarya Pissay (Apex Racing Academy) (02:18.767); 2. Rhyana Bee (Speed Up Racing) (02:19.238); 3. Ann Jennifer (Chennai) (02:19.315).

    One-Make Championship – TVS Apache RTR200 (Open): 1. Prabhu V (Chennai) (02:10.770); 2. Sivanesan S (Chennai) (02:10.970); 3. Arun Muthukrishnan (Chennai) (02:11.464). Novice: 1. Shankar Guru (Chennai) (02:11.883); 2. Peddu Sriharsha (Hyderabad) (02:12.356); 3. Romario J (Chennai) (02:14.066).

    Honda CBR 250 Open: 1. Hari Krishnan Rajagopal (Honda Ten10 Racing) (02:03.437); 2. Abhishek Vasudev (Bangalore) (02:03.567); 3. Rajiv Sethu (Honda Ten10 Racing) (02:03.900). CBR 150 (Novice): 1. Mahesh Murali (Thiruvananthapuram) (02:12.765); 2. Satya Narayana (Hyderabad) (02:12.775); 3. Vysakh Sobhan (Kerala) (02:12.975).

    eom/AP Media Comm. press release

  • Vettel, Hamilton patch up, move on…

    PART ONE: DRIVERS – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari), Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes), Kevin MAGNUSSEN (Haas)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Sebastian, begin by looking back at events in Baku two weeks ago. You said in a statement on Monday that you over-reacted in the heat of the moment. Please can you just talk us through what happened in that moment.

    Sebastian VETTEL: I don’t think that’s necessary, is it? I think we’ve seen it many times. I’ve seen it, I’ve looked at it, so err… obviously, I had a very different view inside the car than I had with a little bit of a gap and outside the car – hence why obviously I made a statement. I had the chance to quickly talk to Lewis after the race – but I don’t want to pump this up more than it is already. I think that it’s my right, our right that it stays between us. I think I said everything I had to say. I think it was the wrong decision. Obviously I got a penalty in the race and, yeah, lost a potential race win. We couldn’t obviously foresee that Lewis was running into a problem with his headrest but could have been a lot more points at stake. After that obviously I tried everything to recover.

    Q: Seb, you said ‘it was the wrong decision.’ What was the wrong decision?

    SV: It was the wrong move, the wrong decision. It was the wrong move to drive alongside him and hit his tyre. So, that’s obviously I guess what you all want to hear but there’s not much more to say. At the time I was surprised. It felt like Lewis hit the brakes and I couldn’t stop running into his car – but I also said in the statement and said afterwards that I don’t think there was any bad intention. So I don’t think he actually brake-tested me. At the time I read it like that. I was surprised, and hence why I was obviously I was upset and over-reacted. Am I proud of the moment? No. Can I take it back? Do I regret it? Yes. So I don’t think we need to drag it out any longer.

    Q: Lewis, is it the end of the matter for you as well now?

    Lewis HAMILTON: It is for me, yeah. Solely, really focussed on this weekend. Obviously it’s an interesting press conference, as I mentioned, with so many people here. The people watching can’t see how many people are behind the camera. Yeah, I mean, I said everything I felt I needed to say at the last race and just left it there. Now the job is just to focus on… still got a lot of races ahead of us and a little bit behind points-wise. So just trying to keep my head down.

    Q: Does what happened in Baku in any way change the dynamic between you and Sebastian?

    LH: I don’t think it does. Sebastian and I, we spoke after the race and on Monday and shortly after that he messaged me, I think the day after I think it was. For me, I just said that, for me, I still have the utmost respect for him as a driver and will continue to race him hard for the rest of the season in the same way I always have. No less hard than we have been already up until now. My only point to Sebastian was that I felt that, saying I had brake-tested him, I was like, I hope you can correct that publically – because people who are watching felt that this was something I did. In the data it obviously showed that was not the case. In actual case he accelerated. I think the goal was to try and be as close as possible to me but that was an error in judgement. My own point there in reply to him was that I hope he makes that clear because I had no intentions… there was no need for me to do something like that. I was in the lead. And… yeah. I accepted his apology and moved forwards.

    Q: Sebastian, just a few words from you about the relationship with Lewis. The dynamic between you.

    SV: Well, I’m happy to hear that it doesn’t seem to have a big impact. Obviously what I did was wrong and I apologised. I think it’s totally up to Lewis. Obviously I did a mistake so I can understand he’s upset but it’s nice to hear that we are able to move forward. Yeah. I think the respect that we have for each other on-track, off-track helps us in this regard.

    Q: Kevin, team’s best finish of the season in Baku. Haas are now up to seventh in the championship. You must be very pleased with how things are going. Do you feel you’re getting the best out of the team and yourself?

    Kevin MAGNUSSEN: Yes. I feel like it’s going well. I’m enjoying my time at the moment. We’re getting good results, both me and Romain, scoring points for the team. As a team the size that we are with so little people and limited budgets, it’s a good effort to be where we are. I hope to be able to keep it up. I think seventh in the championship is one position better than last year and I think our target as a team was to try to improve at least a little bit on last year – which was already a good rookie season for Haas. So, y’know, we need to keep it up and keep scoring those points when other people make mistakes and take the opportunities when they’re there.

    Q: You talk about the target for the season; what’s the target for this weekend? You’ve never been out-qualified by a team-mate here but you haven’t been in Q3 yet this season. Can you do it here?

    KM: Q3? I think… it’s not going to be easy. It’s not our natural position. We don’t have the actual pace to be there but I think it’s not far away. With a slight variation in people’s performance and if we get a little more out of the tyres, balance, setup etc., we can get there. But for this track it’s not our natural position but for sure we’ll do our best.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Sebastian, of course I respect what you said that you wouldn’t want this topic to drag and drag – but there’s one interesting question. There are some suggestions that you didn’t deliberately move onto Lewis’ car and it was only because you were just showing the gestures that we all know about and it was unintentional. Was it really intentional to crash into Lewis or it was only that you didn’t really pay any attention to the steering?

    SV: It’s a very confusing question. I think it’s very simple: obviously, I got surprised. I got the impression at the time – which I have corrected: I was wrong – that I got, let’s say, fouled and y’know I wasn’t happy about it. I drove alongside him, obviously wasn’t happy about it, over-reacted. I don’t think I need to explain further. I think it’s very clear. You all saw what happened, so… yeah. Not sure I get the question.

    Q: (Jerome Pugmire – AP) Question for Lewis. After that race you had some strong words, obviously in the heat of the moment you were very angry and you said that Sebastian, on that incident, was a disgrace to the sport. Do you regret saying that now? Do you think perhaps you were overly upset? Do you regret those words?

    LH: I don’t feel I was particularly upset after the race. If I was upset it was for other reasons but I don’t feel like I said anything I particularly would wish to take back. But I think, I still have the same opinion of what happened – but it’s water under the bridge now. We move forwards. We spoke about it, we move forwards. There’s no point really saying much more.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Sebastian, you’ve admitted that you made a foul. Why did it take you so long then to actually apologise? Why did you have to wait until after you’d appeared before an FIA investigation?

    SV: I don’t have your number. I don’t want it. So, I don’t feel the need to talk to… sorry… all of you for more than what I have to. So, I think the person that I had to talk to was Lewis, that was the most important. Obviously then Monday I went to Paris to see the FIA, we had the hearing, they asked me my opinion in terms of what happened, to run through the incidents, that’s what I did, so yeah, I don’t think, as I said, there was a need to talk to you straight after. You’re not the most important people I think. As I said, the most important for me is the guy I’m racing with, is Lewis, and that’s the one I decided to call first.

    Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport Magazin) Question for Lewis, we were a bit surprised with the reaction from inside the car that you stayed so calm when Sebastian hit you. Can you explain how you managed to stay that calm? Because if something like that happens we probably expect… we ourselves would probably react differently.

    LH: Well, it’s a little bit different perhaps to if it had happened on a football pitch and you’re face-to-face with someone. I think maybe your initial reaction would be different – but we’re strapped into these cars so there’s not much I can do in the actual car at the time. As I said, I was more focussed on the race result and the difficult race that we had had. So, whilst that was a difficult scenario – or an unfortunate mishap during the race – that was not my main focus or goal. So, while there are questions about it, I was just thinking about the points that we had lost, how we are going to regroup as a team again to try to make sure we don’t have that same issue again, and that we still have a pretty steep mountain to climb before the end of the season.

    Q: (Ralf Bach – Sport Bild) A question to Lewis. Gerhard Berger said last week, first the FIA punished Sebastian in Baku but then God himself punished you. Can you tell us something about what he could mean?

    LH: I don’t know what he’s talking about, so… [Question repeated off-mike] I guess that’s an opinion of his, and… what do you think it means? I don’t care what he thinks he means, he didn’t say it to me, he said it to you! I don’t know. I don’t think it had anything to do with God.

    Q: (Natalie Pinkham – Sky Sports) You’re both guys who are passionate and vocal and speak your mind – I’m thinking Seb, you with Kvyat in the cooldown room. Why didn’t you just speak to him straight away after the race?

    SV: Well it’s the same as if you ask me to try and exit through that door. There’s a lot of people I have to go through first and I think it was the wrong time given how much fuss there was kicked up after the race to talk to him. So, I’m sure he was busy as well after the race. You usually have your meetings and so on. So I don’t think that was the right time, straight out of the car. Too many people in between us, let’s say.

    Q: (Rebecca Clancy – The Times) For Sebastian. You’ve just said now that you’re happy to hear that it’s moved on, following Lewis’ comments now. Does that mean that’s not the impression you got after you spoke on Monday? And just a very quick question to Lewis: did you accept his apology?

    SV: No, it’s not the impression I got. I’m just in that regard happy to hear that we, obviously… yeah… mature enough to move on. Obviously what I did was wrong and I did a mistake. I apologise but it doesn’t take it away. It’s still there. If I can could literally take it back and go back in time, I would – but I can’t do that. And since I can’t do that, it’s good that we’re able to sit here and say that we’re focussed on the weekend and we go out there and race and do what we love most.

    Lewis?

    LH: Just on my point, the conversation we had… there wasn’t actually an apology in the conversation that we had – even though that was perhaps the intent. It was literally the next day when we were texting. I got a text from Sebastian, apologising and I did accept it.

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) A question for Sebastian. You’re laughing about it now but I would suggest that you have nine penalty points, you tell the Race Director what you did in Mexico, you swear at him, you use your car as a weapon. Would you agree that you got off quite lightly?

    SV: Well I got a penalty, obviously the race was potentially handed to me with the fault or the technical problem Lewis’ car had with the headrest, so you can believe me that I wasn’t happy at all after the race because I finished fourth and I could have won the race. So I dion’t need to tell you how many points difference that is. So…

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Yet you were driving into him, using your car to ram into him…

    SV: Well I said also to him that I never had the intention to hurt him. It’s not like I tried to punch him…

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) But you did.

    SV: As I said, the Intention… I over-reacted. The intention was not to hurt him, damage his car, it was at low speed but looking back it was the wrong thing to do, it was dangerous, plus it was unnecessary because it didn’t win me anything.

    Q: (Livio Orrichio – GlobeEsporte) To all drivers, when you have a stress point in a relationship, as Sebastian and Lewis now, even if it’s clarified between you, and you go to the next race, here or Silverstone for example, is it possible to leave everything in the past or unconsciously do you take it to the moment of the fight with the same driver into the track?

    LH: No honestly I really don’t feel that there is tension here. Obviously you guys might feel that there is. We just really distinguished that when we spoke on the phone and it remains respectful. As I said, there are two things that are most important for me, the first is that Sebastian acknowledged that I didn’t brake test him, which while he has apologized I don’t know if people still understand that. That’s important for me because people were commenting or sending messages to me saying that I was out of order. Obviously I didn’t do any of the braking. Secondly, road safety is a big issue, a campaign the FIA are constantly pushing and obviously the decisions and how they govern the sport and how it reflects to the rest of thr world, they were the only two points I was focused on.

    Q: Sebastian, can you let it be or do you take it with you into the next race?

    SV: No, I’m quite happy to get into the car tomorrow. I think come practice, come race day you try to do your best. Obviously, you’re very busy driving the car, when you fight someone, we know that overtaking is not easy, I don’t think you have much time to think. Obviously you’re planning an overtake, etcetera – but sitting here I think I would say it doesn’t impact on the next race and who you’re racing.

    Q: Kevin, do you have anything to add?

    KM: I have no grudges to either of those guys!

    Q: (Ysef Harding – Xiro Xone News) There’s too much tension in this room right now. This question’s for Lewis and Sebastian. Lewis, I know recently both of you were involved in Cars 3 doing voiceover work, and Sebastian you did a German version of it. What was it like working with the people at Pixar, and for Lewis, what was it like doing another voiceover for Cars, and Kevin, would you do any voiceover work or acting like these two?

    Let’s start with Kevin.

    KM: I did, actually! On the Danish Cars, as well. I’m one of the Cars, I guess. Yeah, we all did it.

    SV: All the same car, I guess, Sat Nav.

    KM: I’m not a Sat Nav, I’m… I can’t ever remember which one it is. That’s too bad!

    SV: I’m sure they ask you again!

    Sebastian, how did you find the experience?

    SV: Well, I think I’m quite comfortable with voiceover… acting maybe less. It was good fun, it’s a fun experience. People help you a lot. Obviously, as I said, it’s quite easy because they just put your voice wherever they need to – whereas with acting I think you need to be a lot more precise. It was good fun. I did the German version and also the Italian version, which was a bit more difficult but good fun. Looking forward to hear myself when the movie comes out.

    Lewis, how did you find it?

    LH: It was the second time I’ve done it and I had a lot of fun with it. I’m appreciative of the opportunity.

    Q: (Peter Vamosi – Vas Népe) Question is to Lewis and Sebastian. Fernando Alonso’s management is right now in talks with Ferrari and Mercedes – at least the rumours are about this. How do you like the idea having him as team-mate?

    Lewis, why don’t we start with you? You’ve had him as a team-mate before.

    LH: I’m pretty happy with the team-mate I have, so it’s not even a thought in my thought process right now.

    And Sebastian?

    SV: Well, I’m not responsible to sign the drivers but if I had a say, I’d say I prefer Kimi.

    Q: (Tom Slater – Soymotor) A question for Kevin. I wanted to know your vision about the Baku incident because these last days a lot of people were saying the FIA wasn’t hard enough with the penalty. If it had been different drivers do you think the penalty, the FIA would have acted the same?

    KM: I have no idea.

    Q: (Petr Hlawiczka – F1news . cz) Sebastian, do you have each other’s phone number now and the other questions regarding latest technical directive about burning oil, do you think Ferrari is most suffer by this latest technical directive?

    SV: I’ll start with the second question. I don’t think so. I think it’s better for you to ask somebody who understands a lot more about the engine. For me it’s important that the engine is running, that it’s working. Then, I’m not sure I understood the first question. I said we spoke on the phone. To call somebody… I don’t know where you are from but to every place I have been to you need the number of the other person! Maybe you have a good phone, you just say the name and it dials the number.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) This is also for Lewis and Sebastian, but about the racing at last. There are now two races where Mercedes seem to be much stronger than Ferrari. Lewis, are you now confident that you are on top of the tyre problems you had before and Sebastian how concerning is it? Obviously the race in Baku was hard to judge because it was chaotic but especially in qualifying the gap was really big and how optimistic are you that you will be able to get close to Mercedes again?

    LH: I think we’re constantly learning about these tyres, so I think we definitely made a big step, I think it was going into Montreal and from there we are continuing to learned weekend-in, weekend-out. Of course we’re coming to other circuits. Each time it’s a little bit different – different abrasiveness, different challenges – but I think we do understand obviously what the issue has been and that it can occur at any point but I think we have the better tools and understanding now to be able to tackle whatever issue we do.

    SV: I know what was going on in the last two races. They were very different. The tracks are different. But if you take Canada: we actually had good pace in the race. The car was damaged and obviously my race looked very different to Lewis’, he could control the race from the front. Then in Baku in qualifying, we just didn’t get it together. The gap was artificially big. I’m not sitting here thinking that we are 1.1s behind in quali here. Came Sunday I think the pace was very similar. Overall it’s probably fair to say that Mercedes had the upper hand Saturday and Sunday but the difference was small. I think you are constantly trying to push all the areas, trying to improve the car, understanding the tyres, these kind of things. But I think for here we should be all set and we should be ready to race. Hopefully we have a calmer race and we should have more, let’s say, consistent conditions, then you are able to read much more how close we are.

    Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS) Kevin, do you think the next world champion is on your right or on your left?

    KM: I have no idea. I can’t see into the future. Let’s see.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Mark Webber has recently suggested that drivers shouldn’t be penalised for technical issues with grid penalties etc. How do you feel about that – can one separate a driver from a team and vice versa?

    SV: I think it’s a difficult one. I think we understand as drivers what Mark meant and he’s probably right about it but on the other hand you have to get the rules straight and set some rules so that the teams comply with it. Since everyone is always really competitive in Formula One, you are always trying to look for something maybe the other guy hasn’t, so you might develop a pattern of I don’t know, changing your gearbox every race because of whatever advantage it brings to you, so I don’t know… yeah, that’s a tricky one.

    LH: I understand his point. I’ve only just heard it, so I haven’t had much time to think about it. But I imagine it’s difficult to really implement that. You’re a team. If a driver makes a mistake, the team loses points and if teams, ultimately if it’s a team, collective mistake when something or when reliability hits, it hits you all together… and then also you know, if you have an engine issue and you get a brand new one and you don’t take a penalty you gain an advantage on power quite often. I don’t know. Perhaps there’s a way they could do it.

    KM: I think it’s frustrating for the driver but it is also for the team. It’s true that if you make a mistake as a driver it goes to the team as well. But if there is an engine failure it’s more on the team’s side of the blame, if you want. I think it could be looked at a solution to take a constructor point or something like that instead of penalizing the start position for the race. But it’s not something I think too much about.

    Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere Della Sera ) A question for Sebastian. Today we heard that in the team there’s a change, the [person] responsible for the engine is not any longer in his role. Do you think it could affect the second part of the season?

    SV: I don’t know. I don’t know what you’re referring to, but again I think these kind of things it’s better you ask a little bit higher up.

    Q: (Giles Richards – The Guardian) Lewis, after the race you said you were concerned about the example the incident set for children. Are you happy with the message being sent from the hearing on Monday after what happened to Sebastian?

    LH: I don’t think anything changes. My opinion stays the same. With all due respect, Jean [Todt] should be sitting next to us to be honest to answer some questions perhaps because they didn’t change anything on the Monday, so the message that was sent still remains the same.

    Q: (Nathalie Pinkham – Sky Sports) Seb, in the heat of the moment, you do seem to lose your cool a bit. Do you think you have a problem with your temperament? Lewis, do you think that judging by the size of this crowd this kind of jeopardy and rivalry is good for the sport?

    SV: To answer your question, I don’t think so. I could see why you might believe it’s not, but I think I have faced a lot of situations that are quite hot and I don’t think so.

    LH: I think an intense battle is always a good thing for any sport, so I don’t disagree with that but of course we are used as a platform, we are supposed to be role models, we are supposed to give a certain message. We are only human beings, so we don’t always get things right. However, collectively we are supposed to inspire and send the right message to young kids. There are so many people who want to be in our position. We are in a position of power and how we utilise that is very important