INDIA in F1

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  • Belagavi gets its first big Motorsport event

    Belagavi gets its first big Motorsport event

    File photo courtesy BMSA

    Belgaum, 19 May 2017: Belagavi’s first Super Dirt-Bike race, Karnataka Invitational Supercross 2017-Belagavi, jointly organised by Belgaum Moto Sports Association (BMSA) and Goa Moto Sport Association (GMSA) will be held here on Sunday. The gates are free and the organisers are expecting a crowd of over 20,000.

    For the first time in North Karnataka, the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) approved event is taking place in Belagavi. National-level riders from across India are expected to take part. The Magadum SX race track has been designed and executed by the renowned track designer, Ashley Gomes.

    The race will be held behind GIT College, next to Dyan Prabodhan School, Sammed Nagar Udyambag, Belagavi from 3 pm. BMSA President Akshay Magadum, along with the team of Abhishek Magadum, Aditya Magadum, Shiv Mamadapur, Abhijeet Magadum, Vinay Magale, Suprit Magadum and Yatindra Deshpande have been working in coordination with GMSA President Ashley Gomes over a year to bring this event to Belagavi.

    BMA & GMSA plan to launch the Karnataka Invitational Supercross Championship in November this year once the permanent race track is ready at the same location.

    The races will be held in the following categories:

    • Group A, Sx1 upto 250cc 2 stroke & 450cc 4 stroke.
    • Group A, Sx2 upto 250cc 2 stroke & 450cc 4 stroke.
    • Group A, Sx3 upto 250cc 2 stroke & 450cc 4 stroke.
    • Junior 1, group A/B/C/D upto 125cc 2 stroke & 250cc 4 stroke (under 18 above 15).
    • Junior 2, group A/B/C/D upto 85cc 2 stroke & 150cc 4 stroke (under 15 above 12).
    • Junior 3, group A/B/C/D upto 65cc 2 stroke (under 12 above 7).
    • Group C, upto 250cc (2/4 stroke).
    • Group B, upto 250cc (2/4 stroke).
    • Enfield Class, upto 500cc.
    • Women’s Class, upto 450cc.

    The races will be held under the supervision and inspection of FMSCI Scrutineers and Stewards. This event is also being held under the International Sporting ode of the Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) the National Competition rules of FMSCI (NCR), & its appendices and the supplementary regulations. Online registrations are open at www.belgaummotosport.com or email to `gomessportsacademy@gmail.com’.

    For Details Contact Abhishek Magadum at 9886136886 or Shiv Mamadapur 9844435492.

     

    eom/BMSA press release

  • Formula E donates clean-charging infrastructure

    Formula E donates clean-charging infrastructure

    Paris, 18 May 2017: Following the second edition of the event around the architectural co

    Formula E class of 2016-17 line-up in Paris ahead of the GP. An FIA image

    mplex of Les Invalides, a short distance from the headquarters of the FIA, Formula E is donating a zero-emissions glycerine generator to boost charging infrastructure and leave a lasting legacy to the city of Paris.

    The Formula E concept was initiated by FIA President Jean Todt as a means to demonstrate the potential and drive the development of sustainable technologies, become a platform to increase global uptake of electric vehicles and contribute to the fight against climate change and inner-city air pollution.

    By welcoming the FIA Formula E Championship to the streets of Paris, Mayor Anne Hidalgo aims to increase public awareness of sustainable methods of transportation and promote car manufacturers’ continued investment in electric mobility and alternative energy solutions.

    This is in line with the vision of Alejandro Agag, Founder and CEO of Formula E, who wants to make the switch to electric cars make sense for consumers – more efficient and more affordable.

    Formula E and event organisers have decided to donate a zero-emissions glycerine generator to Paris after the chequered flag falls on Saturday.

    The generators are based on standard production diesel engines that have been adapted with Aquafuel’s patented technology to run on glycerine. The fuel itself is a by-product of the bio-diesel production process, and it’s so clean you can drink it.

    The unit can be used as a fixed generator to provide electricity and heating to existing buildings – or as a mobile generator to provide power at events, or to power electric vehicle charging stations.

    The generator will be entirely automated and can be synchronised to the French grid to feedback any energy production surplus. It will be tailor-made for the needs of Paris, and will be delivered in August 2017.

    Anne Hidalgo would like to express her thanks to the FIA Formula E Championship for this generous donation, and reinforce the push that Paris is making in the transition to clean energy and the fight against climate change.

    eom/FIA press release

  • Ostberg, Neuville dead heat opens up Rally de Portugal: WRC

    Norway’s Mads Ostberg and Belgium’s Thierry Neuville could not be separated over the opening 3.36-kilometre stage of Rally Portugal, setting identical times of 2:36.6 seconds.

    For both, it was a continuation of the impressive form that they showed at the last event in Argentina, where Ford driver Ostberg was among the front-runners before Hyundai’s Neuville ultimately came through to take his second win of the season.

    Both looked spectacular in their respective heats on the Lousada stage, with the event’s trademark large crowds creating an incredible atmosphere.

    New Zealand’s Hayden Paddon was just 0.1s behind in his Hyundai, while the other driver that impressed last time out, Elfyn Evans, was a further 0.3s back in his D-Mack-shod Ford Fiesta (Ostberg is also running D-Mack tyres in Portugal).

    Evans was followed by this morning’s fastest driver in Shakedown, Hyundai’s Dani Sordo (+0.5s), and championship leader, M-Sport’s Sébastien Ogier (+0.7s).

    Ostberg, who pipped Paddon in his heat by just a tenth of a second, was happy to have taken bragging rights in such a tight battle in front of so many fans.

    “It was a close one,” he said. “I saw after one lap it was close, so I pushed more on the second [lap]. A few small mistakes, but I’m happy with the time.”

    There were no notable problems for any of the WRC manufacturer drivers.

    In WRC2, Andreas Mikkelsen started off in the same way he finished his last event in the Skoda Fabia R5, setting a 2:40.4 – which was 1.6s faster than his nearest rival, Teemu Suninen.

    The rally proper commences tomorrow morning, with the second stage; the 26.7-kilometre Viana do Castelo. Crews will face a total of eight stages and approximately 150 competitive kilometres on Friday, culminating with two blasts through the streets of central Braga.

    eom/FIA press release

  • Title fight comes to Paris for back-to-back races; Mahindra 3rd in standings: Formula E

    Paris will host its second FIA Formula E Championship ePrix this weekend as the title fight comes to the streets around Invalides

    Paris, 17 May 2017: For the first time in its history, there will be back-to-back races in the FIA Formula E Championship, with the Paris ePrix coming this Saturday, 20 May, just seven days after a thrilling showdown in Monaco.

    The race on the famous city streets on the Côte d’Azur was in many ways analogous to the story of the title fight so far in this third season of Formula E. Renault e.dams driver Sebastien Buemi was in control throughout practice and qualifying, setting the fastest times across the board and ensuring he would be on pole once again in Monaco, having achieved the same feat the first time the championship visited two years before.

    In the race a thrilling battle developed between Buemi and the ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport driver Lucas di Grassi who is his closest rival in the chase for championship honours. Buemi had pulled a strong gap in the opening stint, but as the race entered its final phase di Grassi closed right in on the reigning champion.

    With Buemi managing to keep just enough of a gap, he extended his points lead coming into the Paris event to 15 points. Behind the two front-runners, Nico Prost who sits third in the standings scored just two points in Monaco, however his two closest chasers – Jean-Eric Vergne and Sam Bird, who are fourth and fifth respectively – did not finish, meaning that the points gaps remained stable.

    Mahindra Racing had a strong showing in Monaco, with Nick Heidfeld making a return to the podium in third, while Felix Rosenqvist bounced back from a crash in practice to cross the line in sixth. Heidfeld has jumped up the order as a result of his rostrum finish, he’s now just ahead of his team-mate in sixth.

    Venturi’s Maro Engel enjoyed his best ePrix to date in Monaco. Having failed to finish a race since the opening round of the season in Hong Kong, the German driver enjoyed an impressive return to form at his team’s home race. He secured the second best time overall in the qualifying group stages, progressing to SuperPole for the second event in succession. He held on to his fifth-placed grid slot for the duration of the contest, bringing himself and Venturi ten points and closing the gap back up to Jaguar in the standings.

    Engel is, however, one of two drivers who will be substituted in Paris, the other being Loic Duval for Faraday Future Dragon Racing. They will be replaced by Tom Dillman and Mike Conway respectively.

    So close to the headquarters of the FIA, the Paris ePrix is a special race for the Federation, and there will plenty going on away from the track action. In particular, there will be a special FIA Smart Cities session featuring FIA President Jean Todt and the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo. The concept of Smart Cities has become one of the most rapidly growing frameworks applied in all sectors of urban development, including transport and mobility systems, and this talk will focus on the critical area of road safety in urban environments.

    Paris is not only home to the FIA, but marks a home race for championship leaders Renault e.dams, while DS Virgin Racing can claim it as a home race thanks to French DS brand. No fewer than four drivers – Prost, Vergne, Dillman and Stephane Sarrazin will undoubtedly be spurred on by their home supporters on Saturday.

    Event Timetable

    SATURDAY, MAY 20

    08:00 – 08:45: PRACTICE 1

    10:00: Qualifying group lottery, Podium / Allianz eVillage

    10:30 – 11:00: PRACTICE 2

    12:00 – 12:06: QUALIFYING GROUP 1
    12:10 – 12:16: QUALIFYING GROUP 2
    12:20 – 12:26: QUALIFYING GROUP 3
    12:30 – 12:36: QUALIFYING GROUP 4
    12:45 – 13:00: SUPER POLE

    13:45 – 14:00: eRace, Gaming Zone / Allianz eVillage

    14:00 – 14:30: Autograph session, Gaming Zone / Allianz eVillage

    15:00 – 15:10: Driver parade

    16:00: Paris ePRIX (51 laps)

    17:05: Podium ceremony, Podium

    Championship standings

    Drivers’ Championship Teams’ Championship
    Driver Points Team Points
    1 Sebastien Buemi 104 Renault e.dams 152
    2 Lucas di Grassi 89 ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport 115
    3 Nicolas Prost 48 Mahindra Racing 60
    4 Jean-Eric Vergne 40 Techeetah 45
    5 Sam Bird 34 DS Virgin Racing 44
    6 Nick Heidfeld 32 NEXTEV NIO 42
    7 Felix Rosenqvist 28 Faraday Future Dragon Racing 19
    8 Nelson Piquet Jr. 27 Andretti Formula E 18
    9 Daniel Abt 26 Panasonic Jaguar Racing 17
    10 Oliver Turvey 15 Venturi Formula E 13

    Entry List

     N° TEAM CAR DRIVER
    2 DS Virgin Racing (GBR) DS Virgin DSV-02 Sam Bird (GBR)
    3 NEXTEV NIO (GBR) NextEV TCR Formula 002 Nelson Piquet Jr. (BRA)
    4 Venturi Formula E Team (MCO) Venturi VM200-FE-02 Stéphane Sarrazin (FRA)
    5 Venturi Formula E Team (MCO) Venturi VM200-FE-02 Tom Dillmann (FRA)
    6 Faraday Future Dragon Racing (USA) Penske 701-EV Mike Conway (GBR)
    7 Faraday Future Dragon Racing (USA) Penske 701-EV Jérôme d’Ambrosio (BEL)
    8 Renault e.dams (FRA) Renault Z.E. 16 Nicolas Prost (FRA)
    9 Renault e.dams (FRA) Renault Z.E. 16 Sébastien Buemi (CHE)
    11 ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport (DEU) ABT Schaeffler FE02 Lucas di Grassi (BRA)
    19 Mahindra Racing (IND) Mahindra M3Electro Felix Rosenqvist (SWE)
    20 Panasonic Jaguar Racing (GBR) Jaguar I-Type 1 Mitch Evans (NZL)
    23 Mahindra Racing (IND) Mahindra M3Electro Nick Heidfeld (DEU)
    25 TECHEETAH (CHN) Renault Z.E. 16 Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA)
    27 Andretti Formula E (USA) Andretti ATEC-02 Robin Frijns (NED)
    28 Andretti Formula E (USA) Andretti ATEC-02 Antonio Felix da Costa (PRT)
    33 TECHEETAH (CHN) Renault Z.E. 16 Esteban Gutierrez (MEX)
    37 DS Virgin Racing (GBR) DS Virgin DSV-02 José Maria Lopez (ARG)
    47 Panasonic Jaguar Racing (GBR) Jaguar I-Type 1 Adam Carroll (GBR)
    66 ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport (DEU) ABT Schaeffler FE02 Daniel Abt (DEU)
    88 NEXTEV NIO (GBR) NextEV TCR Formula 002 Oliver Turvey (GBR).
  • MotoGP heads to Le Mans: A Michelin view

    MotoGP heads to Le Mans: A Michelin view

    Michelin will see its range of MotoGP™ tyres put through their paces on home soil as the championship heads to France and one of the world’s spiritual racing homes at Le Mans for the HJC Helmets Grand Prix de France.

    The 4,185m Bugatti Circuit is within the famous 24-hour track and uses a part of that legendary layout in conjunction with a purpose-built facility to create a circuit which features nine right-hand and five left-hand corners over its configuration. The stop-go design of the track makes it less stressful on tyres than some other circuits, with late braking and drivability two determining factors that need to be mastered to give a good lap. Michelin recently visited the circuit for a test to appraise the new asphalt that was laid earlier this year and a positive assessment led to valuable data being collected in preparation for this weekend’s event. The one-day test was used to evaluate the best compounds for the new surface and with this information Michelin has brought a series of tyres that will be suited to the track’s improved grip levels.

    The range for the Le Mans race will feature a soft, medium and hard front and rear MICHELIN Power Slick – as is the case at all races this season. These will all be identified with a white band, no band and yellow band respectively to donate the tyre compound being used. Although the circuit is not particularly hard on the tyres, the new surface provides a greater amount of grip and to cope with this, and the extra right-hand turns, the rear tyres – and the hard front compound – will be an asymmetric design with the right-hand shoulder having a harder compound. The MICHELIN Power Rain tyres in soft (blue band) and medium (no band) will be available for use if conditions dictate, which with the mixed weather that has struck MotoGP this season, and the expected climate at Le Mans, might very well be used at some point during the weekend.

    The famous French circuit has held a motorcycle Grand Prix since 1969, with the modern track being a stable fixture on the calendar since 2000. Situated just on the outskirts on the town of Le Mans, approximately 200km south-west of the country’s capital Paris, the circuit always attracts a lively and boisterous crowd that will certainly be taking a keen interest in France’s exploits on the track.

    Michelin will  begin the proceedings for its home race with the rest of the MotoGP paddock on Friday 19th May with two Free Practice sessions, followed by another Free Practice the following morning. Qualifying is on Saturday afternoon to decide grid positions for Sunday’s 28-lap race, which is scheduled to get underway at 14.00hrs local time (13.00hrs BST, 12.00hrsGMT/UST).

    Piero Taramasso – Michelin Motorsport Two-Wheel Manager:

    “This is a very important weekend for us as the home Grand Prix always has a special meaning, as well as the added expectation. The French people are very partisan and will certainly be right behind us, so we must perform for them as well as all the Michelin personnel that will be trackside. We had a good test at Le Mans earlier this month to try the new surface and gather as much data as possible about which compounds we will use. This has enabled us to go back to Clermont-Ferrand and prepare a range of tyres that will give optimum performance around this famous circuit. The new asphalt will provide grip in the dry and as we found at the test – because it rained in the morning – it also has very impressive adhesion in the wet, which could prove important as the weather can certainly be changeable at Le Mans.”
  • Ruhaan misses another win by a whisker

    Ruhaan misses another win by a whisker

    Siena (Italy), 16 May 2017: Ruhaan Alva, a 10-year old schoolboy from Bengaluru, India, missed a second consecutive win in the 60cc class by a whisker and settled for second spot in the third round of the Italian Easykart Championship here on Sunday.

    In a thrilling 14-lap final, Ruhaan, supported by Italian kart manufacturer Birel Art, started second on the grid, but moved to the front of the 23-kart field on the second lap and held position despite close attention from his MLG Racing team-mate Lorenzo Patrese and Andrea Pirovano.

    The trio was bunched tight after 12 laps before Ruhaan was pushed wide on a right-hander which effectively cost him a possible victory as he had to rest content with second place at the finish behind a late-charging Daniele D’Urso who now heads the championship.

    The podium spot took Ruhaan to fourth in the championship with 48 points having missed the first round when he competed in the 60Mini category before opting for the for the more competitive higher class.

    Earlier, Ruhaan topped the pre-Final race starting from fifth as he led eight of the 11 laps to make up for a disappointing Heats outing when he finished fifth. The points from these two outings put him second on the grid for the Final.

    Ruhaan’s next outing in the championship is on June 10-11 in Lonato where the fourth round is scheduled to be held.

    eom/Press Release

  • It’s one of the hardest races: Hamilton

    DRIVERS: 1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes); 2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari); 3 – Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull Racing)

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS (Conducted by Pedro de la Rosa)

    Q: Lewis, tell us about the race? First of all, bad things, what happened at the start?

    Lewis HAMILTON: First of all, I just want to say a big thank you to the crowd that came today, for the warm welcome and for the support. It’s been a long, long time coming to Barcelona [for me] and I can say it didn’t start out the greatest when I first came but it has grown so much and my love and appreciation for the country has grown so much as well, so thank you. The team did an incredible job today… what an amazing… that’s how racing should be. That’s as close as it could be. Sebastian was incredibly close, incredibly fast. The team did a great job with the strategy. The start – I don’t really know what’s gone wrong. I have to see with my guys…

    Don’t worry about that…

    LH: But it wasn’t good enough, I know! Trust me, I thought I did everything I was supposed to do but I got a bit of wheelspin.

    Q: Tell me about the squeeze, let’s call it the squeeze into Turn One? Seb was coming out the pits with the medium tyres. How did you handle that?

    LH: I think in the heat of the moment it’s difficult to know from the outside view what it’s like. I felt like I ran out road but I was alongside. It was definitely close but again, as I said, that’s how racing should be and I loved it and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

    Q: Well done man, your 55th grand prix victory in my home town. Seb, do you think you should have pushed a little bit further? Was it enough? 

    Sebastian VETTEL: I was pushing! I had a really good start, best start maybe at the beginning. I think Lewis and myself we both picked up wheelspin straight away, then I pulled the clutch in again and then I could gain on him so I was really happy with that. Then again the run to Turn One was quite long, but I managed to stay ahead. Then I settled into a nice rhythm, everything was fine. Obviously Lewis stayed out longer, did the opposite, mirrored the strategy so I knew in the end it would be crucial. Then he came out, I was a bit surprised when he came out and it was already so close. I tried to brake as late as possible into Turn One, locked up. I don’t know if we touched but I managed to stay ahead so it was really close. The laps after I was doing everything I can to stay in front and I was a bit luck because there was always a car in front giving me a tow, but as soon as I was alone, he just flew past down the straight, which was a shame. We tried to stay in the race but well done to him, he drove a good race and we did everything we could.

    Hey man, you’re still leading the championship, so don’t worry, six points in front.

    SV: It was a nice race and a great crowd, so it would have been great to win but…

    Q: Tell us about the Plan C. Was that a real option towards the end – change your strategy and try to attack?

    SV: Yeah, we had a huge gap to Daniel behind, so we could have done anything really. We weren’t sure. Obviously there was a big conversation, trying to do something. We were hoping Lewis would maybe struggle with his tyres at the end but normally in the end of the race the track picks up a lot of rubber and the tyres last long so he didn’t have any problems. We tried to keep pushing, stay close, but it was never close enough.

    Q: A fantastic drive my friend. Hey, last but not least, come on man, no shoey, just behave yourself, I’m very elegant today. Your favourite podium of the year, first since Mexico 2016, how does it feel?

    Daniel RICCIARDO: Feels good. We had a little bit of fortune today with Valtteri stopping. We were fourth and then he had his… I’m not sure of what his problem was in the end, but for now we take what we can and it’s nice to be up on the podium. Really happy to spray some champagne again. The weather is good. They said maybe a chance of rain. It’s cool, we got some sunshine, so gracias a todos.

    Q: Well done amigo. Lewis, was it that hard, because obviously this is possibly the most demanding phsyically?

    LH: Yeah, this is one of the hardest races.

    Q: How’s your neck after it?

    LH: My neck is fine, but physically, yeah, I probably lost two kilos just in that race. It’s draining, the car is fast, to keep up with him… he drove fantastically well and it’s a re4al privilege to race against such an awesome driver so…

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Lewis, many congratulations, win number 55 of your career and your second here in Barcelona and I have the feeling from your celebrations that it meant a lot to you. It was one of those races that was getting away from you but you and the team made it happen your way and from your side making the softs work first and final stints critical to turning it round.

    LH: Yeah, I really just have to congratulate my team and thank my team for doing such a great job with the strategy and the pit stops and everyone back at the factory with the upgrades enabling us to be as close as we are to Ferrari. It has been a really good weekend, being able to bounce back from Russia is a great thing. But I obviously lost out on the start. I’m not quite sure exactly what it was. The initial phase was good, just got wheelspin later on and saw Sebastian fly by. Then seeing him after that, he was so fast up ahead, it was such a push to try to keep close to him and not let him pull away. I don’t know, I think it was the rawest fight I can remember having for some real time, which I loved. This is what the sport needs to be every single race for sure. This is why I race and this is what got me into racing in the beginning. To have that close battle with him, with a four-time champ, is awesome. The first stint I was able to manage the tyres and stay relatively close. The second stint was a little bit difficult to keep up the pace with him with the medium tyre. At the end came out so close together, very, very close into Turn One. I gave you space, otherwise we would have touched…

    SV: I thought I gave you space too…

    LH: Not really! Definitely didn’t give me much space! It was close; it was cool…

    SV: We’re still here so…

    LH: Yeah, just! And then after that was just biding my time, trying to find the right opportunity. There were backmarkers we were coming up against, which made it fun. Trying to get past backmarkers is very, very tough and so clocking the DRS with the use of the battery pack and everything… But as I said, these guys have done a phenomenal job, their car is awesome and the pace that he had… it’s very close between us both. But at the end I was able to manage the soft… wow, I’m talking as long as you normally do when you win!

    SV: Go on.

    LH: But the last stint: when they told me I had 25 laps I didn’t think… at the end of the stint he would come back, being on the harder tyre, but I was able to manage it.

    Q: Well done, it was a fantastic race. Sebastian, I guess you file this one down as the one that got away. You had the lead, you made that early stop when they looked like they were going to make that early stop but they didn’t it. Then they played a tactic where they left Bottas out for an extra eight laps to hold you, you lost four seconds behind him…

    SV: Nice, huh!

    Q: …It was just one of those days that you were trying to catch something that was like a bar of soap, always getting away from you.

    SV: That’s a good way to put it. Well done to him. He won it fair and square, so I can’t take it away from him. Obviously I’m not happy because as you said it was there and… yeah, the start was good. I saw Lewis struggling with wheelspin and so did I, but then I pulled the clutch in immediately and reacted and tried to set off a second launch phase, which worked excellent. Looking in the mirror straight away to see if any of the guys behind got a better start, but I think we probably all overestimated the grip, which wasn’t that good. First stint, I was really in control. Happy with the car, but it wasn’t easy. Just trying to control the gap, the pace was similar. Then we had to obviously go, because otherwise they might go and then you get jumped. I wasn’t sure. I came out right behind Daniel I believe. The second stint I thought was pretty good and then Lewis has the luxury to stay out and then think about what to do, and not being in a rush, gap behind, choosing a different tyre, which might allow him to come back in the end, which unfortunately was the case. Second stint, which you touched on, with Valtteri was… yeah, I was catching him but I knew they wouldn’t pit him. He was all over the place with his tyres so they used him a bit to block me. He still managed to somehow get a decent exit so I didn’t quite make it the first time round so the second time round down the straights I thought “now, I have to find some way, even if it’s over the grass”. He used a bit more of the track. It was really close. I don’t know what is the word, I faked it on the inside, went back on the outside and then on the inside to surprise him, which worked, but I nearly lost the car doing that because I had the DRS open and it was a quite aggressive move on the steering wheel. So I was really happy but then equally I looked down and I’d lost an awful lot of time so I wasn’t that happy becau8se the real fight was with Lewis. Then I don’t know what happened in the last stint because I came out of the pits and I was surprised to see him that close because I thought I had eight seconds in hand. It must have been because you stopped a lap sooner or something. So yeah, obviously that could have bought us a bit of a cushion. Then it was nice he stayed behind and I just managed always the end of the straight, end of the straight, and I thought it would be more difficult for him the longer her tries. But then I had no tow from any car in front and he sailed past. He managed a good exit and he was very quick in the last sector and he went on to win the race. We did everything we could, we tried everything. I think the car was good, nothing to blame there. I think our weekend was a bit scrappy overall. So I think it’s still a very, very good result.

    Q: Well, you’re still leading the world championship?

    SV: I think I was more focused on the race today. It was very close when we came out. You come out on fresh tyres – I was just guessing. I wanted to stay ahead but I was just guessing on the brake point. It worked, but there was no room for him. He reacted well, because he avoided the contact. I don’t know if we touched? I think we just missed. It was good, because I stayed ahead, so you always take it, but it was really close.

    Q: Daniel, welcome back. Podium, nice to have you here but 75s behind despite massive upgrades all around is, I guess, a little bit of a cold shower after the champagne-shower.

    DR: Yeah, I’ve definitely got a less exciting story that these two guys. I’m pretty envious sitting here listening to the battle they had. But look, firstly, it’s nice to be back up here. Absolutely. But it’s nice to see that at the front there are some battles and they’re enjoying it. As Lewis touched on, that’s a big part of why we race: we want to have these battles and fights. I’m enviously not to be part of that but we’re going to try to work on it. I think today certainly we just have to be grateful that, y’know, first podium of the year, it’s nice. We got, I guess a bit lucky, not sure what the problem was with Valtteri, looked like he just stopped on the side of the track, I guess something with engine failure or whatever but yeah, it’s nice to be up here nonetheless. As for my race, yeah, not any exciting stories besides watching a bit happen in front of me at the start. Otherwise, just trying to manage it. At the end, I felt I was trying to get the most out of it, pushing but yeah, I heard the lap times they were doing at the end, and yeah, we’ve still got a bit to go but we’ll keep working at it, try and stay positive and keep everyone motivated.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Roksana Cwik – Swiatwyscigow.pl) Sebastian, another situation with Felipe Massa. What can you say about it?

    SV: No, I like Felipe. He was given me space so nothing to blame on his side. It’s really slippery and then when you get close to the other car, the car in front, I just locked up both wheels. At some point I wish I had a handbrake to get the rear turned. It was really close; I was lucky to not bump into him and damage my front wing. But it’s difficult for him because he gives the space and he just waits for me to go through. I should look at the lines in Turn Ten. Sometimes you are really at the kerb but most of the time you are 1.5/2 metres off the apex kerb there. It was quite slippery and I obviously underestimated that so if anything it was me to blame – but it a bit of a pity because again it was Felipe. Last race we had a bit of a misunderstanding, this one again but he’s very experienced and he knows how to move in these situations, so nothing to blame for him.

    Q: (Mike Doodson – GP+) This is for Lewis. Thank you very much for turning what looked like being a bit of a monotonous parade into a really exciting race – particularly for the incident with Seb. I can see it’s all peace and love between the two of you as usual right now – but I’m pretty sure I heard the word “dangerous” from you over the radio. Would you like to go into a bit more detail about that?

    LH: Not really. In the heat of the moment it feels… when I run out of road and particularly where we went off at the exit of Turn One, so it meant by the time I had… I tried to stay straight but I came over the kerb so I lost all steering and he was just ahead of me. Could have been close, could have been some real good contact but fortunately I avoided it. I didn’t say anything bad, just ‘be careful, that was very, very, very close,’ but I enjoyed it and I’m glad that afterwards I was able to have a battle and didn’t damage anything and there’s nothing lost between us. The respect stays the same. I think he was tough and hard just to the edge and no more. I think if he’d hit me that would have been a bit different.

    Q: (Angelique Belokopytov – Autodigest) Lewis, congratulations, what were your thoughts when you saw this red guy in front of you at the start and were those thoughts the same after you saw him again after his pitstop?

    LH: No, definitely not. At the beginning, you’re on the back foot, thinking ‘damn it, we worked so hard, we got a great pole position’. The starts are just so unpredictable. I prepared, I did everything I needed to do for the start and just got a bit of wheel-spin and he got a better start. Naturally, when you go into Turn One and you’ve lost position, you just know here in Barcelona it’s so hard to follow. As you come out of Turn One into Turn Two, Three it’s often kind of like… the chances of winning this race from now, this position, behind such a fast car is… the percentages are very, very small. I just stayed on it, I tried to keep them… y’know he was so fast in that first stint so I just tried to keep on his tail and I think to the end of the stint I was able to start closing the gap to him, and I’m like ‘Oh my God, we’ve got a real race on now’. But what I don’t know is what the overall picture is looking like, so what the engineers see of what our strategy is going to be, and so I have absolutely no idea, apart for our strategy stops, and what they tell me, I don’t know how it’s going to pan out – so all I can do is give it everything I’ve got. It was amazing when I saw at the end that we were coming out close. I was a bit worried that, by going long in the first stint, everything I’d worked for in the first part of the first stint, I would have lost because I think he was pulling me back in at a huge step. But anyway, I trust my engineers and my strategist and they did an incredible job. And y’know, it was great that we were able to have that battle at the end, and again the tyres stayed… the reason we were able to stay so close is that we were offset on tyres. If I had the same tyre as him, it probably wouldn’t have been that exciting.

    Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) To Sebastian. First of all I would like to know if it was an option to make the second stint not on the soft but on the medium like Lewis, and after the race, how is the situation between you and Mercedes? Do you believe that the situation is like in the first part of that they’ve got an advantage on Ferrari?

    SV: There’s always the option, obviously, to go on the medium tyre rather than the soft. We had a new soft and a new medium but yeah, looking back, I was just thinking about it, we obviously lost… I don’t think the decision is to blame. We lost a lot of time fighting Valtteri, we lost four seconds. Then, I don’t know why, we made eight seconds disappear for the second stop. If you add those two things it’s 12 seconds and it would have been a bit better but that’s how it goes. Yeah. I think it could have been the same if we go on the medium tyre. Then obviously they are the second in the row at that point and easy to react, so they could have gone on the other tyre to put pressure and maybe pass us there – so at that point I think there’s nothing to blame. Later on, obviously he had the tyre advantage and he did a good job. It’s not easy to pass but he still made it, so he got close. You saw the race, that’s what happened. So I think for us, to answer your second question, very happy when we have the chance to race Mercedes. They have been proving over and over in the last few years that they are the team to beat. We are given them, so far, a good run for their money. I think we can be very happy – but today we’re not entirely happy because the win was there, the car was quick enough but the way the race happened, it wasn’t meant to be. But the most important thing is that we were there: once again fighting; hanging in there; not much missing at the end. The car is good, the team is in great form and we know that we need to improve. We don’t want to battle with them close, we want to be ahead of them. The idea obviously is nice, to have close battles – but you want to have them in your favour at the end of the race, which today wasn’t the case but that’s, as I said, how it goes sometimes.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) To Lewis, and also if Sebastian can comment, what is your understanding what we saw this weekend. In the race you have a car completely different than you have been using until now and we have a battle with Sebastian as in the four races before. As exactly the same yesterday. Did the Mercedes change the car in the correct way, or was the step forwards not what you expected, or even Ferrari also developed their car in a way that the difference became more or less similar.

    LH: I think we delivered what we thought we were bringing in – it just looks fancy. It does the job, it works well with our car, it’s just that we have… while the rules are the same the cars are fundamentally a lot different and they’ve been bringing upgrades to the last two races whereas we’ve just bought one here. So, if the brought five piece in the previous race and five here, we’ve brought ten here – but yeah, I think we just made a similar step together. We were slightly quicker this weekend, I think, slightly had the edge. And even if it’s only half a tenth, it’s brought us a little bit… particularly in the race pace. Before I don’t think I’ve really had the pace in the race to keep up with Sebastian. I think today is a bit different – so there is an improvement.

    Q: (Iolande Skinner – Motosport Monday) For all three of you: what was going through your head as you stood on the podium today?

    DR: Relief. And happiness. It’s been a little while. It’s nice, weather was good, the fans were good. So it’s good. Actually I noticed on the in lap, I think it was turn 12, it looked like a dedicated Max sort of fan club, all in orange, and maybe they were doing it for everyone but they seemed to actually give me a lot of love so… they seemed pretty cool so obviously they were still hanging around and showing support. I’m sure they support Max but maybe, as a team, they love Red Bull so that was nice to see.

    LH: Just grateful, grateful for… it’s difficult for you all and people watching to comprehend what goes on in the background to enable days like this to happen. Every week, I go back to the factory, I get an opportunity to go and see different departments and catch up with people that I’ve obviously known for the five years now and just see how… there’ s people who have been there for 25 years, 29 years and it’s just remarkable to see what goes on in the background and then we turn up at a Grand Prix and it looks all glitz and glamorous but so much work goes on behind… this is just the tip of the iceberg here, so I think on the podium I was just grateful and I just got to race an incredible race today and I’m very proud of my team and grateful I was able to deliver what I know was in my ability in my heart as well. It was just a combination of all that plus just massive excitement, kind of on the rev limiter.

    SV: Well, honest answer, I was a bit disappointed. I didn’t want him to win, I wanted to win myself so it was great, beautiful weather, beautiful crowd but…

    LH: I’m glad you didn’t want me to win!

    SV: I don’t know. With the start that I had, the view into turn one was pretty nice. No one ahead, so it was great. There was a clear track and the car felt good but yeah, it was just… just couldn’t grip it, you know? Here and there, always a lost a bit. I knew it would be tight at the end, I thought I would still have a chance to hold him off and during the race I thought this was like 2011. I think I had a long stint at the very end of the race, Lewis was quicker but I managed to keep him behind and I thought yes, it will be the same you know, but unfortunately he turned it around so this year wasn’t so happy. Then there was another incident in turn 12 that is like an area with a lot of fans, orange, Dutch, they’re all barefoot to support Max but when I came round they…

    DR: Also for you…

    SV: They did to me! They gave me a good wave.

    LH: On the last lap, coming round, they didn’t move. The crowd next door were moving but they were sat, like this, I thought oh my God, there’s no love there. But then when I came back round, i thought OK, they were cheering so when…

    DR: They had these things, sticks. It’s not love for me then, it’s love for everyone. I can spread it.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action, Speedsport) Daniel, talk us through your start and the first couple of corners. There was quite a bit happening right in front of you there.

    DR: To be honest, my start sounded similar to Lewis’s. It felt like the first part of the launch was OK. The guy closest to me was Max. That first part looked competitive, relative to him and probably Kimi in front and then that second phase, picked up some wheelspin and we all kind… it felt like we all slipped behind each other and then tried to get a tow down to turn one. I remember kind of looking at the inside and let’s say committed to that line but then there was I think three abreast in front of me so there wasn’t really much I could do and from memory, I think Max kind of went from inside-ish to the near outside and I think tried to go around them and I think just three into there… they all tried to outbrake each other from what I could see so then there was that contact. I guess Kimi and Max made more contact and then they went off then I slipped into fourth. From that point on, I could see, I think, Kimi… I realised Kimi was out of the race quite early. I wasn’t sure where Max was but obviously I realised my position there was probably going to be a lonely one for the next 66 laps and the fourth turned into third with Valtteri’s –  I guess – mechanical. As I said on the in lap, obviously we’ll take what we can for now and that was pretty much it.

    Q: (Jacqueline Magnay – The Australian) Lewis and Daniel, the race seemed incredibly physically demanding and Lewis, halfway through the race you sounded exhausted –  I don’t know whether you were. I’m just wondering if both of you can comment on the physical demands of this particular track?

    DR: Seb doesn’t look tired!? No, the pace was a bit quicker than previous years so you know, you feel a little bit more but I think we’re going to come to races, Singapore, Malaysia, it’s more the hot ones, I would say, the more physical so today was yeah, not too demanding, let’s say. I feel pretty good right now.

    LH: I think it’s dependent on what kind of race you have. A lot of the races that we do with the type of racing that we sometimes have to do, where you’re saving fuel, like in the last race for example. I couldn’t push, the car was overheating, whereas today it was.. from turn one to the end it was flat chat and so those races are the most… you’re just using everything you’ve got so for sure, in that first stint, for instance, to keep… to stay on Sebastian was a killer. Also I don’t carry drinks in my car either to save weight so I’m not having a drink through the race. And then at the end, I used everything I had left when I jumped into my team and my heart rate hit the ceiling. I was good when I got out of the car but jumping into… I don’t know if I will do that again. I was a little bit tired after that one.

    SV: If I may add, thank you very much for not asking me the question. I take it as a compliment. Maybe we can exchange phone numbers after the press conference and maybe it’s a good match to the car, it doesn’t look so flashy on the outside but it’s really good on the inside. I take it as a compliment, thank you.

    Q: (Sef Harding – Xiro Xone News) I just want to get an assessment from you guys, all three of you, of the weekend because there are some new additions to the fan area to enhance the F1 experience for fans. I just wanted to get you guys’ thoughts on these new additions? Do you look forward to more opportunities for fans to engage with you guys? Obviously what we saw after qualifying was something different. I just wanted to get your thoughts on it.

    LH: I think this weekend was… what did we do different? We just did the one thing at the end of qualifying, I think it was. What was the other one?

    SV: But no alcohol.

    LH: I think the interaction with the fans was definitely better. I think there were less fans then I remember being here. I think maybe when Fernando was battling at the front, the place was packed. There was still a lot of seats… I would imagine it was 65-70% full, I would imagine, something like that. So we’ve got to encourage more to come and I’m not quite sure why more don’t come but the ones that were here… when you come through turn seven, it’s completely packed up there. We’ve just got to continue to engage… like what they’ve done with the entry to the paddock, some fans could come and be close in. We’ve just got to keep coming up with ideas to try and bring people in and not seclude them. This is a sport where you just can’t really get very close and the pit lane walkabout was really great but we somehow need to do more.

    DR: I think in the paddock, at least they’ve started with the idea of having a bit of a bar area. I thought that was a new addition. I think that’s cool because we all have guests coming to races and whether it’s friends of ours or there are celebrities or whatever they always hang out with the team they’re invited by but if there’s a more social area then you’ll get everyone hanging out in the same place, so I think that’s cool, so it’s a bit more laidback environment which is cool. I question: is it still called a bar if it sells non-alcoholic beer? Does it turn into a cafe?

    LH: Is it non-alcoholic?

    DR: Yeah, zero percent.

    SV: Don’t you ever read the signs on the track? Never alcohol behind the wheel.

    LH: Really? I don’t see it.

    DR: But they’re heading in the right direction. I definitely feel that, there’s some positives.

    SV: Did you see that? There is that Heineken.

    LH: I didn’t know that.

    SV: Did you notice that they painted the kerbs blue in sector one?

    LH: Yes, I noticed that. At turn three.

    DR: Only because you were on them when you pushed him there.

    SV: And four.

     

    eom/FIA transcript of the press conference

  • Hami pips Vettel in a thrilling battle: Spanish GP

    Hami pips Vettel in a thrilling battle: Spanish GP

    Hami celebrates after winning the Spanish GP on Sunday. An FIA image

    Barcelona, 14 May 2017: Mercedes Lewis Hamilton took his second career Spanish Grand Prix victory after winning a thrilling, tight strategic battle with Sebastian Vettel after the Ferrari driver led for the first half of the race. Third place went to Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo, the Australian inheriting the podium spot after an engine failure ruled Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas out midway through the Spanish Grand Prix, the fifth round of the Formula One World Championship here on Sunday.

    When the lights went out, it was Vettel who made the best start. The German powered away from P2 on the grid and grabbed the lead as he and Hamilton went through Turn One.

    Behind, Kimi Raikkonen in the second Ferrari was making a move around the outside of Valtteri Bottas in the second Mercedes. With Red Bull’s Max Verstappen further outside it was a tight squeeze into the first corner and Raikkonen’s rear right got inside of his countryman’s front left. There was contact and the impact bounced Raikkonen into Verstappen. The result was suspension damage and early retirement for both.

    There was contact, too, between seventh-placed starter Fernando Alonso and ninth on the grid Felipe Massa. Local Hero Alonso had worked miracles to haul his underperforming McLaren to P7 on the grid on Saturday but it was undone when he was hit in Turn 2 by the Williams man. Alonso dropped to P11 and eventually drifted out to P13 by the end of the race.

    By lap 14 Vettel had pulled out an almost three-second gap to Hamilton. The German then pitted for soft tyres, leaving Hamilton in clean air. His engineer was quickly on the radio telling the Briton it was “his opportunity, give it everything you’ve got”. Hamilton responded with a race fastest lap, but Vettel was alive to the threat and fought back with a purple time of his own.

    Hamilton made his first stop on lap 22, taking on the medium tyres. He rejoined in third, 7.3s behind Vettel, who was right on the tail of leader Bottas who needed to pit.

    Vettel’s frustrations grew as the Finn thwarted his efforts to pass. Vettel eventually got past but Bottas’ baulking lost him more than three seconds to Hamilton. When Bottas, who needed to pit, allowed Hamilton past, Vettel found himself with just three seconds in hand over the Briton, relatively matched on lap time but on different strategies.

    Bottas then made his first stop and resumed in third place ahead of Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian was a lonely fourth for Red Bull Racing, almost nine second behind the Mercedes and almost 14 ahead of Force India’s Sergio Perez. The Mexican’s team-mate Esteban Ocon was sixth ahead of Sauber’s Pascal Wehrelin, who had yet to pit, Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg, the Haas of Kevin Magnussen and the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz.

    At the halfway point there was a collision between Massa and Vandoorne as the Brazlian was hit when he tried to pass into Turn One.

    The VSC was deployed as Vandoorne ended up beached in the gavel with broken front suspension and while there was a flurry of pit stops in the midfield, Hamilton waited until the VSC was ending to make his stop for soft tyres on lap 36. Vettel immediately responded and took on mediums at the end of the following lap.

    He emerged almost alongside the Mercedes man and the pair banged wheels in Turn One. Vettel emerged in the lead but Hamilton had the quicker tyres and pressed for a way past. Vettel made his car as wide as possible and a tit-for-tat battle ensued.

    Behind them Bottas’ race came to an end on lap 39 when his power unit failed on the run through Turn 3. The Finn had been forced to revert to an older engine on Friday night after a water leak was detected on his new unit.

    At the front Hamilton was still putting pressure on Vettel and eventually, on lap 44, it told. The Briton got a good run out of the final corner and passed the German under DRS into Turn One.

    Within a few laps though Hamilton was on the radio complaining that the rear of his set of soft tyres were already overheating. With Vettel on the more durable mediums, the race was not yet over as a contest.

    As the laps wound down, it became clear it was a case of whether either of the top two would blink. With lap times similar, would Vettel, who had almost a minute in hand over Ricciardo, attempt a three-stop and take on soft tyres for a late attack on Hamilton as his soft tyres faded? If he pitted would Mercedes respond?

    The answer came on lap 58 when Hamilton was told the gap was sufficient to prevent Vettel from trying a strategic gamble and that he should nurse his Mercedes to the flag.

    And that was how it remained until the flag. As the front pair threaded their way through traffic the gap widened to over four seconds and after 66 laps Hamilton crossed the line to take a narrow 55th career win. Vettel was forced to settle for second ahead of Ricciardo who had a lonely run to his first podium finish since the 2016 Mexican Grand Prix.

    Force India enjoyed an excellent race, with Perez fourth ahead of team-mate Ocon. Nico Hulkenberg gave Renault something to celebrate by rising from 13th on the grid to sixth. Carlos Sainz was seventh for Toro Rosso ahead of Sauber’s Pascal Wehrlein with Daniil Kvyat ninth in the second Toro. The final points position went to Haas’ Romain Grosjean.

    eom/FIA press release

  • Impressive sprint gets Maini a victory in Race 2: GP3

    Impressive sprint gets Maini a victory in Race 2: GP3

    Arjun becomes first Indian to win a GP3 race as he claims maiden win in Barcelona for Jenzer Motorsport team

    Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain.
    Sunday 14 May 2017
    Arjun Maini (IND, Jenzer Motorsport)
    Photo: Zak Mauger/GP3 Series Media Service
    Barcelona, 14 May 2017: Ace Indian racer Arjun Maini dominated Sunday morning’s race 2 at the Circuit de Catalunya here, easily grabbing the lead into turn one when the lights went out before leaving his rivals floundering with a mature and impressive sprint all the way to the flag to win by 6 seconds from Dorian Boccolacci and Alessio Lorandi.
    The 19-year-old Bengaluru boy was signed by HAAS F1 team as Development Driver last week and is competing in the GP3 series, which is being organised as a support race on the Formula One Sunday.

    One of the only two Indian drivers who raced in Formula One, Karun Chandhok tweeted saying A great start to the day,' as Arjun won his race while Haas F1 team too tweeted `Congratulations to our Development Driver, Arjun Maini, winner of Sunday morning’s GP3 Series race.”

    The victory was set up at the start, which opened under clear but cool conditions with the grid lying in the shadow of the giant front straight stadium: poleman Raoul Hyman made a poor getaway with Boccolacci in P3 making a strong start but being stuck behind the South African, handing Maini a clear run to the first corner. The Frenchman pushed the Indian hard for the lead but Maini was equal to the challenge, while behind them Hyman was looking in his mirrors at the coming menace of the ART threat looming there.
    Anthoine Hubert soon disposed of Hyman and was looking to get into the mix of the fight for the lead, but in front of him Maini and Boccolacci were running side by side all around the circuit, which was only resolved when a small touch saw the Frenchman stumble, falling back towards his countryman and allowing the Indian to scamper away.
    Further back and Lorandi was on a charge: the Italian was repeating his impressive speed from yesterday’s race to easily dispatch Hyman before focussing on Hubert, easing by the Frenchman at turn 1 with 5 laps to go and was looking towards Boccolacci, although he was running out of time to make a real challenge.
    At the flag all the applause was for Maini, who celebrated his new alliance with Haas F1 by bringing home Jenzer’s first win since 2012 and easily dominated his rivals all race long. Boccolacci held off the Lorandi charge to grab P2 by a second, with Hubert joined in the closing stages by teammates George Russell and Nirei Fukuzumi, with Hyman holding on for P7 ahead of Santino Ferrucci in the final points position.
    Fukuzumi leads the drivers’ title fight after Round 1 on 29 points ahead of Lorandi on 25, Maini on 21 with Boccolacci, Russell and Hubert all on 20 points ahead of Leonardo Pulcini on 18, while the teams’ fight has ART Grand Prix stake an early lead on 73 points ahead of Jenzer Motorsport on 46, Trident on 20 and Arden International on 18 points ahead of Round 2 of the series at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.
    Race 2 Provisional Classification 
                                             
    Driver
    Team
    Gap
     
    1.
    Arjun Maini
    Jenzer Motorsport
    2.
    Dorian Boccolacci
    Trident
    6.060
    3.
    Alessio Lorandi
    Jenzer Motorsport
    7.171
    4.
    Anthoine Hubert
    ART Grand Prix
    8.268
    5.
    George Russell
    ART Grand Prix
    9.335
    6.
    Nirei Fukuzumi
    ART Grand Prix
    11.309
    7.
    Raoul Hyman
    Campos Racing
    14.085
    8.
    Santino Ferrucci
    DAMS
    16.638
    9.
    Kevin Jörg
    Trident
    17.813
    10.
    Julien Falchero
    Campos Racing
    20.265
    11.
    Giuliano Alesi
    Trident
    23.251
    12.
    Jack Aitken
    ART Grand Prix
    23.511
    13.
    Bruno Baptista
    DAMS
    26.863
    14.
    Niko Kari
    Arden International
    27.888
    15.
    Steijn Schothorst
    Arden International
    29.709
    16.
    Marcos Siebert
    DAMS
    31.093
    17.
    Leonardo Pulcini
    Arden International
    66.654
    18.
    Ryan Tveter
    Trident
    1 LAP
    Not classified
    Tatiana Calderon
    DAMS

  • Valtteri had great starts, I will try to follow in his footsteps: Hami

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

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Lewis the 64th pole of your career and your third of this year. Sixty-fourth pole puts you one behind Ayrton Senna, I’m sure you’re well aware of that, but did you feel you had control throughout today or did the red cars give you a bit of a scare?

    Lewis HAMILTON: It started out that we were potentially a tenth ahead of the Ferraris, but in P3 it seemed that we were lot closer, so, quite level. So it was really intense for us, making sure we pulled out every millisecond we can. We made some changes as we got into qualifying and the car felt great, so I was very happy with it. The Q1 lap was very, very good. The Q2 lap was so-so, but good enough. Then the first lap of Q3 was very good and the second lap was up, I think almost two tenths. I didn’t finish it that way but still it was good enough to keep me ahead.

    Q: That’s interesting. Was that conditions or was that you, because Sebastian also had an issue in the final sector? 

    LH: It’s difficult to know. I didn’t make a mistake. I didn’t lock up or go wide or anything like that. I did the corner perfectly, but it’s very gusty out there, so from corner to corner… sometimes you arrive in the corner and you brake in the same spot and understeer off because you have a tail wind or a head wind and you stop quicker. Particularly for me, I feel for that moment maybe I didn’t have a tail wind, because the car stopped really well, as opposed to the previous lap where it was more on the limit. I don’t know if that was the same for Sebastian but it was tricky for us all.

    Q: A quick final thought on the race pace. It looked very strong yesterday and particularly the degradation on the soft looked really good, so you must be feeling pretty strong going into the race tomorrow?

    LH: Yeah, I mean firstly, I have to say the team have done an incredible job; the guys back at the factory, as always really… I don’t know if they get tired of hearing it, but they really have done an incredible job to make small increments, steps forward and bring a great package for this track to keep us in the fight with the Ferraris. Very grateful for everyone’s hard efforts and we want to work as hard as we can to make sure that doesn’t go to waste.

    Q: Sebastian, I’ll bet you’re glad when they told you to switch the engine off in Q1, you questioned it for a minute or two and didn’t switch the engine off? Otherwise you wouldn’t be sitting here and you’d be looking at losing your championship lead tomorrow afternoon wouldn’t you.

    SV: I don’t know. You never know. Obviously much better that way. But I have to say the team did a phenomenal job. By surprise we had an issue this morning and had to change the engine. Normally that’s close to a three-hour job, if you’re rushing. I don’t know how they managed. They did it in sub-two hours. I was basically, at 10-to-2 or five-to-2, I was ready and we were ready to fire up and go out in Q1. So really a big thank you to them. Kimi’s crew helped out too. It was quite funny at one point: one side of the garage there was one or two mechanics and the other one was completely crowded, like bees hovering around the car. A great effort, so big thanks. I think we could have had pole today, so not the ideal end, but when I consider where we were this morning, then obviously with the change we made it out, as you talked about in Q1, a small issue there, so I think it’s a really good recovery. Yesterday I wasn’t happy with the car balance at all and today it was phenomenal. I felt yesterday that it was in the car but I just couldn’t get to it. And today, as I say, was really a pleasure, especially the first two sectors. Conditions were very tricky, with the wind, never easy, never knowing what to expect. And I think I got caught out a bit in the last sector – my favourite place – which Mark Webber teached me many lessons over the years and I still haven’t got it. I don’t know, I need to go back to school maybe and sit down and have a proper look. I have done so many laps but still the last chicane is a bit tricky so I’m sure with the race and with the rhythm tomorrow it will be fine, but for quali today it could be a bit better.

    Q: There was a lot of talk about the upgrades everybody was going to have coming here this weekend. Are you very encouraged to be sitting here now after they turned up with all these Starship Enterprise bits on their car and all the rumours and you’re actually so close and, as you say yourself, you could have been on pole in terms of ho the season goes from here?

    SV: Yeah, I think from the outside at least it looks like they had a smooth weekend, at least Lewis, I think Valtteri had a surprise engine change as well this morning. Overall, I think they looked a bit more in the rhythm. As I said yesterday, for us it was a bit more up and down. Then I did a long run on the medium compound, which was quite slippery. So, as I said, today I was a lot happier. The car is good. You mentioned Starship Enterprise: I’m not a Starship Enterprise fan, but I guess you can look at it from the outside and from the inside. I’m happy with the bits we brought here. Maybe they’re not as flashy and bling, but they’re working, so our guys back in the factory are pushing really hard. We brought some stuff in Russia, we brought again a lot of stuff here, so yeah, I’m really happy with how it’s going.

    Q: Valtteri, we heard you say on the radio “not good enough.” Were you talking about yourself or the general picture? Just that middle sector on your final run that caught you out?

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, just myself. I think the team has done an amazing job with the car, managing to still battle so close with Ferrari and for most of the weekend we’ve been quicker, so it’s only really Q3 where they raised-up their game and we were slightly, nearly, trouble with them, especially me. For me, starting the day with the engine change, going back to the old engine, I was always going to be slightly on the back foot, and just really struggled through the qualifying with the rear stability – that was the main issue. It was difficult to find a good rhythm from one quali to another, like I normally do. Just every lap, the car felt a little bit different. It wasn’t one of my best quali but very happy for the job the team has done and Lewis was very strong today, very quick, so yeah, as always the race is tomorrow and I’ve done some good things from P3 before.

    Q: As we were saying earlier, the Mercedes race pace is strong, the deg was low – but it’s always about fine margins, isn’t it: you had an extra lap on your start set of tyres and you had a couple of lock-ups, so a couple of flat-spots there – or are you not too worried?

    VB: No, the tyres had felt good and the extra lap was just a second out-lap so it was a good feeling with that set, so no issues.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Sef Harding – Xiro Xone News) Lewis, it looks like The Force has been strong with you all weekend, everything looked good for you. This guy [Vettel] is going to be right next to you tomorrow: do you expect a tight run off to the first corner – and is the Jedi Knight ready for a battle tomorrow?

    LH: You’re obviously a big fan of the movie, right? Thank you for always being such a positive person – you’re always positive when you come into this press conference, so thank you for that. Yeah, I think it’s going to be a tough race tomorrow, for sure. You see how close it is between us and it’s all milliseconds between us. It’s a long run down to… I think it’s the third longest run down to Turn One so of course it’s going to be important to get a good start but we’ve worked hard on them so I’m going to try to do the best job I can. Valtteri’s had some great starts so I’m going to try and follow in his footsteps there and then yeah, positioning can help a lot here and being on the clean side of the grid is an advantage generally. Usually it’s a little bit of an advantage and hopefully I’ll be able to utilise that – particularly compared to Sebastian – and then in the race it’s just about looking after those tyres. It’s a very, very long, hard race, both physically and mentally and for the car and the tyres – but we’ve prepared in the best way we can and I think hopefully got the car in a much better position than I did in the last race.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, how much more difficult is it here to make the same kind of striking start like you did in Sochi?

    VB: For sure it’s a much shorter run into Turn One than to Turn Two in Sochi. So, it’s always more tricky – but it’s still, if you have a good start you can gain places. We’ve seen in the past many times here people starting from the second, even the third row, have made many positions so anything is always possible –– but I can’t always rely on a good start, y’know? For sure the other guys are going to have good ones as well at some point. But yeah, good starting point, everything is still wide open and we feel our race pace is good and still upbeat for tomorrow.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) Still on this question of the start tomorrow, this circuit is very difficult to overtake historically, even now more here this year. And Sebastian, you are in the dirty part of the track – and you have a long straight into the first bend and, in this case it’s normally a small advantage to who’s behind, in this case Valtteri. Is there anything that you can defend yourself against the possible attack from your opponent?

    SV: Yeah, there’s a lot of things. I need a perfect start, simple as that. There’s a long way but I think the grip will be the same. I don’t think it will be much different. There’s a lot of racing series this weekend: you have the Porsche Cup, GP3, F2. Usually they put a lot of rubber down everywhere so I don’t think that’s a real disadvantage – and then as I said, I just need to do everything right and that’s the best way to attack and defend.

    Q: (Luigi Perna – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Seb, are you happy to see that despite all the new stuff that Mercedes put on the car that Ferrari was able to reply with other stuff and you are at the same level of performance like some races before?

    SV: Well, we will see tomorrow but I think so far for us this weekend has been a bit more up and down. Yesterday was a bit wobbly, I wasn’t really feeling the rhythm yet. Today was a lot better. I think in terms of performance it’s really close. We will see in the race. I think looking after the tyres with the conditions will be key. Strategy, there should be some options so we will see. The plan for now it to go back and say thanks to all the guys because thanks to them I made it to qualifying and then we focus on the start, the beginning of the race and I think then we will see. I think it will be close. As I said, maybe they brought more visual stuff but I’m happy with what we brought and it seemed to work well and bring us very close. We could have been ahead today, that’s down to me, but I had lost enough to miss pole, like a tenth or something. But that didn’t happen, now we start P2 and take it from there but I’m confident for tomorrow.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Sebastian, when you were asked to stop the car on the track, was it always clear for you to carry on? These engines are so complicated, you never know, you could have risked the engine as well by continuing.

    SV: We had an issue, it turned out to be a programming issue but for sure I’m blind in that moment, I don’t know what to do. I was quite far away from the garage and I was sort of cruising down already so I just wanted to double check that I got the message right. I think I got it but that’s the last thing you want to do. Still, if I had the confirmation I would have stopped in the next convenient place. I just missed the opening on the track so that’s why I also had time to ask are we sure because I had time to go round turn four and then look for another opening.

    Q: (Barna Zsoldis – Nemzeti Sport) I think you’re all aware of the difficult situation of McLaren-Honda, but still Fernando managed to get seventh position, beating his teammate by 1.5s. I’m just wondering how you rate his performance?

    LH: Yeah, looks fantastic. I think that’s amazing for McLaren and Honda to get in the top ten. Shows progress.

    You (Sebastian) were with him in the press conference on Thursday and joked about seeing him in the final corner – you might!

    SV: Yeah, you never know, so that’s why we’re here, we’re here to race. Looks like he had a good session. I think Stoffel went out in Q1 so obviously the track improves a lot. If you look at our times between Q1 and Q3 it’s not fair but it looks like he had a good session. I think the car’s really good. This track’s not so sensitive on power so see what happens tomorrow.

    VB: I think he had a good session personally and the team is making progress.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) To all drivers, we saw massive changes in the cars for this race but the picture of qualifying didn’t change much, even the gap is more or less the same. In race conditions, do you think we can see these changes or are you predicting that we will see more or less what has been seen yesterday and today?

    LH: I’ve not really looked at the long run pace but I would imagine so, yeah. It is crazy that we keep… Sebastian said that they’d brought an upgrade to Sochi and we’ve only brought an upgrade here so… I think it’s going to remain a close battle of development through the whole of the rest of the season. Clearly Ferrari are pushing very very hard as are we. I think for us it’s more about quality rather than quantity or upgrades so we’re just working hard to make sure that the ones we do stick on the car… but it is strange when you bolt all this stuff on and you remain within half a tenth of each other. I think that’s great for racing.

    VB: I think maybe our upgrades were a bit more visible. You know we make progress all the time, we had a more visible package but it seems like it’s been a similar improvement with both teams so I think tomorrow’s going to be close.

    eom/FIA press conference