INDIA in F1

Tag: FIA Press Conference

  • Happy I finally got the pole a few extra points is always good, says Jehan Daruvala

    Happy I finally got the pole a few extra points is always good, says Jehan Daruvala

    Jehan Daruvala (centre) at the FIA post-qualifying press meet on Friday. An F3 image

    FIA Formula 3: Hello and welcome to today’s FIA Formula 3 press conference following qualifying here at Spa. We are joined by the top three qualifiers for tomorrow’s opening race. On pole position Jehan Daruvala of PREMA Racing, in second place Pedro Piquet from Trident and in third place Yuki Tsunoda from Jenzer Motorsport. Jehan, you’ve had two wins already this season but finally your first pole position in Formula 3. How does it feel?

    Jehan Daruvala: I’m very happy. I’ve always been in the fight for pole the whole season and to finally get it feels good because I’ve missed out and been really close a couple of times. It’s a few extra points which is also good. More than that it’s a big thanks to the team and the best way to bounce back after a disappointing weekend in Budapest.

    FIA Formula 3: Could you talk us through your qualifying and your final lap that led to pole position? Traffic seemed to be a real challenge for everybody out there today.

    Jehan: It was quite a complicated qualifying session. On the first run, I was about six or seven-tenths off but the majority of that was in Sector 1. I was thinking that the best way to fight for the pole was to get behind a fast car. I got into a good place and there was a big fight. It was almost like a race to get into a good position. I managed to get behind [Devlin] DeFrancesco who was fast on the first set and that was perfect for me. The lap was good and I’m happy to be on pole.

    FIA Formula 3: Congratulations. Pedro moving on to you now. You pulled out a stunning early lap in qualifying and sat on provisional pole for quite a while. To then end up P2 is it a case of mixed feelings, or are you happy to be on the front row?

    Pedro Piquet: Of course here in Spa, second or third, it’s a bit of a gamble in the first lap because of the long straight. The first lap was really good. It was a good warm-up with no confusion, no traffic, so that came out okay. Unfortunately for the second run, everyone was looking for a tow and everyone was backing off. The warm-up for myself was not the best. The lap, in the end, was okay for P2. I even got a guy with a flat tyre! Because of the people backing off I got a guy in Turn 5 and I had to avoid a bit. But yeah, it was good. I think for tomorrow it’s a big run to Turn 5 so a lot of things can happen, even from behind.

    FIA Formula 3: As Jehan touched on, when you were going through that traffic did it feel a little bit like a race, sort of preparing for tomorrow even?

    Pedro: Not really like a race because some people were backing off as well, letting you past, and before my second set I just wanted a clean lap for myself. I got one, almost, but it was quite confusing.

    FIA Formula 3: Well done today. Yuki, welcome to your first FIA Formula 3 press conference. A really strong result today to finish third. How did your qualifying go?

    Yuki Tsunoda: Yeah this is my first time in the top three and I am very happy. Qualifying was quite crazy. On the first push on the second set there were a lot of people to make the gap or make the position. I was at the back of the group and I felt that it would be impossible to make a lap like that in that group. I tried to overtake everybody and tried to drive by myself and that was good. The plan was really good and the car was also so good from free practice.

    FIA Formula 3: Going into this weekend your best qualifying result was only ninth so to make this big jump up, does that really show the progress that both you and Jenzer have been making this season?

    Yuki: At the beginning of the season I was qualifying in places like P27 or something like that, and it was not good for everybody in the team or myself. I’ve improved when it comes to warming up the tyres and that’s showed in today’s result. I think tomorrow will be quite different starting near the front so I’m really looking forward to that.

    FIA Formula 3: Well done today. Jehan moving back to you now. You’ve got good history here at Spa. You won here from pole last year, you know what it takes. Does that give any extra confidence going into tomorrow’s race?

    Jehan: I think everyone knows it can be pretty tricky here from pole but my main focus is to get a good start and see what happens. You can’t really work out what’s going to happen tomorrow, I’ve just got to see what happens and even if I fall back one or two positions I’m quite confident that the car is good enough to win. That’s the main goal.

  • Team principals talk about driver movement and new power units: Friday press meet

    Spa Francorchamps, 30 August 2019: The following team representatives attended the customary Friday Press Conference, as the teams gather at the Spa after summer break: Cyril Abiteboul (Renault), Franz Tost (Toro Rosso), Otmar Szafnauer (Racing Point), Guenther Steiner (Haas), Toyoharu Tanabe (Honda).

    Transcript of the Press Meet:

    Q: Cyril, big change on the driver front for you for 2020 with Esteban Ocon joining the team. First, can you tell us why you made that call?

    Cyril Abiteboul: First, I’d like to say it’s been a difficult call to make. Obviously Nico’s contract coming to an end at the end of this season, a decision had to be made as to whether we wanted to stay put with our driver line-up, or include a bit of a change. It’s been difficult because we all love Nico in the team. He’s been instrumental to the progress that we’ve made. We have struggled this season but last year he’s been instrumental in securing P4 in the Championship. He had a good seventh place in the Drivers’ Championship, which is clearly the best that we can targets but, you know, frankly, when you make a decision like that, you don’t just look at pure pace, you also need to look at the collective dynamic. And there is a dynamic we need to restart, reset into the team. And probably, we need to project ourselves into the medium to long-term future. So not just 2020 but also 2021, and what’s happening to his team-mate and so on and so forth. So that’s all of that but in particular the collective dynamic and what Esteban can probably bring to the team. Probably starving for racing, being super-happy to come back into racing, by nature, by construction because also he’s been out of a seat for a year. It’s all of these elements that we factored into the equation. Plus, also it’s important to say that we have, not a certainty because you can’t be certain of anything, but very high chances that Nico will be able to continue his racing career. So, just like it counted for us with Carlos last year, it’s also counted for us this year with Nico.

    Q: And will Ocon retain any ties with Mercedes from 2020?

    CA: No. He’s a Renault driver, that’s very clear. Mercedes will have absolutely no right on him for the duration of his contract. So, small difference is that his management company happens to be a racing team, and that’s Mercedes – but it’s a slightly different set-up from the set-up we had with Carlos last year, where that was on loan and not under contract with Red Bull – but he will be a fully-fledged Renault driver.

    Q: Guenther, Cyril mentioned there that he’s hopeful that Nico Hülkenberg will stay in Formula One next year. Is he a driver that you would be interested in hiring?

    Guenther Steiner: I mean sure. As Cyril said, and I think he’s right, sometimes you have to look at the whole dynamic of a team. It’s not all about the speed of a driver and if people like Nico’s on the market, for sure we need to look at that. We haven’t taken a decision as you all know. This is a thing you need to do as a team. To look what is around, how you can bring the team forward. I mean, we are not at our best this year, we were better last year, so we need to see where we can make improvements. If good people are on the market – in every area of the team, not only drivers, we look around and see if we can better the team and with that, can we better the performance of the team?

    Q: You say you haven’t taken a decision yet – when can we expect a decision from you?

    GS: I hope, honestly, in two to three weeks – because it’s good for everybody; it’s good for the team; it’s good for the drivers. It Romain stays, it’s good for him to know so he doesn’t have to worry. If Nico comes, it’s also good to give people a chance to make other decisions or to look around, so our aim is to decide in the next weeks.

    Q: Franz, Alex Albon has switched to Red Bull for the remainder of the season. What is your reaction to that change? Do you feel he’s ready for it?

    Franz Tost: The future will show. Don’t know yet. Alex did 12 really good races with us, he’s got 16 points and I must say, from the very first test onwards, I was surprised by his performance. If you remember right, I said after the first test that maybe he could become the surprise of the year. He is on a good way and I think that Red Bull will provide him with a fantastic car and therefore I expect good results from his side.

    Q: And it’s difficult for Pierre Gasly who’s coming back to Toro Rosso. You’ve been there before with Daniil Kvyat, who took a similar route. How long will it be, do you think, until Pierre gets over the disappointment of returning to Toro Rosso?

    FT: I don’t hope it’s a disappointment to return to Toro Rosso, he is welcome with us. It was only a short time he was not with us. He came to my office, I said to him: “ah, it looks like you were here yesterday.” No, he is really welcome and we have a really good relationship together, also between the engineers and if we provide him with a good car, Pierre will be back soon, I am convinced about this.

    Q: He spoke yesterday about being disappointed. Do you think there will be any problems with his motivation?

    FT: No, I don’t hope so. A Formula 1 driver must always be motivated and must always push the car to the limit and he knows that’s his chance, and therefore the motivation will be on a very high level.

    Q: Otmar, we’re talking drivers, Checo said yesterday that he hopes to make an announcement about his future soon. Is there anything that you can say on the matter?

    Otmar Szafnauer: Yeah, soon might be today!

    Q: Well, how about now…?

    OS: Well, I think we have a formal process of announcing, and yeah, he’s right, we will announce soon.

    Q: Can you describe the role that Checo has played in the team and how integral he is to the team going forwards?

    OS: I think both Cyril and Guenther mentioned it. There’s more than just speed and what you do on Sunday. It’s also developing the car and knowing the team, being able to compare your previous developments to the developments that you’re bringing and, because of Checo’s history with the team, of six years, he brings all that to the table. Lance, having great potential and a great talent, doesn’t have that history with the team, so you need a good mix. I think we’ve got that in Sergio and Lance.

    Q: And this race marks the anniversary of Laurence Stroll’s takeover of the team. Can you compare where it is now, compared to before the takeover?

    OS: There are many things that are different. The one significant thing is that we don’t suffer with the financial instability that we used to have, at all. That means we can plan our developments on the car, we can plan when we bring upgrades and they actually happen. We can plan our salary payments, which is helpful for everybody in the team. Apart from that, we have plans going into the future. There’s a new factory coming; we should get planning permission for that in October, probably start, have ground-breaking in the first quarter of next year. The plan is to actually move into the new factory in the break of 2021. So, although that won’t come to fruition for another 18 months, or so, those plans are happening today. We’ve added about 40 employees: we were at 405 a year ago; we’re at 445. And, like Guenther mentioned, if there are good people on the market, we’re interested for good people. We’re adding, we’re growing and we want to be more competitive. So, those are our plans going forwards – but it takes time. It doesn’t happen overnight.

    Q: Tanabe-san, you’re running your spec-4 power unit here at Spa this weekend. What advantages is it bringing?

    Toyoharu Tanabe: We bring performance improvement with the spec-4 PU. The purpose of the spec-4 is a performance gain. Because as always, as I’ve mentioned, we’re still catching up pace to make the gap between the top runners and then our teams. Honda should improve PU performance.

    Q: Only Daniil Kvyat and Alex Albon are using it this weekend. What’s the reason for that?

    TT: We discussed with our teams about the PU usage and then we considered the current position, and then usage for the rest of the season. So, then we decided this strategic application.

    Questions from the floor

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines/Racefans.net) A question to the four team principals. Next year’s calendar… according to the draft calendar announced yesterday will have 22 races, which you all had to agree to. Did any of you attach any specific conditions to agreeing to 22 races? And Cyril, more particularly, could you comment on suggestions that you requested an increase in the number of power unit components if the calendar went up top 22 races, please?

    CA: I can confirm that we did. We asked for the principle that is already agreed for 2021 to apply for 2020. The draft regulations, which are just draft regulations for 2021, there is a concept that if you go above 21 races there is extra component allocation. So that’s simply what we asked on the simple basis that it’s very late to change the duty cycle of any component for next year. There was a bit of a discussion, as always in Formula One, but eventually, we reached a compromise in Budapest that everyone managed to stick to, for once in Formula One, and eventually it was good to confirm the 22 races. We are happy to have specifically the same number of MGU-Ks as internal combustion engines. That’s going to make the lives of the technicians, the mechanics in the garage, an awful lot of simpler. Sometimes we don’t really think about these type of things but they do make a difference, in addition to the prospect of penalty. That was the condition that from the outset we mentioned. Otherwise we are very supportive of an extension of the calendar.

    FT: As long as we get more money, if you have more races, I’m fine with it. On the technical side, from the power unit, has just been explained by Cyril, there’s nothing to add.

    GS: We kept a low profile and didn’t ask for anything.

    FT: Also not for money?

    OS: I think we also agreed to shorten the amount of test days we have because we’re increasing the calendar, which kind of makes sense and goes to wellbeing of the mechanics and all those that travel. One of the conditions we all agreed to, if I remember right, was a shortened winter test.

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) To the four team principals, please. Ross Brawn has talked about using the stable regulations next year to maybe trial some different race formats ahead of 2021. Would you be in favour of that and what sort of slightly different formats might we see?

    OS: I think last time we got together we did discuss about some formats on Saturday to maybe mix up the grids for Sunday. We’ve got further discussions I think between Monza and September (sic). If we are to improve the show there is nothing wrong with trying and seeing how it goes, get some fan feedback, and if people like it and it improves the show, I’m all for it.

    Q: Guenther?

    GS: Otmar said a lot there. What we are a little bit, I wouldn’t say concerned, but what we need to look at is that by changing the format the costs don’t go up – that we do more and don’t get more out of it. We need to carefully think about. There were a lot of things around but we didn’t get around to discuss the detail about it. So when we get to the detail there will be the difficulty because if we change format and it costs a lot more because we do everything differently, there is a point where it is not sustainable.

    Q: So, for example, what would you say to having qualifying races on a Saturday?

    GS: That costs more money, because you need more spare parts because you have two races a weekend, you know. You need more MGU-Ks, because they can break. So we need to consider all this stuff.

    Q: Franz, your thoughts?

    FT: You know, to change the race weekend format, maybe there are some good points in there. We will discuss it in two weeks, I think in Geneva we have another meeting. But the most important thing is that the teams and the cars are on an equal level on the performance side. You can have whatever format but if there are some cars far ahead of the others – one second or even more – then it doesn’t change anything. What we have to provide the fans is a good show and for this the performance of the different teams and of the cars has to be on a level within a few tenths of a second, like it is in the midfield. If you look currently there are three teams far ahead, but the midfield is fighting very close to each other with a difference of a couple of hundredths of a second and there are good fights in between the cars and they show good races and this is what the fans want to see and I don’t think this is so much to do with the format.

    Q: Cyril do you think the format needs changing in any area?

    CA: I think we could be a bit more progressive on the weekend format. I think we need to probably adapt slightly the format to the new audience, to the way that sport is being consumed. People are not really interested in sitting for two hours in front of the TV at two o’clock on Sundays, or three o’clock on Sundays. I think that’s something to take into account. Friday running in particular, with very empty grandstands, is for me a bit of a loss of an opportunity. So there is probably some improvement to be made. I think we need to be very careful about all detail associated with having some tests into next year, as again next year is tomorrow. The plans are made already; the engines are almost being built as we speak. So if you look at the amount of discussion we had to get to the 22 races, when we start talking about the detail of the consequence of changing the format even on a couple of races, I’m a bit afraid that we see that it is a bit difficult at this late stage of the season. So in my opinion we need to do that. But I think it needs to be done properly but with a global commitment, not just testing and maybe it’s a bit late already for next year, but clearly doing that for 2021.

    Q: (Luke Smith – crash.net) – A question for Franz. You said there were no concerns about Pierre’s motivation in returning to Toro Rosso, but we saw when Daniil when returning to the team initially in 2016 how difficult it was for him to adjust back and how long it took it him to get over the demotion. Are there any concerns about that with Pierre and are Red Bull and Toro Rosso doing anything extra to help give him the support he may need?

    FT: If we see any deficiencies then of course we will support him in any way. He knows our team very well. Therefore, I think it’s a very short period to adapt to this situation and once more if the car works well and if he had a good race result and he has some success then his self-confidence is coming back and then Pierre will have the form he had before. Don’t forget that last year in Bahrain he finished in the fourth position. He scored many points in the 2018 season and I’m quite sure we will see Pierre Gasly showing a good performance very soon.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speedsport) Cyril, the team is not where you want it to be in the Constructors’ Championship. What do you need to change to get back up there?

    CA: Well, I think first you are right. The team is not where we wanted it to be. It’s a very clear regression against last year. Less points, Constructors’ Championship – it’s clear. But at the same time what’s clear is the areas of the team that need to be improved. In my opinion we have made a good step on engine power, as demonstrated by top speed on a number of tracks that are sensitive to that. Driver line-up, apart from the comments made previously, is a strong one. Mechanically the car is good. We know what’s missing and that’s simply downforce and aerodynamics and that’s clearly the current focus right now. We are looking at improving that and we will draw an assessment pretty soon and we will move from there.

    Q: (Jon McEvoy – Daily Mail) To Cyril, how near did you get last year to signing Esteban. Were there discussions with him, were there discussions with Mercedes? Did you almost get it over the line?

    CA: You’re talking about last year?

    Q: Yes.

    CA: I think it has been publicly reported that it has been discussed. It’s been discussed to a certain level of detail. The old story is publicly reported also. We had the opportunity of signing Daniel, which was an opportunity also, which was an opportunity that was discussed but never really certain. When it became certain we had to make a quick decision. An opportunity like Daniel is not an opportunity that happens on many occasions for a team like us in construction and it’s an opportunity we decided to take. But frankly I’m very happy that we managed all together – Esteban, Renault, Mercedes, Toto, myself – we managed to put that behind and decide what was best for everyone this year.

    Q: (Julien Billotte – Auto Hebdo) Cyril, Nico mentioned nationality as one of the factors behind Renault’s decision to sign Esteban. How important is it for Renault to have a French driver and also how tricky can it become for you and him if the performance does not improve enough next year?

    CA: Each time we sign a driver we create an expectation and by creating an expectation it becomes tricky. Just look at the situation of the team this year. I think a lot of the critics we have this year are also due to the fact that we created a lot of expectation by signing Daniel. It’s the same. Each time you make a decision you need to accept the consequence. On the nationality, frankly, I would not put too much down to that. It’s a plus, it’s a bonus, but it’s not an element into the decision. Saying that it is an element into the decision would mean that we have sort of changed our factors or parameters when we evaluated Esteban and that would not be fair to Esteban, just like it would not be fair to Nico or Renault’s management. It’s a plus but what matters is that he ends up in a good car also.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines/Racefans.net) There are suggestions that one or two teams could be coming in in 2021. Certainly there are some plans behind the scenes for these teams to try and enter. How do you feel about it? Should Formula One grow beyond the current ten teams?

    CA: Frankly and quickly – if it’s good teams, strong teams with good backing then it’s a sustainable project in my opinion, yes.

    FT: I agree. Twelve teams, it’s a good number and you never know what’s going on with any other team. That means we need as many cars as possible on the starting grid. I think 24 is also acceptable from the safety side and from the race track and also from the space on the tracks. I would welcome them, yes.

    GS: I think it would be a good thing to have more teams, as long as they are – as Cyril and Franz said – as long as they are well funded and high profile. But also what FOM needs to look after is the teams that are here. We shouldn’t go and just try to get new teams because new is better. It needs to be looked after, the teams that are here who are doing a good job, who made a big investment and just thinking more is better, that will not work as well.

    OS: Well, I think in the future with the cost cap being introduced and implemented then there might be room for 12 teams but we do have to be careful about getting the money distribution to be a little bit more equitable so that you can have 12 sustainable teams.

    Q: (Matthieu Mastalerz – FranceRacing.Fr) Cyril, you have said Renault underestimated the investments of top teams like Mercedes, which has increased more than expected. So is Renault, as a constructor, able or willing to increase its investment in order to reach its goal?

    CA: The problem with that is a question of timing, because even if you make the decision now, you are not going to be able to spend really more before a few years, because spending more means more people, more designers, more manufacturers, more people in production and so on and so forth. And if you compound that to the fact that there will be a budget cap introduced by 2021, it’s already too late. So no, I think in reality we have no choice but to a certain degree continue with our plan, carry on with our plan. Accept the change, accept the difficulty, not use that as an excuse but be extremely determined on what it takes to be more competitive in 2021. Some people will have to manage a reduction of their operation. We will be able to stay exactly where we are or increase slightly, because the budget cap is still a chunk higher than what we are operating right now. That’s the reason why we would have liked it to be a bit lower but we understand that it’s a good compromise and a compromise that should make us more competitive than where we are right now.

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Over the summer break, we had an update from F1 and the FIA on the progress of the 2021 car and the regulations. There’s obviously still a lot to sort before 2021 gets finalised on track and all of the off track stuff behind the scenes. How happy are you with how things are progressing? Is there any concern that the three big teams are going to veto or block the extent of changes that you want to make the field closer?

    OS: I think we’ve got from now until the end of October to review, understand and come to a final decision. There are a lot of opinions in the room as to what should happen for the future. I believe we all want closer racing, that’s for sure. We all want F1 to keep its DNA of development and differentiation, that’s for sure. And most of us want a bit of cost-savings as well. So I think those are the considerations and we’ll all get together and hash it out and hopefully come up with a set of regulations towards the end of October that meets everyone’s needs.

    GS: I would agree with what Otmar said. I think we just need to sit down, all the teams, and see where we can take it and hopefully have a regulation soon, because there are different opinions and to discuss them all here… we could sit here a long time. There will have to be compromises found to get this regulation over the finish line and I think one way or another it will happen. If the big teams try to change everything it’s difficult for us but it’s the FIA, the governing body and the promoters which have an opinion as well, so let’s see what we can come up with until the end of October. But I think it will be… we will come to a solution but for sure not everyone will be happy, 100 per cent, and that’s normally when you reach compromises.

    FT: Yeah, there are a couple of sporting working group and technical working group meetings where all these new technical regulations are being discussed. So far I must say that the FIA and the FOM is going in the right direction. We know that we can come down with the costs which is covered by the cost cap and the money distribution should be much fairer than… We’ll come up with a different governance which is covered from the sporting and technical regulations side. We are going in the right direction. FIA and FOM should make the decisions. The date is clear, it’s the end of October and then we go for it. Up to now, I think we’re going in the right direction.

    CA: As far as we’re concerned frankly we need to focus on three important aspects. The budget cap, all the refinements, even though the principle is agreed but we need to get that done and really put in stone. Money distribution, like Franz said, we need something that is more equitable otherwise we will end up with the same disparity that we have now. And governance. We are less concerned about the details of the technical and sporting regulations because these things will happen anyway and we are prepared to increase more power to Formula One and FIA that has gone up their team in order to think what’s right for the sport. They’ve done a lot of research; they know what’s good for the sport but we want these three elements to be fixed and agreed as quickly as possible.

    Q: (Luke Smith – Crash.net) Franz, another question for you: picking up… you were talking about Max in 2015. Would you be able to reflect on what it was like working with Max through his first season in Formula One, how exciting was it playing that formative role in his future and was it immediately clear you had such a star on your hands?

    FT: You know Max was coming from Formula 3 and in those days there were a lot of people who said it’s too early for him to come into Formula One but then we gave him some possibilities to do FP1 sessions and he showed that he can do it. He had fantastic car control and he, from the very beginning onwards, had everything from the technical side under control also and therefore we signed him, or Red Bull signed him and we had a fantastic season together and his learning gradient was quite steep and then we know in the second season, 2016, after five (sic) races he went to Red Bull Racing, won the first race in Barcelona and from then onwards he is there as a driver and he made really big, big steps forward, big progress and for me, Max, now, is the driver who is able – as I mentioned, just before – to win races and to win the championship. He has all the ingredients together, which you need for doing this.

     

  • I am very happy and I believe the team will be strong: Valtteri Bottas

    DRIVERS – Alex ALBON (Red Bull Racing), Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing), George RUSSELL (Williams), Sergio PÉREZ (Racing Point), Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Alex, many congratulations, new colours for you this weekend. How much of a surprise was it for you to get the call up for this weekend?

    Alex ALBON: Yeah, definitely. Starting the summer break, I came into it expecting a relaxing time and then the first day of the summer break I got told the news. I had a lot of time to think about it. Obviously in F1 with the summer break you can’t really speak to anyone, so there was a lot of time there where I was like: “OK, who do I speak to? What can I do?” The first time really speaking to everyone was really on Monday. I’m kind of catching up right now, trying to know all the team and that’s about it.

    Q: So what are the objectives for this weekend at Spa?

    AA: Just see how the weekend goes. We’re starting at the back anyway. Just take it step-by-step. Obviously it’s a new environment around, so just trying to understand really how the team works, how the car works and just to listen to Max as well, just to see how he interacts with the team and kind of learn from that. Yeah, we’ll take it step-by-step.

    Q: And on a scale of 1-10 how excited are you?

    AA: I’d say it’s a 10 for excitement, but then the numbers for nerves are quite high as well!

    Q: Good luck, thank you Alex. Max, what was your reaction when you heard Alex was going to be your team-mate?

    Max VERSTAPPEN: Well I knew before. They told me when I was on the simulator before the holidays so for me it was not a surprise. I mean, yeah, I’ve been there before myself.

    Q: And are you looking forward to having him as a team-mate? What do you think you can achieve together?

    MV: I guess time will tell isn’t it. It’s a bit difficult for me to answer that. Alex is a great guy. I know him already for a long time. A bit like Pierre, we raced against each other, all together in 2010. Yeah, he’s a fast guy and as you can hear he’s very excited and that’s always good.

    Q: Max, the car was very competitive before the summer break. What are your expectations here at Spa?

    MV: I don’t know. I think in general it will be a bit tougher for us because of the long straights, but even in Silverstone, for example, we were still competitive, so we just need to find a good balance in the car. Of course, around here Sectors 1 and 3 are pretty much flat out and in Sector 2 there are a lot of corners, so you have to find the right compromise there.

    Q: OK, good luck with that. Thank you, Max. Checo, a lot of talk about contracts coming into this weekend. What news about your whereabouts for 2020?

    Sergio PÉREZ: Yeah, I’ve seen the news. It was a busy day in that regard. I am confident and I hope that soon we can announce it and just can get on with it.

    Q: Announce with Racing Point?

    SP: Well, what my plans are. I think I am very close to finding out what I am going to do for next year, so it shouldn’t be long before I know.

    Q: OK. Turning to this weekend, the car wasn’t so competitive last time out, can we expect more from you here because the team certainly has a good record at Spa-Francorchamps?

    SP: Yeah. No, definitely. It’s a good place for us. We’ve been strong in the past so I see no reason why we cannot be strong this weekend. The margins in the midfield are very small, so a little improvement it can put us back in contention to be the fourth fastest here. We are aiming to finish the season on a high. It has been a struggle all the way up to now but margins are small, we are improving, so hopefully we can finish the season with the fourth fastest car.

    Q: OK, good luck with that. Thanks Checo. George, I’ve asked almost everybody else about 2020, so I’m going to ask you. What are you plans?

    George RUSSELL: Hopefully in Formula One, I guess. No, I’ll be racing with Williams next year. When I signed the deal it was a multi-year deal with Williams, so I guess it’s just waiting to formally announce everything.

    Q: OK. It was a very solid performance from you in Hungary last time out. What can we expect from you here? Do you think you can maintain that momentum?

    GR: I think in Hungary we optimized everything to the absolute maximum. I think a few drivers didn’t – there was obviously the incident with Daniel and Sergio in qualifying, which probably helped us a little bit. I think this circuit, and also Monza next week, will really not suit our car. Unfortunately we don’t have much downforce but we also have a hell of a lot of drag, so we’re going to struggle on these long straights. But the season has been full of surprises and we’ll see what we can do.

    Q: OK, thanks for that. Valtteri, some very positive news for you this morning. You’re staying with Mercedes for another year. When were you told and please give us your reaction?

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, thank you, for sure that’s always good news when you get things confirmed for next year and it’s definitely all that I wanted because I believe the team will be strong for sure for the rest of the year but also next year. I see no reasons why it wouldn’t. So obviously that made me very happy to hear it and to get it all done finally. I think it was last weekend that we signed and the paperwork was done. So we had to wait a bit until then, but I still had a good break and lots of fun and everything, but I’m happy now.

    Q: Looking ahead to this weekend. Ferrari won at Spa last year. Who are favourites coming into this weekend?

    VB: I think Ferrari can be really good here, as we’ve seen with the straight-line performance. There are super long straights here. And Red Bull have been improving at all kind of tracks. It’s not going to be an easy weekend for us, for sure. We are not standing still. We have some new parts on the car. I think also power unit. So it should be quite interesting to see how the car feels again here and how is the engine.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – liviooricchio.com) Max, all drivers says the first competition is on your side, your team-mate. Do you believe it will be more difficult for you, the next of the season, with Albon?

    MV: It’s a bit difficult to say at the moment. I rate Alex very high, but I also rated Pierre very high, so we’ll find out.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, how was your birthday party and was it like a double celebration because of your new contract as well?

    VB: Thanks, yeah, I turned 30 yesterday actually. I didn’t have a party yesterday but the day before I had. It was a good one, with some good people around. Obviously, 30 it happens only once in a lifetime, so… There is always a good excuse to throw a party, but that’s a good excuse. It was good. I enjoyed it. Was there another part to the question?

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Was it a double celebration because of the contract?

    VB: Well, yeah, for sure. I knew by then. Everything was done by then, so it was actually nice to celebrate with the closest people. Another good excuse.

    Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Question for Valtteri. After the last two races, what happened in Hockenheim and then in Budapest, did that add to the stress of waiting for the decision – or were you still confident you would get another contract?

    VB: To be honest, going to the summer break, and in this sport you know once you’ve not signed, anything can happen in this sport and obviously always what comes, the driver decisions by the teams, there’s many different things that the teams look at and what kind of things make the difference between the choices, and obviously it was very openly spoken, the whole situation between me and Esteban and yeah, so I had to wait until last weekend. For sure it was… thinking about it and other options just in case, because obviously you never, in this sport, want to be left between two chairs. So for sure I was trying to make a plan for something else but then things started to go the right way and I saw that it’s just better to commit to this as it is, and it makes me, like I said, very happy to know about the future and don’t need to worry about that now. I can just really focus on the job. Unlike the last couple of races I really want to have a strong result here and a really strong end of the year.

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Alex, can you just explain a little about how you found out that you were going to be driving for Red Bull for this part of the season? And also, do you think that you’ve got the tools to be able to take the challenge to Max at Red Bull?

    AA: Yeah, sure. So, it was just a normal thing, a daily catch-up with Dr Marko in his office in Austria. Pretty much that’s how the conversation went. I think it was the Monday at the beginning of the summer break. That conversation went through and it was one of those things: “oh, by the way, this is what’s going on.” And that was pretty much it. I think you guys knew only an hour after I did, so it was quite close, in that sense. But yeah, it was all OK. Regarding Max, yes, on my side it’s really just focusing on myself. I’m not looking too much at Max at the minute. I’m know I’m coming in quite inexperienced. I know that; I think the team know that as well. So, it will just be about step-by-step; start from the beginning, know my team, know how everyone works and understand the car and then we’ll see. Treat every weekend race-by-race really and if we start picking up results towards the end, that’s obviously great – but that’s not really the focus at the minute.

    Q: Alex, team-mates now but when did you first race Max?

    AA: 2010, wasn’t it? We did the European and World Championships together. We had a few crashes together, do you remember?

    MV: A few touches, yeah!

    AA: We had a good rivalry going. Max was the young guy, I was the experienced one – which is a bit weird. I mean, I’m older than Max but he’s a bit more experienced than me in F1. So, yeah, we started like that. We had some good races.

    Q: (Pierre Van Vliet – Fi) To Alex again – sorry Alex – just to understand, how difficult is it going to be to adapt to a new team in the middle of the season – and do you fear encountering the same difficulties as Pierre Gasly versus Max?

    AA: I can’t really tell what it’s like from experience to start with a new team midway through. We did some sim this weekend, just to try to get the first initial feeling and, of course, the cars are different but in the end they still have four wheels and yeah, we’ll get used to it. In terms of the whole feeling of not being ready. Let’s say, the beginning of the year, in February when I didn’t drive the car, I felt more in this situation than I do now. That kind of anxiety and stress about ‘what’s it going to be like?’ I went through that already in January. Coming into the summer break I was a lot more relaxed about it – and again, yeah, we’ll see? I wasn’t looking too much at Pierre, I was just focused on myself. Of course, I think Max is on top of his game right now, so it would never be easy but with Pierre, I wasn’t really involved in all of that and I didn’t really look too much on where he was struggling – but it’s still trying to do my own thing and trying to get on top of the car.

    Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Alex, a couple for you wrapped into one. First of all, I’m sure you’re caught in the whirlwind at the moment but ten months ago you thought your Formula One career was over, so can you take a step back and tell us how you feel about that huge turnaround in your career and, secondly, does the engine penalty take the pressure off a bit for this weekend?

    AA: Yes, it is quite laughable really, when I look back at it. Even just now, having the announcement and everything. I called my Mum and Dad, it was the first thing I did and they were… it’s kind of a journey that we’ve all took from… even as early as 2012, I don’t think my career has been very fluid, let’s say. I’ve had a few ups and downs and just to be in this position is incredible. I think there are a lot of drivers who have done an amazing job in F1 who have never been given an opportunity to be in a race winning, championship winning team. So, it’s a big opportunity for me and I really know that. Engine penalty, you could say that, yes. I think we just go into the weekend more towards the race pace, more focused on race pace – which also means more laps as well. So, that will be the target – and yes, of course, I think that kind of feeling, straight away into qualifying, it will be a different atmosphere but I still would have liked to have given it a go and see how I would have done in qualifying and started further up than I will be.

    Q: (Jonathan McEvoy – Daily Mail) To Max, how much do you think you can really have a go at Lewis now over these last nine races? How high have you set your ambitions and realities?

    MV: I always try to do the best I can. I think it’s just going to be a bit track dependent for us. Where are we going to be a bit more competitive? I’m expecting this to be a bit more tricky, and especially Monza but from there onwards, and especially with upgrades coming to the car. Of course, everybody is doing that but I think, in recent years we’ve always been quite strong in developing the car throughout the year. Yeah, there are a few tracks where I think we can have a good go but for the Championship, I don’t think so. But, as I said, I always try to get the best out of it every single race weekend and we’ll find out where we end up at the end.

    Q: (Phil Duncan – Press Association) Alex, you said you called your Mum and Dad when you found out that you’d got the drive with Red Bull; can you just say how they reacted?

    AA: Sure. Mum was just being a Mum, kind of that ‘ah, I don’t know what to say’ kind of thing. OK, thanks. And then my Dad was just laughing actually. Yeah, just kind of surreal. I felt like they were a bit more excited than I was actually.

    Q: (Vladimir Rogovets – Sb Belarus) I have a question for Max: we know you for five seasons already and every time we are writing ‘Max is a very good young driver’. What do you think? How long can you be a young driver?

    MV: Until I’m old. Is it 30 that you get old? Thirty. OK. Well, I guess there’s eight and a half more years.

    Q: (Joost Nederfelt – NU.NL) Max, can you imagine other drivers being a bit nervous being your team-mate, as it can damage their careers?

    MV: Well. I don’t know. I think everybody always tries to do the best they can, don’t they? I don’t know what to answer. It’s a bit shitty – to answer.

    Q: Do you feel on top of your game like never before at the moment?

    MV: I think it’s quite natural. You just get older and more experienced so for me it’s not a big surprise what is happening at the moment. Just a natural process that you go through, that you become better. I think it would be bad if you were already declining at 21.

    Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Max, you drive into Spa from the Burnenville direction and all you can see on your left hand side is big Max Verstappen banners and motorhomes and all the rest of it, and driving over there’s caravanners and everything coming in from the Netherlands. You’ve got a following for a single driver that hasn’t been seen for a while. How do you feel about that? What kind of reaction do you have and what kind of interaction do you have with the fans? Do you know any of them, do you meet them? How does that all work?

    MV: Well, I think over the year I get to meet quite a few but of course it’s amazing to see that, to have such a big following. Of course, I think also the colour helps quite a bit. It’s quite easy to spot a Dutch fan around the track. I would say it’s a positive motivation for the weekend because I don’t experience any more pressure through it because at the end of the day, you always try to do the best you can so it’s not changing for this weekend. The more the better, of course. They get quite crazy with flares and stuff so I remember once going up the Kemmel straight, it was almost turning orange but yeah, it’s great to see and of course, I’m happy to have such a big following. I hope over the years that it will only become bigger.

    Q: Do you find it motivational to have that many people supporting you?

    MV: Absolutely. It brings a big smile to my face and of course if you then… like here, we created our own grandstand as well so when you see them all jumping up like during the drivers’ parade or there’s any music going on they’re going completely crazy already when there’s not even a race going on then it’s quite special.

    Q: (Arjan Schouten – AD) Alex, to follow up on the question from my neighbour here, in a process, did you get a chance at Red Bull, is there any room for doubt in your first year or is doubt not even in the question and you just go on it?

    AA: Yeah. The way I see it is that it’s an opportunity. Doubt in myself, not really, no. You have to go into it as confident as you can. I can have no… I’ve only done six months in a Formula One car so there is definitely room for improvement and I know that. When I look back at how I was in Melbourne and how I am now, I have definitely improved as a driver so I know that kind of progress is only going to continue and of course jumping into a car this early I do feel like in a way you would wish it would happen a bit later but no, I’m still very excited and I can’t wait to get started.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – liviooricchio.com) Valtteri, you started the season at a very high level, you won in Australia and Azerbaijan and then you were unlucky in some situations and also did some mistakes in Hockenheim. In this period of vacation, did you analyse your own performance in the first part of the season and if you can come back in the same level as you started the championship?

    VB: Yeah, for sure you’re always analysing. You look back to things to learn from those and for sure with the team before we all went for holidays we had a good catch-up on everything and as always, trying to improve and learn from every single mistake and every single situation. I feel that I could have been better or we could have been better as a team, so there’s nothing new in that and definitely I feel overall the level at the beginning of the year was very good but I believe my performance since then has not been dropping, it’s just been a few odd races and some mistakes for sure, that has been my bad which were not there at the beginning of the year. But those happen and you learn from that and my goal, definitely, for the second half is to be as strong as I can, try to be on my best level and I know what I can do if I get there but how to get there, that’s the tricky part in this sport but obviously the goal is to – and I have the belief that I can be strong for the rest of the year.

    Q: And Valtteri, has Lewis Hamilton said anything to you about your contract renewal?

    VB: Yeah, he sent me a message actually when it was all confirmed, when he heard about it. I think so far we’ve made a good team and I believe we’re going to make a good team in the future as well.

    Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Just to follow up on that, Valtteri, you said that you needed to keep your options open in case you didn’t get the seat. I think you said that in Hungary as well before the mid-season break. Were there any talks with specific teams, any verbal agreements that you could then go back to Mercedes with and say ‘well, if you don’t keep me, I can go here’? How far did some discussions go if there were any?

    VB: Yeah, unfortunately I can’t really say much. That kind of question is very private, obviously, all the conversations. I would never say the name of the team or person I’ve been talking to because I want to keep the trust and people can trust me so can’t say much but basically, like I said, I was waiting first for Mercedes to decide and still knowing that other things could be possible if we wouldn’t continue but everything turned out good and I’m happy and the team is happy.

    Ends

  • We were just not fast enough, says Max Verstappen

    Budapest, 4 August 2019: The following top -3 drivers attended the mandatory post-race FIA press conference on Sunday: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing and Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari).

    Track Interviews were conducted by former Force India F1 driver Paul Di Resta:

    Q: Lewis, I can see how much that one means to you. From a driving point of view that was exactly what you had to do to go out there and win it. You fought all the way till the very end to get that one done. How do you feel?

    Lewis HAMILTON: Tired, which is how it should be, but I feel really grateful for the day and for the team for continuing to believe in me and continuing to push to the limits and to take a risk and a chance on me. We’ve been together for seven years and it never gets old, it always feels brand new. It feels like a new win for us. If it wasn’t for these boys here and all the guys back at the factory this wouldn’t be even possible and I’m just grateful to be a part of it. Yeah, for a race to be able to push like that, I’m telling you now it was on the limit all the way.

    Q: The gap was there to take that chance, to roll the dice and try something on strategy, but you had a bit of management in there with brakes, because you had nearly got Max before. Was it always going to be on edge to get that pass done?

    LH: Honestly, we’ve had brake problems all weekend, having like separation of the front temperatures and glazing, and I was a bit worried. We made some changes and it still didn’t make a difference and naturally, we get into the race and we have this problem, so I was doing a lot of lift and coast and not even touching the brake for half the lap. Now of course in the big stops you had to lose it. I was just trying to save as much as I could for that time when I do get a chance. It was very, very difficult to get by, defence was great, they were quite quick on the straights. But honestly I didn’t know if I could catch that 19-second gap because there is a big… my tyres were going to drop off and all these different things are going through your mind, but like the team said, you just keep your head down, so I did and kept pushing and pushing and the gap closed and closed and closed. The laps were like qualifying laps every lap. So my hat off to the team and I think if Niki was here today he’d take his hat off.

    Q: I think everybody would. That’s seven wins in Hungary and a nice way to sign off for the summer break. Enjoy your rest. Max, I know you’re not going to be very happy with what happened but they had the chance to do what they did. You were not fortunately in that position (sic) but I guess you’ve got to be satisfied and Driver of the Day to say that.

    Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, we were just not fast enough. I tried everything I could on that hard tyre to stay alive but unfortunately, it was just not enough. But still, second and fastest lap, I think a good weekend overall for us. Of course congrats to Lewis for the win. He was pushing me very hard, so I like that. Today we didn’t win but again, like I said, it was a good day, a good weekend for us.

    Q: What was missing today? That’s four very good races but the one we all thought you would get the job done, these guys came out very strong.

    MV: Just lacking a bit of grip I guess. We tried the one stop, of course they had the opportunity to do a two and today that worked out well.

    Q: Sebastian, right at the very end of the grand prix. I know these guys had a lonely race at the front but always satisfying to pass your team-mate, you did something different on strategy, and to sign off what is going to be a difficult break for you guys to bounce back?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, I mean obviously I was sitting in P4 and had nothing to lose so we stayed out very long in the first stint and then just hoped that the soft would last until the end, and it did. I think it was the fastest tyre at the end so we were able to close the gap. We had one opportunity, which I took, so happy to get some champagne now and to cool down. Yeah, we couldn’t go the pace with these two; that was quite clear the whole weekend, so lots of work ahead of us. I think it’s good now for everyone to get a break, the guys have been working very, very hard. We need maybe to charge our batteries and then the battle continues. There will be tracks that we will be better for us but still, overall we need to get stronger.

    Q: With Spa and Monza coming up after the summer break you guys have got to be favourites for that with your straight-line speed.

    SV: Yeah, I don’t know what other people will do in terms of updates on power unit and the engine side, so we’ll see. Obviously on paper they look better of for us. But yeah, still we know we have margin with the car. As you said it will be a busy break for us. I don’t think anyone’s mind can rest in the two weeks, so maybe we come up with some good ideas for the second half.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Max coming to you, great performance by you all weekend and so much rested on that strategic call. Were you tempted to pit as well?

    MV: It wouldn’t have made sense because I would have been behind then so then you know the race is lost anyway. So the only option was for me to continue and that’s what we did. Of course at one point I started to run out of tyres, I think trying to keep up with Lewis’ pace on those medium tyres, trying to keep it within a second was almost impossible. And of course you can see it coming, so for me it was not a big disappointment once he passed me, it was just a normal thing to happen. Anyway, we have to be realistic and he was just clearly faster today. Always I was struggling a little bit more for grip than him. He could keep the pressure on. Of course when you are in second you can gamble to do a two-stop. For me it was always about trying to cover him or stay ahead. With the two-stop, worst case scenario is you stay second and best case you overtake me and that’s what they did today. Yeah, then we pitted at the end as well. Of course happy to then do that fastest lap. It’s still one point and hopefully at the end of the year it will matter. Let’s see.

    Q: And when you were on the same tyres compound how much did you relish that battle with Lewis?

    MV: So, I think on the first tyre he never really had a shot. We were still competitive in the last sector and then when we got on the hard tyre… also with the traffic, because of that he had a few goes at me because I couldn’t do my normal lines in the last few corners and he caught up with that. And then with the defending, I tried to do it as good as I could. Luckily I could stay ahead and then he had to manage his brakes and engine a bit but you could see clearly once that was sorted he closed the gap again. If he had stayed on that one stop I think I could have kept him behind. But once he was on the medium you know it’s going to be really hard.

    Q: Sebastian, strategy played a significant part in your race as well. How tough was it to get the distance on that first set of medium tyres?

    SV: Very tough. I think they were in very poor condition at the end. I was happy we tried. Obviously we tried to hang in there. I think we stayed out another 10 or 15 laps after Charles pitted, just to try to do something different, maybe hope for a safety car, but to be honest by then obviously the top two were sort of gone anyways. It was really for the sake of trying something different, which looked very distant to ideal when we had the stop and I came out but then I just tried everything I had and got one chance in the end. In the end it’s not a big deal, third or fourth for the team, it’s still the same. The big picture for today is that we were not quick enough and not able to follow them right from two laps into the race.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Christian Menath – motorsport-magazin.com) Max, usually Red Bull is quite good on race pace and not so good on qualifying pace. Do you have an explanation why it was the other way round this weekend? Was it becauswe of the Friday, which was a little bit weird?

    MV: No, I think then you can see how much margin they have when they really need to push. I think Lewis today was on fire as well, but then you see, once he really has to go for it you can see that that car is still the dominant car, it’s as simple as that. Whereas in some races it’s not as necessary. Of course they had their issues in Austria with overheating so you can’t push. Of course in Hockenheim it was tricky conditions as well so you can’t really drive to the limit of the car. But here today I think he had to go for it flat out, because I was also pushing flat out and then you can see what they are capable of as a team.

    Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriera della Sera) Sebastian, given the hotter temperature did you expect from your car. Is it now a step back in the performances?

    SV: No, I think the temperatures were fine. It was quite warm, the track was near 50 degrees as well so I don’t think so. I think we saw our limits yesterday. We got a confirmation today, so I don’t think it’s a step back, we had some bits, it was a small step forward but what it shows is that it’s not enough. It’s important that the mood inside the team remains positive, which is the case. I think everybody knows what we are lacking. Obviously we are very competitive on the straights – yesterday 6 or 7kph faster at the end of the straight compared to Red Bull and also Mercedes – but obviously we are losing quite a lot in the corners. There were some tracks where efficiency is more important, this is a track where inefficiency pays off, so whatever you have in terms of downforce is positive. That’s where we are lacking performance and in the race I think it shows even more because you are sliding and then I think we are going through the tyres faster. So not to our advantage. We have seen that as well in recent weeks, so in a way not a surprise but as I said we need to keep our head down and do the work.

    Q: Thank you Sebastian. Lewis, thank you for joining us. Can you just give us your thoughts when you were 19 seconds behind with 20 laps to go?

    LH: Well, firstly, Max really drove a sensational race today, as he has done particularly the last few races. When I was behind him on the hard tyre it didn’t look like he had particularly good pace – maybe he was managing to get to the end – but I had a lot of grip and I was thinking ‘I can definitely make this tyre go to the end’, because the first one I got to go quite far. But the team said we were going to a two-stop and I was thinking ‘how is this going to work out, I’m going to come out quite far behind’. But you have to put complete faith in your team because they have different viewpoint to you, so we did the stop and I came out on the mediums and I thought ‘Jeez, I don’t know if these are going to go the distance at the speed I am going to have to go’. Also Max turned up the engine mode and they started doing mid-19s. I started thinking ‘I don’t know if I’m close this gap’. I think the trajectory, they said I was going to catch him with nine laps to go and then that changed super quickly and went to last lap. So after that I had to put all doubt and all question marks out of my mind and go for the best laps I could do every single lap and consistency and not drop any time whatsoever. I had one of the most consistent period of laps that I’d had. I don’t know if he had traffic or mistakes or whatever but the gap started to chop down quite quickly. I think with four or five laps to go I had him four seconds ahead and I could see him in my sights, so maybe he’s struggling with his tyres. So after that I was like ‘OK, we’ve got a serious race on here’. It felt like the steepest wall to climb when you come out that far behind but the team had relaxed faith that we would do it and I’m grateful for their hard work and the decision.

    Q: (Stuart Codling – F1 Racing) Question for Max. You said just now that we saw how much margin Mercedes have. That notwithstanding, you had a brilliant race today. How much confidence does that give you, that you can come back after the summer break and take the fight to Mercedes?

    MV: I think there are a few tracks coming up that are maybe not as ideal for us – but of course we know we have some updates coming soon to the car and the engine, so hopefully that will again bring us closer. We’ll find out then.

    Q: (Giles Richards – The Guardian) Congratulations Lewis, after what happened in Germany, does this feel like a redemptive special win for you and for Mercedes, to come back so strongly?

    LH: I generally don’t like to look at redemption, if that’s the right word. Naturally, you know I don’t really make a lot of mistakes and I think the last one was definitely a massive off-weekend for me, and so this weekend, these two weeks, the team have been really great and supportive and taking off the workload, allowing me to recover and really just giving me the best support group possible to take any extra pressure off. Coming to this weekend, I felt I was back on it. Qualifying didn’t go the way I’d planned and I’d hoped. Then today, once I got into second, I was like ‘OK, game on’. And I could keep up with Max, no problems. So I was like, ‘we’ve got an actual real race on here. How is it going to play out? I don’t know. We’re going to have to figure it out as we go along.’ And obviously we both know where we’re going to strategy-wise. Yeah. I truly believed I could get by him at some stage but we’re also fighting at different points in the Championship. I think if we were level on points today would have been an even more aggressive battle, I would say, in the wheel-to-wheels that we did have but obviously we didn’t need to take extra risks today. So, I think Max was really fair and great with where he positioned his car. I just always made sure I gave extra space, just in case. But, of course, going into the break, this is a great, great uplift for the team, particularly after a difficult weekend for us all in the last one. So all the guys back at the factory, a big, big thank you, and the guys here with the strategy. They’re very, very calm when they talk about the strategy like that today. “No, no, truly believed you could do it.” For sure they were nervous as hell that it wasn’t going to work. I think collectively we made it happen, so it’s good.

    Q: (Luke Smith – crash.net) Lewis, congratulations. We saw that battle you had with Max through the middle of the race. Could you talk us through that? How much do you enjoy these wheel-to-wheel fights with Max? And how nice is it that he’s stepped up and Red Bull have stepped up this year, so you’re fighting with him on a regular basis?

    LH: Yeah. It’s really fantastic to see Red Bull’s progress. Obviously we’re in a period of time, particularly this track has been a track that they’ve always been particularly fast in, in previous years and it’s really awesome for Honda as well, to see their progression. They’ve got a lot of power in that engine. So, don’t for one second think when get the…  I think we all get it… the timings where we all layout… the Red Bull were quicker than us on a single lap this weekend and we thought we were relatively level in the race but we were just able to keep up with them and match their times. I think it’s going to continue for the races to come. Even the faster circuits, the engine’s going to be great in Monza, so hopefully we’ll see this battle continue for the rest of the season. And, fingers crossed, Ferrari also will take a step back towards us at some point over the next races. But going into the break, this is awesome.

    Q: (Vladimir Rogovets – Sb Belarus) Thank you very much guys for a very good job, for very nice race. I am really happy to be here. My question to Max. How do you feel close with nine championship titles.

    MV: I don’t know what to say! I have none! I don’t know what to comment on this! I still have a few years, hopefully in F1, so hopefully one day I can add one. Yeah. That’s it, I think.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – F1.com) Max, at the beginning you were only two-tenths on average slower than Lewis. Then from lap 61, 62, 63 more than 2s. So the tyre disappeared completely? And Sebastian, in spite of what you said to us, that you didn’t expect much from the team here, before coming – did you expect more than sixty seconds the difference between you and the winner?

    MV: Yeah. I think it’s quite normal. Lewis was on a medium tyre, pushing flat out of course to catch up, and I was on a hard tyre trying to go flat out but trying to keep the gap but yeah, I was always trying to keep it within a second because then I knew, OK, we can get to the end but at one point the tyres were gone. I started losing one and a half second a lap and then at one point two seconds, and it was just sliding and you feel the rubber is gone, so there isn’t much you can do. It’s quite normal when you have to push that hard on the tyre quite late in the race, where you normally don’t want to push as hard on the tyre. So I guess it’s a normal progression of the tyre drop off.

    Sebastian?

    SV: I think some tracks you know maybe suit you, some maybe less. Despite that I think I was fairly open-minded and you know, you don’t want to accept that. So I tried everything to prove the opposite. But looking now, after yesterday, we simply didn’t have the pace of those two in particular. So there’s obviously work for us to be done. We have room to improve, in the corners is where we’re lacking. With that obviously comes the advantage on the straight, one goes with the other. But, for sure, if we could make a trade, then we would go for it. We’ve been adding small bits to the car this weekend. They were working but obviously not big enough to really get close on a track like this. There might be tracks coming up next, especially with Spa and Monza that might be better for us – but in the end our ambition is to really force things to happen, be in control of the race. Where we are now, we’re quite far away from that. So, yeah, I think the spirit is good though. The team is willing to give everything they have, continue to give everything they have. And that’s all we can do right now.

    Q: (Tom Jackson – City Press) Question for all three of you. The lack of meaningful running we saw on Friday afternoon went some way to us seeing the variation in strategy that we did today that allowed you to put on fresh tyres and go for the win and things like that. Would you, in the future, be happy to have less running earlier in the weekend, as drivers getting less track time, if it meant we got more unpredictability later on Sunday?

    LH: I never really thought of it. I mean, if it can help with racing, sure. I think this weekend, not many people… I don’t think the Red Bulls did a long run, we did a long run in P1. I think one of few that did. I don’t know how much difference that made. It’s just that we did have an understanding of how far we thought we could take the tyres but somehow the other teams are able to do something similar with their strategies. But yeah… do you think it would make a difference.

    SV: No, I actually like driving, so it would be quite bad to get rid of some. I don’t think it’s a lot of driving anyway. We do a lot of races but overall I don’t think we drive very much. So, it would be a pity, I think. If you want to address the racing then there’s other things to focus on other than adding or taking away a practice session.

    LH: It definitely does help when you go into a race and you don’t know how far the tyre’s going to go. That is quite… I think that is not a bad thing and I think that can add to the spectacle. If you put on a medium tyre or a hard tyre and don’t know how far it’s going to go, none of us do, it definitely makes it more questionable, the strategy. So, I understand what you’re saying but we’ve got more, bigger problems, fish to fry, the way the car’s designed and things like that for the future.

    Max, your thoughts.

    MV: I think anyway, this year already quite often you go into the race on a tyre you haven’t driven on in practice – because you only select one. I think it’s not bad. I like also sometimes the challenge of not knowing what’s happening. I mean, the problem is most of the time, you put that tyre on, if the balance is bad it’s hard to pass, for the guy behind. So it’s more about the following where we need to work on. If the guy behind is faster, he should be able to get by. So that’s all in relation to the tyres as well. Sometimes, of course, on purpose we don’t select the hardest compound more than once because that’s mandatory. Because you know if you stick it on, even without any knowledge, you can stay ahead and just get to the end.

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lewis, lots will be made of the strategy decisions today and obviously while you say it was a great call but Max earlier said that you were on fire today so how highly do you rate your individual performance over those last 20 laps or so?

    LH: Well, it was definitely a really good day today. I think today was clearly… once we got up to second I knew that me and Max were going to have a good race. Did I know I was going to get by? Honestly I was able to keep up with him, I was able to hold on to him within the two second gap and I was just trying to see whether I could make my tyres go longer than him and just kind of really studying him, I guess, really from behind, seeing how that was going. And then he started to drop off a cliff a little bit at the end and it’s really all about trying to make sure you’re in the right place at the right time. It’s not easy to follow, two seconds behind and obviously I had the brake problem as well, so I had to change my driving style quite a bit to enable this brake to go down in temperature so it meant doing a lot less braking and I had much much shorter bursts of braking and then in a lot of other places, half the lap I wasn’t really touching the brakes. So it really changes the balance of the car as well. I’m really glad of how I was able to delegate and work through that and collectively with the team, they did a really exceptional job. It will be interesting when we go back and talk about the two stop because today, this morning, we talked about the strategy and they said two stop was not going to happen and even when we called to do a two stop, I was like Jeez, I don’t know how this is going to work. A gamble’s always a good thing, it felt like a big gamble for us but at the time I felt like I had the pace on Max, I think, as I said, because I don’t know if he was backing off, or he was just controlling the pace but I felt like OK, I’m going to have a few attempts at trying to pass him but at some stage the tyres are going to go off, so I don’t know how many attempts that will be. I really don’t know how long I made those mediums go but I think it was just a collectively… a really bold, risky strategy call and then just doing the job. At the end of the day, I had to do those laps to chew out the gap that he had on me so I think collectively, as a team, we did a really exceptional job.

    Q: (Péter Vámosi – Racing Line) Sebastian, you will become a father again, and with maximum respect to your personal life, can you tell us if you’re waiting (inaudible) girl and if a boy, will you be happy if he would chose your job as a racing car driver?

    SV: Well, I don’t like to talk about my private life so thank you, but I think we will leave it there.

    Q: (Dániel Májer – GP Hirek.hu) Now the summer break has started, the first part of the season is over so could you please rate your own performance from one to ten, one is the worst, ten is the best and explain briefly why you give yourself that mark?

    SV: Five, not happy with the first half. I think I struggled here and there to really get on top of the car. I think we’ve been trying a lot of things so fair enough. Obviously we wanted to squeeze out more so you’re always looking for more but I feel I can do a better job in the second half. And five is my number, so take five.

    LH: So that’s the first half of the season, yeah? I’d say like 8.9, 8.8.

    SV: Go ten, man. Go for it, who cares?

    LH: If it wasn’t for the last one, the last race, it would be a little bit higher. I think the good thing is always to score yourself a little bit lower so you’ve more to work on. For sure, it’s been the best start of the season that I think we’ve ever had as a team and I think it’s one of the best seasons that I’ve had personally to start off, but there are areas that we can continue to work on. That’s the great thing about this sport, you know, no matter how many years and days you race there are always areas you can improve on. So let’s see if we can try and up that into the nines or try to get to the tens in the second half of the season.

    MV: I don’t rate myself in numbers.

    SV: What do you do instead? Letters? Or…

    MV: No, I hate putting a number on it because it reminds me of school as well, which is not that long ago. I’m always quite critical and I think it always can be better. I’ll never be satisfied. I think it’s been very positive and I’ve had good results but there are always things to work on.

    SV: … a number man!

    MV: No I don’t.

    SV: We did it.

    MV: Yeah, I know but… I don’t know, I think it’s… First of all, I cannot rate myself like that.

    LH: Why not, you’ve done a good job man?

    MV: I know, but… I don’t know. I find it a bit weird to say an eight or…

    Q: Lewis, how would you rate Max if you gave him a number?

    LH: I don’t remember all the races that you’ve done other than the last three or four. You could say he’s in the high nines over the last few races but I can’t remember how it went before.

    MV: I’ve had a lot of fourths, P3 and then three times fourth. P5, P3… too many P3, P4.

    LH: It’s easier to rate yourself because you often remember how many mistakes you’ve made, when you’ve done good, when you’ve kind of been under par and he’ll know whether he’s been on par or below par. I think today he drove exceptionally as he has particularly in the past three or four races so if that continues he’s going to continue to operate in the high nines towards tens.

    MV: Nobody’s perfect. No, it’s never perfect…

    LH: It’s like an impossible number to get.

    MV: 9.9?

    LH: It’s a hard one to get to.

    Q: (Dániel Horváth – The Paddock Magazine) Lewis and Max, Fernando Alonso praised your performance on social media. It seems he enjoyed the battle as well. Would you like to see him back in Formula One and race against him again?

    LH: Well, firstly that’s really awesome that he’s supportive… I was just actually watching some of the restarts, the starts of previous years and watching him from his Renault days and I remember just before I even got to Formula One watching how amazing their starts were. I don’t know how old Fernando is now but he’s always going to be a great driver. If he can get a good seat, he’s always welcome here to battle with us. It doesn’t make a difference, really, necessarily for me. I’m here to fight whoever’s here.

    MV: Yeah, I think it was a bit of a shame that I never had an opportunity to fight against him in F1 so yeah…

    LH: Could be a good team-mate for you.

    MV: Fernando? Well, you have experience with it, I don’t know. Well…

    SV: He could be your father!

    MV: Yeah, it’s close! Yeah, I know. As a young father. How old is he? 36? 38! OK, well 17 is possible to be a father.

    SV: Talking with experience?

    MV: I don’t know. At least I don’t know.

    LH: How old are you now?

    MV: 21. Many years, plenty of years…

    LH: Jeez. I like being in this room because I’m not the oldest!

    MV: 34?

    LH: I’m 34, yeah, nearly 35.

    SV: I’ll tell you, the day we get beat by somebody who’s born in 2000 and upwards. We will know it’s time…

    MV: I’m not that young!

    Q: Sebastian, final thoughts on Fernando? Would you like to see him back?

    SV: I don’t mind. I don’t know why… I don’t think he never really liked me. I don’t think we really had a… I don’t mind him. I respect him for what he achieved and for what he can do on track. I don’t know. I guess he’s bored if he has time to write these things. So bring him back, I don’t mind.

    MV: Maybe as a social media manager. To me, he’s always been very nice and good. I like that he is also now looking into other opportunities for racing. He just loves racing and he wants to win, he wants to be competitive. It’s good to see.

    LH: The sport needs the best drivers in the best seats and there is still at least a seat available that’s good enough for winning and he’s good enough for winning so it wouldn’t be such a bad…

    MV: Maybe he could speak to Toto.

    LH: Valtteri’s great; Valtteri’s been winning. You’re the one with the extra seat, I would say.

    MV: I didn’t say that.

    SV: I’m not sure…

    Ends

  • A lot of emotions and unforgettable 24 hours, says Kvyat about his podium

    A lot of emotions and unforgettable 24 hours, says Kvyat about his podium

    Thursday Press Conference in progress. An FIA image

    Hungaroring, 1 August 2019: The following drivers attended the FIA Thursday press conference:  Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso), Robert Kubica (Williams), Lance Stroll (Racing Point), Kevin Magnussen (Haas) and Romain Grosjean (Haas).

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Daniil, if we could start with you. It’s been a whirlwind few days for you with that podium finish last time out and the birth of your daughter. Have your feet touched the ground yet?

    Daniil KVYAT: Yes. I mean, it’s OK, we are already here in Hungary now but talking about last week it was a quite special 24, or 48 hours, either way you want to look at it. Obviously I found out on Saturday night that I became a father, that my daughter is born and is doing great, so it’s a great feeling – but obviously the next day there was a race to do. It was important to stay focused on it. The race was great as well. It’s a podium. So, many things happened in 24 hours for me and, yeah, fantastic feeling. Happy few days after and now we’re here.

    Q: Just tell us about your schedule in those following days. Where have you been?

    DK: Went straight to hospital on Sunday night, slept there with them – not too much sleep straight away after the race. So, for me, it was good. And then just home until leaving here to Hungary. Bit of recovery between races, light training but obviously always visiting Kelly and our daughter. And that’s it. Yesterday I arrived here.

    Q: What was the reception like in the Formula 1 paddock to your podium. Did you get a 7am phone call from Dr Marko on Monday morning?

    DK: No. You should tell me! You’re a journalist, how was the reception. Generally, talking about the team, everyone was very happy. I think first podium in 11 years for our team. It was a fantastic achievement and I think we were very happy. Everyone. Every member of the team. I was so happy to see that everyone was so happy in the team. When I crossed the start-finish line it was a very special feeling. A lot of emotions. I really enjoyed those few hours after the race. It was unforgettable.

    Q: Robert, talking of happy vibes in a team, there was certainly a happy Williams team late on Sunday evening when news came through that you’ve got the point. You’ve scored many World Championship points in your career – 274 – but how different was this one to the ones that came before because of what it meant to Williams?

    Robert KUBICA: Yeah, I mean, you know, it’s a bit mixed feelings in the end because of course it’s good to have this one point on the scoreboard but the way it came is for sure is not the way you would expect. Of course, it was a crazy race, many mistakes. We managed to stay on track, although our pace was questionable but still, managed to keep it on the black. And then, with Alfa being penalised, we gained two positions, so it meant that we would be tenth, which is for sure good – but still we have to keep working, keep pushing and definitely  this point is somehow… thanks to the guys which are doing a great job on track, pushing really hard, we are really not having a great moment but still, Hockenheim was also thanks to them.

    Q: What’s your realistic assessment of the upgrades the team brought to Hockenheim?

    RK: Realistic, well, it’s good to have them. I think it’s something for which they’ve been working for long. We do see some improvements. Of course it’s difficult to judge and compare Silverstone to Hockenheim: completely different tracks ambient temperature, so all those things were not easy to have clear judgement. Our guys can see the improvement in the data – but I think everyone is improving, so you know in order to close the gap we need to make bigger improvements compared to our competition and this is not easy with Formula 1 standards: all the teams are pushing hard – so it is a big battle, I think even more at home in the factory, that the people are working hard but you know it’s so difficult with current Formula 1 teams to close the gap to them.

    Q: Lance, fourth was a great haul of points for you at Hockenheim. Are you sensing an upward curve from the team from now on.

    Lance STROLL: Yeah, it was a great result. Like you said, a lot of points. We were really happy about that. I am sensing some improvement. I definitely think we took a step in Hockenheim, looking at our pace throughout the weekend, Friday, Saturday, we were much more competitive than we’ve been in recent events, which is always a good thing. That being said, it’s still very, very tight in the midfield and every tenth counts. I’m sure it will be very track-dependent from now until the end of the season – which tracks suit our car, more than others. But yeah, it was a great Sunday but also a much better weekend in terms of performance and where we’ve been throughout the weekend in comparison to other weekends.

    Q: So, more performance in Hockenheim but just looking at the season so far, as a whole, how has this year compared to your previous two seasons in Formula One?

    LS: Every year is unique in its own way. When I reflect on the last couple of years, I definitely think that the sport is much more competitive than it was two years ago. Looking back at 2017 when I came into it, it was… yeah, there were much bigger gaps between the teams and I think, at the time, coming into the weekend, when I was at Williams, we had a pretty good idea where we’d be relative to the competition. And in the race it was, yeah, there was definitely more guarantee of scoring points – and now you really see tight margins between the teams and very close racing in the midfield. Last year, of course, was a challenging season for me at Williams. We didn’t really have the pace to score points like we did in 2017. When I look at this year in comparison to a couple of years ago, it’s definitely become much more competitive, the sport – which is a good thing. I think, hopefully, in the near future, we can start seeing that from first place onwards where we can be battling between teams every event.

    Q: I’d like to come on to Kevin and Romain together now. First up, congratulations on the double points finish in Hockenheim, however the race marked the third time you guys have hit each other on track this year: Spain; Silverstone and, of course, Hockenheim. I just want to ask why this keep happening? Kevin, perhaps we could start with you?

    Kevin MAGNUSSEN: I don’t know really. I think it’s… you know… it’s happened a few times this year and, in terms of… it happened in Silverstone and it had a consequence for both of us. We punctured. I think that was pretty unlucky, to have two cars puncturing for such a small contact. There were no bad intentions from either of us in that moment. It was just… we came together and then punctured . Later in the race you see other cars flying into each other, flying over the track and nothing happened. Got to look at that as well to say, bad luck really. That’s pretty much it.

    Romain, your thoughts

    Romain GROSJEAN: We love each other. That’s why we get on, have a bit of a kiss on track. No, I think, as Kevin said, there’s been a bit of bad luck in Silverstone. I think the relationship, people could think that it doesn’t look good but actually the relationship with Kevin is really good. We phone each other once a week or so. We sat down and said, ‘what can we do better’, just to make sure that’s not happening again. Obviously we’ve got the same car, so it’s happening that we are side-by-side on track more often than with the Mercedes, for example. Yeah, there are things we can probably do better. I think the most important is that we always try to do our best for the team, and give our best and maybe just the cursor wasn’t well positioned on some of the occasions we had, and we just going to make sure we get better from there. Honestly, the relationship is very good and we actually like – well, I like working with Kevin, maybe he doesn’t – but I think he likes it also. We work well together and we get on nicely.

    And Kevin likes working with Romain?

    KM: Absolutely.

    RG: Just don’t say no now…

    KM: I think in the heat of the moment, we’re blaming each other on the radio and stuff like that – but what people don’t see is that we get together between the races and talk it through and try to be constructive and move on in a constructive way. Apart from those incidents on track, I feel that we have a pretty good working relationship. And actually, Romain is a cool guy, and we actually have a good time when we go to work. So, it’s being blown out of proportion a little bit. I know you guys love a bit of a conflict and stuff like that, so… but it isn’t as bad as it looks.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Péter Vámosi – Racing Line) A question for Robert. First of all, you really have good heritage here at the Hungaroring, you’ve scored many points here. Do you think this year, with the Williams, at this track, where you don’t need so much power, can you score again?

    RK: Well, I think, actually, Hungary has never been very lucky for me. I don’t remember how many points I scored. I think the power is the only area where we are not lacking anything in our car, so power, thanks to Mercedes’ power unit, is the strongest area of our car. This track is very complex. I think there are sections that require a lot of mechanical and aero grip, so I would say it’s not the kind of track where we will be closer to the competition than others.

    Q: (Luke Smith – crash.net) Romain and Kevin, Guenther has said that he is going to have to take a firmer approach with you two to stop these clashes on track – rules of engagement, things like that. What’s your response to that? Do you feel it is necessary to put this in place between you two? Is it disappointing that that action has to be taken?

    RG: No, I think again we are here to do the best for the team and if that’s the solution, the short-term fix, then why not. I think, as I say. We’re not here fighting for the first or second place in the world championship. I don’t really give a damn if I finish 14th or 16th at the end. We don’t have a fast car at the minute and the focus is on getting that car to work well. The team has been reverting me back to the car from Melbourne. I have been running for three events now, just trying to understand everything, so I think the bigger picture, the big keys, is to understand how we get faster and better, how we can come back in the Constructors’ Championship and to make sure that the future of the team is not compromised by a non-understanding of the car.

    Q: Kevin, rules of engagement?

    KM: At the end of the day it doesn’t really matter what we think, we will just respect what is being said and required by the team. I can understand the team’s point of view. We had a pretty bad experience in Silverstone and clearly they want to avoid that happening again and we’re just going to deal with it in the way we’re required and make the best for the team, as Romain said.

    Q: (Eva Vandor – HVG) Daniil, congratulations on so many levels – becoming a father, on getting back to the podium and getting back to Hungary as well, it’s been a while. Can you tell us a little bit about the mental transformation of the last few years – from being out of F1 to getting back to the podium?

    DK: Well, I think it was important to realize the points that you can improve as a driver and as a person before my comeback to Formula 1. Obviously it wasn’t easy to lose the seat in the Formula 1 and at some point it was thought that there was no way back in for me. But since I got the call; back in, it was important to come back very prepared and better mentally prepared as well, I think. I think now all this work is paying off and I’m very happy with how things are working out. I’m happy with the people around me, the team around me, how we work on things. It’s important that now I feel a much better driver than I was in the past. It’s also very important also to back this up with strong results. This year in general has been strong and I think we can continue in this way. I’m really enjoying this, so hopefully we can keep going.

    Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports) Good to see, Romain and Kevin, that you’re best of buddies and that you’ve got a great relationship, but it does appear that you’re very quick to blame each other when you have these incidents. Do you both still believe that the other one is very much at fault or would you say that you should both share the responsibility for what’s happened at the team recently?

    KM: I think that in the heat of the moment, you know, you’re always feel that you’re in the right, and then you analyse things after you see it’s probably more level and not as big a deal as it felt like on track. At the end of the day I don’t think it’s such a big deal, you know. We will try to do everything we can to not have these issues again. I think, as I said before, it became a very big issue when we both punctured in Silverstone. Apart from that, the end of the story is that we do respect each other and we want to do the best for the team and there have been laid out some guidelines for us now that we’re going to respect and then just carry on.

    RG: I think on the football pitch you don’t have any microphone listening to what… even inside a football team between the team players they can say things, they’re not happy with each other, and you’re not saying that ‘oh that team is having any issue’, because I think in Formula 1 it’s great that everything is broadcast but also it makes a story out of nothing. As I say, our relationship is good. When you’re driving at 300kph obviously you’re not going to say ‘Oh, please, I think I was in my right, and he was in his wrong and would you mind giving me the position back, but I my only, please’. You’re just going to say: ‘F**k of, just give me the position.’ Unless you want us you want us to be very, very boring, then I’ll remove the microphone from the helmet, then I think it’s always going to happen. Still it’s false but that doesn’t really matter, does it.

    Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) To Romain and Kevin again: how concerned are you both that this could be putting your future at the team at risk?

    RG: Ah, let me answer the question differently. I was more worried last year than this year. Last year there were a lot of reasons that I could have ended up this year at home and I did many mistakes that I shouldn’t have done with my experience. But I think since then I have recovered pretty well. I think everything we have been saying this year – the eye opener for the guys on reverting back to the old spec car, because I asked, shows that the experience is very important in Formula 1. Everything in the team has now changed. The focus is on the different parts and how we make sure we improve the car other than we just put upgrades without really knowing where we are. The races I’m happy with my performance. I think in qualifying I could have been better earlier in the year but now it’s back to where it was. As I said, last year there were many reasons, to be frank, to stay home. This year I guess there are many less.

    KM: Not worried at all.

    Q: (Dániel Horváth – The Paddock magazine) There has been some talk about the possible return of refuelling into the sport. Do you think that’s a good idea?

    RG: If I may jump in for the GPDA on that one? I think if you guys agree… No? OK go ahead, save me doing what I say all the time! No, it was brought up by the GPDA because we have four key points that we want to improve to improve the show and those are tyres, aero sensitivity, weight of the car and money distribution. Robert came back into Formula One one or two years ago and said the cars felt really heavy and they are and the regulation makes it that they are getting heavier and heavier year after year and we don’t have any solution with the current engine to bring the weight down. Therefore the idea of refuelling was brought in as a short term fix to help the tyres to not overheat that much and get better racing and better following in the car early in the race. It needs to be looked at but it’s not that we want refuelling, it’s that we need to find a solution to get the car lighter to be easy on the tyres and therefore having a better show.

    RK: Copy paste.

    DK: I think it’s not just one simple thing that just needs to be changed and it’s a magic switch and that’s it and we will have amazing races every race. It’s a combination of things that just need to be put together and strongly put together by one person who will say it will be done this way, obviously who will consider everyone’s opinion. Refuelling doesn’t seem a bad idea. I think we’re looking at more general things like the aero of the car, tyres, how we follow each other, brakes, common parts. Say for example a radio ban wouldn’t change anything on the racing or small things like if we do less switches on the steering wheel it would not change a lot, will not have a big impact on the racing itself. So I think all the points that were discussed in GPDA meetings and so on were all very good and we had a good agreement between drivers on which direction to move.

    KM: On refuelling, I think it wouldn’t only help on the weight issue, I think that shouldn’t be the only thing about it because the cars need to be lighter anyway, refuelling or not. It would also make a bit more possibilities of strategy and a bit more variation in strategies rather than always a one-stop and so I can’t see any negatives but if we do introduce it back then I hope that it’s not an excuse to then keep making the cars heavier because even though it comes back, it would help the weight issue in the race but they still need to not make them heavier.

    LS: I think that there are other priorities at the moment that we need to think about to improve the racing. I don’t think lighter cars will… is the main fix. I mean refuelling could be exciting in many ways, maybe not, maybe it won’t change anything but I think that there’s bigger things to focus on like aerodynamics, like Romain pointed most of them out: money distribution, just to make the series more competitive. Even if the cars maintain their current weight, with the much more competitive series will come much more exciting racing and that’s where we need to be focused.

    Q: (István Simon – Autó Magazin) Robert, according to the Hungarian Grand Prix organisers they are expecting some 35-40,000 supporters from Poland for this weekend, which is like one third of the whole capacity of the Hungaroring. Robert, could you please tell us what kind of motivation does this support give to you, not only for this race this weekend but since the beginning of your whole career which started here in 2006?

    RK: Yeah, for sure it is kind of our home race, as Hungary is the closest race track to Poland and I think it’s not a surprise that there will be a lot of Polish fans here, which is always nice. Of course I would like to pay them back for their support with a good performance but I think this will be quite difficult, looking at the season up to now. But still it’s great to see such big support, not only in Formula One, they have been around also when I was rallying, when I was doing some other racing series so yeah, always good, and hopefully they will enjoy their weekend.

    Q: (Tom Richtr – Sport TV) Romain, it’s the middle of the season and the last race in Germany was also a difficult test for the new race director, Michael Masi. At least from our perspective, some great decisions such as wet standing start or his comments towards Lewis Hamilton spinning behind the safety car, what is your view as a director of GPDA on a more relaxed approach, maybe? Or what is the general feeling in regard to co-operation with Michael Masi’s first half year?

    RG: I think he stepped into big shoes – I don’t know if you say that in English – but Charlie was a big part of Formula One for a very long time and replacing a role of Charlie was not easy. I believe he’s done a good job. Personally I’ve been happy with what he’s been doing. I think the standing start in Germany was a good idea. It’s great to see the conditions and then when you think they are OK to go for it. I haven’t seen his comments on Lewis spinning under the safety car. They were tricky conditions. We know the cars don’t have a big operating window so when it’s starting to rain and you’re on slicks you are obviously not in the operating window. I spun just doing the switches on my steering wheel. I think everyone pretty much spun in that race at least once so I guess it was difficult but generally – I don’t know what the others are thinking – but I think he does a good job and listens to us. He’s well on board and (has) a new view on Formula One because he hasn’t been here for a very long time and sometimes it’s good to have new eyes on (it).

    Q: Anybody else have anything to add on the job of Michael Masi? No? OK, next question.

    Q: (Bart Van Dooijweert – nu.nl) Question to all drivers about the pit stop record last weekend set by Red Bull with 1.88s: can you tell me how much effort your team puts into a quick pit stop and do you think it’s possible to do it even quicker than 1.88s?

    LS: Yeah, that’s very impressive and yes, that’s something that the team puts a lot of focus on. It’s a very important part of the race, important part of the strategy so we’re always trying to go quicker. I have a lot of confidence that our guys can go quicker than that.

    KM: Yeah, it’s pretty impressive, I would say, 1.8s but what you really want is consistency and yeah, it’s fine to have a 2.5s stop if you have it every time. But impressive.

    DK: Yeah, I think they are consistently under two seconds now so it’s impressive and incredible to see how the machine… I guess it’s a combination of them together with machinery, how they work. It’s great to see and for sure it’s a lot of hard work but everyone in the paddock works hard to make those pit stops as fast as possible, I think, so it’s impressive what levels they reach.

    RG: Yeah, pretty much the same. I think it’s a new reference in terms of every team is going to try to go as fast as they can and reach that level of performance, because obviously half a second in the pits can be a position on track and much more at the end of the race.

    RK: Well, I think we are in good shape in that; already the second positive thing after engine power is our pit stops. If we would be judged by our pit stops we would be fighting with Red Bull for the championship but unfortunately they are fighting for winning races, we are ending up races lapped most of the time, but it’s a good thing. I think everyone is trying to balance – as Kevin said – performance against the risk. Actually our guys are doing it very fast quite regularly so it looks like that on this point we are pretty on it, so let’s focus on the others.

    Q: (Luke Smith – Crash.Net) Dany, you said after the race in Germany that you felt that you’d sent the message that you can fight at the front of the field on a more regular basis. If an opportunity were to arise with the senior Red Bull team next year, would you feel ready to return?

    DK: I think this kind of thing is decided by the management of Red Bull so it’s better to address these questions to them. At the moment I am driving for Toro Rosso but long term I want to be fighting for podiums and wins but right now the situation is that I am a Toro Rosso driver and the bigger decisions will be made by Red Bull management in the future.

     

  • It was all about trying not to make too many mistakes: Max Verstappen

    DRIVERS
    1 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)
    2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)
    3 – Daniil KVYAT (Toro Rosso)

    TRACK INTERVIEWS
    (Conducted by Martin Brundle) 

    Q: [Question inaudible]
    Max VERSTAPPEN: ….I had a little moment, but I made a nice 360, so that was nice. I enjoyed that. Of course, to come out on top here it was all about trying not to make too many mistakes. Yeah, really tricky conditions but amazing to win.

    Q: It’s a day for a wise head. You’re such a young man but you still you’re wise head on young shoulders. You really kept your head in the most treacherous conditions when others didn’t. 
    MV: Well you learn, isn’t it, over the years. Of course very happy with the whole performance today.

    Q: Congratulations. Sebastian, well done, you must be so pleased with that, 20th to second. 
    Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, thank you. It was a long race, at some stages it felt like it was never-ending. But it was a lot of fun. It was very tough with the conditions. It was very tough to read what was the smartest move, but yeah, I’m just happy.

    Q: Did we hear that you had a little turbo problem early on? You seemed to be struggling for pace and then it really came good. 
    SV: It took a while. I don’t think there was a problem but in the beginning with the intermediates, I really couldn’t get the hang of it. Eventually, then I got going so it was good that the afternoon took so long. Obviously, I stayed tidy for most of the race but yeah, it was a long one. I don’t know if I can recap the whole race now but congratulations to Max, I think he drove superbly, but for us it was just go and get the next car and the next car and the next car.

    Q: When did you first smell a podium? 
    SV: I think before the last safety car, when I realised that I was quite a bit quicker and happy to pass people, it was quite straightforward. I was a little bit faster and could time it right. I saw a lot of people being cautious into the first corner and that’s where I was really giving it everything and it worked to get really into DRS range and I had good moves down the back straight but I don’t know, this race was so long…

    Q: You need to watch your back. 
    SV: Yeah, exactly.

    Q: OK, thanks a lot, Sebastian. Daniil, well done, a podium. Not your first podium but a very enjoyable podium for you. 
    Daniil KVYAT: Yes, it is amazing to be back on the podium. Incredible for Toro Rosso after so many years to bring as podium to the team is amazing and the race was crazy. Finally I managed to put everything together to get this podium and I’m really happy.

    Q: Any big moments? Any scary things going on out there? 
    DK: It was a horror movie with a black comedy. At some point I thought the race was done for me, but then it came alive again, it was an incredible rollercoaster. A bit like my whole career!

    Q: And you’re expecting your first child soon as well.
    DK: Yeah, she was born last night…

    Q: Oh, fantastic, congratulations. 
    DK: Thank you very much.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Many congratulations Max, what a bonkers race. How does it feel? How does it compare to the other six wins? 
    MV: Are you going to keep asking me that question: ‘how does it feel compared to the other ones’? I don’t know. It’s always different. It’s always a different feeling, but this was really good, because it was very tricky out there. We had to stay very focused; we couldn’t afford too many mistakes. I mean now, after the race, I can say I did that 360 for the crowd, but at the time it was a bit tricky out there with the medium tyre, very low grip. I think the information between myself and the team was crucial today. I think we made the right calls and that gave us the victory also. Once I was ahead of the Mercedes cars you could really see the pace we had, because I was stuck in the dirty air in the4 first few laps behind Valtteri but once you are ahead you can basically save your tyres a bit more and everything was a bit more under control. But yeah, good victory.

    Q: Great victory. Congratulations. Sebastian, your 50th podium for Ferrari. It’s been a bit of an emotional weekend for you if you think what happened yesterday and you’ve charged through from the back today. Just describe how it feels? 
    SV: Well, obviously after the disappointing day yesterday, where everything was ready: the crowd was ready; I was ready, the team was ready. Obviously we didn’t have qualifying, so starting last today I was very excited about the race in these conditions. Anything can happen. Obviously the racer turned out a lot crazier than I thought beforehand but yeah I’m very happy obviously. I’m very happy for the team first of all. It’s a tough period for us. We are pushing very hard, we are doing mistakes, we are not where we want to be, but we need to keep believing in ourselves, in our abilities, our strengths, and I’m confident that our days will come. Obviously today very happy for myself, at my home race and it was great to see the crowd, especially at the end, every time I passed in the car they were really excited. I really did enjoy that. A crazy race, a lot of decisions to make, a lot of communications between the car and the pit wall, but I think we stayed calm and tried to do the best at the time. Most of the time we were right, sometimes we were wrong but we kept it clean and I think that was the key and in the end I really started to come alive in these mixed conditions on dry tyres, we were quite comfortable and able to make good progress, because I think two safety cars to the end I was still not even in the top 10 and I was thinking ‘what happened?’ But it was a day like that and a race like that, so I’m quite happy.

    Q: Well done. Dany, what a huge race for you. The birth of your daughter last night and what a way to celebrate that. At what point in the race did you realise the podium was on?
    DK: Yes, thank you. It was an incredible race for myself, a lot of things going on. I guess it was the same for everyone. The beginning of the race was so-so, I think, I was always around the top 10 and I thought some points were possible today. The first when I chose to go on slicks, it was the wrong moment. The second time I think it was the perfect moment and when I saw that others didn’t pit for slicks when I did i thought that’s our moment and I was right and I exited in P3. I had to overtook Stroll forP2 and then from there I just had to hope that quicker cars would take time to catch me at the end of the race. So yeah, I’m very happy with this podium. It’s fantastic also for the team – 11 years since the last podium, which Sebastian did in 2008. I think everyone is very happy today and we have to be happy. From my side of course I would dedicate this podium to my girlfriend Kelly and to my daughter.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Luke Smith – crash.net) Dany, your career’s been on a bit of a rollercoaster over the past couple of years. To now have this result and this breakthrough, how good does that feel over everything that’s happened the last couple of years, and repaying that faith Toro Rosso have shown in you. 
    DK: Yes, you’re right. It was an incredible few years in my life. A lot of realisations in my life because it was sometimes tough times and I thought maybe Formula 1 was over for me, and maybe I thought, especially podium, I would never ever have it again, but life just proves that if you work hard and never give up, things are possible. I think that’s exactly what happened today. Even the race was tough for everyone, I managed to keep it cool and just… all these three difficult years, just felt like they crashed from my shoulders finally. I lost these chains today. It was hard work to reach this moment and hopefully I can send the message out there that I’m ready now to fight for this kind of moment on a consistent basis – and there is no stronger message than a podium like this.

    Q: (Arjan Schouten – AD Sportswereld) Question for Max. Big drivers, big champs crashed today. Christian Horner just told Sky that under these chaotic, difficult circumstances, you always stand out, don’t lose your head. Can you explain why you are always so talented under these circumstances?
    MV: A lot of practice I think, from when I was young, in the wet. Working many hours together with my Dad who, I think, was also pretty decent in the wet. So he always gave me good tips. And not only driving in the wet. It’s also making decisions as well, while driving, and paying attention to what’s happening around you. And, of course, experience. In life, in Formula 1. I think if you do over 90 races, you have experienced a lot already and, based on that, of course, you can also make better decisions, I think.

    Q: (Christian Nimmervoll – motorsport-total.com) To all three guys. I guess this is a special result for each and every one of you – but it’s probably even more special for Dr Marko because, at some point in your careers, you went through his hands. Can you probably remember a couple of stories with him? Tell us what he meant for your careers and sort of give us some thoughts on that. 

    Sebastian, why don’t we start with you?
    SV: He’s calling on a regular basis. Not any more for me so regular. I don’t miss the early calls at 7am! “How are you?”

    MV: “I’m in the gym!”
    DK: “Running!”

    SV: It probably pops up on your phone as a pre-select message: ‘I’m in the gym’. No, I mean, obviously he has a great talent for spotting young drivers early on and certainly he’s very tough and very straightforward – but I think you can learn to cope with that. I’m very grateful for the support that I had throughout my career from his side. I think it’s the same for these two. Yeah. I have too many memories; too many stories. Some to share, some not to share, better not to share. He’s always been very funny and we still keep in contact and I appreciate him now as a friend very much.

    Max, Dr Marko?
    MV: Yeah, of course, we are dealing with Helmut every day still, so for me, of course he took the gamble of putting me in Toro Rosso when I was still very young. I’m still young  – but back then I was very young.

    SV: You’re not very young any more…
    MV: Getting old?
    SV: Older.
    MV: Older, yeah…
    DK: You look quite old…
    MV: Already? I should retire in five years than I think. I look older than you?
    DK: I don’t know.
    SV: I look older than you two.
    MV: It’s fine. OK, so back to this story. Helmut is a real racer and he has a good eye of what’s happening still, at his age. So, it is quite impressive still, to see that. But it’s also no nonsense. If you make a mistake, you make a mistake. If you do a good job, you do a good job. I think he prefers when  you come up to him and tell him honestly if you made a mistake, or like something went wrong, than make a whole story – because that’s what he doesn’t appreciate. Basically I grew up like that because my Dad was the same – or maybe even worse than that. So… yeah. It’s good to have people like that in the team, of course, and in charge as well. For me, he is still very important and yes, of course it’s great to have him around and experienced a lot of stories with him still – and hopefully many more to come.

    Dany?
    DK: Helmet yeah, so many rollercoasters he organised for me in my career! Maybe more than them. Yeah, a special person in my life, of course our lives now, I guess. And, well, thanks to him very big time we are who we are and the personal improvement, the professional improvement I made thanks to him is huge – and obviously, I appreciate what he’s done for me. And I’m here thanks to him. Obviously, stories, like Sebastian said, many to share/not to share. I think the most relevant today, it was raining I think once, again 7am, at a test and I was maybe three or four seconds off in my first wet test in Formula BMW at the time and he said: “So, you’re quite useless in the wet,” and just hung up on me.

    MV: You’re imitating him really well!
    DK: Lot of practice! A lot of hearing. So yeah, there was that – and many others. He is always tough on you but he’s always – most of the time – he’s right. And maybe at first, it’s hard to take but then you analyse and you improve, simple as that. He always give you the opportunity if you deserve it and I’m very thankful for him.

    MV: You still picking up the phone at seven?
    DK: Yeah! I started to wake up at seven every day now, thanks to him.
    MV: I just turn my phone off, pick up after nine… better. Anyway now, you have to wake up at like… well, you wake up every three hours, go to bed, wake up…
    DK: Well, now that you’re doing so well, you can even sleep until mid-day.

    Q: (Joe van Burik – Racing News 365) Many congrats to all three, especially to Dany with being a father now. The question to Seb and Max though: you’ve shown today that Mercedes can be vulnerable, in their home race in fact. Do you think this has in any way blown open the championship fight again? 
    MV: I don’t know, they are so miles ahead in the championship.
    Q: You’re 62 points behind. 
    MV: Yeah, still quite a lot, isn’t it? It’s more than two victories, and they are still the dominant team, I think. Today was just very tricky out there and it’s easy to make a mistake, as you could see. Yeah, today was not their day. We managed to do a good job but we still have to work very hard to close that gap and actually really fight for the victory every single race so still a lot of work to do. But of course, when you can, it’s good to score more points than them.
    SV: Not much to add. We still have a lot of races to go, a lot of things can happen but it’s not like we can expect them to score no points for the rest of the season so pretty much the opposite –  they will be up there. We need to make sure we improve and give them a much harder time and naturally, if you put people under pressure then things start to move. So it’s up to both of us, I guess, or us as Ferrari and them as Red Bull.

    Q: (Daniele Sparisci – Corriera della Sera) Seb, do you consider this second place almost as a victory from what happened yesterday, from what happened today? You did a fantastic job, congratulations.
    SV: Well, I know that Max finished first so it’s not a victory but starting last, I think, with the race that we had, I think we can certainly be very happy recovering and I think it was a very tough race, easy to lose focus or momentum but we kept it throughout. I’m very happy, especially also racing here. I hope that we don’t lose this race. I think not only for me and Nico as German drivers, I think for the German crowd that we saw today and yesterday is very passionate, a lot of people turning up. It was sold out today despite the weather. I think we had a great race and it would be a shame to lose it. Obviously I’m not quite sure what’s in the future, whether there’s a chance to keep it but certainly, when it comes to passion and effort that people put into this race it’s pretty high up, so I hope that it’s not… People make some decisions on common sense and not based on how much the wallet is opening. I think we have Grands Prix that we just mustn’t lose such as Monza, such as the race at Silverstone in the UK. I think Germany and Spain have a long history of racing so it would be a shame to lose those and instead go to a place where they pay millions for the race to turn up but nobody is sitting in the grandstand. For us, it’s dull, as drivers so I think we rather enjoy here, close to the Netherlands with a lot of Dutch people coming…
    MV: It was a bit tricky today because it was orange against red, you know those colours don’t really match.
    SV: Well, they’re similar. I was taking the orange as well on my side.
    MV: When they were going up, right?
    SV: No, but I think it’s great to see. Obviously, for the Germans and the Dutch, in particular, it will be difficult to go to… I don’t know… overseas. Anyway, to come back to your question, it’s certainly a tough time for us as Ferrari with days like yesterday because it shows that we have things that we need to sort out, we have things that we need to do better but I think in this period it’s very important that we keep the morale, we keep supporting the team. From the inside that is happening, from the outside, I hope it’s happening as well. I know the Tifosi are behind us but sometimes the headlines can shift in either way so it’s important that we keep the support because I think things are moving, we are pushing very very hard and when it comes to passion I think we put a lot of effort and a lot of hours in; the people are very determined. I’m as impatient as everyone else to get the results finally but it will take a little while. We know what we can improve and that’s where we are working on but in the meantime I hope that people are a bit patient and give us that freedom in that time. But yeah, so in that regard it feels like a small victory today.

    Q: (Lennart Bloemhof – Volksrand) It was pretty spectacular over there all day, where does this race rank in your top five of craziest races? 
    DK: I think it was clear enough how crazy it was. I think it was the first wet race in a while – and especially this year, so new tyres for everyone, no one knew how to use them very well at the beginning. The spray, in the beginning, was very high, then the track started drying, then it was on the borderline with slicks and it was very important not to make any mistakes. It was very easy to lock up the wheels under braking or just go a bit wide in some corners and I think today was just about avoiding those costly mistakes and making the right calls at the right time, so it was all about that but the race, I think, must have been quite spectacular to watch from outside. Lucky you.
    MV: Yeah, bit like Brazil 2016 was also quite crazy, all the time switching between extremes and intermediates. Of course we didn’t really get to try slicks, I think. Maybe some tried, I’m not sure but maybe not
    SV: Not in Brazil, no.
    MV: I don’t think so. So it’s maybe a little bit different to here but it’s definitely been one of the most challenging ones.
    SV: Well I’ve had a lot of races, also a lot of great crazy races but it was certainly among the craziest for a while. Max mentioned 2016 in Brazil. Always when the weather is really funny and you have all sorts of conditions it’s very challenging. Today we had between three and five stops for everyone or some even more. Obviously, I had a crazy race in 2012 in Brazil as well, Korea 2010.
    MV: Malaysia in 2009?
    Q: Red flag after 36 laps wasn’t it? 
    SV: I had stopped a bit earlier than that, actually! I was out before, I spun out so it wasn’t that crazy. As I said, it’s mostly when the weather is up and down and you have to make those decisions. It’s very tough, you are on the fine edge but it’s also very exciting because you know you can make the difference very quickly. Sometimes you have laps and laps and laps and you’re fighting for half a second that you can make-up and other times in these conditions you can gain or lose five seconds and five places.

    Q: (Christian Nimmervoll – Motorsport-total.com) Seb, a couple of drivers lost it in the stadium section today: Lewis, Nico, Charles as well. Does it make you feel any better one year after that the world kind of sees how quickly that can happen in conditions like this? 
    SV: Not really, no. I think that the answer is no. To protect them, I think they know what they’re doing and mistakes happen so I don’t think you should give them a hard time. It was very very tricky out there. I think we all had small mistakes here and there. Obviously, some had a bit bigger ones in the wrong places but that’s part of racing so obviously, nowadays a lot of people tend to judge everything very quickly but I think as much as they, I am not listening to all of those people. It happens in these conditions, it’s part of racing, as I said.

  • Ferraris have been fast all weekend and I am not quite sure what happened, quips Hamilton

    Ferraris have been fast all weekend and I am not quite sure what happened, quips Hamilton

    Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton flanked by Max Verstappen (left, P2) of Red Bull and teammate Valtteri Bottas (p3) after qualifying on Saturday. An FIA image

    Hockenheim, 27 July 2019: The following drivers attended the FIA post-qualifying press conference on Saturday:  Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) and Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) for the German Grand Prix, the 11th round of the FIA World Championship.

    (Track interviews were conducted by Paul Di Resta)

    Transcript: 

    Q: Congratulations, Lewis, another pole position. I know how important this race is to Mercedes-Benz, the new livery of the 1950s and the celebration of motorsport on this car. And what a day to pull it out… to do it?
    Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, I don’t really know how we did it today. I’m not quite sure what happened to the Ferraris, but it’s such an important race to us, it’s our second home grand prix, so for Mercedes and their 125 years it’s just incredible to celebrate in this way.

    Q: Yeah, the Ferraris have obviously looked very strong. I think Charles had a fuel issue and Sebastian a turbo issue – you’ve been up against it this weekend with them.
    LH: Yeah, they’ve been really fast all weekend, and we brought some upgrades this weekend as well, so the car’s been feeling good but the Ferraris were just really I think on a slightly other level. But I think the time, in the end, was good enough to be able to compete at least with Leclerc if he had done a lap at the end. It would have definitely been close between us.

    Q: And were you satisfied with the lap itself, what you did around Hockenheim today?  
    LH: Ah, this track, it’s incredible. Every year we come the car’s get faster. Turn 1 is nearly flat, Turn 12 is nearly flat, it’s a real challenge throughout the lap. My first lap was spot on. I think the second lap was a little bit better in some places but still, it was good enough.

    Q: Well done. Max, I know Valtteri pulled up in the wrong place. The Dutch fans travel quite far don’t they, this orange, you could actually hear at the start of qualifying, cheering, but I don’t think you would have expected more than that today. You’ve got a strong race car, so I guess pretty happy. 
    Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, I think I started quite conservative in Q1 but then somehow for my feeling towards Q3 I was just losing a bit of grip, but still of course happy to be in P2 and of course it’s great to see so many Dutch fans still around here. Happy to be on the front row and anything is possible tomorrow.

    Q: You could see the lap was developing, you did a very good first sector on that last attempt. But I think it was at Turn 8, you looked like you lost the rear end. Was that the finishing of that lap?
    MV: Yeah, we could have been closer. I wouldn’t say we would have got on pole but I went a bit wide, bottomed out, lost the rear, but still, as I said, it’s a good result.

    Q: I’m sure you won’t give up tomorrow; we’re expecting some mixed weather in there as well in there. Valtteri, I guess a very good day for the team, they’re celebrating where there are, but you narrowly missed out on the front row but I guess at the same point it’s a very long race tomorrow.
    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, for sure it’s going to be, and I think the weather is going to play a big part tomorrow. Obviously a bit disappointed in qualifying, I didn’t really find similar confidence to what I had in practice three. I just struggled and I just need to check everything is all right, but anyway, the race is tomorrow.

    Q: This car has looked quite difficult all weekend on track, it’s moved around a lot more than normal. You have brought upgrades but have Ferrari surprised you, how much they pushed you?
    VB: Yeah, they’ve been extremely quick here. We knew to come into qualifying it was going to be really difficult to beat them but I don’t know what was their issue in the end but we have a good place for tomorrow and obviously, I’ll try to come up from the third place.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Congratulations Lewis, it looked like a pretty smooth session from where we were sitting, what as the reality in the cockpit? 
    LH: Yeah, it was a relatively straightforward session. It was very clean, the team did a great job in terms of timings and getting us out at the right times. As we saw both Ferraris drop out, that made it a little bit different in terms of the battle that we had at the end. Nonetheless, I think I had a pretty good pace. I think maybe it would have been close between myself and Leclerc, who knows. They were pretty quick all weekend. But I was really, really happy with the laps I had done, particularly from Q2 onwards. The team have worked so hard and it’s really great for Mercedes with the 125 years celebration this weekend. It couldn’t have been a better way to start the weekend.

    Q: Where do you see the biggest threats coming from in the grand prix tomorrow? 
    LH: I think it’s weather – that can be a threat. There were talks of rain, even today, obviously tomorrow potentially more so tomorrow. I’ve not looked at the long runs, so I don’t know how strong they are on the long runs. It’s not the easiest of tracks to always overtake. But yeah, depending on the temperature, if it was like yesterday that makes it quite a difficult race and probably more stops. If it’s like today, which again actually starting getting hotter towards the end, it’s still going to be a real challenge. I think the real challenge is just making sure we do all our due diligence and make sure we operate at the level we have been operating today.

    Q: Max, this is your seventh front-row start in Formula One. Did you believe that pole was on today?
    MV: Difficult to say. I think Q1, you could see Ferrari was quite comfortable, ahead. And then you know anyway the gap in Q3 is going to be even bigger, normally. In a way, of course, it was good that they dropped off but yeah, from my side, I think from Q1 to Q3, I felt like I had a loss of grip. In Q1 I felt like… you know you always take your margins… but somehow in Q3 it never really had the grip like I had in Q1. Of course, it’s getting warmer. It seemed like it was hurting me maybe a bit more at the time. So, still, to be second for this race is, I think, good. So, happy about that.

    Q: Was there a technical issue at the start of Q2, and how did that interrupt your flow?
    MV: Yes. I tried a different mode for that run but as soon as I crossed the start-finish line somehow it just cut out so I lost a bit of power and then you know your lap is ruined, so I backed off. I went into the box just to check everything and we went out again. Of course, I had to use the other tyres, which was a little bit of a shame because I wanted to try and do the same as the other guys did, but you know, that’s how it is at the moment and we just have to live with that. The second run in Q2 and then in Q3 there was no problem.

    Q: Valtteri, you took your first-ever car racing victories here at Hockenheim back in 2007 but clearly not so happy with your car today. What were the issues?
    VB: Obviously overall, I think as a team we had a good result. Lewis did a really good job in the qualifying. Also, we got a little bit lucky with the Ferraris. Who knows how quick they could have been in Q3 but myself, I did feel OK in practice three, there were no worries really, and felt like qualifying should be fun and interesting but all through the quali I struggled on the brakes quite a lot. Turn Two especially; Turn Six; Turn Eight. So, all the big brakings. Turn Two locking up many times, going straight. So, just the confidence under braking and the bite of the brakes was varying from one lap to another. So, that made it difficult and I felt that was maybe two or three tenths I could have improved in Quali 3 by getting everything spot on – but not more than that. So, yeah, it was not the easiest qualifying and keen to have a look why.

    Q: And a difficult race for you tomorrow as a result?
    VB: Well, I think tomorrow is a new day and also, as Lewis said, it could be raining and it’s always a different today in the wet and everything’s still possible. I’m sure it’s going to be a good fight.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Stuart Codling – Autosport)  Question for Lewis. Just an inquiry about how you’re feeling, with reports you’re not feeling 100 percent. Was there any possibility that you felt you might not have been able to do qualifying today?
    LH: Yeah, I wasn’t feeling good this morning. A bit of a sore throat. We just prepped, just in case I wasn’t going to be able to do the session. I did the practice and we were prepared to be able to put the second driver in, worst-case scenario. I got through it good.

    Q: (Lawrence Edmondson – ESPN) To all three drivers, when you were talking to the engineers this morning, where did you think Ferrari would be? Did you think they were really the team to beat for pole position? 
    VB: Yeah, we saw in practice they were very quick and, again, as we’ve seen the trend this season is all on the straights. They’re making big gains on the straights. I think to use, seven-tenths in the full lap. We were gaining a bit in the corners but not quite enough, so we knew they’re going to be very difficult to beat in the qualifying. So yeah, it would have been nice to see how they’d have been at the end of the quali – but for sure they’re going to be strong tomorrow. If they get everything fixed with their cars.

    Lewis, the threat from Ferrari: did you expect them to be able to challenge for pole?
    LH: This weekend you mean? I didn’t know where we’d be. I think last year it was really close between all three teams, so anticipating, I think they were quickest last year as well. So it seems to be a track that they will be good at. But this weekend, Leclerc was rapid. I think he did a good time in Q1, then Q2 – I think it was his second lap, wasn’t it? – so not sure if he had done his first lap, whether or not he would have… but their car sees to working very, very well. So I imagine it would have been very, very close between us at the moment. It is how it is now.

    Max, your thoughts on Ferrari?
    MV: Yeah, I always expected them to be quite quick here. They have, of course, amazing top speed, but also, I think the layout of the track seems to be quite good for them. But yeah. There’s still a race to go and we’ll see how they will perform there. Of course, they have a bit more work to do but I expect them still to come to the front.

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) There’s a distinct lack of red up here. I’m asking for a little bit of honesty from you guys. When you see the monitors and you see Sebastian getting out of the car and then you see Charles doing exactly the same thing, what are the thoughts in your head? Are you secretly pleased to see them out of the running and think ‘that’s good, that’s someone else out of the frame’? Or are you a bit upset for them, do you feel that pain? 
    MV: Yeah, it can happen to anyone, you know. I’ve had it before as well, but at the time when you see it on the screen, I honestly don’t really care so much about it because you’re focusing on your own job. Of course it’s a shame because it’s a bit of a lack of the tough competition you have with Ferrari but still, at the end of the day, you want to do well for yourself.
    LH: Yeah, the same. It doesn’t make any difference in the sense that you still focus on trying to do the best job you can, so you see it happen. Ultimately, it’s difficult when you do all the practices and then you go into qualifying and something happens as soon as you go out. That’s definitely a horrible feeling for everyone so they will definitely be feeling it. But I think we’ve all been there. Hopefully, they will recover tomorrow.
    VB: Of course we all love a good fight but in the end, we are also here for ourselves and as a team, we want to be doing the best possible result, so it’s competition, but that’s how it is.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, this has been one of your strongest circuits. How surprised are you with these problems you have had this time? 
    VB: Yeah, a little bit surprising. I think yesterday was a bit tricky overall, could easily put it down to temperature, it was quite sensitive and I did quite good clean laps. Practice three I felt good, I was really looking forward to the qualifying and knowing that there was a place where I could improve then it should be all good but as I said earlier, I struggled a lot with braking in the qualifying and just the consistency, it was not there, I was not always sure when I hit the brake pedal what’s going to happen, if I was going to lock the fronts or not so that made it more difficult. It can happen sometimes but we need to figure out why. So yeah, I was definitely hoping for better qualifying result but it’s not a disaster and there’s a long day ahead tomorrow and yeah, if it’s going to be raining, it really doesn’t matter at all where you start, it’s going to be a bit of a mess so should be good fun.

    Q: (Joe van Burik – Racing News 365) Max, you mentioned some turbo lag issues in Q1 again. Was it similar to the calibration issues you had at Silverstone? 
    MV: I don’t know if it’s exactly the same of course but in the car, it feels pretty similar. They are all working hard, of course, to try and get on top of it. I think in Q3 honestly it was fine, so that’s when it matters of course. I think we did get on top of it.

    Q: (Giovanni Messi – NewsF1.it ) So Max, you start second tomorrow, do you think tomorrow you can have a great race like in Austria with high temperatures? The Red Bull car is very, very good, so what do you think about tomorrow? Do you think you can challenge Lewis or Valtteri? 
    MV: Unfortunately I think tomorrow’s going to be like 24/25, so it’s not going to be warm enough. Yeah, I believe that normally in the race we are always a little bit more competitive. Of course, I’m starting on a different tyre so we have to wait and see how that’s going to work out. Yeah, hopefully, we can follow and try to challenge them, that would be good.

    Q: (Lennart Bloemhof – Volksrand) Max, on the track you said you could have been closer to Lewis, what does that say about the progress you guys are making with Honda? 
    MV: It’s not only the engine, of course. That’s also the car where you’re always constantly trying to improve but it’s not only about bringing updates but also about learning more about the car in terms of set-up, how you can find a bit more time in that as well. Of course, sometimes it’s better than on other tracks but I think… today, in general, has been pretty good but of course, we tried to close the gap because there is still a gap but we’re working on it. I’m pretty pleased about today.

    Ends

  • I am grateful to all the fans and super proud of the team, says Hamilton

    I am grateful to all the fans and super proud of the team, says Hamilton

    SIlverstone, 14 July 2019: The following top-3 drivers attended the FIA post-race press conference on Sunday: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes),  Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari).

    Lewis Hamilton (centre) with teammate Valtteri Bottas, 2nd (left) and Charles Leclerc, 3rd, of Ferrari at the Sunday Press Conference. An FIA image

    The track interviews were conducted by former British F1 driver Jenson Button. 
    Transcript:
    Q: Lewis, congratulations, there must be so much emotion in there?
    Lewis HAMILTON: Honestly… I’m a bit out of breath! I cannot tell you how proud I am to be here today in front of my home crowd. I’ve got my whole family here, my team. So many British flags out there; I could see them lap after lap. Every year I’ve been coming and I’ve seen it and noticed it and appreciated it. You would think you would get used to something like that but I’ll tell you, it feels like the first time. And I’m just forever grateful for everyone who has come out and spent their whole weekend here. I really hope that you enjoyed the day and God bless you.

    Q: I think everyone did. It was an epic race. One of the best British Grands Prix I’ve seen. Today you also made history – six-time winner of the British Grand Prix. 
    LH: Jeez. I couldn’t have done it without these guys. I couldn’t have done it without my team. They’re all around here. And the guys back at the factory. Everyone back of the factory and their wives and their kids who are supportive through the whole year of their time away and how dedicated they are to their jobs, so when I tell people thank you to the team there are nearly 2,000 in my team that make this possible. I’m just a chink in that chain. I value them massively and I’m super proud to be a part of this.

    Q: Congratulations Lewis, good job. Valtteri, it’s a tough one right? After such a good start, such a good fight with Lewis – he put a good move on you, but to get him back into Copse was a great move. It looked like you had it under control but you were hurt by the safety car.
    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, I don’t really know what to say. Congrats to Lewis, massive support for him over here. I stopped first and I was controlling the pit stop gap, so I was still effectively leading the race until there was a safety car and Lewis got a free stop there and he got me there. I also went to the mediums so it meant I had to stop at the end again, so that was pretty much it. So not really my day, but at least the pace was good and it felt good out there.

    Q: Yeah, I think there are still a lot of positives to take from today. To take get that pole position around here at Silverstone, a place that is obviously very special to Lewis. And that fight back for me was great to see. Do you take a lot of positives from here moving on?
    VB: For sure there are positives. Yesterday I was the quickest on track and that was good and I think the race pace was good today and we had a good fight. I’ll keep fighting, it’s not over yet, so…

    Q: Well done. Charles, congratulations, you were the driver the day and I think everyone agrees you were the driver of the day. That was a fantastic race. It was great to see the battle between Max Verstappen and yourself, and it’s the new generation of Formula One. How was the race for you today? 
    Charles LECLERC: It’s probably the race I enjoyed the most in my Formula One career. Great to finish third, but today was a very difficult day. The first two stints we weren’t where we wanted to be. I think on the hards we were very strong. But unfortunately with the safety car we lost a little bit of positions, which was not great for us. But yeah, very happy to finish third and extremely happy for the battle we have had on track.

    Q: Yeah, as you said, you went for a different strategy it seemed, starting on the soft tyre. It didn’t really work for in the first stint. But as you said, with the safety car, your fight back and your move on Pierre Gasly was also epic – you must take a lot of positives from today’s race, gaining confidence all the time? 
    CL: yeah, definitely. I think the last race was a bit of an eye-opener for me, really showing how far we could go. I think it’s great for Formula One to just fight on the limit that way and really happy that this race has gone like this.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Lewis, many congratulations, sensational pace from you all afternoon, culminating in that fastest lap on the final lap of the race. You were undoubtedly helped by the safety car but you had great pace today.
    LH: This is one of the best days I can remember having. I was just thinking downstairs, I remember my first win herein 2008 and the feeling that I had coming out of Brooklands and going down the straight towards, at the time, the start-finish line and seeing the crowd, it felt so reminiscent of that today and just the excitement and happiness and joy that I felt was exactly the same as then. The reason I say that is that I’ve done so many races, you know, you think you would get used to it, or that the feeling would numb down, but it felt just as amazing as the first win that I had. So I’m really, really grateful to all those people that have helped me achieve this today. I’ve got this incredible team, There are almost 2,000 people, I always mention, in our team and we got to see them yesterday at a family fin fair kind of event that they do and they will never truly know just how grateful I am but it’s really amazing to be part of this team and to be breaking down walls and records and pushing the limits and boundaries every weekend. You never know if you are really going to be able to deliver a day like today but me and Valtteri had such a good fight. I got him at Turn 7 and then he was on the inside but when we pulled out of the corner I couldn’t really see where he was, he was in my blind spot. He wasn’t in my mirror but I couldn’t see him next to me either, so I couldn’t close the door, just in case he was there and he happens to be there obviously. He drove sensationally well there. So I was, ‘OK, I’ve got to back off, wait until he stops and then nail it after that’. I was going to do a few more laps and hopefully do like an undercut and catch him up etc but the safety car came out and it was perfect timing.

    Q: Congratulations. Valtteri, tough day for you, second at Silverstone for you for the thirds time now. The safety car came out at just the wrong time. Was the plan always to make two stops?
    VB: Yeah, it was maybe not my luckiest day, but that’s life. Obviously Lewis drove well, he’s got massive support here, so congrats for the win. But obviously we had good racing at the beginning and I really enjoyed it, that’s why we are here, to race hard and fair. I’m sure Toto didn’t maybe enjoy it as much as we did but it doesn’t matter. After my first stop I felt like it was under control. I was following the gap closely, the pit stop gap I had to Lewis, and I was just waiting for him to stop and obviously the safety car got him ahead of me at that point. I was stuck into a two-stop at that stage, because we stopped for the medium again from medium tyres so it meant anyways I had to stop in the end, which was a mistake from our side. Two stop we thought would be by far the fastest but actually one stop was possible as well. Not quite ideal but one of these days… At least it felt like the pace was good today and yesterday so there are positives to take. Also, really, really happy for us as a team, getting maximum points and it’s pretty impressive the gap to the teams behind now. So it makes me very, very proud of us. In any case, I’m still super-hungry for the win so looking forward to doing it again in two weeks.

    Q: Well done Valtteri, thanks. A great dice between you and Lewis. And another many who was involved in great dices today was Charles. That battle between you and Max in particular, reminiscent of your karting days. Was it clean, were you happy with the way you fought?
    CL: Very happy. That was definitely the most fun I’ve ever had in my Formula One career. Well, it’s a short career, only one year and a half, but it was definitely very, very fun from inside the car. I think that Austria was quite an eye-opener for me to understand how far we could go and what was accepted and I’m very happy at the end to race like this. I think every driver wants to race hard and that’s what we did during most of the race. It was very, very fun, always borderline, but I think always in the rules and very, very enjoyable from the car.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Congratulations, Lewis, on your victory. I know you aren’t one for records but obviously this quite a big one – you’ve won the British Grand Prix six times, more than any other driver in the history of the sport. It’s your home race, a race that’s been on the calendar for 70 years and now you hold that record. How special and amazing does that feel for you? 
    LH: Yeah, it feels incredible. I’ve not ever been one to look at statistics. I really take it one race at a time and I like the approach with that. I came here this weekend and I heard people talking about the amount of qualifying poles I’ve had here but I don’t really take any notice of it, I’m just trying to do the best I can and seeing if I can achieve it, but it’s great to be able to have the opportunity to shoot for it. Unless I stop and think about how many wins I have, I didn’t know if it was four or five or whatever it was here. To then hear that I have six and to be up there with the greats. I remember growing up watching this sport and watching a lot of the greats and meeting a lot of the greats and even working with one of the greats and to be up there with them is one of the coolest things.

    Q: (Giles Richards – The Guardian) Lewis, yesterday you faced questions about the nature of your Britishness and today after the win you immediately picked up the Union flag and took it one the podium. You’re obviously very proud. Did it mean much more to you to do that at this race? 
    LH: To win here at this race?
    Q: To wave the flag at this race.
    LH: Yeah, this is the greatest single moment of any athlete in the world – to raise their flag as the number one or with the gold or whatever it may be in their home country. It’s one of the single most incredible feelings and special moments an athlete can have. I come here and I’ve got this incredible support. They always talk about how much does it lift you up and it’s a huge amount of energy but a lot of weight comes with that, a lot of responsibility. People save up so much money to come to this grand prix. Everybody is buying merchandise and flags and you just want to deliver for them so much. Not only for yourself and your own ability, you know you can do it, but for your team. I’ve got like 40 family members here – from my mum’s side, from my dad’s side, a bunch of them from the Caribbean. So I just really, really wanted to deliver. And when you achieve something like today and you see all those British flags, I was looking the whole time for a flag, ‘someone give me a flag’, because one day I’m going to be able to look back and I’ll have that picture of me in the car with that flag and I’ll always be able to smile until my dying day.

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Charles, how difficult was it to defend against Max, and what is your favourite move during that ten-lap battle?
    CL: Very difficult. I think we have got some work to do on our race pace and try to keep these tyres as good as Mercedes and Red Bull are doing. I think we are a little bit… struggling on that. The best move was probably the one on Max on the outside in Copse? I think he just passed me and I passed him back around the outside of Copse. That was definitely one of the most exciting of the race. Of my race.

    Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) For Lewis and Valtteri. Was it always planned that you’d go on split strategies, or that the second car would go to a different strategy. And if it wasn’t, what was your reaction when you realised that was happening. 
    LH: We have the meetings in the morning and they do thousands of simulations of the different strategies. So we’re shown a handful of them: maybe ten different strategies that could happen if we lose position; if we hold position; if we switch positions; all these different things. There was… it’s very difficult for a team – because we are a team – but then individually we want to win. So the team has to do the best and most balance approach for both of us. Most of the simulations come out with ultimately the first car… if you do a good enough job in qualifying, the first car generally gets priority etcetera and it gets quite hard to overtop that, unless you do it on track, or undercut and those kind of things. We had discussed the opportunity of… I think the fastest way to the end of the race was Medium-Medium-Hard, I believe – but there were alternative strategies. That was something I looked into, and I had already decided at the beginning of the race that I was going to take the medium (sic), in the middle stint and extend my first stint to 20 or 21 – whatever it was. Did I know that we were going to stay on the one-stop? No. But, we have to be strategists, almost, a little bit inside ourselves, and it something we’re constantly working on, trying to finesse, because it’s always different. There’s always new figures that have to be put in, from each race, and no-one ever gets it perfect – but the cool thing is that it enabled us to race today. What they probably didn’t expect is that we were going to push so much at the beginning. I think we were expected to save our tyres and stuff – but we were racing pretty hard – which is how racing should be, y’know? So, I’m happy we were able to do that today?

    Valtteri, your thoughts on strategy?
    VB: Yes, so definitely there was an idea to split the cars. One of us going for the Hard for the second stint but still the idea was for that car to do Medium-Hard-Medium or Medium-Hard-Soft. So one stop honestly was out of the question today, and was a mistake from our side. It was by far the quickest strategy today for our car – the Medium-Hard – we thought it would be much slower so, for sure, a learning point for us.

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Maybe F1 isn’t broke after all. We’ve had two good tracks, two good races. Is it the case that we need to tweak these Mickey Mouse tracks a little bit and just get some more excitement back in?
    CL: Yeah! Silverstone and Austria, I think, are two good tracks I think to overtake on and I think it’s good for the show. The battle was quite good from third place onwards but the Mercedes are still very, very quick. So, if we can all close the gaps to them, will be even more exciting – but definitely the track has an important role in overtaking and the last two tracks are good examples. So, if we can have more of them on the calendar I think it would be a good thing for F1.
    LH: Probably in the history of the sport, the drivers have never been a part of the decision-making in terms of advising on tracks. We know better than anybody which track we can overtake and which track we can’t. I don’t know who does the selection, and I know it’s not that they always have a ton of tracks in every country that are possible to race a grand prix – but there are ones that they’re selecting for the future that we’re going to have not such great racing, the ones that are on the calendar that aren’t great. People always ask me which are my favourite tracks and this is one of them because you can follow. It’s just spectacular with the high speed. Austin, Texas is built like that, as a new circuit. But then we’ve got places where you just can’t follow and its like a train. And so, what would you prefer? Having a race in those countries just for the sake of having a race – or do you want a great race like this? If so, then we need to look at the different options in the different countries. I think the really cool track they used to have in Hockenheim – and it still is awesome – but the big, long one they used to have as quite unique. There was always good racing there but they changed it. Austria was great but I think the old track was even better from what I was told by Niki. So, that’s something, hopefully the GPDA can be part of in this next step in 2021 rules. We can be a part of advising on that. We’re there to help make the sport better. If they’re open to… we’re happy having the grands prix in these different countries but if they’re open to the idea of changing or adapting some of the circuits or using a different circuit in the countries, then we should look into that.
    Valtteri?
    VB: I agree completely. You know definitely it’s all about selection of the tracks. I’m sure many of the track selections for the calendar, it’s just pure political reasons and money, rather than actually focusing on whether it’s good for racing or not. From our side, it’s not that nice. We love racing. Everyone loves good racing, so that’s how it should be. And, like Lewis said, as a GPDA, we’re very keen to give our input because we’re in the car. We know exactly which type of tracks we need to have good racing. We have the feeling. So we are very, very happy to help. And obviously, big plans with new cars, everything for 2021, so hopefully it is going into a better direction, so fingers crossed.

    Q: (Christian Menath – motorsport-magazin.com) First of all, congratulations Lewis, question for you. You could have had a free pit stop in the end to go on the softer tyres as well. You knew Valtteri was going for the fastest lap on the soft tyre at the end. Why didn’t you choose the extra stop. Were you so confident you have the extra pace in the old hard tyres in the end?
    LH: No, it was really… why take the risk? In my opinion. Yes, I had a pit stop window – but there’s the entry of the pit lane, there’s the stop, there’s the extra pressure on the mechanics to do the pit stop – and it’s not that I doubt them all but you just give chance to it. I’d saved enough in the tyres. I felt good with… the Hard tyre was really great, it could keep going. So it’s obviously a very, very solid tyre. I did have some blistering, so I was kind of conflicted. I was like ‘should I stop?’ I think it would have brought us back closer. I was just like, ‘there’s seven laps left.’ It’s very, very hard to catch a 21-second delta at the pace I can still do. So I decided to… it’s rare that I go up against the team but I decided today that that was the best thing for me. I don’t think… we thought that a two-stop was the best thing and it just worked out today that I was able to save the tyres, meant that we could do a one. My long run on Friday was one of the best long runs that I’ve done, and everyone else was running out of tyres except for me. So, tried to utilise that today and it worked.

    Q: (Luke Smith – crash.net) Lewis, you spoke about the battle with Valtteri, could you just talk about the importance of the trust you’ve built up with your team-mate and being able to enter that wheel-to-wheel battle knowing it’s going to be a hard but clean and fun battle?
    LH: Yeah, honestly I think… look it’s no secret that Valtteri wants to beat me and I want to beat him and that fighting spirit is stronger than anything, individually for all of us. I think it’s so vital though, to have a respect. I know how hard is it to get a pole here. He did a fantastic job yesterday I know how hard it is to wake up and deliver every weekend, as do these other drivers, so the respect is there between us. I think we want to race wheel-to-wheel and tough. When you’re racing with a team-mate it’s on a different level. If I were racing a Ferrari, you take more risks. Still respectful, but you can lean on them a bit more but as team-mates, we sit down at the beginning of the race, we talk about Turn One and how we’re going to respect each other, make sure we don’t collide, and even when I overtook him and he was coming back, I could have swept across the front and blocked him  – but that’s not the right thing to do. Ultimately it enabled him to get back past – but that’s racing. It was really fair, and it was great. Honestly I was hoping… I was looking forward to maybe some racing later. I was extending that first stint hoping that I’d come out… he was doing some good times so the gap was growing, in terms of me coming out maybe one second, one-and-a-half seconds to two seconds , and I was trying to keep it as little as possible before I finally stopped so that, so that when I came out, I had the advantage on a new tyre and could finally catch him up and try to get past – but the Safety Car came out and kind of intervened. But that was awesome.

    Valtteri, anything you’d like to add about your trust, your battle with Lewis. 
    VB: I think that’s what we’ve both said, that’s how it is and yeah, it’s all good fun.

    Q: (Keith Collantine – Racefans.net) Lewis, following your comments a while ago about wanting to reduce the weight of Formula One cars, FIA president Jean Todt has suggested that one way of doing this would be re-introduce refuelling in the races and some other suggestions he’s made for increasing the unpredictability of races including getting rid of what he calls driver aids, such as your anti-stall devices, reducing the amount of telemetry on the cars and getting rid of the virtual garages that teams use to conference back with the team back at base. What do you think about any of those suggested changes, and also Valtteri and Charles, if you have any thoughts on those? 
    LH: Don’t necessarily think that’s going to make a big difference to racing. Do you think it will? I don’t think many of those are going to do much different except for having a lighter car. They’re constantly making these cars heavier and heavier and heavier every year and we’re going faster and we have more downforce and the tyres… it’s really hard for Pirelli to develop a tyre with such limited testing that can sustain that weight etc etc and then the thermal deg, all these different things, it’s like a domino effect so with lighter car, we could fight harder. If you look at the end of the race, the tyres that we have at the end of the race, we can push more, we can race more at the end with so much of a drop-off like today and that’s because the car was lighter on the lighter fuel, so that might not be such a bad thing for us in the future but there’s a bunch of other elements that is not in that list… I don’t know, off the top of my head but as the GPDA we mentioned it.
    VB: As long as the cars are lighter it’s always going to be better for everything, for racing, tyres, everything so whatever can be done for the weight is always going to be a bonus and we’re going to enjoy it more, everyone’s going to enjoy it more.
    CL: Well, I don’t know, I’ve never raced with refuelling but it was definitely one cool thing to see, so if it’s back in Formula One why not? I will be happy to try. I think the main problem is still that the cars are probably too heavy so these two things for me are separate things but refuelling can be a good idea. Then, to limit the amount of informations to the box or to stop… did you say stop completely the telemetry from the garage or reduce? Yeah. I think we are quite limited in that the cars are so complex now that we also need to make them run, having the help of the engineers, in the background. Yeah. maybe reducing some informations but I think we are limited into that, just by the complexity of the cars now. That’s it.
    LH: The cars don’t need to be 730 kilos, they just don’t need to be that heavy. They used to be 600 or something was it, years and years ago. I spoke to my engineers and they said if they change the rules we can make it that weight. We just have to take some things off the car but we can make it lighter. Performance items will come off but they can do it.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio –  liviooricchiof1.com) Valtteri, on lap 19, Lewis had only 17.4s advantage over you and now he would stop in 21 laps, so he probably would come back to the track with five/six seconds behind you. Can you make a comment? And Lewis, at the end of the race, you had 21s advantage to Bottas, 33 laps with hard tyres and the last lap you set the fastest lap of the race. Your self-confidence would be in the clouds, right? 
    VB: I’m not quite sure it was ever going to be five second gap. I think it was about two seconds before the safety car, the pit stop gap, so I was basically controlling it because I knew Lewis would have a tyre advantage on the second stint, because I stopped earlier, to also cover some cars behind and he was continuing, so at the end of the second stint he was going to great opportunity, so I tried to save the tyres, not to push flat out in the beginning and just to be sure that I’m going to be ahead when he stops. And obviously with the safety car he managed to jump ahead so we missed the fight later on.
    LH: None of us had driven… only a few teams had driven he hard tyre this weekend. We only had one hard each but obviously the medium that we started on was quite durable for us. I know other teams struggled more and others less but with this first stint was really really mega between us. There was only 0.9s between or one second between us for most of it and then he pitted… I wasn’t planning to stop on lap 21, I was trying to see how far I could go, I was pushing it as far as I could but I had to try and keep up the pace because he had new tyres and he was doing generally better times but the gap went from 0.7s to a second, to 1.5s. He was out of my window, or in my window, yeah, in my window of pit stop and then it was getting to two seconds so I was getting very close to having to stop anyways but then the safety car came out. It was around two seconds, so if I would come out I would have been two seconds behind and he would five or six lap older tyres. But you could see the  pace he had when we restarted. He had really great pace on that tyre, so it wouldn’t have been easy. The harder tyre is slightly slower than the medium tyre so it would have been a difficult race between us but not an impossible one but the thing is, he would have then had to stop again and I knew I wouldn’t have to stop. I generally had a feeling that I wouldn’t have to stop.
    The flying lap at the end? I didn’t know what time I could do to be honest but I looked after the tyres and they felt pretty good, even though I had a bit of a vibration on the right front. You know, we have this fastest lap thing… I can’t say that I love it or anything like that but it’s still fun to push. As you go through the race, you have to turn down your engine to save fuel and all these kind of things so that last lap, everyone’s kind of pushing at one point and I heard of the time that he had one and I thought Jeez, I don’t know if I will be able to get to that and then I pushed for that lap… It was like the qualifying lap that I should have done yesterday generally poorly. It was awesome. There’s no better way to finish a race with just like on the edge of your seat, the car moving and it was definitely the best last lap that I’ve ever had.

    Q: (Stephen Camp – Motorsport Monday, Motorsport Week.com) To both Mercedes drivers: Lewis, you set the fastest lap at the end of the race. It now means that you leave here with 39 points so it’s one of the biggest leads you’ve ever had at this point of the season so was that one of the reasons behind that too, put the hurt on Valtteri and make sure that you have a big hand on this championship already. And to Valtteri, how does it feel that Lewis was able to do that on 30-lap old hard tyres and you were still on soft tyres? I’m not sure of the life that you had one them but they must have still had the pace to beat the lap that Lewis had done. 
    LH: Ultimately, there’s nothing personal between us, you know. Coming to this weekend, you are trying to apply the pressure and come out on top. I didn’t come to this weekend with the idea that I need to extend or anything like that. I need to work my way towards trying to win, how do I do that, and every weekend it’s slightly different but this has been the strongest year that I’ve – to this point in the first ten races – that I can remember ever having. When we were in Barcelona, when we were driving that car, these guys were doing some really serious laps and we couldn’t do that and we were super nervous and I think if we had left Barcelona without discovering some ultimate changes that we ended up making, we probably wouldn’t be where we are right now but still, the journey’s been great and we’re going to go from strength to strength. We’ve got improvements coming, we’re understanding the car a lot, massive download and the technical direction is just… the advancements that this sport makes and that we make as a team – each team makes – is amazing, so I’m excited to see the upgrades that other teams have and the improvements for example that Ferrari make of their use of tyres, the improvements we make to downforce, all these different things, it’s going to be different.
    VB: Yes, so I tried to go for the lap with the soft tyre, obviously had more fuel than Lewis at that point but yeah, surprised by the pace on the hards and that shows Lewis managed the hard tyres very well all through the stint, so the wear was quite low so it was possible. From our numbers the hard tyre actually seemed pretty solid. No feelings, really. It was a quicker lap time and that’s it.

    Q: (Simon Abberley – Nevis Radio) Charles, previous races your results have been a lot more consistent in comparison to Seb’s results. Today saw another mistake from Seb with this incident with Verstappen. There’s only three points between you now in the championship. In the coming races, do you think the focus might shift from previous races where you’ve had to give way to him? 
    CL: Well, I don’t know. I think the team is always acting for the benefit of the team and that’s the way I felt from the beginning of the season. Sometimes obviously, one driver was advantaged, the other one was advantaged at another race. There have been more situations from the beginning of the year where he had to benefit from something but I think the team is always looking at the benefits of the whole team and that’s how it will work for the rest of the season.

    Ends

  • I lift the British flag proudly; There’s no-one else in this sport that’s raised it so high: Lewis Hamilton

    I lift the British flag proudly; There’s no-one else in this sport that’s raised it so high: Lewis Hamilton

    Silverstone, 13 July 2019: The following drivers attended the FIA post-qualifying press conference on Saturday: Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari).

    Valtteri Bottas (centre) takes pole on Saturday ahead of Hamilton (left) and Leclerc. An FIA image

    The track interviews were conducted by former F1 driver and current commentator, David Coulthard;

    Transcript:

    Q: Valtteri Bottas, pole position here at Silverstone. It’s been a while – Barcelona your last one – but you must be particularly proud of that one?

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, it feels very good. It just reminds you of why you do this, these kinds of feelings, but yeah, it’s been pretty close all weekend, and today, with Lewis and just really, really happy to get a good lap and be on pole.

    Q: Put us in the cockpit. You had the provisional pole you would look at the overlay and realise that Lewis had made a mistake at Brooklands and you know you have to dig deep and find something. You didn’t manage to improve on that time but where was your mind on the lap in terms of know how good the previous one was?

    VB: Yeah, I knew the first lap was good but it was not perfect. Honestly, I should have improved on the second run. I didn’t quite get the lap together, especially in the first part of the lap, but I’m glad it was enough. It’s not easy to get a good lap together, it’s easy to do mistakes and I think everyone was struggling a bit, so happy to be on top.

    Q: I’m not sure the crowd is happy with what you’ve done but congratulations? 

    VB: Thank you.

    Q: Lewis Hamilton, it was close and you worked that hard, but we saw you had that little wobble in the second-last lap in qualifying. Tell us about your actual ultimate lap, it’s a tiny gap between you and Valtteri.

    Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, firstly, congratulations to Valtteri, he did a solid job throughout qualifying. Ultimately not good enough, We had worked hard throughout the session but it just got a little bit away from us. We sacrificed a lap in Q2, which would have helped get a reading of where the car was, but we didn’t end up doing that. In the end, I had that mistake on the first lap and the second one just wasn’t that great so fair play to Valtteri he did the job. But it’s a long race tomorrow, we’ve got a great crowd here and hopefully, I can do something good for them tomorrow.

    Q: The crowd is willing you on. It’s another grand prix, or is it? It’s more than just a grand prix, the British Grand Prix for you?

    LH: Yeah, completely. It’s the best grand prix of the year and it’s really because of the energy the3 people bring. These tracks are great layouts and designs and areas of space but without people like this to fill it up and bring energy, it’s nothing. That’s why we’ve got the best fans here in England.

    Q: Charles, well done, fastest Ferrari driver but that’s ultimately not your goal. We looked through free practice and Ferrari looked like they could challenge Mercedes but in the end, it was a tough one for you?

    Charles LECLERC: Yeah, well, I think also in Q2, up to Q2 we were quite good but then in Q3 Mercedes turned up a little bit the engine, and they were very, very quick also round the corners, that’s where we need to work, we know it. Third place is the best we could have done today and I’m very happy about it.

    Q: I saw you have a close look at the Mercedes car. This is the one time on a weekend when it’s acceptable to be a little bit nosy. Anything standing out there that you like?

    CL: No, just looking at the state of the tyres, that’s nothing special.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Valtteri, a tremendous lap by you at the start of Q3. Very tight between you and your team-mate. Just how good was that first lap?

    VB: It was good. Obviously good enough for pole. There was not much in it between me and Lewis in the end. But still, going into the second run, there were a couple of place where it was clear there was margin to improve so I wouldn’t say it was a perfect lap, but I doubt anyone got a perfect lap today. It was not easy to get everything right and super-sensitive to tiny mistakes here and there with this new tarmac and also with a bit of wind. But yeah, I’m happy that it was enough and it’s definitely a good feeling.

    Q: Valtteri, you now have more poles this season than any other driver. Is that significant to you and have you worked specifically on qualifying this year, something more than previous seasons?

    VB: It’s not that I have been specifically been working on it. Obviously, you always try to improve your performance both on low- and high-fuel, short and long runs. I think the biggest thing for me to work on is the pure race pace definitely, in some kinds of conditions. I mean, year-by-year you are always learning and you get quicker if you work. The main thing is to turn those poles into wins and that’s the main thing for tomorrow.

    Q: Congratulations. Lewis, motorsport is full of ifs, buts and maybes. Had you not made that error at Brooklands on your first lap in Q3 and got a complete lap in might it have been different?

    LH: It doesn’t really matter at the end of the day. You can’t go back, you can only go forwards. Valtteri did the job, so congratulations to him. And for us, yeah, it just wasn’t the best of qualifying sessions. But there’s a long race tomorrow so I just have to see how I can convert the position I’m in to progress forward. I think the long run yesterday was good, so I hope we can utilise the tyre advantage we have, in the sense of starting on the mediums, so hopefully we can do a good job with that tomorrow.

    Q: Did the track conditions fluctuate a lot during that session?

    LH: Not really. It’s a little bit gusty here. That’s why it’s so great here at Silverstone, because it’s spread over such a vast piece of land and sometimes it’s raining on one section of the track and not another and it’s gusty in some places and not so much in other places. It really bodes well for a tough track to finish a lap on.

    Q: Charles, like Lewis, you came on the radio and said you had made a mistake on that first run in Q3. Do you feel there was more out there today?

    CL: No, I don’t think so. Very, very happy with my lap. I think in the last corner I maybe could have done a little bit better, but not much. Overall, I think we are very happy with the performance, very close to Mercedes and we did not expect it. We thought we would be struggling more this weekend. We have been struggling since FP1 with the front end of the car, still in qualifying, but a little bit less. So yeah, it’s a good qualifying session for us. Of course, I would have hoped for a higher position, but third is the best we could have done today.

    Q: As with Austria you will start the race on the soft tyre, the guys next to you are going to be on the medium tyre. How do you see the tyre war playing out .

    CL: Again, it was thought. So we wanted to do that. Again, in Austria it wasn’t a bad choice. That’s not what made us finish second there so we are pretty happy here too.

    Questions from the floor:

    Q: (Christian Menath – motorsport-magazin.com) Charles, just following up on the Q2 and the soft tyre. You made the first run on the medium tyre and then set the fastest lap on the soft. Was it always the plan to qualify with the soft, because yesterday’s long runs didn’t look that great and it was a bit surprising to us that you improved your time?

    CL: Yes, it was planned like this. The race run was not great yesterday but it was not due to the tyre, as I said. We had some issues with the front end and I think it got better today, so we will see tomorrow whether we have a significant improvement on the long runs, but it was not due to the tyre.

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Valtteri and Lewis: Lewis, after practice yesterday you talked about having a little bit of difficulty with the balance of the car, the rear was stepping out a bit. Did that carry into today or were you happy with the car? Valtteri, you started strongly yesterday, has that just continued and do you just feel very happy with the balance of the car?

    VB: Well, yeah, from the very beginning, since the first practice the feeling was quite nice. There was definitely room for improvement, especially with the rear end of the car, mainly on the entry of the corners. I think we managed to get it a bit better. It was still the weakness in a couple of places the rear end of the car but it’s not been a massive drama. I managed to build up from yesterday, except for practice three, I was a bit off the pace. I just tried to reset and remind myself of everything I was capable of doing yesterday and it turned out to be good.

    Q: And Lewis?

    LH: Yeah the car was good. We made a big step forward, so no problems.

    Q: (Simon Amberley – Nevis Radio) To Charles: it was mentioned yesterday that maybe the Ferrari race pace wasn’t quite as strong as Mercedes, but with the gaps today and the difference on the tyres do you think possibly if you get a jump at the start, of getting Valtteri and Lewis, do you think you can maybe dictate the pace a bit more?

    CL: That’s definitely the target  – to try to use our tyre advantage, especially at the start, to gain positions and then try to keep them. Keeping them will be very difficult because they are extremely quick in race runs but that’s the target.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – liviooricchiof1.com) Lewis, from the outside it didn’t appear that you had the car in your hands all the time. Is it because of the circumstances or maybe you have a set-up thinking more of the race?

    LH: No, the set-up suited race trim best and I think yesterday I really did struggle with it on a single lap and of course I was trying to improve it over the evening and into today. It felt great into P3 and it felt really good at the star5 of the Q sessions and it kind of deteriorated through the session, so it got harder and harder, back towards a similar problem we had yesterday – as you saw in Turn 6 for example. But it was also windy. The race trim is still good. I didn’t want to move from the set-up I had, too far away, because it worked so well on the long run yesterday. Fingers crossed the strength in the race should be quite good but again it depends on what position we are in and how the wind is and a bunch of other factors.

    Q: (Yassmin Abdel-Magied – The Guardian) I’ve got a slightly less technical question. Lewis, this is your home race and there’s lot of British flags out there and you’ve talked about loving coming back to the UK but there’s contention because you live in Monaco, and your accent isn’t maybe as British as others because you spend a lot of time in the US. So, why do you think that people question your Britishness?

    LH: I don’t really know. I don’t really have a good answer for that.

    VB: We all live in Monaco!

    LH: We all do live in Monaco. It’s crazy now because of every driver… I remember growing up, you remember watching Jenson Button and all the youngsters come through, and everyone migrated to Monaco and no-one ever said anything about it at the time. Of course, when I did, they had something to say about it. But no matter how often you go abroad or elsewhere in the world, you come back to the UK and you see the beautiful countryside, you see this great… you know, the history of Formula One and motorsport which is really here, and I see all my family who is also here and this is, of course, feels like where my heart is and ultimately fully British. Of course, I still like to honour my family heritage. My family is from the Caribbean. But… I don’t know. People have a right to their own opinion. If you look around, there’s a lot of Team LH caps. The support that I’ve had has been just incredible and it’s been growing over the years, and whilst, of course, there’s always going to be people with negative views on things, I feel like every day is an opportunity to try to turn those that do have a negative view on things. I guess over time I’ll do more and more positive things for the country. Ultimately, I go to all these race and I lift the British flag proudly. There’s no-one else in this sport that’s raised it so high. At the moment, probably that’s not enough. I’ll keep looking out for what else I can do. And for those who do follow me, I really do appreciate their support.

    Q: (Mike Doodson – Honorary) Lewis, there’s been some dramas here at Silverstone with the surface and they seem to have got everything done pretty quickly, but there were quite a lot of incidents at Turn Six yesterday. I wonder if you could tell us – you had one too, I think, there – can you tell us what was wrong there and is it better today and is the circuit settling down?

    LH: Ultimately last year, we’d come out of Turn Four and it was the bumpiest straight that probably you’ve ever been on before, rattling your teeth out for most of us. Also, for the motorbikes, it was quite bumpy then. In other areas it was OK. I think they’ve redone it this year; it’s much better on that straight but there are – and I guess it’s just the way it goes – but bumps into Turn Six are pretty hardcore but I think more so it’s the crosswind people are struggling with there. Maybe the bumps and also the crosswind that you have there, which everyone struggles with, and I’ve also struggled with – but then there’s also Turn Seven, it’s very bumpy but then the straight down to Copse is good, and then up to Maggotts and Becketts it’s good. It’s fantastic, and then after Maggotts and Becketts, down Stowe Straight it’s great 15, 16, 17. So, it’s pretty much spot-on, perfect, apart from three bumps at the entry of Six and exit of Seven.

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Question to all three drivers. What kind of weather do you expect tomorrow and what is the weather that will suit more the strategy you chose for the first tyre you will start on.

    CL: I haven’t watched the forecast yet, so I don’t really know – but I guess, yeah, in Silverstone it’s often very unpredictable, and as we’ve seen in the last two days, you can have drops any time. So, it will make the race quite interesting if it’s like this. Then, if I can choose, the best would probably have a good start on the Soft, do seven laps and then big rain and keep this position. But I don’t choose. I think it will be very unpredictable anyway.

    VB: Like yesterday there was no proper chance of rain but it still had a bit of drizzle, so I think anything can come from the sky, you never know – and no idea what will be best for us. At least it’s cooler than Austria, so that’s always good news but anything else, we should be OK.

    LH: I’m down for some good old English weather tomorrow! Good old English weather is sunny, hale, rain! Sun, snow, the whole mixture. No, naturally it’s better for all the fans when it’s dry but I don’t mind if it rains either way. It’s really great, this track, in the wet. I guess we’ll all discuss whether we do the rain dance tonight or not.

    Q: (Rob Harris – AP) Hi Lewis, it came down to six milliseconds today. Some quotes around from Nico Rosberg saying that, if he’d been traveling and partying in LA, then he’d be qualifying down in tenth – but you can cope with it, he was suggesting. When you assess things, do you think the clearing of the mind outweighs the travel by… sort of… going to LA between races like that and having the trips?

    LH: I think naturally it’s easy to say that. People do have views. I do have five world titles. They didn’t come on their own. You know me.

    VB: I think you gain time by partying. As a Finn, it’s a feeling.

    LH: Valtteri parties way more than me!

    VB: I have a party, I gain lap time, so…

    LH: I think ultimately when I started doing the travels and focussing on these other things, people always had… there was always the issue and people would have comments on it. Particularly the pressure of then having to arrive and making sure you definitely delivered the same. It took a long time to break that mould, and I’ve done it time and time and time again. My preparation comes first. I’ve felt fantastic all weekend. The pressure’s quite high here, obviously being your home grand prix, and so I don’t look upon that lightly, and I prepare the best way I can. But also, I do what I want – I don’t do what you think I should do, or anyone else thinks I should do. Only I know what’s right for me – and again, that’s what’s led me to five world titles. And don’t forget the amount of wins I have, all of that stuff, so… yeah.

    Q: (Keith Collantine – racefans.net) Question for Charles, you’ve said a few times in recent races you feel you’ve raised your game in qualifying recently. The clearest way we can see that is you’ve just out-qualified Sebastian for the third race in a row – but how much more do you think there is that you can find in the Ferrari? And particularly today, was there the extra eight-hundredths of a second that you needed to be sitting where Valtteri is sitting?

    CL: At the time, as I said earlier, I think the main issue is the front end. Once we’ll fix this, I’m pretty sure there will be quite a bit of performance in that – because also again, in qualifying today, especially the third sector, I was struggling quite a lot with the front end to grip-up. So yeah, there’s still a lot of performance into that, whether we’ll know how to overcome this issue is another matter, so we need to be working very hard on that, and hopefully, some performance will come when we fix this.

    Q: (Tom Jackson – City Press) Charles, both Red Bulls split you and Sebastian today. Do you think tomorrow you will be able to comfortably stay ahead of them or do you expect a fight with them more than you do with the Mercedes?

    CL: If we look at the Friday race simulations, I think it’s going to be very difficult to fight with  – or at least Lewis’s race run was very very strong so yeah, we need to work on that but Red Bull seems to be very quick also in the race runs so it’s going to be tricky. If we manage to gain some positions at the start, it’s a track where it’s quite hard to overtake so then we have some chances to keep them but if not I guess it’s going to be very difficult to fight with them.

    Q: (Laurence Edmonson – ESPN) Valtteri, two of your pole positions earlier this year didn’t quite go to plan, the starts didn’t work out. Can you just explain if you’ve anything to try and rectify that and how the other starts have been and whether you’ve found a solution to it?

    VB: Yeah, I’ve definitely been working a lot on the starts this year and especially after the couple of not ideal ones, so I’ve been focusing a lot and feel much more comfortable with the starts than earlier in the year. Obviously, every start is going to be different, we always have different circumstances, a different set of tyres, temperatures but yeah, feel more confident and obviously aiming for a good start tomorrow and use the good grid position.

    Q: (Sam Hall – Autoweek) Lewis, this year it seems that you’ve found qualifying a little bit harder to get pole on the Saturdays. Is the car a bit more difficult to get the one lap pace out of or is it something that’s changed with you as a driver?

    LH: No, I think… we’re not halfway through the year yet. We’ve definitely had some poles but Valtteri has done some great laps throughout qualifying. It definitely has been a car that’s a little bit… I think with the tyres it’s a little bit harder to get it perfect every single time but it’s just qualifying, if you’ve seen a lot of the races, it doesn’t necessarily always determine what happens always in the race. Of course, it’s great to always start at the front. It makes your day a little bit more simple but nonetheless, it’s really great that we continue to work forwards as a team and lock out the front row. I’m really proud to be a part of that and still to get a one-two today is still significant, considering we have all of our team actually coming this weekend. Of course, Valtteri and I, I think we have a great relationship, we always want to beat each other but I’ll go back, look at the data today, did a better job and tomorrow you’ll do a great job as well and the duel tomorrow is who can do a better job tomorrow. There are plenty more pole positions up for grabs between all of us so just got to keep working hard.

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Valtteri and Lewis; Valtteri, when we spoke you said the time is now for you to start effectively getting your elbows out. Indeed, is this the time that you’re starting to sense that? Lewis, are you prepared to race against what I guess we could call Valtteri 2.1, new version, newly enthused, ready to go again after a good start and obviously a bit of a slump but coming back?

    VB: Well, if you look at the points, for sure the championship fight is still on. Obviously I’m the one chasing, I’m behind with I don’t know the exact number but roughly thirty points or something but so many races to go and it’s going to be a lot up to me and my performance, so definitely every single opportunity there is I need to get those and if I don’t get those then Lewis is going to be far away and not be able to reach in terms of points so tomorrow is super important, but so is the race after and the race after. The season is still long so I really need to try and take those opportunities and for sure will do everything I can to keep that lead tomorrow.

    Q: Lewis, your thoughts on Valtteri 2.1?

    LH: 2.1 or 2.4 or what’s the difference? I work closely with this guy, it’s Valtteri. I just see him as the man he is. Obviously, we’re still fighting for the title. I don’t feel necessarily that he’s the only one chasing, I’m still chasing. I try to put an imaginary individual ahead of yourself. For me, I generally kind of put the previous year’s performances so last year’s myself ahead of me, for example, and that’s my target: to improve and beat that, but on days like this I’m behind another so he’s now the guy that I’m chasing. So as long as you’ve always got a goal to chase, then you can always make improvements, you always have strides to make and so that’s my approach always.

    Q: (Simon Amberley – Nevis Radio) The past couple of races we’ve had incidents that have been reviewed after the race which have either potentially affected the result or have affected the result. Has this been discussed within the drivers’ meetings and can we expect results to actually stand at the end of the race and drivers to be able to race more aggressively in future races including here?

    LW: I was focusing on folding… I don’t know what the question was.

    CL: I’m always up for hard racing so very happy if they relax a little bit on the fights but I think consistency is key. In the end, I think they also need time to review some incidents or sometimes it be bad to wait for the results but at the end, I think it’s the best way to take the right decision.

    VB: Yeah, I’m a big fan of hard racing as well so the harder we can race, but safe and fair, is always good and obviously for everyone it’s always better to have the results as quickly as possible and penalties as quickly as possible but sometimes they need to review more which is understandable.

    LH: I feel exactly the same as these two guys. I still don’t know what the question was really! But close racing is always yeah, what he just said. Sorry. It wasn’t intentional to miss what the question was. About tough racing, was it? I haven’t discussed it. No. I don’t think it was brought up in the drivers’ briefing either. I think the last race was good. I don’t know what Charles thought of the incident he had.

    CL: No, I thought it was OK. The only thing is consistency as I said. I feel like there have been some incidents in the past this year that have been not analysed or penalised, sorry, for much less than that, so that’s the only thing. I think consistency is very important but if it’s clear that we can race that way then I’m more than happy to race like this and I think every driver likes to race that way.

    LH: I agree again! I think it’s really hard with the consistency thing because we’ve got these rules that… but every scenario is different but you have to apply the same rule to it so it’s… that’s why they’ve got some of the guys that are at the stewards, some even have to interpret certain a way what has happened at a certain way and as Charles said, consistency is really what we want to try and get. But I think every year you go through all the lessons or them, together in the sport, go through the lessons and learn and improve and people told us that it needs to get better and so I’m sure we will.

    Ends

  • I was trying to gain the five seconds but it was tough in the end: Sebastian Vettel

    I was trying to gain the five seconds but it was tough in the end: Sebastian Vettel

    Top-three drivers at the post-race press conference on Sunday. An FIA image

    Montreal, 9 June 2019: Answering a question by INDIAinF1 reporter, Abhishek Aggarwal, Sebastian Vettel revealed that he did try to make up the five seconds but Hamilton too responded increasing the pace and both struggled with the tyres towards the end.

    Q: (Abhishek Aggarwal – IndiainF1.com) Sebastian, when the stewards came with the official verdict there were still 15 laps to go and I think you were two seconds ahead of Lewis. Did you think there was possibly some chance or something else to do to get three more seconds of advantage?

    SV: Yes, at some point I was three seconds in front but I was pretty sure that he was controlling the pace. Obviously once that happened it felt like he reduced pressure because there was no point. Then at some point it felt like maybe he doubted the decision and was putting pressure back on but also…

    LH: I wasn’t backing off because of that. You just started going really quick, and I was like, shoot, he’s going to pull five seconds so I was struggling with the tyres when you suddenly picked up pace and then I was like I’ve got to do everything to try and keep up.

    SV: Yeah, so I was trying to get this five seconds but I had a sequence of good laps, maybe that was in hand with when Lewis was struggling but then I was struggling more towards the end, plus we had to save fuel also to make it so not the easiest race to manage but I think we managed to stay ahead which makes me very happy and proud. I think the credit really goes to the team, hard work and this track looked a bit more competitive for us so despite what happened today, we’re looking forward to try and improve our car. There’s still work to do. I think Mercedes and Lewis were a bit faster in the race we’re still catching up but I think it was a good race overall for us.

    The following top-three drivers attended the FIA post-race press conference on Sunday: 1. Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes),  2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari), and 3 – Charles LECLERC (Ferrrari).

    Full Transcript: (Track Interviews by Martin Brundle)

    Q: So, Lewis congratulations. We have to congratulate all three drivers on the podium that was a sensational race, a brutal race as well. Obviously I’ve immediately got to talk about the incident between you and Sebastian at the exit of Turn 4 there.

    Lewis HAMILTON: Well, firstly I just want to say a big thank you to my team, because I wouldn’t be standing here today without the incredible effort from everyone. We had a problem this morning with the engine, with my crash on Friday. If they hadn’t been so diligent I wouldn’t have been able to race today as I have. So a big thank you to them. Naturally, it’s absolutely not the way I wanted to win. I was pushing to the end to try to get past, but obviously I forced him into an error, he went a bit wide, but then I obviously had a run on that corner and we nearly collided. It was unfortunate but this is motor racing.

    Q: Sebastian has gone straight to the stewards’ office to talk to them about it; he’s not here at the moment. Obviously he feels he was just busy collecting the car up and trying not to crash and he had no other option coming off the grass.

    LH: That’s to his opinion of course, you know for me I took the corner normally. When you come back on the track you’re not supposed to go straight back to the racing line, you’re supposed to come on safely and I assume that’s why they…

    Q: As you say, you had a tricky day, you know, with the car. Even when you were on the grid they were working like made on your brakes.

    LH: Yeah, absolutely. It was just so hot here, you know. The Canadian weather is just so hardcore for us here. Very hard on the brakes. Physically, I’m just destroyed just trying to hold onto Seb. The Ferraris were just so quick this weekend, so I’m really grateful that I was able to be there within the race. Nonetheless, this is good points still for the team.

    Q: And finally, do you think you could have overtaken if you had to in those final few laps?

    LH: Not towards the end I don’t think. I think we were all struggling with brake temperature towards the end. My tyres were good at that point where he made the mistake, I was as close as I was ever going to be. But then obviously I got that blocking and the gap opened up again. It was just very, very hard all the way through. It’s very, very hard to follow here. This is such a great track. And if it wasn’t for these fans it probably wouldn’t be as great as it is. So a big thank you to everyone that’s come today.

    Q: Congratulations. Charles, you nearly took second place on the last lap.

    Charles LECLERC: Yeah, it was close. I’m pretty happy about the performance, my own performance today. I think we were very quick. It’s a bit of a shame that yesterday I did some mistakes in qualifying. I need to work on my qualifying to get better on them. The race pace was very, very strong, so it’s a good sign for the future. I’m disappointed obviously for the team, we have all worked extremely hard to be there. I don’t know what happened for Seb, but the team definitely deserved a victory today so it’s a shame but we will come back stronger and we will keep pushing as we did in the first few races and hopefully the victory will come soon.

    Q: Relentless pace from you but the team stopped you quite late and you just feel off the leading two.

    CL: Yes, there was definitely a reason behind that. Obviously it was quite difficult to challenge the two in front at the beginning so we just tried to go long, hoping for a safety car that never came but yeah we will see.

    Q: Sebastian, we missed you in parc fermé. Nine times you two have won a world championship. You are two of the finest drivers that ever graced a Formula 1 circuit but clearly you feel you’ve had a great victory stolen away from you today.

    Sebastian VETTEL: Well, I think first of all I really enjoyed the race, I really enjoyed the crowd to be honest, every lap seeing them cheering me on, especially around the hairpin. It was very intense, I think Lewis was a bit quicker throughout the race but we were able to stay ahead. For the rest I think I’ve said enough. You should ask the people what they think. I think we had a great show. Lewis showed some good respect. Yeah, ask the people.

    Q: Lewis, you’ve had a race taken away from you in similar circumstances, in Spa, so you know the pain. Does this leave a bad feeling between you two great champions?

    LH: Well, all I can say is I didn’t make the decision, firstly, so I don’t know what they’re booing at. Maybe it’s the decision.

    SV: The people shouldn’t boo at Lewis, because I think he saw what was going on and I don’t think there was any intention to be in his, harm’s way. I had trouble in staying on track. But the people shouldn’t boo at Lewis. If anything, they should boo at these funny decisions.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: What a difference 24 hours makes: complete euphoria of yesterday and the frustration of today. Can you just talk us through the incident at Turns Three and Four? What caused you to run wide on entry and is there anything you could have done differently when you were re-joining the track?

    SV: Well, I lost the rear of the car, so obviously it wasn’t voluntarily going sailing across the track, not knowing how and in which fashion and so on I will be rejoining. I think it is pretty clear I was on the limit. I was pushing very hard throughout the entire race and… yeah. Obviously, I was going through the grass and I think it’s quite commonly known that the grass isn’t very grippy. So – you agree? – and then I was coming back on track and just trying to, you know, make sure I have the car under control. Once I regained control, made sure it was sort of alright, I looked in the mirrors, and saw Lewis right behind me. As you said, yesterday we had the euphoria and the enthusiasm of a great day. I feel, in a way, the same today. I think we had a great race, the team did fantastically and, yeah, obviously I’m not happy with the decision the stewards took. I think you can understand. It feels a bit weird to sit here, not having won the race even though you crossed the line first. And as I said, I don’t think I have done anything wrong; I don’t feel I could have done anything differently. I don’t know, actually, what the problem was. So… yeah. Not much more to say, I think, from my point of view. I think all the people out there, they probably agree with me.

    Q: Were you aware of where Lewis was as you were rejoining?

    SV: No! How? I’ve got two hands and I had them on the steering wheel, trying to keep the car under my control. So, I don’t know… I think we are pretty good at multi-tasking, driving these cars – but if it is required to drive… to catch the car once you come back from the grass or off the track, maybe one-handed, use the other hand to pull off a tear-off and maybe hit the radio button to talk to the team at the same time, I don’t qualify, I can’t do that. I had, as I said, my hands full, trying to keep the car somewhere in my control. Obviously, I knew that Lewis was behind somewhere because he was, like, a second behind, but when I looked in the mirror he was right there. So I was obviously then racing him down to Turn Six.

    Q: And the race pace of your car. What positives can you take away?

    SV: Yeah, I think overall it’s been a positive weekend and I think a very positive result. Obviously we’re both sitting up here. as I said, on my side, it feels a bit weird but I think the pace was good. I think it was clear to see that Mercedes probably was faster throughout the race but yeah, we managed to fight them off.

    Q: Charles, coming to you. You seem much happier with the car today than during qualifying yesterday?

    CL: yeah, I was quite a lot happier today. I think race pace was quite strong, so, on that I was very happy. The start was quite tricky with Lewis but I decided to not take any risks. So then, yeah, it was quite a boring race from then-on, trying to manage the tyres in the first eight-nine laps and from then on I started to push. I could feel that we were quite good and, on the second stint, the car felt great. We were very quick. I could feel I was catching a little bit in front. The team asked me to pit to do the fastest lap, and I asked to continue because I could see that the gap was closing. I knew it will be quite difficult to catch them but if there was an opportunity I wanted to be there, so I didn’t give up. At the end, it didn’t pay off. We do third, it’s a good result home, but the team definitely deserved more after such a great weekend. Also, Seb, disappointed for the team and Seb. I think the first position was in our hands and it’s a shame it slipped away the way it did. So hopefully we’ll have other good races in the future.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Christian Menath – motorsport-magazin.com) Sorry Seb to jump in that again, could you just talk us through when you realised you lost it. Did you think about… was it only that you wanted to catch the car or did you also think about to get back the fastest possible way – and did you lift or did you stay in the throttle?

    SV: Look, I think it was clear what happened. I mean, what’s the point of going through split-seconds for an hour now? With all the respect, there’s nothing to add from what I said. You lose the car, I don’t do that voluntarily because the outcome is unpredictable. Once I manage to catch the car, obviously I realise that I couldn’t stay on track, couldn’t keep the car on track, slowed down, had to slow down, go over the grass really cautiously, lost a lot of time. Managed to get back on track with dirty tyres, and once I regained, sort of, control, being somewhere on the track, I had to check my mirrors and Lewis was right behind me, just to see where he is, not to, I don’t know, be in his way or whatever. So, that’s what happened. I’m not the first guy in the world of racing that had a mistake on corner entry and had to catch the car going through the grass, gravel or whatever.

    Q: (Michelangelo Choppi – La Voce Euro Canada) What do you have to say about the race today? You do everything you can do to win the race. After you have five seconds penalty. What do you think personally, for the Italian community here who support Ferrari all these days. What do you have to say personally. And for Charles Leclerc, what is the difference between racing with Alfa Romeo last year and this year with the Ferrari here in Montreal? Thank you.

    SV: Well, I think we have tremendous support here, it’s crazy. In the morning I commute by bike so I see the people when they queue to get onto the island. It’s crazy. The atmosphere is fantastic. There’s so much support for Ferrari. Obviously a great Ferrari fanbase but I think a great atmosphere in general. During the race I really enjoyed it. Obviously it was very intense, when you have Lewis behind you, pushing you so hard – but I really enjoyed it and halfway through the race I was thinking ‘this is a good day, this is why I’m doing this’. So, I really enjoyed looking up at the grandstands in the hairpin – you have a bit of time while you wait for the car to turn – and the people are going wild and I really enjoyed that. Still, it’s very special. It’s a special position for us to be in. Drivers’ Parade, having the cheer from the people, sitting on the grid, people shouting. Obviously I think I share the people’s opinion after the race as well. It feels a bit funny – but certainly grateful for all the support we get.

    And Charles?

    CL: On my side it’s just different, of course. You approach the race weekend a little bit differently. Because obviously now I have the car to fight for wins and podiums which, last year, the approach was a bit different: podiums and wins were not on the cards, more points. And the support, as Seb mentioned, is just amazing. A lot more than what I would have expected, and a lot more than last year. Since the beginning of the season really, every race we come to there’s a lot of support and this has changed a lot from last year. So it’s great.

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Sebastian, will you be appealing the decision, or will Ferrari be appealing the decision. And do you feel any sympathy towards Lewis being booed – given that he didn’t really do anything do anything wrong.

    SV: I said, nothing to do with Lewis. I obviously understand that the people weren’t happy, as I wasn’t happy myself with these sort of decisions – but nothing to do with Lewis. It’s just not nice when people boo you, so that’s why I jumped in. I’m sorry that I interrupted his answer but I jumped in and said ‘don’t boo him, he’s done nothing wrong’. If anything he drove a great race, put me under a lot of pressure and I really, really enjoyed that. I think we share great respect amongst each other. Nothing to do with him.

    Q: Quick question for Lewis. Congratulations, by the way, win number 78, your fifth of the season. We’re talking about the incident. Can you just tell us what you had to do to avoid Sebastian as he came back on the track?

    LH: Well, to me it’s a bit of an empty feeling today, which is kind-of crazy because we’re in this beautiful country. It’s been ultimately a really great race between two different teams and it ends with a bit of a kind of negative. From what I remember, I came through the corner, I was quicker at that point and I was really just trying to apply pressure to Seb. One, to try and get close enough, but two to push him into an error. It’s not too often you’re able to push a four-time World Champion into making an error but it came and at the time I was like ‘OK, great, this is my opportunity.’ So I continued the corner as normal. Came around, and was on the line. The gap just closed, it looked like we were going to crash so I just had to brake and come off the gas to avoid a collision. Fortunately we did avoid it. But obviously that was one kind-of window. And then the gap opened up because I did brake to avoid it. And even when I heard there was a penalty I just kept pushing because I was like ‘maybe we can still have that race’. It’s such a hard race to follow; the temperatures are so high; it’s the heaviest-duty track for the cars. It’s very, very physical for the car and also for the driver. It’s so easy to make a mistake, so I was really just trying to get as close as I could. The Ferrari is ultimately this weekend so strong. They were so quick on the straights. They definitely have another power mode that we currently don’t have. So, all of a sudden they turn up the power and he pulls away massively on the straight, even if I have DRS open. But I really… just trying to focus on the positive, in a sense, that my team worked so hard this morning to get… I nearly didn’t start the race because we had an engine problem. So, the guys have really had their work cut-out this weekend because I crashed the car on Friday – which is rare for me – and then had a good Saturday and then, this morning had that problem. To take the engine apart and rebuild it, was very, very easy to make mistakes and so, I just wanted to deliver them the best race I could possibly deliver. I didn’t feel I did anything wrong today. I just gave it my all. So, there’s nothing more I could really ask.

    Q: (Maxime Sarrasin – 98.5FM) Question for Lewis. What happened, we understood it was your seventh win in Montreal, you equalised the record of Michael Schumacher here. So, what are your thoughts about that? Having equalised the record from him?

    LH: I have not really thought about it, if I’m really honest. As I was saying earlier, it does kind of feel like a deflated win, naturally. Hopefully by 2021 they redesign the rules better, that enables us to race better than we can currently today. But, this has always been a great hunting ground for me. It’s been a place that I really have loved, and have always felt like I’ve been really accepted and supported here. There’s a lot of Ferrari fans in Canada but nonetheless I still appreciate them. And we get such a great crowd here, y’know. It’s in the top three of the best races of the year, arguably for me. The British Grand Prix is obviously is great for me because I’ve got my home crowd, which is even bigger than this place because it’s a bigger space. When the weather’s great, like today, it’s just one of the most beautiful weekends of the year. So, often have family come out here. I won my first grand prix here, lots of poles, and it’s just been a place that I’ve thoroughly loved driving. So, that’s never going to change. As I said, I felt a little bit odd, being booed – but it’s not like the first time I’ve been booed. I’m used to it – and I forgive.

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Sebastian, do you plan to go to talk to the stewards afterwards and Lewis, can you summarise what was your feeling in Spa in 2008 when the same happened to you?

    SV: I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know what’s the procedure now. I was just thinking that I really love my racing. I’m a purist, I love going back and looking at the old times, the old cars, the old drivers. It’s an honour when you have the chance to meet them and talk to them; they’re heroes in a way. So I really love that but I just wish I was maybe as good, doing what I do, but being in their time rather than today. I think it’s not just about that decision today, there’s other decisions. Just hear the wording when people come on the radio, that we have now. We have an official language, I think it’s all wrong. I think we should be able to say what we think but we’re not so in this regard I disagree with where the sport is now. You have all this wording ‘I gained an advantage, I didn’t gain an advantage, I avoided a collision’. I just think it’s wrong, you know, it’s not really what we’re doing in the car. It’s racing, it’s common sense. If there’s a hazard on track, obviously you slow down because it’s quite unnatural to keep the pedal to the floor and run into the car and then say, ‘ah, it’s wrong that the car was there.’ I think Lewis… obviously as I said, I rejoined the track and then Lewis obviously had to react. I don’t know how close it was or close he was. Once I looked in the mirror he was sort of there but for me that’s racing and I think a lot of the people that I just mentioned earlier, the old Formula One drivers and people in the grandstands and so on, would agree that this is just part of racing but nowadays it’s just… I don’t like it, we all sound a bit like lawyers and using the official language. I think it just gives no edge to people and no edge to the sport. Ultimately it’s not the sport that I fell in love with when I was watching. Obviously it hurts me today because it impacts on my race result but I think this more of a bigger criteria. Tomorrow, when I wake up, I won’t be disappointed. I think Lewis and myself we share great respect and I think we’ve achieved so much in the sport, I think we’re both very very blessed to be in that position so one win up, one win down, I don’t think it’s a game-changer if you’ve been around for such a long time, but as I said, I’m not happy about all this complaining and stuff that we see so many times.

    LH: Well, I second what Seb said in the sense of the respect that we’ve always had between us. We’ve had a lot of years racing together and there’s probably no one that I enjoy racing with on the track more than he. I always relish opportunities to battle like we’ve had today and the previous years and they’re really really memories that I will always cherish and I hope there are many more, so stick around.

    I don’t think you can relate it necessarily to 2008 because 2008 I made an error. Obviously I overtook someone off track and then had to let them past and then overtook them again but back then, my team asked Charlie – who was a steward clearly – whether the overtake was OK and Charlie came back and said it was totally fine but if he had come back and told us at the time that it wasn’t OK, I would have let him back past and overtook him again. But the rest of that race was crazy, you know. I went off, he overtook me and then he spun and then I overtook him again and then he crashed and then I won the race – and I still got penalised at the end so it was a lot different, but I do understand what it’s like to naturally lose a race. It’s definitely not the way you want to win a race, it’s not the way you want to lose a race also, especially when you’ve driven so well.

    Q: (Mike Doodson – ) It’s an apology because it’s more about the same incident but none of us have driven cars with a thousand horsepower at the speed that you do. Obviously you didn’t have many options, you didn’t have much time to make them. If you had lifted off, would it have been dangerous, would the car have spun because the grass was so slippery? What would have been the reaction of the car?

    SV: I lifted off, of course, I lost time. I don’t think it was faster that way, I think you agree. Yes, as I said, I was busy enough to keep it somewhere under control so of course, once I’d lost the rear, already I lost the corner, then I lift off and I just sort of stayed somehow in control over the grass and then came back, so I wasn’t flooring it.  If I would have done that I would have crashed. So the priority at that point is just to survive, it’s not look around or going on the power or being fast or whatever.

    Q: (Pino Asaro – Corriera Italiano) Seb, take us back to your state of mind as soon as you got out of the car? We saw you on the monitor, followed you into the Ferrari hospitality. What you going through? We’re all asking questions, are you going to race control, can you please take us back to that particular moment?

    LH: By the way, I stopped at the end, I thought your car broke down. I stopped to pick you up.

    SV: I thought maybe, OK. No, I wasn’t looking. I parked the car in parc ferme, a different parc ferme, the one that is not for the top three and then went to get weighed and then at that point didn’t really want to join anything that was obviously happening after that. I wasn’t very heated up, obviously angry and disappointed but I think everybody understands why but I think it’s a matter of respect to show to Lewis and Charles and also the representative for Mercedes on the podium, to be part of the podium. Certainly it wasn’t the place where I wanted to be because at that point you just want to get out but yeah, also sitting here is not of my free will but I have to be here.

    Q: (Pino Asaro – Corriera Italiano) And the question for Charles: you almost came within five seconds of Seb. Did you lift off, the last lap or two, to make sure that Seb at least would finish second?

    CL: I was not aware at all so no. I pushed but I didn’t know what was going on in front, I didn’t know Seb had a penalty. I was just pushing in case something happened in front, to be there if I had an opportunity but I was not aware of the five seconds penalty so no, I only did my own race.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Lewis, being the racer as you, if you were sitting in the stewards’ room would you investigate such an incident, or would you give a penalty then finally?

    LH: Well, the good thing is I’m not in the stewards’ room so I’m not there, so it’s a hypothetical question.

    Q: (Rebecca Clancy – The Times) Sebastian, you talked about wanting to race in the old days and obviously you’ve been around for a while. Do races like today, decisions like today make you question your future in the sport?

    SV: Well, I don’t know. Not ready, what time is it now? I’m not ready for this kind of question. I don’t know, I just feel that nowadays we look at so many things that maybe we didn’t look at in the past because nobody was really making a fuss. Now, obviously it’s worth making a fuss for everything because you have these decisions. I sympathise in a way with the stewards. I’ve said many times when I’ve been in there that they are sitting in front of a piece of paper and they’re watching the race and they also came back to me and say we agree but look, we have to do these kind of things so I think just the way we are doing these things now is just wrong but it’s our times, we have regulations for everything. We need to have this jacket when… I don’t know, it’s clear there’s a hole when walking down a pedestrian walk and there is a hole in the street because they’re doing construction work and there needs to be a be guy who guides to the other side of the road, otherwise it’s the construction company’s fault that you fell into the hole and broke a leg, but I think you’re just an idiot if you walk into that hole and break you leg but that’s a little bit how my theory is nowadays. The approaches are drifting apart.

    Q: (Abhishek Aggarwal – IndiainF1.com) Sebastian, when the stewards came with the official verdict there were still 15 laps to go and I think you were two seconds ahead of Lewis. Did you think there was possibly some chance or something else to do to get three more seconds of advantage?

    SV: Yes, at some point I was three seconds in front but I was pretty sure that he was controlling the pace. Obviously once that happened it felt like he reduced pressure because there was no point. Then at some point it felt like maybe he doubted the decision and was putting pressure back on but also…

    LH: I wasn’t backing off because of that. You just started going really quick, and I was like, shoot, he’s going to pull five seconds so I was struggling with the tyres when you suddenly picked up pace and then I was like I’ve got to do everything to try and keep up.

    SV: Yeah, so I was trying to get this five seconds but I had a sequence of good laps, maybe that was in hand with when Lewis was struggling but then I was struggling more towards the end, plus we had to save fuel also to make it so not the easiest race to manage but I think we managed to stay ahead which makes me very happy and proud. I think the credit really goes to the team, hard work and this track looked a bit more competitive for us so despite what happened today, we’re looking forward to try and improve our car. There’s still work to do. I think Mercedes and Lewis were a bit faster in the race we’re still catching up but I think it was a good race overall for us.

    Q: (Audas Ruszinov – Hungarian media) Lewis, your history in the winning circle started here in 2007. Would you take a moment to look back and compare the 2007 Lewis Hamilton to the person you are today? What was the most appreciated things of value which Formula One has taught you, as a driver, as a person, which you appreciated the most in the last 12 years?

    LH: That’s a good question. Well naturally I was 22-years old, pretty much a kid still and for me, personally, I feel like I’ve matured a lot later. I was thrown in at the deep end of this incredible circus and sport. One thing I was prepared for was to race but I wasn’t prepared for the whole circus that comes along with it. I don’t know if I could say what the sport’s taught me. Naturally, through all these different experiences I’ve learned a lot about who I am, how to adapt to the different situations that surround me. I’ve done everything through trial and error. I’ve made a lot of mistakes over these years. Many of you here have been with me through that journey and definitely seen those mistakes, the good and the bad so there’s not really much that the media or you guys don’t know about me in terms of my character. I’m not perfect but I’ve grown a huge amount with the sport and the sport’s given my life meaning so I’m forever grateful to it and naturally today, I’m 34-years old, I’m a grown man and still love driving, still driving with the same heart that I did, I think, when I was 22 but just much more level head on my shoulders, a much wiser head of my shoulders which has enabled me to drive with the style and the skill that I had before but just finesse it a lot better. But also we get to travel the world, we get to see different cultures and all these different beautiful countries and people and I think what I’ve really really learned is really to enjoy… firstly not to take notice of what people think of you because every is going to have an opinion and then just, as long as you like yourself, know you’ve got great people around you who do love you, like your family most importantly, then all you’ve got to do is just enjoy what you do and do the best you can, because our days are limited, as I always say. I try to make sure I… like I can go to bed tonight and know that I gave everything this weekend and I’ll come back stronger at the next race and hope not to make mistakes on the Friday for example.