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  • FIA Thursday Press Conference: Hungarian GP

    DRIVERS – Kamui KOBAYASHI (Caterham), Esteban GUTIERREZ (Sauber), Marcus ERICSSON (Caterham), Jean-Eric VERGNE (Toro Rosso), Sergio PEREZ (Force India), Pastor MALDONADO (Lotus)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Marcus can I start with you? Ten races into your first Formula One season, what have you learned about yourself and about your own racing, your own capabilities over these first 10 races?

    Marcus ERICSSON: Obviously coming into Formula One there’s a lot to learn. I think this year it’s been a bit special as well with the new power units. For sure, the management of tyres, of energy during the races is something you’ve got to learn quickly, I think it’s not only for me but for everyone else as well. To be consistent over a race weekend; important steps during a whole race weekend and you need to be always be consistent in both the driving and the feedback to the engineers. So it’s quite a lot of things but I feel like I’m taking steps all the time and learning so that’s the main thing.

    So it’s a work in progress, there’s more to come?

    ME: Yeah, definitely.

    Now, there’s been quite a lot of speculation at Caterham. How do you feel about your own position? Do you feel comfortable for next year as well?

    ME: I feel good. I think the new owners are pushing really hard. Obviously they want to update the car during the season and keep doing that and that’s really positive for all of us. Hopefully now, in the second half, we can have a stronger car and we can be a bit more competitive and fight with the guys in front of us.

    Esteban, you’ve been on the cusp of points, very close to points a few times, 12th in Australia. How close are you to getting into the points, or have you gone as far as you can with this car, is it not possible to go any further?

    Esteban GUTIERREZ: At the moment we are doing our best, all the team are pushing really. Without bringing updates we don’t see it very different to what we had in Hockenheim. But it seems that step by step, every race we’ve been closing the gap a little bit and that is putting a lot of hope and also motivation into everyone in the team. From my side I’m trying to do things as consistent as possible and trying to get the most of the car that I have at the moment.

    So the expectations for the second half of the season?

    EG: Expectations are… I would put them really high! I really want to make a step and that’s what the team is looking for, because finishing a season on a high is really important and I think it’s a good chance now that we are starting the second half of the season.

    Thanks very much, I’ll come back to you in a moment with something else but we’ll move on to Kamui. Kamui, a change of ownership at the Caterham and some uncertainty about what’s going to happen there I guess. What can you do to strengthen your position and at the same time strengthen the team as well, because you’ve been around a bit, you know exactly what’s required or a driver and you can gather the team yourself and be a bit of a team leader.

    Kamui KOBAYASHI: Yeah, hello everyone. First of all, I was quite having these changes during the season with a new owner, but I think this is what we need, otherwise I think we couldn’t finish the season. It was the right move and straightaway I think… I mean, team, does it affect them a lot? As you see it in the news I think people left, quite a lot, straightaway, but I think we need to keep motivated because I think if we want to survive we need to change something. I think this is the right thing. I need really hope. Of course, it’s the same from my side. I think I need to always drive 100 per cent. This just gives motivation. The biggest things… if we want to change something, we need to change the biggest things not the small things. We have new guys coming and many people left, but I think we have responsible in each part and this is going to help everybody and let’s see what happens.

    You’re known for your attacking style of driving. Does this car allow you to attack as much as you’d like?

    KK: Not really! It’s not really happy but I need to hope that one day I’m going to make something, a really exciting race. Like a ‘train’ race is not really exciting for the spectators. I’m pretty happy last race, for example, at the German Grand Prix, we had a couple of pit stops and we saw some excitement during the race. But if it once again came back to one stop, for me it’s not really nice to watch the race, I’m pretty happy. Pirelli had a nice tyre decision and think this makes more fun. Even my car… I think Pastor was like Prime and I was supersoft and I could overtake him. It was a little surprising but it’s good it happens like that and it’s good for spectators.

    Jean-Eric, we know that the car is capable of getting into the points, and the qualifying is there as well. But you’ve had problems in various; well, what seems like different areas, I don’t know if you would agree. Id it just one fix that is needed? What’s basically the problem?

    Jean-Eric VERGNE: I don’t think we really have any problems at the moment. The only problem we have is to get the points at the end of the race. Obviously the first part of the season has been quite competitive, but unfortunately I couldn’t finish all the races – I think I had five DNFs, so that’s quite a few, all the time when we were in a position to score points. So, I will take only the positive and the positive is that we have great people working in the team, working really hard to improve the reliability, and we’ve got a good car. It’s not like if every time we had a problem we were not in the position to score the points. Now I think we just need to keep on working in the same way and the points should be there.

    So what are the expectations for the second half of the season then?

    J-EV: Ah, the expectation is to finish as many times in the points obviously. This is definitely possible. We have a quick, we still have some new updates to come. So I really believe in the team. I believe they can bring us a better car again and just to finish the races… in the points!

    So you are confident that things will improve reliability-wise?

    J-EV: Yeah, definitely. That’s not really my big concern… I’m not concerned about it. I’m more concerned about the speed that we need to have every race weekend. And then from there all I have to do is drive this car as quick as possible and do the best job possible. Not thinking there will be a problem happening or not. It’s not really in my mind.

    Sergio, we heard a somewhat frustrated engineer talking to you in Germany, saying ‘fuel saving, fuel saving, fuel saving’. We won’t go into the details of the whole conversation but is it a problem for a driver that you don’t have some sort of fuel indicator or your own that you can manage, that you have to rely on hearing a message from the engineers. Would you prefer something in the car?

    Sergio PEREZ: We have the capability as drivers to see how we are doing with the fuel. We get some target numbers and we have to give them back. Of course, Hockenheim was really tough on fuel for us, especially due to the race I was having. It was very difficult to keep temperatures in the tyres and by saving fuel of course you lose more temperature, so it was really a difficult race for myself, which I was not really expecting after the pace we had shown on Friday.

    So you would prefer to have some kind of indicator or are you happy with what you’ve got?

    SP: I’m happy with what I’ve got. We’re all clear on that. Obviously we get the message; we always get prepared of hour much fuel we have save and during the race we see how we’re doing with the engineer and they can tell us.

    Now, a Mexican Grand Prix looks like a real reality for next year, I hope you agree. What are your feelings about it, and I’ll come back to Esteban about that as well?

    SP: It’s great, I’m so happy. Since I left my home at 13, 14 years I never raced in Mexico. I never raced in my home country. Now to go back after so many years and race actually in Formula One is great. They’ve been really pushing for so many years, since I came to Formula One four years ago. The spirit of the fans is massive back home. It’s great for my country, for all the fans back home and I’m sure you all will be surprised at how good the event will be. I’m just very proud and excited. It’s great that we can confirm that we will have a Mexican GP next year.

    I think there’s quite a lot to be done though isn’t there?

    SP: Yeah, there are a lot of things to be changed. The circuit is quite old. I mean, the last time you raced there was 22 years ago. They already started to build a new circuit. It will be fantastic once again; you are all going to be surprised. I’m sure it will become a very popular grand very soon.

    Esteban, your feelings about it?

    EG: I have good feelings about it, because all these years that Mexico has been involved in Formula One with obviously first Checo getting to Formula One and now myself, we are two in Formula One and I think this is a great step to have a grand prix. It’s really a dream come true for many of us. I had the chance to race once in Mexico City, back in 2008, when we did the world finals of Formula BMW. It was a great experience. I think it was an introduction to what it can be, obviously very, very small by comparison but now we will be able to going into the biggest thing in Mexico and to really share with our fans, with our supporters, to share with them physically the sport.

    Pastor, sorry to keep you waiting. First of all, of course, the inevitable question about your contract for next year. Where are you in terms of thoughts for next year?

    Pastor MALDONADO: We’ve been confirmed from mid-season, which is good. It’s always good to know the future. It’s a great team; I always mention that. There are fantastic people working at the team and pushing very hard to improve the performance. We’ve been suffering a lot since the beginning of the season. Most of the problems have been down to reliability. We’ve been nearly… most of the races stopped and not finishing, which is not the best when you are looking for performance. We didn’t have the chance to test and explore 100 per cent of our package. But it’s looking quite good. It’s always been a great team in the past and for sure will be one of the good ones for the future.

    Q: A lot of changes have been made – maybe just for reliabity’s sake but also from competition’s sake – are you feeling those changes, do you actually notice those changes, and also, do you feel that the car is a bit too track specific, that it only works on one type of track?

    PM: It’s difficult to say because even in the last race, Romain, my teammate had a problem with his car and he needed to stop and to finish the race earlier than me. Unfortunately, we still have some problems. Most of the problems are due to the power unit but we’ve been working very hard with Renault to try to help them and to help each other to have a more stable car and at the same time, better reliability for the races and to approach the weekend in a different way. Sometimes we need to jump on the track just thinking about finishing the race and not thinking about exploring the full performance of the car which is not a great approach, but sometimes you need to maybe do one step back to recover the things in the team and  it seems to be that now we have more the entire control of the car it’s getting better and better, so hopefully this weekend will be good for us and both cars in the points would be fantastic before the break.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Sergio, on the Mexican Grand Prix again, it was on the calendar before but it didn’t happen this year. Are you sure that it will now happen next year, that the problems of getting the track ready and everything else will be overcome and it will be done in time?

    SP: Yeah, hundred percent sure that we will go to Mexico next year, no doubt about it. Everything s confirmed. Last year was a difficult situation due to the time that we had to build the circuit, but now there is no doubt and I think we can all think that we’re going there. Already they’re building the circuit, they’ve already started on the circuit, so yes, we’re definitely going there.

    Q: (Graham Killoh – F1 Plus) Esteban, it looks to outsiders that the Sauber benefitted in Germany from the removal of FRIC up and down the field. Is that your feeling and the feeling within the team?

    EG: Yes, it is the feeling and we tried to get that opportunity, to take advantage of this position. Maybe it was not a big thing but it gives us a few tenths per lap, probably, which may benefit a lot in the race, so that’s what we’re looking to and that’s our main focus, to extract that.

    Q: (Peter Vamosi – Vas Nepe Kiadoi) Pastor, there are some rumours that John Player Special will be on board again with Lotus. Has this a special meaning for you?

    PM: It’s difficult to say because I’m not getting involved in marketing and this part of the team. But for sure, it’s always welcome, a sponsor is always welcome and whoever can join the team, it’s always welcome. From my point of view, it’s a good team in terms of image, marketing, one of the best in Formula One, for sure.

    Q: (Heinz Pruller – Honorary) Can I ask the Mexican gentlemen about the Mexican Grand Prix? I have been there in ’68 in the Magdalena Mixhuca park. I guess this will be a new circuit, they will change this circuit. How much will they change the circuit and how far advanced is the work on it and what is the date for the Grand Prix next year?

    SP: We don’t have a date confirmed yet. I think once the calendar is released, I suspect that it might be towards the end of the year because that’s when we go back to America  and also it gives more time to the circuit to rebuild, to make all the changes necessary for Formula One to host a Grand Prix. It will be totally different. I was so unlucky not to be in a Formula One race back in Mexico but I think it will be quite different, and as I said before, I’m really enthusiastic and I’m sure you’re all going to be surprised as to how well we can do this kind of event.

    Q: (Heinz Pruller – Honorary) Will it be in the Magdalena Mixhuca park; will they keep Peraltada corner?

    SP: I don’t know if they’re going to keep Peraltada. I suspect that they’re going to make some changes. It’s a very historic corner. Everybody I have been talking to in the park, they all tell me ‘how are we going to have the Peraltada?’ Everyone is really excited about Peraltada but we don’t really know if we’re going to have it because I think we’re also going to change the layout of the circuit.

    Q: (Cristobal Rosaleny – Car and Driver) Esteban, Checo and Pastor, all of you come from Hispanic countries and now Mexico is going to be on the calendar next year which is very good news for your fans too, that they will have you closer than ever, but don’t you miss more Hispanic people in the paddock – mechanics, engineers and other professionals that maybe can help to really establish motor sport in your countries? And are you thinking about doing something about it from your experience, which has been tough, coming to Europe and growing into Formula One?

    PM: Yes, I know that at Lotus they have a plan – especially for Venezuelan people – to join in various different areas in the team. That will be good. I know that there are some Venezuelans working in the factory. We have this plan and year after year I hope this will increase, but for sure, it will be very good to compensate the programme, not only with the drivers but even with the people who want to work with us and want to join the teams.

    Q: Sergio, how do you think Mexicans would get on in Northamptonshire?

    SP: Yeah, it’s a long way to travel and for us to come over to Europe is not so easy but for me, for example, I had to leave home when I was only 15 so I think that kind of thing, that kind of culture has to change so I’m sure getting back onto the calendar with the Mexican Grand Prix, that will definitely help. There is a lot of excitement about Formula One back in Mexico so I’m sure that the younger generation are all interested in Formula One and I will be really happy if this can open doors to have engineers, mechanics, drivers, people working in the media, more and more Mexican and more Hispanic overall. That would be great for Formula One and for the sport.

    EG: I think the platform will start growing. Obviously when you have Mexican drivers, now we have a Grand Prix, it will even produce 3000 jobs back in Mexico related to that. When you build a platform in Mexico, then that platform starts to transfer to other areas, to Europe, to Asia and obviously into the top level. So I think it’s the way to go and it will be very pleasing to help and also to be part of opening the doors and all of these things, opportunities for more Hispanic people here.

    Q: (Joo Gabor – Index) To you all, Felipe Massa just said in the paddock that Magnussen was to blame for the crash at Hockenheim and that the FIA made a mistake by not penalising him. What do you think about the FIA’s stance?

    KK: It’s very difficult to say. For me, Magnussen looks very difficult to avoid. He’s keeping his line. For me, it looks as though Felipe is a bit too tight on his line, because I think if he gave a bit more space, I think he would not have had the accident, because it looks as though… Difficult to explain what Felipe’s going to do. It kind of looks like he suddenly dived into the corner. I think Magnussen could have avoided it by braking or whatever but it’s just after the start. He braked in that corner, I think he would lose a lot of positions so it’s a very difficult part. In the end, I don’t think we can see the mirrors. The mirrors are quite small and I think that at that angle it’s very difficult to see. I think that’s the biggest problem.

    SP: I think it was really really close at the start of the race. Turn one at Hockenheim is… that kind of accident can happen. Kevin did everything to avoid Felipe. In the end, they touched and it was a really really bad accident for Felipe. Who to blame is difficult. I think they both collided but it’s difficult to blame someone from that accident.

    Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) Just on the subject of accidents – obviously we have Esteban and Pastor who have both been involved in a couple of incidents with each other this year – when you do have a crash, do you, as drivers, do you look to blame somebody? Do you look to find somebody at fault? Or is it easy to accept when you’re to blame? Do you ever talk to each other and in the case of Esteban and Pastor, have you had words since the last race? Just your personal thoughts on what you do after you’ve been involved after a crash.

    PM: When you make a  mistake for sure, it’s easy to accept. Before, you need to accept and learn from the mistake. We are not perfect sometimes. When we are racing each other, you can make some mistakes. We are racing, we are doing our best to take a position or to defend a position and sometimes, when it’s very tight, the contact happens.

    EG: Well, I think it’s very simple, it comes down to having respect between all of us and as Pastor says, when you make a mistake, you just have to accept it and really the strong position to do it in public and as well to find the right compromise, because at the end, it’s not beneficial for any of us. If we both crash, we both end our races. It’s obviously not beneficial, so it doesn’t matter what happens afterwards. Already the effect and the problem is already done. We just need to look into more… It’s fun racing, this is what we enjoy, this is what we like and between Pastor and myself, for example, yes, we’ve been involved, but we’ve also spoken to each other and we find the right compromise and we keep a good relationship. It’s not a problem. In the end, we are here, we enjoy it and it’s our passion to race.

    eom

  • All about Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix

    Budapest, 23 July 2014: Round 11 of the 2014 Formula One World Championship brings us to Budapest for the Hungarian Grand Prix, held at the Hungaroring.

    The Mercedes AMG Petronas is sitting pretty with a gigantic lead of 178 points in the Constructor’s Championship with a kitty of 366 while teammates Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton are on a close fight. Rosberg is leading the battle with 190 points from the 10 races at the mid-way point in the 19-race season. He won four times and finished 2nd five times, with his only retirement at the British GP to lead his teammate by 14 points in the Driver’s Championship. The German got married on July 11 and is in seventh heaven. He signed a new-multi-year contract with Mercedes and extended the celebrations of German World Cup victory with a win at home in the German Grand Prix last week.

    British driver Lewis Hamilton on the other hand has 176 points and is ahead of third-placed  Daniel Ricciardo (106) of Red Bull by 70 points. He has one more victory than Rosberg, at five wins, but he failed to finish twice; at the season opener in Australia and then at the Canadian Grand Prix. He came second twice and was third at the German Grand Prix last week as Valtteri Bottas stuck on to take his Williams to a second place on the podium for the second successive week.

    But the former World Champion is eagerly waiting to strike back. He is full of praise for the team and feels that the team has done a great job in putting both the cars on the podium once again.

    Lewis Hamilton: “I was very proud that we could put both cars on the podium for Mercedes-Benz in Germany in front of all the Mercedes employees there last weekend. From a personal point of view, I couldn’t be too ecstatic about the race because it was a tough weekend for me and ultimately I lost more points to Nico in the Championship battle.

    “But I had great fun out there and did as good a job as I could. To get the car from right at the back to the podium was quite an achievement for everyone involved and I’m grateful that we could limit the damage after qualifying. The Hungarian Grand Prix is always a special one for me, with four pole positions and four wins from my seven races there so far – including my first victory for Mercedes last season.

    “I don’t really have any secrets there – I’ve just been very fortunate over the years and it’s a circuit I really enjoy. It’s one where you can really attack, which works for an attacking driver like myself, so perhaps it suits my driving style a little bit more than some others. I’ve always had great support there from the fans too, so I’m looking forward to it. I’m doing absolutely everything I can to get back on level terms with Nico in the title battle – I can’t focus more or work harder than I am doing right now. This Championship is proving a big challenge for me but that’s how I love it – and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

    German Nico Rosberg is flying and looks forward to the Hungarian Grand Prix with confidence:
    “It was an amazing feeling to take a home victory for myself and Mercedes-Benz at Hockenheim. That race and Monaco are the ones I really want to win, so I came into the weekend hoping for a good result and it worked out perfectly. My Silver Arrow was so dominant and I have to thank the team for this fantastic car. So many positive things have been happening for me in the last few weeks.

    “Getting married was definitely the best feeling, then with the new contract, the World Cup for Germany and the weekend at Hockenheim. It’s been a very special time for me. Now we head to Hungary, which is always a really fun weekend in a lot of different ways.

    “Budapest is a really cool city, with a lot of nice things to do in the evening with all the restaurants on the river. I often have friends come to this race as they really enjoy the place – although, of course, while they’re out partying on the Saturday night, I’ll focusing and preparing for the race! We’ve had some great after-race parties on the Sunday night in Hungary before, as it’s the last one before the summer break. Hopefully we can give everyone back at the factories and here at the circuit something to really cheer about as a reward for all their hard work before they go on holiday!

    Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, is also on a high:
    “Our performance at the last race in Germany was very satisfying indeed. So many of our board members, colleagues and friends from Stuttgart were there in Hockenheim for the weekend so the pressure was on. We’ve performed well at the other big races for the team in Malaysia and Britain, but this was the pinnacle for us as a home race.

    “As our thoughts now turn swiftly to the next race in Hungary, it’s important to recognise the hard work put in by everyone at our factories in Brackley and Brixworth. It’s a tight turnaround between the two races and this will be the final trip before the summer break, so we are pushing flat out to make sure we wrap up the first part of the season on a high. It has been a very busy year so far and another strong result would be the right reward for everyone involved before taking a well-earned rest. We had a spectacular race in Hockenheim and Budapest also has real potential to deliver an exciting Sunday afternoon, although overtaking is much more challenging there. the Hungaroring has always seen fantastic levels of support and we are looking forward to putting on a good show for the fans.

    Paddy Lowe, Executive Director (Technical) 
    Germany proved to be a busy weekend for the team from start to finish – both in the garage and off track as the home race for Mercedes-Benz. The big talking point going into the weekend was, of course, the demise of FRIC. Much was made of its potential impact on the relative performance of the teams, but as we saw from the first sessions on Friday this did not come to fruition. Lewis’ incident during qualifying came as a big shock. The damage to the car left us with some difficult decisions to make and, in the end, changes to the gearbox meant a 5-place penalty dropped Lewis even further down the grid. Lewis then produced a superb recovery drive from the back of the grid to claim a fine podium finish. Nico, meanwhile, built on a strong qualifying position with a perfectly judged race performance to take a well-earned home win. We now move on to Hungary, which will be another interesting challenge. It’s usually very hot in Budapest, which will be a consideration in terms of car setup. Overtaking is also notoriously tough around the Hungaroring circuit – with a high emphasis placed on a good qualifying result. Lewis has a fantastic record at this particular venue, with four pole positions and four wins from his seven races here. Nico, by contrast, has had a tough time in Hungary in previous years. However, judging by his performance in Germany last weekend we should be set for another fascinating battle between the two drivers. As a team, we will approach this race as we would any other as we look to cap off a strong start to the season with an equally strong result heading into the summer break.

    Hungaroring: The Inside Line 

    Lewis 

    The weather is usually fantastic in Hungary and the circuit is quite an old-school layout, so it’s got plenty of great characteristics. It definitely suits my ‘aggressive’ driving style – as I think a lot of people like to call it. You start the lap with DRS across the pit straight – which is actually quite short compared to a lot of other tracks. You’re then late on the brakes into the right-hander of Turn One, ideally hitting the apex right in the middle, then hard on the power and opening the DRS once again on exit.

    You have to brake really deep into the left-handed Turn Two and really hug the apex, with a good line crucial to allow you to go flat-out through the right-hander at Turn Three – using all of the kerb on exit. It’s really hard to see the apex at Turn Four, which arrives very quickly and is another really fast corner. Turn Five is then a bit slower – heading back to the right and with a bumpy surface on exit which can easily lead to oversteer moments.

    A good run through the Turn Six / Seven chicane needs you to take all the available kerb through the first part and then get hard on the power out of the second – leading into a really nice left-right-left-right sequence at Turns Eight, Nine, 10 and 11. You have to be really patient through here, as a good rhythm is important.

    Finally, you’re into the last sector – beginning with Turn 12. There is a lot of grip on the way into this corner, which requires minimum kerb contact on entry but maximum on exit. You need patience once more through Turn 13, which you almost have to make into a ‘vee’ for the best line, and again through the final corner, Turn 14, which is crucial for a good run down the straight.

    Nico 

    The Hungaroring is quite a unique circuit as it is very small and narrow – almost like a street circuit, but in the form of a permanent race track. It’s really twisty, with very few straights and the left-right-left-right nature meaning you barely get any time to relax. You’re always in action, so it’s very tough on the driver. Luckily, I enjoy those sorts of challenges as it’s where you can really make a difference as a driver. You also have to really nail some of the kerbs to get the line just right, otherwise you’ll lose the rhythm and lose a lot of speed.

    Budapest as a venue is also quite tough on the driver physically, as it can get very hot. Again, the lack of straights also mean you have very little time to take a breather and get some cool air rushing around you. You’re always tensed up in the cockpit, fighting all the corners, so it is pretty demanding from that perspective.

    The key corners around the circuit are Turn One, which is the best place to overtake after the longest DRS straight on the track, and then I would say Turn Five. This is around the back of the circuit and comes after the very fast Turn Four – sweeping up and right for quite a long time. It’s easy to get this one wrong and you really have to hook your inside tyre into the little ditch on the inside of the apex to make it work best, so it’s tricky but a lot of fun.

    On the Pit Wall 

    Circuit Layout

    The Hungaroring is a highly technical circuit which requires a very different driving style – beyond the standard procedure of taking a late apexes and managing traction on exit. Through many of the corners, the fastest line may require drivers to hold minimum speed – a technique which suits some more than others. This will also play to the strengths of some cars more than others, with those that can sustain extended periods of lateral loading coming to the fore. It’s a track at which getting everything spot on is extremely difficult, with rhythm playing an important role – much as it does in Monaco, although not to the same extent.

    Overtaking

    Overtaking is notoriously difficult at the Hungaroring. The start / finish straight is not particularly long, while the second DRS zone between Turns One and Two is more of a kink – offering equally scare opportunities for passing manoeuvres. Qualifying is therefore crucial, with races often defined by the starting grid. That said, Lewis pulled off two fantastic overtaking manoeuvres in 2013 to take an impressive victory. There were done through corners where the opposition would never have expected to be passed – proving that with the right level of bravery, it can be done…

    Safety Cars

    Safety car probability is surprising low here given the narrow nature of the circuit. There are, however, very few gravel run-off areas, with tarmac preferred through most corners – which is undoubtedly a contributing factor.

    Tyres

    Budapest has historically seen the softest allocation of tyre compounds, the soft and Supersoft, however Pirelli have remained consistent with their choice of Soft and Medium, as 2013. This is a contrast to Germany, where we had the more aggressive choice of the Supersoft and Soft. The Hungaroring track surface is not overly abrasive, with one stop strategies having been deployed on occasion in the past. However, temperatures frequently reach levels sufficient to introduce three stop strategies – which have been a far more frequent occurrence.

    Climate

    There have been wet sessions every now and then during Hungarian Grands Prix weekends, but these are few and far between. 2011 saw a wet race and P2 was damp in 2012, but 2013 was a completely dry event. When it does rain in Budapest it rains very heavily indeed, but generally speaking the weather is relatively easy predict. It lies at the upper end of the range in terms of heat, with temperatures rising as high as 45 degrees – similar to the peak levels seen in Austria two races ago.

    Double-header

    Combining with Germany to form the first pair of back-to-back races since Malaysia and Bahrain way back in March / April, Budapest throws the teams back into a situation where preparation time is scarce. Whereas there has been plenty of time to prepare in advance of the more recent races, some resource has also been put into preparations for both Hockenheim and Budapest with the truncated timescale in mind – the priority being to ensure that data is not lacking by the time the teams arrive at the second event.

    Anniversaries 

    Mercedes-Benz Heritage 

    21 / 22 July 1934 – 80 Years Ago:
    In the ‘Kilometres Across Germany’ endurance event, Mercedes-Benz drivers claim a total of 26 gold, three silver and three bronze medals in the individual and team rankings. The 1.5-litre Sports Saloon, the chassis of which forms the basis for the 150 Sports Roadster presented at the start of 1935, has its first competitive outing.

    25/26 July 1964 – 50 Years Ago:
    Robert Crevits and Gustave Gosselin drive a Mercedes-Benz 300 SE to victory in the 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium. The Belgian team sets an average speed of 164.875 km/h.

    On-Track 

    28 July 2013 – One Year Ago:
    Lewis Hamilton takes his first victory for MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS from pole position at the Hungaroring circuit.

    Spotlight 

    120 Years Ago – The First Motor Race
    On 22 July 1894, just eight years after the automobile’s invention, a ground-breaking city-to-city motoring competition entitled ‘Le Petit Journal Concours des Voitures sans Chevaux’ (or ‘Le Petit Journal Competition for Horseless Carriages’) would mark the very first foray into motorsport for two great marques that later re-wrote motorsport history: Daimler and Benz.

    Held in France – at the time considered the most advanced motorised nation – the event was organised by national newspaper ‘Le Petit Journal’ to boost circulation and stimulate interest in motoring. Despite organisers stopping short of classing the event as a race, this 127 km test of pioneering machinery is widely regarded as the world’s first competitive motor race: offering prizes to the top finishers utilising eligible machinery (defined as not requiring a travelling mechanic or technical assistant such as an engine stoker). Although earlier competitions had been held for automobiles powered by steam, the 1894 event was the first to attract a full field of vehicles; thereby acquiring its prestigious standing in motoring history.

    The race itself was preceded by four days of vehicle exhibition and qualifying events, comprising interwoven routes staged around the city of Paris to determine worthy entrants for the main event. Over 100 entries were submitted ranging from established manufacturers such as Peugeot to amateur enthusiasts, with 21 vehicles eventually taking to the start line: 13 of which were powered by internal combustion engines. With both Daimler and Benz represented, the event was to prove a landmark occasion in the history of both marques.

    While the sole Benz entry was classified in the results – placing 14th at the hands of Emile Roger – it was a Panhard-Levassor which claimed equal first prize, powered by a twin cylinder, 30-degree vee petrol engine produced under licence from Gottlieb Daimler. Although the car was not the first to cross the finish line, it shared the ‘5,000 francs du Petit Journal’ with the Peugeot brothers on the basis of the vehicles being those which came “closest to the ideal” and were “easy to use”.

    It was from these humble beginnings – a seven-hour journey averaging speeds of marginally less than 20 km/h – that the success story of Mercedes-Benz in motorsport finds its roots, as both Daimler and Benz went on to play leading roles in the formative years of auto racing history from the late 1800s into the early 1900s.

    Niki Lauda, Lukas Pdolski, Dr. Dieter Zetsche with other team members ahead of German GP. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image
    Niki Lauda, Lukas Pdolski, Dr. Dieter Zetsche with other team members ahead of German GP. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image


    eom/Mercedes AMG Petronas release with inputs from INDIAinF1 Spl correspondent

  • Rosberg wins German GP to extend championship lead; Bottas holds back Hamilton for a second place

     

    Rosberg on way to his first victory at the German GP on Sunday 20 July 2014. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image
    Rosberg on way to his first victory at the German GP on Sunday 20 July 2014. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image

    Hockenheim, 20 July 2014: A cool and composed race by Valtteri Bottas in a Williams denied three extra points and a second place for former World Champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes AMG Petronas, who stormed from 20th on the grid to a stunning third place, but was looking for a second to chase and narrow the championship lead of his teammate, Nico Roseberg, who cruised to his first race win on the home turf winning the German Grand Prix, the 10th round of the Formula One World Championship here on Sunday.

    The facile win for the German saw him take a 13-point lead in the championship with 190 points and Hamilton on 176 points is second ahead of Daniel Ricciardo (106) of Red Bull in third place. Ricciardo’s overtaking spree saw him finish sixth today. His teammate and reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel on the other Red Bull was fourth ahead of Fernando Alonso in a Ferrari.

    Sahara Force India once again had a double points finish with Nico Hulkenberg taking a well-deserved seventh place, after starting from P9, while teammate Sergio Perez managed to get the last point in tenth place.

    Jenson Button of McLaren was 8th and his teammate finished on 9th to garner 6 points for the team.

    ends

     

  • Rosberg claims home pole position as Hamilton crashes out

    Nico Rosberg claimed pole position for his home grand prix as his team-mate and title rival Lewis Hamilton crashed out in Q1. The Briton ended the session in 16th place.

    Rosberg, for whom the Hockenheim pole represented a fifth this season, will be joined on the front row by Williams’ Valtteri Bottas. The Finn’s team-mate Felipe Massa took third place. Kevin Magnussen confirmed the progress McLaren has made in recent weeks by completing the row two line-up.

    Hamilton’s crash came 10 minutes into Q1 when the Mercedes driver was in P2 on the timesheet behind Williams’ Valtteri Bottas. Hamilton braked for the Sachskurve but there was a problem. His front-left wheel locked and he spun off track and into barriers. His best Q1 time of 1:18.683 was in the end good enough to see him through to Q2 but he was unable to take part and finished the session in 16th place Should his car not require a major rebuild, Hamilton will start in 15th place, as Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez, who qualified 14th, is set to take a three-place grid imposed at the British Grand Prix a fortnight ago.

    Once Hamilton’s W05 Hybrid had been craned away and the tyres walls repaired the session resumed and Rosberg, who had no set a time before the red flags, immediately moved to the top of the timesheet, outpacing Bottas by six tenths of a second.

    The time, set on supersofts, was good enough to see him through to Q2 in P1, followed by Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel, and in fourth place Vallteri Bottas, whose time of 1:18.215 was set on soft tyres.

    Eliminated, in order, after Q1 were Marcus Ericsson, who failed to set a time due to a hydraulic problem, Marussia’ Max Chilton, Kamui Kobayashi in the second Caterham, Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado, Jules Bianchi in the second Marussia and Sauber’s Adrian Sutil.

    Rosberg was again quickest in Q2, his time of 1:17.109 deemed good enough to see him through to the top-10 shootout. Bottas was again close, the Finn taking P2, with a time just over 0.2s shy of the German’s. The Finn’s Williams team-mate Felipe Massa was fourth ahead of Vettel, while Magnussen an impressive fifth.

    It was a less happy outing for team-mate Jenson Button, who failed to make it through to Q3. His time of 1:18.193 was just under four tenths down on his team-mate and only good enough for P11.

    Jean-Eric Vergne was also eclipsed by his team-mate. The Frenchman could only manage P13 behind Kimi Raikkonen, while Toro Rosso team-mate Daniil Kvyat took ninth place in the segment.

    Also ruled out after Q2 were Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez in 14th place and Lotus’ Romain Grojean who took 15th ahead of the non-running Hamilton.

    In the final segment Rosberg laid down a marker with his first run. He stunned rivals with a laps of 1:16.540 and with Bottas’s first run yielding a time half a second shy of that, any ambition of making a challenge for pole evaporated.

    Bottas put in a valiant effort with his final run and shaved over two tenths off his previous time but he had to settle for his second front-row start of the season, having started from P2 in Austria.

    Magnussen was fourth for McLaren ahead of Ricciardo who, as ever, left his best for last, demoting team-mate Vettel to sixth by three tenths of a second.

    Seventh place went to Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso. Kvyat improved on provisional P9 to claim eighth place in the session ahead of the Force Indias of Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez.

    Nico Rosberg, centre, takes pole position for the German GP on Sunday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image
    Nico Rosberg, centre, takes pole position for the German GP on Sunday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image

    2014 German Grand Prix – Qualifying Result

    1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:17.631 1:17.109 1:16.540 17
    2 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:18.215 1:17.353 1:16.759 15
    3 Felipe Massa Williams 1:18.381 1:17.370 1:17.078 21
    4 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 1:18.260 1:17.788 1:17.214 17
    5 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:18.117 1:17.855 1:17.273 19
    6 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1:18.194 1:17.646 1:17.577 16
    7 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:18.389 1:17.866 1:17.649 19
    8 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:18.530 1:18.103 1:17.965 22
    9 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:18.927 1:18.017 1:18.014 21
    10 Sergio Perez Force India 1:18.916 1:18.161 1:18.035 21
    11 Jenson Button McLaren 1:18.425 1:18.193 15
    12 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:18.534 1:18.273 13
    13 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:18.496 1:18.285 14
    14 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:18.739 1:18.787 14
    15 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:18.894 1:18.983 14
    16 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:18.683 5
    17 Adrian Sutil Sauber 1:19.142 8
    18 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:19.676 8
    19 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:20.195 7
    20 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham 1:20.408 7
    21 Max Chilton Marussia 1:20.489 9
    22 Marcus Ericsson Caterham

    eom/FIA release

  • Hamilton crashes out in qualies; Roseberg rules the roost, again

    DRIVERS

    1 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

    2 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Williams)

    3 – Felipe MASSA (Williams)

    TV UNILATERAL

    Nico, congratulations. Pole for your home grand prix and what a week it’s been for you: Germany win the World Cup, you get a new contract, and you get married, and now you’ve got pole for you home grand prix?

    Nico ROSBERG: Thank you very much, yes. For now it’s been going really, really well. It’s great, home race here and to be on pole is fantastic. Of course I would have preferred if it was an open fight with Lewis. A little bit less happy as a result because Lewis didn’t have a shot at it in the end. But all in all, still a fantastic day up to now, but no points for today. [The} important [part] is just tomorrow, still a long way to go but it’s still a good start.

    Very well done. Valtteri, it looked like quite a calm session; you worked your way through Q1 to Q2 to Q3 in a very methodical way. You looked fairly untroubled but do you think you could have got a bit closer to Nico or even challenged him?

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, I must say we must again be really happy with the result we got today as a team, second and third, so well done to everyone, but I think Mercedes is still ahead. The lap I had in the end was no mistakes and a really nice, so I really I felt I got everything out of the car today.

    Very well done. Felipe, Williams once again up towards the front in qualifying. What do you put this performance down to and where do you feel you lost out to Valtteri today?

    Felipe MASSA: Yeah, for sure I think I was struggling to put the lap together, so I had some movement from the tyres and I was not able to have a perfect car – just to put all the sectors together. I was able to do one sector better in one way, the other sector better in the other way. The car was not 100 per cent perfect in terms of set-up to put the perfect lap and Valtteri did really a very good lap. But anyway I’m still quite happy with the result and I’m quite happy with our car and for sure in the race the conditions are completely different, the feeling of the car as well is different, so let’s try to a very good job tomorrow as well.

    Coming back to you Nico. What have you heard from the team about Lewis’ situation and also what are your thoughts about the race tomorrow, particularly with these incredibly high temperatures we’re experiencing here in Hockenheim?

    NR: I don’t any details about the other car. I just knew it didn’t apply to my car, so from that point of view I was comfortable that I could keep on pushing. For tomorrow, it’s supposed to be a bit colder, which will make it easier on the tyres, because the tyres are very, very soft so degradation is high. And of course the weather could play a role, so just need to take it as it comes.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Nico, firstly in Q1, a bit of a scare at the start. You seemed to go off the road a couple of times and with about five minutes to go after the red flag stoppage you went out on a set of super-softs, which is very unusual for you. Obviously you were feeling the pressure at that point. And also could you clear up, you mentioned before Lewis’ situation didn’t apply to you – that’s because I understand you run two different types of brakes between you. Maybe you could explain a little bit about that.

    NR: Yeah, so quali one, I had problem with my brakes to start off in qualifying because we changed them for qualifying. It didn’t feel good, the whole of qualifying really I was struggling with that. Sort of found my way then – but it was especially difficult in the beginning in quali one, really difficult. And then, yeah, brakes, we run two different brakes between us. So, the problem that he had didn’t apply to my car as a result.

    Q: It was a disc failure?

    NR: I’m not sure of the details.

    Q: Valtteri, a general question – just to sum up your feelings how it feels at this early stage of your career to be running at the front all of the time.

    VB: I feel really happy to be part of this team as we are really on the right way and again, a strong result from us as a team and from me and Felipe. So, it’s good to be part of this. We are really focussing to get better and better. The race is tomorrow, there’s no points for today. We need to focus on that, again trying to do the perfect job if we can and get the maximum points available.

    Q: Felipe, Nico was saying earlier he thinks it’s going to be a little cooler tomorrow – which is obviously good news from the car and tyre point of view – but maybe you could put into words for us how you think these tyres are going to perform here tomorrow, what the challenges you think will be in tomorrow’s grand prix given the relative temperatures.

    FM: I think it will be a big challenge for everybody. So, we’re running super-soft and soft, definitely is not 100 per cent easy to keep the tyres in the good shape all the time, every lap, so the consistency… it’s not very easy to be there every lap, so maybe we will see more stops than at other races – I don’t know. Definitely having a little bit less temperature in the track will help a little bit, especially our cars so I hope this can be a good help for us tomorrow to make these tyres a little bit more consistent and trying to make the strategy the best way as well. But it’s always a big challenge tomorrow in the race.

    Q: Nico, you’re looking at the replay there of Lewis’ accident. Your thoughts?

    NR: I hadn’t seen it yet – but it looks pretty bad but I hear he’s OK and just a little bit bruised on the knees.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Graham Keilloh – F1 Plus) Nico, can you talk us through when you knew that Lewis was out of qualifying; do you then subsequently still push as much as you would have done if Lewis had been there or do you reign it back in to make sure you are getting laps in for the rest of the qualifying session?

    NR: No, it doesn’t change, it doesn’t change the way I approach it. I’m still flat out and pushing all the way through, definitely.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – Universo On-Line) To both Williams drivers: yesterday you were struggling a lot with the car and suddenly today you appear almost fighting for pole position. What’s the magic you did in the car from one day to the next?

    FM: Well, I don’t think we were struggling yesterday. Yesterday we were P6 in the session, so normally, even in the race, when we are starting at the front, we were top five, top six, so I don’t think we were struggling yesterday. Maybe in the first session everything was new for everybody, because there was a little change on the suspension for everybody but it was just something that you needed to get used to with the set-up but we were not struggling yesterday.

    VB: Yeah, I agree. We knew that after Friday there was nothing really to worry about it. We knew that we had work to do to improve the car which we managed to do, improve the balance, but I think maybe sometimes some other teams are more focusing on qualifying laps in practice rather than just testing.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Nico, I would love to say that this is the first time in F1  history that there is an all-Finnish front row. Do you agree?

    NR: Yes, I agree!

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Nico, in the last two races, Lewis has always been starting quite behind you but he’s always managed to catch up pretty quickly. This time he’s starting 15th. Is this a track where you think he can catch up as quickly as he could in Zeltweg and Silverstone or could you have more advantage here, looking at how far he is behind or maybe allow you to drive another kind of race, not so full attack all the time?

    NR: For sure, I still expect him to come through the field quickly. I don’t know. It’s difficult to predict. I need to do my own race, I need to push anyways from the front, I need to go for it and try and pull a gap and then see where I am with strategy and everything.

    eom

    Nico Rosberg, centre, takes pole position for the German GP on Sunday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image
    Nico Rosberg, centre, takes pole position for the German GP on Sunday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image

  • We are working hard to improve mechanical reliability: Toto Wolff

    TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – John BOOTH (Marussia), Paul HEMBERY (Pirelli), Federico GASTALDI (Lotus), Christijan ALBERS (Caterham), Toto WOLFF (Mercedes), Cyril ABITEBOUL (Renault)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Cyril, if we could start with you. Perhaps you could tell us why the job change to Renault, was this unexpected and what have you seen so far?

    Cyril ABITEBOUL: Well, what can I say about this to answer your question. Obviously there is an element of confidentiality, so I will not disclose everything. Let’s put it this way: I have been doing 10 years with Renault before joining Caterham. Before joining Caterham I left on very good terms with Renault, we are, I hope, long-time friends and I hope this will remain the case. Obviously the situation with Caterham was not working – the whole structure, from shareholder to the structure in place was just not delivering, so something had to change. Lots of things are changing. I think that’s good. From my perspective also I had to change. There was some appetite at Renault to turn around what is happening on the track, not just the engine situation, it’s wider than that, so there was an opportunity there and that’s it.

    Tell me, how much of the effort that’s going on is around trying to fix the problems that you’ve got in 2014 and how much is looking forward, because obviously 2015 offers you an opportunity to try to get a bit closer to the Mercedes engine for example with the new homologation that comes in in February.

    CAb: Anyway the engine world is not exactly the same as the chassis world, in the sense that with the homologation you are not free to develop the engine and therefore what we can do this year is fairly limited. What we need to focus on right now is to get reliability sorted out, because clearly what we are delivering on track is not acceptable for some of our customers. We need to fix that, clearly; this is for this season and see what can be done from a performance perspective. Next year, we are quite well advanced actually, there was already the first fire up of next year’s engine on the dyno this week, so there is a programme, it’s going well, we need to improve performance but it’s already interesting to see this weekend with all the changes chassis-wise and engine-wise that there is some progress so hopefully it will be confirmed tomorrow.

    Replacing Cyril as team principal at Caterham and joining us for his first press conference since 2007 when he was a grand prix driver is Christijan Albers. Christijan, you’re now in your second race in charge, what’s your verdict so far of the set-up, what’s been going and what are the first areas on your priority list?

    Christijan ALBERS: First I would to start [by saying] that the thoughts of myself and the team are with the tragedy of the Malaysian Airlines. I feel sorry for their loss. I think that’s the most important thing today. Team-wise… yeah, it’s not easy. You see people in a team fighting for four years to get a good car that delivers performance and it did not work so it’s very important to motivate the people again and to get the right structure in place. I think we are a little bit in that direction. I have a lot of faith in the new technical director John Iley, also the chief designer Keith Barclay and also the new team manager Miodrag Kotur. So, you know, we are pushing. The only thing I can say about the team is that we need progress and stability.

    Can you tell us anything about your drive line-up? Do you plan on retaining the same two drivers for the remainder of the season?

    CAl: I want to see results; that’s very important for every Formula One team. To be honest today I think they did a good job. We had some bad luck in the second practice, but they are sharp and we know we need performance and also of course with a team as Caterham F1 we also always need a little bit of budget.

    John coming to you, on the face of it you’re in quite a strong position. You’ve got two points on the board; you’re ahead of Sauber and Caterham of course. How does it feel inside the team and what’s the short and medium term plan?

    John BOOTH: Well, we’re obviously very comfortable with where we are at the moment. We were very happy to get the two points in Monaco but there are nine races still to go and obviously anything can happen. We’ve got to keep pushing and keep focused and try to defend as hard as we can from Caterham and Sauber.

    After the Barcelona you took a noticeable step forward in performance. Was the Silverstone test equally positive and do you feel you’re closing in on Sauber now? How far behind do you think you are?

    JB: One of our test days in Silverstone was a Pirelli test day which was very helpful for 2015 and the second day we spent a lot of time thinking about running without any sort of linked suspension, so we got a useful work done on the second day.

    Q: Toto, obviously 326 points on the board in the Constructors’ Championship with your nearest rivals on 168 but still a few alarm bells – Nico Rosberg’s gearbox problem in Silverstone wasn’t the first time you’ve had a problem with a gearbox. How’s that being tackled?

    TW: First of all it must be tackled. We are looking very solid in terms of pace. The guys are quick and the car was very reliable at the beginning of the season, if you look besides Melbourne. And since then we had a couple of issues and we must get on top of it. We are working hard and trying to understand how to improve mechanical reliability. This is one of our most important topics, obviously, because in order to win you need to finish first.

    Q: Obviously we’re at the halfway stage in this championship and Lewis Hamilton is just four points away from Nico Rosberg. He calls this a reset moment. How do you see the battle between the two of them and how has your management of that evolved over the half-season so far?

    TW: You see how quick it can go. The discussions we had before Silverstone were ‘will it ever be possible for Lewis to catch up 29 points’ and here we go, you have a DNF and your team-mate wins the race and it’s all on reset. It doesn’t need a lot of management actually. I think it’s about clarity and transparency between the drivers and within the company. It needs communication. This is what we do and until now, knock on wood, we haven’t had any issues. Also, both of the guys are so professional and on top of their game and know it’s important to finish the races. So, until now, I’m really happy with how it goes.

    Q: Federico, Lotus has been a little up and down on performance: strong in places like China and Austria but then fell back a little bit perhaps at Silverstone. What’s behind that? Is it power-unit related or chassis related…?

    FG: Well, I think we’re still having problems understanding the engine – but we’re also having problems in Enstone, matching chassis, aerodynamics and the engine so we’re now trying new setups and also today we’re testing a new front wing. So, we’re trying to improve but it is a very, very slow process this year.

    Q: You carried out the tyre test in Silverstone with Pirelli on the 18-inch rims. What did you think of that exercise?

    FG: Paul? What do you think?

    We’ll ask Paul in a minute!

    FG: Obviously for us it was a good experience. We’re very proud to be doing this work with Pirelli so it was positive.

    Q: Paul, let’s throw it to you. What was the verdict after that test at Silverstone? When do you think you could introduce that tyre technology if it was requested – and what are the technical limitations?

    PH: Yeah, I spent a week talking about 18-inches and it’s been quite an interesting time. It was an exercise that was born out of a discussion we had in the F1 Commission meetings when there was a discussion of, particularly in this case, tyres and what should happen with them in the future. We felt rather than discuss it, we ought to put some on a current car and people can actually decide and the F1 Commission can see real images of the car with that sort of tyre on them. These are 18, maybe 19 is probably more interesting going forward. Have to say that the feedback we’ve had generally has been very good. People have been forwarding us all sorts of surveys and fan surveys that they’ve had on their individual websites. Between 70 and 80 per cent, depending on the survey, have been very favourable. On a personal level, it looked quite good. I wasn’t really sure if I was going to like it, if I’m honest, but I thought it looked very good and quite natural. If it’s a route the sport wants to follow, we’d be keen to do. We, technically, could probably be ready in 2016 but the sport is talking about 2017 at the moment.

    Q: Obviously this weekend you’ve come with the soft and supersoft tyres – some interesting results from FP2 here this afternoon – there’s been a feeling perhaps sometimes at a few races, you’ve been a little bit conservative with the tyre choice. Are you becoming more aggressive again now?

    PH: Well, it’s one of those things. Today, we’ve got over 50°C on the track which you wouldn’t normally expect here. I’m quite sure that that the local population will tell you that. That means something like the supersoft tyre in these conditions is pushing a bit. Equally if we’d come here with the other choice, which would have been a medium tyre and it had been 20°C, we’d have been talking about a one-stop race and your question would be conservative again. So, it’s always a balance and I think you’ll see that we’ll still be looking – if we have a dry race – at a two- to three-stop race. Which is what we’re asked to deliver for the sport. The supersoft being used primarily in qualifying and the soft tyre – which is the main race tyre – looks like it’s working well, even in these conditions. So, overall, a good balance.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Luke Smith – NBC Sport) Paul, with these new tyres, if they do come in, it could obviously make the sport far more road relevant. If that opened up the possibility of another tyre supplier coming into the sport, is a tyre war something Pirelli would be interested in or up for doing or is it purely ‘we’re the only supplier or we’re out.’

    PH: It’s obviously a question for the sport. Ultimately the sport should primarily be about drivers and then you have engines. If you throw in tyres as well, you can tend to lose your way. We’d be interested if the rules were in the right direction but there hasn’t seemed to be much of an appetite for doing that. It’s another element that’s out of the control of the teams. We have enough controversy even when we’re the sole supplier, so if you add in another supplier you could have another question mark. I don’t know. It’s one that you can only really answer when you know the context of what would be the conditions of competition.

    Q: (Silvia Renee Arias – Parabrisas) Mr Albers, I would love to know if you can tell us if Carlos Sainz Jnr has any possibility this year to race for you?

    CAl: I have seen a lot of rumours in the press as usual in Formula One. At this moment, of course, we have seen Carlos Junior and we have spoken to him also but at this moment there is nothing done.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Toto, when we drive in here, we can’t miss the massive Mercedes grandstand. We are approximately 100 kilometers from Stuttgart, your team is leading the championship, your drivers are first and second yet on Sunday there are probably going to be less than 50,000 spectators, which is half of what they had in the Schumacher heydays. Is Germany switching off from Formula One, or what is this situation?

    TW: Let’s start with a positive question. It’s not satisfying. If you compare Hockenheim Friday to Friday at Silverstone and Friday in Austria it’s a different world and we have to understand why that is. I’m not sure whether we have an exact number for Sunday already – you know, there are lots of people probably deciding at short notice, depending on the weekend – and we have to analyse the phenomenon. If the weekend continues like it does now, we need to think about it.

    Q: (Dominic Sharaf – motorsport-total.com) Christijan, you said you’ve spoken to Carlos Sainz Jnr for a race seat; what about other drivers? Did you talk to any other drivers?

    CAl:  I did not say that I spoke with him about a race seat. I said we spoke with each other, yes. But the drivers are performing now, I was happy today, that’s the situation.

    Q: (Craig Scarborough – ScarbsF1) Question to the technical directors: Lotus, Mercedes and Marussia are probably the first of the teams to adopt interconnected suspension in the sport. How have you found the first free practice sessions without the set-up and do you think it’s going to have any impact on your pace over the rest of the season?

    FG: We haven’t used it today, so we cannot say anything about it.

    TW: It’s a decision of the FIA, no need to moan about it. You need to get on top of things and run the car quicker than before. We’ve run the car at Silverstone without the linked suspension and it ran pretty well today so I don’t think it’s going to make any difference in competitivity.

    JB: We developed – over the last two years – a very simple but very effective pitch control system and it took us a few sessions at Silverstone to start getting our heads round living without it but I think we’re pretty much there in replacing the system performance.

    Q: Paul, have you noticed any difference today?

    PH: Yeah, the server went  down so we don’t have all the data. We’ve had problems all day! We’ll be working very late tonight to try and analyse all the information so as yet we haven’t got all the info and I can’t really comment but I don’t foresee… You saw the running order today, it didn’t seem too different from previous races so I guess from that point of view, absolute performance isn’t likely to be changed. Maybe over the duration of a long run there might be some impact.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Christijan, I read that Colin Kolles had made the approach to you suggesting that you became a team principal. As a former Formula One driver, what do you think… what qualities do you believe that you have as an individual, as a person, to lead a team from the very bottom of the championship forward? What made you accept the challenge?

    CAl:  First of all, a lot of people don’t know that I was always a little bit of an entrepreneur and so beside racing, I was also starting businesses and it went very well to the moment it turned around in 2007 that I was making more money with my normal business than as a racing driver. So I hope I can combine both of them, you know, the technical side and also the business side and combine them and be successful to bring this team forward. It’s all about performance. We’re working very hard to get an upgrade for Spa-Francorchamps which of course is a race against the clock because we have a two week shut-down in the factory and we’re looking for more steps. We’re also working for the 2015 car which I started last week immediately and we are running now in the wind tunnel. So we are very much pushing forward and what I’ve said already is that the most important thing is to get the team to be a team again and that’s not so easy. A lot of people are very motivated, but also some people of course, after four years with no performance, they were a little bit disappointed so we need to get everybody in the game again.

    eom

  • Rosberg tops timesheet in the opening Practice Session: German Grand Prix

    Nico Rosberg topped the timesheet in the opening practice session of the German Grand Prix weekend, the German beating Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton by just 0.065s.

    Rosberg’s time of 1:19.131 beat his title rival team-mate’s best lap by six hundredths of a second as Hamilton frequently aborted quick laps as he worked through his morning programme, according to FIA.

    Hamilton left, Nico Rosberg at Hockenheim on Friday. An Mercedes AMG Petronas image
    Hamilton left, Nico Rosberg at Hockenheim on Friday. An Mercedes AMG Petronas image

    Behind the Mercedes pair, Fernando Alonso was third-fastest for Ferrari, the Spaniard finishing just under three tenths of a second adrift of Hamilton.

    Fourth place went to Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo who was over half a second down on Rosberg’s time. Jenson Button was fifth, with team-mate Kevin Magnussen seventh as McLaren continued the good form they showed in Silverstone a fortnight ago.

    Splitting the McLarens was Sebastian Vettel in the second Red Bull. The 2013 German Grand Prix winner finished the opening session four tenths of a second behind his team-mate and almost a full second behind compatriot Rosberg.

    With Magnussen in seventh, eighth place went to Kimi Raikkonen, back at the wheel of his Ferrari after he was forced to sit out last week’s Silverstone test in the wake of a heavy accident at the British Grand Prix. The final two top-10 places went to Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat and Sauber’s Adrian Sutil.

    Elsewhere, Williams development driver Susie Wolff made a second and far more successful FP1 appearance for the Grove team.

    At Silverstone the Scot’s grand prix weekend debut lasted just four laps before an oil pressure problem sidelined her and early on at Hockenheim it seemed as if she was destined for more heartbreak as an issue on her installation lap forced her back to the pits.

    The problem was rectified, however, and she was able to complete a total of 22 laps, with a best time of 1:20.76. That left her in P15, just 0.227s off the best time set by team-mate Felipe Massa.

    2014 German Grand Prix – Free Practice One
    1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:19.131 29
    2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:19.196 0.065 25
    3 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:19.423 0.292 21
    4 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:19.697 0.566 27
    5 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:19.833 0.702 24
    6 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:20.097 0.966 28
    7 Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 1:20.105 0.974 32
    8 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:20.210 1.079 21
    9 Daniil Kvyat STR-Renault 1:20.337 1.206 28
    10 Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 1:20.505 1.374 18
    11 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1:20.542 1.411 19
    12 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Renault 1:20.586 1.455 23
    13 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1:20.592 1.461 22
    14 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1:20.598 1.467 24
    15 Susie Wolff Williams-Mercedes 1:20.769 1.638 22
    16 Giedo van der Garde Sauber-Ferrari 1:20.782 1.651 23
    17 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1:21.603 2.472 20
    18 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 1:21.854 2.723 30
    19 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 1:22.572 3.441 31
    20 Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 1:22.982 3.851 24
    21 Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 1:23.256 4.125 35
    22 Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 1:23.299 4.168 22

    eom

  • Midway through, Force India’s aim is to get 4th place: Hulkenberg

    DRIVERS – Nico HULKENBERG (Force India), Kevin MAGNUSSEN (McLaren), Adrian SUTIL (Sauber), Kimi RAIKKONEN (Ferrari), Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing), Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Nico Hulkenberg, if we could start with you. Points in every race so far this season, only you and [Fernando] Alonso have managed that so far and you’re seven to two against your team-mate in qualifying. How positive is that for you and how do you think that is perceived within the Formula One paddock?

    Nico HULKENBERG: I think it’s very positive in general. I think it’s a very good achievement to have scored points in every race – probably Nico and Lewis would have been the same without the technical failures. I think it has been a very positive start to the season, first half, many, many points, much better than we expected going into the season and I think that is also the perception of the paddock. However, we’re only in the middle of the season and there’s still a long way to go before the end and our aim is to get the fourth position in the Constructors’ Championship. We have a big challenge on our hands there against Williams, McLaren and many others. I look forward to that.

    You’ve largely been fighting for fifth and sixth places in races this season but just recently, the last couple of races, it was more like eight and ninth. What brought about that change and where do you think you’ll be fighting this weekend?

    NH: I think Silverstone was overall a bit difficult for us. The track didn’t suit us so well, plus the conditions made it even more difficult. Therefore, it was still a very good achievement to get points on the board there. In Austria we were a bit compromised by a few issues, which we found out after the race, otherwise that could have been better. So hopefully here we’ll be back to bigger points but it’s difficult to know. Obviously it’s very hot this weekend, so it will be interesting to see how the tyres behave and who will manage it the best.

    Kevin, coming to you, points in the last four grands prix for you, six points finishes in total this season with one podium but McLaren still seem to be quite up and down dependent on circuit, why is that?

    Kevin MAGNUSSEN: It’s difficult… it’s a good question. It’s something we don’t really quite understand 100 per cent, but surely it has a lot to do with tyres, they behave quite differently race to race. I think we are improving, the car is improving, we’re putting downforce on the car at nearly every race so I think we’re moving in a positive direction.

    We’re coming up to the summer break and there’s a lot of talk about the driver market – as there always is at this point. Where do you think you stand with regard to staying at McLaren next season.

    KM: I can only do my best and hope that is good enough. Anyone at McLaren should feel that you have to deliver to your best to deserve to be there and that goes for me and Jenson as well.

    Kimi, the first question has to be how are you feeling after your accident at Silverstone, any after-effects and what happened?

    Kimi RAIKKONEN: Well, I crashed, I guess you saw it. No, I had some pain but it’s all fine.

    Just in your leg?

    KR: No actually it was in my ribs the most, that’s why I didn’t do the test, but it’s all gone away now.

    You’re 100 per cent now?

    KR: Yeah.

    Many things have not gone the way you expected them to this season in your rejoining Ferrari, but can you tell us what has gone the way you’ve expected it and what positives you’ve drawn so far?

    KR: We’ve been in every race at least. That’s what you expect at least. It’s been a difficult year, hopefully it will turn around at some point – it must, it cannot go much longer like this, it’s not fun. But this kind of thing has happened to me before and we always managed to turn it around, so I have a strong belief it will turn around. We have to just fix issues and get things as I want and I’m sure we can be back where we should be.

    Nico, coming to you: a new contract extension with Mercedes, congratulations on that, you also got married since we last saw you, but you’ve never been on the podium in Germany, I see from your record, so I guess that’s this weekend’s first objective. You’re still on top of the championship, just four points clear, but your team-mate Lewis Hamilton said that this is a ‘reset moment’ in the title race and that he’s been on the back foot all season. How do you see it?

    Nico ROSBERG: Yeah, it’s been a very exciting week for sure. We also became world champions, which was awesome. In terms of the championship, how do I see it? I just see it as the next race, which is Hockenheim. It’s our home race. I really look forward to driving here. I’m here to win, of course. I’m here to try to extend the championship leads. That’s where it ends for me. I’m really just looking at the moment, taking it race by race.

    As you say it’s been a great week for Germany on the sporting front. As a keen follower and friend of the national team is there a way you can harness some of that positivity into your challenge this weekend?

    NR: The effort of the team as a whole, how they all played together and everything was really great to see and that’s what won them the tournament I think, not any individual strength or anything. That’s what we’re trying to do as well, to really work well, everybody together, to really make the most of it. I think we’re also on the right track with that, in that respect, because to dominate the sport as we are doing at the moment, I think that indicates we work pretty well together as a team and of course there’s room for improvement but we’re going in the right direction.

    Adrian, you qualified 13th at the first race in Australia at the start of the year and 13that Silverstone. There seems to be some continuity there. If you look at the ultimate pace of all the cars, Sauber doesn’t seem to be progressing. Is that the way it’s seen internally and what’s the plan?

    Adrian SUTIL: Yes, more or less a consistent season but also a few changes and progress of course. I think the car is a better car compared to the first races but you can’t really see it in results. Nevertheless Silverstone was a bit better. You could see already in the free practice the car was a bit more competitive and also I think in qualifying in the rain we were closer to the top 10, which was good. We are still struggling sometimes with the tyres, especially with the hard compound, in the race, which slowed us down a lot. I can’t really say more. Of course we want to try to improve the situation. It’s not where we want to be but everyone in the factory is trying the maximum to improve that. It’s not an easy situation but we’re going to get out of it pretty soon.

    You’ve said several times that stability is the problem, that the car lacks stability. Can you elaborate on that and what plans are in place to fix that?

    AS: Well, the window is very small where the car operates and also the window when you are close to the limit, whether it stays on the line or is completely off – it’s easy to make a mistake with this car. So you need to have a lot of confidence in the car, you need to drive and learn as much as possible about the car behaviour to feel well. It’s getting better very race. But yeah, it’s a little diva to control. It’s just a situation like that so we try to make it more easy to drive. The stability is sometimes there, [then] you have a bit too much understeer in the other areas, so you are shifting the problem from one end to the other but it’s very difficult to get rid of the problem completely so this is where we are struggling most at the moment.

    Sebastian, obviously winner of the German Grand Prix last year, your first F1 win on home soil. Tell us about the feeling of racing here at home, especially with the country on such a sporting high at the moment?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, obviously last year was very special – I had been trying many times before, so it was definitely a good feeling to succeed. I think this year should be a very good weekend. Mostly good weather forecast and obviously the whole of Germany still has the German flags from the World Cup around, so it would be nice to see a lot of those on the track and get a little bit of that support as well here on the circuit.

    Obviously the battle with Fernando Alonso in Silverstone was one of the highlights of this season so far. There were quite a lot of radio messages from the pair of you at the time but looking back and thinking about it now, how much did you enjoy it?

    SV: Yeah, I probably enjoyed it more than I probably said after the race. I still think it took a little bit too long because obviously I lost quite a lot of time fighting him and couldn’t progress to probably finish higher up. But it was definitely very tight, it’s always very tight when you fight with Fernando, he’s very tough to overtake, he doesn’t give you a lot of room, but eventually I squeezed past, so for sure I was happy to finally overtake him on the track.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Ian Parkes – PA) Question to Nico. First of all, congratulations on becoming a married man. Secondly, you’ve obviously had to change your helmet design this week. You showed it off on Twitter with the World Cup on top of the helmet. I’ve spoken to FIFA and they’ve expressed their reason why you’re not allowed to have the World Cup: intellectual commercial property rights and all that. You’re obviously disappointed I guess, but can you understand their reasoning behind it?

    NR: All the things you have to think about, it’s amazing that even a trophy has its trademark or whatever, just sticking it on a helmet you know. That was a surprise but of course I fully understand. It was a pity as it looked really cool, with the trophy on top. Anyways, replaced it now with a big star and no-one can take that away. The star is ours.

    Q: (Graham Keilloh – F1Plus.com) A question for all the drivers. We all recall the incident at last year’s German Grand Prix with Mark Webber where a wheel fell off after a pit stop. In recent days there have been moves afoot for there to be a little bit of rowing back on the tough sanctions that were put in place following the Webber incident. I just want to know what each driver feels about more leniency for unsafe releases that may be coming in?

    NH: To be honest I didn’t really understand the question. I’ll pass it on to Kevin.

    KM: It’s good if us drivers don’t get points or penalties [that are] that harsh , as it’s not really our fault. Of course we are a team and we should be penalised somehow together but I think it’s good if it doesn’t just go to the drivers.

    Adrian, anything to add?

    AS: No.

    Kimi?

    KR: No.

    Sebastian, do you have a view?

    SV: I think it’s like going to prison for stealing a chocolate bar. I think it’s too harsh for the drivers, it’s more for the team. There’s not much you can do as a driver, but it is what it is.

    Nico?

    NR: Obviously it is one of the most dangerous situations for all of the people working in the pitlane you know. So definitely it should be harsh to try to avoid people doing that or things like that happening. We need to find the best way, what sort of penalties to do.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Kimi there has been a lot of criticism around you in the past few months. Do you feel that your position in Ferrari could be threatened next year or do you feel confident that you will sort your problems and that everything is going to be OK for the future?

    KR: Like I said, I’m sure we can fix them. How fast? I hope quickly but it depends on many things. I have a contract so I’m not worried about that for the future.

    Q: (Abhishek Takle – Midday) A question for Sebastian. Hockenheim obviously hold some special memories for you because this is where you watched your first Friday practice session. You won the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring. What would it mean for you to win here at Hockenheim, at some point in your career?

    SV: Well, I hope I can turn things around and that we can have a good race on Sunday and a good weekend in general. But of course we are not the favourites going into the weekend but there’s always a chance of winning. For sure, this circuit is very special to me because my home town is only 30 minutes from here, it’s where I grew up. I also started go-karting not far from here, just around the corner, so a lot of memories. I know a lot of people that work here, so it always feels like a second home. In that regard it would be nice. So definitely a very special place for me, special memories. The first car race I did was here in 2003, so yeah, it’s definitely one of the tracks I want to win at.

    Q: (Luis Fernando Ramos – Racing Magazine) A question for all drivers. Many teams will race without the FRIC system. Is there a feeling that this might change the gap between the teams significantly or not; that it will stay more or less the same, like it was before?

    NR: Everybody has it to some extent. It’s impossible to predict. For sure it can have some influence but we just need to wait and see what happens.

    Sebastian?

    SV: Well I said it is one of the things that obviously got banned now. I hope it brings the field closer to Mercedes but it’s difficult to say. All of the teams have been playing with it to some extent. How much it has an impact? I think it has to be seen this weekend and also probably next week in Hungary. After those two races I think you can have another judgement.

    Kimi, your thoughts on the FRIC suspension?

    KR: Yeah, I mean it’s the rule and obviously that decides if we can use it or not. It’s not in our car, I don’t expect it’s going to be a completely different world but until we run it, the cars, and see what the other teams do, it’s hard to say. I guess we’ll know a bit more after this weekend.

    Adrian?

    AS: I think… we hope… it will be better for us, that we are closer – but very hard to say, for sure. Some, they rely more on it, some less. Let’s see. After the weekend we’ll be wiser.

    Kevin, your thoughts.

    KM: Not much to say really. We ‘ll try to get the best out of the car without it.

    Nico?

    NH: It’s pretty much how Nico said, it’s really hard to predict if and how much people will lose due to it. It’s just a case of wait and see how much it impacts on different cars.

    Q: (Koen Verhelst – Media Group Limburg) A question for all the German drivers: where did you watch the World Cup soccer finals last Sunday and, in relation to that, how to you explain the success of Germany  both in Formula One at the moment and football and perhaps also in the economy?

    SV: I watched in on TV at home. I wasn’t there! Thank God they showed it. At home, with a couple of friends. I think the reason, it has been 24 years since we last won the World Cup. I hope that the next one doesn’t take 24 years again. I think we had a very strong team for the last World Cups as well and were very close to win. It’s good that we succeeded now. For the Formula One drivers, I don’t think there’s a particular reason. Obviously, for us, to some extent we’re the generation after Michael and Michael was a big inspiration, so for sure, when Michael made Formula One really a sport in Germany and made it big a lot of fathers with their sons went to the go-kart tracks and wanted to do like him. I think it’s chances, in the end, if you have a thousand kids trying rather than ten, the chances that one or two end up in Formula One are obviously a lot greater. The economy… I’m not a specialist – but I think we like to work.

    Adrian?

    AS: The same, I watched on TV at home. Very quiet. It was a great game, I think. Very exciting and both played very well. One minute the Germans were a bit better than the other ones and scored a goal. I think something to be very proud of. It’s great to see Germany being very happy about it. So many festivals and parties after it, so really, really good. Good mood in the air, so, great also for this weekend here, for the German Grand Prix. The drivers? I think it all started back in the 90s, probably. When Michael went into Formula One there was a big boom of racing in Germany – but also  a lot of car manufacturers are based in Germany, it’s a very strong country for cars, for technology in general – and they’re supporting young drivers from the early ages, especially BMW was involved for many years with the Formula BMW. That’s where I started the racing, I think also Sebastian as well and Nico. Most of the drivers took the step and went into Formula 3. So there are clear categories where you can go. Still, I think it’s very hard to say it’s a really good support because it’s so expensive. When I see the number for young kids coming up into racing, in go-karts you have to spend so much money, not having a real… let’s say you can’t be sure that you’re going to make it. So, even there. Football has a better structure behind. We could still improve it but Germany, for sure, it one of the leading countries and that’s great. They’re pushing it really hard.

    Nico Hülkenberg, anything to add.

    NH: I also watched it at home with some friends. I think we won because we had the strongest team and a great team spirit, a very clever coach. I think I agree with what Sebastian says about the drivers and why we have it strong now and the economy, I think is just German mentality and appetite to be strong in the economy.

    Nico Rosberg, your thoughts.

    NR: I watched it at my parents place, as is tradition in our family because my Mum is the biggest soccer fanatic in our family, so I watched it there with friends and went absolutely crazy when they scored. It was a great time. I agree with the others on the other parts.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Nico, last week Lewis was putting in doubt your true nationality about being German, real German supporter – and your helmet problem proves the opposite. How big is this… the pressure that Lewis is putting on you? Are you feeling it? Is it also big the pressure to have a championship that is open now completely, and to race at home and try to win this race?

    NR: On the media, I generally don’t read the media, so most of the time I don’t know what’s going on – but this I did know about it. I really don’t get into such things. Everybody’s free to have his opinions, and I was there anyway and it was more or less a joke discussion, so for me it’s not really relevant to discuss it in any way. Other than that, yeah, it’s a great battle between us. Every race it’s been us two fighting it out for the win. It’s fantastic – a tough battle also – but good. I’m sure it’s going to continue for a long time and it will be very close – and I look forward to the race here now in front of… it’s my second home race, I have Monaco and here. I’m very fortunate in that sense, I have two home races, and look forward to all the support and I really hope to do a fantastic job. It would be a great end to already the great times I’ve been having recently if I could win here at the German Grand Prix.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, do you remember having any heavier shunt than you had in Silverstone?

    KR: Yeah, probably I have had. Hopefully not too many more but it’s just part of the thing. It hurt a little bit but quite often you can have a quite slow accident and get badly hurt, so it’s not about that really, it was just an unfortunate thing. Nothing serious happened. It’s part of the sport.

    ends

  • Battle for driver’s championship delicately balanced as the season reached mid-way mark

    Hockenheim, (Germany), 16 July 2014: Following an enthralling Grand Prix at Silverstone, the 2014 Formula One Championship reaches its midpoint this weekend, with round 10 of the championship, the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim on Sunday.

    The Hockenheimring presents teams with a number of tricky challenges, especially in terms of this year’s new technology. While the long, power hungry, forest straights of the old circuit were consigned to history in 2002, the current layout, which see the cars reach over 280kph on three occasions in the opening section alone, continues to provide a stern test for powerplants. In F1’s last outing here in 2012 drivers were at full throttle for two-thirds of every lap, meaning that power units are likely to be severely tested here.

    Fuel consumption could also be a concern this year. Not only are cars at full throttle for long periods but the heavy braking needed for the hairpin and the twisty nature of the infield section mean that the circuit is a thirsty one. With drivers limited to 100kg of fuel for the race and a flow limit of 100kg/hour, clever race management could be crucial this weekend.

    That shouldn’t mean a lack of excitement, however. The track has two inviting overtaking points at the hairpin (Turn Six) and Turn Eight and with two DRS zones in place at the circuit for the first time, this year’s grand prix could prove to be action-packed.

    As the season reaches the halfway mark, the battle for the drivers’ title is delicately balanced. Lewis Hamilton’s win on home soil in Britain drew him to within four points of team-mate and championship leader Nico Rosberg. The German will be hoping to emulate his team-mate’s Silverstone feat and re-establish a gap at the top of the standings with a home win for himself and Mercedes. Hamilton, buoyed by his fifth victory of the season will be doing everything in his power to claim that home Silver Arrows’ win for himself.

    ends

  • We’ve got the greatest fans here; It’s you guys that spurred me on: Hami

    DRIVERS

    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    2 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Williams)

    3 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by David Coulthard)

    Lewis, congratulations. Your adoring fans. Your emotions must be running high right now. Your fifth win of the season. That equals your 2008 World Championship year. Now 27 grand prix victories, equalling Jackie Stewart. There’s only other Englishman in front of you with more wins – Nigel Mansell. So tell us about the emotions of today?

    Lewis HAMILTON: It’s very mixed at the moment, but just to see the support we have here… I could see everyone cheering us on through the whole race. We’ve got the greatest fans here. And today, just arriving today, it’s you guys that really spurred me on so thanks very much.

    Well it was a fantastic drive. You never want a competitor to drop out, but of course the battle is very hot between you and your team-mate Nico, so what was the emotion when you saw him have the issue?

    LH: At the beginning… he got quite a good gap at the beginning and I really just tried to look after the tyres. After that I utilised the tyres, was catching and we came out on the harder tyres and I was catching him at a second a lap at the time. I couldn’t believe I had that kind of pace. You never want to see a team-mate fall behind, we wanted to really work and get those one-twos, but at the end of the day I really needed this result so I’m very grateful for it.

    It was a great result. If I can move along to another man who has had a fantastic result. Third in Austria, second here at the British Grand Prix – you must be looking forward to Germany?

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, we are on the right way. Like I said on the team radio: one step more to go. The team has done such a good job. You see how quick the car is. It was behaving really well, it was really a pleasure to drive it. Still Mercedes is in front, but we are on the right way.

    Any scares out there this afternoon or was it running like clockwork? You did some great passes.

    VB: Yeah, there was some good stuff going on. I really enjoyed it. The plan was to come as high as possible, as high as the pace of the car is giving the possibility. I think as a team we made the most out of it. I have to say I feel sorry for Felipe, his 200th grand prix, a shame it ended like this.

    If I can just come across to Daniel Ricciardo. Congratulations on your third place. Australians have a good record around here?

    Daniel RICCIARDO: Yeah, they do! Obviously Mark enjoyed this track a lot, so it’s nice to be up here on the podium. It’s been a good circuit to me in the past, so really, really happy. We just held on at the end. I think one more lap would have been tough, Jenson was coming, but really happy with the podium.

    If I can just come back across to Lewis…

    LH: Where’s the gold trophy, man? This thing’s falling to pieces, look!

    You might want to speak to the sponsor. Lewis, do you know the points situation now at the end of race nine?

    LH: I assume we’re four points behind now. I think this weekend really just showed that, for one, you never give up. Yesterday wasn’t a case of giving up, I didn’t think I could do the lap, I was really shocked that the last sector was so fast. But coming here today I had my family with, just focused, the support from the fans, as I said, just spurred me on, and I really couldn’t have done it without them.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Lewis, many, many congratulations. Over the radio at the end of the race you said to the crew “I’m sorry about yesterday”. I guess your spirits were so down yesterday; they must be soaring now. But the race really was about the offset you had to Nico Rosberg and you were catching him in the middle stint of the race. Do you believe that without his problem you would have been able to pass him and how do you feel right now?

    LH: Yesterday was a really difficult day. Obviously you never think situations like that would come up the way they did and I really felt… I went away feeling terrible for the fans. They all turned up and there’s so much support here, I felt that I had let them down, not only them but the team and myself. Coming back today, trying to turn that serious emptiness and negativity into a positive today was really my priority. The support has been incredible this weekend. Just thinking of the history of this circuit, the great drivers that have won in the past… leading last year and not being able to see it through. It’s been since… 2008 since I had the win and I just feel very, very grateful for the opportunity. I honestly feel that I had the pace today. I was catching Nico in the first stint. I was able to extend my first stint longer than ever before. I was feeling pretty comfortable. Of course, you never want a team-mate to fall away, to win like that. I was looking forward to a wheel-to-wheel battle but I’m sure we’ll get many in the future.

    Well done. Coming to you Valtteri. From 14th on the grid to second at the finish, which is your best ever result in Formula One and your second consecutive podium, so brilliant effort. You did a one-stop strategy, which is a talking point, but surely the overtakes in the opening stint, there were so many of them – around the outside, around the inside – just tell us about your race?

    VB: Yeah we knew that this race could be good fun. We knew that we had a quick car. Maybe it was a bit surprisingly quick today, but since the first stint the pace was good, since the first lap. I was able to go through the field quite well. Of course, sometimes it needed a bit of risk, because it’s really important to get through quickly and not get stuck behind people, but I really managed to get well in position, where the pace of the car was. I’m just really, really happy with what we’ve been doing as a team. Again, the race pace shows we are really doing the right things and I’m very happy to be part of this.

    Well done. Completing a very happy podium is Daniel Ricciardo, in third place. For you strategy was the key as well. Like Valtteri you did one stop, you did something different, both you and your team-mate taking the hard tyre early on. Was the tyre deg much lighter than you expected today, was it a race where expectations were changing as the race went on?

    DR: Pretty much. We chose to restart on the prime. It didn’t seem like the best thing to do at first because we were really slow at the restart. Valtteri and Fernando got past me pretty easily and pulled away and I was coming on the radio basically saying “let’s see if we can try something a little bit different” as we didn’t really have the pace as we hoped, as we expected today. Once we came in for the option, we just ran and pushed pretty much for the whole stint. I didn’t intend on doing a one-stop when I started on that tyre but laps ticked off and we were still able to keep the pace. The team said “do you think you could do another 15-20 laps” and I was like “at the moment, yeah, I think we can”, so we stayed out and just held on at the end. It was awesome. I think all three of us had a bit of redemption on our plate today. It was a pretty dismal Saturday for us. I think we’re all pretty happy. This is definitely one of my best podiums this year.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Ian Parkes – PA) Lewis, not very often this season you’ve had family with you: you’ve pretty much kept yourself to yourself at various races but this weekend you’ve had your brother, your Dad, they were here today supporting you. They’ve said on TV how down in the dumps you were last night. How much help did they give you last night after what happened yesterday?

    LH: My family have been incredible. Last night, my Mum, my Dad, spent a lot of time with my Dad last night just talking it out. And my brother. And today I just said I needed them here today. Y’know? I just really wanted that support. I do come to the races on my own and I do generally do it on my own. I have my trainer with me. But I thought this weekend it would be nice to have them. At least today, as yesterday was such a difficult day.

    Q: (Sean McGreevy – CSMA magazine) Lewis, would you consider this one of your great, greatest, great wins and how does it compare to 2008?)

    LH: It doesn’t compare to 2008. It’s a different time, it’s a different experience. It’s still as special. Obviously 2008 was a much trickier race in a sense of being a completely wet track, everyone aquaplaning. Everyone being in the rain, everyone being soaking wet, it’s a different kind of experience that one. Today, I felt I earned it today. From the start some good manoeuvres and I really felt that I had the pace on Nico, I really was hunting him down like never before. I really was happy with the balance that I managed to get, even though I didn’t do the long run in P2. To say this is up there with all the greats… it’s my home grand prix, it’s my second win here and I’m very privileged to have even just had one, so I feel very humble to be up here today.

    Q: (Julian Harris – City AM) Lewis, do you think this can be a turning point for you? Nico was up here yesterday saying that he thought he had the momentum at the moment – but he also said momentum comes and goes. Can this give you the confidence and maybe even the peace of mind to push on and get the momentum back in your favour.

    LH: I came into this weekend saying it would great to really have that. I thought maybe the fans could be the wind in my sails to really change the direction and get the momentum. Obviously I’ve got the win today. I’ve got the points back. I’ve been chasing all year really, since I lost the points at the first race, and then I was chasing again after the previous DNF. It’s been very, very difficult. I was speaking last night, just comparing it to how difficult it is psychologically, it’s got to be something similar to the tennis players when they’re two sets down. It’s so hard to get your mind in gear, to get yourself back and not lose points from then on. And so the pressure is high but I really feel that now we’re back, kind of close and with the pace that I had today, I really feel that I can… just got to refocus for the next part of the season.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / National Speedsport News) Daniel, what was your mindset last night and this morning, knowing that you’re so far back and, often in races, when you start that that far back, like these two guys, you’re not going to finish in the top three?

    DR: Mindset was just… yeah… like it always is I guess when you’re out of position, just go for it, try and do something a bit different. Not much to lose. I knew we were a better car than eighth on the grid, so… yeah… I was a bit surprised during the first stint, even though we were on a different tyre, I was surprised not to be as quick.  We didn’t have much pace, so then it was ‘let’s try something different and make something work.’ Yeah, I was very hungry today. I like to think I always am but today I was pretty jacked up. So it’s nice to be up here.

    Q: (Nick Skeens – The Independent) Lewis, today Niki Lauda said he thought in some ways yesterday was a good thing because it gave you a motivation and a hunger that perhaps you would not have had. Would you agree with that?

    LH: No. I feel like I like I’ve… we’ve had four wins, now five wins, but I’ve had the four wins and I think my hunger is on a par with any other year that I’ve ever raced in – but yesterday was a real kick in the balls. I really had to pick up, pull up my socks and get on it if I want to win this world championship, and I can’t have situations like yesterday. The last two races I’ve easily had the pace to be pole position and I’ve not put it there. I’ve put it much further back, made it much harder for myself but now I’m going to try to rectify that for the future.

    Q: (Mike Doodson – GPweek) Lewis, you’re obviously very happy with the gold trophy [present on the platform]– but you seem to have been a bit unhappy with the sponsor’s trophy. Did I hear you say it fell to bits on the podium? And how did you come to get this one between the podium and here?

    LH: Well, yeah! This one’s a lot nicer. I mean, growing up watching Formula One, you see trophies like this. Real trophies, y’know? And the trophies that we have nowadays, whilst it’s a real privilege being on top of the podium, my one fell to pieces! The bottom fell off the one we just had. It’s plastic, it must cost ten pounds! It’s so bad. I might just get the plaque, which is probably the most expensive part of the trophy I think. Back in the day they really, really made the trophies. And this is the special thing about being on the podium and winning. These trophies mean – for me, I don’t know how it is for the other drivers – but this is what we have to show for our lifetime achievements. I hope we can get some better ones moving forwards.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – Universo Online) Valtteri, Friday morning you didn’t went to the track. Saturday morning also, only qualifying. You didn’t have miles in the track. Where you surprised at the beginning of the race when you started overtaking everyone with the performance of the car?

    VB: Yeah, definitely. Our prediction was Mercedes is going to be strong and also Red Bull, we thought, would be here a bit quicker than us in the race and Ferrari to be really close to our pace. So, we definitely knew that the position we were starting wasn’t going to be that easy to get into good points and we were not really thinking about the podium, we were just thinking about getting in the points and, yeah, definitely it was a positive surprise in the beginning of the race. The tyre life wasn’t really a limitation so we could do the strategy. Well, I have to say the strategy guys did a really good job today. We actually switched the strategy during the running as we saw the tyre wear was so low. Positive surprise. Really happy.

    Q: (Jussi Jäkälä – YLE) Valtteri, two podiums in a row. Does this show you and the team have learnt your lesson, how to score podiums. And is this maybe the start of a catch-up battle?

    VB: Well, we are definitely a stronger team than we were in, let’s say Melbourne, or the first few races. Difficult to compare even to last year or two years before. I think we are really getting stronger all the time. It’s not going to be easy to be on the podium in every race as I think this season is going to be quite a bit race-by-race but we are definitely on the right way and really happy to be part of this. Myself, I have been improving also all the time. Every race I aim to be a better driver and as a team we aim to be a stronger team every single race – and that’s what we’ve been doing.

    Q: (Haoran Zhou – F1 Express) Lewis, obviously the celebration after the race has been extraordinary. You managed to do a doughnut despite the strict restrictions on the engine and gearbox and you were singing – I’m not sure if you were singing or not but you obviously were feeling on top of the world. Can you share your emotions on the slowing down lap with us?

    LH: Yeah, it’s so difficult to really explain the feelings. When you feel like the world is crumbling beneath you, somehow with your family and friends, they help pull you through and also the fans. Yesterday, after qualifying, it looked so hard to… I really was almost speechless when I spoke to them, and it was no one else’s fault but mine. I was just so disappointed in myself. And then to get that result today, to really climb through… the team have just done an incredible job. Even coming into this weekend, the developments and improvements to our car, the balance. My engineers, who work so close to me, regardless of how well we do, they’re so supportive and having that good team of people round you really makes a difference. I did the doughnuts… yeah, I hope it doesn’t do anything to our gearbox but I know how much the fans love it here and so it was really important to try and do at least one but fingers crossed, it should be OK.

    Q: (Rosanna Tennant – Pole Position) Lewis, as media, we like to speculate on upcoming races as to who might win and who won’t win. Are you looking ahead, thinking next race Nico is going to have the home advantage, obviously Hungary was good for you last year? Do you look ahead through the season like that, blocking it out and perhaps where you might be stronger and work out the points?

    LH: I don’t. You look at the schedule and you see what tracks you know that suit you. Just going into Germany, to Hockenheim, I know whilst it’s Nico’s home Grand Prix, he doesn’t have even one eighth of the support us Brits get here. The fans are unlike anywhere else so I’m not worried in that sense. It’s a track where I won before, in 2008 I think it was. It’s a good track for me, so I think… I’m gonna use the pace that I have, because I have the pace. I’ve just got to put the damn laps together and when I do, then I think the opportunities will come in front of me.

    Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Association) Daniel, you’ve obviously become one of the most likeable guys in F1 I think it’s fair to say, but in denying – there’s that big beaming smile, thank you – but in denying JB’s (Button’s) long overdue podium here, do you perhaps feel like a bit of a villain for once?

    DR: It did cross my mind a little bit. I was thinking… especially in the last few laps, he was catching me pretty quickly at the end. I had sort of stabilised the gap a bit and then with four laps to go, I think my options were really suffering and he was coming, so I was thinking, yeah, probably for once I’ve got a lot of people booing me  and cheering on the local lad but obviously for me it was good. I think for him as well; they haven’t had a great season so a fourth is – yeah, it’s not a podium, but he’d still be fairly pleased with that result so hopefully we’re all happy.

    Q: (Kate Walker – crash.net) For all three of you, and it goes along the lines of momentum but not championship momentum. Obviously we had a fairly long delay after all you guys all made mega starts on the first lap. When you’ve got that one hour delay, what are you thinking? Are you worried that you’re going to lose the momentum that you picked up? What’s going on in your heads?

    LH: Yeah, I think it’s… We work very hard, I’m sure everyone is working so hard in preparation. You get in the car, do the start, you really gain the momentum and then the race stops and we had quite a long break. I went back to my room just relaxing, drinking, making sure I was having plenty of fluids and trying not to think of anything else. Yeah, it wasn’t alcohol. It isn’t easy but I managed to get back and start where I finished.

    VB: Yeah, it’s not easy, you know. There’s a break and you need to keep your focus in the race. You can’t really start to think about other things than the race so you just need to keep thinking about… forward: the restart, how to get your tyres warm, brakes warm, everything. You can always speak with the engineer. You just really wait, let the time go and all the time keep focused for the next moment.

    DR: It’s tricky when you don’t know how long the break’s going to be. The race was at one today, so you do all your preparation to sort of peak at one o’clock in terms of your energy and your focus so you get the race started and you feel your adrenalin and everything is where it needs to be and then it comes back down and I think the limbo of not really knowing when we were going to start again, it’s like do I still keep a high level of intensity or do I go and relax? When do I start to then warm up again? It’s a little bit tricky but at the same time it’s the same for everyone. It does break a little bit of momentum, I guess, but then it’s up to us and our trainers how we get it back and make sure we’re switched on for the restart.

    Q: (Paul Turner – South Wales Evening Post) Lewis, this victory, is this going to help you mentally for the next race or is it back to square one at the next race, you have to start again and plan all over again?

    LH: I think this is now, kind of… we’ll draw a line under that last nine races and now it’s attack mode, start again and now, utilising that pace and utilising the car’s pace. There are still some things we need to improve on. I wasn’t too worried about the time lost in the pit stop today as I knew the next one would be better. I’d been working on my position so I didn’t lose time in that but qualifying really – just getting myself back to my normal qualifying mode and that, I think, will be good.

    Q: (Rosanna Tennant – Pole Position) Daniel, we were talking about what you do before the restart; can you explain what you do with your trainer and the tennis balls?

    DR: We sort of change it a lot but it’s more to get the hand-eye co-ordination going. I guess everyone does something a bit different. Sometimes we use tennis balls just to get my hand-eye co-ordination switched on and make sure my reactions are there. We do some different drills with that. It depends as well on what… I don’t have a ritual routine as such but it depends on what I feel like doing before the race, but that’s something.

    Mercedes AMG Petronas team for Hamilton that is dishing out winners this season. An Mercedes AMG Petronas image
    Mercedes AMG Petronas team for Hamilton that is dishing out winners this season. An Mercedes AMG Petronas image