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Tag: formula 1
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Hamilton wins for the third consecutive time, Rosberg 2nd; Double points finish for Sahara Force India
Hamilton on Friday at Sepang. Photo by Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team Shanghai, 20 April 2014: Number 44. Lewis Hamilton gave himself a wonderful Easter presentation, a hattrick of wins in Formula One. A few months back before the last season, when he left a strong McLaren andn signed for Mercedes AMGj Petronas, many wondered if the Briton made a mistake chosing a team for money rather than being in the sport to win many more laurels. But the drivers have a sixth sense and that knack of moving to a team which has the potential to win races and that is exactly what happened. He may have been behind teammate, but he has the potentiall and knows what he is capable of… and he proved that this season despite his teammate German Nico Rosberg winning he first race in Australia.
Lewis Hamilton won the Chinese Grand Prix to notch up his 25th Formula One World Championship race to over take one great Niki Lauda and is only two races away to overtake one more legend Jim Clarke in the all-time greats list. Leading from pole to flag the Briton had an impeccable race.
He received the prize on the podium, had a sip of the champagne, after the rose wqter in Bahrain, and then unleashed it on him manager and teammate on the podium before turning to the pit babes for that hint of a pleasure, which he hid this year, with a more mature approach to his racing. Belief is something which keeps you going, he said in Malaysia and he is a more mature and calm in life than ever before. The third consecutive win, the first ever for the Briton in F1, looks good for him to take another World Drivers Championship.
He led the race, for a Mercedes AMG Petronas, one-two. After splashing the grid girls, he poured a bit of champagne on himself and then changed the hat. Pirelli always has the plrivilege of drivers wearing the Pirelli cap during the anthem, and when Hami switched to a Petronas cap, he graciously accepted the cap and the mike from the grid girl and then thanked the team during the podium interview.
For the record, Rosberg came second for the third time but still maintains his lead in the championship, with much lesser 4 point lead, nevertheless.
Ferrari got the first podium of the season with Fernando Alonso in third and both the Red Bulls lining up thereafter with Daniel Riccardio disappointed in not getting a podium. “I was expecting a podium,” he said. But he did beat the world champion Seb Vettel to fourth.
Force India once again did a brilliant job with both the cars finishing in the points. Nico Hulkenberg finished sixth and Sergio Perez came in 9th. So Sahara Force India stands third in the Constructors championship with Red Bull regaining the second place.
Kyvat got his third points finish in the season to take the last place behing Perez.
Kobayashi did an overtake in the fag end to gain a place for his team.
eom/david
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Hamilton masters wet qualifying for third pole position of the season
Shanghai, 19 April 2014: Lewis Hamilton marched to a dominant Chinese
Hamilton tops wet qualifying for his third pole this year. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image Grand Prix pole position at a rain-soaked the Shanghai International Circuit, finishing six tenths clear of Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull Racing, who in turn beat third-placed team-mate Sebastian Vettel by half a second.
“It was so slippery out there, trying to find the grip, obviously not making mistakes on your lap, and really putting it together, especially when you have these guys [Red Bull] pushing you,” he said of third pole position of the season so far. “It was a tough session. I really enjoyed it. The car was feeling great. It’s a good position for the race and I hope we can follow through tomorrow.”
Ricciardo edged closest to the Briton in the final moments of the session but the Australian admitted afterwards that he had not got the best out of the session.
“To be honest, I struggled a bit throughout the session, at least personally I didn’t feel like I was getting on top of the conditions,” he said. “But then the last set of inters, right at the end of Q3, we managed to get a bit more out of it and I put a good lap together, so pretty pleased to be on the front row. A good day.”
Vettel, meanwhile, finished just under five tenths behind Ricciardo and admitted that the Australian’s better record in qualifying so far was far from pleasing.
“Daniel is doing a very good job, he has not just had one good weekend, he had good weekends and so far he seems to be able to get the maximum out of the car,” said the defending champion. “On my side, maybe I’m struggling a little bit more, but at the end of the day we have the same car – there’s nothing between cars, so if he manages to beat me, then he beats me on the circuit, fair and square. Of course, that’s not to my liking but equally, I know that I have to do a little bit better.”
Steady rain at the start of the first made wet Pirellis the tyre of choice but as the 18-minute segment reached its final minutes a number of drivers gambled on a switch to intermediate rubber and as the Sauber drivers began to put in good sector times it looked the right move for those who might otherwise be bounced out in Q1.
Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne made himself safe by jumping to ninth place (which was eventually good enough for 11th) but Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez was the man caught out, the Mexican failing to improve enough. He was pushed to 17th and out of the session by Lotus’ Romain Grosjean. Behind Gutierrez, the Caterhams of Kamui Kobayashi (P18) and Marcus Ericsson (P20) and the Marussias of Jules Bianchi (P19) and Max Chilton (P21) were also eliminated. Pastor Maldonado, meanwhile, had already bowed out, Lotus unable to ready his car following the problems that caused him to stop on track during the morning’s final practice session.
Intermediates remained the tyre of choice in Q2 too, with all 16 remaining drivers opting for the green-banded Pirellis. The top of the table took on a familiar look as the Mercedes cars of Hamilton and Rosberg occupied first and third places respectively with the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo second and fourth. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso also looked solid, the Spaniard eventually taking fifth spot. Behind that quintet the battle for the remaining top 10 places was a fluid affair, largely dependent on the shifting conditions. Late in the segment, Vergne jumped to seventh spot with a good lap but he was the last driver to make a significant improvement and as the rain briefly intensified in the final minute, other failed to make a similar leap.
It meant that Nico Hulkenberg’s earlier lap of 1:58.847 was good enough to see him through in 10th spot, ahead of Felipe Massa, Vergne and the impressive looking Grosjean. However, out went the second Ferrari of Kimi Raikonen (P11), the McLarens of Jenson Button (P12) and Kevin Magnussen (P15), the Toros Rosso of Daniil Kvyat in 13th place and, suprisingly perhaps, the Force Indias of Adrian Sutil (P14) and Sergio Perez (P16).
The left the battle for pole and once again Hamilton was untouchable. The Mercedes driver posted a lap of 1:54.348 with his first run to take provisional pole, with Rosberg slotting into second spot ahead of the Red Bulls. Rosberg then attempted to put pressure on his team-mate but a brief lock-up put paid to that ambition. Ricciardo jumped into P2 with the first lap of his final run but Hamilton’s time of 1:53.864 was untouchable and the Briton claimed his third pole of the season.
2014 Chinese Grand Prix – Qualifying Result
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:53.860 21
2 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:54.455 23
3 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:54.960 23
4 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:55.143 22
5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:55.637 21
6 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1:56.147 24
7 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1:56.282 24
8 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1:56.366 23
9 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Renault 1:56.773 23
10 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1:57.079 2211 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:56.860 17
12 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:56.963 17
13 Daniil Kvyat STR-Renault 1:57.289 18
14 Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 1:57.393 17
15 Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 1:57.675 17
16 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1:58.264 1717 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1:58.988 10
18 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 1:59.260 10
19 Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 1:59.326 10
20 Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 2:00.646 10
21 Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 2:00.865 10
DNQ Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault No time 0eom/FIA release
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F1, the foremost single-seat racing, should be in the forefront of technology, says Charlie Whiting
TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Pat FRY (Ferrari), Charlie WHITING (FIA), Yasuhisa ARAI (Honda), Andy COWELL (Mercedes AMG HPP), Rob WHITE (Renault Sport F1)
PRESS CONFERENCE
If we can start with you Charlie? The new power units have excited a lot of debate since the beginning of the year. Will you once again briefly take us through the philosophy behind this technology and why F1 believes it was the right time to introduce it?
Charlie WHITING: I think it was fairly clear, we’re going back a little while now, that Formula One, being the foremost single seat category, should be at the forefront of technology. I think bit was also clear at the time that the motor manufacturers were also looking towards conservation. So we felt we had to go that way. I think to ignore that would have been rather silly. I think we would have possibly lost some manufacturers and certainly deterred others from coming in.
I guess efficiency plays a part in that as well?
CW: Of course that was the major goal. We started four years ago with the engine manufacturers. We had quite big meeting with lots of them assembled in Paris. It was the 27th of April, in fact, in 2010. We assembled them all together and the initial goal was to have a 50 per cent increase in efficiency but over a period of time that became diluted somewhat because it appeared that was rather ambitious for the start of this new engine era. So we ended up with what we have now and that is an engine that everyone can see is about 35 per cent more efficient than the previous engines.
So, Andy Cowell, does that represent a small step in the right direction or a giant leap?
Hamilton tops timesheet in FP2 at Shanghai on Friday. An Mercedes AMG Petronas image Andy COWELL: It represents a giant leap – going from internal combustion engines, naturally aspirated at about 30 per cent thermal efficiency up to engines where we’re all targeting 40 per cent thermal efficiency is a huge step, a huge introduction of new technology both on the internal combustion engine for efficiency and also on the two energy recovery systems that we’ve got on the power unit.
What do Mercedes expect to get from this project in terms of technology that can be eventually transferred to the road? Is that a long way in the future or is it already happening?
AC: It’s already happening. The regulations were specifically written to take some of the ideas are already in the road car world, so downsizing, downspeeding and turbocharging but adding some new, interesting technologies in there such as the electric turbocharger as a specific example and those sort of projects are already being worked on.
Can I ask the same question of Rob White. What does Renault expect to get from this project in terms of road cars.
Rob WHITE: It’s a big leap, as Andy says. I share the remarks that transfers are already happening. The transfers are not only specific technologies, the e-turbo being one of them, but also the fundamental alignment of the mission we have. Our challenge now is to race, to go as fast as we can with the given fuel allocation, which is a very, very similar mission to our road car colleagues who have to use the smallest amount of fuel to get a given mission done and that’s extremely close.
There’s been quite a lot of talk about how the power units are contributing to racing and we’ve heard some unusual suggestions for things might be changed. Firstly, do you think there are problems with the racing this year? Secondly, what do you think of ideas such as shortening races, raising fuel limits etc. Do those suggestions miss the point?
RW: The main problem I see so far is that Andy has won rather more than I’d like and we have win less than I’d like. The specific suggestions are just shifting the goalposts rather than doing anything fundamental and I think as Charlie indicated the basic parameters that we’re now racing with were decided well upstream in sufficient time that we knew what to do with them. I honestly feel that the numbers were well judged and I think the 100kg/h fuel limit and the 100kg for the race, as well as having the benefit of being nice round numbers, also play out more or less as predicted in terms of the level of performance and the level of fuel saving needed to get to the end of the race. I think we’ve seen in the early races that there hasn’t been an excessive amount of fuel saving that would perhaps have damaged the show. I think we’ve seen more recently, particularly in Bahrain… We all enjoyed the race there, it was the first one I saw from the comfort of my living room and it was certainly an exciting one to watch.
Now we’ve heard from two of the manufacturers currently involved in F1 but let’s get the thoughts of a manufacturer that will next year return to the sport after six seasons away? Thank you very much Mr Arai for coming to our press conference. What is it in the new regulations that has encouraged Honda to come back into Formula One at this time?
Yasuhisa ARAI: Thank you very much. I am delighted to be here and to be given this opportunity by the FIA to speak at this conference. As you mentioned we will return in the year 2015 for the Formula One. One of the major reasons for our decision was the new regulation introduced this year and that the various environment… I mean green technologies in the new Formula One power unit, as well as the total energy management are both very challenging and significant. The new regulation encourages each power unit supplier to pursue the ultimate combustions efficiency and high pressure direct injections, such as many, many new technology. Thus the challenge is to convert each unit of gasoline into energy and this is expected to be reflected on the huge production mode. That’s the reason why.
Q: You’re setting up a new base at Milton Keynes in the United Kingdom. What will that facility be responsible for in the coming years?
YA: That, we will open June this year. Now still under construction but that factory is to do the engine maintenance for the races and rebuilding the Formula One engine and also to go to the race-track for the trackside service. That’s Milton Keynes.
Q: Pat, as someone more responsible for the chassis side of things at Ferrari, let’s talk about how you integrate these new power units with the cars. Have you found that the chassis and engine departments have needed to work closer together this year or is the relationship pretty much the same as always?
Pat FRY: I think with the changes to the power unit this year, there’s obviously a huge amount more technology to understand and that has definitely pulled the chassis department and the engine department closer together. That starts everywhere from the simple, basic simulations that you do before an event to tuning the car. Everything is now inter-related. So where you used to play with a diff and brake balance and whatever, you’ve now got all the various ERS levels of charging and deciding what to do with waste gates and turbos. So there’s a huge amount more interaction between the two groups.
Q: Has the engine department given you a power unit on the minimum weight or are you having to shed weight from the car?
PF: We’re fairly close to the weight limit. I’m sure everyone is struggling. The combination of an engine on the weight limit and just all the bits and pieces we want on a standard car, it’s quite a challenge to get down to the weight limit anyway. But yeah, we’re just on that limit.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Question to Andy and Rob and Mr Arai if you would like to contribute as well please: Andy, you were talking about 40 per cent efficiency. Now, we’ve got relatively immature technology at the moment. What sort of progress in terms of efficiency do you engine manufacturers foresee over the seven-year lifecycle of these engines?
AC: It’s a difficult one to predict. We’re working hard to improve the efficiency of the internal combustion engine, make sure that every single drop of fuel that goes in… and that’s where working with Petronas helps tremendously to get us to the point we’re at today and to move forwards race by race with fuel developments. And then it’s just mastering the conversion efficiencies – so every single step where we’re converting the energy, just improving little by little and then with a new power unit homologated next year. I guess I’m not coming up with a prediction for exactly how much we’re going to improve year by year – but I imagine it’s going to be very similar to when we were in the naturally-aspirated era, where there were times when we thought 13,000rpm was impressive and we all ended up well over 20,000rpm. So it’ll be a similar level of development.
Rob?
RW: I think Andy was cautious when saying 40 per cent. I think to be competitive you need to be a bit better than 40 per cent already. I think we shouldn’t underestimate just how important that is in terms of automotive technology. I think these power units are fantastic pieces of kit in terms of the raw, thermal efficiency that is achieved. Better than any road car engine by a margin. And I think it’s also important to draw attention to the fact that the energy management challenge is also part of the real efficiency of the race car which is in addition to the thermal efficiency of the power unit. There will be rapid progress even during the course of this year. We’ve seen progress in the early races without any change to the underlying hardware. That’s something that will continue during the season. That’s something that will take another step forward over the winter – as Andy as suggested – when we homologate a new version of the power unit for 2015. This is another mirror-image of what happens in the big, wide world outside, where every iteration of our road car product brings with it a significant step forward in fuel consumption, which of course is the same thing for us: a step forward in performance for the same fuel flow or fuel limit.
Mr Arai, would you like to comment or is it a bit too early for you to make any predictions.
YA: There is a strange feeling because our door for 2015 is still not open yet. So I can make just a small comment. How to make the good efficiency is just a three major fields. Technology fields. One is combustion itself – combustion chamber design, another one is how to recover the energy, that’s very important for these new regulations and finally the torque management. Positive and negative torque management is very important to make a good, fast car. That’s my comment.
Q: (Gary Anderson – Autosport) As you were saying Andy, revs, that’s always been the push, everybody wanted to get more revs, more revs, more revs. This year the regulation maximum is 15,000 but on a good day you might see twelve. Do you see that changing, and if it did change do you see that helping the noise?
AC: You’re correct with regard to the revs that we’re running on the track. I don’t see that changing, I don’t see the need for the revs to change to change the noise of the power unit. The principal reason why the engine is quieter is the turbine wheel and the muffling effect that you get from that. That’s one of the key technologies for recycling the waste energy that would normally go down the tailpipe so it’s a key aspect of the technology that we’ve got. There are other things we can do though with the tailpipe, perhaps, to change the noise.
Q: (Gary Anderson – Autosport) Could I just add a second part: why is it 12,000 rpm instead of 15,000rpm?
AC: The fundamental reason is the fuel flow rate formula so you get the 100 kilograms per hour once you’re at 10,500 rpm. If you rev an engine faster, you generate more friction and friction is the enemy of an engine and the enemy of a race car because you have to reject it to the radiators and there’s then an aerodynamic deficit from doing that. None of us want to be below 10,500 rpm but none of us want to be at high revs because all you do is create heat.
RW: There’s not much to add. The fuel flow curve, the fuel law is the thing that fixes the engine speed as Andy indicated. We hear a little bit less about the slope below 10,500 than the maximum which is 100 kilos but it is that knee point that fixes the rpm at which the engines make the best power and best efficiency and the engine speed above that is to do with the spread needed to pass the gear ratios.
Q: (Marc Surer – Sky Germany) It’s in a similar direction, my question for the motor engineers: what can you do to increase the noise? There’s a lot of talk about it but I haven’t heard a solution yet.
RW: First thing to say is that the noise of the current engine is a consequence of the overall layout, the architecture and so forth. I think in terms of the possible adjustments to change the noise it makes, I think we’re at the beginning of a consultative process that will kick off in about an hour’s time. Andy’s alluded to tail pipe changes – that’s something that could be a way to go. I think the scope to fundamentally and profoundly alter the noise of the engines is extremely limited by the type of technology that we have deployed and therefore I think we need to be realistic about the scope of any action that we might take but of course we’re sensitive to the subject and we’ll certainly participate in any of the studies that might lead to actions being taken.
PF: I think the engine people in the room know the problem a lot more than I do. I think what Andy said about… you’ve got the turbo there to try and take all the energy that we can out, so it’s always going to be quieter. There’s a round of meetings starting today, in fact, that will discuss and try and work out how to improve the situation.
Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Mr Arai, if we have a look at Mercedes, they’re supplying their own team and three customers. Renault are doing four customers; Ferrari are doing one plus two. Next year, you’ve got McLaren. Could you give us some insight into your plans for both 2015 and thereafter in terms of customer teams, whether your relationship with McLaren actually permits that, please?
YA: So, for year 2015, McLaren is our only customer. I don’t think about the future, because we want to concentrate on next season.
Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) I understand your philosophy there but surely you must have done costing and recovery against the units and that must surely include some sort of sale or customer-type project or do you not have any plans for customers at all?
YA: Of course we want to have good results next season and see the results from other manufacturers. Please chose our power unit for next season. If teams want to use our engine or power unit, we can deliver after year 2016 but right now there are no plans.
Q: (Gary Anderson – FOM) Rob, it’s been fairly well documented that you obviously haven’t started the season the way you intended to. Do Renault need any concessions from other manufacturers or the FIA, to do the improvements that you need or are you happy to work within the regulations and do what you’re allowed at the moment to catch up?
RW: I think the first thing to say is that the technical and sporting regulations are the same for all the engine suppliers. We knew what we were getting into and we’re in it now. We’re not lobbying for any regulatory change. I think that for the time being our priority is to continue the recovery actions that we’ve put in place and I expect to pursue that over the course of this season.
Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Question to Charlie: the rules allow changes to the engines if it is for reliability, cost-saving and safety. But let’s say if you do a change for reliability reasons and you make a certain component stronger, isn’t that – let’s say – automatically gaining horsepower through the back door?
CW: I think that the system that we have now is the same as it’s been since 2006. If an engine manufacturer asks for changes for reliability, we always assess that, we always try to see if there is a possible – as you put it – back door route to get more performance but we are absolutely confident that the changes that we’ve allowed so far this season are purely for reliability and we also have the fall-back of consulting all the other engine manufacturers so if we agree to some changes for reliability and we then circulate it among the other engine manufacturers, they have the opportunity to highlight any potential back door treatment, as you put it.
eom/FIA transcript of Friday Press Conference
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Hamilton overcomes morning issues to top afternoon timesheet
Shanghai, 18 April 2014: Mercedes driver overcomes morning issues to top afternoon timesheet ahead of Fernando Alonso in the Free Practice 2 at here on Good Friday.
Hamilton tops timesheet in FP2 at Shanghai on Friday. An Mercedes AMG Petronas image Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time of Friday’s second practice session ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix, finishing a tenth ahead of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, despite the Briton complaining at the end of the session that “something’s not right with this car”.
In the morning session Hamilton had been hampered by rear suspension problems and work to fix the issues restricted the Mercedes driver to his garage for the first half hour of the afternoon spell. Once on track, however, Hamilton, using the soft tyres, eclipsed Fernando Alonso with a first run lap of 1:38.315 to claim top spot.
“It was quite a difficult day today as we missed some of this morning’s session which put us on the back foot slightly, but we were glad to get some laps in the second session at least,” said Hamilton. “We’re not too happy with the balance of the car at the moment, so we need to go and work on that. This circuit is particularly hard on tyres, as it has been every year, so we need to be prepared for that. A few of the other teams look to have improved in terms of pace, which is great as it means we will have a fight.”
Whether the fight will come from Ferrari remains to be seen. Alonso’s times were certainly impressive given where the team was a fortnight ago, but they carried with them a hint of showboating, with the team’s new boss Marco Mattiacci present for the sessions. Alonso, though, professed himself happy with his day’s work.
“We have brought some small updates here, which we already tried at the Bahrain test,” he said. “Everything worked well and that’s good news. Leaving aside the performance of the others, I am happy with what we have done today. At every race, all the teams bring something new and we must try and make an additional step forward if we want to be competitive.
“This track is particularly tough on tyres, with the Softs especially suffering from graining over a long run, so it will be important to work out the tyre plan for Sunday,” he added. “If it rains tomorrow, we will definitely have less information for the race and we will have to rely on guesswork. Let’s hope we make the right choices.”
Nico Rosberg was third for Mercedes with a time of 1:38.726, four tenths of a second behind his team-mate, while Daniel Ricciardo took third spot ahead of team-mate Sebastian Vettel, the Australian finishing two tenths clear of the world champion.
Behind the Red Bulls, Felipe Massa was sixth for Willams, with the second Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen seventh. McLaren’s Jenson Button was eighth, ahead of Romain Grosjean in a much-improved looking Lotus. Tenth place went to Toro Rosso rookie Daniil Kvyat who finished a tenth ahead of 13th-placed team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne.
2014 Chinese Grand Prix – Free Practice 2 Times
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:38.315 25
2 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:38.456 0.141 28
3 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:38.726 0.411 30
4 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:38.811 0.496 30
5 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1:39.015 0.700 31
6 Felipe Massa Williams 1:39.118 0.803 25
7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:39.283 0.968 25
8 Jenson Button McLaren 1:39.491 1.176 29
9 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:39.537 1.222 36
10 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:39.648 1.333 26
11 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:39.736 1.421 30
12 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 1:39.744 1.429 29
13 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:39.759 1.444 28
14 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:39.830 1.515 25
15 Sergio Perez Force India 1:40.124 1.809 32
16 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:40.359 2.044 32
17 Adrian Sutil Sauber 1:40.395 2.080 30
18 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:40.455 2.140 12
19 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:42.327 4.012 27
20 Max Chilton Marussia 1:43.473 5.158 30
21 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham 1:43.530 5.215 32
22 Marcus Ericsson Caterham 1:43.679 5.364 32eom/FIA release
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F1 is now dominated by the car and how quick the car can be: Sergio Perez
DRIVERS – Adrian SUTIL (Sauber), Sergio PEREZ (Force India), Esteban GUTIERREZ (Sauber), Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing), Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes), Fernando ALONSO (Ferrari)
PRESS CONFERENCE
Daniel, some bad news earlier on at the start of this week for you, what was your reaction to that?
Daniel RICCIARDO: Obviously a little bit disappointed but at the same time I had moved on already. I think Sunday night in Melbourne the damage was already done and I went from a big high to a pretty big low, so I’d sort of already moved on. I hoped but didn’t really expect too much to come from it. So that’s it. I’m here now in Shanghai and that’s it. There’s no more ifs or buts, it’s here, I have 12 points and i just have to play catch-up.
Fernando, it’s also been an interesting week for you with some interesting news from the team.
Fernando ALONSO: Yeah, there has been some news from the team and we’re here to try to improve the situation a little bit, be a little bit more competitive, more than we have shown in the first three races. We’re here to fight back.
Is that slightly unsettling for you?
FA: I think we need to be honest with our situation. It’s not where we wanted to be. I think there is a lot of room to improve. We need to become better in all the areas from the car. There is a long way to go, the championship is very long and we know that probably in the first (part) of the championship we will not be as competitive as Mercedes or some of the teams that now they are on top but as I said we need to maximise what we have in our hands now, try to score as many points as possible and hopefully we can be very competitive later in the season.
Lewis, a fantastic race for you in Bahrain and an interesting quote from you saying it was a “real racer’s race”, using the skills that you had acquired as a karter. Are we going to see lots more of that and have you had a look at the race and seen what was happening all the way down the field?
Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, it was quite an exciting race, I got to spend some time at home with the family at the weekend and we watched the highlights. Yeah, it was quite interesting to see the duel between each team and between team-mates. As I said it was a bit more like a go-kart race. Whether or not it will always be like that… that was a great race, I hope there are more races like that through the year.
It was always interests me, as a karting dad, as I have been, when you guys start talking about karting and how it is the purest form of racing. It’s extraordinary that you can race like that, almost like a karter, in a Formula One car.
LH: Yeah, it is. You don’t see it too often. Obviously in karting you don’t have downforce, you just have mechanical grip, so it is more exciting in general. But to have the staggered tyres, difference between different cars enabling that racing in the last race was quite unique.
Well any time you like; we’d like some more of it. Esteban can I come to you now? First of all, you said this was one of your best races last year. Obviously we saw you end the last race in not the best way and hopefully there is no lasting damage but tell us about this race from your point of view.
Esteban GUTIERREZ: Well, yes it was very challenging, especially as the performance at the moment is not where we want to be and this puts everything in a very difficult position. The whole team is really pushing very hard, we are trying to recover our pace and to really be where we belong and where we are aiming to. We have a great team behind and everyone is pushing very hard to achieve that very soon, hopefully very soon.
And you were perfectly alright the next day after the crash?
EG: Yeah definitely. Nothing happened. This was the most important thing on the weekend and on the incident as well, apart from really actually what happened. Afterwards it was just necessary to do all the check up and be sure that everything was fine.
Q: Sergio, obviously an excellent race for you in Bahrain as well. What is it that’s making Force India so competitive at the moment?
Sergio PÉREZ: It was a great race for the team as well. Nico finishing fifth, a lot of points, second in the Constructors’ so it’s a big motivation for the team. Right now we are maximising every opportunity that we are having. I had a little bit of a difficult start of the season, I struggled in Malaysia with some issues. We managed to come into Bahrain and do a great job and I think right now we have a good package with Mercedes but I think as well the car. We’re beating all the other Mercedes engine [customers], so we’re doing a good job as a team, we are maximising what we have and hopefully we can… we come into a different challenge here in China, very different track to Bahrain so I think it will be a good target for us to try to do as good as we did in Bahrain. It will be a big challenge for us here.
Q: Adrian, I think there’s quite a few areas that Sauber have to improve. Did you make some progress at the test? What are the areas still to work on?
Adrian SUTIL: Yes. A little progress has been made at the test with the test drivers in Bahrain, so it was quite conclusive. Of course at the moment we are far too slow. Not really enjoyable but we are looking ahead. It will get better. It’s just a question of time. We need to be a bit patient. So, for here, there are a few things changed already. So, I’m quite excited to see how the car will be. But our plan, especially for the next races going to Europe and going to Barcelona and on, the car should definitely be a different one to drive. It’s not only one area, quite a few areas of the car. It’s the power unit, it’s the weight – and I’m fighting also personally a little bit here and there. It will get there and as soon as we do progress every race weekend, I’m happy. Fingers crossed it’s going to happen very soon.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) Fernando, the new team principle of Ferrari, Marco Mattiacci has no experience related to Formula One. Could it be an issue in your opinion, or not?
FA: Well, I think we need to give him time and try to see how he settles down. It’s too early to say if, y’know, it will be a very good thing or very bad. I think we need to make sure he has all the facilities ready, all the technical stuff ready, all the team behind him, try to help him settle down as fast as possible. And, yes, try to put him in a condition to feel comfortable from day one. I certainly hope… we are really hoping it will be a successful managing of the team and everyone is looking forward.
Q: (Kate Walker – Crash.net) A question for all six of you. We’ve heard an awful lot about this year’s technology and how it’s changing the future of Formula One. Looking further ahead, how do you see the role of the driver evolving as the technology becomes more complex?
FA: I think it’s going to be pretty similar to what we saw in the last couple of years. Drivers still have an input on the result and developing the car – but as we know Formula One is a category that is dominated by the performance of the car, in a way. We saw in Bahrain also in the last couple of laps, they were fighting two team-mates, two team-mates, two team-mates until the tenth or twelfth position. It’s difficult to get away from that order. It has been more or less like this in the past. I don’t see any big difference. Probably it’s a little bit more extreme now with all the technology as you said. In the past there were some strange cases in races like Monaco or things like that, maybe a midfield car could fight for a podium etcetera. In this last couple of years it’s difficult to see that but, y’know, you take it or you go in another category. It is what it is.
Sergio?
SP: I fully agree with Fernando. I think you are as good as your car. The level your team is and the performance your team has. We’ve seen it in the past. Drivers changing teams and sometimes you can be in a very good team and show very strong potential, win some races. Sometimes you don’t even go into the points – and it’s related to the level of the car. But I think the drivers still have a big influence on the development and the result but it’s a factor now that Formula One is dominated by the car and how quick your car can be.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – Universo On Line) Fernando, what were you celebrating at the end of the last race as you took the chequered flag and took your hand out of the cockpit and punched the air?
FA: Yeah, I was saying thanks to the mechanics. I said it a hundred times after the race also. They’d been working hard on Saturday. As you know, we had a problem on the engine side, on the power unit that slowed us a little bit in Q1, Q2 and then furthermore in Q3. We didn’t have the solution for the problem, even on Sunday at 12 o’ clock so we still were not completely sure that the car was perfectly OK and then in the race, we had everything in place – they did a fantastic job so when we crossed the line, they were on the pit wall saying hallo and I said hallo to them.
Q: (Luigi Perna – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Fernando, it was quite shocking, the replacement of the team principal after three races. I don’t know if you agree but in your opinion, is that enough to solve the problem – to save the season – or not?
FA: Well, I think we need to assess what Stefano decided. He was probably not any more in the mood to continue and with the feeling of taking the weight on his shoulders. He made a very responsible move. It’s not easy, when you have a very privileged position in one Formula One team to be able to step back and to say ‘maybe it’s better to move’. But he did it, just for Ferrari’s interest and improvement so that’s something that we cannot forget and now we have to respect that decision. From that point, for sure, it’s not that in this race we will improve one second, because I don’t think Stefano was doing the front wing or the rear wing or whatever by his hands, so probably we need to wait a little bit of time and see what we can improve and try to help all the team with the new people coming to make us a little bit stronger and try to get back some of the success from the past.
Q: (Qian Jun – Oriental Morning Post) To all of you, this year the FIA has introduced a penalty point system. After just three Grands Prix, Jules Bianchi has four points and Pastor has three points. Do you think anybody will reach 12 points this season, and what’s your opinion on this regulation?
AS: I think it’s OK. I’m not sure if anyone will reach the full 12 but after three races, having four, then he should reach it very soon. Let’s see how it’s going to be. Most important is that there was a change from last year because there were at certain times some penalties, especially for the backmarkers, which were not doing anything. If you’re last and you get a ten place penalty you’re still last and that’s it. This is a little bit different and I think there was a reason why it should be changed and now we need a little bit of time to see if it is working. I hope so.
DR: Yeah, I think you reach 12 if you’re a bad boy but yeah, I think this system is OK. It’s trying to keep us in line, really, so if it helps then yeah.
EG: I think it’s a good system. It puts some conscience on ourselves to not do wrong moves and to respect each other and to race in a fair way, which is how racing should be.
Q: (Luis Fernando Ramos – Racing Magazine) To Lewis and Fernando, as World Champions. We will have the 20th anniversary of Ayrton Senna’s death in a few weeks. I wanted to ask what are your memories from that day and if Senna was the driver that you most looked up to when you were in karting in those days?
LH: Yeah. For me, it’s not unknown, I always comment on it: when I was a kid I had all the books, all the videos, he was the driver I looked up to, way before I even started racing. He kind of inspired me to even be a driver and of course, on the day of his passing, his death was… it was very difficult for me to show my emotions in my family so I went off to a quiet place and it was very difficult for several days to really… your hero’s gone. But an incredible legend; you can still learn things from how he approached racing and how he drove. You like to think that one day you may be recognised as someone that was able to drive similarly to him.
FA: Yeah, the same for me: he was an inspiration. I remember some of the races that we could see in the news in Spain, because we didn’t have the TV coverage of Formula One, but yeah, I remember I went to school – on my book, I didn’t have (pictures of) girls, obviously I was too young to have girls on the book but I had Ayrton there and the same in my room. I had a big poster of Ayrton and even my first go-karts were in the colours of Ayrton’s McLaren because my father also liked him. It was a very sad moment. I know there is something happening at Imola in Italy in the next weekends and I intend to be there, just to be close on this unfortunately important day.
Q: (Jerome Bourret – L’Equipe) Fernando, have you already had a discussion with your new team principal about the things you would like to change in the team and if not, what are the points you would like to discuss with him?
FA: No, I haven’t had the chance… I don’t know if he’s coming here, I guess so, so it would be a good time to welcome him. I don’t really have much to say. I drive the car. He will be good enough to recognise what are the weak areas of the team, what are the strong areas of the team and hopefully improve them. I think that as drivers, we will try to drive as fast as we can, Kimi and I, and try to help him in whatever field our help is required.
Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) Fernando, you’ve worked and driven under a variety of team principals in Formula One. Where would Stefano Domenicali rank amongst your other team bosses and what do you think Ferrari will miss most about him?
FA: I think that Stefano was a great man, first of all. I’m a close friend of his, not just on the circuit. We ski together every January 1st in Italy in the mountains. We still have a close relationship. We’ve been talking all the week long. I think that will continue, because we have known each for many years and we have worked very closely for this couple of years, so that’s important, to separate work from friendship. Then, as a team principal, I think he made good choices, good things. Obviously we missed opportunities in 2010, in 2012. They missed opportunities in 2008 with Felipe (Massa). If not, he could probably have three championships in his pocket. I think he brought in Pat Fry, he brought James Allison, Raikkonen, so I think all the things that people ask from him he was giving to them, probably, as I said, the results in the sports are important and the pressure at Ferrari is also quite big, so he made his decision which we respect and we will try to move forward in different directions but try to move forward. I’m happy with the time that we passed together.
eom
Drivers at the Thursday FIA press conference in China. A Sahara Force India image -
It’s a dream start to the season because of Team’s dedication: Vijay Mallya
Team Principal, Dr Vijay Mallya, talks about the team’s podium in Bahrain and his hopes for theFile photo of Sergio Perez on podium at Bahrain. A Sahara Force India image Chinese Grand Prix.
Vijay, how satisfying was the race in Bahrain?“I was very pleased to finally achieve that elusive podium. We’ve been close a few times in the last few years, but everything came together perfectly in Bahrain. I think it’s a reflection of the talent and the passion of this team, and the fact that we have excellent teamwork. There’s a great amount of dedication in all areas of the company and a single purpose in mind for everyone. We’re second in the constructors’ championship, which feels pretty special. I know we’ve only had three races, but nevertheless it’s good to be up there. Forty four points out of three races, it’s the dream start we were hoping for.”Sergio and Nico battled against each other for most of the race – how did it feel to see them racing so close together?“There were certainly a few anxious moments! I was asked a lot in Bahrain whether there were any team orders, but we preferred to let our drivers race and compete with each other. They both raced hard, but fair. In the final part of the race we saw great teamwork as Nico held back the charging Red Bulls who had the advantage of soft tyres. Ricciardo did eventually get ahead, but Nico helped Checo escape up the road and build a gap. So I was very proud of my drivers; they were outstanding in the race. They both deserved a podium, but in the end it went to Checo. After the tough weekend he had in Malaysia, it’s a great morale boost for him.”The team travels to China next – can we expect a similar level of performance?“I think we’ve shown in the first few races that we have produced a competitive car. Bahrain was not just a one-off and we’ve been improving with each race. In Australia we were sixth, in Malaysia fifth and then third and fifth in Bahrain. As I’ve said, it’s our best ever start to a season, which always gives me a great sense of satisfaction, but we won’t sit back; we are always trying to improve. The aim is to repeat the podium, but each race is different and the field is so competitive that it’s impossible to predict. Some tracks will suit us more than others but I want to see us up there fighting towards the front.”Driver’s View: Sergio PerezSergio Perez hopes for another competitive weekend in China.Sergio, it has been a week since your podium in Bahrain, sum up your feelings…“To get the podium in Bahrain was great. My last podium was a long time ago so to fight at the front again feels good. We knew we were quick and I made sure I grabbed the opportunity with both hands. It’s a great result for this team and a big boost of confidence for me.”You spent most of the race fighting hard with your teammate and then the Red Bulls in the closing stages…“It was a really tough race and there was never a moment to relax. It was a big battle with Nico, but I enjoyed it. The end of the race was hard and the safety car really hurt our two-stop strategy. The Red Bulls had the tyre advantage and I was close to losing the podium so I had to push hard to keep up the pace. I think it was a good race for the sport with lots of entertainment.”Does the podium change your expectations for the upcoming races?“The target is to move on, keep improving and target more podiums. Bahrain was the first real opportunity I had to develop the car through the weekend without any issues so it felt like my season really started there. Now we need to think about how we can do better in China. At the same time we must not get carried away because we know how competitive Formula One is and how things can change very quickly.”Driver’s View: Nico HulkenbergNico Hulkenberg talks about his strong start to the season and targets more points in China.Nico, you’re third in the drivers’ championship after three races. You must be happy with your best ever start to a season…“If you had told me during winter testing that I would be in this position I would have taken it straight away. It’s definitely a nice surprise and as a team we have made the most of the opportunities with three consistent weekends. We’ve shown we have a good package and we have the hunger to keep fighting at the front.”You had some good battles in Bahrain. How enjoyable was the race from the cockpit?“Given where I started (P11), I was happy to be up there fighting for the podium. I think the key moment was the safety car, which really hurt our race a lot. We had done all our pit stops and I was going really well in fourth place just behind Checo. Then, after the safety car, things became trickier because the pack was bunched up and I had to fight really hard in the final few laps.”What are you expecting from this weekend’s race in China?“It’s hard to say for sure. We’ve performed well at all the tracks so far and they all had very different characteristics. So we can feel positive that the car will perform quite well in China. We are going there after the test in Bahrain and hopefully we can bring some more performance too. So I think we can aim for another competitive weekend and come away with some more points.”The TW Steel #BigTime Chinese Grand Prix video preview, featuring Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez, is available on YouTube at http://youtu.be/rcoxSeNNh_Meom/Sahara Force India release -
Hamilton sets fastest time on new Pirelli experimental tyre
Sakhir, 9 April 2014:Pirelli has completed the first in-season test using the current 2014 cars: an innovation for this year designed to help the Italian tyre-maker develop suitable tyres for the latest-generation Formula One cars.
A total of eight new constructions and six new compounds were tested during the two days: split between Caterham on Tuesday then Mercedes and Williams on Wednesday.
Hamilton fastest on Second Day of testing in Bahrain on 9 April 2014. A Pirelli image Only one variable was tested at a time, so if a new compound was being tested, then the construction would be the current one (and vice versa). The teams alternated prototype runs with baseline runs on the existing tyres, for comparison purposes.
The 250 experimental tyres brought to Bahrain, distinguished by being free from any colour stripes on the sidewall, were exclusively designed with 2015 in mind. Over the course of the two days, Pirelli completed a total of 110 laps and around 595 kilometres with experimental tyres, in ambient and track temperatures that were a lot hotter than those of the grand prix weekend.
Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery said: “The opportunity to test with the current cars is something that we have always wished for and it was vital to have this written into the regulations this year. We made useful progress throughout both days of the prototype tyre test, trying out a number of solutions with 2015 in mind, in demanding conditions. Having accumulated this valuable data over two days, we will now analyse it carefully to assess the best development direction for the next in-season test in Barcelona, where we expect to see further evolutions in car performance.”
Testing facts:
The maximum temperature reached was 35 degrees ambient and 44 degrees on track at 2pm on Wednesday.
The fastest time set throughout the two days of the test was a 1m34.136s benchmark from Hamilton on Wednesday morning, on an experimental tyre.
As well as the running on experimental tyres, the teams that were not testing specifically for Pirelli ran with the current tyres. Teams are allowed an overall maximum total of 135 sets of tyres for testing this year, including the in-season tests.
Caterham ran a total of 64 laps with Robin Frijns on Tuesday before a hydraulic problem curtailed running in the afternoon. Frijns tested one new construction and two new compounds.
On Wednesday Mercedes ran a total of 120 laps with Lewis Hamilton, testing three new constructions and three new compounds. Williams ran a total of 64 laps with Felipe Nasr, testing two new constructions and one new compound. The team stopped in the afternoon with a technical issue.
The next in-season test will take place after the Spanish Grand Prix. Sauber and Toro Rosso will test for Pirelli on the opening day, followed by Force India and McLaren on day two. The final tyre test will be held at Silverstone, after the British Grand Prix. Ferrari and Lotus will drive on the opening day, followed by Red Bull and Marussia on day two.
Testing times:
Day 1
Rosberg Mercedes 1m35.697s Soft Hulkenberg Force India 1m36.064s Soft Alonso Ferrari 1m36.626s Medium Magnussen McLaren 1m36.634s Soft Bottas Williams 1m37.305s Soft Chilton Marussia 1m37.678s Supersoft Ricciardo Red Bull 1m38.326s Soft Sirotkin Sauber 1m39.023s Soft Frijns Caterham 1m40.027s Experimental Maldonado Lotus 1m40.183s Soft Kvyat Toro Rosso 1m40.452s Soft Day 2
Hamilton Mercedes 1m34.136s Experimental Vergne Toro Rosso 1m35.557s Supersoft Magnussen McLaren 1m36.203s Soft Perez Force India 1m36.586s Soft Ricciardo Red Bull 1m37.310s Soft Bianchi Marussia 1m37.316s Supersoft Van der Garde Sauber 1m37.623s Soft Alonso Ferrari 1m37.912s Medium Ericsson Caterham 1m39.263s Soft Nasr Williams 1m39.879s Experimental Grosjean Lotus 1m43.732s Soft -
The Podium is very special for me: Sergio Perez of Force India
DRIVERS
1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
2 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)
3 – Sergio PÉREZ (Force India)
Sahara Force India team Principal Vijay Mallya with Sergio Perez, who came 3rd in Bahrain on Sunday. A Sahara Force India photo PODIUM INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Brian Johnson)
What a race! Lewis, what’s it like to win the 900th Formula One grand prix?
Lewis HAMILTON: It’s great to see that we have such a great crowd. It’s the first time we’ve had a night race here. I’m so grateful to the team for working so hard to get us up here. It’s my first time winning here in Bahrain, it’s taken me a long, long time, so I’m really proud.
But what a race, probably one of the most exciting Formula One races for a long time, would you agree?
LH: Yeah, it was exciting. Nico drove fantastically well throughout the race; very fair and it was very, very hard to keep him behind, particularly at the end. I had built a gap, that was OK, but he was very fast on the option time so I was on the knife edge the whole time and a real relief when I got across the line.
Congratulations, mate, fantastic race. Nico, you got the fastest lap and you helped to make it one of the most exciting grands prix I’ve seen for a couple of seasons, would you agree?
Nico ROSBERG: I strongly dislike coming second to Lewis, that’s really not something I enjoy doing but on the other hand it was definitely the most exciting race I’ve ever done in my whole career. I hope we were able to give all of you fantastic racing in front of the TV. Today was a day for the sport. We put on a massive show as team Silver Arrows so I hope you had a lot of fun in front of the TV and I’ll be back next race to take the win.
Sergio, what was it like following these two guys and what’s it like being back on the podium again? You’re enjoying this aren’t you?
Sergio PÉREZ: Yeah, I mean, it’s been a while since my last podium. This podium is very special for me guys, I told you already on the radio. This is only my third race for the team and it was a really, really good one. The strategy was really close for us. It was looking a lot easier until the safety car came because when the safety car came in we were going on two stops so the people behind, the Red Bulls, they were on there stops but we managed to keep it just to the end; one more lap I couldn’t manage to keep him back.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Lewis a great battle with Nico, no other way to describe it. Just tell us how tough it is to race with a team-mate that hard and not go off and what it means to you to win it?
LH: Well, this weekend started off well and then I seemed to lose pace while Nico picked up his pace. Today, I knew I needed to get a good start and things generally went my way, except when the pace car came out. I’ve never won here. I won I think in Formula 3 back in 2004, so it’s been a long, long time coming. The safety car came out, we had different tyres. It was one of the most difficult races… I think the last time I had a race like that would probably be Indianapolis, 2007. So, a long, long time. Nico drove fantastically well. When you’re with you’re team-mate it’s very, very hard to make the right decisions of where to put your car, where to brake, all these different things, but yeah, it was great.
And Nico? Your side of the story. Obviously at the start, the outside at Turn Four and then later on you attacked him around Lap 18 and 19, again wheel to wheel for a couple of laps. At the end you had a go at it. Is it going to be like this all year?
NR: Yeah. I didn’t have the best of starts. It was still good but Lewis had a little of a better one and that’s the way it went. And then, yeah, I was quicker today, which I was pleased about and gave it a run. Tried to overtake at the end of the first stint, couldn’t make it stick. And then we tried to invert the strategies, just to give me a shot at the end, again to overtake. That was the plan before the race so that worked out well and I tried to keep a good pace on the Prime, knowing that I’ll have a shot again at the end with the Option. It was a good battle again but unfortunately couldn’t make it happen today. Lewis did a good job defending but, y’know, it was a massive fight out there and that’s what I’m here for. For racing like that. I think it was a good day for the sport, which is important, because of recent little bits of criticism. I think they’re all going to be rather quiet tomorrow – which is a very good thing. It’s good that us as Silver Arrows, we made it happen – but of course I am very unhappy with second.
Sergio, it’s been, let’s face it, quite a tough period for you since the last time you were at the podium towards the end of 2012. What does this mean to you today?
SP: It means a lot. It’s a very special podium for myself. As you say, I had a really tough time, my time in McLaren where I was basically quite far… I never have a chance to fight for a podium in all my year. Really, coming into Force India and being able to, only in my third race, to be able to qualify fourth and then straight away being able to fight for the podium was a great feeling. An amazing podium. The Safety Car makes things really hard for me. It was looking quite comfortable before the Safety Car came in and once it came it was really difficult also to switch the Prime tyre on. It was extremely hard as we had a Safety Car for a long period. So I arrive into Turn One after the restart with my team-mate… just couldn’t stop the car, locked the front wheels. Tried my best to keep the position and we managed and then we had the Red Bull coming really quick at the end. Fortunately we managed to keep the podium.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Ralf Bach – Sport Bild) Nico, who took the decision that you stay out two laps longer in the first stint – and when?
NR: The team makes the decision for strategies. We did exactly the plan we discussed before the race. Everything went exactly to plan in order to give me the best opportunity to have a shot at overtaking him at the end of the race. So, it was absolutely… the team played it as fair as they possibly could today, let us race flat out. I don’t think you need more evidence than you saw that we’re here to race this year and there’s no team orders. We want to put on an amazing show for you guys out there, and you at home, and today we managed. Of course that’s the small positive, but as I said I really don’t like coming second.
Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Lewis, how difficult was it to defend with the Medium tyre against the Soft tyres of Nico?
LH: It was incredibly tough. As I said, it was one of the toughest situations I’ve been in for a long time. The Option tyre, for us, we believe it is worth six-and-a-half tenths. To hold that behind, to keep him out of my gap, out of my slipstream and the DRS was very, very hard. To be pushing flat out for ten laps… it was an exceptional race, I think, to be able to have that. Me and Nico haven’t had a race like that since back in our karting days. I did think today, I was just saying to him today, there was a race we did years ago in… I don’t know what year it was, in karting, our first race together. He was leading the whole way and in the last lap I overtook him and won the race. I thought today for sure he’s going to do the same to me, and get me back. That’s what was going through my head.
Q: (Vincent Marre – Sports Zeitung) Nico, if you could have changed the strategy during the race, that was set before the race, would you or could you have done it?
NR: As I said, the strategy was exactly as planned and it was also what I wanted. I asked for that on the radio, you can listen to it in the race. I said ‘make sure to put me on prime tyres for the second stint because that’s the best way for me to have a shot at Lewis at the end of the race.’ So in hindsight, I would do exactly the same again and it was the perfect strategy for that race. It is a slower strategy in terms of race time, yeah, but it is the one that gives me a shot at the end of the race if I have the speed.
Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) To both Mercedes drivers: just at the end of the safety car period, Paddy Lowe came on the radio and said to you ‘bring the cars home’. For us, it sounded like ‘don’t attack each other,’ you obviously didn’t do so and then Nico, in the last two or three laps, you didn’t attack any more. Did something happen there?
NR: I was well aware that the whole world was thinking ‘huh, here we go, Silver Arrows team orders, finally they’re there.’ That was clear to me but it wasn’t that at all, it was just ‘guys, make sure that you get these cars to the finish. Don’t break them, don’t crash.’ The message was clear anyway, not really necessary to give such a message because we know that, we drive very hard but in the end with the necessary respect but we’re free to race all the way and in the end, I just got a bit more overheating on the tyres in the last three laps because I was pushing so hard in the slipstream, you know, with less grip, sliding a lot and so the tyres just overheated in the last three laps and I couldn’t get close enough any more. And also with the hybrid, at times you have more then you have less. It’s coming and going and it’s difficult to be there in the right moment when you do have it. It’s not that easy, so there was then a period when I didn’t have enough boost power either.
LH: I don’t really have much more to say but luckily my tyres didn’t go off in those last two or three laps so he seemed to lose a little more than me, so just able to stay ahead.
Q: (Kate Walker – crash.net) Question to both Lewis and Nico: Nico, you were saying that being able to race hard with Lewis is the respect that you have for each other as drivers but you were able to race very very hard and very close. Do you think that having been teammates in karting gave you more of a sense of where each other was going to put their car?
NR: No. I was just pushing to the limit, going for it and just making sure we don’t crash, but all the way, as hard as possible and it worked out, and at no time did I think ‘we’re going to…’ At no time were we at risk of taking both cars out. There was always the necessary margin, might not have looked like it on TV but there was. It was good racing.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – Universo On Line) To Nico and Lewis: that was wonderful but mainly fair. It would be nice if you could describe to us some moments… for instance, you Nico, said to yourself ‘now I’ve got him, I’ve overtaken’ and you Lewis ‘no, he didn’t get me.’ Can you describe to us more details from inside the battle?
NR: I thought I’d got him about nine times but they didn’t work. He always got the run back on me and he did a good job, that’s it. Lewis is obviously a great driver and made it work and next time I need to do better.
(Inaudible question) Out of turn one and then he chose to go on the outside for once. Because it’s difficult to see, you don’t see him. I don’t see where he is at times, I really don’t know because there’s a big dead angle in the car and so when it’s so close, so many times I didn’t know where he was and that’s where I thought ‘OK, now I’ve got him’ and then all of sudden he reappeared again. That’s it.
LH: Yeah, it was the same for me. A lot of times he was in my blind spot and I had no idea if he was there or not, so I tried to leave space. You don’t know whether he’s attacking or braking later into the next corner because you don’t even know where he is. That was very difficult. But for me it feels like a long time that I’ve been able to have a real racer’s race and really use whatever skills that I’ve acquired over the years as a youngster in karting. Being able to apply them in Formula One is a lot harder but to be able to pull them out of the bag and use them again… The time that I went round the outside or got back, just timing it right – you know, it’s a fantastic feeling to be able to do that. It’s one of the greatest feelings when you obviously come out on top.
Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Lewis, do you think this could be one of the best victories of your career so far?
LH: I have to watch it back but it’s difficult to really… every one is very special but of course, this one today, I think ultimately of course winning the race is the greatest thing, so I’m going to go away tonight very happy of course, but deep down inside, I didn’t have the pace today and that’s always still in the back of my mind and I’ve got to really go and work hard to try and find out what that is, because that wasn’t the case in the last race. A lot of the advantages that I had in the last race Nico found them as we came here and applied them and did even better, so I’ve got to go now and find out what he did better than me and see if I can improve for the next race.
Q: (Cristobal Rosaleny– Car and Driver) Checo, last year was maybe your more difficult year in Formula One with McLaren. This year you have alongside you a big name like Nico Hulkenberg. Could you describe how important it is for you to be in front and taking the podium you never got at McLaren?
SP: It was very important. Obviously, when I joined McLaren, I joined a really fast team, the fastest team there of all my options back then, so when the McLaren option came to me, I didn’t think twice. So I went into McLaren and I found out that we had a really tough time, a very difficult time and basically I had to… I frustrated myself very much because you come as a young driver, hoping to fight for the title, to win races and when you join a big team it’s the first thing that you think of and it was not that way so I had a really tough time, more than people think, because of the fact that I had a competitive car that was able to fight for a podium. So being able to do it is a great feeling. Obviously the race, the way it paid… Yesterday qualifying was good but we were at a big disadvantage with the people behind, for example Nico Hulkenberg, my teammate, he had newer tyres than I did and at the end of the day, when we were on two stops, it makes a massive difference. He was able to stop a lap earlier and not make a difference… he jumped me, I had to jump him back and overtake the Williams. So a bit like Lewis was saying, it was a really enjoyable race, a bit like karting days when you’re fighting in and out. But when you are sliding all the time and you have degradation, it was not so enjoyable towards the end of the race, but still, once you’ve crossed the finish line it was a great feeling for me.
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Hamilton, Rosberg finish 1-2 again; Perez on podium for Force India
Bahrain, 6 April 2014: Mercedes AMG Petronas team once again won the first two positions, with Lewis Hamilton taking a thrilling Bahrain Grand Prix victory, the Briton finishing just one second ahead of team-mate Nico Rosberg at the end of a race-long battle.
Sahara Force India’s Sergio Perez, meanwhile, scored his first podium finish since the Italian Grand Prix of 2012 ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, who delivered an impressive, aggressive drive for Red Bull Racing after starting 13th. Perez’s third place was Force India’s first podium finish since Giancarlo Fisichella’s second place at the 2009 Belgian Grand
Prix.The battle for the podium places was mirrored right the way down the field, with epic duels occurring throughout the points-scoring positions, with Nico Hulkenberg seeing off the challenge of Sebastian Vettel to take fifth place, a defence that then left the champion, who was without DRS and down on power to fend off a final charge from the Williams cars of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas.
At the race start, Hamilton made the better getaway and passed Rosberg into turn one, the first salvo in a conflict that would develop into a titanic struggle in the closing stages.
Behind them, Bottas made a poor start from third, slipping back to fifth. It was a different story for team-mate Felipe Massa, however. The Brazilian made an excellent start and was soon up to third, ahead of Sergio Perez and Jenson Button.
Kimi Raikkonen, meanwhile, was in trouble. The Finn, who started fifth but lost out to team-mate Fernando Alonso at the start, also tangled with Kevin Magnussen on lap one with the result that both dropped back – Magnussen to 12th and Raikkonen to ninth, just ahead of Sebastian Vettel.
Rosberg’s first attempt to wrestle back control came on laps 17-18 when the German twice went past his team-mate only for Hamilton to find a fight his way back.
The race then ebbed and flowed as the teams’ race strategies unfolded through the opening two stints. Up and down the order positions changed hands with staggering regularity as those on three stops dived for the pits and those on two remained on track. Among them all differing choices of tyres compound for different stints also defined whether drivers were powering through the order or defending stoutly.
And it was a difference of compound that defined the final huge battle between Hamilton and Rosberg.
On lap 41, Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez was making his way through Turn One when Pastor Maldonado straight-lined the corner and smashed into the Mexican.
Gutierrez’s car was flipped over and off track and the safety car emerged. Both Hamilton and Rosberg arrowed towards the pit lane and took on fresh tyres. The Briton, though, had to take on the prime medium tyres for his final laps while Rosberg, having used the prime in his second stint, had the option of the quicker soft tyre.
With any time advantage Hamilton had built up all but erased, the race was now a contest between Hamilton’s ability to defend and Rosberg’s ability to find a chink in his team-mate’s armour.
Behind them the two-stopping Force Indias of Perez and Hulkenberg were third and fourth respectively, ahead of Button, and the twin Red Bulls of Vettel and Ricciardo. Three-stopping Massa and Bottas were eighth and ninth, ahead of Alonso, who had also opted for a three-stop race.
The Safety Car came in at the end of lap 46 and the battle between the leading Mercedes duo began in earnest, as did the tussle between the Force Indias, with Perez robustly fending off a move by Hulkenberg into turn one. Ahead, Hamilton retained his lead.
Further back the Red Bulls both passed Button, who dropped to seventh. He was soon dumped to eighth as Massa too swept past.
A battle then developed between Ricciardo and Vettel with the Australian eventually muscling past the champion on lap 50 after they had swapped position several times. Ricciardo then set off after Hulkenberg and eventually reeled in and passed the German on lap 54, claiming fourth place.
At the front the leaders were tussling again, with Rosberg continually probing, prodding and looking to seize on the slightest error from Hamilton. The Briton was inch perfect, however, and Rosberg could find nothing to exploit as he attempted to take the lead.
And that was how the order remained over the closing laps, with Hamilton successfully fending off Rosberg to take his second win of the year. Behind them Perez took his first podium finish since the Italian Grand Prix of 2012.
Ricciardo delivered a superb drive to covert a 13th-place start into fourth position for Red Bull, while Hulkenberg was fifth in the second Force India.
Champion Sebastian Vettel, claiming to be down on power, defended well to take sixth ahead of the Williams cars of Massa and Bottas. The final two points positions were taken by the Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen.
2014 Bahrain Grand Prix – Race Result
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 57 Winner 2 25
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 57 +1.0 secs 1 18
3 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 57 +24.0 secs 4 15
4 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-Renault 57 +24.4 secs 13 12
5 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 57 +28.6 secs 11 10
6 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 57 +29.8 secs 10 8
7 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 57 +31.2 secs 7 6
8 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 57 +31.8 secs 3 4
9 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 57 +32.5 secs 9 2
10 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 57 +33.4 secs 5 1
11 Daniil Kvyat STR-Renault 57 +41.3 secs 12
12 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 57 +43.1 secs 16
13 Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 57 +59.9 secs 21
14 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 57 +62.8 secs 17
15 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 57 +87.9 secs 18
16 Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 56 +1 Lap 19
17 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 55 +2 Laps 6
Ret Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 40 +17 Laps 8
Ret Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 39 Accident 15
Ret Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 33 +24 Laps 20
Ret Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Renault 18 +39 Laps 14
Ret Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 17 +40 Laps 22eom
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It is great to start from pole: Nico Roseberg
DRIVERS
1 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)
2 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
3 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)
TV UNILATERAL
Nico, Lewis was ahead of you going into the crucial parts of qualifying but you managed to turn it around. How did you do it?
Nico ROSBERG: Yeah just worked well through the weekend, just planning my way and progressing, getting around some issues, understanding what set-up to go for and things like that. The challenge this weekend you know is that the free practice sessions were in such hot conditions mainly, also the one before qualifying and it’s just very difficult and you have to guess sort of what the set-up is and what the car is going to be like in the colder conditions in the evening. It worked out well, I was feeling comfortable, I got my laps together. I’m very happy and it’s great to start from pole.
And for the second year in a row in this place. What is it about this
Roseberg flanked by Hamilton on left and Ricciardo after taking Bahrain pole on Saturday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas photo track and you?
NR: I have very good memories from this track – in GP2 here, the championship, and also my first race in F1. I’ve always liked it, I enjoy coming here and again today, yeah it suited me.
Lewis, a little disappointed perhaps? At the end there what happened?
Lewis HAMILTON: No to be honest I’m not. You can’t always get it right. Congratulations to Nico. He’s done a great job this weekend and he’s been improving and picking up his pace and he had a really good at the end there for us. Obviously I made a mistake on my last lap, locked up and went straight on but generally I’m happy. I’m really proud of the team for us to continue to keep moving forward and progressing as we are.
Obviously it’s going to be difficult for everyone on fuel consumption tomorrow. Can you talk a little bit about the management of that through the race?
LH: Yeah it’s no worse than it’s ever been in the past I don’t think really. There’s a lot of emphasis put on it but I think it should be fine tomorrow.
Thanks for that. Come to you Daniel, up in the top three again but this time you’ve got to move back 10 places. Your feelings on the performance and on that penalty?
Daniel RICCIARDO: Yeah really pleased with the performance. At the moment it’s the best anyone else can do besides the two guys alongside me. We’ve still got some ground to make on them tonight. As Nico touched on it’s been really tricky. You know, the temperature drops a lot for these evening sessions and as you probably saw in P3 we were a long way off the pace but it turned around this evening and it was nice to close to gap. As I say there’s still more. Tomorrow, yeah, unfortunately I don’t stay at the front here but it’ll give me a bit of a work to do and I’ll move forward from there.
Talk about the race situation tomorrow. Is there much you can do on strategy to get yourself back on terms?
DR: I hope so. We’ve got some good guys in the office back there and I’m sure they’ll do what they can to get me as far up the front as possible. I think at the moment it’s pretty close between two and three stop and maybe there’s a bit of room for us to try something there.
Back to you Nico. The race tomorrow between you and Lewis,. The pendulum keeps swinging between you, which way will go tomorrow?
NR: Well, starting from pole is obviously a great thing but it’s a whole different story, a whole different challenge awaiting us in the race, with tyre degradation the main problem, the main difficulty. But I’m confident. I had some good runs yesterday on the high fuel, so I’m confident that I can stay ahead tomorrow in the race.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Nico, in Q1 neither of you needed to use a set of Softs to get through. Just talk a little bit about that margin there that you’ve got and the psychological advantage of having that in your pocket.
NR: Yeah, it’s definitely an advantage because we’re quick at the moment, especially on this track because it just suits the engine power that we have, y’know? That makes it a bit more easy to get though qualifying – but still, even the Red Bulls, even on a track like here, they’ve really picked up the pace and we need to keep pushing, definitely, because they’re pushing fast.
Lewis, Nico just mentioned the power is definitely part of it – but it’s not just that is it? The advantage that Mercedes have on this circuit? It seems to really suit your car.
LH: Yeah, I think the guys have done a fantastic job with setup simulation this weekend. The car has done a lot of testing here, obviously and so it’s as good as we can get the car here.
Daniel, I wonder whether driving under lights for the first time in a place like this… obviously it’s not the first time in Formula One or for you, but is it a bit like re-learning a circuit? Seeing it in a different complexion?
DR: It’s probably not that extreme but it’s nice, it’s something different. I’ve always enjoyed driving around under the lights, even when I was young, racing go-karts in the summer back home, we had a lot of night races.It’s even cool following some cars, seeing the sparks come off. It creates a little bit more excitement. I think they’ve done a really job here with the lighting. There’s plenty of it. And, yeah, it’s going to be a good race.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Daniel, the other day you said ‘I have to qualify first to start eleventh’ so you were close, considering the two of them. What do you think you can do in the race? You have the pace to come back and perhaps think of a podium or are you too far behind?
DR: I would love to charge through and have a podium after the 57 or so laps. I think realistically we just have to get some points to start with. My season has been going well but I don’t have any points to show for it so far, so I think that’s the first target. But in saying that, I don’t think we need to be conservative. We need to push, we are obviously out of position, starting 13th , so I will do what I can and obviously if there’s an opportunity to move forward then I will take it and hopefully walk away tomorrow with some points on the board.
Q: (Vincent Marre – Sport Zeitung) To the two Mercedes drivers: how would you rate Daniel Ricciardo today, and Sebastian Vettel? Would you rate Ricciardo in front of Vettel?
NR: I don’t really want to rate them. Sebastian is clearly a fantastic driver, one of the best out there and Daniel is doing a great job and definitely deserves the seat that he’s got at Red Bull. It will be an interesting battle between the two.
LH: Same.
Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Lewis, are you disappointed that you didn’t grab pole after being dominant in the first free sessions and Nico, are you surprised that you got pole?
LH: Not particularly. The weekend’s gone pretty well. Generally it didn’t really go the right way in my car, I think. I wasn’t really too comfortable at the end, much more comfortable through practice but Nico did a great job today. Naturally I’m happy that my teammate’s there and no one else.
NR: For me, Lewis is tough to beat always. In qualifying, everything needs to go right to be ahead and today it worked out but my mind is on pole when I go into qualifying so that’s what I’m going for. So not surprised.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Question to Nico and Lewis: it’s clear both of you have the fastest car on the grid. Is there any agreement between you and Lewis, is there any orientation from the team concerning the start of the race?
NR: For sure, we as Mercedes AMG Petronas, the Silver Arrows in F1,we’re here to race, we’re here to put on a great show and so I think you could see some action tomorrow between us, hopefully not. It’s very possible and we owe that to the fans, to everybody, to put on a fantastic show and that’s what we will do.
LH: Yeah, as he said.
