INDIA in F1

Tag: Formula One

  • Racing in my home Grand Prix was a dream come true; I am confident of doing well in Brazil: Perez

    Force India team and the Team Principal, Vijay Mallya, talk ahead of the race in Brazil as the championship nears its conclusion with just two more races left. The Last race will be in Abu Dhabi on Nov 22. Force India team drivers Sergio Perez has 68 points and teammate Nico Hulkenberg 44 after the Mexican GP. Force India is in 5th place in the Constructor’s Championship with 112 points, 41 points ahead of sixth-placed Lotus. Hamilton already won the Driver’s championship and Mercedes AMG Petronas team bagged the Contructor’s title with many races to spare.
    Sergio Perez looks forward to racing at Interlagos, Brazil after getting into points at home race in Mexico.
    Sergio: “Racing in my home Grand Prix last week was a dream come true. The support from the fans was incredible and I have so many memories that will stay with me forever. I was happy with my performance over the weekend and I think it was one of my best races of the season. You can always look back and say, ‘what if the safety car hadn’t come out’, but we made the best of it and I was happy to score points in my home race.
    “Brazil is another venue where you can feel the energy of the fans. The track is brilliant: it’s a proper racer’s circuit with some amazing corners. The first sector is fantastic: you can take different lines through turn one and you can end up in a battle for position that lasts until turn six. The lap is very technical and there are a lot of places where you can easily make a mistake, but the feeling when you get a perfect lap together is amazing.
    “In the last few races we’ve had a really good run of results. I feel I’m driving at my best and the team is doing a fantastic job. We want to finish this season on a high and I think we still have some big results in us, so I am confident ahead of the race.”
    Nico Hülkenberg looks forward to returning to the scene of one of his best races
    Nico: “I really love Brazil as a country and Sao Paulo as a city. The track is very traditional and there is always a special atmosphere around the place. There are some fun corners – the Senna Esses are really cool as turns one, two and three make up a nice combination. The lap is quite short but there are a lot of elevation changes and banked corners, which create a very challenging lap. It’s a track where I really enjoy driving.
    “Interlagos has been quite good to me: I had a pole position in 2010, led the race in 2012 and I’ve always finished in the points. I seem to have good chemistry there and I feel comfortable on and off the track. I can really identify with the Brazilian lifestyle and the people. I think we will be competitive so I hope I can add another strong result to the list.”
    Vijay Mallya “We travel to Brazil off the back of a memorable and successful weekend in Mexico. Everybody I spoke to said how much they enjoyed the event and the warm welcome we received. It was a race where we maximised our opportunities to bring both cars home well inside the points and edge closer to securing fifth place in the championship.
    “The Brazilian Grand Prix is another great event. It’s an historic venue where the fans always create a special atmosphere – much like Mexico. The Interlagos circuit always seems to deliver an exciting race because it’s an old school track with several good overtaking opportunities. The weather is also unpredictable and that often adds to the drama.
    “With just two races to go, we must keep our focus and make sure we don’t let our guard down so close to the finish line. If we score well in Brazil, we can clinch fifth place in the championship and that’s the priority. I’m confident we can do it and getting both cars home in the points would be a great way to celebrate our best season ever.”
     eom/david with inputs from SFI

    Sergio Perez (MEX) Sahara Force India F1 VJM08. Mexican Grand Prix, Saturday 31st October 2015. Mexico City, Mexico.
    Sergio Perez (MEX) Sahara Force India F1 VJM08.
    Mexican Grand Prix, Saturday 31st October 2015. Mexico City, Mexico.

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  • Mexico makes magical F1 return as Sergio Perez grabs all attention, finishes in points

    Mexico City, 1 Nov 2015: In front of a packed and hugely atmospheric Autodrómo Hermanos Rodríguez, Nico Rosberg took a controlled fourth victory of the season ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton to become the first winner of the Mexican Grand Prix since Nigel Mansell in 1992. Valtteri Bottas was third for Williams ahead of the Red Bulls of Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo.

    The German held his lead at the start of the race and over his first stint build up a solid gap to Hamilton. Eventually the Mercedes drivers’ advantage was so great that as the race approached its final third both were able to make a precautionary stop for fresh tyres and still stay ahead of the chasing pack as Rosberg headed for his first win since June’s Austrian Grand Prix.

    A settled race order was opened up on lap 51 when Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who had struggled all race following an early puncture crashed out. Following a brief Safety Car period, Bottas jumped past Kvyat on the restart to claim his second podium finish of the season.

    At the start Rosberg made a clean getaway to keep Hamilton in check on the long run down to Turn One. Behind them Sebastian Vettel didn’t get away as well and he was immediately passed by Kvyat.

    Ricciardo attempted to also make a move down the inside into Turn One but Vettel was already coming across the track and the pair banged rear wheels as Ricciardo edged through. Vettel sustained a rear right puncture and pitted at the end of the lap for a new set of medium tyres.

    The incident was put investigation but no further action was deemed necessary and much to Vettel’s chagrin on the radio Ricciardo went unpunished.

    Further back, Fernando Alonso’s race ended on lap one, with the Spaniard reporting a loss of power almost immediately after the start. He was called into the pits where he retired.

    At the end of lap one Rosberg led from Hamilton, with Kvyat third ahead of Ricciardo and Williams’ Valtteri Bottas. Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen had passed the second Williams of Felipe Massa and was now sixth. Local hero Sergio Perez was eighth ahead of team-mate Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz was in 10th place in the second Toro Rosso.

    The order changed on lap eight when Bottas became the first of the frontrunners to pit and he took on medium tyres. The stop was a slow one, though as there was a problem with the front-right wheel. Team-mate Massa pitted a lap later as did Hulkenberg.

    At the front Rosberg and Hamilton were trading blows, each putting in fastest laps as the Briton tried to close and Rosberg responded. Hamilton managed to get inside DRS range in the early laps but by lap 15 Rosberg had found enough extra pace to open a 1.8s lead over his team-mate. Kvyat was a further seven seconds back in third ahead of Ricciardo, with Verstappen now fifth after Bottas’ stop.

    Perez was now sixth and Kimi Raikkonen, who had started 19th following a qualifying blow up and a grid penalty for a gearbox change, was now up to seventh place. Vettel, meanwhile, was making steady progress through the pack and midway through lap 17 the Ferrari driver was up to 11th place having passed Jenson Button.

    His good work was undone on the next lap, however, as the German outbraked himself into Turn Eight and spun into the run-off area. He kept going but rejoined in P15. Soon after the four-time champion was on radio to tell his team that he had badly flat-spotted a tyre but could continue. Meanwhile, Perez pitted from P6 on lap 18 and after a 3.8s stop rejoined in P11 behind Sainz.

    Kvyat was the next frontrunner to stop on lap 22, the Russian takikng on medium tyres in a fast 2.3s stop. As he did so Raikkonen made a good passing move on Bottas to take sixth place into Turn One. Bottas attempted to respond and in Turn 5 the pair were running side by side. There was no quarter given as Raikkonen attempted to shut the door and the pair collided. The Ferrari driver’s was bounced into the run off area and with heavy damage the Finn’s race was over. Bottas though continued on, reporting that his car felt fine.

    Ricciardo pitted on lap 24 for medium tyres but he lost out to both Williams drivers in the stop and emerged behind Massa in P6.

    At the front, Rosberg pitted on lap 26, swapping to medium tyres in a 2.5s stop. Hamilton now led as the only man yet to make a stop, but he eventually made his detour to pit lane for prime tyres on lap 28. It was a good stop but the Briton had not been able to gain an advantage on his in-laps and he emerged just over 3s behind his team-mate.

    The order on the following lap saw Rosberg leading Hamilton by 3.5s, with Kvyat 16.9s behind the Brtion in third. Bottas was now fourth ahead of Massa, while Ricciardo had dropped to P6. Hulkenberg was up to seventh from his 10th-place start, while Verstappen had fallen back to eighth, 1.8s ahead of team-mate Sainz. Perez was now 10th.

    The Mexican moved up a place on lap 32. He attempted to pass Sainz and under pressure the Spaniard went off track. In doing so the Toro Rosso managed to hold the place. It was clear he’d have to give up P9 and in the stadium section he let Perez by to a rapturous response from Force India driver’s home crowd.

    Vettel finally gave up on his wounded tyres on lap 35 and pitted for more medium Pirellis. He rejoined in P14 a lap down on Rosberg and with Hamilton bearing down on him. Hamilton eventually got past the increasingly frustrated Vettel on lap 42, with the German being told to let the Mercedes driver past even though Vettel protested that he was “quicker than him”.

    Ahead, Perez was closing on Verstappen and on lap 44 the Mexican was 1.7s behind the Dutch teenager. At the end of the next lap Sainz became the first to show his hand as a two-stopper and he pitted for soft tyres from P11. He emerged behind Vettel in P14 and prepared for an option-tyre assault over the final 25 laps.

    With time in hand over third-placed Kvyat, Mercedes then took the cautious option of pitting both Rosberg and Hamilton for fresh tyres for the final part of the race, with race leader Rosberg taking on mediums on lap 46 and Hamilton doing the same a lap later, though the Briton appeared to be a somewhat unwilling partner in the strategy. The pair rejoined with Rosberg ahead and with Hamilton a still healthy nine seconds clear of Kvyat.

    Perez, meanwhile, had got to within DRS range of Verstappen and he brushed past the Toro Rosso driver in the stadium section to take P8.

    Ricciardo, who had been biding his time behind Massa was also on the move. He closed rapidly on the Brazilian as the Williams driver began to struggle on old medium tyres and the Red Bull driver muscled his way past to claim P5 on lap 51.

    The race suddenly opened up again on lap 52. Vettel spun at Turn Seven and went side on onto the barriers. With the car halted close to the track the Safety Car was deployed.

    It triggered a frantic dash for the pit lane with Kvyat, Ricciardo, Massa, Hulkenberg, Verstappen and Sainz all stopping. Bottas initially stayed out but then he also headed to the pit lane for medium tyres, as had his team-mate. At the front Rosberg and Hamilton stayed out on their fresh medium tyres. Perez too decided to persevere with his medium tyres.

    The order under the SC was Rosberg ahead of Hamilton, with Kvyat, on soft tyres, third ahead of Bottas, The soft-tyre shod Ricciardo was fifth ahead of Massa, Hulkenberg and Perez, while Verstappen was ninth ahead of Grosjean, Maldonado and Sainz.

    The SC left the track at the end of lap 57 and Rosberg held his lead. Bottas though used his Mercedes engine’s greater power to get past Renault-powered Kvyat on the run down to Turn One and took third.

    It was to be the only change of place among the points-scoring positions during the race’s final phase and 14 laps later Rosberg, who had comfortably managed to ease beyond DRS range of Hamilton, crossed the line to take his 12th career win.

    Bottas took third 1.9 seconds ahead of Kvyat, while Ricciardo was fourth ahead of Massa. Hulkenberg finished seventh for Force India ahead of team-mate Perez, who once again showed his remarkable talent for tyre management by taking eighth place on aged medium tyres. Verstappen was ninth for Toro Rosso and Lotus’ Romain Grosjean took the final point on offer.

    eom/FIA press release

    Sergio Perez (MEX) Sahara Force India F1 on the grid. Mexican Grand Prix, Sunday 1st November 2015. Mexico City, Mexico.
    Sergio Perez (MEX) Sahara Force India F1 team grabs all the attentin on Sunday at the Mexican Grand Prix, finishes 8th. A Sahara Force India image. 

  • Rosberg takes first pole of Mexico’s new era for Mercedes; Hamilton 2nd followed by Vettel

    Nico Rosberg took the first pole position of Mexicos’s new era of grand prix racing, beating team-mate Lewis Hamilton by just under two tenths of a second at a packed Autodrómo Hermanos Rodríguez circuit. Sebastian Vettel was third for Ferrari.

    Q1 began with Red Bulls Racing’s Daniil Kvyat and the Toro Rossos of Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen taking to the track but the biggest applause was reserved for loNico Rosberg of Mercedes AMG Petronas team waves after taking pole at the Mexican GP on Saturday. An FIA imagecal hero Sergio Perez, whose first laps were greeted by a rapturous reception from huge crowd at the Autodrómo Hermanos Rodríguez.

    It was Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton who controlled things at the top of the timesheet in the early runs, however, with the Briton establishing a benchmark of 1:20.808 on the medium tyre, three tenths clear of Kvyat who was on the soft tyre and the prime-shod Rosberg who was three hundredths of a second further back.

    With just over four minutes remaining, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel used the soft tyres to claim P1, three tenths ahead of Hamilton, who was already back in Mercedes garage and would sit out the end of the segment having used only prime rubber.

    Rosberg, though, chose to take on the option tyres and with a minutes left on the clock he took top spot with a time of 1:20.436

    At the bottom of the table Sauber’s Felipe Nasr, McLaren’s Fernando Alonso, the Manors of Alexander Rossi and Will Stevens and McLaren’s Jenson Button, who had not taken to the track in the segment, were in danger of exit. The only change to that order saw Alonso leapfrog Nasr to claim P16. Button’s failure to run was caused by problems with his Honda engine that the team were unable to fix. The Briton was already facing a start from the back of the grid, having already used two engines in practice and taken the penalties associated with the replacements.

    Hamilton made the switch to options for Q2 and the Mercedes driver set the early pace with a lap of 1:19.829 that put him two tenths clear of Rosberg, with Kvyat third almost half a second down on the champion elect.

    Raikkonen, who was facing a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change following a problem in FP3, chose to start the session on mediums. His first flying lap of the segment a 1:22.494 puts him 12th, though that quickly became P15 as better option tyre times flowed in from rivals. Raikkonen’s luck then turned even worse as he spun at Turn One and exited the session citing brake issues.

    With Raikkonen at the bottom of the drop zone the others in danger as the clock wound down were Verstappen in P11, followed by Williams’ Felipe Massa, Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado Maldonado and Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson.

    Verstappen was the fist to progress, crossing the line with a time of 1:20.894 that was good enough for P8. Massa then claimed his Q3 slot with a time of 1:20.662 that put him sixth. The advances mean that Carlos Sainz was the driver to lose out, the Spaniard finishing just seven thousandths of a second behind 10th-placed Nico Hulkenberg of Force India and just over five hundredths of a second behind team-mate Verstappen. Sainz was followed by Lotus’ Romain Grosjean and Maldonado, Sauber’s Ericsson and Räikkönen.

    At the top of the timesheet, Hamilton’s time of 1:19.829 stood as the segment’s best though Vettel had stolen into P2, his lap of 1:20.045 shading Rosberg by three hundredths of a second. Bottas was fourth ahead of Kvyat and Massa, while Perez booked his Q3 slot with a time good enough for seventh. Ricciardo was eighth ahead of Verstappen and Hulikenberg.

    Hamilton was first out of the blocks in Q3, the champion leading team-mate Rosberg out of the pits. Both Force India drivers chose to remain in the team’s garage, however.

    Hamilton’s first tour of a two-flying lap run saw him claim provisional pole with a time of 1:19.690, four tenths ahead of Rosberg’s first effort. Hamilton went marginally quicker with his second flyer, improving to 1:19.668 but Rosberg found more, claiming P1 with a lap of 1:19.480.

    After the first runs Vettel was third, just under four tenths behind Rosberg, with Kvyat fourth ahead of Bottas, Massa, Verstappen, Ricciardo and the garage-bound Perez and Hulkenberg.

    And Rosberg’s best time from his opening run proved enough. Both Mercedes driver made mistakes late in the final flyers and could find no improvement and thus the German took his fifth pole position of the season and his fourth in a row.

    Vettel was third, just under two tenths behind Rosberg, while Kvyat took third, just one thousandth of a second ahead of team-mate Ricciardo. Bottas and Massa are set to line up sixth and seventh for Williams, while Verstappen qualified eighth. Perez, meanwhile, won the battle of the Force India drivers, the Mexican edging Hulkenberg by seven hundredths of a second.

    2015 Mexican Grand Prix – Qualifying
    1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:20.436 1:20.053 1:19.480
    2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:20.808 1:19.829 1:19.668
    3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:20.503 1:20.045 1:19.850
    4 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull Racing 1:20.826 1:20.490 1:20.398
    5 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:21.166 1:20.783 1:20.399
    6 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:20.817 1:20.458 1:20.448
    7 Felipe Massa Williams 1:21.379 1:20.642 1:20.567
    8 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1:20.995 1:20.894 1:20.710
    9 Sergio Perez Force India 1:20.966 1:20.669 1:20.716
    10 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:21.315 1:20.935 1:20.788
    11 Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso 1:20.960 1:20.942
    12 Romain Grosjean Lotus F1 Team 1:21.577 1:21.038
    13 Pastor Maldonado Lotus F1 Team 1:21.520 1:21.261
    14 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:21.299 1:21.544
    15 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:21.422 1:22.494
    16 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:21.779
    17 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:21.788
    18 Alexander Rossi Manor 1:24.136
    19 Will Stevens Manor 1:24.386

     

  • Great to be here in Mexico, Nico Rosberg after taking pole

    DRI

    Hamilton, Rosberg (centre ), who took Pole position and Vettel (right) at the Press Conference on Saturday. An FIA image
    Hamilton, Rosberg (centre ), who took Pole position and Vettel (right) at the Press Conference on Saturday. An FIA image

    VERS
    1 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)
    2 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
    3 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

    TV UNILATERAL
    Nico, first of all congratulations, your fourth pole in a row. Qualifying is proving very strong for you at the moment, what was the key today?
    Nico ROSBERG: I don’t really have a precise explanation. I just felt good all weekend. I’ve been quick in all different sessions and found a good balance in qualifying. So thanks to my engineers in the team I was able to push and got a really good lap in.

    Thank you. Lewis, if I can come to you. You looked good in Q2, you were on top in Q2, but that 50th pole is proving tricky. Were there any mistakes in Q3 on your final lap?
    Lewis HAMILTON: Not really, no. This weekend Nico has been quick and I’ve just been chipping away at it. There were a couple of moments where the car felt pretty spectacular but otherwise generally there are some areas where, for sure, I could improve both in my driving and also with the set-up. But we have quite a bit of a different set-up this weekend, so perhaps the avenue I went might not be the perfect one for qualifying but it’ll be good for the race.

    Thank you. Sebastian, you tried everything, [but] Mercedes [were] too quick today. Was the drop in temperature in that final session a factor at all for you?
    Sebastian VETTEL: I don’t think so. In the end we were hoping for it to be a bit closer but in the end it wasn’t. I think already already in Q2, in Q1 to be fair, with the hard tyre they looked very, very quick, so it was difficult. I tried everything. I was very happy with the first attempt in Q3. On the second one I probably pushing too hard and I didn’t go any faster. Yeah, I don’t think it is fair to blame it on the conditions or the track. In the end they were just a sniff too quick. But who knows what happens tomorrow. Seems to be a fun circuit. Finally it starts to rubber in a bit. Yesterday it was very slippery. It’s good fun and it’s nice to see so many people coming, so I think it should be exciting for all of us tomorrow.

    Thank you. Nico, returning to you, how do you turn this into a win tomorrow and how badly do you want it to turn into a win tomorrow?
    NR: It’s a good start, for sure, starting from pole. It’s going to be a long run down to turn one, so it’s going to be an exciting battle. Then I’m sure we have a good race car. It will be interesting tyre-wise. There was some stuff going on on Friday, which is going to be not so easy to handle in the race but we’re prepared well, so looking forward to it.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Nico, congratulations, you’ve looked comfortable all weekend, it this ‘Angry Nico’ fighting back?
    NR: No, definitely not. There’s no difference, it’s attack like always. It’s three more races to go, great to be here in Mexico, great track, I really enjoy driving here, so business as usual.

    Q: Lewis, P2 hasn’t proved too much of a problem for you in recent times, there’s a very long run down to Turn One as well. Is that your target for the race tomorrow?
    LH: Actually coming into the weekend it’s one of the best spots to start, second or third because it’s a long, long way down to Turn One. Just as in Russia. I don’t know if it’s longer than Russia but I’m quite happy with my spot. As you’ve said, the races have always been proved to be quite good ones for me so I’m excited for tomorrow and, yeah…

    Q: Sebastian, it’s looked close this weekend. Did you think pole was on?
    SV: Well, now we’ve just finished qualifying… no! If we talk about another tenth I think it’s always normal for us to say “yeah, one-tenth here or there, could have squeezed a bit more,” but I was reasonably happy with my lap and I think we were missing four-tenths in the end so the gap was probably too big. We have to be fair and say congratulations to Nico who drove a very good qualifying and put in a very strong lap.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Luigi Perna – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Question for Seb. In your opinion, it will be possible tomorrow to match Mercedes considering your race pace especially with medium tyres?
    SV: Well, I can’t predict what’s going to happen but usually we’re always a bit stronger, compared to them, in the race. As Nico touched on with the tyres, could be crucial tomorrow, the circuit is very slippery and I expect it to be slippery again. There might be some rain overnight so might be a bit of a reset for the track. To answer your question, we will have to wait and see tomorrow – but I hope so.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) What happened at the end of qualifying, because everybody seemed to be slower than before?
    NR: I was a tenth off my (best) lap, I think, so it was a good lap, just not as good as the previous one.
    SV: Sounds like a good excuse! I did the same, I was a tenth off, it was a good lap, just not as good as before.
    LH: Yeah, I just wasn’t quicker on that lap.

    Q: (Christopher Joseph – Chicane) To all of you, we touched on altitude on Thursday. I just wondered if you’re feeling any physical effects after qualifying and in general, out and about in Mexico City?
    LH: No issues, it’s tough out there as usual and it will be interesting for the race tomorrow for sure with the altitude. It does make a difference. And otherwise, so far I’ve had the best time here, I had the best tacos last night and I’m going to go back and have them again tonight and tomorrow night and probably the next night as well. I’m enjoying my stay.
    NR: The only time I felt it was running round the track where for sure I had a higher heart rate on Thursday but in the car, not really, it’s been fine.
    SV: I think it’s fine, we have a very very long straight to rest so that helps. Other than that, I think it’s great for us, it’s exciting, a lot of people. I think the size of the grandstands here seem to be at least double to other places and still full so it makes it very special for us.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globo Esporte) Lewis and Nico, there’s no way not to ask you (this question) considering what we saw in the last few races; will there be any conversation between you both considering the start tomorrow?
    NR: It’s no different, you know, it’s always going to be a battle and what’s in the past is in the past and now we move forward, it doesn’t change.
    LH: The same as he’s just said.
    SV: Can you make sure you take both of you out so I can go through? Yes? No? I tried.

  • Mexico is like India; So this is a home race for us as well as Checo: Vijay Mallya, chief of Sahara Force India

    Clockwise from top left: TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Vijay MALLYA (Force India), Claire WILLIAMS (Williams), Yasuhisa ARAI (Honda), Toto WOLFF (Mercedes), Maurizio ARRIVABENE (Ferrari), 
    PRESS CONFERENCE
    Q: Claire, if I can start with you. Williams won this race the last time it was here back in 1992. Did you watch that race and what are your thoughts on coming back to this circuit today?
    Claire WILLIAMS: I was 14 when that race was won and I don’t remember watching it. I probably did; I’m sure I did. But it’s great to come back here. We won the race prior to that with Riccardo Patrese as well, so Williams has a good history here. I’d love if we were able to repeat that this weekend. Obviously we haven’t had some great races in the past few, so the team really needs a strong result here. But it’s a great venue. I thank everyone in Formula One for our return to Mexico. Has really enjoyed the experience so far. The promoters have done a great job with the facilities we have, so it will be a good weekend.

    Q: This time last year you were battling for position in the Constructors’ Championship but you’re looking pretty solid now in third for this season. It’s obviously progress but are you satisfied with the season you’ve had?
    CW: This year for us was all about consolidation. If we are able to secure third this year again, that’s fantastic for a team operating on the budgets we are operating on. We are operating on a budget that is half or a third of some of the bigger teams out there and I’m really proud of the job that everybody in our team has done. It’s been hard work this year. We haven’t had some of the podiums we would have liked to have had but we’ve done a job. But it’s not over yet, we still got work to do but getting thirds again would be fantastic.

    Q: Thank you. Vijay, if I can move on to you. It’s a huge weekend for your team, in particular Sergio of course. Are you enjoying it, are the team feeling added pressure this weekend at all?
    Vijay MALLYA: No, we are absolutely enjoying being here in Mexico. As you may know we launched the car in Mexico in January this year. Checo has a huge following, we have many large Mexican sponsors and I personally love Mexico because there are many similarities with India, so this is like a home race for us as well.

    Q: We are hearing talk of a name change for the team for next season. What can you tell us about it? What does it mean for the team and how is it going to be structured?
    VM: We are in discussion, nothing has been finalised, we have many options and I’ll be able to confirm or otherwise once I have something to say. As I’ve said, and as was faithfully reported by Autosport, I don’t like to count my chickens before they hatch.

    Q: Thank you very much. Arai-san, can I ask you first what happened this morning in terms of Jenson’s engine and what effect did that have on running this afternoon?
    Yasuhisa ARAI: Jenson’s engine we had planned to change between FP1 and FP2 but we detected, by sensor, a high-voltage failure. Actually we don’t know but we need time to learn. We have to change many items to go out of the garage.

    Q: There is talk of Honda supplying a second team, or maybe not. What is the current situation and if you were given the choice would Honda rather supply more than one team?
    YA: Obviously we cannot discuss details at this moment. We have been approached by the team but discussions are ongoing and nothing has been decided. I always say this season: we are always open, so we are on discussions that are ongoing – that’s it.

    Q: Toto, you were invited onto the panel in Austin to celebrate as Constructors’ Champions and we’re delighted to see you now as double champions this season. Tell us your thoughts on Lewis as a three-time world champion and also how he’s changed over his three years with the team?
    Toto WOLFF: It’s clear that when you win a third drivers’ title you move into the ‘Olymp’ of drivers. There are not many who have scored three title or more and he’s part of that. He’s had an extraordinary season, almost without any mistakes. The car didn’t let him down and this is then where he ended up. The journey he had in the team… he started the same time I joined the team. I think it’s normal that as a person you develop, you grow into the team, you get to know the people, the car suits you more and this is the result of three years with Mercedes.

    Q: On the flip side, it’s obviously difficult for Nico. Where does he go from here? How does he rebuild for 2016?
    TW: For the team it’s always bitter sweet and just to keep the right balance I think he had a season with so many ups but also many downs. Some very good performances but he was always there. He out-qualified Lewis on some of the occasions but then he was also let down with the car in Monza, with the engine failure and this is simply where we need to improve – to provide a car that makes them capable of fighting each other, because it lifts the team. Today you could see he has a very strong pace and the combination of the two of them makes where we are. We won the Constructors’ title also because Nico is such a strong contender to Lewis and this is a very beneficial situation to the team.

    Q: Thank you. Maurizio, can I ask you how important is it that Sebastian now finishes second in the Drivers’ title race for Ferrari?
    Maurizio ARRIVABENE: The championship is not finished. At the moment he is second but I think Nico is hunting him but we will do our best to keep [Sebastian] in that position, even if Toto do not like.

    Q: Sebastian drove a great race in Austin. Can you tell us what he’s brought to the team and how motivating performances like that are to the team?
    MA: I don’t want to talk about Sebastian, because every time they are asking me questions – he’s a four-time world champion. He’s demonstrate that he is a great driver but he also have a good team around him. He has integrated himself very well into the team and also with Kimi, I have to say, and everybody is going in the right direction. He gave us an additional push and I recognise he is a great driver. By the way, congratulations to Mercedes and to Lewis for the title, they really deserve [it].

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Ian Parkes – Autosport) Toto, you recently signed an agreement with Manor to supply power units for next season. They describe themselves as a team of real racers but two of those real racers, John Booth and Graeme Lowdon, have seemingly resigned from their positions. I just wondered what you make of that and if that poses any threat to the deal going forward into next year?
    TW: Obviously when I spoke about racers, John and Graeme was very much meant by that plus of course the rest of the team, it’s a bunch of real fighters that have shown stamina in keeping the team in the sport. I’ve known John forever, since the Formula Renault days of Lewis and Formula 3 days. Manor means John Booth and John Booth means Manor and Graeme has made sure… was very instrumental in keeping the team alive last year, so seeing them go, from a personal standpoint and from the racing spirit, is obviously a blow. So going forward, we have signed the deal with Manor and I would say we need to give credit to everybody in the team who stays in the team but we are curious spectators from now on.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Question to Maurizio. Last week in Austin I asked you what your thoughts and comments were about the possibility of another kind of engine, that was being discussed. You said that you’d rather wait until it’s gone through Strategy Group etcetera before commenting – yet on Monday we heard that Ferrari had invoked a veto against such a plan. Could you please explain the difference and also whether in fact there was a veto that was invoked – and why? Thank you.
    MA: Concerning the veto it is quite easy. We exercised our veto in compliance with our legitimate commercial right to do business as a powertrain manufacturer. There’s nothing to add.Vijay Mallya (top row - left) at the Friday press conference ahead of the Mexican GP on Sunday. An FIA image 30oct2015

    Q: (Kate Walker – motorsport.com) I’ve got a follow-up for Maurizio. Given the rude financial health of the Ferrari F1 team’s finances, how do you morally justify exercising your veto?
    MA: I repeat it. I have to repeat again. The rules are done by the Federation and it’s fine but we just exercise our commercial right as a powertrain manufacturer. This is the reason why.

    It was a question about the moral justification, given your strong financial position.
    MA: Why do we have to justify it more? Here we are talking about commercial right. We are not talking about budget, we are not talking about anything else. If somebody, they are asking you, they give you a specification to produce apple, OK you produce apple in line with the specification. That somebody,  they’re asking you, OK, we want to impose you the price of the apple’, what are you going to do? This is the principle. It has nothing to do with the rest.

    Q: (Christopher Joseph ¬– Chicane) Question for the front row [MA, TW, YA] in terms of powertrain. How important is it for you, as powertrain manufacturers, that you have gained some traction in the Mexican market – and what is the relationship between excellence in powertrain on the track and how that relates to road car technology?
    TW: To answer the first question, Mexico is a huge market and very important market for us. We’re not only producing cars in Mexico but also it’s the sheer size is very important for us. From the relevance to road car technology, there is a huge relevance – and it goes in both directions. What you are seeing on the roads is hybrid technology and fuel efficiency and this is the fastest lab in the world. We have been part of a sport that set very stringent new rules two years ago in terms of efficiency of those power units – yet those power units deploy more power than the engines before and we are almost there in terms of laptimes with 100kg instead of 150-160kg – so it’s very, very road relevant.

    Arai-san – how important is it to be visible to the Mexican market?
    YA: Here is a very, very important market for us, of course. We made a new plant in Celaya and opened that plant. Our services are very strong in Mexico. This is the 50 years anniversary for the first win for Honda in Formula One this year. It is a very special place in Mexico.

    Maurizio – how important to be visible to the Mexican market and the relevance to road cars?
    MA: For us of course it’s important because Mexico somehow is the door of South America. It’s a growing market so for a car manufacturer company it’s a very, very important and this is the reason why we were very happy to have the grand prix here because it’s another opportunity to enlarge the Formula One sport and the Formula One race in South America. The show I think is more completed now with Austin, USA, Mexico now and Brazil.

    Q: (Ralf Bach – Auto Bild Motosport) A question to Toto. Toto, can you understand Ferrari’s opinion in this engine case? The veto right and the answer.
    TW: This is obviously a very controversial topic and, as with many things, black and white is not the answer. There is… we were… there is a set of rules which were implemented in Formula One two years ago and we started developing those engines three, four, five years ago, based on that set of rules. As large corporations we work on long-term planning. It is part of the budget process. It is part of the R&D process. From that standpoint, part of it is a business case and you need to calculate how much you can charge for those engines, how much you can recover for those engines. Ferrari is a public company now, so it is difficult as a commercial entity to just be confronted with the situation where price is being imposed. It somehow takes away the commercial ability of refinancing. Now, you can say, for a large organisation it doesn’t matter: a couple of millions don’t matter – but they do. It’s how we are being set up, the constant always trying to improve your result and optimise your organisation – which is why it’s a discussion I think we should have behind closed doors. I think it is very important to understand the financial constraints of some of the smaller teams and we remain committed to cost reductions. It’s not like the big teams are stubborn and say “well, we don’t want to hear anything of that.” This is a platform that functions with all of us. We are not just running fronting it and saying we don’t care what happens behind us or aside of us. You need to balance that. I think Ferrari’s first reaction – and excuse me [MA] that I’m talking for you in that case – is the imposing ways are very difficult to cope for a commercially-oriented entity. I can understand Ferrari’s standpoint and I can also understand it’s a very controversial and difficult situation for some of the smaller teams, and of course how it’s being brought forward, it doesn’t look very neat – but there is a much more to it than just a sheer veto and saying “no, we don’t want to have the discussion,” because that’s not how it was.

    MA: In fact, what I said, my answer was only concerned to the reason we applied the veto. For the rest I totally agree with veto. It is not a position against the other team. It is a decision that is defending a commercial principle. For the rest we are open to finding any other solution. At Toto explained, you have in a public company, as we are now, but also in a company as Mercedes is, you have research and development costs that somehow you have to recover. I don’t find any commercial entity all around the world that is giving their product out to the market for free – or at cost. So this is the principle.

    Q: (Ian Parkes- Autosport) The FIA recently announced plans to potentially introduce a budget engine from 2017. To Vijay and Claire, could you give us your thoughts on that, whether it’s a unit which would likely appeal to you? And to the front three engine manufacturers, again your thoughts on that, bearing in mind the multi-millions of pounds that you’ve spent in developing the current system?
    CW: Everybody is aware that Williams is always in support of any cost control measures in Formula One, and we respect the work that the FIA are doing in that regard. But we also have always come out in support of the current power unit that we have, it’s hugely relevant to the auto industry of today and in Formula One, this needs to be a technically innovative championship. So I think there are arguments on both sides and as Toto said, it’s quite an evocative subject and one that we want to have conversations around with the FIA and directly rather than talking about it in the press at this stage.
    VM: I received a communication from the FIA proposing the new engine concept with outline specifications. I appreciate the cost cutting initiative. I think Force India has constantly been asking for cost control measures in Formula One for good reason, I might add. But it’s very early stages for us to comment on whether we would be supportive of this particularly new engine or not. Having said that, we have an excellent relationship with Mercedes. We have a fantastic power train. Sure, if the FIA feels that an engine should cost six or seven million euros, this gives me a little foot in the door to request my friend Toto for a discount. But having said, we are contractually obliged to Mercedes ‘til 2020 and we respect our contract, but having said, any cost saving initiative is welcome from our point of view and should be discussed by all teams in the strategy group and those who are not in the strategy group, because they are equally relevant and hopefully we can all come to a conclusion.
    I just take another minute: I heard what Maurizio said about the recent veto by Ferrari. He further states that he would be very prepared to sit down and discuss cost reduction measures which is something that we appreciate. Unfortunately, in the past, the strategy group has been discussing cost control for the last two years and there has been no significant result. Hopefully now, going forward, we will all sit down with the seriousness that it deserves and find a solution that is satisfactory to all teams that are competing in this world championship.
    TW: Vijay’s a very shrewd businessman so nothing else was expected, same as Claire. As I said before, we cannot close our eyes to what’s happening in Formula One and we need to show respect for every team – the ones that are part of the strategy group and the ones not part of the strategy group, and you need to consider that. And you have to balance that against your own commercial pressures. I think Formula One was successful with the current engines in attracting engine manufacturers. It is a period where we are having four suppliers in the sport, which I would consider as a success and I think that from our standpoint, what we need is a long term visibility of regulations and what’s happening so we need to try to make our customers and partners in the smaller teams save costs as good as we can and have a serious discussion about it and maybe Jean Todt and Bernie’s initiative now is going to trigger more emphasis on those discussions so I take it as a positive. We remain open to the regulations, we are not the ones who make the regulations but we have a voice and we sit there and we hope I can make that argument heard, that we need long term stability in coming up with solutions. If, going forward, we need different regulations in terms of power units we would very much discuss that, if it makes sense or not, but we shouldn’t shake the system too much because that doesn’t fit to the long term perspectives of large organisations like the three of us represent.
    YA: I think that for Formula One there are three major important things. One is sustainability, as you discussed, the cost to a price. And how more attractive and keep the good fun. And also the challenge of new technology; the current regulation is a very good direction, and also the competition. Those are the three major areas which are always important and we always discuss about that.
    MA: I think I tend to full agree with Todt because here you have two companies, they do chassis, they do engine, gearbox, everything on the car so we need to find a bit of a balance versus others because everybody looks smaller but if you compare us and what we are doing to maybe our teams, we have all the respect for them. They maybe do only the chassis. We need to find the balance in between all of us. As Vijay said, we are ready to sit down to discuss, to find a good solution which is making everybody happy and most importantly, it’s helping Formula One to grow in terms of spectacularisation and so on. So, this is our point of view. We want to continue our discussion but as Toto said, you can’t shake the box too much because otherwise you create further confusion. I mean if you apply the rules, the rules need to be discussed, agreed by everybody and equal for everybody, because I don’t think a solution to have three, four, five different power units that they are running in Formula One is going to satisfy us and to simplify also, because most of the time, now that what we discuss in the strategy group is becoming public. I can say something in the strategy group where also we are discussing how to simplify the rules so we also need to do that and to do it we need to unify the rules, to simplify and to look further to enhance the show.

    Q: (Will Buxton – NBC SN) Toto said a few moments ago that we can’t be blind to the situation in this sport any longer and yet the use of the veto by Ferrari shows that if not blind, it could possibly be argued that there’s a slight blurring of vision. I would like to ask the members of the panel that don’t have the right of veto for a simple yes or no answer; should anybody in this sport, should any team in this sport have the right of veto over regulation?
    CW: I think it is what it is. I think it’s like a lot of things in Formula One, that it is in the regulations that if Ferrari have that veto, it’s a historical veto they’ve had for many years. I don’t believe that they’ve exercised it on a regular basis but they obviously exercise it when they feel opposed to something and opposed to something that they believe that they should be opposed to because it’s important to them and Maurizio has laid out the reasons why he used… Ferrari used their veto. Where I sit, Williams, we’ve always just abided by the rules, they are what they are, like a lot of things in Formula One and we just go along with them.
    VM: I sit on the world motorsport council of the FIA so I’m not going to express my personal opinion. The FIA president Jean Todt has already issued a press statement surrounding this entire issue of the recommendations that were made for cost control measures, that Ferrari vetoed it, and he very clearly stated that he does not intend to contest the exercising of that veto so that’s it as far as I’m concerned.
    TW: Well, there is not a yes and no answer to this, it’s much more complex than this and I think it is an historic right which is a right that was earned in participating in the sport for fifty or sixty years, God knows how many years, and having amassed this tremendous amount, the question is is the veto the right way in terms of honouring that. It’s up to others to make that judgement so considering that, I think that somebody like Ferrari needs to have different right of opinion and expressing themselves than somebody who has been here ten minutes.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Arai-san, major corporations move employees, they give them projects, they give them assignments etc. I’m hearing from Japan that your assignment is a three year assignment, that there were two years to set up the Honda F1 programme and one year to introduce it in the field, i.e. this year. Can you assure us categorically that you’ll still head the programme next year or will somebody else take over?
    YA: I don’t know. I can’t say here.

    Q: (Christopher Joseph – Chicane) Just further to your response, Toto, you talked about the veto and in general you’ve all spoken about the veto being part of the historic nature, the DNA, if you will, of Formula One. Is it perhaps time that, seeing as teams like the Williams team, all the independent garagistas as they were called, should they not have a veto, are they just not equally part of this great circus?
    TW: If we all had a veto, it doesn’t make any sense any more. No, I think this is really such a complex discussion which we shouldn’t have in public. My personal opinion is that you need to respect Ferrari’s position. It is the strongest brand in Formula One and it has done a lot around Formula One and has been honoured in various contracts be it the veto or be it with commercial rights. And whatever the ways of that being honoured is another question. Is veto the right thing to exercise your position or not, I don’t know, but it’s not a discussion we should be having here.
    MA: I would like to add also that we are not applying the veto to every single meeting. If we do it, we think a lot about it and we do it if, in our opinion, it’s necessary to do it and the last one, I remember, was applied by Jean Todt actually a couple of years ago, many years ago.

  • To race in front of my home fans is a big dream; Sunday will be the most special day of my career: Sergio Perez

    DRIVERS – Carlos SAINZ (Toro Rosso), Pastor MALDONADO (Lotus), Will STEVENS (Manor), Fernando ALONSO (McLaren), Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes), Sergio PEREZ (Force India)
    PRESS CONFERENCE
    Lewis, if we can start with you: you’ve had a few days for it to sink in and now you arrive here as a three-time world champion. How does it feel and how were the celebration? 
    Lewis HAMILTON: Well, hola everyone. Is it como estas.

    Sergio PEREZ: Como estas.

    LH: Como estas? Really happy to be here in Mexico, it’s my first time and the last few days have been relaxed, not too hectic, a little bit of partying but obviously conscious that we have the race this weekend, so couldn’t do too much damage. So I plan for more the end of the year to really go in. I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet. I think every day I’m kind of pinching myself, thinking ‘I can’t believe it’s really happened’. And I guess probably, like, yesterday I was straight back into business, I hit race mode, so I’ve not really been thinking about it that much but still it’s a good feeling.

    You haven’t won it before with three races to go, you’ve only ever won it at the last, so what’s the plan for the rest of the season, still maximum attack?
    LH: For me it’s always maximum attack, so we’ve still got these three races. For example, we’ve got the Mexican Grand Prix here, the first time in 23 years. I think it’s exciting for the Mexican people; it’s exciting for me, and as all us driver [feel], you love to have your stamp on the first race back here, so that’s the target and yeah, we’ve still got big races to win.

    Thank you for that. Sergio, big week for you, busy week for you. Are you enjoying all the attention? Is it what you dreamed of?
    SP: Yeah, it’s definitely a big dream for me to be able to race in my home country. It’s been more than 12 years since I raced in my country, so definitely it’s going to be the biggest day of my career on Sunday, because to race in front of my whole people, all my country, it’s something very special. You know how Mexicans are. So, it’s going toSergio `Checo' Perez (Front row right) of Force India at the Thursday Press Conference. An FIA image 29oct2015 Mexico be the most special day of my career, no matter what result I get on Sunday. I really hope that we can have a great result and cheer all the fans that are doing the effort to come. But definitely it’s just going to be a dream come true on Sunday to race in front of my crowd.

    You’re on a bit of a roll right now in terms of performance, so you’ve got a lot of confidence coming into this race. It’s the perfect time to have it for you, isn’t it?
    SP: Yeah, definitely, we’ve been having a very good couple of races; the last six have been really strong for us. I think there is a very good chance we can keep up the momentum. I’m looking forward to do that and try to score as many points as possible on the weekend for the team and for all the people who are coming to see me on Sunday.

    Thank you. Fernando, you drove a great race for little reward unfortunately in Austin, but you’re clearly not lacking motivation. Where do you think that inner steel, that inner strength from?
    Fernando ALONSO: Well, I think the team is doing a good job and everyone is pushing to improve the situation. All the new parts that we bring to the races they seem to deliver what we expect from them. Definitely there is a very nice direction in the team this year. It has been tough; it has been frustrating at times. But we kept all united, we kept all moving in one direction, one team and for next year I think we are putting some of the problems we had this year in [their] place for next year. So you keep enjoying racing and when the circuit suits a little bit our car there is a little bit of extra motivation and we push a little bit harder. It was the case in Austin, where we felt more competitive in all sessions over the weekend. In the race as well, it has been probably the best race of the year for me, Austin. In the first 20 laps I think in nine of them was quicker than Lewis and this didn’t happen for the past two years and a half! So this was very good news and definitely I enjoyed the race and, as you said, zero points for an issue in the last 10 laps but it was definitely a different feeling compared to the rest of the year.

    You’ve said you think McLaren can find two and a half seconds over the winter. What makes you so confident, what have you seen?
    FA: Well, I think the lack of performance we have in some areas of the car are quite fundamental issues that should have a not too difficult answer, let’s a say, or not too difficult a solution. It’s just we need to copy the direction everyone has apart from us. It’s some of the time that we feel we will recover with not much penalty, because for the others they already have it in their package. So some of the performance gain we expect will come for free but it’s true that all the competitors will work very hard over the winter and they will recover a couple of seconds also, so we need to make an extra, but we are feeling optimistic, we feel confident of next year being very competitive. We are realistic at the same time. We understand that in Formula One there are no magic things for being one year out of Q1 and the next year fighting for the championship – that’s a very, very optimistic target but we will try our best.

    Thank you. Pastor, what can you tell us about your race in Austin? You managed to avoid all chaos and end up in the points.
    Pastor MALDONADO: Yeah, to be honest it was quite difficult from the set-up and balance point of view with the car during the entire race. We were not as quick as expected, as always, during the race. But yeah, when I saw the people fighting in the front, I was very cautious and trying to get the places from other car mistakes and yeah it was quite clean from my side and very consistent. At the end, P8. For sure we were expecting something but a few more points. It’s important for us at this stage of the season, so looking forward to continuing like this and going in the points.

    Your new team-mate was announced in Austin. You’ll essentially be team leader next year. How do you feel about that? Does it change your outlook; do you feel added responsibility? 
    PM: Yeah, I hope it will be a completely different year to this one, with more resources. We need to push harder than this year, especially on the car and you know, yeah, try to be more solid on the development.

    Carlos, coming to you. At this point in the season there is a lot of personal pride at stake. The battle between you and Max is really tight on track, even if the points don’t show it. Are you enjoying that battle and how do you come out on top with three races left?
    Carlos SAINZ: Yeah, I think it’s been a great year for both of us. Apart from the results, apart from the show, I think we are both learning a lot. From my side, I am enjoying a lot every single race, especially these last two. Obviously I started from the back and had to make my way through and I enjoyed that a lot. Everything is very good. We just need to make sure we keep learning, I keep learning until the end of the season. We have three races. I think it’s important to finish on a high, so keep the momentum up from the last two races and yeah, finish the season on a high.

    It was your first time racing in Austin and conditions were difficult to say the least: schedules changing all the time, let alone the conditions. What did you learn from it and what confidence did you gain from that weekend?
    CS: It was a much more difficult race than you may think for me, because my first lap in the dry in Austin was during the race. So I had no data, absolutely nothing, no information from the car, from the tyres. All of a sudden we had to go on slicks and I was learning every lap, lap by lap. I was enjoying it a lot. I knew I couldn’t do any mistakes. I couldn’t push so hard because I needed to learn the track and even though we had lots of problems during the race to come up with a P6 and finally a P7 with the penalty was a great achievement. So I was very pleased with that race, probably one of the best of the season for sure and I cannot wait for Mexico and to continue in that way.

    Thank you. Will, same question to you really: first time racing in Austin, although cut short. Changing conditions, first dry running in the race, just talk us through what you learned from that weekend?
    Will STEVENS: Yeah, Austin was a pretty cool weekend. Clearly not as much running as we hoped but the track was actually really good fun to drive in the wet – we were really having a lot of fun out there. Clearly the race was cut short for me, which was disappointing because it looked like the race was the best opportunity to have a good race besides Silverstone. It was disappointing. Then race looked good fun and I hope that I was out there to enjoy it.
    You’ve got three races to go now. Do you think you have had a successful season and what indications have you had about next year?
    WS: Yeah, I think the year has been really good for me. My pace has always been really strong this year. I’ve only been out-qualified by team-mate four times this year so pace has never really been an issue. The last few races haven’t really gone our way. A few things have happened that have made it a little bit more difficult. But if I was to assess the year as a whole, I think it’s been really positive and for my options for next year, obviously we are pushing hard and everything is moving in the right direction.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Honorary) Lewis, you’ve won three titles now, going back to when you won the first championship, what changed within you and what changed all around you after that first championship?
    LH: I think quite a lot really. I think a lot of growth a lot of… there has been a lot of movement around me of course: different teams; different management team; different people around me. But I guess just grown a lot and through those experiences, it’s taken a long time, gone through the hard route. Before I got to Formula One I didn’t have any preparation for media and for press conferences like this stuff, so I felt like I was thrown in the deep end. It took a long, long time to really acclimatise, firstly to that side of Formula One, but also the fame. I think being able to feel comfortable within yourself, come out of your shell a little bit more and be comfortable and sure in who you are. It’s helped me drive better than ever today. Just over those years you learn more and more about racing so you hopefully improve. I definitely think as an all round driver I should be better today. Well, I am better.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globoesporte.com) Lewis you won the championship, your team also won the Constructors’ Championship. What are you goals now? Do you go to the race maybe taking some more risks to fight for the win really – you don’t have anything to lose now.
    LH: I think I generally have a really balanced approach. Balanced between risk and not-too-much-risk. I don’t think I need to change it really because it’s done me well this year with the ten wins. So I think keeping it the same and, of course, there’s not pressure this weekend but to enjoy, just enjoy the experience. And so that’s what I’m going to try and do.

    Q: (Ricardo Roga – US. News) This is for Fernando Alonso. One year ago you were here, near the track. How do you see all the complex of Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez right now?
    FA: Yes, I was one year ago here. Obviously many things changed and now the circuit is ready for the grand prix. I didn’t walk around, I think I will do it this afternoon. On the simulator it looks interesting. Very different part of the circuit with a very long straight and then the second sector with medium speed corners and the third sector with very low speed corners. A challenge for the engineers to set up the car. I think the last sector with the stadium area, that will be quite enjoyable for us, for drivers, being so close to thousands of people. Hopefully we will put on a good show for everyone. I think the passion and the atmosphere we’ve felt from a few days in Mexico is quite special. How people live Formula One here. With Checo also having a good weekend hopefully, we will see a fantastic weekend.

    Q: (César Herrera – Diario Récord) Hi guys. For all the drivers, after seeing the track, what can you expect from the race on Sunday? Do you think it’s going to be a funny race? Do you think this track has opportunities to be the finest of the season?
    PM: Yes. A lot of expectation from our side for this race. It’s maybe the most expected one for all of us. Very special for me. Very close to my country, Latin American, Spanish-speaking, a lot of friends here. I’ve been here in the past as well so, yes, very special. Of course, you make an amazing job on rebuilding the track. For sure it’s very difficult to predict something before we jump in the track and we test with the car. We just only can work and see from the outside but not from the car. I’m 100 per cent sure it’s going to be very spectacular for all of you.

    Carlos?
    CS: From the outside I managed to do the track walk yesterday and I was surprised with the amount of grandstands, especially the last sector and the entry to the stadium. I think it was very special. It’s something that we don’t have yet in Formula One and it’s going to be very interesting. And new tarmac so new circumstances, new degradations, new strategies. It’s going to be interesting. And those couple of long straights are for sure going to create some movement in the race and maybe with the rain coming that’s a bit expected now, it could be even more interesting. Hopefully we can have as good a race as in Austin, as good a show as in Austin and people in Mexico enjoy it.

    Will?
    WS: Similar to what Carlos said. I think the weather looks pretty unpredictable for the weekend. So we saw from Austin it can be a pretty exciting race and I think with the long straights for sure there’s going to be some overtaking. So, I only arrived here yesterday, it’s my first time in Mexico, so, looking to get used to the city a little bit. There’s always a really good atmosphere in places like this and I’m sure Checo’s doing a good job with helping promote it. Looking forwards to the weekend. It should be a good one.

    Checo, you probably know this place best…
    SP: Yeah, it’s great to hear all of the drivers so happy to be here in my country. That makes me feel very proud of what we have done. I think, walking through the paddock, it looks like we have done a great job for the track and we can compare this track against any other around the world. And the track layout itself, the circuit, it’s a great circuit. It can really offer good racing. We have one of the longest straights, which generally always helps to have good racing. So, I would really expect to have great racing between all of us on Sunday, which will be great for the fans.

    Lewis?
    LH: Well I just arrived so I haven’t seen the track as such. I haven’t walked around – but hopefully I’ll get the chance to walk around later. But from the simulator it looked pretty awesome, and from images I’ve seen. And knowing that… generally the crowd really is what makes the atmosphere and makes the weekend. I’ve heard this weekend is sold out and I know… I’ve got some Mexican friends that I spend Christmases with, so I know the spirit of the Mexicans. If they all come out in their thousands, I think it could be one of the most amazing weekends. So I’m looking forward to that.

    SP: They will, don’t worry!

    Fernando?
    FA: Yeah, the same. Nothing really to add. The atmosphere on the weekend is amazing. It’s one of the very first things that we need to enjoy and experience. The race itself, how it can be, it’s impossible to predict. We should not judge on Sunday afternoon on whatever race it was. In Russia we saw a very boring race the first year and very exciting race the second. The circuit was exactly the same. Sometimes in football you see 0-0, sometimes 5-4. It’s difficult to predict, this sport. First we need to enjoy this weekend and put on a good race for all the fans.

    Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) If I could ask all the drivers, just how physical and demanding is it going to be with that combination of altitude, the long straight. Is it going to be more demanding than other races this season?
    FA: Again, we should wait until Sunday but yes, definitely there is a little bit different conditions here. So, we should be taking care of this race a little bit better than others in terms of physical preparation with altitude. With these cars we drive now, it should be OK. If we had this race ten years ago with cars eight seconds quicker, it would be very tough.

    Lewis, any concerns about the altitude?
    LH: I think it’s going to… I really don’t know what to expect. Naturally by having higher altitude, I train in high altitude during the winter so I anticipate it’s going to be more physical for us – but it also depends on how much grip there is. On the simulator I had not much. So, I guess we’ll find out tomorrow. We’ll have a much better idea about it tomorrow.

    Checo?
    SP: The same to what they’ve said. I think we have to wait until Sunday and see how we end up after the race. I don’t expect big issues as I think having those compounds it shouldn’t be such a big issue.

    LH: There should be champagne and tequila on the podium and sombreros.

    SP: There will be…

    Carlos, anything to add?
    CS: No. I agree with them.

    Pastor?
    PM: Yeah, I agree with them. We have to wait and see. It’s something new for all us.

    Will?
    WS: No. Not much more to add.

    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) To everyone, in view of the kind of weird situation we had in Austin where Nico seemed to pass Daniel Ricciardo at the end of the virtual safety car period, with Red Bull still thinking it was continuing, presumably it was all legal but it was odd. What are your collective views on virtual safety car and how difficult it is to restart from that, to keep the delta?
    FA: I don’t think it’s a big issue. I know in Austin it was a little bit strange because we had many of them and we were always in a group of cars but we have to sit down with the race director and try to find little tweaks if necessary but it’s the same for everybody and it’s like all the rules: you need to be spot on, you need to be focussed, you need to be clever. I don’t think that whatever solution we find, it will be always a tweak that someone will spoil. I don’t see any big problem.
    WS: I actually think it works pretty well to be honest. If there’s a scenario where it doesn’t need to be a safety car, it normally keeps everything as it was and normally they can clear it quicker. I think generally it works pretty well. I think sometimes… in Russia we had a situation at the start where the virtual safety car came out pretty quickly and all the cars at the back bunched up quite a lot. I think how you go into it sometimes can be better but overall I think the system works pretty well.
    LH: Yeah, I don’t really have much more to add to it. I think it works well. It not the easiest to stay to the delta but it’s the same for everyone and we do our best.
    PM: Yeah, happy with that. I guess what we saw in the last race was a bit extreme just because of the conditions and I was not happy. On the other hand what happened to have a spectacular race so quite good.
    SP: Yeah, similar to all the others. I don’t have any issues. The race was very extreme. We had plenty of virtual safety cars and that didn’t help but I think at the same time you have to be on it because especially in Austin, by the time that my team advised me that it was going to end was a very short period, about three or four seconds, really short period whereas in the past it was a bit longer in that respect so something to look at with the race director.
    CS: Yeah, I have no issues with it. I think it works pretty well. So obviously just like another restart of safety car, you just need to be on it. It’s not easy when the message comes because you have to do a lot of changes while you are trying to look out for the green panel but that’s all. As these guys have said, it’s the same for everyone and it’s just sometimes you will get it perfect, others not so much and you need to be on it.

    Q: (Daniel Johnson – The Telegraph) Lewis, since the race in Austin, have you discussed the turn one incident with the Nico or the team at all? And secondly, obviously Nico is in quite a close battle for second in the drivers’ championship and Mercedes would like him to finish second. Will you help him out at all in that respect?
    LH: We haven’t spoken, not that I think we really need to. The team has not asked me to support him in that role as I’m here to win the race. The team has won the constructors’ championship so I think from here on there’s not really a huge benefit for the team for me to start helping. We’ll see what Toto wants me to do.

    Q: (Ian Parkes – Autosport) Lewis, just following on from that, Toto was quite clear after the race that he did feel the need for talks to take place, that he didn’t want any fall-out like that which occurred in Spa. Why would you suggest that you don’t think there’s a need for any talks? And secondly, as a supplementary question, what happened with the cap flinging incident? Are you and Nico going to have a chat about that at all going forward… with the cap flinging incident that happened in the green room?
    LH: Ah, OK. The reason for me is just that I’m very easy going and so I never really have any problems. I think Toto feels that he needs to perhaps sit with Nico to see where his head’s at. Obviously we don’t want any tension in the team. Generally we do often come together and just keep it transparent. I don’t really have anything to say about it but of course I’m sure we will sit down and see what Nico’s feeling and whatever emotions he has and try and dilute them and then move on. In terms of the cap thing, I don’t know, it’s pretty funny so I don’t really have much else to say about it.

    Q: (Jorge Koechlin – AutoMundo) Checo, your dream, when we met when you were five years old and racing go-karts against your brother and you’ve come all this way with great talent. Do you feel responsible for this happening today in Mexico? And there’s a name that comes to mind, Carlos Slim. How has it been all this time and how do you feel together with him today that this is actually happening?
    SP: Yeah, it’s been a great trip. As you say, Carlos has been a great supporter of my career, a great friend of mine and we’re so proud of what we have achieved in terms of the Mexican Grand Prix. It’s not only the both of us, there’s been a lot of people – the government… as I say, so many people involved to try to  bring this race to make it happen and it just makes me feel so proud to actually arrive here, see all the drivers, see all the teams, all the worldwide media and it’s something that makes me feel extremely proud and I’m sure we will do a great event and I have no doubt that this event will become very popular for everyone, all amongst the F1 family.

    Q: (Jim Virtuno – Associated Press) Sergio, what did you hear, growing up, about the Mexican drivers who came before you in Formula One and with all the excitement around you and your home race, can it become a negative pressure sort of thing? You have to just sit back and focus on the racing rather than everything else that’s going on.
    SP: What I’ve heard from the drivers… I mean it’s been a long time since we don’t have a driver and I even grew up with a Mexican driver in Formula One, so all what I’ve heard, what I heard from the people, from the Mexicans, obviously from the Rodriguez who are the most popular ones, yeah, I think they were great. Unfortunately they died at a very young age. I think they had a lot more to offer to the sport and to Formula One. In terms of Sunday, I think it’s very positive pressure Obviously there is a lot of pressure but I take it as a very positive one, there will be a lot of energy, people really supporting me and what I have to do is what I do every weekend, it’s focus on myself. Once I put the helmet on, it’s time to focus on what I’m doing,  I have to do the normal procedure that I do throughout the races. There are a lot of things that we have to do before the race start, before qualifying and so on. Obviously there is a lot of pressure but a very positive type of pressure  and I see that it will give me a very good motivation to do well this Sunday.

    Q: (Osvaldo Anaya – Estadio Newspaper) Lewis, yesterday you told us that you expect this main straight to be one of the fastest if not the fastest of the year. Could you elaborate on that?
    LH: Just my engineers told me that it’s going to be the fastest, the fast straight, right?
    SP: It’s a very fast straight, yes.
    LH: Because it’s quite long, because we’ve got the high altitude, we’ve got the least amount of drag, probably of the whole year, so I think because we’ve got the turbo… I think in the past, it was the V8 and the normally aspirated engines, we would have lost power alongside with the downforce, but with this car we don’t, we lose downforce and drag but we don’t lose any power with the turbo so it should be pretty unbelievably fast this weekend.

    Q: (Thomas Goubin – AutoHebdo) Checo, you said that your last race in Mexico was twelve years ago, I just wanted to know what was this race and what memories you have of this race?
    SP: Yeah, they’re not great memories because it’s a very long story and we don’t have all the time to go through it but basically on the Sunday they didn’t allow me to race because I have a special licence to race, I was twelve years old and I had a special permit to race against drivers of twenty, 25 years old. I was winning the championship and one race before I had a contact with another driver so the federation took the licence away and they were giving me the chance to race and not, so in the end they allowed me to qualify. I qualified second but then in the race they didn’t allow me to race so that was my last experience here in Mexico, so I hope on Sunday will be a lot better.

  • Hamilton claims third World Championship with three rounds to spare at Austin; Perez 6th

    Austin, 25 October 2015: Lewis Hamilton claimed his third Formula One World Championship title with victory in an incident-packed United States Grand Prix that saw the Briton’s Mercedes’ team-mate Nico Rosberg take second place ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.

    The win, Hamilton’s 10th of the season, puts him on 327 points in the championship, 76 points ahead of nearest challenger Sebastian Vettel. With a maximum 75 points on offer from the final three rounds, Hamilton cannot be overtaken in the standings.

    Hamilton joins a list of three-time champions that includes Jack Brabham, Sir Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Nelson Piquet and Aytron Senna.

    At the start Hamilton made a better getaway than Rosberg ands the pair went into Turn One side by side. Hamilton held hard to his line and the pair banged wheels. The collision sent Rosberg wide and that allowed Kvyat to leap through past Ricciardo and Rosberg into second place. Ricciardo also stole through to demote Rosberg further.

    Further back there was incident involving seventh on the grid Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso, who started ninth. The chaos saw several drivers profit, with Sebastian Vettel climbing to seventh by the end of lap one from 13th on the grid, Raikkonen rising to 10th from 18th and Carlos Sainz jumping to 11th after starting in last place. Elsewhere, the two Saubers clashed, with Nasr losing his front wing and scattering debris across the track at Turn One.

    At the front Hamilton was being pressured by Kvyat but the Russian overcooked a move into Turn One and went wide, which gave the Mercedes man some breathing space.

    It was Kvyat’s last attempt. With debris still on track the Virtual Safety Car was deployed on lap five. The order at this point was Hamilton, followed by Kvyat, Ricciardo, Rosberg, Force India’s Perez, Vettel, Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen, Raikkonen, Sainz and Nico Hulkenberg in the second Force India.

    When the VSC was removed Rosberg was the most alert. Hamilton held his lead from Kvyat but Rosberg caught Ricciardo napping and powered past the Australian through the ‘Esses’ to take third. He was soon all over the back of Kvyat and used his Mercedes’ greater power to breeze past the Russian to resume the grid order.

    On seasonal form that should have been that, but in the conditions the Mercedes were unable to pull away from the Red Bulls and Kvyat again attacked Rosberg at the end of lap 112. He again ran wide though and that allowed Ricciardo to sneak past. And with the aid of DRS the Australian then passed Rosberg through Turn One on lap 13.

    Further back there were equally big battles developing. Perez and Vettel were stable in fourth and fifth but the battle for sixth was intense with Verstappen holding off Raikkonen and Sainz. Raikkonen eventually got past Sainz on lap 15 and began to pressure Verstappen.

    At the front the order was changing again and when Hamilton couldn’t hold a tight line through long right hander towards the end of the lap, Ricciardo held his nerve and exercised impressive car control to take the inside line and the lead.

    The Australian then began to build a lead and by lap 18 he was 3.9s ahead of the championship leader.

    Hamilton’s times were flagging on his degrading tyres and he was running 1.3s slower than Ricciardo and the Briton was passed on lap 18 by Rosberg and as Kvyat clambered all over the back of his car, Mercedes opted to pit the title leader for soft tyres.

    Ricciardo, Rosberg and third-placed Kvyat reacted and pitted on lap 19 for soft tyres, with Ricciardo resuming in the lead ahead of the German and the Russian. Hamilton was now fourth.

    The rest of the field had also pitted by this point for slicks but the track was still proving difficult and Raikkonen went off at the left-hander at the bottom of the esses, He hit the barriers but managed to drive his way out from the tyre wall and rejoined in 15th.

    At the front the positions were changing again and this time it was the Red Bulls being passed, with Rosberg stealing the lead from Ricciardo and Hamilton stealing third from Kvyat.

    Rosberg was told to build a lead and armed with soft tyres on a drying track, the German obliged. By lap 24 Rosberg was 3.6s ahead of Ricciardo. Hamilton, meanwhile, was now three seconds adrift of the Australian. Kvyat though had dropped to fifth, the Russian running out of grip in turn one and allowing the hard-charging Vettel to brush past on the inside.

    Mercedes’ pace in this phase of the race was simply too great for the Red Bulls and on lap 27 Hamilton breezed past Ricciardo to take second place. He was now 10.5s behind his team-mate.

    Raikkonen, meanwhile, was forced to retire, his engineer informing him that brush with the wall had damaged the front right of his car and his brake temperatures on that side were “through the roof”.

    Marcus Ericsson was also in trouble and later in lap 27 the Swede pulled over at the edge of the track with a loss of power.

    The position of the Sauber led to the Safety Car being deployed. The top three, Rosberg, Hamilton and Ricciardo, stayed out, but fourth placed Vettel pitted for medium tyres, promoting Kvyat back up the order. Hulkenberg, Sainz, Perez and Button also pitted. The McLaren driver opted to stay on softs, while the others switched to medium tyres.

    The order under the safety car was Rosberg ahead of Hamilton, with Ricciardo third ahead of Kvyat, who had all stopped once. Then came Vettel, Verstappen, Hulkenberg, Perez, Button and Sainz, all of whom had stopped twice.

    The Safety Car left the track at the end of lap 32 with Rosberg having back the field right up. The German then strode away from Hamilton to keep his lead.

    Vettel was the big profiteer on the restart. He forced Kvyat into an error and slipped past the Russian with ease and then a lap later mugged Ricciardo.

    The Red Bulls, on older tyres, were now fair game and Verstappen and Hulkenberg forced his way past Kvyat, who dropped to seventh. Verstappen then passed Ricciardo for fourth place on lap 35.

    Hulkenberg was now pressuring Ricciardo but it ended badly for the German. The Force India driver tried to pass the Australian on the inside at Turn 12 but he lost control and collided with the Red Bull. It ended Hulkenberg’s race but Ricciardo carried on, though with damage enough that Kvyat was able to pass him.

    Hulkenberg’s car had come to rest at the edge of the track and the VSC was again briefly deployed. Rosberg took the opportunity to pit on lap 38, as did Kvyat and Ricciardo.

    Hamilton, who had stopped just once, now led from Vettel and Verstappen, with Rosberg now fourth on soft tyres ahead of Button, Perez, Alonso, Sainz, Maldonado, Kvyat and Ricciardo.

    Rosberg was soon up to third, passing Verstappen on lap 40, and he was soon in second, comfortably making his way past Vettel on lap 42. Hamilton was now just six seconds up the road.

    The real Safety Car was soon in action again. Kvyat crashed out at the end of lap 43 at Turn 20 and that afforded Hamilton and Vettel a free pit stop, with both drivers taking on soft tyres. The order under the safety car was Rosberg, Hamilton, Verstappen, Vettel, Alonso, Perez, Ricciardo, Button, Maldonado and Sainz.

    Rosaberg held his lead on the restart. The German’s tyres were five laps older than Hamilton. Behind them Vettel passed Vertsappen to take third place.

    Hamilton began to close on his team-mate but on lap 48 Rosberg did the work for his team-mate. The German went off line on the exit of Turn 12 and Hamilton was through into a lead he would not let go of and eight laps later the Briton crossed the 2.8s ahead of his team-mate to claim the race win and his third world championship title, described by Hamilton over team radio as “the greatest moment of my life”.

    Rosberg was second ahead of Vettel, with Verstappen fourth. Perez took fifth place ahead of Button and Sainz, with Maldonado eighth ahead of Nasr and Ricciardo.

    2015 United States Grand Prix – Race
    1 Lewis Hamilton  Mercedes 1:50:52.703
    2 Nico Rosberg  Mercedes +2.850
    3 Sebastian Vettel  Ferrari +3.381
    4 Max Verstappen  Toro Rosso +22.359
    5 Sergio Perez  Force India +24.413
    6 Carlos Sainz Jr.  Toro Rosso +25.619
    7 Jenson Button  McLaren +28.058
    8 Pastor Maldonado  Team Lotus +32.273
    9 Felipe Nasr  Sauber +40.257
    10 Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull Racing +53.371
    11 Fernando Alonso  McLaren +54.816
    12 Alexander Rossi  Manor +1:15.277
    R Daniil Kvyat  Red Bull Racing
    R Nico Hulkenberg  Force India
    R Kimi Raikkonen  Ferrari
    R Marcus Ericsson  Sauber
    R Felipe Massa  Williams
    R Romain Grosjean  Team Lotus
    R Valtteri Bottas  Williams
    R Will Stevens  Manor

    Hamilton celebrates after winning the third World title with three rounds to spare at the USGP in Austin on Sunday. An FIA image
    Hamilton celebrates after winning the third World title with three rounds to spare at the USGP in Austin on Sunday. An FIA image

  • Sahara Force India manage to excel in wet qualifier; Hulkenberg P7, Perez P6

    The rain continued to fall at the Circuit of the Americas during Sunday morning’s qualifying session. Times from Q2 were used to determine the grid with Sergio Perez sixth fastest and Nico Hulkenberg in seventh. With a grid penalty for Sebastian Vettel, both Sergio and Nico are expected to move up a position on the grid.
    Nico Hulkenberg takes P7 behind Perez (P6) at the US GP on rain delayed Qualies on Sunday. A Sahara Force india image
    Nico Hulkenberg takes P7 behind Perez (P6) at the US GP on rain delayed Qualies on Sunday. A Sahara Force india image
    P6        Sergio Perez              VJM08-02
    Q1: 1:59.284
    Q2: 1:59.210
    Q3: Cancelled
    Sergio: “I’m very satisfied with my performance this morning, especially because in these conditions things can easily go wrong. Qualifying well in the rain is often a case of being out on a flying lap at the right moment, when the conditions are ideal: every single lap counts, because the next time around the rain could be worse and your chance is gone. It’s important to stay focused and I think we did a fantastic job to get both the cars up on the third row. I believe the call to cancel Q3 was the right one as the track conditions were getting much worse: it is very hard for the FIA and Charlie (Whiting) to take this decision, but the safety of drivers and marshals has to be their priority. I am under no illusion that the race will be easy: there will be a lot of pressure and tension. I hope we will be able to race: the fans have been amazing and they really deserve a great show.”
    P7        Nico Hülkenberg       VJM08-03
    Q1: 1:58.325
    Q2: 1:59.333
    Q3: Cancelled
    Nico: “It was a challenging session, but it was also exciting and good fun. It looks like I will be starting from sixth place, but it could have been even better because I lost my best lap in Q2 with aquaplaning and a spin. Visibility was very poor and the rain got very heavy towards the end of Q2 so it was certainly the right decision to cancel Q3. We’ve looked competitive in the wet conditions so that’s a good sign for the race, which looks likely to be wet.”
    Vijay Mallya, Team Principal & Managing Director:
    “Thankfully the intensity of the rain had eased slightly this morning allowing most of the qualifying hour to take place. Conditions were extremely difficult with a high risk of aquaplaning, but both Sergio and Nico performed very well to secure their places in Q2. The decision not to run Q3 was sensible as there was so much standing water on the circuit and the intensity of the rain had increased. With a penalty for another car we expect Sergio to start from fifth place and Nico from sixth. It’s likely to be a wet race this afternoon so the task now is to convert our strong pace into a good result.”
    eom/SFI release

  • Rosberg takes pole on rain-delayed quali on Sunday; Hamilton looks to seal the championship from P2

    Hamilton (left) takes P2 but looks to seal the Drivers' championship here in Austin later today at the US GP. An FIA image
    Hamilton (left) takes P2 but looks to seal the Drivers’ championship here in Austin later today at the US GP. An FIA image

    Nico Rosberg edged Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton by a tenth of a second to claim pole position for this afternoon’s United States Grand Prix. The German took his fourth pole of the season with his Q2 time as heavy rain once again disrupted running and led to the final part of the session was cancelled.

    Row two of this grid at the Circuit of the Americas will be an all-Red Bull affair with Daniel Ricciardo qualifying fourth ahead of Daniil Kvyat.

    Q1 began with steady rain falling across the track and with a queue of drivers lining up at the pit exit – all keen to put a lap on the board in the treacherous conditions.

    Lotus’ Romain Grosjean was quickly on the radio to tell his team that the track was on the limit in terms of driveability and within minutes Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz exceeded those limits, the Spaniard spinning off into the barriers at Turn Four after losing control when he took too much of a slippery kerb. The crash caused heavy damage to the front of his car, leaving his team with a race against time to get it repaired in time for the race.

    The session was red flagged, with Hamilton at the top of the order with a lap of 1:59.393. He was followed by Daniel Ricciardo with a lap of 2:00.288 and his Red Bull Racing team-mate Daniil Kvyat was third, just under two seconds further back.

    The session restarted 10 minutes later and Hamilton continued to set the pace. He soon lowered the benchmark to 1:58.025, though Ricciardo clung onto the Mercedes’ driver coat-tails, taking his Red Bull to 0.16 of Hamilton’s time.

    Both were eclipsed by Rosberg, however, who with four minutes left chopped more than half a second off Hamilton’s best with a lap of 1:57.469. Ricciardo then bettered that with a 1:57.163.

    Tenth-placed Sebastian Vettel, though, was back in the pits. The German lost control of his Ferrari at Turn 10 and slapped a guardrail with the rear left of his car.

    In the drop zone as the clock counted the final minute were Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson in P16, his team-mate Felipe Nasr, the Manors of Alexander Rossi and Will Stevens, who were outside the 107% mark at this point, and the unfortunate Sainz.

    As the final times came in Vettel tumbled to 15th place in the order but with the Sauber’s lapping almost two seconds off the Ferrari’s driver’s pace, Vettel’s Q2 berth was never in real danger and the first-segment cut saw the Saubers, Manors and Sainz eliminated.

    At the top Ricciardo was quickest with a time of 1:56.495, just under two tenths ahead of Rosberg, who was two tenths clear of Hamilton. Kvyat was fourth ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, with Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg sixth in front of the Toro Rosso of Max Verstappen, the second Force India of Sergio Perez, William’s Valtteri Bottas and McLaren’s Fernando Alonso. Through from P11 to P15 were Lotus’ Romain Grosjean, McLaren’s Jenson Button, Pastor Maldonado in the second Lotus, Williams’ Felipe Massa and Vettel.

    With heavier rain expected in Q2, there was again a rush to get in a time at the start of the session and the Mercedes driver quickly staked their claim to a Q3 spot with Rosberg leading from Hamilton. Ricciardo was third ahead of Kvyat, Vettel and Perez.

    The conditions were proving extremely tricky however and a number of drivers suffered spins, including Hulkenberg, Raikkonen and Hamilton, though all three drivers managed to keep their cars our of the barriers and continued.

    With a couple of minutes left on the clock a number of drivers began to report that the track conditions were becoming untenable with Kvyat telling his pit wall that the track was “very dangerous” and Vettel telling Ferrari that it was “red flag conditions”.

    At the end of the segment Rosberg still led from Hamilton, Ricciardo, Kvyat and Vettel, while Perez, Hulkenberg, Raikkonen, Massa and Verstappen also booked a Q3 slot. Out at this stage went 11th-placed Alonso, who was just 0.066 off Verstappen’s P10 time, Bottas, Grosjean, Button and Maldonado.

    The concerns about the state of the track led race control to dispatch the safety car on an exploratory lap before Q3 and the start of the final segment was then delayed by seven minutes in the hope of clearer weather.

    That hope failed to materialise, however, and three minutes before the planned resumption, race control announced the Q3 would not take place. This Nico Rosberg will start this afternoon’s race from pole position, his fourth of the season. Hamilton will join his team-mate on the front row, while row two will be an all-Red Bull affair with Ricciardo ahead of Kvyat. Vettel qualified fifth but will take a 10-place penalty for a power unit change, while Perez was sixth ahead of team-mate Hulkenberg. Raikkonen, who will also a 10-place power unit penalty, qualified eighth ahead of Massa and Verstappen.

  • Rain, wind or cold: Credit to the fans for staying around, says Hulkenberg after Q1 was put off to Sunday morning

    Austin, 24 October 2015: Constant rain at the Circuit of the Americas forced the postponement of qualifying until Sunday morning. The only running of the day was during final practice this morning where Nico Hulkenberg ended the session with the third fastest time and Sergio Perez was eleventh fastest.

    Nico Hülkenberg     

    Nico Hulkenberg in rain on Saturday at the US GP. The qualification was put off to Sunday morning. A Sahara Force India image
    Nico Hulkenberg in rain on Saturday at the US GP. The qualification was put off to Sunday morning. A Sahara Force India image

      VJM08-03

    Nico: “It’s been a long day of waiting around to see if the weather would improve. You have to feel for the fans and give them credit for staying around until qualifying was eventually called off. They sat out there in the rain, the wind and the cold, and it’s great to see their enthusiasm and passion. Tomorrow will be a busy day, but I’ve done qualifying on a Sunday before a few years ago. It may still be raining in the morning, but we looked quite competitive on the wet tyres so I feel ready whatever the weather gives us tomorrow.”
    Sergio Perez              VJM08-02
    Sergio: “It was a shame that in the end we couldn’t do any runs this afternoon as there were a lot of fans that had turned up despite the wet weather. Considering the limited running, we have a good amount of data from FP3 that we can analyse tonight to prepare for qualifying and the race. We have seen in the past that weekends like these can produce a lot of surprises so we have to be ready to take our opportunities. I am optimistic that we can have a good day tomorrow.”
    Vijay Mallya, Team Principal & Managing Director:
    “It’s always difficult to comment on a day in which the weather plays such a big role. There were some very positive indications from this morning: both Nico and Sergio showed good pace in the final practice session and, in those difficult conditions, we were towards the top of the timesheets. On a different note, I would like to congratulate the spirit and perseverance of the thousands of fans who braved the elements and were ultimately disappointed by the lack of running. We are sure the show tomorrow with the busy schedule of qualifying and the race will reward their passion.”
    eom/