INDIA in F1

Tag: Formula One

  • Alonso tops first practice session on Friday: Canadian GP

    Montreal, 6 June 2014: (7 June 2014 12.30 am IST) Fernando Alonso finished the opening practice session of the Canadian Grand Prix weekend at the top of the timesheet, the Ferrari beating out Mercedes rivals Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, who were second and third respectively. Sebastian Vettel was fourth-fastest for Red Bull Racing.

    Sahara Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez were 11th and 12th respectively during the first practice session for the Canadian GP to be held on Sunday .

    Alonso set a best lap of 1:17.238 to finish just under two hundredths of a

    Alonso in a pensive mood on Friday. The Ferrari driver topped the time sheets in the First practice. An FIA image
    Alonso in a pensive mood on Friday. The Ferrari driver topped the time sheets in the First practice. An FIA image

    second ahead of Hamilton whose best time of 1:17.254 was over a tenth of a second clear of team-mate Rosberg.

    The top three were well clear of the rest of the field, with Vettel’s fourth-placed time being just under a second adrift of Alonso’s benchmark. Valtteri Bottas was fifth for Williams, the Finn exploiting the Mercedes engine that is expected to make the difference on the long, fast straights of the Montreal circuit. Daniel Ricciardo in the second Red Bull was sixth fastest. The Milton Keynes-based team have already admitted they are expecting a difficult weekend due to the deficit their Renault power unit has to the pacesetting Mercedes.

    Ricciardo was followed by the McLarens of Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen, while Kimi Raikkonen was ninth in the second Ferrari, some 1.3s down on his team-mate. The top 10 order was completed by Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne, who eclipsed rookie team-mate Daniil Kvyat by more than half a second around the daunting, high-speed track.

    As ever, the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve’s close walls played a part in the session. With little grip available from the temporary track, several drivers had close brushes with the barriers. Most got away with minimal contact but Marussia’s Jules Bianchi was caught out and the Frenchman struck the wall on the exit on the exit of turn four sustaining damage to the right rear of his car. Bianchi eventually limped back to the pits for repairs.

    Felipe Massa had few chances to test the limits of the circuit. The Brazilian completed just seven laps during the session.

    2014 Canadian Grand Prix – Free Practice One Times
    1 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:17.238  21
    2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:17.254 0.016 25
    3 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:17.384 0.146 32
    4 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1:18.131 0.893 28
    5 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:18.361 1.123 20
    6 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:18.435 1.197 26
    7 Jenson Button McLaren 1:18.446 1.208 33
    8 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 1:18.514 1.276 31
    9 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:18.578 1.340 15
    10 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:18.643 1.405 14
    11 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:18.733 1.495 30
    12 Sergio Perez Force India 1:18.959 1.721 22
    13 Adrian Sutil Sauber 1:19.108 1.870 24
    14 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:19.142 1.904 32
    15 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:19.177 1.939 21
    16 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:19.340 2.102 37
    17 Felipe Massa Williams 1:19.575 2.337 7
    18 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:19.804 2.566 15
    19 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:20.200 2.962 15
    20 Max Chilton Marussia 1:20.844 3.606 26
    21 Marcus Ericsson Caterham 1:21.404 4.166 33
    22 Alexander Rossi Caterham 1:21.757 4.519 27

    eom/FIA press release

  • We are having a good package and that puts us in good position: Hulkenberg

    Montreal, 5 June 2014: DRIVERS – Adrian SUTIL (Sauber), Nico HULKENBERG (Force India), Kamui KOBAYASHI (Caterham), Felipe MASSA (Williams), Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes), Jenson BUTTON (McLaren)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Jenson, we’ll start with you if we may. A 2011 winner here, of course, memorably, and you’re currently eighth in the championship. This circuit has the famous wall of champions on the outside of the final corner. The back of the cars this year, of these designs, is quite light. I wonder if you could a little bit about how you read the challenge of driving these cars around this track this weekend.

    Jenson BUTTON: OK. Good morning. Yeah, it’s going to be tricky here, It always is, especially with the cold circuit temperatures we’ll probably have on Friday. So yeah, the last corner will be tricky, but we’re sort of used to that I think. We’ve been driving these cars all year and if we can drive these cars around Monaco I think we’ll be alright around here. It should be an interesting circuit. It’s a circuit where you don’t really use downforce so much, it’s a lot more mechanical grip. There are long straights, so we can use the power of the engine – for us that’s great, with the Mercedes engine. And it’s about working with the tyres. I think it’s going to be tricky around here. It’s supposed to be hot on Sunday, so you’re going to have to really look after them. But we’re reasonably good at that.

    Talking about McLaren’s situation: how do you compare this year to last year and the competitiveness and the problems that you have? Are they more fixable than last year’s problems?

    JB: Yeah, I think from the outside it doesn’t look spectacular, our season this year, and you’d say it looks quite similar to last year but it’s very different. In terms of the feel of the car, it’s much better. In terms of the development of the car, it is working and we’re going in the right direction. Yeah, it’s tough. When you’ve been fighting for wins and the team is used to fighting for wins, it’s difficult when you find yourself in this situation. But also there are a lot of positives right now. With Ron back in charge, and Eric, I think they’re doing a great job of really moving the team on and changing certain things so that we will be fighting at the front again. But it just takes time. Things don’t change overnight, even though we’re pushing very hard.

    OK, thank you. Coming to you now Lewis. You’re a three-time winner here, three times on pole here. What is it about you and this Montreal circuit and it’s walls around the outside? Is it the braking? Is about technique? What is it that somehow clicks with you here?

    Lewis HAMILTON: I’m not sure. Good morning everyone. I guess there are certain tracks you like more than others and this is one of those circuits I particularly like. I really like coming out to Canada, I always have a great response from the fans here. It is one of the best grands prix of the year in terms of the turnout, the city, just in general the weekend, it’s a good fun weekend and I guess all of that packed into one makes it fun to drive.

    You’ve said this week that you and your team-mate Nico Rosberg are friends again after Monaco. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?

    LH: There’s not really much to say. I said it in my message. We spoke after the race and just like friends we have our ups and down, we’ve known each other a long, long time, so it’s done and dusted and we look forward to working together to try to help this team win the Constructors’ Championship.

    OK, thank you for that. Coming on to Felipe. Three seventh-place finishes so far this season, your best result here in Montreal a fourth. Williams is tied with McLaren at the moment in the Constructors’ Championship with 52 points after six races. Is that in line with your expectations?

    Felipe MASSA: No. Definitely I think I didn’t have great results until now. It should be much better than what I had until now. So I had not very great races, starting with the race, where I didn’t get to corner two and you know in Bahrain I was fighting for third, fourth the whole race and then I lost a lot of positions because of the safety car. So I think it was not very great results but I’m sure we can do much better and I hope this track can be also a bit better for our car compared to Monaco, compared to other tracks. So really looking forward that we can have a lot better results, starting here in Montreal, a lot better than seventh I hope.

    I wonder if you could tell us what Rob Smedley has brought to the team, because you obviously have got a very long working relationship with him. He’s now in a senior role on the engineering side, can you tell a little bit about what he’s brought to the team?

    FM: A lot of experience. A lot of good direction, different things in terms of how to work, you know, in many different areas. I think he’s a very intelligent engineer, has a lot of experience. For sure, things don’t change from one day to the other, so it takes a little bit of time but not just him, we have a lot of great engineers, a lot of good people and things are getting better all the time inside the team and I’m really looking forward that from now until the end of the of the championship things will get better and better all the time.

    Nico, coming to you. Fifth in the Drivers’ Championship and points scored in every round so far but no podium personally yet. Given the confidence that Force India has in the package for this weekend in Montreal, is this your weekend do you think?

    Nico HULKENBERG: I don’t know. Obviously I hope and like every weekend we’re going to try to make the most of our chances here. I think the track should be OK for us. Also, it’s one of my favourite grands prix, so I really look forward to this weekend – the track, the city, everything is pretty cool. So hopefully we can have a strong result again.

    Q: Monaco showed that you can get results by doing a different strategy from the people around you. As a midfield team I wonder, is that something you feel you need to do to get the results or do you feel you can compete with front running teams on equal terms?

    NH: Not really, and I think looking back in hindsight we made it a bit harder for ourselves, starting on the harder tyre – the other way around with how it turned out, Safety Car etcetera may have been easier – but I think it’s always different and you always have to look at each race and each case and decide then but, generally, we’re having a good package, we’re competitive and that puts us in a good position in general.

    Q: Kamui, you’ve twice finished in the points here in Montreal but after Marussia’s result at the last round in Monaco I wonder what the reaction was in the Caterham team? Is it encouragement that it’s possible to score points or concern about the position it leaves you in?

    Kamui KOBAYASHI:

    For us the Monaco result for us was a bit of a pain but at least we know Marussia made a great step from their updates so I have to say, I think, we have to say it’s a well done job. I think for us for sure I think we need to work. I think what happened in Monaco was a little bit… strange but at least we check with the FIA and that’s through so we have nothing to say but at least we have some upgrades for that first point.

    Q: So what is the way forward for the Caterham team this season?

    KK: The thing about a Formula One team is we cannot change day-by-day. We progress. Of course, it’s not an easy life for us, it’s a difficult moment right now but for sure everybody is working really hard and we know, I think, that we will progress. We need a little bit of time and we are looking forward to more later on this season.

    Q: Adrian, two points finishes also for you in your career here in Montreal – but still none this year for you with the Sauber team.  Your thoughts on the start that the team has made and how the upgrades have worked out so far.

    Adrian SUTIL: Well, a difficult start of course. I thought it would be a little bit more easy but that’s how it is. That’s how our situation is. We try, of course, to get out and improve the car, improve general performance – yeah, coming here we try it again. We had a tough weekend in Monaco but I think Monaco was a little bit more on the better side, the car was behaving a little bit better and so it’s not only bad everything. There are a few positive things – but it’s very complicated to make it altogether at the moment. To understand the car is quite difficult for us still, so we have to work on that and we need a bit more time and hopefully it really goes soon in the right direction. It’s quite hard to be in the back there always, lot of problems come together in racing at the back.

    Q: And tell us from your perspective what you think it will be like to race these hybrid turbo cars around this circuit – the specific challenges of this circuit?

    AS: Well I think here we’re going to have quite high top speeds, with the new engines and the low drag the cars have so we should really be quick on the straights, maybe also a quicker overall lap time than last year – maybe – so I don’t know. It should be a circuit that suits the car in general. All the Formula One cars, not only us. And, as everyone said, it’s quite an enjoyable track with a lot of possibilities to overtake. The race should be quite interesting as well. Lot of chicanes… yeah, good weekend and I look forward to it, hopefully with a quite good result in the end.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Ian Parkes – PA) Jenson, I don’t know if you read the team’s pre-race press release this week but there were some very complimentary words from Eric Boullier with regard to yourself, taking about your quality of input, your experience, your ambassadorial role. It all sounded very positive and almost as if they’re looking to next year, perhaps wanting to keep you. Any further progress on that? As I say, it was all very complimentary towards yourself.

    JB: er…no. No more progress at all. But that’s just the way it is. We’re here, we’ve spent four good years together already. In our fifth year together. And we both want to work together in the future but it’s just not time yet. Not the right time. We have a lot of other issues to solve first before we start thinking about the future too much. We’re in a good place and y’know, I think my experience does help me a lot. I still feel very young at heart, fitter than ever and I have all that experience. I’m in a great position and I feel I’ve got a lot more to give in the future in Formula One. I definitely can’t see an end to my career. This is my life and where I want to be in the future.

    Q: (Bill Beacon – La Presse Canadienne) Because this track is different to most with the braking and long straights and everything, do you think that that in any way will close the gap between Mercedes and the rest of the field?

    LH: I’d be guessing but I don’t feel that will be the case. We’re particularly strong on the straights, Mercedes are but I don’t know, maybe we will be surprised this weekend but long straights do suit us very well. We have a very good power curve on our engine, Mercedes have done the best job with the engines. Renault and Ferrari would have to have done an exceptional job coming into this weekend, in terms of that area, to be  able to keep up with us on the straights..

    FM: Definitely it can be a good track for most of the cars that are using Mercedes (engines) so I think maybe we will see even maybe a big difference compared to Mercedes and the other teams, because as Lewis said, the engine is amazing, it’s been a very good job done by Mercedes and they have a good car under braking and everything, so for sure maybe we can see maybe even a big difference.

    NH: I don’t think it will be very different to the other weeks before.

    Q: (Chris Me

    Nico Hulkenberg file photo by Sahara Force India F1 team.
    Nico Hulkenberg file photo by Sahara Force India F1 team.

    dland – crash.net) Lewis, you said that the air has been cleared between yourself and Nico between races. Did you feel the need to do the same with the team and was anything different with the way the team handled the two of you between Monaco and coming here now?

    LH: There was no difference. Collectively with the team… me and Nico spoke and we individually spoke to the team and saw the team. Nothing’s really changed. We know the team has done a great job in terms of supporting us and the way it’s run with Paddy and Toto. Their support for the both of us has been great. We’re now full steam ahead. We had dinner with the team yesterday and things have never been better. We’re just going from strength to strength. People have ups and downs, as I said, so it’s no different to any other experience me and Nico have had in our whole – God knows how many years we’ve been racing together. We move on, we’re pushing forward. There’s a long long way to go in the season so we’re looking forward to that battle.

    Q: (Gerhard Kuntschik – Salzburger Nachrichten) Jenson, as kind of the older statesman, you raced on the old A1 Ring; we’re coming up to Austria again, Red Bull Ring, in a fortnight; what are your memories of the Austrian Grand Prix?

    JB: Lots of campsites and lots of very merry Austrians over the Grand Prix weekend. It’s one of those races that they really embrace the sort of party scene and the camping scene, which is really cool. It reminds me very much of Spa, British Grand Prix and those sort of races. It’s a true racing fan’s Grand Prix, I feel. The circuit itself… you look at it and you think ‘there’s like seven corners, it can’t be that fun to drive.’ But it is, it’s a really good circuit. I’ve enjoyed racing there in the past, I don’t know what it’s going to be like with these cars. I’ve always had fun racing there. I don’t know how much has changed, either. Turn one, we used to drive off through the gravel because that was the quickest way on the exit. I’m sure it’s not going to be the case any more. I think we’re in for a good Grand Prix.

    Q: (Luis Fernando Ramos – Racing Magazine) To all drivers: the World Cup is coming and your countries are going to be there, playing, so on a personal note, how much are you interested in football? Are you going to follow all the matches or you don’t care much about what’s going on there? And a second brief question: who do you think is going to win the World Cup?

    Q: Kamui, would you like to kick us off?

    KK: Me? On soccer? I don’t really care so I don’t follow anything. All I know is that Japan is not really strong so I don’t…

    NH: Well I hope that Gemany is going to be good but I’m not a football expert but I’m sure I’m going to be behind the TV following the World Cup.

    AS: I’ll be watching, cheering for Uruguay and Germany, because I’m half Uruguayan.

    FM: Yeah, I love football, I watch everything, so I will maybe be watching most of the games. I really hope that Brazil can be there in the final. To win the championship at home would be fantastic so I will be there watching and supporting Brazil.

    LH: I don’t follow it as much (as I used to) but I will probably catch a few games and I want to try and see if we can go out to one of the games at least. The dream will be to go and watch Brazil and England play, that would be pretty awesome.

    JB: Yes, I totally agree. I’m not a massive football fan, I don’t support a team but when it comes to nationalities, countries playing, obviously I will be supporting England and I’m really looking forward to it.

    eom/FIA release of transcript

  • Can Hamilton reclaim the lead in Canada?

    Montreal, 5 June 2014: After two races in Europe, Formula One visits North America this week for the Canadian Grand Prix, round seven of the 2014 FIA F1 World Championship.

    Following Monaco, Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is another temporary track with unforgiving walls millimetres off the racing line – but that’s where the similarities end. From the slowest race of the year, F1 moves to one of its fastest and teams will unleash medium-low downforce packages for the first time in 2014 in an attempt to stay competitive on the long straights of the

    File photo of Hamilton with fans. An FIA image
    File photo of Hamilton with fans. An FIA image

    Île Notre-Dame.

    In essence, the long, thin circuit is a series of high-speed straights linked by slow corners. The start-stop nature of the lap, in which cars may hit more than 300km/h on four separate occasions before braking down to first or second gear, has long been recognised as exceptionally harsh on brakes and engines but this year there are the added demands of the MGU-K, which will have to deal with these heavy braking loads, and the MGU-H which will be kept busy with unrelenting demand from the turbocharger.

    Cars will be set-up for high top speeds but the demands of the three chicanes and the hairpin prevent use of ultra-low downforce packages. There is much fine-tuning to be done as teams seek to find the right balance between low downforce and good stability in those all-important braking zones. With the added requirements of riding the kerbs well and getting good traction from low-speed, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve has plenty to keep engineers occupied.

    Lewis Hamilton comes to Montreal as the form driver of 2014 with four victories and four pole positions from the six early season races. The Briton, however, arrives narrowly trailing German team-mate Nico Rosberg in the Drivers’ Championship. The Mercedes pair are waging a fascinating battle for dominance at the top of the table, and this provides an added dimension to what is always a thrilling weekend in Canada.

    eom/FIA release

  • We have shown that we have a car that can constantly deliver: Vijay Mallya

    Montreal, 3 June 2014: As the F1 bandwagon moves to the American continent and to a technical circuit Sahara Force India team principal and drivers share their views:
    Excerpts:
    Vijay Mallya’s Views:
    Vijay, Force India dummy photo Mar2014 David picten points in Monaco – another good result by the team. Sum up the race for us…
    The car was competitive. We qualified tenth and eleventh, but we felt we could have qualified a few tenths better, which would have put us into sixth or seventh on the grid. Nico drove the car wonderfully well; he conserved the tyres when he had to and defended brilliantly at the end. On the supersofts we did over 50 laps, which is quite incredible. It’s just a shame Sergio’s afternoon was so short: I would have liked to see what he could have done too.
     
    Nonetheless it must have been satisfying to see the team strengthen its hold on fourth place…
    The battle for fourth place is going to be intense as the season develops, but at the moment we are firmly in fourth with 15 points advantage over fifth place. We are now a third of the way into the season and we’ve shown that we have a car that can constantly deliver whatever the track. We’ve been in the points in every race, which is very motivating for everyone in the team and helps pump us up even more. There are some strong teams behind us, but we are holding our own and will continue pushing hard.
     
    What are you hopes and expectations for Canada?
    It should be a good one for us. However, gone are the days when you can hope to have results simply based on what tracks should suit you. This game has changed too much. There are so many variables in racing that we don’t take anything for granted. For example, the weather often plays a role in Montreal and that could reset everything.
     
     
    Driver’s View: Nico Hulkenberg
    Nico Hulkenberg looks to extend his run of points finishes this weekend.
     
    Nico, you’ve scored points in six out of six races in 2014. You must be pleased with that…  
    It’s my best run of results in Formula One and I’m really enjoying the racing. I’ve said many times that consistency is our strength and we showed that again in Monaco with another fifth place. Monaco was not our strongest track, or our weakest track, but we still brought the car home for a great result.
     
    What about those final laps in Monaco. How tough was it to hold on to fifth place?
    It was such a hard race. There was pressure from behind and my tyres were gone. Just keeping the car out of the wall was difficult. So it was a big relief to keep Jenson behind. I was shouting over the radio when I crossed the finish line because it was such a satisfying result for everyone in the team.
     
    Looking ahead to Montreal what are your expectations?
    It’s difficult to say how we will perform in Montreal. In theory it should be one of the better tracks for us, but things change from race to race. It’s good that we have the soft and supersoft tyres again because I think the softer tyres are more suited to our car. As an overall event the Canadian Grand Prix is one of my favourites because of the buzz around the city and the unusual track. To get a quick lap you need good top speed, a car that can attack the curbs and you also have to be brave enough to get close to the walls.
    Driver’s View: Sergio Perez
    Sergio Perez hopes to resume his points-scoring streak in Montreal this weekend.
     
    Tell us about the Canadian Grand Prix. Do you enjoy the weekend?
    I really enjoy racing in Canada; it’s a very nice circuit which is quick and technical. It feels a little bit like a home race for me because it’s not too far from Mexico and there are always quite a few Mexican fans at the race. It’s a very cool city as well with a touch of Europe in the American continent, and the food is just amazing.
     
    It’s also a track that holds special memories for you…
    I have very good memories from Montreal. In 2012 I started at the back of the grid and managed to finish in third place. It was an amazing race and my one-stop strategy worked perfectly. It was my second podium in Formula One and a great feeling – one I hope to experience again soon.
     
    Tell us more about the layout of the lap…
    It’s another track where you need good top speed and traction from the slow corners. You also have to maximise the limits of the track to be quick and get really close to the walls, so it’s easy to make a mistake. It’s hard to overtake there, but the final chicane is definitely the best opportunity. As a track, it should be suited to the strengths of our car so we have to maximise this opportunity.
     
    What are your expectations for the weekend?
    After a very disappointing race in Monaco, I just want to get back in the car and get the best possible result for my team. Points will be the target.  
    eom/Sahara Force India press release

  • Rosberg takes second consecutive Monaco win; regains Championship lead

    Mercedes driver reclaims control of Drivers’ Championship standings as Hamilton is second and Ricciardo third.

    Nico Rosberg took his second consecutive Monaco Grand Prix victory and reclaimed control of the FIA Formula One World Driver’s Champiolnship with a controlled drive from pole position.

    Nico Rosberg after winning the Monaco GP on Sunday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image
    Nico Rosberg after winning the Monaco GP on Sunday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image

    The German held of a strong challenge from team-mate Lewis Hamilton, whose chances of taking a fourth win in a row this season faded when he suffered a visibility problem caused by dirt in his left eye. Daniel Ricciardo finished third for Red Bull Racing after recovering from a slide to fifth at the start.

    Rosberg held his lead at the start, but had Hamilton hard in pursuit. Behind them third-on the-grid Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo made a poor getaway and was passed by team-mate Sebastian Vettel. The Australian then tried to fend off the hard-charging Fernando Alonso and that allowed his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, who had started sixth, to slip past both around the outside.

    As the front-runners settled into the lap behind them Force India’s Sergio Perez, who had started 10th, was clipped by McLaren’s Jenson Button and pitched into the barriers on the run down to the hairpin.

    That triggered a brief safety car intervention and when the pace car left the order quickly changed again. This time it was Vettel on the move – though backwards. The champion reported a loss of power and slid rapidly back to 10th by the end of lap four. He pitted for work to be done but when he was released back on track he quickly reported that his RB10 was stuck in first and then had further power unit problems, which forced him to retire at the end of the lap. His exit moved Raikkonen to third and Ricciardo to fourth.

    The next man to stop was Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat. The Russian rookie had impress all weekend on his first time out at Monaco but after a decent race start in which he settled into eighth position he began to drop back on lap 11 losing places to Button and Hulkenberg. Kvyat steered his car back to the pit lane and retired.

    The Safety Car next appeared on lap 25. Adrian Sutil lost control of his Sauber on the exit of the tunnel and smashed into the barriers scattering debris all across the run down to the Nouvelle Chicane.

    That was the cue for a flurry of stops as all the front runners visited the pits. While all went smoothly for the Mercedes drivers and for Ricciardo, trouble was brewing elsewhere. Seventh-placed Jean-Eric Vergne was released into the path of Magnussen and incurred a penalty that spelled the beginning of the end of his race. Raikkonen, meanwhile, slotted back into third following his stop but was soon back in the pits, for another set of softs, the Finn being clipped by a lapped Marussia on his out lap. The Finn’s misfortune promoted Ricciardo to third.

    Vergne’s return to the pits on lap 37 for his penalty shuffled the order in the lower half of the top 10. Hulkenberg was now sixth, ahead of Magnussen, Button, Valtteri Bottas and Esteban Gutierrez.

    Massa, though, was still circulating on his starting supersofts and would need to make the switch. He finally pitted on lap 45, dropping back to 11th. The order now was Rosberg, just 0.8s ahead of Hamilton, with Ricciardo third 12s back. Alonso was fourth ahead of Hulkenberg, Magnussen and Button. Bottas was eighth, Gutierrez ninth and Raikkonen was back into the top 10.

    Vergne’s race meanwhile went from bad to worse. Fighting with Jules Bianchi for P13 on lap 52, blue smoke suddenly appeared at the back of the Toro Rosso. By the time Vergne reached the swimming pool section it had turned into a plume and he arrowed into pit lane to bring to an end a frustrating afternoon for his Italian team.

    A handful of laps later a second engine failure changed the order again. Bottas, in eighth, was defending hard as behind him Gutierrez, Raikkonen and Massa (on fresher tyres) pushed to get past. In the end none of the trio had to tussle too hard as on lap 57 Bottas’ FW36 expired in a pall of smoke at the hairpin.

    Gutierrez was the next man to exit the race. The Mexican clipped the barrier at Rascasse, sustained a puncture and spun close to the pit lane entrance.

    That put Marussia’s Jules Bianchi in a points-scoring position. The Frenchman was due to take a five-second penalty at the end of the race for a previous infringement but with a six-second advantage over Grosjean on track, it looked like the Frenchman was on the way to his first F1 points.

    Hamilton, meanwhile, was in trouble, complaining that he had dirt in his left eye that was impairing his vision. The gap between him and Rosberg drifted to five seconds, with Ricciardo now eight seconds behind Hamilton.

    The Australian made a determined bid to reel in Hamilton and closed the gap on the Mercedes driver to three seconds by lap 72. Hamilton was soon embroiled in traffic and on lap 73 Riccardo was running on the Briton’s gearbox.

    In the traffic, Button passed Magnussen across the start-finish line. Riccardo and Hamilton wove their through the backmarkers and as they did so Raikkonen attempted to pass Magnussen.

    Both got stuck at the hairpin and that allowed Bianchi to move up to eighth place, meaning that regardless of his penalty he would retain a points position.

    It was now all about the Riccardo/Hamilton duel. Riccardo threw everything at the challenge but the Red Bull driver could find no way past as Hamilton used his greater power in tunnel to prevent any move from Riccardo into the chicane.

    Ahead, Rosberg crossed the line to take his second Monaco win and to seize back the championship lead. The German now has 122 points to his team-mate’s 118.

    Hamilton held off Riccardo to take second. Alonso was fourth behind the Australian, with Hulkenberg fifth. Button was sixth for McLaren, ahead of Massa. Romain Grosjean was eighth with Bianchi ninth, but the Marussia driver was crucially nine seconds ahead of tenth-placed Magnussen, meaning that Marussia scored their first championship points and took a crucial advantage over Caterham, for whom Ericsson was 11th, in the Constructors’ Championship.

    2014 Monaco Grand Prix – Race Result
    1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 78 1:49:27.661 1 25
    2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 78 +9.2 secs 2 18
    3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 78 +9.6 secs 3 15
    4 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 78 +32.4 secs 5 12
    5 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 77 +1 Lap 11 10
    6 Jenson Button McLaren 77 +1 Lap 12 8
    7 Felipe Massa Williams 77 +1 Lap 16 6
    8 Romain Grosjean Lotus 77 +1 Lap 14 4
    9 Jules Bianchi Marussia 77 +1 Lap 21 2
    10 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 77 +1 Lap 8 1
    11 Marcus Ericsson Caterham 77 +1 Lap 22
    12 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 77 +1 Lap 6
    13 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham 75 +3 Laps 20
    14 Max Chilton Marussia 75 +3 Laps 19
    Ret Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 59 Accident 17
    Ret Valtteri Bottas Williams 55 +23 Laps 13
    Ret Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 50 +28 Laps 7
    Ret Adrian Sutil Sauber 23 Accident 18
    Ret Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 10 +68 Laps 9
    Ret Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 5 +73 Laps 4
    Ret Sergio Perez Force India 0 Accident 10
    Ret Pastor Maldonado Lotus 0 +78 Laps 15

    eom/FIA press release

  • It was a really good day for Mercedes to get 1-2 finish: Hamilton

    DRIVERS

    1 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

    2 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    3 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by Benedict Cumberbatch)

    Nico, congratulations, man – a home win for the home boy. How did it feel? You had Lewis very, very close to you all the race but you held on to your lead. How was it?

    Nico ROSBERG: A very, very special day for sure. Lewis drove really, really well and pushed me massively hard, so the pressure was on all the way. But I kept it cool and, yeah, was able to win, in the end pulling a bit of a gap because I had the fresher tyres. So, fantastic and I’m very, very happy for the whole team, it’s an amazing car they’ve built and given us this year.

    Congratulations, well done to the Monaco boy. Lewis, how are you? Tell us a little bit about what happened on the 56th lap? You got something in your eye?

    Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, just through the visor… but anyway that’s not important. It was a good day and really good for the team to get a one-two.

    You had [Daniel Ricciardo] right close behind. How was it? You started second and finished second and how are things with your team-mate, I think people want to know?

    LH: I had great pace, you know, obviously I felt I was very strong today but it’s a very, very difficult circuit to overtake on…

    It’s incredibly thrilling to watch, you were all incredible out there, the closeness of the cars…

    LH: Thank you. Fortunately we didn’t make any mistakes, so….

    Daniel, well done, man. Nice to meet you; Benedict. Tell us a little bit about your race. You were in third for a while, then the pit stops, tell us a little about your strategy.

    Daniel RICCIARDO: Firstly, it’s really nice to be up here on the podium in Monaco.

    It’s your first podium here isn’t it? Congratulations.

    DR: Yeah, thank you. The start was not great, I dropped back to fifth actually. A bit of frustration but then we saw Vettel had a problem, so we were able to get fourth and then we saw Raikkonen had a puncture on one of the safety cars. So we sort of inherited third after a poor start…

    You got very close to Lewis. You were right on his gearbox at the end?

    DR: At the end we really closed in. I believe he had an issue. We tried to put some pressure on but in the end third was the best we could do.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Congratulations Nico – a two-time Monaco Grand Prix winner, only a handful of drivers have ever done that before. Fifth consecutive one-two finish for the Mercedes team and you are back on top of the Drivers’ standings. Can you sum up what this win means for you today in the context of tyhe4 battle with Lewis for the championship?

    NR: Yeah, it’s a special win, definitely, because Lewis has had the momentum with the results and everything and I really needed to try to break that momentum and somewhat I managed to do that this weekend. Of course taking the leading again in the world championship and winning here in Monaco, yeah, all in all really, really cool.

    Well done. Lewis, obviously the momentum is broken for the moment. We heard you on the radio quite a lot after the safety car and the pit stops, questioning and speaking about the strategy calls. Obviously you pitted together under the safety car. Had there been a thought that you might try to undercut Nico before that? Can you explain to us what the conversation was about?

    LH: I don’t remember to be honest. I don’t. I think they saw a crash and normally under the crash we could have come in and I really should have come in but the team didn’t call us in. We really should have pitted that lap.

    Fair enough. Daniel, your first Monaco podium. Can you describe your feelings about that and looking back across qualifying and the race is there any way you could have got a better result than the one you got today.

    DR: To describe the feeling, it’s really nice to be up here. Could we have done better? I don’t know. I felt yesterday that we left a little bit of lap time on there. Where that would have jumped on the grid, who knows. After that, the race itself – the start was not good, not what I wanted. I actually dropped back to fifth and then Seb had his problems, still not sure what, but pretty evident he had problems when he slowed on the straight. Then Raikkonen I saw got a puncture under the safety car, so I got third and then pretty much was just trying to maintain the gap behind me to Alonso. Then when I thought there was enough or the right amount of laps left before the end to push and not really save tyres anymore, I did and went for it. We got close to at least one of the Mercedes at the end but you know what it’s like around here, it’s quite hard to pass. Tried to put a bit of pressure on but third was the best we could do but not a bad day.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello sport) A question for Nico and Lewis. We have seen that there is a pretty tense situation between the two of you and we also heard comments from Lauda saying you did not want to talk and apologise. Are you going to have a pizza together, a dinner, to sort the problems, talk about it and try to get the situation back to normal.

    NR: It’s fine. We’ve had discussions and the benefit we have is that we’ve known each other for so long. We always sit down and discuss it and then move on and that’s what we’re doing this weekend also.

    Lewis?

    LH: I don’t really have an answer for you there.

    Q: (Oana Popoiu – F1 Zone) I have a question for Lewis. Niki Lauda said that in Barcelona you used an engine mode you were told not to and you had to apologise to Nico for that. Do you think that that mode would have helped you win the race today?

    LH: No… today we were using all the modes. In the last race it was a mode that didn’t really affect the outcome of the race. We were told that we had to stay in a certain mode. Nico did it in Bahrain and I did it in Barcelona. In this race we stuck to the strategies we had to stick.

    NR: I don’t know what Niki is referring to but it’s completely normal that we switch modes together you know, we always do that in the races. It’s nothing unusual.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and National Speedsport News) Lewis, yesterday you told the BBC that you might handle the situation with Nico like Senna would. What did you mean by that?

    LH: I don’t know. I can’t really remember to be honest. I think it was just a joke. Obviously I didn’t.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) I think you said on the radio that you had a problem with your eye in the closing stages. What happened there?

    LH: I’ve never really had it before. I kept making sure my visor was as closed as possible but I had quite a bit of wind coming in. I got close to Nico at one stage and all of a sudden I got a bit of debris in my eye, or some dirt, so I was driving with one eye, which is virtually impossible to do and so through the low-speed corners I was trying to open up my visor to clear it up but it was just making it worse. Fortunately, I think with five laps to go it cleared up so I was able to stay ahead of Daniel.

    Q: (Vincent Marre – Sports Zeitung) in the last days Nico was mentioning that the previous races were not one-to-one races. What do you think Lewis about this race or this race weekend. Was it a one-to-one races.

    LH: I don’t fully understand the question.

    Q: (Vincent Marre – Sports Zeitung) last day Nico Rosberg was mentioning that the previous races were not one-to-one races, relating to the weather, because you were winning the races and this time he’s winning the race and I want to know if you think this weekend is a one-to-one race for you?

    LH: I’m still not fully understanding it, but all the races have been very, very close but this weekend I think I had very good pace. I drove with all my heart and gave it all I could, fairly, and I feel like I drove fairly all weekend. So I leave today quite happy and I can go into the next race with even more energy and determination.

    Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Association) Lewis, it seems pretty clear to us that you feel aggrieved with the events that occurred yesterday in qualifying. Is this it now for you? Is it gloves off in your battle with Nico? And secondly, do you feel that you are getting full and fair support from the team?

    LH: Generally, there is a fierce battle between me and Nico and it will continue that way to I’m sure quite late in the season. Nico’s not had a single hiccup through the season so far. Obviously I had a car that didn’t finish in Melbourne but otherwise it’s still quite close, so I’m just going to keep my head up, keep pushing. I know the team are working hard for the both of us. The team can sometimes be in awkward positions, which they were yesterday, and their job is really to protect us both and that’s what they did.

    Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday) Question for Nico: you were being told to back-off and coast with fuel. How critical was your fuel?

    NR: Yeah, the fuel was very critical and caught me off-guard a little bit because it was a major change that I had to make and especially with Lewis being so close behind, it was a tough moment because I had to change the driving style completely, use different gears, different lifting and coasting, everything different. But, again, the team managed that well and got me to do what I needed to do. And then, once I got into the groove again, it was OK and everything… it was no problem them. But it was still difficult.

    Q: (Jussi Jäkälä – YLE) Nico, 31 years ago Keke won here, today you are double Monaco winning. Which do you think is prouder at the moment: you or your Dad?

    NR: I don’t know. I hope… of course my father is proud today and that makes me very happy, that I’m able to make my parents proud. Hopefully even my friends, for example, who all were here also this weekend and that makes it all the more special to have family, friends, everybody I know lives here and is at the track watching the race and that’s even nicer.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) One question to Nico and one to Daniel. Nico, you said that you had to break the momentum, since Lewis is coming from four consecutive wins. Is this your most important victory so far? And to you Daniel, from what we have seen today from Red Bull, are you going to have the pace to challenge Mercedes in Montreal in two weeks?

    NR: I don’t know about the most important. For sure it was very, very important, yes, today because Lewis had the result moment and I needed to try and bring that to an end and managed to do that today, so that’s great but, y’know, it’s still early days and for sure it’s going to continue to be a very, very tough battle.

    Daniel?

    DR: I think, yeah, we closed up a bit here in Monaco which we knew would be our best chance up until now. This circuit definitely suits our package a bit better than previous circuits – we still didn’t finish in front so, unfortunately, it’s still not where we want to be. Montreal is still a street circuit but unfortunately the straights go on a little bit longer there so we’re still down a little bit in that area, which I think everyone’s aware of and we’ve made progress. Whether it will be enough by then, honestly, probably not but we are closing the gap so, that’s all we can ask for, for now, and just keep chipping away at it and be patient. I’m sure a bit of perseverance as well and we’ll get there.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – Universo Online) Daniel, for sure as a driver you must trust in yourself but in any moment did you believe you could beat Vettel in the way this season you are beating him in qualifying and the race?

    DR: I didn’t really have any visions exactly on how it would go, what the race results would be or what the qualifying score would be – but I knew that I have some talent and obviously got a bit of experience now in Formula One. So, every year, even every six month period I feel I’m still growing and getting better as a driver as well so, I knew coming into the season with the team behind me and sort of a new opportunity, that I would be able to challenge Seb. Did I think it would be going, let’s say, as well as it was now? I don’t know. But I knew if I had everything underneath me I’d be capable of getting the results. So, fortunately the team saw that as well, back in September, I think, last year. So, it’s coming good.

    Q: (Barna Zsoldos – Nemzeti Sport) Lewis, after your victory in Barcelona, you said that Nico was faster than you in the race. Today he can even beat you. Is it a worry for you? And do you know where you should improve pace-wise.

    LH: erm… not really. I was pretty comfortable with my pace this weekend.

    Q: (Yassmin Abdel-Magied – RichardsF1.com) Daniel, you said yesterday that there was a little bit left on the table in terms of qualifying. Do you think that there was a little bit left on the table still in the race, and was there was there any point – you got pretty close to Lewis at the end there – when you were going to go for it and then maybe not – don’t want to risk it? What was the thinking in those last few laps?

    DR: Everyone was trying to do a one stop today; it’s a bit of a weird one, you don’t really push much of the race because, especially after the first pit stop, we still had a long way to go, so you’re in two minds: do I push or do I just try and hold the guy off and get to the end. By the time we’d got 15/20 laps to go I knew the tyres were going to last so then I could actually start my race, so to speak, and then start to set some quicker times. We caught Lewis, the team said I was going to catch him, the pace was good so I knew I was eventually going to get on to him. Knowing it’s hard to pass around here, I wasn’t… I don’t know. I was just waiting to see what happened but I wasn’t just going to settle for third. Obviously in the end I did but if there was a clean move to be taken then yeah, I would have taken it.

    Q: (Nicola Pohl – Bild) Lewis, what do you think was the reason why the team didn’t call you in immediately after the crash? You complained over the team radio about that.

    LH: I think it’s just what we have a rule that the guy in front gets the first opportunity to pit first so I think that would be why.

    Q: (Haoran Zhou – Formula One Express) Lewis, how did the debrief of yesterday’s qualifying go because as we understand, you were not in the debrief room, while Rosberg was?

    LH: I was in there. I went to the toilet and Nico did his big debrief before I got there which is unusual. Usually we do it when we’re both in the same room but as I came up I did mine and fortunately the engineers had written down what Nico had said so I read it.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Nico, have you been surprised that the team didn’t call you in right after the crash of Sutil?

    NR: No. Surprised? No, not really, because I don’t think about that too much. I know I can rely on them to make the right call at all times so it’s not something that I’m thinking too much about, the strategy and should I be boxing now or not, because I know that they’re going to make the right call.

    Q: (Christian Hoenicke – Der Tagesspiegel) Nico, do you think it was fair what Lewis said about you not being hungry as him because you were growing with boats and jets and all that stuff?

    NR: I didn’t hear Lewis say that and so I’m not going to comment because it’s easy for you to just invent something and so I’m not going to comment on that, and even if something like that was written – which I don’t know because I don’t read the media – then still, between what Lewis says and what’s written, so much can turn around so it’s better I don’t say anything and I know that Lewis wouldn’t say something like that, especially not to the press, maybe to me if he feels like it but not to the press.

    Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Assocation) Nico, you may give the same answer to this question then, because there were some comments from yourself in one of the German newspapers or certainly a few of the German newspapers and you can correct me if I’m wrong, if the English translation was not correct but you remarked that when Lewis goes through a difficult period that he can crack. Do you think that that’s what happened this weekend, that maybe Lewis did crack under the press yesterday in qualifying, and Lewis, any comment on that yourself? Do feel you’re the kind of guy that doesn’t crack, that you can hold it together in these kind of circumstances?

    NR: Again, that is definitely very very far from anything that I’ve ever said and ever would say. Definitely not and I’ve known Lewis for many many years and he’s always been strong, among other things mentally, so I’m definitely not expecting him to crack any time soon, that’s for sure. It’s going to be a tough battle which is going to be ongoing, but I would never say something like that anyways.

    LH: Do I feel like I crack? No.

    Q: (Ralf Bach  – Sport Bild) Lewis, to clean the situation, did you tell the BBC in this interview where you said these things with the boat or didn’t you say that?

    LH: I was asked who was hungrier. I think if you ask every driver they will say that they’re the hungriest and I said that what gives me the hunger is where I grew up in comparison to where Nico grew up. You know I’ve always been striving to come and live here. I used to travel around with Nico in his Dad’s plane, I used to go to his boat, I used to go to his house, I used to have those experiences and that gave me those experiences and that gave me the desire to want that one day, which gave me the hunger. It was his Dad obviously who inspired me to be where I am today.

    Q: (Ralf Bach  – Sport Bild) So you did say it.

    LH: Yes, but – as Nico said – it was taken out of context a little bit.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – Universo On Line) Lewis, do you believe with a normal pit stop – not under safety car conditions – you would have had any chance to overtake Nico and get the lead of the race?

    LH: It’s irrelevant now, but obviously with the start, we got exactly the same start… there’s only two opportunities in the race and the pit stop would have been the other one but the safety car came out at the perfect time for him so I didn’t have the chance there. Otherwise, that was it.

    Q: (Gloria Scola – El Mundo) The race has just finished; I was wondering what racing gives you, is it freedom of expression, a way to express yourself, adrenalin?

    NR: First of all, we’re here to entertain and hopefully give people a great time and a spectacle to watch, and especially in Monaco, it’s very obviously because everybody’s there on boats and houses and everything, and I just hope that we’re able to put on a great show, that our sport is seen as the best sport in the world, the most fun sport in the world, the most exciting sport in the world and so that’s a special feeling as such. And then of course driving my car through the streets of Monaco on the limit, battling everybody else, trying to win and then of course the win itself is the most special moment.

    LH: I’m living my dream so it gives good energy.

    DR: I get… honestly, freedom is definitely one thing. I remember when I first hopped in a go-kart as a kid, just being in control and not having anyone else in your space and then going at speed was a sense of freedom definitely. It’s nice as well, particularly with everything that happens around F1, all the media and everything else – when you hop in the car, it’s just you and the car and occasionally you have an engineer on the radio but it’s just you so definitely a sense of freedom along with a wicked adrenalin.

    eom/FIA press release of the transcript of Monaco Press Conference

    Rosberg flanked by Hamilton on right and Ricciardo after winning the Monaco GP to take the F1 Championship lead again. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image
    Rosberg flanked by Hamilton on right and Ricciardo after winning the Monaco GP to take the F1 Championship lead again. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image

  • Rosberg and Hamilton make it a fifth 1-2 for Mercedes at Monaco GP

    Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton took a dramatic one-two finish this afternoon at the 2014 Monaco Grand Prix.

    • Nico took his second consecutive Monaco Grand Prix victory this afternoon, the first driver to do so since Ayrton Senna
    • Lewis finished in second place, securing the team’s fifth consecutive one-two finish in the 2014 season
    • Both drivers ran one-stop strategies, pitting behind the Safety Car on lap 26 and retaining the leading two positions
    • The team has now taken five consecutive one-two finishes, for just the third time a team has achieved this in F1 history
    • This victory marked the team’s 10th victory in the new era of the Silver Arrows since 2010
    Driver
    Car No.
    Chassis No.
    Result / Fastest Lap
    Nico Rosberg
    6
    F1 W05 Hybrid/04
    P1 1:19.425
    Lewis Hamilton
    44
    F1 W05 Hybrid/01
    P2 1:19.361
    Weather
    Warm
    Temperatures
    Air: 19-21 °C
    Track: 28-31 °C

    Nico Rosberg 
    It was a tough race out there today but I am absolutely delighted to have won my second Monaco Grand Prix in succession. It’s an amazing feeling and I’m proud to have done it at home, in front of my family and friends who were all here this afternoon. The race started well and I was comfortable but then we had to manage my fuel consumption and Lewis was pushing really hard behind me. We were able to be in control of the fuel with a few laps of lift and coast. It was important for me to break Lewis’ momentum of winning the last four races this weekend. That worked out very well, but it was a really tough weekend. I’m so happy for the team that we had another one-two finish and look forward to the party tonight!

    Lewis Hamilton 
    I felt very strong out there today and I really drove with all my heart, giving everything that I could to improve my position. This just hasn’t been my weekend but I can leave today feeling happy that we have achieved another one-two finish for the team. We have such a great car and everyone who has worked on it deserves the incredible results that we are getting at the moment. Back to this afternoon, this is such a difficult circuit to overtake. I was following Nico as close as I could and had great pace but I just couldn’t get past. Towards the end, I got some dirt in my eye through the visor which made it very tough for a few laps but thankfully it cleared up and I was able to hold off Daniel and keep second place. This hasn’t been the greatest of weekends but I’ll go into the next race with even more energy and determination. The team are working so hard and we’re determined to keep the momentum going.

    Toto Wolff 
    A fantastic result for the team after a weekend where we had the pressure to deliver on the car’s potential here in Monaco. Six wins from six races, and five one-two finishes in a row, is a very special achievement at the start of this 2014 season. Congratulations to Nico for a faultless race and to Lewis for following him home in spite of some unexpected challenges this afternoon. We were driving a controlled race when the Safety Car forced us to pit earlier than had been planned for our only stop of the afternoon. After that, both drivers pushed hard and that had the consequence that they started to run out of rear tyres in the closing laps. When Lewis had the problem with his eye, that was when Daniel Ricciardo came close. It just goes to show that we must never give up pushing because our rivals are right behind us – and working hard to run us down. We have absolutely no margin for error because if we make one little slip, our rivals are right there. We will enjoy this moment – but the hard work continues tomorrow at the factory.

    Paddy Lowe 
    To take our fifth consecutive one-two finish is an incredible achievement for our team. It doesn’t matter how good a car you’ve got: to achieve that kind of run, you need amazing drivers and a great team performing faultlessly. We have all of those elements and this afternoon again reinforced just how well both Nico and Lewis are driving right now. I also must say a special thank you to the team: to take a one-two at Monaco, you need a great chassis and a driveable engine, and this result shows our car is an all-round performer. In terms of the race itself, it wasn’t without its challenges: Nico had to manage his fuel consumption quite carefully and we were working with the settings of Lewis’ Power Unit to optimise the energy recovery and deployment in the first half of the race. In the final stages, we had some concerns with the tyres as we were running out of rubber, which in turn made it hard to maintain the tyre temperatures. We s

    Nico Rosberg after winning the Monaco GP on Sunday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image
    Nico Rosberg after winning the Monaco GP on Sunday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image

    aw that when Lewis recovered from the problem with his eye, and couldn’t get the tyres back working properly, which allowed Ricciardo to close in. But he was able to bring the car home and secure this fantastic team result.

    eom/A Mercedes AMG Petronas press release

  • Rosberg claims Monaco pole in dramatic style

    Monaco, 24 May 2014: Final-lap mistake by Mercedes denies second-placed team-mate Hamilton opportunity to challenge. Ricciardo third.

    Nico Rosberg claimed his second success Monaco Grand Prix pole position in dramtic fashion, an error on his final lap bringing out the yellow flags, which then denied team-mate Lewis Hamilton the opportunity to improve on his time.

    Rosberg claimed provisional pole with his first run in Q3 in the Principality, the German setting a time of 1:15.989. It was just enough to put him ahead of Hamilton, whose opening lap yielded a time of just over five hundredths adrift of his team-mate.

    In the closing minutes Rosberg set off ahead of Hamilton in search of an improvement. However on the run to the Mirabeau corner Rosberg momentarily lost control under braking and was forced to take an escape road. The incident immediately saw the yellow flags raised.

    “I just locked up, the outside front, I think it was, or the inside, I’m not sure, and that put me off line,” said Rosberg. “I was still trying to make it but in the last moment I had to turn out because I was going to hit the tyre wall. It was close but I managed to go into the escape road.

    “I thought it was over once that happened, because I thought the track would ramp up and somebody else could beat the time but no, of course, in the end I’m really, really happy that it worked out in the end. To be on pole is fantastic, at home; couldn’t be better,” he added.

    Hamilton, meanwhile, was getting into his own final flying lap, setting a personal best first sector time that could have given him the chance to eclipse Rosberg.

    The chance never came, however, as the flags prevented the championship leader from making his charge. He was forced to pull out of the lap and cede pole position to his team-mate.

    Third place went to Daniel Ricciardo, who was also displeased with how the last moments of the session had played out, though for different reasons.

    “I think all three of us don’t seem to be too pleased with ourselves,” he said. “I think we left a bit on the table. We fought the car pretty hard in qualifying and trying to find a bit more from it. I thought I was getting around it OK but coming up to Turn 8 I just lost the rear completely on exit and pretty much the lap was gone after that. Frustrated, I think we could have been much closer. So a little bit disappointed.”

    Ricciardo finished ahead of team-mate Sebastian Vettel for the fourth time this season, while Fernando Alonso will start fifth ahead of team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.

    Jean-Eric Vergne claimed an impressive seventh place in the session his time of 1:17.540 just 1500ths of a second behind Raikkonen’s. Team-mate Daniil Kvyat was ninth, the first time both Toro Rosso cars have qualified in the top 10 since the opening race of the season. Kvyat’s performance was especially good considering that the Russian rookie has never raced at Monaco in any category. Additionally, in Q1 a mistake saw him hit the wall on the run down to the Nouvelle Chicacne and he was forced to pit for a new front wing.

    Eighth place went to Kevin Magnussen, the McLaren rookie claiming his third top-10 qualifying position of the year. Tenth place in the session went to Force India’s Sergio Perez.

    Elsewhere, Felipe Massa was forced to sit out Q2 after he was pitched into the barriers by Marcus Ericsson at the end of Q1. The Caterham driver tried to pass the Williams driver down the inside but miscalculated and caused them both to hit the wall. Massa had already done enough to progress to Q2 but was not able to take part.

    2014 Monaco Grand Prix – Qualifying Result
    1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:15.989 26
    2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:16.048 27
    3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:16.384 22
    4 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1:18.383  1:17.074  1:16.547 25
    5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:16.686 27
    6 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:17.389 27
    7 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:17.540 26
    8 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 1:17.555 25
    9 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:18.090 23
    10 Sergio Perez Force India 1:18.327 26

    11 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:17.846 20
    12 Jenson Button McLaren 1:17.988 20
    13 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:18.082 20
    14 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:18.196 23
    15 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:18.356 21
    16 Felipe Massa Williams No time 10

    17 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1:18.741 11
    18 Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 1:18.745 11
    19 Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 1:19.332 10
    20 Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 1:19.928 9
    21 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 1:20.133 9
    22 Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 1:21.732 9

    eom/FIA Press Release

    Nico Rosberg poses after taking the Monaco pole. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image
    Nico Rosberg poses after taking the Monaco pole. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image

  • To be on pole is fantastic: Rosberg

    Nico Rosberg poses with teammate Hamilton and Ricciardo of Red Bull (right) after taking the Monaco pole. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image
    Nico Rosberg poses with teammate Hamilton and Ricciardo of Red Bull (right) after taking the Monaco pole. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image

    DRIVERS

    1 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

    2 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    3 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

    TV UNILATERAL

    Nico, congratulations – pole for the second year in a row but perhaps not exactly the way you wanted to achieve it, with that mistake at the end?

    Nico ROSBERG: No, definitely not. I thought it was over once that happened, because I thought the track would ramp up and somebody else could beat the time but no, of course, in the end I’m really, really happy that it worked out in the end. To be on pole is fantastic, at home; couldn’t be better.

    Coming to you Lewis. Nico’s mistake, ironically, and the subsequent yellow flags meant that you couldn’t improve on your lap. Your feelings?

    Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, it is ironic. But it’s OK. I was up a couple tenths so it’s OK.

    Daniel, coming to you, your best Monaco qualifying performance. Your chances for the race, your thoughts on the two gentlemen [beside you] who again seemed to find a bit more speed when it mattered today?

    Daniel RICCIARDO: Yeah, I think all three of us don’t seem to be too pleased with ourselves. I think we left a bit on the table. We fought the car pretty hard in qualifying and trying to find a bit more from it. I thought I was getting around it OK but coming up to Turn 8 I just lost the rear completely on exit and pretty much the lap was gone after that. Frustrated, I think we could have been much closer. So a little bit disappointed.

    Nico, your thoughts on what happened with Lewis and where your mistake left him. You’re close friends, you’re fighting for race wins, your fighting for pole, for world championships but there’s no question that your mistake disadvantaged him

    NR: No, definitely, of course I’m sorry for Lewis. I didn’t know exactly where he was but once I was reversing I did see he was coming up. Of course that’s not great, but that’s the way it is.

    Lewis, your response to that? When you’re last on the track there’s always that risk isn’t there, you’re vulnerable to something like this happening?

    LH: I don’t have an answer to it.

    OK. Final thought then from you Nico. You won here from pole last year, your thoughts on what will definitely be a tough 78-lap grand prix tomorrow.

    NR: Yeah, well, very, very happy to start from first. It’s going to be a long race tomorrow. Also there’s supposed to be some weather coming in, so we’re not sure if it’s going to stay dry or not. Of course, [I’m in] the best place to start from and just need to try to get a good start. That’s been our weakness recently but we’ve worked on it a lot. So I’m quite confident that we’ve got the starts sorted now, so that should be OK. And then, from then on try to take care of the tyres – tyres will be very important as always in the Monaco Grand Prix, take care of those and everything should be OK.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: So Nico, obviously there’s only one real major talking point, tell us in detail what happened on the way down to Mirabeau?

    NR: I just locked up, the outside front, I think it was, or the inside, I’m not sure, and that put me off line. I was still trying to make it but in the last moment I had to turn out because I was going to hit the tyre wall. It was close but I managed to go into the escape road.

    Q: And what was going through your mind on that last lap? You, of course, had the advantage, having set the faster time first, so you knew you were knew you were up and you knew…

    NR…Well that’s the whole reason why I’m… I know that I have a banker, a really good banker in there so I just try to push that little bit more and went over the edge.

    Q: Lewis, give us your thoughts when you were told over the radio, or you saw the yellow flags and knew that it was all over.

    LH: Not really much.

    Can you elaborate?

    LH: Not really much! I didn’t really think of anything. The lap was done and that was that.

    Q: You said you were a couple of tenths up though, so you must have thought you were on target?

    LH: I was on target, yep.

    Q: And your thoughts on where you go from here. Will you be wanting to meet with the team this evening. Anything unusual before the preparation for this race?

    LH: I don’t know, I’ll have a look into the data and, y’know, look where I can improve tomorrow.

    Q: Daniel, your thoughts. First time you’ve driven Monaco in a competitive F1 car. Tell us about that step-up in performance, being that close to the front and having a real chance tomorrow.

    DR: It was definitely nice to… yeah, again, fight at the front on the field and around here it’s a lot of fun, definitely. It’s always nice when you’ve got a quick car but around here it does feel awesome. The last lap there, went for one last push and just didn’t really get the grip back that I was hoping for and just couldn’t improve on the lap I’d done in the first part of Q3. So, it was a shame because I think in the first part of Q3 we still had a little bit more in there and, yeah, a bit frustrated to be honest.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Haoran Zhou – Formula One Express) Lewis, how pleased are you with your first lap in Q3 and did you leave some time on the table; if there is, where exactly?

    LH: Generally the lap wasn’t too bad.  Nico’s been quick all weekend. And just working away at it, one step at a time. I remember starting the last lap and said ‘this is it, this is going to be the lap’. Was two and a half tenths up and didn’t get to finish it.

    Q: (Leonid Novozhilov – F1Live) Daniel Ricciardo, what you can say about the Red Bull team’s chances in this championship?

    DR: The championship is – I think –  a long long way away. Again, Mercedes have got a front row lock-out, I think we were definitely closer today. I felt we had a bit more of a chance there but yeah, I think the championship’s still a long way away. Firstly I think we need to win a race and then think about a championship.

    eom

  • Hamilton edges Ricciardo in final practice in Monaco

    File photo of Hamilton with fans. An FIA image
    File photo of Hamilton with fans. An FIA image

    Monaco, 24 May 2014: Championship leader Hamilton just five hundredths of a second clear of Red Bull Racing leader. Ricciardo came second and Rosberg third after the final practice session before the qualifying session in the evening.

    Lewis Hamilton finished the final practice session ahead of Monaco’s crucial qualifying session at the top of the timesheet, but only by five hundredths of a second.

    With Mercedes’ performance advantage somewhat blunted by the twisting streets of the Principality, Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo split the Mercedes pair of Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, who ended the session a tenth behind his team-mate.

    Rosberg had run quickest in the earlier part of the session, when the teams ran with Pirelli’s Soft tyre, but when the switch was made to the option Supersoft in the closing stages of the session, the championship leader edged ahead of the German once more.

    Although defending champion Sebastian Vettel logged the quickest second sector time on the Supersoft, the Red Bull Racing couldn’t match the pace at the start and end of his laps on the option tyre and finished fourth, four tenths of a second behind Hamilton. He, along with others, was often frustrated by traffic during the session and was seen waving his fist angrily at Williams’ Felipe Massa as the driver set about their qualifying simulations on the packed track.

    Behind Vettel the Fernando Alonos and Kimi Raikkonen were fifth and sixth quickest respectively and the Ferrari pairing were separated by just two hundredths of a second.

    They were backed up by the Force India machines of Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg, who finished just five hundredths of a second apart, and the Toro Rossos of Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniil Kvyat, with the Frenchman beating out the Russian by just under a tenth of a second.

    2014 Monaco Grand Prix – Free Practice 3 Times
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:16.758
    2 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:16.808 0.050
    3 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:16.874 0.116
    4 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1:17.184 0.426
    5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:17.428 0.670
    6 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:17.448 0.690
    7 Sergio Perez Force India 1:17.725 0.967
    8 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:18.074 1.316
    9 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:18.136 1.378
    10 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:18.166 1.408
    11 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 1:18.249 1.491
    12 Jenson Button McLaren 1:18.262 1.504
    13 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:18.430 1.672
    14 Felipe Massa Williams 1:18.542 1.784
    15 Adrian Sutil Sauber 1:18.598 1.840
    16 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:18.776 2.018
    17 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:18.872 2.114
    18 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:19.118 2.360
    19 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:19.149 2.391
    20 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham 1:20.271 3.513
    21 Max Chilton Marussia 1:20.394 3.636
    22 Marcus Ericsson Caterham 1:20.589 3.831

    eom/FIA press release