INDIA in F1

Tag: Formula 1

  • Vettel beats Bottas at the start, wins 47th career Grand Prix; Hamilton recovers to 4th

    Sebastian Vettel took his 47th career grand prix win in a tight Brazilian Grand Prix that saw him  finish just 2.7s ahead of Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas. Ferrari team-mate Kimi Räikkönen took the final podium position after fending off Lewis Hamilton in the closing laps, the Briton having charged through the field after a pitlane start.

    At the start, Vettel snatched the lead ahead of Bottas, with the German sneaking through on the inside past the Finn. Further back Haas’s Kevin Magnussen collided with McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne, who was in turn pitched into the side of Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull.  The Dane and the Belgian were forced out of the race but the Australian was able to continue.

    There was more drama to come. A few corners later, Haas’ Romain Grosjean tangled with Esteban Ocon, with the result that the Force India driver was forced to retire.

    That brought out the safety, which remained on course until the end of lap five. When the action resumed Vettel held his lead ahead of Bottas with Kimi Räikkönen third in the second Ferrari and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen fourth.

    Lewis Hamilton, though, was on a march and after starting from the pit lane due to repairs needed after qualifying crash, the Briton was already up to ninth place on lap 10. Ricciardo too was advancing and by the same tour he had made his way from 17th place to 14th, behind Lance Stroll. He was quickly dismissed, along with Sauber’s Marcus Ericson and by lap 12 the Australian was 12th.

    Hamilton too was continuing to stride forward and on lap 14 he claimed the scalp of Force India’s Sergio Perez to take seventh place. That put him 15.2s behind race leader Vettel, who was two seconds clear of Bottas and a further two ahead of Räikkönen.

    By lap 21 Hamilton had muscled his to way to fifth place, 10 seconds behind Verstappen and was continuing to gain ground as the Dutchman began to complain of rear tyres wear on his starting set of supersofts. At the front, Vettel was losing ground to Bottas, with the Finn now 1.7s seconds behind the German.

    Bottas was the first of frontrunners to Pit on lap 27 for soft tyres and he was followed a lap later by Vettel who responded to the undercut attempt. Verstappen and Raikkonen too made their stop for tyres and on lap 31 Hamilton, who had yet to stop, was promoted to the race lead.

    Three seconds behind him was Vettel, with the German now enjoying a 2.7s advantage over Bottas. Räikkönen held fourth ahead of the Red Bulls of Verstappen and Ricciardo, who had not yet pitted, Williams’ Felipe Massa and McLaren’s Fernando Alonso.

    Hamilton and Ricciardo finally pitted to change their starting supersofts on lap 44, with both taking on supesoft tyres. Vettel was boosted back into the lead, 2.5s ahead of Bottas, with Räikkönen a further two seconds behind. Verstappen was now fourth, 4.1 behind Räikkönen and 7.3s ahead of Hamilton. Massa now found himself sixth ahead of Ricciardo and Alonso.

    The question now was how far Hamilton would be able to advance and his race engineer offered a clue by telling the four-time champion that he was battling for a podium place. That meant he would need to pass Verstappen and find the 10s necessary to get him onto third-placed Räikkönen’s gearbox.

    He swiftly began to close on Verstappen and by lap 55 he was just 3.0s in arrears to the Dutchman who was complaining that his tyres felt “like rocks”. By lap 59 the gap had been erased almost entirely and though the Red Bull driver defend well in the Senna S at the start of the lap, he couldn’t resist Hamilton’s pace and the Mercedes man swept past on the straight before Turn 4 to claim fourth place. He now targeted Räikkönen who was 4.8s ahead and with five laps remaining he closed to within DRS range of the Ferrari.

    Räikkönen though was alive to the threat and he expertly kept Hamilton at bay over the closing laps. Ahead Vettel took his 47th career victory in relative comfort with Bottas second. Räikkönen took his 91st career podium finish ahead of the superb Hamilton, while Verstappen, in fourth, led home team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.

    Felipe Massa ended his final Brazilian Grand Prix with an excellent run to seventh place, the hometown hero finishing ahead of Alonso and Perez. The final point on offer went to Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg.

    2017 Brazilian Grand Prix – Race
    1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1’31:26.260
    2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 2.762
    3 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 4.600
    4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 5.468
    5 Max Verstappen Red Bull 32.940
    6 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 48.691
    7 Felipe Massa Williams 68.882
    8 Fernando Alonso McLaren 69.363
    9 Sergio Perez Force India 69.500
    10 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1 lap
    11 Carlos Sainz Renault 1 lap
    12 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 1 lap
    13 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1 lap
    14 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber 1 lap
    15 Romain Grosjean Haas 2 laps
    16 Lance Stroll Williams 2 laps
    Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso
    Esteban Ocon Force India
    Kevin Magnussen Haas
    Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren.

    eom/FIA press release

  • Bottas takes pole; Hamilton crashes out in Q1

    Bottas takes pole; Hamilton crashes out in Q1

    Bottas (centre) beats Vettel (left) top Brazilian pole. Raikkonen take p3. An FIA image

    Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas claimed his third career pole position, beating Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel by just over three hundredths of a second, as newly-crowned four-time champion Lewis Hamilton dramatically crashed out in Q1.

    The Briton, who had taken to the track early in a bid to put in a solid time in case of rain, lost control as he exited Turn 6. The back end of his car stepped out and he slid off into the tyre barriers, wrecking the front right side of his Mercedes.

    The crash resulted in a brief red flag period as Hamilton’s car was cleared. When the action resumed Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas quickly jumped to the top of the timesheet with a lap of 1:10.053.

    He was soon eclipsed by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and then by Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, with the Ferrari driver posting a time of 1:09.796. Bottas responded with a time of 1:09.452 but he was then pipped by Kimi Räikkönen in the second Ferrari with a lap of 1:09.405.

    At the bottom of the timesheet, Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley was the driver to profit from Hamilton’s exit. With the Briton rooted to the bottom of the timesheet by his crash, there would be just four further eliminations and with a lap of 1:10.625 Hartley managed to take P15, five hundredths of a second ahead of Pascal Wehrlein. The Sauber driver was eliminated ahead of the second Toro Rosso of Pierre Gasly, the Williams of Lance Stroll, the second Sauber of Marcus Ericsson and Hamilton.

    Stroll had suffered a mechanical issue in FP3 and was late to the fray in Q1 but the Canadian failed to land a good time with his final flyer. Team-mate Felipe Massa, meanwhile began his final qualifying session in front of his home crowd with an excellent lap of 1:09.789 that earned fourth place in the segment behind Räikkönen, Bottas and Vettel.

    Bottas set the pace early in Q2 with a lap of 1:08.901 that left him just over a tenth of a second clear of Vettel and a further tenth up on Räikkönen. The Red Bull pairing of Verstappen and Ricciardo slotted into fourth and fifth places respectively.

    Unusually for Q2, which often sees the frontrunners remain in their garages in for the final runs, the top five drivers returned to the track in the final stages of the segment and it was Vettel who found the most time. The German took top spot with a time of 1:08.494, 0.144 ahead of Bottas. Verstappen went through in third place, fourth tenths behind Bottas, with Räikkönen fourth ahead of Ricciardo.

    In the drop zone as the final runs began were Haas’ Romain Grosjean in 11th, followed by McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne, Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg, the second Haas of Kevin Magnussen and Toro Rosso’s Hartley.

    Hulkenberg was the man to profit, the Renault driver jumping to eighth place by the time session ended. As other times flooded in, it meant that Force India’s Esteban Ocon was the man to lose out, the French driver being eliminated in P1 ahead of Grosjean, Vandoorne, Magnussen and Hartley.

    Vettel again set the pace in the final Q3 session. Bottas was first on track and set a time of 1:08.442 but Vettel bypassed it by eight hundredths of a second to claim top spot. Räikkönen was third, while Verstappen claimed fourth with his first run just under three tenths of a second ahead of team-mate Ricciardo.

    But it was Bottas who made the most of the final runs. As drops of rain began to fall across Interlagos, Vettel failed to find an improvement on his last lap, the German saying that he had not done his best work in the first sector and lost most time there. That opened the door for Bottas and the Finn barged through to claim his third career pole position with a lap of 1:08.322, 0.038s ahead of his Ferrari rival.

    Räikkönen took third in the second Ferrari with a time of 1:08.538 and Verstappen improved to be the only other driver inside the 1m09s mark. Ricciardo finished fifth but is set for a grid penalty for the race, while Sergio Perez was sixth. Alonso put in a good performance to claim seventh place ahead of Hulkenberg, Sainz and Massa.

    2017 Brazilian Grand Prix – Qualifying
    1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:08.322
    2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:08.360
    3 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:08.538
    4 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:08.925
    5 Sergio Perez Force India 1:09.598
    6 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:09.617
    7 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:09.703
    8 Carlos Sainz Renault 1:09.805
    9 Felipe Massa Williams 1:09.841
    10 Esteban Ocon Force India 1:09.830
    11 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:09.879
    12 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 1:10.116
    13 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:10.154
    14 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:09.330
    15 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber 1:10.678
    16 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:10.875
    17 Lance Stroll Williams 1:10.776
    18 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso
    19 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 1:10.686
    20 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes.

    eom/FIA press release

  • Hamilton continues to set pace at Sao Paulo

    After dominating opening practice at Interlagos, Lewis Hamilton doubled up by topping the afternoon timesheets at the São Paulo circuit, edging team-mate Valtteri Bottas by just under five hundredths of a second.

    However, whereas Hamilton enjoyed a half second advantage over Ferrari’s third-placed Kimi Räikkönen in the morning session, afternoon practice was tighter, with Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo finishing just 0.228 behind four-time champion Hamilton after the drivers had completed their performance runs during the 90-minute session.

    In the morning Hamilton had led the way early in the session on soft tyres and e repeated the process in the afternoon, setting a time of 1:09.742on the yellow-banded tyres.

    Räikkönen was the first to make the move to supersofts but his effort was only good enough to claim third pace behind Hamilton and Bottas. Mercedes’ Finn then bolted on the red-banded compound and he promptly vaulted into top spot.

    Hamilton failed to make the most of his first quick lap on supersofts but on his second run he made no mistakes and climbed back to P1 with a time of 1:09.515. That was slower than his supersoft-shod time of the morning but again quicker than the 2004 circuit record set by Rubens Barrichello.

    Ricciardo got closest to the Mercedes but admitted that the Constructors champions look out of reach.

    “For what we’ve got here we looked competitive. The long runs looked okay but the Mercs looked really strong,” he said. “We can definitely find a little bit more for tomorrow but I don’t think we’re far off and we don’t have to make many changes tonight. I’d like some rain for Qualifying tomorrow and I can try and fight for pole. I know if I get it I won’t start there because of my penalty, but anyway it would be good to start 11th for the race. That’s my target.”

    Sebastian Vettel was the quickest Ferrari, just 0.132 behind Ricciardo, while Max Verstappen was fifth in the second Red Bull, just one hundredth of a second adrift of Vettel.

    Force India’s Esteban Ocon was seventh ahead of hometown hero and Williams driver Felipe Massa. Nico Hulkenberg was ninth for Renault, while McLaren’s Fernando Alonso completed the top 10.

    There was trouble in the session for Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson skidded off in Turn 9, slapping into the barriers at the side of the track. After a difficult morning session in which neither of its cars has much running, Toro Rosso bounced back in the afternoon, Pierre Gasly completing 44 laps to finish in P16 and Brendon Hartley posting a total of 54 laps to finish in 17th place.

    2017 Brazilian Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 42 1:09.515
    2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 45 1:09.563 0.048
    3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 37 1:09.743 0.228
    4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 48 1:09.875 0.360
    5 Max Verstappen Red Bull 38 1:09.886 0.371
    6 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 45 1:10.117 0.602
    7 Esteban Ocon Force India 49 1:10.306 0.791
    8 Felipe Massa Williams 42 1:10.373 0.858
    9 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 39 1:10.396 0.881
    10 Fernando Alonso McLaren 31 1:10.655 1.140
    11 Carlos Sainz Jr. Renault 42 1:10.685 1.170
    12 Sergio Perez Force India 43 1:10.695 1.180
    13 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 38 1:10.902 1.387
    14 Lance Stroll Williams 44 1:11.064 1.549
    15 Romain Grosjean Haas 39 1:11.300 1.785
    16 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 44 1:11.422 1.907
    17 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 54 1:11.821 2.306
    18 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber 43 1:11.857 2.342
    19 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 17 1:11.989 2.474
    20 Antonio Giovinazzi Haas 37 1:12.417 2.902.

    eom/FIA press release

  • We are motivated to make some significant changes to 2018 car: Paddy Lowe

    TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Yusuke HASEGAWA (Honda), Franz TOST (Toro Rosso), Paddy LOWE (Williams), Frédéric VASSEUR (Sauber)

    Q: Paddy, let’s begin with you. Felipe was in the conference here yesterday with us, saying the team needs to make some changes for next season to its approach to the car and the 2018 car will essentially be your first car, overseeing it. Can you tell us your approach and how much have you allocated resource to it along the way this year?

    Paddy LOWE: I’d like to stress that it’s a team effort. I know the media like to characterise these things as cars of individuals but we have a great team at Grove with some new people we’ve brought in in the last 12 months as well as the existing team. But we are motivated to make some significant change to really move forward, create a step from where we are. So we will see how that plays out. We recognise that we have some strong competition as well and they’ll all be wanting to do the same. But we’re quite optimistic about what we’re doing over the winter.

    Q: At what point did you fully commit to next year’s car?

    PL: It’s never a black and white point in any team in fact, it’s a gradual migration. You never give up on the existing season, really, up until the very end. Even now, we’re testing different ideas within this race weekend  so it’s always a migration, but we are in the high nineties per cent of effort on next year’s car.

    Q: Obviously you’ve announced that Felipe is definitely not continuing with the team next year so you are in the process of evaluating his replacement for next season; what are the next steps in that and when do you target making a final decision?

    PL: We’re very unlikely to make a decision in short order. We have a number of different options and we’ll take our time with that and let you know when we have an answer.

    Q: Hasegawa-san, coming to you, it was obviously a big surprise for everyone when the Honda engine didn’t make a step forward from 2016 to 2017. What steps have you put in place to ensure that you don’t have a repeat of that between now and the start of 2018 and how confident are you feeling?

    Yusuke HASEGAWA: From last year to this year, we have completely changed the configuration concept of the engine. We tried to do a little bit too much, the modification, so that’s why I have decided to keep the concept for next year, so that from a reliability point of view we are pretty much confident. So we need to squeeze more performance from the same concept of the engine, so that’s what we are currently doing.

    Q: And Franz, what have you picked up from the McLaren story this year with Honda that you want to avoid next year in your collaboration with them?

    Franz TOST: I must say that we from the Toro Rosso side have to build the most competitive car. This is what we can do from our side. What happened in other teams and during the collaboration in the past is not our topic and what we will provide Honda with is hopefully a very close and fruitful co-operation on the operational side and once more our target is to come up with a competitive chassis because I’m convinced that Honda knows what they have to do and they are on a good path because we have already had a couple of meetings and I am more than sure that they will improve their performance next year and hopefully we have a good car and then I am sure that we will have a real competitive package.

    Q: Back to you Hasegawa-san, obviously we saw a statement after the engine meeting last week on future direction of Formula One engines after 2020; can you give us Honda’s reaction to that?

    YH: Obviously we have started the discussion with the FIA so I don’t think it’s a good idea to say yes or no in this public situation but we are respecting the FIA’s decision of course, that they are trying to create a good competition for the FIA for the Formula One. But we are thinking there is some room to modify so that we are trying to find the good solution, but obviously the cost reduction is very important and we are welcoming new manufacturers so from that point of view we would like to keep discussing with the FIA.

    Q: Can we get a comment on that statement about the future engines from the two independent teams here, the customer teams? Frederic, why don’t you us your thoughts first on what came out last week?

    Frederic VASSEUR: For the private teams, for sure the regulations are much more on the end of the engine manufacturers. What concerns is that we want to have a fair price and close competition but I think they are the two targets that we have to reach. On the other hand, if we can improve the show a little bit, but that’s coming much more from the fact that it will close up the grid a little bit than something else. It could be the only two targets for a private team.

    Q: And Paddy, your reaction to the statement last week?

    PL: Yeah, I think it’s a first step and we recognise that discussions will continue with the existing manufacturers and potential new manufacturers. It’s a difficult problem to solve, to be honest. There’s a lot of objectives; some of them are contradictory but most of all we need solutions that are cost-effective, but also creating a great show so I think that was an initial step and we will wait to see how that may be refined.

    Q: Back to you Franz: you’ve hinted that you will keep the same driver line-up for 2018 that you have currently; what needs to happen before you make that official?

    FT: It’s a decision from Red Bull, in the end, and if both drivers continue in the way they are working with us, I’m quite convinced that they will be the driver line-up for Toro Rosso in 2018, but once more, this is a decision from Red Bull.

    Just coming back to the power unit discussion; the current power unit, as you all know, is far too complicated, doesn’t contribute anything to the show and it’s far too expensive and therefore I hope that FOM and the FIA will come up with a regulation that will simplify the power unit and to make it much cheaper for private teams like us.

     

    Q: Frederic, back to you: another run for Charles Leclerc this morning; how’s he progressing? When do you hope to confirm whether he will race for the team next season and is it likely to be Ericsson sitting alongside him? What can you tell us?

    FV: We will do the announcement, I hope, in Abu Dhabi. For sure we’ll do it before Melbourne next year and that I won’t postpone it each week. But I think Charles is doing a good job; the situation in FP1 is not an easy one because the first target is to avoid crashing and by the way that he’s consistent and he always shows a strong pace and he’s doing a good job.

     

    Q: You’re going to have a latest specification engine next season – obviously a big change from this year – that’s obviously worth a lot in lap time terms. Can you give us an idea of what kind of step that is? And also, can you expect to make a similar step on the chassis side?

    FV: It’s a couple of tenths – I won’t say more – and on the chassis we will have to do a much bigger step. I think we started the project very late last year due to the financial situation and we are really focused on the 2018 car for a long part of this season and I think we will do a much bigger step on the chassis than on the engine.

    eom/FIA press release

  • I am here to challenge Sergio for sure: Esteban Ocon at Thursday press meet

    PART ONE: DRIVERS – Felipe MASSA (Williams), Lance STROLL (Williams), Marcus ERICSSON (Sauber)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Felipe, here we are again, and once again we know this is a swansong. Do you mean it this time?

    Felipe MASSA: Yeah! Actually this is my second retirement race in Brazil, but this time it’s the last one for sure in Formula One, so definitely really looking forward to another amazing feeling to race at home and really enjoying the track that I grew up at here for my last time in a Formula One car. So, really looking forward and really hope that we can have a nice race and a nice result to finish it off.

    What’s been the highlight of this bonus season for you in Formula One and how do you see the Williams team going forward from this point?

    FM: Not amazing highlights to be honest. So the way we started the season it was not the same way we finished the season. Definitely the car was more competitive at the beginning than at the end, so development-wise it was not great, I would say, this year. But I think I definitely enjoyed driving the car after all these rules were changed from last year to this year. I think it’s a lot of fun to drive these cars, a lot more downforce, I definitely enjoyed it a lot. Unfortunately, I was a little bit unlucky in some races that I would have scored massive points but I couldn’t, not because of my fault but because of some issues we had in the car. I expect maybe a season that would have been a little bit more competitive than how we were. But I definitely enjoy, having fun by driving the car. I’m happy that I’ve been able to take the best out of this car when I didn’t have any problem. So it was a season that I definitely enjoyed. It would be nice to remember this season, I mean the way you drive this car, for my career some years in front, nice to come back and remember this way you are driving this car.

    And the second part of the question about where the Williams team goes forward from here?

    FM: I think it’s definitely important to change a little bit some ideas for the car, but I think that’s the way Williams is doing for next year. So having a car that’s a little bit more different – the way they are developing the car, the way they are working the car – so I really hope they can achieve that from next year to the future.

    Thank you very much, Felipe. Lance, in the points at four of the last six grands prix and now into the top 10 in the drivers’ standings. Some great runs, lots of great starts, but would it be fair to say that qualifying is where you are going to be putting the bulk of your effort in preparing for 2018?

    Lance STROLL: Yeah, it’s been a good run. We’ve scored quite a few points in the last few races. I’m really happy about how that’s gone. For sure, qualifying we still need to adjust a few things. It’s mainly been little mistakes here and there and not being able to capitalise on our full potential. But I think with time and experience and analysing bits and pieces we can improve in that and I believe that with the people I’m working with and the team that we can address some of those issues and definitely improve on them in the future. But definitely when it comes to races and the points we’ve scored, I’m extremely proud of the job we’ve done and we’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing.

    You will have a new team-mate next season. What profile are you looking for: someone young, someone experienced, or should the team take a gamble?

    LS: It’s up to the team at the end of the day. My job is to drive my car. I mean I was hoping for Hamilton, but he’s not really available these days. I’m just kidding. It’s completely up to the team. Like I say, my job is to drive my car and they’ll take care of the rest.

    Marcus, you’ve outqualified your team-mate at the last three grands prix but you’ve yet to get that breakthrough point. It looked like it could be on in Mexico; you were in positions for many laps until the breakdown. This race worked out pretty well for Sauber last year so have you targeted this weekend for the result?

    Marcus ERICSSSON: Yeah, I mean we always go into a weekend aiming to try and score points. I think Mexico was a really good weekend for us and we’ve had quite a few good weekends now in a row. Very unfortunate I think in Mexico with the Safety Car, it came out with absolutely the worst possible timing for us, before that we were running in the points for the whole first part of the race. It was a good feeling and it was a good opportunity for us but we were just unlucky with the safety car. But then we had the breakdown as well. Hopefully here it’s new opportunity that we can take advantage of. This track should not be worse for us than the last two. We’re looking forward to it. We still need to obviously maximise what we have. It’s still a handicap with the old power unit so it’s going to make it more difficult. But as we’ve shown on the last two weekends, if we get everything right on the car side we can still take the fight to some of the midfield cars, so that’s what we need to do again this weekend and then we see here in Brazil everything can happen with the weather. Usually the races here are very eventful and that’s why we need to take the opportunity.

    Well, you mentioned the weather. It looks like we could have some rain again this weekend. One of the talking points is that the organisers have cut some more groves into the surface. So tell us about this place in the wet and what those grooves might do?

    ME: I think it’s a fun track to drive in the wet. Obviously we saw last year that it does get a lot of standing water, so that’s the only problem really. So if that’s helped a bit this year I think it will improve. Like I said, it’s a fun track to drive both in the dry and the wet. I wouldn’t mind a bit of mixed conditions during the weekend, I think that would spice things up

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Lucas Santochi – Pole Position) Lance, in this your first year, what you do feel that Formula One has different, that you feel like ‘oh, this is difficult, I have to work on this’, and how you felt about this during the year? And Felipe, if you can say some words about his evolution?

    LS: Formula One is very different in many ways from any other category. There is a lot more activity going on off the track and the car itself is very different to drive, so technically, driving the car, working with the engineers, working with the team, the weekends are a lot more loaded than any other category. There is a lot more going on everywhere, so you have to put your attention on so many little details that in other categories you don’t necessarily do as much. And then, like I said, off the track there are so much more going on, so many media activities and commitments that you have to take part in. So I would say just that the weekends are generally very loaded. But it’s becoming easier and easier every single time. The more experience I have and the more weekends I get under my belt it starts to become second nature more and more every single time. It’s just part of the process of learning and settling into Formula One, but those are the main things – the activity off the track and just driving the car and getting used to these kind of cars to drive. They’re quite a handful in a fun way, in a good way. So I would say those are the main things.

    And Felipe, your comment on how Lance has developed? He’s been a bit like you were to Michael Schumacher when you were together.

    FM: Yeah, I think definitely the way he started until now he had a big development, which is pretty normal. In Formula One everything is different to every other category. You need to learn, you need to understand the car, you need to understand the tyres, when you need to make the perfect lap. Even if we have the sessions on Friday and then on Saturday morning, sometimes it’s not enough because you’re not having new tyres all the time, and then you get to qualifying , you have new tyres and straight away you need to do a very good lap time, otherwise Q1, especially the way you are fighting with three or four teams for a couple of tenths, if you don’t do a lap time straight away maybe you can even not pass into Q2. So that shows the intense battle you have in Formula One. But I think the way he started, the way he is now, he’s just learning and getting better and better and improving. Definitely he understood much quicker the way he needs to drive in the race, because he did many good races and the qualifying for sure is coming. He has a good teacher as well, so… maybe next year he can qualify closer to another driver that he’ll race.

    Q: (Arjan Schouten – AD Sportwereld) Question for Felipe, going on the farewell tour, what’s your view on the future of Brazilian Formula One racing – because it looks like we have a year without for the first time since 1969…

    FM: Yeah. I really hope Formula One stays forever in Brazil. So definitely Brazil is a very important country for Formula One. So many titles, so many drivers, so many Brazilian drivers raced for Formula One since the start, so I really hope Interlagos stays for a very long time in Formula One and anything I can give to help, not racing any more, I can do, so definitely it is a very important race. It is true that we are suffering not an easy moment in Brazil, financially, but I think it’s a very important event for São Paulo, it’s a very important event for Brazil Formula One and y’know, for me it’s very difficult to answer – but I really hope Brazil stays for a very long time in Formula One.

    Q: (Andres Lopez – Motorlat.com) Question for Felipe, this will be your last GP at Brazil as an F1 driver. What is your best memory here in this track?

    FM: I think the best memory is my first victory, in 2006. It was like a dream come true for a Brazilian that was always dreaming to be in Formula One, especially in this track, then you get to Formula One and you manage to win. I won two races here, three pole positions, I think it’s the track I’ve been more times in the podium. So… but I definitely… the victory here 2006, it was like a dream come true, that I will never forget. It was definitely the most incredible day that I had in my career, winning the home grand prix for the first time, 2006

    Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas) Felipe, I would like to know, in the future do you expect to drive in a different category, to compete in a different category – and which one will it be?

    FM: Yes, definitely, it’s part of my expectation to keep driving, to keep having fun on the track, so that’s what I have been doing since I was eight years old, and that is my job since a long time as well. So, I think when you’re driving and you’re competing, you really feel the emotion of doing your job, or for enjoying yourself, so yes, definitely I really hope I can find the category that I have fun, like I had in Formula One for very long. So yeah, I will have enough time to think about it, to understand which is a good category to go, and then we will see.

    Q: (Stephen Wade – AP) Felipe, how do you rate your career? You were very close to being a World Champion at one point; you come from a country with great tradition, how do you rate your career? An eight? A ten? How do you see it?

    FM: I think when you… ten is when you win a championship or maybe even more than that, y’know? So yeah, I would say I had a very successful career. I have a career I thought I never would achieve, when I was a kid, so first of all, Formula One was a dream, and I managed to get to Formula One, I managed to win many races, I managed to fight for the championship until maybe the last metres, and yeah, maybe I was the driver who gets more close to the championship in the history, so I am very proud of my career. If it’s seven, eight, nine, it doesn’t matter. I am very proud for what I achieved, for what I did and I’m so happy for so many things that I learned, so many people that I met, and also really the most important thing is that people respect me and I think that’s the most important thing: have a great relationship with most of the people that I work, and I pass even a few moments together. Definitely I’m so happy for what I achieved, and yeah, still many things to do in life but really finished with my head up, and I think that’s the most important thing.

    Q: (Fabio Aleixo – Folha de São Paulo) Will you do anything different for the public? Because last year after you finished the race… you didn’t finish the race and walked through the pitlane and you could see the people closer. After the race, if you finish, you have anything to do different, maybe walk around the track? Go to the public to say ‘thank you’? Do you have anything in your mind for after the race?

    FM: Well, actually I really hope I can finish in a great position. That’s that most important thing, that it didn’t happen last year, so it happens, another thing that I will never forget. So I think the feeling that I have on the human side, after the race, last year it was something really I never thought I will feel that, I will have that in my career. So, I think what I had last year was definitely more than enough, and the only thing I’m looking forward to now is having a good race, having a good result and I never really planned everything, so if I do this, everything, y’know this will be natural, so we’ll see what we invent to do after what I really hope is a good result.

    Q: (Pedro Enrique Marum – MSN Esportes) Lance, before pre-season you said Felipe would be a mentor to you and then, after pre-season started you said it wasn’t quite like this. Now a season went by, Felipe has mentored you?

    LS: Well, he’s been a great team-mate to have. He has a bunch of experience, he brings a lot of knowledge to the team. I think we’ve understood a lot about the can and how to improve the car throughout the weekends and, for sure, he’s been a great guy to have in the team. I think everyone’s really enjoyed having him at Williams, and he’s had an unbelievable career: many victories, many times on the podium, one point from winning a world championship, so, y’know, definitely an A+ career, that’s for sure.

    PART TWO: DRIVERS – Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari), Esteban OCON (Force India), Brendon HARTLEY (Toro Rosso)

    Q: Brendon, congratulations, World Endurance Champion, once again, for the second time with Porsche. How did it feel jumping back into a WEC car after the Formula One, and how are you rationalising this very unusual life experience that you’re going through at the moment.

    Brendon HARTLEY: Yeah, it was actually surprisingly tricky to jump back into the car. I thought I was going to feel right at home – it’s been my home for the last four years – but it took a couple of laps for it to feel comfortable again. The seating position’s quite different from Formula One, having a roof over your head, different perspective – but yeah, after five laps I felt back at home. In terms of rationalising things, I guess I’ve tried to not overthink it and I’ve just… yeah… even winning the championship hasn’t really sunk in. I haven’t really had time to reflect. It probably helps that I’m just going from one weekend to the next. I think this is my sixth race in a row. It won’t be until I get home at the end of the year after all the racing’s over that I’ll be able to reflect and fully understand what’s just happened to me. I’m well aware that making my grand prix debut and Le Mans victory and World Endurance Championship… I mean they’re all amazing things but at the moment I’m just trying to take one step at a time and try to stay focussed and catch up on as much sleep as I can.

    Q: It sounds like you’re set for a full season of Formula One next year, although obviously not official yet, but now you know a bit more about it, will your experience of working with a major motor manufacture like Porsche, do you think it will help Honda developing with Toro Rosso, taking that whole relationship forward?

    BH: I don’t know. What I do know is, from working with Porsche the last years, it made my transition quite smooth to Formula One because it’s a similar amount of people involved; very similar structure in terms of engineering; pressure – I mean driving at Le Mans for Porsche, there’s a big amount of pressure on your shoulders, so I guess all of those things I’ve learnt to deal with, so that was obviously very helpful going to Austin. Obviously there were a lot of other things to learn in Formula One and I’m well-aware that there’s still a lot to learn but yeah, I think the good thing for me is that I’ve been involved in the past also with other Formula One teams and development and the project at Porsche, I was very heavily involved in the development on every level, so at least I have some experience from that point of view, yeah.

    Q: Esteban, Force India confirmed fourth in the constructors’ championship, it’s your first full season but you’ve obviously played a key part in that. What does it mean for you, given the quality of the opposition you’ve faced this year?

    Esteban OCON: It’s been a great season for us. Of course securing the fourth place, it’s an amazing achievement with two races to go. Thanks to the team, I would like to thank everyone. I can’t thank everyone in here but a few key people: Andy Stevenson, Andrew Green, Tom McCullough, Otmar, I would like to thank everyone there for the great season we’ve had. Hopefully we can finish the last two races very well like we did before and start the next one as high.

    Q: Some interesting numbers about you: you’ve out-qualified Pérez at the last four races in a row; you’re the only non-Mercedes driver to start in the top six for the past four races, and you’ve led Pérez for 137 of the last 138 racing laps. So, is that in line with your expectations of yourself at this stage of the season, and how do you move forward from here in 2018?

    EO: Yeah, I’m here to push. I’m here to challenge Sergio for sure, it’s been a very close season with him, fighting with really little margin, that’s what we have been doing so far this season – but arriving a second time on the tracks where I’ve driven before, with the Manor, helps me a lot with my experience, and also finishing all the races has helped me and I feel much more comfortable now than I’ve been feeling at the beginning of the season, so it’s great.

    Q: Kimi, ten years on – we all remember it very very well from that dramatic day when you won the World Championship here in Brazil, probably the widest smile you’ve had as a sportsman at least. Can you share some special memories of that day?

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: It’s a long time ago. Obviously it was a great day but it wasn’t just about the day, it was the whole year. Obviously it ended on that day but there were some great moments, some not very nice moments but in the end it worked out OK and I was very happy with it but – I don’t know – I haven’t really thought about it too much; obviously after that, yes, but not for a while because it doesn’t really change my life today, thinking about it. I don’t really try and make a big story out of it.

    Q: This year, you’ve had a very good car and kept developing it very effectively so where does it go from here for Ferrari? You’ve talked a lot this season about a few fine details here and there which have been the things that have stopped you but tell us a bit about that, where the team goes forward next year and what your personal ambition is in 2018?

    KR: Obviously I want to be fighting at the front every weekend, to be able to fight for the championship next year. I think we started pretty badly – we were not really where we should have been – a personal feeling on my side – we’re not really happy where the setup was and it took quite a long time to figure it out and then since then it’s been better but then we had too many DNFs for many different reasons but I think, as a team, we’ve come a long way from year to year and also from last year, made a good step, obviously not enough for what we want but as Ferrari we want to win both championships. But I think we had all the tools this year, we just need to tidy up things and not make mistakes nor have issues on any side, not from our side as drivers or from the team side. These are just small things which in the end played a big part this year, who won the championship and which way it went but I think we have all the people, we have the tools and we have a great car. There are still two races to go and even though the championships are done we try to do the same work we always do and try to win races and then, obviously, we start from zero next year so hopefully we will be up there.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Daniel Fideli – GloboEsporte.com) Brendon, you are used to winning races and championships as an endurance driver and you come to Formula One to race in a car that is not so good and mentally for you, how hard is it for you to come to Formula One and you know that you’re not going to be able to win races and just fight for the midfield?

    BH: I think as a driver you try and get the most out of whatever the situation is and I know for this weekend I have a firm goal of scoring my first point in Formula One. That would be celebrated, so I think so far from my experience in my two Grands Prix I had a lot to learn and a lot of small goals along the way and from my point of view it doesn’t change much on how I approach the weekend and the team. I can guarantee every single person in Toro Rosso is working their utmost to get the most out of the weekend, whatever is possible, so that doesn’t really change too much.

    Q: (Gustavo Faldon – ESPN Brasil) Kimi, Felipe Massa is retiring; you were his teammate for quite a while. What can you say about him? How was your relationship and do you feel like he helped you win your title ten years ago?

    KR: He’s retiring again, so let’s see if it actually happens or we will see him in the first race next year. I always had a good relationship with him, great atmosphere when we were at Ferrari together. We won two championships for the team as teammates and I think it was a great time. Obviously it was very fast, very good but I wish him all the best if he ends up (not) racing in F1 any more. We will see what comes in his life in the future.

    Q: (Andrea Lopez – Motorlat.com) Kimi, there are only two races left this season; what is the summary you can make of your season this year?

    KR: I think it’s very simple that we are in the championship, that’s how good or bad it’s been. That’s how it is this year and obviously we need to learn and make better things next year but we all start from zero next year and it depends on many things over the winter and over the testing at the beginning of the year. We will then get some idea of where we are going to be and then we see in the first races what will happen, but obviously the aim is to do better, to fight for wins and championships – that’s, as a team, what we want to do and as a driver I want to do that. This year, for sure, in many ways could have been better but I guess it can always be worse also.

    Q: (Lucas Santochi – Pole Position) Brendon, you talk about how your work with Porsche helped you to approach the Formula One weekend, but what surprised you like ‘this is very difficult, I have to work on this’ and if Esteban can comment about his experience when he came in too last year?

    BH: Sorry, I’m just trying to think what surprised me the most – probably a lot of things. I’d been in the Formula One paddock before, 2008, 2009 – oh, sorry, 2009, 2010, OK. I didn’t make a Grand Prix start but at least I had been in the paddock so there were a few familiar faces already. I guess at Austin, a big shock was the high speed, just in terms of a driving the car, it was quite amazing, these modern Formula One cars, how quick they are in the first sector in Austin, so that was pretty mind-blowing and it took some time to get confident. For the drivers who are driving weekend in and weekend out, they are probably… you always want more grip, you always want more power but coming straight in… that was quite a shock to the system. And other than that, I don’t think there were any huge surprises in terms of difficulties. I knew it was going to be a challenge, I knew putting a Formula One weekend together is tough and I know that the level in Formula One of drivers and teams and everyone – there are some of the highest you can find so I guess in some ways there were no big surprises as I kind of expected that.

    EO: I was very well prepared before arriving in Formula One. I was around in the paddock since 2014 so that has helped me a lot. I have been driving with many different teams in testing and then I went into DTM with Mercedes and I think like Brendon it’s a bit the same way of working, with engineers, sponsors and then going back into the racing. It’s a bit the same level of professionalism. It’s just the specification of the category. I think you have to learn all the details and then be sure you are there when it’s needed.

    Q: (Jens Nagler – Bild) Esteban, there are quite some discussions about the future of Formula One, including a budget cap. Do you think a small team like Force India, assuming you work like you did this year, could have an extra shot at the title with such a budget cap?

    EO: I think that’s a very good question but honestly if everyone had the same budget I think some people would be surprised what Force India can achieve. At the moment, with the budget we have, what we are achieving is amazing, the level of work we are putting in is a lot but at the end the level is there and the performance is on track, so yeah, it would be nice.

    eom/FIA press release

  • Mercedes looking to take the positive momentum into 2018

    Toto Talks Brazil 
    It might be tempting to think that, with both championships now secure, the pressure is off for the two remaining races of 2017. But that couldn’t be further from the truth.

    Inside the team, we are looking at the next two race weekends as the first two Grands Prix of 2018. We have two races that we are determined to win in order to take that positive momentum into the winter. There will be no backing off just because the championship business is now done.

    In fact, these next two races speak to every principle that makes us what we are. We aspire to excellence in everything we do, from the first lap of the winter shakedown in Silverstone to the final lap of the post-season test in Abu Dhabi. And every time we race, we race to win. That is the mind set we take to Sao Paulo.

    Lewis is operating at the peak of his powers right now, and will be determined to add another victory to last year’s success; Valtteri made a promising step forward in Mexico and will aim to build from this at Interlagos.

    As recent rounds have shown, winning Grands Prix is never easy. Red Bull have taken two victories in the past four races and, although we have claimed the other two, Ferrari remain formidable opponents. With the championship now settled, the battle for 2018 has already begun.

    Featured this Week: Getting a Head Start on 2018 
    Two races to go, two World Championship titles in the bag… but are the Silver Arrows slowing down? No chance!

    Teams up and down the pit lane will already have turned their attention to next season. While in a normal year, each team will have more than half of its factory resource dedicated to the new car by the summer break, the 2017-2018 winter sees stable chassis regulations – meaning many teams were running new parts on their car as late as the US Grand Prix.

    The Silver Arrows fly to Brazil and Abu Dhabi aiming to win these final two races. But, with both titles sealed, the balance of risk for the team has changed compared to a normal race weekend. The final two Grands Prix thus present the first two test opportunities ahead of the new season, trialling new and interesting concepts that the competitive landscape on track simply didn’t allow for earlier in the year. And it comes with the added risk of costing track time in Free Practice – or, even worse, retirement on race day – if everything doesn’t go to plan.

    With both titles now destined for Brackley, the team can become a little bolder. Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport will be running a series of experiments over the final two Fridays – with the option for race day, too, if the team feels that the risk connected with any idea is manageable and there is valuable learning for 2018 and beyond.

    These two final weekends are not only an opportunity to test new parts, but also allow experiments for those tasks that the team simply doesn’t have the opportunity to complete during a normal race weekend.

    Remember though, this isn’t a luxury only available to a single team. It’s true for the entire grid – and may well have been an opportunity exploited a handful of races ago for those making the early call to focus on 2018 with a comfortable Championship position in the bag.

    The team will have an intense programme on the next two Fridays in Brazil and Abu Dhabi to make the absolute most of the opportunities that have been afforded by early title success. The team will be running a range of aerodynamic instrumentation devices – for example the aero rakes often seen in testing – with an eye on next year. These devices offer a small weight penalty and the process of running them eats up time on a Friday, so teams would not want to carry these under usual conditions, but are more willing to do so at the end of the season.

    There are various bits of pit-stop equipment that need to be tested in a live pit lane, too. These have already been run through a series of tests in a non-live setting – but Brazil and Abu Dhabi present a chance to use these in anger for the first time under race weekend conditions. Better to try these new techniques and equipment now than in Melbourne for the first time next year…

    And it’s not just the final two races that take on an increased importance ahead of 2018. The final two-day test of the year that follows the season-finale will be crucial for understanding the new Pirelli tyre compound and construction ranges set to be introduced for 2018.

    It’s not an event that draws much attention from the fans. But, the Abu Dhabi test will be the only time the teams get to see how the 2018-spec Pirelli rubber behaves before they make their tyre allocations for the start of next season. Those early tyre allocations have already been signed off by the time the teams go to pre-season testing in Barcelona at the end of February, so the Abu Dhabi test will form the basis for those early selections. With so much at stake, expect to see most teams and their race drivers on track, aiming to glean every bit of information possible from the two days of running.

    It might be almost time to close the curtain on an epic Formula One season – but the fun never really stops. There’s life in 2017 yet – and the team will be making the most of these final two Grands Prix to ensure the W09 emerges blinking into the world early next year in the best possible shape.

    eom/Mercedes AMG Petronas press release

  • Sahara Force India grabs 4th place in Constructor’s world title for 2nd year

    2017 MEXICAN GRAND PRIX
    RACE REPORTSahara Force India scored 16 points in today’s Mexican Grand Prix as the team secured fourth place in the Constructors’ World Championship for a second consecutive year.
    P5 – ESTEBAN OCON – VJM10-04

    Strategy: Used UltraSoft (20 laps) – New Soft (50 laps)

    Esteban: “It’s a great day for the team. Fifth place in the race and securing fourth place in the championship is a fantastic achievement after a strong season. For a while I believed the podium was possible because I was sitting in third place for so long. I made a great start and then I pushed as hard as I could in the free air. Sadly the Virtual Safety Car gave Kimi an advantage during the pit stops and he was able to overtake us. The final few laps of the race with Stroll behind me were not easy. He had fresher tyres and managed to catch me, so I had to give it everything to stay ahead. When you work so hard for a result it feels very satisfying so I look forward to celebrating tonight.”
    P7 – SERGIO PEREZ – VJM10-02

    Strategy: Used UltraSoft (18 laps) – New Soft (32 laps) – Used UltraSoft (20 laps)

    Sergio: “Despite the poor qualifying yesterday, we came back stronger today and managed to have a really good race with competitive pace. It’s just a shame that the Virtual Safety Car happened at the wrong moment because it allowed Stroll to jump ahead of me. Otherwise I think we could have finished in sixth. The main objective of the weekend was to confirm fourth place in the championship so I’m extremely happy that we have done this with two races to spare. It’s been another special weekend with so much support from the fans and I have to say a huge thank you to all of them for the energy they have given me.”
    ROBERT FERNLEY, DEPUTY TEAM PRINCIPAL

    “It’s fantastic to confirm fourth place in the championship with a competitive race in front of so much support from the Mexican fans. For a while the podium looked to be within reach for Esteban until the Virtual Safety Car handed the advantage to Raikkonen and also brought Stroll into play. Esteban had to work hard for the final 20 laps fending off the Williams and did a fantastic job despite being on older tyres. Sergio made a late pit stop for some new ultra-soft tyres and was catching Stroll quickly, but we just ran out of laps. This result is another demonstration of the progress we have made this season and fourth place in the championship for the second year in a row is a wonderful reward for the entire team.”

    eom/Sahara Force India press release
  • Hamilton bags Formula One World Championship; Max Verstappen wins Mexican GP

    Hamilton bags Formula One World Championship; Max Verstappen wins Mexican GP

    Hamilton after winning the 4th World F1 Driver’s title at Mexico on Sunday. Image by FIA

    Lewis Hamilton claimed his fourth FIA Formula One World Drivers’ Championship title with a ninth-placed finish in a Mexican Grand Prix won by Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen.

    Mercedes driver Hamilton had to battle from the back of the field after an opening lap collision with title rival Sebastian Vettel dropped both men to the back of the field. Vettel, whose slim title chances rested on securing victory at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, managed to claw his way back to fourth place. However, with Hamilton slowly progressing to ninth place and too big a gap to overhaul to the drivers ahead, the Ferrari driver’s hopes ended after Verstappen, second-placed Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes and third-placed Kimi Räikkönen crossed the line.

    When the lights went out at the start, Vettel was pressured by Verstappen off the line and at the end of the long run to Turn 1 the Red Bull driver drew alongside the Ferrari driver and muscled his way past in Turn 2 to take the lead.

    There was minor contact between them as they went through, with Vettel losing part of his front wing. More damage was to come for the German, however, as Hamilton went around the outside to steal second.

    In Turn 3 the left side of Vettel’s front wing collided with the rear right of Hamilton’s car. The result was a puncture for the Mercedes man and substantial front wing damage for Vettel. Both limped to the pits for repairs and rejoined at the back of the field.

    At the front, Verstappen began to build a lead and by lap 14 he found himself 5.5 seconds clear of Valtteri Bottas who had inherited second after the Vettel/Hamilton incident. Esteban Ocon was third, the Force India driver having bypassed Kimi Räikkönen in the opening lap.

    Carlos Sainz was the first to make a scheduled stop, the Renault driver pitting on lap two to take on soft tyres, with which he’d try to reach the flag.

    Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo was the next into the pit lane on lap five, but for the Australian it was a complete stop. After taking a grid drop in the morning for an engine change, Ricciardo rose from his P16 starting position to P7. But his race was then ended by a suspected turbo failure.

    At the back, Vettel was marching through the order and by lap 25 he was up to 11th place behind McLaren’s Fernando Alonso. Hamilton, though, was struggling, and after being lapped by race leader Verstappen the Briton complained that he couldn’t get near Sainz up ahead in P18.

    Hulkenberg was the next to exit the race. On lap 25 the German being told to stop the car, as it was unsafe. With a suspected ERS issue, Hulkenberg was told to exit down the nosecone and jump off.

    On lap 32 Brendon Hartley pulled over at the side of the track with flames licking at the engine cover of his Toro Rosso. The halt, close to the side of the track, resulted in the Virtual Safety Car being deployed and that resulted in a flurry of pit stops, with Verstappen diving in from the lead to take on supersofts.

    Behind him Räikkönen profited most, the Finn leapfrogging Ocon to claim third place. Behind them William’s Lance Stroll was now firth ahead of Force India’s Sergio Perez and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen.

    Magnussen’s hold on the place would be shortlived. Vettel had taken on ultrasoft tyres during his pit stop and he soon began setting fastest laps. He quickly reeled in the Dane and passed him with ease to claim seventh place.

    There were however, 16 seconds to make up to the next target, Perez. Vettel closed quickly, to 7.5s by lap 45 but with the German needing second place to keep his championship hopes alive if Hamilton finished outside the points, and with almost 54 seconds to make up to second-placed Bottas it looked like the German’s title challenge was done.

    Hamilton, though, was making his own steady progress and on lap 46 he passed Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson for 12th place and began to close the 7.1-second gap to Vandoorne.

    On lap 50, Vettel lunged down the inside into Turn 4 to pass Perez and looked to close the 3.3s gap to Lance Stroll and on lap 54 he eased dismissed the Canadian to take fifth place. Hamilton, meanwhile, had passed Vandoorne under DRS into Turn One to claim P11 and his team were advising him that at the pace he was going he was forecast to finish in P8.

    Hamilton began to make that forecast come true by powering past Williams’ Felipe Massa on lap 57 to claim 10th place and a points finish. Up ahead Vettel passed Ocon to grab fourth but with 24 seconds to make up to get to third placed Räikkönen and a further 26 second gap to close to Bottas the German was fighting a losing battle. Told of the gaps he sighed “oh, mamma mia.”

    Sainz, meanwhile, retired from the race, meaning that four of the six Renault-powered cars in the race had exited by lap 62. Just leader Verstappen and 13th-placed Gasly remained.

    At the front the Dutch driver was in complete command, however, and not experiencing any mechanical concerns. With an 18s gap to Bottas it might have been expected that he would throttle back and control matters but Verstappen wanted more and on lap 64 he set a race record for the circuit with a lap of 1:18.892 and then widened the gap to over 20 seconds by the chequered flag.

    Behind him Bottas held second ahead of Räikkönen, while Vettel’s brave charge ended in fourth place. Esteban Ocon scored his second fifth-placed finish of the year, while Lance Stroll delivered a good result for Williams with sixth place.

    Sergio Pérez was seventh in front his home crowd ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, while Lewis Hamilton finished ninth, enough to earn the Briton his fourth drivers’ title. The final point on offer went to McLaren’s Fernando Alonso.

    2017 Mexican Grand Prix – Race
    1 Max Verstappen Red Bull TAG 1:36’26.550
    2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes Mercedes 19.678
    3 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari Ferrari 54.007
    4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari Ferrari 70.078
    5 Esteban Ocon Force India Mercedes 1 lap
    6 Lance Stroll Williams Mercedes 1 lap
    7 Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes 1 lap
    8 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 1 lap
    9 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Mercedes 1 lap
    10 Fernando Alonso McLaren Honda 1 lap
    11 Felipe Massa Williams Mercedes 1 lap
    12 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren Honda 1 lap
    13 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso Renault 1 lap
    14 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber Ferrari 2 laps
    15 Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari 2 laps
    Carlos Sainz Renault Renault
    Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari
    Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso Renault
    Nico Hulkenberg Renault Renault
    Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull TAG.

    eom/FIA press release

  • I am hoping I will get to battle with at least one of them (Vettel, Max): Hamilton

    I am hoping I will get to battle with at least one of them (Vettel, Max): Hamilton

    Sebastian Vettel who took the pole, flanked by Max Verstappen (left) and Hamilton on Saturday in Mexico. Image by FIA

    DRIVERS at Saturday FIA Press Conference after qualifying: 1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari); 2 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing); 3 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    TRACK INTERVIEWS (Conducted by Damon Hill)

    Sebastian, what a great lap, tell us all about it?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, it was quite a lap I have to say, I’m really, really happy. It’s very difficult here. It’s very slippery and difficult to get everything in one lap. I had a little bit in the first sector and I managed to get that right, so I had a good start. Then I had a bit of a moment in I think Turn 6. I nearly lost it there, I had to go down to first gear, but I didn’t lose any time and then I knew in the last sector if I just kept it clean across the line it should be enough and it was, so really, really happy.

    You’ve had to work really hard, I think Ferrari have really been working all weekend trying to get close. Is the car the racecar you want to have tomorrow?

    SV: Yeah, yesterday wasn’t that good for us in all honesty, but I think overnight we improved, we had a lot of things we worked on and changed and they all worked. So for now I’m really happy. For tomorrow, we’ll see what happens, but the race pace should be good.

    Max, what a tremendous effort. We really thought you had pole there. I expect you thought you had it too. Great performance, great qualifying, tell us about your laps?

    Max VERSTAPPEN: I’m super annoyed. I don’t know. Actually in Q3 it just got a bit more difficult, couldn’t really get the tyres to work. Of course, yeah, second is good, but not in the way I want.

    Well, I’m thinking you probably feel like you deserve a podium don’t you?

    MV: Well, deserve is a big word but I gave it my all today in qualifying but it was just not enough. I really wanted that pole position but at least we have a decent starting position.

    Well, we’ve seen what you can do today, what a terrific effort. Thank you very much for showing us what your talent is all about. Lewis, you tried everything today, but maybe the Mercedes is not the car for this track today. What’s going on there?

    Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, I mean those guys did a great job, they’re obviously very quick. I gave it everything I could, honestly I think the last lap could have been a couple of tenths quicker but still I wouldn’t have been able to match these guys.

    As far as the championship goes, you’re not concerned with where Ferrari is, where Seb is, they’ve done everything they need to do?

    LH: We’re still in the running for the win I think. We’ll see what happens with Max, but I’m hoping that I get to at least have a battle with one of them.

    Big day tomorrow, wishing you all the best for tomorrow. Seb, what needs to happen? You’ve got a slender chance left now for the world championship. You just have to go down that empty track and take the race for yourself do you?

    SV: I mean we have to maximise every session, whether it’s practice or qualifying. Obviously today is really important and tomorrow we see. You know yourself, it’s not as much in my control as I would like it to be, so it depends on what Lewis is doing, but for us we go all out. We attack and see what we can do. We deserve a good result, Ferrari deserves a good result so let’s see what we can do tomorrow.

     

     

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Well, Sebastian it looked like a great lap, but let’s start by talking about 50 pole positions. What does that number mean to you?

    SV: It sounds like a lot. I guess it is a lot. I don’t know really what to say. It’s a big number. I’m very, very happy with today. Before qualifying I didn’t look at it that way, so I was surprised myself to hear just now. I think every session you try to get the best. Quali has obviously been tough for us, and really rewarding when it worked, just like today. So really, really happy with the session that we had, with the lap I had at the end. So I think at the moment, right now, that probably means more than the raw number, but for sure overall it’s a great achievement.

    And how confident were you of getting pole position in Q3 given the pace of the man sitting on your right?

    SV: Yeah, he was very quick in Q2. I don’t know where he pulled that one from, so we had to stretch, I think, all of us. It’s very difficult around here because there is not much running I believe. The altitude has a different affect on the asphalt in terms of ageing, so it’s very slippery for all of us, very easy to do a mistake, very difficult to find that limit, to understand where exactly it is, where you can push, where you can’t, where you have to be careful. And then he foes four tenths quicker than everybody else, it’s a bit “how do I do that?” But I knew if I get the first sector together then I’ll have a better chance and yeah, it worked just in the end, so I was really happy with my first sector, so I was really happy with my first sector. And then I was able to build on that. Had a moment in six, where I nearly lost the car, but managed to go through without any time loss. From there I felt really comfortable and again able to push to the end. Obviously when I saw how much I was up crossing the line, I knew it would be close, but it should be enough. But I didn’t know what the others are doing; I guess the track improved a bit. When I heard it was enough, then, yeah, it’s like an explosion in the car. I had one yesterday with the extinguisher but today was a real one, so I’m really happy.

    Q: Coming to you Max, Sebastian has just been eulogising about your pace in Q2, so how frustrated are you that you’re not the man sitting in the middle this afternoon?

    MV: I mean you always try to go for pole position and Q2 was looking really good but somehow in Q3 I couldn’t switch the tyres on and, yeah, I couldn’t go faster, simple as that. On this track, it’s really slippery and for me the front tyres were not working, so just a bit of understeer and, on this track, you need to turn the car very quickly in the very low-speed corners and that was not happening in Q3, so I couldn’t improve. Yeah, of course, I mean second is still a good place but I think, yeah, especially after Q2 I was hoping for more.

    Q: Is there anything you might have done differently, with hindsight in Q3?

    MV: It’s difficult to say. Basically, we did exactly the same thing as in Q2 but both sets, they didn’t really switch on as well as I had in Q2. Somehow also the last sector was a bit more difficult. So yeah, really difficult to understand but sometimes you have that in qualifying, that you put a new set on and somehow it’s a bit more tricky.

    Q: Lewis, can you just talk us through that session from your point of view – because the gap between yourself and pole is unusually big.

    LH: Well, firstly, congratulations to Sebastian with the Number 50. I tried to deny him it but it wasn’t to be this weekend. Yeah, I think it was a difficult session in general. I think it’s been a difficult weekend, I would say, overall. As Max was saying, it’s very slippery here. I think some of the issues we have with the car are a little bit highlighted here. Perhaps not as big as places like Singapore but a little bit more here. I gave it everything I could. I think the gap really is a couple of tenths more. My last lap I was two-tenths up and I didn’t finish it, but still that’s a significant gap. I think they just did a great job. I think their car was working a little bit better this weekend, and yeah, we’re still there in the fight. I think our long run pace is definitely better than our qualifying pace.

    Q: I was going to say, you did a very long run in practice. How confident are you of your race pace?

    LH: As I said, the race pace is good, so not worried about that – but you can’t overtake here, you need a big delta to overtake, I think it’s over a second delta to the car in front, as far as I’m aware – 1.3s or something – so positioning is important but there’s a long way down to Turn One. So, we should have some fun tomorrow.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Rodrigo Amozurrutia de Anzorena – Récord) Sebastian, will it be special for you to win the race where maybe Lewis will get the World Championship.

    SV: Well, I don’t think we need to debate what’s the bigger cup. For us, it’s pretty straightforward. I don’t think it’s much point looking at what others are doing, what Lewis is doing. I think the position we are in, we need to try and maximise everything we can and then, depends on him. It’s pretty straightforward, I would say but for sure this is a very nice race, a very nice atmosphere and I think tomorrow there will be even more people than today and yeah, last year I think we were fighting for the podium and weren’t sure who was supposed to be there, so this year I hope that y’know.

    MV: I’m used to it, I’ve had practice…

    SV: … so when we get to the podium, we end up there and deserve it.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globoesporte.com) Max, what influence the new engine of Renault engine you use already in Austin, this qualifying? And Lewis, maybe you have some problem in the power unit. Are you worried concerning the race?

    MV: A tickle difference. But y’know, every step is positive so I think they can learn a lot for next year, which is positive already, in terms of reliability, so it’s always good to already have that right now.

    And Lewis, any engine dramas for you? We did hear you in practice on the radio.

    LH: It’s not something I’m thinking too much about but it has not been a clean weekend in terms of the power unit, so we’ll see what happens.

    Q: (Rik Spekenbrink – Ad Sportwereld) Question for Max. What do you make of the incident with Bottas?

    MV: Which incident? I was on the inside, he was just doing his line and he locked up, so there was no incident.

    We heard there was some investigation

    MV: That can be. But for me, there is no incident.

    Q: (Mariana Jiménez – Record) Lewis, you said the race pace is better for tomorrow than the qualifying but what could stop you from winning tomorrow and would you like to get your fourth title, even though you don’t win tomorrow?

    LH: Yeah, I mean that’s obviously the goal. Pole position was obviously the goal today but it just wasn’t meant to be. Honestly it was so close through practice and I think it’s the first time it’s been so close between five or six of us which is exciting and put us all under pressure but as I said, a lot of very good qualifying sessions I’ve had this year… it wasn’t at the top of those. But I think, as I said, overtaking here is very difficult but the start’s going to be fun. I’m hoping I’m able to move forwards there if possible and then after that it’s a one stop strategy here so it’s really how you look after your tyres’ degradation but there’s not really much degradation if any. I think in the race it’s going to be very very tough but I hope that I will remain at least close if I’m not where I want to be in turn one but yeah, winning here would be…. If you’ve seen the crowd today it’s such a spectacle from above. I saw the camera from the helicopter, it looks incredible. There’s a lot of energy in the crowd so to do it on Mexican soil would be pretty neat.

    Q: (Jim Vertuno – Associated Press) For all three of you: at one point in different points of the race last year you all had issues, adventures around that first turn. How do you think the kerbs and the changes there are going to affect how aggressive you can be off the start between the three of you?

    SV: Well, you don’t want to go there, simple as that. I know that last year we had a bit of discussion here and there but personally I don’t like… we might as well put a wall. I think for the guys it’s probably the same. We all try to get the corner, every time we go round. Obviously sometimes we don’t but it is what it is.

    MV: I do think this year it’s normally a little bit easier. We don’t arrive as fast and we have more downforce compared to last year so the locking is a little bit less of an issue but of course turn one, if you really want to go for it, you can always brake a bit too late but I think those kerbs really stop you from like braking ridiculously late, for sure.

    LH: I don’t really have much more to say, it’s the same.

    Q: (Ysef Harding – Xiro Xone News) Max, you’ve often shown that you’re a young man without fear, you don’t care if it’s a red car, silver car and you’ve often said that these guys have everything to lose and you don’t. Are you planning to take advantage of that tomorrow?

    MV: You’re always careful. I think everybody here in the paddock wants to win races so if you see that opportunity of course you go for it but I think you always respect your competitor.

    Q: (Frank – Woestenburg De Telegraaf) Max, you’ve been here a couple of days. The altitude, is that a factor for you?

    MV: Personally not, because it’s actually quite nice because you don’t sweat as much but of course for the car it’s a lot of downforce loss, I think it’s even less than Monza so yes, it’s a bit more tricky and then also with the track I think in general being a bit slippery, then with a lot of loss of downforce compared to normal tracks yeah, that’s a bit more difficult but personally or like physically it’s all good.

    Q: (Carlos Alberto Velázquez – Reforma News) Lewis, have you thought how you will celebrate tomorrow if you win your fourth championship here in Mexico?

    LH: I haven’t and I won’t think of it until I achieve it.

    ends/FIA transcript

  • Vettel takes 50th pole; Hamilton P3: Mexican F1 GP

    Mexico City: Sebastian Vettel took a superb 50th career pole position in qualifying for the Mexican Grand Prix ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen and championship leader Lewis Hamilton.

    Vettel must win tomorrow’s race and hope that things go wrong for Hamilton in the race, but should Hamilton finish fifth or better, even victory for Vettel will not be enough to prevent the Briton taking a fourth career title tomorrow.

    Hamilton set the pace in Q1 with a lap of 1:17.518 that put him six hundredths of a second clear of team-mate Valtteri Bottas. Both Mercedes set their times on ultrasoft tyres while behind Verstappen slotted into third on supersofts. Vettel also opted for the red-banded Pirellis to take fourth place ahead of McLaren’s Fernando Alonso and Force India’s Sergio Perez. The only other drivers to book Q2 places on supersoft tyres were seventh-placed Kimi Räikkönen in the second Ferrari and Daniel Ricciardo in the second Red Bull in P8.

    At the lower end of the table Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson was the first man eliminated, the Swede missing out on a Q2 berth by just under two tenths of a second to Williams’ Lance Stroll. Behind Ericsson, team-mate Pascal Wehrlein finished 17th ahead of the Haas cars of Kevin Magnussen and 19th-placed Romain Grosjean. Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly failed to set a lap during the session, as his team were unable to fix an engine issue encountered in FP3 in time for qualifying.

    After aborting his first lap in Q2, Hamilton then set the pace for the majority of the session with a time of 1:17.035. That put him two hundredths of a second ahead of Vettel with Bottas third.

    Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley then ground to a halt in Turn 6, reporting a loss of power, and the yellow flags came out. Behind him Verstappen has just set a session-best first sector time but had to abandon the lap.

    It didn’t disadvantage the Red Bull driver, however, and on the next lap he blasted past Hamilton’s time, setting a lap of 1:16.524 to top the timesheet by more than half a second.

    Vettel leapfrogged Hamilton to claim P2 at the end of the segment, with the German closing the gap to Verstappen to just over three tenths of a second. Hamilton took third ahead of Bottas, Räikkönen and Ricciardo. Also through at the end of Q2 were Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz in seventh place, team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, and the Force Indias of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Pérez.

    Out though went Williams Felipe Massa in 11th place, the Brazilian finishing ahead of team-mate Lance Stroll, the unfortunate Hartley and the McLarens of Alonso and Vandoorne.

    Verstappen was again in command in the first runs of Q3. After setting a quick time in the first sector of his first flyer, he then abandoned the lap in Q2, winding up for another attack.

    In the meantime, Hamilton took P1 before being beaten by Vettel who set a time of 1:16.833. Verstappen, though, was flying again and the Red Bull man soon jumped to the top of the order with a time just two thousandths off his Q2 best. With Hamilton third, Ricciardo slotted into fourth place ahead of Ocon, Sainz, Perez, Räikkönen, Hulkenberg and Bottas who suffered a large lock-up on his first run.

    It was Vettel, though, who dug deep to find the time necessary to claim pole in the final runs. As Hamilton and Verstappen made small errors that prevented any improvement, the German put in a superb lap to brush past Verstappen’s first-run time by eight hundredths of a second.

    Verstappen held second, for the third time in his career, but the Dutch driver was placed under investigation for possibly blocking Bottas in the opening runs.

    Bottas then finished fourth ahead of Räikkönen and Ocon. Ricciardo, in the other Red Bull, also failed to improve in the final runs and finished seventh ahead of Hulkenberg, Sainz and Perez.

    2017 Mexican Grand Prix – Qualifying
    1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:16.488
    2 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:16.574 0.086
    3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:16.934 0.446
    4 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:16.958 0.470
    5 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:17.238 0.750
    6 Esteban Ocon Force India 1:17.437 0.949
    7 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:17.447 0.959
    8 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:17.466 0.978
    9 Carlos Sainz Jr. Renault 1:17.794 1.306
    10 Sergio Perez Force India 1:17.807 1.319
    11 Felipe Massa Williams 1:18.099 1.611
    12 Lance Stroll Williams 1:19.159 2.671
    13 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso
    14 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:19.176 2.688
    15 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber 1:19.333 2.845
    16 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:19.443 2.955
    17 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:19.473 2.985
    18 Fernando Alonso McLaren Honda
    19 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso Renault
    20 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren Honda.

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