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Tag: Formula 1
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Racing Point is up for a fight in the last 4 races: Szafnauer
FIA Friday press conference in progress. An FIA image TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Andreas SEIDL (McLaren), Toto WOLFF (Mercedes), Christian HORNER (Red Bull Racing), Otmar SZAFNAUER (Racing Point)
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Andreas, we’ve seen some strong performances by McLaren in recent races. How comfortable are you in P4 in the Constructors’ Championship, 43 points ahead of Renault?
Andreas SEIDL: Yeah… well, I wouldn’t say ‘comfortable’! It’s obviously good to be in that position; it’s good to see how we perform as a team, still getting better and better, still bringing more parts to the track as well for this year – but at the same time it’s not something we get carried away with. The targets we are having are a lot higher, so for me it’s a lot more important… of course we want to score this P4 this year but it’s a lot more important to get everything in place, let’s say, in the next weeks, months, which we think is important to make the next step also.
Q: Well, let’s talk about that step Andreas, because you’ve already announced Mercedes power units in 2021 but also a change in design philosophy for the 2020 car. Can you explain why you’re doing that, given the progress you’ve made this season? Can you stitch those two things together for us?
AS: First of all, regarding the Mercedes decision, I think we have communicated everything regarding that. Obviously, it was an important milestone, also for myself, to have clarity here as quickly as possible, so very happy to have the World Championship-winning powertrain in the back of our car from 2021 onwards. At the same time, this is 2021, so our focus is on next year, on 2020. The reality is that we are still more than a second down compared to these guys next to me, so this means, even with the regulations staying the same, we still see a lot of stuff we want to tackle with next year’s car, which means we also have to do some bigger changes also, in terms of car concept. James Key is working hard on that, together with the entire team back home. I’m very happy with the progress that I’m seeing there and the target is clear for next year: we want to somehow jump in between these… let’s say a position in terms of lap time also where we are right now and where these guys are, and hopefully we can make that step for next year.
Q: Otmar, it’s pretty congested where you are in the Constructors’ table at the minute. You’re currently lying P7 but only ten points behind Renault in P5. Looking at these last four races, do you think you have the car to take P5?
Otmar SZAFNAUER: Well, we hope that we do, and we’ve made some significant upgrades recently to the car and we’re still understanding it a little bit. Our drivers and team are up for the fight. It’s not going to be easy. We are ten points behind not ten ahead, which makes it doubly difficult but we’ll do all we can to finish fifth, if that’s possible.
Q: And a quick word on Lance Stroll if we may. We saw a strong performance from him in Japan, out-qualifying Checo Pérez for only the second time this year. Do you feel he’s finally turned a corner?
OS: Lance is a very intelligent and good racer and he’s been learning all year, so I’m not sure it’s turning a corner but he’s getting better and better. And apart from the little mishap we had, here he looked pretty strong in FP1 as well but that came to an abrupt end at Turn 16. But we’ve got two good drivers. Sergio’s been with us for a long time, he knows the team, he’s great on a Sunday; Lance is learning and hopefully between the two of them we can make up that ten-point deficit that we talked about.
Q: Christian, how confident are you coming into this weekend. Max Verstappen has won this race for the last two years, what chance a third?
Christian HORNER: I think you’d have to look at season in isolation, and I think at the moment Ferrari are very much the benchmark in terms of outright, one-lap pace, and qualifying is so important here because it’s pretty difficult to follow closely other cars. Obviously, Mercedes’ form has been phenomenal across all types of circuit this year. I think coming here it’s a bigger challenge than we’ve faced previously. And, of course, on top of that, we’ve got some variable weather around on Saturday and Sunday. I think it looking pretty tight if you looked at the first session though, looking at the relative competitiveness of the cars. So, it looks like it could be a fantastic battle over the next couple of days.
Q: You were third and fourth in FP1. Quick word on Alex Albon who has out-scored Max Verstappen 48-31 in the five races that they’ve done together as team-mates. His race performances have been very strong, he’s now starting to maximise the car in qualifying. Can you just sum-up his progress.
CH: Yeah, I think he’s doing a very good job. You have to remember this is his first season in Formula One. He’s up against an incredibly tough team-mate in Max and he hasn’t had the benefit of a bunch of testing or anything like that, so I think he’s equipped himself and adapted well. His feedback shows a very strong understanding of the car – and as he gains confidence on circuits he’s visiting for the first time, he’s certainly impressed the whole team with his attitude, his application and his performance so far.
Q: Re-sign him for 2020?
CH: It’s still early days. I think the privileged position that we’re in as Red Bull with the ownership of two teams is that we don’t have to make any firm decision about who partners Max until the end of the year. They’re all under contract to Red Bull, all of the drivers, so we’ll take our time to make sure we make all the evaluations in readiness for next year.
Q: While we’re talking about the future, can you provide us with some clarity about the team’s long term future with Honda? What are the plans?
CH: I think it’s very similar to everybody else at the moment: there is no Concorde Agreement in place; there’s a lot of discussion going on behind the scenes but there’s no team with any commitment to Formula One past the end of 2020. And so I think Honda, wisely, are waiting to see how the technical regulations, the sporting regulations pan out, and the commitment of the teams to the relevant Concorde Agreement, so, yeah, I think we’re in a relatively similar position to the other teams around me.
Q: Toto, so you clinched the Constructors’ Championship in Japan, great weekend for the team. Now that you’ve had a few weeks to reflect, where does this Constructors’ Championship rank in comparison to the other five?
Toto WOLFF: This year has been very different, because first of all the loss of Niki is overshadowing everything we do. He was such an important part of the team and with us at every single race and there’s still this big void – and you could feel that when we won the Championship in Japan, that he was missing. On the pure sporting side, obviously we set ourselves this unbelievable objective of trying to win six double-championships in a row, which was not done before and I think achieving that is really something that we can be proud of. But, having said that, we are always sceptical about our own performances and, if Ferrari wouldn’t have dropped the ball in Sochi, and wouldn’t have dropped the ball in Suzuka at the start, it would have gone much further than Japan, and for this very reason, it’s nice to have locked it in, and have it between our two drivers for the Drivers’ World Championship but it doesn’t feel as if we have been really the dominant force in those last few races. And I see the positives in that – because it helps you to not get carried away with this fantastic achievement of six titles.
Q: While we’re talking about performance, your last pole position was back in Germany. Is that stat an accurate reflection of performance, or have you missed some opportunities?
TW: No, I think it’s an accurate reflection of performance and you can see that the Ferrari on a Saturday is almost unbeatable. They are able to up their game from Friday to Saturday and once all the power kicks in that they have available, it’s very difficult to compensate for the loss in straight line. But I don’t want to diminish their performance with the rest of the chassis either. They just seem to have the strongest car on Saturday. And when it comes to racing on Sunday, the Red Bull and the Mercedes are maybe a tiny bit more competitive at some of the races. Not the high-speed tracks that we’ve seen – but all of the others. We seem to be crawling back a little bit.
Q: And the Drivers’ Championship is now a straight fight between your guys. Are the orders from the boss going to be a little bit different this weekend?
TW: Well, Japan was a very complicated race for us in terms of strategies. I think we have an obligation to do our best, to give them a car that is reliable and fast for them to fight it out on track, give them equal opportunity, and if you look at the points, the probability is probably much better on Lewis’ side to win the Championship, but nevertheless, we don’t want to interfere in their fight and will do our best to stay neutral as we’ve always been.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / Speed Sport) Otmar, regarding the protest you filed against Renault in Japan, was that an issue you’d been looking at for a few races, or is it something you’ve been looking at for a long time?
OS: Well, we started looking at it after Silverstone. We, ourselves, had some issues with our brake bias actually failing, with I think resulted in Checo I think running into Hülkenberg at the restart after the Safety Car. That’s when we started looking at making our system a little bit more robust. As I’m sure everyone does, we started looking at our competitors to see what they do better than we do, and that’s when we noticed that Renault had the system that we really wanted. So it started in Silverstone. We then wrote to the FIA asking if we could do the same, and the FIA wrote back saying we can’t. So that’s how that all came about.
Q: (Christian Nimmervoll – Motorsport-Total.com) A question to all four gentlemen: with the budget cap kicking in in ’21, is there an element of danger for sort of a spending war going on now and in 2020 for those who can afford to get a head start into ’21, as happened in 2014 with the hybrid formula?
TW: The truth is that we are all within the same financial reality and none of us has unlimited resource, unlimited financial resource behind us to just pour money into the system. It’s still about efficiency. I can tell you, and you know very well, that in the auto industry things are not looking easy. Nevertheless, having said that, it is clear that the big teams are the ones that are very restricted from 2021 onwards. We need to look at our structures, change process and maybe also the organisation in a way to adapt to these new challenges, which will hit us hard in 2021, because we will be doing things differently to the way we are doing them today. This is why it’s a clear in 2020 that we have to adapt and change and all this change is costly and will be happening in 2020, so 2020 will be a year of more financial expenditure in order to get ready for 2021.
AS: From my point of view I don’t see this big risk. The big teams or the top teams still really have a head start clearly for the ’21 regulations. I would say not just because of budget but because they are simply in better shape and are doing a better job. For the ’21 regulations the aerodynamics will still be a key performance differentiator. There are limitations also in place for next year, in terms of CFD and wind tunnel hours that you can do, so in the end everyone has to decide how much hours you want to spend on the ’20 car and the ’21 car, so that’s how we see it. On our side, on the budget side, we have a given budget so this will not be affected by the ’21 regs coming in, in ’20.
CH: I think we’ve missed a bit of an opportunity, in fact I raised it at the meeting last week, where, if you look at it, we have the budget cap, which in principle I think is pretty much agreed. It’s painful for the bigger teams and obviously will prevent the bigger teams from spending beyond that 175 million cap. I think with hindsight we would have been better bringing the cap in first for ’21 and then taking more time to develop these regulations and evolve them and bring them in in time for ’22, so that any development that the big teams undertake would be under the umbrella of the cap. I think it’s impossible to bring that cap forward to 2020 because you will never achieve agreement on it. So therefore, my feeling is that a budget cap is ultimately a sensible thing for Formula 1, but the interim period of 2020 with the current regulations we have as teams gear up for 2021 with unrestricted spend makes it a very expensive year and I think it will create a broader gap between the teams going into 2021 as those teams with more resource will simply spend more time in the research and development phase before the cars hit the track at the beginning of ’21. So, as I said, I think an opportunity has perhaps been lost to have that process more controlled under the cap and delay these regulations and evolve them, because there is some great stuff going on, but the car and the concept looks very underdeveloped at the moment and I think if another 12 months was taken to develop that concept and bring in something that works and perhaps addresses some of the other issues like weight and so on, I think would have been perhaps a more beneficial approach.
OS: From our perspective we’ll be way under the cost cap this year, next year and in future years to come. As Christian says, if next year there is a tendency to spend more to prepare for 2021, we certainly won’t be doing that, because we just don’t have the financial resources to do so and that might give the bigger teams that do have those resources an advantage going into 2021. So perhaps the sensible thing to be done, as Christian says, is to move the rules out so that you are faced with the umbrella of the cost cap when you’re developing for the new rules. I don’t know if that opportunity is completely gone but if it isn’t then it’s a sensible thing to do, because for us, we won’t be anywhere near the cost cap.
Q: Just before we move on: Toto, your thoughts on what Christian has just suggested?
TW: I think Christian said it in a very right way. I think in Formula 1 we are very ‘actionistic’ (sic). Things need to be done immediately and everything is so bad and we can’t continue without deploying a more strategic long-term vision. There are arguments that said ‘well, why don’t we put the cost cap forward, why don’t we implement it one year earlier and then start with the technical and sporting regulations in 2021’, but as Christian said, I think they are not very mature, the regulations will need some more input around the cost cap. The single most important factor is the auditing and policing process and none of that is in place for 2020 and obviously if you can’t police it in the right way it makes no sense to implement the rule. In general it’s a situation that we need to see a ramp-up in resource, in the way things are being policed, on the financial side and on the technical side. This is something that we need to address and therefore I think that the idea of pushing it one year out looks logical and strategically well thought through, but it didn’t gain the traction and didn’t trigger enough appetite with the ones that decide.
Q: Andreas?
AS: Yeah, not a lot more to add really. I think our position is clear. We like what is on the table now, what we have seen last week also, in terms of what’s coming in on the technical side, the sporting side and on the financial side ands just waiting now for the 31st of October to see the publication of these regulations and we all know what we have to work to from ’21 onwards.
Q: (Craig Slater – Sky Sports News) Toto, we read some very powerful words today about your understanding of the racism Lewis suffered as a young boy. You also talked about how he’s not perhaps appreciated as he should be or has the honours he perhaps deserves. We see all the furore about making some comments about the environment recently. Do you have any lingering worry as his boss that there is an unconscious racial bias against him still?
TW: I don’t want to step too much into personal experiences and things that he made aware to me, because this is a discussion we had in private, but look at the room here, it’s not very diverse. I think for us it is very difficult to understand that if you are one of the very few that you are faced with these kind of situations. I can tell you that from my personal perspective, racism is not something that is out there and in a more educated environment and very into the face it’s more the subtle side that is very painful and hurts and this is why we sometimes need to put ourselves into a different perspective and I have very much learned to do that because of him and his perspective. I have never seen things in that way before he had explained it to me and I realised them. In terms of things that have been said around the environment, I think it is very important that each of us tries – and this is my personal opinion – tries to the best of his abilities to be conscious about things and help in reducing emissions and our own personal bit to the whole story. I have seen Lewis doing that. I have seen him changing in his behaviours, be it reducing his own flying, and he has done that, and I think we need to acknowledge that and respect rather than criticize. It’s the power… how can I say, almost like the economies of scale – if everybody changes we will have nine billion people changing and I think it needs to start with yourself and he has done that and I think he is right.
Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) To all four please. To pick up on the comments about the 2021 rules and what could have been done in terms of the cost cap. To be clear, do you think there is any scope to delay the wider introduction of new rules for 2021, would you support that, and what shape are 2021 rules in in general after last week’s meeting?
OS: Well, it was discussed at last week’s meeting. We had a bit of discussion, a debate on delaying the rules by a year, just for the reasons Christian mentioned. I think it’s just a bit more equitable between the big teams that can afford to spend more now if we delayed it by a year, but I think there is a small chance of that happening. As far the regulations go, we’ll know in a week’s time. They are a bit more restrictive than what we have today but it’s financial, technical and sporting, so it’s three different publications that we will get.
CH: As Otmar said, there are three elements that are going to be passed through at the end of the month. The sporting side is arguably the easiest. I think the technical regulations, they are immature and there are still a large amount of questions being raised. So I think what does get published there will be inevitable TDs and refinements before we get to the 2021 season. Likewise with the financial regulations, there has never been a policed budget cap in Formula 1 previously and obviously having all the tools and the infrastructure to police all the different corporate entities that exist and subsidiaries etc within Formula 1 is no small undertaking. It’s a very complex business and everybody’s structure is different. So there is a lot of ground to cover and even though I think regulations will come out on the 31st, I think there will still be financial directives, technical directives that see adjustments happen before we actually get to the 2021 year.
TW: Yeah, maybe only one point to add, because it’s pretty much my point of view too, is that I don’t think these regulations are going to be stopped. It’s been made very clear that this is moving forward. There will be tweaks and changes in detail and interpretations but broadly I think this is moving forward.
AS: Nothing to add really.
Q: (Christoph Becker – Frankfurter Allgemainer Zeitung) Coming into the year it looked like this was going to be Brexit season. Now it’s most likely not, it’s going to be in the future probably. Could you elaborate a little bit as to how much this issue has affected your teams this year, and how much it will continue to affect you, since the political situation seems to be a little bit unclear still?
AS: I obviously have also heard what’s going on there in detail….
TW: They’re going to kick him out first!
AS: … in the newspaper, but I’ve got the guarantee that I can stay at least, whatever happens. I think as a team we simply did our homework and prepared for every possible scenario which is on the horizon and I’m sure whatever happens in the next weeks and months there will be solutions in place and we will keep going racing.
TW: I think you need to prepare as in every company out there, for a potential impact. It’s clear that it will harm us in a way because our business live with the just-in-time concept of product supplies, but we are going to get our head around it and as a team I think we have put a lot of effort into understanding what the potential impact could be and we are ready for whatever outcome.
CH: Likewise we’ve done our research, as far as you can do, as to what is the potential impacts of a Brexit, if there is a deal, if there’s no deal, if there’s extensions, and I think it’s been a bit of distraction this year in certain respects. I think people, as a whole, are fed up with it. They just want it done, one way or another and whatever it is we’ll deal with and get on with it. It’s a little bit of a comedy show, British politics, at the moment in the way that the whole issue has been handled with obviously different agendas being covered. But whatever it is, we will deal with it and I think we’ve done our due diligence whichever way it goes.
OS: We’ve been planning for the worst case, the worst case being a no deal Brexit so I think we’ve put some plans in place to cope with that and we’re hoping for the best case. But only time will tell, but I think we’re well prepared to keep going if Brexit does happen sooner rather than later and there is no deal.
Q: (Bart van Dooijeweert – Nu.NL) Christian, Max Verstappen is driving the 99th GP of his career this weekend, making one hundred in the US. Obviously he’s not a rookie any more. You’ve been very positive about his results the last 18 months. On the other hand, in this sport, nobody’s perfect, there’s always room to improve so what can he still do better do you think?
CH: Well, I think you’re always learning in any sport. I think that it’s incredible to think that Max has only just turned 22 years of age and he’s about to celebrate his 100th Grand Prix, which is a remarkable record already. I think he’s doing a great job. You can see that the experience of those 99 races is really serving him well. I think he’d probably only done about 25 races in cars before he arrived in Formula One so all his learning has been very much under the scrutiny of the media and I think he’s dealt with that incredibly well. He’s extremely well rounded now; he’s almost a veteran!
Q: (Fernando Alonso – Motorlat.com) Toto, there’s a subject about the upgrades on your engine, that there are a lot of worries, precisely in the site of Racing Point and the problems that the car that Checo has in several races. Do you think these problems are more about the hard to develop this season or is it because the development is taking as high as possible or is more about the configuration for the other teams?
TW: I think you have no differences between the configurations. As per the rules, you need to have the same hard and software on every car and our philosophy has always been that the learning that is happening across a multitude of cars is very important to improve the performance. On the Racing Point cars, we’ve been unlucky this year, in the same way we’ve been unlucky with Robert (Kubica), I think it was Spa and these have been incidents that are not down to pushing performance but more things that we haven’t seen before on the dynos, so things still break, this is a mechanical sport and with all the best simulations in the world you still sometimes find out while running them in anger that things break and this is what happened to us and this is something we need to keep under control, also for the future races. Certainly it’s something that we need to be on our toes for the last few races in order to give equal material to our two drivers and next year we just need to get better in terms of reliability as well.
Q: (Rebecca Clancy – The Times) Toto, Lewis traditionally turns up in the second half of the season but this year he has won just one race since the summer break and then Ferrari have come back as well. Lewis spoke the other day about how he’s had quite a lot going on his life and I just wondered if you’d noticed anything different with him this season or is it perhaps just very draining going for his sixth title?
TW: There is a reason why this is a record. I think it’s very difficult to keep yourself in the right spot, motivated, energised, passionate about things and we certainly are but it’s not trivial. I don’t think this has really played a role in his second part of the season. I think that Valtteri has upped his game which is good for the team, it’s good for Lewis, it’s good to see. The Ferrari has become very strong and has resurged after the summer break and has become the benchmark and the result is that we’ve not been able to score the results that we had in the first half of the season, so I wouldn’t put it down to him as a driver, I think he’s still in a very good place. It’s more that he didn’t have the car that was able to give him these kind of results.
Q: (Jonathan McEvoy – Daily Mail) Toto, I was wondering that when you get the new regulations signed and sealed, will you then sit down with Lewis to discuss a new deal and how strongly do you believe that you will be able to keep him away from Ferrari?
TW: I think that this Ferrari thing has maybe been blown out of proportion. Lewis has a clear opinion where he sees himself in the future and we are and have always been very loyal to our drivers. This is taking it ordinary cross of business, 2021 everything is different and the drivers in the same way as the teams will be looking at opportunities and their future evaluate options that are on the table, benchmark the team’s performance and at the end of the day the cars’ performance is what counts the most for the top guys. These discussions have slowly but surely started but I don’t see this coming to any closure in terms of the 2021 line-up any time soon. That will be going into the next season, is my opinion.
Ends
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It is a special week-end for me, say Sergio Perez
Thursday FIA press conference in progress. An FIA image Mexico City, 24 Oct 2019: The following drivers attended the FIA Thursday press conference ahead of the Mexican GP. Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo), Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari), Sergio Perez (Racing Point), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Alexander Albon (Red Bull Racing).
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Sergio, home race coming up. How has the build up been? I think you’ve been busy running marathons, a taxi service, all sorts of things?
SERGIO PÉREZ: A little one – 8 km. Yeah, it’s been a busy one. Basically I’ve been doing everything, every single stuff out there. It’s a pretty special weekend for me. I think it’s the best grand prix on the calendar, but very special for me. Yeah, I’m just looking forward to it. If there’s a weekend I want to be perfect and do very well, it’s this weekend.
Q: Well if you do very well, you might record the 100th points finish of your career this weekend. What would it mean for you to do that in front of your home crowd?
SP: It would be very special. More than that I look forward to giving them a great race. I think last year we were doing a very good race but then we ran out of brakes, so I think in the past we’ve been a bit unlucky in a couple of races – one in 2015 with the safety car that came at the wrong moment – so I hope this weekend… we are in a good run, so hopefully we can do a good one this weekend.
Q: Thanks very much and good luck Checo. Alex, Suzuka two weeks ago was a tremendous weekend for you, culminating in fourth place, the best result of your Formula 1 career to date. Did you change anything going into the Japanese Grand Prix or was it more of a reflection of the general progress you’ve been making?
ALEXANDER ALBON: I think it was more of a reflection. I don’t think anything special went on before Japan. Just getting more comfortable every time. Japan was just a really good track; I love it. I just enjoyed it and it suited me a bit better. It was a good weekend.
Q: You say you’re getting comfortable all the time. How different is the Red Bull to drive compared to the Toro Rosso you did the first half of the season in?
AA: Yeah, I’d say they have their differences, obviously. But it’s like every car. I think you’ve got to learn its little tricks and everything like that. Spending that time with Toro Rosso you kind of develop a bit of a driving style towards it and changing teams you’ve got to almost start blank again and work again, so it does take time but it’s very normal for every time you change to a new car.
Q: Your team-mate has won this grand prix for the last couple of years. How confident are you coming into the weekend that you can get your first podium?
AA: We’ll see. Maybe we’re not as favorites as we were in previous years. We do have our success here but the Ferraris are looking very strong as always, so we’ll see. On my side, just focus on myself. A podium would be nice, obviously, but not too focused on that at the minute. We’ll see.
Q: Thank you Alex, good luck this weekend. Antonio, you’re enjoying a good run at the moment, you’ve outqualified Kimi Räikkönen for the last three races. A question that’s quite similar to the one I asked Alex: have you changed anything in your approach to qualifying in particular?
Antonio GIOVINAZZI: No, I don’t think so. I think already in the first part of the season I was really close to Kimi, always really there. Second part, yeah, the confidence was coming better and better. But I don’t think it’s something we need to talk about – I was in front of Kimi three times. I’m just really happy that my confidence is coming better and better. The speed is better. I think we are struggling a little bit on race pace now. I hope we can find the right way this weekend and come back [into the] points, so we miss from two races already, so we need to get back there.
Q: How confident are you of finding the right way, because both Alfas were in Q3 here last year and raced well, so do you think you are going to have a better weekend than you have had at the last couple?
AG: I hope so. We had an intensive week last weekend and we tried to find something in the car, because I think the car is fast, because in qualifying we are there, almost close to Q3, but in the race we are struggling a lot, so I think we need to find just the last detail and then try to be back in the points soon.
Q: You’re doing a great job at the minute, what have the team told you about next year?
AG: Nothing yet. I think I just need to focus on my job and try to continue like that and then we’ll see for next year.
Q: Are you confident?
AG: Yes, I need to be confident. I think the second part of the season was quite strong from my side. I need to just keep pushing like that and then we’ll see.
Q: Good luck, thank you Antonio. Sebastian, tremendous pole position by you in Japan a couple of weeks ago. How much did you enjoy that moment and how much did you need that moment for your own peace of mind?
Sebastian VETTEL: Not so much. Obviously we had both quali and the race on Sunday, so there was not so much time to enjoy. I think there was nothing wrong before. Obviously, qualifying, maybe some events before that didn’t really go my way but yeah, I enjoyed Suzuka more than that particularly qualifying session. Obviously it was a good day, a near perfect day, the race should have been a little bit better but yeah…
Q: This weekend, are Ferrari favourites coming into this Mexican Grand Prix?
SV: I don’t know. So-so. Obviously people look at the track and they look at the straight line but I think that, yeah, we have obviously been strong on the straight lines in recent races but there are a couple of corners plus here it’s not one of the tracks where efficiency matters so much. We do have quite an efficient car but maybe we can’t use that to our advantage, so we’ll see how we manage around the ‘cornery’ sections, because some of these type of corners have been our weakness, so we’ll see.
Q: OK, good luck with that. Lewis, we talked about Checo’s busy build-up to this weekend and I see that you have been in the boxing ring with Julio Chávez. Tell us about it?
Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, I was with Puma yesterday at an event. We had a great turnout. It’s crazy; I started boxing when I was eight. Obviously I was much younger and I wouldn’t say In was particular ever great at it, but it was really quite an honour to be in the ring with such a legend.
Q: Did he teach you anything?
LH: Yeah, yeah, he gave me a few pointers. He said I had a heavy hand, so I don’t know…
SP: Ready for the fight!
Q: Let’s talk about the fight this weekend then. It’s been six races since you last had a pole position. How confident are you of breaking that run this weekend?
LH: Oh, I don’t think a lot has changed. We’re going to go into this weekend knowing that Ferrari are massively quick usually on the straights and obviously straights are a powerful element of this circuit, so I don’t know when we’ll be getting another pole – unless it rains, which can change everything. But as you’ve seen in previous races it’s not necessarily all about qualifying nowadays. It’s about making sure you’ve got the car ready for the race, so we’ll still give it everything. This is a race that bodes well for the Red Bulls and the Ferraris in the past, but we’ve made a lot of improvements in our understanding of the car and how we use it, so maybe this weekend maybe we’ll a better chance than we have in the past.
Q: Looking ahead to Sunday’s race, you will clinch the world championship if you beat Valtteri Bottas by 14 points. What would it mean to you to win it here in Mexico for the third consecutive season?
LH: Well, I don’t remember if in a season I’ve finished 14 points ahead of Valtteri at any point, and if it has it may have been one race maybe. So I anticipate that it will be a difficult weekend. Valtteri has been strong all year and obviously won the last race so I expect him to be strong this weekend too. It doesn’t matter where it’s done, as long as you get it done, and that’s what I’m trying to do. But I’m fully aware that there are still plenty of points on the table and I’ve got to deliver over these next four races.
Questions from the floor
Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) For Lewis: you’ve never been afraid to use your profile on social media to raise issues you have outside F1, what you think about the world etc, so you made people take notice in between Japan and here with your comments about the state of the planet and what people can do. I think that led to a few people questioning whether it’s valid to raise concerns about the planet if you’re part of the F1 circus, with all the travelling and stuff. I think even Fernando Alonso was quoted as saying it’s not something you can comment on really, because it’s not fair. I just wondered how you balance using your personal profile to raise stuff like that with the role you have in F1? A second part: Jean-Eric Vergne, the Formula E champion, said Formula E would be a natural move for you, given your eco-friendly status and what the championship is trying to do. Are you interested in doing Formula E after Formula 1?
LH: I have no interest whatsoever to do Formula E, so that’s not something I currently plan to do beyond. And then, lots of people have had opinions about how I utilise my social media, but ultimately it’s my platform and we all have a voice, everyone here and around the world, and it’s how you choose to… how you want to use it. Personally, it’s not the easiest, because yes, we are travelling around the world, we are racing Formula 1 cars and our carbon footprint for sure is higher than the average homeowner who lives in the same city, but that doesn’t mean that you should be afraid to speak out about things that can be a positive change and I’m always looking at things, and how I can improve the effect that I’m having on the world. I guess it’s something that over time I have become more and more aware of and it takes a while. It’s not a quick-fix thing. It takes time to understand the implications and I think it’s just about education and I’m just trying to highlight areas. Whether people choose to look into those, that’s up to them, but I’d feel like I wasn’t doing anything positive if I didn’t mention it.
Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines / racefans.net) I had a very similar question to Lewis, so obviously it’s been answers. So, to the other drivers there, how do you feel about the environmental factors that Lewis has raised on social media. Are you also sort of active about the environment?
SV: Yeah. I’m not following Lewis. I’m not active on social media but I think the point is very clear. I think you would be ignorant if you wouldn’t look at it and obviously, as Lewis mentioned, it’s very difficult, in a way, to us to get acceptance from outside, because we don’t have the smallest footprint because the races happen around the world. We do have to travel, so it’s part of our jobs. But I think in general, Formula 1 should do more. It’s a worldwide operating platform. I think we should send a much stronger message regarding this subject and I think personally – this is free to everyone – but I think everybody can do something, contribute a little bit and if the whole world would act like that, it would make a huge difference. I think it’s inevitable that change is coming and hopefully rather sooner than later.
Antonio?
AG: I completely agree with Seb, what he says. So nothing to add.
Checo?
SP: Yeah, I think it’s very important that we raise our voices. A lot of people hear us – especially for someone like Lewis. It’s very important. I see the messages that he sends often on his social media are good. A lot of people are following him, so if we can impact the world, if we can help a bit, I think we are obliged to do so. I don’t see anything wrong with that.
Alex?
AA: Not to much to add to that. I think what Lewis said was really good and… yeah, just because we’re in Formula 1 doesn’t mean we can’t care about the environment.
Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lewis, just on those Instagram posts. In one of them you said you feel like giving up on everything and shutting down completely. I was just wondering what provoked you to say that and how your frame of mind is going into this weekend.
LH: Well, I’m only human so, like everyone you have up and down days. I think that’s really what I’ve been trying to convey really, because I think it’s very difficult for people who are watching on social media to be able to relate to certain individuals who live in a celebrity world. A lot of people don’t realise that they’re also humans and they also have feelings and have the ups and downs. Some people do care, some people care less, or whatever. And… I don’t know. It was not the best feeling at the moment but I’ve got great people around me, I’ve had a lot of support from fans, I’ve had a lot of support from around my family. There’s a lot going on in my life at the moment and, I don’t know, I think I was just… well, anyway, coming into this weekend I feel very positive, back to doing what I love doing and… yeah, I think it’s just always trying to stay positive, which is not always easy but I think I’ve done really well in the past to stay positive for the majority of the time – but I think there’s a lot that goes on in our lives and I think it’s important to also be open. And the whole thing’s in… so I’m always very open, very transparent with my feelings, whether people like it or not but I’m super-focused still on these four races and what I can do to get the job done, as the team have done such a great job and I continue. I’ve got lots and lots of positive plans for the future for positive change.
Q: (Christian Nimmervoll – motorsport-total.com) Following up on the environmental issue, are you guys political. And the question is to all drivers – and I’m not asking if you have sentiments for any political party or anything – but do you support a party, not telling us who it is probably, do you care, do you follow the news, would you say you are political persons.
AA: No, not so much. Is that OK?
LH: I don’t think I’m particularly political. I watch the news as much as I can. I find it very interesting to watch what is happening around the world. I think it’s a scary time for all of us. There’s so much talk in all the different governments around the world and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of solutions, or they don’t seem to be coming up with a lot of solutions, so it definitely is a bit worrying but there’s not a lot that we can do individually except for just try to be better within our own bubble. And if you have a platform, try to project some positivity – but I’m not supportive of any particular party.
Checo?
SP: Nothing more to add to what Lewis said.
SV: I think it’s not so much about knowing which party you want to support. I think, when you talk about the environment, supporting the planet. So, I think politics in a way have failed in the past, and at the moment we have seen, or we see in different areas that is critical and hopefully they will manage to get their act together and succeed in trying to find solutions that will help our planet and will help other problems that we have amongst ourselves, as in human beings, to try and improve the situation. In that regard I’m a supporter of the planet and, again, as I said earlier, I think change is coming. So I think it’s up to us to embrace it rather than ignore it before probably it’s too late.
AG: Nothing too much to add.
Q: (Rebecca Clancy – The Times) Lewis, sorry to come back to the Instagram post. It’s already been mentioned about the criticism you received on the back of some of it. I just wondered how you deal with that, because obviously you’re trying to put out a positive message and people then come back with their own views on that. Does it ever get to you and how do you get over it?
LH: I don’t normally spend a lot of time reading comments but of course I’m aware of that people have their own opinions and some people are going to be with it, some people are going to be against it. And that’s just the name of the game. I generally try not to let that kind of thing get to me. I think it’s important for all of us in life to feel good and feel like you’re doing something positive regardless of those that try to knock it down, the stuff that you do do that is positive. And yeah… just staying true to your values and that’s what I’ve been trying to do. And, as I said, I’ve got great people around me who are constantly lifting me up. So, there’s no… I’m fortunately not alone. I’ve got a lot of great people around me who, within my team, within my closest friends and family. Not all my family’s vegan but it doesn’t matter. They are also trying to make positive change in the decisions they make in their lives and I think that’s great.
Q: (Fernando Alonso – motorlat.com) Sebastian, right now we talk about the things that help Ferrari with the motor upgrades but you already said that you have to focus on the slow corners. You as a team are thinking in balance all the performance in the track or what is the way you will approach this weekend?
SV: Well, obviously for this weekend here it’s quite straightforward. Normally you think about the downforce choice you make – so trying to find the right balance whereas here obviously you put the maximum downforce on the car that you can, because of the difference in altitude and the air being thinner, so, as I said previously, the efficiency around this track is not so important. And yeah, to focus on the low speed corners in particular around here, other than trying to put every single bit of downforce on the car that you have, is trying to find the right set-up, finding the right balance, in terms of obviously extracting grip – but on the other hand, finding the right handling, the confidence in the car, looking after the tyres, getting the tyres in the window and all these small things. They do make a big difference for one lap in quali – but also then how you treat the tyres, especially throughout the race.
Q: (Giles Richards – The Guardian) Lewis, you are very close to taking your sixth title, largely because you’ve had a such a strong season. Would you just consider how you got to this position? Are you able to identify what has been the most difficult challenges you’ve had to overcome, to be in such a strong position now?
LH: I think every season you’re looking at it… obviously we got to the beginning of the year and people thought we were talking ourselves down and not showing our true performance. In actual fact it was the reality. Ferrari had a good car at the beginning, perhaps it just wasn’t working that great earlier on in the season. I think our focus is just always trying to… the biggest challenges are always trying to understand these tyres. I think everyone has been on that case each year and there’s quite a different dynamic to them this season. So if you look at qualifying, for example, I think that’s an area which has probably been my weakest, even though I feel like I’ve been doing good laps but they’ve not been as good as others. I think the races have obviously been stronger and continued, I guess, on from last year but been very, very strong this season. But then I guess it’s also just been the balance of everything you’re doing outside of the sport, the obstacles you come across in the build-up to the races and just remaining consistent. Punching out these performances each weekend in, weekend out for us guys it’s such a hard task and I think people underestimate and undervalue how hard that is. Perhaps other athletes would understand because they go to competition after competition but it’s really hard because people turn on the TV and see a few hours of our weekend but there’s a massive amount of work that goes on obviously in the background, which you guys will know, obviously and I think it’s really just trying to continue to make… keep the team motivated, steering them in the right direction – because they can easily go in the wrong direction quite often with these cars nowadays.
Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Sorry to go back to the environmental stuff Lewis. You mentioned that your post came as a result of a down, a period that you mentioned highs and lows. Was there a particular moment that you can share with us which was the trigger for putting that statement out? And just as a follow-up; what sort of changes have you made to your day-to-day life to help the environment? I know there’s the diet but diet aside is there anything else which you’re doing which you can tell us?
LH: I was watching a documentary and it was just sad to see the things that we are kind of not aware of. Again, it just inspired me to want to do more and reach out to those who perhaps don’t know some of the things that are happening. In terms of the things that I’m doing in my life, I’m trying to make sure that by the end of the year I’m carbon neutral at the end of the year. I don’t allow anyone in my office but also within my household to buy any plastics. I want everything recyclable down to deodorant, down to toothbrush, all these kind of things so I’m trying to make as much change as I can in my personal space. I told you I sold my plane over a year ago. I fly a lot less now, I’m trying to fly less through the year and mostly flying commercial so that’s been a big change in my habits. I’ve avoided trips as well, if I didn’t need to do it, been in the UK, for example, with family and going up to Bedfordshire and kind of stayed at Soho House for example, with the family instead of going on holiday. What else? Obviously I’ve changed my diet which is quite a drastic difference. I’m also pushing for… so for example I have a new smart electric hybrid at home – it’s not hybrid, it’s electric. I’ve sold several of my cars, some of them I don’t really want to sell because I still love them and I’ve worked hard for them and I don’t drive them a lot if I’m honest. And also, all the cars that I have, so Mercedes, I’m very fortunate that I get quite a few cars around the world, so I have three Mercedes in the States for example. Send them back and get new QCs. I have a Maybach in London for example. I think they’re bring the hybrid out at the end of next year for the Maybachs. However, right now that doesn’t really suit what I’m fighting for so I need to change that also for either an EQC or one of the hybrids they have. I’m constantly making changes. It’s not a quick fix. It’s not something you do over a short period of time, but I feel (Indistinct) that I’m making those changes and I’m encouraging people around me to also… my friends are seeing me doing those and also being more conscious and also looking to do those kind of things. I work with the team who are also really pushing to be carbon neutral, also changing things in their canteen because there’s a lot of plastics which you will see here, for example, we have mostly just water which are biodegradable bottles. I’m working with Mercedes on the future plan with them, for example. Car manufacturers have all leather interiors. There’s no reason why we cannot have for the leather for the suede so I’m pushing to be a part of that change with Mercedes Benz. And what’s the last one? There’s one more. Oh yes, and obviously I work with Tommy Hilfiger, nearly 70 per cent of all the clothes that I’ve done are sustainable and either recycled fabrics of leather, faux suede and the goal is to have that 100 percent and I’m looking at some point that to be 100 per cent sustainable, hopefully in the next year or two. That’s also encouraged Tommy Hilfiger, who work in quite a damaging business or industry to also look into that and push that direction. I don’t know much more I can do at the moment. I still love racing and I want to continue with that. If you look at our sport, it’s shifted from… we use a third less fuel now, there is more I think that Formula One can do and I think they are putting plans together but I think we have to push all the industries, you have to push Formula One to do more and I think that they’re giving us a proposal later on, I think today, of the plans that they have in place and we’ll do whatever we can to support that.
Q: (Yhacbec López – Motorlat) Seb, Ferrari has not won here, the Mexican Grand Prix, since 1990 so is this the biggest chance since F1 came back in 2015 to win the Mexican Grand Prix finally?
SV: I don’t know. I think we can answer on Sunday. If yes, then hopefully we can make it happen; if no then we obviously come back again next year. Yeah, I can’t predict what’s going to happen. I feel confident, I think we have a strong package. There’s part of the track that should be in our favour. Other parts might be a bit more difficult but we will see how it works out. The weather could be a bit of a difficult role this weekend so we will see what happens.
Q: (Arturo Escalona – Compania Periodistica ESTO) I would like to know your opinion about three more years of the Mexican Grand Prix?
SP: Well, those were great news for our country, for Formula One. I think Formula One is looking to have more races like Mexico. We don’t have that many where we go there and the fans are cheering – not just for me but for everyone up there. It’s just something that’s extremely good to have and you see places like Monza, England, those unique places that are, for us, very special so for me especially, it was extremely good to hear that the Mexican Grand Prix is for another three years, especially as it has grown so much in the past. Now can you say Formula One is very big in Mexico so I hope it carries on not just three years, more than that.
LH: Oh great. I love coming to Mexico so it’s good for me. I think Mexico City is… Mexico in general has such a beautiful culture, the people have always been so warm and welcoming. I’ve got friends from when I lived in Switzerland who are still my dear friends today. And also I spend a lot of time in Colorado for example, a lot of the Mexicans are out there skiing with us. But this Grand Prix, it’s very very unique, obviously with the high altitude that we have here, it always put a huge demand on the drivers but also the cars. I didn’t think when we came here for the first time that we would have such a big turn-out consistently each year. I think it’s getting bigger each time they come and the atmosphere is really created by the people that come here, the people who come and support us. I see no reason for this Grand Prix to ever stop. The only thing I hope is that we can try to make sure that when we do come to these Grands Prix and we leave, we will leave a positive (indistinct) on the city in some way, shape or form, whether it’s working with certain foundations. Because I know there’s a lot of people in need within the city and within the country so I think there’s more we can do.
SV: Yeah, I think it’s great to continue going to a Grand Prix where there’s passion for racing. I think that since we’ve come back – I don’t know how it was when Ferrari last won in 1990, how it was before, but certainly since we’ve been coming back since 2015 it’s been very positive, lots of people, full grandstands. It’s not the case everywhere we go so we should be very happy about the fact that we are allowed to come back.
AG: Of course it will be my first time here but I did two FP1 in ’17 and ’18. The track is really nice to drive and we always see a really good race here. Also like the other say, the passion here is quite high, so really happy to continue to race here.
AA: Yeah, first time here so excited. I’ve loved the food already: spicy and excited. Coming into the stadium is supposed to be really special so I’m excited to see that on Sunday.
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Formula 1 Mexican GP according to Brembo
An in-depth look at the braking systems on the Formula 1 single-seaters at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez
After the race in Japan, the Formula 1 cars move on to Americas for the 18th competition in the 2019 World Championship being held October 25-27 at the AutódromoHermanos Rodríguez.
The track is named for the Rodriguez brothers, Ricardo and Pedro, both Formula 1 drivers who lost their lives prematurely in track accidents.
Brembo has three production plants in Mexico: Puebla, Apodaca and Escobedo.
Inaugurated in 2016, the plant in Escobedo extends across more than 35.000 square meters feet and can produce 2 million aluminum calipers every year.
Although the circuit is located 2,229 meters (7,313 feet) above sea level, the altitude doesn’t cause any problems for the braking system.
What does put the system to the test are the velocity spikes: last year Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari car reached 362 km/h (225 mph).Besides speed, the temperature of the tarmac can have a big influence on the temperature of the discs and calipers.
During qualifying of two years ago, these got up to 44°C (111°F). Also, the increase in grip on the tarmac during the race weekend typically leads to a rise in the amount of braking torque discharged to the ground.
According to Brembo technicians, who have ranked the 21 World Champion circuits, the AutódromoHermanos Rodríguez is very demanding on the brakes. On a scale of 1 to 5, it earned a 5 on the difficulty index.
Brake use during the GP
The brakes are used on ten of the 17 corners on the track, and in the first section, brake use is especially intense due to being able to use the DRS on two different straightaways.
On average over the course of one lap, each single-seater applies the brakes for 15 seconds, which is 20% of the overall duration of the race. The winding central and final sections of the track contribute to lowering the average peak deceleration per lap, which doesn’t exceed 3.3 G, one of the lowest values in the World Championship.
The energy dissipated in braking throughout the GP by one single-seater however, is among the highest for the entire season: 258 kWh, two times that of the British GP.
The load applied to the brake pedal by each driver from the starting line to the checkered flag is average for the World Championship: less than 53 tons.
The most challenging braking sections
Of the ten braking sections on the AutódromoHermanos Rodríguez, 3 are classified by the Brembo technicians as challenging, none is of medium difficulty and 7 are light.
The most demanding over all is on the first corner after the finish because the single-seaters go from 362 km/h (225 mph) to 110 km/h (68 mph) in barely 145 meters (476 feet). To perform like this, the drivers apply a load of 177 kg (390 lbs) on the brake pedal for a total of 2.52 seconds during which they experience a deceleration of 5.4 G.
On turn 4, which also follows a straight where the drivers can use the DRS, they need 2.43 seconds to get outside the racing line. The cars arrive going 338 km/h (210 mph) and slow down to 105 km/h (65 mph) by applying a load of 166 kg (366 lbs) on the brake pedal. But only 1.93 seconds and 114 meters (374 feet) are needed to go uphill on turn 12 and reduce the speed from 324 km/h (201 mph) to 137 km/h (85 mph). The 4.6 G in deceleration proves that the braking here shouldn’t be underrated, just like the 114 kg (251 lbs) load on the brake pedal.
On the stretch between turns 5 and 7 though, the drivers never use their brakes for more than 65 meters (213 feet). But none of these three braking sections require a drop in speed measuring more than 85 km/h (53 mph).
https://www.youtube.com/embed/LC4zXXN728s
Brembo performance
Single-seaters with Brembo brakes have won seven of the last eleven Mexican GP races they have participated in.
OIn 2017 Ferrari took the pole position and the fastest lap, but did not win in Mexico since 1990.
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Bottas wins ahead of Vettel; Mercedes wins Contructors’ title
Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes wins the Suzuka race on Sunday. An FIA image Suzuka, 13 Oct 2019: The whole of Japan may have escaped the Typhoon without much loss but there was a typhoon at the start in Suzuka on Sunday as Valtteri Bottas swept away the red cars in the first row and made a stunning start to take the lead by the first corner on Sunday and converted it into a solid win.
The win gave the chance for the Petronas Mercedes team to lift both the Constructors and Drivers titles for the sixth year in a row. With only Hamilton and Bottas in contention for the Drivers’ title, Mercedes is sure of winning both the titles this year too.
No other team has achieved this feat for six years in a row, in the history of the sport. Bottas swept Sebastian Vettel away from the lights to set up a dominant Japanese Grand Prix victory, which allied to third place Lewis Hamilton took Mercedes to a sixth consecutive FIA Formula One Constructors’ Championship title.
When the lights went out for the start it was Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas who reacted quickest. He rounded the slow-starting Ferraris of pole sitter Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc and stole the lead metres after the starting line. Initially it looked like Vettel might have moved outside his grid slot before the lights went out, but the German was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing by the race stewards.
Having lost out off the line, Vettel slotted into second place and third-placed Leclerc immediately came under pressure from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. The Dutch driver tried to overtake the Monegasque racer around the outside of Turn 1 but there was contact and Max was bounced off track. The Red Bull driver recovered as quickly as possible and rejoined but it was at the back of the field.
Behind the leaders Alex Albon in the second Red Bull also got away poorly from sixth on the grid. As he bogged down, he was passed by both McLaren drivers and by the end of lap one found himself in seventh place.
Albon was soon on the attack and on lap four he muscled his way past Lando Norris through the final chicane. Norris protested that he had been forced off track in the incident but the stewards eventually ruled that no further action was necessary.
Ahead, Leclerc carried on in P3 but eventually gave in to the deteriorating state of his car and on lap three he pitted for a new nose cone and a set of medium tyres. He emerged at the back of the field and began to carve his way forward, rising to P13 by lap 14 as he dismissed the slower cars ahead.
Verstappen, though, was struggling. The Dutch driver reported that his car was “moving massively under braking” following the clash with Leclerc and later that his tyres had been flat-spotted as a result. Eventually the battle became too much and after 14 laps the Red Bull driver retired from the race.
With Leclerc and Max out of the reckoning, Albon was now fifth, but bottled up behind Sainz, who was doing a good job of defending his position.
Albon thus opted for an early stop on lap 15, becoming the first of the leading pack to pit. The Thai driver took on medium tyres and rejoined in P11. He was followed by Vettel, who opted for a new set of softs and then Bottas and Hamilton, both of whom took on medium tyres.
Albon rose through the field again and regained P5 by lap 21 where he again came across Sainz who was eking out a long first stint as he pursued one-stop strategy. Eventually the Spanish driver finally peeled off towards the pit entry for his sole stop of the race on lap 26 and Albon began to carve out a gap ahead of his second stop.
At the front Vettel was now coming under pressure from Hamilton. Ferrari therefore pitted the German for a second time on lap 31. He took on medium tyres and rejoined in third, 20 seconds behind the championship leader. Bottas made his second stop on lap 36 and took on a set of soft tyres. Hamilton assumed the lead of the race and there were nervous moments for the Finn as Hamilton seemed comfortable on his medium tyres and it looked as if he would chase a one-stop race to victory. Eventually, however, Mercedes called the Briton to the pit lane and after bolting on a set of softs on lap 42 he emerged five seconds behind second-place Vettel.
That gap was erased with four laps to go and the championship leader began to pressure the German. Vettel, though, had a pace advantage on the straights and he was able to keep the Mercedes man at bay in the closing stages.
After 53 laps Bottas crossed the line to take his sixth career win, with Vettel second ahead of Hamilton. Albon then crossed the line to take the best result of his career to date with a well-worked fourth place. Behind the Red Bull Sainz took fifth for McLaren, while Leclerc clawed his way back to sixth place at the flag. Daniel Ricciardo put in a good performance to rise to seventh from P16 on the grid, while Pierre Gasly scored good points for Toro Rosso with eighth place, though he was placed under investigation after the race for a later move on Sergio Pérez who was classified ninth but w2ho crashed out on the final tour as a result of the clash with Gasly. The final point went Renault driver Nico Hulkenberg.
Mercedes, with 612 points to the team’s name, have now established an unassailable lead in the Constructors’ Championship and are thus set to be crowned champions at season’s end. Ferrari lie second with 435 points, with Red Bull currently third on 323 points.
2019 FIA Formula One Japanese Grand Prix – Race
1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 52 1:21’46.755
2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 52 1:22’00.098 13.343
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 52 1:22’00.613 13.858
4 Alexander Albon Red Bull/Honda 52 1:22’46.292 59.537
5 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren/Renault 52 1:22’55.856 1:09.101
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 51 1:21’51.731 1 Lap
7 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 51 1:21’57.458 1 Lap
8 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso/Honda 51 1:22’09.795 1 Lap
9 Sergio Pérez Racing Point/Mercedes 51 1:22’10.165 1 Lap
10 Nico Hülkenberg Renault 51 1:22’10.780 1 Lap
11 Lance Stroll Racing Point/Mercedes 51 1:22’13.400 1 Lap
12 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso/Honda 51 1:22’17.115 1 Lap
13 Lando Norris McLaren/Renault 51 1:22’24.504 1 Lap
14 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 51 1:22’37.491 1 Lap
15 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 51 1:22’44.514 1 Lap
16 A.Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 51 1:23’03.072 1 Lap
17 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 51 1:23’05.388 1 Lap
18 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 50 1:21:43.978
19 Robert Kubica Williams/Mercedes 50 1:23’11.838 2 Laps
Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 14 22’58.020 -
Vettel takes pole ahead of Leclerc; Hamilton P4
Sebastian Vettel, centre, flanked by teammate Charles Leclerc, left, and Valtteri Bottas after taking pole on Sunday. An FIA image Suzuka, 13 Oct 2019: Sebastian Vettel claimed the 57thpole position of his career as Ferrari locked out the front row at Suzuka in a delayed qualifying session for the Japanese Grand Prix. Mercedes will start from row two, with Valtteri Bottas third ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
The arrived of Typoon Hagibis yesterday caused the cancellation of all track action at the Mie Prefecture track and qualifying got underway on Sunday morning.
The first segment began in disjointed fashion with two red flags in quick succession. First Williams’ Robert Kubica went onto the gras at Turn 18 and slid off into the barriers and then, after an eight-minutes halt, Haas’ Kevin Magnussen did almost the same. The Dane got out of shape on the exit of the final chicane and then simply spun out in Turn 18 before slapping the barriers with both end of his car. Magnussen managed to keep his Haas going, however, and limped to the pits, though he was not seen for the rest of the session.
When the green lights went on again the segment was straightforward for the front runners. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc led the way ahead of Hamilton and Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen. However, eliminated at the end of the session were Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo in 16thplace, followed by Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez, Williams’ George Russell and the unfortunate Magnussen and Kubica.
The second session saw Vettel set the early pace with a lap of 1:28.174, though that was soon beaten by Hamilton who set a time of 1:27.826.
The kept the title leader on top until the late in the session when Bottas jumped ahead of his team-mate with an improved lap of 1:27.688. Red Bull’s Alex also improved on his final run of the session, gaining almost seven tenths of a second over his first attempt to steal P3 with a lap of 1:28.156. Ferrari, meanwhile, chose to skip the final runs and Q2 ended with Vettel fourth ahead of Leclerc with Verstappen. Behind the Dutchman, McLaren’s Lando Norris made it into Q3 ahead of team-mate Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly and the Haas of Romain Grosjean.
Eliminated at the end of Q2 were 11th-placed Alfa Romeo driver Antonio Giovinazzi, followed by Racing Point’s Lance Stroll, the second Alfa of Kimi Räikkönen, the second Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat and Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg.
It was Vettel, though, who rose up through the ranks to claim pole position. The German set blistering pace to set a outright track record of 1:27.064, almost two tenths of a second quicker than team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Behind the Ferrari front row lockout Mercedes seized row two with Bottas ahead of Hamilton. Red Bull locked out row three, with Verstappen and Albon posting identical times of 1:27.851, with the Dutchman only securing P5 by virtue of setting the time first. It was impressive performance from Albon on his first F1 weekend at Suzuka. Behind the Red Bulls, McLaren took row four with Carlos Sainz ahead of Lando Norris, while Pierre Gasly was ninth for Toro Rosso ahead of Haas’ Romain Grosjean.
2019 FIA Formula One Japanese Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:27.064 6 240.113
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:27.253 0.189 6 239.592
3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:27.293 0.229 6 239.483
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:27.302 0.238 6 239.458
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:27.851 0.787 6 237.962
6 Alexander Albon Red Bull/Honda 1:27.851 0.787 6 237.962
7 Carlos Sainz JrMcLaren/Renault 1:28.304 1.240 6 236.741
8 Lando Norris McLaren/Renault 1:28.464 1.400 6 236.313
9 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso/Honda 1:28.836 1.772 6 235.323
10 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 1:29.341 2.277 3 233.993
11 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:29.254 1.566 6 234.221
12 Lance Stroll Racing Point/Mercedes 1:29.345 1.657 6 233.982
13 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:29.358 1.670 6 233.948
14 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso/Honda 1:29.563 1.875 6 233.413
15 Nico Hülkenberg Renault 1:30.112 2.424 4 231.991
16 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1:29.822 1.417 8 232.740
17 Sergio Pérez Racing Point/Mercedes 1:30.344 1.939 9 231.395
18 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:30.364 1.959 10 231.344
– Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 2
– Robert Kubica Williams/Mercedes 1 . -
Safety first forces Saturday cancellation and team reps agree
TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Guenther STEINER (Haas), Mattia BINOTTO (Ferrari), Toyoharu TANABE (Honda), Cyril ABITEBOUL (Renault), Frédéric VASSEUR (Alfa Romeo)
Q: Tomorrow’s programme has been called due to the typhoon. Can we get your thoughts on that decision and could you explains how it has affected your programme today. Perhaps we can start with Fred?
Frédéric VASSEUR: I think that it’s safety first and probably it makes no sense to ask the spectators to come on track and then to be in a big mess. In terms of schedule and programme for the team. We already thought about this yesterday evening honestly. OK, it will change the programme but I think we can afford the weekend with two free practices. Perhaps it will be a good exercise for the future.
Q: Thank you. Cyril?
Cyril ABITEBOUL: Well, nothing really to add. It has happened before and it will happen in the future. There is enough time on Sunday to conduct both qualifying and the race. I think maybe it will give us an impression of Formula E, maybe a little bit, so not a bad thing. That’s for my neighbor on the left, and on the right.
Q: Tanabe-san?
Toyoharu TANABE: First, I’m sorry to the fans willing to be here Saturday, but in terms of our programme we will just prepare for the qualifying and the race this afternoon and then maybe analyse the data and then ready for the qualifying on Sunday and the race.
Q: Mattia?
Mattia BINOTTO: I would join certainly his comment, as first I think it’s a shame for the fans but it’s a fully respectable decision, safety is first. In terms of programmes, certainly it’s a lot more intense now. We are certainly skipping one session, which is FP3. Qualifying may be occurring on Sunday morning. But it means that today it will be a lot more intense. We’ve got, eventually, more tyres to be used – the ones from FP3. We need to set up the car for the Quali on Sunday morning. There’s just a session less. Things are more complicated but certainly a great challenge but I’m pretty sure it should be a good show and spectacle on Sunday.
Q: Guenther?
Guenther STEINER: Nothing to add from a sporting side. I think it was the right decision from the organisers, safety is first, and the rest is set.
Q: Thank you gentlemen. Tanabe-san, if I could come back to you, please? It’s always special to race here at Suzuka and Honda has a good chance of getting a good result this weekend. How exciting is it to be in that situation?
TT: Yes, it is a very special race. The Japanese Grand Prix is our home race, and then the Suzuka circuit is owned by Honda. All Japanese fans are willing it to have a good result from Honda-powered cars. On the other hand, it’s kind of pressure for us, but fans give us more power. In terms of the weekend preparation, the setting is the same as the other races. So, we just set up the PU accordingly and do our best.
Q: Can we get a word too on the performance of Naoki Yamamoto this morning in the Toro Rosso. He was only one tenth slower than Dany Kvyat. How would you assess his performance today?
TT: Considering it’s his first run on a grand prix weekend I think he did a good job. Comparing the lap time against Dany is a bit difficult because they are doing different strategy in the practice. But he did a decent job for the team to set up the car in the first session of the weekend and then his run today will definitely encourage Japanese young drivers. So, thank you Toro Rosso and Red Bull and it’s good for the Japanese fans as well.
Q: Thank you. Fred, coming back to you: there are five races left this year, so when you look back at this season, has it been a success?
FV: It was a really up and down season. We had the first four or five races where we scored a lot of points and then we had a bad momentum around Monaco and Barcelona and then we went back. The last four races were very difficult. It’s up and down. But let’s see in the last five if it’s up and hopefully the last five will be OK.
Q: What can you do to level out the performances?
FV: It’s small things and small details honestly. If you compare with Sochi that we were, with Antonio, we were P13 in Quali but we were two tenths off compared to P7 in Q2 and it’s very, very tight and for small details sometimes you can be completely out of the classification but we have to take care when you are doing the analysis. But it’s true also that we made too many mistakes over the last three or four weekends – teams, drivers, everyone in the same basket – but at the end of the day we have to wake up a little bit and to come back to the pace and top score points in the last four events.
Q: And how has the experience of Kimi Räikkönen helped the team?
FV: He’s staying calm. He’s not a big nervous. I think it’s good also for us to stay focused on the real issue and not to start to try to go in every single direction. We know what did wrong on the last two or three events and I hope that we will be able to correct it for Suzuka and the next ones, and that’s it.
Q: Guenther, if we could come to you now please. In Russia, Kevin Magnussen scored his first points since the German Grand Prix. What aero was he running on his car that weekend and is that the direction going forward?
Guenther STEINER: I don’t know what aero he was running because we are mixing it up a little bit. There is no definitive spec what we could call it. It’s a hybrid, we call it and, going forward, in the moment we are on a very similar spec like we had in Russia. Going forward, we test a few things and I cannot tell you what we do in the next race because we just try to get better and get a better understanding so we are not in this position next year. But, I mean, it seemed to be working a little bit better in Russia. So, let’s hope we can find a few more points on our way to the end of the season.
Q: Knowing what you know now, what would you have done differently with the development of this year’s car?
GS: A lot. It’s like… I don’t want to go into the specifics of technical stuff but we should have listened a little bit more to the drivers when they gave their opinion about what the car is doing and whatnot. And sometimes listen more to drivers than look at numbers. That’s what we have to learn out of this. And now I think we need to get what drivers say correlated with what the numbers say and get an understanding so we can move forward. As I said, we would have done a lot different from Barcelona onwards.
Q: Cyril, tell us about the progress with your car, particularly this weekend, and what feedback you’ve had from your drivers about the new front wing?
Cyril ABITEBOUL: It’s as always when you bring this type of parts, in particular with these current regulations, it’s a very sensitive part. I think everyone here would say the same thing. So, it always takes a little bit of time to understand properly, to measure, we’ve done a number of back-to-back tests. The guys are currently looking at the data at the factory – and also listening to drivers, Guenther, we are also doing that – and no, there is nothing really bad but I think there is more to come in pace and in balance in particular. But this is a very complex area of development of the car. It’s highly loaded so it creates some instability. It’s complex.
Q: Can you tell us any more about what the drivers were saying about the car this morning?
CA: I don’t want to go into specifics but I think the balance was not exactly where it was supposed to be, so we need to review that in particular, make sure that the data do back up what they were experiencing on track. And if that does, we’ll be making some set-up change in FP2 to see if we can indeed get it to work a bit better.
Q: OK, and looking a bit further ahead, it looks like you won’t be supplying any customer teams in 2021. How will that impact on your power unit development?
CA: In particular for next year there is no impact because the engine for next year is done, it’s on the dyno already, you know that it’s a long lead-time development, so nothing is going to impact what we are doing for 2020. It’s going to impact what we could be doing for 2021 on the basis that, when you have multiple customers, in particular the way that Renault is doing it, we always try to satisfy everyone to take on board all the comments in terms of installation, and so on and so forth, so that will be one less distraction. We will be able to focus on ourselves and just on ourselves. And that’s it. From an economic perspective, there is absolutely no impact and nothing in it, because we sell, more or less, at a cost. Due to the price cap limitation. So, frankly, it’s nothing, that it’s good news, because, you know, it’s always satisfying to see your product being used by multiple teams but in terms of what we need to achieve and deliver for Renault it has absolutely no impact.
Q: Mattia, we understood from Charles yesterday that you spoke to both drivers in Maranello last week. How confident are you that another situation like the one we saw in Russia won’t arise again?
Mattia BINOTTO: First, it’s not the first time we are speaking in Maranello. It’s true that I met both of them this week, they were in Maranello for some activities: simulator etc., I think we had positive, constructive, honest, fair, transparent discussions with both of them, individuals. I think what happened in Sochi, nothing really bad but certainly something that needs to be improved and addressed and I think it’s only an opportunity of lesson learned and trying to do better in the future. But how much I’m confident it will not happen, I’m not at all. I think these are both very good drivers. They are all going for a single objective which is winning themselves but I think what again is more important is that at least we between us we’ve got clarity and fairness and I think that’s key.
Q: You say they’re both very competitive drivers. What have you learnt about Sebastian and Charles over the last two grand prix weekends?
MB: I think that they are both performing very well and, as I’ve often said this season, it’s somehow a luxury for a team principal having this situation. I’m very pleased for the racing performance of Sebastian, as I am for the one of Charles since, let’s say, the start of the season and his progresses. What I’ve learned, that we’ve got a very competitive line-up. But I don’t think I learned it. It’s not a surprise, it’s something on which we’re simply happy.
Q: And what about this weekend. How’s your car performing and what do you make of the pace of the Mercedes this morning in FP1?
MB: It’s only FP1, very difficult normally to judge. We cannot neglect that we set the four poles in the last four grands prix but we’ve seen as well that our competitors have brought some upgrades here. The Red Bull and the Honda will be very competitive this weekend as well. The weekend will be shortened because of tomorrow. Sunday morning the conditions can be very difficult for everybody after, let me say, the bad weather of tomorrow. So, I think it will be a difficult and challenging weekend for everybody. More important that we are focused on ourselves. We’ve got some homework after FP1 certainly to do. A few balance issues to be addressed. Again, I think the benchmark are still the cars which are ahead in the Championship and we are still the challengers but I’m pretty sure we can be competitive and this is our objective.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Eric Bielderman – L’Equipe) To all managers: would you regard this afternoon’s FP2 as a potential qualification session due to the fact that Sunday morning, with the wind, it might not be possible… there is a slight chance it might not be possible to run the qualification process?
GS: I wouldn’t say a qualification but I think a lot of us will try to put in a fast time to prevent… if qualifying is cancelled on Sunday morning, they are discussing it now, we need to look at the weather. But for sure, we have got more tyres available as well because we are not running tomorrow so it’s a judgement for everybody to do, to see if they can do a good lap but I think it will be quite interesting as Mattia said before, this afternoon, with not having FP3, there will be a lot of running out there this afternoon so hopefully we have got an interesting programme going.
MB: Not much more to add. I think the answer was completely clear. I don’t think the main objective of this afternoon will be to set the best lap time. The main activity, certainly, will be to address any set-up issues that we got in the morning, making sure that we are ready for Sunday because still, I think, the most likely will be to have qualifying on Sunday morning and then the race in the afternoon. But no doubt, if we can, we will try to do at least a good lap, just in case.
TT: In terms of a PU settings point of view, we just set up our PU for the qualifying and the race this afternoon and we will see. I hope the typhoon goes very quick after landing on the Japan island.
CA: Yeah, it’s going to be a bit of a balancing exercise because we still need to prepare the race and particularly, in our case, because of the development parts, we still need to understand (them) a bit better and look at that but in parallel, we will keep that in the back of our minds. As far as we are concerned, we have elected to stay with our Friday engine, which is down on power because it’s an engine which we were using initially at the start of the season, so it’s costing a little bit but on balance we still believe that Sunday will be decent enough so that qualifying can be run so we prefer to stay with that plan.
FV: Not much to add that I think at the end it will be a mix between FP2 and FP3 and in case of non-quali on Sunday, I hope that we won’t take the race number for Antonio!
Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action, Speedsport) Fred, when will the team decide who Kimi’s team-mate will be next year?
FV: We will take the decision quite soon but honestly, if you have a look at the last event I think that Antonio is doing a very strong job, that he was matching Kimi in the last six or seven qualifyings in a row. He was in front in Sochi. OK, the first lap was not a good one for us but he’s doing the job and he’s improving step-by-step but this morning we had an issue on the car and he was not able to show the pace but he’s doing the job, he’s improving and I’m very confident with Antonio.
Q: (Kate Walker – Financial Times) I have a two-part question for Mattia: first off, I was wondering if you could talk us through the progress on the 2021 rules from the perspective of Ferrari and secondly, what is your current position on the use of the veto?
MB: 2021, there will be a meeting with the FIA and F1 next week on the 16th which I think will be very important because that’s the last one, altogether, before the end of the month when there will be a new vote. I think there are still a lot of open points and discussions are still ongoing so how will be the conclusion of all these discussions, it is very difficult to say at the moment. There are various interests between teams, between the teams and the F1 and the teams and the FIA. But certainly, as Ferrari, we are intending to play our role, we believe as Ferrari because of what Ferrari represents for F1, we’ve got a voice, an important voice in the discussions but no doubt that there’s still a lot of points to be addressed. In terms of the veto – you mentioned the veto – as I said I think last time in Sochi that will really be a shame. I don’t think that should be the case at all. I think we’ve got a good and open discussion with the stakeholders at the moment and I’m as well somehow hopeful that we can find the right compromise at the end.
Q: (Julien Billiotte – AutoHebdo) Gunther, you’ve been summoned to the FIA stewards for what you said over the radio in Sochi. Are you surprised, are you upset, do you believe you have a strong defence case?
GS: I don’t know what they’ve got to say. I’m going to see them in five minutes, I will be leaving here early actually, because the two dates clashed. I don’t know what they’re going to tell me. You read the same as I read so I don’t know any more information than that. I can tell you something a little bit later but I hope I don’t get a penalty for leaving the press conference early!
Q: (Martin Moravec – dpa) Mattia, when you look at this intense rivalry between Sebastian and Charles, do you fear that at some point you could lose control of your drivers?
MB: No, no I don’t think there is the risk of losing control because there is a difference between not managing drivers and at least having the intent to manage them. There is always a solution which is not manage them, maybe someone may do so, I think our intention is to try to manage the situation to the benefit of the team and secondly to the benefit, overall, as well, of the drivers. We may do a few things that can be addressed or improved and I think that is what we are building and trying to do for the future.
Ends
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Valtteri Bottas continues to set pace in FP2 as storm clouds gather: Japanese GP
Valtteri Bottas tops FP2 at Suzuka on Friday. An FIA image Suzuka, 11 Oct 2019: After setting the pace in the first free practice session at Suzuka, Valtteri Bottas continued at the top of the timesheet in FP2, beating team-mate Lewis Hamilton by a tenth of a second, with Max Verstappen third for Red Bull Racing, just under two tenths further back.
Bottas’s best time came at the second attempt, with the Finn posting a lap of 1:27.785 after his first run was compromised by a spin at the end of his warm-up lap. Bottas lost control of his car out of the final chicane but survived the incident to eventually edge ahead of team-mate Hamilton.
The championship leader’s first run was compromised by Bottas’ spin and when Hamilton got as clean lap his best time came in at 1:27.885, set on his second run.
Max Verstappen gave Red Bull Racing power unit supplier Honda hope of a good result at its home race by getting closest to the dominant Mercedes drivers with the Dutch driver setting a qualifying simulation lap of 1:28.066 to finish 0.281s off the pace. That time put him seven hundredths of a second clear of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Both Leclerc and team-mate Sebastian Vettel made late improvements in the session with the Monegasque driver jumping from the P6 his first quali run had yielded to fourth place behind Verstappen. Vettel, meanwhile, finished two tenths further back after his second run netted a best time of 1:28.376, some six tenths of a second off Bottas’ pace.
Alex Albon steered the second Red Bull Racing RB15 to sixth place ahead of McLaren’s Carlos Sainz who was almost three tenths quicker than Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez.
Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly also made a late jump up the order. Until the final minutes the French driver languished outside the top 10, more than two seconds off the pace. A late run improved things, however, and a time of 1:29.354 vaulted him to ninth place, 1.5s off the pace and just fourth thousandths of a second ahead of 10th-placed Lando Norris of McLaren.
The chequered flag brought the curtain on track action at Suzuka until Sunday morning. Earlier in the day the impending arrival of Typhoon Hagibis led circuit owners Mobilityland and ASN the Japanese Automobile Federation (JAF) to cancel Saturday’s programme.
Qualifying will now be held at 10am local time on Sunday and in the event that the weather leads to the cancellation of qualifying the grid will be formed on the basis of the FP2 classification.
2019 FIA Formula One Japanese Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 33 1:27.785
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 34 1:27.885 0.100
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 24 1:28.066 0.281
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 28 1:28.141 0.356
5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 37 1:28.376 0.591
6 Alex Albon Red Bull Racing 34 1:28.402 0.617
7 Carlos Sainz McLaren 29 1:29.051 1.266
8 Sergio Perez Racing Point 28 1:29.299 1.514
9 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 34 1:29.354 1.569
10 Lando Norris McLaren 35 1:29.358 1.573
11 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 29 1:29.477 1.692
12 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 35 1:29.512 1.727
13 Romain Grosjean Haas 28 1:29.553 1.768
14 Lance Stroll Racing Point 27 1:29.597 1.812
15 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 33 1:29.651 1.866
16 Kevin Magnussen Haas 31 1:29.749 1.964
17 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 30 1:29.859 2.074
18 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 29 1:30.334 2.549
19 Robert Kubica Williams 35 1:30.916 3.131
20 George Russell Williams 36 1:31.071 3.286 -
Verstappen doesn’t see repeat of Hamilton’s dad issues with Jos
From Darshan ChokhaniSingapore, 6 Oct 2019: Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen doesn’t think his relationship with Jos will deteriorate like his F1 rival Lewis Hamilton’s did with Anthony at one stage.Max, left, with dad Jos Verstappen. Photo: Red Bull Content Pool Hamilton started his career in F1 when being looked after by his dad Anthony after their journey together in the sport since the karting days. However, the relation started to deteriorate and the differences led them to go in separate ways professionally with the British driver managing his own self, which also included cracking a deal with Mercedes which has eventually won him four more titles.
After a brief period of distance, the relation between Lewis and Anthony is back to being healthy with the two spending time whenever possible and the latter also visiting him at a few F1 races. He is no longer managing him but the relation his better than ever. On similar lines, the journey of Max is very much influenced by Jos, with the difference being that Verstappen Sr himself has raced actively in F1.The Dutchmen are a strong force together but Jos doesn’t indulge himself much as they do have a manager as well in place to form a team for anything that Max requires. In the F1 Beyond The Grid podcast, Verstappen Sr talked about his relationship with Max and that he reckoned, it won’t go the way it did for the Hamiltons. When asked by IndiaInF1.com, Verstappen Jr very much agreed to his dad’s stance.We have a very strong bond, we trust each other and of course I believe in my dad,” he said. “I think it is just that from a very young age onward, we have experienced so many things together that I don’t it will happen [the way it went for Hamiltons].” It looks like that very much as Jos doesn’t step too much in Max’s way and for now, the relation with Red Bull is better than ever as the Dutchman is a de-facto leader of the team.Staying with his dad, there were talks about the two racing together one day, whether in a competitive series or for fun but Jos said it is unlikely to happen as he doesn’t feel like racing anymore. Max, however, is leaving it to fate. “I want to do it maybe after my F1 career or whatever comes up. I think it would be something cool to do so. At the moment I can say yes, but maybe in ten years’ time I’ll be like ‘No I don’t want it anymore’, so I guess time will tell.” -
Hamilton heads Mercedes one-two at Sochi
Hamilton takes the chequered flag at Sochi. An FIA image Sochi, 29 Sept 2019: Mercedes maintained its perfect record at the Russian Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton taking the team’ sixth win in Sochi overall and his fourth ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas as Ferrari’s challenge was undone by a DNF for Sebastian Vettel and a safety car period that dropped Charles Leclerc to third place at the flag.
At the start of the race Vettel made a superb start form third on the grid and was past front-row starter Hamilton before they reached Turn 1. Vettel then got a tow from pole-sitting team-mate Leclerc and stole the lead through Turn 2.
Further back, though, there was a collision involving Haas’ Romain Grosjean, Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi and Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo. The incident resulted in Grosjean exiting the race, while both Ricciardo and Giovinazzi required pit stops for repairs.
The collision brought out the Safety Car and under the caution, Vettel led Leclerc with Hamilton in third place ahead of Carlos Sainz who had passed Bottas at the start.
When the Safety Car left the track Vettel held his advantage over his team-mate, a situation that appeared to cause some friction, as Leclerc had apparently expected the German to allow him to retake the lead after affording Vettel a tow after the start. Leclerc was eventually told that the pass would take place later in the race, information that seemed to mollify the fiery Ferrari youngster.
Leclerc was the first of the leading pack to pit, with the Monegasque driver stopping for medium tyres on lap 22. He rejoined in fourth place behind Bottas (who had earlier got back past Sainz) and then began to set fastest laps.
Despite complaining of fading rear tyres Vettel stayed out until lap 26 and when he finally dived into the pits to take on medium tyres the lead changed hands as promised, with Leclerc flying past to take the lead.
Vettel’s time in action after his stop was brief. By the time he reached Turn 15 of his first lap out from the pits his Ferrari had given up and an engine issue saw him pull over at the side of the track.
That brought out the Virtual Safety Car and then when Williams’ George Russell crashed out under the caution, the physical SC was deployed.
When the order shook out, Mercedes had profited hugely. The free stop and pace under the VSC allowed both Hamilton and Bottas to jump ahead of Leclerc, with Hamilton now leading. Leclerc was now third ahead of Max Verstappen who had climbed from ninth on the grid. Sainz was fifth ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, McLaren’s Lando Norris, Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez and Lance Stroll and the second Red Bull of Alex Albon who had made it into the points after a pit lane start.
Albon then began an impressive march forward, starting after the re-start when he passed Stroll and Pérez on in the space of two laps before bypassing Norris on lap 34 to to claim P7.
Albon then began to hunt down Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and at the end of lap 42 he launched a late-braking attack into Turn 13 that worked perfectly. With P6 claimed he next set off after Sainz who was on the medium tyre.
And the Thai racer capped a brilliant afternoon with an equally brilliant move past Sainz at the start of lap 49. He pulled alongside the Spaniard on the sweep through Turn 3 and then powered past on the entry to the next corner to seal fifth place.
And that was how the order remained until the chequered flag. Leclerc pushed hard to get past Bottas, but the Finn resisted the pressure and after 53 laps Hamilton crossed the line to take his ninth win of the season and the bonus point for posting the fastest lap on lap 51. Bottas was second ahead of Leclerc while Verstappen and Albon took fourth and fifth places respectively.
Sainz took sixth place for McLaren ahead of Pérez. Norris added to a positive result for McLaren with eighth place, while Magnussen managed to hold on to P9 despite incurring a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage earlier in the race. The final point on offer went to Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg.
2012 FIA Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix – Race
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 53 1:33’38.992
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 53 1:33’42.821 3.829
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 53 1:33’44.204 5.212
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 53 1:33’53.202 14.210
5 Alexander Albon Red Bull/Honda 53 1:34’17.340 38.348
6 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren/Renault 53 1:34’24.881 45.889
7 Sergio Pérez Racing Point/Mercedes 53 1:34’27.720 48.728
8 Lando Norris McLaren/Renault 53 1:34’36.741 57.749
9 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 53 1:34’37.771 58.779
10 Nico Hülkenberg Renault 53 1:34’38.833 59.841
11 Lance Stroll Racing Point/Mercedes 53 1:34’39.813 1:00.821
12 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso/Honda 53 1:34’41.488 1:02.496
13 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 53 1:34’47.902 1:08.910
14 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso/Honda 53 1:34’49.068 1:10.076
15 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 53 1:34’52.338 1:13.346
Robert Kubica Williams/Mercedes 28 51:42.308
George Russell Williams/Mercedes 27 48’58.002
Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 26 45’29.330
Daniel Ricciardo Renault 24 43’41.568
Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 0 -
Charles Leclerc beats Hamilton for pole
Leclerc takes Sochi pole on Saturday. An FIA image Sochi, 28 Sept 2019: Charles Leclerc beat Lewis Hamilton by four tenths of a second in qualifying for the Russian Grand Prix to become the first Ferrari driver to score four consecutive pole positions since Michael Schumacher in 2001.
After securing poles at Spa-Francorchamps, Monza and at Singapore’s Marina Bay Street Circuit last weekend, Leclerc was again untouchable at the Sochi Autodrom and he set a final Q3 time of 1:31.628 to eclipse Mercedes driver Hamilton by 0.402. Sebastian Vettel was third in the second Ferrari, two hundredths of a seconds behind the championship leader.
Q1 got underway with Leclerc setting the pace on medium tyres. The Monegasque driver logged a time of 1:33.613 to top the timesheet but Hamilton took over in P1 on soft tyres with a lap of 1:33.230.
Red Bull Racing drivers Max Verstappen and Alex Albon then took to the circuit and Verstappen immediately jumped to second place with a lap just 0.138 slower than Hamilton’s early table topper. Albon’s opening run was compromised, however, when Williams’ Robert Kubica spun ahead of him and he was forced to make another attempt. It ended early, however, when the Thai driver lost the rear end of his RB15 in Turn 13 and he slid into the barriers and out of the session.
The red flags were shown and on the resumption, Vettel, who had earlier also had a moment at Turn 13, went out on soft tyres. He jumped to the top of the timesheet with a lap of 1:33.032. That stood as the benchmark until the flag as Leclerc, Verstappen and both Mercedes drivers sat out the remainder of the session.
Eliminated at the end of the session, however, were 16th-placed Alfa Romeo driver Kimi Räikkönen, Williams pair George Russell and Robert Kubica and Albon. Already facing a back-of-the-grid start due to replacing PU elements and having suffered another PU problem in final practice, Daniil Kvyat did not take part in the session.
In the second session Leclerc led the way, with the Monegasque claiming top spot with his first run before shaving more time off to hold the position after the second run thanks to a lap of 1:32.434.
Vettel was closer to his team-mate this time, finishing the segment just 0.102s behind the younger Ferrari driver and Verstappen progressed to Q3 in third place with a lap of 1:32.634, two tenths of a seconds off the P1 pace.
Eliminated at this point were 11th-placed Toro Rosso driver Pierre Gasly followed by Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez, Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi and the second Racing Point of Lance Stroll.
And after he had topped the opening two segments of qualifying there was to be no denying Leclerc in the final top-10 shoot out. Vettel began his first flying lap strongly but a very quick final sector saw Leclerc take provisional pole with a lap of 1:31.801, three tenths ahead of the German. Hamilton was fourth ahead of Bottas, while Vertsappen lost the rear end slightly through the final turn of his lap and the error saw him slot into fifth place.
Leclerc then improved again on his final run to seal his fourth consecutive pole position with a lap of 1:31.628, while Hamilton split the Ferraris with a lap just two hundredths of a second quicker than Vettel’s. Verstappen improved on his final run to take fourth and edge Bottas back to P5.
Behind the Finn, sixth place in the session went to McLaren’s Carlos Sainz with Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg in seventh. Lando Norris was eighth in the second McLaren ahead of Haas’ Romain Grosjean and the final top-10 place went to Daniel Ricciardo in the second Renault.
2019 FIA Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:31.628 7 229.763
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:32.030 0.402 7 228.760
3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:32.053 0.425 7 228.703
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:32.310 0.682 6 228.066
5 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:32.632 1.004 5 227.273
6 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren/Renault 1:33.222 1.594 6 225.835
7 Nico Hülkenberg Renault 1:33.289 1.661 6 225.672
8 Lando Norris McLaren/Renault 1:33.301 1.673 6 225.643
9 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 1:33.517 1.889 6 225.122
10 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1:33.661 2.033 6 224.776
11 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso/Honda 1:33.950 1.516 5 224.085
12 Sergio Pérez Racing Point/Mercedes 1:33.958 1.524 6 224.066
13 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:34.037 1.603 6 223.877
14 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:34.082 1.648 5 223.770
15 Lance Stroll Racing Point/Mercedes 1:34.233 1.799 6 223.412
16 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:34.840 1.808 8 221.982
17 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:35.356 2.324 8 220.781
18 Robert Kubica Williams/Mercedes 1:36.474 3.442 8 218.222
19 Alexander Albon Red Bull/Honda 1:39.197 6.165 4 212.232.
