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  • The car felt amazing, says poleman Charles Leclerc

    The car felt amazing, says poleman Charles Leclerc

    Charles Leclerc (centre) at the FIA Press Conference after taking pole on Saturday. An FIA image

    DRIVERS
    1 – Charles LECLERC (Ferrari)
    2 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
    3 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

    TRACK INTERVIEWS
    (Conducted by Jenson Button)

    Q: Charles, all I can say is, wow! What a dominant performance. All of the way through practice, yesterday, today, qualifying – you really are on a role.
    Charles LECLERC: Yeah, the car felt amazing. It definitely feels great to be back on pole. I don’t know if it’s the best track to start on pole. The straight is very long after the start. Tomorrow the start will be very important as always, but here probably even more, because of the straight length.

    Q: It’s still the best place to be in. The last person to score four [consecutive] pole positions for Ferrari was Michael Schumacher. That must make you feel pretty special?
    CL: Yeah it definitely feels very, very special, but I don’t really want to think about those kind of stats for now. I just want to focus on the job. There’s still a long way to go until tomorrow. It’s definitely a good start, we’ve been competitive all weekend long and the race simulation seems positive too, so it’s looking good for tomorrow.

    Q: Congratulations. Lewis, I must say, all the way through qualifying, obviously the Ferraris have had the upper hand, but as always you pulled the lap out there at the end and got the best out of the car?
    Lewis HAMILTON: I’ll tell you, it was a tough qualifying session, because these guys have some crazy speeds on the straights. They go to another level, you know. That whole party mode you talked about us having, they have something else beyond that – jet mode! Nonetheless, I gave it absolutely everything I had at the end and the team did such a great job to just tinker and push forwards. I’m so glad it came together. I wasn’t expecting to get on the front row for sure, so I’m really, really happy with it nonetheless.

    Q: And the great thing for you guys also is that you have the medium tyres for the start of the race. It looks like you knew they would be quick in qualifying so you’ve gone for a slightly different strategy for the race.
    LH: Yeah, well we know that they are on a slightly lower drag level this weekend plus they have that power, so we’ve got to try something. You’ve seen the last couple of races we’ve been behind all the way, so we’re fortunate enough to opt for another strategy and I think the team have done a really good job with putting us in that position. It’s a long way down to Turn 1, so it’s not always the best for starts on the harder tyre, but I’m going to try to two the hell out of Charles if I get the chance. But it’s going to be hard because they get good starts as well.

    Q: Sebastian, not the easiest qualifying I’m sure. Q1 was pretty tricky: one little mistake and all hell broke loose after that. But, P3, you’ve got the run down to Turn 1 and I’m sure that after the last race, with the strategy and winning that race, there are still a lot of opportunities tomorrow?
    Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, definitely. Obviously I’m not entirely happy, I think I couldn’t extract the absolute maximum from the car. As you said, it was a bit disruptive in Q1 but by the time we got to Q3 I thought it was OK. You spoke about Turn 1, it’s a long way, obviously we’ll see. We’re on different tyres strategies compared to the Mercs, so I think the race will be decided tomorrow. The speed is there so let’s keep it up.

    Q: As you said, there’s a long straight down to Turn 2. You guys are pretty quick in a straight line too. For us it’s going to be great watching, but it’s going to be pretty crazy for you guys into Turn 2?
    SV: Yeah, first you need a good start; then you worry about the rest, sort of thing. Let’s see. Obviously there’s potentially an advantage if you are behind but I guess if you are behind you always tend to say that, so let’s see what happens.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Charles, you got progressively quicker as the session went on. Where were you finding the time?
    CL: I don’t think I had any clean laps before the one of Q3. The first lap of Q3 felt very good. The second lap: very good until Turn 16, where I lost rears, and I lost a little bit of lap time. But overall the car was just coming together. The balance was better and better. I was adjusting a little bit the aero balance and I just felt more and more confident.

    Q: And what about your confidence for tomorrow’s race – the long run pace of your car?
    CL: I believe that the long run pace yesterday was extremely positive, I think probably the most positive of the whole season, so this is looking good. But it’s going to be an interesting race. I mean, Mercedes are starting on the medium, so I think the strategy will play a role. I think we did the right choice to start on the soft, but we will see tomorrow.

    Q: Good luck with that and well done today. Lewis, if we could come on to you. You sounded very happy at the end of the session, happy to split the Ferraris for the second week in a row. How good was your lap?
    LH: Pretty decent. It was a pretty good lap. Honestly, it was a really good lap. Last time, Singapore felt like a really good lap as well, it’s just… I was just saying to Charles out there that already by Turn 1 we were already three tenths down or something like that, so it’s very, very hard. But nonetheless I pushed, we pushed, as hard as we could and I was really, really happy with the lap. It all came together. That last one was the best of the weekend – as it should be – and no mistakes or anything like that, so I really feel like I got everything and maybe a little bit more from the car to split the Ferraris once again, which is not an easy task.

    Q: Charles thinks it’s going to be a strategic battle tomorrow. Do you feel the same way?
    LH: Yeah. Yeah, definitely. I think the team did a great job to put us on the mediums and naturally from the two tyres there’s obviously a delta and the softer the tyre the better the start. So it will be a little bit tough off the start tomorrow. But even if we were in the lead, if we were on pole for example, they are just so fast on the straights by the time we get to Turn 1, which is the little kink, they blast past us with the jet fuel or whatever it is. So, yeah, it is about strategy, which is why we are on a different tyre and I hope that we can utilise that and keep the pressure on. If you’ve seen the couple of races we’ve had we’ve been right with them but I’m hoping tomorrow we can really give them a good fight.

    Q: Sebastian, coming to you, it seemed a good opening lap of Q3 for you but then it seems to slip away on that second lap. Is that a fair assessment?
    SV: Not really. I was quite happy in general. Obviously a bit disruptive with Q1 where we got a bit unfortunate with yellow flags and stuff. I thought by the time we got to Q3 that was fine. I think overall I was pretty happy with the car. I just felt that there was more in the car that, yeah, I couldn’t get to. Nevertheless, I think tomorrow is a long race. I think we have good pace for the race. It will be very interesting with the Mercedes on different tyres to start with, so let’s see what happens.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Lewis, how important was it to be on the first row for tomorrow’s race? And would it be crucial to be at the second corner first, before the Ferraris to avoid what happened last week in Singapore?
    LH: Time will tell. But, of course, if I’m able to try and somehow keep Seb behind, and there’s only one car ahead, for example, that changes things on top. So, naturally we’re going to push as hard as we can but it’s going to be very, very hard. Down to Turn One it’s a long drag – but I’m sure we’ll have a good battle, one way or another.

    Q: (Christian Menath – motorsport-magazin.com) Question for all three of you. You all sounded pretty confident that you’re on the right tyre, even though you have different ones. Can you explain why you are confident this is the right tyre you’re starting on? Do you think this has to do with the car that the tyre suits better to your car – or is it only strategic reasons?
    CL: On our side I think the start is very important here and we thought that the benefits of starting on Soft was big. And then there was not much difference, in terms of degradation, from the Soft to the Medium. So, yeah, we thought it was worth it to make it our start tyre.
    LH: I just wanted to be on something different.

    Is that what it now takes to beat these guys? You’ve got to roll the dice?
    LH: I don’t know. I haven’t beaten them for a while! So I can’t tell you. I’ll tell you at the end of tomorrow.

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) To all three. Charles, this is your fourth pole in a row. You were asked downstairs, you’re the first person to do that for Ferrari since Michael, which is obviously pretty special. Are you on a roll at the moment in qualifying where you feel like you can’t do anything wrong, and everything comes together. And to Lewis and Seb, you’ve both had massive success in Formula One, been on this sort of run – what does it do for you as a driver when you have this sort of succession of poles?
    CL: Of course I felt confident going into qualifying but at the end anything… I mean at one point it’s going to end, so whether it’s now or later, I don’t know. So, the only thing I’m trying to do is focus on myself, try to have exactly the same procedure as I’ve had since the last four races and not… yeah, I definitely don’t come in the car thinking it will be easy and that it will come together alone. I just try to keep working as I did in the last few races, and then hopefully the lap time comes.

    Lewis, how does it feel? The importance of momentum, invincibility when you’re on a roll?
    LH: I don’t know – I’ve never felt invincible. Of course, when you get on a roll, it doesn’t really make… from my experience, it’s nice, for sure but it doesn’t make a difference. So if it’s separated: one pole; one second; one pole, it doesn’t make any difference to me. But he’s stealing all the poles right now, so it’s going to be very, very hard to beat their poles when they’re so fast on the straights but we’re working at it.

    SV: I don’t know – it’s been a while for me! Yeah, I think you take every session separately, so you’re not really trying to look back. I think it’s just about nailing every session.

    Q: (Dzhastina Golopolosova – The Paddock Magazine) Question to Charles. Mercedes dominated here for five years and today you showed that you can break this trend. What do you think about tomorrow?
    CL: For now… I mean the race it tomorrow. It will be very important to stay in front, and they were also strong in the race pace, as they’ve always been since the beginning of the season, so, it obviously feels good to be on pole here. I think Singapore was a big surprise for everyone, for us to be in front and here, I think we felt we had our chances, considering how quick we were in Singapore. Yeah, I mean it feels good to break that but we need to finish the job tomorrow.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Charles, Jenson already mentioned the record that you equalled today with Michael Schumacher but I want to consider with you that there was this past 19 years from that and there are some other guys, for example Seb, who are with you that couldn’t do that. So how is your feeling, to think that today is an historical day not only for you but for Ferrari?
    CL: As I said, it feels good but it doesn’t change my approach to the other weekends and as Seb and Lewis said, every time you go into a session, you take it just normally, without thinking about the others, the last poles I’ve had. So yeah, obviously it feels great but I don’t want to think about these things and I just want to focus on the job ahead.

    Q: (Giusto Ferronato – La Gazzetta dello Sport) For both Ferrari drivers: in Italy probably now many people are thinking that you have found the solution to win all the races. Is this correct or they are too optimistic?
    CL: I think we need to keep our feet on the ground. Obviously at the moment we are in a good momentum, we are having really good performances but at the end it doesn’t change… Mercedes are still quite ahead in the overall championship, which at the end is what matters the most. I think we need to keep our heads down, keep working. Of course at the moment it seems that it’s working our way but I will not say it will be like this for the rest of the season, so we need to keep working.
    SV: Not much to add so maybe too optimistic. I think we need to wait until tomorrow. I think at the last race obviously it was difficult to pass. I think Mercedes was faster than us in the race so we will see what happens tomorrow with different strategy.

    Q: Sebastian, is this the best Ferrari you’ve driven?
    SV: I think the car got a lot better since the beginning of the year when we started to really struggle. Obviously we had a bit of a high at winter testing. I think we understood what it takes and I think the step in Singapore in particular seemed to help us and allowed us to make another step forward. But I think the ’17 car out of the box was probably the best so far.

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Sebastian, have you looked at all the data with Charles on the exercise of pole and have you found where he is better than you since the return of the summer?
    SV: Well, obviously in qualifying here and there. I think we didn’t have the best sessions on my side. I think obviously today Charles was faster so it’s pretty easy to see where he’s faster but it’s a little bit here and there. I don’t think there’s any pattern standing out, saying that he’s always faster in the same type of corner. As I said, obviously the last couple of races was closer than maybe it looked on the result so we will see what happens tomorrow. Usually come race day I’m getting more and more confident in the car and pace has never been a problem in the race so we will see what happens.

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Lewis, you’ve mentioned the deficit you’ve got at the moment to Ferrari and where you feel that deficit is so how deep are you having to dig inside yourself for a lap like this? You had a big gap to Valtteri today for example and you said your Singapore lap was also very good.
    LH: Yeah. Honestly I feel like that maybe the last couple of laps have felt worthy, like pole-worthy in terms of how this has come together and optimising within the car. Naturally obviously they are faster than us and Charles has done a good job but I mean in terms of being as close to the limit as possible and yeah, I think I’ve just been getting more and more comfortable with the car, I think in this second half of the season, a little bit more comfortable with it, even though we’ve lost a little performance compared to them but there’s still work to do collectively, in all of us, including myself so we just keep working on that. Please don’t write that the wrong way, pole-worthy, I was meaning in terms of what do you… putting the perfect lap together, I feel like each time I’m getting as close to that as possible and then you finish the lap and it’s quite a long way off pole but it feels like quite an achievement to get in between the two Ferraris who have a bit of a delta to us at the moment.

    Ends

  • Sebastian Vettel wins Singapore GP as Ferrari scores 1-2; Max Verstappen takes third

    Sebastian Vettel wins Singapore GP as Ferrari scores 1-2; Max Verstappen takes third

    Sebastian Vettel after taking the Singapore GP win on Sunday. An FIA image

    Singapore, 22 Sept 2019: Sebastian Vettel scored his first Formula 1 victory in over a year, pitting ahead of race-leading Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc to vault to the front and eventually claim his 53rdcareer race win at the Singapore Grand Prix.

    The seeds of Vettel’s fifth win at the Marina Bay Street Circuit were sown at the end of the first stint. Rather than race leader Leclerc first, Ferrari opted to bring third-placed Vettel in for hard tyres on lap 19 and with the undercut working, the German was able to leapfrog both second-placed Lewis Hamilton and Leclerc during a round of stops that saw Mercedes leave Hamilton on track until lap 26.

    With the race lead his, Vettel then successfully navigated three safety car periods to take his first win since last year’s Belgian Grand Prix.

    At the race start the top six got away in grid order with pole sitter Leclerc of leading from Hamilton, Vettel and fourth-placed Max Verstappen. Valtteri Bottas was fifth in the second Mercedes, with Red Bull’s Alex Albon in sixth.

    Behind them Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg clashed with McLaren’s Carlos Sainz and they both dropped to the rear of the field. That allowed Lando Norris in the second McLaren to slip through to seventh place ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi, Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Toro Rosso’s 10th-placed Pierre Gasly.

    The first stint then became a game of tyre management as the leaders preserved their starting softs in order to go deep enough into the race to clear the midfield should they pit.

    Vettel was the first to make the move, with the German pitting on lap 19,m along with Verstappen. Leclerc was next in but after his stop he emerged behind team-mate Vettel, much to his dismay.

    At the front, Hamilton now led the race. Despite admitting that his tyres were “not great’ the Briton stayed out until lap 26. And when he rejoined he did so behind Max.

    The race was now led by Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi with Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly in P2 ahead of Ricciardo, all of whom needed to stop. Vettel soon made his way past all three and on lap 30 he assumed the lead of the race. Leclerc and Verstappen followed suit and as the order settled Vettel led his team-mate by six seconds, with Verstappen three seconds further back in third place. Hamilton was now fourth.

    The race was neutralised on lap 35 when Haas’ Romain Grosjean made a mess of an ambitious overtake of Williams’ George Russell into Turn 8 and ended up pitching the young Briton into the wall.

    The SC left the track at the end of lap 40 and when racing resumed, Vettel held his lead ahead of an unchanged top 10. The green flags lasted just three laps, however. On lap 44, Sergio Pérez was told to stop his car and the Racing Point driver pulled over at the side of the track, leading to a second Safety Car deployment.

    The SC stayed on track until the end of lap 47 and when the action resumed it was again a clean re-start but within three laps the pace car was back on track as Kvyat collided with Räikkönen in Turn 1 and both arrowed off into the run-off area.

    This time the cautionary period was shorter and on lap 51 the race got going once more. Vettel again controlled the re-start well and over the final 10 laps slowly began to edge away from his team-mate to eventually take his 53rdcareer victory and his first win since Belgium last year ahead of Leclerc. And Verstappen. Hamilton was left with fourth place ahead of Bottas, and Albon took P6 for the second race in a row.

    Behind the Thai driver Norris was seventh for McLaren ahead of Gasly. Ninth place was taken by Hulkenberg and the final point on offer went to Alfa Romeo’s Giovinazzi.

    2019 FIA Formula One Singapore Grand Prix – Race 
    1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari
    2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 2.641
    3 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 3.821
    4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 4.608
    5 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 6.119
    6 Alex Albon Red Bull Racing 11.663
    7 Lando Norris McLaren 14.769
    8 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 15.547
    9 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 16.718
    10 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing 17.855
    11 Romain Grosjean Haas 35.436
    12 Carlos Sainz McLaren 35.974
    13 Lance Stroll Racing Point 36.419
    14 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 37.660
    15 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 38.178
    16 Robert Kubica Williams 47.024
    17 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:26.522
    Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo Racing
    Sergio Perez Racing Point
    George Russell Williams

  • Charles Leclerc puts his Ferrari on pole

    Charles Leclerc puts his Ferrari on pole

    Leclerc takes Singapore pole on Saturday. An FIA image

    Singapore, 21 Sept 2019: Charles Leclerc claimed his third pole position in a row and the fifth of his career with a superb final Q3 lap of the Marina Bay Street Circuit to beat championship leader Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes by two tenths of a second, with Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel a further tenth of a second behind in third.

    Leclerc led the way after the opening runs of Q1 with a time of 1:38.014 while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen slotted into P2 with a time of 1:38.540 that put him ahead of the Mercedes cars of Valtteri Bottas and Hamilton, who opted to complete their opening runs on medium tyres. Vettel went for a second lap, however, and lap of 1:38.374 was good enough for second place.

    The top three then opted to remain in pit lane for the final runs. Mercedes, however, chose to send its drivers out on softs and Bottas took first place in the session with a lap of 1:37.317, 0.248s ahead of Hamilton, with Leclerc finishing third ahead of Vettel and Verstappen.

    Eliminated at the end of the first session were Daniil Kvyat of Toro Rosso in P16 followed by Racing Point’s Lance Stroll, Haas’ Romain Grosjean and the Williams cars of George Russell and Robert Kubica.

    In the first runs of Q2 Leclerc was again to the fore, with the Monegasque driver becoming the first man to dip below 1m37s with a lap of 1:36.930 that he then improved to 1:36.650. Vettel took second place, seven hundredths of a second behind his team-mate. Hamilton was third for Mercedes after a second run that yielded an improved time of 1:36.933. That left Verstappen in fourth place thanks to his first-run time of 1:37.089.

    Bottas made it through to the final segmen in fifth, the Finn finishing ahead of Lando Norris who put in an impressive lap of 1:37.572 to bump Red Bull’s Alex Albon to sixth place. The Thai driver finished ahead of Carlos Sainz in the second McLaren and the Renaults of Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg.

    Eliminated at the end of the second segment were 11th-placed Sergio Pérez of Racing Point, Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi, Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly, the second Alfa of Kimi Räikkönen and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen.

    In Q3 Vettel drew first blood with the German took top spot with a time of 1:36.437. That put him over three tenths ahead of Leclerc who set a time slower than his Q2 best and Verstappen who logged a lap of 1:36.817. The Mercedes drivers were fourth and fifth and Alex poste a time of 1:37.964 to take P6, slightly slower than his Q2 time.

    However, Vettel couldn’t hold onto P1. Mistakes in the first sector saw him back out of his last lap and that allowed Leclerc to grab his fifth career pole position ahead of Hamilton.

    Vettel kept hold of third place on the grid aheads of Verstappen. The Dutchman did make a small imporovement on his final lap, of three thousandths of a seconds, but it was not enough to get near the second Ferrari. Bottas again finished fifth but Albon got to within three tenths of the Finn after improving by half a second on his final run.

    The Thai racer will thus start at the back of row three ahead of McLaren’s Carlos Sainz, the Renaults of Daniel Ricciardo and Hulkenberg and the second McLaren of Lando Norris.

    2019 FIA Formula One Singapore Grand Prix – Qualifying 
    1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:36.217
    2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:36.408 0.191
    3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:36.437 0.220
    4 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:36.813 0.596
    5 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:37.146 0.929
    6 Alex Albon Red Bull Racing 1:37.411 1.194
    7 Carlos Sainz McLaren 1:37.818 1.601
    8 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1:38.095 1.878
    9 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:38.264 2.047
    10 Lando Norris McLaren 1:38.329 2.112
    11 Sergio Perez Racing Point 1:38.620 2.403
    12 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing 1:38.697 2.480
    13 Pierre Gasly Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:38.699 2.482
    14 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo Racing 1:38.858 2.641
    15 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:39.650 3.433
    16 Daniil Kvyat Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:39.957 3.740
    17 Lance Stroll Racing Point 1:39.979 3.762
    18 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:40.277 4.060
    19 George Russell Williams 1:40.867 4.650
    20 Robert Kubica Williams 1:41.186 4.969.

  • Ferrari did a great job and Charles put some hot laps, says Lewis Hamilton

    Singapore, 21 Sept. 2019: The following drivers attended the post-qualifying Saturday press conference: Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari).

    Track interviews conducted by Paul Di Resta:

    Q: Charles, congratulations to you. I mean, man, that’s three out of three pole positions. Everyone expected at Spa and Monza but you’ve lifted it to another level?

    Charles Leclerc: I’m extremely happy about today. If you look at the lap, it was a good lap, a very good lap, but there were some moments where I thought I’d lost the car that I took back and at the end, finishing the lap, we are in pole position. I would like to thank the team so much for what they have done. I mean, we came here knowing that it would be a difficult track for us but the team has done an amazing job to bring the package that we needed and I’m extremely happy to be on pole for tomorrow.

    Q: On the back of Monza they did bring this package and it certainly revitalised this car around this track. Explains how it feels and why it is so different?

    CL: Well, we brought some new bits and they worked properly, which was good to see. It’s not always the case, but it was this weekend. I’ve had a very tough Friday. Yesterday was definitely not my day; I didn’t feel comfortable in the car, but I worked quite hard and today it paid off, so very happy.

    Q: All the best for tomorrow, that team is fully behind you and I hope you put a good race on. Lewis, you needed a superhuman lap after your first run in Q3 to put yourself on the front row and to put yourself in position to fight this man?

    Lewis Hamilton: Yeah, I don’t know where Ferrari picked up their pace today as this is potentially not one of their tracks, but they did a great job. Charles obviously put some great laps in and it really needed something special at the end so I gave it absolutely everything I had. It was very, very close to the wall a couple of times but it was as much as I could get out of the car and I’m very, very happy to be on the front row in the mix with them so we can try to divide them tomorrow.

    Q: I guess your confidence in the race pace will pay off tomorrow and this is a hard race. It’s a long one that you’ve got to be there at the end?

    LH: Yeah, I think tomorrow we can be aggressive…

    Q: Different to Monza?

    LH: Ha! Well, it’s a street track but we’ll see.

    Q: Sebastian congratulations, the crowd are behind you. I know you had a very good lap at the start of Q3 there. It slipped away at the end but I guess overall you should be satisfied?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, obviously not really with Q3 – the final attempt should have been better. Overall, the car was making sense, I was feeling good and I was able to improve run by run, so maybe I peaked a bit too early. I think the track was probably bit faster at the end. As I said obviously I had a tiny wobble, so no point finishing the lap because I was already quite a bit behind, but it puts us in a good position for tomorrow.

    Q: You’ve got a lot of experience around here, you’ve won races, and you know it’s a long game. Are you feeling confident with the car you’ve got when it’s heavy and with high degradation?

    SV: Well it will certainly feel different tomorrow than it did today, but overall, yes. I think it should be a good race, so let’s see what the tyres will do, if we are able to push the full two hours, or if we have to manage, but one way or another it’s always fun around here so looking forward to it.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Charles, many congratulations, that looked like a sensational lap. Can you just describe that pole position lap to us?

    CL: It was quite a crazy lap. The first one I compromised it. I started the lap too close to Lewis and that compromised the second sector and then I had quite a bit of pressure to perform on the last lap so I gave it all. There were quite a bit of mistakes, I lost the car quite a few times and I’ve seen myself in the wall at least twice or three times in the lap, but it felt amazing, the car was great. Friday was a very difficult day for me and to come here in qualifying and do the pole position feels absolutely amazing.

    Q: How surprised are you by the pace of the car this weekend?

    CL: Very surprised, because even though we knew there was a bit more to come yesterday we did not expect to challenge neither the Mercedes nor the Red Bulls. It’s quite a big surprise for the whole team but it juts proves how good a job they have done back at the factory and today it’s also thanks to them if we are on pole.

    Q: Lewis, if I can come to you and maybe start with that subject. How surprised are you at the pace of the Ferraris?

    LH: Well, we obviously came into the weekend knowing we would have a fight with the Red Bulls and it’s just knowing how the Ferraris have been in other places with high downforce, they’ve not been so strong – Budapest for example – and all of a sudden they’ve brought an upgrade here and it seems to have worked. Of course we were not expecting to have such a strong performance from them and to have that deficit to them. But they did a great job and I’m grateful that was able to split them – only just. But we were definitely lacking pace today, it was definitely a struggle out there to battle with them and be up there. I like how close it was between us all and hopefully that puts us in good stead for more good fights.

    Q: And how was Q3 for you – quite a big jump between your first and second runs?

    LH: The day has not been that great. I mean yesterday was a much smoother day for me and today was just a little bit of a… I feel like performance was lost a little bit today or else everyone else just improved. But Q3 the first lap run was so-so, didn’t feel so good. Obviously we were a second away and it looked like quite a leap to catch them up but yeah, then I just managed to pull back half a second in that last run, a nice clean run, but still just two tenths down in that first sector, which is obviously where it was lost.

    Q: Sebastian, Lewis says he wasn’t pleased with his first run of Q3 but you were fastest of everyone. How was that final segment of qualifying for you?

    SV: It started off very good and then, the last run, I think already in sector one, lost a little bit and was playing catch-up, and trying to take more and more risks throughout the lap which didn’t pay off. And then yeah, the last lap obviously didn’t come together. So, I think, yeah, overall it’s a good result of us putting the car, y’know, first and third for the team is great. I think it wasn’t the track where we expected to be so strong, so happy with that but obviously not happy with the very end of Q3. I think the car was good today and pole was up for grasp – but let’s see what happens tomorrow.

    Q: What about tomorrow? The long run pace of Ferrari versus that of Mercedes and Red Bull?

    SV: It was worse yesterday but yeah, I think we were able to extract quite a bit more from the car today, so let’s hope tomorrow is more like today.

    Questions from the Floor:

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Question to Charles. Can you tell us more about the two hard moments you had near the wall and how you catch the car in that time. Where was it?

    CL: I think whenever you lose the car, you don’t really know how you do it, it just comes instinctive and, yeah, these two times you are thinking about I think is exit of Turn Three and exit of Turn 11. These ones were quite big times. I was actually quite surprised I didn’t lose so much time by losing it that much but yeah, everything after that went smooth and I was just giving it all. So, yeah, it felt quite intense in the car but I’m very happy.

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) To Charles and Seb, the upgrade here, how much of a difference has that made? How different does the car feel to Hungary, for example, high downforce. And Lewis, you talked about that deficit that you had in sector one. The Ferraris have been really quick on the straights this year, how ominous is it that they have picked up a bit of downforce as well?

    CL: On my side I struggle to compare two tracks. It’s quite difficult but performance-wise, it seems that it’s working. I think data-wise it was working yesterday for the engineers too. I think, from Hungary to now, we’ve understood also the car better in a way that we know the balance we need to achieve in order to have the best performance and I think that has also showed in the results on track. So, I think it’s a combination of knowing where the balance needs to be and the improvements that we’ve made on the car.

    Q: Sebastian, anything you can add: Hungary to here?

    SV: First of all, different tracks. In Hungary, if you speak about qualifying, maybe it’s the one to compare but for now, for tomorrow, we don’t know yet. I think we didn’t have such a great balance. I think some corners were very good; other corners we lost a lot. It seems like this weekend we’re not losing in those corners that we were losing in Hungary. So I think it’s mostly adding performance to the car and in the right place, so we were able to trim the balance, so that, yeah, we could extract more performance.

    Q: And Lewis, how ominous is the pace of the red cars?

    LH: I don’t know where they’ve picked up their pace, obviously. For a street circuit like this, earlier in the year they were not as close but they’ve obviously done a great job. I don’t really know where we’re losing it. Obviously in that first sector is a bit of a loss to us. I think some part of it is straight line but then they’ve been able to match us in the middle and the last sector, so I think just overall, clearly a big step for them and we’ll just keep pushing. We’ve not had an upgrade really for a while, so maybe when that comes it’ll help us a little bit.

    Q: (Laurence Edmondson – ESPN) Another question to the Ferrari drivers. Can you explain why you were losing so much time yesterday and how much you changed today to find all that pace – because it seems like a real night and day shift between yesterday and today?

    SV: Well, not that much. Obviously, yeah, yesterday we suffered with a lack of front grip, so we tried to put more front in the car. I think tonight with the temperatures dropping, etcetera, it seemed to come alive for us. I think that’s the biggest difference. In terms of spec, and so on, it’s exactly the same as yesterday.

    CL: Yeah, I was not happy with my driving yesterday. I think there was quite a bit into it. It was not a great day for me. So, I improved quite a lot driving today. And, as Seb said, also the balance we improved quite a bit from yesterday to today.

    Q: (David Coath – motorlat.com) A question for each of you please. With the reverse grid proposals, you would be starting 20th, 19th and 18th. Your thoughts please on any discussion that people talk about a reverse grid.

    CL: I would not be happy. I’m a lot happier to start first tomorrow but yeah, I don’t think it’s the solution for Formula 1. I think the best shall win and start in the best place and not reversing that order. I don’t think it’s the solution.

    LH: I don’t really know what to say to it. People that propose that don’t really know what they’re talking about.

    SV: I think it’s complete bullshit to be honest. I think we know… if you want to improve things I think it’s very clear we need to string the field more together, we need to have better racing. So, it’s just a plaster. I don’t know which genius came up with this but it’s not the solution. It’s completely the wrong approach.

    LH: He said it better than me…

    Q: (Daniele Sparisci – Corriera della Sera) To the Ferrari drivers: when did you start realising that pole was possible? This morning in FP3 did you see the car improving so much?

    CL: I thought the car was improving in FP3 but I expected Mercedes… It wasn’t a clean run for Mercedes and Red Bull this morning. We didn’t really know what to think but I think from then Q1 and then yeah, through Q1 I understood that we could have an opportunity for pole.

    SV: To be honest, I think Q2 is normally when people start putting serious references in and we were about there. By then I realised that we might have a chance for pole. The car felt very good.

    Q: (Oliver Davies – Sportskeeda.com) Charles, that’s three pole positions in a row, a fifth career pole position all in this season. Just how confident are you, how big is it, has it grown more and more each week because you’re only 21 but you’re achieving things very young? How do you feel so far?

    CL: It feels great but yeah, you enjoy qualifying for a very short time because then you need to focus on the race and in the end there are no points awarded for the pole position, which is a shame. It’s great, it’s very good to see that we are on pole on a track like this where we expected to struggle but on the other hand, me personally, I’m just focusing on the race now and I will, of course, be very happy if I’m in the same position tomorrow.

    Q: (Joe van Burik – RacingNews 365) Charles, how does it feel after two victories and now the pole position for tomorrow, to be the young driver everyone is looking at after Max has had his success earlier this season?

    CL: Well, it feels good, it means I’m doing well so that’s good. I think a pole position always feels like very, very good, just because we are all on the limit, we are all trying to put everything in this one lap and once you manage to put everything you wanted in that lap and that you finally get pole position it always feels amazing.

    Q: (Andreas Haupt – Auto Motor und Sport) Sebastian, do you feel that with a perfect lap you could have matched Charles’s lap time or even be ahead of him and what was the problem on the second lap in the first sector?

    SV: Well, I didn’t do it so obviously it’s all if and so on. I think the lap time was possible so I thought the first run was good, it was a good reference but I thought that especially in sector three I had quite a bit of lap time in hand and parts in sector two. And then in the last attempt I lost the car a little bit through turn three in sector one and then again in turn nine. From that point onwards I was a little bit down compared to the previous lap and was sort of trying to catch up and probably did push a little bit too hard so simple as that. Then had a bigger mistake in 18 so from that point onwards that was quite a lot of lap time lost. As I said before, the car was good, I felt good so obviously a shame that I didn’t put together the last attempt in Q3 but I think it was there today.

    Q: (Oliver Davies – Sportskeeda.com) A question for all three drivers: out of all the races on the F1 calendar, would you say this is probably the most brutal test out of them all, because of the conditions out there on the track?

    SV: Yeh, but brutal in which regard? Physically? Well I think physically it’s tough because obviously it’s very hot and there’s hardly any place to rest. In terms of bumps, it was a lot worse ten years ago, they’ve made it a lot better throughout the years. Yeah, I think in the race it will be a different story because we have to manage tyres most likely, so it would be a lot more fun if we had the possibility to push nearly as hard as in qualifying throughout the whole race. That would be the ultimate test so tomorrow will be quite a bit easier in that regard, but still, it’s a long race.

    CL: Yeah, as Seb said, physically it’s demanding but I also think that mentally it’s quite demanding because obviously being a track circuit you cannot lose any concentration and the first mistake you make you pay (for) it so yeah, I really like driving here.

    LH: I feel the same as these guys. They answered it exactly the same as I would answer it.

  • Charles Leclerc wins epic battle with Lewis Hamilton at Monza

    Charles Leclerc wins epic battle with Lewis Hamilton at Monza

    Charles Leclerc wins at Monza on Sunday. An FIA image

    Monza, 8 Sept 2019: Charles Leclerc took his second F1 win in a row and handed Ferrari its first home win in nine years after edging a titanic race-long battle with Lewis Hamilton and resisting pressure from the Briton’s Mercedes team-mate in the final laps.

    At the start pole sitter Leclerc held his advantage and took the lead ahead of Hamilton and Bottas. Behind them Sebastian Vettel in the second Ferrari lost out to Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg early in the lap and dropped from his starting position of fourth to fifth place.

    Vettel fought back, however, and at the start of the next lap he retook fourth with a move past Hulkenberg into Turn 1. His hold on the position didn’t last long, however. On lap five the German carried too much speed into Ascari and lost control. The Ferrari driver spun in mid-corner and slid off track.

    He quickly rejoined but in doing so he forced the onrushing Lance Stroll to also spin. The Racing Point driver then mirrored Vettel’s unsafe return to the track and the Canadian’s actions forced Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly wide into the gravel.

    The incidents resulted in Vettel behind handed a 10-second stop/go penalty, while Stroll received a drive through penalty. Both drivers made their way to pit lane to serve the sanctions and dropped to the rear of the field.

    Hamilton was the first of the leading pack to pit, on lap 19. The Mercedes man opted for medium tyres and rejoined in fifth place. Ferrari covered, with Leclerc pitting on the next lap for hard tyres, a choice that would prove crucial later in the race.

    Leclerc emerged ahead of Hamilton but the Mercedes driver quickly began to close the gap. Leclerc passed the slower Hulkenberg around the outside of Parabolica to regain third place and that allowed Hamilton attack into Turn 1 and into the second chicane. Leclerc defended hard, however, and Hamilton was forced to cut the chicane. The Ferrari driver’s defence earned him a black and white flag for unsportsmanlike conduct.

    Hamilton once again began to put Leclerc under heavy pressure and on lap 36 the Monegasque driver made a mistake. He outbraked himself on the approach to Turn 1 and was forced to cut the first chicane. Hamilton tried to pounce into the second chicane and Leclerc again defended robustly to hold off the challenge.

    With 15 laps remaining, Hamilton’s medium tyres began to go off and a mistake into Turn 1 allowed Bottas to sweep past into second place.

    With his challenge over and a huge gap back to fourth-placed Daniel Ricciardo the championship leader opted to pit for new soft tyres and on lap 51 he posted the race fastest lap of 1:21.779 to grab a bonus point to add to his 15 for third place.

    Ahead, Leclerc comfortably held off Bottas to take his second career win and a first victory for Ferrari on home soil since 2010.

    Behind Hamilton Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg were fourth and fifth respectively. Hulkenberg was closed down by Red Bull Racing’s Alex Albon in the closing stages with the Thai driver closing a 12-secomnd gap on lap 36 to just 1.1s by the flag. Sergio Pérez was seventh for Racing Point, with the Mexican resisting enormous pressure from Max Verstappen in the final laps as the Dutch finished in a strong P8 after starting from 19thon the grid. Behind Verstappen, the final points positions were taken by Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi and McLaren’s Lando Norris.

    2019 FIA Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix – Race 
    1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari
    2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 0.835
    3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 35.199
    4 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 45.515
    5 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 58.165
    6 Alex Albon Red Bull Racing 59.315
    7 Sergio Perez Racing Point 1’13.802
    8 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1’14.492
    9 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing 1 lap
    10 Lando Norris McLaren 1 lap
    11 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 1 lap
    12 Lance Stroll Racing Point 1 lap
    13 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1 lap
    14 George Russell Williams 1 lap
    15 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo Racing 1 lap
    16 Romain Grosjean Haas 1 lap
    17 Robert Kubica Williams 2 laps
    Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas
    Russian Federation Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso
    Spain Carlos Sainz McLaren

  • Charles Leclerc puts Ferrari on pole as top drivers miss final flying lap in a messy qualifying

    Charles Leclerc puts Ferrari on pole as top drivers miss final flying lap in a messy qualifying

    Charles Leclerc (centre) of Ferrari takes pole position in Monza ahead of Hamilton (left) and Bottas of Mercedes on Saturday. An FIA image

    Monza, 7 Sept 2019: Charles Leclerc handed Ferrari top spot on the grid for its home Italian Grand Prix, with the Monegasque drive taking his third career pole position at the end of what he later described as a “messy” qualifying session at Monza. Leclerc took top spot just 0.039s ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton with the Briton’s tea-mate Valtteri Bottas third.

    The Ferrari star claimed provisional pole with a time of 1:19.307 before a crash involving Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen brought out the red flags early in Q1. Then, in the final runs the remaining drivers all sought to seek a laptime-improving tow and amid the backing up and jockeying for position, time ran out and the bulk of drivers failed to cross the line for a final flying lap before the chequered flag was shown.

    “It feels unbelievable,” said Leclerc after securing pole for the second race in a row. “I’m happy with the pole but it’s a shame that at the end there was a big mess. I hoped for the last lap but that was enough with what happened for the pole.”

    Leclerc laid down an early marker in Q1, taking spot midway through the opening segment with a time of 1:20.126. That put him ahead of Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg, Bottas and Hamilton.

    At the back of the field Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen, facing grid penalties for taking a new power unit, stayed in the team’s garage for the bulk of the session. But, following a red flag period brought about when Sergio Pérez stopped on track, Verstappen was at the head of a queue of cars seeking to post late lap times. However, midway through his out lap Verstappen reported a loss of power and he limped back to the pits, thus missing out on posting a time.

    Eliminated at the end of the session were Haas’ Romain Grosjean in P16 followed by Pérez, and Williams’ George Russell and Robert Kubica.

    Q2 was topped by Hamilton. Thanks for purple times in the last two sectors on his final run the championship leader was able to take P1 just under a tenth of Leclerc, with Vettel two tenths further back in third.

    Eliminated at the end of the middle segment were Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi, followed by the Haas of Kevin Magnussen, Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat, McLaren’s Lando Norris and the second Toro Rosso of Pierre Gasly.

    The final phase of qualifying started with a number of drivers jockeying for position in a stream of cars as all looked to secure a position that would guarantee a slipstream.

    It was Leclerc who made the most of whatever opportunities were available in the first run and he topped the order with a time of 1:19.307, three hundredths of a seconds ahead of Hamilton. Further back, though, Räikkonen brought out the red flags when he crashed out at Parabolica and several drivers including Red Bull Racing’s Alex Albon and Racing Point’s Lance Stroll were unable to complete a first run.

    It looked like Bottas would be similarly disadvantaged but the Mercedes man was deemed to have crossed the line ahead of the red flag so had his time reinstated. He slotted thus into third place ahead of Vettel, Ricciardo and the last man with a first-run time, McLaren’s Carlos Sainz.

    And it proved to be a fortunate decision for Bottas as in the final runs the jostling for track position became almost farcical as drivers slowed and backed up rivals during what amounted to a group out lap.

    The result was that only Sainz managed to get across the line before the chequered flag was shown and the session ended in anti-climax as Leclerc backed off and sealed pole position with his first-run time. Hamilton was second ahead of team-mate Bottas, Vettel and the Renault’s of Ricciardo and Hulkenberg. Then came McLaren’s Carlos Sainz, followed by Alex in P8. Racing Point’s Lance Stroll qualified in ninth place ahead of the unfortunate Räikkönen.

    Following the session, race control announced that the final lap was being placed under investigation and later Hulkenberg, Sainz and Stroll were summoned to the stewards’ office.

    2019 FIA Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix – Qualifying
    1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 6 1:19.307
    2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 6 1:19.346 0.039
    3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 6 1:19.354 0.047
    4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 5 1:19.457 0.150
    5 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 5 1:19.839 0.532
    6 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 5 1:20.049 0.742
    7 Carlos Sainz McLaren 6 1:20.455 1.148
    8 Alex Albon Red Bull Racing 4
    9 Lance Stroll Racing Point 2
    10 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari 2
    11 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing 6 1:20.517 1.053
    12 Kevin Magnussen Haas 6 1:20.615 1.151
    13 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 8 1:20.630 1.166
    14 Lando Norris McLaren 6 1:21.068 1.604
    15 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 6 1:21.125 1.661
    16 Romain Grosjean Haas 8 1:20.784 0.658
    17 Sergio Perez Racing Point 6 1:21.291 1.165
    18 George Russell Williams 8 1:21.80 1.674
    19 Robert Kubica Williams 9 1:22.356 2.230
    20 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 3 .

  • It is an anti-climax at the end, says Hamilton about the messy F1 qualifying session

    Monza, 7 Sept 2019: The following drivers who qualified at the top attended the post-qualifying session FIA Press Conference on Saturday: Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes).
    Track Interviews were conducted by Paul di Resta:

    Q: Charles, you must have to pinch yourself at the moment, to come here on the back of that win in Spa, to claim pole position in front of Ferrari’s home crowd. And when you get that reception when you draw up, it must be incredible?
    Charles LECLERC: It feels unbelievable. Already on Wednesday in Milan was just incredible and today to see so many people feels absolutely amazing. Happy with the pole but it’s a shame that at the end there was a big mess. I hoped for the last lap but that was enough with what happened for the pole.

    Q: A pole is a pole, regardless of what happened. But tomorrow there’s a big day ahead. Do you feel that you’ve got the pace to take the win to these home fans?
    CL: Yeah, I think the pace was quiet good actually during the race simulations in FP2 so it’s looking positive, better than in Spa, so let’s hope for a good race tomorrow.

    Q: Lewis, I know you’re never happy unless you’re getting pole position, but I guess that at the end of the day Ferrari were always going to be strong here. You’re on the row and at the same time you missed out on the last run because of all the tactics for getting that tow. How do you sum it up?
    Lewis HAMILTON: To be honest, I have to be grateful that I’m on the front row. We get to have a fight with the Ferraris tomorrow, which is nice. We’ve split them, so as a team it’s a really good position for us to be in. It is definitely a bit of an anti-climax that we couldn’t all go out and do that last final lap, that’s one of the most exciting ones we have. It’s crazy with this timing that we have, the system we have, where everyone backs up, everyone is trying to get a position and they times us out. They basically timed us out. It’s interesting – get pole position in the first run and then just time everyone out.

    Q: I know normally you look for free space in qualifying but it seems like the two has been extra important this year. Is it strange as a driver to have that tactic when you go into a session, knowing that you have to be four or five seconds behind someone?
    LH: Yeah, definitely. I mean on the out lap it’s dangerous for us all. There are people slowing down, you don’t know who is alongside you and that. It’s definitely risky business out there but it’s kind of enjoyable at the same time. But for us we are down on the Ferraris in a straight line, so we particularly need. I think others also do. I think it’s with this new wing, the drag is much bigger this year, so everyone is focusing on that. But honestly just to be up here on the front row, we can give them a good fight tomorrow.

    Q: Valtteri, that was quite a difficult session. You almost had a lap cancelled, just before the red flag came out but it got reinstated, and luckily because that last run didn’t come off.
    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, I was quite unlucky there and also I had a yellow flag in the first run in the last corners so I had to lift off and I believe I lost the pole because of that. Obviously the last run was a bit of a mess for everyone. But the pace was good. Happy still to be very much at the front because it’s tomorrow that counts.

    Q: How much fun are these cars to drive around Monza. Is it a place you enjoy?
    VB: It’s always good fun. Definitely enjoying it and for sure I’m going to enjoy tomorrow.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Charles, it was very close, less than one tenth of a second separating all three of you on the panel. But you’ve done it, you’ve got pole at Monza, so how does it feel?
    CL: Obviously the feeling I got when I went out of the car, hearing the crowd cheer so loud is absolutely amazing. On the other hand a bit of a shame for the team, Seb couldn’t do his second timed lap; he was very quick. I felt like a 1-2 was an opportunity even though these two guys were extremely quick and it was very, very close. But yeah, the whole qualifying was a big mess with all the slipstreaming and having the best one. But very happy with this pole position.

    Q: And throwing it forward to tomorrow’s race, do you think you’ve got a closer fight on your hands than you did last week at Spa?
    CL: Yes, I think the race pace was more positive compared to what we had the Friday in Spa, so on that we are pretty confident. But the start will be very important, as always. But there is quite a long way here from the start to the first corner so the start will be very important.

    Q: Well done, good luck tomorrow. Charles has described the quali session as a bit of a mess. Just talk us through what happened at the end of Q3 from your point of view.
    LH: Well, it’s then same as has happened for some races now. The drag is a big issue here, the tow is a key to getting a good lap. Everyone was slowing right down and also blocking the way, so you couldn’t really get through. It was pretty dangerous. I nearly crashed a couple of times trying to stay out of the way of the guys that were braking ahead of me and then people trying to come past me. Nonetheless, Charles did a great job. I was a little bit unfortunate with Kimi spinning in front of me, so I had to lift in the last corner. That was really our pole lap lost there. It would have been nice to have obviously been able to compete on that last lap, get to really thresh out the cars and see who really had that little edge right at the end.

    Q: Was there more time in your car?
    LH: Definitely. Definitely. But I’m sure it’s the same for all of us. The track progresses so you can find little bits here and there. Also, I was quite close behind Kimi, so I was losing out a little bit through the corners, so you are trying to find the right compromise. But tomorrow there’s still a long, long way to the finish line so we’ll try to put ourselves in the best position. This is great for us to be able to separate the Ferraris and we can work together as a team tomorrow and try to overhaul him and fortunately not have the Ferrari in the way this time… Vettel.

    Q: Valtteri, another quite messy qualifying session, with your first time having to be reinstated and then what happened at the end of Q3, so do you feel that the whole thing was a bit of a compromise for you?
    VB: It definitely was. I think it was compromised for sure for many drivers so in that kind of messy session it’s always good to be ending up in the top three. The same for me as for Lewis, and I was actually more far back. I had the yellow flags for Kimi so I had to lift off properly and I also feel I lost the pole there. It’s annoying when it could have been possible but it could have been a lot worse today. I hope we can really learn something from the last run because everyone pretty much missed their lap. There were two cars going slow at the front and no one could get by. So not ideal but we are here, very much close to the front and it’s going to be a good fight tomorrow.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Christian Menath – motorsport-magazin.com) First part of the question for you Charles: could you talk us through, I think you were behind Seb at the beginning of the lap then did you decide on your own to just go flat-out and make it to the line on time? And for both Mercedes drivers, did you think about ‘OK, I have to go fast now otherwise I won’t make it,’ or is it something that you’re just relying on the team what they say to you?
    CL: To be completely honest, the plan was that, in the first run, Seb was giving me the tow and in the second run, I will give him the tow. So, I actually went out of the box in front of him, and then there was the huge mess after Turns One and Two and the McLaren and a Renault – I don’t know whoever that was – they stopped in the middle of the track and we had nowhere to go. Seb overtakes me there, because of the mess, because obviously we were aware it was quite tight on time, and then I stayed, basically, behind Seb, until the last straight where I’ve heard also on the radio “you can overtake Seb,” so I overtook him – but I had no time for me either to start the lap, so yeah, it was a shame – but I don’t think I could have done much more.

    And for the Mercedes drivers, how reliant were you on the pitwall? Lewis?
    LH: Well, naturally, you’re listening to your delta, understanding whether you’ve still got time left but I tried to get through… I was supposed to be behind Valtteri but I overtook him, knowing that I needed to get further ahead, but I couldn’t overtake everyone, they were weaving and braking and it was like trying to avoid carnage all the time. So, we had a couple of people I think were holding everyone up, trying to, I guess, let people by but yeah, a bit of an anti-climax, I think, probably for all of you. Maybe they should have extended the session or something like that, so we could finish, or something – I’m not really sure how we’re going to get around this. Everyone’s brake testing and slowing down to let others past, just to get a tow. I’m not sure how we’re going to get around that in the future. But… yeah… in hindsight I wish I just went out earlier. Just got out there and got a clean lap. That would have been great.

    Valtteri, anything you can add from your point of view?
    VB: No, it’s the same. Same view for me. It was a bit of a mess and I was also just behind other cars, exit of Turn Two, and things started to go very slowly and, short on time, and everyone was pretty much in the same boat.

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Lewis, we heard you over the radio after Q3, and again down on the grid, that it was an interesting tactic from Ferrari – because obviously Charles was on pole after the first run. Do you think it was intentional? A clever play from them to back them up? And how unflattering do you think the whole thing looked for F1?
    LH: Honestly, I don’t know how many cars were up ahead, so I don’t know… Charles just said it was a couple of other cars up ahead so maybe it was them – but ultimately it worked out well for them. I really don’t know what else to say. It would have been nice to just finish the lap and both put the pedal to the metal but it didn’t happen and we move forwards.

    Lewis, how did it look for Formula 1, just to follow up on Scott’s question?
    LH: I don’t think it looks good but I’m not a fan so I’ll let the fans decide on that. I think fans get excited,  at least I remember I used to get really excited about watching qualifying and all the way down to that last minute, so it’s down for you guys to have an opinion. For me, just as a driver, I would have loved to have obviously driven more qualifying. One of the best stages of the weekend. I think some drivers didn’t even have a lap – is it true that Seb didn’t even have a lap? Is that right? Yep, it is the way it is.

    Q: (Luke Smith – crash.net) This is the second race in a row now that this has happened. Lewis, you used the word ‘dangerous’ both at Spa and here as well. For all three of you, do you think a qualifying format rethink it required to avoid situations like this happening again?
    VB: Well, these two tracks, we’ve seen this is really specific on the tows and I think Spa and Monza are the biggest gains on the straightline speed you can get really, being behind another car, and here especially. So, I don’t think it’s going to be an issue in most of the tracks, like at the next race where, for sure, everyone just tried to find a clear gap. But for tracks like this, it’s always been a bit like that, and maybe now a bit more extreme, with the cars getting more draggier and more of a gain being in the slipstream.

    Charles?
    CL: Yeah, as Valtteri said, it’s only on a few tracks during the season where we have this issue. I’ve got no quick fix to try and help this quickly – but maybe we can all think about to to try and understand. It has always been like this. I think slipstream has always been that way. I don’t really know what to say. We just need to analyse a little bit more, the situation. I think today was special, was definitely not the intention from our side. Obviously there was also Seb that was capable of having the pole position and we obviously didn’t want to sacrifice one car for the pole of the other so, yeah, it was quite tricky. I definitely think that situations like after the second corner shouldn’t happen when there are two cars side-by-side. I cannot go at 20kph, we couldn’t pass and I think most of the drivers behind wanted to pass but didn’t have the opportunity so, yeah, these situations have made a big mess towards the end and that’s why so many cars didn’t make it to start their laps. But yeah, that’s it.

    Lewis, your thoughts
    LH: I don’t really have an answer, to be honest. I don’t remember every qualifying session this year but it was similar last year, I think. We were all trying to get a gap, which continues to be key. In some places, you want a bigger gap, in some places it’s all about the tow, so each track’s specific. I always through they could do something different on weekends anyways, different weekends, depending on the track but it’s highly unlikely that’s going to happen.

    Q: Do you think we’ll see such an extreme case going forwards, looking at the last seven races?
    LH: I’m sure it’s going to continue. Positioning is key. If we were to… everyone going out as late as we just did there, for example, with two minutes to go, it’s going to continue to be an issue in places where you particularly need a tow. It won’t be until someone crashes that they’ll change it, most likely.

    Q: (Godina Zsolt – f1vilag.hu) Charles, Sebastian is going to start from P4 tomorrow. How difficult will it be to keep behind the Mercedes cars compared to Spa?
    CL: Well, it’s obviously going to be very, very difficult because, first of all, they are quick, secondly, slipstream and DRS are very important here – but I think the race pace looks better than what it was in Spa, so on that we are pretty confident – but for sure it’s going to be very difficult to keep them behind. As I said, I think a very good start from myself and also from Seb will be very important for the good result of the team tomorrow.

    Q: (Carlo Ferraro – Fuoritraiettoria.com) We saw more than half of the Formula Three field getting grid penalties for driving unnecessarily slowly on their warm-up lap. Do you think this may or should happen today as well?
    LH: Honestly I don’t know. It’s not our… it’s the system probably needs to shift a little bit maybe. I don’t think they should start handing out penalties. We just need to look upon it and reflect a little bit and see what we can do to make it better, make it better for the fans and make it less dangerous. Like they already made a change today that we have to finish the out lap within a certain delta time but even that’s still too slow. There’s improvements we can make, for sure, for safety but also for the spectators to watch.
    CL: Yeah, I agree and today actually is quite difficult. If you put the penalty to one, you put the penalty to the 10 drivers that were in Q3 because we were all together.
    VB: Nothing to say, really.

    Q: (Simon Istvan Janos – V4NA) We have seen a very nasty accident this morning in Formula Three at the Parabolica. There was a very high kerb. It has been removed by Formula One qualifying; what was your impression of the accident, very close to Anthoine’s accident, within one week? And my other question is if you, as drivers, were consulted before removing it today?
    VB: Yeah, obviously a big accident. I saw it afterwards. At least from me… no one asked me if the kerb should be taken off or not but my view would have been for sure because we’ve seen an accident like this so for sure and it was actually not making any difference to the track limits because people were going off the track before the bump so it was in the wrong place and wrong height obviously. I’m sure there’s a lesson learned. It’s a super high-speed place and if you hit it at the wrong angle obviously those kind of things can happen so… Definitely not so good for safety that one but I’m sure something learned today.
    CL: Yeah, I think it was maybe a bit pointless to put a kerb like this, once they said they would look at the track limits there, because anyway if you go out, you have your lap and the next lap deleted. But I was quite a fan of gravel there in the past. I think that was quite a good fix for every track limits.
    LH: Did you drive here with the gravel?
    CL: Yup, in Formula 3.
    LH: Yeah, I agree with him. It was much better when it was grass and gravel on the exit there because I remember you used to come into that corner, you kind of… you were a bit nervous going in too deep because you might end up in the wall. The grass would pull you out wide and you’d pay the price for pushing beyond the limit. So now you can go beyond the limit and that’s the biggest – for me – the biggest problem with all these run-off areas that are tarmac now. We didn’t need to be consulted about the kerb. It’s a band-aid on the issue of putting tarmac there in the first place. I don’t think they needed tarmac round there.

    Q: (Joe van Burik – Racing News 365) Lewis, on Instagram you shared an image of an article featuring Max responding to quotes from Nico Rosberg, being a critic of his driving style in Spa. What do you think of a former World Champion being so explicit about how modern day F1 drivers talk?
    LH: I don’t really think much of it, to be honest. I thought it was really funny – I think Max is generally a really funny guy so I was cracking up when I saw it. It’s interesting because obviously we know what it’s like – all the drivers have all been here and know what it’s like being criticised from the public and when [they are] in the sport moan about being criticised by people from the outside and then when drivers retire they become those critics, so it’s an interesting dynamic. And also some of those… unfortunately drivers become irrelevant when they retire and ultimate have to hang on to utilise other people’s light to keep them in the light and so… but that’s the way of sport, I guess.

    Q: (Fabio Seghetta – Tutomotorsport.com) Charles, did you think that you had more advantage over the Mercedes cars during free practice or do you think that this gap has been reduce during qualifying?
    CL: I think they’ve been quick all weekend, to be honest. I expected them to be very quick today. The straightline speeds are not as different compared to Spa. I think we were surprised to see them so quick on the straights during free practice. I think it was the same in qualifying, so yeah, I think it’s been the same from free practice to qualifying.

    Q: (Giovanni Messi – News Formula One Italy) Charles, do you think that here Ferrari can be better race pace than in Spa, looking also at the time that we see in free practice yesterday ?
    CL: Yeah, as I said earlier, I think in FP2 the race pace was a bit more positive compared to the race pace that we had in FP2 in Spa. It looks a little bit better but again, here the tow and the DRS has a bigger effect, so it’s going to be difficult to lead.

    Q: (Christian Menath – MotorsportMagazin.com) Considering the weather forecast for tomorrow, for rain, did any one of you change the set-up for the rain, raise a bit more wing than you would usually have gone for for qualifying?
    LH: Position is everything, so you want to go quick on the straight so no, you want to take absolutely everything off as possible to go as quick as you can.
    CL: Same for us.
    VB: Yup.

    Ends

  • Charles Leclerc tops rain-affected first practice

    Charles Leclerc tops rain-affected first practice

    Charles Leclerc tops FP1. An FIA image

    Monza, 6 Sept 2019: Charles Leclerc topped a rain-affected first practice for this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix that was interrupted by red flags on three occasions.

    Leclerc, who last weekend in Belgium became Ferrari’s youngest grand prix winner, claimed top at the end of the damp session as the field moves to slick tyres at the end of the session. The Monegasque driver set a best time of 1:27.905 to beat McLaren’s Carlos Sainz by three tenths of a second, with the Spanish driver a further two tenths ahead of team-mate Lando Norris.

    Following heavy overnight rain and drizzle this morning the session featured a brief early period on full wet tyres before the field quickly moved to intermediate rubber. Around half an hour into the session running was halted for the first time when Kimi Räikkönen beached his Alfa Romeo in the gravel traps at Parabolica.

    However, the second delay arrived moments after the green flags had been shown for the re-start. This time it was Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez who was caught out by the conditions. The Mexican driver lost control of his car through the Ascari Chicane and he slid off backwards into the barriers. The impact flipped him round and he also damaged the front left side of the car.

    After a period of improvement for many drivers on a drying track, Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly then caused a final brief red flag spell when he became stranded on a kerb at the first Rettifilo chicane. With the aid or mashals the Frenchman was able to get going again, however, and thus the halt was a brief one.

    In the final phase of the session, with conditions steadily improving, the times began to tumble with Leclerc and the McLaren driver posting their time at the very end of the session.

    That left fourth place to Lewis Hamilton who set a time eight tenths of a second slower than Leclerc’s late slick tyre lap. Fifth place went to Red Bull Racing’s Alex Albon with former Toro Rosso team-mate Daniil Kvyat. The Russian briefly claimed top spot with his time of 1:29.960 in the final two minutes of the session but the rapidly improving conditions saw his eventually beaten by more than two seconds as the leading drivers in the session all made large gains in the final flurry.

    Max Verstappen finished seventh in the second Red Bull, ahead of the second Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel, while Valtteri Bottas took ninth for Mercedes ahead of the second Toro Rosso of Gasly who ended the session 2.790s off Leclerc’s P1 time.

    2019 FIA Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix – Free Practice 1 
    1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 20 1:27.905
    2 Carlos Sainz McLaren 25 1:28.211 0.306
    3 Lando Norris McLaren 23 1:28.450 0.545
    4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 11 1:28.730 0.825
    5 Alex Albon Red Bull Racing19 1:29.025 1.120
    6 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 25 1:29.960 2.055
    7 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 11 1:30.10 2.195
    8 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:30.507 2.602
    9 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 11 1:30.596 2.691
    10 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 26 1:30.695 2.790
    11 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing 22 1:32.848 4.943
    12 Lance Stroll Racing Point Racing Point 9 1:33.976 6.071
    13 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 10 1:34.528 6.623
    14 Kevin Magnussen Haas 7 1:34.715 6.810
    15 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 10 1:35.133 7.228
    16 Romain Grosjean Haas 7 1:35.980 8.075
    17 Robert Kubica Williams 12 1:37.816 9.911
    18 George Russell Williams 12 1:38.421 10.516
    19 Sergio Perez Racing Point 4
    20 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo Racing 4

  • Charles Leclerc dedicates maiden F1 victory to Anthoine Hubert: Belgian GP

    Charles Leclerc dedicates maiden F1 victory to Anthoine Hubert: Belgian GP

    Charles Leclerc dedicates his first Formula One victory to his friend Anthoine Hubert who died on Saturday in an F2 accident. An FIA image

    Spa, 1 Sept 2019: Charles Leclerc took an emotional first Formula One win at Spa-Francorchamps and immediately dedicated his maiden victory to childhood racing rival Anthoine Hubert who tragically lost his life in a crash in Saturday’s FIA Formula 2 race at the Ardennes circuit.

    “On the one hand, I’ve got a dream since being as a child that has been realised. But on the other hand, it has been a very difficult weekend since yesterday,” he said after defying late pressure from championship leader to take the win.

    “We have lost a friend first of all. It is very difficult in these situations, so I would like to dedicate my first win to him. We have grown up together – my first ever race I have done it with Anthoine and there was Esteban [Ocon] – and just shame what happened yesterday. I can’t enjoy fully my first victory but it will definitely be a memory I will keep forever.”

    Leclerc’s victory was scored from the second pole position of his career and the Monegasque driver kept his advantage at the race start to lead ahead of team-mate Sebastian Vettel, Hamilton, and Bottas.

    There was drama behind the leaders through, with Max Verstappen’s race-ending within moments of the red lights going out to signal the start. The Dutchman’s start from P5 on the grid was not ideal and he was immediately passed by a number of cars.

    Verstappen responded by taking a tight line down the inside into the La Source hairpin. As he approached the corner, though, he hit Kimi Räikkönen’s Alfa Romeo pitching the Finn into the air.

    Verstappen’s car was also damaged in the incident and though the Red Bull driver attempted to carry on, his suspension broke as he exited Eau Rouge and he crashed out of the race.

    The incident brought out the safety car and as the field formed up behind the course car, Leclerc led ahead of Vettel with Hamilton third ahead of Valtteri Bottas and McLaren’s Lando Norris who had profited from the turn one incident to climb from 11thon the grid.

    Vettel was the first of the frontrunners to pit, with the German taking on medium tyres on lap 15. He rejoined in fifth place and was soon setting purple times as the new front three of Leclerc, Hamilton and Bottas continued to circulate.

    Race leader Leclerc made his sole stop on lap 21, but he rejoined behind team-mate Vettel and after Hamilton and Bottas had made their visits to pit lane, the German emerged as the new race leader, two seconds clear of the younger Ferrari driver.

    Vettel’s lead didn’t last long, however. Leclerc quickly closed the gap and on lap 25 Vettel was told to let his team-mate past. At the start of the next tour he obliged, drifting off the racing line on the run down to Eau Rouge to let his young team-mate re-take the lead. The German then came under heavy pressure from Hamilton. He defended well for a number of laps but on lap 31 he Hamilton got close enough and passed

    Further back, new Red Bull recruit Alex Albon began to make moves forward after his sole pits to swap opening medium tyres for new softs. The Thai driver, who has started from 17thon the grid emerged in P15 began to power through the pack. On lap 30 he moved into the points when he passed Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly with a good move into Les Combes and he then made a good move down the inside of Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo on the run towards Pouhon to claim an eighth place on lap 33.

    The second Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat was the next target and on lap 38 Albon powered past the Russian on the run down the Kemmel Straight.

    He now set off in pursuit of sixth-placed Perez, though the Mexican driver was nine seconds up the road. That was no deterrent, however, and by lap 42 he had reduced the deficit to the Racing Point to just two seconds.

    And in a frenetic final two laps, the Red Bull driver continued his rise. At the start of lap 44, McLaren’s Lando Norris, who had been running fifth stopped just beyond the start-finish straight and then with pace in hand Albon made his move on Perez on the long run to Les Combes. It was a brave one too, with the new recruit putting a wheel into the dirt on the right side of the track as the Mexican tried to defend.

    There was no denying the Red Bull’s pace, however, and as Leclerc crossed the line to take his first Grand Prix victory ahead of Hamilton, Bottas, and Vettel, Albon powered towards his best-ever F1 finish.

    Behind the Red Bull, Perez clung on to sixth ahead of Kvyat and Hulkenberg took eighth place ahead of the second Toro Rosso of Pierre Gasly. The final point on offer went to Racing Point’s Lance Stroll.

    2019 FIA Formula One Belgian Grand Prix – Race
    1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari –
    2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 0.981
    3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 12.585
    4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 26.422
    5 Alex Albon Red Bull Racing 1’21.325
    6 Sergio Perez Racing Point 1’24.448
    7 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1’29.657
    8 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1’46.639
    9 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 1’49.168
    10 Lance Stroll Racing Point 1’49.838
    11 Lando Norris McLaren
    12 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1 lap
    13 Romain Grosjean Haas 1 lap
    14 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1 lap
    15 George Russell Williams 1 lap
    16 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo Racing 1 lap
    17 Robert Kubica Williams 1 lap
    18 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing
    19 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren
    20 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing

  • P3 was terrible and it was painful: Hamilton

    DRIVERS

    1 – Charles LECLERC (Ferrari)

    2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

    3 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    TRACK INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by Timo Glock)

    Q: Well done for today. You seemed to be totally in control of the weekend so far and you got a really good lap in. How did it feel like in qualifying for you?

    Charles LECLERC: It felt good. Obviously the first sector was not exactly what I wanted, especially in the first corner, we had to go very slow to prepare the lap because there was a lot of traffic. I struggled for that a bit, but after that from the second corner onwards then we were very strong and it felt amazing.

    Q: It seemed like you were the only guy who stayed out of trouble on the out laps, because everyone struggled to find a clean spot, but you managed it really well, or not?

    CL: Yeah, that’s what I asked actually when I was in the garage – to not really care about the slipstream, it was just too much of a mess to prepare the tyres and the lap overall, so ~I wanted to be alone and yeah, it worked out, so I’m happy.

    Q: Good feeling for tomorrow for the race? 

    CL: Yeah, we were struggling a little bit more during the race pace yesterday, so we need to work on that. But, yeah, looking at the pace today I’m pretty sure we will be strong.

    Q: Seb, well done today, P2. I think when I saw you in the middle of the same like Charles, you struggled on the out lap to get the tyres into the right window. Was that the key problem today?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, I mean in the end it’s good that we secured the first row. To fight for pole, I was sort of in the queue; it doesn’t help, but no excuses. We look forward to the race tomorrow. I think we have good pace in the car, so hopefully, we can show it also over, what is it 44 laps?

    Q: But you didn’t seem that happen on the long-run pace yesterday. Do you think tomorrow it’s going to be OK when it’s a lot cooler?

    SV: Yeah, I think it should be better. The car was better today, so we’ll see. Obviously temperatures should drop overnight, which makes a difference, but it’s the same for everyone.

    Q: Thanks. Lewis, first of all, I think we need to talk about your mechanics. They did an awesome job.

    Lewis HAMILTON: Absolutely. P3 was a terrible session for me. Of course, it’s painful because you know how many people work so hard to build those parts and then you know how hard the guys work to put the car together and I knew that was going to be a tough challenge. But my guys are just faultless, they always work and give 110% and I’m so grateful for that. After that I was really just trying to pay them back with a good qualifying session. Considering I missed P3 and a lot of P1 actually I’m really grateful I’m up here.

    Q: You were nearly crashing, I think even Valtteri on the out lap, because it was a mess as well. Was it for you hard to get the tyres in as well, because everyone seemed to be affected by that?

    LH: Yeah, that was a bit slow. Obviously he was trying to keep the tow of the car in front, so I was trying to hold behind him and everyone was behind me, so it’s really tricky. But nonetheless Ferrari have done a great job today, Charles did an exceptional job and I hope we can bring the fight to them in the race tomorrow.

    Q: I think your long-run pace was very good yesterday and there is a chance for you on the long straight to attack the Ferraris straight away. Are you happy that it’s going to be 10 degrees cooler tomorrow? Is that helping you out?

    LH: I don’t know, I’d have to ask my engineers. Either way I’m going to give it everything and hopefully give these guys a good race.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Charles, many congratulations, you dominated all three segments of qualifying. Can you tell us how it feels to be on pole by seven tenths of a second?

    CL: It obviously feels amazing. It was very tricky, especially in Q3 I struggled quite a lot, the start of the lap was always very, very messy, because there was quite a lot of traffic with all the cars around but in the end I managed to do the full lap correctly and I’m very happy. I definitely did not expect to be that much ahead, but very happy with my lap anyway.

    Q: Well, came close to winning in Bahrain earlier this year, so given your level of dominance so far this weekend how confident are you for tomorrow?

    CL: I don’t know. I think we have been quick since FP1 but once we did the race simulations in FP2 we weren’t as quick, so I think it’s not going to be easy tomorrow. We will try to give everything. The gap is quite big today but it doesn’t mean it will be like that tomorrow, so we will working hard to improve on the race run we did yesterday and we will see.

    Q: Well done again. Sebastian, you said on your cool-down lap “what a mess”. Can you just describe the session and particularly Q3 from your point of view?

    SV: Uhh, messy! I think I was getting into a sort of a rhythm, maybe it took a little bit longer for me today to really get a hold of the car but it felt quite good. But then in Q3 it was quite messy, with everybody trying to get a tow and a lot of queuing for the last corner, which made it very tricky and, yeah, obviously the tyres then are not where they were probably supposed to be and being further back it I think it wasn’t ideal. Anyways, Charles did a better job today, also with that, so now looking forward to tomorrow. I felt the car was quite good, which is the most important thing so let’s see tomorrow with the change in ambient conditions, in track conditions, what the race is going to be like.

    Q: Thank you and good luck tomorrow. Lewis, it’s been an impressive comeback by you and the team after your crash in final practice. First of all, any lasting physical effects from that crash and how was the car in qualifying?

    LH: Firstly, it’s been an interesting weekend so far. We struggled obviously a little bit in the first session with some problems and then, yeah, I made a big mistake this morning with the change we made and it just didn’t feel great out there and obviously I had that incident. But the guys did an incredible job, incredibly diligent, to perfection – taking the car apart and rebuilding it. There’s so much pressure on those guys through the weekend and naturally I don’t ever want to put them in that position, but I think they relished the challenge and so really proud of them. So going into this session I was just hoping that I’ve got the car in the right place and ultimately hoping I can pay them back with a good qualifying session and I think today was really smooth and I think the team did an amazing job in terms of where they put us out there. It was a little bit tricky when everyone was slowing down but nonetheless, congratulations to Charles, he’s been so quick all weekend. But I think in the long run we can at least give them a bit of a challenge tomorrow. I think a bit of the straight speed, which is where generally all the speed is, it’s usually not there so much in the race, so hopefully we’ll be there or thereabout with them tomorrow and can put in maybe some interesting strategies, we’ll see.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Christian Menath – motorsport-magazin.com) Question for you Seb. You said you didn’t get into the rhythm very fast; it took a bit of time for you. Do you have an explanation for that – because yesterday it looked like you lost quite a lot time on the straights?

    SV: No, not really. I don’t think we lost time on the straights. I think nothing out of the ordinary, so… No, I think it was quite tricky to get the car where I wanted it to be for one lap, and it was better in qualifying. I struggled a bit yesterday afternoon, this morning, but, as I said, by qualifying it was fine and then obviously towards the last part of quali it was a bit messy again, not ideal preparing the lap, so yeah, I’m not happy with the final attempt, it wasn’t clean. So, yeah, I’m not worried, I think pace-wise it was looking quite good and let’s see what we get tomorrow. Obviously a big change in terms of temps. Let’s see how we adapt.

    Q: (Erik Bielderman – L’Equipe) Lewis, when you don’t claim the pole position, like today, do you head into the Sunday’s race in a more excited mood because of the challenge that awaits you?

    LH: When you’re on pole, you’re always the happiest, naturally – but nonetheless, yeah, I’m happy that we have a fight. I think we knew that coming here, that it was going to be challenging. We didn’t know where the Red Bulls or Ferraris would be but we knew the Ferraris would be extremely quick given that they’ve been fastest on all the straights throughout the year. That’s a big gap: seven-tenths is a huge margin but nonetheless I think in the race trim it looked like it was a lot closer. So yeah, I’m excited that I’m in a position where hopefully I can try and battle these guys tomorrow. That makes it more fun for us, for me – and for the fans, hopefully.

    Q: (Godina Zsolt – F1Valag.hu) Charles, congratulations, you said a few weeks ago that Sebastian is doing a better job in terms of tyre management. Were you able to work on that this weekend, and don’t you think that this could be the key to win this race tomorrow?

    CL: Well, I’ve been analysing quite a lot Hungary. Actually, maybe it looked worse than it actually was but there’s definitely some work to do on my side on this. So, we’ll see if tomorrow it pays off. I changed a few things – very small things – but details always makes the difference at this level. So, yeah, we’ll see tomorrow if it’s any better.

    Q: (Jerome Pugmire – AP) Question for Charles. Obviously you’ve come close to winning in Bahrain and also in Austria. Bahrain was nothing to do with you. What have you taken from those two races; those two close calls that you can perhaps take into tomorrow to give you a bit more of an edge?

    CL: I mean obviously Bahrain was nothing to do with me, so not much to take from there. Austria, I think there were lessons learnt but I think I already showed it after in Silverstone, as I already speak about the aggressivity (sic) level I had with my opponents – but apart from this, nothing. I guess, at first it feels a bit weird when you are coming to Formula 1 and you do your first laps in the lead. So, the more laps I am in the lead, the more comfortable I am. And this feels good.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Possibly to all of you. When you were queuing up in your out-laps, what was more important for a perfect lap afterwards: to get a good tow or to have the tyres in the window? And was it possible at all to achieve both targets?

    LH: On the perfect scenario you got the tow and the tyres in the window. In Q3 I don’t think so, no because everyone was backing up. Obviously we had that really slow section with Hülkenberg, I think it was, and then Valtteri and myself and then again in the next one, everyone again was backing up into the last one, so I think the second one was a little bit of a better position, a chance, but still, it’s very, very tricky. I don’t think they were both… they were optimum for all of us.

    Q: Charles, how was it for you?

    CL: Yeah, at first I really targeted the perfect slipstream for the first run in Q3 but after that I really felt that the tyres weren’t ready for Turn One and I actually lost quite a bit of time. So then, for the second run in Q3, I just asked the team to send me whenever the car was ready, to be alone and to try to do the job alone, without slipstreams, which I think, yeah, in my opinion, on my car, it felt better to have the tyres in the right window than having the slipstream. So, we went as soon as possible – but obviously we found anyway some cars in front.

    Q: Seb?

    SV: Well, obviously it was more important to get the tyres in the right position for me. Or in the right place. I was, on both laps, too close to the cars in front and the tyres not right to start the lap with. So yeah, it was a lose-lose. The straights were good – but I was too close and lost quite a lot, I think also in Sector Two.

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Lewis, coming here, obviously Mercedes has the upgraded engine across for you and Valtteri and the customer cars. Two out of six of those cars have now had failures: Pérez’s car on fire and then Robert’s in the Williams in the qualifying. For you, going into tomorrow, does that present any concerns or do you just trust your team to analyse it and make whatever countermeasures they need to make.

    LH: I don’t know the details of why the engines have gone, so I have nothing to worry about currently because I don’t know anything about it really. I’m sure, when I get back, I’m sure they’re trying to analyse it and they’ll give us a bit of an idea – but still, I’ve just got to keep my head down and do what I do and what will be will be. There’s not much I can do about it, so there’s no point worrying about it.

    Q: (Luke Smith – crash.net) Charles, you spoke earlier in the season about your need to focus on qualifying and the build-up through all three sessions. I guess a third pole of the season proves your strategy is working; a sixth race in a row you’ve out-qualified your team-mate as well. Do you feel that you’ve cracked the code to F1 qualifying now?

    CL: I’ve done some changes on qualifying and yeah, I definitely feel the difference, and feel it’s going the good way. As I said in Hungary, now I need to focus a little bit on the race because in some races I haven’t been as good as I wanted to. So, now I’m trying to focus on that, to rebalance a little bit and we’ll see how it goes.

    Q: (Viktor Bognar – Magyar Szo) In the past weeks, in the mainstream media and social media it’s all about burning the rainforest and efforts of the global climate change. Do you think that Formula One should or could do something more to raise awareness to this problem? And do you agree with the way how Formula One promotes efficiency and sustainability at the moment?

    SV: I think it’s a very important subject. I feel that Formula One has a wordwide operating platform and should do a lot more. I don’t think that just promoting the efficiency of our engines is enough plus I think unfortunately a large part of our technology inside the car will not go onto the road so you can argue about the necessity. So I think – not just on track but also off track – I think Formula One could do a lot more and should set an example because I think it is a very serious matter and serious subject.

    CL: OK, to be honest it’s only my second season in Formula One. I’m not completely aware about how everything works on the engine so maybe I need a bit more experience to understand all of this.

    LH: I’ve been here for a long time. I don’t really know what their current plans are but I think they are working towards a goal in trying to improve the carbon footprint that we have as a sport. But I think up until now the job we’ve done in the sport – they haven’t done anything, particularly I think when Bernie was in place, there wasn’t a lot being done then. So we are in the position where we are now, beginning to shift. If you look at the V8s and the V10s, we are now using a third less fuel than we used to use in a race distance, so that’s already a step forward but there is absolutely more that we can do. Also, on things like the amount of plastic that’s used throughout the weekend – I’ve got three bottles right here. I’m not opening them, but someone will drink these and that becomes waste so I think the amount of waste that comes out of a race weekend, also through all these weekends, we can do a lot about that and so I’m trying to encourage Ross and his team to make a change. And as a team, I’m pushing Mercedes to be the leaders in that, so hopefully soon you’re going to see some positive changes from our side.

    Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Lewis, we very rarely see mistakes from you. Can you put your finger on what happened there? Was it a loss of concentration? Can you figure out what happened, you made that mistake?

    LH: You’re looking way too deep into it, man. Shit happens. I’m only human. I think my track record has been pretty good but it sometimes happens and yes, it’s frustrating and it never feels good, whether it’s in your first year or if it’s in your 13th year whatever, it doesn’t really make any difference but you can always learn from it. So there’s always a silver lining, there’s always an opportunity to pick yourself up, to rebuild and there’s always an experience with your guys and I think today was a massive challenge for the team. I think they did an exceptional job and I’m really happy, generally, with the job that I did in qualifying, so collectively it’s a positive. But I go in the back of the garage and I see my broken parts and I’m like ‘oh my baby’ but they’ll fix it, they’ll fix those parts hopefully or maybe I’ll have to put them up in Toto’s office or something and sign it and say sorry.

    Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsportmagazin.com) This queuing thing in Q3 seems to be a bigger topic this season. There were quite a few occasions now where things happened like this. Do you think you need some stricter rules, what is allowed there? At some point it looked a bit ridiculous when other cars were on their fast lap and came and they were queuing up, five, six, seven cars whatever.

    SV: I’m not in favour of any more rules. I think we have too many anyway.

    CL: I didn’t personally feel that it was worse than last year, at least. I felt that last year was as bad, actually. Everyone is trying to have a tow, which is normal but yeah, I agree with Seb also. I don’t think it should be another rule written in the book for this particular case.

    LH: I don’t remember ever going that slow before last year.

    SV: I think what should change, actually, what we should take from this – seriously – is that tyre-wise we shouldn’t be so much on the limit so obviously you’re fighting for a tow and so on but you’re also fighting to get into the optimum window which years ago it wasn’t that critical, whereas now it is. So you’re fighting for the best spot on the track which will hit the climb or the peak next week in Monza for finding the right tow because it does make a difference but it has also been part of those type of track, let’s say. But I feel if we had better tyres we could play with probably a bit more speed and so on.

    LH: I agree with Seb. Every weekend they put the pressures up so high it’s crazy, which again makes it a little bit harder for us but the tyres are so hard so getting them working, and they’re talking about taking blankets off for the future, we’ll never get temperature in the tyres if they do that. I think this year is definitely the slowest we’ve been. Today felt a little bit dangerous at one point because we were going round turn 15 on the kerb and there was a car coming and I couldn’t move, go on the grass. I was stuck behind Valtteri and I think the next… Hulkenberg or whatever. I can imagine if I was on a lap and I was coming round that everyone was crawling around at five miles an hour it would be a bit of a worry and a bit of a distraction so I’m not really sure what we can do to stop it from happening but maybe we have to be on the pit speed limiter or something like that. You shouldn’t be able to go five miles an hour or two or whatever we were doing because we were literally going as slow as possible to let people past. I did it in Austria, I think, to let everyone by because I was the first car out there and the tow is so strong this year with this car.  They talk about the front wing being easier to follow, it’s just caused a lot more drag.  This is a draggier car this year so the slipstream is even more powerful or the tow is more powerful than we’ve ever experienced.