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  • Lot of enthusiasm and amazing atmosphere around this track: Hulkenberg, Vettel

    Lot of enthusiasm and amazing atmosphere around this track: Hulkenberg, Vettel

    FIA Thursday Press Conference in progress. An FIA image

    Hockenheim (Germany), 25 July 2019: The following drivers attended the FIA Thursday press conference Carlos Sainz (McLaren), Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo), Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari), Nico Hulkenberg and (Renault), Alex Albon (Toro Rosso)

    Transcript: 

    Welcome gentlemen. A question to the two German drivers, please. Can you just tell us about the build-up to your home race here at Hockenheim and the emotions of racing at home? Nico, can we start with you please?

    Nico Hulkenberg: A fairly calm and steady build-up to be honest this year, which is quite nice. No particular events, just the usual day-to-day I would say. No, it’s good to come back here. I remember last year, I loved this weekend, it was an amazing atmosphere. Hockenheim was I think packed. Every grandstand ticket was more or less sold, and it was full of people and there was this magic atmosphere all weekend. I really enjoyed it here last year. It happened to be the best race of the season for me as well, so obviously it would be nice to repeat something like that, although sporting-wise we don’t seem to be as strong of course we are going to give it our best shot. But yeah, happy to be back here and looking forward to a hot weekend.

    Q: Thank you. Sebastian?

    Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, it’s been pretty calm on the build-up, so pretty straightforward. Obviously, I like this place very much, it’s pretty close to where I come from. We had a nice dinner together with the team last night, but other than that it’s been fairly calm. But like Nico said, very good memories of last year in terms of atmosphere. Obviously, the final outcome wasn’t great, but overall the weekend was fantastic – the number of fans, the number of German flags, the enthusiasm around the track. Hopefully, we can have something similar this year.

    Q: Your 10th German Grand Prix.

    SV: Yeah, here we go.

    Q: Here we go indeed. Thank you, guys. Alex, turning to you, a frustrating race for you last time out at Silverstone with an electrical problem. Can you tell us about that problem and without it would a points finish have been possible?

    Alex Albon: Yeah, it was a bit frustrating. Basically, the car was live, so we couldn’t really touch the car. I think the mechanics would have been a bit electrified if they did, so we had to stay out on track. It was frustrating, but it’s hard to say if we… I think we would have finished where we were before we had the issue. I think we were running about eighth, around there. Of course, it was just points missed, so that was a frustrating weekend, because we had two tough races before that, and that was kind of the time…. At Silverstone we were back on track and it was an opportunity to score some good points. Fortunately, Dany did, so it wasn’t too bad at the end of the day.

    Q: So, a frustrating race for you at Silverstone, but how do you sum up the season so far, because half distance in the race here will be the halfway point of the 2019 season. So how would sum out how it’s gone and what have the team told you about 2020?

    AA: It’s going well. I would say I’ve had a few ups and downs. But yeah, I’m quite happy with how it’s gone so far. And regarding 2020, who knows? I think that’s in other people’s hands.

    Q: Thank you. Nico, same sort of question to you really. As we reach the halfway point in the season, how are you feeling about the Renault project, how has it evolved during your three years with the team and looking ahead, do you stick, do you twist? What are your plans?

    NH: Yeah, I think it’s fair to say that so far this season we can’t be entirely happy with what we have achieved. I mean, to start with we had a lot of issues and missed out on results. But, a little bit more disappointing is just where we are in terms of pace, the development rate, it’s not where we really needed it and wanted it to be. Behind the expectations this year, so probably maybe, all in all, as well, not entirely happy and if you look across the three years we can’t be entirely happy with everything we’ve done. Nevertheless, the outlook is good. We still see light at the end of the tunnel and we still believe we can catch up to some extent, how much is always difficult to say with entire certainty. Yeah, we’ll see what happens in the future and what happens to me as well. As for now, there is nothing set in stone, but I think it’s quite likely that I will remain with the team.

    Q: You’re 21 points behind McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship now. Do you think that’s a fair reflection of the relative performance of the two teams?

    NH: Well, it is. That’s a fact. It is 21 points but I think we could be right up there with them, if you add up all the complications we had, all the missed results, problems, we should be there or thereabouts, but for sure McLaren are very strong at the moment and are probably one of our main competitors that we will be battling from here until the end.

    Q: Ok, good luck this weekend. Carlos, just to ask you about that battle with Renault. When you came into this season, did you expect to be ahead of them at this point?

    Carlos Sainz: No. I think the right answer is no. I wouldn’t expect to be in front of Renault. There was a good trend going last year in Renault and I think we finished off the season quite strongly but McLaren was at that time in Abu Dhabi more than half a second behind in qualifying, pretty much in every qualifying. Then in the race, also, it was difficult to match or to see Fernando and Stoffel battling more at the back than Nico and me. It was very difficult to predict that at this stage this year we would be in front. I don’t think we are in front. I think we are in front in the championship but we are very equal in performance and it makes the battle good fun, like it was in Silverstone, in Austria, in France, and we are happy to be battling with a team like Renault. I think just the objective of us two is to keep moving forward, both together, towards the top. Not looking too much to what Renault is doing, but keep looking forward, keep looking to Mercedes, keep looking to Red Bull, Ferrari and try to get that gap down.

    Q: You mention Austria and Silverstone. You raced very well at those races – 19th to eighth in Austria, 13th to sixth at Silverstone. So clearly you’re racing very well, but progress hasn’t been quite as sweet in qualifying. Why is that?

    CS: Yeah, it’s a good point actually. I’m not entirely happy with how things are going in qualifying. If you go race by race, it would be very easy to point out three or four races where obviously I was affected by issues away from my own. But what is important or what I feel is like I have the speed in the car. Every time I jump in the car I feel like I can extract the maximum out of it, I feel like I understand the car, I feel like I am quick every time I jump in, but then circumstances in qualifying they always come down to one lap then you’re whole qualifying picture looks bad, but what is important is that I feel speed, I feel comfortable with the car and I can prove it on race day and race days are going very well.

    Q: They are. Thank you. Kimi, coming to you, you’ve scored in seven of the 10 races so far, including the last three. Is that the level of performance and consistency you expected from Alfa Romeo when you joined them?

    Kimi Raikkonen: It’s hard to say, because obviously where they’ve been the last few years it’s not been the greatest. Last year they made good gains from halfway through. So, very unknown. I just went into the season to try to do the maximum, to see what we get. We had a bit harder part, three or four races where we were not very fast. But we managed to recover from that a little bit. There is still a long way to go but I think it’s not been too bad, at least in their own book. So we’ll keep trying and try to make the car faster.

    Q: How much have you improved the car so far?

    KR: For sure we have improved. I don’t know how much. It depends on what you compare. Obviously, we compare to the guys that are close to us and obviously we are still behind on pure speed but we bring as much as we can new parts and try to improve. At least usually the parts work very well, what we brought. So that’s a good thing. Obviously, with a small team like us, it takes a bit longer to bring new parts. But I think we are quite happy with how things have gone forward. But as I said, there is still an awful lot of work to be done to get more faster and to try to get closer to McLaren and things like that.

    Q: You’re happy with developments but how happy are you this year Kimi? How much are you enjoying Formula 1 in 2019 and how different is your experience now compared to last year?

    KR: I don’t think it’s a lot different. Obviously racing a bit more rearwards. But if you don’t count that the big picture hasn’t really changed. It’s a different team, but I’ve worked with some of them before. I think F1 hasn’t changed. We still this press conference, we have the same kind of meetings, interviews. That hasn’t changed, but obviously, outside of racing I have a bit more free time, so that is the nice part, but I don’t think it’s night and day what happened last year to this year.

    Q: Sebastian, let’s start by talking about the car. You’ve told us in the past that it’s tricky to drive. Can you tell us why it’s so hard to find the sweet spot of the SF90?

    Sebastian Vettel: Well, I think we had occasions where things were looking very good and other occasions where it was a bit more difficult but I think that’s also pretty normal throughout the season: you have different tracks with different characteristics and sometimes the car feels more the way you like and other times less – but yeah, I think we have, after the first couple of races we were able to get quite a good picture of what was missing compared to the performance we seemed to have at the beginning of winter testing. With that, I think we’ve made progress. Obviously, we are not where we would like to be, not as competitive as we would like to be, but I think overall, the understanding and the direction is going in the right way.

    Q: You say you’re not as competitive as you want to be – well, Red Bull have taken a step forward in recent weeks, so how do you see the pecking order at the front of Formula One now?

    SV: Well, I think obviously Mercedes does have an edge on everyone else, that’s, I think, pretty clear. Similar to previous years, they seem to struggle on tracks where tyre wear and degradation is a bit higher – like we’ve maybe seen in the last part of the race in France, or in Austria. But in terms of raw speed, they are the benchmark – and I think for myself and for us, that’s the benchmark. I think obviously between ourselves and Red Bull, it’s been sometimes closer, sometimes we were ahead, most of the times I believe we were ahead, sometimes we were behind but you know, that’s not the objective. The objective is to fight for wins and to do so at the moment you need to be level or better than Mercedes.

    Q: And what would a victory here, on home soil, mean to you on Sunday?

    SV: I think it’s always special, first of all, to have the opportunity to race in your home country; yeah, obviously I was very close last year, let’s see how close we can get this year. I think we are, you know, a less strong position to start the weekend. Then again, I think we’ve seen some recent races, we’ve been very strong in terms of qualifying – but also race pace. So yeah, I think we’re fairly open-minded. I’m fairly open-minded, to be honest. We start the weekend, see where it goes, obviously it’s going to be very hot initially and then probably cool off a little bit.

    Questions from the floor:

    Q: (Christian Nimmervoll – motorsport-total.com) Kimi, you’re back at Sauber – or Alfa Romeo – the first team that you started within Formula One. Is this full circle for you? Are you going to end your career here or do you consider moving teams?

    KR: I have no idea. I mean, obviously, I have a two-year contract, this and next year, and then we see what happens. No plans really. That’s about it really.

    Q: (Stefan Ehlen motorsport-total.com) Question to Sebastian. How badly do you want to win on Sunday, and how badly do you need to win on Sunday?

    SV: Not badly. Oddly I want to win, that’s for sure – but as I said, I’m also realistic. So, coming here, I don’t feel as we are the favourites but I feel we have a chance. For me, that’s the point of going racing. You have a chance to doing well. So, that’s objective and we will find out during the weekend. But certainly, it’s a special place for me. It’s very close to where I’m from, it’s a lot of family around and friends close by. To find a good way to celebrate, I wouldn’t need to go very far, so that would be quite handy.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat)  Sebastian, Kimi will be shortly 40 years old, can you see yourself racing as long as that?

    SV: I don’t know – I’m not as handsome as Kimi now, so I won’t be as handsome as he is when I’m 40! I don’t know, there’s not much point thinking about it. Imagine if you had asked Kimi when he was 32 if he can imagine racing when he’s 40, I don’t think you would have got an answer. I don’t know, it depends on how the next years go. It depends, I think, on where the sport is going with the big run change that will or will not come for 2021, and then we’ll see what happens after that. I’ll be 40 in 2027, so I don’t know is the answer. Sorry, Heikki!

    Q: (Giles Richards – The Guardian) Question for Sebastian. You’ve said in the past you struggle when you’re not feeling the car. Can you tell us, are you feeling this car and, if not, is it compounding the weaknesses that it already has?

    SV: Well, I think it’s not… as I tried to explain earlier, I think it’s normal that sometimes you feel more comfortable and sometimes less. I think for us it was important after the first couple of races to understand what brings this inconsistency, where the strength of the initial feeling with this car has gone and why we’re not able to repeat it the way we would like. But I think we do have a very good understanding by now. I think we are trying a lot of things to obviously make it better, to find a direction. I think a lot of things we tried are very good, other things we tried we went back on but yeah, obviously there are some things that probably this year are different than maybe they have been before – but nothing that you couldn’t adapt to.

    Q: (Jonathan McEvoy – Daily Mail) To Sebastian. What’s it like… it’s obviously been a long while since Ferrari won the Drivers’. Do you feel a sort of burden to lead them to victory to lead them after, what 11, 12 years? Does that sort of weigh on you? I mean, the sort of Ferrari dynamic, what it means to the nation. How do you feel bearing that responsibility?

    SV: It doesn’t feel like a burden, it feels like a privilege, you know, to go out and race for Ferrari and obviously my mission or my goal, as well as the team’s goal, is to get back to, you know, the – how do you say? – the winning ways. If we do that then we have a much better chance to fight for the Championship. Having said that, I think from when I joined and where we are now, obviously this year hasn’t gone the way we wanted after the last two years, but still, I think things are progressing in the right direction. In the big picture – but naturally, the big picture doesn’t interest you if you are not currently where you would like to be. So, I think we all know that Formula One is a world where people are very short-sighted, which is also fair and part of the game. Like I said, overall, even if things look good, we still obviously miss that final step and that’s the most important step.

    Q: (Julien Billotte – AutoHebdo) Question to Seb and Nico. How do you see the state of Formula One in Germany? Do you think it’s still as popular as it was 15 or 20 years ago – and in terms of drivers, behind you of course, there is a lot of interest for Mick Schumacher in Formula 2 but beyond him there doesn’t seem to be many German young talents – do you think it is because Formula One is not as inspiring as it was when you guys were growing?

    NH: I think, based and judged on last year, people were very interested. Like I said earlier, I’ve never seen that much interested since I’m in Formula One, since my career in Germany, and that was pretty amazing and nice to see. I think generally, Germans, we are known, we are a car country and we love our cars and the interest is still there. I think naturally some years it’s a bit more, some years it’s a bit less but I think yeah, we have a spoilt history in racing, so that’s also one thing to consider – but I think in general, the appetite and the interest of the population is still very much alive. And yeah beyond Mick, to be honest, I’m not really sure entirely what’s coming through the go-kart series and the young formulae, so can’t really comment on it.

    SV: I think obviously it’s normal that the biggest hype, I believe was when Michael started winning as he was the first German to win the Championship. Being the first, there is always more momentum and more interest – but as Nico said, I think the atmosphere last year proved that there is still very much an appetite for racing but I also feel that the German crowd is a very fair and direct and honest crowd, so maybe some things that have happened in our sport didn’t help the popularity. For the future, I think you need to draw, a bit, the bigger picture. I think, again, Germans are quite straightforward with the way they spend their money and unfortunately, junior racing, starting from karting and through the series after that is – I think – way too expensive. Nico and I enjoyed each other in go-karts and racing each other. I think the background is not that dissimilar. I think to give us the same chance today, I think our career would stop fairly soon because we simply wouldn’t have the pocket money to do it. So, I think overall, to allow more kids – boys and girls – to start racing, the sport would need to be a lot cheaper, as currently, I think it’s way too expensive and unaffordable for most.

    Q: (Manuel Sanchez – Il Tamburello.net) My question is for Nico Hülkenberg. Renault will be the first team to test future Pirellis. How much advantage will have Renault with this?

    NH: When are we going to test those tyres? Honestly, I don’t know? I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about.

    This weekend, it’s published that Renault will be the first team to test the new Pirellis…

    In October, Nico.

    NH: I think it’s very hard to say if that’s an advantage or not. I think all teams in rotation do tyre tests but, as far as I’m aware, you are kept in the dark as to what compounds you are testing and what kind of tyre it is, so it is hard for teams to make conclusions from that and use it for the future. So I don’t think it’s a big player or a big advantage.

    Q: (Phil Duncan – Press Association) Sebastian, just following on from the earlier question about racing for Ferrari, is this a team you would like to see out your career with or do you envisage racing for someone else?

    SV: Not at the moment. As I said earlier to Heikki that I don’t know how long I’m going to be here but I love racing, I think they’re the best cars to… the fastest there are. The joy that I get from driving is like it’s ever been and as I said, obviously the motivation is high to get the job done with Ferrari so that’s the two things that are, I guess, dictating whether I’m going to be around for long or not.

    Q: (Carlos Miguel Gomez – AutoHebdo Sport) Carlos, what is the secret to being the best of the rest?

    CS: At the moment there’s no secret. If I find it, I will obviously keep it secret. I think it’s a combination. I think it’s a combination of hard work done by the team and creating a package good enough to do what we are doing on race day. It’s a combination of good strategies come Sunday. It’s a combination of good starts, good pace when you need to have good pace and good development. Nowadays the midfield battle is so tight that you need to be on top of everything and be very good at everything and I think this year we’ve been very good at mostly everything and that’s why we are leading in that battle. We haven’t been the fourth fastest car every race weekend but somehow we’ve managed to score good results when we were not the fourth fastest car and in the midfield I think that’s important but my wish is to separate a bit from this midfield and see if the team can keep improving and keep separating itself from the midfield which I think this year is going to be nearly impossible to do. It’s more thinking in the future.

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Sebastian, sorry to take you back to 12 months ago here. You had your mistake in the race; since then there have been a few mistakes along the way, all the way through to Silverstone and the last race. How satisfied are you on your performances over the past twelve months? Is it fair to say that you haven’t delivered, given the car that you’ve been given by Ferrari? And do you feel under pressure?

    SV: Well, I always put myself under pressure so I can’t be happy, obviously, if things go wrong. I think some of the things, obviously, were bigger than others. I think the main thing is that – as I said previously – that we keep progressing in the right way but for sure if I get something wrong and make a mistake I can’t be happy with that. The pressure I put on myself after that I think is bigger than any external factors. This has been the same as long as I can remember. I think for me it’s the most honest and straightforward way to deal with it myself because I know what I’ve done wrong and what I’ve done right. I know when I had the opportunity to do well or not. I think you’re always your best judge, no matter what you do so that’s the rules by which I play.

    Q: (Rebecca Clancy – The Times) Sebastian and Kimi, do you ever miss each other as teammates and can you say what the best qualities were about each other as a teammate?

    KR: The meetings are a lot shorter now, now that we’re not in the same meetings anymore. Or in the same team. We see each other still. I enjoy it, for sure, it was very good but we were friends before and it never changed and it’s still the same so life goes on. I think it’s always been very honest with Seb so it’s easy, easy-going.

    Q: His best qualities?

    KR: Straightforward, honest.

    SV: I can only return. Obviously now the meetings are not as short as they were which is a pity. Yeah, as Kimi said, we’ve sort of got on with each other before, had respect for each other and it’s the same now. Best qualities? Straightforward and honest! Yeah. No, I think the interesting thing is, even if, no, we look very different from the outside in terms of what people think but I think inside, as I said, we got along with each other fairly quickly right from the beginning and it’s probably because we share a lot of the same values and key to that is there were never any games or any attempt to play anything or… just no attempt to waste time, basically.

    Q: (Luke Smith – Crash.net) Seb and Nico, following the earlier question about the future of F1 in Germany, you mentioned Mick Schumacher. How significant do you think the return of the Schumacher name to an F1 race seat in the future could be for F1 in this country and also how important is it that he’s not rushed on that journey?

    SV: Yeah, I think it’s crucial that he’s given the time he needs. I think it’s fair to judge him and his racing like every one of us has been judged and will be judged but it’s not right to measure and compare too much to other people and to his father. I don’t think it’s fair. It’s a different time, different racing but for sure, as I tried to explain earlier, Michael was the one who set off a huge hype when we were kids and therefore the name Schumacher is one hundred percent known in Germany due to him. Obviously to have Mick at the doorstep of F1 and one day hopefully joining would be huge and hopefully a big boost for Germany. On top of that, despite the name, he’s a great guy, he’s a nice kid so I think our fingers are crossed for him. There’s been a time when I think we had a lot of Germans in Formula One – like six or seven – and everyone was wondering why and so on. Now we have two we don’t get these questions anymore but back then I think there were zero French guys and now you have quite a lot of French guys in Formula One and very close so I think it’s just how it goes around but yeah, hopefully, he gets the chance one day and does well and brings some more enthusiasm.

    NH: Yeah, not much to add. I feel and think the same as Seb said. I think he needs his time, of course, also to go through his development but I’m sure he will get his chance. But then for Germany that could be quite… obviously, another big ignition to motivate people to go back to a Formula One race to watch so it could play a big part in that and it would be great to see.

    Q: (Edd Straw – Autosport) Sebastian, a question about the past. I wanted to ask you about one of your most successful cars, the 2011 Red Bull RB7. What do you remember about that car and how challenging was it to get the most out of that, given that there was the exhaust blown downforce and you had to adapt your technique to get the most from it?

    SV: Yeah, obviously it was a very experimental phase because back then exhaust blowing was unknown and the effects of it and the logic behind it and so on. It was the first year where we really explored the limits, up to the point where we blew up a tyre on the grid because the plume and the hot air on the tyre obviously was coming at very high speed and made a big difference to how the car felt, made a big difference to how you had to drive the car, made a big difference to how you set up the car but I think we got the hang of it. I think the key to one, a very clever way to design the car. The second was Renault’s input back then which I think they’ve been first in class and most extreme and probably the bravest to adapt and come up with solutions to help the demands of our aero department at the time. Obviously then it got banned and the years after, what people have been trying ever since is to find a way to get back because it’s proved to be so powerful. Season-wise it was a great season because I think we as a whole team matured a lot from little hiccoughs in 2010 so it was a lot more straightforward in 2011.

    Q: (Rosal Mohedano – MomentoGP.com) Carlos, Andreas Seidl has been in the team for some months now, has he changed a lot in the team to make a midfield car the top midfield car?

    CS: I think the credit for this year’s car is mainly due to what happened last year, all the development that happened during that second half of the season, where the team basically decided to stop developing 2018 to try and understand why the 2018 car was so poor and the job done, obviously in the early months of this winter, going into March, the job of Andreas, what he’s doing very well now is doing a whole analysis of the situation that we are in in the factory, especially back in Woking and he’s just having an overlook and have a very good look into what can be improved and it’s more a midterm to a long term project. I think he’s quite advance and he’s going to start having a very big influence in the upcoming months but you need to give him time. I think when there is an environment of six hundred to eight hundred people like we are in McLaren at the moment, to notice any kind of change you need years, you need months or even years to feel the change and that’s going to take time for sure.

     

  • Brembo explains the breaking points of the 2019 Formula 1 German GP

    An in-depth look at the braking systems on the Formula 1 single-seaters at Hockenheimring

    Hockenheimring will host the eleventh race of the 2019 Formula 1 World Championship season from July 26 to 28. ​

    The track in use since 2002 is very different from the original used by the Formula 1 single-seaters since 1970, given that chicanes were added and modified throughout the years.

    Yet, the current layout still includes the Motodrom section featuring every type of turn possible: The Spitzkehre hairpin turn (turn 6), fast corners (turn 7) taken at full-throttle, and other corners where brake use is at mid-level. ​

    Hockenheimring is a track that puts the power-units to the test, but the brakes benefit from long straightaways that help them cool down after the intense work in the first two-thirds of the circuit. ​

    But if it rains, the opposite problem could occur where the carbon braking system (discs and pads) doesn’t reach its optimal operating temperature. In this case, the drivers don’t have all of the friction they need to brake. ​

    According to Brembo technicians who have classified the 21 World Champion tracks, Hockenheimring falls into the category of circuits that present a high-level of difficulty on the brakes. On a scale of 1 to 5, it earned a 4 on the difficulty index.​

    The demand on the brakes during the GP

    On average, the Formula 1 drivers use their brakes on a single lap for just over 11 seconds and a half, a value that is a second lower than that of the Canadian GP. ​

    However, the German track is longer by 213 meters (699 feet) than the track in Montreal and the cars’ average lap speed is faster. The braking systems are engaged for 16% of the race, the exact same percentage registered at the Australian GP and the Russian GP, but these races are very different in terms of the number and intensity of braking. ​

    The average peak deceleration is 4.6 G overall, despite the first three braking sections never going below 5.2 G. From the start of the race to the checkered flag, the amount of energy dissipated by each single-seater is over 237 kWh. ​

    Summing up the load applied to the brake pedal from the start to the finish, each driver experiences a force of 49 tons (108,027 lbs).

    The most demanding braking sections

    Less than a third of the 17 turns on Hockenheimring require brake use: four are classified as demanding on the brakes and one is light. ​

    The most challenging braking section is at turn 6 because the cars slow down from 329 km/h (204 mph) to 65 km/h (40 mph) in a mere 2.9 seconds.

    The drivers are subjected to a deceleration of 5.7 G as they apply a load measuring 214 kg (472 lbs) on the brake pedal and travel 129 meters (423 feet). ​

    The drop in speed is less decided at turn 2: From 320 km/h (199 mph) to 103 km/h (64 mph) in just 2.66 seconds, which translated into very hard braking.

    The deceleration is slightly lower (5.2 G) at this turn, but the load on the brake pedal reaches 178 kg (392 lbs).

    These characteristics make this turn one of the favorites for any driver looking to pass a competitor.

    It’s also worth mentioning the braking done on turn 8: From 303 km/h (188 mph) to 109 km/h (68 mph) traveling 110 meters (361 feet) in 2.22 seconds and applying a load of 155 kg (342 lbs) on the pedal.

    Brembo performance

    Cars with Brembo brakes have won 21 editions of the German GP. Five teams have won here at least once, including Ferrari in 1977 with NikiLauda.

    This was the first victory Ferrari secured with Brembo brakes, it then went on to win 11 other races. Only one of these victories by the single-seaters from Maranello took place at Nürburgring.

    Michael Schumacher on the other hand, won four times on this track, every single time with Brembo brakes.

    Video: You can watch the video here.

  • Melbourne signs agreement to host F1 until 2025

    London, 18 July 2019: Formula 1 is delighted to announce that the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix will continue to be held in Melbourne until at least the end of 2025.

    The agreement between Formula 1 and the Australian Grand Prix Corporation has been recently signed in London. Australia has an impressive motor sport history and has hosted a round of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship since 1985. It was held in Adelaide up until 1995, moving to the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit in the heart of the Victorian state capital as from 1996.

    Since then, apart from 2006 and 2010, the Australian Grand Prix has always been the World Championship season opener. In the more than two decades since, the race in Melbourne has consistently proved to be one of the most popular on the calendar. In the last three years alone more than 900,000 fans have attended the Grands Prix at Albert Park, guaranteeing that the Formula 1 season kicks off in an incredible festival-like atmosphere at the heart of the one the world’s most exciting cities.

    And next year, the race will once get the season underway, from 12 to 15 March. There’s no better place to start the Championship, and with the sport celebrating its 70th anniversary and its 25th visit to Albert Park next year, the Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix 2020 promises to be a spectacle unlike any other.

    Chase Carey, Chairman and CEO, Formula 1, said: “We are pleased to have renewed our partnership with the city of Melbourne, which will now host the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix until at least 2025. The decision to extend the current relationship for a further two years stems from the fact this event has proved to be a resounding success for the capital of Victoria, for Australia and indeed around the world, proving immensely popular with fans and those who work in Formula 1. Working along with our partner, the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, we plan to make the Australian Grand Prix even more exciting and spectacular, as a sporting event and as a form of entertainment.

    The announcement follows on from last week’s, relating to the British Grand Prix and is proof that more and more promoters are sharing our long-term vision for the future of Formula 1. We cannot wait to be back in Melbourne, from 12 to 15 March next year to celebrate the 25thanniversary of this race being held there and continuing a relationship which will also allow us to celebrate at least 30 years in the city in 2025.”

    On Thursday, Martin Pakula MP, Victorian Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, said: “This is a fantastic vote of confidence from Formula 1 to continue racing in Melbourne until at least 2025. Victoria hosts major events better than anywhere else in the world and I’m excited that Formula 1 has chosen to exercise its option to extend the contract and enable the Victorian Government and the Australian Grand Prix Corporation (AGPC) to continue to deliver more world-class events for Victoria. The Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix has contributed significantly to Melbourne’s standing as a global sporting and major events capital and the event is a key pillar of Melbourne’s and Australia’s international sporting calendar. Beyond the direct benefits to Melbourne and Victoria arising out of Formula 1’s decision, the contract extension until 2025 also provides benefits and confidence for Victoria’s events industry and the associated supplier base to the AGPC. Additionally, it provides the AGPC with opportunities to further enhance and develop the event for the benefit of all fans and lovers of the sport of Formula 1.”

  • The shape of things to come: 2021 F1 rules status update

    The shape of things to come: 2021 F1 rules status update

    Sketch courtesy FIA

    Silverstone, 17 July 2019: Following the June decision to further refine the 2021 FIA Formula One World Championship regulations ahead of a new presentation date at the end of October when the World Motor Sport Council will vote, the FIA and Formula 1 have this week revealed the most detailed vision yet of how Formula 1 will change in 2021 and how the sport will achieve closer racing, a more competitive grid and a sustainable future for the pinnacle of motor sport.

    The Aerodynamics of closer racing

    For some time drivers have faced difficulties in following or attacking a rival car, an issue that stems from the aerodynamic characteristics of current Formula 1 cars. In recent years, team aerodynamicists have become adept at channelling airflow outboard of the car, thus creating a large, disruptive wake of ‘dirty’ air behind the car.

    This wake has the effect of reducing downforce on a following car making it hard to stay close to the car in front. The reduced downforce also has the effect of making the car move around more. This leads to overheating tyres, a condition that also forces a following driver to back off.

    The aerodynamic regulations for 2021 are designed to address this by generating downforce in different way to current cars.

    In place of the complex front wings and bargeboards, Formula One will pursue a ‘ground effect’ solution that will see downforce generated underneath the car, as FIA Head of Single-Seater Technical Matters, Nikolas Tombazis, explains.

    “There’s a diffuser going right under the car, with a Venturi-type channel running through it. The tunnels go right from the front to the back,” he says. “[With the 2021 car] typically, we will go from about a 50% loss of downforce for the following car at two car distances [in 2017] to about a 5-10% loss. So we have a massive reduction of the loss of downforce for the following car.”

    The Venturi tunnels will feed air back to a much higher diffuser than on current cars, and allied to other conditioning elements, such as the front wheel arch, the wake generated by a leading car will be narrower and higher, allowing following cars to stay closer for longer in ‘cleaner’ air.

    “The two strong vortices we are creating take a lot of the wheel wake up and over the car behind. As a result what the car behind sees is much cleaner flow,” says Tombazis.

    One element still under discussion is the final specification of the front wing. “There is further work going on with the front wing,” says Tombazis. “We are still not completely happy with it, both from an aero point of view and from an aesthetic point of view, so we are trying to make it better in both aspects. There are good reasons why the current wing is very wide aerodynamically, but it is not the best aesthetic result, so there is work going on there.”

    Getting a grip on tyres

    The tyres on offer to teams from 2021 onwards will also be subject to the same sweeping changes. Chief among the alterations is the already announced move from 13-inch to18-inch rubber.

    “We are into a deep consultation with Pirelli about how to be in a position where [the tyres] enable people to race and don’t degrade or force people to manage so much,” explains Tombazis. “They will need a broader working range and will not be as sensitive as the current tyres. We have understood jointly quite a lot of things that will make a significant difference in that respect.”

    Pat Symonds, Chief Technical Officer at Formula 1 adds that altering the characteristics of the tyres will be a key component in creating closer racing, although he says that requesting Pirelli to produce a super-hard, “Le Mans-type tyre that will go on and on and on” is not part of the plan.

    “The high degradation target is not the way to go,” he said, “however, we do believe that pit stops are important in F1 and we know our fans enjoy these two-second stops. Some of the teams are going to help us with this task through simulation.”

    Another benefit of the move to 18-inch wheels is that understanding the deformation of the current tyres under load has been the subject of substantial and costly research and development by teams and that moving to lower profile 18-inch tyres that deform less that avenue of research for teams will be significantly narrowed.

    Additionally, it is proposed that tyres blankets be outlawed for 2021 and beyond.

    Reducing the performance gap

    At last weekend’s British Grand Prix, Valtteri Bottas’ pole time in qualifying was over three seconds faster than Robert Kubica’s P20 time – and Formula 1 Managing Director of Motorsport Ross Brawn is candid that the performance gap between teams is too great. A key objective is to tighten the field up in 2021 by a nominal factor of around half.

    “We have three teams that can win races at the moment, that’s all,” says Brawn. “Over the next couple of years, Formula 1 will be on a much better path… where a really good, moderately-funded team, can cause a lot of trouble. That’s what we want. If you get a Charles Leclerc or a Max Verstappen in a midfield team, it can make a difference.”

    To close up the grid, in tandem with the spending restriction being put in place for 2021, the FIA and Formula 1 propose to simplify a range of car systems and parts in order to reduce cost and allow smaller teams to target resource more effectively.

    Among these items are a simplified fuel system, less complex and longer lasting radiators, standardised wheel rims, a standardised brake system, a ban on hydraulic suspension systems, a restriction on the use of certain exotic materials, standardised pit equipment for all teams, and a freeze of gearbox specification for five years.

    “All of these are technical and sporting regulations which, on top of the financial regulations, will in themselves create a significant cost reduction,” says Tombazis.

    Additionally, cost controls are set to be put in place to limit the size of teams, with the goal again to stop the big teams dominating the smaller ones via superior resources.

    “The great teams will still be the great teams,” says Brawn. “But in all the marginal gains that they do where they have 10 people on a project instead of two, which brings 5% more performance – they won’t do that anymore. They can’t, or if they do, they’ll be losing out in other areas where perhaps they could perhaps be making better gains.”

    Stress-testing the regulations

    A radical change in regulations invariably brings with it opportunities teams seek to take advantage of, but for 2021 Formula 1 and the FIA are seeking to ‘stress-test’ the regulations with the technical team at Formula 1 looking at how rules could be exploited.

    “There is work going on to ‘break the rules’,” says Tombazis. “Our colleagues at F1 have put a different hat on and rather than being a rule maker they are actually acting like an aerodynamicist in a team to see how much they can stretch the rules. It’s an opportunity to really try to push [the regulations] to the extreme to see if certain [exploitable] areas may emerge from the rules, either as loopholes or unintended consequences. Clearly, if we have the opportunity to do this ourselves it means we may avoid certain rules that might otherwise create problems later on.”

    Brawn added: “The group that we have at FOM is not going to stop work at the end when the rules are issued. That group is going to carry on working, so as we see the team’s solutions evolve, we’ll analyse those solutions and understand if they are starting to negate the objectives so we can steer it back again. We are going to monitor and develop and tune the solutions constantly to make sure that we maintain these objectives.”

    The next steps

    The progress towards the biggest change in Formula One regulations for many decades has been significant, and over the next two months more meetings involving all stakeholders will take place to further fine-tune the regulations before the October deadline.

    At the head of that agenda is the discussion around placing more responsibility for race management in the hands of drivers, via a possible reduction in car electronics, the limiting of driver aids and restrictions around car-to-pit telemetry.

    Talks are ongoing, too, on further standardisation of components that add little to the show and simplification of the lower part of the chassis.

    Drivers will also play their part, and after a first meeting to hear the thoughts of the men behind the wheel, Brawn said more consultation will take place.

    “The first meeting that we had was very good and the drivers stood as a group,” he says. “Drivers come under pressure from their own teams to take a position and that means that they’re just another voice in the same direction. [But] when the drivers stand and give us their own views, as a drivers’ group, the GPDA [Grand Prix Drivers’ Association], that’s really helpful and constructive.”

    The outcome, in October, will change the course of the FIA Formula One World Championship and for Brawn that is an exciting prospect.

    “Our objective is to make F1 more entertaining, more accessible, more sustainable – from a commercial perspective not just an environmental one,” he concludes. “There’s a lot going on, and it won’t stop. It will continue, and this is the new philosophy of where we will take Formula One.”

  • Lewis Hamilton takes record 6th British GP win

    Lewis Hamilton takes record 6th British GP win

    Hamilton celebrates after winning the 2019 British Grand Prix, on Sunday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas photo by Steve Etherington

    Silverstone, 14 July 2019: Lewis Hamilton benefited from a mid-race safety car period to overhaul team-mate and early race leader Valtteri Bottas to claim a record sixth British Grand Prix victory at the end of a race that further back was characterised by a race-long duel between Ferrari and Red Bull. The 10th round of the Formula 1 World Championship here on Sunday saw another Mercedes 1-2.

    Hamilton’s eclipse of the benchmark he shared with Jim Clark and Alain Prost hung on a twist of fate on lap 19.

    After pressuring pole sitter Bottas after the start, Hamilton briefly got past his team-mate. Bottas though responded and re-took first place with a great move past the champion at Copse.

    Bottas then exerted control over the pair’s first stint. The Finn pitted from the lead on lap 16, taking on another set of medium tyres, and soon after the complexion of the race changed utterly.

    Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi lost control of his car on entry to Club corner and ended up beached close to the apron of the gravel trap. The incident brought out the safety car and Hamilton approaching the final corners immediately swing towards the pit lane. The rapid reaction and a set of hard tyres put the Briton out into a lead he would hold until the flag.

    Bottas, meanwhile, was now locked into a two-stop race and would need to pit again. And armed with good pace and thanks to the fireworks happening behind, the Finn was comfortably able to pit again on lap 45 for soft tyre and emerge in second.

    While Hamilton’s 80thcareer win, his record sixth at Silvertrone and Mercedes’ seventh one-two finish of the year will occupy the headlines, the action-packed battle for the final podium place between Ferrari and Red Bull was just a thrilling for the huge crowd.

    The contest went right to the race start. When the lights went out Ferrari’s

    Charles Leclerc held third and ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Behind them Pierre Gasly, starting in fifth place, made a good getaway, but Sebastian Vettel’s start was better and the Ferrari managed to get past the Red Bull on the run to Turn 1.

    Verstappen pushed hard to get past Leclerc but the Ferrari driver resisted well and he eventually forced an error from the Dutchman that dropped him back towards Vettel. That scrap, though, allowed Gasly to close up to Vettel and the Frenchman pounced on lap 12, ambushing the German down the inside of Turn 3 to take P5. His grip on the position was brief, however. At the end of the lap Gasly pitted for hard tyres and he rejoined the action in P10.

    On the following lap Versteppen followed suit, immediately behind Leclerc. The pit stop battle was won by Red Bull and the Dutchman swung out into the pit lane alongside the Ferrari. They stayed side by side almost to the exit but eventually Leclerc, marginally behind, gave way and Verstappen was elevated to fourth.

    Again, though, his advantage was short-lived. On cold tyres Verstappen struggled for grip and he ran wide. Leclerc swept past to retake P3. What followed was an epic battle for the position, with both drivers racing on the limit for several wheel-banging laps that saw Verstappen only just hang onto the position.

    However, the battle was defused when Giovinazzi beached his car and the SC period sparked a flurry of pit stops. Hamilton was first in for hard tyres, a move that handed him the lead ahead of Bottas who didn’t stop. Vettel was next in for the same compound and Max then followed suit.

    Leclerc was briefly left on track and when Ferrari eventually pitted him for hard tyres he dropped to P6 behind Verstappen and Gasly, with the top three positions now occupied by Hamilton, Bottas and Vettel.

    When the race went green again the combat between Verstappen and Leclerc resumed once more. This time it was Leclerc on the offensive and with Verstappen again struggling for grip on the hard tyres, the Ferrari driver made his move. Once again they fought tigerishly but eventually Verstappen pulled clear of the Ferrari. And with pace in hand over Gasly, who was on older hard tyres, Red Bull made the smart moved and allowed verstappen through to claim P4 and begin pursuit of Vettel.

    On lap 36, Leclerc began to exert heavy pressure on Gasly and into Vale the Ferrari driver went around the outside of the Red Bull. Gasly tried to defend but he had to give way eventually and Leclerc moved ahead.

    The reverse was happening further up the road, as Verstappen attacked Vettel. On lap 38 the Red Bull driver set up the perfect move, closing in and powering past the Ferrari into Stowe. However, the move meant that Verstappen went slightly wide on exit and Vettel saw an opportunity. He closed up behind Max but misjudged the braking point for the following corner and slammed into the back of Verstappen’s RB15. Both drivers ended up in the gravel trap but Verstappen was quickly back on track, in fifth place behind Gasly. Vettel, though, dropped to back of the field, pitted for a new front wing and was later handed a time penalty for causing the collision. Verstappen, now driving a damaged car, settled into fifth and nursed his car to the flag.

    And then after 52 action-packed laps Hamilton crossed the line to take his 80thcareer grand prix victory and a record sixth British Grand Prix win ahead of Bottas and Leclerc. The Briton also managed to pick up the point for fastest lap on the final tour of the race.

    With the Red Bulls in fourth and fifth, sixth place went to McLaren’s Carlos Sainz, the Spaniard profiting from the safety car to rise from P13 on the grid. Behind him Daniel Ricciardo finished in P7 ahead of the Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen, Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat and Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg.

     

    2019 FIA Formula One British Grand Prix – Race
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 52
    2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 52 24.928
    3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 52 30.117
    4 Pierre Gasly Red Bull Racing 52 34.692
    5 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 52 39.458
    6 Carlos Sainz McLaren 52 53.639
    7 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 52 54.401
    8 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 52 1’05.540
    9 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 52 1’06.720
    10 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 52 1’12.733
    11 Lando Norris McLaren 52 1’14.281
    12 Alex Albon Toro Rosso 52 1’15.617
    13 Lance Stroll Racing Point 52 1’21.086
    14 George Russell Williams 51 1 Lap
    15 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 51 1 Lap
    16 Robert Kubica Williams 51 1 Lap
    17 Sergio Perez Racing Point 51 1 Lap
    Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 18
    Romain Grosjean Haas 9
    Kevin Magnussen Haas 6 ;

  • I lift the British flag proudly; There’s no-one else in this sport that’s raised it so high: Lewis Hamilton

    I lift the British flag proudly; There’s no-one else in this sport that’s raised it so high: Lewis Hamilton

    Silverstone, 13 July 2019: The following drivers attended the FIA post-qualifying press conference on Saturday: Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari).

    Valtteri Bottas (centre) takes pole on Saturday ahead of Hamilton (left) and Leclerc. An FIA image

    The track interviews were conducted by former F1 driver and current commentator, David Coulthard;

    Transcript:

    Q: Valtteri Bottas, pole position here at Silverstone. It’s been a while – Barcelona your last one – but you must be particularly proud of that one?

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, it feels very good. It just reminds you of why you do this, these kinds of feelings, but yeah, it’s been pretty close all weekend, and today, with Lewis and just really, really happy to get a good lap and be on pole.

    Q: Put us in the cockpit. You had the provisional pole you would look at the overlay and realise that Lewis had made a mistake at Brooklands and you know you have to dig deep and find something. You didn’t manage to improve on that time but where was your mind on the lap in terms of know how good the previous one was?

    VB: Yeah, I knew the first lap was good but it was not perfect. Honestly, I should have improved on the second run. I didn’t quite get the lap together, especially in the first part of the lap, but I’m glad it was enough. It’s not easy to get a good lap together, it’s easy to do mistakes and I think everyone was struggling a bit, so happy to be on top.

    Q: I’m not sure the crowd is happy with what you’ve done but congratulations? 

    VB: Thank you.

    Q: Lewis Hamilton, it was close and you worked that hard, but we saw you had that little wobble in the second-last lap in qualifying. Tell us about your actual ultimate lap, it’s a tiny gap between you and Valtteri.

    Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, firstly, congratulations to Valtteri, he did a solid job throughout qualifying. Ultimately not good enough, We had worked hard throughout the session but it just got a little bit away from us. We sacrificed a lap in Q2, which would have helped get a reading of where the car was, but we didn’t end up doing that. In the end, I had that mistake on the first lap and the second one just wasn’t that great so fair play to Valtteri he did the job. But it’s a long race tomorrow, we’ve got a great crowd here and hopefully, I can do something good for them tomorrow.

    Q: The crowd is willing you on. It’s another grand prix, or is it? It’s more than just a grand prix, the British Grand Prix for you?

    LH: Yeah, completely. It’s the best grand prix of the year and it’s really because of the energy the3 people bring. These tracks are great layouts and designs and areas of space but without people like this to fill it up and bring energy, it’s nothing. That’s why we’ve got the best fans here in England.

    Q: Charles, well done, fastest Ferrari driver but that’s ultimately not your goal. We looked through free practice and Ferrari looked like they could challenge Mercedes but in the end, it was a tough one for you?

    Charles LECLERC: Yeah, well, I think also in Q2, up to Q2 we were quite good but then in Q3 Mercedes turned up a little bit the engine, and they were very, very quick also round the corners, that’s where we need to work, we know it. Third place is the best we could have done today and I’m very happy about it.

    Q: I saw you have a close look at the Mercedes car. This is the one time on a weekend when it’s acceptable to be a little bit nosy. Anything standing out there that you like?

    CL: No, just looking at the state of the tyres, that’s nothing special.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Valtteri, a tremendous lap by you at the start of Q3. Very tight between you and your team-mate. Just how good was that first lap?

    VB: It was good. Obviously good enough for pole. There was not much in it between me and Lewis in the end. But still, going into the second run, there were a couple of place where it was clear there was margin to improve so I wouldn’t say it was a perfect lap, but I doubt anyone got a perfect lap today. It was not easy to get everything right and super-sensitive to tiny mistakes here and there with this new tarmac and also with a bit of wind. But yeah, I’m happy that it was enough and it’s definitely a good feeling.

    Q: Valtteri, you now have more poles this season than any other driver. Is that significant to you and have you worked specifically on qualifying this year, something more than previous seasons?

    VB: It’s not that I have been specifically been working on it. Obviously, you always try to improve your performance both on low- and high-fuel, short and long runs. I think the biggest thing for me to work on is the pure race pace definitely, in some kinds of conditions. I mean, year-by-year you are always learning and you get quicker if you work. The main thing is to turn those poles into wins and that’s the main thing for tomorrow.

    Q: Congratulations. Lewis, motorsport is full of ifs, buts and maybes. Had you not made that error at Brooklands on your first lap in Q3 and got a complete lap in might it have been different?

    LH: It doesn’t really matter at the end of the day. You can’t go back, you can only go forwards. Valtteri did the job, so congratulations to him. And for us, yeah, it just wasn’t the best of qualifying sessions. But there’s a long race tomorrow so I just have to see how I can convert the position I’m in to progress forward. I think the long run yesterday was good, so I hope we can utilise the tyre advantage we have, in the sense of starting on the mediums, so hopefully we can do a good job with that tomorrow.

    Q: Did the track conditions fluctuate a lot during that session?

    LH: Not really. It’s a little bit gusty here. That’s why it’s so great here at Silverstone, because it’s spread over such a vast piece of land and sometimes it’s raining on one section of the track and not another and it’s gusty in some places and not so much in other places. It really bodes well for a tough track to finish a lap on.

    Q: Charles, like Lewis, you came on the radio and said you had made a mistake on that first run in Q3. Do you feel there was more out there today?

    CL: No, I don’t think so. Very, very happy with my lap. I think in the last corner I maybe could have done a little bit better, but not much. Overall, I think we are very happy with the performance, very close to Mercedes and we did not expect it. We thought we would be struggling more this weekend. We have been struggling since FP1 with the front end of the car, still in qualifying, but a little bit less. So yeah, it’s a good qualifying session for us. Of course, I would have hoped for a higher position, but third is the best we could have done today.

    Q: As with Austria you will start the race on the soft tyre, the guys next to you are going to be on the medium tyre. How do you see the tyre war playing out .

    CL: Again, it was thought. So we wanted to do that. Again, in Austria it wasn’t a bad choice. That’s not what made us finish second there so we are pretty happy here too.

    Questions from the floor:

    Q: (Christian Menath – motorsport-magazin.com) Charles, just following up on the Q2 and the soft tyre. You made the first run on the medium tyre and then set the fastest lap on the soft. Was it always the plan to qualify with the soft, because yesterday’s long runs didn’t look that great and it was a bit surprising to us that you improved your time?

    CL: Yes, it was planned like this. The race run was not great yesterday but it was not due to the tyre, as I said. We had some issues with the front end and I think it got better today, so we will see tomorrow whether we have a significant improvement on the long runs, but it was not due to the tyre.

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Valtteri and Lewis: Lewis, after practice yesterday you talked about having a little bit of difficulty with the balance of the car, the rear was stepping out a bit. Did that carry into today or were you happy with the car? Valtteri, you started strongly yesterday, has that just continued and do you just feel very happy with the balance of the car?

    VB: Well, yeah, from the very beginning, since the first practice the feeling was quite nice. There was definitely room for improvement, especially with the rear end of the car, mainly on the entry of the corners. I think we managed to get it a bit better. It was still the weakness in a couple of places the rear end of the car but it’s not been a massive drama. I managed to build up from yesterday, except for practice three, I was a bit off the pace. I just tried to reset and remind myself of everything I was capable of doing yesterday and it turned out to be good.

    Q: And Lewis?

    LH: Yeah the car was good. We made a big step forward, so no problems.

    Q: (Simon Amberley – Nevis Radio) To Charles: it was mentioned yesterday that maybe the Ferrari race pace wasn’t quite as strong as Mercedes, but with the gaps today and the difference on the tyres do you think possibly if you get a jump at the start, of getting Valtteri and Lewis, do you think you can maybe dictate the pace a bit more?

    CL: That’s definitely the target  – to try to use our tyre advantage, especially at the start, to gain positions and then try to keep them. Keeping them will be very difficult because they are extremely quick in race runs but that’s the target.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – liviooricchiof1.com) Lewis, from the outside it didn’t appear that you had the car in your hands all the time. Is it because of the circumstances or maybe you have a set-up thinking more of the race?

    LH: No, the set-up suited race trim best and I think yesterday I really did struggle with it on a single lap and of course I was trying to improve it over the evening and into today. It felt great into P3 and it felt really good at the star5 of the Q sessions and it kind of deteriorated through the session, so it got harder and harder, back towards a similar problem we had yesterday – as you saw in Turn 6 for example. But it was also windy. The race trim is still good. I didn’t want to move from the set-up I had, too far away, because it worked so well on the long run yesterday. Fingers crossed the strength in the race should be quite good but again it depends on what position we are in and how the wind is and a bunch of other factors.

    Q: (Yassmin Abdel-Magied – The Guardian) I’ve got a slightly less technical question. Lewis, this is your home race and there’s lot of British flags out there and you’ve talked about loving coming back to the UK but there’s contention because you live in Monaco, and your accent isn’t maybe as British as others because you spend a lot of time in the US. So, why do you think that people question your Britishness?

    LH: I don’t really know. I don’t really have a good answer for that.

    VB: We all live in Monaco!

    LH: We all do live in Monaco. It’s crazy now because of every driver… I remember growing up, you remember watching Jenson Button and all the youngsters come through, and everyone migrated to Monaco and no-one ever said anything about it at the time. Of course, when I did, they had something to say about it. But no matter how often you go abroad or elsewhere in the world, you come back to the UK and you see the beautiful countryside, you see this great… you know, the history of Formula One and motorsport which is really here, and I see all my family who is also here and this is, of course, feels like where my heart is and ultimately fully British. Of course, I still like to honour my family heritage. My family is from the Caribbean. But… I don’t know. People have a right to their own opinion. If you look around, there’s a lot of Team LH caps. The support that I’ve had has been just incredible and it’s been growing over the years, and whilst, of course, there’s always going to be people with negative views on things, I feel like every day is an opportunity to try to turn those that do have a negative view on things. I guess over time I’ll do more and more positive things for the country. Ultimately, I go to all these race and I lift the British flag proudly. There’s no-one else in this sport that’s raised it so high. At the moment, probably that’s not enough. I’ll keep looking out for what else I can do. And for those who do follow me, I really do appreciate their support.

    Q: (Mike Doodson – Honorary) Lewis, there’s been some dramas here at Silverstone with the surface and they seem to have got everything done pretty quickly, but there were quite a lot of incidents at Turn Six yesterday. I wonder if you could tell us – you had one too, I think, there – can you tell us what was wrong there and is it better today and is the circuit settling down?

    LH: Ultimately last year, we’d come out of Turn Four and it was the bumpiest straight that probably you’ve ever been on before, rattling your teeth out for most of us. Also, for the motorbikes, it was quite bumpy then. In other areas it was OK. I think they’ve redone it this year; it’s much better on that straight but there are – and I guess it’s just the way it goes – but bumps into Turn Six are pretty hardcore but I think more so it’s the crosswind people are struggling with there. Maybe the bumps and also the crosswind that you have there, which everyone struggles with, and I’ve also struggled with – but then there’s also Turn Seven, it’s very bumpy but then the straight down to Copse is good, and then up to Maggotts and Becketts it’s good. It’s fantastic, and then after Maggotts and Becketts, down Stowe Straight it’s great 15, 16, 17. So, it’s pretty much spot-on, perfect, apart from three bumps at the entry of Six and exit of Seven.

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Question to all three drivers. What kind of weather do you expect tomorrow and what is the weather that will suit more the strategy you chose for the first tyre you will start on.

    CL: I haven’t watched the forecast yet, so I don’t really know – but I guess, yeah, in Silverstone it’s often very unpredictable, and as we’ve seen in the last two days, you can have drops any time. So, it will make the race quite interesting if it’s like this. Then, if I can choose, the best would probably have a good start on the Soft, do seven laps and then big rain and keep this position. But I don’t choose. I think it will be very unpredictable anyway.

    VB: Like yesterday there was no proper chance of rain but it still had a bit of drizzle, so I think anything can come from the sky, you never know – and no idea what will be best for us. At least it’s cooler than Austria, so that’s always good news but anything else, we should be OK.

    LH: I’m down for some good old English weather tomorrow! Good old English weather is sunny, hale, rain! Sun, snow, the whole mixture. No, naturally it’s better for all the fans when it’s dry but I don’t mind if it rains either way. It’s really great, this track, in the wet. I guess we’ll all discuss whether we do the rain dance tonight or not.

    Q: (Rob Harris – AP) Hi Lewis, it came down to six milliseconds today. Some quotes around from Nico Rosberg saying that, if he’d been traveling and partying in LA, then he’d be qualifying down in tenth – but you can cope with it, he was suggesting. When you assess things, do you think the clearing of the mind outweighs the travel by… sort of… going to LA between races like that and having the trips?

    LH: I think naturally it’s easy to say that. People do have views. I do have five world titles. They didn’t come on their own. You know me.

    VB: I think you gain time by partying. As a Finn, it’s a feeling.

    LH: Valtteri parties way more than me!

    VB: I have a party, I gain lap time, so…

    LH: I think ultimately when I started doing the travels and focussing on these other things, people always had… there was always the issue and people would have comments on it. Particularly the pressure of then having to arrive and making sure you definitely delivered the same. It took a long time to break that mould, and I’ve done it time and time and time again. My preparation comes first. I’ve felt fantastic all weekend. The pressure’s quite high here, obviously being your home grand prix, and so I don’t look upon that lightly, and I prepare the best way I can. But also, I do what I want – I don’t do what you think I should do, or anyone else thinks I should do. Only I know what’s right for me – and again, that’s what’s led me to five world titles. And don’t forget the amount of wins I have, all of that stuff, so… yeah.

    Q: (Keith Collantine – racefans.net) Question for Charles, you’ve said a few times in recent races you feel you’ve raised your game in qualifying recently. The clearest way we can see that is you’ve just out-qualified Sebastian for the third race in a row – but how much more do you think there is that you can find in the Ferrari? And particularly today, was there the extra eight-hundredths of a second that you needed to be sitting where Valtteri is sitting?

    CL: At the time, as I said earlier, I think the main issue is the front end. Once we’ll fix this, I’m pretty sure there will be quite a bit of performance in that – because also again, in qualifying today, especially the third sector, I was struggling quite a lot with the front end to grip-up. So yeah, there’s still a lot of performance into that, whether we’ll know how to overcome this issue is another matter, so we need to be working very hard on that, and hopefully, some performance will come when we fix this.

    Q: (Tom Jackson – City Press) Charles, both Red Bulls split you and Sebastian today. Do you think tomorrow you will be able to comfortably stay ahead of them or do you expect a fight with them more than you do with the Mercedes?

    CL: If we look at the Friday race simulations, I think it’s going to be very difficult to fight with  – or at least Lewis’s race run was very very strong so yeah, we need to work on that but Red Bull seems to be very quick also in the race runs so it’s going to be tricky. If we manage to gain some positions at the start, it’s a track where it’s quite hard to overtake so then we have some chances to keep them but if not I guess it’s going to be very difficult to fight with them.

    Q: (Laurence Edmonson – ESPN) Valtteri, two of your pole positions earlier this year didn’t quite go to plan, the starts didn’t work out. Can you just explain if you’ve anything to try and rectify that and how the other starts have been and whether you’ve found a solution to it?

    VB: Yeah, I’ve definitely been working a lot on the starts this year and especially after the couple of not ideal ones, so I’ve been focusing a lot and feel much more comfortable with the starts than earlier in the year. Obviously, every start is going to be different, we always have different circumstances, a different set of tyres, temperatures but yeah, feel more confident and obviously aiming for a good start tomorrow and use the good grid position.

    Q: (Sam Hall – Autoweek) Lewis, this year it seems that you’ve found qualifying a little bit harder to get pole on the Saturdays. Is the car a bit more difficult to get the one lap pace out of or is it something that’s changed with you as a driver?

    LH: No, I think… we’re not halfway through the year yet. We’ve definitely had some poles but Valtteri has done some great laps throughout qualifying. It definitely has been a car that’s a little bit… I think with the tyres it’s a little bit harder to get it perfect every single time but it’s just qualifying, if you’ve seen a lot of the races, it doesn’t necessarily always determine what happens always in the race. Of course, it’s great to always start at the front. It makes your day a little bit more simple but nonetheless, it’s really great that we continue to work forwards as a team and lock out the front row. I’m really proud to be a part of that and still to get a one-two today is still significant, considering we have all of our team actually coming this weekend. Of course, Valtteri and I, I think we have a great relationship, we always want to beat each other but I’ll go back, look at the data today, did a better job and tomorrow you’ll do a great job as well and the duel tomorrow is who can do a better job tomorrow. There are plenty more pole positions up for grabs between all of us so just got to keep working hard.

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Valtteri and Lewis; Valtteri, when we spoke you said the time is now for you to start effectively getting your elbows out. Indeed, is this the time that you’re starting to sense that? Lewis, are you prepared to race against what I guess we could call Valtteri 2.1, new version, newly enthused, ready to go again after a good start and obviously a bit of a slump but coming back?

    VB: Well, if you look at the points, for sure the championship fight is still on. Obviously I’m the one chasing, I’m behind with I don’t know the exact number but roughly thirty points or something but so many races to go and it’s going to be a lot up to me and my performance, so definitely every single opportunity there is I need to get those and if I don’t get those then Lewis is going to be far away and not be able to reach in terms of points so tomorrow is super important, but so is the race after and the race after. The season is still long so I really need to try and take those opportunities and for sure will do everything I can to keep that lead tomorrow.

    Q: Lewis, your thoughts on Valtteri 2.1?

    LH: 2.1 or 2.4 or what’s the difference? I work closely with this guy, it’s Valtteri. I just see him as the man he is. Obviously, we’re still fighting for the title. I don’t feel necessarily that he’s the only one chasing, I’m still chasing. I try to put an imaginary individual ahead of yourself. For me, I generally kind of put the previous year’s performances so last year’s myself ahead of me, for example, and that’s my target: to improve and beat that, but on days like this I’m behind another so he’s now the guy that I’m chasing. So as long as you’ve always got a goal to chase, then you can always make improvements, you always have strides to make and so that’s my approach always.

    Q: (Simon Amberley – Nevis Radio) The past couple of races we’ve had incidents that have been reviewed after the race which have either potentially affected the result or have affected the result. Has this been discussed within the drivers’ meetings and can we expect results to actually stand at the end of the race and drivers to be able to race more aggressively in future races including here?

    LW: I was focusing on folding… I don’t know what the question was.

    CL: I’m always up for hard racing so very happy if they relax a little bit on the fights but I think consistency is key. In the end, I think they also need time to review some incidents or sometimes it be bad to wait for the results but at the end, I think it’s the best way to take the right decision.

    VB: Yeah, I’m a big fan of hard racing as well so the harder we can race, but safe and fair, is always good and obviously for everyone it’s always better to have the results as quickly as possible and penalties as quickly as possible but sometimes they need to review more which is understandable.

    LH: I feel exactly the same as these two guys. I still don’t know what the question was really! But close racing is always yeah, what he just said. Sorry. It wasn’t intentional to miss what the question was. About tough racing, was it? I haven’t discussed it. No. I don’t think it was brought up in the drivers’ briefing either. I think the last race was good. I don’t know what Charles thought of the incident he had.

    CL: No, I thought it was OK. The only thing is consistency as I said. I feel like there have been some incidents in the past this year that have been not analysed or penalised, sorry, for much less than that, so that’s the only thing. I think consistency is very important but if it’s clear that we can race that way then I’m more than happy to race like this and I think every driver likes to race that way.

    LH: I agree again! I think it’s really hard with the consistency thing because we’ve got these rules that… but every scenario is different but you have to apply the same rule to it so it’s… that’s why they’ve got some of the guys that are at the stewards, some even have to interpret certain a way what has happened at a certain way and as Charles said, consistency is really what we want to try and get. But I think every year you go through all the lessons or them, together in the sport, go through the lessons and learn and improve and people told us that it needs to get better and so I’m sure we will.

    Ends

  • Valtteri Bottas takes pole ahead of Hamilton, Leclerc: Silverstone

    Valtteri Bottas takes pole ahead of Hamilton, Leclerc: Silverstone

    Bottas after taking the pole at Silverstone on Saturday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image

    Silverstone, 13 July 2019: In a tight-qualifying session at Silverstone, Valtteri Bottas beat home favourite Lewis Hamilton by just six thousandths of a second to claim pole position for the British Grand Prix as Mercedes locked out the front row for the seventh time in 10 races. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took third place ahead of the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, for the 10th round of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship here on Saturday.

    In the opening qualifying segment Hamilton took an early lead, posting a time of 1:25.513 to take P1 two hundredths of a second clear of Leclerc. Behind them Verstappen slotted into an eventual P3 with a lap of 1:25.700.

    Bottas, meanwhile, eased through to Q2 in P4 ahead of the second Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel and McLaren rookie Lando Norris.

    Further down the order, the tussle for the final spot in Q2 was tight. In the end Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez did just enough to claim P15 and passage to the next segment with a time of 1:26.649, just 0.013s ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen who was eliminated in P16 ahead of Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat, Racing Point’s Lance Stroll and the twin Williams cars of George Russell and Robert Kubica.

    In Q2, both Mercedes drivers went out for first runs on medium compound tyres, as did Red Bull drivers Verstappen and Pierre Gasly, and Ferrari’s Leclerc. Vettel, however, went a different route, with the German starting the session on soft compound tyres. And while Leclerc set the pace on the yellow tyres with a time of 1:25.646, taking P1 ahead of Bottas, Hamilton, Verstappen and Gasly, Vettel’s lap on the red-banded compound was poor and after the first runs he found himself in P8, behind Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris.

    In the final runs the top five all went out again, but while Mercedes and Red Bull backed out of improvements on soft tyres to ensure they will start on the more durable medium compound, Leclerc went quicker on the red-walled compound to take P1 with a time of 1:25.546.

    Vettel, meanwhile, dropped to P11 as rivals improved, but he too made an improvement in the final run and his time of 1:26.023 was good enough to take P5, splitting the Red Bulls. Ferrari will thus start on soft tyres.

    Eliminated at the end of the session were the Alfa Romeos of Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Räikkönen in P11 and P12 respectively, 13th-placed Carlos Sainz of McLaren, Haas’ Romain Grosjean and Racing Point’s Pérez.

    In Q3 it was Bottas who seized the initiative and the Finn posted a good lap of 1:25.093 to claim provisional pole 0.252s ahead of Hamilton, with Verstappen a tenth further back. Leclerc was fourth, with Gasly fifth.

    And there was to be no denying Bottas a tenth career pole. The Finn failed to improve on his final flyer and that gave Hamilton an opportunity, and though the home favourite put in a good lap, he ended up missing out on pole by the tiny margin of seven thousandths of a second. Leclerc jumped Verstappen in the final run to claim third while Gasly held fifth, two tenths ahead of Vettel.

    Behind them Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo finished seventh ahead of Norris, Albon and Hulkenberg.

    2019 FIA Formula One British Grand Prix – Qualifying 
    1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:25.093
    2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:25.099 0.006
    3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:25.172 0.079
    4 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:25.276 0.183
    5 Pierre Gasly Red Bull 1:25.590 0.497
    6 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:25.787 0.694
    7 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1:26.182 1.089
    8 Lando Norris McLaren 1:26.224 1.131
    9 Alex Albon Toro Rosso 1:26.345 1.252
    10 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:26.386 1.293
    11 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 1:26.519 1.426
    12 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 1:26.546 1.453
    13 Carlos Sainz McLaren 1:26.578 1.485
    14 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:26.757 1.664
    15 Sergio Perez Racing Point 1:26.928 1.835
    16 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:26.662 1.569
    17 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:26.721 1.628
    18 Lance Stroll Racing Point 1:26.762 1.669
    19 George Russell Williams 1:27.789 2.696
    20 Robert Kubica Williams 1:28.257 3.164.

  • Team heads praise iconic Silverstone circuit: FIA Friday press conference

    Silverstone: Friday FIA press conference transcript.

    TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Toyoharu TANABE (Honda), Christian HORNER (Red Bull Racing), Claire WILLIAMS (Williams), Zak BROWN (McLaren), Marcin BUDKOWSKI (Renault)

    Q: Question for all of you to start with. It was announced on Wednesday that Silverstone has secured a long-term deal to host Formula One. Can each of you give us your best memories of this track?

    Marcin BUDKOWSKI: It’s always a track where we enjoy coming because of the public here. I think it’s always a sell-out and it’s a very ‘expert’ crowd, if you like, one which enjoys the racing but also understands the racing. Always claps and supports all the teams and drivers, very little booing, very, very positive crowd, so I think it’s always enjoyable – but I don’t have a stand-out memory personally here. It’s just the quality of the track and of the crowd really that stands out for me.

    Zak?

    Zak BROWN: Yeah, I think this is a great grand prix, very pleased we’ll be coming back for at least another five years, and I think if I had to pick my favourite British Grand Prix it would be Nigel Mansell in the Williams in 1987 coming back and passing Piquet. That was pretty awesome.

    Claire?

    Claire WILLIAMS: As Zak said, I’m thrilled that Silverstone has got its place on the calendar long into the future. It’s absolutely what’s right, we all love coming here. As Marcin said, the crowds, the fans here are just wonderful. I’ve been coming here for 43 years, something like that. It was the race we were taken to as children, our special treat, the only race that Dad would let his kids come to. I remember being there in those glory days of Williams. We’ve had so many great races here. I think probably Nigel’s time in 1992 with the crowd invasion and all that stuff. For me, it holds such a special place in my heart. During my tenure at DTP, probably seeing our two cars overtake the Mercedes a few years, when Valtteri and Felipe led the race for a few laps. Fine, we didn’t go on to do what we would have liked to have done but still, those few laps, I suppose, spur me on, because that’s where I want to see Williamses in the future.

    Christian?

    Christian HORNER: It’s great news that the British Grand Prix is secured here at the home of motorsport at Silverstone. I think it’s the right venue, it’s a great track. I have so many great memories from here, been fortunate enough to win this race a few times, also in support formulas. One of my earliest memories coming here was back in 1992, shortly after I passed my driving test in my pimped-up Volkswagen Beetle, and they used to have a Goodyear tyre test here in June, the month before the grand prix. As an aspiring young karting driver I managed to find a hole in a fence – I don’t know whether it’s still there, around the corner from Copse, go through the tunnel, there’s a hole in the fence there, crawled through that, I managed to get into the pitlane, tried to pretend like I looked like I should be there. I had a karting jacket on at the time and came face to face with Ayrton Senna. It was a huge moment for me, he was one of my heroes. He’d had an accident on a jetski and so he wasn’t doing a lot of driving but he noticed the kart logo I had on my jacket and started asking me about karting. I thought, ‘I can’t top that! This day cannot get any better’ and then I managed to sneak through a garage and get to the front of the pitlane and Nigel was testing his Williams. I managed to get into your [Claire] garage, God knows how, and overhear Nigel. They were asking him what was preventing him going faster through Becketts? I remember him saying ‘I’m struggling to line my eyes up with my eye-sockets, because we’re so fast through there!’ So that was a huge memory for me, just topped the day off. Meeting Senna, then Mansell, and then driving home in my very flash Volkswagen Beetle.

    Tanabe-San?

    Toyoharu TANABE: Silverstone is the track I have seen, for the first time, a Formula One car. And then I’m very happy to hear the news. Our factory is located in Milton Keynes, also very close, and I’m very happy to hear that news.

    Q: Marcin, tough weekend for the team in Austria last time out. How was FP1 this morning? Are you confident there won’t be a repeat here at Silverstone this weekend?

    MB: Yes, we had a very difficult weekend in Austria. I think throughout the weekend really, and we didn’t qualify the cars in Q3, we had a difficult race as a result – but also because we didn’t’ really have the pace at that circuit. We’re coming to a different circuit, it’s a different challenge here. I think Austria was a particular poor circuit for our car’s weaknesses at the moment and Silverstone is a combination really in terms of track, corners, so we expect to be better here, although we’re not happy with our general level of competitiveness at the moment. FP1 was a good session. It’s a working session. It’s one where we experiment on set-up and on different development directions. I think the track this morning was very green: new surface, very variable grip, so I think there was a lot of evolution and we benefitted from this, as I think, did Pierre in the Red Bull as well  – but it was a good working session, we learned some things, we fine-tuned the set-up so we’re looking forward to the weekend really.

    Q: So more confidence ahead of this weekend?

    MB: Definitely.

    Q: Marcin, you’ve been at the team for pretty much a year now. From a structural point of view, are you happy with how things are working now at Enstone?

    MB: yeah, I’ve been there a little bit more than a year now. Obviously joined a team that is still in the process of reconstruction. I’ve found a team that under the previous management and the previous ownership was heavily under-invested. A lot of people left. A little bit, it’s a team left behind by the evolution of F1 – because there was no investment in infrastructure, in tools, in people, and obviously when Renault came back there was a lot of investment made, a lot of recruitment. We increased the workforce by more than 50 percent now. It takes time to integrate all these people, to get all these new tools online, to get an understanding of the physics involved in designing and racing a Formula One car again. So we’re in that phase of rebuilding still. It’s in a much better place than it was – but there’s still some work to do, and certainly since I arrived I’ve focussed on the organisation structure: putting the right people in the right positions; getting the team to work better; getting the team to be more efficient; to be more creative. It’s getting better but there’s still some amount of work in front of us.

    Q: Zak, coming on to you. You’ve re-signed Lando Norris for 2020. What’s impressed you about him this year?

    ZB: I’ve been impressed with both our drivers. Really pleased with our driver line-up, which is why we wanted to confirm it ahead of the silly season, which seems to be ramping up. Carlos has been extremely quick every weekend and then Lando specifically, he also is extremely quick, a quick learner. He’s not making some of the mistakes – knock on wood – that you maybe anticipate from a rookie driver. He drives quite mature, his feedback’s good, he gets along with Carlos very well, and both our drivers are driving for the team, so we’re just very pleased with their progress, so we thought we’d get that out of the way so we can continue with our programme, head-down and just keep racing.

    Q: It is still relatively early in the season to be committing to next year’s driver line-up. Why have you committed now?

    ZB: We like what we see. Both drivers are doing an excelling job. Specifically, in Lando’s case, he now has enough races under his belt that we’ve seen him under pressure, we’ve seen him having to race his team-mate, we’ve seen him at the front of the field. We’ve seen enough rounded elements to his driving to know that he’s one of the future stars of the sport. Again with the silly season ramping up, we want to not be part of that, keep our head down and just be focussed on what we’re doing.

    Q: Tanabe-san, congratulations on the win in Austria last time out, great for Honda. How was the victory received back in Sakura?

    TT: Thank you very much. It was a great result and the win came as a result of all of our Sakura members and the people who have worked for this project and they are very much satisfied and pleased. On the other hand, everyone is motivated now more than before, I believe, and we will keep working very hard to improve our performance.

    Q: Does this win influence Honda’s decision to stay in Formula One beyond 2020?

    TT: In my position, as the technical director of Honda F1, I’m not very involved with the contract matters – but I feel, after the win, a very good reaction from inside Honda. So, we will see.

    Q: And how confident are you being competitive on all circuits going forward?

    TT: We had a great race in Austria – but we know our current position compared to the top runners. There is still a gap there. We keep pushing to get more performance, with our members and also the Red Bull team.

    Q: Christian, we’re talking about that win in Austria. From your point of view, how unexpected was it?

    Christian HORNER: It was totally unexpected. We thought if we could sneak a podium there it would be a great result, going into the grand prix. And then, about three metres after the start, even a top-four or top-five finish looked to be optimistic after Max got an anti-stall at the start and dropped down to P8 during the first lap – and in the meantime flat-spotted his front left as well. But we could see early on in the race that he had got a good pace. He came back through the field quite quickly. We went long on the first stint and we had a great turnaround by the pit crew. And Max’s pace in the second half of the race was phenomenal. He was able to catch and pass obviously Sebastian and Valtteri and then close in, and with a few laps to go, you think, ‘crikey, this could actually happen’, here at our home race in Austria. There aren’t many races that Dietrich Mateschitz comes to, we had some of the top board members from Honda also in attendance, so to win that race in the manner that Max did was phenomenal. And having come off the back of one of the most boring races in history in France, to have such an exciting race and to come out on top was a phenomenal feeling. And for Honda to win their first race in the V6 hybrid era after the difficult comeback into the sport that they had initially is a testimony to the hard work and dedication of all the stuff. It was great to see the emotion and Tanabe-san picking up the trophy on behalf of the team, so it was a great day for the team and Honda all round.

    Q: And did Max’s performance surprise you?

    CH: Yes and no. I think Max has been delivering at such a high level pretty much since Montreal last year that nothing tends to surprise you with him. But the calmness with which he came back from the anti-stall at the start… He was probably one of the calmest guys out there. He fought hard but fair and was able to control the race and control his situation very well. It was certainly one of his very best victories.

    Q: Tanabe-san has spoken about the knock-on effect of the victory within Honda, but what about within Red Bull and how important was the win in ensuring that Max stays with the team?

    CH: I think within the whole team, the Monday morning after you win a grand prix, you walk into the factory you just feel that level of increased optimism, that energy. It energises the whole factory. People are working flat out all the time, but when they start to see rewards for what they are working for, it just makes it all worthwhile. I think for sure a huge effort has gone into this season so far, there is a long way still to go, it is still very much a transition year for us, but to see the delight in all the team members faced and to see what it meant to Honda as well was very satisfying.

    Q: Claire, Paddy Lowe has officially left the team. Can you explain the technical structure at Williams now?

    Claire WILLIAMS: Did we not announce that a while ago? He has decided to leave the team and we wish him well. We’ve talked about our technical structure over the past few weeks in that we have now a technical management team in effect, that are effectively running the engineering side of the business and that consists of our Chief Aerodynamicist, Doug McKiernan, Dave Robson who is Head of Engineering Operations and then Adam Carter who is our Head of Design, and they are running it very collegiately, in a fantastic way and they are making real progress, which his great to see. But obviously, they have 650 people below them who are all working incredibly hard to make sure we deliver what we need to deliver over the next few races.

    Q: Something we touched on a little bit earlier, the history of Williams and Silverstone. It’s 40 years since the team won its first grand prix, here at this track. Of all the team’s achievements where does that one stack up and does your dad still talk about it?

    CW: He doesn’t talk about it regularly, but he doesn’t talk about a lot of past memories in Formula One. For Frank, it’s all about the future, but that was the start of what has been a phenomenal career for Frank in this sport. He’d fought long and hard, really, truly long and hard to achieve that. He started his own career racing himself, realised quite quickly he wasn’t any good at it – didn’t quite understand where the brakes were – and decided to be a constructor. It took him a decade to get that first grand prix win here. He fought incredibly hard. He had no money; he came from nothing. He had to sell the team at one point and then he had to again start from nothing. But he never gave up and we talked a lot about that yesterday with the team, Frank’s resilience, his tenacity, and he really deserved that victory in 1979. I think a lot of people around him at the time thought it would never come but as we all know Frank loves this sport. Victories are great for Frank but really, truly, it’s about being in this sport and competing.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speedsport) Zak, you have a new wind tunnel coming but as far as revamping the team, are you looking for more people or is there anything else that needs to be done to the facilities?

    ZB: Well, I’ve got Andreas Seidl now running the racing team. He and James Key are settled in and leading the charge. I think we are happy with the structure that we have and the senior leadership we have, but grand prix teams, especially with the new rules coming up in 2021 are going to have a certain element of reinventing how we go motor racing so I don’t think you are ever sitting still but from my standpoint I have the leadership I want to have in place and now it’s over to Andreas to fine-tune the racing team as he sees fit.

    Q: And facilities?

    A: Facilities, we’ll continue to invest again. We need to see what the final 2021 outcomes are to make sure we are investing in the right areas. The wind tunnel was certainly something we had been behind on for some time, so that was an investment we knew we needed to make. So I’m very happy that we are moving forward with it. We’ll make other cap-ex as we see fit as we get more visibility on what the future of the sport looks like.

    Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday) Claire, much speculation in the media about Robert’s future with the team, which in all fairness the team has said is a non-starter, he is committed with the team. But a lot of rumours have him working very closely with your engineering department, his feedback has apparently been crucial in developing the car. Could you perhaps explain the other side of Robert that we don’t get to see on the TV screens?

    CW: Sure. Just to clarify the point about Robert’s situation with the team: Robert is racing with us this year and will continue to do so. I don’t know where this speculation has come from but in the past couple of weeks there seems to be a lot of speculation around about Williams. But one of the reasons that I wanted to bring Robert into the team was, talking to him last year he did a great job for us as a reserve driver, and throughout last year we really saw his strength and his technical ability and his feedback. If you spend any time talking to Robert you know and understand how intelligent he is, how much knowledge he has around the car and its performance and how to get the most out of it. Obviously coming into this year, we knew where we were ahead of time and we knew therefore that we would need somebody, a driver, with that level of engineering intelligence that could really help translate what was going on in the car back to the engineers and back into the factory and that was a key reason why we brought him on board. And he has continued that process with the engineers. He has been invaluable in helping to drive the performance that you are seeing we’re bringing to the car over the course of this season. Robert, as a person, he’s incredibly hard working and he’s very focused on what he’s here to do and we all know where he has come from and the accident that he has had and for anyone to come back into our sport having experienced such an accident is quite remarkable. It shows his resilience. The only other person I’ve seen that in myself, in my lifetime, is Frank. To come back from such serious injuries, to have that level of determination is really quite extraordinary and I think that probably sums Robert up in a nutshell.

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) To Zak and Christian. Zak you talked about wanting to avoid getting involved in the ‘silly season’ by confirming your drivers early. By retaining Carlos and Lando whatever slim chance there was  of Fernando coming back to the grid after taking some time away, with McLaren at least, is not on the cars now., With his ambassadorial role, would you be happy to release him to speak to other teams if an opportunity arose for next year? And for Christian, you’ve been talking about supporting Pierre, there has been a lot of speculation about what will happen with him, even some links with Sebastian returning to the3 team. What’s the Red Bull position with regard to the 2020 driver market?

    ZB: Yeah, with Fernando he remains an ambassador with McLaren, we’ve got a great relationship with him and we are speaking with him about some racing programmes in the future that are nor Formula One-related. But we are happy for him, if he wants to get back into Formula One, because we don’t have a seat available to go race for another team, and we will very much support with that if that’s what he wants to do.

    CH: Our philosophy at Red Bull has always been to invest in young talent. That’s the purpose of Toro Rosso – it is to nurture and develop young talent. Pierre has had a tough first half of the year. We know ultimately what he’s capable of, which he hasn’t show his full hand yet. We saw a glimpse of it in P1 just now. With time and patience it will come right for him. Formula One is an impatient sport, but our philosophy is very much to invest in youth and to give young talent an opportunity and chance and therefore we obviously keep a very close eye on the nurturing talents at Toro Rosso.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines / Racefans.net) There has been a lot of speculation about an eventual successor for Chase Carey and quite a few names are in the frame. Christian yours is one of the names that has been speculated about. Would you be interested in accepting the position were it to be offered?

    CH: I enjoy racing. My commitment is with Red Bull. There is a lot more I want to achieve from a competitive position and my objective is to get Red Bull back into a consistent winning position, challenging for championships. I am not aware that Chase is about to step down imminently, I think there is a lot of speculation but I think it is exactly that, so as far as I am concerned I am very happy doing what I am doing and my focus and commitment is very much on getting Red Bull back into a competitive, consistently winning situation.

    Q: (Owari Masahiro – Formula Owari Masahiro) Christian, Doctor Marko says you can win five races this season. What is your opinion? How many races can you win? And which race is your next biggest chance?

    CH: Well, there’s no crystal ball so we’re approaching the half point of the season. To have got that first victory is an enormous achievement and a huge milestone for the team and for Honda. We approach things race-by-race. As a team, with try and optimise. We didn’t go into Austria expecting to win that Grand Prix and came out with the first place trophy. That’s how we will approach every single Grand Prix between now and the end of the year. What that leads to in results we’ll know by the end of the year. Helmut obviously has an optimism which he’s already pushing and always going for which is great. I think from the team’s side, it’s a little bit more on a race-by-race basis but of course the target is to try and win as many races as we can between now and the end of the year.

    Q: (Kevin Eason – Sunday Times) Much as it’s lovely for Lewis, are you worried that Lewis and Mercedes are killing this sport with their domination which is unprecedented now and how are you going to stop it? When can fans expect to see a level playing field and people like Frank Williams emerging to win Grands Prix against the big boys?

    MB: Well, I don’t think you can say something like they are killing the sport, they are doing a really good job and they are deserving their wins and their championships and all of us are sat here and thinking we should look up to them and do the same job and then we will compete with them. I think there are changes coming for 2021 under Liberty’s and the FIA’s guidance to make the sport more competitive, certainly to make it fairer and more sustainable as well. Whether they will be successful… we think they are on the right path. I certainly think the budget cap is probably the biggest impact on the relative competitiveness of the sport so we’re very supportive, we’re very pro-active in helping them writing the regulations and planning what the sport will be from there. Whether they will be sufficiently impactful for all the teams to compete for victories I’m not sure. However, is that what we really want? We want the best working teams to compete for victories. Hopefully there’s more than just one or two.

    ZB: Not a lot to build on. First you’ve got to give credit to Mercedes and Lewis for doing an outstanding job. I think we all recognise the sport is not where it needs to be, to have a more level playing and therefore better competition. I think 2021 will be a big step forward so I think we can expect a lot more Lewis and Mercedes victories this year, most likely again next year and then hopefully in 2021 with enough rule change that we will start to see the grid get a little bit more mixed up because certainly we need to be putting on a better show for the fans and when they show up to the British Grand Prix, thinking that there may be seven/eight/ten drivers who can win the race when in reality right now it’s just the few.

    CW: Probably just going to repeat everything that everybody else has already said but I don’t think you can take away from Mercedes the extraordinary job that they have done and it’s down to the remaining nine teams to do a better job to take the fight to them. Someone’s got to win, that’s the whole point of this sport, that you employ the best people, you get the best resources you can around you in order to create the most competitive car and they have done the best job of that. Someone has to win in this sport. We don’t obviously want the same team – it’s not great for the health of our sport – for the same team to win in each and every race. I think that’s why huge congratulations have to go to Red Bull because it’s tough to beat Mercedes at the moment and to see another team taking a victory at an event was fantastic, fantastic for the sport. But it’s about creating great racing, isn’t it and making sure that all the regulations collude in order to achieve that and I’m very much hoping obviously that the regulations that are coming on board in 2021, whether that be the technical regulation, the financial regulations all contribute to helping improve the competition that we have, that ensure the sustainability of our sport moving forward into the future.

    CH: Everybody has the same set of rules presented to them at the beginning of each year and you’ve got to take your hat off to Mercedes and Lewis for doing such a great and dominant job. I think, for me, the lessons that you learn, particularly over time, is that the more you change things, the more spread you create in the field and the regulations change that we had over the winter didn’t help anything. In fact it made a dominant team even more dominant so I think the aerodynamic changes, the tyre changes that were made actually didn’t do anything to help the sport or the spectacle and I think that’s where we need to be very very careful for 2021 because each team will believe they can get an advantage and ultimately somebody will get it right, somebody will get it wrong but there could be a much bigger spread than there is currently and for me I think the most important thing is once a set of regulations is achieved and found for the future, is consistency. The most important thing is leave it alone for a long period of time and then you will get the grid coming together with stability. The worst thing is dicking and changing something every year which isn’t fully understood that then changes the dynamics of the car. So for me I think you will get absolute convergence with stability and I think that whatever is done for 2021 should be fixed pretty much for a five year period unless there’s some fundamental flaw in it.

    TT: Mercedes and Lewis are doing a very good job. They are talking about the 2021 regulations and then the PU manufacturers working on 2021 regulations to have a more competitiveness for each person. Not fixed yet but we will see the result soon, I think.

    Q: (Chris Medland – Racer.com) Christian, I wanted to follow up on Dieter’s question actually: your name as a team boss has been linked with running F1 in the future but so has Toto’s as another team boss. What would be your feelings if Toto was to take on that role in the future and perhaps the other three team members to your left, what would be your thoughts if either Christian or Toto were to take on the role of running F1?

    CH: Well, Toto already is, by all accounts I think! So look, to be honest with you, it’s an irrelevant question. As far as myself is concerned, I think I’ve made my position clear: I love racing, I love competing, I love the team that I’ve been involved with since the beginning and my goals and ambitions for the future are to very much bring it back into a competitive situation. It’s Liberty’s business at the end of the day. Whoever they chose to run it for them is their choice, it’s not down to the teams, it’s their business, it’s their investment. I think that Chase is doing a great job. I think he’s learned quickly about Formula One. I think if you look at the actual show now, the crowd sizes, the attendance, everything that’s going on around the sport, there’s a lot of great things happening. We just need a better product and I think if the product can be addressed through the regulation changes for 2021 and we get that right then the potential for this sport is phenomenal because even when we’re seeing serial winning, there’s still 140,000 people coming through the gate here. Austria was a sell-out, Canada was a sell-out. Attendance is up everywhere we go and you think crikey, if we can actually put on a great show like Austria was and it doesn’t necessarily mean that that means Red Bull need to be doing the winning, it would be great to see some of these guys doing the winning as well, then I think the potential of Formula One is huge.

    CW: Well firstly, I’m quite annoyed that my name hasn’t been put in the mix. Seriously. No, it is pure speculation. I believe it’s never come up about Chase so I don’t know what’s going on there. If you’re genuinely asking me my thoughts around Christian or Toto running Formula One, clearly I think they would both be excellent at it.

    ZB: Not a lot to say. I’ve seen a variety of names linked to it. I don’t know how real it is but Toto would certainly be a credible candidate.

    CW: What about Christian? You don’t say Christian.

    ZB: I was asked about Toto.

    MB: I’m not in the running, I can reassure Toto and Christian they’re safe.

    Q: (Rob Harris – Associated Press) Just picking up on that theme of leadership: amongst the main headlines earlier this week was a name from the past, Bernie Ecclestone talking about Vladimir Putin which seemed to get lots of headlines, a reminder of how controversy can create headlines. Is the problem with Chase and the Liberty leadership, it’s all a bit dull and between races… do you need someone to whip up a bit of drama and frenzy to actually help the sport overall be top of the agenda all around the world when there’s so many other competing sports?

    CH: Bernie’s ability to generate a headline, as he’s demonstrated this past week, is still absolutely right up there with the best. But as I said in my previous answer, I think that Formula One’s doing a lot of good things at the moment. If you look at the fan engagement, if you look at the amount of fans that are getting into the circuit now, things like the hot laps, things like Netflix that were done over the last winter, in terms of digital engagement, the whole digital media strategy. All of that is being embraced and I think the fundamental thing isn’t the promotion of the sport, I think it is the product itself. I think when you look at a race like we’ve had at the majority of races this year they’re too static, they’re too predictable, there’s not enough action. One pit stop races are the most boring races you can have and I think that’s what we need to focus on as a collective group because that’s where ultimately we all benefit out of: If the product is better, the racing is better. Partners, manufacturers, sponsors will want to be there. The fan engagement then goes through the roof. So I think we need Ross Brawn and his team working in conjunction with the FIA to give Chase and Jean Todt a blueprint of this is what Formula One needs to be.

  • Friendly banter at FIA Thursday press conference at Silverstone

    Friendly banter at FIA Thursday press conference at Silverstone

    FIA Thursday press meet in progress at Silverstone. An FIA image

    DRIVERS – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes), George RUSSELL (Williams), Lando NORRIS (McLaren), Daniel RICCIARDO (Renault), Antonio GIOVINAZZI (Alfa Romeo)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Welcome gentlemen. It was announced yesterday that Silverstone has a new long-term deal to remain on the Formula 1 calendar. I’d like to get each of your thoughts on that, starting with Lewis please?

    Lewis HAMILTON: Well, good afternoon everyone. It was a good surprise to hear that they had re-signed. It wasn’t necessarily a surprise. As I spoke to you guys before I knew that it was going to happen. It’s clear the Formula 1 can’t exist without the home of motorsport, which is the British Grand Prix. Yeah, really, really happy. It’s great for the fan base and for that to continuously grow over the next years to come.

    Q: Thank you Lewis. Lando?

    Lando NORRIS: It’s going to be my first race this weekend. I’ve race here in the past. I love driving Silverstone. It would have been a shame to ever see it go, especially if I only would have done this race, this year and not done it again. Glad to see it still here and I look forward to coming back every year.

    Q: Thanks. George?

    George RUSSELL: Yeah, obviously very pleased for it to be on the calendar again. I think F1 couldn’t live without Silverstone. It’s the home of the British Grand Prix. Formula 1 is a very British sport and overall it’s just an amazing circuit to drive and there’s something special about Silverstone when you come here. Like you said, I’m not surprised it’s continued.

    Q: Daniel?

    Daniel RICCIARDO: Very happy. It’s a cool track, cool atmosphere. It was eight years ago this weekend, it was my F1 debut here, so it’s always been pretty personal to me. But I’ve enjoyed it. I don’t know how it would feel being somewhere else. It feels normal and right it have it here. It feels like the home of British motorsport. I like that. There’s that real camping atmosphere, that festival vibe. Yeah, the Brits love and we do too.

    Q: And Antonio?

    Antonio GIOVINAZZI: Yes, it’s a track with a lot of history, so it was really nice to see that this circuit will be here for another five years. With an F1 car I think it’s amazing to drive here, so I can’t wait to start tomorrow and do my first grand prix at Silverstone.

    Q: Antonio, if we can stay with you, you got your first world championship point in Austria a couple of weeks ago. How did that feel and how confident are you of maintaining that run of form here?

    AG: Yeah, cost me a little bit of my hair! It was for a good reason I would say. It was actually a different bet with Fred, because it all started at Paul Ricard and he said: ‘if you score your first point I will cut your hair’. And then it didn’t happen and then in Austria we said ‘so, if I don’t score points you will my hair’, but I scored points, so it’s a bit of a mess. Yeah, I’m really happy with this. It was a great weekend so far for me and the team. We went to Q3 with both cars and also top 10 for me and Kimi. So we just need to keep working like that. We had a really good car since Paul Ricard and now here we have another upgrade so I hope again that we are on a good direction and I hope we can stay there and keep fighting and take a little bit of the gap from McLaren as they are still a little bit in front of us, so we just need to keep working.

    Q: You’ve not raced here before in Formula 1 yet, so just can you tell us a little bit about your preparations. What have you ascertained from the simulator, what are your engineers telling you?

    AG: Luckily, I did one FP1, back in 2017 in F1. Of course it will be a completely different story now. Of course I did some simulator, like every driver, I watched some onboard from last year, working with the team. But you know, when you are in the car it will be completely different things but we have FP1, FP2 tomorrow, so we have a lot of time. It’s track I’ve already raced in F3, Formula 2 so yeah, just looking forward to racing it in F1.

    Q: Ok, good luck this weekend. Daniel, tricky race for you and the team in Austria. What conclusions have you drawn since then?

    DR: It was. It wasn’t a fun one for us really. We obviously got pretty deep into it after and tried to figure out why we were off the pace all weekend. Definitely feel we learned some things with set-up and I think we kind of just started in a direction which we kept pursuing from Friday, thinking it was the right way to go, but I think in hindsight it wasn’t. It’s probably more just a set-up misdirection we went for as opposed to anything crazy we found on the car. I was hoping to find a cracked chassis or something like that! I think the car does have a little bit of a sweet spot and I think we had worked towards that the last few weekends, getting those Q3s and building that confidence within myself and that momentum, but we kind of shifted a little bit away from that in Austria, for reasons that seemed to make sense at the time from a set-up point of view and all that. I think we kind of moved away from something we’d got to know but we’ll try to bring it back this weekend for Silverstone and go back to what we know.

    Q: You say the car has a sweet spot. Why is it so difficult to keep it in that area?

    DR: I wish I knew. I wish I knew. Sometimes I’m glad I’m not an aerodynamicist or an engineer because it would rattle my brain. For, personally, driving the car, I know where I’m comfortable with it and I know where I like it and when we start going down a certain direction that’s where we run into problems, under braking or whatever. There’s an area where I certainly feel more comfortable and I believe the car is better in that phase. I don’t know, it’s just race cars, mate! As I said, eight years I’ve now been here and you still scratch your head. But I think that’s part of the attraction as well, because when you do get it right and it all kind of works in harmony it’s an amazing feeling.

    Q: As you said, you made your F1 debut at Silverstone in 2011. How do you sum up the last eight years of your life?

    DR: It’s been fun. I remember vividly the press conference here eight years ago. I actually get embarrassed looking back at photos, I looked like an idiot – an idiot that needed a haircut. Same boat as Antonio! I don’t know, it’s kind of a whirlwind, but it’s amazing how go through it and feel… Obviously I feel much more comfortable here now than I did eight years ago. I guess just that kind of sense of belonging. Eight years ago I was here just like a deer in the headlights, is that the expression? You’re kind of just overwhelmed by everything and it’s like ‘wow, I’m really here now in F1’. You obviously have a lot of belief in yourself but until you really get the results that you believe you can get, there’s always maybe that little bit of doubt. Obviously that has built up well over the years. I don’t feel like one of the older guys yet, I’m kind of getting there, but I still feel young and sharp and good looking.

    Q: Thanks Daniel. Lando, many congratulations on your new McLaren deal for 2020. How exciting is that news and what do you feel you and the team can achieve over the next 18 months?

    LN: Thank you very much. I’m very excited I guess. It’s just good news. Things have been going reasonably well lately, so to have that news is just a bonus. And of course knowing I’m going to be here next year makes it a bit more comforting overall, but it doesn’t change too much in hindsight. Looking ahead to the next two years let’s say, there’s a lot of progress we’ve got to make. I want to be racing this guy on my right a bit more over the next couple of years, not just myself but as a team that’s our goal. That’s what we are trying to work towards, that’s what we are slowly chipping away at but it’s going to take two years, it’s going to take even more than probably. We’ll take it step by step and see how we go.

    Q: As you say, you’re hoping to race Lewis over the next two years, but you actually raced him at the start last time out in Austria, how was that?

    LN: It was cool. I got past him in Turn 1, which was very nice of him. He didn’t force me off or anything, it was a nice little bit we did in Turn 1. And then he just had a better position down the straight, behind Valtteri, in the slipstream. It wasn’t a proper fight I don’t think. It would have been nice to hang on a little bit longer than I did, but that position is the aim for us, we want to be in P3, we want to be fighting for the podium. It was nice to be there, very momentarily, but it wasn’t to be. But it is something I would love to look forward to.

    Q: As with Antonio, I just wanted to ask you about your preparation for this weekend, but looking slightly longer term, you’ve raced at Silverstone in the FIA’s junior ranks – Formula 4, F3, F2. I just wanted to ask you how different each of those categories is and how they helped prepare you for this moment?

    LN: Well, I actually started in 2014 racing Ginettas but that was on the national circuit, so it has stepped up quite a bit since then. But they’ve prepared me more and more I guess. Every lap you do you learn something very small even, but you learn something and that always helps. But I guess the biggest progression is Formula 3 – reasonably high downforce given the size and weight of the car. So you have a very good feeling through Maggots, Becketts, you get to really push the limits and see what it’s like. And it’s kind of a similar feeling when you go to F1 – I think, I’ve not driven it yet – feeling the G-Force, feeling the downforce, that’s something you already start to get a bit of a feel of in Formula 3 and a little but in Formula 2. Nothing in particular, but every step you take is a step forward and it definitely helps.

    Q: George, you finished ahead of Kevin Magnussen in Austria last time out, so it seems the car is really starting to make progress now. How confident are you of another strong showing this weekend ?

    GR: Yeah, I think it’s a step-by-step process for us at the moment. The team has two very difficult years… or a very difficult year last year, sorry. They wanted to change a lot of the structure and it was almost that we had to make two steps back before we made three steps forward. The groundworks are kind of really in place at the moment to try to bring more performance to the car as the season progresses and I’ve got confident we can do that. But the fact is it’s going to be another difficult weekend for us and we’ve just got to do our maximum week in, week out, but yes, it was nice to be racing someone other than just Robert in Austria.

    Q: It’s 40 years since Williams won its first ever race, here at Silverstone, with Clay Regazzoni in 1979. Just how aware are you of your team’s history and how does it make you feel to be lining up with Williams on the grid this weekend?

    GR: I’m very aware of the history. I’ve been around the museum a number of times and it still amazes me every time I go there and even last week I was showing my trainer around for the first time and we decided to jump in some of the cars and it was just bonkers to think what these guys were doing back then. I could barely get my feet in this thing and you’ve only got fiberglass protecting you. But like I say, I’m very, very aware of what the team is achieved, it is an honour to race for Williams and like I said, we are almost getting the mickey taken out of us with our performance, but it’s a longer-term project for the team and you could have done a number of short-term things to be good in the moment but the team have bigger and greater things in mind.

    Q: Lewis, can you just describe how it feels to be Lewis Hamilton, coming into the British Grand Prix?

    Lewis HAMILTON: It feels pretty normal, I would say! It probably feels the same as it is, I would say, for all the drivers here. It’s such a privilege to be here up against the very few that can be a Formula One driver at the pinnacle of the sport. The British Grand Prix is the most special grand prix of the year, being that it’s… just the sheer magnitude of it and just how many people come for the weekend and how many British flags you see around here. It really is a spectacular weekend. I would say it probably just feels… I don’t know. There’s excitement, there’s the adrenaline going, there’s pressures. My whole family’s coming this weekend. It is that one weekend where… it’s probably the most special in a sense because you’ve got your family, the closest support, surrounding you. I’ve been very privileged over the years to obviously come here and have some spectacular races. I don’t know what I’ve won here but obviously here to try to improve this weekend. We are here to improve this weekend as a team. The last one was a little bit difficult for us but hopefully this weekend. I think it’ll be close but hopefully we’ll have a better shot.

    Q: As you say, Austria was, in effect, the first time you guys tripped up this year, with Valtteri finishing third, yourself fifth. Are you confident that was a one off, or have you got concerns coming into this weekend?

    LH: I wouldn’t say that I necessarily have concerns. I don’t weekends necessarily with a negative connotation to start with but, no I think we’re fully aware that the Ferraris and the Red Bulls have taken a step forward and the pace that they had in the last race was great. I think it looked a lot better than… I think it we didn’t have the issues that we had, I think we would have been a lot closer, would have been more in the fight. I expect this weekend it will be closer between us all. Last year Ferrari were super-fast here as well – as were the Red Bulls. I think the Red Bulls were a little bit down but now they’ve got the new engine I think they’ll be even quicker. So, it’s definitely not going to be an easy weekend.

    Q: And Lewis, you’ve got 79 wins to your name, five of which have come here at Silverstone.  On Sunday, you can be the first man ever to win six races at this race track. How enticing is that record and what would it mean?

    LH: Well, you know me. I’m not really one for records, so if it happens this weekend it does; if it doesn’t, it’s no biggie for me as I’ll try to be here for a little bit longer. Just the fact that that’s even a possibility is quite unreal for me. Ultimately it’s just really important to put that stuff out of your head, out of your mind and just focus on the job at hand. As I said, it’s not going to be an easy weekend for us. It’s really just about being diligent, making sure we leave no stone unturned. As Daniel mentioned, these cars all have sweet spots and it’s trying to… all those sweet spots don’t always work at each track – but this has been a strong track for us in the past. Hopefully this weekend, it’ll be a sweet spot for us.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Lewis and Daniel, last year Silverstone was resurfaced. It was slightly controversial, not all of the drivers were happy with it. It’s been resurfaced again for this year, and there’s also a little bit more gravel around the place in a couple of areas. It’s always been described as a drivers’ track. How interested are you to go out and see what change the changes have made.

    DR: Yeah, I was trying to get out there today, I will at some point, probably just on a bike, bit quicker. Yeah, it was pretty bumpy last year but at Red Bull we had one of the smoother-riding cars. A lot of others did say it was pretty bad. So, yeah, I’ll definitely have a look. I don’t normally do track walks or anything but if there is a change, it’s worth seeing, have a browse.

    LH: Same same but different.

    DR: Different but the same.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – LivioOricchiof1.com) Daniel, when you see what Max did in Spielberg and you see the performance of your team, do you have any regrets of changing team. And also, concerning the asphalt, do you expect any big impact in the performance of the car. I mean, any big changes in comparison to what has been seen at the last few races?

    DR: To answer the first part: no. Honestly no regrets. It was actually… part of me was pretty happy for them, and for F1 to just have a good race. It went through such… yeah… quite a lot of… I’m trying think of a better word. You know the word I’m thinking of, it’s a word I can’t really say! It went through a lot of scrutiny after France, so just for the sport to have a good race was awesome. But no, honestly, if I look back, by that time last year, Red Bull had three wins; that was the first. Obviously I’m further back at the moment, absolutely, you’re right but I expected this and really, if I stayed at Red Bull it was to win a title and sure, they got the win last weekend but they’re still a fair way from the title. And that’s not having a dig, that’s just the reality. So I don’t think I would necessarily have achieved anything else than I was already achieving there, so for that, yeah, no regrets. Obviously trying to build something here with Renault and absolutely there’s still a lot of work to do – but equally it’s pretty fulfilling when you do get a little bit of a result and Montreal was one of those moments where, it kind of… even that result alone made the first seven or so races worth it. The little bit of struggle and ups and downs. So yeah, but for the sport, honestly, I’m very happy that the last race went the way it did and hopefully there’s more like that. Hopefully I’m not running in 12th, or wherever I was, because that’s also not fun – but hopefully the battle at the front gets close and says close.

    And the asphalt?

    DR: I’ll let the others answer. It’s dark, yeah, the asphalt. Conductor of heat.

    I think we want to hear from the other drivers. George?

    GR: I won’t know until I’ve driving on it. Obviously raced F2 last year, didn’t feel a huge issue. It adds a bit of character, I think, even when it’s bumpy. It is how it is. It’s the same for everyone. You’ve got to adapt to the situation. Sometimes, if it’s too perfect, then it’s almost easier to drive – but obviously they had to do it more for the bikes than for us.

    Lando, have you been out to look at the asphalt?

    LN: Yeah, I scootered around earlier. Just looks darker than normal, I guess. It depends. I don’t know what kind of tarmac is it. Obviously in Paul Ricard we had the newer patches of tarmac and it was much slippier, or not as grippy as the older bits. So, it depends. We’ll find out tomorrow.

    Antonio?

    AG: Yeah, I agree with George and Lando. It’s nothing. You need to adapt a little bit.

    Q: (Julien Billiotte – AutoHebdo) Question to George. George, timing is everything in Formula One. When you see someone like Lando, who you’ve beaten in Formula Two last year, getting strong results, enjoying strong momentum at McLaren, are you not afraid you might miss out on bigger opportunities? Because you could be driving the best race of your life at the moment and no-one  – or not a lot of people – would take notice.

    GR: Yeah, thanks for that! No, not at all. At the end of the day, I know there are only a small number of people that are going to make a difference in my career and that’s Claire and the top people at Williams and Toto and the top people at Mercedes. At the end of the day, those guys are fully aware of the situation. They know exactly if I’ve had a good weekend or not. And even in myself, I’ve come away from some races which I know I’ve performed well, and I’ve come away satisfied, and other races I’ve come away knowing I could have done a better job, even though I ended up in the exact same position. So, but like I said, I’m also happy for Lando and Alex: the younger generation sticking it to the experienced guys and showing that we can do it. I think, y’know, I’m happy for them and if they’re doing a good job, it also looks good for me.

    Q: (Giles Richards – The Guardian) Lewis, you’ve achieved remarkable things in the sport, in what has been a very long career – but I was wondering if you could try to think back to when you started in Formula One and remember what your greatest hopes and aspirations were back then – what you thought you might achieve when you began?

    LH: I don’t really remember much back then. I think naturally you just want to excel and succeed in everything you do, and just… every driver here has a huge amount of belief in their own ability and we all have some sort of platform and opportunity in front of us and it was just really about maximising the opportunity that we do have, regardless of what team we’re in, what position you’re in. And just like George was saying, that’s really key. You know whether you’re doing the job and the lessons that you go through are huge at the early stages. And these guys are all going a great job, particularly in the early days. Me and Daniel were just saying, we’re having to represent for the 30-crew. It was extremely special but it was a huge learning process for me, as it is for all of us in the early stages. There’s no substitute for experience. That just comes over time. Of course I wanted to win world titles, I think in my first year I wanted to win the world title, that was straight away. Super-ambitious – particularly up against a two-time World Champion but there wasn’t a moment that I doubted myself, that I could do it. I think that’s ultimately what we all have – that confidence in ourselves.

    Q: (Oliver Brown – The Telegraph) Lewis, Christian Horner raised a few eyebrows earlier this week by suggesting that, if you and Max were in the same machinery, at the moment he would back Max to prevail. Given you’ve won six of nine races already this year, that seemed a fairly bold claim on his part. I just wondered your response to that and, more broadly, on how you and Max measure up as racers.

    LH: Well, firstly I don’t compare myself to anybody. Don’t need to. I don’t really have a response to his claims. Ultimately every now and again someone needs certain attention and… yeah… I think Max has been doing a great job and really, really exciting to watch. I think the last race was really fantastic and it’ll be really interesting to see how they go moving forwards.

    Q: (Rob Harris – Associated Press) Lewis, the new Silverstone deal is through to 2024; do you think you will still be driving then or what do you think you’ll be doing in F1? And we could have England in a World Cup final on Sunday, just as you’re racing. Do you think you’re going to have to produce something special to grab the national attention? Not to jinx anything for them today…

    LH: What I don’t understand is why the organisers put the race on the same day as all these other big events – Wimbledon – I really don’t understand it. But I hope in future that they put this on a… this is such a special weekend, it needs all the focus of the whole country and just not a small amount. I think people will be switching between channels on Sunday, not sure what to watch. But naturally I come here… there’s quite a few of us Brits but we come here to raise the flag and do the country proud so I’m just going to try and play my part.

    2024? Jesus, it feels like a long way away. Who knows whether I will still be here by then but if I’m not, if I’ve stopped racing, I won’t be here in any other capacity.

    Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday, Motorsport week.com) Lando, now that you and Carlos have been confirmed next year at McLaren, what is that going to do for you and possibly, speaking on behalf of your teammate, to know that everything is settled, you don’t have to go through these endless questions from us asking what you’re going to do next year? Does this give you an advantage? How do you feel about it and do you think you’ve made the right decision?

    LN: Yeah, I think I’ve made the right decision. It wasn’t something I was worried about or asking about so for me, I was pretty confident in the job I had been doing so far this season and because I wasn’t necessarily worried or asking about it in any way, for them to come forward to me with it and the confirmation, then yeah, it made me a bit happier. With me not being worried about it, it wasn’t something I don’t think… or it’s not going to be something which changes how I think about it, it’s not going to make me necessarily more confident or anything. I had all my confidence in the team. I would like to say that they had all theirs in me as well. From all of that, we will keep working hard, keep trying to progress and I’m sure Carlos and myself are going to have a lot more battles and some times together.

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Lewis, ’92, talk about Mansell mania and the crowds coming in to see him. We’ve got a similar situation, Silverstone’s going to be absolutely sold out on Sunday, partly to come and see you with all the success you’re having. Now there’s no question about the support you have with F1 fans, they all adore you and think you’re great for what you’re doing, the titles you’re winning. You’ve also struggled sometimes to win over some of the other British public, non-F1 fans. Can you put your finger on that at all, any reason why you don’t have the same universal adulation as Nigel Mansell had, say?

    LH: I don’t really… I don’t know. I don’t really generally feel that but people have the right to chose who they support and what I can say is that… I remember growing up in Stevenage I never in a million years thought I’d have a single supporter besides my Mum and my Dad. I feel really privileged in just even having one but quite a lot of people come here and I’m so grateful just for that, which is more than enough for me, so the more the merrier. I guess the more and more time I spend here, I guess you have more and more opportunity to turn people’s opinions. But ultimately, as I said, I’m grateful for what I do have.

    LN: Maybe it’s the moustache!

    LH: The moustache? What, the fact that I can’t really grow much!

    LN: Well, I can’t do much better either. Mansell’s one was alright.

    LH: Mansell had a good moustache. It might be that, I’m not able to grow. This is like as far as it goes. And he had good eyebrows as well. Maybe one weekend I’ll try sticking them on and see if it makes a difference.

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lewis, the two chaps to the left of you have got a combined age of 40, if my maths is right. I was just wondering if you have…

    LN: (Having exploded with laughter) Don’t worry, it’s nothing to do with your question.

    GR: It’s definitely not suitable for you guys.

    DR: I didn’t think it was that funny.

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) The question was, anyway, it was whether Lewis had any advice for the chaps sitting to his left and what he thought of the job they’re doing?

    LH: I don’t think I need to give them any advice. They’ve obviously come through similar ranks to myself and they’re doing exceptional jobs. Both have completely different challenges with George obviously in a team that’s has struggled for some time but is part of helping them take steps to improve and I really really hope… I’m a huge fan of Frank and that team and what they’ve achieved in their history so I really really… I think that’s a team that needs to be up at the top with the rest of them. It’s amazing to see McLaren doing so well. They’ve had some really tough years as well. We got to have a bit of a race in the last race and just watching Lando’s progression is incredibly impressive, to be so young in such an early phase, he’s coming in and keeping a level head and delivering on weekends, also up against a driver who’s got more experience than him. I’m personally excited to continue to watch these two grow and the trials and tribulations that they’ll face and I do hope that we get to do some racing together, as I said, representing the thirties.

    Q: (Stephen Camp – Motorsport Monday, Motorsport week.com) Over the past few weeks, if not months, there have been discussions about making life more difficult for the drivers behind the wheel. I was just wondering if there was anything in particular any one of you guys would like to see… perhaps power steering taken away, reduction in downforce? Is there anything in particular that you would like to see making your lives more difficult?

    AG: Yeah, of course I think I want better racing but less downforce, better to follow people but yeah, it really differs not from my side. We will see what happens after 2021 but yeah, for now it’s not my decision. We need to see what happens.

    DR: Yeah, I guess the racing thing’s a big one, just to be able to… obviously if it was all a bit closer that’s great as well but it’s just the ability to follow. I guess it’s two-fold now. You get close to another car, you lose a chunk of downforce but then also your tyres start to overheat so that then loses you an additional amount of grip so you’re kind of fighting against those two, let’s say, negative forces which don’t help. Power steering? Honestly, with the load and the actual downforce we have now would be literally impossible. I’ve had hydraulic failures; that’s when you lose the power steering and you can’t turn. As brave as I’d like to say I am and as shredded as I am, it wouldn’t suffice. Maybe one lap but not fifty.

    LH: I agree. I think what’s really important right now is that the drivers are unified for the first time since I’ve been in the sport. We’re all together as kind of a union and sort of working together with the FIA and hoping that we can have a positive impact on the rules in 2021. So we kind of need to make sure we stay on top of that and stay a part of it. There are definitely subtle changes we can do for sure to make the car a little bit even more physical than it is. It’s by no means easy for us to drive and definitely not taking power steering away would not be key but I think we could probably reduce it if we needed to do. We currently have the option to do that but there’s no need because it doesn’t really make a difference for us really. But yeah, I think there’s a lot of other aspects and ultimately, as Daniel mentioned, if the racing was closer it would really improve racing so that’s key for us, I think.

    LN: Nothing (inaudible). Nothing in particular. I think obviously the main thing is the racing which is probably the most important thing for all of us. The physical attributes, I don’t really mind, to be honest. I did suffer a lot since karting, with my size and everything, not really having a clue what to do when I started karting, so I suffered in every category: F4, F3, F2 – not so much F2 but I’ve had to kind of play catch-up quite a bit and in some ways, F1 was a bit nicer with power steering. F2’s much harder, physically on the arms and almost on the whole body than F1 is. So it can change but I don’t really mind, it’s how it is to be honest, I don’t think that’s the priority of F1 right now.

    GR: Yes, as the guys said, obviously to be able to race each other closer is the number one priority but I think also allowing us to drive flat-out every single lap, qualifying laps for 70 laps would be pretty cool and that would make the physical demand greater. If you’re constantly lifting-coasting or saving the tyres in high speed corners or doing whatever else, it’s obviously not as a tough as it would be if you’re going flat-out. So those two together would be my idea of what we want.

    Ends

  • F1 to continue at Silverstone for another five years

    Silverstone, 10 July 2019: Formula 1 is delighted to announce that the Formula 1 British Grand Prix will continue to be held at Silverstone at least until the end of 2024. The agreement between Formula 1, the British Racing Drivers’ Club and Silverstone Circuit was signed yesterday in London, in the run-up to the Formula 1 Rolex British Grand Prix 2019 weekend.

    The British Grand Prix has been part of the Formula 1 World Championship right from the start, with the 1950 edition of the race, held at Silverstone on 13th May of that year, being the very first of the 1006 Grands Prix that have taken place to date. Silverstone has hosted the British Grand Prix a further 51 times, with two other circuits, Aintree and Brands Hatch providing the venue on five and seventeen occasions respectively. Only the Italian Grand Prix can boast of featuring for the same length of time on the calendar of the top level of motorsport.

    Great Britain has played a vital role in the sport’s history and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Seven of the ten teams competing in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship are based in the UK, with motorsport being an important economic and technological contributor to the country. This year, Great Britain also has the largest number of drivers on the grid, with five times world champion Lewis Hamilton joined by the talented Lando Norris and George Russell.

    On the eve of the 70th British Grand Prix weekend, Formula 1 and Silverstone Circuits have announced that far from this being the last F1 Grand Prix at the historic Northamptonshire venue, a new chapter has begun, thanks to a new agreement that will keep F1 at the circuit for the coming years.

    With the future of one of F1’s most venerable and revered circuits now assured, Formula 1 Managing Director, Commercial Sean Bratches and Formula 1 Managing Director, Motorsport Ross Brawn explain why Silverstone, the track that hosted the very first world championship race in 1950, remains a key component of the incredible machine that is Formula 1…

    Sean, concluding this agreement secures Silverstone’s place on the calendar. What does that mean for the image of Formula 1 going forward?

    Silverstone sits in the pantheon of Formula 1 as one of the great races. In golf you have events like the Masters or the British Open, in tennis you have Wimbledon, and Silverstone is a race that falls into that category. It has an incredible heritage in Formula 1 and we definitely wanted to preserve that. And I think its Silverstone’s status among the great venues that enriches the Grand Prix calendar. It resonates with fans, it’s enormously popular with teams and drivers and it showcases our sport in its best light.

    Getting to this point was a lengthy process. On a personal level, how pleased are you that the future of the race has been secured?

    I’m an eternal optimist and always believed we would get over the line. I think there was a strong will on both sides to make this happen, but it always had to be an agreement both parties were happy with – that there is a sustainable model for Silverstone to proceed with but which also fulfills our goals in having a broad calendar with a truly global footprint but which maintains Formula 1’s DNA. In the end, both Silverstone and Formula 1 want the same thing – to put on an incredible spectacle at a venue that is beloved by the sport.

    What does retaining a venue such as Silverstone say about the future of other ‘heritage’ races in Formula 1?

    I think one of the things we have always been cognizant of is that Formula 1 is a sport that deeply cherishes its heritage and that it is important for us to safeguard that as much as is possible. Over the past two years, we’ve reached agreements with many of the great, historic venues in our sport. We have reached agreements with Spa and with Suzuka, we have a long-term agreement in place with Monaco, and we are engaged in a very constructive dialogue with Monza at the moment.

    The shape of the future calendar becomes a little clearer after today. Are you pleased with how it’s looking?

    It’s gratifying to be able to secure this agreement with Silverstone and it maintains that strand of heritage in the sport’s DNA. But by the same token, it’s clear that since 1950 the calendar has been extraordinarily dynamic and we see that as a positive.

    It’s exciting to bring new venues to the table and it’s always good to have people and places that want to sit at our table. We have a number of parties vying to bring Formula 1 to their territories and we are exploring multiple opportunities in that regard. That kind of dynamism is good for the sport and good for fans.

    We are of course staging F1’s first Grand Prix in Vietnam next year and that’s hugely exciting, and we’re also returning to the Netherlands. Indeed, racing at Zandvoort crosses the divide, if you like. We’re bringing back an event with enormous history but it’s almost like venturing to a new territory, as Formula 1 hasn’t raced there in 35 years.

    Looking at what Silverstone is doing in terms of development at the circuit. Does that kind of activity help F1’s offering?

    It does, but the truth is that Formula 1 myopically focuses on Silverstone for the two weeks from when we begin to set up for the Grand Prix to when the last truck leaves, and that’s true of every circuit we visit. But, the kind of infrastructure and activity Silverstone is investing in is hugely important to us because not only does it provide us with a wonderful canvas on which to display our show, it also, if done and executed properly, ensures success going forward for the circuit. It is important for us that our promoters are sustainable and successful.

    Finally, the announcement comes just ahead of what’s set to be a big show this weekend. Are you looking forward to it?

    Absolutely. There’s a huge amount happening this weekend. It’s our second Bond in Motion race and here at Silverstone, race 1007, our friends at Aston Martin Red Bull Racing will be bringing something special to their cars and to the look of their drivers this weekend. We’ll also welcome Craig, Daniel Craig as a guest. We’re looking forward to seeing a great many stars at Silverstone so it promises to be a wonderful weekend. We’ve got great tennis across the river and great racing just a bit further north of the river! I’m really looking forward to it.