INDIA in F1

Tag: Hamilton

  • Hamilton continues to set the pace at F1’s new Jeddah Corniche circuit

    Hamilton continues to set the pace at F1’s new Jeddah Corniche circuit

    Jeddah, 3 Dec 2021: Lewis Hamilton continued to set the practice pace at F1’s new Jeddah Corniche Circuit, beating team-mate Valtteri Bottas by six hundredths of a second as Ferrari’s Charles brought out red flags with a heavy crash at the end of the night-time session in Saudi Arabia. Championship leader Max Verstappen finished fourth almost two tenths of a second off Hamilton’s time.

    But while the headline times appear to hand seven-time champion Hamilton a narrow advantage, neither he nor Verstappen got a clean qualifying simulation and the Mercedes driver topped the timesheet with an early best lap on medium tyres.

    Verstappen led the way in the early running, setting a time of 1:30.104 on medium tyres. He quickly improved that to 1: 29.706 and then after a brief appearance in P1 by AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, the Dutch driver climbed to the top again with a lap of 1:29.290.

    Bottas then took top spot with a lap of 1:29.079 as the first third of the session ended only to be surpassed moments by Hamilton who posted a lap of 1:29.018.

    With the halfway mark in sight, teams recalled their drivers to the pit lane to prepare for qualifying simulations.

    Verstappen’s opening flyer was compromised by a major snap of oversteer in Turn 2 and he aborted to prepare for another attempt. Hamilton also lost his opening flying lap after being forced to avoid a slow Alfa Romeo in Turn 10 and he then aborted his second lap when he steered off track at the final corner when he encountered heavy traffic.

    Despite compromised qualifying simulations, the Mercedes drivers then moved to long-run data gathering. Verstappen, though, was offered the opportunity to continue exploring performance runs and took it, telling his engineer that he didn’t care about long-run information. The Dutch driver was able to improve marginally on his earlier time and finished with a lap of 1:29.213, 0.195s behind Hamilton.

    His lap was only good enough for fourth place in the session, however, as AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly snuck in with a lap of 1:29.099 to claim P3. Any further opportunities for very late improvements were denied by Ferrari’s Leclerc, however.

    With five minutes remaining the Monegasque driver crashed heavily at Turn 22. He lost the rear of his car on entry to the corner and slid across the short run-off. He slapped the barriers hard with the right-rear and pivoted to repeat the collision with the front right corners. The Ferrari driver was able to climb out quickly and the session was red-flagged and not restarted.

    2021 FIA Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – Free Practice
    1  Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:29.018  22 249.684
    2  Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:29.079 0.061 23 249.513
    3  Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:29.099 0.081 22 249.457
    4  Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:29.213 0.195 20 249.138
    5  Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 1:29.441 0.423 21 248.503
    6  Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:29.555 0.537 22 248.187
    7  Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:29.589 0.571 24 248.092
    8  Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 1:29.597 0.579 20 248.070
    9  Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 1:29.768 0.750 22 247.598
    10  Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:29.772 0.754 23 247.587
    11  Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 1:29.968 0.950 22 247.047
    12  Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:30.004 0.986 19 246.949
    13  Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:30.110 1.092 23 246.658
    14  Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:30.276 1.258 24 246.204
    15  Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:30.442 1.424 22 245.753
    16  Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:30.502 1.484 22 245.590
    17  George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:30.506 1.488 24 245.579
    18  Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 1:30.652 1.634 20 245.183
    19  Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:31.039 2.021 23 244.141
    20  Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 1:31.629 2.611 20 242.569

  • Bottas on pole for Sprint ahead of Hami, Verstappen

    Bottas on pole for Sprint ahead of Hami, Verstappen

    Monza (Italy), 10 Sept. 2021: Valtteri Bottas will start tomorrow’s sprint qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix from the front of the grid after he beat Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamlton by a tenth of a second. Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship leader Max Versatappen will start third.

    The opening segment of qualifying in Formula 1 Heineken Gran Premio D’italia, the 14th of the 22-round F1 World Championship, which was run at frenetic pace on Friday, with traffic proving a constant issue as drivers sought the best window for their laps. Verstappen was one of those to suffer and after posting an opening time of 1:22.108 his second flyer, aimed at raising him from P10, the Dutchman was hampered by three slow-running cars ahead and was forced into a third attempt. He made no mistake on his final flying lap, however, and vaulted to third, behind Hamilton and Bottas.

    The 2021 Italian Grand Prix, which takes place over 53 laps of the 5.793-kilometre Autodromo Nazionale Monza on Sunday, September 12.

    Further back there was a close call at the end of the session for 2022 Mercedes signing George Russell. The Williams driver look set to be eliminate in 16th place after failing to make the most of his final flying lap, but the Briton was granted a reprieve when AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda fell foul of track limits and the Japanese driver’s time was deleted.

    It meant that Russell’s team-mate Nicholas Latifi was the first to exit the session in P16, followed by Tsunoda, Haas’ Mick Schumacher, Alfa Romeo’s Robert Kubica and the second Haas of Nikita Mazepin.

    In Q2 Hamilton seized control of P1 with his first flyer of the segment, with the Mercedes driver setting a target of 1:19.936. Verstappen struggled to get close to that time and at the end of the opening runs he sat in sixth place with a lap of 1:20.710, over seven tenths of a second adrift of his title rival.

    Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez was at even greater risk and ahead of the final runs he lay in 10th place, just a couple of hundredths of a second clear of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon. Perez led his team-mate out of the pit lane for the final runs, aiming to give Verstappen a tow and that meant the Mexican would endure a nervy end to the session.

    While his assist helped Vesrtappen to jump to an eventual fourth place behind Hamilton, Bottas and McLaren’s Lando Norris, Perez’s final lap of 1:20.882 was only good enough to raise him to eighth as the final laps came in. He began to slide back but his luck held and his fall halted in a safe P10 .

    Eliminated at the end of Q2 in 11th and 12th place respectively were Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll with the Aston Martin drivers being followed out of the session by the Alpine cars of Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon and the Williams of George Russell.

    If the second segment had suggested that Red Bull were struggling for pace at power sensitive Monza then Verstappen dispelled that notion in the first run of Q3. Hamilton set the pace with a lap of 1:19.949 but thanks to a tow from team-mate Perez, Verstappen was able to put in a lap just 0.017s behind the Mercedes driver to a provisional front-row berth.

    It looked like being a close call between the two title contenders in the final runs but in the end it was Bottas who took the spoils. Profiting from a tow from Hamilton, the Finn powered to top spot with a lap of 1:19.555. Hamilton, a tenth behind, took second and Verstappen, who failed to improve on his final flyer, qualified third.

    Fourth place went to Norris, with McLaren team-mate Daniel Ricciardo in fifth ahead of the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly. Carlos Sainz narrowly beat team-mate Charles Leclerc as Ferrari finished seventh and eighth and Perez who had again aided Verstappen with a tow ended up in ninth place just ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi.

    The F1 Sprint Race will be telecast by Star Sports Select 2 from 8pm (IST) to 8.30 pm in India.

    2021 FIA Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix – Qualifying
    1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes  1:19.555 
    2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Mercedes  1:19.651 0.096
    3 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:19.966 0.411
    4 Lando Norris McLaren  1:19.989 0.434
    5 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren  1:19.995 0.440
    6 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri  1:20.260 0.705
    7 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:20.462 0.907
    8 Charles Leclerc Ferrari  1:20.510 0.955
    9 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing 1:20.611 1.056
    10 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo  1:20.808 1.253
    11 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin  1:20.913 1.358
    12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin  1:21.020 1.465
    13 Fernando Alonso Alpine  1:21.069 1.514.

  • After a dangerous crash and red flag stoppage, Hamilton gets back to take 95th win

    After a dangerous crash and red flag stoppage, Hamilton gets back to take 95th win

    Sakhir, 29 Nov 2020: Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton took his 11th win of 2020 ahead of Red Bulls’ Max Verstappen and Alex Albon in the FIA Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix the 15th of the 17 round World Championship. The race was red-flagged soon after the start due to a major crash involving Haas driver Romain Grosjean. It is Hamilton’s 95th career win.

    When the lights went out at the start, Lewis Hamilton made a good start from pole position to take the lead. Front-row starting team-mate Valtteri Bottas got away poorly, however, and that allowed Verstappen to take second place. Sergio Perez who went around the outside of Bottas to take third ahead of Albon.

    Further back the field Racing Point’s Lance went wide on the right after to avoid tussling cars ahead, then one of the Alfa Romeos left the track on the left and rercating to the situation in front of him Grosjean moved swiftly across the track. He was unsighted however and hit the AlphaTauri of Daniiil Kvyat. The Haas went straight off track at high speed and through the Armco barrier. The car was torn in two and burst into flame. Miraculously, Grosjean was able to clamber out of the burning wreckage and was helped to safety by the FIA Medical Car crew of Dr Ian Roberts and Medical Car driver Alasn van der Merwe. The red flags were immediately displayed. Grosjean, who was said to have sustained only minor burns to his hands and ankles, was eventually flown to hospital for further checks and later posted video of himself safe in his hospital bed. 

    After an 80-minute delay to remove and replace the damaged barrier, the race began again but the second start was also incident-packed. Hamilton again got away well ahead of Verstappen and Pérez but behind them there was contact between Stroll and Kvyat, with the result that the Canadian driver’s car was flipped upside down. 

    Stroll was unhurt but the safety car was deployed and during the caution Bottas pitted due to a puncture caused by debris. The Finn’s misfortune moved Albon to P4 behind Pérez. 

    When the safety car left the track, Hamilton managed the re-start well to keep Verstappen at bay as Pérez also made sure to keep Alex at arm’s length. Behind them Leclerc tried to pass Ocon for P6 but the Frenchman defended well to fight off the Ferrari. 

    Hamilton was the first of the leading cars to make a regulation pit stop and the Mercedes driver moved to medium tyres. Albon pitted at the same time and made the same switch. Verstappen made his first stop a lap later and instead moved to hard tyres.

    At half distance, Hamilton led Verstappen by 4.8 seconds, while Pérez was 16 seconds further back in P3, 3.7s ahead of Albon. The man on the move during this phase of the race was McLaren’s Carlos Sainz, with the Spaniard making his way past both Renaults to take P6 behind team-mate Lando Norris. 

    The Red Bulls were the first of the leaders to make final pit stops, with both Verstappen and Albon pitting at the end of lap 35. The Dutch driver’s stop was slow though and he lost ground to Hamilton who made his second stop on the following lap.

    The race then settled again, and it looked like the order would stay the same until the chequered flag. With a sizeable gap back to Pérez, Verstappen opted to pit again in the closing stages and after taking on a set of medium tyres the Dutchman grabbed the fastest lap of the race and an extra point with a time of 1:32.014. 

    Behind him, it looked like Pérez was on his way to a second successive podium finish but with just a few laps to go the Mexican’s engine expired and Albon swept past to claim the second podium of his career. Behind the Thai racer, Lando Norris was fourth for McLaren ahead of team-mate Carlos Sainz, with AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly sixth ahead of Ricciardo, Bottas, Ocon and Leclerc. 

    2020 FIA Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix – Race 
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 57 2:59’47.515 
    2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 57 2:59’48.769 1.254
    3 Alexander Albon Red Bull/Honda 57 2:59’55.520 8.005
    4 Lando Norris McLaren/Renault 57 2:59’58.852 11.337
    5 Carlos Sainz McLaren/Renault 57 2:59’59.302 11.787
    6 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 57 2:59’59.457 11.942
    7 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 57 3:00’06.883 19.368
    8 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 57 3:00’07.195 19.680
    9 Esteban Ocon Renault 57 3:00’10.318 22.803
    10 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 56 2:59’48.335 1 Lap
    11 Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri/Honda 56 2:59’49.415 1 Lap
    12 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 56 2:59’49.926 1 Lap
    13 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 56 2:59’52.774 1 Lap
    14 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 56 2:59’53.116 1 Lap
    15 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 56 2:59’56.693 1 Lap
    16 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 56 2:59’57.689 1 Lap
    17 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 56 3:00’09.772 1 Lap
    18 Sergio Pérez Racing Point/Mercedes 53 2:51’46.894 Power Unit
         Lance Stroll Racing Point/Mercedes 2 1:25’06.986 Accident
         Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 0 Accident

  • Hamilton fastest in pre-season test at Barcelona: Day 1

    Hamilton fastest in pre-season test at Barcelona: Day 1

    Barcelona, 19 Feb 2020: Defending world champion Lewis Hamilton went quickest on the opening day of pre-season Formula 1 testing in Barcelona, with the Briton beating Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas by three tenths of a second. Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez was third fastest ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. 

    With regulations largely stable for 2020 reliability was impressive and with no red flags or major technical issues hampering running, the grid’s 10 teams managed impressive mileage, with each passing the 100-lap barrier at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. 

    It was Mercedes who managed the most, though, with Bottas getting through 79 laps in the morning to lead the standings at the lunch time mark before Hamilton added another 94 in the afternoon to bring the team’s total to 173. Hamilton’s table-topping time was set midway through the afternoon session on Pirelli’s C2 compound. 

    Sergio Pérez took third place for Racing Point, with the Mexican finishing just six hundredths of a second behind Bottas in the Silverstone team’s new RP20 car. Perez set his time on the C3 compound in the morning session. Lance Stroll took over in the afternoon and followed Pérez’s 58 laps with 52 of his own. The Canadian ended the session in P10, 1.3s off Hamilton’s pace.  

    Fourth place in the session went to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. The Dutch driver posted the largest number of laps for a single driver, 168, and over the course of a marathon session he posted a C3-shod time of 1:17.516 to finish half a second behind Hamilton. 

    Daniil Kvyat was fifth quickest on day one for AlphaTauri, the squad formerly known as Toro Rosso. The Russian driver worked through 115 laps and finished seven tenths of a second off the pace. 

    Kvyat ended the day 0.144s clear of sixth-placed Carlos Sainz of McLaren, with afternoon Renault driver Daniel Ricciardo seventh, three hundredths of a second ahead of new team-mate Esteban Ocon who drove in the morning. 

    George Russell ended a solid first day of testing for Williams in ninth place, having completed 73 laps through the morning. New team-mate Nicholas Latifi then added a further 63 laps in the afternoon. It was a far brighter start for the team than last year when late delivery of its 2019 car led to it missing the first two days of pre-season testing. 

    With Stroll rounding out the4 top 10, Ferrari had to settle for P11 as Charles Leclerc opened the Italian squad’s pre-season account in place of the unwell Sebastian Vettel. 

    Leclerc got through an impressive 131 laps in a busy day that included a lengthy pause after lunch, with the team staying in the garage for more than an hour at the start of the afternoon session. 

    Robert Kubica took 13th place at the end of his first outing as Alfa Romeo’s reserve driver with the Pole finishing ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Alfa team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi. 

    2020 Formula 1 Pre-Season Test 1, Day 1
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:16.976s 94
    2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:17.313s +0.337s 79
    3 Sergio Perez Racing Point 1:17.375s +0.399s 58 
    4 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:17.516s +0.540s 168 
    5 Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri 1:17.698s +0.722s 115 
    6 Carlos Sainz McLaren 1:17.842s +0.866s 161 
    7 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1:17.873s +0.897s 54 
    8 Esteban Ocon Renault 1:18.004s +1.028s 62 
    9 George Russell Williams 1:18.168s +1.192s 73 
    10 Lance Stroll Racing Point 1:18.282s +1.306s 50 
    11 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:18.289s +1.313s 131 
    12 Nicolas Latifi Williams 1:18.382s +1.406s 63 
    13 Robert Kubica Alfa Romeo 1:18.386s +1.410s 59 
    14 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:18.466s +1.490s 104 
    15 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 1:20.096s +3.120s 78 

  • Historic machinery swap by Lewis Hamilton and Valentino Rossi #LR44VR46

    Historic machinery swap by Lewis Hamilton and Valentino Rossi #LR44VR46

    The car with which Lewis Hamilton won the 2017 F1 championship and Valentino Rossi’s 2019 MotoGP bike ahead of the historic swap of machines by World Champions. A Monster Energy Yamaha image

    Valencia (Spain), 11 Dec 2019: In a historic moment for both Lewis Hamilton and Valentino Rossi, as well as their respective sports, the pair completed an unprecedented track day as each swapped machinery at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, a Monster Energy Yamaha release said.

    Valentino Rossi drove The Mercedes-AMG F1 W08 EQ Power+, a car that won the 2017 FIA Formula One™ World Championship with Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport at the hands of Lewis Hamilton, whilst Lewis rode the 2019 Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP YZR-M1 bike that only weeks earlier had been piloted by Valentino at the very same circuit.

    The significance of the occasion was not lost on either Lewis or Valentino who have made no secret of their admiration and respect for each other in recent years. Acting as a mentor for the other, the pair were able to complete multiple runs on each other‘s machinery and share insight, learn about each other‘s craft and enjoy a unique experience.

    The six-time Formula One World Champion, Lewis Hamilton:

    “It‘s so awesome to see a legend like Valentino in the car. I‘m excited for him for discovering the car for the first time. Reminds me of my first time in a F1 car. When you see all the team around you, it‘s just a different animal.”

    Of his time out on track riding the Yamaha YZR-M1 with Rossi he added: “It was so cool to be out on track and see Valentino ahead of me on the same bike.”

  • Lewis Hamilton wins Abu Dhabi GP to end 2019 on a high

    Lewis Hamilton wins Abu Dhabi GP to end 2019 on a high

    Lewis Hamilton wins the Abu Dhabi season ender to finish 2019 on a high. An FIA image

    Yas Marina (Abu Dhabi), 1 Dec 2019: Lewis Hamilton capped a glorious 2019 campaign with an emphatic lights-to-flag victory in the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, beating Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by more than 16 seconds, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc third.

    Starting from his fifth pole position of the season, the six-time world champion led every lap of the race to score his 11thwin of the season and added fastest lap to seal the sixth grand chelem of his career. Only the legendary Jim Clark has more, with eight.

    At the race start, Hamilton made a good start from P1 to lead into the first corner. Behind him Verstappen also got away well but quickly came under pressure from Ferrari’s fast-starting Leclerc. Verstappen defended but at the end of the long second straight, the Ferrari man swept past the red Bull to take P2.

    Behind him Sebastian Vettel in the second Ferrari settled into fourth ahead of the second Red Bull of Alex Albon. The Thai driver came under pressure in the earlt laps from the McLarens of sixth-placed Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz who had passed Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo off the line to steal P7 but he was able to fend off the challenge and the field settled into the first stint. Norris opened the pit stop window for the leading soft tyre starters by shedding his starting tyres for hard compound Pirellis on lap eight and Ferrari pitted both its drivers at the end of lap 12. Leclerc’s stop for hard tyres went smoothly, there was a problem with Vettel’s front left wheel and the German lost timewhile the problem was rectified. Leclerc resumed in P4 behind Hamilton, Max and Alex, but Vettel slipped to seventh. Red Bull Racing then pitted Albon and the Thai driver rejoined just two seconds behind Vettel.

    At the front, Hamilton and Verstappen continued to circulate their starting medium tyres and while others further back pitted, Valtteri Bottas, who had started from due to engine penalties, rose to fourth place behind Leclerc, with Vettel fifth and Albon sixth.

    Verstappen eventually made his sole stop of the evening on lap 25, taking on hard tyres. He emerged in third place, though just four seconds behind Leclerc and on newer tyres. Mercedes then brought Hamilton in at the end of the next lap and with a sizeable gap back to Leclerc the Briton rejoined in the lead.

    After his pit stop Verstappen began to report throttle problems in his car but despite the difficulty he quickly closed down Leclerc and on lap 32 muscled past the Ferrari down the inside into Turn 8. Leclerc fought back by trying to retake P2 around the outside into Turn 11 but Max held a strong line and Leclerc was forced to give up the fight.

    Further back, Bottas was closing hard on the leaders and on lap 39 he reeled in Albon and charged past the Red Bull man. With the Finn on a charge, Ferrari opted to pit both its drivers on lap 38 and when they emerged, Leclerc found himself 29 seconds behind Verstappen, while Vettel was 18.6s behind of Albon.

    Armed with new medium tyres, Vettel then closed on Albon and the penultimate lap the German powered past the Red Bull to settle for sixth place.

    At the front, Hamilton marched on serenely and after 55 laps he crossed the line to take his 11thvictory ahead of Verstappen, for whom P2 ahead of the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc was enough to seal third place in the Drivers’ Championship. Fourth place went to Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas, with Vettel fifth ahead of Alex.

    There was plenty of drama in the lower half of the top 10 on the final lap as Sergio Pérez passed Lando Norris for seventh place, while behind ninth-placed Daniil Kvyat, Carlos Sainz stole P10 from Daniel Ricciardo.

    2019 FIA Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Race
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 55 1:34’05.715
    2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 55 1:34’22.487 16.772
    3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 55 1:34’49.150 43.435
    4 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 55 1:34’50.094 44.379
    5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 55 1:35’10.072 1:04.357
    6 Alexander Albon Red Bull/Honda 55 1:35’14.920 1:09.205
    7 Sergio Pérez Racing Point/Mercedes 54 1:34’30.618 1 Lap
    8 Lando Norris McLaren/Renault 54 1:34’31.979 1 Lap
    9 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso/Honda 54 1:34’33.236 1 Lap
    10 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren/Renault 54 1:34’36.836 1 Lap
    11 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 54 1:34’37.737 1 Lap
    12 Nico Hülkenberg Renault 54 1:34’39.094 1 Lap
    13 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 54 1:34’46.495 1 Lap
    14 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 54 1:35’01.495 1 Lap
    15 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 54 1:35’20.467 1 Lap
    16 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 54 1:35’32.482 1 Lap
    17 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 54 1:35’43.499 1 Lap
    18 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso/Honda 53 1:34’17.001 2 Laps
    19 Robert Kubica Williams/Mercedes 53 1:34’29.473 2 Laps
    Lance Stroll Racing Point/Mercedes 45 1:20’12.929 Brakes.

  • Winning here is a perfect way to end the season, says Lewis Hamilton

    Yas Marina, 1 DEc 2019: Lewis Hamilton, the race winner and the two drivers who finished on the podium Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) attended the FIA post-race Press Conference on Sunday.

    TRACK INTERVIEWS (Conducted by David Coulthard)
    Q: Lewis Hamilton, congratulations, your 11th victory of the season and that looked one of your most dominant. You must be very proud?
    Lewis HAMILTON: Honestly, I’m proud definitely but I’m just super grateful for this incredible team. To all at Mercedes, who have continued to push this year… who would have thought that at the end of the year we would have this strength in the race and even though we had the championships won we just really wanted to keep our heads down and try to see if we could learn and if we could extend and if we could extract more from this beautiful car that they’ve worked [on]. It’s a piece of art. And I’m also so grateful to team LH. I travel around the world to 21 different countries, probably even more, and I get to see people who continuously inspire me and send me messages and lift me up. So I want to send a big thank you to everyone that’s here, everyone that’s back home. Thank you for watching, thank you for supporting. I feel so happy with today, man.

    Q: Now it has been a great season and I know you’re in that moment, but you’ve got on the podium two young guys, two young chargers. They’ve thrown some big races at you this year, but this is a great way for you to end the season, with such a dominant victory. These guys have still got a lot of work to do?
    LH: These guys, there are a lot of youngsters coming through. If you look at the grid, for example, from second to like seventh or eighth was all super youngsters, so I’m really proud to be in a period of time where there are such great youngsters coming through. These guys have been doing a phenomenal job and I really privileged to be in the period of time where they’re here and I’m looking forward to hopefully more close battles with us in the future, so I hope it gets close for us next year.

    Q: Just before I move on, what have you got planned for the winter?
    LH: Oh, just family time, man.

    Q: Enjoy your family time. Max Verstappen, it’s been a pretty good season for you – three victories, third in the Drivers’ Championship. Today that was the best you could hope for. You had some issues though didn’t you? We heard you on the radio; you were having to manage some issues.
    Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, a few little things. At the end of the day it wouldn’t have made a difference in terms of position. Yeah, we had to do a bit of a different strategy to Ferrari of course, they pitted quite early and we went long, because they overtook us on the first lap. After that our pace was quite decent, just Mercedes and Lewis today, they were just a bit too quick. As a whole I think it’s been a positive season and of course to be P3 in the championship is a nice ending.

    Q: Lewis said he’s going to be spending family time in the winter but I guess you’ve got your sights on the world championship, so you’ll be at the factory, you’ll be on the simulator, you’ll be working hard?
    MV: I think we are all working hard but it’s also good to take some time off, be with family and friend and be fully recharged for next year and come back stronger.

    Q: Congratulations. We’ve got Charles and Lewis sharing notes here. What are you discussing? They way the race played out?
    Charles LECLERC: Yeah, just overall how quick he was during the race. With the hard I think he did a 39.2, so yeah, I was just saying congratulations to him.

    Q: Now, third place; it’s another podium. It’s been a great year, first year for you at Ferrari. I know you guys all want to win but you have to be satisfied. You are the first team-mate to have finished in front of Sebastian in the world championship in his time at Ferrari, so it’s been very positive for you.
    CL: Yeah, I’m extremely about this year. I’ve learned a huge amount thanks to Seb. Yeah, it’s been a great year. For me a realisation of a dream since childhood. I’ve always dreamed to be in Formula 1 but especially with Ferrari. To be now with this team is unbelievable and now it’s up to me to work, to get better, and hopefully give them the success they deserve.
    PRESS CONFERENCE
    Q: Lewis, many congratulations, as emphatic a victory as we have seen from you, and in your 250th race as well?
    LH: Jeez! That’s a lot of races.
    MV: You didn’t celebrate that – 250? No pit board? Two-hundred-and-fifty grands prix, they didn’t celebrate that for you? You didn’t care.
    LH: No!
    MV: Three hundred? Three-fifty?
    LH: No, I don’t want to reminded of the age! No, what an incredible year it has been. What an incredible stretch it’s been with this team. Yeah, after winning the Constructors’ and the Drivers’ Championship I think it was really important for us as a team to continue to push. You know, we hadn’t got absolutely everything from the overall perfect package. So we were just trying to push the limits and push the boundaries and yeah, I think this is the perfect way to end the season, on the right foot. I think it was a great weekend in the sense that there was a Ferrari and a Red Bull and a Mercedes in the top three, obviously in the finishing order but also on the grid, and then a lot of young drivers behind me, making me feel young, which is great. I’m really just grateful to my team who have continued to push all year long and just have never lost sight of the objective. We’ve all had a common goal and inspired each other to continue to push and strive for perfection. So, incredibly grateful to everyone and I hope that everyone at Mercedes and our partners. I’m sure they are pretty happy.

    Q: Were you surprised by your dominance today, because you were 13 seconds ahead of Max after 20 laps?
    LH: Yeah, I definitely wasn’t expecting to haver the pace advantage to that extent. Our long run pace was quite good and I was told that we might be a tenth or two ahead but then in the race we had a bit more of an advantage in that respect. And once I got out in the clear I was able to manage my pace pretty well in that first stint and manage the tyres. I just had to go as long, basically, as Max was going. Then we got onto that next set of tyres and for this track the tyre was good. The hard tyres is quite resilient to any abrasion and that. It goes a long, long way. I think it can do the whole race stint. I think towards the end of the race I was like ‘I want to have some… I’ve got to push and see if I can extract any more performance from the car’. I do wish that we had some battles. I saw on TV you guys battling…
    MV: You could have slowed down!
    LH: You guys are too quick on the straights.
    MV: Just give it a chance.
    LH: I’m sure we are going to have some great races. We had some great races this year, Max and I, so congratulations to them for continuing to rise and I’m excited to be amongst those guys and fight with them next year.

    Q: Max, your second consecutive podium here in Abu Dhabi and your ninth podium finish of the season. You didn’t seem happy with the car after your pit stop. Can you just talk us through what the problems were?
    MV: Yeah, I just had some torque holes on throttle. There were delays and stuff, so it was not great, and we couldn’t fix it, so we drove around the problem. At the end of the day, it wouldn’t have made a difference in terms of the result.

    Q: What does a torque hole mean? In the olden days would we have been talking about a misfire?
    MV: No, just when I go on throttle it’s not doing what I want.

    Q: Did it cost you lap time?
    MV: It did cost me lap-time – but like I said, it wouldn’t have given me the win today.

    Q: Apart from that, race was fine?
    MV: Yeah, race was fine. Little bit of a shame about the first lap but then I think we had a good first stint, to go long and yeah, I think once we then put the hard tyres on, the pace was decent. I could get by Charles and then I could just do my own race. I mean, Lewis was too quick, so I was just focussing on my own race and lap-times.

    Q: And you’ve sealed third in the Championship today. Just how will you reflect on 2019?
    MV: Yeah, pretty good. Few victories, poles, so that’s pretty good. I think we improved quite a bit throughout the season. Also, from Honda side. Of course, very happy about that. Now we just need to keep that momentum into the winter break as well and try to improve the car even further, together with the engine and be there from the first race, not from the middle of the season or towards the end. But we know that, so we are working on it.

    Q: Charles, it was pretty tight with Valtteri in those closing laps. How worried were you?
    CL: Well, Valtteri was very quick towards the end of the race, so yeah, I was pretty worried at one point when he started to catch and I was starting to struggle a little bit – but then, in the last four or five laps, I think he came back a little bit slower: I think he slowed down too, so then I was a bit more hopeful and then I had some traffic, so it was very close towards the end. But yeah, it was a bit of a strange race because in the first stint I was very hopeful, I was behind Lewis. OK, we weren’t as quick as Lewis but I still thought the pace was there – but then we tried to pit pretty early to try to force them to stop early but yeah, then basically I understood I would see Lewis at the end of the race because we were just not quick enough and we never put a challenge to them in front. Yeah, it’s like this. We weren’t quick enough – but overall, I think during the season it’s been more or less the same picture when qualifying, we manage more or less to be there but then in the race we seem to struggle. So we need to work on that for 2020.

    Q: So you were trying to force Mercedes into making another pit stop. How early in the race – if indeed you did – were you regretting that two-stop strategy?
    CL: I was not. Because it was pretty clear for me that to get this third place, if I wanted it, it was all about winning because Max was still in the race, so we had to do something. I didn’t want to stay there and that’s it. So, I just tried but to be honest with not much hope but yeah, at least we tried.

    Q: And Charles, final thoughts. Are you worried about the fuel discrepancy that was discovered by the FIA prior to the race?
    CL: To be honest, I’ve got no idea and no details whatsoever of what’s going on, for now. So, yeah. I’ll speak to the team to understand that better.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Jake Boxall-Legge – Autosport) Question for Max. We’ve heard you over the year discussing over the year that you’ve had a little bit of lag sensitivity with the car. It doesn’t always respond to your throttle inputs. Is the problem today related to that – and how did it feel from your perspective in the car?
    MV: Most of the time it’s fine-tuning. Today, I’m not sure yet what happened exactly, because they didn’t want to tell me on the radio, they just said there was nothing they could do from their side, so then it also doesn’t matter what it is, so I’ll have to find out.

    Q: (Giovanni Messi – NewsF1.it) Max, do you think Red Bull is now in front of Ferrari and ready to catch Mercedes next year for a World Championship? And for Charles, I want to ask your opinion about the strategy today: why did you stop so early in the first laps?
    MV: I think it’s pretty close. It just depends a little bit on the track layout but I think from our side, throughout the season, we made good improvements so we could actually take the fight a bit more forward and win a few races and yet for next year there is still a lot of work to do of course, to catch up to Mercedes. At the end of the day, they were the dominant team over the year, or at least, the most consistent. Yeah, we will of course try everything to close that gap but of course it’s not going to be easy.
    CL: No. At the end, as I said, to be third in the championship we had to win the race, considering where Max was in the race so we gave it all for that and yeah, I just didn’t want to stay there in second place and follow the others’ strategy because it made no sense so we went for a gamble, it didn’t pay off but it’s OK.

    Q: (Christian Menath – motorsportmagazin.com) Lewis, yesterday you said you had to re-centre a bit after Friday. You were a bit behind Valtteri, I don’t know if it was because of the engine, he had a fresh engine, but can you explain how you re-centre yourself? Is that something driving-wise you look completely differently into or is it more personal?
    LH: It’s really just about… I don’t know, on Friday, I just had a bit of… I guess, maybe it was slightly erratic, just the balance of…sometimes you over-drive, you under-drive, just not comfortable with the balance of the car and not reacting, there wasn’t synergy between myself and the car. But I would say more so perhaps from my personal side so I don’t know, it’s just about stepping back, taking a breather and kind of realigning your focus, realising what you need to do. As I said, get your heart under control and came back the next day, there was nothing erratic, smooth, calm and collected, so I had my own ways of doing that naturally but I think it’s just the experience over the years, understanding on some days, emotions are heightened and other days it’s more mellow and that was just one of those days.

    Q: (Lawrence Edmonson – ESPN) Lewis, I don’t know if you’re aware but there’s been a lot of talk this weekend about you potentially going to Ferrari in 2021. I may as well ask a straight question: is it a consideration and have you met with Ferrari’s president John Elkann?
    LH: Well, naturally everything that happens behind closed doors is obviously always private with whoever it is you end up sitting with but I think for many, many years I’ve never ever sat down and considered other options, because we’ve been on a… just driving straight ahead into the path that we’ve been on and the journey that we’ve been on and to be honest, I still think we’re on that path and I think there’s very little that’s going to shift it from that but I think there’s no harm in… I know Toto is also looking at his options in terms of his future and only he will know what is the best thing for him and his family. So I’m waiting to see what he’s doing with that. I love where I am so it’s definitely not a quick decision to do something else, but of course I think it’s only smart and wise for me to sit and think of what I want… if it is the last period or stage in my career. Actually I want to keep winning so I think that’s… I want to keep being able to fight with these guys as well. I can’t really tell you what else is going to happen moving forwards.

    Q: Charles, can I just throw that to you as well. If you’re still wearing red in 2021, would you welcome Lewis as a team-mate?
    CL: Well of course. At the end, we are in Formula One and we want to fight against the best. I’ve had a big opportunity this year to have Seb next to me who is a four time World Champion and I’ve learned a lot from him and you can always learn from this type of champion so yeah, of course.

    Ends

  • Lewis Hamilton takes pole at Abu Dhabi

    Yas Marina, 30 Nov 2019: Lewis Hamilton took his fifth pole position of the season and the 88thof his career by beating team-mate Valtteri Bottas by two tenths of a second to book top spot on the grid for the final race of the 2019 Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

    Max Verstappen took third place in the session a little under two tenths of a second behind Bottas but the Dutchman will start the race from the front row after Bottas drops to the back of the grid thanks to penalties incurred due to an engine change.

    Hamilton set the pace in Q1 with the Mercedes driver claiming top spot thanks to a time of 1:35.851 that put him 0.3s ahead of Bottas in the final minutes of the session. Verstappen was in P3 having posted a lap of 1:36.390 on his first flying lap.

    Ahead of the final runs, Alex Albon in the second Red Bull was in sixth place and 1.4s off the pace after a cautious opening run and in the final stages of the session he opted to make another attempt. The Thai driver improved significantly and his time of 1:36.102 was good enough to propel him to P2 ahead of Bottas.

    The first run of the session was also a tricky one for Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. The German was winding up for his first attempt but as he accelerated out of the final corner to begin his lap he lost control and spun on the pit straight. He recovered and eventually took P6 in the segment behind fourth placed team-mate Charles Leclerc and Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez who rose into the top 10 in the final moments of Q1.

    At the other end of the order Haas’ Romain Grosjean was eliminated in 16thplace ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Räikkönen and the Williams cars of George Russell and Robert Kubica.

    In Q2 Hamilton again set the early pace with a lap of 1:35.634 set on medium tyres. His choice of compound was mirrored by his team-mate and by Max and Alex. However, in the opening runs both Ferrari drivers ran with soft tyres.

    In the final runs both Mercedes drivers and both Red Bull pilots backed out of soft tyre runs to guarantee a start on medium tyres. Ferrari, however, split their drivers, with Vettel progressing on soft tyres, while Leclerc vaulted to the top of the table with a impressive medium-tyre lap of 1:35.543 that put him almost a tenth clear of Hamilton with Bottas third and Vettel fourth ahead of Verstappen and soft tyre-shod Carlos Sainz.

    Eliminated at the end of session were 11th-placed Sergio Pérez, followed by Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly, the second Racing Point of Lance Stroll, the second Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat and the Haas of Kevin Magnussen.

    Leclerc’s heroics wouldn’t cross over into Q3 however and Hamilton soon reasserted his dominance with a final run time of 1:35.779 that put him beyond reach of his rivals.

    Bottas got closest, taking P2 just under two tenths of a second behind his team-mate, while Verstappen ended the sesison in third place, 0.164s behind the Finn. Behind the top three in the session Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel qualified fourth and fifth for Ferrari, despite Leclerc missing out on a final lap as he failed to cross the line before the chequered flag. That left sixth place to Albon. Lando Norris qualified in seventh place for McLaren, with Daniel Ricciardo eighth ahead of the second McLaren of Carlos Sainz. The final top 10 place went to Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg.

     

    2019 FIA Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Qualifying
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:34.779 7 210.958
    2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:34.973 0.194 7 210.527
    3 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:35.139 0.360 7 210.159
    4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:35.219 0.440 5 209.983
    5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:35.339 0.560 6 209.719
    6 Alexander Albon Red Bull Racing 1:35.682 0.903 6 208.967
    7 Lando Norris McLaren 1:36.436 1.657 6 207.333
    8 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1:36.456 1.677 3 207.290
    9 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren 1:36.459 1.680 6 207.283
    10 Nico Hülkenberg Renault 1:36.710 1.931 6 206.745
    11 Sergio Pérez Racing Point 1:37.055 1.512 5 206.011
    12 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 1:37.089 1.546 6 205.938
    13 Lance Stroll Racing Point 1:37.103 1.560 6 205.909
    14 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:37.141 1.598 6 205.828
    15 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:37.254 1.711 6 205.589
    16 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:38.051 2.200 8 203.918
    17 A.Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 1:38.114 2.263 6 203.787
    18 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo 1:38.383 2.532 6 203.230
    19 George Russell Williams 1:38.717 2.866 8 202.542
    20 Robert Kubica Williams 1:39.236 3.385 6 201.483

  • I get a lot of lover here in Abu Dhabi, says Lewis Hamilton after taking pole

    I get a lot of lover here in Abu Dhabi, says Lewis Hamilton after taking pole

    Hamilton, centre, at the Saturday Press Conference after taking Abu Dhabi pole. An FIA image

    DRIVERS

    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
    2 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)
    3 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)

    TRACK INTERVIEWS
    (Conducted by Paul Di Resta)

    Q: Lewis you can see it’s a pretty good reaction you’ve got. I guess it’s the best way you could sign off this season on a Saturday – pole position, the first time since Germany as well.
    Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, it’s been such a long slog trying to get this pole position in, but we just kept our heads down and just continuing to try… the guys have been doing a great job around me, the other drivers, so it was really just trying to focus on continuing to do my job. Yesterday was quite wobbly, so I had to really recompose myself last night and come back today focused and managed to really dial in the car with great work from the engineers, mechanics continuing to do a great job and yeah, what a crowd. Every time I come here I seem to get a lot of love here in Abu Dhabi, and also there are a lot of Brits here as well, so a big thank you to everyone.

    Q: And how nice is it to get a car that you fully focus on? It’s looked in shape all weekend and I think that’s credit to the team. You do never give up do you?
    LH: We never give up. There’s always room to improve. There has been a lot of growth in this whole year, I think for so many people within the team. I can obviously speak for myself, there’s been a lot of growth but also these last couple of races there’s been a lot of growth, from a driver’s perspective, and just constantly looking for those small milliseconds. You know, Valtteri 2.0 has been rapid also this weekend, so I’m glad that we’re in this position. Of course to end the qualifying season with a pole, which has been a while, you know we’ve only had four earlier on this year, so… It’s been a special car and it’s the last time I’ll get to qualify with it so I’m glad I did it proud today.

    Q: And Max is obviously lining up alongside you; continue on that battle that you had in Brazil that kept us on the edge of our seat?
    LH: Absolutely, yeah. I think we’re in a slightly better position this weekend. Obviously, Max is continuing to drive well, but I’m looking forward to battling with him for sure.

    Q: Valtteri, it’s a front row but at the same time you obviously take a grid penalty. I guess nice to be out there and show what Mercedes are capable of but just feel short at the end?
    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, as a team it’s been a really strong day and we saw yesterday in the qualifying [simulations] that we have a good pace. Didn’t feel quite as good today as it did yesterday with my car, struggling a bit more with sliding, but I think Lewis made some good improvements since yesterday and he put some good laps together in the qualifying, so he was quicker. In any case, I’m going to start last with my 40-place grid penalty or whatever, so we’ll find the fighting spirit for tomorrow.

    Q: Surely you must relish that challenge. You’re going to be a nuisance in some people’s mirrors, and you’ll be pushing all the way, you got a little bit of insight yesterday, do you believe that you can come through and get on the podium?
    VB: I believe. Anything is possible. We do have a good car and normally Sunday is better than Saturday for us so we’ll give it all I have for sure.

    Q: Max, front row start. I know you just came short today, it wasn’t quite there at the end, Mercedes have looked supreme, but a good start and you’re already in the battle with this guy that you were battling with in Brazil.
    Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, I think today was the best that we could do. I think we all know that. Mercedes is quite dominant here. We tried everything we could. I think overall pretty happy. Still good to start on the front row. Of course I would have like to actually qualify there. I think still a lot of chances for tomorrow, so we’ll see what happens.

    Q: How did the car feel yesterday on the long runs? Do you think you are competitive enough to race them?
    MV: From our side it felt alright, but we always know that Mercedes are very quick on the long runs. We’ll just wait and see what happens tomorrow.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Lewis, an emphatic performance by you, the car seemed to be performing well, how good was the lap?
    LH: Thank you. It definitely was a very good qualifying session for us. It’s not been the easiest in terms of qualifying for us throughout the year. It’s been something we’ve just been chipping away at. Considering we’re not developing the car currently I think we just really tried to see what we could pull out of the car this weekend and it’s well suit to the track and it’s been feeling good. Yesterday was a little bit difficult. I had to re-centre myself for today. Yeah, I think the best thing is when you get to Q3 and you pull out two good laps. I think my first lap it felt special and then the second one obviously was an improvement, so I can’t complain. Just a big thank you to all the team for their continued efforts and even though we have both titles won they continue to push and strive for better and that’s inspiring for me, so I’ve been doing the same thing.

    Q: It’s been a while for you, since the German GP your last pole. How much satisfaction does this give you?
    LH: Yeah, of course. It feels longer than the German Grand Prix. If I’m really honest I don’t even understand how I got the German Grand Prix pole. But yeah, it’s been really hard, particularly since we have come back from the break. The competition has been spectacular; all drivers have been doing an amazing job. I don’t think my qualifying has been terrible but it’s just not been at my usual standard perhaps, so of course it’s incredibly satisfying to know that we have put the work and to end my last qualifying session with this car, which has been a real incredible journey with this car this year, so to finish it off on the front row, there’s not a better feeling really. Obviously that’s not even half the job done. Tomorrow we’ve got to battle with the Ferraris and the Red Bulls but I think we put ourselves in the best position possible so incredibly happy. Honestly, it’s really strange, you say it’s 88 [poles] but it honestly feels like the first, I don’t know why. It feels super-fresh. Maybe because it’s been so long since earlier on in the season and I’m glad to finish on five poles in the year.

    Q: Valtteri, great lap. The car seemed to improve as the session went on.
    VB: Yeah, the lap was OK. I think still it felt like Lewis was a bit too quick and I think we were slightly different with set-up as well by the end of the qualifying. Honestly, I felt a bit more comfortable yesterday with the car overall. But obviously for me, anything I was trying to keep in my mind was for the race because, in any case, whatever happens today I knew I’m going to be starting last with my, I don’t know how many place, grid penalty, 40, or something. So, I mean, I tried, obviously, as hard as I could. In Q2 I did only one run to save a new tyre set for the race, one set of Softs, if needed. But yeah, Lewis did a very good job, so congrats for the 88th – it’s a big number. Massive respect for that. But yeah, I’m just really already looking forward for tomorrow, because it is going to be compromised.

    Q: Valtteri, what is the plan for tomorrow. Can you plan your race, or are you going to have to react to what’s going on around you?
    VB: For sure, we’ve tried to make a plan and the whole weekend, trying to optimise for the race because, like I said, qualifying result doesn’t really matter for me today. So, everything we’ve done with the tyre choices, and everything we’ve tried to optimise that. We’ve had many ideas for the strategy, and obviously it’s going to be a challenge, coming up from there – but I do look forward to it. I’m sure it can be fun trying to come up.

    Q: Final thought Valtteri. How are you feeling? You’re not sounding great.
    VB: Feeling better already than a couple of days ago. I’ve been quite ill this week, I think since Monday night, so when I travelled here it got worse – but in the car it doesn’t matter. The adrenaline kicks in and you feel normal.

    Q: Max, at one stage during the session you reported suspension trouble. Was there any problem with the car?
    MV: No, it was just to check. Because I hit one of the orange inside – the high ones. So they would have a look at it, not that it would catch us by surprise, or anything.

    Q: And just tell us about your Q3 session. How good was the lap? How was the car performing?
    MV: I think the lap was really decent. There was not much I could do better, I think. I mean, there is never a perfect lap. It was good. I mean, I was just driving to the limits. We just seemed to lack a bit of grip, compared to them. Especially, they are very quick in the last sector. And there are a lot of off-camber corners. They are always very dominant here on this track, and we tried to be as close as we could and unfortunately we were just lacking a bit too much in that last sector. But overall, I think I’m pretty pleased. To be third in qualifying, second on the grid. Of course, I would have preferred to be there on pure pace but for us I think it was a pretty positive weekend.

    Podium here last year. Do you fancy your chances of getting on the top step tomorrow?
    MV: I guess you will always try but you also have to be realistic and I think Mercedes is very quick – but we’ll give it everything we have, tomorrow in the race.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Lewis, you said that it felt like it’d been longer that Germany since you were on pole. Just wondered if it’s a weight off in any way? If it’s something you’ve thought about through the season, or is it a case of you get the pole now and only then you realise, ‘damn, it’s been however many races’?
    LH: No, there wasn’t a worry through the season. Of course, I’m well aware that you can’t win them all. I’ve been extremely fortunate and done a relatively decent job over the years – but yeah, I think just with understanding the car and ultimately just squeezing out the best: not over-driving; not under-driving; trying to find the right balance throughout the year. And plus, obviously we’ve had some great opposition. Opponents that are doing a great job – but yeah, I think Austin was probably the last time the car was able to be on the front row, which Valtteri did but I just wasn’t there, so it’s frustrating when you miss those sessions. I think it was the same in Japan. But, it’s great, as I said, these last two races particularly, I’ve done a lot of experimenting. With my driving style and with the car. Just trying to see if I can eke out a little bit more. And I think I’m closer to it. Not 100 per cent but I’ll apply what I’m like this year into next.

    Q: (Christian Menath – motorsport-magazin.com) Question for you Max. You said you have to be realistic tomorrow. So, you’re starting on the Medium tyre. The gap on the Medium seemed to be a bit bigger than on the soft to Mercedes. It’s probably going to be a one-stop race. The track is not fantastic for overtaking. Do you see any chance of getting first tomorrow?
    MV: Sounds positive! No, my lap was not fantastic on the Medium. In Q3 it was almost half a second and on the Medium it was sixth-tenths. So, its not a big deal. It’s going to be hard. I’m not going to lie but like I said, we’ll try everything we can as a team and we’ll see where we end up.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, with this car in this circuit, is it possible to be in the top three tomorrow as well?
    VB: Everything is always possible. There’s no point for me to set any limit really for tomorrow. So for sure, we’ll have a good fighting spirit. Take every opportunity there will be tomorrow and for sure there will be some. We’ve seen crazy races this year – look back two weeks in Brazil. So anything is possible. Look forward to coming up and taking those opportunities and most important having fun in the car.

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lewis, yesterday Mattia Binotto said that you were an outstanding driver and the fact that you might be available in 2021 to sign can only make him happy, so just your reaction to that, and whether that might give you something to think about over the winter?
    LH: Well, this is the first time I’ve heard of that. I think that’s the first compliment I’ve had from Ferrari in these thirteen years.
    MV: It’s because you’re beating them.
    LH: I honestly don’t remember them ever mentioning me ever so thank you, I’ll take it, doesn’t really mean anything, it’s all talk but yeah, it’s nice that finally… it’s taken all these years for him to recognise maybe but I’m grateful.

    Q: (Andreas Haupt – Auto, Moto und Sport) Lewis and Max, from what you’ve seen so far this weekend, do you see Ferrari as a potential threat or are they just too weak here this weekend and is it all between you tomorrow?
    LH: Yeah, I think their long run was good, huh? I think their long run was strong. I don’t actually know where they are.
    MV: Charles will start third.
    LH: His Q2 run was good on the mediums, wasn’t it, so they’ve obviously got pace. I think it’s going to be close between us all. Not to be negative, but I just wonder if… this track is awesome and this event is awesome but I wonder if it’s time they did a subtle adjustment to it to make it a bit easier for us to overtake, maybe. I don’t know. It’s a hard place for us to follow. We’ve got these great long straights which are good.
    MV: Yeah, the atmosphere is great…
    LH: I don’t know what they have to change but…
    MV: Less off-camber corners.
    LH: Yeah, maybe. Banked corners would be good.
    MV: Yeah.
    Q: Your thoughts on Ferrari, Max. Leclerc fastest in Q2 on the medium tyre?
    MV: Yeah, of course he also went for a second go at it but yeah, they will be there. I don’t worry about it too much, you just find out during the race. Go to bed, sleep well and have fun tomorrow.

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Just following up on Phil’s question to Lewis: it’s all very nice,  compliments, but are they wasting their time being nice to you? Are you going to turn them down or are you listening to anything that they have to say, positive, negative? Would you be interested in talking to them about your future with regards to Ferrari?
    LH: No, it’s positive. What was the first part, sorry? I think it’s never a waste of time to ever being nice to someone. As I said, it has been a long, long time and a team that I’ve always appreciated over the years, so to earn their respect from someone from there who’s obviously very high up is obviously not a bad thing. I think they’ve got two great drivers as is so who knows what the driver market’s going to be doing over the next year. But if I’m really honest, I’m not really focused on that right this second: trying to make sure I finish off strong. I’ve got this incredible group of people who hire me where I am and I feel like I just continue to owe it to them to give my heart to them and my energy 100 per cent to them, particularly as I’m still in contract and negotiations haven’t started yet. I honestly don’t know how the next phase of the months is going to go when it comes to contract. It’s very odd that you have to do it almost a year before it ends and it can’t be done towards the end but that’s just the way it goes but we shall see.

    Q: (Beatrice Zamuner – Motorlat) Fernando Alonso earlier said that he’s going to keep the door open for 2021, so what would your reaction be to a comeback of a driver of his calibre?
    LH: I’d be more just happy that I won’t be the oldest here! So welcome an older dude, he can come along. Fernando’s obviously a well-accomplished driver. It’s interesting to see in the past, obviously, with drivers wanting to come back, like Michael, and it’s something you’ve done your whole life so… I haven’t spoken to Fernando so I don’t know how he’s been feeling or how much he’s missed it, but I don’t think it would be bad for the sport. Ultimately, there’s a lot of young kids on their way up and there’s only 20 seats, so he has also had his period of time there, but if there’s no other good youngsters coming through then… there definitely is space for some that are currently here that probably could be replaced. So I would welcome it.
    VB: Agree with Lewis, nothing really to add. Same thoughts.
    MV: Yeah, absolutely, I mean Fernando’s a great driver but you should only come back…
    LH: You said something about him coming back.
    MV: Me?
    LH: Yeah. You said that… come back… with me.
    MV: Is that so?
    LH: You know, in my first season.
    MV: You were equal on points, wasn’t it?
    LH: In my first season.
    MV: Yeah, that’s right. You did a great job. No, but he’s a great driver, I think you can agree on that, right?
    LH: Of course.
    MV: And it would be good to see him… if he could come back but only in a competitive car otherwise I think it’s just a waste of time for him. But I think he knows that himself so…

    Ends

  • Max Verstappen wins Brazilian Grand Prix; Gasly, Sainz on podium; Hamilton loses P3 to penalty

    Max Verstappen wins Brazilian Grand Prix; Gasly, Sainz on podium; Hamilton loses P3 to penalty

    Max Verstappen celebrates after winning the Brazilian GP on Sunday. An FIA image

    Sao Paulo, 17 Nov 2019: Max Verstappen won the Formula 1 Heineken Grande Premio Do Brasil 2019 having started from pole. But his victory did not come as easily as that simple sentence might sound, at the end of a race that can truly be described as crazy and was without doubt the most exciting Grand Prix of the season.

    For the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing driver this was the third win of the year and for a while it looked as though it might have been a Red Bull one-two. It was not, although it was a one-two for Honda because in an incredible final lap, Pierre Gasly finished second for Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda. Joining them on the podium at the end of the 71 laps of Interlagos was Lewis Hamilton for Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport, however, after the race, the Englishman was given a 5 second penalty for causing a collision with Alex Albon, thus delivering the most unexpected podium of the season, as Carlos Sainz stepped up to third place for McLaren.

    Verstappen never really looked under threat, having started from pole, and a well executed strategy and brilliant work from his pit crew with tyre changes taking less than two seconds all helped him to control the race. But it was no stroll in the park and with Hamilton attempting the undercut, the Dutchman had to pass the six times world champion on track, not just once, but twice!

    As for Gasly, he inherited second place when Hamilton and Albon collided on the penultimate lap, robbing the Thai rookie of his first F1 podium. The French driver kept his cool, placing his Toro Rosso in just the right part of the track coming out of the final corner to win the drag race to the line.

    At the start, Verstappen kept the lead and Hamilton got ahead of Sebastian Vettel going into Turn 1 to go second. The Mercedes man was the first to pit on lap 20 of 71, attempting the undercut and committing to a two stop strategy as he again fitted Soft tyres. Red Bull covered the move, bringing Max in on the next lap. The Dutchman nearly got pushed into the pit wall by Robert Kubica in the ROKiT Williams and the delay ensured that Hamilton took the lead. However, the Mercedes man was also delayed, as he was caught behind the Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow of Charles Leclerc. That allowed Verstappen to catch up and eventually pass Hamilton going into the Senna S first corner.

    The pit stop dance for the leaders resumed on lap 43, when Hamilton again came in trying for an undercut and again Verstappen covered the move next time round to keep the lead. With 18 laps remaining, fifth place Bottas retired his Mercedes with a mechanical failure and that brought out the Safety Car. Verstappen pitted for fresh rubber, but Hamilton chose to keep the lead and stayed out on older tyres. Hamilton backed up the field, hoping to prevent Verstappen getting by, but again the Dutchman retook the lead in the bottom of the Senna S. This was incredibly exciting but there was plenty more to come.

    Alex Albon produced an aggressive move to pass Vettel and go third and began to challenge Hamilton for second, but instead the Red Bull man had to defend from a returning Vettel. With five laps remaining, Leclerc passed Vettel at the first corner, but the German fought back and they were side by side on the run down to Descida de Lago. The two Ferraris collided and both had to retire, Leclerc with suspension damage, Vettel with a puncture.

    That triggered a safety car under which Hamilton dived into the pits yet again, dropping him to fourth behind Albon and Gasly. The Mercedes and the Red Bull collided forcing Albon into a spin, which allowed Gasly past into an amazing second, although it looked more like a dead heat. Hamilton admitted his mistake, which resulted in Carlos Sainz’s promotion to the podium.

    For the Woking team today’s result marks an extraordinary achievement, considering that Sainz, who sealed the first podium of his career, started at the very back of the grid after the technical problem that effectively prevented him from taking part in yesterday’s qualifying. The team’s haul of points was also added to by Lando Norris with an excellent eighth place. This was the first time since the 2014 Australian Grand Prix that a McLaren driver had finished in the top three: that time in fact it was two of them – Kevin Magnussen and Jenson Button – who finished behind the winner Nico Rosberg.

    Behind Sainz came the two Alfa Romeo drivers, with Kimi Raikkonen fifth and Antonio Giovinazzi sixth. This was the best result of the season for the Hinwil team – while for their Italian driver fifth place marked the best finish of his career.

    Completing the top ten were Sergio Perez, taking his sixth straight points finish, and Daniil Kvyat. The Russian, who saw his points disappear due to penalties after the chequered flag both in Mexico City and Austin, this time didn’t have any unpleasant surprises!

    There was so much on track action this afternoon – to the joy of the spectators who filled out the grandstands as ever (an attendance of 150,307 over the weekend) – it felt like a grand finale to the year. But that is yet to come, when racing resumes in a fortnight for the 21st and last time in the FORMULA 1 ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX 2019.

    2019 FIA Formula One Brazilian Grand Prix – Race 
    1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 71 1:33’14.678
    2 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso/Honda 71 1:33’20.755 6.077
    3 Carlos Sainz McLaren/Renault 71 1:33’23.574 8.896
    4 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 71 1:33’24.130 9.452
    5 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 71 1:33’24.879 10.201
    6 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 71 1:33’25.219 10.541
    7 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 71 1:33’25.817 11.139
    8 Lando Norris McLaren/Renault 71 1:33’25.882 11.204
    9 Sergio Pérez Racing Point/Mercedes 71 1:33’26.207 11.529
    10 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso/Honda 71 1:33’26.609 11.931
    11 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 71 1:33’27.410 12.732
    12 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 71 1:33’28.277 13.599
    13 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 71 1:33’28.925 14.247
    14 Alexander Albon Red Bull/Honda 71 1:33’29.605 14.927
    15 Nico Hülkenberg Renault 71 1:33’32.737 18.059
    16 Robert Kubica Williams/Mercedes 70 1:33’32.670 1 Lap
    17 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 65 1:23’25.347 Collision
    18 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 65 1:23’25.801 Collision
    19 Lance Stroll Racing Point/Mercedes 65 1:23’44.211
    (5) Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 51 1:03’20.179 Power Unit