INDIA in F1

Tag: Hamilton

  • Hamilton displays great skill to edge out Vettel for Belgian GP win; closes the gap

    Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton claimed victory at the Belgian Grand Prix to close the gap to Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel at the top of the Formula One Drivers’ Championship standings to just seven points.

    Despite a determined battle, Vettel was forced to settle for second place. Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo who  from sixth on the grid to claim the final podium spot ahead of Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas and the second Ferrari of Kimi Räikkönen. The hordes of Dutch fans filling the grandstands in support of Max Verstappen were left disappointed when the Red Bull driver was forced out of the race with a mechanical problem.

    At the start Hamilton held P1 when the lights went out and a clean start saw the top six cars exit La Source in grid order, with the Briton being followed by Vettel, Bottas, Raikkonen and the Red Bulls of Verstappen and Ricciardo.

    McLaren’s Fernando Alonso made an excellent start and picked up three places in the first two laps, rising from P10 on the grid to seventh. However the Spaniard’s time in seventh was shortlived as first Hulkenberg retook his starting position and then Alonso was passed by the Force Indias of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez. Lap one was the highpoint of the McLaren driver’s afternoon, however. Lacking power he was easily bypassed by rivals and after terse radio messages that it was “embarrassing” the Spaniard told his team to avoid radio contact for the remainder of the race. His pain ended on lap 27, however, when he pulled into the pit lane and retired from the race.

    At the front of the field the settled order of the first few laps was disrupted on lap seven. Exiting the Bus Stop chicane, Verstappen cycled through the gears but as he hit sixth he suddenly lost power. As his engineers radioed through possible solutions, Verstappen trundled through Eau Rouge and up to Raidillon but with as the fixes evaporated so to did the Dutchman’s hopes and he pulled over halfway down the Kemmel straight to retire.

    Hamilton pitted from the lead at the end of lap 12, taking on soft tyres in a quick, 2.3s stop. That dropped him to fourth place behind Räikkönen and left Vettel in the lead and chasing lap time.

    Vettel’s stop eventually came at the end of lap 14 but the German was unable to make an impression on Hamilton’s lead and he once again slotted in just over a second behind his title rival.

    Behind him Räikkönen was now chasing Bottas, but his race hopes were dented when he was handed a 10-second stop/go penalty for failing to slow for the yellow flags displayed when Verstappen halted at the side of the track.

    The second Red Bull of Ricciardo was just a couple of seconds behind and when Räikkönen took his penalty the Australian moved up to fourth behind Bottas. Räikkönen dropped to sixth, 4.6s behind Hulkenberg.

    At the midway point of the race Vettel was an ominous presence in the mirrors of Hamilton and the Briton’s race engineers was telling him to maintain track position as the German appeared to find better pace out of the soft compound Pirelli tyres.

    Hamilton responded and extended his lead to 1.7s by lap 28 but the battle was nullified on lap 30 when the two Force India drivers, battling over 10th place collided. Ocon pressured Perez as they exited La Source but the Mexican held firm with his team-mate on the inside. The result was a broken front wing for Ocon, a puncture for Perez and debris across the track.

    That brought out the safety car and most of the field pitted for new tyres. Hamilton opted for soft compound Pirellis, but Vettel had a set of ultrasofts in reserve. Bottas was now also on softs, but like Vettel, fifth-placed Ricciardo chose ultrasofts.

    When racing resumed Vettel attacked Hamilton as the pair ran down the long Kemmel Straight, but the Briton defended well and just managed to hold off a the German’s determined charge.

    Bottas, in the other Mercedes, was not so lucky. He was passed by Ricciardo on the outside on the run towards Les Combes and to make matters worse was also ambushed by Räikkönen, who snuck past down the inside under braking.

    Vettel set about trying to find another avenue of attack but Hamilton managed to find more pace and slowly worked a 1.3s advantage with four laps to go. Behind them Ricciardo was also making his position safe, holding a 2.2s lead over Raikkonen  lap 42.

    And that was how it finisheds with Hamilton holding Vettel at bay to take his fifth win of the season and the 58th of his career. Ricciardo took his sixth podium of the year ahead of Raikkonen while fifth-placed Bottas was left to rue the re-start. Nico Hulkenberg took sixth for Renault ahead of Haas’ Romain Grosjean and Williams’ Felipe Massa. The last two points places went to Ocon and Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz.

    Hamilton’s win means he heads to next weekend’s Italian Grand Prix just seven points in arrears to Vettel who leads the title race with 220 points.

    eom/FIA press release

  • It is a special day but it’s very surreal and humbling: Hamilton on Schumi record

    It is a special day but it’s very surreal and humbling: Hamilton on Schumi record

    Hamilton mixes with Vettel (right) and Bottas (left) after taking the pole on Saturday. An FIA image

    DRIVERS

    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes); 2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari); 3 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)

    GRID INTERVIEWS (Conducted by Will Buxton)

    Q: Lewis, Ross Brawn just wants to have a couple of words with you to congratulate you on this achievement.

    Ross BRAWN: I’m here to deliver a very special message from Corinna Schumacher and the Schumacher family, who want to congratulate you on equalling Michael’s record and as they said, Michael always said records are there to be beaten, so they want to send their very special thanks. Congratulations, Lewis, well done.

    Q: So, Lewis, that was some lap. It was mighty. Tell all the fans, tell everyone at home, how good does it feel to hook one up like that around here?

    Lewis HAMILTON: Well, first of all, I want to give a big shout out to all the fans here, they’re always amazing here every year we come here. There are a lot of Brits, a lot of people from the Netherlands, from all over, so thank you so much for coming out. I can’t believe it. First of all, a big thank you to my tea, Ross [Brawn] was a big part of me being here at this team, so the success we have had he is much a part of that as well. But the team have done an amazing job. Valtteri did a great job to be up here ahead of the Ferraris, an amazing feeling. This is one of my favourite circuits, so to come here and put a lap together like that, it’s a dream. I’ve got the best job in the world, so I’m just grateful to be here.

    Q: And to equal Michael Schumacher’s record on the track where he made his debut, the track where he took his first grand prix victory is something special too.

    LH: It is and to hear the message that Ross just gave, I just have to say a big thank you and pray for Michael and his family all the time. I’ve had the privilege of racing with him, from karting days in Kerpen to on the track and always admired him, and still do today, so I’m just honoured to be up there with him now in the poles, but he will still be one of the greatest of all time.

    Q: Congratulations. Seb, that was some lap at the end to get on the front row, you needed that didn’t you?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, it was the right time. I had a very good feeling in Q1, the get go was really go but then I lost that feeling a little bit, I had a bit light front end, especially then through sector two with the medium-, high-speed corners. I was lacking a little bit of response. But the last lap the car was a little bit more alive, immediately I could feel it turning into Turn 1. And then I have to also admit that I was a bit lucky with Kimi, he had to abort his lap but he gave me a very, very nice tow, which I think made it a bit more comfortable with Valtteri. Obviously it’s very important. Good position today, great job from the team, very happy, so looking forward to the race.

    Q: We know these guys are worries about your long-run pace. Are you confident in it?

    SV: They should be! So far it has been looking pretty good, so I hope we can keep it up. The car, on one lap, I thought all weekend it was a bit trickier to get it together. Consecutive laps with high fuel I felt really good, so let’s see what we can do with the strategy tomorrow as well, but for sure Mercedes will be quick. But, we don’t have to hide. We are on the front row for a reason. We have the speed and we should have it in the race.

    Q: Congratulations. Valtteri, are you annoyed that he just pipped you at the end there? As he said, he got a tow from Kimi coming up the back and without that it might have been an all-Mercedes front row.

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, of course it would have been nice to be one-two tomorrow, but it’s not a bad starting place. I was aiming for pole today, but to be honest Lewis has been doing and absolutely perfect job all weekend and for some reason I’ve been struggling and I just haven’t been able to get close enough, so we’ll need to investigate why. That’s something we’ll need to understand but already my thoughts are for tomorrow.

    Q: Everyone is focusing on those two guys for the title, bit you are in the hunt for the title as much as both of them. How much do you want the win tomorrow to prove to everybody, as much as to them, that you’re here, you’re fighting and it’s as much yours as it is theirs?

    VB: Getting my first couple of wins this year you just want more, so of course that is going to be the mission for me tomorrow and main thing as a team is that we get a strong result. But I’ll do everything I can and I don’t mind if they are being looked at more than me, I’ll just keep doing my job and trying to get better and better.

    Q: Can’t wait for tomorrow. Lewis, you’ve got the championship leader on the front row with you, you’ve got your team-mate inches behind you and he’s very much in the hunt for this title as well, really the second half of the season couldn’t be starting any better for Formula One could it?

    LH: Well, we had a great holiday and we’ve come back feeling fresh and this is the perfect way to start the weekend. The second half is going to be tough for all of us, the team, the people back at the factory, but we’re geared up for the second half, so I hope that we can bring it.

     

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Lewis, many congratulations, a day I’m sure you’ve been looking forward to for some time. The magic number – 68 – you’ve equalled the all-time record of Michael Schumacher. And what a place to do it – a track that is so synonymous with Schumacher, and with a record fastest ever lap of track. Your feelings?

    LH: Yeah, it’s a special day, definitely. To be honest, I knew it was on the horizon and I knew at some stage I’d be getting that 68th pole but I really hadn’t thought about it very much. I didn’t apply pressure, I was like “it could come soon, it could take a long time”, but now being there, it’s an unusual place to be. I remember coming here in 1996, my first grand prix, and watching Michael come by out of Turn 1 and the engine just shook my rib cage – it was incredible. And that was when my love for the sport took another step. And to think that God knows how long later I’m now equal to him on poles, it’s very surreal and very much a humbling experience, particularly knowing that Michael is such a legend. It’s an incredible feat that he achieved and I feel very proud to be up there with him.

    Q: It’s a special day generally in numbers – 4.2 seconds faster this year’s pole compared to last years. The average generally this year has been around 2-2.5s, can you break it down for us why this weekend is so far much faster around this track with these cars?

    LH: It’s a medium-high downforce circuit so it’s to do this engine being more powerful than it was last year, for all of us. We’ve got a lot more downforce, so the speed that we are going through the corners, it’s so much faster than it was last year. It’s a longer circuit, there’s more time at full throttle, so DRS counts for more than it perhaps has done at other places. A combination of those I would assume. Yeah, it feels amazing around this track. It always does, but to have a car as we have here and the set-up I was able to work with my engineers, to achieve the balance was great, and to really be able to lean on the car around this circuit, I’ve never had such a feeling. Pouhon, Turn 10, was nearly flat, which is insane, I’ve definitely never experienced that in my time whilst in Formula One. We’re just like Ricky Bobby – we want to go faster, and it is a great feeling when you do.

    Q: Congratulations, very special day. Sebastian, it was important for Mercedes today that they get two cars on the front row and it was very important for you that they didn’t. It took you a while to get there, so under the circumstances would you class that a very special lap on your behalf?

    SV: Not just on my behalf. I think I had a little bit of help from a friend. Kimi had to abort his lap and he was very generous in giving me a tow in the last sector and that got me about two tenths so that helped and it made it a bit more comfortable with Valtteri looking at the result. Q1 I was really happy, the car was amazing. Q2 the main job was to get through, and then Q3 first lap I was missing a little bit the feel for the front. The second run in Q3 was better in that regard. So I was very happy with the last lap and as I said obviously with a little bit of a help it was quite nice. It was then tricky getting into the last corner, because knowing that you arrive so much faster with the tow and braking is never easy, it’s easy to miss it for the last corner. But I managed to get it right and to get it across the line so that was useful. The pace has been good this weekend. I think less for one lap, more so for long runs, so let’s see what we can do tomorrow.

    Q: Your long-run pace yesterday looked very promising compared to the Mercedes so does that give you some hope for tomorrow. There is a strange start to this race as well, because you don’t necessarily always want to be the first car down the straight in the opening stages as there is an opportunity for P2 to get ahead?

    SV: Yeah that’s right. Well, we’ll see when we get to that. I think the start is still very important and you try to do your best there and try to take it from there. I think the long run pace looked good yesterday, also this morning. Obviously we didn’t do a lot of laps overall this weekend, it’s a long lap, so the amount of laps you get is not that much compared to other tracks. But, as I said, the car was really good, especially for the race, so now we hope to confirm that. Tomorrow will be a tough day though, I mean start, first laps, as you said big straights, tows and in general strategy around here so we will see what happens.

    Q: Coming to you Valtteri, you had second place, again it took you a while to get to that point, and then obviously Sebastian took it away from you. He’s explained that the tow had a part to play in it – but did you feel you were on your A-game today?

    VB: Yeah, first of all congrats to Lewis for the pole and for the 69th [68th] it’s a mega-achievement. I’ve only got two so some way to go. This whole weekend for some reason I’ve been not really close enough to be able to challenge for that pole. For sure Lewis has been really on it but I’m slightly confused why I’ve not been able to get quite close enough. Still need to find some answers for me. The balance of the car has been feeling really good. Been just really lacking overall grip and that way, losing a lot of time in the high-speed corners in Sector Two. So, yeah, was always going to be a bit tricky to challenge for the pole, unfortunately. Would have been nice to at least be second but Sebastian got ahead. But still, second row and I’m sure as a team we can do good tomorrow.

    Q: As we were just saying, the Ferrari, the long run pace on the ultrasoft yesterday and again the long run pace this morning looked pretty handy, but what was striking about you guys is that your soft tyre pace is pretty strong. Presumably, strategy-wise, you’re counting on that tomorrow to get in front of Sebastian before the chequered flag.

    VB: Yeah, it is going to be a long race and here we know always anything can happen and you never know with the weather as well. It’s going to be a day full of opportunities for me as well, starting third. Probably going to see different behaviour with the different cars, with the different tyre compounds. So, should be interesting.

    Q: (Angelique Belokopytov – Autodigest) First of all, congratulations Lewis for this special day, special record too, so question to all three of you, could you please share with us a special memorable moment shared with Michael please?

    SV: It’s not fair to pick one moment. I think the fact we’re both from the same country makes it easier to in a way get closer to him. I know him for a very, very long time, the age of six or seven I met him for the very first time, he was handing over the trophies to the kids at the go-kart track in Kerpen, his home track, not far away from here. Yeah, it was massive. We were more than a hundred kids and he took the time to shake all our hands, hand over the trophies, so as a child I think that was indescribable. Obviously he was my hero. I had his posters everywhere in my room and he was pretty much the only guy I followed when I was young. So, yeah, big inspiration and we then I think we had a lot of good moments, a lot of fun moments. As a child it’s different, you’re star-struck in a way. It’s my hero, what do I say? I don’t know. And then later on I got to know him and yeah, we really got a long. He’s a great guy, good fun and I think the admiration for his skills is the same as day one. We shared a lot of good moments at the Race of Champions together and even if you can argue about the format and so on, still you have to drive different cars, adapt and the way he drives a go-kart is… I don’t know… it’s just so different to everybody else I’ve ever seen. So, I don’t know how I look from the outside but I guess I don’t look that, so yeah, many moments. Sober and not sober. It’s hard to pick one.

    Lewis?

    LH: I think I already mentioned earlier on my find and probably favourite memory of seeing Michael come by but just like Sebastian, I grew up watching him and I would play him, I would always be… particularly when he was in a Ferrari, when I was racing in computer games I was Michael a lot, the majority of the time. Having the privilege, I raced with him in Kerpen many, many years ago and yeah, just trying to think of the best moment. I’ve always had good, fond memories of him. Another really good one was Abu Dhabi, just before he left. I plucked up the courage to go ask if he would swap helmets with me. He was welcoming and did, so yeah, that’s definitely one of the coolest things in my house.

    Valtteri?

    VB: I remember watching on TV all the battles he used to have in the 1990s with Häkkinen. That was really good to watch and remember how excited I was every Sunday morning. Sunday afternoon, waking up and knowing it’s going to be another proper battle on track. And I also remember, it’s not even so far ago, 2012, when I did Friday practice for Williams and, for the first time I was the same time on track with Michael. For me, that was quite special.

    Q: (Mike Doodson – Honorary) Sebastian, you mentioned Kimi’s generous gesture to you. We didn’t see it on TV and I was wondering if it happened spontaneously or if you had to position yourself on the track or did that just happen by good chance?

    SV: As far as I understand, he had a mistake on his last flying lap, his last attempt, so it wasn’t planned; he wanted obviously to finish that lap but when he, I guess when he did the mistake and just because of where we were positions, he obviously cruised back to the pits. I guess the team didn’t even tell him anything. I think he just saw a red car in the mirror and thought ‘I’ll hand him a tow,” which was quite nice. It was obviously quite useful for me – but it wasn’t planned. I saw some other teams playing around with tows previously in qualifying – but usually it’s one of those things you can’t really plan so we tend to stay away from it. To answer your question, I think it was very spontaneous.

    Q: (Ysef Harding – Xiro Xone News) First off, congratulations Lewis. You went into Beast Mode in Q3, you talked about that moment with Michael. How does it feel that now, you creating this moment and building this legacy of yours, that you’re inspiring that next generation, who will sit here say the same thing, that they were inspired by what you did here today?

    LH: Well, thank you. I think it’s a good question. I’ve not really sat and thought too much about it because obviously I’m here right now – but it is the case, y’know. Many, many years from now they’ll be some kid, some grown-up sitting here… maybe it’s not many, many years from now – Sebastian’s not far behind on the poles, could catch-up, but yeah, I think it’s amazing, it’s a real privilege for all of us to be up here, knowing that even currently that there are kids, even adults that are looking up to us for inspiration in their daily lives but also setting goals. For me, I always try to put out positive energy. I think success comes a lot with a real positive frame of mind. It’s very easy for all of us to be negative on occasions – but the most important thing is to wake-up in the morning and try to find that positive energy, wherever you get it from, and apply that to whatever it is that you’re trying to work or achieve. I think we’re all born as stars with the opportunity to do something special. It’s all about finding and using  that positive energy.

    Q: (Livio Orrichio – globoesporte.com) Lewis, in your last set of tyres, you didn’t get the best in the T1, the first part of the track, but you did a wonderful T2. Did you change the car in the final part of the qualifying, the Q3?

    LH: You mean the last lap? No. Well, you can’t change the car, the only thing I could do is wing but that doesn’t affect the first sector. I was up as far as I’m aware. My dashboard, it said I was up 0.8 of a tenth, or something like that, nearly a tenth in sector one, so I’m not really sure what you’re relating to. Maybe it was down but my delta said it was up. But I didn’t change anything. I did pretty much the same sector – but the second sector particularly and a little bit in the last sector was really where I made the gains. That middle sector, Turn Ten, it’s nearly flat, as I mentioned. That was pretty awesome.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, how crucial is it tomorrow to beat at least one of these guys behind… I mean in front of you, for your championship hopes?

    VB: Hopefully at least one behind, so I’m not last. Yeah, for sure we’re all fighting for the title. Obviously it is nine races to do so there are a massive amount of points still available. So this is only one race but every race counts. For sure try to gain any positions possible. For us as a team, we know that it is a strong circuit for us. So we really need to capitalise. We want, as a team, to be one-two. That’s going to be the mission.

    Q: (Bas Holtkamp – Raceexpress.com) Question to Lewis. Now you’ve achieved this goal for the most pole positions ever – almost, you’ve equalled Michael – what is your next goal. Do you have a magic number in mind? Like, are you going for the 80 or 100 or whatever?

    LH:  No, I haven’t… I generally take my days one days at a time so I haven’t planned for anything further than for what I already have – but I plan on being here for some time so I will work towards whatever number it could possibly be. When I came across the line on that slow-down lap, it was a real moment to reflect on my team, who did such a great job, who have worked so hard through the year to enable me, to give me the car of my dreams. That’s the car that we all… that’s the car that us three up here have dreamed of racing. There’s so many people back at the factory, and people watching TV just don’t even have the even the faintest idea. There’s so much work that goes on back home, there’s so many people. Every day I go to the factory I find a new little workshop that’s underneath the stairs, and I’ve been walking past that for five years and didn’t even know it was there – and five people come out of that little space and they’d have been there for 20 years. So, yeah, I’ve been really fortunate to work with some really great people and I’m just really just a small link in the chain but I’m proud of my link in the chain and I plan to continue to propel this car and this team forward. I believe that we can get many more – so that’s the goal. Sky’s the limit really.

    Q:(Flavio Vanetti – Corriera della Sera) Sebastian, we know that you signed a long term contract and I would like to know if in some way it’s the same trust that Michael had towards the team?  And secondly, if you had any moment in which you had doubts about Ferrari and maybe you thought to quit the team?

    SV: I don’t know what trust Michael had. I never actually spoke with him about that. Yeah, unfortunately, as you all know I didn’t have the opportunity. I think he would have been one of the first people to ask back in 2014 and probably have to consult also you know, now in terms of… I don’t know, through the course of this year for the future, whatever. I love this team, I love the people who are working for this brand. Obviously Lewis touched on the effort that is going into building a Formula One car. I think for most of the teams it’s probably the same but still I believe Ferrari has something unique, something that other teams don’t have. People talk about a legend, to me it appears that this legend is still alive because of the people who work for it, day in, day out. I’m sure you have been to Maranello, probably most of you haven’t but if you walk down the streets in Maranello, the presence of Ferrari is huge but if you see the people working at Ferrari and meet them, then it’s even bigger, what they carry inside them, the passion for the brand and that’s I think and I’m convinced, allowing every single one of them to go an extra step compared to other people, other teams. That’s my conviction and extremely grateful to be part of that family. In a way, it was a no-brainer to continue. We haven’t yet achieved what we what we wanted to achieve but things are looking pretty good and obviously we have a long road ahead of us.

    Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Lewis, if you take pole position at Monza, you’ll break Michael’s record. Would that be the ultimate tribute to him, the ultimate place to do it in front of all the Ferrari fans to pay tribute to his greatness?

    LH: I’m not really sure whether that, how… my next step, how that applies to anyone else. If I dedicate it to him, yeah, could be the best tribute being that he had so much success at Ferrari and in Italy. Yeah, I’ve not really thought of it to be honest. Don’t have an answer for you there.

    Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday, Motorsport Week.com) Sebastian, speculation before you signed was that you were going to possibly sign a one year deal with Ferrari. Now they’ve come out and announced that you’ve signed at least three years. Do you see yourself ending your career at Maranello?

    SV: Well, I don’t know, since we learned last year that these things can happen fairly quickly and spontaneously you never know. But yeah, obviously now I don’t need to think and spend time about thinking about the future so that’s clear and then I think we cross that bridge when we get to it. It’s a long time, a lot of things can happen so we will see. Also then you can never say never. You retire and then, I don’t I know, might get bored, come back. We may see Nico back in a couple of years, who knows? Michael obviously decided to come back at some point because he loved racing but that’s all far far away so not really a topic.

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Sebastian, yesterday you said that there would be no news on your contract for two weeks. I just wanted to know what changed in 24 hours for you?

    SV: Nothing personal, I don’t like the Sun. I saw a clip yesterday of a funny interview with Jurgen Klopp and he doesn’t like the Sun either so maybe I will jump on the bandwagon. Maybe I give you a last answer. Yeah, I didn’t think that it’s probably the right time so I didn’t rush or push but things were coming along together fairly quickly in the end and we decided to go for it and make the call. So yeah, I know it wasn’t the best in terms of one day and then the other but that’s how it was.

    Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Perhaps you will like the BBC, Sebastian. Did you actually sign it this weekend? How did you decide to sign for three years? And did you have any talks with or thoughts about joining Mercedes?

    SV: Well, I mean I have been around in the paddock for a while so I know people and it’s natural that you talk but it’s never been more than chatting, mostly about other stuff, to be honest but yeah, I’ve been talking for a while with Ferrari. As I said, my intention was to stay. We haven’t succeeded so the mission is still ongoing. I want to win in red. We talked about inspiration earlier about Michael, he was mostly dressed in red. He won most of his races in red and his championships. I don’t want to step in his footsteps. I think the whole generation of the Ferrari team today wants to leave their own footsteps but certainly there’s a huge inspiration so something for me is now the biggest challenge, the biggest dream that I have and what I want to achieve. I think, to answer your question at the beginning, since I like the BBC, is yes, I actually signed it this weekend.

    Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS) Do you think tomorrow will be a Ferrari-Mercedes battle again or do you fear Red Bull might interfere?

    LH: Yeah, he just said where are they? I don’t… where did they qualify?

    SV: Five and six.

    LH: I’ve not seen their pace, so as far as I’m aware they’ve been a bit down on power, they’ve tried different… lower and higher range of wings. I think they’ve been a little bit off the pace as far as I’m aware but you never know. Whatever conditions we’re faced with tomorrow, I think the pace of us at the moment, both Ferrari and Mercedes, is pretty strong so…

    SV: Well, it wouldn’t be the first time that we see significant increase in race pace for Red Bull so obviously in qualifying, also round here, it might not be their strongest track but tomorrow, come race, lot of laps, looking after the tyres, I think they’ve proven in the past that they’re very strong so you should never under-estimate and forget about them.

    Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Valtteri, is it frustrating seeing everybody else signing new contracts?

    VB: No. Good for them.

    LH: Who’s everybody else, anyways? This one dude here.

    Q: Kimi, Vandoorne.

    LH: Not everyone else.

    VB: No, I’m just really focusing on my own things. I know where we are with everything. I don’t need to worry if other people are doing contracts. I’m only interested in what I’m going to do and what the team is going to do and that’s what matters. Like I said, there’s no rush really because for this season I joined in January, so there’s still plenty of time.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) To both Mercedes drivers: no problems with tyre temperatures considering the ultrasoft tyres on the flying laps and also long runs, and Sebastian, Lauda said today that he stopped talking to you two months ago. What went wrong that the conversations didn’t go ahead?

    LH: Can he answer first? I’m interested to hear his…

    SV: Nothing. Nothing went wrong. I think I’m very happy. I think Niki is generally a happy guy so… nothing went wrong.

    LH: For us, we didn’t have any problems with the tyres. I haven’t struggled with tyre temps so far this weekend and I think it wasn’t a problem throughout qualifying as well. It was very easy to get temperatures. The tyres have been giving quite a lot of grip. I think it feels like, particularly for qualifying, that the one step softer was a good direction but it will be interesting to see how it works out tomorrow.

    VB: Yeah, definitely, I think right choices from Pirelli for this weekend, to go with the softest compounds. Even with the ultrasofts no big problems, little bit of overheating during the lap but it’s not massive, it’s pretty normal so it was good.

    eom/FIA transcript of the Press Conference

  • Hamilton takes pole at Spa; equals Schumy record

    Hamilton takes pole at Spa; equals Schumy record

    Spa Francorchamps, Belgium. Saturday 26 August 2017.World Copyright: Steven Tee/LAT Images ref: Digital Image _R3I0072

    Lewis Hamilton equalled F1 legend Michael Schumacher’s record tally of 68 pole positions by recording the fastest ever lap of the current layout of Spa-Francorchamps.

    The Mercedes driver took pole with a lap of 1:42.553, some 4.2s quicker than last year’s pole position. That was good enough to beat Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel by over two tenths of a second. The German qualified second ahead of Valtteri Bottas in the second Mercedes, admitting that he had been helped by a tow from team-mate Kimi Räikkönen, who had to abort his own final flying lap. The third row went to the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo.

    Hamilton set the early pace in Q1 with a time of 1:44.184 to shade Vettel by just under a tenth. Max Verstappen, meanwhile, slotted into third place as FP3’s fastest man, Kimi Räikkönen, returned to the garage reporting handling issues that were confirmed by Ferrari as an anomalous high-frequency vibration.

    Behind fourth-placed Räikkönen, Valtteri Bottas was fifth for Mercedes, while Daniel Ricicardo slotted his Red Bull Racing RB13 into sixth place.

    The order at the top remained the same until the flag, with Esteban Ocon of Force India, Nico Hulkenberg of Renault, Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz and McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne completing the top 10.

    At the foot of the order the positions were similarly set. With five minutes left on the clock Williams’ Felipe Massa lay in 16th ahead of Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat, the second Williams of Lance Stroll and the Saubers of Marcus Ericsson and Pascal Wehrlein.

    It look briefly like Massa might force his way into Q2 as he set a time good enough to push Sainz into the drop zone, but the Spaniard was following on his final hot lap and the Toro Rosso man’s lap of 1:45.374 vaulted him to ninth.

    Massa therefore qualified in 16th position, but the Brazilian is set to take a five-place grid drop tomorrow having been penalised for failing to slow for yellow flags in final practice.

    At the start of Q2, Räikkönen again reported that he was suffering with vibrations from the car. This time, however, he was told that he would have to make it through the session as best he can.

    Hamilton took P1 early on with a time of 1:43.539, with Räikkönen appearing to shrug off his woes by taking P2, 0.161s behind the Mercedes driver. Bottas took third ahead of Vettel and Ricciardo.

    In the drop zone as the final runs began were Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg in P11, followed by Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean, the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz in P15 and McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne, who had not set a time with less than five minutes left on the clock.

    It was Hulkenberg who made the most significant move, with the Renault driver jumping to ninth in the dying moments of the session. It meant that Fernando Alonso was shunted to P11 and out of the session. Eliminated behind the Spaniard were Grosjean in P12 followed by Magnussen, Sainz and Vandoorne.

    At the top Hamilton improved with his final run, posting an impressive lap of 1:42.927 to sit three tenths clear of team-mate Valtteri Bottas at the Q2 flag. Third place went to Räikkönen ahead of Verstappen, Vettel and Ricciardo. Seventh place went to Jolyon Palmer of Renault with the Briton powering into Q3 ahead of Force India’s Sergio Perez, Hulkenberg and the second Force India of Esteban Ocon.

    Hamilton was quickly to the fore again at the start of Q3. Räikkönen took P1 with a time of 1:43.270, but Hamilton immediately usurped him with a lap of 1:42.907. Bottas took P3 ahead of Vettel while Verstappen and Ricciardo slotted into P6 and P7 respectively.

    There was trouble, though, for Palmer. The Briton was forced to pull over at Turn 15 with smoke pouring from the back of his Renault. His session ended there.

    The Renault driver’s failure served as the break point in the session with those behind him failing to set a time before the final runs loomed.

    Hamilton was first out and he immediately stamped his authority with a lap of 1:42.553.

    Vettel was the only driver to get close, the German using a tow from team-mate Räikkönen to get to just over two tenths behind the Briton. Räikkonen, though was forced to abort his lap and finished in fourth place behind Bottas.

    Verstappen took fifth, almost half a second clear of sixth-placed team-mate Ricciardo. Hulkenberg was qualified seventh ahead of Perez, Ocon and Palmer.

    2017 Belgian Grand Prix – Qualifying
    1 Lewis Hamilton  Mercedes 1:42.553
    2 Sebastian Vettel  Ferrari 1:42.795 0.242
    3 Valtteri Bottas  Mercedes 1:43.094 0.541
    4 Kimi Raikkonen  Ferrari 1:43.270 0.717
    5 Max Verstappen  Red Bull 1:43.380 0.827
    6 Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull 1:43.863 1.310
    7 Nico Hulkenberg  Renault 1:44.982 2.429
    8 Sergio Perez  Force India 1:44.894 2.341
    9 Esteban Ocon  Force India 1:45.006 2.453
    10 Jolyon Palmer  Renault 1:44.685 2.132
    11 Fernando Alonso  McLaren 1:45.090 2.537
    12 Romain Grosjean  Haas 1:45.133 2.580
    13 Kevin Magnussen  Haas 1:45.400 2.847
    14 Carlos Sainz Jr.  Toro Rosso 1:45.374 2.821
    15 Lance Stroll  Williams 1:46.915 4.362
    16 Marcus Ericsson  Sauber 1:47.214 4.661
    17 Pascal Wehrlein  Sauber 1:47.679 5.126
    18 Felipe Massa  Williams 1:45.823 3.270
    19 Stoffel Vandoorne  McLaren 1:45.441 2.888
    20 Daniil Kvyat  Toro Rosso 1:46.028 3.475

    eom/FIA Press Release

  • Hamilton fastest in FP2: F1 Belgian GP

    Hamilton fastest in FP2: F1 Belgian GP

    Hamilton at Spa Francorchamps, Belgium. on
    Friday 25 August 2017.
    Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W08 EQ Power+.
    Copyright: image for Pirelli: Sam Bloxham/LAT Images
    ref: Digital Image _W6I9342

    Lewis Hamilton took over at the top of the timesheets at Spa-Francorchamps, beating first practice pacesetter Kimi Räikkonen by almost three tenths of a second. Valtteri Bottas was third in a session disrupted late in the session.

    The quickest times of the session arrived just after the half hour mark, when the teams bolted on ultrasoft tyres for qualifying simulations. Vettel was first to show, grabbing P1 with a lap of 1:45.235. However, that was swiftly eclipsed by Bottas, the Mercedes driver edging ahead with a time of 1m45.180s.

    Raikkonen, who had used ultrasoft tyres to top the opening session ahead of s soft-shod Hamilton, then made his claim for a session double by putting in a lap of 1:45.015. Hamilton wasn’t to be beaten this time, however, and with the purple-banded Pirellis onboard he set a time of 1:44.753 to end the session 0.262s ahead of Räikkönen.

    It looked by Vettel might eclipse his team-mate as he went for another quick lap and set the fastest first sector, but he couldn’t find enough time in the remaining two sectors and he was pushed out to fifth as Max Verstappen stole ahead by one hundredth of a second.

    With the qualifying simulations complete, attention then switched to longer runs but with a little less than half and hour remaining rain began to fall across the circuit.

    As the downpour intensified only Daniel Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso went out to test the conditions. Equipped with intermediate tyres they tiptoed around but soon returned to the pitlane and the session and all running stopped.

    Ricciardo was sixth fastest in the session, 0.8s off team-mate Verstappen, while  Nico Hulkenberg took seventh place for Renault ahead of Force India’s Esteban Ocon. Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso) and Hulkenberg’s teammate Jolyon Palmer completed the top 10.

    2017 Belgian Grand Prix – Free Practice 
    1 Lewis Hamilton  Mercedes 17 1:44.753
    2 Kimi Raikkonen  Ferrari 21 1:45.015 0.262
    3 Valtteri Bottas  Mercedes 17 1:45.180 0.427
    4 Max Verstappen  Red Bull 16 1:45.225 0.472
    5 Sebastian Vettel  Ferrari 20 1:45.235 0.482
    6 Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull 15 1:46.072 1.319
    7 Nico Hulkenberg  Renault 24 1:46.441 1.688
    8 Esteban Ocon  Force India 19 1:46.473 1.720
    9 Carlos Sainz Jr.  Toro Rosso 19 1:46.561 1.808
    10 Jolyon Palmer  Renault 23 1:46.670 1.917
    11 Fernando Alonso  McLaren 20 1:46.743 1.990
    12 Sergio Perez  Force India 18 1:46.984 2.231
    13 Romain Grosjean  Haas 15 1:47.285 2.532
    14 Stoffel Vandoorne  McLaren 17 1:47.303 2.550
    15 Daniil Kvyat  Toro Rosso 12 1:47.450 2.697
    16 Kevin Magnussen  Haas 15 1:47.556 2.803
    17 Lance Stroll  Williams 13 1:47.861 3.108
    18 Marcus Ericsson  Sauber 12 1:49.214 4.461
    19 Pascal Wehrlein  Sauber 18 1:49.725 4.972

    eom/FIA press release

  • Hamilton takes record pole: British GP

    Four-time British Grand Prix winner Lewis Hamilton went quickest in final practice at Silverstone, edging championship leader Sebastian Vettel by just three hundredths of a second in a session that ended with rain falling across the Northamptonshire circuit.

    In advance of the session race control reported that there was an 80% chance of rain across the 60 minutes of running and the risk of precipitation meant that unlike many FP3 sessions the front runners were on track early as they attempted to get last minute set-up work and quali sims completed before any rain arrived.

    Austrian Grand Prix winner Valtteri Bottas led the way in the early minutes with the Mercedes driver, who tomorrow will take a five-place grid penalty due to an unscheduled gearbox change, setting a time of 1:28.827s on soft tyres. Hamilton then took over at the top with a soft tyre time of 1:28.747.

    Ferrari, on supersoft tyres, sat in third and fourth in the opening phase with Vettel ahead of team-mate Kimi Raikkonen. The German was half a seconds adrift of Hamilton’s soft tyre time, however. The Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo occupied fifth and sixth places in the opening phase, though like Mercedes, the best time of both had been delivered on soft tyres.

    With rain forecast to arrive soon after the halfway point, qualifying sims arrived early. Hamilton bolted on a set of supersoft tyres and just before the half hour mark he delivered a time of 1:28.063 to move well clear of the pack. His time was 1.2s quicker than his own 2016 pole position time.

    The gap was soon narrowed, however, as Vettel set about his qualifying run. The German’s lap time was a 1:28.095, just 0.032 adrift of Hamilton. Bottas slotted into third, ahead of Raikkonen.

    Further back Ricciardo also got in some supersoft running. It wasn’t massively profitable for the Red Bull driver, however, and though he chipped away at his personal best for the morning, he only managed to reach a time of 1:29.612. With Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg stealing into P5 on the red-banded tyres Ricciardo slotted into P6. Like Bottas, the Australian will tomorrow take a five-place gearbox-related grid penalty.

    Team-mate Max Verstappen, meanwhile, had dropped to P8 behind Romain Grosjean. The Dutchman was the only driver in the top ten to remain on a soft tyre times as with just over 20 minutes remaining rain began to fall across the circuit. Verstappen was starting his quali run when the drizzle began but following an off on the damp track at Turn 7 he returned to the pits.

    A number of drivers tested the conditions on intermediate tyres in the final 15 minutes, but the track was hard to read and there were several spins, most notably from Ricciardo who got too much kerb in the final corner. He lost grip on the exit and spun on the start-finish straight. He was fortunate to avoid hitting the pit wall. Marcus Ericsson, meanwhile, went off at Vale.

    2017 British Grand Prix – Free Practice 3
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 18 1:28.063
    2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 14 1:28.095 0.032
    3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 20 1:28.137 0.074
    4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 15 1:28.732 0.669
    5 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 14 1:29.480 1.417
    6 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 15 1:29.612 1.549
    7 Romain Grosjean Haas 14 1:29.819 1.756
    8 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 13 1:29.904 1.841
    9 Felipe Massa Williams 19 1:29.959 1.896
    10 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 19 1:30.088 2.025
    11 Fernando Alonso McLaren 17 1:30.138 2.075
    12 Esteban Ocon Force India 19 1:30.172 2.109
    13 Kevin Magnussen Haas 15 1:30.270 2.207
    14 Jolyon Palmer Renault 16 1:30.302 2.239
    15 Sergio Perez Force India 16 1:30.416 2.353
    16 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 20 1:30.504 2.441
    17 Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso 19 1:30.515 2.452
    18 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber 24 1:30.621 2.558
    19 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 24 1:30.630 2.567
    20 Lance Stroll Williams 18 1:31.358 3.295.

    eom/FIA press release

  • Every year British GP is a must-win for a British driver, says Hamilton

    Every year British GP is a must-win for a British driver, says Hamilton

    Hamilton at the FIA Press Conference on Friday at Silverstone. An FIA image

    PART TWO: Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes), Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing), Daniil KVYAT (Toro Rosso), Pascal WEHRLEIN (Sauber)

    Q: Lewis, four-time British Grand Prix winner, looking to equal the record of five. How have you spent the last few days in the build-up to the race and are we set to get a strong statement from you on track here, as so often in the past?

    Lewis HAMILTON: It’s good to be here. I tried to prepare in the best way I can, quite relaxed the past few days and I’ve come here excited for the weekend, as always. You’ve got the championship, which is obviously the most important thing, but a very close second, if not tied, is the British Grand Prix, being a home grand prix, the home of motorsport, such an incredible, intense weekend. Every year it is a must-win for a British driver, so yeah I tried to prepare the best way I could.

    Q: Daniel, you looked like you were having fun in London yesterday evening, but you’ve also been having fun on track with 70 points from the last four races I think it is, second best tally in the field. What does that say about your competitiveness now?

    Daniel RICCIARDO: It’s certainly getting better. The season started slow but we’ve found some good momentum the last few races. I think Austria was a bit of a breakthrough in a way. It was a third, obviously not as good on paper as Baku, but in terms of actual performance we finished six or seven seconds off the win and there were no safety cars and it felt like really for once this year had genuine pace and we could run pretty much with the pace of the leaders. So that was super encouraging. Last few laps it was looking like it was going to get tight. I’d held that podium spot the whole race and I could see Lewis closing in, so I was relieved to have stayed on the podium when it looked like he was going to come past pretty easily at some point. It felt like from one lap to the next he was in my mirrors. I didn’t really have to look in the mirrors most for the race but then I saw a car and I was hoping it was a car that had come out of the pits, out of sequence, and it stayed in my mirrors for a few corners. Then I had a proper look and it was a silver car and I knew it wasn’t Valtteri, so I knew we would have a bit on the last few laps but it’s been a good run, so we’re building.

    And last night?

    DR: Oh last night, yeah, it was a good event. Look, I’m sure that would have been pretty difficult to organise and get that all going but I felt like it was a success and you know, we had a bit of time on track to try to give the fans what they wanted to see. I doubt they left disappointed.

    Q: Daniil, we had a big discussion in part one about the idea of using street promotions and the kind of thing we saw yesterday. What do you think of the idea of putting events on like that and reaching out to fans, in a place like Moscow for example?

    Daniil KVYAT: I think it would work – not in January! But in summer yes, I think why not. I mean if every year, once a year, they could rotate this kind of event between one of the biggest cities of the world to promote the sport, then I think why not. Like Daniel said it was a good success yesterday I think. A lot of people there in the city centre of London. It was a cool and enjoyable atmosphere and I think it was nice for sure.

    Q: Pascal, coming to you, how are you finding life at Sauber without Monisha Kaltenborn, but with the prospect of Fred Vasseur arriving as the new team principal.

    Pascal WEHRLEIN: I’m looking forward that Fred is coming. I respect him a lot for what he has done in motorsport so far, like in junior categories and last year in Formula One. So, looking forward to working with him and let’s see where he can bring Sauber.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Just repeating a question from a colleague from the previous session. Lewis, Copse corner this year? Do we think it will be flat in eighth and if so what is that going to be like and if so how will it compare with Becketts in terms of fun factor?

    LH: I think Copse is going to be flat this year. I would imagine quite easy, yeah. I would imagine probably eighth, you should get to eighth by then. It’s going to be rapid. I don’t think any of us are prepared for how quick Silverstone is going to be compared to previous years. It was awesome in the last race. Maggots and Becketts, again, are going to be the same. It’s going to be a physical race for us, being that it is mostly medium and high-speed corners. The G that we are going to be pulling is definitely going to be one up, maybe two, who knows, but it’s going to be a lot of fun.

    Daniel, you’re nodding and smiling, as if you’re looking forward to this?

    LH: It’s because he’s got an upgrade package!

    DR: Ha! We’ve got more coming later. It’s going to be fun. I love high-speed corners. From Turn 9 to 15, Copse to Stowe, it’s some of the coolest sequences… probably [the best] mile of race track we go on all year. We got a taste of it, as Lewis said, in Austria. The second, third sector we were carrying some serious speed, so it’s a sign of what this weekend is going to be like I think.

    Q: (Jon McEvoy – Daily Mail) If they organised an event such as last night’s again in London, would you all go?

    DK: You mean every day or what? Probably no. But next year again? Why not. Wednesday? Yeah I think why not, of course.

    LH: I guess I’ll decide when the time comes.

    DR: Yeah.

    PW: Yeah I would and I would do more donuts, as Daniel did.

    DR: That was controlled sliding.

    Q: Is that what you told the council?

    DR: It’s alright… arrest me.

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Lewis, just in your words, why were you the only driver not there when your colleagues were there and you were missing?

    LH: I don’t why I was the only one. Everyone had the right to make their decision for themselves. For me, I felt that it’s been a pretty intense season so far and I felt for me, I needed to prepare the best way that I could for this weekend. The season’s the most important thing for me. That’s really it.

    Q: (Rachel Brookes – Sky TV) Lewis, just following on, from what you saw of yesterday’s event and the crowd that turned out that was there, you’re someone who talks a lot about what you get from the fans and how much it helps you. Looking at those pictures and what happened, do you feel that actually being there yesterday might have helped you coming into this weekend and given you a boost a day early even, coming into the British Grand Prix?

    LH: I generally haven’t been on my phone the last couple of days, I tried to switch off, I switch on a couple of times just to receive a message but otherwise I’ve tried to stay away from it. Personally, I feel I prepared the best way for this weekend and that’s really all I can do. Of course, there are people who have other opinions about it but I’m trying to do the best… it’s a very intense season, I’m trying to prepare the best way I can. Other people will have different ways of doing so. I love this Grand Prix, I love this race so I feel yesterday, personally, plays any role in how great this weekend is for me. Every season, for the last years has been incredible, it’s been growing every year. You get people who have saved up so much through the year to come up to this Grand Prix and I think you will have seen over the previous years how much I appreciate and respect that and tried to give and enjoy the weekend with the fans and that doesn’t change.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Lewis, on the same topic, there’s suggestions that there has been some sort of disagreement over the use of your image for this particular event, that you wanted to be paid or something like that. Can you refute that categorically?

    LH: Yeah, that’s… No, I mean I told the organisers last week that I wouldn’t be going. I spoke to Toto, informed the team which was very understanding and understood and respectful of the decision. Yeah, I think they used my image so that wasn’t a problem.

    Q: (Rob Harris – AP) Lewis, first of all, how is flying for what, seven or eight hours round trip to Greece better preparation than staying in the UK? And you were booed by the fans in London, they obviously are unhappy with you, this was a big event, used by the F1 owners to try and engage with fans. You are the biggest British driver. What were your thoughts when you heard they actually booed you?

    LH: To be honest, I didn’t really know about it. In terms of flying, I don’t live here so I wouldn’t have been here anyway as I was back in Monaco first, but I fly a lot longer than that for trips and I usually arrive pretty good. But you know, right now my focus is on this weekend, making sure I put every bit of energy into this great weekend that we have and I received incredible love from the fans every single year that I’ve come here. Yeah, looking forward to seeing them.

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lewis, sorry to keep harping on about yesterday, but do you still stand by your decision and do you think it was the right decision, given you were the only driver missing? You’re the home star, you’re the home favourite. Do you think you got it wrong?

    LH: Well, I mean, like I said, I think I’ve felt like I’ve answered as much as I really want to. I’m solely focused on this weekend now, I feel great, being here, I feel the best prepared I could be.

    Q: (Stephen Camp – Paddock Magazine) I was just wondering, I asked the last four drivers if there was anything that Liberty had come to you about, what you would like to give back to the fans. Are there any ideas that you would like to give back to the fans, anything that you would like to do to widen the audience of the sport?

    DR: Not anything right now, off the top of my head. Yeah. You’ve kind of got me. I don’t know. I wasn’t expecting to be asked the question. We’ll come back…

    DK: Well, I just drive the car, you know. I think that’s what I should be focused on. I think there are other people who know how to do their job a bit better for that.

    LH: I don’t really have all the ideas. I think there are people who make those decisions.

    DR: Probably more locations, where we go. I think we can keep expanding in different parts of the world perhaps. I guess put F1 on the map in places that it’s not currently. That can always help to raise awareness of our sport and give people an interest. Yeah, that’s something that comes to mind.

    PW: I think that after yesterday some louder engines again. It was really nice to hear the old V8 engines, that was great. Hopefully we can have the same in the future again.

    Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Lewis, I’m not going to ask about London! This weekend – it’s obviously been very close between Mercedes and Ferrari all season – but with the different characteristics between the two cars, do you feel that this might be one of the tracks that’s more suited to Mercedes and it could be a particularly strong weekend for the team?

    LH: I hope so but I think that being that we’re (indistinct) on the car you would have hoped that it would have worked better in the medium and high speed corners but if you look at previous races, the last one, the Ferraris were very strong, the Red Bulls were very strong in all sections but there is also that balance of the high speed as well and drag. I think it will be very very close but I’ve heard that these guys have brought a big upgrade. He’s always smiling anyway so he smiling a little bit more…

    DR: I’m good at bluffing, I always smile because you never know. We’ve got more.

    LH: You’ve got more. They did a great job in the last race so to see Red Bull up there I think is great, to see a three way team challenge competition and I think this weekend’s going to be… you know, they were very very strong here last year, particularly on intermediates, in the race, so I think it’s going to be a spectacular British Grand Prix in that respect.

    Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday) Daniel Ricciardo, you seem to be really getting into the shoey business on the podium and the podiums are becoming more and more regular. You are persuading the interviewers to drink but you’re not having very much luck with your fellow drivers. Can you think of any way to encourage them to join you, and to the other three: should you be up there with Daniel, would you be partaking of the amber nectar?

    DR: Well, most of the last ones have actually come from the others wanting – not the drivers – but the interviewees if you call them (he means interviewers) – they’ve been wanting to do it. I honestly didn’t plan on doing it in even Baku – I was ‘ah, I won’t do it.’ But DC took my shoes off and then Austria, Martin was like frothing for it. So I feel that there are some really sick bastards around here. I never thought it would continue like this. Even yesterday, people were shouting it. I’m just walking along, minding my business and they’re like shouting ‘do a shoey.’ I don’t actually just take my shoe off while I’m walking in the street and drink out of it. I feel like I’ve dug a hole for myself with this one. On that note, I feel like it’s been fun. I want to say it’s run its course. We’ll see what happens but I heard that the Finns drink, I really heard that. But Valtteri did not carry his flag well last Sunday. I mean shame on him! He needed vodka in it, so Valtteri Bottas – disappointed. And that’s it. No more shoeys.

    Lewis, you’ve avoided it so far…

    LH: Absolutely. I still stand firm on… I told you… the juice from the foot is not something that I wish to drink, especially someone else’s!

    DR: It’s risky with back-to-backs. It is! We put – all the podium guys could end up in hospital for a week. Yeah.

    Q: (Ralf Bach – Sport Bild) For all of you: we heard that Red Bull has a great update on the car. What are the updates of Toro Rosso, Sauber, Mercedes, Red Bull here and in the future; what is planned? 

    DK: Well, it’s probably not as much as these guys but we also try, we try hard and hopefully there will be some, maybe Budapest. I think we’re working on it and I think that it will be efficient so let’s see.

    PW: We expect a big one in Budapest. I was in the factory two weeks ago and I was told in Budapest there’s a big one coming, hopefully.

    Q: Any particular reason why there?

    PW: I don’t know. As soon as possible, hopefully.

    So you’ve obviously got a massive upgrade this weekend, Daniel, another one coming…

    DR: No, I do believe we’ve got something significant for Budapest and this weekend it’s usual bits and pieces which we kind of bring now nearly every race but Budapest is probably more of an  advertised update as opposed to this weekend.

    Q: And the reason why it’s there?

    DR: I think mostly it seems it just takes time, but yeah, it’s a high downforce package.

    LH: We had a small upgrade in the last race and I think we’ve got some small bits here but nothing major. Similar to what Daniel was saying, and I think in the next race there will be some small parts as well. I think after the break there will be more substantial bits coming.

    Q: (Jon McEvoy – Daily Mail) The day before the hearing, the FIA hearing into Sebastian Vettel and his accident with Lewis, the boss of Mercedes, Toto Wolff, went to a birthday party to celebrate the thirtieth of Sebastian Vettel. I was wondering, from all drivers, would you be surprised most relevantly for Lewis, but would you be surprised and see it as maybe an act of loyalty or otherwise for your boss to go to a birthday of a rival with whom you’ve just had an accident before the hearing?

    DR: Free alcohol. Doesn’t matter how much money you make, you don’t turn that down.

    Unless it’s out of your shoe.

    DR: Yeah, actually, good point.

    LH: All I can do is laugh at that one. I don’t really have an answer for that one to be honest. That’s the dumbest question I’ve had so far.

    PW: I think Seb is a really nice guy so I would also go to his birthday.

    DR: Why weren’t you invited?

    PW: I don’t know! Maybe he doesn’t think that I’m nice.

    Q: Daniil, were you washing your hair that evening or did you go as well?

    DK: I was hoping you’d forgotten about me already. I don’t have an answer for you. I cannot even imagine.

    DR: There was an invite for the torpedo. I saw it. Not so cool.

    DK: You have a good memory.

    Q: (Giles Richards – The Guardian) Lewis, sorry to return to this but it’s quite a big issue: you’ve always tried to connect… you’ve made a point of trying to connect with your fans. Do you think it was a missed opportunity not attending yesterday, given that a lot of people who were there, who were attending, would be kids and people who can’t afford to go Grands Prix, so this was a really good chance to connect with those people who just can’t make it to Silverstone?

    LH: Like I’ve said, I feel like I’ve said everything I want to say on the subject but I like to think that I do everything I can to connect with the fans. I do have the biggest following in Formula One and I communicate with them as much as I can. The fans mean everything to me and they always have. I’ve made no secret of that. I think hopefully my commitments to the sport over the last ten years and what I do actually outside the sport, things that perhaps you don’t comment on such as when I go and visit the hospitals and spend time with young kids who can’t come to a Grand Prix. That’s not something you report on but that’ s actually very important to me and that’s where I put my energy mostly. I think lots of us have decisions to make and you have to stand firm with the decisions you make and feel proud of the decisions you make and I personally do and this weekend, as I say, coming here and give everything to shine as much light and raise the flag in the best way I can, and try the best I can. The goal is to win the British Grand Prix for my home crowd. I’ve been very fortunate the last few years to do that and the yearning and the need to do that again is greater than ever.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) To the three non-Mercedes drivers: you’ve heard what Lewis said; do you guys feel that you’ve prepared any less intensively for this race by being in London and not being on a beach in Greece, for example? And just because you’re not leading the championship or up there, do you feel that you haven’t prepared as well for this weekend?

    DR: Each to their own. We’re all adults now. Obviously the spotlight’s on Lewis because he was the only one that wasn’t there, out of all of us, so I understand that but yeah, he’s been doing it long enough to know what he needs to do. For me, personally, I thought it was a good event. I thought it was a good opportunity to reach out, obviously, to a few more fans but it also gives Liberty some more encouragement. They’re trying to start something now so just to get behind that and see where we can take it.

    PW: Nothing to add.

    DK: I think Lewis justified it very clearly. I think everyone has different preparations. I think it’s enough said on the topic.

    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing ) Daniil, this year Toro Rosso has shown some real pace on occasions but it seems to be quite difficult for the team to have a consistent weekend from Friday morning to Sunday night, Austria being a good example: very quick and then it fell away in qualifying. What is your feeling about that, why did it happen in Austria, for example?

    DK: I think in Austria we know really what happened in qualifying, and we dropped a bit out of the working window in the important session. Coming to the year, I would say that for my personal case, Sundays, for one reason or another, on the good days the races were not finished and I think it’s very important because that’s when the points are given on that day and I think that’s what I’m looking for really. I’ve had really good Fridays, really good Saturdays, good Sundays until the car stopped but now what we’re looking for is to put all three days together and that should bring good things to my side of the garage.

    eom/FIA transcript of the Press Conference

  • 2nd career win for Bottas; Hamilton finishes 4th

    Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas took his second career Formula One victory with a powerful yet controlled drive lights to flag win ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo held off a late surge from Lewis Hamilton to take the final podium position.

    Bottas got away best at the start, but so good was his getaway that there was the suspicion the Finn had jumped the start. Further back Max Verstappen made the poorest start, bogging down badly when the lights went out. He was swamped by rivals and dropped back to where 14th-place starter Fernando Alonso was profiting from taking an inside line.

    The Spaniard was followed by Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat but as they went into Turn 1, Kvyat braked too late and collided with Alonso who in turn hit Verstappen. The McLaren and Red Bull sustained significant damage and though both made it back to the pits they were forced to quit the race. Kvyat was later handed a drive through penalty for causing the collision.

    Ahead Daniel Ricciardo, who had made a good start, was on the attack. He pressured Kimi Raikkonen into Turn 3 and stole third place from the Finn. Pushed wide, Raikkonen was also passed by Haas’ Romain Grosjean, though he passed the Frenchman on the next lap.

    Bottas meanwhile was carving out a solid lead. By lap 17 the Finn had built a five-second to Vettel, with Ricciardo a further 3.5s back. Raikkonen was fourth but he was being hunted down by Hamilton, who had risen to fifth place from eighth on the grid. Grosjean was now sixth ahead of the Force Indias of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon, while Williams had profited hugely after the start, with Felipe Massa now ninth from P17 on the grid and team-mate Lance Stroll in 10th from a P18 start.

    After closing to within a second of Raikkonen, Hamilton’s pursuit of the Finn stalled and by lap 31 he was looking for options as he failed to find a way past on track. The response was for him to pit on lap 32 for supersoft tyres.

    That caused a ripple effect and two laps later third-placed Ricciardo stopped for supersofts, with Vettel pitting immediately after. Bottas and Raikkonen stayed out however and by lap 38 the Mercedes driver was 19.5s ahead of the Ferrari driver, with Vettel now third and 7.1s further back having made a stop. Ricciardo was now fourth, 4.5s ahead of Hamilton.

    Bottas eventually pitted from the lead on lap 41, taking on supersofts for his final stint. Raikkonen, though, soldiered on with his starting ultrasofts. Bottas though was closing on his newer tyres and retook the lead on lap 44. That was the cue for Raikkonen to finally pit for supersofts at the end of that tour. He rejoined in fifth place behind Hamilton.

    Hamilton’s task was then to chase down third-placed Ricciardo. The Australian was alive to the threat and as the Briton upped the pace, the Red Bull driver responded. That he was able to almost match the pace of the Mercedes was to the credit of the Australian and his team.

    Inevitably though Hamilton began to eat into the gap and 10 laps from the flag the Briton was just 2.3s adrift of the Red Bull.

    With three laps to go Bottas was a slim 1.2 ahead Vettel, while Ricciardo was just 1.1s ahead of Hamilton. It looked like a grandstand finish was in the offing, but in the end both the Finn and the Australian held their nerve well and despite both gaps shrinking to less than a second, Bottas took the win ahead of Vettel and Ricciardo held third ahead of Hamilton. Raikkonen finished fifth ahead of Grosjean, while Perez was seventh ahead of team-mate Ocon. Williams enjoyed a positive day as Massa finished ninth and Stroll came home in in tenth.

    eom/FIA press release

     

     

  • Vettel, Hamilton patch up, move on…

    PART ONE: DRIVERS – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari), Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes), Kevin MAGNUSSEN (Haas)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Sebastian, begin by looking back at events in Baku two weeks ago. You said in a statement on Monday that you over-reacted in the heat of the moment. Please can you just talk us through what happened in that moment.

    Sebastian VETTEL: I don’t think that’s necessary, is it? I think we’ve seen it many times. I’ve seen it, I’ve looked at it, so err… obviously, I had a very different view inside the car than I had with a little bit of a gap and outside the car – hence why obviously I made a statement. I had the chance to quickly talk to Lewis after the race – but I don’t want to pump this up more than it is already. I think that it’s my right, our right that it stays between us. I think I said everything I had to say. I think it was the wrong decision. Obviously I got a penalty in the race and, yeah, lost a potential race win. We couldn’t obviously foresee that Lewis was running into a problem with his headrest but could have been a lot more points at stake. After that obviously I tried everything to recover.

    Q: Seb, you said ‘it was the wrong decision.’ What was the wrong decision?

    SV: It was the wrong move, the wrong decision. It was the wrong move to drive alongside him and hit his tyre. So, that’s obviously I guess what you all want to hear but there’s not much more to say. At the time I was surprised. It felt like Lewis hit the brakes and I couldn’t stop running into his car – but I also said in the statement and said afterwards that I don’t think there was any bad intention. So I don’t think he actually brake-tested me. At the time I read it like that. I was surprised, and hence why I was obviously I was upset and over-reacted. Am I proud of the moment? No. Can I take it back? Do I regret it? Yes. So I don’t think we need to drag it out any longer.

    Q: Lewis, is it the end of the matter for you as well now?

    Lewis HAMILTON: It is for me, yeah. Solely, really focussed on this weekend. Obviously it’s an interesting press conference, as I mentioned, with so many people here. The people watching can’t see how many people are behind the camera. Yeah, I mean, I said everything I felt I needed to say at the last race and just left it there. Now the job is just to focus on… still got a lot of races ahead of us and a little bit behind points-wise. So just trying to keep my head down.

    Q: Does what happened in Baku in any way change the dynamic between you and Sebastian?

    LH: I don’t think it does. Sebastian and I, we spoke after the race and on Monday and shortly after that he messaged me, I think the day after I think it was. For me, I just said that, for me, I still have the utmost respect for him as a driver and will continue to race him hard for the rest of the season in the same way I always have. No less hard than we have been already up until now. My only point to Sebastian was that I felt that, saying I had brake-tested him, I was like, I hope you can correct that publically – because people who are watching felt that this was something I did. In the data it obviously showed that was not the case. In actual case he accelerated. I think the goal was to try and be as close as possible to me but that was an error in judgement. My own point there in reply to him was that I hope he makes that clear because I had no intentions… there was no need for me to do something like that. I was in the lead. And… yeah. I accepted his apology and moved forwards.

    Q: Sebastian, just a few words from you about the relationship with Lewis. The dynamic between you.

    SV: Well, I’m happy to hear that it doesn’t seem to have a big impact. Obviously what I did was wrong and I apologised. I think it’s totally up to Lewis. Obviously I did a mistake so I can understand he’s upset but it’s nice to hear that we are able to move forward. Yeah. I think the respect that we have for each other on-track, off-track helps us in this regard.

    Q: Kevin, team’s best finish of the season in Baku. Haas are now up to seventh in the championship. You must be very pleased with how things are going. Do you feel you’re getting the best out of the team and yourself?

    Kevin MAGNUSSEN: Yes. I feel like it’s going well. I’m enjoying my time at the moment. We’re getting good results, both me and Romain, scoring points for the team. As a team the size that we are with so little people and limited budgets, it’s a good effort to be where we are. I hope to be able to keep it up. I think seventh in the championship is one position better than last year and I think our target as a team was to try to improve at least a little bit on last year – which was already a good rookie season for Haas. So, y’know, we need to keep it up and keep scoring those points when other people make mistakes and take the opportunities when they’re there.

    Q: You talk about the target for the season; what’s the target for this weekend? You’ve never been out-qualified by a team-mate here but you haven’t been in Q3 yet this season. Can you do it here?

    KM: Q3? I think… it’s not going to be easy. It’s not our natural position. We don’t have the actual pace to be there but I think it’s not far away. With a slight variation in people’s performance and if we get a little more out of the tyres, balance, setup etc., we can get there. But for this track it’s not our natural position but for sure we’ll do our best.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Sebastian, of course I respect what you said that you wouldn’t want this topic to drag and drag – but there’s one interesting question. There are some suggestions that you didn’t deliberately move onto Lewis’ car and it was only because you were just showing the gestures that we all know about and it was unintentional. Was it really intentional to crash into Lewis or it was only that you didn’t really pay any attention to the steering?

    SV: It’s a very confusing question. I think it’s very simple: obviously, I got surprised. I got the impression at the time – which I have corrected: I was wrong – that I got, let’s say, fouled and y’know I wasn’t happy about it. I drove alongside him, obviously wasn’t happy about it, over-reacted. I don’t think I need to explain further. I think it’s very clear. You all saw what happened, so… yeah. Not sure I get the question.

    Q: (Jerome Pugmire – AP) Question for Lewis. After that race you had some strong words, obviously in the heat of the moment you were very angry and you said that Sebastian, on that incident, was a disgrace to the sport. Do you regret saying that now? Do you think perhaps you were overly upset? Do you regret those words?

    LH: I don’t feel I was particularly upset after the race. If I was upset it was for other reasons but I don’t feel like I said anything I particularly would wish to take back. But I think, I still have the same opinion of what happened – but it’s water under the bridge now. We move forwards. We spoke about it, we move forwards. There’s no point really saying much more.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Sebastian, you’ve admitted that you made a foul. Why did it take you so long then to actually apologise? Why did you have to wait until after you’d appeared before an FIA investigation?

    SV: I don’t have your number. I don’t want it. So, I don’t feel the need to talk to… sorry… all of you for more than what I have to. So, I think the person that I had to talk to was Lewis, that was the most important. Obviously then Monday I went to Paris to see the FIA, we had the hearing, they asked me my opinion in terms of what happened, to run through the incidents, that’s what I did, so yeah, I don’t think, as I said, there was a need to talk to you straight after. You’re not the most important people I think. As I said, the most important for me is the guy I’m racing with, is Lewis, and that’s the one I decided to call first.

    Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport Magazin) Question for Lewis, we were a bit surprised with the reaction from inside the car that you stayed so calm when Sebastian hit you. Can you explain how you managed to stay that calm? Because if something like that happens we probably expect… we ourselves would probably react differently.

    LH: Well, it’s a little bit different perhaps to if it had happened on a football pitch and you’re face-to-face with someone. I think maybe your initial reaction would be different – but we’re strapped into these cars so there’s not much I can do in the actual car at the time. As I said, I was more focussed on the race result and the difficult race that we had had. So, whilst that was a difficult scenario – or an unfortunate mishap during the race – that was not my main focus or goal. So, while there are questions about it, I was just thinking about the points that we had lost, how we are going to regroup as a team again to try to make sure we don’t have that same issue again, and that we still have a pretty steep mountain to climb before the end of the season.

    Q: (Ralf Bach – Sport Bild) A question to Lewis. Gerhard Berger said last week, first the FIA punished Sebastian in Baku but then God himself punished you. Can you tell us something about what he could mean?

    LH: I don’t know what he’s talking about, so… [Question repeated off-mike] I guess that’s an opinion of his, and… what do you think it means? I don’t care what he thinks he means, he didn’t say it to me, he said it to you! I don’t know. I don’t think it had anything to do with God.

    Q: (Natalie Pinkham – Sky Sports) You’re both guys who are passionate and vocal and speak your mind – I’m thinking Seb, you with Kvyat in the cooldown room. Why didn’t you just speak to him straight away after the race?

    SV: Well it’s the same as if you ask me to try and exit through that door. There’s a lot of people I have to go through first and I think it was the wrong time given how much fuss there was kicked up after the race to talk to him. So, I’m sure he was busy as well after the race. You usually have your meetings and so on. So I don’t think that was the right time, straight out of the car. Too many people in between us, let’s say.

    Q: (Rebecca Clancy – The Times) For Sebastian. You’ve just said now that you’re happy to hear that it’s moved on, following Lewis’ comments now. Does that mean that’s not the impression you got after you spoke on Monday? And just a very quick question to Lewis: did you accept his apology?

    SV: No, it’s not the impression I got. I’m just in that regard happy to hear that we, obviously… yeah… mature enough to move on. Obviously what I did was wrong and I did a mistake. I apologise but it doesn’t take it away. It’s still there. If I can could literally take it back and go back in time, I would – but I can’t do that. And since I can’t do that, it’s good that we’re able to sit here and say that we’re focussed on the weekend and we go out there and race and do what we love most.

    Lewis?

    LH: Just on my point, the conversation we had… there wasn’t actually an apology in the conversation that we had – even though that was perhaps the intent. It was literally the next day when we were texting. I got a text from Sebastian, apologising and I did accept it.

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) A question for Sebastian. You’re laughing about it now but I would suggest that you have nine penalty points, you tell the Race Director what you did in Mexico, you swear at him, you use your car as a weapon. Would you agree that you got off quite lightly?

    SV: Well I got a penalty, obviously the race was potentially handed to me with the fault or the technical problem Lewis’ car had with the headrest, so you can believe me that I wasn’t happy at all after the race because I finished fourth and I could have won the race. So I dion’t need to tell you how many points difference that is. So…

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Yet you were driving into him, using your car to ram into him…

    SV: Well I said also to him that I never had the intention to hurt him. It’s not like I tried to punch him…

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) But you did.

    SV: As I said, the Intention… I over-reacted. The intention was not to hurt him, damage his car, it was at low speed but looking back it was the wrong thing to do, it was dangerous, plus it was unnecessary because it didn’t win me anything.

    Q: (Livio Orrichio – GlobeEsporte) To all drivers, when you have a stress point in a relationship, as Sebastian and Lewis now, even if it’s clarified between you, and you go to the next race, here or Silverstone for example, is it possible to leave everything in the past or unconsciously do you take it to the moment of the fight with the same driver into the track?

    LH: No honestly I really don’t feel that there is tension here. Obviously you guys might feel that there is. We just really distinguished that when we spoke on the phone and it remains respectful. As I said, there are two things that are most important for me, the first is that Sebastian acknowledged that I didn’t brake test him, which while he has apologized I don’t know if people still understand that. That’s important for me because people were commenting or sending messages to me saying that I was out of order. Obviously I didn’t do any of the braking. Secondly, road safety is a big issue, a campaign the FIA are constantly pushing and obviously the decisions and how they govern the sport and how it reflects to the rest of thr world, they were the only two points I was focused on.

    Q: Sebastian, can you let it be or do you take it with you into the next race?

    SV: No, I’m quite happy to get into the car tomorrow. I think come practice, come race day you try to do your best. Obviously, you’re very busy driving the car, when you fight someone, we know that overtaking is not easy, I don’t think you have much time to think. Obviously you’re planning an overtake, etcetera – but sitting here I think I would say it doesn’t impact on the next race and who you’re racing.

    Q: Kevin, do you have anything to add?

    KM: I have no grudges to either of those guys!

    Q: (Ysef Harding – Xiro Xone News) There’s too much tension in this room right now. This question’s for Lewis and Sebastian. Lewis, I know recently both of you were involved in Cars 3 doing voiceover work, and Sebastian you did a German version of it. What was it like working with the people at Pixar, and for Lewis, what was it like doing another voiceover for Cars, and Kevin, would you do any voiceover work or acting like these two?

    Let’s start with Kevin.

    KM: I did, actually! On the Danish Cars, as well. I’m one of the Cars, I guess. Yeah, we all did it.

    SV: All the same car, I guess, Sat Nav.

    KM: I’m not a Sat Nav, I’m… I can’t ever remember which one it is. That’s too bad!

    SV: I’m sure they ask you again!

    Sebastian, how did you find the experience?

    SV: Well, I think I’m quite comfortable with voiceover… acting maybe less. It was good fun, it’s a fun experience. People help you a lot. Obviously, as I said, it’s quite easy because they just put your voice wherever they need to – whereas with acting I think you need to be a lot more precise. It was good fun. I did the German version and also the Italian version, which was a bit more difficult but good fun. Looking forward to hear myself when the movie comes out.

    Lewis, how did you find it?

    LH: It was the second time I’ve done it and I had a lot of fun with it. I’m appreciative of the opportunity.

    Q: (Peter Vamosi – Vas Népe) Question is to Lewis and Sebastian. Fernando Alonso’s management is right now in talks with Ferrari and Mercedes – at least the rumours are about this. How do you like the idea having him as team-mate?

    Lewis, why don’t we start with you? You’ve had him as a team-mate before.

    LH: I’m pretty happy with the team-mate I have, so it’s not even a thought in my thought process right now.

    And Sebastian?

    SV: Well, I’m not responsible to sign the drivers but if I had a say, I’d say I prefer Kimi.

    Q: (Tom Slater – Soymotor) A question for Kevin. I wanted to know your vision about the Baku incident because these last days a lot of people were saying the FIA wasn’t hard enough with the penalty. If it had been different drivers do you think the penalty, the FIA would have acted the same?

    KM: I have no idea.

    Q: (Petr Hlawiczka – F1news . cz) Sebastian, do you have each other’s phone number now and the other questions regarding latest technical directive about burning oil, do you think Ferrari is most suffer by this latest technical directive?

    SV: I’ll start with the second question. I don’t think so. I think it’s better for you to ask somebody who understands a lot more about the engine. For me it’s important that the engine is running, that it’s working. Then, I’m not sure I understood the first question. I said we spoke on the phone. To call somebody… I don’t know where you are from but to every place I have been to you need the number of the other person! Maybe you have a good phone, you just say the name and it dials the number.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) This is also for Lewis and Sebastian, but about the racing at last. There are now two races where Mercedes seem to be much stronger than Ferrari. Lewis, are you now confident that you are on top of the tyre problems you had before and Sebastian how concerning is it? Obviously the race in Baku was hard to judge because it was chaotic but especially in qualifying the gap was really big and how optimistic are you that you will be able to get close to Mercedes again?

    LH: I think we’re constantly learning about these tyres, so I think we definitely made a big step, I think it was going into Montreal and from there we are continuing to learned weekend-in, weekend-out. Of course we’re coming to other circuits. Each time it’s a little bit different – different abrasiveness, different challenges – but I think we do understand obviously what the issue has been and that it can occur at any point but I think we have the better tools and understanding now to be able to tackle whatever issue we do.

    SV: I know what was going on in the last two races. They were very different. The tracks are different. But if you take Canada: we actually had good pace in the race. The car was damaged and obviously my race looked very different to Lewis’, he could control the race from the front. Then in Baku in qualifying, we just didn’t get it together. The gap was artificially big. I’m not sitting here thinking that we are 1.1s behind in quali here. Came Sunday I think the pace was very similar. Overall it’s probably fair to say that Mercedes had the upper hand Saturday and Sunday but the difference was small. I think you are constantly trying to push all the areas, trying to improve the car, understanding the tyres, these kind of things. But I think for here we should be all set and we should be ready to race. Hopefully we have a calmer race and we should have more, let’s say, consistent conditions, then you are able to read much more how close we are.

    Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS) Kevin, do you think the next world champion is on your right or on your left?

    KM: I have no idea. I can’t see into the future. Let’s see.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Mark Webber has recently suggested that drivers shouldn’t be penalised for technical issues with grid penalties etc. How do you feel about that – can one separate a driver from a team and vice versa?

    SV: I think it’s a difficult one. I think we understand as drivers what Mark meant and he’s probably right about it but on the other hand you have to get the rules straight and set some rules so that the teams comply with it. Since everyone is always really competitive in Formula One, you are always trying to look for something maybe the other guy hasn’t, so you might develop a pattern of I don’t know, changing your gearbox every race because of whatever advantage it brings to you, so I don’t know… yeah, that’s a tricky one.

    LH: I understand his point. I’ve only just heard it, so I haven’t had much time to think about it. But I imagine it’s difficult to really implement that. You’re a team. If a driver makes a mistake, the team loses points and if teams, ultimately if it’s a team, collective mistake when something or when reliability hits, it hits you all together… and then also you know, if you have an engine issue and you get a brand new one and you don’t take a penalty you gain an advantage on power quite often. I don’t know. Perhaps there’s a way they could do it.

    KM: I think it’s frustrating for the driver but it is also for the team. It’s true that if you make a mistake as a driver it goes to the team as well. But if there is an engine failure it’s more on the team’s side of the blame, if you want. I think it could be looked at a solution to take a constructor point or something like that instead of penalizing the start position for the race. But it’s not something I think too much about.

    Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere Della Sera ) A question for Sebastian. Today we heard that in the team there’s a change, the [person] responsible for the engine is not any longer in his role. Do you think it could affect the second part of the season?

    SV: I don’t know. I don’t know what you’re referring to, but again I think these kind of things it’s better you ask a little bit higher up.

    Q: (Giles Richards – The Guardian) Lewis, after the race you said you were concerned about the example the incident set for children. Are you happy with the message being sent from the hearing on Monday after what happened to Sebastian?

    LH: I don’t think anything changes. My opinion stays the same. With all due respect, Jean [Todt] should be sitting next to us to be honest to answer some questions perhaps because they didn’t change anything on the Monday, so the message that was sent still remains the same.

    Q: (Nathalie Pinkham – Sky Sports) Seb, in the heat of the moment, you do seem to lose your cool a bit. Do you think you have a problem with your temperament? Lewis, do you think that judging by the size of this crowd this kind of jeopardy and rivalry is good for the sport?

    SV: To answer your question, I don’t think so. I could see why you might believe it’s not, but I think I have faced a lot of situations that are quite hot and I don’t think so.

    LH: I think an intense battle is always a good thing for any sport, so I don’t disagree with that but of course we are used as a platform, we are supposed to be role models, we are supposed to give a certain message. We are only human beings, so we don’t always get things right. However, collectively we are supposed to inspire and send the right message to young kids. There are so many people who want to be in our position. We are in a position of power and how we utilise that is very important

  • Hamilton takes 66th career pole ahead of Bottas

    Lewis Hamilton took his 66th career pole position to move within two of all-time record holder Michael Schumacher after he beat team-mate Valtteri Bottas to the front of the grid for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Kimi Räikkönen was third for Ferrari, while championship-leading team-mate Sebastian Vettel has to settle for fourth place.

    It was Hamilton who made the running in Q1 with the Briton setting the pace thanks to a lap of 1:41.983. Behind him, Verstappen recovered from the hydraulic issues that sidelined him towards the end of FP3 and took second place in Q1 just over half a second behind the Mercedes man. Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen was third ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in the second Red Bull and Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat. Sebastian Vettel, who had also suffered a hydraulic issue in FP3, was sixth.

    At the other end of the spectrum, Fernando Alonso’s lap of 1:44.334 was the P15 target in the closing stages. Haas’ Romain Grosjean, in P16 and a tenth behind the McLaren man, looked the most likely to advance, but in the end the Frenchman couldn’t find the pace. It was team-mate Kevin Magnussen who made the most of the final runs and the Dane vaulted from P17 an eventual P15 to push Alonso out of the session ahead of Grosjean, Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson, Stoffel Vandoorne in the second McLaren and Renault’s Jolyon Palmer who did not take part in the session following a car fire in FP3. Both McLarens are set for heavy overnight grid penalties, however.

    Hamilton again set the pace in Q2, this time by quite a margin. After the opening runs Hamilton sat in P1 just ahead of Bottas and Räikkönen but with his second outing the Briton decimated the competition, setting a benchmark of 1:41.275. As the segment edged to a close only Verstappen seemed to be able to operate in the same timeframe as Hamilton and the Dutchman took P2 with a lap of 1:41.961. However in the final moments, Vettel, who had been low key to that point, vaulted to P2 six hundredths clear of Verstappen. Bottas got closer still to Hamilton to finish with a time of 1:41.502, 0.227 behind his team-mate.

    Eliminated in in P11 was Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat, with team-mate Carlos Sainz 0.161 behind the Russian. Kevin Magnussen was 13th for Haas ahead of Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg and Sauber’s Pascal Wehrlein.

    The first runs in Q3 saw Bottas seize the early initiative as drivers went for two timed laps on their opening runs. The Finn set a benchmark of 1:41.274 with Hamilton, who made a small errors in P2, with a time of 1:41.428.

    The session was brought to a halt, however, when Ricciardo clipped the wall on the exit of Turn 5 and damaged his rear left wheel. He was left stranded on track after Turn 6 and the red flags came out.

    With 3m33s left on the clock it became clear that there would be time for another run but that drivers would only get one timed lap and it was Hamilton who made the most of it. The Briton powered through the 1m41s barrier, the only man to do that in the session, with a lap of 1:40.593. That was good enough to earn his 66thcareer pole position and move into second place in the list of all-time pole positions, one clear of his great hero Ayrton Senna.

    Bottas took P2 with a time of 1:41.027 with Räikkönen third with a lap of 1:41.693. Championship leader Sebastian Vettel had to settle for fourth place ahead of Max Verstappen, with Sergio Perez in sixth place, just in front of team-mate Esteban Ocon. Lance Stroll had a good session to qualify eighth for Williams, four hundredths ahead of team-mate Felipe Massa. Tenth place went to the unfortunate Ricciardo.

    eom/FIA press release

  • Hamilton wins; Vettel recovers to 4th

    Lewis Hamilton scored a comfortable Canadian Grand Prix victory ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas as championship leader Sebastian Vettel recovered from early race problems to finish fourth behind Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo. Canadian rookie Lance Stroll, meanwhile, scored his first career F1 points with ninth place.

    At the start Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen made the best getaway to shoot down the inside to claim P2 as leader Hamilton went into Turn 1. Slow-starting front-row starter Sebastian Vettel was swamped. Bottas passed him as Vettel sustained broken wing elements in a small collision with Verstappen. He would later pit on lap five for running repairs that dropped him to the rear of the field.

    Vettel succeeded, however, in fending off a hard-charging Daniel Ricciardo who had passed Kimi Raikkonen when the lights went out.

    In the midfield there were more incidents however. Carlos Sainz and Romain Grosjean collided, with the result that Sainz was pitched into a spin. He sailed out backwards through Turn 3 and slammed into Felipe Massa as he did so. The Toro Rosso and Williams drivers were instantly ruled out, but Grosjean managed to continue after a wing repair and a set of supersoft tyres.

    The incident brought out the safety car as the two cars were recovered and on the re-start Bottas attempted to pass Verstappen around the outside into Turn 1. The Dutchman was alive to the threat, however, and fended off the attack well.

    Bottas wouldn’t have to wait too long to get past the Red Bull man, however.

    On lap 11 Verstappen’s Red Bull suffered a sudden and total loss of power on the exit of Turn 2. He was forced to pull over and retire. Bottas inherited second place with Ricciardo third.

    At the front, Hamilton was carving out a lead and by lap 20 he was six seconds clear of team-mate Bottas. Ricciardo, meanwhile, pitted on lap 18 and took on soft tyres. The Australian dropped to sixth and then began to work his way back up the order.

    It was a similar story for Vettel. The German had fallen to P18 after his early pit stop and despite losing more front wing elements the German quickly worked his work through the pack to sit in P8 by lap 22.

    By lap 28, Hamilton was 24.4s ahead of Force India’s Esteban Ocon. Both were still on their starting ultrasoft tyres, but both were lapping in the 1m16s, matching the pace of Bottas on soft tyres. Ricciardo was now fourth, though the Red Bull driver was now 12.4s behind Bottas and almost 13s behind Ocon.

    Hamilton and Ocon eventually pitted on lap 32. Both took on supersofts and while Hamilton rejoined in the lead, Ocon dropped to sixth place, between the Ferrari’s of Raikkonen and Vettel. At the front, after one stop, Hamilton led Bottas by just over 10 seconds with Ricciardo third a further 13 seconds back and with Perez now in fourth place.

    By lap 49 Ricciardo was beginning to come under sustained pressure from Perez. The Australian’s engineer Simon Rennie told him that if he could withstand the pressure for a spell then the Mexican’s times would begin to drop off as his supersoft tyres faded. Behind them, Vettel pitted for a second time from P6 on lap 49, taking on ultrasoft tyres for a final push towards the flag, with his race engineer Ricardo Adami informing him that he should catch his rivals ahead in the closing stages. Vettel duly began setting purple lap times, recording a fastest race lap of 1:15.431 on lap 51 and then taking another three tenths out of that time on the next tour.

    Perez, meanwhile was having no luck in attacking Ricciardo and by lap 56 the Force India pit wall was imploring him to allow the quicker Ocon through to try to pass the Red Bull. Perez, though, was ill disposed to the tactic and resolutely refused to cede the position, insisting that he would have an opportunity to pass Ricciardo.

    Behind them Raikkonen went wide at the final chicane and that allowed Vettel through to attack the Force Indias. He seized the chance and by lap 64 was just 0.4s behind Ocon.

    As Ocon tried to exert more pressure on his team-mate, Vettel attacked. Ocon tried to resist but ended up going wide and then lost position to the German.

    That put Vettel through to P5 and he quickly reeled in Perez, eventually passing the Mexican with two laps left.

    The tussling had given Ricciardo breathing room and as the final laps began he was 3.9s ahead of Vettel. The Ferrari driver closed in rapidly but there wasn’t enough time and the Red Bull driver was able to hold third behind easy winner Hamilton and Bottas.

    With Vettel fourth ahead of Perez and a disgruntled Ocon, seventh place went to Raikkonen and eighth to Hulkenberg. In ninth place was local hero Lance Stroll, the Williams rookie putting in an excellent, aggressive drive to rise from 17th on the grid to take his first career points on home soil. The final point was taken by Haas’ Romain Grosjean.

    eom/FIA press release