INDIA in F1

Tag: Hamilton

  • Hamilton claims fourth straight pole; Vettel beats Rosberg to take P2

    Sakhir, 18 April 2015: Lewis Hamilton claimed his fourth straight pole position of the season and his first ever Bahrain Grand Prix pole with a blistering final qualifying laps of the Sakhir Circuit, that saw him beat Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel by 0.411s and more than half a second in front of his Mercedes team-mate Nico RHami p1 Bahrain top3 pic FIA picosberg.

    Q1 got underway in slightly calmer conditions than blustery FP3 and Raikkonen was the first to take to the track, with Bottas joining the fray soon after. The Williams driver quickly took P1 but was then eclipsed by Rosberg, who set a time of 1: 35.657 on the medium tyres.

    The Mercedes man was soon joined in the top five by soft-tyre runners Nico Hulkenberg and Felipe Nasr. However, immediately prior to their runs, the session had its first retirement when Jenson Button pulled over at the side of the track for the third time in four sessions this weekend in Sakhir.

    In the closing stages of the session those in the danger zone were Max Verstappen, Pastor Maldonado and Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi.

    Verstappen found the required pace and scraped into Q2 with a time of 1:35.611. Maldonado, however, failed to make it through, his best lap of 1:35.677 only being good enough for P16.

    Verstappen’s leap to safety also pushed out Daniil Kvyat, with the Russian putting in a disappointing final lap that netted him P17 behind the Lotus driver. Hulkenberg was the last man through to Q2, the Force India driver’s 1:35.653 seeing him safely through with just two hundredths of a second in hand over Maldonado, who was told over team radio that something had “gone wrong with the engine and power delivery.” In FP3 Maldonado had taken a useful seventh with his quali sim, a repeat of the position he filled in the second practice session.

    At the top of the order, Hamilton was quickest, finishing a tenth in front of Bottas. Rosberg was third, though he finished the session close on half a second down on his team-mate.

    Felipe Massa was fourth for Williams, ahead of Raikkonen, Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel, who completed just three laps in the opening session. All drivers set their best times on the soft tyre.

    In the second session, Rosberg initially set the pace but Hamilton quickly worked his way back to the top of the order, his first run netting a time of 1:32.669. Rosberg was also again eclipsed by Massa who set a time three tenths of a second quicker than Rosberg’s.

    The last to set an opening time were the Ferraris of Raikkonen and Vettel, though both rapidly staked a claim on a Q3 berth with the Finn in P2 and the German in P4.

    Most of the front runners opted to rely on their first run to see them through and in the closing stages those in the drop zone were Hulkenberg, Force India team-mate Sergio Perez, Nasr, Sauber team-mate Ericsson and McLaren’s Fernando Alonso.

    Hulkenberg was the man to make the big move, claiming ninth place in Q2 with a time of 1:34.613. Behind him Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz scraped through in P10, six hundredths of a second clear of 11th-placed Sergio Perez. The Mexican was followed by Nasr and Ericsson. Alonso claimed P14, while 15th place went to the unfortunate Verstappen, who early in the session had reported that he was down on power.

    The first runs in Q3 saw Hamilton in charge again, with the champion setting a time of 1:33.552 on used softs to take P1 three tenths of a second ahead of Red Bull’s Ricciardo, who prior to Hamilton’s lap had claimed the fastest S3 time of the session using new soft tyres.

    Rosberg, also on used softs, was third, four thousandths of a second down on the Australian’s time. Hulkenberg, with just one new set of softs at his disposal, opted to sit out the first run.

    In the final runs, Vettel was the first of the likely front-row men across the line and with purple times in S1 and S2, the German set a provisional pole time of 1:32.982. It was a superb lap but Hamilton was already running faster, stealing the S1 purple time from the German.

    Ahead of the champion on track, Rosberg had similarly taken the best S2 time but he could not find more pace and when he crossed the line he slotted into third, four hundredths of a second behind Vettel.

    With Raikkonen already fourth and the Williams cars of Bottas and Massa in fifth and sixth the pole was Hamilton’s to take, and he did so in imperious style, blasting across the line 0.4s ahead of Vettel and, perhaps most significantly more than half a second clear of Rosberg.

    Behind the Williams pair, Ricciardo was seventh for Red Bull ahead of the excellent Hulkenberg. Sainz was similarly effective for Toro Rosso in claiming ninth, while Romain Grosjean took the final top 10 place for Lotus.

    Bahrain Grand Prix – Qualifying
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:33.928 1:32.669 1:32.571 16
    2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:34.919 1:33.623 1:32.982 12
    3 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:34.398 1:33.878 1:33.129 16
    4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:34.568 1:33.540 1:33.227 15
    5 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:34.161 1:33.897 1:33.381 16
    6 Felipe Massa Williams 1:34.488 1:33.551 1:33.744 16
    7 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:34.691 1:34.403 1:33.832 15
    8 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:35.653 1:34.613 1:34.450 15
    9 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:35.371 1:34.641 1:34.462 18
    10 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:35.007 1:34.123 1:34.484 20
    11 Sergio Perez Force India 1:35.451 1:34.704   12
    12 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:35.310 1:34.737   9
    13 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:35.438 1:35.034   9
    14 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:35.205 1:35.039   10
    15 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1:35.611 1:35.103   14
    16 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:35.677     7
    17 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull Racing 1:35.800     6
    18 Will Stevens Marussia 1:38.713     6
    19 Roberto Merhi Marussia 1:39.722     6
    – 22 Jenson Button McLaren No time     1

    eom/FIA press release

  • I do my talking on the track, says Hamilton ahead of Bahrain GP

    DRIVERS – Sergio PEREZ (Force India), Max VERSTAPPEN (Toro Rosso), Will STEVENS (Manor), Pastor MALDONADO (Lotus), Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes), Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Lewis, you’re coming off the back of three straight poles to a circuit where you’ve never been in on pole position before in your career. How do you see this weekend and the battleground that is qualifying on Saturday? 

    Lewis HAMILTON: The same as every race. Excited for it. The team have worked very hard to try to learn from the last race and improve. Naturally, for me, as you suggested, I’ve been on the front row but I’ve not been on pole here. So naturally that’s something I want to try to change.

    Now throughout Formula One history the psychological battle between title rivals has always been intense. Can you tell us a bit about how you’ve evolved your attitude that and your thinking about that as you’ve matured as a driver?

    LH: It’s not really changed much. I just do my talking on the track, that’s how it’s always been since I was eight years old. And naturally you juts try to learn from decisions you take and experiences you have and hope that you get better.

    So, the approach is not to get involved then?

    LH: That’s not what I said. You just do your talking on the track and try to do your best. All the stuff that comes out of the car I have no particular interest in it.

    OK thank you for that. Coming to you Pastor, some good battles in China last time out and breakthrough points for the team, scored by your team-mate. How do see this Lotus team evolving in 2015?

    Pastor MALDONADO: To be honest we’ve been a bit unlucky in the first two races, especially for me in the first corner I’ve been hit by Nasr in Australia and I was P6 already and the same in Malaysia, I was P8 or P9, I think it was P8, and I’ve been hit by Bottas in the first corner, so the first two races have been completely compromised by the first corner, you know. Last race was actually our first race where we’ve been able to compete against the other teams, or the other teams around us. We confirm what we’ve been expecting, the pace of the car. Actually in qualifying we still maybe are not at the top of our package. We’ve been working quite hard and hopefully this weekend it should be a bit better than it was in the past three races. But actually the race pace was quite good, encouraging and we are really looking to do our best and to finally be in the points this weekend.

    There’s been a Lotus in the final part of qualifying at every round this year so far but you yourself have only managed it once. Can you tell us what areas you are focusing on in particular to make sure that you get yourself into Q3?

    PM: Yeah, quali is maybe the main focus for the team. We just need to try to put everything together. I think the speed is there. But normally it has been like this, even in the past, we’ve been less competitive in quali than in the race. I really expect, and we will approach different ways the qualifying to try to get 100 per cent from the car and then trying to keep the same situation or the same pace for the race.

    Thank you for that. Coming to you Max: the performance in China. No points but plenty of praise worldwide for your performance there. Do you feel it’s put you on the Formula One map and what was the highlight?

    Max VERSTAPPEN: Well, first of all, I was really enjoying my race. We didn’t have a great qualifying, but still I was very confident that we could do a good race because I think the car and it’s race pace is really strong, especially high speed. I had some good overtakes, I was really enjoying that. It’s also every race I’m getting more and more confident in the car. Especially in the first two race you don’t want to take too many risks and I decided in China it was time to do some overtakes and take some more risk.

    Toro Rosso, apparently, have never scored a point here in Bahrain, amazingly in their ten years. This weekend that, I’m sure, will be your target, but you do have some engine issues going into this weekend. Can you give us your thoughts on how that’s going to stack up?

    MV: Yeah, for sure it’s very short notice for us after China, where we had the engine issues. But we will try to do our best to deliver a good race and try to score points, because I think at the moment the car is capable of it and I’m feeling much better every race in the car. So I’m really looking forward to this race.

    Sergio, coming to you, obviously 12 months ago here a very strong weekend, qualified well, in fourth, got up on the podium. Presumably it’s one of your favourite tracks. What is it about this place and you?

    Sergio PEREZ: Obviously it was great, no, to remember that day. It was a fantastic day, a fantastic race for me. It was really difficult to make it onto the podium, as it was a very intense race all the way through. Generally, I have been doing well [here]. The year before I did quite well at this track, so I think I get on with the track quite nicely. Unfortunately we are not in a similar position to dream about a podium for this weekend but I think, hopefully, we can score some points and make a great improvement. I think we managed to do a good step in China, we just finished out of the points, so I hope that here we can score some points.

    You have a big update coming in Austria. From what you know of it what is the target of where it’s going to put you in the pecking order?

    SP: It’s difficult to say, as everyone is improving all the time and everyone is bringing upgrades. We are not the only ones who are going to bring them but we really have identified our issues with the car, our weaknesses, so in that respect it should put us a lot better. I think if we can solve the general issue of the car, the main weakness of the car, then it can be a really good step that can put us in a really good position to be a constant points scorer.

    Q: Will, obviously didn’t start in Australia or Malaysia but a 15th place finish last time out in China. Tell us about the mindset in the team and how you set goals and objectives for each race – and what they are here.

    Will STEVENS: As you said, China was the first race that I did personally this year – but as far as the weekend went, I think it was a big step forwards for the team. I think it was good to get both cars to the finish for the first time this year. As the weekend went, it ran pretty smoothly. I think, looking forward to this weekend, obviously we want to finish the race with both cars again. Every time I we back in the car, especially for me, missing Malaysia, I’m getting more and more comfortable. I think the pace that I showed in China was pretty strong. We just need to keep moving forward and see where we can get to.

    Q: From what you’ve seen and experienced so far, what makes you believe in this project.

    WS: From where we set out, we knew the first few races were going to be difficult. The team, where they finished last year in the Constructors’, they’re in a different position now to what they were before. So I think, moving forwards for the future, we can only get better. I think moving towards the end of this year, hopefully we’ll get the new car coming in and then we can really start to make some progress.

    Q: Daniel, coming to you, you’ve scored in all three races so far but not the kind of scores I imagine you were hoping for when the season started. Can you give us a window in on the mindset with things like engine duty cycles and other challenges you’re facing, and how that’s changed your expectations?

    Daniel RICCIARDO: It sounded pretty good, finishing the first three in the points – but obviously we hope for more at this stage. Look, we’re trying to do what we can, that’s for sure. There is progress being made. Still, obviously, we’re wanting more each race and I obviously felt we had a better… or rather we all expected a bit more from China. I thought the weekend was going to be better for us, especially after Friday. I think we’d made real good progress. Didn’t turn out that way but here we are a week later. Obviously there’s not much, updates-wise, that can happen in a week but from myself and the team as well, we still know there’s more potential in what we’ve got for now, and I think we can definitely try to grab that this weekend.

    Q: Obviously your start in China was a bit of a talking point. I think I’m right in saying that, apart from your start in Malaysia, both you and Kvyat off the line have lost places every single time in the first three races this season. Can you tell us what that’s all about.

    DR: Yeah. To be honest, Melbourne wasn’t as bad as it looked. As I guess most people are aware, we had a lot of driveability issues going on in Melbourne and it wasn’t until we got the gears, and where these problems were affecting us, that’s what really hindered our performance in Melbourne – otherwise the actual launch was decent. And yeah, Malaysia wasn’t bad. Obviously it wasn’t ideal, what happened in China, and obviously after looking through everything, yeah, it was my mistake in the end. Sometime I obviously won’t let happen again. The important thing is that I’m aware why it happened and what happened and will move on from there. Definitely last year the starts weren’t the strongest on the grid. In general it’s a point that we all want to improve. I think it’s got to be better this weekend.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Kate Walker – motorsport.com) I’ve got a question for Lewis. Your weekend in Shanghai has been rather overshadowed by coverage of the podium ceremony. I don’t know if you’ve heard the comments from the grid girl who was finally contacted and said she thought the entire thing was a bit of a fuss for something that lasted one or two seconds. What are your thoughts on the podium ceremony and the media furore that has surrounded something entirely normal in motorsport?

    LH: Good question. I hadn’t really heard too much about it until today. Obviously when you come into the team you get a kind of debrief of what’s happened during the week. So fortunately for me it’s not overshadowed my week. Ultimately it was a great weekend. My actions are through excitement. This is Formula One, it’s the pinnacle of motorsport, I’d just won a grand prix for the team and… I usually see it as a fun thing. I would never intend to disrespect someone or try to embarrass someone like that. So, yeah, I guess… I don’t really know the reasons why people are starting to bring those kind of things up but this is a sport that so many people love and the more we show character and fun, perhaps it reflects just how great this sport is. That’s what I try to do. I don’t really know what to say about it. It hasn’t really affected me and it’s nice to know that the lady wrote in… if it had been the other way and she’d wrote in and she was really unhappy, then perhaps there would be more concern.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / Speed Sport) Daniel, you said China didn’t go quite the way you thought it would. Is there just maybe some fine-tuning in the setup that you can get the car much better to your liking?

    DR: I think so. I mean, there’s definitely, I believe, within the car, there’s more to be unlocked, so to speak. In terms of setup, I don’t think myself or Dany have really found a balance or setting that we’re really comfortable with. I think China took a step forward, we did start to feel more comfortable but it still obviously didn’t give us a big chunk of lap time that we thought was still in there. So, there’s still a few balance things. If we keep ironing them out we will find… I don’t think it’s a second but we are going to find a fair few tenths that will put us in that group with Williams and hopefully get us onto the back of the Ferraris. Yeah. Good race here last year. I think we had good pace. Again just optimistic for a better weekend here. Everyone’s ready to go, and obviously after my start last week I’m hanging out to get back on the grid and redeem myself.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Two questions for Lewis: the first is about management of the rear tyres. This is a hot track like Malaysia, the race is in the night. How afraid are you about the performance of Ferrari with the rear tyres? And the second one is about what Toto Wolff said about team orders. What comment can you make? If a driver says ‘too close’ they can make some unpopular decisions. I would like to have a comment from you.

    LH: Regarding the tyres, still as it was in Malaysia, very much a rear-limited circuit so you have to assume that Ferrari will be very strong again, but I think we’re going to try and take, from our experience with Malaysia, we’re going to try and take a slightly different approach and hope that that helps us combat that whatever you want to call it: weakness or area in which we can improve. I feel quite confident that as a team we can rectify that issue that we had in Malaysia, but it’s still going to be tough and Ferrari have been very very competitive in the last couple of races. So I anticipate they will be very strong this weekend and our race is definitely with them.

    I’m not really aware of Toto’s comments so I don’t really know anything about it. Team orders is not something we generally talk much about. It’s not our approach but ultimately our job as two drivers is to try to help the team get the best result overall and regardless of whether you’re first or second, it’s your job to try and make sure you try and secure the most points as possible for the team.

    Q: (Khodr Rawi – F1Zone.net) Sergio, how do you motivate yourself coming into this weekend, knowing that the maximum you could do is to score some points while last year you had a podium here?

    SP: Yes, it’s already the position that we have at the moment and only 12 months ago it was a different story but now it’s time to give our best, the same as we did those months ago. The difference is now that a great result would be to finish in the points, whereas 12 months ago a great result would be to finish on the podium. But it doesn’t really change anything. As a driver you have to be committed all the time and give your 120 per cent to your team to try to maximise the package that you have. It doesn’t really change anything. Obviously I wish to have a more competitive car with which I can show the potential that I have as a driver but it’s what it is and we will try to do our best. It doesn’t really change anything.

    Q: (Ralf Bach – Sport Bild) Lewis, did you really understand what Nico meant after the race that you drove too slowly? Did you truly understand what he meant?

    LH: Well, it’s something we spoke about after the race so I don’t particularly see a reason to go back into it. Obviously you know what my comments were after the race and some people have spun those words in whichever way they wanted to spin them. Yeah, we’re moving forwards and we will re-unite as a team this weekend and try to do a great job. There’s no issue between me and Nico. We saw each other this morning and everything is good. They’re going to be times when people are unhappy about some things but we’re grown-ups and we move past it.

    Q: (Ralf Bach – Sport Bild) The winner of the race is normally the quickest guy on the track, that’s what I mean.

    LH: But I was.

    Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Lewis, if I can go even further back, to last year’s race when you and Nico had a real battle here, given the comments that have been made over the last few days, do you think he’ll be even more fired up to try and get past you this time?

    LH: Well again, I don’t know what comments have been made over the last few days, I don’t read it, simply just not of interest to me, but last year we had an amazing race here, it was really fantastic, great fun, huge huge challenge both for Nico and for me and hopefully… that was the first night race here. It was honestly the best race, visibly, that I had seen here in Bahrain so it was great and I’m looking forward to that. I think with these tyres and with Ferrari in the mix, I think we could see a real special race here. On my part, I’m just going to keep doing what I do and try to… ultimately I want to improve. Last year I didn’t qualify on pole here, I’ve never been on pole here so that’s the challenge but as long as it doesn’t get in the way of the challenge of trying to win the race.

    Q: (Nahed Sayouh – Autosport Middle East) Max, after this race you will go to the European season where there are tracks which you have previously raced on. Do you believe that this will help you to show more speed?

    MV: To be honest I think so. You always try to do your best on every track and that’s how we are going to continue.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speed Sport magazines) Will, you did your first race distance in China; these guys all did race distances in testing. Do you foresee that you have a much better baseline now, starting out the weekend as far as the car is concerned?

    WS: Yeah, the longest stint I did before the race was six laps. So I had to learn the race as I was going. I think the race ran pretty smoothly so for sure starting here this weekend,

    Sergio Perez of Sahara Force India is on the left in the top row. An FIA image of the Thursday press conference in Bahrain.
    Sergio Perez of Sahara Force India is on the left in the top row. An FIA image of the Thursday press conference in Bahrain.

    we’re starting off from a much better position so I think as a team we can only progress and keep moving forward.

    eom/FIA press conference transcript

  • Controlled aggression gets Hamilton a comfortable win: Chinese GP

    Lewis Ham

    Hamilton celebrates after winning the Chinese GP on Sunday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image
    Hamilton celebrates after winning the Chinese GP on Sunday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image

    ilton restored normal service for Mercedes with a controlled and relatively comfortable drive to Chinese Grand Prix victory ahead of team-mate Nico Rosberg.

    A fortnight ago in Malaysia, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, had shocked Mercedes by stealing victory from under the champion]s nose, but this time the German driver was forced to resume the best-of-the-rest status Ferrari had laid claim to in the opening round in Australia. He was followed to the flag in Shanghai by fourth-placed team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.

    At the start Hamilton comfortably kept his advantage, the Briton making a good getaway to power through turn one ahead of Rosberg. Behind the Mercedes pair Vettel slotted into third, but following him Kimi Raikkonen was on a charge, passing the battling Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa in successive corners. Massa, who had initially been beaten into turn one by his team-mate, eventually found his way ahead of Bottas again to claim fifth place.

    Further back, seventh-on-the-grid Daniel Ricciardo made a dreadful start. The Australian seemed unable to get any power from his RB11 and he dropped back to 17th. He spent the opening laps trying to recover the lost ground but was somewhat hampered by his own team-mate, Daniil Kvyat. The Russian, one of just two drivers (the other being Carlos Sainz) to start on the medium tyre, found himself in 13th place when he was told not to impede the hard-charging Ricciardo, but Kvyat made the pass difficult for the Australian and it took a lap before Ricciardo eventually moved past.

    At the front, Hamilton was firmly in control and by lap 12, the end of the first stint for most, he had opened up a 1.5 second gap to team-mate Rosberg and was 4.5s ahead of Vettel in third, with Raikkonen a further two seconds back.

    After the first round of pit stops, in which both Mercedes drivers took on soft tyres, Hamilton retained his lead and widened the gap to Rosberg to two seconds. Vettel stayed third ahead of Raikkonen, with Massa fifth in front of Bottas. Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado was enjoying a good race and had climbed from 11th on the grid to eighth place, ahead of team-mate Romain Grosjean. Behind them, though, Daniil Kvyat was in trouble. His car slowed and on lap 16 he pulled off track at turn 6 with smoke pouring from the back of his car.

    That initially put Felipe Nasr into ninth place but on lap 20 he was passed in a textbook move into the turn 14 hairpin by Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen.

    At the front, Rosberg was complaining that as Mercedes managed tyre wear in their second stint on option tyres Hamilton was running too slowly, with the result that the German was quickly being reeled in by Vettel. With the Ferraris also running the option tyres and closing, Hamilton was swiftly told to pick up the pace. He did so but Vettel continued to press, closing to within 1.5s of Rosberg.

    By the end of the stint, Rosberg was trailing Hamilton by 2.7s but had widened the gap to Vettel to two seconds. The Ferrari driver was asked if he could go faster, but the Malaysia winner responded that he was “on the limit”.

    The four-time champion was the first of the front runners to blink and he pitted on lap 30 for medium tyres. Rosberg was swiftly told to make his second stop and he headed for the pit lane on lap 31, where he also took on mediums.

    Hamilton made his final stop, for mediums, the end of lap 33, but Raikkonen elected to stay out, waiting until lap 34 to take on his final set of mediums.

    With the second stops done and Mercedes looking much more comfortable than Ferrari on the medium tyre, the gaps at the front stabilised, with Hamilton 5.5 seconds clear of his team-mate. Vettel was a further five seconds back with Raikkonen 3.7s adrift of his Ferrari team-mate.

    The top four were in a league of their own, however, with Raikkonen 27.9s clear of Massa in fifth. The Brazilian headed team-mate Bottas by nine seconds, while Grosjean held seventh.

    Verstappen was now an excellent eighth ahead of Felipe Nasr, with the Sauber driver running seven seconds ahead of team-mate Ericsson. The Swede was coming under heavy pressure from Ricciardo who was desperate to get his underperforming Red Bull into the points. The Australian eventually made a passing move stick on lap 44 to take a disappointing single point for the Milton Keynes squad.

    Further back Pastor Maldonado’s good early-race work was undone when he overcooked his entry to the pit lane for his second stop and was forced down an escape road. The time lost dropped him to P14. His race unravelled further when he spun and rejoined and he spent the last phase of the race chasing down McLaren’s Jenson Button for 13th place. He passed the Briton eventually but the advantage was shortlived. On Lap 49, Button tried to attack as the pair went towards turn one. The pair collided, with Button shipping front-wing damage and Maldonado spinning. The Lotus driver pitted for repairs but was eventually forced to retire. Button was later handed a time penalty for causing the collision.

    There was drama in the closing stage as Verstappen’s race unfortunately came to an end. As he put the power down on the exit of the final corner of his 53rd lap, the Dutch teenager’s Renault engine let go and he ground to a halt on the pit straight.

    That brought out the safety car and the seven-second lead Hamilton had built over Rosberg was erased. So too was the 11-second advantage Rosberg enjoyed over Vettel.

    However, with Verstappen’s car stranded on the pit straight and with no easy recovery possible, race officials were forced to end the race under the safety car and Hamilton cruised past the flag to take a comfortable second win of the season.

    2015 Chinese Grand Prix – Race
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1h39m42.008s
    2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 0.714s
    3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 2.988s
    4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 3.835s
    5 Felipe Massa Williams 8.544s
    6 Valtteri Bottas Williams 9.885s
    7 Romain Grosjean Lotus 19.008s
    8 Felipe Nasr Sauber 22.625s
    9 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 32.117s
    10 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1 Lap
    11 Sergio Perez Force India 1 Lap
    12 Fernando Alonso McLaren1 Lap
    13 Jenson Button McLaren 1 Lap
    14 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1 Lap
    15 Will Stevens Marussia 2 Laps
    16 Roberto Merhi Marussia 2 Laps
    17 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 4 Laps
    – Pastor Maldonado Lotus Retirement
    – Daniil Kvyat Red Bull Racing Retirement
    – Nico Hulkenberg Force India Retirement

     

    eom/FIA press release

  • Teammates Hamilton and Rosberg indulge in mud-slinging at the post-race FIA press conference: Chinese GP

    DRIVERS

    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    2 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

    3 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by Edwin Moses)

    Lewis, the gap was relatively small in the first part of the race. What happened in the second part of the race?

    Lewis HAMILTON: First of all, a fantastic job by the team. It was great to have a smooth weekend, getting the sessions and really dialling in the car and today was kind of that effect of really putting the car in the place I wanted it and it was really just controlling the gap between myself and Nico and saving the tyres for when I needed to use them. I had lots left in my tyres at the end there [and] I was looking forward to eking out a gap but the safety car came out. But we’ve had such great fans here this weekend, thank you so much for the support everyone with all the big banners.

    Second question would be: when the safety car came out was the comforting to you, because I know you had a significant gap at the end of the race, which was comforting?

    LH: The safety car at the end wasn’t helpful, I guess for anyone, because it’s kind of an anti-climax when you have a good race like that. But naturally, as long as no-one was injured and all the cars got back safely that’s what matters.

    Alright Nico, another one-two for Mercedes-Benz. As a competitor I know it’s tough being a member of a team and an individual as well. How was your race today?

    Nico ROSBERG: Well, you wouldn’t know how it feels to finish second; you never did, did you! Well, that’s the way it is. I gave it everything in the end on the prime tyre to try to close the gap to Lewis and just took some risks. But it didn’t pay off because my tyres just died off in the end, so there we go, I wouldn’t have managed to get any closer.

    But your tyres were good enough to keep the gap between you

    Mercedes AMG Petronas driver Lewis Hamilton (centre) and teammate Nico Rosberg (left) comment on each others' race on Sunday. An FIA image
    Mercedes AMG Petronas driver Lewis Hamilton (centre) and teammate Nico Rosberg (left) comment on each others’ race on Sunday. An FIA image

    and Vettel that’s for sure?

    NR: Yeah, definitely. We’re happy with the gap to Ferrari, having beaten them here after they beat us in Malaysia. It was very important for us as a team, a good, important comeback, so more of that for sure.

    Sebastian congratulations, good to see you again. It was a tough day for you. The prediction was that Ferrari’s tyres would be perhaps superior and close in on the gap after the second pit stop?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah. First of all, a huge honour to have you up here. I feel a bit small. OK, I mean racing drivers are small. I think it was a good race all in all. I think we were a bit closer probably on the softer compound of tyres and we were able to put some pressure on them. We tried to put more pressure by stopping fairly early for the last set of tyres, but I think on the harder tyres they were just that bit too quick, so they were able to pull away. From there onwards we tried to control the race and bring the podium back home, which is a great success for us, very happy. Thanks to the team. Thanks back to the factory, to Maranello, and obviously to all the support here from the fans.

    At the beginning of the season people were questioning whether Ferrari was going to get back on the podium. How do you feel today?

    SV: Yeah, good. It’s been three out of three so far, so it feels pretty good. Obviously a big change over winter. A lot of things have changed. It’s nice. I feel really happy in the team. The guys are great, so I’m really enjoying the work and hopefully we can get a little bit closer to challenge these guys.

    Thank you. One more question for you Lewis. Off to Bahrain next week. We wish we could see you at the Laureus World Sports awards, as well as Nico and of course Sebastian, as you all have been there. It started off good this year. I know you’ll be hoping that you remain… it’s better to be good then lucky! But you need luck in this event.

    LH: No, of course, but as I said the team have been doing a fantastic job. We did a great job to come back from the last race where we kind of struggled a little bit. And to come here and kind of up our pace and improve, it’s all down to the guys that are here building my car and the guys back at the factory, so massively proud and happy that we could get the job done today.

    Q: Lewis, many congratulations. Was the race as expected in terms of the challenge from Ferrari and, also, can you talk us through that radio message you got from the team about speeding up? Were you aware that Nico was getting so backed-up towards Sebastian Vettel?

    LH: I wasn’t controlling his race, I was controlling my own race but, great race, I’m really happy. Definitely going into the race we thought it would be a lot closer and we knew the Ferraris were very, very good with their long run pace and also looking after their tyres. So, today the real goal was to manage the tyres. And, as I said, my goal was to look after my car. I had no real threat from Nico through the whole race. So, I just managed it and got to really enjoy it, to be honest. A few of the real good fun laps were the laps before the pitstop, which I really enjoyed. Ultimately it was a much smoother weekend than we had in the last race where we got the whole, full practice sessions, on my side of the garage at least. And it made a real big difference to the balance of the car for the race. So really happy, and yeah, kinda excited.

    Q: Nico, can you talk us through your view of the race today. Started second, finished second but you sounded at times as though you felt at timed under a little bit of unnecessary pressure maybe?

    NR: No. It’s just now interesting to hear from you, Lewis, that you were just thinking about yourself with the pace in front, and necessarily that was compromising my race. Driving slower than was maybe necessary at the beginning of stints meant that Sebastian was very close to me and that opened up the opportunity for Sebastian to try that early pitstop to try and jump me. And then I had to cover him. So, first of all it was unnecessarily close with Sebastian as a result, and also it cost me a lot of race time as a result because I had to cover him and then my tyres died at the end of the race because my stint was just so much longer. So I’m unhappy about that, of course, today. Other than that, not much to say.

    Q: Lewis, would you like to respond?

    LH: Not really! My job is not to… it’s not my job to look after Nico’s race. My job’s to manage the car and bring the car home as healthy and as fast as possible – and that’s what I did. I didn’t do anything intentionally to slow any of the cars up. I just was focussing on myself. If Nico wanted to get by he could have tried but he didn’t.

    Q: Sebastian. You tried everything today. The undercut, everything really strategy-wise that you could. Mercedes just had a little bit too much for you today but also at the end there, Kimi was catching you. Were you worried about him catching up to you towards the end of the race as well?

    SV: Not really. I think I was in control. Obviously would have liked to have kept on racing, would have been close but in the end I still had a decent gap, obviously. I guess it’s a bit similar with Kimi and myself and Nico and Lewis. Obviously I try to be very aggressive. I think it was lap 29. That meant 27 laps on the Prime and I wasn’t sure if we really should try it – but then, I guess, we wanted to put pressure on Nico, which obviously makes the last stint very long, so at the end naturally you struggle with the tyres. I think Kimi was able to stay out a bit longer and therefore was a bit quicker at the end of the stint. But we tried everything we could today. I think it was very close, especially the first pitstop. I didn’t expect it to maybe be that close, so maybe I should have pushed a bit harder on the out-lap. Obviously it’s tricky here because you always try to look after the tyres but all-in-all I think it was a very good race for us. We were really able to put again some pressure on them, especially in the beginning of the race. Towards the end I think they were just too quick. They were pulling away. Nico had a sequence of really, really quick lap times – so we couldn’t do that – but all-in-all, as I said, closer here, which is great for us, and in front of the other teams. If we keep doing that, and keep getting closer, obviously there’s a point where we are some real challenge for these guys, which I’m looking forward to.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Niu Hong Lin – China Radio International) To both Lewis and Sebastian, question about the Laureus award. Since Sebastian has won the prize last year and you’ve been nominated this year and there are a lot of histories from 2004 and 2010, so do you think all those nominations, all these years, do you think there’s a special bond between this kind of award and F1?

    SV: Well, I think it doesn’t matter which sport you do, the special thing about the Laureus award is that you get judged by professionals, by sportsmen, by athletes, male and female. It’s a very unique award and it has been an incredible honour to be nominated. Obviously last year I didn’t really deserve the nomination or anything, so Lewis deserves to be nominated this year but to win the prize last year was fantastic and really something that stays with you for good, I guess. Also to have Mr Moses on the podium today – he’s really one of the top athletes in the world, ever, that the sport has seen so it was great to see him. It’s a great event, it means a lot, just the nomination already and obviously to win it, I don’t really need to comment. I guess Lewis is in that seat this year so I’m sure he’s very excited.

    LH: Not really, unfortunately I’m not too excited because I know that I haven’t won it. I think it’s a great award and very very prestigious and I’m proud to just be amongst the people that have been… the great athletes that have been nominated. I’ll keep pushing so that at some stage I do get it.

    Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) Sebastian, did you expect more performance with the new soft compound in the stint or was it the maximum you could achieve?

    SV: You mean with the new tyre? Well, I think Nico was on new softs as well. I’m not sure about Lewis but I guess as well so yeah. We tried to save a set yesterday but unfortunately they did as well so I think it helped but we did all we could. Obviously it’s incredibly difficult. The closer you get, I was all the time something like 1.5s and then just before the pit stop, falling away a bit, around 1.8s-2.0s. To really get close, I tried desperately to get into the DRS (zone) but I couldn’t. Obviously it gets more and more difficult, especially with the type of corner you get here, opening onto the long straight, makes it quite tricky.

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Lewis, did you think that this weekend you could be beaten fair and square by Ferrari or did they need something to happen to Mercedes to be beaten? And Sebastian, did you have to try something different to beat them?

    LH: Well, evidently, I guess I probably did.

    SV: If we could have beaten them, I wouldn’t be sitting to the left of Lewis, he would sit to the left of me so the answer is probably no and the answer to could we have done something different, I think we tried all we could. I don’t think it was in range to do a one stop or a three stop. I think both were slower. So the two stop was fairly straightforward for everyone and I think we tried to be as aggressive as we could be. Yeah, so the answer is still no, unfortunately, but as I said, very happy that we were significantly closer than four weeks ago.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speed Sport magazines) Lewis, we only hear some of the radio transmissions on the TV. We heard the team asking you to speed up a bit and nothing more. Were there further discussions and did you speed up a bit?

    LH: Well, there wasn’t really a time when I wasn’t… I mean I’m out there driving as hard as I can but within the constraints of the tyres. They kept coming on the radio and asking me to pick up the pace and I’m kind of ‘well, I’m trying to manage these tyres, I’ve basically got…’It’s like you have £100 and you have to spend it wisely over your stint and I was trying to make my stint go as long as possible and whilst keeping…

    SV: … how many pounds you had left at the end?

    LH: I was hopefully still wealthy at the end of it.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Why is this circuit particularly difficult to follow another car? Why are the tyres, here, in the wake of another car, more destroyed than on other circuits?

    SV: Naturally, I think always with quick corners we struggle to stay close. The corners we have leading onto the straight, the most obviously straight, the long back straight, is initially quite slow but then it gets quicker and quicker, so that makes it quite tricky to really stay close and in general, the thing is if you try to overtake someone who is just as quick as you, maybe slightly quicker or a little bit less quick, you don’t really have that much of an advantage to really stay close. You lose downforce, the tyres start to slide, which means that they start to overheat and you struggle more and more, the closer you get. That’s what makes it tricky. There’s really no difference here to other circuits, I guess.

    eom/FIA transcript of the Press Conference

  • Lewis Hamilton storms to pole in the rain-hit Malaysian Grand Prix

    Lewis Hamilton stormed to a second consecutive pole position in a rain-interrupted Malaysian Grand Prix qualifying session that saw Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel split the Mercedes drivers by claiming second place ahead of Nico Rosberg.

    In advance of the start of qualifying race control put the chances of rain falling during the session at 60 per cent and as the cars prepared to go out for the start of Q1, the skies above Sepang became ominously dark.

    Q1 passed without showers, however, and Lewis Hamilton claimed top spot with a lap of 1:39.269 on the medium tyre. Rosberg was second, just over a tenth behind his team-mate, while third place went to Sebastian Vettel, whose time of 1:39.814 was set on hard tyres. Two other drivers, Bottas in P5 and Raikkonen in P9 also only used hard tyres in the opening session. Fourth place went to Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz. Lotus’ Romain Grosjean was sixth ahead of Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson

    Eliminated from the session in Q1 were Sauber’s Felipe Nasr in 15th place, the McLarens of Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso and the Manors of Roberto Merhi and Will Stevens. Stevens took no part in the session owing to a fuel pressure problem. Merhi, meanwhile, finished with a best time of 1:46.67. That was more than 7.4s adrift of Hamilton’s best and put the Manor driver outside the 107% of P1 time needed to race.

    The start of Q2 saw a flurry of activity as teams dashed to get their drivers out on track as the threat of rain grew.

    The first drops began to fall five minutes into the segment and the rush to put in a good lap. As conditions became undriveable a number of drivers were caught out, chief among them Raikkonen. The Ferrari driver finished in P11 with a time of 1:42.173, four tenths behind Ericsson who secured the final Q3 berth.

    Behind Raikonen in P12 was Pastor Maldonado and the Venezuelan was followed, respectively, by the Force Indias of Nico Hullkenberg and Sergio Perez. Sainz, too, was caught out and the Spaniard’s good work in Q1 was undone by missed timing as the storm clouds closed in. The Toro Rosso driver qualified in P15.

    With torrential rain sweeping across the circuit Q2 elapsed without further action and then race control announced that the start of Q3 would be delayed by at least 15 minutes.

    The stoppage eventually extended to 35 minutes but at 6.15pm local time the final top-10 shootout began, with all 10 drivers taking to the track to test the conditions. Vettel set the first timed lap of the session a 1:53.178, but that was quickly beaten by the Mercedes of Hamilon and Rosberg, with the Briton heading the list with a time of 1:49.834. Max Verstappen was fourth for Toro Rosso after the first flying laps ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat.

    Hamilton’s final lap was no better than his opening run but with Rosberg only improving marginally, Hamilton’s first flyer was enough to secure his 40th career pole position. It was Vettel who stole some of the day’s thunder, his final lap improvement to 1:49.908 putting him on the front row for the first time since Hungary last year and leaving him just seven hundredths of a second adrift of Hamilton.

    Fourth behind Rosberg was Red Bull Racing’s Daniil Kvyat, with Toro Rosso teenager Max Verstappen an impressive sixth. Seventh place went to Williams’ Felipe Massa with Lotus’ Romain Grosjean eighth.  The final top 10 places went to Valtteri Bottas in the second Williams and Ericsson in the Sauber.

    2015 Malaysian Grand Prix – Qualifying
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:49.834s –
    2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:49.908s 0.074s
    3 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:50.299s 0.465s
    4 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:51.541s 1.707s
    5 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull 1:51.950s 2.116s
    6 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1:51.980s 2.146s
    7 Felipe Massa Williams 1:52.473s 2.639s
    8 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:52.980s 3.146s
    9 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:53.179s 3.345s
    10 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:53.260s 3.426s
    11 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:42.173s –
    12 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:42.197s –
    13 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:43.022s –
    14 Sergio Perez Force India 1:43.468s –
    15 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:43.700s –
    16 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:41.308s –
    17 Jenson Button McLaren 1:41.635s –
    18 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:41.745s –
    19 Roberto Merhi Marussia 1:46.677s –
    20 Will Stevens Marussia – –

    eom/ FIA Press Release

    Hamilton takes pole at Sepang on Saturday. An FIA image
    Hamilton takes pole at Sepang on Saturday. An FIA image

  • Hami fastest in FP2 despite engine problem; Kimi second in both sessions

    Hamilton of Mercedem AMG Petronas tops FP2 on Friday at Sepang. An FIA image
    Hamilton of Mercedem AMG Petronas tops FP2 on Friday at Sepang. An FIA image

    Lewis Hamilton shrugged off the engine issues that saw him grind to a halt after just four laps in first practice to go quickest in the afternoon session, finishing just under four tenths ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, repeated his second place from the morning session.

    After his morning woes Mercedes gout Hamilton back on track 40 minutes into the second session. He jumped to sixth fastest with his first flying lap but more problems struck when he lost telemetry a – problem that had also affected his first outing in the morning session.

    He rejoined the action with 20 minutes left on the clock and soon went fastest with a time of 1:39,790 set on medium tyres.

    That put him ahead of Raikkonen and also Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, who after leading the morning session dropped back in the afternoon on the medium tyres runs after running quickest early in FP2 on the hard tyres. He finished the session 0.428s behind his team-mate.

    Daniil Kvyat, who had spent the first part of the session garage-bound, impressed with the afternoon’s fourth fastest run but the good feeling at Red Bull resulting from his quali sim was short-lived as the Russian encountered engine problems.

    It was a similarly difficult afternoon for team-mate Daniel Ricciardo who complained of problems with his car and then spent a lengthy period in the garage. He finished the session in 10th place.

    Behind Kvyat came the Williams cars of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa, with Sebastian Vettel seventh. The Ferrari man was one a number of drivers to be caught out by lack of grip in the extremely hot conditions and he spun on his qualifying simulation. He then chose not to complete another run on the medium tyre and for the rest of the session focused on longer runs.

    Eighth place went Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen, the Dutch teenager finishing 1.4s behind Hamilton but over a second faster than team-mate Carlos Sainz, who had eclipsed the youngster in the morning session. Ninth ahead of Ricciardo in FP2 was Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson.

    Lotus’ Romain Grosjean reported a power loss during the session and eventually was sidelined 30 minutes before the end of the day’s running. He completed just seven laps.

    Malaysian Grand Prix Free Practice Two
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m39.790s 16
    2 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m40.163s 0.373s 29
    3 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m40.218s 0.428s 26
    4 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull 1m40.346s 0.556s 17
    5 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1m40.450s 0.660s 31
    6 Felipe Massa Williams1m40.560s 0.770s 27
    7 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m40.652s 0.862s 29
    8 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1m41.220s 1.430s 30
    9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1m41.261s 1.471s 30
    10 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1m41.799s 2.009s 8
    11 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1m41.877s 2.087s 15
    12 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1m41.988s 2.198s 30
    13 Sergio Perez Force India 1m42.242s 2.452s 24
    14 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1m42.291s 2.501s 31
    15 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1m42.330s 2.540s 28
    16 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1m42.506s 2.716s 25
    17 Jenson Button McLaren 1m42.637s 2.847s 24
    18 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1m42.948s 3.158s 7
    19 Will Stevens Marussia 1m45.704s 5.914s 12
    20 Roberto Merhi Marussia 1m47.229s 7.4

    eom/FIA press release

     

  • We (F1 drivers) all train very hard; People don’t realise we are athletes: Lewis Hamilton

    DRIVERS

    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    2 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

    3 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

     

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by Arnold Schwarzenegger)

    Congratulations.

    Lewis HAMILTON: How do you doing? What an honour to meet you. Arnold Schwarzenegger, man! Wow!

    It’s wonderful to be here in Melbourne, to be in Australia, and I was just asked to conduct the interviews with the winners here. I’m so excited about it as just for the last two days I was interviewing the fittest, the strongest people, the most energetic people in the world at the Arnold Classic and now I’m interviewing the fastest people in the world. So, Lewis, what does it feel like having won last year’s world championship and now winning the first race again.

    LH: Well, it’s obviously a real pleasure to be here, we have the greatest fans here today, thank you so much for all coming out. My team did an amazing job today and it’s an incredible feeling to continue on from last year but also to be up here with you man? I thought you were taller! You were taller in The Terminator.

    I’m not wearing my high heels! Let me just ask you how much physical training do you have to do to be in that kind of shape and to go through a race like that?

    LH: We all train very hard. People don’t actually realise that we are athletes. We have to train a lot. It’s incredibly physical in these cars. So I’m very honoured to be up here among these great drivers and with this team that’s doing such an amazing job.

    Well thank you very much, congratulations. Now a question for you [Nico Rosberg]. What does it feel like being second and do you think you are going to make up [ground] and maybe beat this man this year?

    Nico ROSBERG: Well, it’s a nice feeling to be second today because it’s an awesome start to the season for us as a team. Absolutely stunning car they’ve given us – unbelievable. Lewis has done a fantastic job this weekend. He drove like a world champion all weekend, so couldn’t quite beat him but for sure I was trying every single lap, all the way to the maximum, and I will do all year. I will give him a big run for his money and hopefully beat him. Also thank you very much to the organisers, you’ve done an amazing job this weekend, I’m sure you’ll all agree it’s been a fantastic weekend for everybody. And also, all of you, you’ve been great and put on a great atmosphere. Thank you.

    How much does concentration have to do with it to win this competition, this race?

    NR: Yeah, a lot of it is in the head, of course. Not only in one race but during the whole season, to keep your energy, your focus, but especially during one race. It is very demanding in the head, to not make a single mistake, and it’s challenging physically too. It’s tough.

    Well you’ve done a great job, congratulations, and I’m looking forward to seeing you in the next race. [Sebastian] what does it feel like now, being with Ferrari?

    Sebastian VETTEL: It feels great. It’s a very, very big honour. I’m very happy. Obviously it’s a great start to the season for us. We had a very good winter already; the team has worked phenomenally hard. We can very proud, I said to the guys, thank you very much,grazie mille, abbiamo una machina bella, we have a great car not only in qualifying but for the race as well and it’s great to join them and I’m really proud. There’s a lot of work ahead of us trying to beat these two and beat Mercedes but I’m sure we will.

    How much preparation goes in every day to prepare for a race like this?

    SV: It’s our job in the end. It’s not just turning up the weekends and doing the job, but all week. As Lewis said we have to be fit, so we have to train, we have to look after each here and there. I think I can spare pizza especially this year. It’s a full time job.

    Congratulations and for sure I will be watching you in the next race. I know [Lewis] that you are going to say now.

    LH/AS: ‘I’ll be back’.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Many congratulations Lewis on a fine 1-2 finish to start the season with and 34thcareer victory for you, your first win in Melbourne since 2008. The gap throughout the race between yourself and Nico opened and closed between a second-and-a-half and 3.5 seconds but did you feel totally in control from start to finish.

    LH: Nico was very quick throughout the race and it was really trying to manage the fuel and all that, and also the tyres, not really knowing where the limit of the tyres is in terms of how far they can go. But once you’ve got a two-second gap you try to manage that, there’s no need to eke out more. But when Nico turned up the heat I was able to react, which was good. Otherwise, it was a phenomenal race for both of us, Nico drove really well. Obviously Sebastian must have done a great job to be where he is today.

    Nico, coming to you, there was a message to you to save fuel at one stage in order to attack Lewis at the end of the grand prix. The attack didn’t seem to come, but how was it from your point of view and sum up you weekend?

    NR: No, no, the attack was most definitely there! Maybe you didn’t see it but it was there, for sure, inside the cockpit. But Lewis made no mistakes so it was just not possible to get closer than that, let alone try some of attempt to overtake. It was just a matter of saving a little bit of fuel in the middle of the race to then be able to go full on at the end of the race but I think Lewis did a similar thing. As soon as I started to save a little bit he saved as well, so he could push, so it didn’t really help me unfortunately.

    Sebastian, congratulations on a podium on your Ferrari debut. You did it largely through strategy. Massa pitted first, you put the hammer down for a couple of laps and it was enough to get you in front. Tell us about the emotion, first of all, on your Ferrari debut and how you achieved it?

    SV: It’s great. I’m over the moon in many ways. It’s great already on the parade lap to see… I don’t know, I think the Ferrari flags have been there before but I didn’t pay much attention obviously. But it’s great the support through the whole weekend. It’s an honour to sit in the red car. Obviously when your head’s down and you race and you try to push every single lap you don’t realise the colour so much but certainly when the chequered flag came out it was great to see and a great feeling, a great reward for the team. I think the car is a lot better than the team had last year. I think we can be very happy as a starting point. Still we lose a lot of time to those guys but I think in the race, potentially, we are a little bit closer than in qualifying trim but overall it’s great for sure. Very, very happy, very pleased and very proud of the way the team is tackling the grand prix. The atmosphere is great, the motivation is very high and everyone knows where we want to go. We want to make sure that life is not that easy for those two in the future.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Vincent Marre – All Race) My question goes to Sebastian Vettel: how will you rate this third position, emotionally inside you? Because you won a lot with Red Bull but this is a new challenge, a new team. How would you rate this one?

    SV: I think this was a great race for us. Obviously the start was not ideal, I was very close, I did not succeed to pass Felipe straight away and then we had a great strategy and were able to save some tyres to, yeah, go the opposite of the usual strategy to overtake someone through the pitstop, so that worked very well. Generally it has been very calm, very professional, led by the pitwall throughout the race. Of course it’s not a victory but for us today it feels like a victory. Obviously it’s a great relief after a horrible season last year to know that the car in general is working. People have done a great job both on engine and chassis sides, so big compliments to Maranello obviously. I’ve secretly been a fan, now official I can be a fan of Ferrari and since the day I got there, there is something magic about the place. I feel very happy. I had a very good time with Red Bull and certainly was able to learn a lot, the experience I can now bring into the new project as well. So, as I said, people are fired up and we know where we want to go.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, what happened in the first turn with Kimi? Did you touch, the two cars?

    SV: No… I don’t know. I think he had a better start for sure, I got a little bit back under braking and then I think I was side-by-side with him. I don’t think it was great for him because he lost a little bit – I saw that immediately. I couldn’t make corner one as tight as I wanted to, which made him lose a couple of positions but I understand we didn’t touch and I didn’t feel anything so…

    Q: (Ian Parkes – PA) Question to both Lewis and Nico. We’ve seen dominance in qualifying, dominance in the race today. Is this it for the season? A two-horse race between you two for the title or can you envisage any of your rivals making in-roads into your supremacy?

    LH: I think Nico was just explaining… I didn’t know, I didn’t see the times or anything but I think the Ferraris have taken a huge step forward. It’s clear they’ve made one of the biggest steps. So we definitely cannot back off because I’m sure they’re going to be pushing. And I anticipate we might have a good fight with them at some stage this year…

    Nico?

    NR: I hope we can have a good fight. That would be awesome. I think the next couple of races we’re going to be leading the way for sure, and we’re going to try and keep it that way, but we know it would be good if they can come a bit closer, as long as they don’t come too close…

    SV: Be honest. Do you really hope so? Seriously? You finished 30 seconds ahead of us and you hope it’s going to be closer? So you hope you slow down? Is that what you’re saying?

    NR: I hope that you can give us a challenge! Because it’s important for the sport and for the fans. And I do think about the show. Half of me – or a part of me – thinks about the show because I want to give people a great time at home watching on TV or at the track. If you do come a bit closer, that would be awesome for everybody.

    SV: First suggestion, if you don’t mind, I think your garage becomes public for Malaysia and everyone can have a look. No? I’m joking.

    NR: You can come if you want, we can invite you…

    SV: OK, thank you for the invite, I’ll come.

    NR: Friday Malaysia, OK.

    SV: Engineers’ room? Debrief, I’ll be there.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Nico, in the final stages you were asking your race engineer about Lewis’ fuel consumption. You didn’t get an answer – but for both of you how much is it a race into the dark when you don’t know where the other stands with the fuel consumption – on a race where fuel consumption is really crucial.

    NR: Yeah, so, I put the question because I wanted to know exactly where Lewis was but he’s not allowed to tell me, so I never got the answer. I hadn’t thought of that at the time – but obviously that was not good. Because I thought if I would know if he was down or something, that would be really motivating and it would be great. But I had no idea. So yeah, I don’t know, not ideal in that situation, not very helpful. But anyway, all I could do is push flat-out and hope he had less. Which wasn’t the case…

    Q: (Paul Gover – News Ltd) So Sebastian, you, then, think it is a two horse race for the championship between these two guys

    SV: Well, first of all, they don’t have a horse on their car, they have a star so it’s a big difference, as I learned. You have to be realistic: this weekend it was in their hands and they did a great job, not just as a team, both individually. I drove the car to the limit. Lewis, as I think Nico said, had the upper hand so well done to him. For sure, as I said, they have a great package at the moment, existing from car and drivers which will be difficult to beat, it’s a  big gap. Thirty-four seconds down the road is a lot for everyone else. You can turn it around a little bit for the next Grand Prix, we can be closer but it could be even worse. I think in the first three races you really have to try and understand who is really strong and what are the gaps. So they are the favourites; they had a huge advantage last year and I think they did a good job in increasing that advantage for this year. It will be difficult but not impossible for us and the rest to catch up.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) To all three of you: before the race started five drivers were already out of the race: Bottas injured, two Manor and then Magnussen and Kvyat, so a quarter of the drivers were not on the grid. Don’t you think that Formula One is risking to lose some appeal when we have so few cars racing?

    LH: I don’t know what the circumstances are for the drivers that couldn’t start. I think two didn’t have a car but the others… All I know that in MotoGP, those guys are pretty hardcore. They drive with collarbones broken, ankles and all those kind of things. I would still hopefully drive if I had something damaged. I don’t know how it is for the spectators but of course we should have more cars. When we drive up to the back of the grid, before the formation lap, it’s a real long way from the last corner to the back of the grid. It used to be a little bit shorter run when there’s more cars. It would be great if we could get some more cars.

    NR: The fans looked like they had an awesome time today so that’s great to see. They were going crazy on the start/finish line under the podium, so that was nice. Great to have Arnold  (Schwarzenegger) on the podium, that was very very cool. Other than that, yeah, of course, we need to keep on re-inventing the sport and keep moving forward and keep adapting. But the process is in place, it’s a normal thing. There’s ups and downs, we just need to ride the wave and push on to keep improving the show as things change in the world.

    SV: Well, first of all I hope that Valtteri is OK. I don’t know the circumstances that led to the fact that he couldn’t race today but we hope that he’s back on the grid in Malaysia because that’s where he belongs. So all the best for his recovery. For the other cars, obviously it was strange to see people struggling to do the laps to the grid but I think it’s difficult. I think it shows how complex it really is, how difficult it is to master the challenge of making the car reliable for a Grand Prix and for the entire season so that’s why you really have to saychapeau to these guys and everyone who is able to extract clean races but also it’s great to see that this year we have a new competitor in the game with Honda. I think they have been very brave to face that challenge, even though now the price they’re paying is very high, but I’m sure they will come back. I think everyone has, more or less, been through that process with the exception of those guys (Mercedes) last year, so it seems to be part of the game but for sure it’s not great for the people. They want to see the cars and if the cars break before even starting the race that’s not right but what can I say? It’s a difficult challenge, it is complicated, maybe got a bit too complicated but for now it is what it is. The people still enjoy it so we need to do the best to keep it up.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Sebastian, Kimi had problems in both pit stops with his tyre changes; did that put any extra pressure on your stops?

    SV: I don’t know what happened. Obviously in the end he didn’t finish, I don’t even know what kind of problem he suffered, which is a shame because 50% of the team didn’t finish today; that’s not our target, I think it could have been a great race even if Kimi had a bit of a bad first corner. Still, I think he could have had a great recovery because the speed was there and as far as I understand he was on the way back. Regarding the pit stops, as I said, I didn’t see his pit stops. My pit stop was OK. Next time, though, I’m sure that he wants to have cleaner pit stops if that was the case.

    Q: (Vincent Marre – All Race Motorsport) Sebastian, among the races to come, which one do you feel will be the one that is easier for you, for Ferrari to catch up to the Mercedes? I think Malaysia will be difficult but what about Bahrain or Shanghai?

    SV: Easy, for us? I think if you look at the gap, nowhere is going to be easy. I think we have to focus on ourselves, make sure that what we learned this weekend we’re able to take into the next races. The most important thing now is that if we finish – we did finish right behind Mercedes today. We need to confirm that in the next race, that’s the priority number one, so we need to make sure that I was not just a one-off. We improve reliability. As I said, Kimi didn’t finish, which is a shame. We could have scored a lot more points today.

    NR: … that you find it a shame that your teammate didn’t finish?

    SV: Yes. I don’t know how much you like each other but Kimi and myself we get along, so I think it is a shame.

    NR: I though as a racing driver you might like it that you have a couple of points advantage over him now. I don’t want to get you off the foot there, sorry. Oops. Look at him, look at him go…

    SV: I can see your point. No, no. I can see that at the moment, where we are, we want to make sure we catch you guys and to do that we both need to score. Yes, I honestly think so and I honestly didn’t want to see the second car not finishing today.

    NR: Because I’m ready for it now, you caught me a bit off guard before but now I’m ready for it!

    Q: (Chris Medland – F1i.com) Seb, obviously you’re very relaxed, very happy after this result. You look very comfortable at Ferrari already. Can you just compare the emotions for yourself compared to 12 months ago, going into a tough season with Red Bull and this is like a real fresh start for you?

    SV: To be completely honest with you, 12 months ago I was already at the airport by now. Different story, obviously, I’m much happier to be here now, finishing the race, seeing the chequered flag. It’s a great Grand Prix so I think we all like coming here for a start but then, as I said, you cannot really compare, it’s a completely different situation. Last year, we had a very tough pre-season and on my side, a very tough first race so this year, as I said, changed teams, there’s a lot of new things, lot of things that I need to learn. I’m not yet on top of which will have to improve in the next couple of races but for now I’m very happy.

    eom/FIA press release of the Transcript

  • Hamilton takes dominant Melbourne win; Rosberg, Vettel complete podium

    Lewis Hamilton put in a controlled drive to win the opening round of the 2015 Formula One World Championship, finishing just over a second ahead of team-mate Nico Rosberg, who handed Mercedes a dominant first one-two finish of the season.

    Sebastian Vettel finished third, 33 seconds behind the Mercedes drivers, to hand Ferrari its first podium finish since Hungary last year and claimed his first appearance on the podium since Japan 2014.

    Race day began in eventful style, as just an hour before the race Valtteri Bottas was ruled out, the Finn being deemed unfit to race due to a back injury sustained in qualifying. Williams reported that Bottas had suffered has a very small tear in the annular part of a disc in his lower back and FIA official ruled that he should not start.

    The incidents mounted in the build up to the start when the McLaren of Kevin Magnussen and the Red Bull of Daniil Kvyat expired on the way to the grid.

    When the lights went out at the start Hamilton got away best, comfortably holding the lead from Rosberg. Behind them Felipe Massa kept his starting place of third but fourth-on-the-grid Sebastian Vettel tangled with team-mate Kimi Raikkonen resulting in the Finn having to back off. That lift resulted in the Ferrari man being tapped by the hard-charging Felipe Nasr and the Brazilian then connected with the Lotus of Pastor Maldonado. The Venezuelan driver was pitched into the wall and out of the race.

    Maldonado’s team-mate Romain Grosjean soon joined him the garage, the Frenchman pulling into the pits to retire his E23 as the Safety Car led the field around Albert Park. Just 13 cars would resume action.

    When the Safety Car returned to the pits Hamilton again maintained control, quickly building a 2.6s lead over Rosberg. Massa held third ahead of Vettel, while Sauber rookie Felipe Nasr has gained the most following the start, the Brazilian rising from tenth on the grid to fifth. The sole Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo was sixth ahead of Carlos Sainz, who was in his starting position of seventh. Raikkonen remained in eighth after his bruising start and the final two points positions were filled by Toro Rosso teen Max Verstappen and Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg.

    Raikkonen soon passed Sainz and began to chase down Ricciardo, but the status quo remained until the Finn was the first to make his way to the pit lane for a change of tyres. Raikkonen opted for more soft tyres but a problem with the rear left delayed him significantly. He rejoined in P11.

    Massa was the next to pit, from fourth on lap 21. Unlike Raikkonen, the Williams driver took on medium compound Pirellis. At the front Hamilton was still in control, the Briton now 3.5s ahead of Rosberg, with Vettel still third, a distant 13.5s adrift of his compatriot.

    Daniel Ricciardo pitted from sixth place on lap 23. He too took on medium tyres, as did Vettel when he pitted a lap later. The German’s in-lap and stop were good and Vettel was able to jump past Massa to claim third place.

    Sainz was the next in but his race was severely compromised by a disastrously slow stop owing to a long delay in replacing his left rear tyre. He dropped to 12th place.

    Hamilton finally made his first pit stop on lap 25, taking on medium tyres in a clean visit to the pit lane. Rosberg followed a lap later and he also took the harder compound tyres.

    Verstappen was the last man to visit the pit lane, the Dutch driver taking on soft tyres on lap 32.

    The order at the top after the first round of stops was Hamilton 2.2s ahead of Rosberg, with Vettel third, 13.9s behind the second Mercedes. Massa was third but being hotly pursued by the flying Raikkonen who was running almost seventh tenths of a second quicker than the Williams ahead.

    Nasr, meanwhile, had dropped to sixth, with Ricciardo seventh, ahead of Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg. Verstappen rejoined in ninth place but was soon out of the race, an engine failure almost immediately after his pit stop ending his debut race. His car’s demise put Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson into ninth and Perez into the points.

    Raikkonen made his second stop on lap 40, taking on a final set of medium tyres after his two soft-tyre stints but the Finn was quickly out of the race after a second error with the rear left that meant he had to pull over and retire from the race.

    The Finn’s retirement meant that Hamilton now led by 2.3s from Rosberg, with Vettel third, 2.9s ahead of Massa. Nasr was fifth ahead of Ricciardo, with Hulkenberg now seventh. The final points positions were taken by Sainz, Ericsson and Perez.

    And at the front that was how the order stayed. Rosberg kept Hamilton honest, pushing to the last to finish just over a second behind the world champion, who took his 34th career win.

    With Vettel third, Massa took fourth ahead of compatriot Nasr, while Ricciardo salvaged some pride for Red Bull Racing with sixth place ahead of Hulkenberg.

    Sainz tried to cling on to eighth place but his tyres were deteriorating quickly and on lap 56 he was passed by Ericsson. Perez took the final point on offer, while Jenson Button, the last finisher, completed a race distance for Honda-powered McLaren in 11th place.

    Hamilton on top to greet fans after winning season opener in Melbourne on Sunday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image
    Hamilton on top to greet fans after winning season opener in Melbourne on Sunday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image

  • Lewis Hamilton claims pole as season opens in Melbourne

    Hamilton took pole in the season opener at Melbourne on Saturday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image
    Hamilton took pole in the season opener at Melbourne on Saturday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image

    Melbourne, 14 March 2015: Lewis Hamilton claimed his first pole position of the 2015 season with a blistering lap of Melbourne’s Albert Park that put him more than half a second clear of closest rival, team-mate Nico Rosberg. Third place went to Williams’ Felipe Massa.

    The first period of qualifying saw Hamilton finish at the top of the pile with a lap of 1:28.586, three tenths clear of Rosberg, both having only used the medium tyre.

    Third spot in Q1 went to Massa who claimed the place late in the session with a lap on the soft tyre. Behind him, Max Verstappen was an impressive fourth for Toro Rosso, with Sebastian Vettel fifth. Both he and 10th-placed Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen had opted for the soft tyre from the start of the session.

    Romain Grosjean made it through to Q2 in eighth place, ahead of Carlos Sainz Jr, Valtteri Bottas and Nico Hulkenberg.

    Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo was comfortably 11th on the soft tyre, with his time set well before the end of the session, but team-mate Daniil Kvyat left it late, the Russian only getting a single timed run in the session after being restricted to the garage for the bulk of the session for repairs to an exhaust fire in FP3. It was enough though to see him through, in 14th place, behind Sergio Perez and Pastor Maldonado.

    With Felipe Nasr scraping through in 15th place, the drivers eliminated were his Sauber team-mate Marcus Ericsson, the twin Honda-powered McLarens of Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen and the Manor Marussia pairing of Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi, who did not take to the track during the session.

    In Q2 Hamilton led at the end of the first runs, the champion lapping two tenths quicker than Rosberg, with Vettel now third, just over six tenths of a second down on the Mercedes and two tenths clear of team-mate Raikkonen. In danger, from 11th to 14th, were Kvyat, Nasr, Hulenberg, Perez and Maldonado.

    Mercedes opted not to make a second run with their drivers comfortably retaining the top two spots. Vettel held on to third with his lap of 1:28.742, while Bottas slotted into fourth behind the Ferrari driver. Raikkonen made it through in fifth place ahead of Massa and Grosjean. Sainz delivered an impressive lap to claim eighth place, while Daniel Ricciardo could only manage ninth place. The final Q3 place was claimed by Maldonado.

    Out went Sauber’s Nasr and Toro Rosso’s Verstappen. The 17-year-old was set to progress but a big moment in Turn Five spoiled his lap and dropped him to 12th. Also eliminated were Red Bull Racing’s Kvyat, and the Force Indias of Hulkenberg and Perez.

    After the first runs in Q3 Hamilton still held sway with a lap of 1:26.419, ahead of Vettel whose lap of 1:27.757 put him ahead of Felipe Mass and Raikkonen. Rosberg was forced to abandon his lap after he went briefly off track in the final corner. Bottas too abandoned his lap, complaining of a problematic bite point with his brakes.

    But when Rosberg did string together a final run it was no match for that of his imperious team-mate. The German’s only timed run netted a time of 1:26.921, almost four tenths slower than Hamilton’s opening Q3 run, and when the Briton crossed the line moments later the gap widened to almost six tenths.

    Third place went to Massa, who finished almost 1.4s adrift of Hamilton. Sebastian Vettel was fourth, just over three hundredths of a second clear of Raikkonen. They were followed by Bottas, Ricciardo, Sainz, Grosjean and Maldonado.

    Australian Grand Prix Qualifying
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:26.327s –
    2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:26.921s 0.594s
    3 Felipe Massa Williams 1:27.718s 1.391s
    4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:27.757s 1.430s
    5 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:27.790s 1.463s
    6 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:28.087s 1.760s
    7 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:2;8.329s 2.002s
    8 Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso 1:28.510s 2.183s
    9 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:28.560s 2.233s
    10 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:29.480s 3.153s
    11 Felipe NasrSauber 1:28.800s –
    12 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1:28.868s –
    13 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull 1:29.070s –
    14 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:29.208s –
    15 Sergio Perez Force India 1:29.209s –
    16 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:31.376s –
    17 Jenson Button McLaren 1:31.422s –
    18 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 1:32.037s –

    eom/FIA press release

  • I feel incredibly blessed to have this car: Hamilton after taking pole

    DRIVERS

    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    2 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

    3 – Felipe MASSA (Williams)

    TV UNILATERAL

    Lewis, it’s always good to start the year with a pole position no doubt, tell us how you did it and particularly by the margin with which you did it?

    Lewis HAMILTON: Well, it’s been a great start to the weekend. It doesn’t feel like it’s been a long time since the last race we’ve already had and a big rush and a huge effort from all of the guys back at the factory to enable us to come here and have this performance, so I feel incredibly blessed to have this car. And then today we found a good balance and today was just about pushing those laps. It’s so much fun when you get into qualifying, you have those single laps which you have to push. So I’m just massively grateful for all the hard work that’s gone in.

    Very well done. Nico, coming to you, obviously not really your day today. You mentioned on the radio in Q2 that you had an engine cut-out issue and you had a lock-up in Q3, what was the story of your qualifying?

    NR: The story was that… well, first of all Lewis was in impressive form today, he did an awesome job and nailed it all the time. And then, for me, the speed was there but I just didn’t get it together today. So it wasn’t a great day today. But of course I’m really thankful to the team for the car that they have given me – it’s unbelievable. It’s a pleasure to drive and it’s a pleasure to be in this situation with this team. That’s really great to see where we are again now – leading the pack. P2, I have to live with that today, still a long day tomorrow anyway and we still have all the chances.

    Very well done. Coming to you Felipe. It’s been a very close battle all weekend with Ferrari for best of the rest status behind the two Mercedes and you personally definitely saved your best for last?

    Felipe MASSA: Yeah, it was a very tricky qualifying, especially when you have four cars fighting for very similar times, all the time. So if you see the difference in the lap times between me, Sebastian and Kimi and also Valtteri, it’s pretty small. But I’m happy. I’m happy that I did a good lap. It was the best lap of the day, the last one, which was not so easy, especially with the wind changing. It’s so easy to have front locking in corners that I had – not on this lap – so maybe I just prepared everything for the last try and it worked. It worked pretty well and we’re there. It will be a big fight tomorrow with Ferrari especially but I hope we can do a good job.

    Coming back to you again Lewis. As we mentioned, it’s your fourth time on pole position here in Melbourne but you haven’t won here since your first championship year of 2008. Clearly some unfinished business tomorrow?

    LH: Well, we had a difficult season last year here, so definitely as a team, as a whole, we’re hoping for a better start, for both cars to succeed tomorrow. So we’re going to work as hard as we can to make sure we do that and lots of work to be done tonight for the race tomorrow, because that is going to be a huge challenge still and obviously a good fight, hopefully, with Nico.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Lewis, last year you converted six of your seven poles into victories. Can you tell us what the secret is of making that happen? Obviously a good start strategy – but what is the real secret?

    LH: I think there isn’t a real secret. It’s hard work in the evening before and on the day just really understanding the strategy, understanding your limitations and strengths. Fuel, tyres, diff settings, all of those things. You need to be able to juggle those and obviously you all need to be on form as a team and capitalising on the opportunities that you do have. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. You try to make it the first one more often.

    Q: Nico, one of the things that was really noticeable about that qualifying hour was how much the temperatures dropped from the beginning to the end. It got a lot cooler and the wind was gusting quite a lot. How much do you have to adjust yourself, and in the car?

    NR: It was difficult because the wind, again, had changed from the session this afternoon and so it was just different again. And it really has a big impact on the car so we all had to adapt again to it. And that’s why it was particularly difficult out there. But my balance was good and the car was really good.

    Q: Felipe, it’s clear that Williams have picked up where they left off at the end of 2014 in terms of qualifying pace – but how are you feeling about the race pace?

    FM: I feel good. I feel that I still… in the race we can do a good job. Definitely the fight is really tough with Ferrari. We are in the similar pace, it won’t be easy, the race against Ferrari but I think we are there. We are there in the right and I’m really looking forward that we can start well the season with both cars and I really hope what’s happened in the last race of the season we can repeat straight away. Would be great.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action) Felipe, as you say, a great start to the season. Do you see in the next couple of races the car making even a better improvement from what it is now?

    FM: Yeah, I hope so. We’re working for that, working to improve the car, working to try to bring as many upgrades in the parts, working as close as we can with Mercedes to see if we can also get some improvements on the engine as well. So it’s definitely just the start. We know how much we improved last year and we really working and we need to try to repeat the development we did last year from the first to the last race but even more intense. So that’s the work I’m doing together with the whole team. I’m really looking forward that we can do that.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Felipe, P3 is good on the one hand, on the other hand, there’s 1.4s to Lewis. How much of a worry is that? It seems to be a bigger gap that last year even?

    FM: Yeah, it is! They’re in different categories. They’re in the same category between them [Lewis and Nico] but in different categories between the others. For sure it is not great to see this difference but we keep working, we keep fighting and I hope we can get as close as we can.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Felipe, since you have the same engine as they have, where is the difference? Is it just in the car, or…?

    FM: I guess so! If we have the same engine the difference should be in the car, or… I hope we have the same engine. I believe we have the same engine, so it’s the car. Maybe.

    Q: (Chris Medland – F1i.com) Question for you Lewis. I know before this weekend you were saying it wasn’t that important to get off to a much stronger start, it’s a long season, but now you’re on pole position it’s clearly going to be a two-horse race tomorrow. Is it crucial that you don’t have a race like last year where you failed to score?

    LH: Similar to what I said yesterday really, it wasn’t that I said it’s not important, it’s just that last year showed that even though I didn’t have a good first race, that it wasn’t the end of the world. But, of course, the plan tomorrow is to have a better start to the season – and today’s the first step in that direction.

    Q: (Vincent Marre – All Race) Felipe, which team is Williams fearing the most: Ferrari now or Red Bull?

    FM: Well, I think Red Bull is not really there for the moment. I’m sure Red Bull will get there because they are really strong. We know last year that they finished in front of us. The rules are similar this year so I’m sure they’re going to come, but for the moment Ferrari is really strong and they made a big step forward compared to last year so I’m sure tomorrow we need to be a bit more worried about Ferrari but we need to keep our eyes open for Red Bull and even for the others.

    Q: (Paul Gover – News Limited) Nico, the margin to Lewis today is fairly substantial. Do you think that you will be able to close that down tomorrow and turn it into a proper race?

    NR: It’s not indicative of the pace difference. For sure Lewis was quick but I didn’t get my laps together today so I’m not too worried about pace – I’m not worried about pace at all to be honest. But the race is always a different thing so maybe I can even turn it around tomorrow. On Friday, in the long runs, my pace was very strong so yeah, hopefully it can be the other way tomorrow. I’ll definitely give it everything and put on a good show for everybody.

    Q: (Ralf Bach – Sport Bild) Nico, do you think it’s easy to overtake here?

    NR: The tyres are going to make the… (they’re) my opportunity or the start but also the tyres because if the temperatures drop like they did just now, then with the soft tyre (there) could really be a big problem with the graining so that’s my chance.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Nico, did you have a problem with the engine in Q2?

    NR: No, no. It’s fine tuning. I cannot say I had a problem. It’s more things here and there to perfect everything.