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Tag: Hamilton
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Valtteri Bottas takes pole ahead of Hamilton, Leclerc: Silverstone
Bottas after taking the pole at Silverstone on Saturday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image Silverstone, 13 July 2019: In a tight-qualifying session at Silverstone, Valtteri Bottas beat home favourite Lewis Hamilton by just six thousandths of a second to claim pole position for the British Grand Prix as Mercedes locked out the front row for the seventh time in 10 races. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took third place ahead of the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, for the 10th round of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship here on Saturday.
In the opening qualifying segment Hamilton took an early lead, posting a time of 1:25.513 to take P1 two hundredths of a second clear of Leclerc. Behind them Verstappen slotted into an eventual P3 with a lap of 1:25.700.
Bottas, meanwhile, eased through to Q2 in P4 ahead of the second Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel and McLaren rookie Lando Norris.
Further down the order, the tussle for the final spot in Q2 was tight. In the end Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez did just enough to claim P15 and passage to the next segment with a time of 1:26.649, just 0.013s ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen who was eliminated in P16 ahead of Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat, Racing Point’s Lance Stroll and the twin Williams cars of George Russell and Robert Kubica.
In Q2, both Mercedes drivers went out for first runs on medium compound tyres, as did Red Bull drivers Verstappen and Pierre Gasly, and Ferrari’s Leclerc. Vettel, however, went a different route, with the German starting the session on soft compound tyres. And while Leclerc set the pace on the yellow tyres with a time of 1:25.646, taking P1 ahead of Bottas, Hamilton, Verstappen and Gasly, Vettel’s lap on the red-banded compound was poor and after the first runs he found himself in P8, behind Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris.
In the final runs the top five all went out again, but while Mercedes and Red Bull backed out of improvements on soft tyres to ensure they will start on the more durable medium compound, Leclerc went quicker on the red-walled compound to take P1 with a time of 1:25.546.
Vettel, meanwhile, dropped to P11 as rivals improved, but he too made an improvement in the final run and his time of 1:26.023 was good enough to take P5, splitting the Red Bulls. Ferrari will thus start on soft tyres.
Eliminated at the end of the session were the Alfa Romeos of Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Räikkönen in P11 and P12 respectively, 13th-placed Carlos Sainz of McLaren, Haas’ Romain Grosjean and Racing Point’s Pérez.
In Q3 it was Bottas who seized the initiative and the Finn posted a good lap of 1:25.093 to claim provisional pole 0.252s ahead of Hamilton, with Verstappen a tenth further back. Leclerc was fourth, with Gasly fifth.
And there was to be no denying Bottas a tenth career pole. The Finn failed to improve on his final flyer and that gave Hamilton an opportunity, and though the home favourite put in a good lap, he ended up missing out on pole by the tiny margin of seven thousandths of a second. Leclerc jumped Verstappen in the final run to claim third while Gasly held fifth, two tenths ahead of Vettel.
Behind them Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo finished seventh ahead of Norris, Albon and Hulkenberg.
2019 FIA Formula One British Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:25.093
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:25.099 0.006
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:25.172 0.079
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:25.276 0.183
5 Pierre Gasly Red Bull 1:25.590 0.497
6 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:25.787 0.694
7 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1:26.182 1.089
8 Lando Norris McLaren 1:26.224 1.131
9 Alex Albon Toro Rosso 1:26.345 1.252
10 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:26.386 1.293
11 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 1:26.519 1.426
12 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 1:26.546 1.453
13 Carlos Sainz McLaren 1:26.578 1.485
14 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:26.757 1.664
15 Sergio Perez Racing Point 1:26.928 1.835
16 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:26.662 1.569
17 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:26.721 1.628
18 Lance Stroll Racing Point 1:26.762 1.669
19 George Russell Williams 1:27.789 2.696
20 Robert Kubica Williams 1:28.257 3.164. -
Valtteri Bottas edges out Hamilton to top FP2
Valtteri Bottas tops FP2 ahead of Hamilton. An FIA image Silverstone, 12 July 2019: Valtteri Bottas edged Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton to top the timesheet in the second free practice session ahead of the British Grand Prix, the 10th round of the Formula 1 World Championship here, on Friday.
Bottas had been denied top spot in the morning session by Pierre Gasly but in the afternoon there was no stopping the Finn. Bottas stamped his authority on the session early on, running eight tenths quicker than Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen on the medium Pirelli compound on offer at Silverstone this weekend.
The tyre clearly suited the Mercedes driver, as during the performance runs on soft compound tyres later in the session, Bottas initially failed to improve on his medium-shod best time. Eventually he managed to find a comfort zone and posted a lap of 1:26.732s lap that stood as the fastest of the session.
Team-mate Hamilton, who had been well off Bottas’ pace in the early part of the session, found a more significant improvement on the soft tyres and he hauled himself to within seven hundredths of a second of Bottas’ benchmark.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took third place in the session finishing just under two tenths off Bottas to suggest that the Italian team might challenge expected pacesetters Mercedes at high-speed Silverstone.
The Monegasque driver’s team-mate Sebastian Vettel was fourth but while he made a good improvement with his soft tyre run he still finished more than two tenths shy of his team-mate’s time.
FP1’s fastest man Pierre Gasly couldn’t match his heroics from the morning session but he still managed to end the second 90-minute practice period as the highest placed Red Bull, just under seven hundredths of a second behind Vettel.
The French driver was separated from team-mate Max Verstappen by McLaren’s Lando Norris. The British rookie end the session just under three tenths of a second adtift of Gasly and 0.016s ahead of seventh-placed Verstappen.
Eight place went to Carlos Sainz in the second McLaren, with the Spaniard finishing one hundredth of a second ahead of Toro Rosso’s Alex Albon. The top 10 ordser was rounded out by Sergio Perez of Racing Point who set a best time of 1:28.002 to finish 1.270 off Bottas.
2019 FIA Formula One British Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 25 1:26.732
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 35 1:26.801 0.069
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 30 1:26.929 0.197
4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 30 1:27.180 0.448
5 Pierre Gasly Red Bull 31 1:27.249 0.517
6 Lando Norris McLaren 38 1:27.546 0.814
7 Max Verstappen Red Bull 32 1:27.562 0.830
8 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren 39 1:27.987 1.255
9 Alex Albon Toro Rosso 38 1:27.997 1.265
10 Sergio Perez Racing Point 32 1:28.002 1.270
11 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 36 1:28.008 1.276
12 Kevin Magnussen Haas 30 1:28.059 1.327
13 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 33 1:28.126 1.394
14 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 17 1:28.128 1.396
15 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 34 1:28.217 1.485
16 Lance Stroll Racing Point 37 1:28.240 1.508
17 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 28 1:28.294 1.562
18 Romain Grosjean Haas 26 1:28.794 2.062
19 Robert Kubica Williams 37 1:29.935 3.203
20 George Russell Williams 11 1:30.514 3.782. -
Friendly banter at FIA Thursday press conference at Silverstone
FIA Thursday press meet in progress at Silverstone. An FIA image DRIVERS – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes), George RUSSELL (Williams), Lando NORRIS (McLaren), Daniel RICCIARDO (Renault), Antonio GIOVINAZZI (Alfa Romeo)
PRESS CONFERENCE
Welcome gentlemen. It was announced yesterday that Silverstone has a new long-term deal to remain on the Formula 1 calendar. I’d like to get each of your thoughts on that, starting with Lewis please?
Lewis HAMILTON: Well, good afternoon everyone. It was a good surprise to hear that they had re-signed. It wasn’t necessarily a surprise. As I spoke to you guys before I knew that it was going to happen. It’s clear the Formula 1 can’t exist without the home of motorsport, which is the British Grand Prix. Yeah, really, really happy. It’s great for the fan base and for that to continuously grow over the next years to come.
Q: Thank you Lewis. Lando?
Lando NORRIS: It’s going to be my first race this weekend. I’ve race here in the past. I love driving Silverstone. It would have been a shame to ever see it go, especially if I only would have done this race, this year and not done it again. Glad to see it still here and I look forward to coming back every year.
Q: Thanks. George?
George RUSSELL: Yeah, obviously very pleased for it to be on the calendar again. I think F1 couldn’t live without Silverstone. It’s the home of the British Grand Prix. Formula 1 is a very British sport and overall it’s just an amazing circuit to drive and there’s something special about Silverstone when you come here. Like you said, I’m not surprised it’s continued.
Q: Daniel?
Daniel RICCIARDO: Very happy. It’s a cool track, cool atmosphere. It was eight years ago this weekend, it was my F1 debut here, so it’s always been pretty personal to me. But I’ve enjoyed it. I don’t know how it would feel being somewhere else. It feels normal and right it have it here. It feels like the home of British motorsport. I like that. There’s that real camping atmosphere, that festival vibe. Yeah, the Brits love and we do too.
Q: And Antonio?
Antonio GIOVINAZZI: Yes, it’s a track with a lot of history, so it was really nice to see that this circuit will be here for another five years. With an F1 car I think it’s amazing to drive here, so I can’t wait to start tomorrow and do my first grand prix at Silverstone.
Q: Antonio, if we can stay with you, you got your first world championship point in Austria a couple of weeks ago. How did that feel and how confident are you of maintaining that run of form here?
AG: Yeah, cost me a little bit of my hair! It was for a good reason I would say. It was actually a different bet with Fred, because it all started at Paul Ricard and he said: ‘if you score your first point I will cut your hair’. And then it didn’t happen and then in Austria we said ‘so, if I don’t score points you will my hair’, but I scored points, so it’s a bit of a mess. Yeah, I’m really happy with this. It was a great weekend so far for me and the team. We went to Q3 with both cars and also top 10 for me and Kimi. So we just need to keep working like that. We had a really good car since Paul Ricard and now here we have another upgrade so I hope again that we are on a good direction and I hope we can stay there and keep fighting and take a little bit of the gap from McLaren as they are still a little bit in front of us, so we just need to keep working.
Q: You’ve not raced here before in Formula 1 yet, so just can you tell us a little bit about your preparations. What have you ascertained from the simulator, what are your engineers telling you?
AG: Luckily, I did one FP1, back in 2017 in F1. Of course it will be a completely different story now. Of course I did some simulator, like every driver, I watched some onboard from last year, working with the team. But you know, when you are in the car it will be completely different things but we have FP1, FP2 tomorrow, so we have a lot of time. It’s track I’ve already raced in F3, Formula 2 so yeah, just looking forward to racing it in F1.
Q: Ok, good luck this weekend. Daniel, tricky race for you and the team in Austria. What conclusions have you drawn since then?
DR: It was. It wasn’t a fun one for us really. We obviously got pretty deep into it after and tried to figure out why we were off the pace all weekend. Definitely feel we learned some things with set-up and I think we kind of just started in a direction which we kept pursuing from Friday, thinking it was the right way to go, but I think in hindsight it wasn’t. It’s probably more just a set-up misdirection we went for as opposed to anything crazy we found on the car. I was hoping to find a cracked chassis or something like that! I think the car does have a little bit of a sweet spot and I think we had worked towards that the last few weekends, getting those Q3s and building that confidence within myself and that momentum, but we kind of shifted a little bit away from that in Austria, for reasons that seemed to make sense at the time from a set-up point of view and all that. I think we kind of moved away from something we’d got to know but we’ll try to bring it back this weekend for Silverstone and go back to what we know.
Q: You say the car has a sweet spot. Why is it so difficult to keep it in that area?
DR: I wish I knew. I wish I knew. Sometimes I’m glad I’m not an aerodynamicist or an engineer because it would rattle my brain. For, personally, driving the car, I know where I’m comfortable with it and I know where I like it and when we start going down a certain direction that’s where we run into problems, under braking or whatever. There’s an area where I certainly feel more comfortable and I believe the car is better in that phase. I don’t know, it’s just race cars, mate! As I said, eight years I’ve now been here and you still scratch your head. But I think that’s part of the attraction as well, because when you do get it right and it all kind of works in harmony it’s an amazing feeling.
Q: As you said, you made your F1 debut at Silverstone in 2011. How do you sum up the last eight years of your life?
DR: It’s been fun. I remember vividly the press conference here eight years ago. I actually get embarrassed looking back at photos, I looked like an idiot – an idiot that needed a haircut. Same boat as Antonio! I don’t know, it’s kind of a whirlwind, but it’s amazing how go through it and feel… Obviously I feel much more comfortable here now than I did eight years ago. I guess just that kind of sense of belonging. Eight years ago I was here just like a deer in the headlights, is that the expression? You’re kind of just overwhelmed by everything and it’s like ‘wow, I’m really here now in F1’. You obviously have a lot of belief in yourself but until you really get the results that you believe you can get, there’s always maybe that little bit of doubt. Obviously that has built up well over the years. I don’t feel like one of the older guys yet, I’m kind of getting there, but I still feel young and sharp and good looking.
Q: Thanks Daniel. Lando, many congratulations on your new McLaren deal for 2020. How exciting is that news and what do you feel you and the team can achieve over the next 18 months?
LN: Thank you very much. I’m very excited I guess. It’s just good news. Things have been going reasonably well lately, so to have that news is just a bonus. And of course knowing I’m going to be here next year makes it a bit more comforting overall, but it doesn’t change too much in hindsight. Looking ahead to the next two years let’s say, there’s a lot of progress we’ve got to make. I want to be racing this guy on my right a bit more over the next couple of years, not just myself but as a team that’s our goal. That’s what we are trying to work towards, that’s what we are slowly chipping away at but it’s going to take two years, it’s going to take even more than probably. We’ll take it step by step and see how we go.
Q: As you say, you’re hoping to race Lewis over the next two years, but you actually raced him at the start last time out in Austria, how was that?
LN: It was cool. I got past him in Turn 1, which was very nice of him. He didn’t force me off or anything, it was a nice little bit we did in Turn 1. And then he just had a better position down the straight, behind Valtteri, in the slipstream. It wasn’t a proper fight I don’t think. It would have been nice to hang on a little bit longer than I did, but that position is the aim for us, we want to be in P3, we want to be fighting for the podium. It was nice to be there, very momentarily, but it wasn’t to be. But it is something I would love to look forward to.
Q: As with Antonio, I just wanted to ask you about your preparation for this weekend, but looking slightly longer term, you’ve raced at Silverstone in the FIA’s junior ranks – Formula 4, F3, F2. I just wanted to ask you how different each of those categories is and how they helped prepare you for this moment?
LN: Well, I actually started in 2014 racing Ginettas but that was on the national circuit, so it has stepped up quite a bit since then. But they’ve prepared me more and more I guess. Every lap you do you learn something very small even, but you learn something and that always helps. But I guess the biggest progression is Formula 3 – reasonably high downforce given the size and weight of the car. So you have a very good feeling through Maggots, Becketts, you get to really push the limits and see what it’s like. And it’s kind of a similar feeling when you go to F1 – I think, I’ve not driven it yet – feeling the G-Force, feeling the downforce, that’s something you already start to get a bit of a feel of in Formula 3 and a little but in Formula 2. Nothing in particular, but every step you take is a step forward and it definitely helps.
Q: George, you finished ahead of Kevin Magnussen in Austria last time out, so it seems the car is really starting to make progress now. How confident are you of another strong showing this weekend ?
GR: Yeah, I think it’s a step-by-step process for us at the moment. The team has two very difficult years… or a very difficult year last year, sorry. They wanted to change a lot of the structure and it was almost that we had to make two steps back before we made three steps forward. The groundworks are kind of really in place at the moment to try to bring more performance to the car as the season progresses and I’ve got confident we can do that. But the fact is it’s going to be another difficult weekend for us and we’ve just got to do our maximum week in, week out, but yes, it was nice to be racing someone other than just Robert in Austria.
Q: It’s 40 years since Williams won its first ever race, here at Silverstone, with Clay Regazzoni in 1979. Just how aware are you of your team’s history and how does it make you feel to be lining up with Williams on the grid this weekend?
GR: I’m very aware of the history. I’ve been around the museum a number of times and it still amazes me every time I go there and even last week I was showing my trainer around for the first time and we decided to jump in some of the cars and it was just bonkers to think what these guys were doing back then. I could barely get my feet in this thing and you’ve only got fiberglass protecting you. But like I say, I’m very, very aware of what the team is achieved, it is an honour to race for Williams and like I said, we are almost getting the mickey taken out of us with our performance, but it’s a longer-term project for the team and you could have done a number of short-term things to be good in the moment but the team have bigger and greater things in mind.
Q: Lewis, can you just describe how it feels to be Lewis Hamilton, coming into the British Grand Prix?
Lewis HAMILTON: It feels pretty normal, I would say! It probably feels the same as it is, I would say, for all the drivers here. It’s such a privilege to be here up against the very few that can be a Formula One driver at the pinnacle of the sport. The British Grand Prix is the most special grand prix of the year, being that it’s… just the sheer magnitude of it and just how many people come for the weekend and how many British flags you see around here. It really is a spectacular weekend. I would say it probably just feels… I don’t know. There’s excitement, there’s the adrenaline going, there’s pressures. My whole family’s coming this weekend. It is that one weekend where… it’s probably the most special in a sense because you’ve got your family, the closest support, surrounding you. I’ve been very privileged over the years to obviously come here and have some spectacular races. I don’t know what I’ve won here but obviously here to try to improve this weekend. We are here to improve this weekend as a team. The last one was a little bit difficult for us but hopefully this weekend. I think it’ll be close but hopefully we’ll have a better shot.
Q: As you say, Austria was, in effect, the first time you guys tripped up this year, with Valtteri finishing third, yourself fifth. Are you confident that was a one off, or have you got concerns coming into this weekend?
LH: I wouldn’t say that I necessarily have concerns. I don’t weekends necessarily with a negative connotation to start with but, no I think we’re fully aware that the Ferraris and the Red Bulls have taken a step forward and the pace that they had in the last race was great. I think it looked a lot better than… I think it we didn’t have the issues that we had, I think we would have been a lot closer, would have been more in the fight. I expect this weekend it will be closer between us all. Last year Ferrari were super-fast here as well – as were the Red Bulls. I think the Red Bulls were a little bit down but now they’ve got the new engine I think they’ll be even quicker. So, it’s definitely not going to be an easy weekend.
Q: And Lewis, you’ve got 79 wins to your name, five of which have come here at Silverstone. On Sunday, you can be the first man ever to win six races at this race track. How enticing is that record and what would it mean?
LH: Well, you know me. I’m not really one for records, so if it happens this weekend it does; if it doesn’t, it’s no biggie for me as I’ll try to be here for a little bit longer. Just the fact that that’s even a possibility is quite unreal for me. Ultimately it’s just really important to put that stuff out of your head, out of your mind and just focus on the job at hand. As I said, it’s not going to be an easy weekend for us. It’s really just about being diligent, making sure we leave no stone unturned. As Daniel mentioned, these cars all have sweet spots and it’s trying to… all those sweet spots don’t always work at each track – but this has been a strong track for us in the past. Hopefully this weekend, it’ll be a sweet spot for us.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Lewis and Daniel, last year Silverstone was resurfaced. It was slightly controversial, not all of the drivers were happy with it. It’s been resurfaced again for this year, and there’s also a little bit more gravel around the place in a couple of areas. It’s always been described as a drivers’ track. How interested are you to go out and see what change the changes have made.
DR: Yeah, I was trying to get out there today, I will at some point, probably just on a bike, bit quicker. Yeah, it was pretty bumpy last year but at Red Bull we had one of the smoother-riding cars. A lot of others did say it was pretty bad. So, yeah, I’ll definitely have a look. I don’t normally do track walks or anything but if there is a change, it’s worth seeing, have a browse.
LH: Same same but different.
DR: Different but the same.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – LivioOricchiof1.com) Daniel, when you see what Max did in Spielberg and you see the performance of your team, do you have any regrets of changing team. And also, concerning the asphalt, do you expect any big impact in the performance of the car. I mean, any big changes in comparison to what has been seen at the last few races?
DR: To answer the first part: no. Honestly no regrets. It was actually… part of me was pretty happy for them, and for F1 to just have a good race. It went through such… yeah… quite a lot of… I’m trying think of a better word. You know the word I’m thinking of, it’s a word I can’t really say! It went through a lot of scrutiny after France, so just for the sport to have a good race was awesome. But no, honestly, if I look back, by that time last year, Red Bull had three wins; that was the first. Obviously I’m further back at the moment, absolutely, you’re right but I expected this and really, if I stayed at Red Bull it was to win a title and sure, they got the win last weekend but they’re still a fair way from the title. And that’s not having a dig, that’s just the reality. So I don’t think I would necessarily have achieved anything else than I was already achieving there, so for that, yeah, no regrets. Obviously trying to build something here with Renault and absolutely there’s still a lot of work to do – but equally it’s pretty fulfilling when you do get a little bit of a result and Montreal was one of those moments where, it kind of… even that result alone made the first seven or so races worth it. The little bit of struggle and ups and downs. So yeah, but for the sport, honestly, I’m very happy that the last race went the way it did and hopefully there’s more like that. Hopefully I’m not running in 12th, or wherever I was, because that’s also not fun – but hopefully the battle at the front gets close and says close.
And the asphalt?
DR: I’ll let the others answer. It’s dark, yeah, the asphalt. Conductor of heat.
I think we want to hear from the other drivers. George?
GR: I won’t know until I’ve driving on it. Obviously raced F2 last year, didn’t feel a huge issue. It adds a bit of character, I think, even when it’s bumpy. It is how it is. It’s the same for everyone. You’ve got to adapt to the situation. Sometimes, if it’s too perfect, then it’s almost easier to drive – but obviously they had to do it more for the bikes than for us.
Lando, have you been out to look at the asphalt?
LN: Yeah, I scootered around earlier. Just looks darker than normal, I guess. It depends. I don’t know what kind of tarmac is it. Obviously in Paul Ricard we had the newer patches of tarmac and it was much slippier, or not as grippy as the older bits. So, it depends. We’ll find out tomorrow.
Antonio?
AG: Yeah, I agree with George and Lando. It’s nothing. You need to adapt a little bit.
Q: (Julien Billiotte – AutoHebdo) Question to George. George, timing is everything in Formula One. When you see someone like Lando, who you’ve beaten in Formula Two last year, getting strong results, enjoying strong momentum at McLaren, are you not afraid you might miss out on bigger opportunities? Because you could be driving the best race of your life at the moment and no-one – or not a lot of people – would take notice.
GR: Yeah, thanks for that! No, not at all. At the end of the day, I know there are only a small number of people that are going to make a difference in my career and that’s Claire and the top people at Williams and Toto and the top people at Mercedes. At the end of the day, those guys are fully aware of the situation. They know exactly if I’ve had a good weekend or not. And even in myself, I’ve come away from some races which I know I’ve performed well, and I’ve come away satisfied, and other races I’ve come away knowing I could have done a better job, even though I ended up in the exact same position. So, but like I said, I’m also happy for Lando and Alex: the younger generation sticking it to the experienced guys and showing that we can do it. I think, y’know, I’m happy for them and if they’re doing a good job, it also looks good for me.
Q: (Giles Richards – The Guardian) Lewis, you’ve achieved remarkable things in the sport, in what has been a very long career – but I was wondering if you could try to think back to when you started in Formula One and remember what your greatest hopes and aspirations were back then – what you thought you might achieve when you began?
LH: I don’t really remember much back then. I think naturally you just want to excel and succeed in everything you do, and just… every driver here has a huge amount of belief in their own ability and we all have some sort of platform and opportunity in front of us and it was just really about maximising the opportunity that we do have, regardless of what team we’re in, what position you’re in. And just like George was saying, that’s really key. You know whether you’re doing the job and the lessons that you go through are huge at the early stages. And these guys are all going a great job, particularly in the early days. Me and Daniel were just saying, we’re having to represent for the 30-crew. It was extremely special but it was a huge learning process for me, as it is for all of us in the early stages. There’s no substitute for experience. That just comes over time. Of course I wanted to win world titles, I think in my first year I wanted to win the world title, that was straight away. Super-ambitious – particularly up against a two-time World Champion but there wasn’t a moment that I doubted myself, that I could do it. I think that’s ultimately what we all have – that confidence in ourselves.
Q: (Oliver Brown – The Telegraph) Lewis, Christian Horner raised a few eyebrows earlier this week by suggesting that, if you and Max were in the same machinery, at the moment he would back Max to prevail. Given you’ve won six of nine races already this year, that seemed a fairly bold claim on his part. I just wondered your response to that and, more broadly, on how you and Max measure up as racers.
LH: Well, firstly I don’t compare myself to anybody. Don’t need to. I don’t really have a response to his claims. Ultimately every now and again someone needs certain attention and… yeah… I think Max has been doing a great job and really, really exciting to watch. I think the last race was really fantastic and it’ll be really interesting to see how they go moving forwards.
Q: (Rob Harris – Associated Press) Lewis, the new Silverstone deal is through to 2024; do you think you will still be driving then or what do you think you’ll be doing in F1? And we could have England in a World Cup final on Sunday, just as you’re racing. Do you think you’re going to have to produce something special to grab the national attention? Not to jinx anything for them today…
LH: What I don’t understand is why the organisers put the race on the same day as all these other big events – Wimbledon – I really don’t understand it. But I hope in future that they put this on a… this is such a special weekend, it needs all the focus of the whole country and just not a small amount. I think people will be switching between channels on Sunday, not sure what to watch. But naturally I come here… there’s quite a few of us Brits but we come here to raise the flag and do the country proud so I’m just going to try and play my part.
2024? Jesus, it feels like a long way away. Who knows whether I will still be here by then but if I’m not, if I’ve stopped racing, I won’t be here in any other capacity.
Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday, Motorsport week.com) Lando, now that you and Carlos have been confirmed next year at McLaren, what is that going to do for you and possibly, speaking on behalf of your teammate, to know that everything is settled, you don’t have to go through these endless questions from us asking what you’re going to do next year? Does this give you an advantage? How do you feel about it and do you think you’ve made the right decision?
LN: Yeah, I think I’ve made the right decision. It wasn’t something I was worried about or asking about so for me, I was pretty confident in the job I had been doing so far this season and because I wasn’t necessarily worried or asking about it in any way, for them to come forward to me with it and the confirmation, then yeah, it made me a bit happier. With me not being worried about it, it wasn’t something I don’t think… or it’s not going to be something which changes how I think about it, it’s not going to make me necessarily more confident or anything. I had all my confidence in the team. I would like to say that they had all theirs in me as well. From all of that, we will keep working hard, keep trying to progress and I’m sure Carlos and myself are going to have a lot more battles and some times together.
Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Lewis, ’92, talk about Mansell mania and the crowds coming in to see him. We’ve got a similar situation, Silverstone’s going to be absolutely sold out on Sunday, partly to come and see you with all the success you’re having. Now there’s no question about the support you have with F1 fans, they all adore you and think you’re great for what you’re doing, the titles you’re winning. You’ve also struggled sometimes to win over some of the other British public, non-F1 fans. Can you put your finger on that at all, any reason why you don’t have the same universal adulation as Nigel Mansell had, say?
LH: I don’t really… I don’t know. I don’t really generally feel that but people have the right to chose who they support and what I can say is that… I remember growing up in Stevenage I never in a million years thought I’d have a single supporter besides my Mum and my Dad. I feel really privileged in just even having one but quite a lot of people come here and I’m so grateful just for that, which is more than enough for me, so the more the merrier. I guess the more and more time I spend here, I guess you have more and more opportunity to turn people’s opinions. But ultimately, as I said, I’m grateful for what I do have.
LN: Maybe it’s the moustache!
LH: The moustache? What, the fact that I can’t really grow much!
LN: Well, I can’t do much better either. Mansell’s one was alright.
LH: Mansell had a good moustache. It might be that, I’m not able to grow. This is like as far as it goes. And he had good eyebrows as well. Maybe one weekend I’ll try sticking them on and see if it makes a difference.
Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lewis, the two chaps to the left of you have got a combined age of 40, if my maths is right. I was just wondering if you have…
LN: (Having exploded with laughter) Don’t worry, it’s nothing to do with your question.
GR: It’s definitely not suitable for you guys.
DR: I didn’t think it was that funny.
Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) The question was, anyway, it was whether Lewis had any advice for the chaps sitting to his left and what he thought of the job they’re doing?
LH: I don’t think I need to give them any advice. They’ve obviously come through similar ranks to myself and they’re doing exceptional jobs. Both have completely different challenges with George obviously in a team that’s has struggled for some time but is part of helping them take steps to improve and I really really hope… I’m a huge fan of Frank and that team and what they’ve achieved in their history so I really really… I think that’s a team that needs to be up at the top with the rest of them. It’s amazing to see McLaren doing so well. They’ve had some really tough years as well. We got to have a bit of a race in the last race and just watching Lando’s progression is incredibly impressive, to be so young in such an early phase, he’s coming in and keeping a level head and delivering on weekends, also up against a driver who’s got more experience than him. I’m personally excited to continue to watch these two grow and the trials and tribulations that they’ll face and I do hope that we get to do some racing together, as I said, representing the thirties.
Q: (Stephen Camp – Motorsport Monday, Motorsport week.com) Over the past few weeks, if not months, there have been discussions about making life more difficult for the drivers behind the wheel. I was just wondering if there was anything in particular any one of you guys would like to see… perhaps power steering taken away, reduction in downforce? Is there anything in particular that you would like to see making your lives more difficult?
AG: Yeah, of course I think I want better racing but less downforce, better to follow people but yeah, it really differs not from my side. We will see what happens after 2021 but yeah, for now it’s not my decision. We need to see what happens.
DR: Yeah, I guess the racing thing’s a big one, just to be able to… obviously if it was all a bit closer that’s great as well but it’s just the ability to follow. I guess it’s two-fold now. You get close to another car, you lose a chunk of downforce but then also your tyres start to overheat so that then loses you an additional amount of grip so you’re kind of fighting against those two, let’s say, negative forces which don’t help. Power steering? Honestly, with the load and the actual downforce we have now would be literally impossible. I’ve had hydraulic failures; that’s when you lose the power steering and you can’t turn. As brave as I’d like to say I am and as shredded as I am, it wouldn’t suffice. Maybe one lap but not fifty.
LH: I agree. I think what’s really important right now is that the drivers are unified for the first time since I’ve been in the sport. We’re all together as kind of a union and sort of working together with the FIA and hoping that we can have a positive impact on the rules in 2021. So we kind of need to make sure we stay on top of that and stay a part of it. There are definitely subtle changes we can do for sure to make the car a little bit even more physical than it is. It’s by no means easy for us to drive and definitely not taking power steering away would not be key but I think we could probably reduce it if we needed to do. We currently have the option to do that but there’s no need because it doesn’t really make a difference for us really. But yeah, I think there’s a lot of other aspects and ultimately, as Daniel mentioned, if the racing was closer it would really improve racing so that’s key for us, I think.
LN: Nothing (inaudible). Nothing in particular. I think obviously the main thing is the racing which is probably the most important thing for all of us. The physical attributes, I don’t really mind, to be honest. I did suffer a lot since karting, with my size and everything, not really having a clue what to do when I started karting, so I suffered in every category: F4, F3, F2 – not so much F2 but I’ve had to kind of play catch-up quite a bit and in some ways, F1 was a bit nicer with power steering. F2’s much harder, physically on the arms and almost on the whole body than F1 is. So it can change but I don’t really mind, it’s how it is to be honest, I don’t think that’s the priority of F1 right now.
GR: Yes, as the guys said, obviously to be able to race each other closer is the number one priority but I think also allowing us to drive flat-out every single lap, qualifying laps for 70 laps would be pretty cool and that would make the physical demand greater. If you’re constantly lifting-coasting or saving the tyres in high speed corners or doing whatever else, it’s obviously not as a tough as it would be if you’re going flat-out. So those two together would be my idea of what we want.
Ends
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Verstappen keeps thrilling Austrian GP win after stewards’ decision; Hamilton 5th behind Vettel
Verstappen wins Austrian GP. An FIA image Spielberg (Austria), 30 June 2019: Max Verstappen recovered from a poor start to take a brilliant Austrian Grand Prix, and to score Honda’s first F1 victory in 13 years, though the Dutch driver’s sixth career win was only officially confirmed following a stewards’ investigation into the overtaking move on Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc that earned Verstappen top spot on the podium in the Austrian GP, the 9th round of the Formula 1 World Championship here on Sunday.
Polesitter Leclerc had led from the start of the race, but with a handful of laps to go Verstappen used greater pace on hard tyres to close up to the Ferrari driver. He tried to pass on the inside into Turn 3 on lap 68 but the attempt was rebuffed by the clam Leclerc who held his line and power ahead of the Dutch driver on exit from the corner.
Undaunted, Verstappen tried again on the next lap, in the same place. This time there was contact and Leclerc was forced wide. As the Ferrari driver slowed, Verstappen raced away into the lead and at the end of the 71stlap crossed the line to take a brilliant win.
Almost immediately race stewards reported that the incident was under investigation and there followed a nervous wait while the officials deliberated.
Some three hours later, Verstappen’s win was confirmed with the matter ruled to be a racing incident.
“Car 33 sought to overtake car 16 at Turn 3 on lap 69 by out-braking car 16. When doing so, car 33 was alongside car 16 on the entry of the corner and was in full control of the car while attempting the overtaking move on the inside of car 16,” read the verdict.
“However, both car 33 and car 16 proceeded to negotiate the corner alongside each other but there was clearly insufficient space for both cars to do so. Shortly after the late apex, while exiting the corner, there was contact between the two cars. In the totality of the circumstances, we did not consider that either driver was wholly or predominantly to blame for the incident. We consider that this is a racing incident.”
Verstappen’s sixth career win and the first for power unit partner Honda since the Hungarian Grand Prix of 2006 seemed unlikely when the Dutchman’s RB15 bogged down and he was immediately passed by a swarm of rivals. Leclerc powered away into the lead ahead of the Mercedes cars of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton, the Alfa Romeo of fast-starting Kimi Räikkönen, the McLaren of Lando Norris and the second Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel. Verstappen, though, dropped to P7 and looked to be out of contention. However, both Verstappen and Vettel passed Norris with relative ease and within a handful of laps they had also cleared Räikkönen.
After a dozen laps, Leclerc was a healthy three seconds ahead of Bottas, with Hamilton a further 2.7 seconds back in third. Vettel was now fourth, 4.5s behind Hamilton, while Verstappen was a similar distance behind Vettel. Ahead of the first round of pit stops Leclerc had built an almost five-second advantage over Bottas, who triggered what would for most of the leafing pack would be a single pit stop.
Bottas made a clean stop on lap 21 but there was no such luck for Vettel who stopped at the same time4. The Ferrari driver’s crew were not ready with a set of hard tyres and the German was forced to sit stationary for six seconds as a front left wheel was located and fitted. Leclerc made his stop at the end of the following lap and he emerged in P3 behind new leader Hamilton and Verstappen .
Hamilton was now suffering with degradation to his opening set of medium tyres and as Verstappen closed the gap, the Mercedes driver pushed too hard and damaged his front wing. He pitted at the end of lap 30, not only for hard tyres but also for a new front wing.
The stop saw Hamilton stand still in his pit box for 11 seconds and Red Bull responded by pitting Verstappen on lap 31. He emerged four seconds clear of Hamilton, in fourth place. And it was then, with hard tyres on board, that the race began to come to the Dutchman
He swiftly close on third-placed Vettel and on lap 50, breezed past the German on entry to Turn 4 to take third place.
Verstappen now had Bottas in his sights and on lap 56 her took second place, dismissing Bottas effortlessly with a move down the inside into Turn 3 under DRS.
With 10 laps to go Max was just 3.8 seconds behind the race leader and five laps later the Red Bull driver arrived on Ferrari’s gearbox. The two 21-year-old racers then engaged in the epic battle that ended with Verstappen spraying champagne from the top step of the podium but also facing a stewards’ investigation.
Vettel had also been on the move during the closing stages and he passed Hamilton to take a solid fourth place after starting from P9. Hamilton was left with fifth place ahead of Norris and Pierre crossed the line in P7 to score his seventh points finish of the season to date. Eighth place was taken by Carlos Sainz who finished ahead of the Alfa Romeo cars of Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi.
2019 FIA Formula One Austrian Grand Prix – Race
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 2.724
3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 18.960
4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 19.610
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 22.805
6 Lando Norris McLaren 1 Lap
7 Pierre Gasly Red Bull Racing 1 Lap
8 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren 1 Lap
9 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo Racing 1 Lap
10 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing 1 Lap
11 Sergio Perez Racing Point 1 Lap
12 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1 Lap
13 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1 Lap
14 Lance Stroll Racing Point 1 Lap
15 Alex Albon Scuderia Toro Rosso 1 Lap
16 Romain Grosjean Haas 1 Lap
17 Daniil Kvyat Scuderia Toro Rosso 2 Laps
18 George Russell Williams 2 Laps
19 Kevin Magnussen Haas 2 Laps
20 Robert Kubica Williams 3 Laps -
Hamilton takes French GP pole ahead of Bottas
Le Castellet (France), 22 June 2019: Mercedes locked out the front row of the grid for the sixth time this season as Lewis Hamilton beat team-mate Valterri Bottas to pole position by almost three tenths of a second for the French Grand Prix, the 8th round of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship at Circuit Paul Ricard here on Saturday.
Charles Leclerc was the dominant team’s closest rival, finishing more than six tenths of a second behind championship leader Hamilton.
Bottas was in control in the opening segment, the Finn setting a session-best time of 1:30.550 to edge Hamilton by 0.059s and when the chequered flag came out the Mercedes duo held the top spots ahead of Leclerc, while Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo jumped to P4 and P5 respectively after good final laps.
At the bottom of the order, Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat, already facing a back-of-the-grid start due to PU penalties, was eliminated in P16 ahead of the Haas of Romain Grosjean, Racing Point’s Lance Stroll and the Williams duo of George Russell and Robert Kubica.
With the soft compound Pirelli tyres suffering badly in track temperatures that topped 50˚C, a number of teams equipped their drivers with medium compound tyres, looking to start the race on the more durable compound.
And when the flag fell this time, the top eight in the second session made it through to Q3 on the medium tyres. Bottas once again topped the timesheet with a lap of 1:29.437, though this time the Finn edged Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel by five hundredths of a second. Hamilton was third ahead of Leclerc and McLaren’s Lando Norris, while Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen slotted into P6 ahead of the second McLaren of Carlos Sainz.
Both Verstappen and Red Bull team-mate Pierre Gasly looked to struggling for grip in the conditions and Gasly was luck to jump from P13 to P10 and safety with a final flying lap just four hundredths of a second quicker than Toro Rosso’s Alexander Albon. But while Gasly will be forced to start on worn soft tyres, Albon will get a free choice of starting rubber tomorrow.
Albon was followed out of the session by Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen, Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg, Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez, and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen.
Given Bottas’ hold on P1, which extended all the way back to FP2, he might have been expected to take his fourth pole position of the year. Hamilton, though, moved ahead early in Q3 on to claim provisional pole just over a tenth of a second clear of the Finn.
And the Briton improved on his final run to set a time of 1:28.319, almost three tenths clear of Bottas and more than six tenths ahead of third-placed Leclerc and Verstappen.
It was an excellent day for McLaren, with Norris sealing place fifth ahead of team-mate Sainz, but it was a disappointing final session for Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel as the German slumped to P7, 1.4s off the pole pace and more than eight tenths of a second behind team-mate Leclerc.
Vettel was followed by Daniel Ricciardo of Renault, the second Red Bull of Gasly and Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi.
2019 FIA Formula One French Grand Prix – Qualiyfing
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:28.319
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:28.605 0.286
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:28.965 0.646
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:29.409 1.090
5 Lando Norris McLaren 1:29.418 1.099
6 Carlos Sainz McLaren 1:29.522 1.203
7 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:29.799 1.480
8 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1:29.918 1.599
9 Pierre Gasly Red Bull Racing 1:30.184 1.865
10 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing 1:33.420 5.101
11 Alex Albon Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:30.461 2.142
12 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo Racing 1:30.533 2.214
13 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:30.544 2.225
14 Sergio Perez Racing Point 1:30.738 2.419
15 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:31.440 3.121
16 Daniil Kvyat Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:31.564 3.245
17 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:31.626 3.307
18 Lance Stroll Racing Point 1:31.726 3.407
19 George Russell Williams 1:32.789 4.470
20 Robert Kubica Williams 1:33.205 4.886.ends
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I was trying to gain the five seconds but it was tough in the end: Sebastian Vettel
Top-three drivers at the post-race press conference on Sunday. An FIA image Montreal, 9 June 2019: Answering a question by INDIAinF1 reporter, Abhishek Aggarwal, Sebastian Vettel revealed that he did try to make up the five seconds but Hamilton too responded increasing the pace and both struggled with the tyres towards the end.
Q: (Abhishek Aggarwal – IndiainF1.com) Sebastian, when the stewards came with the official verdict there were still 15 laps to go and I think you were two seconds ahead of Lewis. Did you think there was possibly some chance or something else to do to get three more seconds of advantage?
SV: Yes, at some point I was three seconds in front but I was pretty sure that he was controlling the pace. Obviously once that happened it felt like he reduced pressure because there was no point. Then at some point it felt like maybe he doubted the decision and was putting pressure back on but also…
LH: I wasn’t backing off because of that. You just started going really quick, and I was like, shoot, he’s going to pull five seconds so I was struggling with the tyres when you suddenly picked up pace and then I was like I’ve got to do everything to try and keep up.
SV: Yeah, so I was trying to get this five seconds but I had a sequence of good laps, maybe that was in hand with when Lewis was struggling but then I was struggling more towards the end, plus we had to save fuel also to make it so not the easiest race to manage but I think we managed to stay ahead which makes me very happy and proud. I think the credit really goes to the team, hard work and this track looked a bit more competitive for us so despite what happened today, we’re looking forward to try and improve our car. There’s still work to do. I think Mercedes and Lewis were a bit faster in the race we’re still catching up but I think it was a good race overall for us.
The following top-three drivers attended the FIA post-race press conference on Sunday: 1. Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes), 2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari), and 3 – Charles LECLERC (Ferrrari).
Full Transcript: (Track Interviews by Martin Brundle)
Q: So, Lewis congratulations. We have to congratulate all three drivers on the podium that was a sensational race, a brutal race as well. Obviously I’ve immediately got to talk about the incident between you and Sebastian at the exit of Turn 4 there.
Lewis HAMILTON: Well, firstly I just want to say a big thank you to my team, because I wouldn’t be standing here today without the incredible effort from everyone. We had a problem this morning with the engine, with my crash on Friday. If they hadn’t been so diligent I wouldn’t have been able to race today as I have. So a big thank you to them. Naturally, it’s absolutely not the way I wanted to win. I was pushing to the end to try to get past, but obviously I forced him into an error, he went a bit wide, but then I obviously had a run on that corner and we nearly collided. It was unfortunate but this is motor racing.
Q: Sebastian has gone straight to the stewards’ office to talk to them about it; he’s not here at the moment. Obviously he feels he was just busy collecting the car up and trying not to crash and he had no other option coming off the grass.
LH: That’s to his opinion of course, you know for me I took the corner normally. When you come back on the track you’re not supposed to go straight back to the racing line, you’re supposed to come on safely and I assume that’s why they…
Q: As you say, you had a tricky day, you know, with the car. Even when you were on the grid they were working like made on your brakes.
LH: Yeah, absolutely. It was just so hot here, you know. The Canadian weather is just so hardcore for us here. Very hard on the brakes. Physically, I’m just destroyed just trying to hold onto Seb. The Ferraris were just so quick this weekend, so I’m really grateful that I was able to be there within the race. Nonetheless, this is good points still for the team.
Q: And finally, do you think you could have overtaken if you had to in those final few laps?
LH: Not towards the end I don’t think. I think we were all struggling with brake temperature towards the end. My tyres were good at that point where he made the mistake, I was as close as I was ever going to be. But then obviously I got that blocking and the gap opened up again. It was just very, very hard all the way through. It’s very, very hard to follow here. This is such a great track. And if it wasn’t for these fans it probably wouldn’t be as great as it is. So a big thank you to everyone that’s come today.
Q: Congratulations. Charles, you nearly took second place on the last lap.
Charles LECLERC: Yeah, it was close. I’m pretty happy about the performance, my own performance today. I think we were very quick. It’s a bit of a shame that yesterday I did some mistakes in qualifying. I need to work on my qualifying to get better on them. The race pace was very, very strong, so it’s a good sign for the future. I’m disappointed obviously for the team, we have all worked extremely hard to be there. I don’t know what happened for Seb, but the team definitely deserved a victory today so it’s a shame but we will come back stronger and we will keep pushing as we did in the first few races and hopefully the victory will come soon.
Q: Relentless pace from you but the team stopped you quite late and you just feel off the leading two.
CL: Yes, there was definitely a reason behind that. Obviously it was quite difficult to challenge the two in front at the beginning so we just tried to go long, hoping for a safety car that never came but yeah we will see.
Q: Sebastian, we missed you in parc fermé. Nine times you two have won a world championship. You are two of the finest drivers that ever graced a Formula 1 circuit but clearly you feel you’ve had a great victory stolen away from you today.
Sebastian VETTEL: Well, I think first of all I really enjoyed the race, I really enjoyed the crowd to be honest, every lap seeing them cheering me on, especially around the hairpin. It was very intense, I think Lewis was a bit quicker throughout the race but we were able to stay ahead. For the rest I think I’ve said enough. You should ask the people what they think. I think we had a great show. Lewis showed some good respect. Yeah, ask the people.
Q: Lewis, you’ve had a race taken away from you in similar circumstances, in Spa, so you know the pain. Does this leave a bad feeling between you two great champions?
LH: Well, all I can say is I didn’t make the decision, firstly, so I don’t know what they’re booing at. Maybe it’s the decision.
SV: The people shouldn’t boo at Lewis, because I think he saw what was going on and I don’t think there was any intention to be in his, harm’s way. I had trouble in staying on track. But the people shouldn’t boo at Lewis. If anything, they should boo at these funny decisions.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: What a difference 24 hours makes: complete euphoria of yesterday and the frustration of today. Can you just talk us through the incident at Turns Three and Four? What caused you to run wide on entry and is there anything you could have done differently when you were re-joining the track?
SV: Well, I lost the rear of the car, so obviously it wasn’t voluntarily going sailing across the track, not knowing how and in which fashion and so on I will be rejoining. I think it is pretty clear I was on the limit. I was pushing very hard throughout the entire race and… yeah. Obviously, I was going through the grass and I think it’s quite commonly known that the grass isn’t very grippy. So – you agree? – and then I was coming back on track and just trying to, you know, make sure I have the car under control. Once I regained control, made sure it was sort of alright, I looked in the mirrors, and saw Lewis right behind me. As you said, yesterday we had the euphoria and the enthusiasm of a great day. I feel, in a way, the same today. I think we had a great race, the team did fantastically and, yeah, obviously I’m not happy with the decision the stewards took. I think you can understand. It feels a bit weird to sit here, not having won the race even though you crossed the line first. And as I said, I don’t think I have done anything wrong; I don’t feel I could have done anything differently. I don’t know, actually, what the problem was. So… yeah. Not much more to say, I think, from my point of view. I think all the people out there, they probably agree with me.
Q: Were you aware of where Lewis was as you were rejoining?
SV: No! How? I’ve got two hands and I had them on the steering wheel, trying to keep the car under my control. So, I don’t know… I think we are pretty good at multi-tasking, driving these cars – but if it is required to drive… to catch the car once you come back from the grass or off the track, maybe one-handed, use the other hand to pull off a tear-off and maybe hit the radio button to talk to the team at the same time, I don’t qualify, I can’t do that. I had, as I said, my hands full, trying to keep the car somewhere in my control. Obviously, I knew that Lewis was behind somewhere because he was, like, a second behind, but when I looked in the mirror he was right there. So I was obviously then racing him down to Turn Six.
Q: And the race pace of your car. What positives can you take away?
SV: Yeah, I think overall it’s been a positive weekend and I think a very positive result. Obviously we’re both sitting up here. as I said, on my side, it feels a bit weird but I think the pace was good. I think it was clear to see that Mercedes probably was faster throughout the race but yeah, we managed to fight them off.
Q: Charles, coming to you. You seem much happier with the car today than during qualifying yesterday?
CL: yeah, I was quite a lot happier today. I think race pace was quite strong, so, on that I was very happy. The start was quite tricky with Lewis but I decided to not take any risks. So then, yeah, it was quite a boring race from then-on, trying to manage the tyres in the first eight-nine laps and from then on I started to push. I could feel that we were quite good and, on the second stint, the car felt great. We were very quick. I could feel I was catching a little bit in front. The team asked me to pit to do the fastest lap, and I asked to continue because I could see that the gap was closing. I knew it will be quite difficult to catch them but if there was an opportunity I wanted to be there, so I didn’t give up. At the end, it didn’t pay off. We do third, it’s a good result home, but the team definitely deserved more after such a great weekend. Also, Seb, disappointed for the team and Seb. I think the first position was in our hands and it’s a shame it slipped away the way it did. So hopefully we’ll have other good races in the future.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Christian Menath – motorsport-magazin.com) Sorry Seb to jump in that again, could you just talk us through when you realised you lost it. Did you think about… was it only that you wanted to catch the car or did you also think about to get back the fastest possible way – and did you lift or did you stay in the throttle?
SV: Look, I think it was clear what happened. I mean, what’s the point of going through split-seconds for an hour now? With all the respect, there’s nothing to add from what I said. You lose the car, I don’t do that voluntarily because the outcome is unpredictable. Once I manage to catch the car, obviously I realise that I couldn’t stay on track, couldn’t keep the car on track, slowed down, had to slow down, go over the grass really cautiously, lost a lot of time. Managed to get back on track with dirty tyres, and once I regained, sort of, control, being somewhere on the track, I had to check my mirrors and Lewis was right behind me, just to see where he is, not to, I don’t know, be in his way or whatever. So, that’s what happened. I’m not the first guy in the world of racing that had a mistake on corner entry and had to catch the car going through the grass, gravel or whatever.
Q: (Michelangelo Choppi – La Voce Euro Canada) What do you have to say about the race today? You do everything you can do to win the race. After you have five seconds penalty. What do you think personally, for the Italian community here who support Ferrari all these days. What do you have to say personally. And for Charles Leclerc, what is the difference between racing with Alfa Romeo last year and this year with the Ferrari here in Montreal? Thank you.
SV: Well, I think we have tremendous support here, it’s crazy. In the morning I commute by bike so I see the people when they queue to get onto the island. It’s crazy. The atmosphere is fantastic. There’s so much support for Ferrari. Obviously a great Ferrari fanbase but I think a great atmosphere in general. During the race I really enjoyed it. Obviously it was very intense, when you have Lewis behind you, pushing you so hard – but I really enjoyed it and halfway through the race I was thinking ‘this is a good day, this is why I’m doing this’. So, I really enjoyed looking up at the grandstands in the hairpin – you have a bit of time while you wait for the car to turn – and the people are going wild and I really enjoyed that. Still, it’s very special. It’s a special position for us to be in. Drivers’ Parade, having the cheer from the people, sitting on the grid, people shouting. Obviously I think I share the people’s opinion after the race as well. It feels a bit funny – but certainly grateful for all the support we get.
And Charles?
CL: On my side it’s just different, of course. You approach the race weekend a little bit differently. Because obviously now I have the car to fight for wins and podiums which, last year, the approach was a bit different: podiums and wins were not on the cards, more points. And the support, as Seb mentioned, is just amazing. A lot more than what I would have expected, and a lot more than last year. Since the beginning of the season really, every race we come to there’s a lot of support and this has changed a lot from last year. So it’s great.
Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Sebastian, will you be appealing the decision, or will Ferrari be appealing the decision. And do you feel any sympathy towards Lewis being booed – given that he didn’t really do anything do anything wrong.
SV: I said, nothing to do with Lewis. I obviously understand that the people weren’t happy, as I wasn’t happy myself with these sort of decisions – but nothing to do with Lewis. It’s just not nice when people boo you, so that’s why I jumped in. I’m sorry that I interrupted his answer but I jumped in and said ‘don’t boo him, he’s done nothing wrong’. If anything he drove a great race, put me under a lot of pressure and I really, really enjoyed that. I think we share great respect amongst each other. Nothing to do with him.
Q: Quick question for Lewis. Congratulations, by the way, win number 78, your fifth of the season. We’re talking about the incident. Can you just tell us what you had to do to avoid Sebastian as he came back on the track?
LH: Well, to me it’s a bit of an empty feeling today, which is kind-of crazy because we’re in this beautiful country. It’s been ultimately a really great race between two different teams and it ends with a bit of a kind of negative. From what I remember, I came through the corner, I was quicker at that point and I was really just trying to apply pressure to Seb. One, to try and get close enough, but two to push him into an error. It’s not too often you’re able to push a four-time World Champion into making an error but it came and at the time I was like ‘OK, great, this is my opportunity.’ So I continued the corner as normal. Came around, and was on the line. The gap just closed, it looked like we were going to crash so I just had to brake and come off the gas to avoid a collision. Fortunately we did avoid it. But obviously that was one kind-of window. And then the gap opened up because I did brake to avoid it. And even when I heard there was a penalty I just kept pushing because I was like ‘maybe we can still have that race’. It’s such a hard race to follow; the temperatures are so high; it’s the heaviest-duty track for the cars. It’s very, very physical for the car and also for the driver. It’s so easy to make a mistake, so I was really just trying to get as close as I could. The Ferrari is ultimately this weekend so strong. They were so quick on the straights. They definitely have another power mode that we currently don’t have. So, all of a sudden they turn up the power and he pulls away massively on the straight, even if I have DRS open. But I really… just trying to focus on the positive, in a sense, that my team worked so hard this morning to get… I nearly didn’t start the race because we had an engine problem. So, the guys have really had their work cut-out this weekend because I crashed the car on Friday – which is rare for me – and then had a good Saturday and then, this morning had that problem. To take the engine apart and rebuild it, was very, very easy to make mistakes and so, I just wanted to deliver them the best race I could possibly deliver. I didn’t feel I did anything wrong today. I just gave it my all. So, there’s nothing more I could really ask.
Q: (Maxime Sarrasin – 98.5FM) Question for Lewis. What happened, we understood it was your seventh win in Montreal, you equalised the record of Michael Schumacher here. So, what are your thoughts about that? Having equalised the record from him?
LH: I have not really thought about it, if I’m really honest. As I was saying earlier, it does kind of feel like a deflated win, naturally. Hopefully by 2021 they redesign the rules better, that enables us to race better than we can currently today. But, this has always been a great hunting ground for me. It’s been a place that I really have loved, and have always felt like I’ve been really accepted and supported here. There’s a lot of Ferrari fans in Canada but nonetheless I still appreciate them. And we get such a great crowd here, y’know. It’s in the top three of the best races of the year, arguably for me. The British Grand Prix is obviously is great for me because I’ve got my home crowd, which is even bigger than this place because it’s a bigger space. When the weather’s great, like today, it’s just one of the most beautiful weekends of the year. So, often have family come out here. I won my first grand prix here, lots of poles, and it’s just been a place that I’ve thoroughly loved driving. So, that’s never going to change. As I said, I felt a little bit odd, being booed – but it’s not like the first time I’ve been booed. I’m used to it – and I forgive.
Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Sebastian, do you plan to go to talk to the stewards afterwards and Lewis, can you summarise what was your feeling in Spa in 2008 when the same happened to you?
SV: I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know what’s the procedure now. I was just thinking that I really love my racing. I’m a purist, I love going back and looking at the old times, the old cars, the old drivers. It’s an honour when you have the chance to meet them and talk to them; they’re heroes in a way. So I really love that but I just wish I was maybe as good, doing what I do, but being in their time rather than today. I think it’s not just about that decision today, there’s other decisions. Just hear the wording when people come on the radio, that we have now. We have an official language, I think it’s all wrong. I think we should be able to say what we think but we’re not so in this regard I disagree with where the sport is now. You have all this wording ‘I gained an advantage, I didn’t gain an advantage, I avoided a collision’. I just think it’s wrong, you know, it’s not really what we’re doing in the car. It’s racing, it’s common sense. If there’s a hazard on track, obviously you slow down because it’s quite unnatural to keep the pedal to the floor and run into the car and then say, ‘ah, it’s wrong that the car was there.’ I think Lewis… obviously as I said, I rejoined the track and then Lewis obviously had to react. I don’t know how close it was or close he was. Once I looked in the mirror he was sort of there but for me that’s racing and I think a lot of the people that I just mentioned earlier, the old Formula One drivers and people in the grandstands and so on, would agree that this is just part of racing but nowadays it’s just… I don’t like it, we all sound a bit like lawyers and using the official language. I think it just gives no edge to people and no edge to the sport. Ultimately it’s not the sport that I fell in love with when I was watching. Obviously it hurts me today because it impacts on my race result but I think this more of a bigger criteria. Tomorrow, when I wake up, I won’t be disappointed. I think Lewis and myself we share great respect and I think we’ve achieved so much in the sport, I think we’re both very very blessed to be in that position so one win up, one win down, I don’t think it’s a game-changer if you’ve been around for such a long time, but as I said, I’m not happy about all this complaining and stuff that we see so many times.
LH: Well, I second what Seb said in the sense of the respect that we’ve always had between us. We’ve had a lot of years racing together and there’s probably no one that I enjoy racing with on the track more than he. I always relish opportunities to battle like we’ve had today and the previous years and they’re really really memories that I will always cherish and I hope there are many more, so stick around.
I don’t think you can relate it necessarily to 2008 because 2008 I made an error. Obviously I overtook someone off track and then had to let them past and then overtook them again but back then, my team asked Charlie – who was a steward clearly – whether the overtake was OK and Charlie came back and said it was totally fine but if he had come back and told us at the time that it wasn’t OK, I would have let him back past and overtook him again. But the rest of that race was crazy, you know. I went off, he overtook me and then he spun and then I overtook him again and then he crashed and then I won the race – and I still got penalised at the end so it was a lot different, but I do understand what it’s like to naturally lose a race. It’s definitely not the way you want to win a race, it’s not the way you want to lose a race also, especially when you’ve driven so well.
Q: (Mike Doodson – ) It’s an apology because it’s more about the same incident but none of us have driven cars with a thousand horsepower at the speed that you do. Obviously you didn’t have many options, you didn’t have much time to make them. If you had lifted off, would it have been dangerous, would the car have spun because the grass was so slippery? What would have been the reaction of the car?
SV: I lifted off, of course, I lost time. I don’t think it was faster that way, I think you agree. Yes, as I said, I was busy enough to keep it somewhere under control so of course, once I’d lost the rear, already I lost the corner, then I lift off and I just sort of stayed somehow in control over the grass and then came back, so I wasn’t flooring it. If I would have done that I would have crashed. So the priority at that point is just to survive, it’s not look around or going on the power or being fast or whatever.
Q: (Pino Asaro – Corriera Italiano) Seb, take us back to your state of mind as soon as you got out of the car? We saw you on the monitor, followed you into the Ferrari hospitality. What you going through? We’re all asking questions, are you going to race control, can you please take us back to that particular moment?
LH: By the way, I stopped at the end, I thought your car broke down. I stopped to pick you up.
SV: I thought maybe, OK. No, I wasn’t looking. I parked the car in parc ferme, a different parc ferme, the one that is not for the top three and then went to get weighed and then at that point didn’t really want to join anything that was obviously happening after that. I wasn’t very heated up, obviously angry and disappointed but I think everybody understands why but I think it’s a matter of respect to show to Lewis and Charles and also the representative for Mercedes on the podium, to be part of the podium. Certainly it wasn’t the place where I wanted to be because at that point you just want to get out but yeah, also sitting here is not of my free will but I have to be here.
Q: (Pino Asaro – Corriera Italiano) And the question for Charles: you almost came within five seconds of Seb. Did you lift off, the last lap or two, to make sure that Seb at least would finish second?
CL: I was not aware at all so no. I pushed but I didn’t know what was going on in front, I didn’t know Seb had a penalty. I was just pushing in case something happened in front, to be there if I had an opportunity but I was not aware of the five seconds penalty so no, I only did my own race.
Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Lewis, being the racer as you, if you were sitting in the stewards’ room would you investigate such an incident, or would you give a penalty then finally?
LH: Well, the good thing is I’m not in the stewards’ room so I’m not there, so it’s a hypothetical question.
Q: (Rebecca Clancy – The Times) Sebastian, you talked about wanting to race in the old days and obviously you’ve been around for a while. Do races like today, decisions like today make you question your future in the sport?
SV: Well, I don’t know. Not ready, what time is it now? I’m not ready for this kind of question. I don’t know, I just feel that nowadays we look at so many things that maybe we didn’t look at in the past because nobody was really making a fuss. Now, obviously it’s worth making a fuss for everything because you have these decisions. I sympathise in a way with the stewards. I’ve said many times when I’ve been in there that they are sitting in front of a piece of paper and they’re watching the race and they also came back to me and say we agree but look, we have to do these kind of things so I think just the way we are doing these things now is just wrong but it’s our times, we have regulations for everything. We need to have this jacket when… I don’t know, it’s clear there’s a hole when walking down a pedestrian walk and there is a hole in the street because they’re doing construction work and there needs to be a be guy who guides to the other side of the road, otherwise it’s the construction company’s fault that you fell into the hole and broke a leg, but I think you’re just an idiot if you walk into that hole and break you leg but that’s a little bit how my theory is nowadays. The approaches are drifting apart.
Q: (Abhishek Aggarwal – IndiainF1.com) Sebastian, when the stewards came with the official verdict there were still 15 laps to go and I think you were two seconds ahead of Lewis. Did you think there was possibly some chance or something else to do to get three more seconds of advantage?
SV: Yes, at some point I was three seconds in front but I was pretty sure that he was controlling the pace. Obviously once that happened it felt like he reduced pressure because there was no point. Then at some point it felt like maybe he doubted the decision and was putting pressure back on but also…
LH: I wasn’t backing off because of that. You just started going really quick, and I was like, shoot, he’s going to pull five seconds so I was struggling with the tyres when you suddenly picked up pace and then I was like I’ve got to do everything to try and keep up.
SV: Yeah, so I was trying to get this five seconds but I had a sequence of good laps, maybe that was in hand with when Lewis was struggling but then I was struggling more towards the end, plus we had to save fuel also to make it so not the easiest race to manage but I think we managed to stay ahead which makes me very happy and proud. I think the credit really goes to the team, hard work and this track looked a bit more competitive for us so despite what happened today, we’re looking forward to try and improve our car. There’s still work to do. I think Mercedes and Lewis were a bit faster in the race we’re still catching up but I think it was a good race overall for us.
Q: (Audas Ruszinov – Hungarian media) Lewis, your history in the winning circle started here in 2007. Would you take a moment to look back and compare the 2007 Lewis Hamilton to the person you are today? What was the most appreciated things of value which Formula One has taught you, as a driver, as a person, which you appreciated the most in the last 12 years?
LH: That’s a good question. Well naturally I was 22-years old, pretty much a kid still and for me, personally, I feel like I’ve matured a lot later. I was thrown in at the deep end of this incredible circus and sport. One thing I was prepared for was to race but I wasn’t prepared for the whole circus that comes along with it. I don’t know if I could say what the sport’s taught me. Naturally, through all these different experiences I’ve learned a lot about who I am, how to adapt to the different situations that surround me. I’ve done everything through trial and error. I’ve made a lot of mistakes over these years. Many of you here have been with me through that journey and definitely seen those mistakes, the good and the bad so there’s not really much that the media or you guys don’t know about me in terms of my character. I’m not perfect but I’ve grown a huge amount with the sport and the sport’s given my life meaning so I’m forever grateful to it and naturally today, I’m 34-years old, I’m a grown man and still love driving, still driving with the same heart that I did, I think, when I was 22 but just much more level head on my shoulders, a much wiser head of my shoulders which has enabled me to drive with the style and the skill that I had before but just finesse it a lot better. But also we get to travel the world, we get to see different cultures and all these different beautiful countries and people and I think what I’ve really really learned is really to enjoy… firstly not to take notice of what people think of you because every is going to have an opinion and then just, as long as you like yourself, know you’ve got great people around you who do love you, like your family most importantly, then all you’ve got to do is just enjoy what you do and do the best you can, because our days are limited, as I always say. I try to make sure I… like I can go to bed tonight and know that I gave everything this weekend and I’ll come back stronger at the next race and hope not to make mistakes on the Friday for example.
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Five-second penalty to Sebastian Vettel hands over win to Hamilton: Canadian Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton poses with Sebastian Vettel (left) and Charles Leclerc (right) on Sunday. An FIA image By Abhishek Aggarwal
Montreal, 9 June 2019: Ferrari, the grand old team of Formula 1, had lost its premier standing of late and the 2019 season is no different. Sebastian Vettel, the four-time world champion too, has been struggling to come to terms with his pace adding to the poor quality of performance by the car. But the week-end here at Montreal revived the spirits of the Tifosi as Vettel appeared to have recharged himself to put up a challenge to the Silver Arrows and he truly dominated on Saturday to take the pole position ahead of Mercedes, following amazing practice sessions. But their joy was short-lived.
It was race day on Sunday and all was going well for Vettel. After the pole position in qualifying and the tremendous start, the fortunes of the Red cars seem to have turned turtle once again. The fans call it a jinx. Did someone jinx the German driver’s incredible run when on lap 48… Under heavy pressure from second-placed Lewis Hamilton, Vettel was forced to make a mistake. He lost control of the rear of his car on the entry to the Turn 34 chicane and was forced to go off track on to the grass. He came back and was deemed to have done it in a dangerous manner. The stewards reviewed the incident and imposed a 5-second penalty to Vettel’s time on the grounds of `re-entering the track unsafely’. As a result, though Vettel crossed the chequered flag first, he was eventually adjudged second with +3.658 seconds behind Hamilton. Thus Hamilton continued his good run and won the 2019 Canadian Grand Prix.
This verdict wasn’t absorbed well by the Italian Red Tifosi which was evident from the mood in the Ferrari stands and supporters in the post-race celebrations. They cheered when Vettel took the No.1 board and placed in front of the area where his car was supposed to be parked.
Team Ferrari have decided to challenge the decision made by the stewards with all the supporting data from the cars involved, different viewing cameras and the telemetry.
It was Lewis Hamilton’s record-equalling seventh Canadian Grand Prix win. When Vettel made the mistake there were 22 laps remaining, in the Canadian Grand Prix, the 7th round of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship here on Sunday, but his challenge was essentially over with the stewards penalising later.
Leading from the start, Vettel had only relinquished control of the race during his solitary pit stop on lap 26 of the 70-lap race.
The German took the chequered flag 1.3 seconds ahead of Hamilton but was immediately demoted second place, with Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc third. Hamilton thus took his 68thcareer win and his seventh at the Circuit Gille Villeneuve, equalling Michael Schumacher’s record for Canadian Grand Prix wins.
“I was pushing to the end to try to get past, but obviously I forced him into an error, he went a bit wide, but then I obviously had a run on that corner and we nearly collided,” said Hamilton afterward. “It was unfortunate but this is motor racing.
“I took the corner normally,” the championship leader added. “When you come back on the track you’re not supposed to go straight back to the racing line, you’re supposed to come on safely.”
When the lights went out for the start, polesitter Vettel made a good start and quickly began to build a lead over Hamilton and Leclerc, with Renault’s fourth-placed Daniel Ricciardo keeping Red Bull’s Pierre Gasly at bay.
Gasly was the first of the top five to make a pit stop, with the Frenchman taking on hard tyres on lap seven. He emerged behind Racing Point’s Lance Stroll, however, and the slower pace of the Canadian driver allowed Renault to eventually pit both its drivers and get them out ahead of the Red Bull.
Gasly’s Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen had started the race from P11 on hard tyres and as the field pitted around him the Dutch driver rose up the order top fifth place.
By lap 20, Vettel held a 2.4s lead over Hamilton, with Leclerc three seconds further back. Bottas was now in fourth place but being pursued by Verstappen.
Vettel made his pit stop at the end of lap 26, taking on hard tyres. Hamilton made his stop two laps later, and after also bolting on hard tyres he emerged four seconds behind the German. At the end of lap 30 Bottas pitted for hard tyres, promoting Verstappen to fourth place.
Leclerc was then next in, and he emerged behind Verstappen. Still on starting hard tyres, the Red Bull driver offered little resistance when Leclerc made a move and by half distance the order again showed Vettel ahead of Hamilton with Leclerc bow third ahead of Verstappen.
Hamilton now began to chase down Vettel and by lap 45 the gap between the front pair was just under a second.
Vettel was now coming under serious pressure from the championship leader and on lap 48 the German driver made a mistake on the entry of Turn 3 and went off track. He managed to keep his lead but in rejoining he squeezed Hamilton towards rthe wall on the exit of Turn 4.
The incident was placed under investigation and race officials handed Vettel a five-second time penalty for “unsafe re-entry”. Hamilton was told the news and was told that to take the win all he needed to do was sit on the Ferrari’s gearbox.
Further back, The Verstappen has finally made his pit stop on lap 48. He took on medium tyres and rejoined in P7. He quickly moved past the Renault’s of Hulkenberg and Ricciardo to claim P5.
Ahead, Vettel took the flag ahead of Hamilton but Hamilton was immediately promoted to the top step of the podium ahead of the Ferrari driver.
Leclerc took third place ahead of Bottas, while Verstappen took fifth place ahead of the Renaults of Ricciardo and Hulkenberg. Gasly took his fifth points finish of the campaign with eighth place and the final points positions were taken by Racing Point’s Lance Stroll and Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat. (With quotes and inputs from FIA release)
2019 FIA Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix – Race
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 3.658
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 4.696
4 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 51.043
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull 57.655
6 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1 Lap
7 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1 Lap
8 Pierre Gasly Red Bull 1 Lap
9 Lance Stroll Racing Point 1 Lap
10 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1 Lap
11 Carlos Sainz McLaren 1 Lap
12 Sergio Perez Racing Point 1 Lap
13 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 1 Lap
14 Romain Grosjean Haas 1 Lap
15 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 1 Lap
16 George Russell Williams 2 Laps
17 Kevin Magnussen Haas 2 Laps
18 Robert Kubica Williams 3 Laps
19 Alex Albon Toro Rosso
Lando Norris McLaren. -
Sebastian Vettel takes pole ahead of Hamilton: Canadian Grand Prix
By Abhishek Aggarwal
Montreal, 8 Jun 2019: Sebastian Vettel took his first pole position for 2019 season, as he put his Ferrari in the front, at the Canadian Grand Prix with the fastest lap. His lap of 1:10.240 was two-tenths ahead of the current championship leader Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes. Both the drivers of Ferrari were seen working as team while doing alternative runs in front of each other thereby providing splitstream to one another. As a result, Vettel’s teammate Charles Leclerc, who clocked a time of 1:10.920 took third place on the Grid.
With Ferrari finally showing speed and reliability this weekend, very sunny and hot track conditions and the tricky wall of champions (already claiming Magnussen and Hamilton), the race Sunday at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is expected to be very interesting.
In Q1 Sebastian Vettel topped the timesheet with a lap of 1:11.200. That left him 0.014s ahead of Ferrari team-mate Leclerc and 0.029s in front of third-placed Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes. Max Verstappen progressed to Q2 with a time of 1:11.619, a lap that was good enough for fifth place behind Hamilton, adds a release.
Eliminated at the end of Q1 were 16th-placed Sergio Pérez of Racing Point ahead of Sauber’s Kimi Räikkönen, the second Racing Point of local favourite Lance Stroll and the Williams cars of George Russell and Robert Kubica.
Q2 saw the Ferrari and Mercedes drivers emerge on medium tyres, with Verstappen replicating the move moments later.
But while the Ferrari and Mercedes men out in laps good enough to secure progression to Q2, with Hamilton in P1 ahead of Bottas and Vettel, soft-tyre shod red Bull driver Pierre Gasly and Leclerc, Verstappen was struggling. Both of the Dutchman’s quick laps on medium tyres were hampered by traffic and in P11 ahead of the final runs he was forced to make the switch to soft tyres and go out on track for a final attempt at qualification.
With tea-mate Gasly just a few tenths off the pace Verstappen looked sure to advance on the softest compound but it was not to be.
Ahead of the Dutchman on track Kevin Magnussen lost control at the final chicane and hit the Wall of Champions. The Haas driver slid across the track, hit the opposite wall and cam to rest in the middle of the track.
Verstappen’s lap was ruined and he was eliminated in P11 ahead of Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat, Sauber’s Antonio Giovinazzi, the second Toro of Alex Albon and the second Haas of Romain Grosjean.
In the final top-10 shootout Hamilton claimed provisional position with an impressive time of 1:10.493. That left him a little under two tenths clear of Vettel with Leclerc in third place ahead of Gasly.
In the final runs though, Vettel found an extra reserve of pace and powered to pole position and a new track record with a lap of 1:10.240 two tenths of a second ahead of Hamilton. Leclerc took third place but Pierre was edged out of P4 by just nine thousandths of a second by Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo and the Frenchman thus matched his career best grid slot of fifth, established in Bahrain last year.
Pierre’s time was good enough to beat the second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas, however, and the Finn will start from P6 ahead of the second Renault of Nico Hulkenberg, McLaren’s Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz.
2019 FIA Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:10.240
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:10.446 0.206
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:10.920 0.680
4 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1:11.071 0.831
5 Pierre Gasly Red Bull 1:11.079 0.839
6 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:11.101 0.861
7 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:11.324 1.084
8 Lando Norris McLaren 1:11.863 1.623
9 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren 1:13.981 3.741
10 Kevin Magnussen Haas
11 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:11.800 1.560
12 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:11.921 1.681
13 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 1:12.136 1.896
14 Alex Albon Toro Rosso 1:12.193 1.953
15 Romain Grosjean Haas
16 Sergio Perez Racing Point 1:12.197 1.957
17 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 1:12.230 1.990
18 Lance Stroll Racing Point 1:12.266 2.026
19 George Russell Williams 1:13.617 3.377
20 Robert Kubica Williams 1:14.393 4.153.(With inputs from FIA release)
Updated twice after publishing
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Leclerc quickest in FP2; Hamilton hits the wall: Canadian Grand Prix
Leclerc tops FP2. An FIA image By Abhishek Aggarwal
Montreal, 7 June 2019: The Red cars dominated the show in the second session of the Free Practice with Charles Leclerc beating his senior teammate Sebastian Vettel as Ferrari topped the timesheets in FP2 for this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, the 7th round of the Formula 1 World Championship, as reigning FIA F1 Champion crashed out.
Mercedes driver and defending world champion Lewis Hamilton could not repeat his morning show where he had good pace to edge team-mate Valtteri Bottas by a tenth of a second in FP1 and he also had a good gap of almost a second to his Ferrari rivals. He was also quickest in the opening exchanges of FP2 before the Reds took over.
A little under half an hour into the session the Briton swapped medium tyres for the softs as he prepared for his performance run, but he lost the rear of his car in the Turn 8 chicane and swiped the wall hard with his rear right wheel, sustaining a puncture.
The Briton who also leads the table for Drivers Championship, managed to limp back to the pits, but clearly more damage had been to his car than just the puncture and he was forced to pull out of the session.
That left the way clear for Bottas, who had spent all day trading times with his team-mate to claim top spot. The Finn put in a good lap of 1:12.311 on his soft-tyre run, but that was swiftly eclipsed by Vettel, with a lap of 1:12.251 and then Leclerc who squeezed past with a lap seven hundredths of a second quicker than that of his team-mate.
It might have been expected that Red Bull would also be in the mix at the top of the timesheet, but neither Max Verstappen nor Pierre Gasly enjoyed good performance runs.
On his qualifying sim Verstappen came across Gasly in the final chicane and focusing on his slow moving team-mate he understeered and smacked the Wall of Champions with his front right wheel. It seemed as if he had not sustained serious damage as he drove back to the pits, but he spent a long period in the garage and only rejoined the action late in the session.
Verstappen ended the session 13thplace, four hundredths of a second behind Gasly who appeared to struggle for balance in his RB15 throughout.
The absence of the Red Bulls at the top of the order and Hamilton’s crash meant that fourth place in the session went to McLaren’s Carlos Sainz, while Haas’ Kevin Magnussen finished fifth ahead of Hamilton.
Seventh place was taken by Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez, who finished 5h with a best time of 1:13.003, a creditable 0.826s off Leclerc’s pace.
The Mexican was separated from 10thplace team,-mate Lance Stroll by 0.168 and by the Renault pairing of eigth-placed Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg.
Stroll, though, is to be investigated by race officials for an incident late in the session in which he banged wheels with Haas’ Romain Grosjean. The Frenchman was forced to back out of the final chicane as the pair jocked for position. (With inputs from FIA release)
2019 FIA Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 39 1:12.177
2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 38 1:12.251 0.074
3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 46 1:12.311 0.134
4 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren 45 1:12.553 0.376
5 Kevin Magnussen Haas 41 1:12.935 0.758
6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 8 1:12.938 0.761
7 Sergio Perez Racing Point 39 1:13.003 0.826
8 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 40 1:13.016 0.839
9 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 42 1:13.168 0.991
10 Lance Stroll Racing Point 37 1:13.171 0.994
11 Lando Norris McLaren 38 1:13.249 1.072
12 Pierre Gasly Red Bull 38 1:13.345 1.168
13 Max Verstappen Red Bull 22 1:13.388 1.211
14 Alex Albon Toro Rosso 45 1:13.436 1.259
15 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 40 1:13.521 1.344
16 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 41 1:13.542 1.365
17 Romain Grosjean Haas 39 1:13.598 1.421
18 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 16 1:14.870 2.693
19 George Russell Williams 36 1:15.036 2.859
20 Robert Kubica Williams 44 1:15.287 3.110. -
Tech regulations are made by people with power and money; drivers have a very little say: Hamilton
Montreal, 6 June 2019: The following drivers were present for the FIA Thursday press conference (Part I) ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, the 7th round of the Formula 1 World Championship:
Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes), Lance STROLL (Racing Point), Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Alfa Romeo), Lando NORRIS (McLaren), Daniil KVYAT (Toro Rosso).
Transcript:
Lance, it’s both yours and the team’s home race. Just describe how that feels?
Lance STROLL: Well, it’s obviously a very special weekend; it’s good to be back home. I don’t get to come back often. The week leading up to the race has been great, catching up with friends and family. I enjoyed my time playing hockey with the Montréal Canadiens yesterday, that was fun, and now back to business.Q: And I think you’ve got your own grandstand this weekend, is that right?
LS: That’s right, yeah, at the hairpin, like last year, so that will be very special, my installation lap tomorrow, all the Canadian flags in the grandstands. It’s one of the best weekends on the calendar and definitely the highlight of my season.Q: Well, let’s hope that Sunday’s race lasts longer for you than it did last year. Tell us about the car’s potential here at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. What do you think you can achieve?
LS: Well, historically it’s been a track that’s suited our car. I mean of course it’s a new year and the competition in the midfield is very tight. But I think there is an opportunity for us this weekend. It’s been a challenging couple of events, in Spain and in Monaco, not managing to score points, but we’re looking to turn that around this weekend.Q: Well, you have scored points this year, in Australia and Baku. Qualifying seems to have been quite tough for you so far. How does the car feel on light fuel, is it very tricky?
LS: Yeah, I mean at times I think we have just unfortunately missed out. There are reasons behind why the performance has been poor, but it’s definitely a focus point and we’ll be working on it moving forward.Q: Thank you and good luck this weekend. Daniil, your best ever result with Toro Rosso in Monaco, where you finished seventh. Fair to say it was one of your best races?
Daniil KVYAT: Yeah, I mean, you know how it is in Monaco – you start and pretty from there the positions are consolidated. It was good to get this kind of way, you know. It was a very good day for myself, for the team and to be honest the whole weekend felt quite good in the car – good qualifying. Lately it’s been getting better and better, so I’m pretty happy with things, how they are going, the way they are moving. Hopefully we’ll carry on the momentum and bring it into here as well.Q: You say it’s getting better. Is your own performance getting better and better? Are we seeing the best Kvyat we have ever seen in Formula 1?
DK: Perhaps, yes. I wanted to come back to F1 as an improved version of myself and I think I’m managing to do that so far and hopefully again it will be getting better and better.Q: You’re equalling a record this weekend: With your former team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne, you’re starting your 58th race for Toro Rosso, which is a record, and you’re only 25. How does that feel and how has the team evolved in that time?
DK: You’ve made me feel very old now. Yeah, I’m happy with where the team is going to be honest. I’ve seen a lot of things in Toro Rosso and now I think I’m happy with the team around me and I’m quite happy there. The guys are doing a very good job this year, I think improving many things that in the past were maybe holding this team back, and I’m happy to contribute, to help the team improve these things.Q: Good stuff and good luck this weekend. Lando, you first time here in Montréal. What are you expecting from this race track? The walls are pretty close.
Lando NORRIS: It’s pretty difficult to say. I’ve obviously done my share of sim work and preparation and seen onboards and whatever, just what the usual is. It’s a new weekend. Monaco didn’t go quite so well for me but it’s an exciting one. From what I’ve seen in the past it looks a fun track, it’s a fun track to drive, although it’s pretty tricky. I’m just looking to have fun and hopefully some racing on Sunday and I guess our aim for the whole weekend is before we go into more details, let’s say it’s to get into Q3 and have a points finish. But the midfield is very tight, like Lance said, and it’s going to be tough. We just need to make sure we’re at the front of that, and yeah, just give it our best.Q: The intra-team battle between you and Carlos is proving pretty tight this year, just six points between you? How’s the working relationship between you?
LN: It’s going pretty well, actually. I’ve team-mate in other categories of course, but it’s always different when you get to Formula 1, a lot of people… People try to make a lot more of fierce battle between team-mates, a lot of media and everything always look into that kind of things. But we’re have a lot of fun and yeah, we’re friends away from the track. We’ve had a lot of fun so far this season. There has been no conflict. There have not been any points so far where we’ve had different decisions or different opinions on different things; we’ve gelled pretty well. And for the team anyway that has been very positive. We have similar comments. We have different feelings and prefer different things on the car, but we work together, which also helps the team improve, go in a similar direction and that’s a positive thing. Looking ahead to the future, I’m trying to improve the car and become a better team. It’s been good fun and I’m sure it’s going to improve and help things going forward.Q: You say you are looking to improve the car. Tell us a little bit about the car, as it appears that it tends to fluctuate a little bit from track to track. Is that a fair assessment?
LN: Yeah, I think if you look back…. I don’t know, the one fairly standout one was China and that was just not a good weekend altogether for us, as a tea. But we bounced back fairly well and apart from that we have been fairly strong – top 10 contenders shall we say. I think just because the midfield is close, it’s four teams, five teams, and different teams are better in different areas and at different tracks and it’s hard to make those differences sometimes more than others. Coming into this weekend, it’s just going to be one of those times where we could be very strong or not be strong but we never really know, although we have assumptions on where the car is good or bad. Other teams as well. It’s always a different track when you go out and drive. It’s getting there. It’s improving slowly, but it’s not where we want it to be yet.Q: Thank you Lando and enjoy yourself this weekend. Kimi, we’ve heard about the performance of the McLaren, tell us a little bit about the Alfa Romeo. The season started very well for you guys but it appears to have dropped off in the last couple of races. Why do you think that is?
Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Honestly, we were not that fast. I think, definitely not what we wanted but in Monaco if you qualify quite badly that’s pretty much where you are going to race. After Saturday, after the first few laps and the first pit stop you know where you are going to be. But in Barcelona I think we understood some things that were wrong. Those are two separate things but I think those circuits overall were not very good for us. Hopefully we are back here a bit more normal position but we are only going to find out over the weekend, so we’ll see. Nothing major wrong, it’s just that we lack speed.Q: Now, it’s Lando’s first weekend here. It didn’t go so badly for you back in 2001, your first time here, you finished fourth. Tell us a little bit about the track, the highlights from a driver’s point of view?
KR: It’s quite a tricky track in the end, because obviously… It’s not really a street circuit but it’s very narrow on the exit of the chicanes, so if you get it wrong you have to push over the kerbs and if your car is not very good over the kerbs it’s easy to touch the walls. Plus, there are a lot of brakings (sic) that have to be right. It not an awful lot of corners but it’s not the easiest place to get right.Q: Thank you, Kimi. Lewis, well, fourth for Kimi on his first outing here in 2001, and of course you won your first ever grand prix here back in 2007. Can you tell us what it’s like to come back to Montréal, a track where you’ve had so much success and what you are looking forward to this weekend?
Lewis HAMILTON: [To Lando Norris] I’m just wondering, how old are you?
LN: Nineteen.
LH: Shoot… No, I love coming back to Montréal. The weather is often great here. The circuit is fantastic and it’s a track that I think everyone enjoys. It’s definitely in the top three of the favourite circuits of the year. And I think the city is a big part of that. The city is very vibrant. The people are super welcoming, great food. Even just today, you see the whole bridge is covered with fans, so you already know that you have a massive turnout for this race. From a driver’s perspective the track is awesome. It’s a bit go-kart-esque, with great long straights, so you can overtake, and you’re throwing the car over these big, huge kerbs around the track and there are not massive run-off areas, so it’s a bit of a high-speed street circuit, which is great.Q: Why do you think you excel here?
LH: Well, I don’t think I’ve really excelled for quite a while here, if I’m really honest. When I was at McLaren it worked quite well. I think our car was quite nimble back then and working really well here. I don’t think I’ve been massively successful as far as I can remember in recent years. But it’s been a bit harder in the hybrid era, especially since we’ve had a longer car, since 2017, so it’s a little bit harder to get turned around some of these corners. But our car is a lot better this year in the slower-speed, medium-speed corners, so I anticipate that this year we will be stronger than we have been in the past. But being that we have these long straights, you know that the Red Bulls and the Ferraris will be particularly really strong this weekend and I’m excited for that fight.Q: Can you just elaborate on how you see the balance of power coming into this weekend? Are you more nervous about this weekend than the previous six this year?
LH: No, I wouldn’t say I was more nervous about this weekend. You do notice in Monaco that everyone gets a lot closer, or the top teams particularly are a lot closer, but generally everyone is more packed together. A lot of these other teams have got great packages and are getting closer and closer throughout the year, which is great to see. Here, there are not a huge amount of corners and it’s a lot of straight-line speed. Honda have really picked up their pace with their engine this year, so the Red Bulls should be really strong and they’re great through corners. The Ferrari is generally the quickest car in a straight line, all year long. In the past races we’ve been able to catch them up through the corners, but whether or not that will be the case this weekend, time will tell. But I hope there is a close battle between us all.QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Lewis, when we were in Monaco, you said you expected to have an upgraded engine here. The team’s confirmed that. Because you’ve had six races, the team has won every race despite not having that engine upgrade your rivals have. How much of a step do you expect to take this weekend. And with the improvements to the car, making it better in lower and medium speed this year, do you feel the team’s in its strongest all-round position that it’s been since you’ve been with Mercedes?
LH: Well, on the engine side, the guys back at Brixworth have been working incredibly hard. It’s not been the easiest beginning of the year in terms of preparing an engine. Whilst it’s an evolution of previous years, each time you’re always trying to push the envelope, and there’s so many people working so hard to improve it. As I said, it’s not been the smoothest ride but we’ve had great reliability with the first engine. It’s always great when you have a new engine, being that it’s fresh. This is a power circuit, so it’s come at the perfect time. If you look at the previous years, this is the race we always bring our second engine. It’s Phase II so it will have all-new mods. Slight improvements everywhere: it’s not a massive… it’s not like at the beginning of the hybrid era where you took massive strides forwards – or even last year. It’s just small steps. The biggest difference is that it’s brand new; fresh. The old engine that’s done six races will have degradation etc., But the guys have worked so hard, it’s now small percentages but they’re very much appreciated.Q: (Andrea Cremonese – La Gazzetta dello Sport) A question for Lewis. You come from two difficult life periods, not about yourself but we have the funeral of Niki and then there was death on Thursday of the poor kid, Harry [Shaw]. I know that you drew inspiration in Spain from this poor guy. I would like to know if these two things can stimulate you more over this grand prix to honour the memory of Niki and the memory of the young guy? Thank you.
LH: I don’t know if it stimulates more. It’s just that, as you go through life, when you see things happen, or you experience certain things, you naturally grow through it. I think, naturally we continue to race with Niki in our hearts and that’s not going to stop. We always want to continue to make him proud. Of course, devastating to… I can’t understand how… life is so precious and how such a young… how young people can lose their lives so early on. It’s just beyond me. But I have the greatest memories with little Harry. God has another angel. Coming into this weekend we’ve all got to stay positive. I’ve got a lot of people relying on me to continue to do the job. So, it’s just strange how the world continues to move on. The world just continues. What’s really important for each and every single one of us. We all have our own lives and we don’t know how long or short they’re going to be. You just have to maximise every opportunity. Every day that I have, I’m trying to grow, trying to be the best I can be, do what I love, regardless of people’s opinions, and just live life to the fullest.Q: (Walter Buchignani – Montreal Gazette) I have a very local question for those of you who’ve been here before. Can we have your impressions on the new installations please?
DK: They renewed the paddock this year. I think it looks wider but looks good I guess. I don’t know. For me, more important is the track. The room is there where I can sit down and that’s it, that’s all that matters. The track is fine. Some other things stayed old. It’s good, always welcome the renovations.LH: It looks beautiful. I’ve not really seen much of it – obviously we’re in it now. It’s only taken the 13 years I’ve been here for them to put it together, being it’s one of the most attended races, I’m surprised they didn’t do it sooner but it’s great that they have. It means that they’ve made a real investment, it means this track is going to be here for a long time, as it should be. They’re still working on the road works outside. That bridge! I swear they’ve been working on that since I started in Formula One! I don’t know if it’s every going to get done. Maybe they should hire the same people that did this building because they’ve done a good job.
LS: It’s beautiful. It’s great for the city, great for the grand prix. I hope it sticks around because we all think it’s a great place to come race. It’s awesome to drive around here and there’s great racing as well. Really please for Montreal. Let’s enjoy it.
KR: I haven’t been in the boxes or in a garage, so its hard to say. What I heard is that it’s better for the guys to work, so I think they will appreciate a lot. I think you’ll get the very honest answer from them if you ask after the weekend how was it. I’m sure it’s better for them to work and for everybody here, so that’s a good thing.
Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) Question for Kimi and Dany. Kimi, one-third of the season almost done. How is it to be back in the midfield after 16 seaons fighting at the front. And Daniil, you’re back to where you started in terms of teams. You just mentioned how much the team has changed and improved. How different are you from when you were driving for them the first time around, now that you have the experience?
DK: Yeah, I think, like I said also before, I think the team is moving in a good direction. I think in the winter there was a plan to improve certain areas that in the past weren’t fantastic. It’s important to see that it’s getting better. Also, our car, I think, is showing consistent performance on most kinds of track. Me likewise. I wanted to work on certain things for my comeback in Formula One. There’s been a lot of good work put in behind the scenes and it’s paying off, which I am very pleased to see. Hopefully it will carry on like that. We should never stop, as a team, and I’m happy with the team around me as well. We should never stop developing and just aim to move in the same direction, for me and for the team.KR: I think the work itself is no different. Basically do the same stuff, it doesn’t matter which team you are in. Racing, I think there has been some good battles. If it’s like Monaco, even in the front, if you’re stuck behind somebody, it’s not the greatest place for racing but there’s been good battles here and there. I wouldn’t say that a lot of things have changed. I think you get more close battles in quite a few races because the midfield teams are more close together. At least there’s been some overtaking this year – but generally the working side hasn’t changed. It’s a bit less busy, so that’s a good thing.
Q: (Philippe Lague – 98.5FM Montreal) I have a question for Lewis. We’ve talked about Niki Lauda and it was quite a loss but here I would like to have for our local audience your personal input. I read somewhere that he made you a better driver. Can you elaborate on that please?)
LH: Niki never talked to me about driving. As racing drivers, we don’t really do that necessarily. He hired me to do a job. He didn’t hire me to then tell me how to do the job. He was just, for me, a massive part of my journey. Obviously I wouldn’t have joined this team if it wasn’t for Niki. And then, along the way, just understanding how he was a racer and his approach and how he pushed the people around him to help extract more from the team. I definitely learnt that sort of thing from him. I could see that from him all the time, so I’ve definitely incorporated that in how I manoeuvre throughout my year. In terms of driving, that’s all been trial and error through myself really but as I said, I wouldn’t have had the platform to develop as a driver; I wouldn’t have the platform I currently have without Niki.Q: (Stu Cowan – Montreal Gazette) Question for Lance. What do you like most about this track and what’s the most challenging and/or fun part of it for a driver?
LS: I think just the technicality of it in general. It’s got a lot of character. Lewis mentioned it earlier. You’re riding the kerbs, there’s not a lot of room for error. Long straights which allow for good overtaking, so there’s a bit of everything. For a racing driver, that makes the weekend in general very exciting. It’s a lot of fun to drive over one lap. You have to be very committed and use all of the race track. On Sunday it’s a proper race, and that’s great for the fans as well.Q: (Oliver Brown – The Telegraph) Question for Lewis. The programme that you did with David Letterman. There was an interesting section where your Dad was referring to the management breakup back in 2010, and he said that it broke his heart. I just wondered if you could reflect on how difficult that period was and how much more it makes you appreciate the relationship you have with him now.
LH: There’s nothing that hasn’t ever really been spoken about before. The relationship is fantastic now and unfortunately it wasn’t always great but that happens within families. The great thing is that… actually this year I had the first Christmas with my whole family this year. With my Mum and my Step-Mum and my Dad and sisters together and my brother together. So it was the first united Christmas that I’ve had over the years. So, there’s been massive growth within the family and between me and my Dad, we just went out partying for his birthday the other day until the early hours of the morning in London, which was awesome. Sometimes it just takes people time apart to build and grow within themselves so then they can come back into relationships. But for sure, as you get older you realise how precious time is. I’ve got friends who don’t have their dads any longer and some that didn’t speak to their dads for 25-30 years. I never ever want that to happen. My Dad’s someone who I think is the greatest man I know and someone I aspire to be a lot like and for sure want him to be around for a long time. So, that’s why I’m pushing him in the gym to stay fit. Health is everything.Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, Racefans.net) Lewis, you said this was one of the top three tracks in your opinion. Which are the other two?
LH: Silverstone and Austin, they are my… Why? Literally because… look, we’ve got Monaco which is spectacular. I live there, I love it but you all know how the race is from the day before. It’s not a race that… I personally don’t enjoy driving the race because you can make your car as wide as you want, you can’t actually entertain. You don’t turn passes in, for example. Austin, you can overtake, it’s a brand new circuit but it’s got a lot of great character, you can actually follow. Same with here, it’s a race track where you can get quite close. It is a street circuit on this incredible little island in this big city and it’s just very unique in its own way. It’s very high speed braking, big stops and there are some big curves. And then the Silverstone Grand Prix, that track has history galore, the layout is just incredible. It’s all high speed and medium speed and it’s the ultimate test… probably of all the tracks the ultimate test of the downforce of a car and you’ve got some of the coolest sections: Copse, Maggotts, Becketts, Stowe. Those sectors, that whole combination is not… I don’t think there’s many tracks in the world that have a better combination of corners in my personal opinion. But also there, you can, being that it’s wide enough, you can naturally follow and there is some really good racing there so that’s why it’s my personal favourite.Q: (Phil Duncan – Press Association) Just on that Letterman interview, Lewis, you spoke about dealing with mental issues and instabilities. Is that something you still sort of not struggle with but contend with during your career now and is it easier to manage that aspect of your career now than it was perhaps in the earlier days?
LH: Yeah, it’s definitely better when you’re… I think probably the older you get, the more you understand about the world and yourself and about your health. I think a bit step for me was when I decided to go to a plant-based diet, that really changed a huge amount for me and the positive impact that’s had, mentally and physically, means I just wish I did it a lot earlier. Unfortunately, the education (about it) is pretty poor so for kids that are at school, and obviously parents aren’t probably educating their kids because they also don’t know of the positive effects it can have. Not every day is easy, you still come across humps but ever year I’m getting new tools to be able to handle and deal with them and learning new things all the time, so (I’m) definitely in the best place I’ve ever been but you’ve really seen that shift over the past years and I don’t think that’s ever going to stop, I think that continues to learn and grow and improve.Q: (Bob Fouaur – The Correspondent) I have a question for Lewis and Lance. The rules are being considered for revision and right now we’ve got a pretty substantial gap between the top three and the midfield. I’m wondering what you, as drivers, think should happen to the rules?
LH: Regulations or rules? Which one? Regulations. In my personal opinion if you look over the last 12 years and beyond that, they always shift and change the regulations for the car, trying to improve costs, trying to improve overtaking and I think in general the decisions have not been great in all those years. You’ve got Liberty that’s taken over now and you still have the same issues, people are not so excited, you still have that separation between all the top wealthier teams and the lower teams. I think there’s more to it than just changing the regulations of the car. That continues to be a fundamental issue but there’s also the entertainment aspect. If you look, every weekend is the same four days for 21 weekends in a year and that format’s never changed, so I think there’s also the entertainment aspect of it that probably has to shift, to suit different tracks. You’ve got Monaco on which you can’t overtake – maybe you have two races there, I don’t know what it is but I don’t have the answers for it but I think that element also needs to have a real look into it because the fans are the reason that we continue to be able to do what we do and I see that whilst there’s a lot of people here, there are races where there are not big attendances, promotion is perhaps not always the best in some places. People do continue to comment that it’s boring because you still have a period of time where Ferrari wins for a period of time, McLaren wins for a period of time, Mercedes, Red Bull. How you stop that, that is definitely a part of the regulations but I think on a more global scale, I think there needs to be some more changes even outside of the regulations in my opinion. I think Ross and that (team) are hopefully thinking about that for 2021 but ultimately we… if I had the choice I would go back to V12s, naturally aspirated engines, I would have manual gearboxes, I’d make it harder for the drivers, take away all these big run-off areas that you have everywhere, should not have steering assistance or even if you do have steering assistance you’ve got to have it low. I like it having low so it’s harder for me. You should be just so physically exhausted after the race, to the point… like a marathon. Sometimes you do these races and you can get up and… I could do a race… I could probably do two or three races in a row and Formula One should not be like that. Also it’s a man’s sport, you know, and a lot of youngsters come in and it’s quite easy for them to get straight into it but I do think it should be the most physically challenging and probably why a lot of us drivers are able to go on for a long period in time is because we can handle it. There’s a bunch of different things I have.
LS: I think closer racing, to start off with is the main thing. There’s a bunch of other factors which could use change but I think closer racing, budget caps to make the field more equal would be much more exciting. You look at the NHL, the NFL, the NBA, the teams are so close. On any given Sunday in the NFL any team can win. That’s because it’s capped properly, it’s managed properly and that allows for exciting competitions and it would be great to see the same thing in Formula One where instead of a second and a half, two seconds between the field, it comes down to tenths. I think that would really spice things up and then of course, closer racing, regulation changes to allow us to race wheel to wheel which I know is definitely a focus point so really all these things.
LH: We need better tyres. We need better tyres.Q: (Yhacbec Lopez – Motorlat) Lance, this year you have had some trouble in qualifying. It’s for a particular reason with the car or set-up or what is the problem exactly?
LS: I think there’s always reason. I think we’ve been unfortunate a couple of times: traffic here and there, there’s always things but the last couple of races the car hasn’t been very competitive which is the main reason really. In order to qualify well, you need a quick car under you and the midfield being so tight, we see from track to track the strengths and weaknesses of different teams on different types of tracks. The last couple of events haven’t suited our car and then yeah, there’s definitely things on my side that I definitely need to work on, get to grips with the car. It’s a new car, new environment for me and I need to work on my weaknesses and build on my strengths. On a positive side, the race pace has been very good. We’ve managed to score points in a couple of events but we definitely want to be consistently in the points more often and fighting up at the front, that’s the goal.Q: (Maxime Sarasin – 98.5 FM) Lewis, we were talking about possible changes to the rules. Do you think personally that drivers should have a louder say in all those changes, for the future? And what is the legacy you really want to leave as a driver, personally?
LH: Well, all the drivers are united for the first time. We are all part of the GPDA so we are all united, we are all working together, we all communicate. Unfortunately, the technical regulations are done by the people with power, with money and we generally have a little say, if any, as to what changes will take place. Ultimately we know what it’s like to race, we know what the challenges are and so we’re very open to being a part of it and contributing any of our ideas because we all naturally do have ideas and we all know where the limits are. One of the guys who works with us, Alex Wurz, for example, an ex-driver, he also knows and understands – because it’s pretty similar to when he was racing in terms of issues. So we do want to be a part of the conversation because ultimately we can help for the future. Also, a lot of the things that we push for are for the younger generation of drivers, things that we change in the rules for the drivers’ side of things is so that the younger drivers that come through will benefit from those things.
In terms of my legacy, it’s difficult to say, really. I think there are so many elements that are to be worked on. Ultimately, I want to somehow find some more… help pave the way for some younger drivers to come through from a similar background to myself for example. That means getting involved in go-karting from the early phases of motor racing. It’s so expensive now, to race go-karts. I think when I started, I think me and my Dad told me we spent £20,000 in the first year which was a huge amount of money from where we come from on a council estate in the UK. But today, to do a professional season of karting, it’s in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, like two or three hundred thousand dollars or something to be professional. Now that’s a lot of money to spend in a year. I want to be a part of somehow shifting that, also helping shift the diversity a little bit because there really is the most minimal diversity within this sport and I really somehow want to be a part of shape-shifting that with Formula One, working in co-operation with Formula One and the FIA. I don’t know why there’s not enough university students, engineers, mechanics and even within the media, coming through from more diverse backgrounds. I don’t know that’s always been the way it is today but I see a real opportunity there to be a part of shape-shifting that. So that’s ultimately, in 20 years time, I want to look back or if I ever hear someone whispering they would say that I was a part of shifting that.
