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Tag: Hamilton
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Leclerc’s late-race engine problem allows Hamilton to win Bahrain GP
Hami consoles Leclerc after winning the Bahrain GP. An FIA image Sakhir, 31 March 2019: Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was denied a first Formula One victory by a late-race engine problem that allowed Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton to sweep past and claim his first win of 2019 in the Bahrain Grand Prix, the second round of the Formula One World Championship here on Sunday.
Leclerc had led for the bulk of the race, but in the closing stages began to slow and reported an engine problem that was quickly diagnosed as an issue with the turbo. His pace flagged dramatically and at the end of the 48thlap of the 57 scheduled, Hamilton powered past to claim the lead. He was followed by Mercedes’ team-mate Valtteri Bottas, and Leclerc might have lost out on his first podium finish had a late Safety Car period denied Red Bull’s Max Verstappen the opportunity to also pass the Monegasque driver.
When the lights went out at the start, Sebastian Vettel got the jump on polesitter Leclerc and seized the lead. Bottas, too, exploited the situation and muscled past the young Ferrari driver to take P2.
Hamilton then tried to pressure Leclerc and as they tussled, Verstappen, who had started fifth, tried to slip down the inside of both in the final corner. He couldn’t make the move stick, however, and settled into fifth place.
After his first lap difficulties, Leclerc quickly recovered and went on the assault. He pushed past Bottas at the start of lap two and then powered past Vettel under DRS into turn one at the start of the next lap to reclaim the lead.
Leclerc maintained his lead through the first stops, but Hamilton managed to get past Vettel to take P2. The German was now third ahead of Bottas and Max, who took on medium tyres during a superb 2.1s pit stop.
On lap 23 Vettel closed in on Hamilton and powered past the defending champion around the outside through Turn 4. Leclerc though was now 7.5s ahead of his team-mate. Behind Hamilton, Bottas was fourth, four seconds ahead of Verstappen.
Now third, Hamilton pitted soon after the halfway mark and shed his soft tyres for a set of medium Pirellis, a move that was repeated on the following tour by Vettel.
Vettel emerged ahead but the gap was narrow and the Mercedes driver was soon on the attack. He tried to pass in Turn 4 but was rebuffed by Vettel who held his line well. Hamilton was not to be denied, however, and on the following lap he made the move stick. Vettel spun following the pass and recovered but soon afterward his front wing mysteriously collapsed and he was forced to pit for repairs, dropping to P9. That bumped Verstappen to fourth place behind Bottas, with five seconds separating the Red Bull from the Mercedes.
With a dozen laps to go the shape of the race changed. Leclerc began to complain of engine issues and as his lap times increased dramatically he was told that he had “no H recover”, signalling a turbo issue.
At the end of lap 48 Hamilton swept past to claim the lead and with third-placed Bottas lapping five seconds quicker than the Monegasque the prospect of a Mercedes one-two came into view.
By lap 51 Leclerc’s advantage over Bottas was just 15.9s and Max was a further 6.6s behind. After Bottas powered past Leclerc, Max closed in fast, but then with just four laps remaining the works Renaults of Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo expired. With Ricciardo’s car close to the trackside, the Safety Car was deployed and Max’s chance of a podium frustratingly evaporated and he was forced to settle for fourth place.
With Max fourth behind race winner Hamilton, Bottas and Leclerc, fifth place went to Vettel. Lando Norris took sixth for McLaren, with Kimi Räikkönen seventh ahead of Gasly. The final points positions were taken by Toro Rosso’s Alex Albon and Racing Point’s Sergio Perez.
2019 FIA Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix – Race
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes –
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 2.980
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 6.131
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull 6.408
5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 36.068
6 Lando Norris McLaren 45.754
7 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 47.470
8 Pierre Gasly Red Bull 58.094
9 Alex Albon Toro Rosso 1’02.697
10 Sergio Perez Racing Point 1’03.696
11 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 1’04.599
12 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1 lap
13 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1 lap
14 Lance Stroll Racing Point 1 lap
15 George Russell Williams 1 lap
16 Robert Kubica Williams 2 laps
17 Nico Hulkenberg Renault
18 Daniel Ricciardo Renault
19 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren
Romain Grosjean Haas -
It is my best race ever, I need to enjoy today says, Valtteri Bottas
Valtteri Bootas (centre) and Lewis Hamilton (left) at the Press Conference along with Max Verstappen on Sunday. An FIA image Melbourne, 17 March 2019: Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes AMG Petronas team who won the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday along with teammate Lewis Hamilton who finished second ahead of Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing attended the FIA post-race Press Conference.
The track interviews are done by former F1 driver Martin Brundle. Transcript:
Q: Valtteri, the race of your life?
Valtteri BOTTAS: I think so! I don’t know what just happened.
Q: What a perfect start, to get away.
VB: I don’t know what to say. It was definitely my best race ever. I don’t know what happened. I felt so good and everything was under control. The car was so good today. So truly enjoyable. I need to enjoy today.
Q: You made it a one-horse race. Twenty-six world championship points with the fastest lap. You were determined to have that fastest lap.
VB: Yeah, definitely. It’s a new rule for this year. As I had really strong pace I wanted to go for that in the end and it’s always a bit risky with worn tyres but it was worth it. I’m just so happy and I can’t wait for the next race.
Q: A one-two for the team, congratulations Lewis, second place, but maybe a bit of a frustrating day for you?
Lewis HAMILTON: No it’s been a good weekend for the team, so I have to be happy for everyone and a really fantastic job from everyone. Valtteri drove an incredible race today, so he truly deserved it. We’ve just got some work to do. Still, it’s a great, great start to the year, more than we could have hoped as a team.
Q: Max launched an attack on you at the end. Did you have it covered?
LH: Yeah, no problem at all.
Q: Any idea where the pace may have gone to?
LH: I do have some ideas, but I’ll wait until I sit with my engineers to go over it. Naturally, position at the start was a little bit frustrating, especially when you have a good weekend up to that point but that’s how the game goes and I’ll just train and work hard to try and improve the next time.
Podium place for Max Verstappen. You had an interesting afternoon.
Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, I had to overtake Seb to get onto the podium, which is not easy around here, so I was happy to pull that move off, and also challenging Lewis for second, so, yeah, pretty pleased with that.
You had the Ferraris covered. You had a little trip across the grass, probably took you back from behind Lewis. But you were still coming at him.
MV: Yeah, it was unfortunate but I don’t think it would have changed the end result.
So, reasonably happy with today?
MV: Of course. To start the season on the podium, challenging the Mercedes car ahead, I think that’s a very positive start for us. Also a big well done to the team, after the difficult Friday we had. And also big thanks to Honda, also their first podium in the V6 era, so very happy for them.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Well Valtteri you said on the podium that you had porridge for breakfast but was there any indication in practice that you were going to be able to unlock that sort of performance from the car?
VB: Well, first of all, as a team, in practice we saw that we were strong, both in short runs and long runs, but obviously it’s impossible to draw a proper conclusion but we saw the raw pace yesterday in qualifying, as a team, with a good margin to Ferrari, and today race pace was strong – much stronger than we expected coming into this weekend. That’s obviously good news. It shows that we have definitely done all the right things between the testing in terms of direction with the car. Also, for myself, it was definitely the best race I’ve had in my life. Obviously, the key thing for me was the race start, to get to the lead and then being at the front I could show strong pace and I could pull a gap. I think in the first stop I could also…. I stopped a bit later so I was a good tyre in the end. Just the car was feeling so good today, it was truly enjoyable.
Q: Well, many congratulations. Lewis, it all seemed to slip away from you at the start. Tell us about that moment?
LH: I don’t really remember much of it, honestly, it was quite a long time ago really. I don’t know, maybe I got wheelspin. It doesn’t really matter, Valtteri got a better start. Once we got to the first corner, we held position, we had the front row still. And Valtteri did an exceptional job throughout the race, so congratulations to him and after that it was just about bringing the car home.
Q: You talked on the radio about maybe some tyres issues. Did that play out?
LH: No, not really. I wasn’t entirely happy with the balance I had but it wasn’t the end of the world. It wasn’t a problem for me to finish second.
Q: Thanks. Coming to you Max: If we had said to you before this race that you would finish 35 seconds ahead of the lead Ferrari, what would you have said?
MV: I would tell you ‘we will find out on Sunday’. Winter testing doesn’t really show the true picture, as you can see this weekend. We had a good car. In the start, stayed out of trouble. It was just very hard to stay close to Seb, as my tyres were overheating very quickly. I just did my own pace, a manageable pace, and we could extend our stint a little bit and then when we did the pit stop afterwards we had a bit fresher tyres than Lewis and Seb ahead. I managed to get by Seb, which is not easy around this track, because it’s just so hard to follow. But very happy to get to third. Trying to challenge for second was a very positive feeling, especially after my Friday. At the end we couldn’t pull it off, but in general I’m juts very happy to be on the podium. I think we managed to turn it around in a very positive way after Friday and for Honda to have their first podium in the V6 era is a great start, so big congrats to them.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: Question for Max. How did you find the Honda engine after your first race with it – and do you think you’ll be capable enough to compete for top spot?
MV: Well, I think in terms of speed we had throughout the race, it was again a very good step forward to last year. If I just compare top speeds against the other two top teams, so I’m very pleased for that. Also, in general, the engine has been performing really well, without any issues. So, that is also very important. I guess time will tell if we can fight for top spot.
Q: Max, obviously the performance of the Red Bull Honda package, evidenced by the fact you finished third – but how encouraging was it that you were not only able to finish third on the road but were able to push Lewis and show performance all the way to the end. It didn’t look like you were having to manage the package at all towards the end.
MV: No, we didn’t. Well… you always have to manage the tyres because as soon as you get close to the car ahead they overheat, the tyres. In general, just very pleased, because I could at least have a go at it, in terms of top speed. Good progress, and there are a lot of positive things coming as well, and so far we have been working really well together. Very pleased with that. I think Valtteri was very far ahead still. It was a good result today, but we have to work hard to, of course, improve.
Q: Congratulations Valtteri. For the first time in six years, a Finnish driver is leading the championship. How does it feel to be first time there as a leader?
VB: Congrats to you as well! Thank you. Obviously, I don’t think I was ever leading a championship. Obviously I know it’s only the first race of the year. I’m not so good with the numbers of the days and statistics but all I can say is that I’m really pleased with the way the season has started. First of all for us as a team, we have such a strong package going forwards and then, for myself, after quite a tricky last year, to have started the season like this. It’s very good and I look forward to the next race.
Q: For everyone, how was it with the new aero package, following cars this weekend? In a race you find out more…
MV: Ask Valtteri how it was following!
LH: No different.
No different to previous seasons?
LH: No.
You were pretty close to Lewis at the end there Max…
MV: Yeah, I had no chance to get by. It is still very hard. The only positive thing what we improved is the DRS effect. So, as soon as it opens, it’s a lot more powerful than last year but following is still a lot of turbulence.
Anything to add Valtteri, when you were coming through traffic…
VB: It was quite… I didn’t get close enough to traffic ahead to really see a difference.
Q: Valtteri, you drove the perfect race and your pitcrew was perfect as well. How does that make you feel when you know how much everyone in the team is giving?
VB: It means a lot. It is teamwork and nothing comes for free. Or by one person’s efforts. We’ve all worked for this result we’ve got now as a team together, over the past years and over the winter, and over the weekend. I’m very proud of every single person here in the team at this race weekend but also at the factory. There’s many hidden heroes in Brackley and in Brixworth. Just want to say a massive thanks to them and I really know how much they work and how much it means.
Q: Valtteri, was there any moment during the race that you had a flashback to Russia last year and you thought maybe someone might come on the radio and say ‘slow down’?
VB: No, I didn’t think of that, actually, and there would be no reason to think about that. We are all starting a new season with zero points, we are here to fight, both me and Lewis will want to fight this season, for sure, against each other and against everyone and we are still one team so no point in thinking about those kind of things.
Q: Valtteri, you said yesterday that you approached the weekend differently, started from zero. Can you explain how your preparation was different from last year, for instance?
VB: Yeah, for sure every year you learn as a person, you learn about yourself, what works for you, what doesn’t work for you in terms of preparation and what preparation includes: how you rest, how you spend your free time, how you do the training, how much training, what kind, all those kind of things, travel plans, all sorts. So just trying to optimise everything for this year, try to maximise every single thing that is possible. I don’t know, it’s quite difficult to explain what’s been going on here last winter, inside of my head and definitely something changed in terms of the way I feel about things in life in general and in racing, but that’s all in my thoughts. I felt good in the car today and yesterday. That’s all that matters.
Q: Max, I want to ask about your mindset and the first race without Daniel. Does it change not having to look sidewards and being able to focus on yourself and not focus as much on internals and have a weekend purely about your performance? Did it feel different today without Daniel?
MV: Well, I always focused on myself so it’s not like something changes, from my side. No.
Q: Lewis, can you tell us something about (how much) wheelspin you had, wheelspin at the start?
LH: Yeah, probably too engaged with the clutch, probably, but I don’t really know because I won’t know ‘til I go back, but ultimately I didn’t do a good enough job.
Q: Lewis, the build-up to this race has been very much about your team versus Ferrari, and many people in the room have written about that. Did we have it wrong? And you just fought off a Red Bull; is this now a three way fight for the championship between those three teams?
LH: I don’t know if you wrote it wrong. It was supposed to be a three-way fight… I thought it was going to be a three-way fight so maybe you did write it wrong.
Q: You really seemed to care about the fastest lap point at the end of the race. Would you say it will be a big deal during the season and will you be ready to take a lot of risks to get it?
VB: Yeah, obviously it’s a point and if you get three of those or more it’s going to make a big difference at the end of the year. You never know. One point can make a difference in the end. For sure we’re willing to risk but still knowing that if you’re about to get 20 or 18 points or 15, whatever, they are still more important than getting one extra so you need to calculate the risk but today was worth it, within a stop for an extra set of tyres for it, but with the worn tyres I went for a quick lap and it was worth it.
I just want to say, again, thank-you Charlie and I want to say that this win is for Charlie and all his work for Formula One. He’s done a massive amount and it means a lot to all of us drivers.
LH: It’s 21 points so we’re going to fight for them.
MV: There are 21 possible points you can get so it can help but like Valtteri said, at the end of the day it’s most important to score 25 or 18, 15, 10. Try to go for one more and then it goes wrong, it can happen sometimes but anyway, I think in some situations like today, I was pushing anyway to try and get Lewis so it happened that I was doing, at that time, the fastest lap. It’s nice if it happens.
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Top-16 within one second is an improvement in regulations, so it will be an exciting season: Hami
Melbourne, 16 March 2019: Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton who took the pole for the season opener here attended the post-Qualifying FIA press conference along with teammate Valtteri Bottas and Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari.
The Track interviews are conducted by Paul Di Resta.
Transcripts:
Q: Lewis, every winter you go away, every winter you come back, driver-team combination, you come out, you get pole position here and you deliver a performance that’s just incredible.
Lewis HAMILTON: Oh man, I’m shaking, it was so close out there. We’ve got this incredible crowd here today; thank you everyone for coming out and creating this atmosphere. What a beautiful day. Coming from testing, from winter, we had no idea where we would be. We were hoping of course to be where we are, we’ve been working towards that; the guys back at the factory have been working so hard. And on the weekend also they have just been working to perfection. Valtteri did an exceptional job out there; it was very close. It’s great to see the top 16 or 17 are within a second; I think that’s an improvement in the regulations, so it should be an exciting season.
Q: Sixth consecutive pole position here in Melbourne. Eight times you’ve been on pole, matching Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna for pole positions at a track, what does that record mean?
LH: I didn’t even know about that. That’s news to me. All I can say is that my family are here and I wouldn’t be doing what I do without my dad, who taught me everything, and he’s here with me. So big thank you to him but I couldn’t have done it without this great team.
Q: Well done, all the best for tomorrow. Valtteri, P2 on the grid, front row start. I think more importantly a very strong day for the team. You almost did it but just missing out on that last run with a little bit of performance.
Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, we really made some good progress. I had a difficult practice three and we could turn things around for the qualifying. All the session was feeling good. The quali three, lap one, was really nice, I enjoyed that. Unfortunately not quite enough for pole, but Lewis had a good lap in the end and I struggled a bit in the first sector in the last run. Anyways, it was fun and I look forward to tomorrow.
Q: You’ve been away, you said you were going to have a different winter reset. You’ve come back fighting and you’ve made him work for it, haven’t you?
VB: Yeah. Of course I’d prefer to be on pole, but the race is tomorrow and I’m starting on the front row. But I have to say that, as a team, after a quite tricky winter testing they have done an amazing job to turn the car around and be in this good shape.
Q: All the best for tomorrow. Sebastian, second row of the grid, third [place]. I think everyone thought after what we saw at Barcelona that Ferrari were going to start strong. Where do you feel [the team is] after the last couple of days?
Sebastian VETTEL: I don’t know. Congrats to Lewis and Valtteri, they had, by the looks of it, a very today qualifying. For us it was OK. I had an off in Q2, which wasn’t planned but I tried. I don’t know. The car feels alright, it’s not that there is anything wrong (inaudible) but today I thought it was OK. I think compared to those guys we were just not quick enough. The race is tomorrow, though. I think we have a good car nonetheless. This track is very specific so not worried too much, but for sure it’s not great. I would have loved for it to be the other way round.
Q: To play the long game is a big thing this year. You’ve won this race more than a few times. Can you win this grand prix tomorrow?
SV: Of course. I think we can. You never know what’s happening. Last year we got a bit lucky but the race is over when there’s the chequered flag. I think we have a good car, we have a good race car and we are in good form. Obviously Mercedes are the clear favourites after the result today and the pace they have shown so far. But we are here to race. Otherwise it would be quite dull. I think all the people would agree. We’ll see what happens tomorrow. I think our starts are pretty handy, so we’ll go from there.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Lewis that was a huge second lap in Q3. How satisfying is that?
LH: The second lap was definitely a lot better than the first, which is not always the case. It’s always quite difficult on the second lap to pull that amount of time out. But on the first lap I made a mistake, which is unusual for me. It was OK, I just brushed it off and kept moving. We just kept working away, chipping away at our pace and our balance throughout the weekend. As I said, coming from Barcelona, we made some really big steps forward in the last couple of days with set-up and we brought that here and it seems to have worked. There was also a little bit of work done after that two weeks, were we analysed everything and made some small corrections. I really was not expecting to see the performance difference that we have here. It had been so close throughout the whole weekend between us all. It’s amazing to see how close the top 16 are, I think there was a second between us all at one point. That’s a real positive for rule regulations. It’s a bit difficult when you have a session like that to grasp exactly what just happened but I’m very proud to be up here and very grateful for everyone who has worked so hard throughout the winter and this couldn’t be a better way to start the year. But Valtteri was doing some incredible laps out there, so I really had to pull something special out at the end to stay ahead of him.
Q: High praise from your team-mate Valtteri. Just talk us through the session and that second lap in Q3 in particularly.
VB: First of all, I think, a bit like Lewis I’m a little bit blown away about the performance we had today. Obviously yesterday was looking good but it’s always practice. It was the first session this year that really counts, in terms of lap times, and I don’t think anyone in the team could have imagined we’d be in this position after the testing we had but everyone’s been working so hard and that made this possible. But it’s only one session: tomorrow is the main day. From my side, I really enjoyed the qualifying. I had a difficult FP3. Wasn’t really happy with the car. We made some changes and really felt more confident in the qualifying and got some nice, clean laps. The first lap in Q3 was pretty good. I was quite happy with that. I knew that there was still something to improve in the second run but for some reason just lost some time in the first couple of corners. I think Turn One and Turns Three and Four. I did a little bit slower out-lap due to traffic, so maybe the tyres weren’t quite ready – but Lewis did a great lap in the end, so well done for that but, I mean, we’re just all happy in the team to be in this position.
Q: Sebastian, we saw a little off for you in Q2. How did that affect the performance of the car going into Q3?
SV: It didn’t. During winter testing I was joking with Valtteri that I was quite jealous he did some rallying in the winter. Maybe it was in the back of my mind and I wanted to try some myself – but not the right time. I tried, obviously, to find the limits in Q2, and went a little bit over the limit. Fortunately the car was fine. Q3, run one, or generally Q3 was fine. Overall, that fortunately did not impact our qualifying.
Q: And how surprised are you by the gap to the Mercedes drivers?
SV: Certainly surprised. I think everybody is – probably even themselves. I think yesterday we didn’t have a good day. Today felt better but in terms of gap and pace, it was very similar. For sure there’s some homework for us to do to understand. I still think we have a great car and we should be better than this – so I’m looking forward to tomorrow. We’ll see over… I don’t know how many laps… 56? 58? 58 laps we have some time to get a proper read of where we are – but certainly Mercedes are the clear favourite if you have such a big gap and comfort throughout qualifying. All the sessions. We’ve got to live with it today but tomorrow is a new day. We’ve done it before, around here especially, so, we’ll see.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Sebastian, you talked about you still think you’ve got a great car. Did you feel that here, you’re missing something that you felt you had at Barcelona, or is it just that Mercedes have made a surprising leap up the order, basically?
SV: Well, it’s difficult to compare. We have something like 10, 15 degrees more ambient, hotter track, different circuit, so overall different conditions – but the car felt really good at testing and probably around here, so far this weekend it didn’t feel as good – yet. As I said, yesterday was a difficult day for us. It was tricky. Today felt a bit better – but there’s not an awful lot of time to try different things. Obviously you have to get on with it and the sessions come fast: especially in qualifying, you can’t really change much. If anything, you get a better understanding of maybe where you’re losing out or where it feels uncomfortable. So for us, I think, there is still a bit of margin but certainly the gap is there today, and it was a surprise. We didn’t expect it coming here but now it is that way. And, as I said, we focus on tomorrow and don’t worry about the gap now.
Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, first time you are in the front row here. How big a difference does it make in a circuit like this – especially compared to last year when you were nowhere after qualifying.
VB: I was in the wall after qualifying! I was somewhere! Historically, it’s not been the best track for me, honestly. I’ve never felt like I’ve had a great qualifying or race here for some reason. But, I mean, I think I managed to build it up well this weekend. Really started from zero this weekend, trying to learn session by session, and was pretty pleased with the car and driving and the main thing, in the qualifying, especially the first lap in Quali 3, I was really enjoying the driving and that’s when the lap-times were good. So, yeah, obviously there were still things I could have done better, as Lewis showed in the last lap, but it was close enough – so much better, for example, than the year before.
Q: (Christian Menath – motorsport-magazin.com) Question for Seb. Would you say it’s fair to say you have a bit more problem to extract maximum performance out of the soft tyre – because yesterday the long run looked a bit better compared to the others and today in Q1, when you had the medium tyre on, you were not that far away?
SV: Well, it’s difficult to read Q1. I think people are playing around with how much, first of all, how much they push, how much they push the engine especially. I think everybody was surprised how much the track picked up as well in Q1. So, Q1 is not a great session to read into. I wouldn’t say we have a problem extracting the grip from the tyres. Obviously there is a lack somewhere, because we are too slow – but didn’t feel like it. I was very happy with the laps that I had in Q1 on the medium compound – but hard to have a reference because nobody else was really on that tyre at that time, so yeah, for tomorrow, we’ll see. Tyres so far this weekend were no headache and should be quite straightforward tomorrow. I expect a solid race from the tyres.
Q: (Laurence Edmonson – ESPN) Seb, could you just explain exactly what it is that you’re lacking because you mentioned yesterday that you didn’t have the confidence in the car? Could you just go into some detail on what is missing, and is it the same on heavy fuel?
SV: I thought the sectors might still be there. I think a little bit of everything. I don’t think the straightline is a problem so I think we are quite competitive down the straights but I think we’re just losing in the corners. There are 16 corners around here and I think it’s a fairly even spread so probably by the looks of it… and so far it was more in the medium and lower speed stuff rather than the high speed stuff which, I would say, also speaks for a strong car in general. I haven’t got the balance yet which maybe I would like to have, especially in lower speed, and not the confidence and trust which again, around here, can make a big difference because it’s a bumpy track and I hope they don’t resurface it because it’s part of the character of this track. It’s fairly evenly spread around the track but I would say more towards the lower speed corners and it’s easier, I would say, to lose time there. But given the gap is so big, we must lose time in more than one place, for sure.
Tomorrow? I don’t know, I think in the race it could be closer but also the long runs that both of them had yesterday looked very strong and ours looked OK but not as special as theirs so we will see. I think today the car was better and I expect it to be better also tomorrow so we should be a bit closer.
Q: (Daniel Paez – Caracol National Agency) Lewis, do you agree with Sebastian, do you think the track should not be resurfaced? Do you like it that it’s a little bit bumpy in Melbourne, that’s it’s part of the character? How do you feel about that?
LH: Yeah, I like the track the way it is. I think it’s a great circuit because there are not particularly massive run-off areas. If you put a wheel wrong, it generally does bite you which is great and how it should be. The bumps are part of the character of what Melbourne is so if you were to iron those out it would lose a lot of… you know, it does make it trickier for us but that’s a part of it, you need that. I don’t like these circuits which are super flat and super smooth, don’t cause us troubles. For us this weekend we have to raise the car because it’s too much into the ground under braking, that’s what you should have to do and you have to live with a certain amount of vibration and your fillings coming out but that’s motor racing, hard core motor racing.
Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Lewis, it seemed that before your last run on your out lap you almost came to standstill twice in the last sector. Valtteri said before that he thought he had a too slow out lap but in the end it didn’t seem to affect you. What happened there?
LH: I think I came out of my garage behind at least two cars so I was really conscious of trying to keep a gap to them. I think one of them was Grosjean or something like that, maybe Magnussen ahead or something like that, and I was really trying to make sure that I got the right gap to them and they were backing up also. They came round the last corner and I just wanted to slow up and make sure I maximised it because I think on a couple of laps I didn’t have the perfect lap and particularly in Q1 and Q2 I had some messy laps with traffic so I just really wanted to make sure it was perfect and ultimately it was a good gap in the end, no issues. The tyres have been really good this weekend so no complaints. I know I’ve complained a lot about the tyres but they’ve been really good so it will be interesting to see how they perform tomorrow.
Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Lewis, Valtteri mentioned that he was a little bit blown away by the performance today. I know you’d said in the build-up you didn’t consider yourself favourite. Do you share that assessment? Has this come a bit out of the blue for you, the size of your advantage today
LH: Absolutely. There was absolutely no… since practice from the day one to the last day when we left, when we went back to the factory, we knew we had work to do, I felt like we were… I felt good that we had a decent package to work with but we were wary that we might be slightly behind, that’s what we honestly thought, when they showed us the summary of how testing went. We were behind Ferraris from our analysis, we truly believed we were behind. And from then until now, we haven’t changed the car, we’ve understood the car more, we know what we have to do to move the car forwards but we haven’t brought any upgrades or anything like that but as I said, the last couple of days felt really good at the track. Yesterday, Ferrari were just with us I think. It looked like they were a little bit heavy on fuel initially and then they dropped their fuel and then we were quite on par in performance and we thought we were closer than we thought we would be after testing. And then all of a sudden they lost a bit of performance in running, I think this afternoon or this morning, which we were not expecting and so it is a real shock. When we look at the GPS, it’s a lot of the mid-speed corners. When you look at his lap from Barcelona the car looked planted so I was just saying to him were you on fumes or something? It is a difficult circuit and it’s quite gusty here as well so it could be a number of things but I’m really really grateful for where our car is and where it enabled us to be today. I know that Ferrari are going to be pushing hard and progressing over the coming days and tomorrow I’m sure they will be putting up a good fight as they are always strong in the races.
ends
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Lewis Hamilton takes pole for season opener; Bottas beats Vettel for P2
Hamilton takes pole in Melbourne 16 March 2019. An FIA image Melbourne, 16 March 2019: Lewis Hamilton set a new track record at Albert Park to claim his first pole position of the new season ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas as Ferrari failed to convert pre-season form into results in qualifying for tomorrow’s Australian Grand Prix.
Across eight days of testing in Barcelona, the Italian squad looked to have found a distinct advantage over Mercedes, but in the time since the defending champions appear to have recovered their superiority.
“Coming from Barcelona, we made some really big steps forward and we brought that here and it seems to have worked,” said Hamilton afterwards. “There was also a little bit of work done after those two weeks, where we analysed everything and made some small corrections. I really was not expecting to see the performance difference that we have here. It had been so close throughout the whole weekend between us all.”
Hamilton set a new track record of 1:20.486 to claim his 84thcareer pole position. The lap saw him edge team-mate Bottas by just 0.112s after the Finn laid down a tough marker in the opening run of Q3.
The gap back to third-placed Vettel was significant, with the German seven tenths of a second off Hamilton’s pace.
“I don’t know. The car feels alright, it’s not that there is anything wrong… today I thought it was OK,” said Vettel. “I think compared to those guys we were just not quick enough. The race is tomorrow, though. I think we have a good car nonetheless. This track is very specific so not worried too much, but for sure it’s not great. I would have loved for it to be the other way round.”
Fourth-placed Max Verstappen handed Honda the power unit supplier’s best qualifying performance since the 2006 Chinese Grand Prix, when it was entered as a constructor. Red Bull Racing driver Verstappen beat new Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc by just over a tenths of a second.
Haas repeated its excellent Australiajn qualifying performance of 2018, with sixth-placed Romain Grosjean handing the US team best-of-the-rest status. The French driver finished two tenths of a second clear of P7 team-mate Kevin Magnussen.
McLaren rookie Lando Norris impressed hugely on his F1 qualifying debut, grabbing eighth position with a lap of 1:22.304. That put him ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen and Racing Point’s Sergio Perez.
The major shock in Q1 was the elimination of Red Bull’s Pierre Gasly. The Frenchman logged a best time of 1:23.020 over his opening runs but in the closing stages Red Bull elected to keep its drivers in the garage. As the times tumbled, both Verstappen and Gasly began to drop down the order.
Verstappen’s drop halted at P10 and he progressed to Q2 comfortably. Gasly, though, was in freefall. A host of drivers easily eclipsed his best as the track rapidly improved. His slide eventually halted in P17 and he was eliminated behind Lance Stroll of Racing Point and ahead of McLaren’s Carlos Sainz and the Williams cars of George Russell and Robert Kubica.
At the top of the order Charles Leclerc was quickest for Ferrari, though the Monegasque needed a late run on soft tyres after his opening medium-shod time left him in danger of elimination in the closing stages. Team-mate Sebastian Vettel managed to edge through in P11 on his medium tyre time.
Hamilton seized control of P1 in Q2 with a time of 1:21.014. Bottas moved to P2 with his final run, ending up 0.179 behind his team-mate. Verstappen slotted into P3, shaving three hundredths of a second off his first-run time.
Behind them Leclerc went through in P4 ahead of Haas’ Romain Grosjean and Vettel who went well wide on the exit of Turn 12 and kicking up a huge amount of dirt on his final run.
Out at the end of Q2 were both Renaults, with Nico Hulkenberg in P11 ahead of team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, Toro Rosso rookie Alex Albon, Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi and the second Toro of Daniil Kvyat.
2019 Formula One Australian Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:20.486
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:20.598 0.112
3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:21.190 0.704
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:21.320 0.834
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:21.442 0.956
6 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:21.826 1.340
7 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:22.099 1.613
8 Lando Norris McLaren 1:22.304 1.818
9 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 1:22.314 1.828
10 Sergio Perez Racing Point 1:22.781 2.295
11 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:22.562 2.076
12 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1:22.570 2.084
13 Alex Albon Toro Rosso 1:22.636 2.150
14 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 1:22.714 2.228
15 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:22.774 2.288
16 Lance Stroll Racing Point 1:23.017 2.531
17 Pierre Gasly Red Bull 1:23.020 2.534
18 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren 1:23.084 2.598
19 George Russell Williams 1:24.360 3.874
20 Robert Kubica Williams 1:26.067 5.581 -
Hamilton fastest in FP2: Australian Grand Prix
Hamilton leads FP2 on Friday in Melbourne. An FIA image Melbourne, 15 March 2019: Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time of second practice for the Australian Grand Prix, beating Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas with the defending champion team followed by the drivers of Red Bull and Ferrari.
Hamilton claimed the top spot on the yellow-banded C2 medium compound on offer from Pirelli this weekend. The lap arrived midway through the 90-minute session and eventually left the five-time champion 0.048s clear of Bottas.
Behind the Mercedes duo, Max Verstappen was third fastest for Honda-powered Red Bull, though the Dutchman was 0.8s slower than Hamilton, after delaying his performance run until the late stages of the session.
Verstappen’s time of 1:23.400 put him four hundredths of a second clear of new team-mate Pierre Gasly.
Ferrari, who saw Sebastian Vettel take P2 in the morning with a deficit of less than four hundredths of a second to Hamilton, had a more difficult second session both drivers complaining of handling issues.
Vettel bolted on a set of red banded C3 Pirellis, the softest on offer at Albert Park later in the session and clawed his way to fifth place 0.873s off Hamilton. Team-mate Charles Leclerc finished the session in ninth place 0.281s behind Vettel. The Monegasque driver also had a spin during the session, losing control at the exit of Turn 4. The incident was a minor one, however, and he was able to continue on his way.
As in the morning session, Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen was best-of-the-rest in sixth place, 0.972 behind Hamilton and just two thousands of a second clear of Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg. The German driver ended the session 0.070s ahead of his new team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.
The top 10 order was completed by Haas’ Romain Grosjean who finished 1.214 off the P1 pace.
2019 Formula One Australian Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 33 1:22.600
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 33 1:22.648 0.048
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull 33 1:23.400 0.800
4 Pierre Gasly Red Bull 31 1:23.442 0.842
5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 35 1:23.473 0.873
6 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 40 1:23.572 0.972
7 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 37 1:23.574 0.974
8 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 31 1:23.644 1.044
9 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 35 1:23.754 1.154
10 Romain Grosjean Haas 37 1:23.814 1.214
11 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 36 1:23.933 1.333
12 Kevin Magnussen Haas 27 1:23.988 1.388
13 Lance Stroll Racing Point 38 1:24.011 1.411
14 Carlos Sainz McLaren 26 1:24.133 1.533
15 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 37 1:24.293 1.693
16 Sergio Perez Racing Point 34 1:24.401 1.801
17 Alex Albon Toro Rosso 40 1:24.675 2.075
18 Lando Norris McLaren 26 1:24.733 2.133
19 George Russell Williams 32 1:26.453 3.853
20 Robert Kubica Williams 33 1:26.655 4.055 -
Hamilton signs off Formula 1 2018 season with 11 wins; Alonso retires; Hulkenberg unhurt
Hamilton celebrates after winning the Abu Dhabi GP on Sunday. An FIA image Abu Dhabi, 25 Nov 2018: Lewis Hamilton signed off on his title-winning 2018 FIA Formula 1 campaign in style by taking a controlled and composed 11th win of the season in the 21st and final race of the FIA Formula One World Championship, ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen at Yas Marina here on Sunday.
The final race of the season ended with Hamilton and Vettel joining McLaren’s Fernando Alonso for a series of tyre-smoking donuts on the start-finish straight to celebrate the Spanish two-time champion’s final race as a Formula 1 driver.
Earlier, at the start, Hamilton got away well from pole position to claim the lead advantage ahead of fellow front row starter and team-mate Valtteri Bottas, Vettel and Räikkönen.
The race was soon neutralised, however. As Nico Hulkenberg and Romain Grosjean tussled into the chicane, the pair collided and the Renault man’s car was flipped into a series of frightening rolls. He came to rest upside down on the barriers. The Renault driver soon emerged unscathed but the Safety Car was swiftly deployed.
When the SC left the track Hamilton held his advantage and was soon building a lead over Bottas and Vettel. Further back, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was making moves and he attacked the Force India of Esteban Ocon soon after racing resumed. He got past but then seemed to struggle for power and Ocon swept past to reclaim the position. The Red Bull man was told to try a reset and with that in place and effective, he muscled his way past the Force Indian driver in the second chicane to claim eighth place after dropping back from sixth at the start.
Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen then ground to a halt on the start-finish straight with a total loss of power, bringing out the Virtual Safety Car.
That was the cue for Hamilton to pit on lap 7 and that vaulted Ricciardo up to P3 behind Bottas and Vettel. The Australian was now just four seconds behind Vettel, with Max two second behind his team-mate in P4.
Vettel was the next of the frontrunners to pit, the Ferrari driver taking on supersofts on lap 15. He emerged in P6 behind Ocon and then Bottas made the same move on the next lap. The moves meant that Ricciardo now led the race.
Verstappen’s opening hypersoft tyres were now beginning to fade and the Dutchman was the next to pit, taking on supersoft tyres and rejoining in P5 behind Vettel.
Race leader Ricciardo was now the only one of the top six to require a pit stop, but the Red Bull driver insisted his starting ultrasofts were in good shape. He proved it by managing a steady gap to Hamilton as he extended his opening stint.
Ricciardo finally made his sole stop on lap 33, taking on supersofts and rejoining in P5 behind Verstappen. He quickly began to make the most of his new tyres, closing a seven-second gap to Max to just 1.5s by lap 36.
Verstappen was also gaining ground, putting heavy pressure on Bottas, who twice locked up and went off track. Max continued to probe and on lap 39 he took a wide line through Turn 11 and then tucked in on the inside to pass in the next corner. The pair banged wheels but Verstappen claimed third place.
Ricciardo, juts behind, also got a run on the Mercedes man and on the next lap, under DRS into Turn 8, he breezed past to take P4.
The order at the front then settled, with Hamilton holding an advantage over Vettel of between four and five seconds while the Ferrari man managed a three-second gap back to the Red Bulls.
And, after 55 laps, Hamilton crossed the line to take his 11th win of the season ahead of Vettel. Max claimed his 11th podium of the season, and fourth place in the Drivers’ championship, ahead of Daniel who ended his final race of his five seasons with the team with fourth place.
Behind the Bulls, Bottas finished in fifth place ahead of Renault’s Carlos Sainz, Sauber’s Charles Leclerc, the Force India of Sergio Perez and the Haas cars of Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen. Fernando Alonso ended his 311-start grand prix career with 11th place.
2018 Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Race
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes –
2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 2.581
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 12.706
4 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 15.379
5 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 47.957
6 Carlos Sainz Jr. Renault 1:12.548
7 Charles Leclerc Sauber 1:30.789
8 Sergio Perez Racing Point Force India 1:31.275
9 Romain Grosjean Haas 1 L
10 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1 L
11 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1 L
12 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 1 L
13 Lance Stroll Williams 1 L
14 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 1 L
15 Sergey Sirotkin Williams 1 L
16 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso
17 Esteban Ocon Racing Point Force India
18 Marcus Ericsson Sauber
19 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari
20 Nico Hulkenberg Renault. -
Friendly banter marks the season’s last press conference: FIA Formula 1
Hamilton (centre) at the final press conference of the F1 season. An FIA image Abu Dhabi, 25 Nov 2018: The final press conference of the F1 season saw some friendly banter between strong rivals on the track and good friends off it, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, as they joined together after their entertaining tyre smoking donuts in honour of retiring former world champion Fernando Alonso, to answer questions by another former F1 great David Coulthard on the track side.
DC: Q: Lewis, incredible end to the season.
Lewis HAMILTON: I’m so happy right now. Thank you guys so much for all the support this year.
Q: Actually, Seb, stay here, stay here. You guys have made this season epic. So, a little word; we don’t often get to hear you talking together. How much has it meant to be battling out there wheel-to-wheel?
LH : It’s been a real honour and a privilege racing against Sebastian. I’ve known him since Formula 3 days and he’s always been an honest, hard-working racing driver and he has always raced his heart out. He did a fantastic job this whole season. There’s so much pressure on us all, so don’t every look at our shortcomings as anything less than us giving our best and Sebastian did. I know next year he’s going to come back strong, so I’ve got to make sure I come back with him, but I’m really grateful for the time.
Q: Seb, for you, racing wheel-to-wheel with Lewis?
Sebastian VETTEL: Well he’s the champion and he deserves to be the champion. Yeah, it’s been a tough year. I tried everything until the last lap, also today, I really enjoyed. Catching a little bit, a little bit, but I think he controlled the pace at the front. I would have liked it to be a little more wheel-to-wheel but yeah, a long year, a lot of races. Congrats, and as he said I will try, we will try, I think our whole team will try to come back stronger to make sure we give him a harder run into next year. But the final word: I think also well done to Fernando. I think the last years have been very tough for him, we’ve been missing him and we will miss him, so well done on his career.
Q: Maybe the three of you all together, because this is multiple world championships between Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando. Fernando, we wish you well in your retirement. You’ll be coming back to visit Formula 1 though?
Fernando ALONSO: Yeah, as long as I’m not commentating, you know like some of the ex-Formula 1 drivers! But yeah, it has been a pleasure racing with these champions. I feel very privileged, with you too obviously. Thanks for everything. Thanks, Formula 1. I will always be a fan of this show.
Q: OK, Fernando, you’ve been a true legend, enjoy the journey home. Lewis, you won the race, it’s been an incredible season, but there was a slightly uncomfortable moment there where you pitted on lap six, you came out in traffic. We heard you on the radio saying ‘hey guys, did you know I was going to come out behind this traffic’?
LH: Well, firstly just let me… as you already spoken of Fernando, he’s a true legend. It’s been a real honour and a privilege to race in a period of time where he has been racing. Before I even got to Formula 1 I was already watching him and admiring what he had achieved. I was asked all weekend ‘will you miss him’ and naturally I don’t really quite feel like I miss another driver ever, but the sport will miss him, we will miss him and I will definitely miss him being in the sport. Today, well, my engineers always talk about stopping super early. They’re way too chilled behind the wall! And I was like “yeah, I’ve got a long way to and this doesn’t feel too good right now”. But it lasted long, once again they were calculated and correct and that’s why we have to put so much trust in those guys. A big, big thank you to Mercedes and all of the team, all of the sporting partners. We wouldn’t have had this championship without them. The championship wouldn’t be the same without the fans, these guys that are travelling around the world, thank you so much for coming, appreciate it.
Q: Lewis, congratulations. Finally, Max, you said you would be on the podium, your fifth straight podium result. Some good hard racing there with Valtteri Bottas, good day for you.
Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, not an easy race. I had a problem with the start. Actually, the launch was good but then the engine went into like a safety programme and I had it again on the re-start afterward. It was not easy but we managed to go back into a good position, putting pressure on the guys ahead. I think I stopped quite early but I had to because I was on the hypers. Then we managed to keep the supersoft alive and I had the good pace. But the last few laps were not that easy as there was a Toro Rosso leaking oil onto my helmet, so I couldn’t really see where I was going, but at the end of course very happy to be third.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Sebastian and Lewis, you both have plenty of experience winning world titles. We’ve seen Max up alongside you now quite a bit at the end of this season. Do you think he’s ready for a world title push next year – and Max, how much have learned this year – and do you think you’re ready to fight for the world title next year?
LH: How many years you been going now? Is this your third year?
MV: Fourth!
LH: Jeez, you’re getting old!
SV: Veteran. You have some wrinkles.
MV: It’s quite demanding and stressful.
SV: Botox?
MV: I might start with that, yeah.
LH: Max has been driving very well throughout the year and has shown his consistency and has been up here many, many times with us, so if his team does the job and delivers a platform with which he can compete even closer with us, then, of course, he’ll be in the fight. I think he’s finished third in the championship, right?
MV: No, two points behind – but at least I don’t have to go to the Gala!
LH: Lucky you!
MV: We calculated that. I’m sorry. Unless I can do it as a community service day, and then I will go.
LH: No, you can’t do that as a community service day.
MV: I’ll do some PR stuff before? How great the whole venue is, I’ll do a special speech in the evening…
Seb…?
SV: No, no keep going. This is good fun from the outside. Yeah. On the track, I don’t think he needs any advice. I think he’s got all the ingredients. I think there’s a couple of guys out there who have these qualities and Max is certainly one of them. Yeah, I think we’ve seen that. I also remember from my time, it’s important to have a competitive package throughout the season and Red Bull are certainly very, very strong and I think they put more performance to their car than any other team across the year, so obviously that allowed them to be very competitive, especially looking after tyres, etc., but yeah, I think both to be honest, Max and Daniel have proven that they can be very, very quick and very consistent so I’m sure more of him, he’ll be up here.
And Max. Do you feel ready for a title push?
MV: I always find that a really difficult question, because you’re so dependent on the package in Formula One. I mean, when I was watching back in the day to Formula One, it seemed like Lewis was ready for the title in his first year. Seemed like you were pretty quick. Of course, I think in a year you can always do things better but I think that’s every year. Even if, at the end of the day, you win the title, there are always things which you can do better. So, yeah, even if we have a winning package, for sure there will be weekends where maybe you make a mistake, or it can be a better weekend overall. Hopefully, first we’ll have that package.
Q: (Rebecca Clancy – The Times) Question to all three drivers. Just 112 days until we’re in Australia. What are your plans now? What are you going to be doing over the winter break?
SV: What are your plans? You seem to be counting the days. Can’t wait?
Seb, why don’t you start? What are your plans?
LH: Another baby?
SV: I don’t know. Quickly done! If you need advice, I know how to do it.
MV: Keep pushing!
SV: I don’t know how long you two want to be in free practice…
MV: I like free practice.
SV: If you want to go to qualifying and take things to the next level, you’ve got my number! It’s the usual drill. We’ve got some events coming but, things that I look forward to, after this year, to be very honest, is to turn everything off. I think I need some time for myself. I think it has been a quite difficult and exhausting year for me. I definitely need a bit of a gap. I’m pretty sure, based on the last winters, that very soon, usually after 111 days, I’m very, very hungry again for the next race. As I said, getting away for a little bit and then focus. Obviously, we still have the test coming up, so not yet time to rest – but yeah, I think this will be an important one with the tyres for the next year and then, I don’t know. Just enjoy the home. Enjoy my family, enjoy friends. Do stuff that you don’t usually have much time for. Some DIY. Do some fixing at home. Small jobs.
LH: DIY?
SV: Do It Yourself.
LH: You do that stuff?
SV: Yeah. A little bit.
LH: Good job.
SV: Working on my bikes. Very slow process.
MV: It’s like old-timers, right?
SV: It’s my very first bike, from when I was 15. Still restoring it.
MV: Tuning it as well, or just restoring?
SV: Just back to the original.
LH: Does it start still?
SV: Not at the moment. It’s just a frame with all the bits next to it, waiting for reassembly, so…!
Lewis, your plans?
LH: I haven’t made any plans yet – but looking forward to family time. I unfortunately still have a lot of work to do until mid-December sometime – but excited for the winter, winter break and just getting time to spend with my sister and the kids and my Mum and my Dad. The whole switch-off thing. The seasons are getting longer and longer, so the importance of that period is getting more and more important. But, I’m going to stay in free practice for a little bit longer! Works best for me.
No DIY?
LH: No, I do DIY. I do like doing that. I’m usually breaking something because everything’s fixed already, so I have to break it first and then I redo it.
And Max, what are your plans?
MV: I really want to be at home. I really like to spend time there and do stuff with my friends as well. I haven’t really met up with them in the last two months, so yeah, it’s good to catch up during December and early January, and then we’ll start preparing again.
LH: Free practice?
MV: A lot of free practice, yeah.
LH: You’re staying in free practice?
MV: I’ll definitely stay in free practice.
Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lewis, we saw you take your overalls off on the podium. Was that an advert for further free practice or is it just a new celebration?
LH: No, I just wanted to show ‘Still I rise’ on my back.
SV: There’s a lot going on so…
LH: But it definitely didn’t go as I thought it would go but anyways, it was OK. But we’ll see if it helps with practice! Not that I need any!
Q: (Christian Menarth – MotorsportMagazin.com) Seb, you said you know where you have to change within the team, until next season. What did you mean exactly, did you mean on the technical side or the team side or operational side?
SV: Well, in the end, it’s a big operation, so a lot of small things that need to come together but I think everybody’s there. We’ve mentioned it many times. Obviously, we lost our path a little bit halfway through the year. Things didn’t come together so obviously, we did a step back towards the end of the year which enabled us to be more competitive again but I think we’ve understood what went wrong, we obviously tried to do a better job in the future, that was one key thing. On the other hand, I think we had a lot of lessons, it was a tough year in general. I think the team is strong and the team has potential but surely it was a lot of things that happened inside the team. The passing of our chairman, Mr Marchionne obviously had an impact and was tough so I think it’s up to us to look into every single detail and make sure we come out as a stronger group, enabling us to build a stronger package for next year and for the future.
Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Just to follow up on that, Sebastian, do you think there’s anything that you need to change personally, in your approach to driving, to take the next step next season?
SV: I think, naturally, the year I’ve had, I don’t think I ever any problems raising my hand if I made a mistake. I think, knowing as well, as a racing driver, how quickly things can go wrong, how quickly things could have gone differently this year, I think, yeah, I have to review a couple of things but there are other things that I think went wrong and don’t need a lot of reviewing and not over-complicating things too much. I think I know what I need to do. Certainly, here and there, looking back I haven’t been at the top of my game so… I look at myself first, I think I can be better than I was at times this year. Having said that though, I think we also had a lot of races where we got everything out of the car and the package and I felt that I did everything I could. I was happy with that. But yeah, that’s how it goes, that’s sometimes why you love racing and sometimes why you hate racing. Yeah, as I said, for now, I need a bit of time just to shut things down and then I think usually…I don’t know, it’s a bit like skiing: maybe you learn something overnight before you go on the slopes again the next day. Obviously our night, it would help to hibernate, it would be stretching the night a lot longer than it is but I think we have a little bit of time to digest and analyse and yeah, I’ve always tried to improve things. I don’t think I need to change things upside down but certainly, in there I can adjust and get stronger.
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Hamilton takes 11th pole of the season: Abu Dhabi
Hamilton takes pole at Yas Marina on Saturday. An FIA image Abu Dhabi, 24 Nov 2018: Lewis Hamilton took his 11th pole position of the 2018 FIA Formula 1 World Championship as he headed a Mercedes 1-2 in qualifying for the 21st and final race of the FIA Formula One World Championship at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit on Saturday.
Hamilton edged team-mate Valtteri Bottas by 0.162s in the final runs of Q3, with the Finn only losing out to the five-time champion due to a small error in the final sector of the 5.554km circuit. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel will start from third place on the grid, ahead of team-mate Kimi Räikkönen, and Red Bull continued the two-by-two qualifying result as Daniel Ricciardo, competing in his final qualifying for the team, took fifth place ahead of team-mate Max Verstappen.
In the opening runs of Q1 it was Vettel who went quickest, the German toppling team-mate Kimi Räikkönen from top spot with a lap of 1:36.946 that he then improved by almost two tenths. Räikkönen was followed by Hamilton.
Bottas jumped to P2 with a late flyer to demote his team-mate to P3 and when the flag fell Racing Point Force India’s Esteban Ocon final flyer netted P4 ahead of Räikkönen and Sauber’s Charles Leclerc who split the Red Bulls by taking P7
In the drop zone as the final runs approached were 16th-placed Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, followed by Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson, McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne and the Williams cars of Sergey Sirotkin and Lance Stroll.
Both Alonso and Magnussen found more pace to rise to P14 and P15 respectively and that dropped both Toro Rosso cars into the drop zone.
The Italian team’s Pierre Gasly might have made the jump to safety after impressive opening sectors but in the final section of track he fell back and limped across the line reporting a loss of power and “smoke coming out of the engine”. He pulled over at the side of the track soon after crossing the start/finish line and exited both his car and the session.
Gasly qualified in P17 behind team-mate Brendon Hartley, though the French driver still managed to outpace Vandoorne, Sirotkin and Stroll.
Hamilton seized the initiative in the early Q2 runs as the top three teams ran ultrasofts. The five-time champion claimed top spot with a lap of 1:35.693 to sit almost seven tenths of a second clear of second-placed Bottas. The Mercedes pair were followed by Räikkönen, Vettel and Ricciardo.
Verstappen though struggled on the purple-banded Pirelli tyre and after the first runs found himself in P10 and at risk of elimination.
That meant a second run on hypersofts to ensure progress and his lap of 1:36.144 on the softest compound on offer vaulted him to P2 behind Hamilton.
Ricciardo’s ultrasoft gamble paid off, however, and though the Australian dropped down in the order in the closing stages of Q2, his opening time of 1:36.964 was good enough for P10. Like the Mercedes and Ferrari drivers he will start the race on ultrasofts.
Eliminated at the end of the second segment were 11th placed Renault driver Carlos Sainz, followed by Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson, Haas’ Magnussen, Racing Point Force India’s Sergio Perez and Alonso, competing in his 311th and, for the moment, final F1 qualifying session.
Hamilton again claimed top spot in the first runs of Q3, though only with 0.057s in hand over Vettel, with Bottas third ahead of Ricciardo. Räikkönen split the Red Bulls in fifth place.
However, Hamilton found an extra reserve of pace on his final run to eventually edge Bottas by 0.162s and third-placed Vettel by over four tenths of a second.
Räikkönen improved in the final run to claim fourth with a time of 1:35.365, while the Bulls locked out row three with Daniel sealing fifth place with an improvement to 1:35.401 and Max taking P6 with his opening Q3 time of 1:35.589. Behind them Haas’ Romain Grosjean was seventh ahead of Sauber’s Charles Leclerc, Racing Point Force India’s Esteban Ocon and the Renault’s of Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz.
2018 Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:34.794
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:34.956 0.162
3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:35.125 0.331
4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:35.365 0.571
5 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:35.401 0.607
6 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:35.589 0.795
7 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:36.192 1.398
8 Charles Leclerc Sauber 1:36.237 1.443
9 Esteban Ocon Force India 1:36.540 1.746
10 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:36.542 1.748
11 Carlos Sainz Jr. Renault 1:36.982 2.188
12 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:37.132 2.338
13 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:37.309 2.515
14 Sergio Perez Force India 1:37.541 2.747
15 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:37.743 2.949
16 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 1:37.994 3.200
17 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 1:38.166 3.372
18 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 1:38.577 3.783
19 Sergey Sirotkin Williams 1:38.635 3.841
20 Lance Stroll Williams 1:38.682 3.888. -
It’s quite an emotional qualifying because it’s the last time in this car, says poleman Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes (centre) addressing the press conference after taking pole. An FIA image Abu Dhabi: The top-three drivers including poleman attended the FIA post-qualifying press conference on Saturday at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Transcript:
(Track Interviews conducted by David Coulthard)
Q: Lewis, absolutely fantastic. Epic qualifying session, you’ve topped and tailed the season with pole positions. The fans are happy, you’re happy…
Lewis HAMILTON: I’m so grateful for all the support that we have here. It’s quite an emotional qualifying for me because it’s the last time I’m going to be qualifying in this car. I know you guys watch it, but the emotional rollercoaster I’ve gone through with this car… I’m probably the closest to this car than I’ve been in any car, you know, emotionally attached. It’s not always been easy; it’s been a struggle with here. But it has been a real privilege to work with her this year and I’m just so grateful to the team, to everyone for putting it together, to my guys, these mechanics who have been me for what is it, the last three years or whatever it may be, for their diligence, the guys back at the factory, I’m really just so grateful for everyone. And today it was just so much fun. To go out there and be able to express yourself and to push the car the way you want, there’s no better feeling. And to come back and see the reception from the fans – I really of appreciate it.
Q: You obviously have an affinity with this car. Will you get to keep one at the end of the season or do they go into the museum? Do you keep a collection?
LH: That’s confidential. I’d have to kill you if I told you. You know what, I’m just happy… I think this car will be in the history museum of Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart on the road of evolution where they will have all the greats that have driven with them in the past. I’ll get to see this whenever I want when I go to Germany. I haven’t got enough space for this in my house, anyway, it wouldn’t fit in my apartment.
Q: Very quickly, of all the poles this year, how did that rate? We saw you, on the second last run, you had a little bit of movement from the car, but on that final lap were you happy, or do you feel you left a little bit behind?
LH: No, honestly there was… I never say there is a perfect lap. The first lap wasn’t spectacular. There were some excursions and a bit of movement on the rear end. That last one, it started off quite calm and then just got more and more aggressive as I went through. And the last sector, as you see, the last sector was the killer for me. That’s where I really was able to make a difference. So I actually came around, I think, four tenths up. That’s not easy to do from one lap to another, so I’m pretty grateful for that. Valtteri did a great job and I know Seb was pushing really hard, so it’s been a real privilege working with, and racing against, these guys this year.
Q: Congratulations on your pole position? Valtteri, you pushed him hard, only a couple of tenths in the end in it. Frustrated or happy to start the last grand prix of the season from the front row?
Valtteri BOTTAS: Well, for sure I was aiming for the pole. I had a good result here last year but couldn’t repeat that. Personally, P2 wasn’t what I was expecting but for us, even though we have secured the Constructors’ title, we can still perform at a very high level as a team. Being one-two for the final race is good.
Q: You know you were actually up on Lewis at the end of the second sector, so it was that final sector. Where was the time lost in that?
VB: Yeah, I think I lost a little bit of time in Turn 17-18, it’s just very difficult to get it perfectly right. But he was performing well. It was tough to beat his time. There was a possibility for that but he did a better job on the lap.
Q: Well done. Sebastian, you’re still smiling, so that’s good. In the end the Mercedes was just too strong a package on this race track. Did you expect it to be a little bit closer or did you have the signs already in free practice?
Sebastian VETTEL: I don’t know, to be honest. I enjoyed the session. In Q1 I thought it was rally tight, so I thought maybe we would have a word to say. In Q2 I thought Lewis put a really strong lap in on the harder tyres, and I thought ‘whoa, this is going to be difficult’. But then the first run in Q3 I rally had a good lap and it was very close again, but they must have had still some push in for the last run. I did improve, I think the track ramped up, but not enough to be a threat. But for tomorrow I’m quite confident and I think it is going to be a long race, so yeah, it’s going to be a fun race.
Q: It was great when I was talking with Valtteri, I could see you were talking with Lewis, Lewis has just gone and shaken hands with your mechanics – it’s been a tough rivalry but there has been respect throughout?
SV: Yeah, obviously one thing happens on track but off track I don’t see the reason why you can’t talk to each other or joke with each other. I enjoyed it, obviously it didn’t go my way; I guess he enjoyed it a little but more. Looking forward to getting in the car for the last time this year and challenging these guys and yeah, we’ll give it everything we have.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Starting on pole position for the fourth time here in Abu Dhabi, the 11th pole of 2018, the 83rd pole of his career and his 52nd pole in the last 100 races, Lewis Hamilton. Many congratulations Lewis, how did that one stack up with that long list I’ve just read out?
LH: Wow! It was a great qualifying session. It was a lot of fun. Obviously, going into it, feeling relatively emotional being that I was going to be stepping into this car for qualifying. It’s just been such a journey this year. So many things have happened, so many trials and tribulations along the way and it’s been a real privilege working with these guys. The actually qualifying session went quite smoothly. I think, collectively, as a team, we’ve done a really good job this weekend in getting the car into the right window – and obviously, it was still quite close at the end – but the difficult thing was trying to improve on… it’s always difficult to improve on your last lap, particularly because your first lap, your banker lap, is pretty good but I managed to increase the gap on that section, knowing these guys would also do the same. I saw Valtteri was obviously quite close. He was improving throughout the qualifying session, so he did a great job – but what a great way to end the season, with a one-two qualifying session. So really proud of everyone at Mercedes and, those numbers that you mentioned, I couldn’t have done that without everyone at Mercedes. The support, since I was 13, has been incredible. So, just proud to be a part of the machine.
Q: Valtteri, coming on to you. Just quite simply, where do you feel it slipped away, the time?
VB: I think, first of all, Lewis had quite a nice lap, so congrats for that. My first run, I could feel that there was plenty I could improve, and the gap was smaller between us in the first run. The second run, I think there was definitely some track improvement. We both managed to find some time but he just got a more complete lap in the end. I think what maybe hurt me a little bit was that there was a couple of runs in the qualifying that I didn’t really get a good lap out of the ultra tyre in Q2, some other runs, I really struggled with some things on the car. But then, yeah, happy to have decent runs in Q3. That way we could secure a well-earned one-two for the team.
Q: Sebastian, how surprised are you by the pace of the Mercedes around here?
SV: Not surprised. I think they looked very competitive all weekend, so, I don’t know, qualifying, it’s been a bit up and down. Q1 looked very good for us. Q2 then probably was realistic. I think Lewis had a very strong lap on the ultrasoft. So, I think we tried everything and gave it everything we had. After the first run didn’t look stupid at all. Was very close, half-a-tenth, I thought, was in reach but then the second run, obviously, I crossed the line and… yeah… I was quite happy with the lap but it wasn’t enough and obviously dropped back to third. I guess there first run was probably not as strong as ours. The track did improve but it’s a long lap, so there’s a lot of lap-time to be found if everything works out. As I said, I was happy with our session. I think happy that we were able to get a strong lap in Q2, which is important for tomorrow’s race. Would have liked to have been in the front row. It’s not the case but yeah, I said to the guys after the qualifying that we will fight as hard as we can tomorrow. I think, come race day, anything can happen. We’ve got good speeds in the straights. We are lacking a little bit of downforce in the last sector, I guess, so let’s see what we can do – but surely it’s going to be a long race.
Questions from the floor:
Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Lewis, with pole and victory and Brazil and pole here, it’s very good form after wrapping up the title. When you won the title early in 2015 and 2017 you didn’t have that afterward. Was it important for you at all to maintain that level after winning the title this year? And is anything different, compared to previous seasons to allow you to stay at that level?
LH: Not really.
SV: You’re older. Wiser.
LH: Older. Wiser! I don’t know. I don’t think it ‘cos I couldn’t do it in the past, just didn’t do the job. I think this year it was being in a different place in my life. I do want to continue to push the limits, push the boundaries and I wanted to finish the season on a solid high if I can. So that I can really continue to keep that foundation as strong as it has been this year so I can use that to start on next year. I think in the past it was still good. It was no biggie that I didn’t win after I won the Championship but I’m definitely happy with how it’s going this year and there’s still a long race tomorrow., so still got a lot of work to do but really happy with today.
Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-Magazin.com) Two questions for you Seb. In Q2, you did the second run on the ultrasoft as well, so did you know you can improve somewhere, was it a big risk for you at that time? And the second one, yesterday, you weren’t that confident for the race pace. Today, you look a bit happier with race pace. Is it just the top speed advantage that makes you more confident for tomorrow?
SV: There’s a lot of questions in there! I think the car felt a bit better today. Probably the track came towards us as well. Usually throughout qualifying the track improves and you start to feel happier with the car. So I think we estimated the right direction and were able to follow the trend. I think yesterday we tried everything and obviously for us the hypersoft didn’t last so long, so we were quite confident that it’s not the race tyre, not the tyre we want to start the race on. Other people obviously had the same opinion and I knew in the second run that I had some lap-time to gain. I was held-up a little bit in traffic on the first lap and I knew it will be tight but I really wanted to start on that tyre. That’s why I was able, or was happy to take that risk.
Q: (Rene Oudman – RacingNews365.com) Question to all three. The Red Bulls will only start in the third row – but we’ve seen in recent races that their race pace is pretty good. How would you guys rate their chances for tomorrow?
LH: Yeah, they’ll be strong tomorrow. They always are in the race. We’ve seen a pattern show over the year where they’re quick in early practice and then, when we get to qualifying, they can’t keep up, or they struggle to keep up with the pace that we end up delivering, and then in the race, they come back. So it’s evident that they’re probably better than all of us at looking after their tyres and operating where they don’t have to manage the same as everyone else, whatever that’s down to, downforce, whatever it may be. So I’m sure they’ll be strong tomorrow – but it’s not that easy a circuit to overtake. And you know the Ferraris are very strong on the straight, so for them to propel past a Ferrari, I’m sure will not be easy but yeah, you’ve seen them up until now, so I hope they have a strong finish to the year and I hope it’s relatively close between us all.
Valtteri, anything to add?
VB: Nothing to add, no.
Sebastian? They’ll be starting closest to you…
SV: Yeah. Obviously!
Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Couple of questions; first one’s to Lewis: what is it, 52 poles now in a hundred races; you’ve won 50 races out of 99; phenomenal achievement, what do you put that success down to? Where do you think it’s going to stop and question to the other two, how do you stop him? How do you stop Lewis from steamrollering through these statistics?
LH: I put it down to teamwork. I think it’s definitely a little bit difficult for all you and everyone watching to see everything that’s going on in the background but just the other day I was sitting in the office here, I think on Friday, sitting just talking to a couple of individuals who are not usually here but are up-to-date with next year’s car. So we sit and have this in-depth conversation and it’s inspiring… they are so smart, incredibly intelligent and they think on a completely different wavelength to the normal person. And the things that they have to take into account when building a car and I think over the years I’ve been getting more and more involved in that as I understand it more and try to… You know ultimately I want to make sure, through our debriefs, they’ve not misinterpreted something. For example, I know what I need in this car to make it faster and I’ve got to make sure that I communicate that with them so that they go and build and find that performance. And for next year’s car, I have an idea, for example, where the weak spot will be with these new rule changes as do they, so just working closely, communication and we’re all of us constantly working so closely together, really elevating each other and I think this year, if you look at the team’s performance on the race weekend, that our mechanics, our engineers, strategists, we’ve all raised our game. We’ve been better than… you know it’s never ever been perfect, neither of us as drivers, but collectively, as a team, I think we’ve really continued to elevate ourselves which is again, inspiring for me and that encourages me to go out there and not want to let them down. So I’m confident; as long as Mercedes don’t change their approach, don’t change their desire to win… some teams decide to veer off and do some other business venture and lose a bit of focus on the main ultimate goal; as long as they don’t do that, I believe that we’ll be able to stay on this path and continue to fight at the top. But Ferrari have been doing an amazing job this year so we cannot take anything for granted, we’ve got to keep the hammer down, keep pushing as they will be. See how close they are right now and look at Valtteri, he’s been driving exceptionally well all year. I know next year again, the third year with the team, he will be even quicker so we will have to rediscover new skills for next year.
Q: And Valtteri, how are you going to stop him?
VB: Obviously Lewis has had great numbers in his career. It is really impressive. I think that happens when you’re enjoying it and you always find new skills from yourself and you’re still hungry to develop. It’s for every sport, individual, it’s the same. For me, my target next year is to be better. My target next week is to be better than this week so I will continue my work with the team together and try to be a better driver. Of course I want to be ahead of him many more times than I’ve been in the last two years but it’s going to be hard work, I know but I’m willing to work hard and as Lewis said, we have a great team around us and the team spirit is amazing so the amount of strength I’m getting from the team has been amazing and that’s going to help me also next year.
SV: Well, I think Lewis summed it up fairly well, I think mentioning the word teamwork, I think that’s what it’s about. Obviously what you look at in terms of when you look in qualifying or the race, then obviously we are the ones driving the car and we are alone driving the car and when we cross the line you look at us first but there’s a lot of people behind to make sure that you do cross the line and if they do their job really really well and work together then you have a high chance of finishing higher up. So I think it’s needless to say that Lewis had an incredible run in the last five years but I think since the day he joined Formula One until now, to be honest… you mentioned that it’s the fifth consecutive front-row lock-out for Mercedes here – did you say that? – so it also proves that they’re doing a really good job as a team. I think for us, it’s not that easy because the challenge to beat such a strong team is difficult but that’s our target. I think we know where we want to go. A lot of work ahead of us, I think a lot of lessons to be learned again this year. Ultimately, I think we have 21 races, with the 21st coming tomorrow and in summary, we haven’t been strong enough this year to take the challenge until the last race, the last lap, so I think we need to look at ourselves. I think we have the people, we have the resources so it’s more getting the maximum out of our package, improving the work inside our team and making sure that we come up with a stronger package, a stronger team for the future.
Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, what do you think? Is tomorrow the last chance to have the first ever Finnish one-two as you two are still in the top teams?
VB: Yeah, for sure it’s… you never know, Sauber might be the best next year. Who knows? I don’t know, time will show, obviously. We’ve seen many many mixed races, conditions in the last few years and it can always happen but I just focus on my race and it can always happen but I just focus on my race, try to win it and then we see.
Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Sebastian, you talked this year about the benefit that Ferrari has found Friday to Saturday with the work that the guys have done on the simulator, working through things back at base. Obviously, for next year, both of those main guys, Kvyat and Giovinazzi, step into F1 race seats so need replacing. How important is it to have the right guys on the simulator and do you think that Ferrari have made more of that sort of benefit this season?
SV: Personally, I’m not a fan of the simulator because it’s just not fun. But you get the point, it is very important, it is an important tool. Based on our findings last night, we changed the car for today, both of us did and it was better and we were happier. It’s not the first time that this has happened so we’re extremely thankful for the guys, taking in the time because it’s not the nicest job on Friday night, especially when you’re young, but it’s important, it all adds up and again, Lewis summed it up fairly well when he mentioned the word teamwork and that’s what it is. Everybody plays his part and in the end we have the honour to have the steering wheel in our hands and drive the machine that we all try to create and reach out with performance. For next year, it’s true, we take a step but I think we will find people that fit in very well and very quickly so I’m confident we will have a strong team on that front as well next year.
Ends
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It’s been a privilege to be in an era where Fernando Alonso was racing: Hamilton
Abu Dabhi: Thursday Press Conference saw two batches of drivers. Transcript follows:
PART ONE: DRIVERS – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes), Fernando ALONSO (McLaren), Lando NORRIS (2019 McLaren Driver), George RUSSELL (2019 Williams Drivers)
PRESS CONFERENCE
Fernando, it’s your final grand prix, can you describe your emotions coming into the weekend, please?
Fernando ALONSO: So far I think it’s a normal weekend. I think on Sunday it’s going to be different, when it gets a little bit more emotions. But right now, I landed like 10 hours ago from Japan. I’ve been racing last weekend in Shanghai and I’m not probably into the mood yet of this final race. It feels OK right now. As I said, it’s going to be special, emotional, and hopefully a good one.
Q: Lewis, on the subject of this being Fernando’s final grand prix. You’ve raced alongside him and against him. What kind of a rival has he been for you?
Lewis HAMILTON: He’s been OK. We’ve had good times and bad times. I don’t really know what else to say. We’ve grown… he was obviously here before I was and achieved incredible things before I got here and also partly why I was here. It’s been a privilege to be in an era where he was racing
Q: Will you miss him?
LH: Will I miss him? Yeah, I think the sport will miss him.
Q: Lando, you are going to be driving for McLaren in 2019 and you’ve been working with Fernando this year. What has he taught you?
Lando NORRIS: He’s taught me quite a few things. One of the biggest things was working with him in Daytona, because I got to see a different side of him, I guess, working together. It’s not just some things. There are quite a few; a lot of stuff I can take through to my first year in Formula 1. And already, things I’ve taken into practice, into FP1s. There have been a lot of things I’ve been able to learn. We’ve had some good times. We get along really well and hopefully can continue in the future.
Q: And George, just a question for you about Fernando. You haven’t worked with him but was he a driver you followed closely when you were growing up?
George RUSSELL: Yeah, 100%. Growing up as a young karter you always look towards Formula 1 and Fernando was in his prime at that time and always fighting for championships, so as Lewis said, the sport is going to miss him, but he is a fantastic driver.
Q: Fernando, you’ve said you’re not in the mood for reflections but what do you feel is your legacy?
FA: I don’t know really. I think it’s difficult to say in the first person. I think I’ve been trying to do my best all the time here, fighting against anything or circumstance that may put some stress or put other people down. I was trying always to give my best and somehow working with the kids and the karting school, the museum, trying to do a lot of things with the fans and the young generation, trying to help them, if I can, with the knowledge I’ve had all these years and with facilities or something that I probably didn’t have at my time and if they have the dreams and the talent, try to help them.
Q: Thank you Fernando, good luck this weekend. Lewis, you’ve been a five-time champion for nigh on four weeks now. In terms of the championships you’ve won, where does 2018 rank?
LH: I don’t know, hopefully somewhere around the top. I’ve not really thought about it too much, to be honest. I’ve been focusing on trying to finish off the season strong. But it does feel… you know me, I don’t have a great memory, but it does feel like one of the best years that I can remember, competition-wise and competitive-wise, in terms of performances.
Q: Thank you, good luck for the weekend ahead. Lando, coming back to you. As we’ve already said, a McLaren driver in 2019. Can you just paint a little picture for us about the preparations that are going to go on between now and Melbourne in March?
LN: A lot! I think I’ve got a lot for myself to look forward. A lot of things that I haven’t done yet to prepare for that first race… the first test of course. Things I’m sure the team will be able to help me through, and guide me in many ways. So I look forward to it. I think there are a lot of things for me to be working on, which I’m very excited about. I’m sure I’m going to be busy. It’s not going to be the easiest of winters. But whatever I can do to prepare myself for Australia, the first race… I’ve never been to Australia yet, so there are a lot of things for myself to do.
Q: And a lot of jetlag. Thank you Lando. George, coming to you, of course you’re going to be racing for Williams next year but you’ve got a championship to win first this weekend, the Formula 2 championship. You’ve got a big lead; just tell us about your approach coming into the weekend.
GR: I don’t think my approach is going to change, to be honest. We’ve had a fantastic season, so there is no real reason to change the approach. Like you said, we have a very healthy margin, but anything can still happen and I think we’ve seen that throughout the whole season.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (David Tremayne – The Independent, Grand Prix Plus) Fernando, can you share some of you best memories from your time in Formula 1 with us.
FA: Yeah, the season with Lewis, 2007. I don’t know, I think more than races or memories or victories, the best thing I have from the F1 time is the people that I worked with, the people that I shared half of my life with. I’m 37 and I raced here 18 years, it’s half of my life with a lot of talented engineers, designers, mechanics, you guys, the media, everyone. We shared a lot of days over the seasons and I think that’s the best thing that I will always remember about Formula 1. How you approached this kind of races, the philosophy behind a grand prix, the preparation, and the discipline in all areas of the team. Now, racing in other disciplines, other series, you realise that Formula 1 is a step higher and it’s just trying to find perfection in everything, every weekend, every two weeks, all around the world. This was probably the best memories I will get from here.
Q: (David Tremayne – The Independent, Grand Prix Plus) Is there one race where you found that ultimate perfection that stands out for you?
FA: A few of them I think they were probably a little bit higher than others in terms of performing and executing the race. If one, I would say Valencia 2012, a race that probably in a normal world we would never be able to win again. If we repeated it 100 times, 99 of them we would not have ended up first. It was a good execution of a strategy, good overtakings, a lot of risk, bit everything worked well. The car was not particularly fast that weekend, we were not even in Q3. I think I lapped Felipe 10 laps to the end. It was not that we were in a dominant position that day but we still won it, so probably that race.
Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, Racefans.net) Fernando, everybody speaks about Sunday’s race being your last grand prix, but you haven’t categorically ruled out returning to Formula 1. What would it take to bring you back, like champions such as Prost and Lauda did, they returned after retiring?
FA: Right now it’s difficult to think about coming back but the door is not closed. The first reason is I don’t know how I will feel next year. I’ve been doing this for my whole life. Maybe next year, by April or May, I am desperate, on the sofa, so you know, maybe I find a way to somehow come back. But it’s not the initial idea. It’s more about myself. If I come back it’s not for any particularly or the line or something that has to happen, it’s more how I feel in the middle of next year.
Q: (Adrian Rodriguez Huber – Agencia EFE) Fernando, how proud does it make you, not only what you accomplished in this sport, but what you accomplished for Spain and for Asturias?
FA: Definitely very proud. I think you only realise with time, when you see how many people follow the sport now in Spain, in my region in Asturias, how many people travel to Oviedo to visit the museum, to have the first go in go-karts. A lot of people started following Formula 1 and not Formula 1, motorsports in general, in my country, which definitely was not a tradition. We were not broadcasting the races in 2001, 2002, I think it started in the middle of 2003. Something that is unthinkable now, when Formula 1 is the second or third sport in Spain. That’s something that I feel really proud of, and the same with some of the things I had in Spain, the Premio Príncipe de Asturias is probably the biggest thing I achieved, even more than any Formula 1 championship, because that kind of award is about changing people’s lives and introducing a lot of people into one sport. So, those kinds of things are much bigger than any trophy.
Q: (Nate Saunders – ESPN) There are going to be a lot for Fernando, so Lewis I’ll give you one. I know you’ve said you don’t like talking too much about the past, but we’re doing something about the German Grand Prix from this year. You’ve said a lot about the conditions and the fortune, and how things came together for you that weekend. What was it you did that weekend that wrestled the initiative back after what happened that Saturday?
LH: Jeez… Hockenheim… oh, where we had the issue of the failure in qualifying. I think it was really together, as a team… obviously we had the steering column failure on the Saturday, meaning that we would be starting from last, and I think we just pulled together and tried to make sure we could make the best of the Sunday, and all remained focused on getting a good result. I think it was just ultimately a true showing of the strength within the team. Even though we’d had a difficult day like that we pull together and look for other solutions to get us back up the front. That’s really what we worked for. As a driver, it was moving past the stumble, or the fall, and getting straight back up and fighting next day as if I was starting at the front. Obviously certain things came along the way in terms of weather and that was just an opportunity for me to capitalise rather than make mistakes. I just think as a driver, I was able to really maximise on that day, not making any mistakes I was able to pull myself further forward than perhaps I would on another weekend.
Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) A question to Lewis and Fernando. After eight years away Robert Kubica is back on the grid next year. You’ve both raced against Robert, I just wondered what your thoughts were on his return to the sport as a racing driver?
LH: Is Robert younger or older than me.
(General response): He’s older than you.
LH: Oh, perfect! So, I’m so happy he’s coming back, because Fernando is leaving and I was going to be the second-oldest driver but now I still remain the third. I can’t tell you how happy I am about that. No, I think it’s great. I raced him from karting days so I’ve known him for a long, long time and he was always one of the most talented drivers that I had the pleasure of racing against. I know he has had a really difficult time over the last God knows how many years now, and it’s just great to see he’s got the opportunity back and I hope he works hard on his strength and getting his mind back into gear like he was in the past and I think it’s exciting for the sport to see him back in action.
Q: Fernando?
FA: Yeah, not much to add. I think, as Lewis said, he is one the great talents the sport has had and it’s great to see him back to race. It remains to be seen what will be the performance of the car, and his own performance, because we only saw a couple of test days. But if he is at 100% he will be amazing to watch, so happy with him.
Q: And George, he’s going to be your team-mate next year. Your thoughts on Robert Kubica?
GR: Yeah, I’m extremely excited to be team-mates with Robert. Obviously Lewis and Fernando have said how talented and fast he is, and there’s absolutely no doubt about that. But on top of that he is extremely intelligent, he’s got so much experience and I think he’s going to be a great addition to Williams and he’ll really help push Williams back to where they deserve and should be.
Q: (Abhishek Takle – Mid-Day) Question to Fernando. Fernando, in your time in Formula One, you’ve gone up against many great drivers. Who would you say was your greatest rival – and what made them so challenging to beat? Thank you.
FA: It’s difficult to choose one. Obviously, if I have to say one, it will be Michael. Not because any particular reason it was just because, when I got to Formula One, Michael was dominating the sport and you are in go-karts and you see Michael winning, you are different categories, you see Michael winning, and then eventually you find yourself fighting wheel-to-wheel. So, those battles were definitely special, or more emotional at that time – but yes, as you said, I think we had, and probably have right now, the most talented generation. Because all drivers now, they are more prepared. They get more time in the simulator, in different young driver programmes, so they go to Formula One with a level that was unthinkable a decade, or two decades ago. So, yeah, it was a good journey and I have to choose one, maybe Michael – but just for emotional reasons, not for any technical aspects.
Q: (René Oudman – Racingnews365.NL) Question to Lewis and Fernando. It was recently announced that George and Lando will make their debut in Formula One next season. Can you recall the levels of excitement you felt – and it seems like ages ago – back when you made your debuts. And do you have certain advice for these guys?
Lewis let’s start with you.
LH: Shouldn’t it be elders first?
FA: Probably my advice wouldn’t be very useful because my start was very different. My debut was in Minardi, 2001, we could not test the car before Australia. The team was disappearing at one point, it was bankrupt, so Paul Stoddart came in at the last moment and flew the car to Australia and we studied the steering wheel on Wednesday and Thursday of Australia, and I remember going out of the pitlane in FP1 and there was a queue of cars at the end of the pitlane, because there was still a red light, and I nearly crashed with them, because I could not find the neutral button. That was not the perfect start! The perfect debut! I think they will have more experience, they will have more preparation. They will be excited, yes – but they will be very well prepared when Australia comes. It’s just a matter of executing the race and follow all the engineering help that we have these days.
Lewis?
LH: Yeah, I think I’d second what Fernando said. I think Fernando’s was a time before mine – but also my preparation would have been better than Fernando’s – but their preparation is even further ahead from where I was, you know, simulations. George has been with us in all debriefs – pre-briefs and debriefs – and he’s been on the simulator, so the preparation is a lot better than it was, I guess back in our time. Even mine was already great. So yeah, I think they just have to arrive and enjoy, which I’m sure… there’s a different confidence level now, I think, from the younger side, being that there is that preparation. I think it’ll be an exciting experience for them. I can’t remember how it was for me, to be honest, in my first race. I was racing against this dude, who was a two-time World Champion, so I think I was very nervous.
Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lewis, your relationship with Fernando got off to a bit of a rocky, shaky start in 2007. Can you just say how you felt about Fernando then, and how your relationship’s improved, for the better obviously, over the years?
LH: I don’t really recall it too much, to be honest. I don’t feel like I ever had a personal issue with Fernando. I think it was more how the team was run, or the situation we were put in, and how that was managed. Maybe. Probably:
FA: Definitely.
LH: I don’t think we ever necessarily had an issue between us, except we were trying to beat each other and murder each other’s laps on the track. Outside, we used to play NBA 2K, or whatever it was together, ever now and then. It was always really quite harmonious outside. I definitely think naturally, we’re older, old men now and the respect between us, I’d like to think, is higher than it’s ever been and I don’t think that’s ever going to change, and I do hope that Fernando’s at least around, or at least I get to see him in the future, as someone I’ve always respected highly as a driver, as I’ve always commented on, and so, I really do wish him all the best for his future endeavours.
Q: (Walter Koster – Saarbruecker Zeitung) Lewis, I want to remind you politely of your promise you have given two years ago, same place, here in the FIA press conference in Abu Dhabi. Quote: ‘In ten years, you will have to buy my book and can read the explanation for the change of mine and Nico’s mechanics crew.’ It was a good question, it will be an interesting read. Now, I want to know, have you already started writing your book? I am now 69 and have the intention to buy and read it. I hope I will still have the chance in my life. Is it OK so far?
LH: That’s a good one! I said ten year, two years ago? I’ve got a while now. You’re going to have to wait a little longer. Eight more years to go.
FA: Don’t make him wait, say it now!
LH: Eight more years. So I’ve got a little bit of time to prepare. But I haven’t planned to do anything anytime soon. I really don’t have any intentions to do a book. Are you going to do a book?
FA: yeah, I will, next year. But look at him, you should say something. He deserves it, after the long question.
LH: I said in ten years right?
But now, only eight years.
LH: Yeah! Eight years to go. OK. Every year from now on you have to remind me. Countdown. Sounds good.
Q: (Zoran Zikov – Topspeed Magazine) Fernando…
FA: You will need to wait eight years – but ask me whatever you want!
Simple question. In your Formula One career, journalists always put many questions to you. Is there any question you’ve never been asked by a journalist but you want to give an answer to?
FA: No. I think I’ve received all the questions in the world. It’s impossible that there’s one missing. So… I’m not missing any questions. Enough.
Q: (Alexander Tobakowski – Derbi.mk) Fernando, besides the triple crown, what could bring you back in Formula One – maybe becoming the father of a future world champion in F1, like Rosberg and Hill?
FA: I don’t know. I don’t know what the future will bring. Definitely now I’m concentrating on the personal challenges, the triple crown and some other races that I will add next year. For 2020 I don’t know exactly what I will do, or what will be the plan. Further away, it’s impossible to think – but yeah, who knows? Life is long and beautiful. I like Formula One. I will always love Formula One, so if I will be here in the future as a driver, as a father, as an FIA boss or whatever. I will think.
LH: You’re not the FIA boss! At least when I retire.
FA: Maximum penalties.
Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Fernando, what are you going to miss most about Formula One next year? If anything?
FA: Press conferences.
Tell me the truth!
FA: I think driving the cars. The cars are something special. It doesn’t matter if you’re fourteenth, fifth or fighting for victory. Obviously if you can be on the podium and win, definitely it’s an extra celebration and joy – but when you go out of there for qualifying, or even tomorrow for free practice, and you’re drive these cars, they are very special, y’know? The amount of technology behind these cars would be difficult to replicate in any other series – but on the other side there are negative aspects of Formula One, especially if you are 18 years here. You dedicate your entire life to Formula One. You have no friends, no family, no free time, no privacy, no wife, no kids, no nothing. It’s just full dedication if you want to succeed. So, I think, I have other priorities right not.
Q: (Carlo Miquel Gomez – AutoHebdo Sport) Fernando, what’s your goal for the race? It’s your last race. Q3 and finish the race and make a big party?
FA: I have to be in Bahrain on Monday morning – so the party is not going to be too long but yes, enjoy the race. I think that will be the first priority. I know we are not competitive enough to fight for big things but, nevertheless, I think we are fighting with Force India for the Constructors’ Championship, so that will be nice to succeed on that and finish in front of them. And in qualifying, even if Q3 is also a dream maybe, too optimistic, we try to do some good laps, some good runs and feel happy with the laps, whatever the position it is. And yeah, that’s the goal.
Q: (Beatrice Zamuner – Motorlat.com) Lando, what kind of approach are you going to take, considering that McLaren has had a very challenging season?
LN: Hard to say. I think considering it’s my first season in Formula One, and of course I would like it to be a long career in Formula One, there’s a lot of work to be done from myself and obviously from the team. They are working very hard for next season. A lot of change in the team, to try and progress next season and get further up the grid from where we are now. But I know it’s not going to be easy. Obviously, my whole career I’ve worked hard but I’ve always had good results – so it’s going to be my first season where I’m going in and I’m know I’m not going to be winning races – probably – but yeah, hopefully it’s a longer game. And we can just make improvements. I think that’s the biggest thing I want to be able to do, and the team as well, is improve over time and eventually, maybe mid-season, end of season, two years, whatever, see all of this hard work getting paid off. Getting more points, getting a podium and, eventually, try to win. I think that’s my goal and the whole team’s goal. So, I’ll be just working with them as hard as possible to get that aim done.
Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines / racefans.net) George, you’ve worked very closely with Lewis, and Lando, you with Fernando. What’s the single most important aspect you each learned from the World Champion sitting next to you that helped you get into Formula One.
GR: I think from my side, seeing how Lewis deals with the team behind the scenes, and everything, I think. No matter who you are, you can see how that driver works on track, and at the end of the day, if Lewis gave me any driving advice, what works for him might not work for me, and vice versa, so I think, from my side, the biggest thing I learnt, in the debriefs, how he discusses, and talks with the engineers, and deals with that aspect.
Lando?
LN: I don’t think it’s been one thing in particular. There’s been a lot of things that I’ve learnt from Fernando. I guess the biggest thing is to enjoy it. I think that’s one of the biggest and best things I’ve seen from Fernando is how, although it’s his job and he has to work hard and everything, he still has fun at the same time. I think that’s something very important. We probably wouldn’t be here – any of us – if we didn’t enjoy what we’re doing. But yeah, it’s on a kind of different level. Apart from the obvious things, working hard, how he talks to his engineers, how they progress, enjoying it and having fun is probably one of the best things I’ve seen.
PART TWO: DRIVERS – Esteban OCON (Racing Point Force India), Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari), Kimi RAIKKONEN (Ferrari), Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)
Q: Esteban and Max, it’s been two weeks since you guys were involved in a collision at the Brazilian Grand Prix. Max, let’s start with you: is that now water under the bridge?
Max VERSTAPPEN: You guys like the drama, don’t you? Like two weeks after. Yeah, no, all good, in the sense that you can’t change the result. It’s of course unfortunate. It’s always a bit weird to crash with a backmarker but that’s how it goes.
Q: Would you do anything differently if the same situation arose?
MV: No, I wouldn’t, because from my point of view, how I look back on it is that I just passed Lewis for the lead and this season, it has been a lot about tyre management so as soon as I got into the lead, I was basically just cruising to save the tyres and somebody comes out of the pits and has fresh supersoft tyres, I think it was at the time… In general, I think this season Force India has been at least a second to a second and a half behind us. For two laps, maybe, you feel like you have decent pace but the guys in the lead are most of the time not pushing flat out to get somewhere, because once you in the lead, what do you want to do? So maybe you want to try and get past and then try and pull away but within two laps your tyres are gone, or at least, the peak has gone and you end up letting us by again so at the end of that whole process, to try and get by you’re anyway also destroying your tyres in a way so I think it’s always better to just stay behind and follow. Clearly that was not the case.
Q: Thank you Max, and Esteban, how do you reflect on it?
Esteban OCON: Yeah, it’s not a great thing, you know, to be involved with a crash with the leader, of course. It’s not a thing you want to see and I’m sorry for Max. It was his race to win, he did a fantastic job during the whole race but yeah, on the other side, I had a slow pit stop so I came out in between Lewis and Max. got the blue flag after a couple of corners. I got away from the blue flag and I was quite fast and behind Max so I was stuck and then the team came onto the radio saying ‘you can unlap yourself if you want and if you are faster’ and as Max said, he was managing the tyres so yeah, I just went for it. It was important for us to get close to the top ten pack. If something happens, you know, a penalty or anything, I could have got in the points. Things that happen, you can’t come back from what has happened but yeah, that’s how it is, we have to move forward.
Q: Max, coming back to you, this is the team’s final race with Renault engines. Just how excited are you about the future with Honda?
MV: I’m very excited but the whole team is. You can really feel it. I think it’s good that the whole team is super-motivated for next year. We know that we can build a great car. Of course we are just waiting to have the whole package together but I definitely feel a difference compared to the last years where… the motivation was there, everybody was always trying to do their best but now they’re just so looking forward to next year that I think next year, to have that extra motivation will definitely help us to be more successful next year.
Q: Esteban, coming back to you; we now know for certain that you won’t be racing in Formula One next season. What does 2019 hold for you?
EO: Yeah, we’ll see what it holds for me. Definitely I will be around in the F1 paddock and trying to get as much mileage as possible in a Formula One car next year. Me and Mercedes, we see great opportunities for me to come back in 2020 so hopefully that will be the case and hopefully I will be back even stronger than I am now.
Q: Have you had any assurances from Mercedes about 2020?
EO: No, assurances, no. You never have but as I said, we seen great opportunities so hopefully there will be.
Q: Coming to the Ferrari drivers now, you both have good memories of racing here in Yas Marina. Sebastian, if we could start with you, how important is it for you and the team to end 2018 on a high?
Sebastian VETTEL: I think it’s what everybody tries to do but certainly after a season with highs but also with lows I think it would great to finish on a high.
Q: And then looking further ahead, what has Ferrari go to do to present a consistent title challenge in 2019?
SV: I think we need a stronger package. We certainly have had our moments this year when we had strong races but we also had races which weren’t very strong, we weren’t quick enough, so I think overall it’s the speed that decides and I think more often than not I think we’re lacking a little bit of speed. I think we’re working very hard and I think the motivation is there to do that final step that is still outstanding.
Q: Kimi, after eight seasons, this is your final race with Ferrari. What does this team mean to you and what will you miss most about it?
Kimi RAIKKONEN: I don’t know. Obviously I had this leaving them once already so it’s not a new thing. I’m not sad because I don’t see why we need to be sad. We will stay as friends. We’re going to see a lot of us anyhow in the paddock so not an awful lot changes. We’ll both go for new things and I think it’s exciting but we’ve had good times with the team, great people. We’ve had some difficult times, but that’s part of business and I think that’s how it should go: sometimes it needs to be a bit hard. No, obviously I won the championship with them, as a driver. We twice won the team (championship) so I’m very happy to be part of it because there’s not many people who have done it. We will happily go different ways. We’re not that far away from each other and we will keep doing what we do.
Q: And just looking at this weekend, you’re in a tight battle with Bottas, just 14 points separating you in the championship. How important is that third place for you?
KR: I don’t think it’s changing my world any way. If I end up third, I think we need to go wherever the prize giving is so it’s a negative thing in the end, you know, more travelling but we’ll see.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Esteban and Max, we all know there’s a bit of history between you two. How do you feel about each other as drivers and as men, and about the prospect of racing together potentially for a long time in Formula One?
MV: OK, with all the other young drivers? Oh. We’ve done that in go-karting so that’s life.
EO: Formula Three.
MV: Formula Three.
Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) All I’m asking is how do you feel about each other as drivers and as men?
SV: Boys.
MV: Yeah! Well, I don’t know. It’s like a neutral feeling.
EO: I will respond, if he cannot, I do. We’ve been racing since a long time and it’s been close racing on track. Sometimes there were touches but you know if you’re fighting for championships or stuff it’s always the case. Anyway, it gets close at some points but the important thing is that it stays good racing and good fun for the fans but doesn’t go over it and that’s the important thing, yeah, but it’s been a long time that we know each other and it’s been good so I don’t see why it could change.
MV: I have the same feeling racing Esteban or Seb or Kimi. It’s not because he’s a lot younger than them that changes my feeling or anything.
Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, Racefans.Net) Max, Will Buxton, the F1 TV reporter has just tweeted: ‘tell you what, Max ain’t over it. Not one bit. Doubled down on it being intentional on Ocon’s part. Blimey.’ Did you do a TV interview with him where you possibly suggested that Esteban did it intentionally?
MV: No.
Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, Racefans.Net) This was tweeted in the last ten, fifteen min…
MV: I don’t care about what’s written on twitter so… no.
Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Max, at the start, you said you guys like the drama but obviously the drama is heightened by what happened after the race where you pushed Esteban three times. If you could go back again, would you have the same response? Do you regret your response?
MV: No, not really because I was after an apology and I got a bit of a different response. We are all emotional, just at the time that I had lost a victory, so I think from my side I was really calm. It could have been much worse. I think pushing, in any sport, it happens. I actually saw it a few days ago in football again. So from my side, I thought it was quite a calm response. What do you expect me to do, like shake his hand, like thank you very much for being second instead of first? I think it’s quite a normal response. OK, I got my two days with the FIA which we will find out what we’re going to do but no, from my side… You guys don’t really hear what’s actually being said at the scales. You just see me pushing. But if you understand the whole conversation, I think it’s a bit different.
Q: Can I just throw this to the Ferrari drivers? Sebastian and Kimi, what are your thoughts on what happened between these two drivers in Brazil?
SV: We can go? Now? I don’t know. I have an opinion. I’m not sure I should say what I think.
KR: Not really. I saw it afterwards. Boys and boys and that’s how it goes. I don’t think anything bad happened in the end it’s probably in many eyes, if you take the whole picture, maybe it’s not the greatest thing in many aspects but it’s not the end of the world. That’s how it goes.
Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-Magazin.com) Two questions, first to Max: you said you would do the same again, you’ve done nothing wrong. I think most of us agree but if you would be in that championship battle, would you do something differently, even if it wasn’t wrong, but drive a bit more safely in this situation? And Seb, just to follow up on what you said: can you give us your opinion?
MV: I don’t think it really changes if you’re fighting for a championship. It’s easy to say, from other people, yeah, you should have done something differently but I don’t expect to crash with a backmarker. Like I said, if you’re fighting for first or second and you crash like that it’s a different story but if you get hit like that… I honestly don’t understand what I should do differently so, no. For most of the people, also with the emotional side of it, you have not been a racing driver or you have not been in this position where there’s a lot to play for and we are all here to win and then you are in that position and it gets taken from you. It’s not nice and I think emotions can then take over and I think it’s really normal. Like I said, it’s just a normal thing.
SV: I think in the end, it’s very simple. I think we have emotions, we are human beings and emotions go both ways. They go full of joy when something great happens and you’re happy and they probably swing the other way if you’re not happy or upset. I think it’s clear that we’re here to fight something that means the world to us – I don’t know how much it means to you because for you, most of you… you know, for people watching it’s a show they’re watching. For people reporting about the show it’s a job. For us it’s a job but it’s our lives. I think we all started racing when we were small kids in go-karts and to be in a Formula One car is the dream that we all had, to race a Formula One car and then to fight for a win, so there’s something big at stake. It’s not like… you know, you get a piece of cake when you’ve done well and you don’t when you didn’t. So there’s a lot at stake and I think that explains the emotions and as I said, I think emotions are part of sport. I think they always will be. Obviously you have certain situations that give you the opportunity to talk about it a lot afterwards. I’ve been in that situation as well but I think for us it’s very clear that the pendulum swings both ways.
Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) Max and Esteban, I think all of us here would like to report the facts so Max, help us out here: what was said on the weighing scales after the race in Brazil?
MV: Something I didn’t expect to hear. No, it doesn’t matter what it was at the end of the day, because it clearly pissed me off instead of let’s say, straightway an apology but maybe after the race, you’re still with the adrenaline kicki… it’s still in your body, you maybe don’t get the right answer but like I said, we’re not robots. We have emotions. And like Seb said as well, we will always be, unless you puts robots in the car but I don’t think we want that.
Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) No, none of us want that. Esteban do you feel like you played your part in what happened as well, then?
EO: Yeah, I think we have to move forwards in what happened. We can’t change the past. I’m sure, even if Max said the opposite, he would like to come back on what he did after the race. Yeah, I think it’s done, we can’t change it and now we have to move forward.
Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Max, over the last four races, in terms of points, you’ve been neck-and-neck with Lewis Hamilton. There’s one point in it and obviously if the race had gone differently in Brazil you would be ahead by a few points. Does that make you confident that next year you could challenge, we could see a three driver or perhaps more, competition for the title?
MV: Well, I think I had that last year as well. I don’t think it really matters a lot, we just need to make sure that from the start, from next year, that we are a little bit closer so we can actually start fighting with them a bit sooner, because it seems like that throughout the season our car just keeps progressing in a good way. That definitely helped us out at the end of the season again this year and also last year. We just need to be a little bit sooner than at the end of the season.
Q: (Marco Privitera – LiveGP.it) Kimi, after your long experience with Ferrari, what will be the next target for next year and the rest of your career?
KR: I haven’t really thought (about it). We’ll see once we start driving the new cars next year where we are roughly, purely by feeling and then we go from there. Obviously it’s a different challenge but I enjoy also, that’s why I (inaudible). We’ll see. If you ask many people there are lots of different opinions how it’s going to go but we’ll find out next year and we’ll do our best. I think we have a good change to do some great things. Where that’s going to take us, who knows? We’ll find out but we’ll see what happens once we start next year and then after that, I haven’t even thought about it.
Q: (Alexsandar Tobakowski – Derbi.mk) Sebastian, we tend to believe that you have a very friendly relationship with Kimi during these years at Ferrari, so do you expect to have some more pressure from Charles during next season? If yes, the same level of pressure if it was Max joining Ferrari?
SV: I think they’re two different things. I think I tried to beat Kimi. Kimi tried to beat me. I think it doesn’t matter who you are racing in the team, you always try to win and that means you also beat whoever is driving with you in the same team, so I don’t think that changes. Obviously Charles is different to Kimi so we will see how it goes but I think he’s a good kid. One thing for sure that I enjoyed a lot in the last years is the mutual respect that we have to each other. I think we never had to deal with any bullshit between ourselves so that made it easier for me, easier for him I guess and easier for the team. But I’m not expecting anything in that direction from Charles. I think he’s a good kid. Obviously the team knows him very well for a while now, since he’s grown in the Ferrari Drivers Academy and yeah, happy for him and then we’ll see how it works out.
Q: Sebastian, can you name something that you will miss about Kimi next year?
SV: Silence!
KR: Short meetings from my side.
SV: Exactly!
Q: (Abhishek Takle – Mid-Day) Kimi, just to follow up from what you said earlier: like you said, it will be a new challenge next year at Sauber. What do you think you will enjoy most about driving for Sauber next year?
KR: Obviously I don’t know yet because… I’m pretty sure it’s a much smaller team than where I’ve been now, at Ferrari, but I’m really looking forward to it. It’s going to be different in many ways but the aim is still the same, do well in the races. I think it’s more pure racing and less the other stuff in there. Hopefully it will turn out to be good for both of us and that’s our aim. I think it’s what we can do, but obviously I might be completely wrong but we’ll find out. I have a good feeling about it and I’m excited to go there. But it’s close to my home which is obviously a bonus.
SV: Didn’t you tell me that you’re really looking forward to the simulator.
KR: Yeah, but I have it at home. I told them don’t spend the money on it because I have on at home.
MV: So you will do the set-up work for them for the Friday, for the first practice?
KR: Yeah. That’s easy. No worries. Do it once well and it should be fine.
Q: (Arjan Schouten – AD Sportwereld) Max, you said nothing is clear yet about your public service punishment. What do you expect for punishment? Do you agree with it and do you see it as a real penalty or more something of a warning not to do it again?
MV: I honestly really don’t know. We’ll discuss, between the team and the FIA, what we’re going to do. If I agree with it, it doesn’t really matter, does it? What can you do about it? I find it a bit harsh but yeah… We’ll find a solution.
