Tag: Lewis Hamilton

DRIVERS

1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

2 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)

3 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)

TRACK INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by Stoffel Vandoorne) 

Q: Valtteri, it was looking so good after Q2, what happened in Q3? Tell us about qualifying?

Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, it’s been looking pretty good all weekend, you know. I felt the pace being really good and also Q1 and Q2 was nice and smooth but Q3, to be honest I don’t know. I found some gains but obviously my rivals found some more. I think here is pretty sensitive with the tyres, getting them right. The first in Q3 my tyres were too cold. Second run, I don’t know, I just couldn’t go any quicker. Some question marks but I think actually it’s a pretty good place to start third here and I think I’m on the right tyre as well.

Q: Exactly. Starting from third, it’s a long way up to Turn 1. What do you think about the race tomorrow?

VB: Yeah, I remember once I started third here and I know what happened then, so for sure I will try to do the same and I really think I will have an advantage with the medium tyre in the first stint, so still all to play for.

Q: Max congratulations, P2 on the grid. What a fantastic recovery from yesterday?

Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, we were struggling a bit to find the right balance with the car on this track, it’s quite slippery round here. Even this morning I was not entirely happy and through qualifying we were really working on trying to nail the balance and in the Q3, the final run especially, it was not bad. So to be second on the grid, I didn’t expect, so very, very pleased with that.

Q: And it’s a good position for tomorrow as well. Second is not a bad position here as with the draft to Turn 1 maybe there is an opportunity?

MV: Yeah, absolutely. If we can have a decent start then the tow effect is very big around here so if I can get a good draft who knows what is going to happen into Turn 2. It’s going to be interesting anyway with the tyres as well tomorrow.

Q: Lewis, congratulations, what an awesome drive. I mean, challenging qualifying for you; you had that red flag in Q2 which put you a little on the back foot, but what an amazing drive in Q3.

Lewis HAMILTON: Well, firstly, I have to say a big, big hi to all the fans that are here. I’ve missed the fans so much through the year. I can’t tell you how great it is to see people. I hope everyone has their mask on and staying safe. This morning when I left the hotel I had a couple of fans there with their Black Lives Matter masks on and I’m just so humbled by everyone’s support and how everyone has worked this year. So it’s really great to see everybody. The session was… oh, it was one of the worst qualifying sessions; it was horrible. Heart in your mouth the whole way. The first problem, I think I got the time taken away. It’s the first time I’ve gone wide there the whole weekend. I wanted to stay out and do another lap and get a banker, but they said come in and get new tyres and then the red flag came out. It was a real risk once we got out on that next tyre at the end. Ultimately, I’m starting on the soft tyre, which is not good. It’s nice being on pole but here is probably the worst place to be on pole, with the draggier cars we have this year. So, undoubtedly I’m most likely to get dragged past tomorrow and both the cars I’m racing against, they are both on the medium tomorrow, so definitely it’s going to make it hard to win the race tomorrow. But nonetheless I’m going to stay positive and try to figure out how I can navigate my way through, get a good start maybe, and we’ll see.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Lewis, many congratulations, that was an eventful session for but can we just start by talking about Q3? The car just got faster and faster – two great laps.

LH: Yeah. You want to start with Q3 first? It’s a lot to skip over and just to go straight to Q3, but it was one of the hardest qualifying sessions I can remember having being that everything was just so rushed and there was panic and there was just all sorts going on. And then obviously timing once you’re out there, when we went out for the second run, sorry in Q2, and then just having to calm myself down and find my centre, you know, calm my heart down and wanting to deliver in Q3. I was adamant. I had no choice. I had to deliver on those two laps. Valtteri had been doing great all weekend. Nothing new in that respect but I knew I needed to have a perfect lap, particularly on the first run to get the pole. Obviously pole position is not great here; it never has been. Still, going for pole is what we do. The first lap was really great. I thought it was going to be very difficult to improve on it, but I think I managed to just improve just a tiny bit I think on the second lap. I’m super grateful to everyone for just about keeping their cool. And it could be a lot, lot worse. I could be out of the top 10, so I’m really grateful I go to compete.

Q: Just talk us through those final moments of Q2 now, when you crossed the line with one and a half seconds to spare?

LH: It was horrible! I wanted to start on the medium. I didn’t want to go to… I mean the whole session was just not great. I went wide out of Turn 18, which was my fault, but the first time I had done that all weekend. Then I was like, “let me stay out and just get a banker lap in”, and they asked me to come in, which ultimately… I mean, hindsight is always a good thing to have, but I don’t know if it was the right call. But then we went back out and then the red flag came out and we all waited at the end of the pit lane. And I nearly spun at Turn 1 because the tyre temperatures were so low. I think I overtook one car going into the second to last corner or two cars I think it was, but then I got blocked by the Renault, and I was dead slow in the middle of the last corner about to start the lap and I could just hear Bonno saying “Go, go, go, go, go, go!” so I was just gunning to try to get across the line, so very, very fortunate. I don’t think that was just luck, I think it was just the right timing for us.

Q: Just a quick word on strategy for tomorrow. You’re going to be on the front row on the Soft tyre alongside Max who’s going to be on the Medium.

LH: As I was saying before, it’s not a good place to start at all and I think this year you’re seeing our cars are more draggy and there’s more tow this year than we’ve seen in other years, so… yeah. I generally expect one of these two to come flying by at some point. So, I think I’m just going to focus on my race and just try to run the fastest race I can. Obviously I’m on the worst tyre to start on the race but generally it’s a good tyre to do an actual start but it doesn’t have… it has the biggest degradation, ten times more than any other tyre, I think it is. So that’s going to be a struggle. I don’t know if that puts me onto a two-stop, I don’t know, unlikely because the pit lane is too slow, so I’m just going to have to nurse those tyres as far as I can. These guys, if they get by, they’re going to be pulling away so going to sit down tonight to try to figure out if there’s a different kind of race I can do tomorrow to keep my position.

Q: Max, coming to you, your 13^th front row start and your first here in Sochi, with that fabulous final lap of Q3. Was that one of your best?

MV: Yeah, I think so. It felt really good. Trying to find the right balance because I was actually struggling quite a bit throughout qualifying to really nail all the entry speeds, because I was oversteering a lot. So, step-by-step I think we were doing a better job. Q3, run one was a bit better but the second run, made a few changes and that just gave me a little bit more grip and, on this track, you really need a lot of entry grip, so yeah, that was very satisfying. It was a really nice lap to drive. It’s not pole position but for me, to be on the first row, I definitely didn’t expect that going into qualifying.

Q: Like Lewis, you had a drama-filled end to Q2 but for different reasons because you decided to abort your final lap and you just made it through to Q3.

MV: Yeah, I mean, I wanted to start on the Medium but the field, of course, is very, very close on lap time so it was very hard. I did my very best to do the best lap I could on that tyre but it was not easy because I was already struggling for grip and then going onto a harder compound was even more difficult to find that grip. Then going into that last corner, after the red flag, when I was back onto the Soft tyres, they told me ‘abort, abort’, so I stopped. But of course the finish line is quite short after the last corner. Of course happy that we did it, and we just made it through.

Q: Lewis has just told us that he’s got a difficult race ahead of him tomorrow. Are you feeling confident starting on the Medium tyre?

MV: Yeah, I think for us it’s the best way going into the race. Of course I’m starting a bit on the dirty side so I’m not sure how much that’s going to affect it but yeah, overall I think the Mercedes guys are a bit faster in race pace so I’ll try my very best to stay with them and see what happens but first of all I think we… well, I would like to have a good start, and by start I mean once I go full throttle to have full power, that would be nice and then not get taken out. After two retirements I think it’s good to score some points again.

Q: Valtteri, coming to you, how tricky is it to manage a session like that when there’s so much going on?

VB: Well, for me there was not so much going on. It was actually pretty straightforward from my side, so I think I was quite fortunate that all the happenings didn’t really affect me. Q1, Q2 from my side was pretty good. Car was feeling good and the pace seemed to be there – unlike in Q3.

Q: Well, talk us through Q3, particularly that final lap.

VB: Q3 was a tricky one, so in the first run I didn’t feel my tyres were ready, so out of the last corner, starting the lap, I had a big snap so lost a couple of tenths on the run down to Turn 2. Turn 2, massive oversteer and tyres only came in towards the end of the lap. So yeah, I was just waiting for the second run then and, you know, there was no mistakes as such, Turn 2, maybe there was a tiny lock-up, went a bit wide but, to be honest, I don’t really get it why I couldn’t match Lewis’ times in Q3. Just didn’t feel I was gaining much grip from previous sessions. I think even Q2 felt better, so a few question marks from me about what really happened – or maybe I was just playing games and wanted to start third.

VIDEO CONFERENCE

Q: (Christian Menath – motorsport-magazin.com) Question for Lewis, we just got a report from the stewards that you failed to rejoin the track in the right way, as it is said in the race director notes. Can you just elaborate a bit on that situation and do you expect some problems because of that?

LH: Where’s that?

Q: Turn 2. Four minutes after the start of the qualifying session.

LH: I don’t know. I went through the barriers and through the bollards… in Q2 you mean?

Q: It says at four minutes past three, so Q1 I guess. Failure to follow the race director’s instructions in Turn 2 at three o’clock and four minutes. Breach of article 12.1.1.

LH: I don’t know. I have no idea what that is. There’s always going to be something, isn’t there. I don’t remember ever… I don’t think… I had a lap time deleted.

Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Lewis, I just wondered, you mentioned this being a horrible session for you, a little bit of panic at one stage. What was the communication like between you and the team? Was it always calm or were things a little bit  – not out of control – but just a little bit under pressure? And was there any discussion about you still taking the mediums for that last run in Q2 after the red flag or was there something specific that prohibited that?

LH: Our conversations are usually relatively calm, I would say. We had a debate. I wanted to stay out in Q1, as I mentioned. I wanted to stay out and just do another lap just to get a banker and then we had a big discussion, back and forth, back and forth. I said ‘I want to stay out, I want to stay out, I want to stay out’ and they called me in so I listened to them. And then obviously we went back out and we got stuck with the red flag. Was that Q1 or Q2? I can’t remember. It was Q2, yeah, Q2. And then in Q1 I had a flat spot so I couldn’t go back out again so that was a bit of a mess so that was a bit less practice. And then at the end of Q2 I wanted to go back out on the medium, because of course I don’t want to start on the soft tyre but we had to wait at the end of the pit lane for two minutes and we had… the tyre temperatures would have dropped down massively, already just on that brand new tyre, on the soft, I had a big slide into turn one so it definitely wasn’t great and I did plead to have the medium tyre but they weren’t having it. So naturally I think we will have a discussion at the end, whether it was right or wrong, doesn’t matter now. It’s happened so we will just make do with what we have.

Q: (Scott Mitchell – The Race) Lewis, you talked about having to calm yourself down and centre yourself for those runs late on. How did you stop yourself from letting that session spiral, because with the deleted the lap times and then the red flag, the moment when you said you nearly spun at turn two, when you went back out for that run at the end of Q2, it must have been all kinds of stress and pressure, so how did you stop it from running away with you?

LH: If I told you I’d have to kill you so I mean… No, I think everyone, we’re all under immense pressure and I would say probably experience helps massively in order to know how to regain your focus. Because just one millimetre out and you’re way off, you’re making mistakes or you’re locking up. It is a real, real challenge and I don’t always get it right but I was really grateful today I was able to… and I think in general that’s probably been a real strength. I don’t know if it’s always been it but particularly this year obviously qualifying, Q3, I’ve managed to really be able to centre myself and deliver really impactful laps that count when it really matters, so I’m grateful for that. Maybe one day I will tell you how I do it in a book.

Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) To all three drivers, just about the track conditions and the amount of grip out there. How did you find it throughout Saturday? Obviously things looked a bit colder coming into qualifying. There were quite a few off-track moments for various drivers up and down the grid, so how did you find those laps?

VB: Yeah, here, quite usually at the start of the weekend it’s pretty low grip and the wind changed for today quite a bit so it’s nothing new really. It’s quite a peaky tarmac in terms of how it provides the grip so if you lose the rear end or if you have a locked up it’s pretty penalising so the peak of the grip is quite a small window. So yeah, that’s why we see quite a lot of mistakes but it’s one of these type of tracks and not really an issue but different.

LH: I don’t know if the fans that are watching… I don’t know if the commentators talk about it much but the surfaces that we have on these tracks are quite a lot different. Some are the same, you have some that are very, very smooth, some very grainy and some that wear the tyres more, some that wear them less, some that overheat the tyres, some that work the tyres. There’s a real science behind it, naturally, but here, today, the grip level is quite poor here I would say. It’s quite a smooth surface but today into qualifying the wind direction switched 180 degrees at least and up quite a lot, 20 miles an hour or 20 kilometres an hour winds, so that would have meant that you had a tailwind into turn one which we didn’t have previously. It meant that we had a tailwind into turn five and a few other different corners so what we had practised in P3 and one and two was different once we got to qualifying, which takes a bit of adjusting. So it definitely wasn’t easy. But everyone’s in the same boat.

MV: Yeah, this track… it’s also because I guess not many times it’s been run on, like other tracks we go to there’s a lot of activity so the track just gets used a lot more and around here with all those 90 degree corners and then I think the surface they went for, it’s just… yeah, a tricky combination but it’s the same for everyone at the end of the day, so you just have to deal with it but yeah, with these cars as well, they are so big and so wide that once you lose it, it’s really hard to really catch it if it goes, because of the wide tyres. It’s a bit more exciting, I guess, for the viewers, this year’s spin and stuff but, yeah, it’s an interesting track to set up the car for as well, and then finding the right balance from entry to mid-corner, to go fast.

Q: (Scott Mitchell – The Race) Max, the turn around from Friday to today is pretty extraordinary in terms of lap times and competitiveness. Did it surprise you at all, and do you think you’ve put yourself in a similar position to the second Silverstone race where circumstances are aligning and you can challenge the Mercedes?

MV: I think first of all Friday was a little bit messy because were trying downforce levels and we never really had a perfect lap, let’s say like that. There were always a few moments and stuff so I knew that we were going to be, let’s say, more competitive than where we were but it’s a surprise to be on the front row, that’s for sure, but I honestly don’t expect it to be like Silverstone. I think we were a little bit more competitive in the long runs there and also the compounds, I don’t think it’s as big an issue as what it was there, so I don’t expect the same to happen but I’m just happy with the improvements we did make overnight. I think even at the beginning of qualifying it looked quite tricky to be P3 but it was more because I think we just didn’t really find a good balance an issue because of the wind change, like Lewis said. It seemed like it was very difficult for me to find rear grip in some corners but in Q3 we made a few changes and it seemed to work a bit better so yeah, I was pleased for that.

End

Mugello, 12 Sept 2020: Lewis Hamilton beat Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas by just six-hundredths of a second to claim pole position for the first Formula 1 Tuscan Grand Prix. Max Verstappen will meanwhile line up at the front of an all-Red Bull second row, with team-mate Alex Albon in fourth place. 

On the occasion of the team’s 1000^th Formula 1 Grand Prix, Ferrari honour was upheld by Charles Leclerc who took fifth place on the grid. 

In Q1, Bottas led the way ahead of the final, with the Finn taking P1 thanks to a lap of 1:15.749. That put him just three-hundredths of a second ahead of Hamilton. Verstappen’s first run of 1:16.335 netted him a third place ahead of the Racing Points of Lance Stroll and Sergio Pérez, while Albon slotted into P6 thanks to his opening lap of 1:17.018. 

In the drop zone ahead of those final runs were Monza winner Pierre Gasly, Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen, Williams’ George Russell and the Haas cars of Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen. 

And while Räikkönen and Grosjean were able to claw their way to safety there was no escape for Gasly. The AlphaTauri driver briefly climbed to P15, but as Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel dropped down the order and then bounced back, and as Grosjean vaulted to 14^th, Gasly slipped to P16 and elimination ahead of Antonio Giovinazzi, Russell, Nicholas Latifi and Magnussen. 

The top three in Q1 remained static in the final runs but Albon went out for another run and a good lap saw him jump to P4 at the flag with a lap of 1:16.527, just under two tenths behind Verstappen. 

The opening runs of Q2 saw Hamilton make his way to the top of the order for the first time in the weekend after Bottas had topped all three practice sessions. 

The Briton opened his Q2 account with a lap of 1:15.309, which put him just 0.013s ahead of his team-mate. Verstappen once again took third place just 0.162 behind Hamilton, and Albon found his way to fourth place with a lap of 1:15.914, three tenths ahead of Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo. 

The top five stayed in the pit lane during the final runs and the order at the top remained static. Behind them, Stroll went through to Q3 in P6 ahead of the second Renault of Esteban Ocon, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and the second Racing Point of Pérez. 

The final Q3 spot was taken by McLaren’s Carlos Sainz, at the expense of his own team-mate Lando Norris who was eliminated ahead of AlphaTauri’s Daniil Kvyat. 

There was no late reprieve this time for Vettel, however. The Ferrari driver fell to P14 and was outpaced by Alfa Romeo’s Räikkönen. Grosjean too dropped out in P15. 

Hamilton continued to set the pace in the first runs of Q3. The Briton took provisional pole with a lap of 1:15.144, six hundredths of a second ahead of Bottas. The Bulls once again took up residence in P3 and P4 with Verstappen four tenths of a second ahead of Albon. 

Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez found his way to fifth with his sole, late lap of the segment to sit ahead of Ricciard, Leclerc, Sainz and Ocon who did not go out in the first runs. 

The final runs looked set to be a tight contest but in the end there were few major improvements. Hamilton failed to find more time and when Bottas’ lap was compromised by yellow flags brought out by a spin for Ocon the championship leader coasted to his 95^th career pole position. 

Verstappen managed to make a small improvement on his final run but with the wind picking up during the final laps, the four hundredths of a second he found were not enough to dislodge Bottas from P2. 

Albon also failed to make gains on his final flyer but even though Leclerc jumped to P5 with a good final lap, the Ferrari driver was still three tenths away from troubling the Thai driver. 

Sergio Pérez qualified sixth for Racing Point ahead of Lance Stroll but the team-mates will swap places on the grid tomorrow as the Mexican driver is due to take a one-place grid penalty for a collision with Räikkönen in Friday practice. Daniel Ricciardo took eighth place for Renault ahead of McLaren’s Carlos Sainz, while Ocon will start from tenth on the grid. 

2020 FIA Formula 1 Tuscan Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:15.144 6 251.277
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:15.203 0.059 5 251.080
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:15.509 0.365 6 250.062
4 Alexander Albon Red Bull/Honda 1:15.954 0.810 5 248.597
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:16.270 1.126 6 247.567
6 Sergio Pérez Racing Point/Mercedes 1:16.311 1.167 3 247.434
7 Lance Stroll Racing Point/Mercedes 1:16.356 1.212 5 247.289
8 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1:16.543 1.399 5 246.684
9 Carlos Sainz McLaren/Renault 1:17.870 2.726 5 242.481
10 Esteban Ocon Renault 2 
11 Lando Norris McLaren/Renault 1:16.640 1.331 6 246.372
12 Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri/Honda 1:16.854 1.545 5 245.686
13 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:16.854 1.545 6 245.686
14 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:16.858 1.549 6 245.673
15 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 1:17.254 1.945 6 244.414
16 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:17.125 1.376 6 244.823
17 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:17.220 1.471 6 244.522
18 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:17.232 1.483 9 244.484
19 6 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:17.320 1.571 9 244.205
20 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:17.348 1.599 6 244.117

The top-three drivers who attended the post-race press conference are:

Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes); Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes) and Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)

TRACK INTERVIEWS (Conducted by Martin Brundle) 

Q: Lewis, it seemed to me that you had this race under control from qualifying yesterday with those two outstanding laps but you had some nursing to do at the end? 

Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, it wasn’t the easiest of races. I had a lock-up into Turn 5 that started to give a bit of vibration and then one into the last corner. The tyre temperatures were slowly dropping, no matter how much you were pushing. I guess as you lose rubber you start to lose temperature in the tyres. It was a bit of a struggle but nonetheless I think it was OK. I was a little bit nervous that we might have a scenario like Silverstone with that right front towards the end, so I was nursing it. It looks like the tyre has got plenty of rubber on it, so maybe it was just fine and maybe just all worry for nothing.

Q: You’re unstoppable at the moment – you’re 89^th victory, just two behind the great Michael Schumacher now, your fourth victory here, matching Jim Clark. You’re on a roll!

LH: I know it’s not necessarily what everyone always wants, to see the Mercedes at the front but no matter how much success we have, we just keep our heads down. When I go back into the office now there’s no guys celebrating, they’re like, ‘OK, how can we win the next race’. It’s an incredible mentality to work around, and environment to work around. We’re continuing to learn about ourselves, about the car, how we develop and improve weekend-in, weekend-out. And honestly, it’s crazy to think, I’m 35, going towards 36 but I feel better than ever, so that’s a positive. I’m really, really grateful to the team, everyone back at the factory, thank you for their continued support. It actually worked to my benefit to be honest that snap, because it meant he was right up my chuff and I’m sure he had to lift. And that meant that when we go to the top of the hill, I don’t know if he had to lift or not, but he didn’t have enough time to slingshot. No shake and bake today, so I’m grateful for that.

Q: On to Valtteri Bottas. P2 today Valtteri, tell us about your race? There was a point early on when you were saying ‘let me have a go, let me use my power up and have a run at Lewis’?

Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, of course at the start it would have been a good opportunity but I think Lewis played it pretty well that he wasn’t too fast out of Turn 1 and I couldn’t really get momentum behind him and also today there was a tailwind into Turn 5, so a bit less of a tow effect. Same thing in the restart – I just couldn’t catch him on the straight. So, I think those are the main opportunities and otherwise, yeah, with the same car and Lewis driving pretty much mistake-free it was tricky, but you know, I tried.

Q: You made me smile when you said on the radio ‘I didn’t hear that instruction that we’re not allowed to race each other’.

VB: Yeah! Actually I had no clue about that! Maybe they said it, but I don’t recall.

Q: Good stuff and more world championship points. What can you take away from this weekend, we go straight into Monza of course?

VB: Well, I think Lewis was faultless today and yesterday he was quick. We earned more points this weekend. At least it was a clean weekend for me, with no big issue. But, definitely I want those race wins and I’m just happy that there’s an opportunity next weekend again.

Q: Max, 33, you keep finishing P3. You could see the Mercedes at the end of the race again. A bit tantalisingly frustrating or satisfied with the day?

Max VERSTAPPEN: No, it was pretty boring, to be honest. Not really interesting; not much to do. I couldn’t really keep up with them when they were pushing and from my side I ran out of tyres at the end. The last eight laps I was just backing it out, saving the front tyres. It was not really enjoyable out there today. On the medium I didn’t really have a lot of grip and on the hard tyre, initially I was trying to put a bit of pressure on Valtteri, but then they told him to speed up and I couldn’t keep up. Yeah, a bit lonely.

Q: Yeah, I can imagine for you. There was some really good action through the field. I wondered if you might come in before the end, put some pressure on Mercedes with some fresh tyres and try to get a world championship point, but Daniel Ricciardo was, annoying for you, in your pit stop window wasn’t he?

MV: Yeah and I was not sure with their top speed if it was easy to pass, so I said we just stay out. I think I was very close to a puncture but, yeah, we finished P3. More than that was anyway not possible today. OK, maybe it was not the most satisfying P3 but it’s still better than nothing, so I’m pretty pleased with that.

Q: It was probably a wise choice. Daniel did the fastest lap of the race on the 44^th lap of the race, the last lap, so he had some speed.

MV: Yeah, well, we just had no tyres left, so I was not taking any risks. It was probably a good weekend for them and just maximised what we could.

Q: Straight on to Monza looking forward to that.

MV: Yeah, we’ll try again and see where we end up.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Lewis, many congratulations, that was a hugely impressive weekend from you and Mercedes.

LH: Thank you. Yeah, it was definitely impressive from my point of view, just seeing this team continue to come here weekend-in, weekend-out. You know, we’re constantly learning and constantly improving and I don’t know how we continue to do that. What we learned from the last race, which was also a great race, we’ve brought updates here, we’ve understood our tyres a little bit better coming into this weekend, and qualifying obviously was incredible for myself and I managed to have that same pace today that I had yesterday. Even though I was on my own out there, it was still very, very tough with these tyres, in terms of looking after them. I think at the end everyone had to back off to manage the tyres to bring these cars home with these long one stops.

Q: As you say, hugely impressive qualifying yesterday and a great race today. Of the five wins so far in 2020, was this the smoothest weekend for you?

LH: Ooh, I would say the last one probably was. Barcelona, particularly the race, was the smoothest race I think I’ve generally had. This one was positive but it’s very stressful with the start, as is Barcelona, but the start is not easy. And the restart also. I think it was a pretty straightforward weekend but there are definitely areas we can improve.

Q: Great stuff, Lewis, well done. Valtteri, solid second place in the race. How did the car perform, did you feel faster than Lewis at any stage today?

VB: It’s difficult to say because of course when you are in the lead you can control the pace and you have the free air and when you are behind and if you try to get close, you are always using more of the tyres than the car ahead, so it’s impossible to say whether I was quicker at any point. But I felt in general that the pace for me was good and I think that our car was strong today. As Lewis said, as a team it was a really solid Sunday for us. So, yeah, it was pretty straightforward. Of course, I tried to use the opportunities, the first one was at the race start. Out of Turn 1 I felt a better run than Lewis and I really actually had to lift not to run into the back of him and I tried to leave a bit of a gap to get a good momentum off the tow, but today I was surprised how small the tow effect was, maybe with the tailwind into Turn 5 it made a different. Actually, it was the same on the restart. I was hoping to catch him but I just couldn’t.

Q: You said on the radio that you had numbness in your left leg. How much did that hinder you? Are you OK now?

VB: Yeah, all good. I just got a bit of numbness with the brake pedal we have in the car there have been a couple of race where my leg gets a bit numb and it happened today again. It’s difficult to say how much I was affected. It can lead to mistakes but there were no big mistakes apart from one lock-up that I can recall.

Q: Coming to you Max…

MV: This music playing in the background is more exciting than my race. Let’s keep it going.

Q: I was going to say, it was a quiet race for you today but you did keep in touch all the way through. How much satisfaction does that give you?

MV: Well, not all the way through. On the hard tyre I was trying to follow with Valtteri but then they told him to speed up, so then I lost a bit of ground. At one point, with ten laps to go, I started to have really bad vibrations on the tyres and then I started to have a lot of understeer. Then we discussed: shall we do a pit stop? But I had Daniel in my pit stop window, so I said “well, let’s just go to the end then, and I’ll just manage it.” It’s a shame. I mean, it’s such an amazing track and then you can’t really push. So, it was pretty boring to be honest. It’s a shame. I mean, I really enjoy driving here and honestly, we did 44 laps right? So, I probably did 38 of them managing a lot. It’s not been the most exciting today.

Q: We saw a nice little dice between you and your old team-mate Daniel Ricciardo at the start. Very respectful.

MV: Yeah, we gave each other room. Honestly, I didn’t see him after Turn 7 but he was on my inside, but, yeah, I could only see one Renault in my mirror but that was not Daniel, so I had no clue where he was, so I just gave him a bit more space than I think was necessary in Turn 8. But all good, it was nice. It’s always nice anyway racing him; he’s a good guy. It’s a lot of fun.

VIDEO CONFERENCE

Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC) Lewis, this one’s for you. You spoke before the race about focussing on improving your qualifying for this year after last year. How do you do that without compromising anything else?

LH: It’s a good question. Last year Valtteri was putting in great laps as he always does but I think I was definitely under-performing in qualifying, which is generally… usually… a strength of mine. It was really understanding these tyres and how I utilised it with my driving style. For this year I’ve had to make a couple of adjustments and on top of that, with this car, seems to work quite well. So now I’m back to being able to produce qualifying laps that I was able to do before last year, and on a more consistent basis. It’s just work in the background. It’s work that we do on the simulator; it’s stuff we do with set-up but getting that right without affecting the race. As you saw, last year the races were incredibly strong. It’s the fine line.

Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Lewis, you only really looked vulnerable today – although that might be a bit of a stretch – on the run up to Les Combes at the top of the hill. In the past you’ve used a few special tactics, like having 90 per cent throttle going on runs through Eau Rouge. Did you do anything like that today on lap one, and also at the restart?

LH: On the start itself I had a big snap out of Turn 1 and Valtteri was all over we, and as I had wheelspin, I had a de-rated shift as well, so that wasn’t particularly exciting, so I had to already block, I think, coming out of Turn 1. But the goal is to go in there in the lead and bridge a gap to the car behind – but in this instance, it worked out to my benefit, to be honest, a mistake, well, not a mistake, a snap, it was just the tyres, the way they are. It meant that Valtteri didn’t have a gap behind to slingshot alongside me. That’s definitely the stressful moment of the race. And then the restart, it’s horrible when you get the Safety Car. I’m glad that everyone’s safe. Controlling at the front and trying to bridge the gap on the restart to the car behind, because that’s another opportunity for them to slipstream you, is not easy. I think today we were lucky because in previous years we’d have had a headwind into Turn 5 and so you’re obviously more draggy and the car behind gets a better tow. This weekend it was a tailwind, so I think that really helped keeping Valtteri behind.

Q: Valtteri, how difficult was it to follow Lewis through Eau Rouge, in dirty air, on heavy fuel, on that opening lap? Is it easy-flat?

VB: To be honest, yes, it’s not really an issue. I remember a few years back with less downforce it was more tricky but now it’s actually… following through Eau Rouge is fine. I think it was just a question that, with the issue Lewis had at the exit of Turn 1, it was tricky to really build any gap to get proper momentum because of the car behind.

Q: (Christian Menath – motorsport-magazin.com) Question for Max and probably for the Mercedes drivers as well if they want to comment. Max, you said you had to manage pace on 38 out of the 44 laps. Was it just tyre management or did you have to manage anything else? If it was just the tyres, do you think it was because of the early pit stop for the Safety Car?

MV: For sure the pit stop was early. For sure that was not the best for us but yeah, it was just not really an enjoyable race, especially towards the end. The last eight laps, with so much vibration and understeer. Yeah, I don’t know what to say! It’s just not really exciting.

Lewis, how many laps of tyre management did you have to do today, out of the 44, just to continue the theme?

LH: Yeah, probably the same. It’s not particularly exciting, as Max said, but it’s a medium-high speed circuit so there’s a lot of force that goes through these tyres, and you know, they allow us to do these one-stops and you lose so much time in the pit stops so it wasn’t that exciting to have to manage to go the distance every time. It’s not something I particularly enjoy. You want to be able to attack, and push-push-push-push-push, do a stop, push-push-push.

MV: And besides that, also, they let us do a one-stop and then also the cars, it’s so hard to follow. It makes you really push for that one-stop.

Valtteri? Same for you?

VB: Yep.

Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Question to Lewis. Can you quite believe how well it has gone for you this season? And also to Valtteri, is there anything you can do to try and stop your team-mate from beating you every weekend? Is there anything you can do mentally, physically just to stop the rot, as it were?

LH: The plan is obviously, for all of us, we prepare ourselves in the best way we can to win. A lot of work has gone into this year. I was talking about qualifying, for example, on my side, really trying to elevate certain areas without letting others drop. So yeah, of course, I can’t tell you that I predict that I was going to come to the weekend and have half a second advantage in qualifying, and  have the pace that I’ve had in these races compared to others but obviously I’m grateful that it is going so well. It’s really nice to know that I’m delivering the way I know that I can. No matter what, the work never stops. You just have to keep pushing, keep working, keep trying to evolve because that’s what everyone else is doing. So, after this, for example, we have a debrief. It won’t be all smiles. It will be like: ‘OK guys, this could be better; this is the weakness of the car; this is where we really need to focus on.’ Communication. Whether it’s set-up or the aero level that we had this weekend, whether it’s engine driveability. Got to push on all the areas, guys, back to the drawing board, let’s keep pushing – and that’s how we continue to elevate ourselves.

VB: Of course I’m trying everything I can. The fact is that it’s not over. There’s ten or something races. Obviously I had that one kind of a DNF with a puncture at Silverstone, lost points with that. If I would give up now then I would rather stay home, so I will keep pushing, I will still keep trying to find anything from myself that I can and it just really trying to perfect everything. Yesterday I didn’t in qualifying, Lewis was on pole, he was faster on that lap then today with that pole he could turn it into a win. Of course the weekend really starts with qualifying, trying to be on pole and then those weekends that don’t go for you, you really need to maximise the points. I felt, for a long term now – actually this week has been at least like a smooth weekend, without any issues, just the qualifying was not good enough but I’m working on everything, I’m trying but there’s still many positives I can take. I feel my race pace this year has been better than any year before, so that’s a positive so I feel like always in the race I’m there and I can fight for it so now it’s just about trying to perform better and more consistently in qualifying sessions.

Q: Have you noticed the improvements that Lewis has made in qualifying this year?

VB: I think yesterday I found it hard to match. Of course it always comes from so many details, the out laps, getting the tyres in the perfect window, front and rear, the set-up and driving style and when that one lap counts yes, yeah, Lewis has been really consistent, not making any mistakes in qualifying and as you look at the numbers, has had the upper hand this year in qualifying, which honestly pisses me off but of course I’m trying and I do enjoy the challenge and I can’t wait for the next qualifying session next weekend.

Q: (Giles Richards – The Guardian) Lewis, you acknowledged after the win that it’s not what everyone wants to see, another Mercedes at the front, and Max has said he found the race boring as well. Does it concern you at all that if your level of dominance and Mercedes’s level of dominance continues like this for the rest of this season, it might actually prove to be off-putting for many fans?

LH: I can’t speak for the fans but having been a fan, growing up, having lived in different eras watching the Schumacher era of course, I know what it’s like. As soon as the start was done and the restart, you generally know that I don’t make too many mistakes so you kind of… and the same with these drivers, you know, they’re very very consistent. It’s very difficult to overtake in this circuit so I can imagine, it’s definitely not the most exciting. I feel exactly the same as Max; it wasn’t the most exciting… I mean, I generally really enjoy myself in the car because it’s… if you don’t enjoy the moment, what’s the point in doing in it. I’m still enjoy the battle. Every time I come through turn 15, I look in my mirror, I see where Valtteri is, whether he’s closer or further behind, taking in the knowledge of what times he’s doing, the gaps between him and Max and really trying to get the perfect balance each and every single lap. That’s still a massive challenge for me. It’s just perhaps not as fun for people to watch but when you’re in it; it’s a little bit different. But of course, I would love to have a real race. I’ve definitely had races in the past here which are a little bit closer, trying to follow the Ferrari and stay on top of them but they could overtake because they had all that extra power. I hope the next races, we have the… I think the Red Bulls have improved. I really hope that we have more of a race because I think everyone wants to see us all battling together.

Q: You mentioned the Schumacher years at Ferrari. As a fan, back then, what did you make of that dominance?

LH: I can’t remember. I was a teenage kid, I would have woken up, had my bacon sarnie (sandwich) and probably watched the start and gone to sleep and then woke up to watch the end. If I was watching today I would do the same most likely and watch the highlights because it’s much shorter, unless a friend told me there was a super exciting race on TV so that you watch the whole thing. Ultimately, this is not what fans… and I hope that people need to hopefully understand that this isn’t our fault. At the end of the day we’re drivers, we’ve come through all the ranks, we’ve earned the positions that we have and we come in weekend in, weekend out, devoted and give absolutely everything to go out there and perform at our best. Ultimately the decision makers who design the cars, who set rules and those kind of things, are the ones that you could apply pressure to to ultimately do a better job moving forwards, if that’s possible. I’m hopeful that’s what they’re going to do in 2022 and with that new type car, maybe we’ll see a different form of racing where you can follow. Wouldn’t that be something if we can follow closer and have more close races?

Q: (Edd Straw – The Race) Lewis, the team and yourself included always seem to overcome whatever obstacles you’re faced with, whenever they appear. Next race, there’s a new obstacle, the engine mode changes which are going to require plenty or work to adjust to regardless of the impact on performance. So does it give you a lot of confidence when you know there’s something like this, that this is a team that does, as you always say, how to get better improvements to tackle these problems and is that why it’s not too much of a concern because you think you know the team’s going to get its head down, get on top of it and probably get to the next race with the performance not really affected and everything running pretty smoothly again?

LH: Yeah, naturally I know and I’ve spoken to the engine crew. I know the implications of the rule that’s come in to try and take away… try to slow us down but as I said before, I don’t think it’s really going to make big difference. But of course we are both confident that whatever is thrown at us we go to the drawing board, we hash it out, we communicate, we delegate and then we execute it. That’s what we do. Keep throwing the punches and we will do our best to return back just as hard.

Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Lewis, you mentioned yesterday about wanting to come into the track and make a statement but you can’t just will yourself to be half a second faster than everybody else, otherwise you’d do it every weekend, so what’s the mentality that you were in, that got you there yesterday? And are you performing this year, do you think, at a level that you’ve not reached before?

LH: I would definitely would say… I mean last year I think was one of my best years, if not the best year. But, as I said, qualifying was all of a sudden… I had a bit of a slump and the goal every year, of course, is to improve physically, mentally and with the methods that you apply… and I definitely think that I’ve been able to do it this year so yes, I feel like I’m driving at my best. Oh yeah, coming into this weekend?

Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Willing yourself to be half a second. You can’t do that so, how do know what’s going on there?

LH: Yeah. No. I think that naturally we had that week off, I got good training at home and arrived here feeling fairly relaxed. And then obviously I woke up yesterday morning and… I mean, I’ve generally been feeling a lot of weight on my heart, spirit. You know, when you’re watching the news, when you see what’s happening around the world and I feel really quite affected by it and then obviously I was so incredibly proud when Chadwick was Black Panther because as I mentioned all the reasons yesterday, as a kid, dreaming of super heroes and finally see someone, a super hero of a similar colour to me, was really just such a remarkable moment, I think, for the black community so when I woke up and I got the news from a friend who has said I’m crying writing this message to you about Chad, and then reading the news I just broke down. I remember, just trying to pull it together and make sure I delivered on that day. Of course, you don’t know if you’re going to be able to deliver laps, you don’t know if you’re going to be distracted but when you find purpose, when you find your purpose, when you know what you’re going for, what your target is, will, I think, can get you quite far and so naturally we have to do the work with the engineers, they do great work in the background and I got the car where I needed it and was able to execute. But of course, I think it is also partly also a mental thing for me. Sorry for the long answers, guys!

MV: All good!

Ends

Spa Francorchamps, 30 August 2020: Lewis Hamilton further extended his Formula 1 Driver’s Championship with a dominant Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps as Valtteri Bottas took second place to wrap up Mercedes third 1-2 finish of the season. Max Verstappen took third place to score his sixth podium finish in a row. 

Lewis Hamilton said: “Spa is such a special circuit, I could just drive around here for lap after lap. It’s not always been an easy one for me, so to come here and get pole and the win this weekend is fantastic. The first lap can be a nightmare, because of the huge tow down the big straight, but I managed to keep Valtteri behind me on lap one and from there I had a strong race. Of course, I’d love to be able to win every race wheel to wheel, but today was a different kind of race, it was all about managing the tyres and the gap to the cars behind. I was slightly nervous at the end that we might see a repeat of the tyre issue we had in Silverstone, but thankfully it held in there. Huge credit to the team, both here and back home in Brackley and Brixworth. No matter how much success we’ve had over the years, everyone just keeps their heads down and focuses on trying to improve. It’s an incredible mentality to have and it’s inspiring to be working in that kind of environment.”

When the light went out at the start of the race Bottas made a good start from P2 on the grid and he seemed poised to challenge pole sitter Hamilton as they went through La Source, but Hamilton had a small lock-up and that forced Bottas to slow. Lacking momentum he was unable to get a run on Hamilton as they went through Eau Rouge and down the long Kemmel straight. 

There was a tougher battle happening directly behind the lead pair, however. Verstappen made a good getaway to hold his grid position of third place but on the long straight fourth-placed Daniel Ricciardo was able to pull alongside and the pair went into Les Combe side by side. Verstappen ran wide on the exit but he was able to fight back as they went through Pouhon and he closed the door on his former team-mate to retain third place. 

Behind them Versatppen’s team-mate Alex Albon also came under pressure from a Renault’s Esteban Ocon on the run down the hill to Eau Rouge and on the long straight he lost the position to the Frenchman. 

The race then settled in the opening 10 laps, with the Mercedes pair eking out a slim gap back to Verstappen as the Dutchman pulled away from Ricciardo. On lap 10 Hamilton held a 1.8s advantage over Bottas, but the complexion of the race then changed when Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi lost control on the exit of Fagnes and crashed into the barriers on the right side of the track. His car bounced back on track and a detached wheel then hit the Williams of George Russell, who then arrowed off track into the barriers on the left side. Fortunately, both drivers emerged unscathed but the Safety Car was immediately deployed. 

With the race neutralised, the bulk of the field pitted and during the stops Albon managed to jump ahead of Ocon. Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez and AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly opted to stay out on track, however, and they rose to fourth and fifth respectively. 

Following the restart on lap 15 Hamilton held his lead ahead of Bottas and Verstappen while Ricciardo and Albon soon Pérez and Gasly who were beginning to feel their starting tyres go off.

At the front, Hamilton began to stretch away from Botta. Verstappen doggedly hung onto the Finn for a while, but as the laps ground down the gaps at the front slowly began to spread and in the final third of the race Verstappen began to complain that his tyres were causing vibrations. With eight laps remaining and a healthy gap back to fourth-placed Ricciardo, The Red Bull driver opted to throttle back and cruised to his sixth podium in a row 15 seconds behind race winner Hamilton and with three seconds in hand over Ricciardo, who took the point for fastest lap on the final tour of the circuit. 

Behind them Albon and Ocon provided the entertainment in the last 10 laps Albon was beginning to struggle on the mediums he had taken during his sole stop and Ocon closed in. In the last five laps the Thai driver was forced to fend off a series of late attacks by the Renault driver and though he managed to defend well, on the final lap he ran out of pace and on the long run to Les Combes Ocon powered past and Albon was forced to settle for sixth place ahead of the McLaren of Lando Norris and Gasly who powered through the order in the late stages to claim eighth. Ninth place went to Racing Point’s Lance Stroll and the final point went to Pérez. 

Hamilton now has 157 points to Verstappen’s 110, with Bottas in thrid place in the Driver’s Championship with 107. In the Constructors’ battle Mercedes have 264 points, with Red Bull on 158. McLaren are third with 68 points. 

2020 FIA Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix – Race 
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 44 1:24’08.761 
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 44 1:24’17.209 8.448
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 44 1:24’24.216 15.455
4 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 44 1:24’27.638 18.877
5 Esteban Ocon Renault 44 1:24’49.411 40.650
6 Alexander Albon Red Bull/Honda 44 1:24’51.473 42.712
7 Lando Norris McLaren/Renault 44 1:24’52.535 43.774
8 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 44 1:24’56.132 47.371
9 Lance Stroll Racing Point/Mercedes 44 1:25’01.364 52.603
10 Sergio Pérez Racing Point/Mercedes 44 1:25’01.940 53.179
11 Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri/Honda 44 1:25’18.961 1’10.200
12 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 44 1:25’20.265 1’11.504
13 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 44 1:25’21.655 1’12.894
14 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 44 1:25’23.681 1’14.920
15 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 44 1:25’25.554 1’16.793
16 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 44 1:25’26.556 1’17.795
17 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 44 1:25’34.301 1’25.540
     Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 9 17’03.552 Spun off
     George Russell Williams/Mercedes 9 17’05.778 Collision
     Carlos Sainz McLaren/Renault 0 Not started