Tag: Max Verstappen

Sochi, 27 Sept 2020: Valtteri Bottas had a brilliant start from P3 and challenged poleman Lewis Hamilton but settled into P2 at the second corner but the six-time champion was penalised with two 5-second penalties and thus Bottas clinched his second win of the season and ninth of his career in the Russian Grand Prix, the 10th round of the Formula 1 World Championship here on Sunday.

The Finn took 26 points, with an additional point coming for the fastest lap and Hamilton who finished third behind Max Verstappen of Red Bull, had to be content in garnering 15 valuable points. Max Verstappen split the Mercedes taking second place for Red Bull F1 team.

Hamilton, recovered from receiving two five-second time penalties for a practice start violation, which he served at his pit stop, to complete the podium in what was his 150 start for Mercedes AMG Petronas team. Now Hamilton (205 points) leads the Drivers’ Championship by 44 points from Bottas (161 points).

As it happened

Valtteri Bottas claimed his first win since the opening race of the season with a controlled drive to the chequered flag at the FIA Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix after championship leader and early race leader Lewis Hamilton dropped down the order following two penalties for pre-race practice start infringements. 

On two occasions in the build up to the race Hamilton performed practice starts outside of the designated area. The incidents were place under investigation ahead prior to the start and a brace of five-second penalties were served during the opening phase of the race. 

Hamilton served the penalties during his sole pit stop and dropped from the top of the order to 11^th place. He eventually rose to third place behind fellow front-row starter Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing.

When the lights went out Verstappen made a solid start but behind him Valtteri Bottas made a better getaway and he passed the Dutchman as they powered towards Turn 2. Verstappen tried to attack Bottas around the outside but had to back out and went across the run-off area. That lost him another place to Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo in Turn 4 but the Red Bull driver immediately fought back reclaimed third place in the following corner.

Further back Carlos Sainz was also forced to use the run-off at Turn 2 but the McLaren driver lost control as he did so and he hit the barrier, breaking his front left suspension and scattering debris as he slid back onto the track. 

Moments later, in Turn 4, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc made contact with Racing Point’s Lance Stroll with the result that the Canadian was bounced out of the race. 

Racing resumed at the start of lap six and Hamilton held his advantage over Bottas and Verstappen, with the Renaults of Ocon and Ricciardo in fourth and fifth place respectively. Hamilton was then handed his sanctions and Mercedes elected to pit the race leader on lap 17 where he served the penalties before taking on hard tyres. When he rejoined it was in 11^th place, behind the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel. 

Meanwhile, at the back of the field Alex Albon was involved in a thrilling battle with old Formula 2 rivals Lando Norris and George Russell. Albon first used the slipstream and DRS to pass Norris and then on lap 13 he forced Russell into an error and after the Williams driver locked up Albon powered through to P16. Albon then profited from pit stops from cars ahead to rise to 11^th place behind Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen who had started on hard tyres. However, the Thai driver’s march towards the points would be shortlived and he later slipped back again after pitting again at half distance for a set of medium tyres. 

Verstappen made his sole pit stop on lap 26, taking on hard tyres in an excellent 1.9s stop. Bottas followed suit at the end of the next lap and resumed in the lead with Leclerc in second ahead of Verstappen. The Ferrari driver was next to pit and after hard tyre starter Daniil Kvyat finally pitted on lap 31, Hamilton rose to third place, eight seconds behind Verstappen and 20 behind Bottas. 

As the race entered its final third, Albon again began to move up the order and he returned to the points when a Virtual Safety Car for damaged bollards in Turn 2 prompted AlphaTauri to pit Pierre Gasly for a second time. 

The caution was short, however, and when it ended Albon was able power past Gasly as the Frenchman trundled towards the pit exit. However, with fresh medium tyres on board Gasly was soon fighting his way back and when Albon tussled with Lando Norris, the AlphaTauri driver closed in and passed Albon under DRS to take P10.

Norris hard tyres were shot, however, and within a handful of laps Albon forced an error from the McLaren driver. Norris locked up heavily on lap 48 and Albon power past to finally edge into the points positions. 

With just five laps remaining the order settled and Bottas duly took his ninth career victory ahead of Verstappen who claimed his 38^th podium finish and team’s 178^th. 

Behind third-placed Hamilton, Perez took a well-deserved fourth place ahead of Ricciardo while Leclerc also put in a strong performance to take sixth place for Ferrari. Ocon took seventh place and there was a double points finish for AlphaTauri with Kvyat taking eighth ahead of team-mate Gasly. 

2020 FIA Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix – Race
1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 53 1:34’00.364 
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 53 1:34’08.093 7.729
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 53 1:34’23.093 22.729
4 Sergio Pérez Racing Point/Mercedes 53 1:34’30.922 30.558
5 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 53 1:34’52.429 52.065
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 53 1:35’02.550 1’02.186
7 Esteban Ocon Renault 53 1:35’08.370 1’08.006
8 Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri/Honda 53 1:35’09.104 1’08.740
9 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 53 1:35’30.130 1’29.766
10 Alexander Albon Red Bull/Honda 53 1:35’38.224 1’37.860
11 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 52 1:34’12.509 1 Lap
12 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 52 1:34’14.419 1 Lap
13 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 52 1:34’15.467 1 Lap
14 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 52 1:34’16.339 1 Lap
15 Lando Norris McLaren/Renault 52 1:34’26.176 1 Lap
16 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 52 1:34’53.867 1 Lap
17 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 52 1:34’54.908 1 Lap
18 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 52 1:35’22.195 1 Lap
     Carlos Sainz McLaren/Renault 0 Collision
     Lance Stroll Racing Point/Mercedes 0 Collision
 

Valtteri Bottas
What a feeling! It’s been a little while since my last win, but I knew there would be opportunities heading into the race and luckily things went my way this time. It was a bit tricky at the start because an insect hit my visor just as I was entering the braking zone, which meant I couldn’t really see where to brake and so I went deep. But I knew it was going to be a long race and with the Medium tyre, there would be chances later on. Lewis then had his penalty, and once I was in clean air, the pace was really strong, and I was able to control everything without any real concerns. Now I need to keep this momentum up. There are quite a few races to go and you just never know, so I’ll keep pushing, I won’t give up and we’ll see how it turns out in the end.
 
Lewis Hamilton
Firstly, I want to say a big thank you to all the fans who came out this weekend, I hope you enjoyed the race. It wasn’t a great day for me, but it is what it is. We need to go through everything and understand exactly what went on to get those two penalties. That obviously dropped me back and the first stint on the Soft was also challenging, as I was trying to go as far as I could on that tyre. I think I did pretty well on the Soft and from then, it was about trying to recover as much as possible. It was just one of those days, but I’m grateful that I still managed to get a podium, bag some points and didn’t lose as much as I could have done. Congratulations to Valtteri on the win, and I’ll take the points and move forward.

DRIVERS at the Sunday press conference: 1 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes); 2 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing) and 3 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

TRACK INTERVIEWS (Conducted by Johnny Herbert) 

Q: Max, second place. Interesting battle going down to Turn 1. You seemed to get off the line well but then Valtteri got in front of you. But of course then you had Daniel Ricciardo at your side and you decided to go through that penalty chicane. What was it like for you?

Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, just very low grip on the inside, so that cost us a bit but at the end it was quite interesting the first few corners. Of course I had to take that other chicane and luckily got through there without any issues. After that, after the re-start I was a little bit slower on the medium, I was having a bit of problems with the balance. But once we went on that hard tyre I think we were a little bit more competitive so pretty happy about that. At the end to be able to split the Mercedes cars again, I think we can be pleased with that.

Q: Were there any worries at some point once you saw Lewis getting to third place. Did you think “now I’ve got a fight on my hands”?

MV: No, I was trying to do my own race there. If they are faster they will anyway pass you. I think we managed it well and I did everything I could.

Q: You’ve got to be happy though, second place going into the Nurburgring next time out?

MV: Yeah, I’m very happy with second, especially after two DNFs. Again a good amount of points.

Q: Well done. Lewis, what a frustrating day for you. What happened with the practice starts and of course then that 10-second penalty you got? What happened there?  

Lewis HAMILTON: First, I want to say a big thanks to all the fans that came this weekend. A big thank you. Spasiba. Yeah, just not the greatest day, but it is what it is.

Q: How did that go wrong? I know there were some notes that had come out from the FIA; Michael Masi had mentioned about where you can and cannot start? Why is it you ended up so far down the end of the pit lane?

LH: It doesn’t matter. It’s done now. I’ll take the points that I got and move on.

Q: The race itself, though, great little comeback from you.

LH: Not particularly. I didn’t really do much. I just held my position so congratulations to Valtteri.

Q: Valtteri, race win but it was very tricky going down to Turn 2 where you tried to go round the outside of Lewis but you got stuck on that kerb. Just talk us through that?

Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, obviously I tried. I knew the start would be the start would be the first opportunity but actually it was a bit compromised because there was like a massive bee or something that hit my visor just before braking, so I couldn’t really see when I should brake, so that’s why I went too deep. I knew it was going to be a long race after that and with the medium tyre I had there would be opportunities but obviously Lewis had the penalty so once I was in clean air I felt the pace was pretty awesome and I could control everything.

Q: What about Max? He was obviously there a little bit earlier on and he was pushing you very hard. Were you a bit concerned in those early laps that he might challenge you?

VB: I wasn’t concerned at any point, because looking at the [inaudible] for today I knew how many opportunities there would be and yeah, never give up, it’s a good day.

Q: Well, it’s your ninth win and your second here in Russia, so going towards the Nurburgring you must have a lot of confidence to take there?

VB: For sure. It’s nice to get a win again. It’s been a while. Definitely good. I need to try and keep the momentum. Again I managed to squeeze a few good points against Lewis. There are still quite a few races to go. You just never know. I’ll keep pushing and won’t give up and we’ll see how it ends up.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Man congratulations Valtteri. Your win in Austria seems a while ago. How good did it feel to hear the Finnish national anthem on the podium?

VB: Definitely. It’s been a while ago but it’s been so close many times and I feel my race pace, especially this season, has been quite a bit better than any season before so I can’t say it’s been frustrating but you know it’s been a bit annoying that it’s been close but nearly there. But things definitely did go my way today, as I have been saying that things can’t go against you forever. So, definitely really satisfying today to get the win. It felt like it was well earned. Obviously I consider myself lucky as well with Lewis’ penalty. But otherwise it was a strong race and really I feel that it can give me a confidence boost and good momentum for the next races.

Q: Can you just talk us through the race a bit? Good start, you overtook Max and you didn’t really look back from there from what it looked like?

VB: Yeah, it was a good start. I think Lewis has a good start as well. But obviously I had the tow. I went outside, braked, perhaps slightly too late so went a bit deep into Turn 2, so Lewis maintained the lead. But then I was just trying to be there because I knew that with the medium tyre I knew would have the advantage once Lewis had to stop. When I was in clean air it really felt pretty good and the pace was strong. Same with the hard tyre. I could really feel that I could control the race. I was actually pretty happy there were no red flags or safety cars this time around towards the end of the race.

Q: Do you think you could have beaten Lewis today if there had been no penalties for him?

VB: Going to today I knew that there would be opportunities. I knew that one of the best ones would be the race start but I knew that even if I can’t make it there it’s now over, because obviously with the medium tyre it’s quite an advantage in race time and in terms of strategy, so yes, of course I believed I could do it. But who knows. He got that penalty and that’s it.

Max, after two difficult races in Italy, how satisfying is it to have a clean race and to come home on the podium?

MV: Yeah, I mean that’s how it should be every single weekend. So, of course it was not good, the last two weekends and I think now, to be back on the podium and in second, I think for us is a great result on a track where normally we are not that competitive and we never scored a podium before as well. So, I’m very happy with that. The race itself, the start was pretty bad but it was just so low grip on the inside, the righthand side, it seemed like everybody had a really poor start, so just felt like… Even then during the race, the first lap I had a bit of a battle with Daniel to get back into third and I had a nice off-road experience through the bollards so… nice. And then for there onwards, on the Medium tyre it was just not really having a great balance. A bit like I had in Q1 and Q2 yesterday where I just couldn’t push the entries of the corners and I couldn’t’ keep up with them. So, just tried to not lose too much time. Then once we pitted, put the hard tyres on, everything was a bit more stable and a bit better balanced. I was pleased with that. The second stint was pretty OK. Very happy with second.

Q: You say the second stint was good but did you ever think you could challenge Valtteri for the win?

MV: No, because he was already too far ahead anyway. I think. Once we pitted it was 12 seconds or something. That’s very hard to close – and anyway, following around here on the same tyre, more or less the same pace, I think it’s very difficult.

Q: Lewis, like yesterday, it was another eventful day for you. How do you sum it all up?

LH: Uneventful. It wasn’t that eventful, to be honest. I started first, was in first, I came out third, so, not the most eventful day.

Q: Well it looked eventful from the outside, particularly before the start. That’s when it started to unravel, when you were doing your practice starts on your way to the grid. Can you just talk us through your communication with the team, and why you elected to do the starts where you did?

LH: Generally, if you look at probably every race that I’ve done this year, at least, I always start further down. Never, ever had a problem, done it for years. Here I haven’t done that before, I would say, but it says you have to be on the right after the lights, it doesn’t say how far, and so often… I don’t like to be on the rubber, that’s where everyone has done all their starts so it’s not representative of what it’s like on the grid, so I try to get onto the surface that doesn’t have any rubber.

Q: Did you communicate with the team, ask if it was OK to do it where you did it?

LH: I did, and as far as we were aware, it was OK. It’s no different to Brazil. You drive to the end of the pit lane and you do your start. It’s actually probably safer where I was, compared to Brazil, because there was a lot more space on the left… so interesting decision.

VIDEO CONFERENCE

Q: (Scott Mitchell – The Race) Question for Lewis. Because you got the penalties for the practice start, race penalties like that come with penalty points on your licence, so you’re now up to ten penalty points on your licence in a 12-month period, which means you’re only two points from a race ban until, I think, after four races from now. Just wanted to know what you think of that and if it’s the sort of thing that means you change your approach, take more care in the coming grands prix?

LH: It’s ridiculous the points that have been given people this year in general. Penalty points usually are for – I don’t want to speak on my behalf – from a drivers’ point of view, if you put someone else in danger, you crash into somebody, of course, you should be getting penalty points. I did not harm anybody, did not put anybody in harm’s way so ultimately it’s a ridiculous rule – but it is what it is. I’ll just make sure I’m squeaky-clean moving forwards. Don’t give them an excuse for anything.

MV: It is a bit harsh. If you causes a crash it’s difference – but the penalty Lewis got was already painful enough. I don’t know how many points you got – two points? – it’s a bit harsh, he’s up to ten points without actually… I mean, it was not correct where he stopped but penalty points for that… I’m not sure that’s correct.

Q: Max, while you’re commenting on this, what’s your understanding of where you were to do the practice starts here in Sochi. Was it clear to you where you had to do them?

MV: They just told me to do it there. From the team side. We discussed that before we went out. Like ‘do your starts there’. I never questioned about going further. I don’t know. Probably was not allowed. It’s unfortunately.

Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Lewis, you didn’t sound particularly happy about when you were called in for your pit stop on the Soft tyres. How much further did you think you would have been able to go – and did that cost you any time at all coming back against Max, coming in a bit early than you wanted? Thanks.

LH: It ultimately didn’t make a huge difference but my goal ultimately was to offset… to minimise the loss with the tyres. So, the original stop was supposed to be lap 16, luckily we had a Safety Car which took us to lap six, or something like that. So I thought that’s bonus points, it means I can go six laps longer. I think they stopped me still on lap 16, or something like that but I thought I could at least do another five laps, which would have just made it a little easier on that second stint – but five laps wouldn’t have made a huge difference. My tyres were dead right at the end, so they were definitely on the limit but yeah, it’s a discussion we’ll have afterwards and we’ll work on it.

Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Lewis, you said on TV that they’re deliberately out to get you – I assume that’s a reference to the stewards. Do you actually believe that they are targeting you to try and slow you down or to force you to have this penalty, this one race ban, just to artificially liven up the races?

LH: I don’t necessarily think that it’s for me, I think probably most teams – whenever a team is at the front, obviously they are doing a lot of scrutiny. Everything we have on our car is being checked and triple checked and triple checked. They are changing rules, such as the engine regs, lots of lots of things to get in the way to keep the racing exciting, I assume. I don’t know if the rules – in terms of what happened today – was anything to do with it but naturally that’s how it feels, naturally it feels like you we’re fighting uphill but it’s OK, it’s not like I haven’t faced adversity before so we just keep our heads down and keep fighting and keep trying to do a better job and be cleaner and squeaky clean, as I said before.

Q: (Laurence Edmonson – ESPN) Lewis, is this kind of thing you’re just happy to turn a page and move on from or is it something that you will take up with the FIA, with Michael Masi to try and get clarity if not some kind of justice?

LH: I haven’t decided, but at the moment I’m looking forward to getting home.

Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Lewis, if you really are concerned that somebody is trying to stop you, how concerned are you about the possibility of a race ban, if you reach the twelve points, because you’ve got only two points between you and that and there are several races to go before any drop off?

LH: I don’t know what to say about that. I’ve got to try my hardest to, you know, to… I guess we’ll go through the rule book and pick out areas where they can create rules, areas where penalties have never been given before and we’ll try and figure out all the ones that they have and try to make sure that we cover ourselves in the ones that we are aware of. Like I said before, I don’t think anyone’s had the penalty for that before so we’ll just work hard and… we’ve gone through seasons before without penalties so just have to make sure I give them no reason, not even a sniff to be able to do something.

Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Max, you mentioned the low grip on the inside off the line, so was it a case of were you always expecting to lose that position or was there something that could have been done if everything had gone completely perfectly to stay in second place on the run to turn two?

MV: I was just hoping that it was going to be a bit grippy but actually on my formation lap I had an anti-stall so that was not nice, but then in the actual start, as soon as I dropped the clutch you could just feel there was no grip. And then I thought initially I just had a bad start but then I looked in the mirror and I could see the whole line behind me as well had a poor start so yeah, I don’t know, if we could do something different. Well, Valtteri shouldn’t have been in my way in qualifying, then, with the tow. Then I would have been third!

Q: (Laurence Edmonson – ESPN) Valtteri, we heard your now trademark radio message ‘to whom it may concern, FU after the race’. Who exactly was that aimed at? And a few people have said that you’ve been dealing with quite a lot of criticism on social media so how have you dealt with that, and has it been something which has actually been playing on your mind?

VB: No, it’s not been playing on my mind but I just don’t… honestly I just (don’t) get the people who has the need to criticise people. You know, there’s been people telling me that I should not bother, I should give up but how I am, I will never do that so I just wanted to, again, send my best wishes to them. It just came out, you know, so, yeah. But the main thing is I’m confident, when I come to every race weekend, I’m confident and I believe I can do it and that’s how I’m always going to be. You have to have that mindset so yeah, I’m glad. Even yesterday was tough, I didn’t give up, I looked at it positively, I knew there would be opportunities and things came to me today, so yeah, I hope I can encourage people not to give up because that’s the biggest mistake you can do in your life.

Q: (Scott Mitchell – The Race) To all three: with regards the penalty points that have been applied here, the fact that there seems to be a little bit of disagreement over how the rules relating to Lewis’s practice starts have been interpreted, and the disagreement at Mugello over the handling of the restart, how satisfied are you with how the FIA is handling stuff at the moment? Do you think there is good enough communication between the race director, Michael Masi, and yourselves? Do you think you’re all on the same page?

LH: Are we all on the same page? I don’t think so. I’m probably on a different page of the book or I’ve skipped a few pages clearly.

VB: It’s a tricky one. It’s obviously… I don’t know the… even maybe I should know the rule book word by word but I don’t. Obviously we always get guidance from the team what we’re allowed to do and what not. There are so many different circumstances and I don’t really know what to say. I think it’s tricky. For sure they are trying their best no doubt but yeah, I can’t say more.

MV: I’ve been up there myself, I think with ten points or something so yeah, I said to myself I will just try to stay away from the stewards at the track. Seeing them in the hotel or the bar, that’s not too bad, but stay out of their room during the race weekend. It’s difficult. Like I said before, if it’s like a crash or whatever, you caused, I can understand they want to hand penalty points to maybe calm you down or whatever but with things like this, Lewis didn’t do anything on purpose to create an issue or whatever. He just wanted to practise his start. Maybe it’s not allowed there, OK but he was penalised enough by having this penalty in the race so I don’t think you’d need to hand out penalty points for that. But I guess we’ll talk about it in the next briefing we have and see if something will happen or not. It’s always good, I guess, to talk about it and communicate. At least we know what we’re up to fully and then we move on.

The following top-three drivers attended the FIA post-qualification Press Conference: 1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes); 2 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes) and 3 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull)

TRACK INTERVIEWS (Conducted by Jenson Button) 

Q: Max, we thought you would be challenging the Mercedes in qualifying. Q1 and Q2 seemed really good but it just fell away there in Q3?

Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, I personally never expected to really fight them in qualifying but I think overall so far this weekend it has been really promising and I think we bounced back well from Monza where it was tricky. So at the end to be third here in qualifying, we can be very happy with that.

Q: When you stand here, you really feel the wind and that’s just stood here in the pit lane but when you’re up in the hills when you are going through Turns 3 and 4 and out the back do you really feel the wind?

MV: Yeah, to be honest, I think it picked up a little bit in Q3, because my first run was not amazing but then the second run I think laptime-wise it was a little bit better but I think the track was not the same because of the wind. But it is what it is. It’s really tricky anyway these cars with the wind. But the track is amazing to drive. In qualifying it was really something special.

Q: Congratulations Lewis, you always seem to be able to, as we all know, pull it out when need be. That was very impressive.

Lewis HAMILTON: Thank you. It’s been a really, really tough weekend if I am really honest. Firstly, this track is phenomenal. Have you ever driven it?

Q: Yes, 2005, a long, long time ago.

LH: Oh jeez, that is a long, long time.

Q: Thanks.

LH: It’s a really challenging circuit and as you saw Valtteri was quicker than me all day yesterday and even this morning, and even in Q1. I’ve been working so hard in the background to really try to improve on my lines, improve on my set-up and with the engineers we did such a great job. The mechanics as always did an amazing job. I finally got the lap I needed. At the end there I think the wind picked up so I wasn’t able to go any quicker but nonetheless it was a job done.

Q: It must feel extra special when you have to push yourself that hard, or Valtteri is pushing you that hard, and on such a special circuit?

LH: It’s crazy. I don’t know if people are seeing, I’m sure they are on TV, but you’re going through Turns 6, 7, 8, 9 at like 170-180 mph, and the G-force we are pulling through there is just insane. It just gets more and more as you get through 8 and then through 9. Ten and 1 and 2 were the areas I needed to improve and I managed to pick it up once I got into qualifying. Valtteri did a great job in pushing me but I’m happy to be here.

Q: Valtteri, you’ve been strong from FP1 pretty much all the way through to Q3. Do you think that yellow flag hampered you in that last run?

Valtteri BOTTAS: Definitely. Definitely. I still had more, more time in there. I was just waiting for the time to get it all right. Run one was OK but not perfect and I was just looking forward to it but I just didn’t get the opportunity. For sure it’s disappointing because the speed has been good all weekend.

Q: We’ve seen. Tomorrow, everybody is thinking this is going to be a procession this race. I do disagree with that. Watching the junior formulas there is quite a lot of overtaking into turn one. Do you think it will possible tomorrow and you can have a proper race with Lewis?

VB: Actually, coming into the weekend we though it was going to be nearly impossible but what we experienced in the practice session, actually the track is so wide and there are so many different lines you can take in the corners so you can avoid the [inaudible] in the corner, so maybe. I really hope so. There’s a long run into Turn 1 and I hope the headwind stays for the race start because that would be a nice benefit.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Lewis, many congratulations, what a qualifying session. It’s been so close between you and Valtteri this weekend. How hard was it to beat him today?

LH: It’s always incredibly hard to beat Valtteri and he’s consistently improving and pushing to the limit. Straight from the get-go this weekend Valtteri has had the upper hand. It was difficult at the beginning to know where we stood, it looked like the Red Bulls, Max, was closer to us than perhaps the last race and yeah, Valtteri was quicker all day yesterday, quicker this morning, quicker into Q1. It was like nothing I did, I was making all these changes, I changed a lot in the set-up and again just really studying the kerbs and trying to make sure I improved in all the areas I was weak. And I went out in Q1 and I still wasn’t quick enough. But I love that challenge and I really enjoy the battle with Valtteri. Once I got to Q2 I got quite a good lap and my Q3, run one, was a decent lap. I think there was still a little bit of time left on the table so I was hoping to get that for the last one. But I think the wind picked up. I could really feel it a little bit more gusty down the straight up into Turn 1 and the car was sliding around a lot more on that lap. So I ended up being a bit down. But nonetheless I really, really enjoyed qualifying today, this track is amazing. Max was saying we should come here again. Plus, we’re in Tuscany, it’s a beautiful place to be.

Q: And looking ahead to the race tomorrow, do you think we are going to see overtaking, how many pit stops that kind of thing?

LH: I honestly don’t know. I’m not quite sure: hopefully more than one. And in terms of following, it’s a medium-, high-speed circuit, it’s not going to be easy to follow, particularly through that middle sector. But maybe tyre temps, track temp might mean there’s more degradation maybe. The corners are very long and you can take multiple lines, which I like. Like through Turn 12 you can take a different line through there. You can take a different line through the last corner and even the first corner. So I’m hopeful that that means a little bit of racing.

Q: Valtteri, coming on to you. You must have fancied your chances of pole position today?

VB: Sorry I don’t understand you?

Q: Did you think you were going to get pole position today? You were looking so good, so confident coming into the session?

VB: Yeah, for sure. It’s been a good start to the weekend and good practice sessions, including today and after practice three I was still looking at all the things that had to be improved for qualifying. Everything was going nice and smooth, Q1, Q2. The Q3 first lap wasn’t quite good enough so I also felt there’s definitely time still to be found. I was confident of myself doing it, but obviously there was no chance with the double yellows in the second run. In the end I should have just done a better job in the first run. Lewis managed to find the pace ands his first run was better than mine and that’s it.

Q: But you pace in Friday was good. Are you confident going into the race tomorrow?

VB: I am, yeah. The long runs were good so it’s still all to play for. Of course it would be nicer to start from pole but it’s one of the longest runs of this season into Turn 1 and if the headwind stays the towing is going to be quite powerful into Turn 1, so try to turn my thoughts into the race.

Q: Max, good to see Red Bull back up there again this weekend. Just how competitive was the car? How difficult was it to dial it into this race track?

MV: Luckily from the start I think the car was in a good window. Night and day difference compared to Monza, but of course at Monza downforce levels and everything is very different. So I felt very happy in the car. It was all about fine-tuning things and, of course, trying to do things better – but overall it’s been a very positive weekend so far. We were reasonably close to them now, in qualifying so yeah, can be happy with that. Q3, I expected a little bit more from Q3 but my first run wasn’t, let’s say, the best lap of my life. It wasn’t bad – but it wasn’t the best. And then yeah, I wanted to push a bit more in the second run. Even when I was close to Lewis, so bit more in a tow but, like Lewis said, I think the wind picked up, so yeah, I think the track was just a bit slower. I still managed to improve a little bit, so it meant, I think, there was still a little bit more in it – but not four-tenths, I think it was, or whatever. Anyway, I didn’t expect to beat them in qualifying but I’m pleased that we are back in third in qualifying and actually yeah, not too far away.

Q: Didn’t expect to beat them in qualifying but do you expect to be closer in the race?

MV: Well, for once we have quite decent top speed now this year, so I think that’s quite good around here – but it won’t be easy to pass but at least the track, the last few corners, they are a bit wide and long so you can do a few different lines – but it’s all going to depend, anyway, first of all on if you have the pace to follow, and second of all, of course tyre degradation.

VIDEO CONFERENCE

Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Question to all three drivers. Daniel Ricciardo spoke of being out of breath after one of his laps in qualifying. I was just wondering, did you have a similar experience going around. How was it physically for you out there today?

MV: I don’t know, maybe he’s been dancing a bit too much. Or something. Honestly, I expected it to be worse before I came here, just driving-wise. It has been fine. It’s just very enjoyable to drive here. It’s very flowing. OK, the g-forces are high but in Silverstone, for example, they’re high as well. I just really enjoy sitting in the car, having those fast, long corners. Anyway, in qualifying, when you’re on the limit, pushing, you’re always breathing a bit heavier, I guess than in a normal lap – but nothing crazy, to be honest.

LH: We’re always asked these questions and ultimately we’re all athletes. So train and we’re used to the conditions that we are faced with – but at the end of the day it’s incredibly physical, I think, this track, being that it’s medium and high-speed. It’s not easy at all, physically, particularly through that fast section – but like Max says, it’s like Silverstone and those others. You’re definitely not ending the lap with a low heart-rate. I definitely think that I’m breathing heavier, for sure, particularly at the end of the lap, because there’s so much focus. There’s no room for error, you’re completely tensed: your whole body is completely tense the whole lap. You’re fully engaged in every muscle throughout the lap, and it’s bumpier than ever, and it’s understandable.

VB: For sure one of the most physical tracks – but as these two, I really like it here. That’s how it should be. I like a bit of pain! It’s always good fun but yeah, in the end, on the qualifying lap, it was so focussed that you don’t really feel any pain. You definitely notice after the lap that you know you’ve done something.

LH: They need to take away the majority of the steering assist. I think we need heavier steering.

MV: Maybe they can increase the weight limit a bit – that would be nice for the drivers. Otherwise I might have some issues.

Q: (Scott Mitchell – The Race) Lewis, you were quite honest after practice yesterday, saying this was a serious track that you hadn’t quite mastered yet and you had a bit of homework to do. So how satisfying is it to come out today and do the job that you’ve done in qualifying. Is it more satisfying that a routine qualifying session? And how intense is that process of trying to master a new circuit like this?

LH: Normally, I tend to think in my past, I felt that one of my strengths was learning a circuit quite quickly, and for this one, we went on the simulator, which I never do, and don’t feel like I’ve benefitted particularly, but then getting here there was a lot of work that… the pressure was incredibly high. Because, as I said, y’know, I’m going out there and doing laps and struggling to get to the limit, find the limit in certain sectors and Valtteri was miles ahead in some of those areas. So, of course the pressure was higher than ever – because if I hadn’t done the work then I wouldn’t had got the result that we got at the end. So, there’s an incredible amount of detail that you have to go into. Last night, dissecting every single corner basically, and sector and really trying to fine-tune that set-up. And, as a racing driver, there’s a real fine line between knowing whether you’ve got understeer or oversteer and whether you’re on the limit or not in certain places – because you can be on the limit through one corner but not through the rest of the corners, for example. Or it can be the first one and not the second one and then the third one you are. So really understanding whether you’ve got the balance right, within yourself, and then knowing what to request for when you do move towards the limit, what you need. Because you have to pre-empt what the car is going to do. It’s a real science to it. That’s why I have so much respect for all these drivers because it’s not only the ability to drive but to understand those things and to be engineers at the end of the day. We have to work with these geniuses that can balance numbers like nobody else – but we need to be able to do that on the track.

Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsportmagazin.com) Two questions: first one for all three, was a bit surprising that no one opted for the medium tyre, so why did you go with the soft? Was the delta lap time too big? And second question for Max: seems like you were pretty fast in the last sector; does it make you even more confident that you have an overtaking possibility when you can keep in touch in the last sector?

VB: Obviously the softer tyre is always quite a benefit at the race start and it is a long run into turn one. That’s always one reason and of course we always look ahead for the race strategy with the tyre choice and we believe we are on the best tyre for our car and it seemed like all the other teams opted for the same selection.

LH: I wanted to use the medium tyre but there is a loss at the start. I don’t know if they do that analysis for the viewers but obviously we have a very long run uphill to turn one and whilst in the first stint a medium tyre would perhaps be better in terms of pace and length, you lose meters just from the compound up into turn one so we didn’t want to take that risk.

MV: Like Lewis and Valtteri said, at the start, of course, it’s not ideal but sometimes in the previous races I didn’t mind taking that risk, just trying also something different, but this time I was very happy on the softs so there was no reason to go on the medium.

Q: And the second part of that question: pace in the last sector?

MV: Yeah, all weekend we have been pretty good there. It’s basically only two corners so 12 and 15, I think, so the car was not too bad and then the straights in between, we run a bit less wing compared to some other cars, I think, and it gives me a bit of an advantage. We managed to stabilise the car around it so yeah, I just hope that I can follow them in the other sectors, that is going to be the key, to be able to overtake, but let’s see tomorrow.

Q: (Abhishek Takle – Midday) Lewis, why was it to challenging for you to get into the groove around this circuit? And Max and Valtteri, did you find it similarly challenging to get to grips with this track?

LH: I’m not really sure. I don’t really have a great answer for that, to be honest. I came here with the same mental approach. As I said, I prepared… the track, to do extra work in the sense of doing the simulator. I think that the first couple of laps in practice one looked good and then they just pulled away in terms of how much improvement everyone was making. For me, some of it was balance – I was really struggling with the balance of the car so at the end of the day it’s confidence here because you have to really have to carry a lot of speed into these corners. Naturally it’s a high speed circuit, so not wanting to put a foot wrong and if you’re uncomfortable with the balance of the rear of the car then you just pull back and then you’re just too slow at the apex and exit of a lot of these corners so I think it was that but I think at the end I got, as I said, a lot of work went into… did a lot of work with the engineers to get the set-up where I wanted it and I was really happy… again, going into qualifying, I made a relatively big change and it worked out really well so that’s our real strength, the work that we do behind the scenes and constantly trying to evolve that.

Q: Valtteri, how much of an advantage were those laps you did here back in 2012?

VB: Well, that was in the wet so I don’t think they really made a big difference and it’s quite a while ago. But I really enjoy the whole process of learning a new track, kind of, because the cars are so different and just finding, step by step, the limits and the small secrets of the track. I’ve always loved that. There’s no big issues but even though it looked right at the end I was on the pace but there was always big chunks where I could have done better and actually the rate of improvement from practice to the second and third and qualifying was pretty big.

MV: So I’ve been here a few weeks ago. Of course it was not a Formula 1 car but it does give you, I think, a better idea than driving on the simulator. OK, I grew up driving on a simulator but I still find it a way better to be here in a real live car, it gives you more of an idea of what lines you have to take, because at the end of the day it doesn’t matter what car you’re driving, you’re riding at more or less the same. So I think that helped me a bit, to get started but not only that, also to set up the car because of course when I come here, I’m not just cruising around, I’m also working on the set-up and trying to make that car fast as well, so it gave me an idea of how to start with the wing level and roll stiffness of the car and stuff like this, so when we started, I think the car was already in a very good window, I knew the track from a few weeks ago instead of a few years ago – I think that always helps because for example, going to Imola, I’ve been there like a few years ago, everything, like kerbs, they’ve changed over the years so it will be a bit more difficult than let’s say what happened here and so that definitely helped to just kick start the first practice.

Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lewis, you’ve spoken about the high speeds at which you take some of these corners, do you think fatigue could be a factor in tomorrow’s race?

LH: Physical fatigue? I hope not, that’s what we train to avoid. I would say eight and nine are a little bit like Turkey, the double left-hander, maybe not as intense in terms of the speed. I think it might be faster through those… I can’t remember. This is the strongest side for most of the drivers so I think so.

Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Max, I think this is the closest margin you’ve been to pole all year. Do you have an explanation as to why Red Bull’s relatively more competitive and do you have any feeling what that might mean for the race?

MV: From our side, I can say that we did a very good job setting up the car for this weekend, compared to some other weekends where we have been a bit further away where I was not entirely happy with the car so yeah, I think we really more or less maximised so far what we could do this weekend. We started straightaway with a positive balance in the car, I think the right wing level for our car so I guess that explains a bit. Maybe the track characteristic as well a little bit – we seem to be a bit better on higher downforce tracks with the car, so yeah, I think that might explain four or whatever tenths it is.

Ends

DRIVERS
1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
2 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)
3 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)
TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Jenson Button) 
 
Q: Lewis, not the easiest route to that pole position but an amazing couple of laps there in Q3?
Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, ultimately, obviously there is a relatively big gap between us and third place, but it doesn’t matter. At the end of the day Valtteri is pushing me right to the limit and he’d been doing such a fantastic job all weekend and I made some changes going into qualifying and it was worse, so it was a real struggle out there. This track is just awesome because, as you know, with a gust of wind, you have a head wind, a tail wind, a cross wind in different parts of the circuit. It’s like juggling balls whilst you’re on a moving plate, at high speed. Then, obviously we had that spin. Qualifying is a lot about confidence building, as you know, and damn, I had that spin. I was already down, I was struggling through the first section every lap and I don’t know how but with some deep breaths I managed to compose myself and Q3 started off the right way. It still wasn’t perfect the first laps but still a really clean lap and the second one even better. It never gets old for sure.
 
Q: I bet. As you can see this is quite an unusual British Grand Prix. I know how you love the fans, it really does lift you here. Have you got a message for the guys who aren’t able to be here today?
LH: Yeah, honestly… look, you see them [the grandstands], all empty here. Normally you have the sirens going off, you see the flags everywhere, you see smoke and the atmosphere here is buzzing normally. You normally get out of the car and there is a different energy, so we definitely miss them. But hopefully they are happy with that turnaround back home and I again just want to say a huge thank you to the team, the guys at the factory, not far away from here, who are constantly working tirelessly to push us forwards, develop and we’re continuing to do so and I’m really proud to be a part of it.
 
Q: Valtteri, it was looking so strong through Q1, Q2 and this guy, after a spin, was just, just able to pip you in Q3? 
Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, it was a pretty good qualifying in Q3 really. I felt really comfortable with the car and with both tyre compounds and I was really just waiting for Q3 to get everything right. But by the time of Q3 I started to drift a bit more with the rear end than I was hoping. I don’t really know, Lewis found more than me, so ultimately he did a really good job today. It’s disappointing and I need to look into it. 
 
Q: Looking to tomorrow, it looks like it’s a two-horse race tomorrow, you guys are so far in front of the rest. Are you able to do anything with the strategy, to find a different way to the finish line to challenge Lewis?
VB: I think my long run performance this weekend has been really good and I believe there will be opportunities and Lewis last year managed to win it from second place with a different strategy to me, so yeah, everything is still wide open and no doubt the guys will try to mix it up behind so we will see.
 
Q: Max, it must be really tricky after a session like that. You’ve got the maximum out of the car and you’re a second behind the guys in front pretty much. What can you take from this qualifying session?
Max VERSTAPPEN: Well, I think the lap itself at the end of Q3 was pretty good, but you could see of course very early onwards in qualifying they were just way too fast, like they have been the last few races. You just have to accept that. You try to do the best we can and that’s P3 for us. So I’m pretty pleased with that. Also, after Hungary, to come back and be P3 in qualifying I think is a good start. In the race, you know, again, it’s different. Automatically you’re a little bit closer in the race. I don’t say I’m going to fight them but at least you have a fighting chance starting third.
 
Q: We know you’re going to fight them, Max. How is the car around here. We all know Silverstone is a very open track, very windy today. Does that have a big effect on what the car is doing?
MV: With these new type of cars from the last few years they are very sensitive to wind because they are that big and that wide. And especially here in Silverstone, you could really feel, like yesterday, for example, it was really tricky in the low-speed corners and today the wind changes and it becomes a completely different car. Luckily, in the right way, because today it was a lot more fun to drive. But yes, it is very sensitive.
 
PRESS CONFERENCE
 
Q: Lewis, pole number 91 was certainly a very good one. What were your expectations going into Q3. Did you think a 24.3 was possible? 
LH: Well, honestly I don’t really know what the previous records are or laps that we have done in previous years here. I don’t really look at that. It’s not really necessarily the number I’m looking at. What matter is what the position is. I don’t even really look at the time when I come across the line. I’m generally just trying to make sure that I’m up on my previous best time. But it’s pretty incredible the performance here this weekend. This track is really one of the best tracks in the world, especially when the wind is right, like today, and the temperatures are just right. It’s so fast and flowing. The speed that we’re able to carry through Maggotts and Becketts is… I remember when I did my first test here I never would have thought that one day we would be doing the speeds we are at some stage. And then secondly, this team is remarkable and I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who continues to do a great job back at the factory and also here during the weekends, because bit by bit we continue to step forwards. We’re still powering ahead, we’re not resting on the performance that we have, we’re trying to push the boundaries and the limits and that’s the most impressive thing I think about this team.
 
Q: Awesome in Q3 Lewis, bit of a wake-up call for you in Q2. Just talk us through that incident down at Luffield?
LH: Yeah, it really wasn’t a nice qualifying session for me. We’d made some big changes overnight, we went out in FP3 and the car was actually feeling… night and day difference probably for everyone with the wind change, and the track temperature change… and the car was feeling pretty good but the easy thing is to stay where you are and just leave it and hope for the best but we’re always, as I said, looking to move forwards and so made a couple of subtle changes and it was worse and you’re stuck with that once the qualifying starts. So, I had this inconsistency with the balance of the car and I was struggling and obviously I got into Q2, had that big snap and spin – which is my first spin in some time. Luckily the tyres were fine. We came in, I got to go back out on another fresh set, which was fine, but then it’s just really trying to recompose yourself and get yourself back in line because it’s really just building blocks when you go through qualifying. And that was probably the hardest turnaround, I would say, knowing that Valtteri had just been putting in quick lap after quick lap. So to go into Q3 with a kind of fresh reset mentally, and putting in those two laps, yeah, I feel great. But Valtteri’s been pushing me all weekend. He’s incredibly quick here, so I think I had a tenth-and-a-half advantage to him after the first lap and I knew that he would pick up some pace in that second run, so the pressure was still on to go out and do better. So, really grateful. While we really, really missed the roar of the fans and the energy of the fans here this weekend, hopefully back home they enjoyed that today.
 
VB: As Lewis says, it was quick lap after quick lap from you but you talked earlier about the rear end causing you a few problems in Q3. Can you talk to us a little bit more about that? Where was it causing you problems?
VB: It was a pretty smooth session otherwise. Had some really clean laps and could really build on lap by lap. The car was feeling pretty good, just the balance of the car throughout the qualifying was drifting a bit more towards oversteer. I don’t know if the track temp was getting higher or what was it but on both runs in Q3 I really struggled to attack the slow speed corners as I did before – and the same in Turn 12 – Turn 13. I started to struggle with the rear end – just a bit snappy. And at the same time Lewis obviously had a perfect lap in the end – or at least near to perfection. It was a pretty impressive lap time and I just couldn’t quite match it with the balance I had but otherwise it was OK. Obviously a bit disappointed being second, as it was a strong session otherwise – but yeah, that’s the usual. It is tomorrow that counts but at this point really thankful the car is so strong. It’s amazing and the team is doing such a great job with it and it’s a pleasure to drive.
 
Q: Max, talk us through your session and how good your lap was in Q3. And then just tell us, are you surprised or not by the gap to Lewis Hamilton. One Second.
MV: No, I’m not surprised. We are clearly still learning about the car, trying to improve it. But I think overall the qualifying itself was pretty OK. I mean, I was pretty much all the time in third. There’s not much more I think I could do. I think also my final lap in Q3 was pretty good. I had a bit of a moment out of the last corner but… it’s just a big gap and just tried to do the best we can and for us, that’s third at the moment. So we did that. Yeah, it’s a better position than seventh, let’s say that, to start the race.
 
Q: Can you take the fight to Mercedes tomorrow?
MV: Normally not, but we just hope to have a clean start and from there onwards I just try to do the best I can in the car and if that’s try to follow them a bit, we can be happy with that and score some points.
 
VIDEO CONFERENCE
 
Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Question to both of the Mercedes drivers please. It looked like you struggled quite a lot yesterday in practice, obviously it was very, very hot and windy but in a different direction. Was that cured by the changing conditions today, particularly the lower temperatures, or was it just significant set-up gains that you guys found overnight? Thank you.
LH: I think it was probably a mixture of both. I think really fantastic work by the engineers overnight just analysing where we were and how to perfect the balance of the car. Part of it was that, and then I think today, just being 10°C cooler – or whatever it is – and the wind being in a slightly different direction, really shifted things I think for us. And the hotter it got for us yesterday, it got generally worse for us. We have understood that overnight and we corrected that today.
 
Anything to add to that Valtteri?
VB: No, that’s all.
 
Q: (Christian Menath – motorsport-magazin.com) Question for both Mercedes drivers. Do you expect to be allowed to use different race strategies to race each other tomorrow?
LH: Honestly, I think it’s the same as always. We have a philosophy and an approach as a team and we just continue to… we don’t change things unnecessarily. So, I don’t think that there will be any difference here. Also, it’s not really of a benefit. Today it is quite clear which strategy on tracks like this, just like last year. Actually, it was a little bit less clear, I think perhaps, than last year but it’s generally pretty straightforward, so it’s unlikely we’re going to change anything.
 
Q: Valtteri, what do you have to do to beat the guy on your left?
VB: For sure we’ll try everything. It’s still very close between us in the championship points, so of course I’m going to do everything I can and of course will look overnight with the engineers what we can do and if there’s anything different I can do. But yes, we have a certain philosophy and usually the car ahead can kind of choose the strategy a bit more, as a bit of a priority, which is fair enough. That’s how it goes – but you never know. We saw a pretty different race from mine and Lewis’ side last year. So, we’ll see.
 
Q: (Scott Mitchell – The Race) Max, Christian Horner was telling us yesterday that the team made a big effort to try and understand the data gained from Hungary and putting it into action here. Do you feel that the car is more well sorted than it was in Hungary, and now it’s just a question of pace or are you still struggling to find exactly where the balance is?
MV: I think, yeah, compared to Hungary it’s for sure better. Hungary was not really good. Of course, there are still things that need to be improved and we are working on it, but I think it’s now just purely working on balance as well, yeah, finding more performance in that. We do understand where it’s coming from; now it’s just time, of course, to put different parts onto the car and make it faster.
 
Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lewis, you usually used to have 140,000 people coming here to watch you race at Silverstone and cheer you on. How much of a motivating factor would it be to deliver that win to them watching at home tomorrow, particularly given everything that’s going on in the world at the moment? And secondly, is there any sort of movement on your new Mercedes contract?
LH: To the second part, no, there’s no discussion at all, nothing decided. Yeah, obviously with the… I kept it in mind. Normally when I approach this weekend there this much much different feeling, I think it’s part excitement and also nerves when you come to this race, knowing how many people do come. And that nervousness is just really through just wanting to excel and deliver for everybody, because you go on a pretty incredible journey together. And so I try to keep that in mind still this weekend; whilst I didn’t have that same feeling coming, knowing that no-one’s going to be here, and I just really tried to remember how… reminisce the last years and try and somehow get that energy and utilise it today which is not so easy but I do, as I said, I hope… I can’t imagine how many people watching and if it’s the same energy-wise back home where they are, if it’s the same as it is when we’re at the track. But I hope this gives some people some hope.
 
Q: (Edd Straw – The Race) Max, obviously last year Red Bull had some struggles at the start of the season but the upgrades introduced, Canada through to France, that sort of time, really switched on the car and got it going. Do you think something similar can happen this year in terms of relatively small changes, with time can really unlock the potential? Do you think there’s a slightly wider ranging problem that will take a little bit longer to sort out and make the car both have the performance and the consistency that you need?
MV: I didn’t think, yeah, for sure we can improve the car quite a bit, but the problem is that the gap is so big to the guys ahead that it will be very hard to close so yeah, I believe the guys are working flat out of course to improve the car, so I’m confident they can do that but of course also the others are not standing still so yeah, we have a lot of hard work in front of us but let’s see what we can do.
 
Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) To Max: looking at what we saw in practice yesterday when it was very, very hot and you were able to get close to the Mercedes’ times on the long runs, and then there’s a big gap today when the temperature comes down, do you think that Red Bull is closer to Mercedes when the temperatures are higher?
MV: Oh yeah, but we would still be quite a few tenths down. I don’t think the warm weather makes such a big difference. If it would have been 35 degrees today I would still be third, so it wouldn’t… it would have helped me maybe a little bit but not that much.
 
Q: (Scott Mitchell – The Race) To all three: obviously Nico Hulkenberg is back on the grid, very last minute. He is basically three Grand Prix weekends and three pre-season test days behind you guys so I guess he’s physically going through what you went through on the first day of Barcelona testing, except he hasn’t spent the last few months physically preparing for that. How difficult do you think he’ll find it in the Grand Prix with I guess, mainly on his neck, how big a challenge do you think it is?
LH: Definitely not the best one to come to, your first practice, your first race for the neck. Copse is flat out so it’s a pretty intense combination of corners so I wouldn’t be surprised if this morning he woke up with quite a few bruises and sore but he’s generally always been really in good shape. I saw him walking in, he looked like he never left. But think it’s even more so, it’s probably the prep is a big part, your understanding of the car, that’s probably the biggest part. When you don’t know the car, you don’t know the tools you have or the simulations that the team uses. I can’t even tell you how far behind he is with that. But he is a great driver but if anyone can do it. It will be him, for sure.
MV: I could see after the first practice his neck was hanging to one side. He has quite a long neck so that is also… that’s not nice to have in F1. It’s tough, because I spoke to him about it  back in the day when he was still in F1 fulltime. He didn’t enjoy that. It’s tough, you can train as much as you want; the first time you go in an F1 car with these speeds, especially around here, you will be sore. You can train every day with your neck but the first time it’s always going to be sore so I’m 100 per cent sure of course, when he woke up today he felt it. But anyway, it doesn’t matter to him anyway, he’s happy to be here and he should be here anyway because I think he still deserves his spot on the grid.
VB: Yeah, I’m sure he will be sore and as you said, he’s probably not been prepared, physically, to drive a Formula 1 like we all did for the first race but I think he’s done really good, I think it’s a big challenge for him, with such short notice, he was setting some good lap times but obviously big experience from the past. I hope he has a good race tomorrow.