INDIA in F1

Tag: McLaren

  • I just enjoyed every little bit of lap I had: Hamilton

    Spa-Francorchamps, Friday 31 August 2012: Lewis Hamilton of McLaren who did 5 and 2 laps respectively in the two Free Practice session said: “It’s been incredibly wet today – there were lots of rivers running across the track and lots of aquaplaning, so you had to be very wary out there. There’s no real benefit to be gained from pushing the car, but there are always things we can learn, so we did a couple of installation laps to check the effects of the upgrades we’ve brought to this race and see how the tyres switch on in the wet.

    “It’s going to be challenging tomorrow, but everyone is in the same boat – no joke intended! If it dries out, the track will be green in the morning, so you’ll be setting the car up during a couple of runs in FP3.

    “Nevertheless, it’s great to be back out on track. A Formula 1 car would be fun to drive even if it were snowing, so I just enjoyed every little bit of lap I had.”

    JENSON BUTTON

    “We did a couple of installation laps, but that was about it. The weather was better during the morning session because you were able to do a couple of laps with only a little bit of aquaplaning. This afternoon was extremely wet – the only reason we ran in FP2 was to do out-laps and in-laps in order to practise our starts,” said Jenson Button.

    “For most of the lap, you’re not really pushing – then, halfway down the Kemmel straight, it suddenly gets wetter. It’s a different type of asphalt, which doesn’t drain as well. As soon as you hit that, you feel the car slow down and then it starts to spin its wheels.

    “Hopefully, the worst conditions have blown over and we can get down to business tomorrow. It’s been such a long break that we just want to get out there and enjoy ourselves.”

    MARTIN WHITMARSH

    Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

    “It’s hardly surprising to be here in Spa and find that the weather is cold, wet and misty. Unfortunately, that means that Formula 1’s much anticipated return after the summer break has been effectively pushed back by 24 hours because none of the drivers were able to set representative times out there today.

    “Despite the limited running, we were able to conduct a little bit of useful work, evaluating the performance of our aerodynamic upgrades and looking at tyre performance. With the field so closely covered, even the tiniest scrap of data can be useful.

    “Finally, while today didn’t offer much to the many thousands of Formula 1 fans who loyally packed the grandstands and hillsides of Spa-Francorchamps, it’s worth remembering that McLaren’s past reverberates around this mighty circuit. Yesterday would have been the 75thbirthday of our founder, Bruce McLaren, who scored McLaren’s first-ever grand prix victory at this circuit back in 1968. In many ways, the McLaren story is interwoven with Spa’s post-war history, and it’s fantastic to be here again this weekend to continue that legacy.”

    ends

    Hamilton File photo McLaren

  • Hamilton survives Kimi to win Hungarian GP

    Budapest, 29 July 2012: Lewis Hamilton powered to his second win of the season at the Hungarian Grand Prix, fending off late pressure from Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn’s team-mate Romain Grosjean was third, with Sebastian Vettel finishing fourth.
     
    Pole winner Hamilton made a good getaway, leaving Grosjean standing at the lights, which led to the Lotus driver being immediately put under pressure by Vettel. The Red Bull Racing man couldn’t make the move stick however, and as the pair went wide on the exit, Jenson Button was allowed to sneak through on the inside and steal third. Raikkonen, starting fifth, had got away badly and was passed by Fernando Alonso.
     
    That was the shape of things for the first two thirds of the race, with Grosjean staying in touch with Hamilton throughout, the gap ebbing and flowing as the first two stints went on.
     
    But the complexion of the grand prix changed at the end of the second stint. Midway through the second stint, Raikkonen was told that he would have to go long on his option soft tyres in the hope he would gain ground on his rivals. The Finn complied and despite changing his car settings to preserve his tyres, he continued to put in competitive times. And as the cars ahead encountered traffic the race suddenly swung Raikkonen’s way.
     
    The 2007 champion pitted for medium tyres and when he emerged he found himself alongside Romain Grosjean and battling for second. He brusquely shouldered his team-mate aside and took off in pursuit of Hamilton.
     
    Initially, it looked like that chase might also go the Finn’s way. Lapping almost half a second quicker than the McLaren driver he closed to within a second and it looked like he would get a chance to make an assault on Hamilton’s lead.
     
    However, with the McLaren driver carefully managing his tyres and Raikkonen struggling in the messy wake left by his rival’s car, an opportunity never presented itself and Hamilton cruised to his 19th career win.
     
    “These are the kind of grands prix you really enjoy winning – races where you’re under intense pressure from great drivers like Romain and Kimi,” said Hamilton. “This is the kind of day when you have to have your mind 100 per cent [focused] and I feel great because the team didn’t flinch and neither did I.”
     
    The McLaren driver insisted, however, that he was never under threat from Raikkonen.
     
    “He was never really close enough,” he said. “I purposely allowed him to close up in certain corners, so that he may have problems with his tyres eventually – but it didn’t look like it was going to happen. But I had to make sure I saved my speed for the last sector and made sure I drew a big enough gap in the last three corners and I did that every lap. I could see it was very difficult for them to follow, particularly through those areas, so it was important to make sure you maximise, especially with the DRS.”
     
    Raikkonen was left with the consolation of his fifth podium finish of the year and admitted that it had been a struggle to get close to Hamilton.
     
    “My only chance was that he would run out of the tyres and then you will have a chance – but that never happened, so we probably should have had 20 more laps – and then it would have happened. I didn’t win, so there’s no point worrying about it.”
     
    Grosjean, meanwhile, settled for a somewhat disappointing third place, the Frenchman complaining that he had been badly held up by back markers in the period before he was passed by Raikkonen.
     
    “I got stuck behind another car, which had been [blue] flagged but didn’t let me past in this lap: I lost 1.5 seconds,” he said. “I wasn’t very happy at that stage to be honest because I had been fighting for the win the whole race with Lewis and suddenly you get stopped by something you cannot really manage.
     
    “Basically it was close with Kimi,” he added. “He did what he had to do to not let me pass. I went a little bit on the outside and got the marbles on the tyres and then I struggled to recover. It is what it is.”
     
    Vettel took fourth place after a nip and tuck battle with Button in the opening two stints. After being eclipsed at the start, Button led the pair for most of the race, despite Vettel insisting to his team that he had the faster car and that they needed to do something. In the end they didn’t need to. Button made his second stop and emerged eighth behind the slower Bruno Senna.
     
    That was enough to buy Vettel the time he needed and after his own stop he emerged in front of Button and settled into fourth place, which he held until the flag.
     
    With Fernando Alonso fifth, Button sixth and Senna seventh, eighth place went to Mark Webber. The Australian, who had started 11th, ran as high as fifth in the closing stages but need to make a third stop and dropped back behind Senna whom he was unable to pass.
     
    Felipe Massa finished ninth and Nico Rosberg, who salvaged some pride for Mercedes after a dismal weekend, took the final point.
     
    After seeing neither of its drivers make Q3 on Saturday the team’s race went wrong even before the start. Michael Schumacher stalled on the grid and had to be pushed back to his pit box to start the race from pit lane. On his exit he was penalised for speeding in the pit lane and eventually retired after 58 laps.

     

  • The team did not flinch, neither did I: Hamilton

    Hungary GP – FIA Press Conference 4

    DRIVERS

    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (McLaren)

    2 – Kimi RAIKKONEN (Lotus)

    3 – Romain GROSJEAN (Lotus)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Lewis, a fantastic race for you, absolutely fantastic, under pressure all the time it seemed.

    Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, these are the kind of grands prix, the races you win like this, where you’re under intense pressure from great drivers like Romain and Kimi – for me it’s a great reminder of the old days with Kimi – and this is the kind of day when you have to have your mind 100 per cent and I feel great because the team didn’t flinch and neither did I.

    Great pitstops as well.

    LH: The first one wasn’t spectacular but the last one was very, very quick. We had a problem in the first pit stop, I think with the left rear, but otherwise we didn’t lose too much time there. But the second pit stop was fantastic.

    Was there any temptation to go for a third stop?

    LH: The team were talking about it. The plan was to do a two-stop but, you know, I had my target laps and the team weren’t confident that I was going to make it to those laps but I knew I would. In my second stint I could have gone longer but they wanted to cover the guys behind which was probably the right thing to do. So, as we did that, then it was just trying to make those tyres last a long time while keeping this guy [Räikkönen] behind. Which as you know, they are absolutely rapid, these guys. So, you know, if we were on another track where overtaking was much easier I think perhaps the result would have been different.

    They seemed to catch and then drop back. How close was anyone ever coming to overtaking?

    LH: He was never really close enough. I purposely allowed him to close up in certain corners, so that he may have problems with his tyres eventually – but it didn’t look like it was going to happen. But I had to make sure I saved my speed for the last sector and made sure I drew a big enough gap in the last three corners and I did that every lap. I could see it was very difficult for them to follow, particularly through those areas, so it was important to make sure you maximise, especially with the DRS.

    Did you have a chance Kimi, with the DRS?

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Ah, no. It was not so bad to follow through the last corner but you’re, I don’t know, one second later on the power every time so they just pull too far away and the straight is not long enough and the others are too fast. So it didn’t really give you any chance. My only chance was that they would run out of the tyres and then you will have a chance – but that never happened, so we probably should have had 20 more laps – and then it would have happened.

    So, are you happy with second place or did you feel you could have won it?

    KR: I didn’t, so there’s no point to worry about it. I had an OK start but then we had an issue with the KERS and I only could use 50 per cent and I lost one position to Fernando, so the first few laps were not really good because we were trying to get the KERS working. After that it was OK but the same situation with Alonso, I was stuck behind him and just tried to save my tyres and push once we got the clear circuit. It seemed to work both times and we gained a lot of time on those few laps.

    And what about the time you came out of the pits and found yourself alongside Romain?

    KR: Yeah. The team told me it’s going to be very close and I made a mistake with the pit lane speed limiter so it meant maybe five metres after the line I was still on it, so I thought that I really didn’t do a very good job out of there – but luckily it was enough gap and we were side-by-side in the first corner, but I could keep my position quite easily at that point. But it was one of those things: we had a lot of speed but just couldn’t use it in all the race.

    How was that moment for you Romain?

    Romain GROSJEAN: It just happens. Unfortunately, I got stuck behind another car, which had been [blue] flagged but didn’t let me past in this lap. I lost 1.5 seconds. I wasn’t very happy at that stage to be honest because I had been fighting for the win the whole race with Lewis and suddenly you get stopped by something you cannot really manage. Basically it was close with Kimi. He did what he had to do to not let me pass. I went a little bit on the outside and got the marbles on the tyres and then I struggled to recover. It is what it is.

    And it was pretty close with Sebastian in the first corner of the first lap as well?

    RG: Yeah, it was the same story as with Kimi. Kimi was inside of my [car] and I was inside of Sebastian. So it was all right.

    How close were you? The gap seemed to go out and come back when you were behind Lewis.

    RG: It’s really difficult to follow another car here, to be close and not do any mistakes. When I was following Lewis sometimes I was losing a little bit the grip of my tyres. Then I had to recover a little bit. Our first pit stop was a disaster. The second one was OK. We didn’t get the chance to jump in on the pit stop strategy. I think that was the only key today because overtaking is really too difficult. You can feel that you’re sliding tyres, losing the grip, sliding more and it gets worse and worse. So it’s very difficult to follow,

    So a little bit disappointed with third place?

    RG: Yeah a little bit today I think. We were really close to fighting for the win. But as I said I got stuck behind another car under blue flags that didn’t really respect it.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, you have been second three times when Lewis has won here. Have you ever been close to overtake him?

    KR: I don’t know. It was a long time ago to remember the past. Today it wasn’t – it was many years. It makes no difference if you don’t get past. We were second best today and third. I think it was good for the team but of course we will keep trying to win and hopefully it will come soon.

    Q: (Niklas Jakobbson – Budapest Times) Lewis how frustrating is it for you, going into the long summer break now that it seems that your car has picked up pace and both you and Jenson seem to be fighting for the win again?

    LH: It’s not frustrating at all. It’s quite nice to go into the break knowing that we had a win. Every year that we’ve done that it’s been a great feeling. I think it’s very very very important how we manage the summer break, mentally and physically, but we’ve clearly still got a lot of work to do. We should obviously take from this a pat on the back for a great job from everyone but we must know that we still have a lot of work to do. These guys were absolutely rapid in the race. If we’re going to stay ahead of these… if they were to have qualified at the front, it would have been impossible to have got past them.  So we need to remain focused and of course enjoy the break. This will carry on and the guys will carry this for the next week or so, I’m sure, back at the factory. Guys were wearing their team tops and hopefully we still have good pace and hopefully even more when we come back.

    Q: (Joo Gabor – Index) Kimi, it is your fourth second place this year, I think. Aren’t you getting a bit annoyed about this? Spa is coming up, are you confident that you can break it?

    KR: I think I’ve only been second twice, not three times, I don’t know. Anyhow, we always try to win; some days you get close to it and it’s a bit disappointing that we cannot and we know the reason: we have not been so strong in qualifying and we keep making it very hard for ourselves on Sundays but it’s not annoying. We still keep putting ourselves in a good position to at least have a chance to win and get good results, good points for the team. Yeah, you would rather win than come second or third but it’s a long season and I think we’re improving all the time. If it comes it’s great, if not, we keep trying. I’ve been in the business long enough that I don’t really worry about things too much. We improved our position, our situation in the championship for myself and for the team. Maybe we are one place behind right now but we are closer to the front. As long as we keep doing that and hopefully the wins will come, then we will give myself and the team a good chance.

    Q: (Sylvia Arias – Parabrisas) Lewis, each win is important of course, but is this more important after all this stuff about your private life, when you said I’m in the best moment so let’s party to enjoy this?

    LH: I definitely think it’s always good when you come away with a win. There always seems to be a lot of talk about me and my private life. Hopefully this will answer lots of the things that have been said. I am 100 percent focused this year, regardless of what people think. I’ve been on it all year, I’ve never been so committed but of course, I’m still in  my twenties, I do want to enjoy my last bit of my twenties, because I’ve heard it’s downhill from then on. I’ve got to strike a nice balance and I think I am.

    Q: (Dorel Tant – MSport1.com) Kimi, on the podium, did you hear the tremendous following you have here in Hungary, a lot of fans. Does that give you some kind of moral boost for the next races, let’s say?

    KR: Yes, it was great to hear all the people shouting and cheering. It’s good for us, but unfortunately it doesn’t make us any faster. I was pushing as hard as I could in this race so we keep trying to do the same in the next race again, but it’s always been great here with a lot of Finnish flags and a lot of fans here so it’s a great place to come.

    Q: (Peter Vamosi – Vas Nepe) It’s Alonso’s birthday today, what are your messages to him?

    RG: Happy Birthday. Fernando is a good friend so I wish him all the best for this year and hopefully we can keep fighting with him in the championship.

    LH: I’ve already tweeted happy birthday to him.

    KR: We spoke before already.

    LH: Romain says he wants to sing it.

    RG: No, no. I don’t want it to rain straight away!

    Q: (Marco Del’Innocenti – La Gazzeta dello Sport) Kimi, there have been some rumours today in the press about a possible comeback to Ferrari for you. Rumours apart, would you consider coming back to Ferrari?

    KR: I always said that I didn’t have bad feelings against them. I had a good time with the team. I won my championship there but things probably could have gone a nicer way in the end. Life goes on and you never know what happens in the future but I’m happy where I am now and things are going pretty nicely. Like I said, you never know what can happen in the future but I’m happy where I am. I don’t come up with the rumours, so perhaps you have to ask the people who write them.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Lewis, as an Englishman, how does it feel to win this so-called Grand Prix of Finland every year from Kimi?

    LH: Grand Prix of Finland?

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) There are so many Finns.

    LH: There are a lot of Finns here but you know what? For me it’s great to see Kimi up here with me. I think he’s done… you know I’ve got a huge amount of respect for him. I remember racing… I remember watching him on TV before I even got to Formula One and you know, when I used to play the computer games I would always play as him. It wasn’t Juan Pablo, unfortunately, and to think that we’ve had some great races in the past together and now another great race. Hopefully in the future we will have lots more races but Hungary has been good to me, really has been good to me. I really really love the fans here, I love the city. We always have such a great turn-out here but the track is awesome. I don’t know how the other drivers feel but it’s such a classic, so I really can’t wait to come back here again next year and hope to repeat it.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Lewis, you took good points from Alonso. You are both to the lead of the championship. What does this victory mean in terms of fighting for the title?

    LH: This weekend shows that it’s all to play for still, not enough points taken from Fernando as he still got ten points but bit by bit, if we can continue with this kind of performance then we can slowly catch him but we know we need consistency and we need to improve the car still in many areas, and that, I’m sure, we will do. The team is doing a fantastic job. We’ve now got the quickest pit stops or usually the quickest pit stops. Today I got the best start I’ve had all year, I was really surprised by it. This is a really good stepping stone for us, especially after the difficult races we’ve had over the last three tough races, it’s great to come and end the summer on this high.

    Q: (Garry Meenaghan – The National) Lewis, it’s been a momentous weekend back home with the Olympic Games starting. I was just wondering if, as a British driver with a British team, winning here must feel extra special? I saw you had the circles on your helmet.

    LH: Yeah, it does feel extra special because obviously with the Olympic ceremony and the Olympics starting and obviously wishing all the teams the best, I can’t wait to at least watch it on TV, but to be able to have it back in the UK I think is great for Great Britain. Yeah, I carried the flag on top of the helmet today. I hope that it was visible. I feel that I’ve done my part, even though we’re not in the Olympics. I feel like I’ve done my little bit today, this weekend, as has the team for the Olympics.

    Ends

     

  • Its an incredible job by the Team: Hamilton

    Hungarian GP – FIA Press conference 3

    DRIVERS

    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (McLaren)

    2 – Romain GROSJEAN (Lotus)

    3 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)

    TV UNILATERAL

    Lewis you looked like that was fully under control at all times, apart maybe from that first run in Q3?

    Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, it’s been a really positive weekend so far. The guys have done an incredible job this weekend as always, preparing the car. To finally see the upgrades working this weekend, I’ve been able to put the car in places that I previously wasn’t able to do. So, generally every lap has been quite good throughout practice and qualifying, apart from the first run in Q3.

    Romain, obviously this is what you and the team needed, a strong qualifying performance, because you’ve shown in recent races that you’ve got a very good race car under you?

    Romain GROSJEAN: Yeah, we normally have a good race pace, it’s good to be back at the front. We had a difficult German Grand Prix and a difficult start here in Hungary. But the guys did a fantastic job trying to help me set up the car, trying to find out what was wrong and [we’re] back to the top and it’s good. I think the race tomorrow will be interesting.

    Sebastian, you only did the one run in Q3 because you used up tyres before that. Tell us how difficult it was to get the tyres working today?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, I think for us it more a difficulty of getting everything to work properly. I think the speed is there but yeah it seems extremely difficult once you lose the balance a little bit. So I think we were struggling a little bit with that in qualifying. Throughout qualifying I think it got better. We shot through all the tyres, more or less. I knew I only had one set in Q3. I’m not entirely happy with the lap I had. I think Grosjean, sorry, Romain, was in reach. I think Lewis was probably a bit too far away today. But I think with the progress we made this morning and through qualifying we should be in a good position tomorrow for the race.

    Lewis if you look at the points you’ve scored in the past few races and the points scored by Fernando Alonso, the championship leader, there’s obviously a massive difference. How important is a win tomorrow for you and for your championship hope?

    LH: Well, thanks for reminding me! This is motor racing, you know. We’re not saying we’re relaxed about it but we know that we’ve got a lot of work to do and we’re trying to make sure that we start that work from this weekend

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Lewis, you seem to have hit the ground running from the road here almost – you were fastest in both sessions yesterday; fastest in all the qualifying sessions as well and you love the circuit, you must be so pleased with pole position now as well?

    LH: I am, absolutely. I’m really happy with the work the guys have done. Obviously Jenson showed the pace of the car in the last race but to be able to put that to work through qualifying feels fantastic. This is a good boost to the team. Still we have a very long race tomorrow. Lots can happen and we just need to keep our cool. The weather’s fantastic here, the city’s beautiful and the fans, well what a great turn out for a Saturday.

    Well, you’ve been on pole here before and you’ve won here twice as well, so you know how to win here. Is there a secret to tomorrow?

    LH: There’s no real secret, no. It’s the same as everyone when they win races. You just have to keep your head cool and look after your tyres. Tyre strategy will be important tomorrow. Degradation will be interesting. I just hope for once we have a good start. That’s what I hope for the beginning.

    How were the long runs this morning. Obviously you weren’t able to do long runs yesterday and everybody crammed in their long runs this morning.

    LH: I didn’t do any long runs this morning. I did mine yesterday. It was pretty good.

    So you were happy with that?

    LH: Yeah, I mean, the track was a little bit greener yesterday so it’s difficult to compare it to today, but for us it was not such a problem. I think we know the Lotus is very, very strong on long runs and so is the Red Bull, so we just need to focus on us and really hope we can improve this weekend with those upgrade. Jenson showed in the last race that it is an improvement so hopefully I can show the same thing tomorrow.

    Romain, on the front row for the first time – how much satisfaction does that give you?

    RG: Pretty high, I have to say. We started the weekend coming back from the German Grand Prix which was a bit of a disaster for ourselves, and it didn’t start in the best way. But then we worked hard, tried to analyse what was wrong on the car and why I couldn’t get the feeling that I had at the start of the year. P3 was getting better and then the start of qualifying was very difficult, with the first one getting a nightmare. But then we found back the speed, improved the car, tried to understand what was wrong with it, and being here on the front row is something special – especially here at the Hungarian Grand Prix where we know overtaking is very difficult. We need to start from the front, we said that since a long time – so first job done. Hopefully tomorrow we keep our race pace from usually, we able to save our tyres as much as we want and be able to get some good battles with the guy at the front.

    The performance of the car you’ve improved – do you think that’s going to be OK for the race itself on full fuel tanks etc?

    RG: Normally it’s better on high fuel than on low fuel, so it’s pretty good to be on the front row. We have been maybe working a bit more this week on qualifying because we know it’s a big key for the race. So, hopefully tomorrow the car will feel pretty well with the tank fuelled and the setup we normally run for the race. Hopefully that’s the case. Hopefully we manage to save our tyres as much as we want, as much as we can, and then we have good pace.

    We’ve seen quite a few people going off the circuit at many, many corners, to turn this into a podium tomorrow, how are you going to do that?

    RG: Well, the key is to stay on track, that’s for sure. Let’s have a good start, let’s see where we are at the beginning of the race and how the car feels. Hopefully it’s going to feel alright, as it did in Bahrain or Canada, and if we have this, then I think we have everything in our pocket to fight for a good result.

    Sebastian, we’ve seen the performance, or seem to have seen the performance up and down the whole weekend – not just from you but from your team-mate as well.

    SV: Yeah, a bit difficult for us this weekend to really get the balance right. I think the car is quick – and sometimes really quick – but it’s a bit difficult to get it out of the car all the time. So, I think yesterday afternoon we were quite happy, this morning we weren’t that happy and in qualifying it seemed to get better again. So, we’ll see. I think it should be a good race tomorrow. I think the pace with fuel in the car is probably a little bit better than without fuel, so we’ll see what we can do.

    You said ‘room for improvement’ after yesterday – but that didn’t come this morning then?

    SV: No, not really. I think it wasn’t that bad yesterday but this morning initially it wasn’t as good as it was yesterday – so we seem to have lost that little bit. But, I think just before qualifying we managed to come back and I think in qualifying I think we were able to improve session by session. Obviously we had to use a couple of sets that… or one more set than as per plan, which was not great. That’s why we had only one run in Q3. But in the end we used as many tyres as everyone else. We’ll see what we can do in the race. I think Lewis was out of reach today, they always seemed to be very quick. It’s probably not too bad to start third here, it’s on the clean side and it’s a long way to Turn One.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Leonid Novozhilov – F1 Life, Russia) Lewis, are you surprised? This is your 23rd pole position.

    LH: Privet. (Hello in Russian). I learned that in Moscow! Surprised? I think every time I remember my first pole position and I pretty much remember every pole position that I’ve ever had. I’m always striving for perfection and that lap and the pressure that we’re all under to get that perfect lap is intense, yet exciting. If you get it right, it’s incredibly empowering. This weekend we’ve obviously had the pace so I knew that it was possible, it was just a case of doing it and if I didn’t, I would be quite disappointed considering I’ve had the pace all weekend but fortunately I did it.

    Q: (Peter Vamosi – Vas Nepe) Romain, if you can manage to win the race tomorrow, you will be the next driver after Ayrton Senna in the history of Lotus heritage. How do you feel about this, have you got extra pressure because of that?

    RG: Well, I don’t think it’s an extra pressure. I think Formula One is already full of pressure. If I win the race tomorrow then it would be fantastic for the guys in the team, at the factory, for everything we’ve been doing since the beginning of the year and what we’ve achieved. And if I’m the next driver after Ayrton Senna to win a race with Lotus, it would be something to add to all the processes and all the happiness that we can get in these circumstances. It would be an extra pleasure.

    Q: (Julien Febreau – L’Equipe) Two questions for Romain: your position on the grid today, what does it mean to you? Do you fully understand what was wrong with the car since Germany? And the second question is: if you had the possibility to switch positions with Sebastian, would you accept?

    RG: What is wrong? I think it’s a lot of things together. We have seen that this year working with the tyres can be good, can be difficult. I think we were just, in the last two races, where we had to be. We had some signs on the car that things were not going as we wanted. the car was not handling as it should and we were not working the tyres properly, so we have been working in that direction, trying to get back to a normal set-up, to try to avoid every other aspect that could influence this. I think being second today is a bit of a surprise after we struggled but we improved lap after lap and that’s good and the track rubbered in and I think that helped us.

    And if I had to change position: no, because I was already third once in qualifying and now I’m second, and hopefully one day I can get pole position. The more ahead you are, the better it is. We know there is dirt and dust on the side, but if you look at Barcelona where there’s supposed to be a good side and a bad side, the drivers in second and fourth positions happened to be first and third at the first corner and the first and third finished second and fourth so hopefully I can do the same.

    Q: (Geza Suranyi – Heves Megyei Hirlap) Romain, you told us on Thursday that you need to be on the front row in order to fight for a win. Now you’re second, do you feel that the time has come to score your first win?

    RG: Good question. I think the time has come since you’re racing for winning. As we say, qualifying is a good exercise as you’re looking for the perfect lap, and if you just manage your car to do whatever you want with it, it’s quite a good feeling when you manage that and then in the race, the idea is to win a race. If one of us told you that he arrives on a race weekend not thinking about a win he wouldn’t be saying the truth, so for sure tomorrow we will think about it but before winning the race we need to get everything in order so qualifying is job done, now we need to have a good start as we are now doing it, take off our tyres, have good pit stops and a good pace in the race.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Romain, considering the bad experiences you have had in previous races on the first lap, will you use this experience to avoid anything different again?

    RG: I use all the experience I get in Formula One to improve myself, lap after lap, race after race.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto-Motor) A question to all three of you: the last corner has been re-surfaced for this year. How do you feel about it, is it a clear improvement compared to before and where is the track now worse regarding the track surface at the moment?

    LH: The track is fantastic in the last corner. It’s much, much better. They did a really great job and now the track, altogether, is just very consistent, grip-wise.

    RG: The last corner is easier than in GP2.

    Q: (Dorel Sant – MSSport1.com) Romain, did you have a perfect lap in qualifying, because Sebastian Vettel said that his lap could have been better and maybe he could have attacked your position, so what do you say?

    RG: To be 100 percent honest, it was not the perfect lap. You have few times in your career when you just finish the lap and say how was it from the car? I think we could have improved in a few small areas. I think it’s quite hard here to get the perfect lap and to get the car all together for the lap, so it was not the best ever. I think if I compared to Kimi, then I’m sure I lost a bit of time into turn one but then the rest was pretty OK.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – National SpeedSport News) Seb, to get the move out of the tyres, not only here but over the whole season, is it more a question of bringing upgrades to the car or maybe just adjusting your driving style?

    SV: To get the best out of the tyres? Well, I think we’ve seen… it’s a complicated question. At least I could give you a complicated answer but I think we’ve seen this year that everyone seems to struggle more than in the past to not bring updates but to improve the car through the upgrades. That’s for Lotus; I think in China they had an upgrade which they then decided to go back. McLaren, I think had upgrades and decided to go back. For us, we had some stuff and decided to go back. Why is that? Because you realise that it’s not quicker. I think it’s quite complex this year to understand the cars. Obviously in combination with the tyres, I think one thing you need to know is that everyone has less downforce this year. Generally if you have more downforce it also helps to switch on the tyres, to work with the tyres more consistently but as everyone has less downforce this year, I think the window is extremely narrow and it’s very difficult to get it right every time, so that’s why I think we probably see a little bit more inconsistency this year.

    Q: (Kate Walker – Girl Racer) For all three of you: we’re about to head into the summer shutdown in what is the longest season in F1 history. Is it a welcome opportunity for you to relax and re-charge your batteries or are you concerned that you will lose momentum going into Spa?

    RG: Personally I think it’s time for a honeymoon.

    SV: Yes, that’s not the case for us. It’s a long season. If you compare it to a lot of other sports, it’s one of the longest seasons we have. I think it’s important, even if sometimes you would like to carry on, I think you need the break, so it’s important to make use of it.

    LH: It’s most important for the team. The team is travelling non-stop and they work incredibly long hours so the guys back in the factory… Time with your family is most important and they are away from their families all that time so it’s an important time for them to go away and relax and refresh and get ready for the second half of the season which is going to be the most intense.

    Q: (Marco degl’Innocenti – La Gazzeta dello Sport) Sebastian, maybe this question could be boring for you again, but again, I would like to know if this lack of performance from your car could be because of this famous change of engine mapping?

    SV: No, I don’t think it really affected us as much as people think. As I said, we were struggling a little bit generally to find a balance throughout the weekend and qualifying but it has nothing to do with the mapping.

    Q: (Jool Gabor – Index) Romain, simple question: do you believe in second chances?

    RG: I think yes, to have the chance to have this second chance. As I say, I’m happy to be in Formula One again, even if it’s more difficult. When you lose something that you really like, you realise how much it counts to you and today I’m proud to be back, proud to be part of the Lotus F1 team. I think we are growing up together, so far having a very good season so I’m very happy to be here and fitting in well to the Formula One world.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto-Motor) As far as I understand, there could be some rain tomorrow. Did you take that into consideration in terms of set-up?

    SV: No. I think the impact in terms of set-up that we see these days is way less than compared to the past, so something like a real rain set-up doesn’t exist any more these days.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Considering the difficulty of overtaking here, the number of laps you are able to do with these supersoft tyres in the first stint will maybe be the key to victory or a good finishing position?

    RG: We haven’t got supersofts so you may mean with the soft. I think the key is part of the strategy. I think if you they can go longer than the others then you may stop earlier, if you think that you may be in difficulty at the end of the race as we have seen some cars then you don’t have them. It will be a good question for the guys doing the strategy and then we try to make the target happening as good as we can.

    Ends

  • Tough outing for McLaren in qualy

    Silverstone (UK), 7 July 2012: McLaren endured a tough outing in qualifying for the British Grand Prix with Jenson Button failing to make it out of Q3 and Lewis Hamilton finishing eighth in the top-10 shoot-out.

    Button struggled in the opening phase of Q1 and as the clock ticked down to the end of the session found himself in the drop zone. However, after pitting for a second set of intermediate tyres in the closing minutes he suddenly found some pace and looked on course to jump up the timesheet, according to an FIA press note.

    But as he neared the end of his lap, Marussia’s Timo Glock spun exiting the final corner and came to rest across the grid. The yellow flags came out and Button’s lap was compromised. He ended up 18th and out of the following two sessions.

    “It felt completely different [on the second set of tyres],” he said. “I came out of the pits and could actually get heat into the tyres straight away and it felt good, whereas with the first set I came out of the pits and had front shuddering and just couldn’t get fronts up to temperature. The story of my year, really.

    “I gained almost 1.7s according to my dash compared to the previous lap time, which wouldn’t have just got me in [to Q2], it would’ve given us the quickest lap time,” he added. “It’s a pity but it just wasn’t meant to be.”

    Hamilton, meanwhile, scrambled through the rain-hit second segment to make it into the top-10 shootout. However, in the final session he too had difficulty in getting heat into the tyres and finished eighth, almost two seconds adrift of pole position winner Fernando Alonso.

    “It was difficult, it is always is qualifying in the wet, but we really struggled. For some reason the tyres in Q3 wouldn’t switch on,” Hamilton said. “The extremes worked really well, then I came in because I thought it was drying and that the intermediates would give us the best grip but I was just sliding like crazy.

    “I can’t for the life of me understand why the tyres didn’t switch on there,” he added. “It’s very rare that I can’t get my tyres working. I was pushing and pushing and there was no grip.”

    Both drivers, however, said they were confident of better performances in tomorrow’s race.

    “The car is quicker than what we did,” he said. “We’re not far away. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the front row but we can still push through tomorrow. From eighth, everything is still possible.”

    Button, too, was upbeat about his chances.

    “We don’t get that many tyres, so this could actually be a good thing,” he said of his failure to get out of Q1. “If tomorrow’s wet – which we think it’s going to be – then we haven’t put as much mileage on the tyres. You’ve got to take the positives, because it was a very unlucky session.”

  • Nurturing tyres is the key: Hamilton

    DRIVERS

    1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)

    2 – Lewis HAMILTON (McLaren)

    3 – Pastor MALDONADO (Williams )

    TV UNILATERAL

    Congratulations Sebastian, a third pole in a row at this race and only one flying lap in Q3 to try to do it.

    Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, one shot there in the end, which turned out to turned out to be a very good lap. Q1 and Q2 were not to our liking. We were struggling to find the balance we did have early on this weekend, yesterday and this morning during practice. Yeah, good recovery throughout qualifying. Unfortunately, we had to put a second set of options in Q2. It was the right call because it was very tight. I think my time would not have been good enough, I set with the first set. So it was good to go again. But then in the last qualifying I knew that going at the end if the track comes in a little bit more and tying the lap together it should be good enough maybe to look at pole. In the end it was a surprising gap but all in all I felt very well this weekend. The boys have been working incredibly hard in the garage, all the people in the factory as well to make sure that we bring a couple of new parts to the car. They seem to work and I’m looking forward to the race tomorrow.

    Lewis, a front row for you. Sebastian says it was a surprising gap at the end. Did you expect it to be much closer in Q3?

    Lewis HAMILTON: To be honest, I expected to be a lot further back. We’ve struggled all weekend, just with set-up and you know going from P3 to qualifying we had to make some guesses as to what kind of set-up we wanted to change. It seemed to work OK and I’m really, really surprised. The guys obviously did a great job, as always, to get me a good gap and while the car still felt pretty good, I think the gap is still pretty big here and it will be a tough race tomorrow for sure, as always.

    Is that just the way it is in 2012 then? You go from winning one race weekend and on the next one you struggle and you’re not quite sure where you are?

    LH: I think so. At least it appeared so when we first started practicing here yesterday. But generally, I think, you look at the grid, because it’s so hot, the Lotus cars look massively competitive. I think they’re going to be the ones to watch out for tomorrow. I’m sure the Ferraris will be very quick on their long runs as well. Who knows what’s going to happen tomorrow, we just have to look after our tyres in these tricky conditions.

    Yes, 2012 is unpredictable, but Pastor, one is for certain, you quite like Spain don’t you?

    Pastor MALDONADO: I think we’ve been working so hard. The car has been quite quick from yesterday. We were struggling a bit with the option tyres. We were confused because I didn’t feel the same feeling with the prime tyres but then we’ve working so hard trying to understand what was happening with the car this morning, still struggling, especially with the option tyres. But for quali we understand a little bit the way, and here we are. I think we did a pretty good job. Williams is getting better and better every time. I’m pretty happy for the team, pretty happy for my country and it’s going to be a great opportunity to get on the podium and fight for a good result.

    You did, though, use seven sets of tyres during the course of that qualifying hour. How much of a disadvantage does that put you at for tomorrow’s race?

    PM: I think for the long run, for us, the prime tyres were a bit better. We had more range and they were even quicker after a couple of laps. We have tyres enough to race and get very competitive. I’m not worried about that. I’m looking forward to tomorrow. We’ll see from the start what happens with the strategy, that will be very important, essential for tomorrow. These conditions are very hot and very difficult for everybody. So looking forward, let’s see.

    Finally, back to you Sebastian. Lewis has outlined some of the potential battles for tomorrow’s race. Where do you see the big threat coming from, or have you, by saving a set of tyres, ensured that you’ll make it a hat-trick of victories as well?

    SV: Well, it would be nice, no doubt. I think it’s going to be a difficult race. Difficult to predict. We have seen too much this year to be honest to sit here on Saturday afternoon and predict what’s going to happen. I think it’s probably easier to guess the result tonight in football than tomorrow. It’s less hard than predicting the ranking tomorrow. I think it’s going to be tough, as Pastor touched on. It’s going to be hot tomorrow – a bit hotter than today even. So yeah, there will be obviously a lot of cars to look out for tomorrow. I think Ferrari has been very competitive. Williams have been quick yesterday on their long runs. Lotus, I think they’ve proven in Bahrain, the first time we had hot conditions, that they’re up there. So, I think this year obviously grid position is important but maybe not a

    Sebastian, well done, your third consecutive pole, does that mean it’s going to be followed by your third consecutive win? Or does that not mean anything any longer in 2012?

    SV: Well it does, so it would be nice, I think… I’m very happy to be here now because, to be honest, we had a very good weekend. Yesterday was very good, I felt comfortable in the car, this morning I felt very good, even though we didn’t get to finish the run on the soft tyre but this afternoon we started and I think we were a little bit off, compared to where we were the whole weekend. And we played a little bit of catch-up through Q1 and Q2: you don’t have that many runs. And we had to go out again in Q2. It was very tight. We saw I think Fernando was just not quick enough for Q3 and I think I was a little bit slower than that, so if we could have stayed in the garage then, yeah, we would not be here now – so it was a good call from the guys on the pitwall, and yeah, obviously we knew then we only had one set of options left, and tried to give it the best shot in the end. I knew that if I get the lap together, plus whatever we tried in qualifying with the car… I mean you can’t really do much, you can’t really change the setup but you can play a little bit with the settings you have inside the car: differential, front wing, and yeah, I think we caught up. And I had a good feeling in the last lap and managed to put everything together in the three sectors – which was good enough for pole. So, I’m very happy, especially after the effort that has gone in, as I touched on, from the guys here but also from the guys in the factory. We’ve got a couple of new bits here, they seem to be a step forward, which is very good.

    I’m told it’s more than a couple of new bits. I’m told it’s quite a large number of bit…

    SV: Well it depends. We’ve tried a lot, we’ve been pushing very hard, to be honest. I think it’s difficult this year. I think we see everyone is very close to each other and everyone is pushing. If you at McLaren, if you look at Ferrari, if you look at Mercedes. The big teams have more resources, probably, to bring new parts than other teams and they have been bringing more than a couple. A couple is two, so maybe we have also bought more than two – but nevertheless, other teams are up there. Force India was incredibly quick all weekend: yesterday I thought it was just a surprise but even on very low fuel it would have been a very competitive lap time and they confirmed it today. I think in the end they ran out of tyres but in terms of lap times, they weren’t far off in Q2. It’s tight, it’s difficult to make the right step and that’s why I’m quite happy to be honest.

    I’m not sure what your team-mate’s problems were but presumably you had no similar problems.

    SV: It’s a bit of a shame, because the potential is there. I think Mark would have had a solid qualifying, no doubt and we would have qualified in the same area with a normal qualifying for him. But he had a problem, with the brakes I think this morning and I’m not sure what happened this afternoon – so it’s really a shame because you always hope for the team as well to get the best possible result – but nevertheless, yeah, I think the race is long tomorrow, the pace was there on Friday for him as well, so confident he will come back.

    But you’ve had no similar problems.

    SV: No, as I said, the only problem he had was the brakes this morning and this afternoon I don’t know. But I didn’t have any problems fortunately.

    Lewis, on pole here in 2009 and three second places over the years. Given the problems you had yesterday, you sound as though you’re pretty happy about today’s performance.

    LH: Yeah. As I was saying, I’ve really struggled all weekend with setup. During the year I’ve not really struggled too much to get the right balance but particularly today, and yesterday was a real struggle. But you have those weekends sometimes. You can’t always get it perfect. Made some changes going into qualifying that I was just praying would work. And they seemed to have worked, so I was quite happy with the balance that I had. And I was able to… and to be able to get out the lap when you need it, just like Sebastian did. But obviously not as quick as his. But to be able to go out and do those single laps and make sure you maximise the potential of what you have – that really does satisfy me, so I’m happy with where we are.

    It’s just been so close at this circuit. Even though it’s a long lap it’s been so close and literally thousandths of a second have made a big difference.

    LH: Absolutely. It’s very, very surprising. Well, not surprising but it’s very interesting to see so many of the teams improving and continuing to bring updates and to see the pack close up. I think it’s great to see all the teams so competitive. It makes it even more challenging for us as individuals and also for the teams to up their game. And also for us drivers to make sure we’re on top of our game when we’re out there.

    How much of a different is it going to be with one DRS zone here? I think there were two last year and this year one.

    LH: To be honest I have no recollection of what happened last year. But, I don’t know, Overtaking here is always difficult. It’s always difficult to follow as it is in Monaco. Particularly going through Turn 10 maybe, is it? Going onto the back straight. It’s not that easy to follow through out there. But the DRS, I guess, will definitely come into play throughout the race. Hopefully I’ll have some chance. Who knows, we’ll see what.

    We’ve seen a number of drivers going off at the end of the straight Pastor, and today we saw you go off as well. Is this going to be a major problem during the race, do you think?

    PM: I don’t’ think so. I was just not ready for the lap. It was so difficult. As you saw, many drivers were struggling on braking, especially with the front. But I think today was a really good day for the team. We did pretty good, especially because this morning it was very difficult for us – but we understand a bit the way how to make quite well the tyres. And here we are.

    Was it a little bit of guesswork, do you think? Lewis touched on guesswork. Normally it’s pure theory.

    PM: Right now, everything is too tight. Everything is too tight and it’s very difficult to make the difference. I saw Q2, and just off one-tenth I was in P7. You can imagine everything counts now. It’s very difficult. Even for tomorrow, it’s going to be a difficult race. We need to be… we need to stay on the safe side, trying to stay competitive and to stay with the same pace we saw yesterday. We need to stay with the same pace we saw yesterday and then we’ll see.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Adrian Huber – Agencia EFE) Pastor, would you be happy to finish on the podium tomorrow, or are you hoping for more?

    PM: For sure, the points are very important for the team. It will be good to be on the podium but for sure if we can go for more, I will try my best like always, then we will see. Tomorrow the strategy is going to be very important. The team is ready, so looking forward to that.

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Lewis and Sebastian: you are the best of those going for pole. Is there any secret to the last lap that you do, and what are your thoughts before going out for that final lap?

    LH to SV: What is your secret?

    SV: Can’t tell you. I’m not sure whether there is a secret. Qualifying, we know, is all about one lap and to be honest, today it was very difficult, very tricky because the wind plays a  huge role here, sometimes blowing more than at other times, with gusts and generally it seems to be very slippery. Obviously the grip is lower than last year because the cars have less downforce and it makes it quite tricky, as we touched on. A lot of drivers lock up easily under braking, especially in qualifying when you want to brake as late as you can, but knowing that if you lock up you miss the apex and then you lose time. It’s quite difficult but ideally you just try to go through the lap before it happens – at least I had a little bit of time in Q3 – and try to focus on the key points, go through what I have to do and what I have to look out for and then it seems that I did so in the last run. So happy that I got everything together, just on the limit, and got the best out of the car, so I was very happy with the last run.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado deSao Paulo) Sebastian, you have a lot of new parts on your car and the first time you’re going to use them in race conditions will be tomorrow, in these very hard conditions. Are you worried about the reliability of your car, considering there are so many new things?

    SV: No. You’re right, obviously it’s the first time because the first time they were on the car was on Friday and since Friday there was no Grand Prix. It makes it difficult but there’s always a first time for everything. Obviously we try to build the parts so that they are reliable so as I said, I’m not worried. I think it will be tough, it will be hot but it’s not the worst race of the year for the car in terms of the ambient conditions, so I’m quite confident.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian and Lewis: do you realise that you have a big opportunity tomorrow to keep a huge advantage to the third guy who we suppose is a contender in the championship, Fernando Alonso. Are you working on a strategy to save points?

    LH: No. I anticipate that they will come through very strongly throughout the race, so whilst qualifying for some cars is not important, you look at the Lotuses and you look at… even Mark will be very competitive tomorrow. They have great long run pace and they can look after the tyres better than others, due to low speed downforce. I also know that Ferrari had upgrades this week – at least so Fernando told me – so I anticipate that they are going to be very competitive. Again, as I said, I’m very surprised for us because we didn’t have any upgrades this weekend and so to be where we are is a big bonus for us.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) From what you have learned about the tyres here, can it be another race like Montreal where people in the race come out of nowhere with different strategies or different tyre management?

    SV: I think Montreal was different; the tyre choice was different in Montreal. We had the supersoft and soft and I think we already saw on Friday in Montreal that the tyres last pretty well. On Sunday then, some people were able to prove that doing a one stop and obviously when it’s close between one and two stops then there can be a difference and people come out of nowhere. Lewis did the right thing, two weeks ago, by going with two stops. We did the wrong thing but I think it should be different here. The race is not so many laps and the tyres are a little bit different. It’s going to be hot again but I think it’s a different race, different track, different conditions.

    Q: (Panayiotis Seitandis – Alpha TV) I would like to ask all three drivers: given the fact that this is a street circuit, next year we have New Jersey, we now have an effort in Greece to have a similar race in Athens. What do you think is the perfect mixture between street circuits and proper (permanent) circuits and of course what’s your opinion about coming to race in Formula One in Greece?

    LH:I don’t know how many street circuits compared to other circuits we should have, but I love street circuits. They always provide entertaining races, perhaps not always the tracks that enable you to overtake as often as other places like Spa but still, as a driver, they are the most fun because on street circuits you have less room for error. I’ve only ever been to Greece once. I went years and year and years ago with Nico Rosberg. We went on holiday there, when I was about 13 and I’ve been dying to go back ever since. I was going to go earlier on this year but the weather wasn’t as good as I had hoped. I imagine at some stage  in the future, once the world and Greece is past the stage they’re in now, I think we would welcome a race – at least I would.

    SV: As Lewis touched on, I think street circuits are always good fun. It’s a different challenge because you haven’t got room for error, but one thing you can’t have on a street circuit is fast corners, really, because there’s no run-off and no space. I think the street circuits that we have are pretty quick but it’s maybe the exception. If you would build a new track again or look for a new layout you probably wouldn’t go that close to the limit, knowing what could happen, so therefore we need to make sure it’s not going to be all street circuits in the future but surely, it’s very good fun, a lot of bumps and that makes it very technical, very difficult,  challenging for us and if we could have a race in Athens it would be great. It’s a beautiful country, I was there last year so yeah, obviously there’s a lot going on right now and it’s not looking too good but being German, we are doing our best to help – not yesterday, that’s sport! As I say, it would be great and a great opportunity for Formula One as well, but I don’t know if there are any plans so we’ll have to wait.

    PM: I agree with Lewis and Seb. I think it’s not only fun for us as drivers, I think it’s fun for the fans and I think we need both conditions just to try to put Formula One in the top position. Spain, here, is a great one, especially because of the city and a lot of facilities but the future is like that. We follow the future and for sure we enjoy these kind of tracks.

    Q: (Sylvia Renée Arias – Revista Parabrisas Argentina) Pastor, I would like to know if there is extra power for you to have all these people coming from Venezuela, more than 100 people? Do you feel it’s nearly like a home Grand Prix?

    PM: It’s not a proper  home race but here in Spain we have a big community of Venezuelans and as well, it’s quite easy (to get here) from Venezuela, we have many flights. It’s a really good feeling to see them, especially in the stands, full of flags. It’s good. I hope to give them back some good news tomorrow, so we will see.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) We had 0.291 from Grosjean first to Massa in Q2. Does this tiny difference make you drive accurately; does it change your approach with the team’s set-up? What does it change in your regular work?

    SV: I think it makes it extremely difficult. I know exactly what happened to Fernando because I had the same in China. There were three tenths; Mark was first in Q2 and I was eleventh. It’s not nice, because you probably always know that if you’re looking for five hundredths which would be enough, a little bit here and there, but that’s the risk you have to take to set the time in the first place, but it’s tight and there’s very little room for error, especially like here where it’s very slippery, very easy to lose a little bit, lock up the wheel towards the apex, don’t get it perfectly right, maybe the exit is not 100 percent either, so it’s tricky but you have to attack otherwise you’re not there in the first place.

    LH: No, it doesn’t really change the approach in qualifying, you’re always attacking and if anything it just means you need to be more precise.

    PM: I think now, with these gaps, you just need to put everything together just to be there. It’s difficult for everybody, especially for the tyres, to get the maximum out of the tyres is not easy and when you get it, you are here.

    Ends

  • Hamilton makes it a seventh winner in 7 races this year

    Montreal, 10 June 2012: The 2012 Canadian Grand Prix brought in a seventh winner as McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton won a tactical race even as pole sitter Sebastian Vettel became a victim of strategy and the 2012 Formula One World Championship comes alive and opens up as it leads to the Europe again for the mid-season races.

    Hamilton took an unshakeable grip on this race after the first round of pitstops. Sebastian Vettel had been leading for Red Bull Racing but he was jumped by both Hamilton and Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari who went a few laps further. Those front three, Hamilton, Alonso and Vettel pulled away from the field and were having a race all on their own, adds an FIA release.

    Hamilton came in first for his second stop, having comfortably held a lead of between three and four seconds over Alonso throughout the stint. And then a shock: neither Alonso or Vettel were stopping. Hamilton set about furiously making up a deficit of around 15 seconds in the 20 laps remaining. His pace was remorseless. He caught and passed Vettel on lap 62, and Alonso on 64 and then cruised to victory.

    But behind Hamilton, both Alonso and Vettel began to struggle badly with their tyres. Vettel elected to make a late stop, on lap 63, while Alonso stayed out.  The Ferrari was losing huge chunks of time and, Alonso’s gamble failed when Vettel made up his 20 second deficit to sweep past on lap 69 of the 70.

    But Alonso had himself had already been passed by Romain Grosjean and Sergio Pérez, both of whom had ran more balanced one-stop races. Despite Vettel setting the fastest lap of the race on his final tour, he couldn’t get back up to the podium.

    Hamilton crossed the line 2.5 seconds ahead of Grosjean’s Lotus, with the Sauber of Pérez following in third. Vettel was fourth and Alonso fifth. Nico Rosberg finished sixth for Mercedes, ahead of Mark Webber in the second Red Bull, Kimi Räikkönen was eight in the second Lotus, and Kamui Kobayashi in the second Sauber. Felipe Massa scored the final point for Ferrari.
    The result bounces Hamilton to the top of the Drivers’ Championship on 88 points, two ahead of Alonso and three in front of Vettel. With Jenson Button enduring a torrid afternoon and finishing down in 16th, Red Bull Racing limited the damage in the Constructors’ Championship and retained their lead over McLaren 164-133.

    “It’s still sinking in,” said Lewis afterwards. “It’s been five years since I won the first time here but this feels just as good. It feels great to be back here on the top step, it’s been a long time,” the former champion told INDIAinF1 site.

    “It’s a phenomenal sensation to come back to Canada and put on a performance like we did today. This win feels as good as my first Formula 1 victory back in 2007. In fact I’d say it’s one of the best races I’ve had for a very long time.

    “I feel fantastic, to be honest. Just brilliant. I could hardly believe it when I was driving across the line. That emotion inside, it’s like an explosion. It’s really just incredible. It’s what I love best about motor racing.

    “I always knew today’s race was going to be incredibly tough. So, in the first stint, I was really pleased that I could keep up with Seb [Vettel], and at that point I already felt sure I’d be involved the fight for victory. Our strategy was always for a two-stopper: we knew it was going to be the fastest way to get to the finish. I looked after my tyres really well today, and I used them knowing we were going to two-stop.

    “I had 100 per cent control and understanding of what was happening in the race – it was one of our best races for that. I told my race engineer, Andy [Latham], to keep the information flowing, and he was fantastic today. I always knew where I was losing or gaining time, which really helped.

    “Every win is different. Every victory is new, special and fresh. And to see the team all wearing their Vodafone ‘rocket red’ victory T-shirts, knowing the guys back at the factory are doing the same, makes everything feel even more special.

    “Finally, the support from the fans has been amazing – this victory is dedicated to them. I’m so grateful to be here today.”

  • I dedicate this trophy to fans: Hamilton

    Montreal, 10 June 2012: The 2012 FIA Formula One World Championship lived upto the expectations throwing up Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team’s former World Champion Lewis Hamilton as winner with Romain Grosjean of Lotus and Sergio Perez of Sauber making it to the podium on Sunday at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit.

    At the mandatory post-race FIA Press Conference, the fourth and final for the week-end, the top three drivers attended.

    TV UNILATERAL

    Lewis, one word: wow. What a race. That must feel incredible?

    Lewis HAMILTON: It does, it does. Firstly, I want to say congratulations to these two guys [Grosjean and Pérez], who have done an incredible job, but also just to the team, who never seem to give up. Also, the race, I want to dedicate this one to all the fans out there, who are constantly sending letters and messages and always being so positive and supportive throughout the year. What a great feeling this is where I won my first grand prix. I knew today would be a tough, tough race but I loved every single minute of it and I’m really grateful.

    You say you loved every single minute of it but two delays on your pit stops and then you get out and the team tell you, ‘actually the guys ahead are one-stopping’. Did you ever think for a moment that it wasn’t going to happen today?

    LH: I never had a doubt in my mind that there wasn’t a possibility to win but I was thinking that these guys are falling quite far behind so I assumed they are doing a one-stop but I don’t think I’m going to be able to do a one-stop so I’m going to keep on pushing, increase the gap… Yeah, I had a couple of problems pulling away. It might have been my fault, I don’t know. But otherwise the pit stops were great and finally we’ve got some good pit stops and of course we can keep on improving in every area.

    Romain, an amazing result for you and the team. Was the plan always to go for a one-stopper or was that something that developed as the race went on?

    Romain GROSJEAN: Well, we thought about going for a one-stop and see what was going on later on. The question mark was can we go with the option tyres at the beginning especially that they are already two runs [old] from Q1 and Q3 , that was the one I set my fastest lap time with. But then the car felt pretty good. When I put on the prime tyre, I didn’t know what Nico Rosberg was doing in front of me or Mark Webber so it was difficult. I was fighting with them, pushing quite hard but I knew that I was trying to go for one stop and finally when I saw Mark coming in my tyres were quite fresh and then I didn’t realise I was third and I then I saw Fernando slowing down and I was second. It was a crazy end to the race because I was thinking P5 or P4 but the pace stayed there and the team did a fantastic job with the car, which was good on tyres. We knew with the heat we would be better today, so hopefully the sun came and it was good for us and it is fantastic to be on my second podium this season.

    Sergio, again an incredible drive, an incredible race. At what point did you know that a podium was on the cards?

    Sergio PÉREZ: Well, to be honest, until I passed Fernando, because starting 15th the last thing you would think about is ending up on the podium. We went quite aggressive, the first stint was quite good. Then the stop was very good. The second stint was really, really good. I managed to overtake some cars in difficult manouevres. I saw that degradation was not so high for me. I could manage my pace well. Then I managed to get some other drivers. It’s a great result for the team after such a bad day we had yesterday. We had a lot of trouble with the brakes. Today, it’s just great to finish here on the podium. It’s a great boost for the team. After Malaysia it’s our second time to get in the [major] points and the second podium, so hopefully we can keep this way. Obviously we have been very unlucky: what happened in Monaco for example. We were very quick there and in Barcelona as well. It’s great to come back and do a podium for the whole team and with this here being so close to home with a lot of Mexicans around, it’s great.

    Lewis, back to you. As you said, this is the place you won your first grand prix five years ago and we can see how much this meant to you today. Can you just sum up your emotions at the end of an incredible race and a wonderful weekend?

    LH: It’s still sinking in. It’s been five years since I won here for the first time but it feels just as good. Again, just massively proud of the team for continuing to push and it feels great to finally be here on the top step. Definitely, as always, we’ll never take it for granted and this for me feels like one of the best races that I’ve had for a very, very long time, so thank you to everyone.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Lewis, obviously you really enjoyed that. As you said, a huge amount of satisfaction from that.

    LH: Absolutely. Absolutely. One of the most enjoyable races that I’ve had ‘til now. I was just thinking today to finish at the front, as I did in my first win here in 2007, would be very, very special for me – which it has been. I couldn’t believe it when I was coming across the line. That feeling inside, it’s like an explosion. It’s really just incredible. And that’s what I love about racing and if I continue to have this feeling for many, many years, then hopefully I’ll be here for a long, long time.

    The tactics on the pitwall worked absolutely perfectly. You must have thought, ‘perfect’, every time you overtook somebody ‘yes, that’s the way it was meant to work out.’

    LH: I think the team did a really great job with the pitstops and the strategy. I was very, very surprised that I was able to look after my tyres and then push at the times that I needed to push. I was very, very surprised in the first stint, that I was able to close up on Sebastian. I never thought they would have such degradation. And so to catch them, and see them go in, and then still be able to push, was a real pleasure to see, because it’s very, very rare. But I knew that Fernando was going to be the one to beat. When he was behind me I thought he was going to be the one to beat today, as he generally has great pace on long runs. But we did it. I wasn’t able to do a one-stop. I don’t think I would have been able to do it – I think I would have fallen back as they did: perhaps even further. I think a two-stop was just right.

    Was that a result of knowing that you had trouble with the hotter temperatures?

    LH: No… well… of course we were aware of that. Of course we went into the race knowing that we’d be doing a two-stop. And when the guys were behind me I kinda had a feeling that Fernando would be doing a one-stop, so I knew I had to make a gap while looking after the tyres. I was able to make a gap and then hold it, even though Fernando started to pick his pace up. It was one of the best stints that I’ve had for a long, long time. And then at the end I had a serious gap to catch up but I was able to be 1.5-1.7 seconds faster than Fernando each lap, which was fantastic. And the greatest thing here is that at this circuit you can overtake. Even if it’s not the back straight, you still have opportunities to overtake, which always gives us good races.

    Romain, you were in traffic early on. That must have been very interesting. What did you think?

    RG: It wasn’t easy at the start because basically I was fighting in the traffic and I didn’t know whether the guys were going to do one-stop, two-stops. And then I tried to jump Rosberg on a pitstop but it didn’t work, so I was behind him again. And when you follow a car it’s not easy to save your tyres and protect a little bit. I know that we were trying to go for one-stop and I didn’t really know what to think about. And then I saw Nico coming to the pit and thought ‘good news.’ And then I caught Mark. Mark was quite the same pace as I was, so it wasn’t easy, and then he went to the pit as well. Then I was more safe and I couldn’t realize from P9 – I think – on my pit board to P2 in a few laps. I didn’t really understand what was going on but I knew that we had to carry good pace. Again, the team did an incredible job to give me a good car in the race. We knew with the sun it would be better today. I really want to dedicate this result to them, to friends and to, today, Guillaume Moreau, which was on my helmet, who had a crash at the Le Mans test day last week. I wish him a good recovery. And I’m very happy that he was on my helmet for this race.

    You’ve been a rookie here and obviously learnt the circuit. You’ve enjoyed taking on the Montreal accent – you’re feelings about your podium here.

    RG: It’s good. I’m feeling more at home. People speak French, the city is quite nice and the people are really welcoming, so it’s good to be here. The track is interesting; not an easy one to learn but as we say most of the time: if you have a good result then you like the track – so I think now I like Canada and I’m looking forward to coming back next year. But before that we have 13 more races until the end of the season and I hope we can keep our pace, our results and keep up the team.

    Sergio, you were almost a rookie, apart from three laps, and from 15th on the grid, one-stop, once again showing that you can keep the tyres alive.

    SP: Yeah. It was a great race for the whole team because after such a disappointing qualifying that we had yesterday, with so little pace as well – we didn’t have the pace we wanted to – so we had to fight in a different way with the strategy and try to make it work and make it happen with the strategy. We didn’t have any reference on the long runs. The long runs we did with the tyres, it was 10-15°C less track temperature. So, it was a lottery, basically, but I think the team has done a great job with the stop and the strategy, myself too, keeping the tyres alive and being so consistent. It’s been a great result for the whole team. We have been so unlucky since Malaysia. We had the pace but for some reason or another we don’t manage to get the result in the end. I think it’s great to come back into the points with another podium.

    You mentioned you had brake problems yesterday, was there any trace of that today?

    SP: No, when I mentioned we had a brake problem it was nothing like a failure. It was just that the balance was really bad for me and I could not manage to stop the car, I flat-spot my tyres, so I have a lot of vibration in qualifying. In the race it was different. We worked a lot during the night – yesterday – to fix the problems and today we did a great job.

    And after these two podiums that you’ve had, as you say a little bit of frustration that since Malaysia you haven’t had better luck. What do you feel you can do in the rest of the Championship?

    SP: The thing is we long to fight for a podium every race. Today was a very crazy race, as we have had many of this year. But I think we have the potential to do it. This has to be the target, to get the first win this season for our team.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Kate Walker – Girl Racer) Romain, earlier this weekend, you said that this was your favourite circuit because you learned it on Playstation. Do you think Playstation was a contributing factor to your strong performance today?

    RG: I think I should say X-Box or Microsoft. It’s true that on a video game it’s my favourite track and looking at it, it’s quite interesting. It’s more bumpy than on X-Box sitting on a sofa, but it’s pretty interesting and when you have a good result in a race, normally you quite like it and so I’m pretty happy about today.

    Q: (Julien Febreau – L’Equipe) Romain, what does this podium mean to you compared to Bahrain, because the start of the weekend wasn’t easy for you, so what does it mean?

    RG: It means quite a lot. It means that we’re in good shape for working with the team who are improving every time. We had a bad Friday with quite different conditions compared to today and having to learn the track and the set-up of the car wasn’t easy and I’m sure we could have achieved better but we know it for the rest of the season. We are working quite well, so I’m pretty pleased with this podium. It means that we are still here after seven races and it was not one shot that we could get in Bahrain. We are still fighting at the front with good performance and the team is doing well with the Lotus E20.

    Q: (Adrian Huber – Agencia EFE) Checo (Sergio), how do you feel now compared to the podium in Malaysia, and now you’ve got a second and a third place, there’s just one spot still missing on the podium; when do you think you might get that?

    SP: Well, I think every podium is special, especially when it’s only your second podium in Formula One, it’s a very special feeling. In the position that I am with my team, we are still fighting to get to the top, to be a top driver one day. It’s great, every opportunity I have to show my potential, because you don’t know how many opportunities you will have. I have been very unlucky in the last races so I think it feels great but I think the first podium feels a bit better.

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Lewis, when did you think about victory: when you passed Vettel, when you passed Alonso or when you crossed the line? Were you afraid of these two guys?

    LH: When I crossed the line. Of course when I saw them, and I saw that I was catching them and there was a possibility, and I knew how many laps that I would have to get past so I was not desperate to get past them in a real rush. I had a lot left in me, in the tyres so I was generally driving a little bit off the pace. There was no need to push because the guys had fallen behind and when I heard that these guys were catching a little bit, I knew that I had plenty in me if I needed to match the same times, and there were only a couple of laps left, but perhaps if circumstances were different and they were much quicker, then we would have had even more of a race.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri –La Gazzetta dello Sport) Lewis, were you surprised when you saw that neither Fernando nor Sebastian stopped immediately after you? And now you’re also leading the championship, so is that a big bonus in this season which is completely crazy?

    LH: No, it definitely is… as I said going into the race, if I was to finish where I started, I would be very very happy with it, but anything above that would be a bonus, so it’s definitely a bonus for us today. I knew, when I had done the stop where Fernando came out in front and I had to overtake him and I was pulling the gap, I had a feeling that they were dropping back so quickly that they would definitely be doing a one stop and I did mention that to my team and they said they thought so, so I had to make sure that I got the gap that I had and tried to maintain it. I did think in my mind that at some stage Fernando would start putting in some very very quick times but then again he didn’t as he was doing such a long stint. I think I got absolutely everything out of the car today. I wouldn’t have been able to do a one stop, I don’t think. Again, the team did a great job in the strategy department.

    Q: (Bill Beacon – Canadian Press) Lewis, you’re only the third driver to win this race three times after Michael and Piquet. I just wonder, is there something particular about this track that suits you?

    LH: It’s like a go-kart track, isn’t it? It’s great fun, you’re bumping over the kerbs, with the low grip it’s very much mechanical grip like a go-kart. It’s the weather, it’s the city, the fans here are incredible, absolutely incredible, and there’s very few places that we go to throughout the year like this. I always say that Monaco is real special because of the amount of people there. I think this race here is perhaps even more special for me. Obviously my home Grand Prix, Silverstone, is very special. Today, with so many British flags and Grenadian flags, which was fantastic to see, and so many people wearing the caps and shirts, support has been phenomenal this weekend, so that’s why I wanted to dedicate this win to them.

    Q: (Julien Febreau – L’Equipe) Romain, how close to your first victory do you think you are, and do you think that the gap is still big or not?

    RG: The gap is not that big. We need to qualify better, that is not our strength this season but we are working on it. I think Friday and Saturday were quite difficult for us but we have been learning a lot about the car so it’s good that we now have that in our pocket for the next races. Then you never know. Lewis was maybe cruising a little bit at the end. We were not cruising that much but not trying to make any mistakes either. To be honest, when I was P5 or P4 I thought that would be a good result, having started in P7 but then Fernando was struggling and I could catch him up and then tried a little bit to catch Lewis but you never know what’s going on. It’s not an easy race, we were asking a lot of the car and the tyres and so on. When you pit on lap twenty-something and you know there are seventy laps and you have to stay on one set of tyres, you never know when they’re going to drop so you are a bit cautious about that.

    Q: (Randy Phillips – Montreal Gazzette) Lewis, when you passed Alonso in the DRS, you looked like you made a couple of tenths before that; can you just give us an indication as to how bad his tyres were at that particular point?

    LH: Those guys, Fernando and Sebastian, they looked like they were having oversteer moments and definitely struggling. I had so much traction with fresh tyres that there was almost a two second difference in pace between us. He must have been close to the limit already, the end of the tyres.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) What changed from yesterday, Lewis, because yesterday after qualifying you were worried, you were happy to be second but looking at Sebastian and probably also Fernando, you were not so sure you could have such a race? And this is also a track where McLaren is doing very well: five victories in the last seven years.

    LH: Yeah, I think I was just very cautious. I think the Red Bull and the Ferraris seemed to… you know, we’ve not come here with any upgrades, we didn’t in the last race whereas Red Bull and particularly Ferrari have been upgrading their car consistently. They were just as quick as us in qualifying but then in the race, generally, they can look after their tyres a little bit better than us and maybe that was a little bit the case today. Obviously they were able to do a one-stop. I would have fallen even further behind maybe if I had done a one stop, so that’s just an area I know that we need to get stronger and we need to improve on as the season is probably going to be a lot like this, where you are having one or two stops throughout the season. If we can improve on that, then I think we are in a really good strong position but then again, when I was out there, when I was able to keep up with Sebastian and maintain the gap to me and Fernando, then I started to think, OK, we’re in a good fight here, we’re in with a good chance for winning.

    Q: (Vanessa Ruiz – ESPN Radio) Lewis, yesterday you were sitting here with Alonso and Vettel and you guys were asked about normality in Formula One, because, well, we had a McLaren, a Ferrari and a Red Bull driver, but now the race is finished, we have a Lotus and a Sauber driver on the podium. To all three of you, will there be a point when Formula One will reach this so-called normality this year, and what is normal for you and Formula One 2012?

    LH: I think this mix-up is normal, this is what is going to be normal for the season. It’s just my feeling, but then again my guess is as a good as yours. I think it will continue to be like this throughout the year. We’re still trying to fully understand these tyres. Sometimes you’re overheating them, sometimes you’re not heating them up enough. We don’t understand why sometimes a Lotus is quicker than us, or a Mercedes is quicker than us and then we’re quicker than them another time. But I think it’s great for Formula One, it’s great for the fans to see. I’m guessing there was a lot of overtaking today and a real mix-up and as I said, seven different winners in seven races – I can’t remember hearing of anything like that. I hope there’s no more, I hope there’s not eight winners in….

    SP: I hope so.

    LH: I hope not! I hope we’re able to keep it at seven and no more!

    RG: I think it’s pretty interesting for everybody. Who will complain about seeing different drivers and different cars fighting throughout the races?

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Lewis, the Drivers’ championship is very close now. There are seven points between you and Mark Webber in fourth. Does it mean that you plan your next victories now that you are leading. Do you think: maybe if I finish second or third… is it better in a season like this to be more consistent than to take a risk? Are you going to change your approach to the races now that you’re leading the championship?

    LH: I’m definitely not going to change my approach, but I think it’s working reasonably well so far. I probably definitely had to be more on the limit today to catch the two guys ahead, perhaps a little bit more risky than in the past but it is about consistency this year. I think it will be about consistency. It’s unbelievable to see just how close it is. We got a win and 25 points and I only have a two point lead, so it’s incredible how close it is and I think it will stay that close throughout the year. Again, it just highlights how important consistency is.

    Hamilton dedicates his trophy to fans at the Canadian GP on Sunday. McLaren photo.

    Ends