INDIA in F1

Tag: Mercedes

  • Hamilton takes pole: Mercedes view

    • Lewis Hamilton today took his 54th career pole position – his 2nd in Spielberg and 5th of the 2016 season so far.
    • Despite qualifying in P2, Nico Rosberg will start tomorrow’s Austrian Grand Prix from P7 after incurring a gearbox penalty.
    • Both drivers completed one run in Q1 and two runs in Q2 and Q3.
    Driver
    P3
    Q1
    Q2
    Q3
    Lewis Hamilton
    1:07.308
    P3
    1:06:947
    6 Laps
    P1
    1:06.228
    5 Laps
    P1
    1:07.922
    10Laps
    Nico Rosberg
    1:10.959
    P1
    1:06:516
    6 Laps
    P2
    1:06.403
    4 Laps
    P2
    1:08.465
    10Laps
    Weather
    Dry, Wet, Warm
    Temperatures
    Air: Air: 26.3 – 28.0°C °C
    Track: 35.3 – 54.0°C °C

    Lewis Hamilton
    This is definitely one of those tracks that I have to keep working at and I’ve been building up to today’s qualifying session. It’s not an easy track to execute the perfect lap and admittedly it’s not my best circuit. As a driver I’m someone who brakes nice and deep and here you have to lift off the accelerator early, keeping your minimum speed high, which is not something I’m used to doing. The track dries up so quickly here – it’s a great feature of this circuit and made qualifying really interesting. Hopefully tomorrow will be a bit cooler which will help me in managing my tyres and I can get off to a good start. The race will be interesting and I’m hoping it will be a good day.

    Nico Rosberg
    It was a huge team effort today, with both sides of the garage working together to get my damaged car ready for qualifying. It was a tricky session with the rain and the perfect lap didn’t quite come together which meant Lewis was quicker. The five place grid penalty will be costly as Lewis will start from the front tomorrow and it will be tough to fight through the other cars with the ultra-soft. It will definitely be an exciting race, though, and there’s still a lot to play for.

    Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
    First of all, I want to take a moment to recognise the awesome job by our mechanics today. As qualifying started, Nico’s car was still being put back together after the suspension failure this morning; 15 minutes later, he was top of the timesheets. That was teamwork of the very highest quality and another confirmation of what a great group of people we have. Overall, it has been a pretty intense day, with a lot of unexpected challenges, so it’s fantastic to end up P1 and P2 in qualifying – even though Nico will take a gearbox penalty tomorrow after it was changed following the accident this morning. Qualifying was one of those sessions where it’s much easier to make mistakes than get everything right – and it was all about hitting that perfect window for the final lap on dry tyres, because the conditions were changing so fast. We managed to get both cars onto the right tyres, then the drivers didn’t put a foot wrong to take the top two positions; both of them put in great laps right at the end. Looking at tomorrow, we have some different approaches at the front of the grid in terms of tyre choice, plus Nico will be on a recovery strategy to make up ground after his penalty, so I think there’s still plenty of action to come…

    Paddy Lowe, Executive Director (Technical)
    It was a more eventful day then perhaps we expected. It started with a suspension failure on Nico’s car during P3 which was due to an unexpected load in one of the rear suspension members over the exit kerb at Turn 2. This left us with a lot of work to do between sessions, to turn Nico’s car around, to understand the failure and to make suitable alterations to both cars. Working with the team back at the factory as well as at the circuit we made some modifications to the suspension on both cars in time for qualifying. Unfortunately, we are now subject to a five-place grid penalty for Nico because the gearbox was damaged during the accident. It was a monumental team effort from the mechanics and engineers in the garage to get the car out on time, with both sides of the garage working together to get the job done. These are the moments when you see real teamwork come together, where we work as a single entity for the good of the team. But that wasn’t the end of the excitement as the threat of rain lingered over the entire qualifying session. The most impressive thing for me was to see Nico go straight out of the garage in his completely rebuilt car and set three purple sectors in Q1 on his first flying lap. We took the ultra-soft for Q2 very early – committing because of the incoming threat of rain. Q3 was incredibly tense starting with the intermediate tyre on a track that was drying rapidly and we swapped for the dry tyres at just the right time – Lewis and Nico contributing with fantastic laps to secure the front row. It will be an interesting top ten tomorrow with penalties and a range of different tyres. It looks like it will be another exciting afternoon.
    eom

  • Rosberg takes pole to flag victory at Baku; Perez gets another podium for Force India

    Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg cruised to a comprehensive Grand Prix of Europe win, finishing more than 16 seconds ahead of second-placed Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari, while Sergio Perez recovered from a grid penalty to take a deserved third place.

    With plenty of incidents enlivening the support races at the inaugural race in Baku, similar unpredictability had been expected from the grand prix, but when Rosberg went through the first corner in the lead and quickly built up a solid gap to fellow front-row starter Daniel Ricciardo, the identity of the winner, at least, was never in doubt.

    Racing in clear air, Rosberg set a blistering pace and by the mid point of the race, jst after his one and only stop to shed supersoft tyres in favour of a set of softs, he was more than 18 seconds clear of then second-placed man Kimi Raikkonen.

    From there it was a simply a case of managing his pace, staying clear of the walls and bringing his car home. And after 51 laps, Rosberg did just that, taking his fifth of the season and his first career ‘grand chelem’ for pole position, victory, fastest lap and for leading every lap of the race.

    “It’s been an amazing day really, an amazing weekend,” he said afterwards. It’s been spectacular; great track, really exciting racing. Of course, for me the weekend went perfectly: qualifying, race, everything to plan, so it was really awesome.”

    The potential stumbling block in Rosberg’s path came from a technical glitch that affected both he and team-mate Lewis Hamilton. The Briton was badly affected by issue, which his race engineer explained was a problem with mode he was in. Rosberg, though, was able to solve the problem.

    “I think I had the same [as Hamilton] but I’m not sure,” Rosberg said. “It was just a matter of getting out of it with the right combination of switches.”

    Hamilton began the race in 10th position after a Q3 race but recovered well to rise to fifth before the technical problems began to affect him. He was unable to close on Perez and Raikkonen ahead and had to settle for salvaging 10 points from a troubled weekend.

    Ahead, Perez had used his Force India’s Mercedes power unit and a one-stop strategy to great effect and in the closing laps he found himself chasing down Raikkonen.

    The Finn has risen as high as second in the race, passing team-mate Vettel with an undercut, but he later ceded the position back to the quicker German and then found himself fending off Perez.

    Raikkonen was also hit with a five-second penalty due to crossing the white line at the pit entry and while Perez was safe in the knowledge that with a 0.5s gap to Raikkonen he would take P3 in the classification, the Mexican was determined to take the position on the track. He managed it on the final lap to score his

    “I knew that the podium was secure but when I saw the opportunity, that it was safe enough to do it and no risk at all, I went for it, because it obviously feel a lot nicer to finish the race P3,” said a delighted Perez who rose from seventh on the grid to take third place, after a gearbox change following an FP3 crash yesterday dropped him from P2 in qualifying.

    With Hamilton fifth, Valtteri Bottas took a lonely sixth for Williams, ahead of the Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen.

    Ricciardo started the race from P2 but while he held the position in the early stages he quickly went backwards following an early stop for soft tyres and then again when he took on medium tyres in a second stop.

    Verstappen was on a similar strategy and while he dropped to as low as P18 after starting in P9, both Red Bull drivers eventually began to climb back through the pack as their more durable tyres gave them an advantage of those on soft tyres at the end of a two-stop race.

    Nico Hulkenberg took ninth place for Force India, while Felipe Massa took a solitary point for Williams with tenth position.

    Rosberg’s victory extends his championship lead over Hamilton to 24 points, while Vettel closes the gap to second place to 21 points. Raikkonen is 15 points further back in fourth.

    2016 Grand Prix of Europe – Race
    1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 51 laps – 1h32m52.366s
    2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari +16.696
    3 Sergio Pérez Force India +25.241
    4 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari +33.102
    5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +56.335
    6 Valtteri Bottas Williams +60.886
    7 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull +69.229
    8 Max Verstappen Red Bull +70.696
    9 Nico Hülkenberg Force India +77.708
    10 Felipe Massa Williams +85.375
    11 Jenson Button McLaren +104.817
    12 Felipe Nasr Sauber +1 lap
    13 Romain Grosjean Haas +1 lap
    14 Kevin Magnussen Renault +1 lap
    15 Jolyon Palmer Renault +1 lap
    16 Esteban Gutierrez Haas +1 lap
    17 Marcus Ericsson Sauber +1 lap
    18 Rio Haryanto Manor +2 laps
    19 Fernando Alonso McLaren DNF
    20 Pascal Wehrlein Manor DNF

    21.  Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso DNF
    22 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso DNF

    eom/FIA press release

  • Hamilton takes fifth Canadian GP win; moves 9 points from championship lead

    Hamilton takes fifth Canadian GP win; moves 9 points from championship lead

    Hamilton celebrates after winning the Canadian GP for the fifth time in Montreal on Sunday. An FIA image
    Hamilton celebrates after winning the Canadian GP for the fifth time in Montreal on Sunday. An FIA image

    Montreal, 12 June 2016: Lewis Hamilton took his fifth career Canadian Grand Prix win to close the gap to championship-leading Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg to just nine points as the German finished fifth.

    Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel managed to take the lead at the start but could not make a two-stop strategy work and he finished second ahead of a hard-charging Valtteri Bottas who scored Williams’ first podium finish of the season.

    Hamilton began the race from pole position but when the lights went out he bogged down slightly, as did fellow front-row starter Rosberg, and Vettel shot past around the outside to take the lead into Turn One.

    The Mercedes drivers then tussled on the way into Turn One as they attempted to recover and as they banged wheels Rosberg was forced to cut the corner and he dropped to tenth.

    Rosberg’s return to track forced Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo to brake and that allowed his team-mate Max Verstappen to sneak through to grab third.

    In P1, Vettel controlled the race until lap 11 when McLaren’s Jenson Button pulled over at the side of the track with a blown power unit. That brought out the Virtual Safety Car and Ferrari took the opportunity to pit Vettel for a set of supersoft tyres.

    Hamilton, though, stayed out on his starting ultrasofts and the battle between his one-stop gambit and Vettel’s two-stop plan began.

    The German had the pace to close Hamilton down but the Mercedes driver’s final stint on the soft tyres was such that there was no drop off in his pace and Vettel could not find the extra performance to beat the Mercedes’ man power and the low tyre wear he was encountering.

    Hamilton eventually took his fifth Canadian Grand Prix win and his second race win in a row with five seconds in hand over the Ferrari driver.

    “I had another really bad start, I’m not quite sure why, I think probably I overheated my clutch,” said Hamilton. “Sebastian and Nico got quite a good run down to Turn One, tyres are cold, big understeer, and I feel very grateful that me and Nico didn’t damage anything on our cars. And otherwise it was just trying to chase this guy down. He was so quick out there. The car felt fantastic and it was set up just right with great work from the engineers and mechanics.”

    Bottas, meanwhile, enjoyed a superb run to third, with the Williams driver also making a one-stop strategy work. The Finn made the most of a difficult race for Red Bull and early in the race he passed Daniel Ricciardo to rise up the order and then cleared Max Verstappen to seize third. Bottas then sat in clear air for the remainder of the race to finish some 46 seconds behind Hamilton.

    “As a team, it was really a strong one for us, really good strategy, really good pit stop; the time was perfect, the car felt really good today. I felt I was pretty on it today. So it’s great to be here,” he said.

    Verstappen managed to hold onto fourth and late in the race the teenager showed great determination and skill in fending off sustained attacks from a hard-charging Nico Rosberg, who was recovering for a mid-race puncture.

    After expertly placing his car in just the right spot to frustrate Rosberg’s assaults, the Mercedes man looked to have found a way past ujnder DRS on the run to the final chicane a few laps from home.

    But Rosberg’s brakes let him down and he spun, leaving Verstappen to sail past and take fourth place. Rosberg managed to keep going and took fifth place.

    Ricciardo was seventh having been held up by team-mate Verstappen early on and then he dropped back during the pit stops.

    Eighth place went to Nico Hulkenberg, while Carlos Sainz took an excellent ninth place from 20th on the grid and Sergio Perez rounded out the top ten.

    2016 Canadian Grand Prix – Race
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 70 laps – 1h31m05.296s 1
    2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari +5.011 2
    3 Valtteri Bottas Williams +46.422 1
    4 Max Verstappen Red Bull +53.020 2
    5 Nico Rosberg Mercedes +62.093 2
    6 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari +63.017 2
    7 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull +63.634 2
    8 Nico Hulkenberg Force India +1 lap 2
    9 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso +1 lap 2
    10 Sergio Perez Force India +1 lap 2
    11 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso +1 lap 2
    12 Fernando Alonso McLaren +1 lap 1
    13 Esteban Gutierrez Haas +2 laps 2
    14 Romain Grosjean Haas +2 laps 3
    15 Marcus Ericsson Sauber +2 laps 2
    16 Kevin Magnussen Renault +2 laps 1
    17 Pascal Wehrlein Manor +2 laps 2
    18 Felipe Nasr Sauber +2 laps 2
    19 Rio Haryanto Manor +2 laps 2
    20 Felipe Massa Williams DNF 2
    21 Jolyon Palmer Renault DNF 1
    22 Jenson Button McLaren DNF O

     

    eom/FIA press release

     

  • Hamilton dedicates win to Muhammad Ali

    DRIVERS
    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
    2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)
    3 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Williams)

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS
    (Conducted by Michael Douglas)

    Bonjour Montreal. It’s a pleasure for me to be here and an honour to be able to introduce our podium winners. Lewis, incredible. We have to talk about the first turn. You had Sebastian coming in on your left, you had Nico touching wheels on the right. Tell us about that.
    Lewis HAMILTON: It was horrible. Firstly, I want to say a big thank you to everybody who came out here today and made the atmosphere the way it is. Thank you everyone here. We come here every year and we have the best week. The city, they just put on such a great event. The ambiance, the atmosphere is better than ever. Today, I had another really bad start, I’m not quite sure why, I think probably I overheated my clutch. Sebastian and Nico got quite a good run down to Turn One, tyres are cold, big understeer, and I feel very grateful that me and Nico didn’t damage anything on our cars. And otherwise it was just trying to chase this guy down. He was so quick out there. The car felt fantastic and it was set up just right with great work from the engineers and mechanic. Hey man, I won my first grand prix here in 2007, so this just feels like such a blessing.

    Congratulations Lewis, well done, fourth time?
    LH: I think fifth time!

    Yes, fifth time! Sebastian, nice to see you, wonderful, wonderful race. You had a phenomenal run earlier in the race, what were the issues later on?
    Sebastian VETTEL: Lewis was a bit too quick! That was the issue. No, I think we had a great weekend. Obviously a fantastic start and then, yeah, lap one was a bit hairy, I just struggled to stop the car in the last corner. It was very windy today and maybe I struggled a bit with the wind from behind but I was pushing all race. I think we committed fairly early to a different strategy, which we were planning to come back. Obviously then Lewis had the chance to stay out and see what the tyres were doing and I think probably the tyres lasted a bit better than what we expected, so that made it quite tricky to refresh the tyres and close the gap but overall a great weekend for us. We struggled a little bit in the last couple of races and the beginning of the season and now to see that the car has performance and to unleash it, it was a really fun race, I really enjoyed it. I can only add on what Lewis said: thanks to the crowd, it’s great to come here. Friday, free practice, to have you guys here at the hairpin, all around the track, waving at us is making our job just much more pleasant, so this is a place we’ll have to come to forever I guess, so thank you very much.

    Fantastic, a really, really wonderful run, congratulations. Mr Bottas, really nice to see you up here on the podium again. I think it was Mexico last see [the last time]. The season started a little slow but you’re coming on strong. How was the race for you today?
    Valtteri BOTTAS: Well, I’m really pleased with today. As a team, it was really a strong one for us, really good strategy, really good pit stop; the time was perfect, the car felt really good today. I felt I was pretty on it today. So it’s great to be here. I really want to thank Williams, thank you guys; everybody made an amazing job. Thank you Montreal, you’ve been really good to me.

    Congratulations. Lewis, that’s two wins in a row, so how does the rest of the year look to you, what do you think?
    LH: We’re going to just take it one race at a time. There’s still work to do. We’re going to continue to improve this car. There’s a lot of race so we’re really just trying to stay… we need to try to keep on a roll if possible. There’s a long, long way to go. These guys are getting faster and faster at Ferrari and Red Bull, so collectively as a team we’re just going to keep our heads down and keep pushing. Honestly I’m just overwhelmed with today. I remember, what was it, ten years, nine years ago here, and it feels just as great [as it did] back then.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Lewis, 45th career victory and your fifth in Canada, as you were quick to point out on the podium. You obviously lost the start to Sebastian, but you got this win I guess, in a way again, because for the second race in a row you were able to do a very, very long final stint on the tyres. How much of that was data about what the tyres would do and how much was pure feel?
    LH: Well, firstly, if I may, I want to… I never really dedicate wins to anyone but someone who really inspired me so much throughout my life, Muhammad Ali, and obviously he passed just recently, so I’d love to be able to dedicate this to him and his family. The last 15 laps, for some reason all I could think of was him and Rumble in the Jungle, it was really, really weird. I was driving and I was just thinking of him, and thinking maybe he would be watching the race, I don’t know. So, that’s to him and his family. Rest in peace.
    In terms of the tyres: It was really feel. The team obviously told us what the tyres could do, how far they would go. I wasn’t really sure how far the ultrasoft would go. I had already seen graining earlier when I was behind Sebastian. So I was a little bit nervous about it, but it seemed to last, which was great. I could have kept going on the ultrasoft, which was interesting; I had a good pace. Then we swapped. It was a long stint on the information we got before that that tyre could last quite a long time and it was just a beauty. I didn’t have to push too much on the tyre at the beginning, just looking after them, but very conscious that this guy behind was pushing. I was really enjoying the race with him, you know, just battling times here and there. He was so quick and it’s great to see how quick they are and they are really giving us a run for our money, and I just happened to be on a one stop. But fantastic job by the team. I’m really overwhelmed to think just how difficult this season was before these last two races and I feel incredibly grateful and very blessed to have had these two great weekends. I’m just going to keep working hard, as you can see I’m super-focused. For me I felt that today was one of my best races for a while, maybe not as good as the last one, but still really happy with it. Onwards and upwards hopefully.

    Very well done. Turning to you Sebastian, got the feeling before the race that Ferrari might be able to win this, had that amazing start, and then obviously you committed to that two-stopper with the pit stop on lap 17 under the VSC. Was that because the team thought you wouldn’t be able to do what Lewis did and do that one-stopper and in the final part of the race did you think that a 13-lap tyre offset to Lewis would be enough to challenge?
    SV: Yeah, I think that was the plan, so obviously we committed fairly early. We were in the lead. As the second car in the row, which was Lewis in that case, obviously you have the chance to choose – if the car in front pits you might pit, if the car front stays out you might pit. We committed fairly early to that strategy and I think I was probably the right thing to do in terms of getting to the chequered flag the quickest way. But obviously we lost track position and we didn’t expect that the soft tyre that Lewis put on… first of all the ultrasoft and then the soft would last as long. Myself, I was also surprised to see how long the supersoft lasted and then the soft tyre lasted until the end. As Lewis said, we could have kept going. The degradation wasn’t maybe as high as we expected. That’s maybe where we lost the race. But I want to make one thing clear: I’m not a big fan of blaming anyone or anything. I think it was a great weekend for Ferrari. We’ve had a difficult start to the season because we were never really able to show the true performance of the car and this was maybe the first clean weekend if you look at Saturday and Sunday. And actually I enjoyed the race a lot. Didn’t get the result I was hoping for, especially after the start, but I was enjoying it a lot. The last 30 laps I was just flat out – maybe pushing a little bit too hard at times. It just felt great. That’s what racing should be about. The tyres were fairly consistent. I really enjoyed chasing him down but a couple of laps to go I realised that he was just a bit too quick or the tyres didn’t drop enough.

    Q: Valterri,, podium here for the second year in a row in Montreal. Same strategy as Lewis that got you ahead of the two–stopping Red Bulls and Kimi Raikkonen; tell us about your drive today and also those strategy calls?
    VB: Thank-you, yes. It feels really good to be here again. Montreal has been pretty to me and pretty good to us as a team. For sure it was always going to be one of the good tracks for our car but really pleased with what we have done. Of course, today didn’t come easily. I really needed to thank the team for the decisions they made to commit to the one stop and also the stop lap, it was perfect. This stop was again, massively quick as we’ve seen all season so really thankful for Williams, for today and for the whole weekend. We need more of these kind of results. We just need to keep trying but just very happy at the moment.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Lewis, what happened at the start, more of the same?
    LH: Yeah, the start was… I don’t understand it. This time I really don’t understand because practices have been good, the formation lap was amazing, dropped the clutch and the thing pulled away perfectly. Yeah, I stopped, did the normal procedure, let the clutch out and it just didn’t go anywhere. I’m really lost as to know what… Obviously I had really good pace today and that really got in the way. Had it been a longer straight, I would have been a sitting duck. I don’t really know what to say about it. And into turn one, these tyres, these ultrasofts, he(Sebastian)  was lightning on the first lap but me, I had no grip. I got to turn one and I had this understeer and I thought that it was going to continue for the rest of the lap. I think the guys behind me were also tiptoeing but very close, obviously, between me and Nico which wasn’t intentional. But fortunately none of our cars were damaged.

    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) And second question is – as Sebastian has said, the cars are pretty good as you’ve said as well, you had a good view of them in the early laps. What’s the power like on the straight, how quick were they on the straight compared with you now?
    SV: Quite quick. I think we’re quite quick.
    LH: These guys were pretty quick on the straight. I didn’t get quite close enough to really gauge just how quick they are but I think it looked pretty close, I have to say. I was so excited with wheel-to-wheel racing but then he pitted after the VSC  and I’m like shoot, I was a bit annoyed. Still it was a good battle at the time.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Speedsport Magazine) Valterri, as you say, a good track for you and the team. However does it give you confidence that you can now start to challenge Red Bull or was it just track and strategy specific today?
    VB: It definitely keeps confidence for us that we can do good things. For sure, it is one of the good ones, as a track for us but I think as a team we did such a good job with the strategy but the car was also good today at the beginning and end of the race when everyone was on the same tyres, I did feel that I could put pressure on Kimi in front and even the Red Bulls, so that was a good feeling and even though some of them were on two stop and we were still on one stop and we put pressure, so that was good. I think the next few races should be good. Lot of confidence now and this really makes a lot of good for the team, a result like this, a motivation boost for the next ones.

    Q: (Ralf Bach – AutoBild Motorsport) Seb, my impression is that we already saw the race from today in Melbourne, didn’t we?
    SV: I don’t think that’s true. I think Australia, you can argue with hindsight, we would do a different strategy. If it’s that straightforward and easy to know what it’s like, then everyone is doing the right thing. As it turned out, we committed fairly early, maybe we were also hoping that the virtual safety car gives us a bit of an advantage and makes the two stop favourable but I will always defend our strategies, what we committed to as a team. I think there were other people as well, favouring the two stop. With hindsight maybe they would do a different job but as I said, that’s a decision we take as a team. Kept in hindsight it’s always easy. Put yourselves in the shoes of those on the pit wall, to make that call is quite tricky and you have to be really quick. Strategy-wise I think we have a very very strong team. I wouldn’t favour anywhere near to criticise them because the guys are really on the money and very strong, reacting very well and if here and there we maybe don’t do the optimum, that’s part of the job but overall I think we end up doing better choices than other people.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Lewis, was the tyre management here more difficult than in Monte Carlo because at a certain stage we saw one big, black stripe on one of your front tyres. Was that graining?
    LH: Honestly, as Sebastian said, the tyres were really good today, I have to say. I guess with the cooler temperatures graining wasn’t really an issue. I think if it was hot like it was in P2, I think, maybe a one-stop wouldn’t have been possible but yeah, there was a small bit of… on the Ultrasoft there was a little bit more graining but on the soft there was hardly any graining at all. It was like a small band on the front left tyre but otherwise they stayed very, very consistent. Being so cool I think you just had to try to keep the temperature in them more than anything. I was really actually, for once, happy with the performance of the tyre, to be honest. They did a good job.

    Q: (Jimmy Gordon – AP) Lewis, we heard you talk about Ali. Can you tell us what it was about his life or his career that made such an impact on you?
    LH: I think it’s the same for everyone really. I think he was just a unique, iconic individual who had a character unlike anyone else’s and everyone aspired to be like him. I wish I could have spoken with the charisma that he would have, or the comedic side that he would have, that confidence that he could carry into a fight and outwit and outsmart his opponents. And then for the things that he stood for. Even more importantly politically, I think believing in who you are and not letting anyone dictate who you have to be. I think as a kid, when I saw that, I think I was like: ‘this is the guy I want to be like’. In terms of an athlete I hope one day I can be like him. Coming from a family of similar background in a sense of ethnicity, it was someone to look up to. Obviously in Formula One there was no one of the same colour as us as a family, so it was another athlete for me to look up.

    Q: (Luigi Perna – La Gazzetta dello Sport) A question for Seb. Seb, during this weekend we’ve seen one of the closest gaps between Ferrari and Mercedes. Are you confident you feel you can be even closer to a win in the next race?
    SV: First of all, I hope that you write exactly that tomorrow: that we were closer than ever. So, I think sometimes it’s a bit surreal. We are an Italian team. I think Ferrari stands for great passion and a lot of values in Italy and sometimes it seems like the Italian press is our biggest opponent. So, maybe you can write something nice, which would be a nice message for all the people in Maranello that are really working their arse off  day in, day out to make a strong Ferrari car. I’ve never had a doubt. I know this car is a big step up and I think we had a mixed-up start to the season which was difficult because we were never really in the position to show what the car can deliver. Especially because Saturdays here and there weren’t great. So, I think this weekend was just normal. We had a great Saturday and great pace today. Just look at the opening laps of the race. I was pulling away, pulling a gap to… maybe not so much to Lewis but to all the cars behind. So, it felt great and the car felt great all weekend. So, really happy and happy with the progress the team is making. Again, I ask you to be a bit patient, a bit more patient. The team is on a great path, things are improving and I think we’re seeing results quicker than anyone else so far in the history of F1. So, I think we’re on the right track, it’s a great team and I’m enjoying it a lot.

    Q: (Bill Beacon – The Canadian Press) For Sebastian. Can you go over for us what you did off the start? Where you planning that ahead of time? And what exactly did you do to slip by everybody and get first place?
    SV: I know it sounds silly saying it now but I sort-of had the gut feel that I will have a good start. Obviously it depends on what the other people are doing but I had the feel that, when the lights went on… [to Lewis] I didn’t know what you were doing but I knew there would be a good start. I had a good feeling the formation lap and I think I reacted well, as well – without giving myself too much credit. I just… I don’t know… I felt it would be a good start. It was, so I was very happy with that and just went for it. Had a big lead in the first lap which, nearly all of it I gave away in the last corner and then it was obviously it was a bit more tricky to keep Lewis out of the DRS until a couple of laps in – until just before the Virtual Safety Car actually. I was a bit distracted, we chatted about it, I have to mention it, I don’t know why but I have to, there were two seagulls. I think it was a couple that wanted to commit suicide. They were at the apex of Turn One. Lewis obviously didn’t care, so he made up quite a bit of time, about half a second, but I didn’t do that couple that favour to say goodbye for good, so by the time Lewis came around they just flew off. Wasn’t fair! I brake for animals, Lewis doesn’t but… yeah. Then the Virtual Safety Car came and freezes the gap at that point.

    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Following on from that Sebastian, I wonder what you felt about the grip level on the in-field of the chicane there? You went through it three or four times just to get it right. What was the racing line like through there? You were very quick the first time you went straight on.
    SV: Very quick on the first lap. Braking very late. I think I was a bit caught out by the wind, to be honest. I shouldn’t have – I had all the information but I was struggling a bit. It was very gusty and, here and there, got caught out. So, I was trying everything all around the whole lap. I was getting close to the wall: exit of Four; exit of the last corner, exit of Nine as well. So really trying everything. Eventually in there too much, which obviously loses you more than a second. And then yeah, I think I was around four and a half seconds to Lewis and then back to five and a half. Didn’t do myself a favour but I had to try. For some reason yesterday I was very good friends with the last corner and today not so much. So, yeah, not great from my side obviously to miss the braking. Quite tricky with a bit of bottoming. Just locked it three times in total and didn’t make it.

     

    eom/FIA transcript of the Press Conference

     

  • Hamilton sets fastest time in FP1; Massa crashes

    Montreal, 10 June 2016: Lewis Hamilton set the quickest time of the first practice session for the Canadian Grand Prix as running got underway at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

    Felipe Massa’s session ended early, however, after the Brazilian crashed heavily at the first corner, destroying the rear end of his Williams car.

    Massa’s crash came just before the half hour mark in the session, when on the approach to Turn One the back end of his car snapped out under braking and he spun and slid backwards into the barriers, sustaining a heavy impact on the rear right corner of his car. “I think I had a problem, I closed the DRS and lost the rear completely,” he told the Williams pit wall.

    The session was red flagged for a period and when running got underway again it was Hamilton was set the pace. The defending champion’s best time of 1:14.755 was set on the supersoft Pirelli tyre, while team-mate Nico Rosberg took second place with a time of 1:15.086 set on the purple-banded ultrasoft tyre.

    Third in the session was Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. The four-time champion set his best time on the supersoft tyre to finish 0.157 behind Rosberg.

    Fourth place went to Max Verstappen. The Red Bull driver was 0.8s adrift of Hamilton’s time but his best time was set on the soft tyre, a step up the Pirelli’s from the Mercedes driver’s supersoft time. The Dutch teenager’s time was also good enough to put him seven hundredths of a second ahead of the second Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen who finished the session in fifth place.

    With Massa out of the running, all of Williams’ work was left to Valtteri Bottas and the Finn logged 30 laps, the most of the session on his way to sixth place, ahead of Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg, Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz and the second Force India of Sergio Perez.

    Tenth place in the session went to McLaren’s Fernando Alonso, who completed 18 laps on his way to a best time of 1:16.663. It was a less profitable session for his team-mate Jenson Button, however.

    The Briton completed just eight laps and then, when he was sent back out again late in the session, he emerged from the McLaren garage with smoke pouring from the rear of his car. The McLaren pitwall immediately informed him to return to the garage, though his engineer informed him that “Honda know what the problem is”.

    2016 Canadian Grand Prix – Free Practice 1
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:14.755
    2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:15.086
    3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:15.243
    4 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:15.553
    5 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:15.618
    6 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:16.301
    7 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:16.464
    8 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:16.543
    9 Sergio Perez Force India 1:16.577
    10 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:16.663
    11 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:16.734
    12 Jenson Button McLaren 1:16.788
    13 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:17.008
    14 Felipe Massa Williams 1:17.065
    15 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:17.310
    16 Esteban Gutierrez Haas 1:17.319
    17 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:17.855
    18 Rio Haryanto Manor 1:18.103
    19 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:18.129
    20 Kevin Magnussen Renault 1:18.409
    21 Pascal Wehrlein Manor 1:18.453
    22 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1:18.583

     eom/FIA press release
  • Hamilton on pole ahead of Rosberg; Red Bulls beat Ferrari to take 2nd row

    Hamilton on pole ahead of Rosberg; Red Bulls beat Ferrari to take 2nd row

    Hamilton after taking Spanish pole ahead of Rosberg on Saturday. An AMG Mercedes image
    Hamilton after taking Spanish pole ahead of Rosberg on Saturday. An AMG Mercedes image

    Barcelona, 14 May 2016: Lewis Hamilton claimed his third pole position of the season at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, finishing three tenths of a second ahead of championship leader Nico Rosberg as Red Bull Racing claimed row two on the grid ahead of Ferrari.

    Hamilton’s first flying lap of the final Q3 segment was marred by a big lock up into Turn 10 and the mistake left Hamilton with a time of 1:23. 277. Rosberg easily eclipsed that with his first lap, setting a clean-lap benchmark of 1:22.475.

    Hamilton’s early Q3 error also led to the Mercedes being split as new Red Bull Racing recruit, impressive all weekend, put in an excellent opening lap of 1:23.203.

    Behind Hamilton after the first runs were Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen in P4 and P5 respectively. However, Daniel Ricciardo in the second Red Bull had yet to show his hand.

    Australian had been forced to make take to the track late in Q2 for a cautionary tour in case his lap time was in danger of not getting him through and that left him with just single set of new soft tyres for the final segment.

    However, when the opportunity presented itself, Ricciardo delivered a superb lap of 1:22.680 to claim P3 behind the Mercedes. The Australian was the only non-work Mercedes to dip below the 1m23s barrier.

    Verstappen tried to react and the 18-year-old did make a small improvement but it wasn’t enough to beat his team-mate and Ricciardo’s lap was good enough to beat out his new team-mate by four tenths of a second. A strong message to the youngster at the start of what is sure to be a fascinating intra-team battle for the rest of this season.

    The good news for Red Bull is that neither Ferrari driver could dent the Milton Keynes team’s advantage. Raikkonen delivered the best lap for the Italian squad, but it was two hundredths of a second shy of Verstappen’s best and so the Finn is set to line up at the front of row three as he two tenths clear of team-mate Vettel.

    Behind them, Valtteri Bottas was seventh for Williams, while Carlos Sainz took eighth spot for Toro Rosso. It was a solid result for the Spaniard in front of his home crowd and on a weekend where he faced a new team-mate in the shape of former Red Bull Racing man Daniil Kvyat. The Russian has had a tricky weekend so far and he was elimimated in Q2 in P13.

    It was a much better day for Fernando Alonso. The two-time champion delivered an excellent Q2 lap in front of his home fans to claim P10 and take McLaren into the top-10 shootout for the first time this season.

    Alonso finished in P10 in the final segment behind Force India’s Sergio Perez, but the result will be huge result for McLaren and Honda.

    Behind Alonso, and eliminated at the end of Q2 were Nico Hulkenberg in the second Force India, P12 man Jenson Button in the second McLaren, Kvyat, Haas’ Romain Grosjean, Renault’s Kevin Magnussen and the second Haas of Esteban Gutierrez.

    The big casualty of the opening Q1 segment was Williams’ Felipe Massa. The Brazilian completed a single run but the time was not good enough and he was forced to watch from the garage as he was pushed down the order. He finished in P18 behind Renault’s Jolyon Palmer. Also eliminated in the opening segment were the Saubers of Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr and the Manors or Pascal Wehrlein and P22 man Rio Haryanto.

    2016 Spanish Grand Prix
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:23.214 1:22.159 1:22.000
    2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:23.002 1:22.759 1:22.280
    3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:23.749 1:23.585 1:22.680
    4 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:23.578 1:23.178 1:23.087
    5 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:23.796 1:23.504 1:23.113
    6 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:24.124 1:23.688 1:23.334
    7 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:24.251 1:24.023 1:23.522
    8 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:24.496 1:24.077 1:23.643
    9 Sergio Perez Force India 1:24.698 1:24.003 1:23.782
    10 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:24.578 1:24.192 1:23.981
    11 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:24.463 1:24.203
    12 Jenson Button McLaren 1:24.583 1:24.348
    13 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:24.696 1:24.445
    14 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:24.716 1:24.480
    15 Kevin Magnussen Renault 1:24.669 1:24.625
    16 Esteban Gutierrez Haas 1:24.406 1:24.778
    17 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1:24.903 
    18 Felipe Massa Williams 1:24.941 
    19 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:25.202 
    20 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:25.579
    21 Pascal Wehrlein Manor 1:25.745 
    22 Rio Haryanto Manor 1:25.939

    eom/FIA press release

  • Rosberg makes it 4 wins out of 4 in 2016 season; Hamilton powers to 2nd from P10

    Rosberg on way to fourth straight win of the season at Sochi on Sunday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image
    Rosberg on way to fourth straight win of the season at Sochi on Sunday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image

    Sochi, 1 May 2016: Nico Rosberg scored a controlled fourth victory from four races at the Russian Grand Prix in front of a crowd of 60,000 at the Sochi Autodrom, as Sebastian Vettel was dumped out of the race at the start following a collision with local hero Daniil Kvyat.

    Starting from pole the championship leader led into Turn 2 but behind him there was drama as Vettel, who had started seventh, was hit from behind by Kvyat who had been eighth on the grid. The collision bounced Vettel sideways where he collided with the second Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo, who had started from P5.

    All three managed to continue but within moments Kvyat again ran into the back of Vettel as the pair went into Turn 3. This time Vettel was pitched into the barrier and Kvyat lost his front wing.

    The Safety Car was deployed and while a furious Vettel was left to make his way back to the paddock at the controls of scooter, Red Bull pitted both its drivers, with Kvyat taking a new nose cone and with both being put on medium tyres.

    The strategic gambit was in vain, however. Kvyat was handed a 10-second stop/go penalty for causing a collision and failed to recover. Ricciardo, meanwhile, struggled for pace and battled a damaged. He would eventually shed his medium tyres on lap 29, though the improved pace would only take him to P11 at the flag.

    Afterwards Vettel was critical of the young Russian’s start.

    “Today it’s fairly obvious, he did a mistake again. It doesn’t help me now because I’m not in the car,” Vettel said. “In the end we’re here to race. Massively pumped up. Had a super start, made progress into the second corner and got hit, then a second hit, which destroyed our race.”

    The early chaos did benefit some, however. Lewis Hamilton, 10th on the grid after power unit trouble in qualifying, made a good start and avoided the incident to climb to fifth place behind by the time the Safety Car was deployed.

    When racing resumed Hamilton went on a charge and passed Williams’ Felipe Massa and third-placed Kimi Raikkonen to take P3 behind Valtteri Bottas in the other Williams.

    The Finn defended bravely, however, and as Hamilton and Raikkonen remained bottled up behind the Williams, Rosberg established a solid gap at the front and by lap 15 the German was 9.2 seconds ahead of Bottas.

    Bittas pitted on the next lap, freeing up Hamilton and Raikkonen. Hamilton made his own stop for soft tyres on the next lap and though Bottas was able to keep the champion at bay when the Mercedes man emerged from pit lane alongside him, he could do nothing on lap 19 when Hamilton used his greater pace and DRS to muscle past down the inside of Turn 2.

    Controlling matters at the front, Rosberg eked out a long stint of 21 laps on his starting supersofts before pitting for softs on lap 21.

    He emerged with a healthy gap of 12 seconds back to second-placed Hamilton, but midway through the final stint Hamilton began to push, eventually narrowing the gap to 7.7s.

    Any hopes Hamilton had of a late assault were undone, however, when his pit wall informed him that his car had a water pressure issue. The champion back off and from running up to six tenths of a second quicker than Rosberg, Hamilton suddenly dropped to a second off the German’s pace.

    The race was over as a contest. Rosberg controlled matters as Hamilton nursed his Mercedes to the flag and Raikkonen cruised to a lonely third.

    “I knew the gap to Lewis and it was just through the traffic,” said Rosberg afterwards. “I was feeling really comfortable today, especially at the end of the race, in the last 15 [laps] I opened the gas and pushed a little bit more because I knew it was safe to push and definitely get to the end of the race with that set of tyres. It was working really well. The whole weekend. Even in qualifying. Seldom had such an awesome car. So, special weekend.”

    Behind the podium positions, Bottas finished fourth for Williams ahead of team-mate Massa, while Fernando Alonso took an excellent sixth place and eight points for McLaren.

    Kevin Magnussen took Renault’s first points of the season with seventh place, ahead of Haas’ Romain Grosjena and Force India’s Sergio Perez. McLaren’s positive day was enhanced by Jenson Button taking the final point in tenth place.

    2016 Russian Grand Prix – Race
    1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 53 laps – 1h32m41.997s 1
    2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +25.022 1
    3 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari +31.998 1
    4 Valtteri Bottas Williams +50.217 1
    5 Felipe Massa Williams +74.427 2
    6 Fernando Alonso McLaren +1 lap 1
    7 Kevin Magnussen Renault +1 lap 1
    8 Romain Grosjean Haas +1 lap 1
    9 Sergio Perez Force India +1 lap 2
    10 Jenson Button McLaren +1 lap 1
    11 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing +1 lap 2
    12 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso +1 lap 1
    13 Jolyon Palmer Renault +1 lap 1
    14 Marcus Ericsson Sauber +1 lap 2
    15 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull Racing +1 lap 2
    16 Felipe Nasr Sauber +1 lap 1
    17 Esteban Gutierrez Haas +1 lap 2
    18 Pascal Wehrlein Manor +2 laps 2
    19 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso DNF 1
    20 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari DNF 0
    21 Nico Hulkenberg Force India DNF 0
    22 Rio Haryanto Manor DNF 0

     

    eom/FIA press release

  • Rosberg takes pole in Sochi; Hamilton suffers power-unit issues, starts P10

    Nico Rosberg took his second pole position of the 2016 Formula One season as Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton suffered power unit problems for the second consecutive weekend.

    Two weeks ago in China Hamilton was hit with an Energy Recovery System issue and exited qualifying without setting a time. This time out the champion was at least able to make it though the opening two sessions of the qualifying hour, but as the rest of the Q3 qualifier prepared to begin the top 10 shootout, Hamilton was out of his car and the final session. Mercedes soon revealed that the Briton had been struck by the same issue that hamstrung him in China. He is set to start 10th depending on whether additional penalties are accrued if his car requires components to be changed.

    Having opened a significant 1.3s gap to Sebastian Vettel in Q2, with the Ferrari driver third behind Hamilton in the segment, the Q3 field was left open to Rosberg and the German seized the opportunity with both hands.

    Vettel managed to close the gap to seven tenths of a second but Rosberg’s Q3 lap of 1:35.417 was good enough to secure a second consecutive pole position and to leave him perfectly positioned to tomorrow claim a fourth successive win this season.

    “I was quite confident that the lap was good enough out there, because in quali two Ferrari was quite far away and I knew that Lewis was not able to participate in the last part of qualifying, so I was very sure that it was going to be enough,” said Rosberg afterwards. “But you never know, your know, so there’s always still a remaining uncertainty and so I was glad eventually when Sebastian finally crossed the line that it was good enough.

    Starting from pole position will be great,” he added. “It’s never easy but the way the grid is it does help me out a lot for sure to try and get that win tomorrow.”

    Although Vettel qualified in second position the Ferrari driver will start from P7 on the grid, having incurred a five-place penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change on Friday.

    The four-time champion remains optimistic of a good result, however, especially in the light of Hamilton’s difficulties.

    “Obviously we benefit from what happened to Lewis, which I’m not sure exactly what it was, but it allowed us to go P2, which helps for tomorrow with the penalty,” he said. “We are a bit closer, starting on the clean side of the track. I think we can have a good race from there. It should be quite exciting. The car feels good and I think all weekend it has been quite strong.

    “Obviously we know that on Saturdays we are probably a little bit still further back than we want and a bit further back than on Sundays, so high hopes for tomorrow.”

    Third place in the session went to Williams Valtteri Bottas, with the Finn repeating his qualifying efforts of last year and at the inaugural event in Russia. Due to Vettel’s penalty he will, however, start from the front row.

    “I’m really pleased with how it all went. This weekend has been very positive,” he said. “We have some new bits on the car and the car has been feeling better. It’s also a good track for us. I’m glad we could maximise the qualifying today. Pleased with that but it’s tomorrow that counts. So far my Sundays haven’t been so great but I’m sure tomorrow we have a good chance to have a good one.”

    Behind them Kimi Raikkonen qualified in fourth for Ferrari ahead of Felipe Massa in the second Williams. Daniel Ricciardo was sixth for Red Bull Racing ahead of Sergio Perez of Force India. Daniil Kvyat was eighth in the second Red Bull Racing and the final top 10 spots were taken by Toro Rosso’s and the unfortunate Hamilton, who was also summoned to the stewards office for “failing to follow the race director’s Turn 2 instructions”.

    Kvyat’s eighth place was notable as the local hero narrowly escaped elimination after Q2.

    The Russian was in P11 as the chequered flag was waved at the end of Q2 but he had just begun a final flying lap. To the delight of his home crowd the Red Bull driver was able to find enough pace to climb to P10, at the expense of Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz.

    Behind the Spaniard, Jenson Button came close to taking McLaren into Q3 for the first time this season but ended up just under 0.1s shy in P12. Nico Hulkenberg was 12th to split the two McLarens, with Fernando Alonso in P14. Romain Grosjean was 15th for Haas ahead of team-mate Esteban Gutierrez.

    Q1 saw the elimination of Renault’s Kevin Magnussen in P17, followed by team-mate Jolyon Palmer, Sauber’s Felipe Nasr, Manor’s Pascal Wehrlein, team-mate Rio Haryanto and the second Sauber of Marcus Ericsson.

    2016 Russian Grand Prix – Qualifying

    1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:36.119 1:35.337 1:35.417
    2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:36.555 1:36.623 1:36.123
    3 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:37.746 1:37.140 1:36.536
    4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:36.976 1:36.741 1:36.663
    5 Felipe Massa Williams 1:37.753 1:37.230 1:37.016
    6 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:38.091 1:37.569 1:37.125
    7 Sergio Perez Force India 1:38.006 1:37.282 1:37.212
    8 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull Racing 1:38.265 1:37.606 1:37.459
    9 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1:38.123 1:37.510 1:37.583
    10 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:36.006 1:35.820
    11 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:37.784 1:37.652
    12 Jenson Button McLaren 1:38.332 1:37.701
    13 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:38.562 1:37.771
    14 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:37.971 1:37.807
    15 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:38.383 1:38.055
    16 Esteban Gutierrez Haas 1:38.678 1:38.115
    17 Kevin Magnussen Renault 1:38.914
    18 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1:39.009
    19 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:39.018
    20 Pascal Wehrlein Manor 1:39.399
    21 Rio Haryanto Manor 1:39.463  |
    22 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:39.519

    eom/FIA press release

     

  • Hamilton sets the fastest time in FP2: Russian Grand Prix

    Shanghai, 29 April 2016: Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time of the second practice for the Russian Grand Prix, as Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel’s afternoon was cut short due to electronics problems.

    Vettel was one of the first drivers to take to the track at the start of the 90-minute afternoon session at the Sochi Autodrom and he quickly set an early benchmark with a time of 1:38.921 that was just five thousandths of a second quicker than the first flying lap of Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg.

    Vettel’s time held until 17 minutes into the session when Hamilton, who had struggled over his early laps popped up with a time of 1:38.311, 0.610s faster than the Ferrari driver.

    Rosberg then improved to briefly dislodge Vettel but the German quickly reclaimed top spot with a time 0.076s up on the Mercedes pair.

    That was to be Vettel’s last action of the session, however. On his next tour the German slowed and eventually ground to a halt on the start-finish straight. He was quickly on the radio to tell his team that he had “lost electronics”. His car was recovered to the garage but he would play no further part in the session.

    Forty minutes into the session Hamilton reclaimed P1 with a lap of 1:37.583 that was 0.652s faster than Vettel’s effort.

    Rosberg, though had hit traffic and he contented himself with third on the timesheet two tenths of a second behind Vettel as he returned to the pit lane for a period before emerging with half an hour left on the clock on a set of used supersoft tyres. Hamilton, meanwhile, stayed in the garage as Mercedes worked on set-up changes on his car.

    Behind Rosberg, Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen took fourth spot with a time just over three tenths of the Mercedes driver.

    Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo set the afternoon’s fifth fastest time, 1.5s behind Hamilton’s benchmark and a tenth clear of Williams’ Valtteri Bottas. Daniil Kvyat was seventh in the second Red Bull.

    eom/FIA press release

     

     

  • Rosberg makes it a hattrick winning Chinese GP to continue perfect start to 2016 F1 season

    Rosberg makes it a hattrick winning Chinese GP to continue perfect start to 2016 F1 season

    Nico Rosberg celebrates after winning the Chinese GP on 17 April 2016. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image
    Nico Rosberg celebrates after winning the Chinese GP on 17 April 2016. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image

    Nico Rosberg’s perfect start to the 2016 Formula One season continued in Shanghai as the Mercedes driver took a controlled Chinese Grand Prix victory, while behind him a dramatic race saw Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel recover from a first-corner collision to take second place ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Daniil Kvyat.

    While the bulk of the race was comfortable for Rosberg, his grand prix began shakily as he was beaten off the line by a hard-charging Daniel Ricciardo who lined up beside the Mercedes driver on the front row of the grid.

    As Rosberg slotted into second place, there was drama just behind. Kimi Raikkonen approached Turn One in P3 but made a mistajke and went wide. Vettel drew alongside seeking to go down the inside. Kvyat, who had made an excellent start, was already powering into that space, however, ands Vettel was force to adjust. Raikkonen, recovering from his mistake was turning in and the two Ferrari’s collided. Kvyat drove away into third while Vettel dropped back. Raikkonen was forced to pit for repairs, though he would later claw his way back to a useful fifth place.

    At the back of the field, Lewis Hamilton, who had started last after failing to set a time in qualifying and due to an overnight power unit change, ran over the debris from the collisions ahead and then was hit by Felipe Nasr.

    He took pitted for a new nose and set about staging a comeback. The champion’s efforts would not be as successful as Vettel’s however and with his car handling, in his own words “like a four-poster bed” he struggled to make major inroads, though he did eventually finish in seventh place having made five pit stops.

    Ricciardo’s time in the lead was short. Rosberg, starting on the soft tyres, kept pace with the supersoft-shod Red Bull and then and seemed to cruise past the Red Bull under DRS into the hairpin. However, it soon became apparent that Ricciardo had a puncture. The Australian quickly swung into the pit lane for repairs and rejoined in 17th place.

    The debris from Ricciardo’s incident led to the Safety Car being deployed on lap four. That gave Vettel an opportunity to pit for a new nosecone and to plot a recovery.

    On the restart, Rosberg led away from Felipe Massa, Fernando Alonso, Pascal Wehrlein and Esteban Gutierrez, all of whom had elected to stay out. Kvyat, meanwhile had made a pit stop and was circling on the soft tyres.

    The Russian was soon passing the slower cars ahead and within the space of a few laps he was back into third place and on lap 12 he passed Massa to reclaim second place.

    Vettel, meanwhile, was in the wars again, damaging his front wing when he tried to pass Valtteri Bottas for eighth place. The Ferrari driver eventually made his way past and then claimed the scalp of Force India’s Sergio Perez as his race through the ranks continued.

    After the second round of stops Vettel found himself in third place with just a second separating him from Kvyat. The Russian was able to maintain the gap for the full length of the stint, however, and it looked like the Red Bull driver might be on for a repeat of his career first podium placing of second at the 2015 Hungarian Grand Prix.

    It wasn’t to be, however. The pair pitted together on lap 35 with Kvyat on medium tyres and Vettel on softs. The Ferrari driver immediately sought to use the faster warm-up and better pace of the yellow-banded Pirelli and with a few corners he pushed past the Red Bull to take a second place he would hold until the flag.

    Behind them Ricciardo was surging through the field. On lap 37 the Australian made his final stop from P4 and dfropped to P8 behind a hard-charging Hamilton. They quickly passed the Williams of Valtteri Bottas, but Ricciardo, on his fresher tyres, sensed an opportunity to pass Hamilton and he overtook the champion with a good move under braking into Turn 6 on lap 42. He dismissed Massa later on the same lap and then closed to within 12 seconds of his team-mate Kvyat by the chequered flag to complete a superb comeback from P17 after his lap two puncture.

    At the front though, Rosberg was cruising. He took on a final set of medium tyres 20 laps from home and having opened a 27-second gap to P2 in his second stint, widened the gap to Vettel to an eventual 37.7s by the time he crossed the line to take his third win of the season and his sixth in succession.

    With Vettel second ahead of the Red Bulls, fifth place went to Raikkonen, with Massa sixth ahead of Hamilton. Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen was eighth ahead of team-mate Carlos Sainz and the final points position was taken by Bottas.

    2016 Chinese Grand Prix – Race
    1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 56 laps – 1h38m53.891s 2
    2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari + 37.776 3
    3 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull + 45.936 3
    4 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull + 52.688 3
    5 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari + 65.872 3
    6 Felipe Massa Williams + 75.511 2
    7 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes + 78.230 5
    8 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso + 79.268 3
    9 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso + 84.127 3
    10 Valtteri Bottas Williams + 86.192 3
    11 Sergio Perez Force India + 94.283 3
    12 Fernando Alonso McLaren + 97.253 2
    13 Jenson Button McLaren + 101.990 3
    14 Esteban Gutierrez Haas +1 lap 3
    15 Nico Hulkenberg Force India +1 lap 4
    16 Marcus Ericsson Sauber +1 lap 2
    17 Kevin Magnussen Renault +1 lap 3
    18 Pascal Wehrlein Manor +1 lap 3
    19 Romain Grosjean Haas +1 lap 4
    20 Felipe Nasr Sauber +1 lap 3
    21 Rio Haryanto Manor +1 lap 3
    22 Jolyon Palmier Renault +1 lap 3

    eom/FIA press release