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Tag: Mercedes
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Rosberg takes pole on rain-delayed quali on Sunday; Hamilton looks to seal the championship from P2
Hamilton (left) takes P2 but looks to seal the Drivers’ championship here in Austin later today at the US GP. An FIA image Nico Rosberg edged Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton by a tenth of a second to claim pole position for this afternoon’s United States Grand Prix. The German took his fourth pole of the season with his Q2 time as heavy rain once again disrupted running and led to the final part of the session was cancelled.
Row two of this grid at the Circuit of the Americas will be an all-Red Bull affair with Daniel Ricciardo qualifying fourth ahead of Daniil Kvyat.
Q1 began with steady rain falling across the track and with a queue of drivers lining up at the pit exit – all keen to put a lap on the board in the treacherous conditions.
Lotus’ Romain Grosjean was quickly on the radio to tell his team that the track was on the limit in terms of driveability and within minutes Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz exceeded those limits, the Spaniard spinning off into the barriers at Turn Four after losing control when he took too much of a slippery kerb. The crash caused heavy damage to the front of his car, leaving his team with a race against time to get it repaired in time for the race.
The session was red flagged, with Hamilton at the top of the order with a lap of 1:59.393. He was followed by Daniel Ricciardo with a lap of 2:00.288 and his Red Bull Racing team-mate Daniil Kvyat was third, just under two seconds further back.
The session restarted 10 minutes later and Hamilton continued to set the pace. He soon lowered the benchmark to 1:58.025, though Ricciardo clung onto the Mercedes’ driver coat-tails, taking his Red Bull to 0.16 of Hamilton’s time.
Both were eclipsed by Rosberg, however, who with four minutes left chopped more than half a second off Hamilton’s best with a lap of 1:57.469. Ricciardo then bettered that with a 1:57.163.
Tenth-placed Sebastian Vettel, though, was back in the pits. The German lost control of his Ferrari at Turn 10 and slapped a guardrail with the rear left of his car.
In the drop zone as the clock counted the final minute were Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson in P16, his team-mate Felipe Nasr, the Manors of Alexander Rossi and Will Stevens, who were outside the 107% mark at this point, and the unfortunate Sainz.
As the final times came in Vettel tumbled to 15th place in the order but with the Sauber’s lapping almost two seconds off the Ferrari’s driver’s pace, Vettel’s Q2 berth was never in real danger and the first-segment cut saw the Saubers, Manors and Sainz eliminated.
At the top Ricciardo was quickest with a time of 1:56.495, just under two tenths ahead of Rosberg, who was two tenths clear of Hamilton. Kvyat was fourth ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, with Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg sixth in front of the Toro Rosso of Max Verstappen, the second Force India of Sergio Perez, William’s Valtteri Bottas and McLaren’s Fernando Alonso. Through from P11 to P15 were Lotus’ Romain Grosjean, McLaren’s Jenson Button, Pastor Maldonado in the second Lotus, Williams’ Felipe Massa and Vettel.
With heavier rain expected in Q2, there was again a rush to get in a time at the start of the session and the Mercedes driver quickly staked their claim to a Q3 spot with Rosberg leading from Hamilton. Ricciardo was third ahead of Kvyat, Vettel and Perez.
The conditions were proving extremely tricky however and a number of drivers suffered spins, including Hulkenberg, Raikkonen and Hamilton, though all three drivers managed to keep their cars our of the barriers and continued.
With a couple of minutes left on the clock a number of drivers began to report that the track conditions were becoming untenable with Kvyat telling his pit wall that the track was “very dangerous” and Vettel telling Ferrari that it was “red flag conditions”.
At the end of the segment Rosberg still led from Hamilton, Ricciardo, Kvyat and Vettel, while Perez, Hulkenberg, Raikkonen, Massa and Verstappen also booked a Q3 slot. Out at this stage went 11th-placed Alonso, who was just 0.066 off Verstappen’s P10 time, Bottas, Grosjean, Button and Maldonado.
The concerns about the state of the track led race control to dispatch the safety car on an exploratory lap before Q3 and the start of the final segment was then delayed by seven minutes in the hope of clearer weather.
That hope failed to materialise, however, and three minutes before the planned resumption, race control announced the Q3 would not take place. This Nico Rosberg will start this afternoon’s race from pole position, his fourth of the season. Hamilton will join his team-mate on the front row, while row two will be an all-Red Bull affair with Ricciardo ahead of Kvyat. Vettel qualified fifth but will take a 10-place penalty for a power unit change, while Perez was sixth ahead of team-mate Hulkenberg. Raikkonen, who will also a 10-place power unit penalty, qualified eighth ahead of Massa and Verstappen.
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Happy and excited to be here, I always enjoy myself out her in the States: Hamilton
Austin (USA), 22 October 2015: The following DRIVERS attended the FIA Press Conference ahead of the US GP her on Thursday: Marcus ERICSSON (Sauber), Alexander ROSSI (Manor), Valtteri BOTTAS (Williams), Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing), Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari), LEWIS HAMILTON (Mercedes)
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Lewis, three times a US Grand Prix winner, twice at the Circuit of the Americas. You, Nico [Rosberg] and Sebastian [Vettel] have finished one, two, three, in that order, on four occasions this season. If it happens again on Sunday, you are the world champion. What are your thoughts?
Lewis HAMILTON: Well, first of all, just happy to be here, excited; I always enjoy myself out here in the States. The track is fantastic; the race has been great here since 2012. Just excited for another weekend. I missed driving the car for the last two weeks.Q: You spend a lot of time in this country, as we can see from your regular social media output? Why do you like the US so much?
LH: Well, I like travelling everywhere in the world, so it’s not just the US, but I have a lot of friends out here. There’s a lot to do. America has a lot to offer, in such a big space. I do a lot of my music out here, so this is kind of the central hub for music, so that’s probably why I spend more time here than usual.Q: Thank you for that. Moving on to Daniel: a podium here last year, of course, at the Circuit of the Americas, but pointless in three of the last five races, although your best result of the season came during that run, the second place in Singapore. This recent run now means you’re behind your team-mate Daniil Kvyat in the championship. How important to you is it to finish ahead of him at the end of this season?
Daniel RICCIARDO: I don’t know to be honest. Because we’re not really fighting for the title it’s sort of irrelevant. I think I have missed out a fair few bags of points at various occasions this year. But, yeah, I’m not too worried. Obviously you want to finish in front, I’m not going to lie, but when you’re seventh or eighth in the championship it’s sort of irrelevant. Yeah, the little Russian’s jumped in front of me, but we’ll see. I’m confident I’ll end up with more points, but as I said, I’m not too fussed about it.Q: So, we’re reaching the end of October now, how confident are you about being on the grid next season and what assurances have Red Bull given you about how this whole thing is unfolding?
DR: Not much has changed to be honest. Yeah, we’re still not really confirmed with anything yet. From my side I’m still confident I’ll be racing. Confident we’ll be there, hopefully competitive. I think that’s more the concern. I have confidence we’ll be on the grid it’s just the concern is can we be competitive? I want to make sure we can be. This year, obviously we have got a couple of podiums, which is nice, but certainly not enough to keep us extremely happy. So, yeah, we want to be competitive again and I think that’s just as important as being on the grid.Q: Alexander, coming to you, the only American driver in the field and the first American to race in the US Grand Prix in eight years. How proud do you feel about being in the series today and what’s the reaction been like here in the States in the build-up to the race?
Alexander ROSSI: I think, first of all, that the reaction has been very positive, which is what we wanted to see, Of course there is pride that goes along with it, but that started in Singapore and Japan as well. Obviously to be here at home means a big deal, but at the same time we have a job to do and very clear objectives to meet. I’m looking forward to it; there are a lot of friends and family that will be coming this weekend. But I think once you get in the car and on track you appreciate the fact that there is a bigger picture.Q: Obviously you jumped into the car quite late in the season. Two race outings so far and you beat your team-mate on both occasions. What goals have you set for yourself for the remaining events this season and how confident are you of securing a full-time ride for 2016?
AR: With the current situation with the performance difference in the cars I think it’s very clear that the objective just needs to be continuing what we’ve done in the first two, as you said. Both of those weekends there was quite a disrupted Friday for the whole team, so I think if we have a strong Friday the Sunday result can be even more positive. In terms of next year, I’m obviously quite keen to be in a full-time seat next year, which is apparent. The position that I’m in with the team at the moment is good and we’re looking to put that all together for next year.Q: Kimi, coming to you, you said in Sochi that the collision with Valtteri Bottas was a racing incident, you’ve watched it again by now I’m sure, so how do you feel about it now and how have you left it with Valtteri?
Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Well it hasn’t changed. Obviously there were some discussions and penalties given to me, but I would still do it tomorrow again, that doesn’t change the story. Unfortunately, we came together in the end and we both lost a bit, but that’s life, that’s racing. I don’t feel bad about it and if somebody feels that, it’s up to them. It’s OK for me. Like I said, I would still do the same thing next time and maybe it goes better.Q: There was another good battle with your team-mate Sebastian Vettel in Sochi. Is the objective for 2016 to beat him or finish in front of him on a more regular basis?
KR: Well, obviously this year hasn’t exactly been what we hoped but it’s been much better than the previous year and I’m sure we are doing the right things but we don’t get the results sometimes. That’s fine, we are going in the right direction all the time and I’m sure when we get things running smoother and all the time better so we can definitely fight with him every week. Like I always said: I wouldn’t be here if I wouldn’t feel like that.Q: Valtteri, coming to you, obviously in that incident in Sochi you lost what would have been only your second podium finish of the year. After some considered thought what’s your attitude to it now?
Valtteri BOTTAS: For me it’s the same really. It was a good weekend until the last lap, so of course disappointing to lose the points but my opinion hasn’t changed. I wouldn’t do anything different and it’s now history, so I’m 100 per cent ready to move on.Q: The result means there are only two points now between you and your team-mate Felipe Massa, so similar question to the one I asked Daniel I guess, how essential is it for you to finish ahead of him in the final standings?
VB: Of course it is, yes. As a driver you always want to beat your team-mate but as Daniel said, when it’s not for either the top three or winning the title it’s not that important. The main thing is to get the maximum points for the team with the two drivers. But personally I would prefer to keep in front and that’s one of the goals for the rest of the year.Q: Marcus, you didn’t race here last year as Caterham didn’t make the trip, but you were here, so what are you most looking forward to about racing on this Circuit of the Americas track?
Marcus ERICSSON: Yeah, I’m really looking forward to driving the track, I think it looks really cool; some nice corners, the first sector especially. Like you said, it was the first race I missed out last year, so I’m really looking forward to driving the track.Q: You were out on the first lap in Russia, ending a 12-race finishing streak. You’ve been knocked out in Q1 in the last three races in a row but you have outqualified your team-mate five time in the last seven, so how would you sum up the state of play Sauber as we get to this closing part of the season?
ME: I think I’ve had a really good run from the middle of the season really. Then the last three weekends we’ve had some messy weekends with difficult Fridays and difficult Saturdays, so I’m not entirely happy with the last three events. I think we could have done better things there. Like you said, Russia was a tough one, going our on the first lap, especially because I think our car was competitive around there. So not very happy with the last three but looking forward to turning it around here in Austin.QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Peter Windsor – Clarksport). Question to Valtteri. I’m sorry I know it’s history but it’s still interesting at least for us. After the race Kimi said that he was surprised the move didn’t work because he had done that earlier in the race to you, at the exactly the same place, in exactly the same way and you had let him through and I wondered if that was the case from your point of view? And Kimi please add to this if necessary. In other words, earlier in the race did he do that pass exactly as he trued to do it later in the race?
VB: Yeah, I guess it’s still interesting for you guys, but for us not so much. From my point of view the first one was quite a different one, it was much more clear that he could do it. And of course for me, as a driver, not going to leave the door open two times. So, for me, it was a different kind of situation, as we saw from the result.Kimi, any response?
KR: No. It was for him anyway.I’m just giving you the right of reply.
KR: Why would I need to reply? It doesn’t change what we say anymore.Q: (Peter Windsor – Clarksport) I guess the follow up question to Kimi is: did you not see that Valtteri was going to close the door on that second occasion?
KR: I saw it in the end but obviously once you’ve decided to go there… I tried to brake and turn in as much as I can but there’s no way to avoid it. That’ why… what can you do? Once you go there you do it or not. Once I saw that he’s coming… I don’t know. Maybe he didn’t expect or didn’t see me. Tried to slow down and turn in but y’know, in the end if there’s no space there’s no space. We’re going to collide. It’s an unfortunate thing but it’s a part of racing. You get penalised sometimes, sometimes not. We are here to race, it’s pointless to cry afterwards. I’m sure that people like it more like that than just following each other, so… it’s part of the thing.Q: (Joesph D Love – Tennessee Tribune) This is a generic question, how do you create more enthusiasm in urban black America for Formula One? I know we’re up against football and basketball – how do you make Formula One as exciting for the urban kid in America?
LH: Don’t look at me, ask these first. I’d love to see what these others think!
DR: Just try and be as ‘lads–y’ as possible. Just make it exciting. I mean, we try. I think the sport’s, most of the time, pretty exciting. As performers – let’s say – we try and do what we can to make it cool. In all honest I think Austin, this circuit, is one of the best on the calendar for excitement. I’ve said it before, there’s so many places to overtake, I think the layout is perfect with big, wide apexes, so you can have a lot of fun on this track. I these terms, I think that creates the excitement: overtaking, fights. If it’s just a single train race it’s obviously less exciting so… I think this track creates a lot of that. I think as drivers most of us try to be y’know, like… cool people, funny people. We try to bring fans into the sport. Yeah… I don’t know. I don’t know if I’ve answered your question.
Alexander, do you want to have a go at it?
AR: Sure, I mean, from an American perspective, I think the biggest thing, leading onto what Daniel was saying, the excitement level needs to be there but beyond that I think the accessibility. Obviously motorsports is something that is quite difficult to get into – and that’s the same for any young kid trying to do it. I think the biggest thing is a direction where to go. I think that’s the thing that’s missing the most. Beyond that, kind of just… there’s always things that can be done in terms of making it expand to a different part of the States. I think it’s very much… Formula One is three locations and in America we’re trying to grow it as much as we can. I think once that happens it’ll appeal to a much broader mass.Final thought Lewis?
LH: Yeah, just sitting here trying to think. I agree very much with what they mentioned. It’s difficult for people to get attached here in America. Obviously they’re crazy about NFL and NBA and there sports that you can just go and guy the equipment; buy a ball or a racquet and go play down the road or in the street, whereas karting, you can’t. I was very lucky, my Dad bought me a go kart and we drove it around a car park, like a DIY Homestore car park for a while – but there’s not that much accessibility, as he was saying, for kids who say “hey, I want to go go-karting.” You have to plan it weeks in advance almost, or save up. So, I don’t really know. Maybe Formula One can start to engage more with the NFL or with the other sports. The brands that you have here in the States, and start to engage with them. I never, every see… I don’t know if I’ve ever seen an NBA player come – I’ve had a friend come once. Otherwise it’s never really been anyone from those sports, different kind of sports come and try to see what Formula One’s about to maybe bring some attention to it, maybe. As you can see, I’m doing as much as I can – but I’m only one person. Yesterday I was go-karting with some kids, there were two black kids with us. One passed me, the first time I’d ever been on track with a black kid and, coming past it was like seeing myself come by – it was kinda funny. It was good. It’s open to everyone.Q: (Seff Harding – Zero Zone News) This question’s for everyone. There’s been a lot of talk about rule changes, or taking a more of an old school approach to the sport. I wanted to know how you guys felt about that – because I guess there’s a little fear that maybe the cars are getting too technical, you guys might end up being like David Hasselhoff in Knight Rider, talking the car and the car’s driving itself. Just wanted to know how you guys feel about taking a more old school approach to the cars, taking a little more tech out of it.
KR: I think it’s the right direction. F1 should be easily the fastest racing cars in the world and it doesn’t look right some races where we go and GP2s are a few seconds off almost. They should be definitely faster, more like they were in the mid-2000s. I think that’s the way they plan to go and I think it’s more fun for us, it looks much more greater to the spectators. But also, they have to make it also… nicer for all the people. Everybody is complaining it’s boring, it’s this and that. If something doesn’t change nobody will care how the car looks or how fast they are. Something has to change, that’s for sure, for F1 to get back more interesting for everybody – but I think it’s a good way to go, make the cars faster and more exciting looking.Valtteri, your thoughts on this.
VB: I think the main thing, like every driver for sure, it’s likely the cars are going to be quicker, so that’s a good thing. Maybe more tricky to drive, hopefully. The main thing, the cars are fast and more spectacular for everyone. I’m not sure it’s really an old school thing because the sport will keep developing. It’s a good direction.Marcus?
ME: First of all, I think the cars today are still a lot of fun to drive for us drivers but like Valtteri says, of course faster cars are always going to be nice for us drivers – but I think there’s a fine line there. To not make it too much like ten, 15 years ago when there was not so much overtaking. I think the racing today is great, with a lot of fights and overtaking. I think we should not cross that line and make the races just follow each other and no overtaking. But yeah, of course, faster cars is going to be more fun for us and more fun to watch.DR: I think sometimes having such a big difference between cars is not so fun for a spectator as well. You see, I think it was a Williams pass a McLaren in Sochi and it was like it was standing still. That… for a spectator seeing that. That driver’s not better and he’s passed him… holding your foot flat down the straight – there’s no real skill required so when it looks that easy then it’s a little bit… I think it takes something away from the sport, one way or another. So, you always want a bit more equality. I mean, sure, you always want the top teams and you always want to look up to racing for a top team, so you always… there’s got to be some sort of division but a smaller division would be nice. More competition I think, more drivers fighting for wins. I think then, when you win a race also, the reward is much bigger. Somehow to get that back, I think, would be good.
LH: I think it does need to change. I’ve not really looked at the changes they’re proposing, to be honest, but it needs to be… for example, with the DRS, it doesn’t feel organic, like natural racing. Whatever changes they make, I want to see closer racing. Wheel to wheel racing. It needs to be like go-karting was. If, y’know, go-karting, wheel to wheel and those guys following the train overtaking. We need to make Formula One a bit more like that. Somehow. I don’t know how they’re going to do it. It needs to be a lot different to what it was in the last 20 years.
AR: I’m going into my third race so I don’t really have much of a comment, other than the fact I’m not really racing anyone at the moment other than one other car. Obviously I have to agree with what everyone said but for my own personal views, nothing different.
Q: (Greg Creamer – COTA Big Screen Production) Kind of following up this discussion, there’s been a lot of talk about the power units in that and the fact that they are a little bit disparate right now in terms of performance. But what about a re-vamp of the aerodynamic approach, because what you guys were talking about – Lewis in particular – about the go-karting and running close and that, you don’t seem to be able to do that right now because you get close enough, you wash the front end out, there’s no stick? How about re-vamping the aero on the car to get more done, maybe with a tunnel, less sensitivity in the nose so you can follow somebody through say, the last turn at Monza and be able to run right up and not lose the nose as opposed to all the focus on all the power units? That seems like that would improve the racing.
LH: It does seem that way but I don’t think that’s possible. You’ve got turbulence behind the plane, it’s the same thing, you get turbulence behind the car. All these vortices that are bouncing off the car, whichever rule they change to keep downforce, it’s always going to be like that. They need to do something like where when you’re getting close to another car and the car in front has to… the cars always have to have the same amount of downforce, no matter how close you get, so I don’t know how they’ll achieve that but that would be kind of neat.Q: (Tony DiZinno – NBC Sports) Alexander, having had FP1 a couple of years ago, how much nicer is it to have past F1 machinery track experience as opposed to the last two events you’ve done?
AR: I’ll let you know tomorrow. Obviously it gives you a baseline but at the same time the cars in ’13 were clearly very different to what they are now. I don’t know how much is applicable to be honest. I think it’s more of a bonus, the fact that I’ve actually driven the track, more than anything else.Q: (Dan Knutson – Honorary) Daniel, Renault has a new engine in the works. What has Renault told you and what has the team told you about this engine?
DR: Yeah, it’s available if we want to use it. Obviously that would mean a penalty, though, so we’ve got to understand if it’s worth it. Last I heard, it’s not massive so from my understanding it’s probably not worth taking it but yeah, I think we’re down such a chunk that I don’t think we’re going to gain enough in this short time to make it up so if we start from the back, I don’t think we’re going to make (up) the ground we need. Right now, I would say we’re probably less likely to take it. That’s about it. Hopefully today they tell me something different and we’ve found a bigger chunk of horsepower from it but I think realistically there’s not a whole lot.Q: (Peter Windsor – Clarksport Ltd) Just following up on what you were saying there, it looked as if in sector three in Russia your car was actually not bad at all in terms of putting its power down and racing Ferrari- and Mercedes-engined cars and on that basis, I wonder where you feel you’re at around here now, on this circuit, bearing in mind the sector three here as well? How quick is the car now?
DR: The car’s good and I was surprised to hold Valtteri and Kimi off for as long as I did. Once they caught me I thought I wouldn’t have sat in front as long. That was definitely some nice little surprises, I guess, in Russia. I think it has progressed for sure, the power as well but I think the car has really come alive and yeah, the grip we have through all those tight, twisty bits is really good. I think this circuit will suit us more so yeah, I’m hoping we can be more competitive here. It just seems that (in) qualifying we don’t really have that one lap pace but then (in) the races we seem to be a lot more competitive so if we can somehow start towards the front then I think we can stay there. We’ll see how we go but I’m definitely excited to race here if we’re not floating down the river.Q: (Diego Mejia – Canal F1 Latin America) To all of you; Pirelli is set to stay for quite a few years. What would the drivers like to see from the tyres looking at the next few seasons?
VB: Maybe more grip, that’s always nice, more grip. I think there have been some tracks that – for example Russia – even the supersoft has been a bit too hard so yeah, I’m sure that they are learning from all these things but I think this is adjusting to the different tracks because every tarmac is so different tracks because every tarmac is different, every track is so different, so to make the races exciting, a good quick tyre for the track, I’m sure they are pushing for that so we will see what they can do.
KR: I think we’ve had a lot of discussions about Pirelli and obviously they have been blamed for many things but it’s not easy for them to produce tyres that… first of all I don’t think they are ever going to be able to produce tyres that everyone is happy with. Somebody is always complaining and then we are not allowed to do testing so how can they improve the tyres? We always say, OK, we should go this or that way but they don’t have the time on the circuit to do anything so that doesn’t help them. I don’t really see the point of discussing here what we would like. For sure they will talk to us. I think everybody has to work together with the teams to decide that OK, we can do testing, also helping Pirelli in that way. When teams cannot decide themselves together who does the test or whose car is being used then Pirelli cannot do any laps. It’s very difficult to improve tyres and do what the teams are asking of them. I think it’s up to the teams to provide them also the possibilities to get the tyres running in a proper test and try things. I’m sure they will find a way to do that and I’m sure we will get what everybody’s more or less happy with.
LH: I don’t know. As Kimi said, it’s pointless everyone saying what we would li
Clockwise: From top left: Marcus ERICSSON (Sauber), Valtteri BOTTAS (Williams), Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing), Alexander ROSSI (Manor), LEWIS HAMILTON (Mercedes), Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari), At the FIA Thursday press conference before US GP. An FIA image ke if we can’t do any testing. I don’t really particularly… more performance is what we always want and I think they’ve got to make a big step if that’s going to be the case.
eom/FIA transcript of the Press Conference
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With very little track time, we had to guess a bit and it worked: Nico Rosberg
DRIVERS
1 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)
2 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
3 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Willams)TV UNILATERAL
Nico, you were fastest in Q1 and Q3, fastest after the first run in Q3, on pole by a decent margin. Are you pleased with that?
Nico ROSBERG: Yeah, for sure, I’m very happy. It’s been a difficult weekend actually, because of the little running that we got; we didn’t get much practice. Qualifying worked out really well; found a good balance on my car, thanks to my engineers as well. We had to guess a bit where is it going to be and it all worked out well. I felt comfortable, so got some really good laps in and I’m very happy with that.Very well done. Lewis, obviously you were trailing your team-mate after the first part of Q3 and then you didn’t go for the extra lap at the end. Why not? And I saw you looking around the Ferrari afterwards, did you learn anything from it?
Lewis HAMILTON: No. I did go for my second lap; I just didn’t finish it. I made a mistake at Turn 13 I think it is. Yeah, a difficult weekend I think for everyone. Nico did a great job on his lap. I wasn’t quite perfectly happy with the balance that I had. But overall really happy. I think it’s great for the team and yeah, as you say last year this is not such a bad race for P2.OK, thank you for that. Valtteri, you matched your result of last year, do you feel you have the measure of Ferrari this weekend?
Valtteri BOTTAS: Well, it seems like it, at least today. We were quite competitive. It’s good to be third; it’s a good place to start here. Obviously it has been a tricky weekend for everyone but I really think we managed to use Practice 3, well, part of it, what we had, pretty well. I managed to get some good laps in qualifying, consistently, and I pleased with the laps and what we did as a team.Well done. Coming back to you Nico, obviously you’re going for the Constructors’ Championship tomorrow, trying to clinch it here for the second year in a row, but have you personally got a plan for worked out for Turn One. Lewis referenced it in
Nico Rosberg flanked by Hamilton (P2) on his right and Valtteri Bottas (P3) on Saturday after taking the pole. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image his answer, after what happened here last year.
NR: No, not yet. I haven’t thought about that yet. At the moment just enjoying being on pole and I’ll dig into that this evening or tomorrow morning to work out a plan for that. Of course the Constructors’ Championship is a really important target for us this weekend – it would be amazing to clinch it for the second time so early on in the season – so we’re out to do that, but at the same time, of course, I’m out here to try to reduce the gap to Lewis in terms of points.PRESS CONFERENCE
Nico, you mentioned in your first answer about the lack of running this weekend, the really unusual situation. We had it in Japan but even worse here because of the curtailed Free Practice 3 after Carlos Sainz’s accident. So what have you been able to find out in terms of long runs with this much softer tyres than last year here in Russia and how much guesswork is going to be involved in strategy and race performance tomorrow?
NR: Well, we tried to prepare as best we could. So this morning we did do some high fuel running, everybody did. So we do have an idea of how it’s going to be tomorrow, so it’s not completely just guessing. No, we’re quite comfortable that we know what to expect and strategy-wise we think we have got a good strategy, so it should be fine.Lewis, I wonder if you could give us your view on what happened this morning – the accident of Sainz and going under the barriers? Your thoughts on that speaking on behalf of the drivers?
LH: To be honest I don’t know anything about it, so I couldn’t really comment. I’m just glad he’s OK.Q: OK, well I’ll throw a question maybe you can answer. You obviously mentioned the fact you are quite happy to start in second place, based on what happened here last year. So, obviously today didn’t work out for you in the single laps but fro the little that you’ve been able to learn from the high-fuel running, do you think you’ll be able to challenge for the win tomorrow.
LH: I wasn’t saying I was happy, I mean I have no choice of being second right now, obviously Nico did a better job in qualifying but I feel there’s still all to play for, as you’ve seen in many other races where I’ve started second. I think it’s exciting. It makes the race ever more exciting and, as I’ve said, Turn One, it’s a long, long way down to Turn One. Probably one of the longest ones of the whole year so it should create opportunities. But there are other opportunities throughout the race as well.Q: Coming to you Valtteri, obviously both these gentlemen managed to get through Q1 without using a set of Supersoft tyres, just showing the performance that they have. A lot of your competitors struggled, it seemed, to get temperature into the tyres today as the temperatures actually came down during the course of the qualifying session. Is that something you struggled with – and can you articulate what it was like to use these tyres here today?
VB: Yeah. We already saw last year it’s quite tricky to get tyres to work in the first timed lap, and that’s why you could saw many people doing many laps and longer running in qualifying than normal. What we did in the practice and in Q1 also, we just tried to learn more about the tyres so we’re sure we’re making the right decision what we’re going to do in Q3 in terms of tyre temperatures, pressures and how many laps we do. So I think everyone struggled with it today – but we got it right. We got the max out of the car and the tyres.QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi, La Gazzetta dello Sport) Question for all of you about the accident of this morning, car that went through the barrier. Would like to know if you’re worried about it: the dynamic of the accident. The car was inside of the barrier.
We’ve already asked Lewis that question so we’ll start with Nico.
NR: I haven’t seen it so difficult to comment. Of course we always need to push to improve things. Apparently it’s not good, not ideal, so let’s see if we can make progress on that.Valterri?
VB: I haven’t seen it either, so can’t really say that much. Like Nico, we always need to keep pushing on the safety.Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globoesporte.com) Nico, in the last race you were very conservative at the start and maybe that was one of the reasons you lost the victory. How do you plan your start tomorrow?
NR: On the one side I don’t agree with your opinion – but that’s OK. On the second, just work on it tonight and tomorrow. Work on the start, get everything right there, look at last year’s start, learn from that. That’s it.Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) To both of the Mercedes drivers: you were very aggressive – Hamilton was very aggressive – here last year and you were very aggressive also in Japan. I would like to continue on this matter, to know that if, as you have this goal tomorrow [the Constructors’ Championship] does it change you approach for the first corner?
LH: You said I was aggressive here last year? Here? I don’t remember being aggressive. But whatever I did last year it worked so I plan to stay the same really.
Q: I think the point of the question is that you have had a few starts where you have been quite close, not least the last one in Japan and as you’ve got the Constructors’ possibly tomorrow, is it going to change your thinking going into the first corner. For both of you.
NR: No. Nothing changes anything. It’s one way and that’s it.Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globoesporte.com) In Q1, only Lewis and Nico were on soft tyres, all the others were on supersoft tyres. Is this some kind of reference that we can expect in the race?
NR: Looks like we were especially quick on the soft which is always a good thing of course in the race, because everybody has to use them once so that can only help us.Q: You’re expecting this to be a one-stop race tomorrow then?
NR: I don’t know about the strategy yet. That’s look into that this evening.
LH: Yeah, very strange coming into the weekend – people were making assumptions that we would have a repeat of Singapore. Obviously I had no idea what it’s going to be like and to think that now we have it the other way round it’s very, very strange. I don’t have answer for it but the car felt good otherwise on the tyres today. I don’t know how it will be for the race. I think from our short long run, the seven laps that we might have got, we have to take information from that, but it didn’t feel bad.Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri you were a very consistent third in every session; was this your strongest qualifying hour of the season?
VB: Well, I think compared to the number of laps I’ve got and everyone has yesterday and today it was not bad from my side. I felt very good. I could have been feeling very good in the car all weekend and managed to do multiple laps in a very consistent way without any mistakes. Yeah, I can be happy for the session but it’s difficult to say if it’s the best or one of the best.eom/FIA transcript of the Press Conference
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Vettel takes third win of the season; Hamilton retires; Spectator invades track in a bizarre incident
Sebastian Vettel took his third victory of the season for Ferrari in an incident-packed race at the Marina Bay Circuit that saw Lewis Hamilton retire with technical problems and a spectator invade the track.
Vettel took his fourth career Singapore Grand Prix win ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo, with Kimi Räikkönen third in the second Ferrari ahead of Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg.
When the lights went out at the start of the race Vettel made a good getaway to take the lead ahead of Ricciardo. Räikkönen too held his starting position to sit in third ahead of Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat, while Hamilton and Rosberg kept their starting positions of fifth and sixth position, ahead of Williams’ Valtteri Bottas.
There was trouble for Max Verstappen though. The Toro Rosso driver, who was starting eighth, stalled on the grid and the rest of the field swarmed past him as the grand prix got underway. Verstappen was wheeled back to the pit lane where his car was restarted and he re-joined a lap down.
Vettel meanwhile was flying. By the end of lap two the Ferrari driver was a 4.4s ahead of Ricciardo and after four laps he’d stretched the advantage to 5.2 seconds.
After six laps, though the lap times began to stabilise, with Ricciardo’s race engineer Simon Rennie telling the Red Bull driver that “Vettel has calmed down a bit”. Ricciardo began to chip away at the gap and took a second out the German over the next handful of laps.
Lotus’ Romain Grosjean was the first to shed his opening supersoft tyres – the Frenchman switching to soft tyres on lap 10. On the next lap he was followed to the pit lane by McLaren’s Fernando Alonso, Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz, Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson and Lotus driver Pastor Maldonado. Sainz lost time in the stop though as he was held in his pit box as Ericsson and Maldonado made their way along the pit lane.
On lap 13, however, the Virtual Safety Car was deployed as Williams’ Felipe Massa and Force India Nico Hulkenberg made contact. Massa was re-joining after his pit stop and Hulkenberg gave the Brazilian nowhere to go as they went into the following corner. They collided and Hulkenberg was pitched into the wall and out of the race. The Singapore Grand Prix’s 100% safety car record was maintained when the physical safety car was then briefly deployed as marshals cleared the debris from the crash.
Hulkenberg was later penalised with a three-place grid drop at next weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix for causing the collision.
The period under the SC meant that all cars pitted, though some with more success than other. Jenson Button’s stop in front of the McLaren garage went horribly wrong as a problem with his front right wheel delayed him for some time and he rejoined in P16.
The order at the top under the SC saw Vettel leading from Ricciardo and Räikkönen, with the top three having taking more supersofts in their stops. Hamilton was fourth on soft tyres as was fifth-placed team-mate Rosberg.
Kvyat, also on supersofts, lost out under the VSC and had dropped to P6 ahead of Bottas, Force India’s Sergio Perez, Sauber’s Felipe Nasr, who has climbed to P9 from 16th on the grid and Lotus’ Romain Grosjean. Verstappen, meanwhile, had the chance re-join the lead lap during the safety car period.
When the action resumed Ricciardo kept pace with Vettel and on lap 22 the Australian was 0.8s behind the lead, with Vettel appearing to hold back a bit. Räikkönen was another 0.9s back but Hamilton was beginning to lose touch with the podium positions, slipping to over 2.0s down on the leaders.
On lap 27 Hamilton began complaining of a loss of power and the Briton was swiftly passed by Rosberg and Kvyat.
The team told Hamilton that his throttle was failing to open completely but that there was no electrical problem. Hamilton responded that he could no feel a pedal issue and as the investigation went on Hamilton to P11 by lap 30.
It was then Felipe Massa’s turn to encounter problems as he radioed his team to say that his car had suddenly jumped into neutral. He made a detour through the pit lane without stopping and then was told to retire the car.
Hamilton’s frustrations finally came to an end on lap 33. The championship leader had been complaining that the issue was worsening and then informed his team that the brakes were becoming too cold to continue in comfort. The team told him to box and he too retired.
On lap 35 Kvyat made his second stop from P5 but there was a problem with the rear left wheel and he lost out again as his stop took 6.6s. He dropped to seventh.
On lap 37 the Safety Car was deployed again, though this time it was because of a spectator invading the track.
It was the cue for all of the field to make another pit stop and when the order sorted itself out under the SC Vettel still led from Ricciardo and Räikkönen but Rosberg was now fourth ahead of Bottas with Kvyat sixth. Perez was now seventh in the sole remaining Force India, with Grosjean eighth ahead of team-mate Pastor Maldonado. Button, in the sole remaining McLaren following an earlier retirement for Fernando Alonso, was in the final points position, though he too would soon exit the race with a gearbox issue.
When the action resumed, Vettel this time powered away, with the German rapidly building a two-second gap to Ricciardo. Further back Button tangled with Maldonado as they battled for P9 and the Briton clipped the back of the Lotus, losing his front wing in the prices. He pitted for a new wing and re-joined in P14.
Toro Rosso’s drivers, meanwhile, were on a march, with Verstappen passing Maldonado for P9 and with Sainz repeating the moved almost immeditaley afterwards. Verstappen then set the fastest lap of the race so far on lap 43 of the 61 scheduled.
The Dutch teenager then passed Grosjean for P8 on lap 47 with an excellent move into Turn 16. Sainz followed but his move was riskier and both drivers went over the kerbs on the exit, with Grosjean complaining that he had been forced wide and had “no place to go”. The move stood, however, and Sainz held ninth.
Verstappen’s next target was Perez in seventh but he could find no way past the Mexican. His race ended in somewhat controversial circumstances when his engineer told him to swap places with Sainz in the closing laps. Verstappen refused and held station to claim eighth ahead of his team-mate.
At the front the order also remained unchanged, with Vettel taking his 42nd career win just 1.4s ahead of Ricciardo, with Räikkönen third. Rosberg closed the gap to title rival Hamilton by 12 points by claiming fourth with Bottas fifth ahead of Kvyat and Perez. With the Toro Rosso pair eighth and ninth, the final points position when to Sauber’s Felipe Nasr.
2015 Singapore Grand Prix – Race
1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 2:01:22.118
2 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing +1.478
3 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari +17.154
4 Nico Rosberg Mercedes +24.720
5 Valtteri Bottas Williams +34.204
6 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull Racing +35.508
7 Sergio Perez Force India +50.836
8 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso +51.450
9 Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso +52.860
10 Felipe Nasr Sauber +1:30.045
11 Marcus Ericsson Sauber +1:37.507
12 Pastor Maldonado Team Lotus +1:37.718
13 Romain Grosjean Team Lotus +2 laps
14 Alexander Rossi Manor +2 laps
15 Will Stevens Manor +2 laps
– Jenson Button McLaren Gearbox
– Fernando Alonso McLaren Gearbox
– Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Power Unit
– Felipe Massa Williams Power Unit
– Nico Hulkenberg Force India Collisioneom/FIA press release
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Hamilton takes dominant Monza pole ahead of Raikkonen and Vettel; Rosberg finishes fourth
Lewis Hamilton took his 11th pole position of the season, the 49th of his career and his fourth at Monza as he beat Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen to top spot on the grid for tomorrow’s Italian Grand Prix.
Third place in the session went to Sebastian Vettel in the second Ferrari while Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg was fourth after being forced to revert to an older specification Mercedes engine when a problem was detected with the latest version power unit fitted to his car for this weekend’s race following the morning’s final practice session.
After early morning rain had led to wet and intermediate tyre use in a drying final practice session, Q1 got underway in dry and bright conditions. The early pace was predictably set by the Mercedes duo, with Hamilton annexing top spot with a time of 1m24.251s, more than half a second clear of Rosberg, who was running with the power unit used in Spa.
As the 18-minute session wore on and the final runs approached the drivers in danger of the cut were 15th-placed Fernando Alonso of McLaren, team-mate Jenson Button, the Manors of Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi, while Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo had yet to set a time.
McLaren, Toro Rosso and Red Bull are facing grid penalties due to power unit changes but despite the impending sanctions, Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz attempted to secure as positive a grid position as possible and was in P8 before the final runs.
There was drama for Verstappen as he began his only run, however. The Dutch driver’s engine cover flew off at the Curva Grande, scattering debris across the track and he was forced back to the pits without setting a time.
Also out after the first session were Stevens and Merhi in P18 and P19 respectively, with the Manor drivers finishing behind the McLarens of Button in P16 and Alonso.
At the top of the timesheet, Hamilton was quickest with a time of 1:24.251, just over three tenths ahead of Rosberg. Kimi Räikkönen was third fastest for Ferrari on 1:24.662, with the Force Indias of Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg fourth and fifth respectively. Sainz, meanwhile, made it through as the highest-placed Renault-powered driver, in 12th place.
The Mercedes and Ferrari drivers were the only qualifiers to make it through the session without using the option soft compound Pirelli tyres.
Hamilton again set the early benchmark in Q2, with the championship making his way to a best time of 1:23.383 ahead of the final runs. He was followed by Räikkönen who was just under four tenths adrift, Vettel and Rosberg.
At the other end of the order were Sainz, Ricciardo and Kvyat, none of whom had not set a time, while Lotus’ Romain Grosjean was in P12 behind the Sauber of Felipe Nasr.
Ricciardo opted to sit out the session and without a time on the board he qualified in P15. Kvyat and Sainz, meanwhile, chose to battle for position and while Kvyat took provisional P13 with a time of 1:25.796 he was quickly pushed back by Sainz who beat the senior Red Bull driver by almost two tenths of a second. Also eliminated at this point were Nasr in P12 and Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado who was pipped to a Q3 berth by Hulkenberg, whose lap of 1:25.510 was 0.015s quicker than that of the Venezuelan.
At the front, Hamilton who sat out the session finished in P1 ahead of Vettel. Raikkonen, who also stayed in the garage for the final runs was fourth ahead of Rosberg and the Williams cars of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas.
After the first runs of Q3 Hamilton, with an opening lap of 1:23.397, was a relatively comfortable three tenths of a second clear of Vettel at the top of the order with Raikkonen third, just seven thousandths of a second behind the German. Rosberg, using the Spa engine, was struggling, however, and after the first runs he was in P5 behind Massa.
He remedied that situation in the final runs, vaulting ahead of the Williams driver by improving to a time of 1:23.703, but it was still only good enough for fourth as both Raikkonen and Vettel found more time. Of the Ferrari drivers it was Räikkönen who succeeded in finding the most time and with a time of 1:23.631 he pipped Vettl to the front row by five hundredths of a second.
Hamilton, meanwhile, failed to improve on his opening lap and closed out his 49th career pole position with just over two tenths of a second in hand over Vettel.
With Massa fifth, Bottas was sixth for Williams ahead of Perez and Grosjean while row five is set to be filled by Hulkenberg and Ericsson in ninth and tenth respectively.
2015 Italian Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:23.397
2 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:23.631
3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:23.685
4 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:23.703
5 Felipe Massa Williams 1:23.940
6 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:24.127
7 Sergio Perez Force India 1:24.626
8 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:25.054
9 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:25.317
10 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:26.214
11 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:24.525
12 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:24.898
13 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:25.618
14 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull Racing 1:25.796
15 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing –
16 Jenson Button McLaren 1:26.058
17 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:26.154
18 Will Stevens Manor 1:27.731
19 Roberto Merhi Manor 1:27.912
20 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso –eom/FIA press release
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Hamilton wins at Spa to claim his 6th win of the season; Rosberg 2nd, Gorsjean 3rd
Lewis Hamilton claimed his sixth win of the 2015 FIA Formula One World Championship with a controlled drive to the chequered flag at the Belgian Grand Prix ahead of team-mate Nico Rosberg and Lotus’ Romain Grosjean who claimed his first podium place for two years when Sebastian Vettel’s gamble on a one-stop strategy failed when the right-rear tyre of his Ferrari exploded two laps from home.
Fourth place went to Red Bull Racing’s Daniil Kvyat, with Force India’s Sergio Perez fifth.
The start of the race was aborted as Nico Hulkenberg had a problem. On the first formation lap the German reported that he had no power and he was initially told by his engineer to return to the pit lane. However, as he cruised towards the end of the lap he was then told the boost was coming back to his power unit and he should take the start. He formed up on the grid but was soon waving his hands to indicate the problems had persisted.
A second formation lap was ordered and Hulkenberg this time made his way to the pit lane. He was joined there by Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz who also reported a loss of power.
When the start finally took place Nico Rosberg was the big loser. Second on the grid behind team-mate Lewis Hamilton, he made a poor start and was swamped as the cars powered away he dropped to fifth place.
Hamilton, meanwhile, made a solid getaway to take the lead while Force India’s Sergio Perez and Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo made excellent starts to slot into second and third respectively ahead of Williams’ Valtteri Bottas.
Rosberg managed to get past Bottas at the Bus Stop to reclaim fourth place. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was a decent sixth up from eighth, with Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado seventh.
The Venezuelan would not remain there for long, however. On lap two he reported that had “lost the engine” and he joined Hulkenberg in retirement. Sainz, though, had managed to get away, although he was two laps down on the pack.
Kimi Räikkönen was on a charge and in the first few laps made his way forward to 12th place from 16th on the grid.
At the front Hamilton was already building a lead and by lap five he was 2.6s ahead of Perez, with Ricciardo a further second back. Rosberg was already six seconds adrift of his title rival.
Ricciardo was the first to pit, on lap eight, and in a 2.4s stop the Red Bull driver shed his starting soft tyres and taking on medium compound Pirelli tyres.
Force India responded by pitting Perez on the next lap, for a second set of soft tyres, but Ricciardo made the undercut work and passed Perez as the Mexican was stationary in the pit lane. The pit stops for both meant Rosberg swept through to second and began to utilise his Mercedes’ power to build a gap that might allow him to pass Ricciardo and Perez when he made his stop.
Williams erred during the stops, however. The team brought Bottas in but somehow managed to fit medium tyres on three corners but a soft compound tyre on the front-right side. He was soon under investigation for the mistake and he was handed a drive-through penalty.
When the first stops were complete Hamilton was still out in front on lap 16. Second now was Rosberg, who had emerged from his stop ahead of Perez, who had used his soft tyre pace to re-pass Ricciardo. Grosjean was now fifth, with Vettel in sixth place ahead of Kvyat and Massa. Räikönnen moved to ninth as Bottas served his penalty and Verstappen was 10th.
Grosjean passed Ricciardo for fourth on lap 18 and the Frenchman began to close on Perez, who was now almost 13 seconds behind Rosberg, who was 3.4 seconds adrift of Hamilton.
Grosjean came up on the back of Perez’s Force India on lap 20 and under DRS swept past the Mexican along the Kemmel Straight to stake a claim to a podium place.
Ricciardo’s race was drawing to an end, however. The Australian’s sector times plummeted and on lap 21 his RB11 ground to a halt on the inside on the pit straight just after the exit of the Bus Stop. The Virtual Safety Car was deployed and the failure promoted Vettel to fourth ahead of Kvyat. A number of drivers chose to pit under the VSC, including Grosjean, Massa, Räikönnen, Perez and Verstappen.
The front three of Hamilton, Rosberg and Vettel elected to stay out, however, and on the restart Hamilton lost time to Rosberg with the gap closing to just 2.6s, with Vettel in third. The leader was also heading towards backmarkers. Grosjean was fourth ahead of Kvyat who would need another stop, while Perez was now sixth ahead of Massa, Räikönnen, Verstappen and Bottas.
Hamilton quickly responded to the threat from Rosberg and over the next handful of laps he powered away from his team-mate, carving out a 4.8s gap by lap 27.
Kvyat made his final stop from fifth place on lap 27 and took on a set of soft tyre, with which he hoped to attack in the final laps. He emerged behind Bottas but was soon past the Finn. Grosjean, meanwhile, was closing on Vettel, cutting the Ferrari man’s advantage to 3.5s in lap 28.
Hamilton made his final stop on lap 31, taking on a set of soft tyres in a 2.9s stop. He was followed a lap later by Rosberg, who also took on soft tyres and rejoined in second place, though he was now seven seconds behind his team-mate.
The question was what would Vettel do? The Ferrari driver was 3.7s ahead of Grosjean but had only made one pit stop, on lap 15, for medium tyres. His race engineer came on the radio and told the German that from the data going to the end looked possible and Vettel settled in for a final 14 laps of careful tyre management.
On lap 34 Perez was now fifth, just 0.7s ahead of Massa who was 1.3s clear of Räikönnen. Kvyat was now eighth ahead of Bottas and Verstappen.
Three laps from the flag Kvyat, who had been battling hard with Massa, eventually got past the Brazilian. As Massa was forced to defend he lost the DRS tow from Perez ahead and as he did so, Kvyat reeled the Williams in and the passed Massa with a brave late-braking move into Les Combes.
The Russian set off after Perez and on lap 41 passed the Mexican under DRS on the Kemmel straight to steal fifth.
It soon became fourth as Vettel’s hopes of a podium exploded on lap 42. With Grosjean close behind Vettel was pushing hard but as he crested the hill at Raidillon his aged right-rear tyre let failed, leaving the Lotus driver to power past into third.
At the front Hamilton took the flag with two seconds to spare over Rosberg. Grosjean took his first podium finish since the US Grand Prix of 2013 with third place. Kvyat was an excellent fourth ahead of Perez and Massa. Räikönnen was seventh ahead of Verstappen and Bottas and the final point on offer was claimed by Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson.
2015 Belgian Grand Prix – Race
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:23:40.387
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 00:02.058
3 Romain Grosjean Lotus 00:37.988
4 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull Racing 00:45.692
5 Sergio Perez Force India 00:53.997
6 Felipe Massa Williams 00:55.283
7 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 00:55.703
8 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 00:56.076
9 Valtteri Bottas Williams 01:01.040
10 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 01:31.234
11 Felipe Nasr Sauber 01:42.311
12 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1 lap
13 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1 lap
14 Jenson Button McLaren 1 lap
15 Roberto Merhi Marussia 1 lap
16 Will Stevens Marussia 1 lap
Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso
Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull
Pastor Maldonado Lotus
Nico Hulkenberg Force Indiaeom/FIA press release
Hamilton greets the crowd after winning the Belgian GP on Sunday. An FIA image -
Rosberg tops timesheets as Formula One action resumes at Spa
Nico Rosberg went quickest at Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps circuit as Formula One action got underway once again following the championships traditional summer break.
Rosberg made a slow start to the weekend, heading out for just three untimed laps during the opening 30-minute phase when drivers have access to an extra set of prime tyres.
He only set his first timed lap an hour into the session but with that lap he jumped straight into P1 with a time of 1:51.200.
In his absence, proceedings were largely controlled by his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton slotted into top spot early with a time of 1:52.192, more than a second clear of the rest of the field. The champion then lowered the benchmark further, climbing to a best time of 1:51.340, which kep the gap to his rivals at over a second as the opening half-hour elapsed.
Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkonen was closest to the Briton during the opening hour of the session, with the Finn lapping to within a tenth of a second of the Mercedes man.
However, the action was halted 50 minutes into the session when Pastor Maldonado lost control of his Lotus on the exit of Malmedy, hitting the barriers and damaging his car.
On the resumption Rosberg finally emerged to set a time and eventually eclipsed Hamilton by 0.242 seconds.
The gap to their rivals was narrowing, however, and by the end of the session, Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo kept the Mercedes pair honest by getting to within three tenths of Rosberg’s best time.
Räikkönen claimed the morning’s fourth fastest time, less than four tenths adrift of P1, while his teammate Sebastian Vettel was fifth, though the German was some eight tenths down on Rosberg’s session-best time. Daniil Kvyat, fresh from a career-best result of second place in Hungary, made a solid start to the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, taking sixth place.
He was the last driver to get within a second of Rosberg’s time, with Verstappen seventh and 1.07s down on the Mercedes man and team-mate Carlos Sainz eighth, a further three tenths back.
Sergio Perez in the Force India and Valtteri Bottas in the Williams completed the top 10.
2015 Belgian Grand Prix – Free Practice 1
1 N. Rosberg Mercedes 1:51.082 19
2 L. Hamilton Mercedes 1:51.324 +0.242 24
3 D. Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:51.373 +0.291 18
4 K. Raikkonen Ferrari 1:51.478 +0.396 23
5 S. Vettel Ferrari 1:51.866 +0.784 21
6 D. Kvyat Red Bull Racing 1:51.960 +0.878 18
7 M. Verstappen Toro Rosso 1:52.158 +1.076 27
8 C. Sainz Toro Rosso 1:52.421 +1.339 26
9 S. Perez Force India 1:52.423 +1.341 20
10 V. Bottas Williams 1:52.511 +1.429 19
11 P. Maldonado Lotus 1:52.539 +1.457 15
12 N. Hulkenberg Force India 1:52.614 +1.532 20
13 F. Nasr Sauber 1:52.640 +1.558 16
14 F. Massa Williams 1:52.653 +1.571 22
15 M. Ericsson Sauber 1:53.426 +2.344 16
16 F. Alonso McLaren 1:53.502 +2.420 15
17 J. Palmer Lotus 1:53.799 +2.717 23
18 J. Button McLaren 1:54.225 +3.143 14
19 W. Stevens Manor 1:55.501 +4.419 16
20 R. Merhi Manor 1:56.086 +5.004 17eom/FIA release
Roseberg in acdtion at Spa on Friday. An FIA image -
Hamilton takes fifth victory of the season; Rosberg second
Lewis Hamilton took a third career British Grand Prix win and his fifth victory of the 2015 season in an incident-packed race at Silverstone, despite an early upset which saw the Briton passed by both Williams cars.
Hamilton made a bad getaway at the start and was passed by Felipe Massa into turn one and then, following a short safety car period following a lap one crash at the back of the field, the Briton was passed by Valtteri Bottas on the restart.
The championship leader made amends later on, however, bypassing both Williams in the first pit stop window. Having taken the lead, he then didn’t look back and powered to the 38th win of his career despite the onset of rain in the second half of the race.
Rosberg also got away badly at the start and was passed by the Williams cars. His route to the podium was tricker than Hamilton’s and he spent the bulk of the race chasing down Bottas and Massa. He eventually made his way past the duo in the damp second half of the race to complete Mercedes’ sixth one-two finish of the season.
Sebastian Vettel finished third, profiting in the unpredictable wet conditions late in the race to vault past the Williams cars and claim his sixth podium finish of the year.
On the way to the grid Felipe Nasr’s Sauber developed a problem, with the Brazilian pulling over at Stowe corner. Nasr eventually made it back to the Sauber garage but despite efforts to get the problem remedied, Nasr was unable to take the start.
Forming up for the start Hamilton radioed his team to report that there was little grip on the grid and when the lights went out the pole sitter got away badly. So too did Rosberg, and Massa, starting third, seized the opportunity, blasting between the Mercedes to take the lead into turn one. His Williams team-mate Valtteri Bottas also took advantage, bypassing the slower Rosberg. He tried to pass Hamilton but the Briton resisted and managed to hold second.
With Rosberg fourth, Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg powered through to take fifth after starting ninth, with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen sixth. Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat held his seventh-place starting position but the second Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel had dropped to eighth ahead of Force India’s Sergio Perez and Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz.
At the back there was drama as both Lotus cars and both McLarens collided, bringing out the safety car. Alonso was the only car in the melee to make it through, though he had to pit for a new front wing and new hard tyres.
When the action resumed, Hamilton pushed hard to get past Massa but the Brazilian held his line well and the Mercedes driver was forced wide and off track.
The loss of momentum allowed Bottas to power past the Briton and with four laps gone, it was a Williams one-two ahead of the Mercedes of Hamilton and Rosberg, with Hulkenberg fifth ahead of Raikkonen and Kvyat. Vettel, though, was passed again, this time by Perez. Further back Max Verstappen went off and was forced out of the race.
By lap eight Massa was coming under pressure from team-mate Bottas, though the Finn could not find a way past. The battle between the two allowed Hamilton and Rosberg to close. Hamilton was just 0.7s behind Bottas, with Rosberg a further seconds back.
The battle between the Williams was becoming tense as Bottas radioed through to say he had more pace than Massa. The team initially told the Finn to hold station but then with the Mercedes gaining ground Bottas was told that he could race his team-mate but to make a clean pass if the opportunity presented itself.
Elsewhere, Daniel Ricciardo was the first make a regulation pit stop, visiting the pit lane from P11 to switch from starting medium tyres to the primer hard compound. He was followed by 10th-placed Sainz who also took the hard tyre.
Raikkonen then pitted for the hard tyre from sixth and was quickly followed by team-mate Vettel on lap 15. The duo rejoined in ninth and tenth, with Raikkonen ahead, and the pair began setting fastest laps on their new tyres. Kvyat then visited the pit lane from sixth position on lap 19, with the Russian also taking on the prime Pirelli compound.
On lap 20 it was Hamilton’s turn to pit from third place. The Briton was stationary for just 2.4s as he took on hard tyres. He emerged in fourth place, just ahead of Perez who had yet to make a stop.
Williams responded immediately, bringing Massa in on lap 20, with Rosberg also called in directly behind the Brazilian. Massa’s stop was marginally slower and the pair went towards the pit exit side by side. Massa eventually made out ahead of Rosberg, but Hamilton had done enough on his out lap to pass Massa.
Bottas then pitted on the next lap and after a 3.2s stop he couldn’t hold the lead and Hamilton surged through to lead the race. Bottas came out behind Massa and immediately came under pressure from Rosberg. The Finn defended hard, however, and managed to hold third.
Rosberg was now facing the prospect of dropping significant points to his team-mate and title rival. His engineer immediately came on the radio and told the German that he was being switched to a different strategy and “to push hard now”. Further back, Daniel Ricciardo retired from the race on lap 23.
The order, at the start of lap 25 saw Hamilton leading Massa by almost three seconds, with Bottas third, less than a second clear of Rosberg. Raikkonen was now fifth ahead of Vettel, with Kvyat seventh in front of Hulkenberg, Ericsson and Sainz.
At the front, on lap 32, Hamilton led Massa by 6.0s with Bottas 7.5s off the leader. Rosberg, meanwhile was some eight seconds off his team-mate.
At the end of lap 33 Sainz ground to a halt just off track at the final corner and the field was put under the virtual safety car.
The restriction ended on lap 35 and Hamilton held his lead comfortably, but around the track umbrellas were going up and drizzle began to fall.
On the following lap Bottas radioed through to say the rain was becoming steadier and that he wanted pit for intermediate tyres but he stayed out, though he began to drop back from Massa and into the clutches of Rosberg.
The rain was seemingly only affecting one side of the track, however, and Bottas was urged to stay out. At the start of lap 38 Bottas struggled at the end of the lap and his car fishtailed across the finish line, while behind him Rosberg lost grip and went well wide.
Raikkonen, who was sixth, was the first of the front runners to pit for inters, on lap 39, though those ahead stayed out. Bottas again lost grip moments later and Rosberg was through to claim third. The German was soon on the tail of Massa and on lap 41 he dived past the Williams driver to take second place.
The rain began to fall again on lap 44 and Hamilton made the brave decision to take on inters. Rosberg stayed out, however, and briefly took the lead. He, too, decided the conditions were becoming untenable on slick tyres and he pitted for intermediate tyres on lap 45 as the rain intensified. The German rejoined in second behind Hamilton.
Vettel, though, had pitted for intermediates on the same lap as Hamilton and the choice vaulted the Ferrari man to third as the Williams cars were forced to run another slow lap on slicks in worsening weather.
The order, with six laps to go, was Hamilton leading Rosberg by nine seconds. Vettel was 24s off the lead with Massa five seconds further back. Bottas was now fifth ahead of Kvyat and Hulkenberg. Raikkonen’s switch to inters in the first fall of rain and the slow laps he had to do as the track briefly dried had cost him badly and the Finn was now down in P8 ahead of Perez and McLaren’s Fernando Alonso who was on course for his first point of the season.
And that was how the order stayed, with Hamilton crossing the line at the end of lap 52 to join fellow Britons Nigel Mansell and Jim Clark as a three-time British Grand Prix winner. Hamilton also broke Jackie Stewart’s 45-year-old record by leading an 18th grand prix in a row.
The win stretches his Drivers’ Championship lead to 17 points over second-place Rosberg, while Vettel cemented himself into third with his sixth podium finish of the season, finishing ahead of the twin Williams cars. Kvyat was sixth ahead of Hulkenberg while Raikkonen held eighth ahead of Perez while Alonso crossed the line in 10th to take McLaren’s second points finish of the season.
2015 British Grand Prix – Race
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:31:27.729 52
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes +10.956 52
3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari +25.443 52
4 Felipe Massa Williams +36.839 52
5 Valtteri Bottas Williams +1:03.194 52
6 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull Racing +1:03.955 52
7 Nico Hulkenberg Force India +1:18.744 52
8 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari +Lap 51
9 Sergio Perez Force India +Lap 51
10 Fernando Alonso McLaren +Lap 51
11 Marcus Ericsson Sauber +Lap 51
12 Roberto Merhi Marussia +3 Laps 49
13 Will Stevens Marussia +3 Laps 49
14 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso DNF 31
15 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing DNF 21
16 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso DNF 3
17 Pastor Maldonado Lotus DNF 1
18 Jenson Button McLaren DNF 0
20 Felipe Nasr Sauber DNS 0
21 Romain Grosjean Lotus DNF 0eom/FIA release
Ha -
Hamilton extends championship lead over Rosberg with Canadian win
Lewis Hamilton extended his championship lead over team-mate Nico Rosberg to 17 points as he took his fourth win of the season in a closely-fought Canadian Grand Prix.
Valtteri Bottas scored Williams’ first podium finish since last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with third place, while Kimi Räikkönen took fourth ahead of hard-charging team-mate Sebastian Vettel who took 10 points after a P16 start.
When the lights went out, Hamilton made a good start and held his advantage over Rosberg into the first corner. Behind them Räikkönen briefly came under pressure from Bottas but the Ferrari driver held on to stay third, with Lotus’ Romain Grosjean fifth behind Bottas. Hulkenberg, meanwhile, passed Maldonado for sixth.
Unsurprisingly, with Massa, Vettel out of place, most of the action happened at the rear of the field. By lap four Vettel was up to 14th place from P16 on the grid and then passed Fernando Alonso into the chicane to claim P13. Massa, who had started 15th was already up to P12. At the very back Jenson Button, who had suffered a 15-place grid drop due to power unite parts replacement and thus had take a time penalty due to not taking part in qualifying, served a drive through and set off after P19 man Will Stevens.
Vettel’s progress through the order was hampered, however by a bungled first pit stop on lap seven. The German spent 6.6s waiting for his opening new supersofts to be exchanged for another set of the red-banded tyres and rejoined in last position.
By contrast, Massa was prospering. On starting soft tyres he worked a superb overtaking move on the supersoft-shod Marcus Ericsson on lap 10 to take 11th place.
At the front, by lap 12, Hamilton led Rosberg by three seconds, with Räikkönen a further 2.4 seconds back. The Ferrari driver was being shadowed by Bottas who was now two seconds behind in fourth. Grosjean held fifth ahead of Hulkenberg and Maldonado. Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat was 4.7s off the back of the Lotus but was inside DRS range of Force India’s Sergio Perez who had earlier passed Daniel Ricciardo for ninth.
Meanwhile, Massa’s charge continued. He dismissed Ricciardo with ease and then halted Perez’ pursuit of Kvyat by brushing past the Mexican to take eighth place. He then claimed the scalp of Kvyat, who was struggling with his supersoft tyres, on lap 21.
Vettel, too, was making progress after his poor stop. By lap 20 he was chasing down Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz and within two laps he had effortlessly dismissed the power-limited Toro Rossos to rise to P1. And as those around him pitted he was soon into the top 10 and harrying Maldonado, who had pitted for soft tyres.
At the front Hamilton pitted from the lead on lap 28 and in 2.8s had taken on soft tyres. Behind him on track, Rosberg pushed to make up ground during the stop but made a mistake and went wide at the hairpin. The German then made his stop on lap 29 stop for soft tyres and behind him Hamilton too outbraked himself as he tried to maintain the gap to his team-mate. When the pair crossed the line again Rosberg now found himself 2.3s adrift of his team-mate.
Behind them Bottas had risen to third place ahead of Räikkönen after the Ferrari man spun badly at the hairpin on cold tyres after his first pit stop. Massa, who had on lap 32 yet to stop, was now fifth ahead of Grosjean and the hard-charging Vettel.
After the Mercedes drivers’ stops, Rosberg immediately looked more comfortably on the soft tyres and closed the gap to 1.1s. Hamilton responded, however, and pulled out four tenths of a second on lap 34 to make his advantage more comfortable. Rosberg was then told that his brakes wear was “critical” and that he needed to fall back for 10 laps before attacking his team-mate.
Vettel made his second and final stop on lap 35,taking on more soft tyres. The visit to the pit lane dropped him to P9, from where he began his next assault.
Massa meanwhile made his sole visit to the pit lane, for supersoft tyres on lap 38 and rejoined behind Vettel.
On his way to seventh place, Vettel then clashed with Hulkenberg. The Ferrari man pulled alongside the Force India into the final chicane and Hulkenberg spun. Vettel was quickly on the radio insisting that there had been no contact and following investigation the race stewards ruled that no further action was necessary.
A more visible collision occurred moments later when Grosjean sustained a puncture when he closed the door to sharply on Will Stevens after passing the Manor backmarker. Grosjean was quickly handed a five-second penalty for his transgression.
Vettel’s charge continued and on lap 55 he passed Maldonado under braking into the final chicane. The German was now in fifth place and 12.8s behind team-mate Räikkönen, with the Finn now almost 10s adrift of Bottas was comfortable in third. At the front Hamilton had stabilised his advantage over his team-mate at 1.5s.
Further back, Massa passed Maldonado on lap 62, while Grosjean was told that he would have his time penalty added after the flag and that he needed to pass Kvyat for P9 and then gap the Russian sufficiently to claim the two points on offer.
The Frenchman could find no way past the young Red Bull driver, however, with the Russian having an excellent afternoon despite the power deficiency his Renault engine had at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
The order elsewhere also remained static and despite Rosberg’s best attempts Hamilton took his fourth Canadian Grand Prix win comfortably. Rosberg crossed the line just over three seconds afterwards and Bottas took his seventh career podium finish.
Räikkönen claimed fourth ahead of Vettel, with Massa sixth and Maldonado scored his first points of the year in seventh. He was followed to the flag by Hulkenberg, while Kvyat held off Grosjean who took the final point on offer.
2015 Canadian Grand Prix – Race
1 L Hamilton Mercedes 1:31’53.145 25
2 N Rosberg Mercedes +2.285 18
3 V Bottas Williams +40.666 15
4 K Räikkönen Ferrari +45.625 12
5 S Vettel Ferrari +49.903 10
6 F Massa Williams +56.381 8
7 P Maldonado Lotus +1:06.664 6
8 N Hülkenberg Force India +1 Lap 4
9 D Kvyat Red Bull +1 Lap 2
10 R Grosjean Lotus +1 Lap 1
|11 S Pérez Force India +1 Lap
12 C Sainz Toro Rosso +1 Lap
13 D Ricciardo Red Bull +1 Lap
14 M Ericsson Sauber +1 Lap
15 M Verstappen Toro Rosso +1 Lap
16 F Nasr Sauber +2 Laps
17 W Stevens Manor +4 Laps
18 R Merhi Manor
19 J Button McLaren
20 F Alonso McLareneom/
Hamilton file photo by Mercedes AMG Petronas -
Rosberg wins Monaco GP; Hamilton displays mature behaviour after team’s blunder costs him dearly
Monaco, 24 May 2015: After dominating for most of the race, reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton suffered a severe jolt due to a blunder by his Mercedes team which wrongly called him into the pits towards the end, during the Safety Car period, thus handing over the Monaco GP win to teammate and championship rival, Nico Rosberg. Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari squeezed into the second position and Hamilton was stuck in the third place despite a faster pace, at the street circuit notorious for its lack of overtaking possibilities.
Hamilton was deeply disappointed and was visibly dow
Nico Rosberg celebrates after winning the Monaco GP on Sunday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas team image n but showed a mature behaviour and refused to drag the team into controversy. He repeatedly held his cool and did not criticise the team and said that he would come back with a win. He shook hands with Rosberg and congratulated him on the podium and said “the team have done an amazing job. We win and lose together,” he said. With his cool handling of the situation despite the emotional blow, he won the hearts of thousands of fans, who reserved the best applause for him today. Mercedes Head Toto Wolff apologised profusely: “What a crazy day. I don’t think there has ever been a more bittersweet feeling than this one. We have won the Monaco Grand Prix and we have lost the Monaco Grand Prix all at the same time. First of all, we must apologise to Lewis. We win and we lose together and what I am proud of in this team is that we take collective responsibility. But this is a day when we simply have to say sorry to our driver, because our mistake cost him the victory here.”
Rosberg has won the Monaco Grand Prix for the third successive time joining the elite club of Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost and Graham Hill. He used a one-stop strategy, starting on the P Zero Red supersoft tyre and then switched to the P Zero Yellow soft. The German now becomes only the fourth driver in history to win the Monaco Grand Prix for three consecutive years. He also claimed his second consecutive victory of the 2015 season to close up the fight for the championship to 10 points.
The race was turned on its head by a safety car period close to the finish, during which Lewis Hamilton lost the lead that he had held from pole position, after making an extra pit stop to change to the supersoft.
The majority of drivers stopped just once after starting on the supersoft tyre, although Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg, McLaren’s Fernando Alonso, Williams driver Valtteri Bottas and both Manors started on the soft tyre.
Temperatures were generally cool throughout practice and qualifying but warmed up during race day, peaking at 42 degrees centigrade on track, which improved the grip from both compounds. As usual, wear and degradation was minimal on the least abrasive and slowest circuit of the year. This made maintaining tyre temperature crucial after five laps of the safety car.
A particularly impressive drive came from the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz, which started from last place following a penalty post-qualifying. The Spaniard got up to a points-scoring 10th on his Monaco debut, using a one-stop strategy. Crucial to his strategy was a 66-lap stint on the soft tyre at the end of the race.
Rosberg set his fastest lap of the race just two laps from the finish, when his final set of soft tyres were already 39 laps old.
eom/with inputs from Mercedes and Pirelli Motorsports
