Your basket is currently empty!
Tag: Mercedes
-
Friendly banter marks the season’s last press conference: FIA Formula 1
Hamilton (centre) at the final press conference of the F1 season. An FIA image Abu Dhabi, 25 Nov 2018: The final press conference of the F1 season saw some friendly banter between strong rivals on the track and good friends off it, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, as they joined together after their entertaining tyre smoking donuts in honour of retiring former world champion Fernando Alonso, to answer questions by another former F1 great David Coulthard on the track side.
DC: Q: Lewis, incredible end to the season.
Lewis HAMILTON: I’m so happy right now. Thank you guys so much for all the support this year.
Q: Actually, Seb, stay here, stay here. You guys have made this season epic. So, a little word; we don’t often get to hear you talking together. How much has it meant to be battling out there wheel-to-wheel?
LH : It’s been a real honour and a privilege racing against Sebastian. I’ve known him since Formula 3 days and he’s always been an honest, hard-working racing driver and he has always raced his heart out. He did a fantastic job this whole season. There’s so much pressure on us all, so don’t every look at our shortcomings as anything less than us giving our best and Sebastian did. I know next year he’s going to come back strong, so I’ve got to make sure I come back with him, but I’m really grateful for the time.
Q: Seb, for you, racing wheel-to-wheel with Lewis?
Sebastian VETTEL: Well he’s the champion and he deserves to be the champion. Yeah, it’s been a tough year. I tried everything until the last lap, also today, I really enjoyed. Catching a little bit, a little bit, but I think he controlled the pace at the front. I would have liked it to be a little more wheel-to-wheel but yeah, a long year, a lot of races. Congrats, and as he said I will try, we will try, I think our whole team will try to come back stronger to make sure we give him a harder run into next year. But the final word: I think also well done to Fernando. I think the last years have been very tough for him, we’ve been missing him and we will miss him, so well done on his career.
Q: Maybe the three of you all together, because this is multiple world championships between Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando. Fernando, we wish you well in your retirement. You’ll be coming back to visit Formula 1 though?
Fernando ALONSO: Yeah, as long as I’m not commentating, you know like some of the ex-Formula 1 drivers! But yeah, it has been a pleasure racing with these champions. I feel very privileged, with you too obviously. Thanks for everything. Thanks, Formula 1. I will always be a fan of this show.
Q: OK, Fernando, you’ve been a true legend, enjoy the journey home. Lewis, you won the race, it’s been an incredible season, but there was a slightly uncomfortable moment there where you pitted on lap six, you came out in traffic. We heard you on the radio saying ‘hey guys, did you know I was going to come out behind this traffic’?
LH: Well, firstly just let me… as you already spoken of Fernando, he’s a true legend. It’s been a real honour and a privilege to race in a period of time where he has been racing. Before I even got to Formula 1 I was already watching him and admiring what he had achieved. I was asked all weekend ‘will you miss him’ and naturally I don’t really quite feel like I miss another driver ever, but the sport will miss him, we will miss him and I will definitely miss him being in the sport. Today, well, my engineers always talk about stopping super early. They’re way too chilled behind the wall! And I was like “yeah, I’ve got a long way to and this doesn’t feel too good right now”. But it lasted long, once again they were calculated and correct and that’s why we have to put so much trust in those guys. A big, big thank you to Mercedes and all of the team, all of the sporting partners. We wouldn’t have had this championship without them. The championship wouldn’t be the same without the fans, these guys that are travelling around the world, thank you so much for coming, appreciate it.
Q: Lewis, congratulations. Finally, Max, you said you would be on the podium, your fifth straight podium result. Some good hard racing there with Valtteri Bottas, good day for you.
Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, not an easy race. I had a problem with the start. Actually, the launch was good but then the engine went into like a safety programme and I had it again on the re-start afterward. It was not easy but we managed to go back into a good position, putting pressure on the guys ahead. I think I stopped quite early but I had to because I was on the hypers. Then we managed to keep the supersoft alive and I had the good pace. But the last few laps were not that easy as there was a Toro Rosso leaking oil onto my helmet, so I couldn’t really see where I was going, but at the end of course very happy to be third.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Sebastian and Lewis, you both have plenty of experience winning world titles. We’ve seen Max up alongside you now quite a bit at the end of this season. Do you think he’s ready for a world title push next year – and Max, how much have learned this year – and do you think you’re ready to fight for the world title next year?
LH: How many years you been going now? Is this your third year?
MV: Fourth!
LH: Jeez, you’re getting old!
SV: Veteran. You have some wrinkles.
MV: It’s quite demanding and stressful.
SV: Botox?
MV: I might start with that, yeah.
LH: Max has been driving very well throughout the year and has shown his consistency and has been up here many, many times with us, so if his team does the job and delivers a platform with which he can compete even closer with us, then, of course, he’ll be in the fight. I think he’s finished third in the championship, right?
MV: No, two points behind – but at least I don’t have to go to the Gala!
LH: Lucky you!
MV: We calculated that. I’m sorry. Unless I can do it as a community service day, and then I will go.
LH: No, you can’t do that as a community service day.
MV: I’ll do some PR stuff before? How great the whole venue is, I’ll do a special speech in the evening…
Seb…?
SV: No, no keep going. This is good fun from the outside. Yeah. On the track, I don’t think he needs any advice. I think he’s got all the ingredients. I think there’s a couple of guys out there who have these qualities and Max is certainly one of them. Yeah, I think we’ve seen that. I also remember from my time, it’s important to have a competitive package throughout the season and Red Bull are certainly very, very strong and I think they put more performance to their car than any other team across the year, so obviously that allowed them to be very competitive, especially looking after tyres, etc., but yeah, I think both to be honest, Max and Daniel have proven that they can be very, very quick and very consistent so I’m sure more of him, he’ll be up here.
And Max. Do you feel ready for a title push?
MV: I always find that a really difficult question, because you’re so dependent on the package in Formula One. I mean, when I was watching back in the day to Formula One, it seemed like Lewis was ready for the title in his first year. Seemed like you were pretty quick. Of course, I think in a year you can always do things better but I think that’s every year. Even if, at the end of the day, you win the title, there are always things which you can do better. So, yeah, even if we have a winning package, for sure there will be weekends where maybe you make a mistake, or it can be a better weekend overall. Hopefully, first we’ll have that package.
Q: (Rebecca Clancy – The Times) Question to all three drivers. Just 112 days until we’re in Australia. What are your plans now? What are you going to be doing over the winter break?
SV: What are your plans? You seem to be counting the days. Can’t wait?
Seb, why don’t you start? What are your plans?
LH: Another baby?
SV: I don’t know. Quickly done! If you need advice, I know how to do it.
MV: Keep pushing!
SV: I don’t know how long you two want to be in free practice…
MV: I like free practice.
SV: If you want to go to qualifying and take things to the next level, you’ve got my number! It’s the usual drill. We’ve got some events coming but, things that I look forward to, after this year, to be very honest, is to turn everything off. I think I need some time for myself. I think it has been a quite difficult and exhausting year for me. I definitely need a bit of a gap. I’m pretty sure, based on the last winters, that very soon, usually after 111 days, I’m very, very hungry again for the next race. As I said, getting away for a little bit and then focus. Obviously, we still have the test coming up, so not yet time to rest – but yeah, I think this will be an important one with the tyres for the next year and then, I don’t know. Just enjoy the home. Enjoy my family, enjoy friends. Do stuff that you don’t usually have much time for. Some DIY. Do some fixing at home. Small jobs.
LH: DIY?
SV: Do It Yourself.
LH: You do that stuff?
SV: Yeah. A little bit.
LH: Good job.
SV: Working on my bikes. Very slow process.
MV: It’s like old-timers, right?
SV: It’s my very first bike, from when I was 15. Still restoring it.
MV: Tuning it as well, or just restoring?
SV: Just back to the original.
LH: Does it start still?
SV: Not at the moment. It’s just a frame with all the bits next to it, waiting for reassembly, so…!
Lewis, your plans?
LH: I haven’t made any plans yet – but looking forward to family time. I unfortunately still have a lot of work to do until mid-December sometime – but excited for the winter, winter break and just getting time to spend with my sister and the kids and my Mum and my Dad. The whole switch-off thing. The seasons are getting longer and longer, so the importance of that period is getting more and more important. But, I’m going to stay in free practice for a little bit longer! Works best for me.
No DIY?
LH: No, I do DIY. I do like doing that. I’m usually breaking something because everything’s fixed already, so I have to break it first and then I redo it.
And Max, what are your plans?
MV: I really want to be at home. I really like to spend time there and do stuff with my friends as well. I haven’t really met up with them in the last two months, so yeah, it’s good to catch up during December and early January, and then we’ll start preparing again.
LH: Free practice?
MV: A lot of free practice, yeah.
LH: You’re staying in free practice?
MV: I’ll definitely stay in free practice.
Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lewis, we saw you take your overalls off on the podium. Was that an advert for further free practice or is it just a new celebration?
LH: No, I just wanted to show ‘Still I rise’ on my back.
SV: There’s a lot going on so…
LH: But it definitely didn’t go as I thought it would go but anyways, it was OK. But we’ll see if it helps with practice! Not that I need any!
Q: (Christian Menarth – MotorsportMagazin.com) Seb, you said you know where you have to change within the team, until next season. What did you mean exactly, did you mean on the technical side or the team side or operational side?
SV: Well, in the end, it’s a big operation, so a lot of small things that need to come together but I think everybody’s there. We’ve mentioned it many times. Obviously, we lost our path a little bit halfway through the year. Things didn’t come together so obviously, we did a step back towards the end of the year which enabled us to be more competitive again but I think we’ve understood what went wrong, we obviously tried to do a better job in the future, that was one key thing. On the other hand, I think we had a lot of lessons, it was a tough year in general. I think the team is strong and the team has potential but surely it was a lot of things that happened inside the team. The passing of our chairman, Mr Marchionne obviously had an impact and was tough so I think it’s up to us to look into every single detail and make sure we come out as a stronger group, enabling us to build a stronger package for next year and for the future.
Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Just to follow up on that, Sebastian, do you think there’s anything that you need to change personally, in your approach to driving, to take the next step next season?
SV: I think, naturally, the year I’ve had, I don’t think I ever any problems raising my hand if I made a mistake. I think, knowing as well, as a racing driver, how quickly things can go wrong, how quickly things could have gone differently this year, I think, yeah, I have to review a couple of things but there are other things that I think went wrong and don’t need a lot of reviewing and not over-complicating things too much. I think I know what I need to do. Certainly, here and there, looking back I haven’t been at the top of my game so… I look at myself first, I think I can be better than I was at times this year. Having said that though, I think we also had a lot of races where we got everything out of the car and the package and I felt that I did everything I could. I was happy with that. But yeah, that’s how it goes, that’s sometimes why you love racing and sometimes why you hate racing. Yeah, as I said, for now, I need a bit of time just to shut things down and then I think usually…I don’t know, it’s a bit like skiing: maybe you learn something overnight before you go on the slopes again the next day. Obviously our night, it would help to hibernate, it would be stretching the night a lot longer than it is but I think we have a little bit of time to digest and analyse and yeah, I’ve always tried to improve things. I don’t think I need to change things upside down but certainly, in there I can adjust and get stronger.
-
Hamilton takes 11th pole of the season: Abu Dhabi
Hamilton takes pole at Yas Marina on Saturday. An FIA image Abu Dhabi, 24 Nov 2018: Lewis Hamilton took his 11th pole position of the 2018 FIA Formula 1 World Championship as he headed a Mercedes 1-2 in qualifying for the 21st and final race of the FIA Formula One World Championship at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit on Saturday.
Hamilton edged team-mate Valtteri Bottas by 0.162s in the final runs of Q3, with the Finn only losing out to the five-time champion due to a small error in the final sector of the 5.554km circuit. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel will start from third place on the grid, ahead of team-mate Kimi Räikkönen, and Red Bull continued the two-by-two qualifying result as Daniel Ricciardo, competing in his final qualifying for the team, took fifth place ahead of team-mate Max Verstappen.
In the opening runs of Q1 it was Vettel who went quickest, the German toppling team-mate Kimi Räikkönen from top spot with a lap of 1:36.946 that he then improved by almost two tenths. Räikkönen was followed by Hamilton.
Bottas jumped to P2 with a late flyer to demote his team-mate to P3 and when the flag fell Racing Point Force India’s Esteban Ocon final flyer netted P4 ahead of Räikkönen and Sauber’s Charles Leclerc who split the Red Bulls by taking P7
In the drop zone as the final runs approached were 16th-placed Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, followed by Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson, McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne and the Williams cars of Sergey Sirotkin and Lance Stroll.
Both Alonso and Magnussen found more pace to rise to P14 and P15 respectively and that dropped both Toro Rosso cars into the drop zone.
The Italian team’s Pierre Gasly might have made the jump to safety after impressive opening sectors but in the final section of track he fell back and limped across the line reporting a loss of power and “smoke coming out of the engine”. He pulled over at the side of the track soon after crossing the start/finish line and exited both his car and the session.
Gasly qualified in P17 behind team-mate Brendon Hartley, though the French driver still managed to outpace Vandoorne, Sirotkin and Stroll.
Hamilton seized the initiative in the early Q2 runs as the top three teams ran ultrasofts. The five-time champion claimed top spot with a lap of 1:35.693 to sit almost seven tenths of a second clear of second-placed Bottas. The Mercedes pair were followed by Räikkönen, Vettel and Ricciardo.
Verstappen though struggled on the purple-banded Pirelli tyre and after the first runs found himself in P10 and at risk of elimination.
That meant a second run on hypersofts to ensure progress and his lap of 1:36.144 on the softest compound on offer vaulted him to P2 behind Hamilton.
Ricciardo’s ultrasoft gamble paid off, however, and though the Australian dropped down in the order in the closing stages of Q2, his opening time of 1:36.964 was good enough for P10. Like the Mercedes and Ferrari drivers he will start the race on ultrasofts.
Eliminated at the end of the second segment were 11th placed Renault driver Carlos Sainz, followed by Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson, Haas’ Magnussen, Racing Point Force India’s Sergio Perez and Alonso, competing in his 311th and, for the moment, final F1 qualifying session.
Hamilton again claimed top spot in the first runs of Q3, though only with 0.057s in hand over Vettel, with Bottas third ahead of Ricciardo. Räikkönen split the Red Bulls in fifth place.
However, Hamilton found an extra reserve of pace on his final run to eventually edge Bottas by 0.162s and third-placed Vettel by over four tenths of a second.
Räikkönen improved in the final run to claim fourth with a time of 1:35.365, while the Bulls locked out row three with Daniel sealing fifth place with an improvement to 1:35.401 and Max taking P6 with his opening Q3 time of 1:35.589. Behind them Haas’ Romain Grosjean was seventh ahead of Sauber’s Charles Leclerc, Racing Point Force India’s Esteban Ocon and the Renault’s of Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz.
2018 Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:34.794
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:34.956 0.162
3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:35.125 0.331
4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:35.365 0.571
5 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:35.401 0.607
6 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:35.589 0.795
7 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:36.192 1.398
8 Charles Leclerc Sauber 1:36.237 1.443
9 Esteban Ocon Force India 1:36.540 1.746
10 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:36.542 1.748
11 Carlos Sainz Jr. Renault 1:36.982 2.188
12 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:37.132 2.338
13 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:37.309 2.515
14 Sergio Perez Force India 1:37.541 2.747
15 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:37.743 2.949
16 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 1:37.994 3.200
17 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 1:38.166 3.372
18 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 1:38.577 3.783
19 Sergey Sirotkin Williams 1:38.635 3.841
20 Lance Stroll Williams 1:38.682 3.888. -
It’s quite an emotional qualifying because it’s the last time in this car, says poleman Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes (centre) addressing the press conference after taking pole. An FIA image Abu Dhabi: The top-three drivers including poleman attended the FIA post-qualifying press conference on Saturday at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Transcript:
(Track Interviews conducted by David Coulthard)
Q: Lewis, absolutely fantastic. Epic qualifying session, you’ve topped and tailed the season with pole positions. The fans are happy, you’re happy…
Lewis HAMILTON: I’m so grateful for all the support that we have here. It’s quite an emotional qualifying for me because it’s the last time I’m going to be qualifying in this car. I know you guys watch it, but the emotional rollercoaster I’ve gone through with this car… I’m probably the closest to this car than I’ve been in any car, you know, emotionally attached. It’s not always been easy; it’s been a struggle with here. But it has been a real privilege to work with her this year and I’m just so grateful to the team, to everyone for putting it together, to my guys, these mechanics who have been me for what is it, the last three years or whatever it may be, for their diligence, the guys back at the factory, I’m really just so grateful for everyone. And today it was just so much fun. To go out there and be able to express yourself and to push the car the way you want, there’s no better feeling. And to come back and see the reception from the fans – I really of appreciate it.
Q: You obviously have an affinity with this car. Will you get to keep one at the end of the season or do they go into the museum? Do you keep a collection?
LH: That’s confidential. I’d have to kill you if I told you. You know what, I’m just happy… I think this car will be in the history museum of Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart on the road of evolution where they will have all the greats that have driven with them in the past. I’ll get to see this whenever I want when I go to Germany. I haven’t got enough space for this in my house, anyway, it wouldn’t fit in my apartment.
Q: Very quickly, of all the poles this year, how did that rate? We saw you, on the second last run, you had a little bit of movement from the car, but on that final lap were you happy, or do you feel you left a little bit behind?
LH: No, honestly there was… I never say there is a perfect lap. The first lap wasn’t spectacular. There were some excursions and a bit of movement on the rear end. That last one, it started off quite calm and then just got more and more aggressive as I went through. And the last sector, as you see, the last sector was the killer for me. That’s where I really was able to make a difference. So I actually came around, I think, four tenths up. That’s not easy to do from one lap to another, so I’m pretty grateful for that. Valtteri did a great job and I know Seb was pushing really hard, so it’s been a real privilege working with, and racing against, these guys this year.
Q: Congratulations on your pole position? Valtteri, you pushed him hard, only a couple of tenths in the end in it. Frustrated or happy to start the last grand prix of the season from the front row?
Valtteri BOTTAS: Well, for sure I was aiming for the pole. I had a good result here last year but couldn’t repeat that. Personally, P2 wasn’t what I was expecting but for us, even though we have secured the Constructors’ title, we can still perform at a very high level as a team. Being one-two for the final race is good.
Q: You know you were actually up on Lewis at the end of the second sector, so it was that final sector. Where was the time lost in that?
VB: Yeah, I think I lost a little bit of time in Turn 17-18, it’s just very difficult to get it perfectly right. But he was performing well. It was tough to beat his time. There was a possibility for that but he did a better job on the lap.
Q: Well done. Sebastian, you’re still smiling, so that’s good. In the end the Mercedes was just too strong a package on this race track. Did you expect it to be a little bit closer or did you have the signs already in free practice?
Sebastian VETTEL: I don’t know, to be honest. I enjoyed the session. In Q1 I thought it was rally tight, so I thought maybe we would have a word to say. In Q2 I thought Lewis put a really strong lap in on the harder tyres, and I thought ‘whoa, this is going to be difficult’. But then the first run in Q3 I rally had a good lap and it was very close again, but they must have had still some push in for the last run. I did improve, I think the track ramped up, but not enough to be a threat. But for tomorrow I’m quite confident and I think it is going to be a long race, so yeah, it’s going to be a fun race.
Q: It was great when I was talking with Valtteri, I could see you were talking with Lewis, Lewis has just gone and shaken hands with your mechanics – it’s been a tough rivalry but there has been respect throughout?
SV: Yeah, obviously one thing happens on track but off track I don’t see the reason why you can’t talk to each other or joke with each other. I enjoyed it, obviously it didn’t go my way; I guess he enjoyed it a little but more. Looking forward to getting in the car for the last time this year and challenging these guys and yeah, we’ll give it everything we have.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Starting on pole position for the fourth time here in Abu Dhabi, the 11th pole of 2018, the 83rd pole of his career and his 52nd pole in the last 100 races, Lewis Hamilton. Many congratulations Lewis, how did that one stack up with that long list I’ve just read out?
LH: Wow! It was a great qualifying session. It was a lot of fun. Obviously, going into it, feeling relatively emotional being that I was going to be stepping into this car for qualifying. It’s just been such a journey this year. So many things have happened, so many trials and tribulations along the way and it’s been a real privilege working with these guys. The actually qualifying session went quite smoothly. I think, collectively, as a team, we’ve done a really good job this weekend in getting the car into the right window – and obviously, it was still quite close at the end – but the difficult thing was trying to improve on… it’s always difficult to improve on your last lap, particularly because your first lap, your banker lap, is pretty good but I managed to increase the gap on that section, knowing these guys would also do the same. I saw Valtteri was obviously quite close. He was improving throughout the qualifying session, so he did a great job – but what a great way to end the season, with a one-two qualifying session. So really proud of everyone at Mercedes and, those numbers that you mentioned, I couldn’t have done that without everyone at Mercedes. The support, since I was 13, has been incredible. So, just proud to be a part of the machine.
Q: Valtteri, coming on to you. Just quite simply, where do you feel it slipped away, the time?
VB: I think, first of all, Lewis had quite a nice lap, so congrats for that. My first run, I could feel that there was plenty I could improve, and the gap was smaller between us in the first run. The second run, I think there was definitely some track improvement. We both managed to find some time but he just got a more complete lap in the end. I think what maybe hurt me a little bit was that there was a couple of runs in the qualifying that I didn’t really get a good lap out of the ultra tyre in Q2, some other runs, I really struggled with some things on the car. But then, yeah, happy to have decent runs in Q3. That way we could secure a well-earned one-two for the team.
Q: Sebastian, how surprised are you by the pace of the Mercedes around here?
SV: Not surprised. I think they looked very competitive all weekend, so, I don’t know, qualifying, it’s been a bit up and down. Q1 looked very good for us. Q2 then probably was realistic. I think Lewis had a very strong lap on the ultrasoft. So, I think we tried everything and gave it everything we had. After the first run didn’t look stupid at all. Was very close, half-a-tenth, I thought, was in reach but then the second run, obviously, I crossed the line and… yeah… I was quite happy with the lap but it wasn’t enough and obviously dropped back to third. I guess there first run was probably not as strong as ours. The track did improve but it’s a long lap, so there’s a lot of lap-time to be found if everything works out. As I said, I was happy with our session. I think happy that we were able to get a strong lap in Q2, which is important for tomorrow’s race. Would have liked to have been in the front row. It’s not the case but yeah, I said to the guys after the qualifying that we will fight as hard as we can tomorrow. I think, come race day, anything can happen. We’ve got good speeds in the straights. We are lacking a little bit of downforce in the last sector, I guess, so let’s see what we can do – but surely it’s going to be a long race.
Questions from the floor:
Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Lewis, with pole and victory and Brazil and pole here, it’s very good form after wrapping up the title. When you won the title early in 2015 and 2017 you didn’t have that afterward. Was it important for you at all to maintain that level after winning the title this year? And is anything different, compared to previous seasons to allow you to stay at that level?
LH: Not really.
SV: You’re older. Wiser.
LH: Older. Wiser! I don’t know. I don’t think it ‘cos I couldn’t do it in the past, just didn’t do the job. I think this year it was being in a different place in my life. I do want to continue to push the limits, push the boundaries and I wanted to finish the season on a solid high if I can. So that I can really continue to keep that foundation as strong as it has been this year so I can use that to start on next year. I think in the past it was still good. It was no biggie that I didn’t win after I won the Championship but I’m definitely happy with how it’s going this year and there’s still a long race tomorrow., so still got a lot of work to do but really happy with today.
Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-Magazin.com) Two questions for you Seb. In Q2, you did the second run on the ultrasoft as well, so did you know you can improve somewhere, was it a big risk for you at that time? And the second one, yesterday, you weren’t that confident for the race pace. Today, you look a bit happier with race pace. Is it just the top speed advantage that makes you more confident for tomorrow?
SV: There’s a lot of questions in there! I think the car felt a bit better today. Probably the track came towards us as well. Usually throughout qualifying the track improves and you start to feel happier with the car. So I think we estimated the right direction and were able to follow the trend. I think yesterday we tried everything and obviously for us the hypersoft didn’t last so long, so we were quite confident that it’s not the race tyre, not the tyre we want to start the race on. Other people obviously had the same opinion and I knew in the second run that I had some lap-time to gain. I was held-up a little bit in traffic on the first lap and I knew it will be tight but I really wanted to start on that tyre. That’s why I was able, or was happy to take that risk.
Q: (Rene Oudman – RacingNews365.com) Question to all three. The Red Bulls will only start in the third row – but we’ve seen in recent races that their race pace is pretty good. How would you guys rate their chances for tomorrow?
LH: Yeah, they’ll be strong tomorrow. They always are in the race. We’ve seen a pattern show over the year where they’re quick in early practice and then, when we get to qualifying, they can’t keep up, or they struggle to keep up with the pace that we end up delivering, and then in the race, they come back. So it’s evident that they’re probably better than all of us at looking after their tyres and operating where they don’t have to manage the same as everyone else, whatever that’s down to, downforce, whatever it may be. So I’m sure they’ll be strong tomorrow – but it’s not that easy a circuit to overtake. And you know the Ferraris are very strong on the straight, so for them to propel past a Ferrari, I’m sure will not be easy but yeah, you’ve seen them up until now, so I hope they have a strong finish to the year and I hope it’s relatively close between us all.
Valtteri, anything to add?
VB: Nothing to add, no.
Sebastian? They’ll be starting closest to you…
SV: Yeah. Obviously!
Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Couple of questions; first one’s to Lewis: what is it, 52 poles now in a hundred races; you’ve won 50 races out of 99; phenomenal achievement, what do you put that success down to? Where do you think it’s going to stop and question to the other two, how do you stop him? How do you stop Lewis from steamrollering through these statistics?
LH: I put it down to teamwork. I think it’s definitely a little bit difficult for all you and everyone watching to see everything that’s going on in the background but just the other day I was sitting in the office here, I think on Friday, sitting just talking to a couple of individuals who are not usually here but are up-to-date with next year’s car. So we sit and have this in-depth conversation and it’s inspiring… they are so smart, incredibly intelligent and they think on a completely different wavelength to the normal person. And the things that they have to take into account when building a car and I think over the years I’ve been getting more and more involved in that as I understand it more and try to… You know ultimately I want to make sure, through our debriefs, they’ve not misinterpreted something. For example, I know what I need in this car to make it faster and I’ve got to make sure that I communicate that with them so that they go and build and find that performance. And for next year’s car, I have an idea, for example, where the weak spot will be with these new rule changes as do they, so just working closely, communication and we’re all of us constantly working so closely together, really elevating each other and I think this year, if you look at the team’s performance on the race weekend, that our mechanics, our engineers, strategists, we’ve all raised our game. We’ve been better than… you know it’s never ever been perfect, neither of us as drivers, but collectively, as a team, I think we’ve really continued to elevate ourselves which is again, inspiring for me and that encourages me to go out there and not want to let them down. So I’m confident; as long as Mercedes don’t change their approach, don’t change their desire to win… some teams decide to veer off and do some other business venture and lose a bit of focus on the main ultimate goal; as long as they don’t do that, I believe that we’ll be able to stay on this path and continue to fight at the top. But Ferrari have been doing an amazing job this year so we cannot take anything for granted, we’ve got to keep the hammer down, keep pushing as they will be. See how close they are right now and look at Valtteri, he’s been driving exceptionally well all year. I know next year again, the third year with the team, he will be even quicker so we will have to rediscover new skills for next year.
Q: And Valtteri, how are you going to stop him?
VB: Obviously Lewis has had great numbers in his career. It is really impressive. I think that happens when you’re enjoying it and you always find new skills from yourself and you’re still hungry to develop. It’s for every sport, individual, it’s the same. For me, my target next year is to be better. My target next week is to be better than this week so I will continue my work with the team together and try to be a better driver. Of course I want to be ahead of him many more times than I’ve been in the last two years but it’s going to be hard work, I know but I’m willing to work hard and as Lewis said, we have a great team around us and the team spirit is amazing so the amount of strength I’m getting from the team has been amazing and that’s going to help me also next year.
SV: Well, I think Lewis summed it up fairly well, I think mentioning the word teamwork, I think that’s what it’s about. Obviously what you look at in terms of when you look in qualifying or the race, then obviously we are the ones driving the car and we are alone driving the car and when we cross the line you look at us first but there’s a lot of people behind to make sure that you do cross the line and if they do their job really really well and work together then you have a high chance of finishing higher up. So I think it’s needless to say that Lewis had an incredible run in the last five years but I think since the day he joined Formula One until now, to be honest… you mentioned that it’s the fifth consecutive front-row lock-out for Mercedes here – did you say that? – so it also proves that they’re doing a really good job as a team. I think for us, it’s not that easy because the challenge to beat such a strong team is difficult but that’s our target. I think we know where we want to go. A lot of work ahead of us, I think a lot of lessons to be learned again this year. Ultimately, I think we have 21 races, with the 21st coming tomorrow and in summary, we haven’t been strong enough this year to take the challenge until the last race, the last lap, so I think we need to look at ourselves. I think we have the people, we have the resources so it’s more getting the maximum out of our package, improving the work inside our team and making sure that we come up with a stronger package, a stronger team for the future.
Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, what do you think? Is tomorrow the last chance to have the first ever Finnish one-two as you two are still in the top teams?
VB: Yeah, for sure it’s… you never know, Sauber might be the best next year. Who knows? I don’t know, time will show, obviously. We’ve seen many many mixed races, conditions in the last few years and it can always happen but I just focus on my race and it can always happen but I just focus on my race, try to win it and then we see.
Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Sebastian, you talked this year about the benefit that Ferrari has found Friday to Saturday with the work that the guys have done on the simulator, working through things back at base. Obviously, for next year, both of those main guys, Kvyat and Giovinazzi, step into F1 race seats so need replacing. How important is it to have the right guys on the simulator and do you think that Ferrari have made more of that sort of benefit this season?
SV: Personally, I’m not a fan of the simulator because it’s just not fun. But you get the point, it is very important, it is an important tool. Based on our findings last night, we changed the car for today, both of us did and it was better and we were happier. It’s not the first time that this has happened so we’re extremely thankful for the guys, taking in the time because it’s not the nicest job on Friday night, especially when you’re young, but it’s important, it all adds up and again, Lewis summed it up fairly well when he mentioned the word teamwork and that’s what it is. Everybody plays his part and in the end we have the honour to have the steering wheel in our hands and drive the machine that we all try to create and reach out with performance. For next year, it’s true, we take a step but I think we will find people that fit in very well and very quickly so I’m confident we will have a strong team on that front as well next year.
Ends
-
Valtteri Bottas fastest in FP2; edges out FP1’s topper Max Verstappen
Bottas tops FP2. An FIA image Abu Dhabi, 23 Nov 2018: Last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix winner Valtteri Bottas hit the top of the timesheets at the Yas Marina Circuit, edging FP1’s quickest man, Max Verstappen by just four hundredths of a second, with Daniel Ricciardo third in the second Red Bull.
Bottas set the pace in the opening part of the session, using ultrasoft tyres to hold top spot just over two-tenths of a second ahead of Verstappen, who also ran on ultrasofts.
Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen was the first to make the move to hypersoft tyres for a qualifying simulation and the switch immediately vaulted him to the top of the order with a time of 1:37.461. He was followed by team-mate Sebastian Vettel who took second place behind the Finn.
Bottas was winding up for his run, however, and the Mercedes man reclaimed top spot with a lap of 1:37.236s. Five-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton looked like eclipsing his team-mate but an imperfect final sector meant his qualifying sim yielded a time of 1:37.443.
The two-tenths of a second gap allowed both Red Bulls to slot between the Mercedes cars, with Verstappen beating Ricciardo to P2 by 0.148s.
With Hamilton ahead of the two Ferraris at the end of the session, best of the rest honours went to Haas’ Romain Grosjean. The Frenchman finished the 90 minutes with the best time of 1:38.060, eight-tenths of a second off Bottas’ pace. Nico Hulkenberg took eighth place for Renault, with the German being the last min within a second of Bottas’ best time.
Ninth place in the session went to Kevin Magnussen in the second Haas. The Dane finished 1.082 off the pace with Racing Point Force India’s Esteban Ocon just eight-hundredths of a second further back in 10th place.
2018 Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 37 1:37.236
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull 32 1:37.280 0.044
3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 31 1:37.428 0.192
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 35 1:37.443 0.207
5 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 40 1:37.461 0.225
6 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 39 1:37.569 0.333
7 Romain Grosjean Haas 30 1:38.060 0.824
8 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 36 1:38.230 0.994
9 Kevin Magnussen Haas 30 1:38.318 1.082
10 Esteban Ocon Force India 33 1:38.402 1.166
11 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 32 1:38.506 1.270
12 Carlos Sainz Jr. Renault 37 1:38.511 1.275
13 Fernando Alonso McLaren 35 1:38.725 1.489
14 Sergio Perez Force India 31 1:38.806 1.570
15 Charles Leclerc Sauber 33 1:38.831 1.595
16 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 35 1:38.957 1.721
17 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 36 1:39.502 2.266
18 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 18 1:39.938 2.702
19 Lance Stroll Williams 33 1:40.046 2.810
20 Sergey Sirotkin Williams 39 1:40.935 3.699 -
Hamilton wins as Ocon pulls Verstappen down: Brazilian GP; Mercedes win Constructors’ title
Hamilton wins on Sunday at Interlagos. An FIA image Sao Paulo, 11 Nov 2018: Max Verstappen was denied an almost certain Brazilian Grand Prix victory when he was taken out of the lead in a collision with Racing Point Force India’s Esteban Ocon. The dramatic incident gifted Lewis Hamilton the second career Brazilian Grand Prix victory that helped Mercedes to a fifth consecutive FIA Formula 1 Constructors’ title, with the Abu Dhabi round to spare in the FIA Formula One World Championship.
Though Verstappen called Esteban Ocon `such an Idiot’ in the post-race press conference, both Ocon and his Racing Point Force India team Principal, Szafnauer, defended their action and said that the Force India was much faster at that time and the rules permitted ` unlapping.
Esteban: “It’s disappointing not to score when we had a good pace. I had made some good overtakes throughout the race, but it all came to nothing after the contact with Max [Verstappen]. He came out of the pits, I stayed behind him for nearly two laps but I was much faster than him and the team advised me to unlap myself. I went on the outside at turn one – the same move I made on Fernando [Alonso] and on many others before, but Max didn’t give me any space. Once I was beside him I couldn’t just disappear, so we collided. But it was my corner and I had the right to the space. I was saddened by his behaviour after the race: he was very aggressive and the guys from the FIA had to intervene. That’s not the way to handle these things.”
Otmar Szafnauer, team Principal and CEO said: “Esteban had done a good job making up ground from the back of the grid and would have probably finished in P11 if it hadn’t been for the clash with Verstappen. The rules state that you’re allowed to unlap yourself and Esteban was much faster than Max at that stage. Unfortunately, he wasn’t left any space in the corner and that ruined the race for both.”
Earlier, Verstappen had stormed through from fifth on the grid to put pressure on polesitter and early race leader Hamilton and the Red Bull driver eventually seized the lead from the recently crowned champion on lap 39.
On lap 44, however, Verstappen went to lap 14th-placed Ocon, making a move down the inside of the French driver’s car in Turn 1. Ocon took a wide line but appeared to fight to hold his position, and when Verstappen turned in for the second corner the pair collided.
Hamilton kneels down in gratitude after his race win on Sunday. Mercedes Photo by Steve Etherington, Verstappen was pitched into a spin, and as the Dutchman recovered, Hamilton swept past to reclaim the lead. Despite significant floor damage, Verstappen fought back in the closing stages, but he was unable to reel in the Briton and Hamilton took his 10th victory of the season. That, allied to a fifth-place finish for Valtteri Bottas, handed Mercedes an unassailable lead over Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship.
At the race start, Hamilton held his advantage from pole position to take the lead but a poor getaway by fellow front-row starter Vettel allowed Bottas, starting third, to get past the German through the opening two corners.
Verstappen, starting from fifth, was already beginning to work his way forward. He closed on Kimi Räikkönen and at the start of lap three, he went past the Finn around the outside into Turn 1. Vettel was the Dutchman’s next target and at the start of the next lap he again used DRS to close but this time he opted for a dive down the inside to claim P3.
Behind him, team-mate Daniel Ricciardo was also gaining places, and after passing Haas’ Kevin Magnussen on lap one he quickly began to pick off the cars ahead, rising to P6 on lap seven, ahead of Sauber’s Charles Leclerc.
On lap 10 Verstappen made another move, this time choosing the inside of Turn 1 to dive past Bottas and claim second place. Race leader Hamilton was now just 1.7s ahead.
Bottas was the first of the leaders to pit, the Mercedes man heading in for medium tyres at the end of lap 18. Hamilton then ceded the lead to Verstappen at the end of lap 19, with the Briton also stopping for medium compound rubber. Hamilton emerged in P6 behind Charles Leclerc but by lap 25 he was past the Monegasque and closing on fourth-placed Daniel, who was just under six seconds ahead.
Vettel then pitted at the end of lap 27 and the German also opted for medium tyres before rejoining in ninth place. Freed from behind the Ferrari, Daniel moved up to third and set the fastest lap of the race to that point, a 1:12.919. And when Räikkönen pitted the Australian was promoted to second place behind his team-mate.
The Red Bulls began to pull out a lead from those who have already pitted but Verstappen was unable to build a big enough margin before his own stop, and when he rejoined on lap 35 he was in third place, 3.0s behind Hamilton. Verstappen was armed with newer rubber and greater pace than the champion, however, and as the pair arrowed towards the start-finish line to begin lap 39 he eased past Hamilton.
The Dutchman’s lead wouldn’t last long, however. At the start of lap 44, he went to lap Ocon, making a move down the inside of the Force India. Despite being lapped, Ocon protected his position and tried to deny the pass. Verstappen turned in to take the second corner and the pair collided. Verstappen was sent into a spin and sustained serious floor damage in the incident, while Hamilton was allowed to sweep past into the lead. Ocon was later handed a 10-second stop/go penalty for causing the collision.
Ricciardo, meanwhile, was having his own close calls, twice banging wheels with Vettel as he tried to get past the Ferrari. At the second attempt the Australian won out and he climbed fifth place behind Bottas.
Both Red Bulls began to close on the cars ahead, with Verstappen edging to within two seconds of Hamilton and Ricciardo getting inside DRS range of Räikkönen but neither could make a move stick in the closing stages and after 71 laps Hamilton crossed the line to take the second Brazilian Grand Prix win of his career, ahead of Max, with Räikkönen third ahead of Daniel.
Bottas was left with fifth place ahead of Vettel, while Leclerc finished in a best-of-the-rest seventh place. Grosjean took eighth place for Haas ahead of team-mate Kevin Magnussen and the final point on offer went to Racing Point Force India’s Sergio Pérez.
2018 Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix – Race
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes –
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1.469
3 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 4.764
4 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 5.193
5 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 22.943
6 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 26.997
7 Charles Leclerc Sauber 44.199
8 Romain Grosjean Haas 51.230
9 Kevin Magnussen Haas 52.857
10 Sergio Perez Force India 1 L
11 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 1 L
12 Carlos Sainz Renault 1 L
13 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 1 L
14 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 1 L
15 Esteban Ocon Force India 1 L
16 Sergey Sirotkin Williams 2 L
17 Fernando Alonso McLaren 2 L
18 Lance Stroll Williams 2 L
Nico Hulkenberg Renault
Marcus Ericsson Sauber. -
Max is that go-getter guy and every now and then it bites you: Hamilton
Hamilton at the Press Conference on Sunday. An FIA image Sao Paulo, 11 Nov 2018: Hamilton said that Max Verstappen is a go-getter and sometimes incidents happen that affect you. He was talking at the post-race FIA Press Conference at Interlagos on Sunday. Verstappen who ended up second after he was pulled down by Ocon, who is lapped, also was at the press meet with Kimi Raikkonen, who came third on Sunday.
The track interviews were conducted by the former F1 driver of Force India, Paul Di Resta.
Q: Max, can you tell us what happened?
Max Verstappen: I don’t know what to say, I mean, you do everything well, you go through the field, we had a great car, and then by such an idiot you get taken out while he is being lapped. I have no words.
Q: What a fight it was. I don’t think anyone quite expected that after yesterday. I mean, the moves you were making early on, very bold into Turn 1, pushing your way through and using everything you had.
MV: I think it was better than expected today. The car was working brilliantly today. The team also gave me the right strategy, we could be going quite well on the supersoft, so we did quite a long stint. But, yeah, I don’t know what to say. Still I’m happy with second, but we should have won today.
Q: Yeah, as you say, it was almost back-to-back victories, does it give you confidence going into next year that something is going to come of this machine?
MV: Well, we should have more power, so we’ll be even better.
Q: All the best. Kimi, late pressure from Daniel coming in, but a good race from you?
Kimi Raikkonen: Yeah, it was good. Not easy, but there was some battling, so it was fun. Obviously, we hoped for better but not the easiest.
Q: Ferrari’s tyres choice didn’t look like it worked out in the end, these guys looked very strong at the beginning, certainly Max on the supersoft. Do you think that was wrong?
KR: I don’t know. My tyre was good, but it was difficult to pass and it took too long to pass. You cannot replay on other tyres, so we don’t know.
Q: Lewis, that’s 2018 Constructors’ champion as well. And you can see what that means to Toto Wolff – the barriers have fallen over twice here in Parc Ferme, which is unusual. Lewis, what does that mean to the team?
Lewis Hamilton: Honestly, these guys have worked so hard the last six years and it’s been an incredible journey for them. This is what everyone works for the whole year, you know. Everyone wakes up and goes to work every day and tries to bring the best out of themselves and they really pull together as a unit. I’ve always told you how much of an honour it is to drive for them, and this was the best style we could do it, because we were struggling. We had problems with the engine. Also he passed us like we were a sitting duck at one stage, but obviously they made a mistake and that brought us back into contention. I’m just so proud of everyone. Everyone back home, thank you so much for your continued efforts. For all our partners, for all our sponsors, who without we would not be here, powering along to a win in Brazil. So, God bless you, thank you.
Q: What goes through your mind when you see Verstappen spin? Did you know he was going to be back on a charge and coming strong?
LH: I saw it happen and it wasn’t something that… I wasn’t surprised by it or anything like that. I saw them racing but they weren’t racing for the same position. In my mind, I would have been in a different frame of mind. Fortunately, he was able to keep going, no one got hurt, and they kept going, it’s a racing incident I guess. Max is that go-getter guy and every now and then it bites you. But I’m really, really proud; I don’t care about anyone else.
Q: I’ve got one last question for you. Big credit to you, that’s 49 wins in the turbo-hybrid era of Formula 1. That’s 50% of all the races. A lot of that’s owed to you, isn’t it?
LH: I keep telling you, I’m just a chink in the chain. They give me the tools and I try to do the best I can with it. I’m proud that I’m able to sometimes bring a little bit more than is needed or that it’s capable of, but that’s what I live for.
Press Conference: Questions from the floor:
Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Max, I can only imagine the frustration, the emotions at the end of the race for you. Can you just explain what happened between you and Esteban after the race? We saw your altercation. Did he do anything to antagonise you and will you try and speak to him at once when emotions have settled down later on?
MV: I don’t really have a lot to comment on that, except that he was being a pussy.
Q: (Rodrigo Franca – Revista VIP) From a drivers’ point of view, how do you see the future of Formula One to attract a young audience as self-driving cars and electric cars are being developed so quickly? And if you see a future better between Formula E and Formula One?
LH: It’s a difficult one because I’m conflicted. The gasses that we emit with our cars are not particularly helpful for the climate and for the world, so on one side that’s a concern for me but on the other side, as a racing fan, I’m a petrol head and I will always be a petrol head. There will never be a time when I’m an electric head. I hope, at least, in my period of time, it’s always going to be a fuelled car with at least some sort of V-shaped engine, with some sort of sound. I think it’s great what Formula E are doing and it’s a great start, it’s great to see all the top brands – Audi, BMW, Mercedes – are all getting heavily invested because, particularly on the roads – just coming here, for example – you see the traffic every single day, there are thousands and thousands of cars on the road. There’s the same in every country you go to so the sooner we can get rid of the majority of those cars and then turn them into hybrids, then I think that would be a massive difference, but there are a lot of other things we can do around the world with businesses to help with those emissions. But I don’t think you are ever going to compare Formula One and Formula E. Maybe in five, ten years maybe, but the technology that we have, it’s quite far advanced compared to what they would be having and they’re slower than Formula Ford at the moment so they’ve got a long way to catch the speed of a Formula One car. I don’t know if that’s their target but I think it’s really impressive. I’ve been watching their cars on social media and they look pretty cool, so I wish them all the best and looking forward to seeing it progress.
MV: I think the boss clearly said of Formula E already that they don’t want to compete or be seen competing against Formula One so I guess that says enough. It’s just a different category. It seems like it’s getting more interesting, of course, with all the big car manufacturers joining in but at the moment I’m happy where I am and I will probably be one of the last people in the world to try and buy the last barrels of oil.
KR: Nothing to add, really. Formula E looks nice but…
Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globoesporte.com) Max, you have more of an opportunity to talk about the incident with Ocon in a more extended way. Do you think that just one stop and go of ten seconds, against the work of 900 people in your team, that this punishment is enough?
MV: I think at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter what penalty he gets. I already have the penalty of not winning the race so even if you disqualify him, give him two drive-throughs or whatever, it’s not going to make a difference to our race. I don’t know what the right penalty would be but, like I said, of course they have the right to unlap themselves but you have to be careful. I think that has always been the case.
Q: Max, can you just tell us how badly damaged your car was after the incident with Ocon?
MV: So, you know all the cut-outs you have on the side of the floor, that whole area, so I guess that’s this wide(about 15-20cms) that was completely gone so it was pretty bad. I lost a lot of downforce. I had to lock a lot of tools on the steering wheel but that was still not enough. But still the car was quick. We could have been much faster, for sure.
Q: (Dario Coronel – Gran Premioweb) Lewis, today your celebration was very emotional. Why?
LH: I think it was probably an explosion of the last race in Mexico winning the World Championship… I didn’t really feel the celebration there because I knew that we still had another championship to win and I really needed to remain focused for the team and I really came here, to build up to here, just really focused on making sure that I could deliver for them. Naturally the will to want to win is so high for everyone and the stakes are high. Ultimately, you could make mistakes and all these different things but we didn’t or I didn’t on the track, for example, so to come in and see my guys who I’ve come along this great journey with and we’ve had a lot of success but we’ve still remained fierce and competitive and I think our relationship is better than it’s ever been so just that bond, it was just a great great moment, plus it was a really hard race. I was constantly, like, talking to the car: ‘come on, keep going, keep going’ because we had this engine problem and I knew I could see Max just in my mirrors so I was doing qualifying laps every lap to keep him behind, which is how racing should be really anyway. Unfortunately that’s not the case a lot of the time this year but… We’ve just won the World Championship for the fifth time so that’s real history in the making for the team and if I was to stop today, for example, Mercedes would always remember this day and that I was a part of it, and that’s cool.
Q: (Arjan Schouten – AD) Max, over the last days, you’ve told us a lot of times that this is not a circuit for Red Bull, winning was not an option. Ending 1.6s from the winner, with a spin, what does that say about your chances in Abu Dhabi in two weeks?
MV: I don’t know, because this was much better than expected to be honest. I expected to be good in the race but not this good. We will have to wait and see.
Q: (Mattheus Sacramento – ESPN Brazil) Max, there was a similar incident – not exactly the same – but in 2001 in Brazil with Jos Verstappen and Montoya. You’re too young, I’m not sure if you ever heard of it. Montoya was in first place and Jos was 16th I guess and they had a crash. I just wanted to know if you knew that or if that came back to your mind in some ways, that impacts the way you saw Ocon?
MV: Well, I think that was completely different but yeah, that happens. I don’t know what you want me to say, it’s always bad when you get taken out from the lead.
-
I have got Senna’s design on the back of my helmet and I am happy to be here, says Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton (centre) at the Saturday Press Conference. An FIA image Sao Paulo, 10 Nov 2018: Lewis Hamilton who won the 100th pole for Mercedes AMG Petronas team edging Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari and third-placed teammate Valtteri Bottas attended the Saturday FIA press conference after the qualification. The Track Interviews were conducted by former Force India F1 driver Paul Di Resta.
Q: Lewis, another pole position, your 10th pole position of the year. What have you got to say?
Lewis Hamilton: That was a tough qualifying session. Obviously, the weather was going up and down and we didn’t really know what to expect. Obviously, Ferrari are incredibly quick this weekend a lot of work went on in the background with my engineers to make sure we got the car to be in the best place we could. I’m just really happy to be here in Brazil, you know, knowing I’ve got Senna’s design on the back of my helmet, so I mean… I didn’t know I had the pole, the last lap wasn’t that great if I’m honest, I had a bit of understeer in a few places but I was so grateful when I heard I got pole.
Q: This place means so much to you. You can see the tribute you do to Ayrton every year and the Brazilian fans love you as well?
LH: I just appreciate so much the love that I get here. It’s been a crazy journey with the Brazilian fans. Obviously, the first year I came here I was fighting against Felipe and I was almost the enemy when I left but over the years it’s really grown to I think adore each other. There’s a huge amount of respect I have for them and I love the country so it works hand in hand.
Q: What can we expect tomorrow. Obviously, Ferrari are doing a different tyres strategy. I think you guys were going to do it but the rain compromised Q2, can you still dominate this race?
LH: I don’t know, we’ll see. You’ve seen how quick the Ferrari’s are. I mean, they had a lot more blistering yesterday than we did on the supersoft tyre. I don’t know if it’s correct but we wanted to be on the soft and things kind of swung us the wrong way. Right or wrong we will see tomorrow but hopefully still, with the choice we have, I’ll make the best of it.
Q: Enjoy tonight, at least you’ve got that four-metre head start tomorrow. Sebastian, coming very close there – P2. A different tyre strategy as we just discussed with Lewis. Are you happy with today?
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, I think it was good fun. In the end I had a tiny lock-up in Turn 8. I got a good start to the second attempt in Q3 and I thought I’d go for it, but it was a little bit too much, so I lost some time and didn’t improve. It was very close, so it was a fun session.
Q: I don’t know if you are aware but you have been called to the stewards for the scale incident. What do you have to say about that?
SV: I think it’s better if I don’t say anything… They shouldn’t call us, because when the conditions are changing like that I think it’s unfair if somebody gets called in and yeah, I wanted them to hurry up.
Q: How difficult is it for a driver and an engineer to read the conditions when it’s coming like that. Is it more the driver’s feel or do you have to stick to the weather systems on the computer?
SV: It’s a difficult one. Inside the garage we don’t really see much, you can’t see out. You have to trust the laps you did before. You have to trust the communication you are having with the pit wall on the conditions, what you see other cars are doing. But when it’s like this it can be anything, so I think in the end we all got lucky that we got more or less the same conditions for everyone, so as long as that’s the case then it’s fine.
Q: Well, I hope you put on a good show like you did in Mexico, show that fighting spirit. Valtteri, third today, not far away, but I guess you can’t be happy with that?
Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, not far away but here the margins are small. I knew this weekend I did have the pace to be on pole. I think it was there for me to grab but I couldn’t take it today. I was more than two tenths up in the second run but lost everything in the last corner on the back straight without any tow, so it was quite disappointing.
Q: When you see the rain falling what do you feel as a driver? Do you keep pushing or is there a bit of trepidation?
VB: Yeah, it really depends on the situation but once the rain really started to come down luckily we already had a good lap on the board, so there was no need to take risks. But sometimes you need to go for it and try.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Lewis, that looked like an exciting session in tricky conditions. Just what were the conditions like?
LH: Well, the track was actually really good. There’s a lot of grip here and it’s a fantastic circuit. They don’t generally make circuits like this anymore. You’ve got the different… it’s quite hilly, but it’s a real challenge, even though it’s quite short. It’s very technical – but the grip felt quite good and obviously, the rain was popping in every now and then – but it was just spitting. It was difficult to really tell whether it was going to be slippery in the next corner or not – because when you’re travelling at the speeds we go at, on your visor, because you’re driving through all the rain, it looks like it’s raining more than it is. So, that was definitely tricky – but I think everyone did quite a good job with it – and luckily it held off so we could push at the end when the track was good.
Q: You mentioned the speeds you’re doing here at Interlagos. Valtteri’s pole position last year was a new track record – you have taken more than a second off that time. Just how quick does it feel around here now?
LH: With the new tyres, with the soft tyres, supersoft tyres and the updates that we have to our car… it’s a smaller circuit, shorter circuit, so therefore the difference usually… for example our car is a lot quicker than it was last year at this point – but it doesn’t show as much. At other circuits it’s three seconds-plus. Around here a second is still quite a lot. So, it does feel great though, around here. Into Six and Seven it’s a little lift through there basically and flat though… there’s no other corners where you’re flat out, or anything like that but you definitely do feel… the grip is what you feel, it’s just amazing. It’s better than ever.
Q: Sebastian, coming onto you, less than a tenth of a second behind pole position. How are you feeling after that session?
SV: Pretty good. I think it was fun. I think the track was good, as Lewis said, and obviously very close. I had a good start to my final attempt but yeah, tried a little bit too hard probably, going into Turn Eight in the middle sector and locked the front and then lost a little bit the rhythm. Tried something special in the last corner, didn’t work so… yeah. All in all pretty happy. I think we got the car where it is happiest, and the balance was good in qualifying throughout, so we’ll see. We’ll start with a different tyre tomorrow. Maybe that can make a difference.
Q: Just to elaborate on that point about the tyres, do you think that’ll be the crucial point in the race?
SV: Hmmm… might be. I mean, I think it’s the tyre that probably most of us probably wanted to start on but then with the conditions it was a bit tricky. Yeah, in the end it wasn’t really wet but there was some rain around the track, so yeah, happy that we got it done and now we start with a different tyre, so let’s see.
Q: Valtteri, fastest in Q2, you’re less than a tenth off pole position but starting third tomorrow. Just sum-up the session for us.
VB: I think the gap is a bit more than one-tenth but obviously, it’s a bit disappointing one red car got in-between us and the pace I had this weekend so far felt like I could definitely fight for the pole position, and I think it was there for me to grab it. But in the second run I was more than two-tenths up on my best lap but somehow Turn 12, just lost a little bit and then I think I was the first car out in the last run so I had no tow on the back straight and just kept losing time on the uphill. And I saw that it was not going to be an improvement, so for sure that’s disappointing but yeah, it was a strong qualifying for us as a team and another great pole for Lewis – but yeah, I think for tomorrow, we’ll see how our decision to go with the supersoft is going to… what’s going to happen.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Seb, could you just talk through the weighbridge incident please, just from your perspective – and are you now worried about getting a grid penalty for tomorrow’s race?
SV: No, I don’t want to talk through. I think it’s pretty clear what happened, so. I think we do qualifying, we should talk about qualifying.
Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-Magazin.com) Lewis, there was a situation between you and Sergey in Q2, I think. Can you talk us through that situation? It looked pretty scary from outside.
LH: Yeah, basically everyone was on an ‘out’ lap – me, Sergey and everyone in front of me – and when you’re on your ‘out’ lap, towards the end of the lap Valtteri was up ahead of me so he was backing off to get his gap so I had to make sure I kept a gap with him. As far as I was aware, no one behind was on a lap so I was making sure I had the gap but then all of a sudden, out of the last corner – sorry, out of turn 11 – I saw a car coming at high speed so I was like ‘oh my God, is that someone on a lap?’ so I went to move to the left and that’s where he decided to go but he wasn’t on a lap, so I don’t really know what his thinking was really, with it, because respectfully, between all the drivers, we all do respect… you know, I could have easily tried to overtake Valtteri or Valtteri whoever was in front of him. We all know to keep our space by that point so it was generally quite a disrespectful move in the sense of where it was dangerous between us both because I was not expecting it to happen that way, and so I was actually trying to get out of his way but he ended up going inside but then he got to the corner and then slowed up to utilise the gap but then also I don’t know whether to slow my lap up or not. It was kind of strange. It was completely unnecessary because we had a space behind, behind him there was a bit of a space so ultimately his lap and my lap weren’t great from that so hopefully he can learn from it.
Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Valtteri, you talked about having a moment at turn 12, what happened on the lap? The car snap away or was it just not as quick?
VB: No, I didn’t really have a moment, I just lost a few hundredths there, I think. I think at the beginning of the lap it was getting very good, then the middle of the lap was average and lost a tiny bit in the last corner, but the main time loss, I think it was more than a tenth, was just up the hill, just losing time on the straight. No drama, but definitely not a perfect lap but I think with a perfect lap pole would have been possible.
Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Seb, in Q2 you were almost as fast as the Mercedes on the soft tyre, so the harder tyre, have you been surprised that there wasn’t a bigger gap with the supersoft?
MS: Yes, the lap felt really good, the tyre felt really good. You go into the weekend, you have an estimation of what’s the difference between the tyres and then you do your Friday running and you might correct it but I was definitely surprised, the tyre felt really good. I don’t think it was much slower. Yeah, but it didn’t feel… usually we were expecting something like three or four tenths but it felt really good. I was surprised when I crossed the line in Q2 because I also kept some margin for the rain so could have gone faster on that tyre easily. So if it’s that good tomorrow, then happy days!
Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-Magazin.com) You’re starting on different tyre compounds. Lewis has been quite outspoken in Austin, I think, when you started on the harder compound, that it was quite a disadvantage there. What do you expect just from starting on different tyre compounds?
LH: I was told that there’s not a huge difference, but there’s always a difference of some sort. It will definitely be a little bit interesting. It’s not a massive run down to turn one but Ferrari are very good at their starts in general normally. However, we are actually quite even in terms of the overall year performance with Ferrari. We’re actually quite equal with them, so we’ve both had a similar amount of good starts so I’m excited to just have a battle, you know. But making that tyre last I think is going to be the interesting scenario but it is what it is. We’ll give it all we can tomorrow.
SV: Again, we have an estimation of what the penalty might be with the harder compound at the start but it’s a very short way to turn one so we’ll see. I have quite good memories from P2, starting P2 here so we will see. I think it depends a lot more on the job that you do at the start, to get everything right then a little bit of difference on the tyres.
Q: Are there similar grip levels on both sides of the track?
SV: I think so. The last years it was pretty even so, yeah. Usually the right side or the odd side here is a bit cleaner but I’m sure that with the other races across the weekend it should be fine, there should be plenty of rubber.
VB: Nothing to add.
Ends
-
Hamilton takes pole: Brazilian GP
Hamilton after taking pole on Saturday. An FIA image Sao Paulo, 10 Nov 2018: Lewis Hamilton took the 82nd pole position of his career with the fastest lap in qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix, the 20th of the 21 races in the FIA Formula One World Championship calendar. The Mercedes driver edged out Sebastian Vettel by just under a tenths of a second. Vettel hit trouble during the session, however, being summoned to the stewards’ room following a mid-session incident at the weighbridge.
Race officials called the Ferrari driver to the weighbridge during Q2 but according to FIA Technical Delegate Jo Bauer’s report “the driver of car number 05, when called for weighing, refused to turn off the engine. The car was pushed onto the scales and weighed with running engine, which makes it difficult to get a stable result. After weighing the driver drove off the scales under its own power, and by doing so, he destroyed the scales.” Vettel was summoned to see the stewards at the end of Q3. vettel was later handed a reprimand and a €25,000 fine over the incident.
Earlier, ahead of Q1 circuit weather forecasters increased the likelihood of rain for the session from an earlier 40% to 60% and with ominous clouds moving towards the track a stream of cars took to the track in search of banker laps at the start of Q1.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen set the early pace, with the Dutchman setting a time of 1:08.205. That put him more than two tenths clear of Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen, with Hamilton third ahead of Vettel, who eventually improved to steal third with a time identical to that of his team-mate.
At the lower end of the order the men in danger in the final minutes of the session were Renault’s Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley, McLaren’s Fernando Alonso, Williams’ Lance Stroll and second McLaren driver Stoffel Vandoorne.
With rain falling in the closing moments of the segment, none was able to find the time needed to escape the danger zone and all five were eliminated in their pre-final final run positions.
Q2 proved to be a race against time as the rain closed in and after the first runs Bottas held top spot ahead of Hamilton, Verstappen and Ricciardo. Räikkönen, though, chose to abandon his supersoft tyres and drove back to the pits to take on soft tyres.
Vettel wanted to make a similar move but as he went to make the switch he was called to the weighbridge, leading to the incident with the FIA officials. He subsequently bolted on softs and jumped to P2, setting hbis best time on the yellow-banded compound.
Red Bull and Mercedes tried the same switch but none of their drivers could improve and thus they will start the race on supersofts, while Ferrari will start on softs.
In mixed and difficult to read conditions at the end of the session Sauber’s Charles Leclerc delivered a spectacular lap to rise from P11 and potential elimination to P8 and safety ahead of team-mate Marcus Ericsson and Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly, who was the last man through to Q3.
Eliminated at the end of Q2 were Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, Racing Point Force India’s Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon, Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg and Williams’ Sergey Sirotkin.
In Q3 Hamilton seized control of proceedings, setting an opening time of 1:07.301 to sit 0.073s ahead of Vettel, with Bottas third ahead of Räikkönen. Max again took P5 ahead of Daniel, though by the incredibly small margin of just 0.002s.
And that was how the order remained. Hamilton improved marginally to 1:07.281 to claim his 82nd career pole position ahead of Vettel who made a small error on his final lap. Bottas took third ahead of Räikkönen and with no improvement forthcoming, Max ands Daniel qualified on row three of the grid. Seventh place went to Ericsson with Leclerc in eighth ahead of Grosjean and Gasly.
2018 Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:07.281 230.561
2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:07.374 0.093 230.243
3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:07.441 0.160 230.014
4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:07.456 0.175 229.963
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:07.778 0.497 228.870
6 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:07.780 0.499 228.863
7 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:08.296 1.015 227.134
8 Charles Leclerc Sauber 1:08.492 1.211 226.484
9 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:08.517 1.236 226.402
10 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 1:09.029 1.748 224.722
11 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:08.659 1.378 225.933
12 Sergio Perez Force India 1:08.741 1.460 225.664
13 Esteban Ocon Force India 1:08.770 1.489 225.569
14 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:08.834 1.553 225.359
15 Sergey Sirotkin Williams 1:10.381 3.100 220.406
16 Carlos Sainz Renault 1:09.269 1.988 223.944
17 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 1:09.280 1.999 223.908
18 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:09.402 2.121 223.515
19 Lance Stroll Williams 1:09.441 2.160 223.389
20 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 1:09.601 2.320 222.876. -
Lewis Hamilton crowned World Champion for the fifth time: Max Verstappen wins Mexican GP
Mexico City, 28 Oct 2018: Fourth place in the Mexican Grand Prix was good enough to hand Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton his fifth FIA Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship title, as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took his second successive win at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen here on Sunday.
Going into the race Hamilton knew that even if Vettel won the race a seventh-place finish in Mexico City would be good enough to take the title and starting from third on the grid, ahead of his title rival, the Briton was well positioned ahead of the start to score the points necessary.
In the end, despite a brief challenge for the lead after the start, tyre issues in the race hampered Hamilton’s chance of finishing on finishing on the podium but fourth place was good enough to end Vettel’s hopes and seal a title that puts him joint second on the list of all-time title winners behind seven-time winner Michael Schumacher.
For his part, Vettel did everything possible to keep the title fight alive, climbing from fourth on the grid to second. But with almost 14 seconds to make up on race leader Verstappen in the closing stages the task was simply too great for the German.
At the start, Hamilton got away well and the Mercedes driver charged into the gap Dutchman Verstappen had also made a good getaway, however, and as the trio powered towards Turn 1 it was the Red Bull driver who had the best line. As they swept through the corner Verstappen emerged in the lead, with Hamilton second and Ricciardo in third.
Behind them Vettel initially lost out to Valtteri Bottas, but when the Mercedes man was forced wide in Turns 4 and 5 of the opening lap, the Ferrari driver was able to reclaim fourth place. On the edge of the top 10, Force India’s Esteban Ocon tangled with Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg in Turn 1 with the result that Ocon’s front wing was destroyed.
The debris from Ocon’s car was hit by Fernando Alonso and soon after, smoke could be seen trailing from the back of the Spaniard’s McLaren. He pulled over at the edge of the track in Turn 11 and retired from the race. That led to a brief VSC period but when the action resumed Max began to quickly pull away from Hamilton. By lap 10 he had built a 3.4s advantage over the Mercedes driver.
Hamilton was the first of the leaders to pit, the Briton stopping at the end of lap 11 to take on supersofts. Bottas followed moments later in a double stop and they emerged in P5 and P8 respectively.
Red Bull responded by pitting Ricciardo a lap later and Verstappen on lap 13, with both drivers also taking on supersofts. Vettel now led the race ahead of Ferrari team-mate Kimi Räikkönen with Verstappen third ahead of Hamilton and Ricciardo.
Verstappen soon made his way back to second place, however, closing on Räikkönen and sweeping past the Finn under DRS on lap 15. Hamilton and Ricciardo quickly followed suit as the Ferrari driver’s tyres went off, and at the end of lap 17 the Italian squad opted to pit Vettel and his team-mate in quick succession. Verstappen was now back in the lead ahead of Hamilton and Ricciardo.
Fourteen laps later, as Verstappen worked through the first sector of his 31st lap, Carlos Sainz steered off track and stopped. That sparked another VSC period.
When racing resumed, Vettel began to once again close on Daniel and when the Aussie got stuck behind the battle for eight place between Racing Point Force India’s Sergio Pérez and Sauber’s Charles Leclerc, Vettel saw his chance. He made a move in Turn 1 and squeezed past Ricciardo as they exited the Turn 2.
Vettel next targeted Hamilton as the Briton struggled on his supersoft tyres, the Ferrari driver swept past to take P2 on lap 39. Ricciardo now began to close on the title leader.
On lap 47, Ricciardo made the decisive move. As the pair crossed the line to start the lap the Australian opened the DRS and dived to his left. Hamilton tried to outbrake the Red Bull but went off track, leaving Ricciardo to sweep through to third place.
Hamilton immediately pitted for a set of ultrasofts, as did Vettel, and at the end of lap 48 race leader Max also made a second stop, with the Dutchman bolting on a set of supersofts. The order was now Verstappen ahead of Ricciardo, with Vettel third ahead of Räikkönen and Hamilton.
Ricciardo’s race ended on lap 62. With smoke trailing from the back of his car he slowed in Turn 1 and pulled over to retire.
Verstappen now led Vettel by a little over 14 seconds with Räikkönen third. Hamilton was in fourth place almost a minute off the lead but secure in the knowledge that the placing would be good enough to hand him his fifth world title.
And that was how it ended, with Verstappen taking his fifth career win and a second successive win in Mexico City. Vettel finished second, some 17 seconds adrift of the Red Bull, with Räikkönen third.
Hamilton, meanwhile, cruised home in fourth place to seal his fifth world championship title, equalling Juan Manuel Fangio. Behind the champion, Bottas took fifth place ahead of Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg with Sauber’s Charles Leclerc in seventh. Eighth place went to 15th-place starter Stoffel Vandoorne of McLaren. Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson took ninth place, and the final points position went to Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly, who started from last place on the grid.
-
Max Verstappen tops FP2 as Red Bulls dominate again: Mexican GP
Max Verstappen tops FP2 Mexican GP. An FIA image Mexico City, 26 Oct 2018: After topping the morning timesheets in FP1 at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Red Bull Racing again scored a 1-2 in the second practice session for the Mexican Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen outpacing team-mate Daniel Ricciardo by 1500ths of a second. The Dutchman stopped at the edge of the track late in the session, however, with an apparent engine issue. The 19th round of the 21-round FIA Formula One World Championship will be held on Sunday where defending champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes is expected to seal his fifth championship title with two rounds left. The Brazilian GP is on Nov 11 and the season concludes 15 days later in Abu Dhabi on November 29.
In the morning session the Red Bull duo were comfortably clear of the rest of the field, though Mercedes and Ferrari minimised hypersoft running in FP1, but in the qualifying runs of the second session both Verstappen and Ricciardo finished over a second clear of their chief rivals, Mercedes and Ferrari, with Sebastian Vettel leading the way for the Scuderia with a fourth-placed time of 1:17.954. That left him 0.001s behind third-placed Carlos Sainz of Renault, but 1.234s of the pace set by Verstappen.
Both Red Bull drivers were quick early in the session, on ultrasoft tyres, and when Vettel became the first to try a qualifying simulation on hypersofts he only managed to post a time good enough for P2 behind Verstappen.
The Red Bulls then bolted on hypersofts for their performance runs and upped the pace considerably.
Verstappen posted a lap of 1:16.720 that put him ahead of the impressive Sainz, and then Ricciardo found enough pace to slot into P2 with a time 0.153s behind the Dutchman.
It wasn’t all plain sailing for Verstappen, however, and towards the end of the session he coasted off track at Turn 3 and pulled over close to an escape road when his engine cut out.
Vettel’s qualifying simulation left him just one hundredth of a second ahead of Nico Hulkenberg in the second, while sixth place was taken by Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley.
Mercedes, meanwhile, had a muted session, with Lewis Hamilton the quicker of its driver pairing. The championship leader ended the session with a best time of 1:18.100, almost 1.4s adrift of Verstappen. Team-mate Valtteri Bottas finished in P9 behind the second Ferrari of US Grand Prix winner Kimi Räikkönen. Tenth place in the session went to Sergio Pérez of Racing Point Force India.
2018 Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 21 1:16.720
2 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 32 1:16.873 0.153
3 Carlos Sainz Renault 35 1:17.953 1.233
4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 42 1:17.954 1.234
5 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 36 1:18.046 1.326
6 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 35 1:18.061 1.341
7 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 40 1:18.100 1.380
8 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 42 1:18.133 1.413
9 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 40 1:18.140 1.420
10 Sergio Perez Racing Point Force India 24 1:18.167 1.447
11 Esteban Ocon Racing Point Force India 24 1:18.485 1.765
12 Romain Grosjean Haas 39 1:18.733 2.013
13 Charles Leclerc Sauber 39 1:19.024 2.304
14 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 36 1:19.047 2.327
15 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 30 1:19.096 2.376
16 Lance Stroll Williams 25 1:19.219 2.499
17 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 41 1:19.322 2.602
18 Sergey Sirotkin Williams 37 1:19.335 2.615
19 Fernando Alonso McLaren 31 1:19.543 2.823
20 Kevin Magnussen Haas 35 1:19.670 2.950
