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Tag: Nico Rosberg
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There’s not enough for me to win, I need to rely on something happening: Nico Rosberg with two races left
File photo of Hamilton left, and Nico Rosberg at Hockenheim on Friday. An Mercedes AMG Petronas image DRIVERS – Kevin MAGNUSSEN (McLaren), Adrian SUTIL (Sauber), Pastor MALDONADO (Lotus), Jean-Eric VERGNE (Toro Rosso), Felipe MASSA (Williams), Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)
PRESS CONFERENCE
Nico, if we could start with you? It’s the first time this year, in this championship, that the championship itself is out of your hands, in the sense that two wins, here and in Abu Dhabi, won’t be enough. Do you feel you need to rely on a little bit of luck then and this venue might provide it?
Nico ROSBERG: Yeah, it’s clear that I need to rely on something happening. Yeah, for sure there’s not enough for me to win, unfortunately, but that’s the way it is. Anyways, in sport so much can happen, so I’m still very optimistic.
You had a rich run of form from Monaco through to Hockenheim. How would characterise the period since then?
NR: A less rich run of form! What is it? Lewis has done a little bit of a better job since then. That’s it, pretty simple, but as I say, still two races.
OK, thank you. Felipe, coming to you: obviously, you’re a two-time winner of the Brazilian Grand Prix. Do you feel that with this car this year is your best shot of getting back on the podium, since that great win in ’08.
Felipe MASSA: Yeah, I think so. Anyway, I was on the podium in 2012. It’s a fantastic track for me. A track that I had great results. As you said, two victories, almost three I would say. Three pole positions. I always love this track. I won many races [here] even before Formula One. So I started my career here, on the other side of the wall, which is a go-kart track, at the top. I love this place. I love the energy that I feel here and I’m really looking forward to having a fantastic weekend. I hope our car can be as competitive as shown in the other tracks here as well. We’ll see how far we can be, or maybe even in the middle of these guys here on the left [Mercedes]. Trying to get all the opportunities to have a great race here.
You’ve obviously been a key part of Williams’ renaissance this year. With all the experience you have, tell us how you feel this team can become more competitive in 2015?
FM: Well, first of all you cannot forget how much we grow from the first race until now. I think maybe… I would say it was the team that grows more during the championship. It was a team that gets better, that improved the car in the top level, from the first race to the last race, looking at where we started and where we are now. So, I think definitely the team… when we started at the first test and where we are now, the team changed completely the organisation, the mentality. We are still changing, there are still some improvements we are working to be there before the first race of next year. But I really believe in this team. I think this team has everything to be even more competitive, it has everything to be fighting for victories and I really, really hope for championships as well.
Kevin, coming to you, obviously clear progress for McLaren on the car side in the last few grands prix, that’s clear to see. But the car still seem to have a narrow sweet spot in terms of getting the most out of it during a race weekend. What’s going on there?
Kevin MAGNUSSEN: A lot of it is down to the tyres, making the tyres work. It’s seems that sometimes we get it better than others. Sochi was an example of where we got the tyres working very well and I think Austin was an example of where we didn’t. It’s a little bit hard to understand but we’re trying out best.
Since the summer break you’ve had pretty strong form yourself personally, especially in qualifying. Do you think you’ve done enough to book your seat for 2015?
KM: I can only say I hope so. I think I’ve learned a lot. I’ve improved a lot in many areas and yeah, I’m sure I have a lot more potential even from where I am now. So, I hope so.
Thank you very much. Pastor, coming to you, first points in Austin, a very strong performance. Tell us about your and Lotus’ fight back?
Pastor MALDONADO: It was a very tough season, especially at the beginning, even not able to run the car as we wanted. It was not maybe the best way to start to work with a team. But we did a great job to try to put everything together, to get better and better and at some point we decided to be focused on next year’s car. But the team seems to be quite good, very competitive in terms of spirit. They are used to being in the front. They know how to do a good car, so let’s hope the best for next year.
How do you feel about opportunities for this weekend? This track is always very unpredictable and the weather forecast looks like it’s going to be pretty wet throughout the weekend. A lot of variables there. Opportunities?
PM: Yeah, the main objective is to maintain the performance we had last week in Austin, so we think, as a team, we can continue to fight for the points. That is the main focus at the moment.
Q: Adrian, coming to you, obviously Sauber have announced both their 2015 drivers, so in what direction does your future lie, do you feel?
Adrian SUTIL: I don’t know, so I will see what is possible, what I want and also… yeah, it’s quite a few things to think about and I can’t really say more at the moment.
Q: Are you optimistic that you’ll be in Formula One next year?
AS: At the moment, I don’t know. Maybe. F1 is unpredictable – but as I said, there are a few things to think about first and then the team has to comment the rest.
Q: Obviously great performance in qualifying in Austin, you must have been so disappointed the way that first lap turned out. Have you spoken to Sergio [Pérez] afterwards? Have you been back through it?
AS: No, we didn’t speak. He didn’t apologise, to be honest. But anyway, that’s how it is. Shame, it was for sure a good chance for points. It was a very nice qualifying, it was good to be in Q3 finally with this car. It has been quite a challenge this year, to be honest, so we didn’t expect it – but for some reason it got better and better through the qualifying session and especially on Saturday, the car was better than ever before, so, many things to analyse. We try it of course again here. I look forward to the race weekend. Big chances with weather looking very wet and I think everyone knows how the weather can turn out here in Brazil. We have seen many exciting races.
Q: Jean-Eric, coming to you, some encouraging noises that you may get a chance to retain your Toro Rosso seat for next year. Can you tell us about progress on that and progress on any other options you might have in Formula One?
Jean-Eric VERGNE: Well yeah, there were some good words from many people, especially from Franz [Tost]. Well, you know, it would be a good thing to stay with this team, I really believe in it and I think this year we did get a lot stronger and next year we’ll be again on this up-trend, so I believe we can be again in a better position next year so hopefully we can continue. But you never know. And I don’t know much more about the situation than this.
Q: It’s clear from watching you race in the last period of time, just more recently, that there’s a lot of passion in your driving. Is that coming from the adversity that you’ve been through, the setbacks, or is it anger? What’s driving it?
JEV: Definitely not anger. I believe that I’ve done many races in the past like this but unfortunately the beginning of the year I had a lot of DNF and obviously, when you don’t finish the race, people don’t remember what you’ve been up to in the race. That was a little bit of a shame. I haven’t changed anything. I drive with a lot of passion, I love racing, that’s what I do best and it doesn’t matter what I do next year, I continue, I don’t continue, I’ll always give my best to a hundred percent and try to have the most fun possible. This is when you perform well.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Elmar Dreher – German Press Agency) Adrian, I can imagine that you are very frustrated. Can you describe a little bit your feelings about this bad situation for you?
AS: Well, I’m not frustrated but that’s just how it is in F1 since many years. It’s a little bit a different business. That’s all I can say right now. I look forward to the race and that’s it.
Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriera della Sera) Nico, we know the championship will not finish here in Brazil. Is it an add-point from a psychological point of view that you can have a last chance in Abu Dhabi?
NR: It’s… for sure it’s great. Great news that for sure this year I have a chance to win the championship the way it is now. That’s a good thing. I’m also happy because it’s good for the fans that it’s going to be exciting until the very end. And, yeah, for sure it keeps me very, very optimistic.
Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Nico, Lewis said that what happened in Spa was kind of a war for him and since then he changes his attitude and everything. What has it changed for you since then and what do you think you have to do now to change the results of the last five races?
NR: Did he say we’re at war? I don’t think anything has changed. It was an intense battle before and it still is an intense battle now. So, I don’t know his exact opinion on things but for me nothing has changed since then.
Q: (Claudio Nogueira – O Gobo) Felipe, can you make an overall evaluation of your first season with the Williams team?
FM: Starting with the team, the team did a fantastic season, looking at how they were last year and looking at how they are now. I think the team did a fantastic season in terms of what I was saying before: improving the car and working in the good areas. We lost some opportunities, I lost many opportunities during the season, so many races that I couldn’t finish for different reasons. Some unlucky races as well, I would say. But I think now, I would say maybe from the middle of the season, things were a lot more consistent for myself, for the races, and I really believe that we can still do a great two races for the end of the championship. I’m really working and looking forward to having a very consistent and good season in 2015.
Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) Kevin, two part question: first of all, I take it you still don’t know exactly what your future is for next year, and secondly, then, if you don’t know what your future is, do you feel a bit let down by the team, that in your rookie year, after you’ve done your best to try and perform on the track, you’ve got two races to go and they still haven’t told you whether you’ve got a drive next year or not?
KM: They’re not doing that to annoy me. They have a reason for it.
Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) Do you feel let down?
KM: No, because I understand why I’ve not been told yet. Some things are still not sorted out from their side and if they could let me know, they would. Yeah, I can only just wait and see what happens. I’m not planning anything else, I’m not looking for anything else. I’m planning as if I’m here next year, so that’s what I’m working for and doing my best to get to.
Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Adrian, I understood you had a two year contract and it seems that it’s only one year. Is this something you have to talk to Sauber about resolving? You alluded to some issues to sort out still.
AS: Yes, there are certain things to talk about, definitely, yes. They’ve confirmed two drivers but that doesn’t mean the drivers can drive and it doesn’t mean that the team’s going to drive. So there’s no real change from last weekend to this weekend. It’s just an announcement and now, of course, my situation, I think I have to do some talking, to sort out the things.
Q: (Luiz Fernando Ramos – Racing Magazine) I don’t know which drivers have done a track walk or saw the new pit entry and pit exit but if somebody can comment on what they saw? Maybe Felipe?
FM: Yeah, I saw it. The pit exit is more or less similar, a little bit more inside and I would say corner two is more safe, because the wall is a bit further away, so we won’t see some crashes which we saw many times. I think that corner will be a lot safer now. And the pit entry, I would say, was a good job. You still have the wall there, in a similar place – this is the only thing that we need to be careful of, but the pit entrance is better so I would say it’s more safe, it’s better and I really hope we will see no accidents or less accidents than we saw in the past there. Anyway, we need to drive to see exactly but it looks OK by looking but we just need to drive to be sure about it.
Q: (Andy Benson – BBC) At the beginning of the year, Nico, you were quite outspoken against double points, you didn’t like it.
NR: I do now! It’s really a fantastic idea.
Q: (Andy Benson – BBC) I’m coming to that, yeah, and last weekend you were also saying you didn’t like it but you could see the positives. If you end up winning the championship because of double points now, the way the season’s gone, some people will say that it was a hollow victory or it shouldn’t have happened or whatever. How would you respond to that?
NR: I wouldn’t respond. Everybody can have their opinion and in sport it’s the points that count in the end and of course, then you can debate who deserved it more or less. That’s always going to be the case.
Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Felipe, we heard that Felipe Nasr is going to race for Sauber next year. You know him pretty well, he’s been the third driver for your team. What do you think he can bring to Sauber and what do you say about him as a driver?
FM: Well, I’m happy for him. I think for Brazil it’s great to have another Brazilian driver racing. I’m quite close to him, we’ve worked together the whole season inside the team. He’s in GP2, maybe his third season in GP2 so it’s his time, his opportunity to go to Formula One, otherwise it starts to be a little bit more difficult after that so I’m happy that he had his opportunity, his chance and I hope the best for him. I hope the best for him and I hope that we can bring our Brazilian flag on the top now with two drivers, not just one, and I hope the best for him. Definitely, it’s not a great moment for Sauber. I don’t know exactly how it’s going to be next year, his team, I don’t know which car and how competitive they can be, seeing that they are suffering a little bit of crisis and crisis is not good for everything you’re doing but anyway, I hope the best for him and I hope he can have a good start and a good experience and being in Formula One for a long time, not just for a few years.
eom/FIA press release of the transcript
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Rosberg claims US Grand Prix pole
Nico Roseberg after taking pole position in Austin on Saturday. An AMG Mercedes Petronas image German takes ninth pole position of season as second-placed Hamilton suffers brake problems
Nico Rosberg launched himself back into the 2014 Formula One title fight by claiming pole position ahead of championship-leading team-mate Lewis Hamilton as the Briton suffered brake problems.
Both Mercedes drivers have complained of braking issues in the build up to tomorrow race at the Circuit of the Americas, but while Rosberg suffered in final practice, it was Hamilton who was set back in qualifying. The title leader finished at the top of the timesheet in the opening segment of the hour-long session but thereafter he slipped back, with Rosberg taking the honours in Q2 and the crucially running faster and faster in the final 12-minute shoot-out. He eventually finished four tenths clear of his team-mate, who leads the championship battle by 17 points.
Behind the Mercedes pair, Valtteri Bottas took his sixth third place qualifying position of the year, the Finn finishing three tenths ahead of team-mate Felipe Massa.
With 18 cars contesting qualifying, the decision had been taken to alter the qualifying format, with just four cars being eliminated from each of the opening two segments.
With last year’s US GP winner Sebastian Vettel set to start from the pitlane having changed both his power unit and his gearbox, his Red Bull team opted for a single run in Q1. By the end of that run the champion was in ninth, but as the times began to improve he slid back to a finishing position of 17th. Only Lotus’ Romain Grosjean went slower in the opening phase. The Frenchman struggled with balance and on his final run he slid wide at Turn 12, thus ruining his chances of making the cut. He duly apologised over the team radio saying that the car was “not the same one as this morning”.
The battle then was for P15 and P16 and as the final runs began the men in those slots were Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne and Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez. Neither could find the necessary improvement, however. In the end, Gutierrez was well wide of the mark, finished over three tenths off the P14 time of Force India’s Sergio Perez. Vergne was more unfortunate, finishing just five hundredths of a second behind the Mexican.
At the front, Hamilton finished ahead of the Williams due of Massa and Bottas, with Rosberg fourth ahead of Fernando Alonso and the McLarens of Kevin Magnussen and Jenson Button.
After the first runs in Q2 the drop zone saw Nico Hulkenberg in P11, with Sauber’s Adrian Sutil, Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado and Perez backing up the German.
And surprisingly, it was Sutil who made the leap forward, the German giving Sauber its first top-10 start of the season with a lap of 1:38.378, just under a tenth clear of Maldonado in P11. The Venezuelan finished ahead of Perez, Hulkenberg and Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat in P14. The Russian was also facing a 10-place grid drop due to a change of ICE prior to the session, the seventh such unit used by the rookie so far this season.
Ahead, Rosberg topped the Q2 timesheet, finishing almost a second clear of Hamilton with a time of 1:36.290. It might have been only a segment of the session overall but it was the first time all weekend that the German had ended a timing phase ahead of the championship leader. Third place went to Massa, with team-mate Bottas fourth. The remaining Q3 slots were taken by Ricciardo, Alonso, Button, Magnussen, Kimi Raikkonen and the impressive Sutil. Button, though, is also facing a grid penalty, of five places, for an unscheduled gearbox change.
Rosberg was again the pacesetter in the first runs of final 12-minute segment. The German’s opening effort of 1:36.282 was 0.161 quicker than Hamilton and 0.7s clear of Bottas., with Massa fourth ahead of Button. Sutil, meanwhile, elected to remain in the Sauber garage during the opening exchanges.
And Rosberg maintained his ascendancy in the final run. The German, second out on track after Daniel Ricciardo, lit up the timing screen with three purple sectors to log a lap of 1:36.067. Hamilton, meanwhile, was clearing the first sector with a personal best time but some way shy of Rosberg’s time. Matters worsened with a scrappy second sector of 38.4 seconds and despite putting in a session best third sector he finished almost four tenths down on the German. Afterwards, the title leader admitted that he had struggled with brake problems throughout the session.
Behind them Bottas finished third ahead of Massa. Ricciardo took fifth place ahead of Alonso, with Button seventh, though facing a grid drop. His McLaren team-mate Magnussen finished eighth, with the final top 10 places going to Raikkonen and Sutil.
2014 United States Grand Prix – Qualifying Result
1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:38.303 1:36.290 1:36.067 20
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:37.196 1:37.287 1:36.443 16
3 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:38.249 1:37.499 1:36.906 19
4 Felipe Massa Williams 1:37.877 1:37.347 1:37.205 20
5 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:38.814 1:37.873 1:37.244 17
6 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:38.349 1:38.010 1:37.610 16
7 Jenson Button McLaren 1:38.574 1:38.024 1:37.655 17
8 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 1:38.557 1:38.047 1:37.706 16
9 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:38.669 1:38.263 1:37.804 22
10 Adrian Sutil Sauber 1:38.855 1:38.378 1:38.810 15
11 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:38.608 1:38.467 16
12 Sergio Perez Force India 1:39.200 1:38.554 16
13 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:38.931 1:38.598 16
14 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:38.936 1:38.699 17
15 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:39.250 10
16 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:39.555 10
17 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1:39.621 3
18 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:39.679 8 -
The race is what counts, I need to focus: Poleman Nico Roseberg
DRIVERS
1 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)
2 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
3 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Williams)
TV UNILATERAL
Nico, a very strong pole position, a big margin for you. How do you feel about that? And hings are really hotting up, I guess now, with just three races to go?
Nico ROSBERG: Yeah, great day, very happy. It worked out really well, you know. Together with my engineers I really arrived at a car in the end in qualifying that I was happy with, the balance was good. Because it was quite a challenge, because the wind was changing and then this morning the conditions were quite different, a lot colder, so the track was changing all the time and it wasn’t that easy to get everything right but in the end we got to a great set-up, a great car, so I’m pleased with that. So first place of course today is awesome but you know the race is what counts, so I still need to focus fully on tomorrow and to to bring it home.
Well done. Coming to you Lewis, fastest in practice, fastest in Q1, but from Q2 onwards it seemed to be a bit of a troubled session for you, particularly with braking, in Q2 and again in Q3 I think?
Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, absolutely. Obviously, Nico did a great job today. I really struggled with braking, yeah. When you look at the brake temperatures, the left brake was always around 100 degrees less than the right front brake. It just kept catching. No matter what I did, even if I braked earlier and tried to save it, it would still lock. So that was perhaps where I was losing a lot of the time. But even if that wasn’t the case I think Nico was perhaps too quick today.
Is that an issue for you for the race, with that set of tyres?
LH: Potentially, yeah, so I need to try to see… maybe they can scrub them down or something and try to fix it overnight.
OK, thank you for that. Coming to you Valtteri: your sixth time in the last eight grands prix that you’ve qualified in the top three. That’s some run of form.
Valtteri BOTTAS: yeah, a pretty god qualifying again. I’m really pleased with the couple of good laps I got in Q3 today actually. It’s been a difficult weekend from my side for some reason, to get to a good rhythm and then finally during the qualifying I could really trust the car, like you should do. Really happy for us as a team, again, we locked the second row. It’s a good starting position for tomorrow’s race because we have still important three races to try to keep a good position in the constructors’ championship.
Very well done. Coming back to you again Nico, this track, particularly from the start, one of the characteristics here at the Circuit of the Americas has been the difference between the clean side and the dirty side off the grid. You must be pleased you’re on the right side of that tomorrow?
NR: I haven’t thought that far yet, but if you say it then yes, that’s great, another extra advantage for the clean side of the grid, you know, starting first. Of course the start is going to be important, need to make the most of that and stay ahead.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: So Nico, that, I think, is the sixth Mercedes front row lock-out in a row, which is certainly a statement about the dominance you’ve got in the car and the way you continue to stay ahead of everybody. Margin of nine-tenths to Valtteri today, it was four-tenths in Sochi – but you too haven’t been immune from brake problems this weekend, have you? Is this something worrying you at all going into the race?
NR: We’ve had a few issues in general on the car this weekend, on both cars and so yeah, we need to try to get it all right for tomorrow – but personally I’m not worried about that at all because if I would start worrying about that, it’s not going to be good for performance. So I’m very confident the team’s going to get the job done and just concentrate on what I can influence on my driving. I’m not worried.
Q: Lewis, I don’t know if you know but tomorrow is six years to the day since you won your world championship: November 2nd 2008. So I’m sure you’ll be hoping to channel the Interlagos spirit into tomorrow’s grand prix – but how much is that vibration on those tyres going to cause you a problem? Can you drill down a little bit more into that for us?
LH: Well the vibration isn’t that bad. It’s a minor flat spot. They’ll rebalance it and hopefully won’t feel too much with it. The issue is just locking. If I can’t fix that left brake, then that will be a continuing issue throughout the race. And obviously flat spots lead to blistering so I’ve got try and make sure we can fix that this evening.
Q: Coming to you Valtteri, you got your first points in Formula One here 12 months ago. Tell us about the race in prospect for you and also why you were behind Felipe pretty much the whole of today and how you managed to nail him when it got to the business end of qualifying.
VB: Yeah, it should be an interesting race. I think especially the guys behind us are going to be really quick and we’re now in a good position in the team’s championship and it’s going to be an important race for us to get good points with both cars. It’s not going to be easy. So we will really need to try to get everything right tomorrow. Really look forward to the race here, it’s always good fun. In qualifying and in general from the practice, I managed to improve myself a lot during every session and really got the car to a good setup only just before the qualifying and for the qualifying – so I could really trust the car a bit better in the qualifying and get those lines right and get every corner right. I knew that Q3 is the one which is going to matter, and I needed to get everything right and be on the limit and then that’s when I tried to squeeze everything that there was – and I feel I managed to do so.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Nico, where did you also find those tenths that you found in your Q3? Quite impressive pace after always being behind Lewis during the practice.
NR: What was the reason? I finally got there on setup, together with my team. We just continued to improve the car all the time and just got it right and I felt comfortable in the end. I was able to push and it felt good balance. Nailed the lap, got the lap really well, so it all worked out.
Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / National Speedsport News) To the two Mercedes guys, when you have troubles like you did today, little troubles, does it frustrate you or does it motivate you in a way, to say ‘I’m going to beat this and get on top of it and go even faster’.?
NR: Neither of the two really. It’s always a bit frustrating to have something like that in the moment but then, I’ve learned to move on to just accept and concentrate on the things that I can influence and just keep on it. That’s what I tried to do today and it worked out well.
Lewis?
LH: The same.
Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Association) To all three of you, you may or may not be aware that there is a very real threat tomorrow – It’s not speculation, it’s not hearsay – of three teams, Force India, Sauber and Lotus, opting to boycott this race. What impact do you feel that would have on Formula One?
Nico?
NR: No comment. Because I have not heard anything about this and it would not be the right thing for me to even comment on something like that.
Lewis?
LH: Same.
Valtteri?
VB: Same. No comment really. I don’t know anything about this situation so I can’t really say much.
Nico Roseberg of Mercedes takes pole and is flanked by Hamilton on his right (P2) and Bottas in Austin on Saturday. An AMG Mercedes Petronas team photo -
Rosberg takes eighth pole of season at Suzuka beating Hamilton; Bottas P3
Nico Roseberg, cente, takes pole in Suzuka on Saturday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image Mercedes lock out front row as Hamilton takes second. Bottas and Massa third and fourth for Williams
Suzuka, 4 Oct 2014: Nico Rosberg bounced back from the disappointment of losing his championship lead to team-mate Lewis Hamilton in Singapore by comfortably claiming his eighth pole position of the season in Suzuka, his first at the circuit, beating Hamilton to the front of the Japanese Grand Prix grid by two tenths of a second.
Williams locked out the second row of the grid with Valtteri Bottas third ahead of team-mate Felipe Massa. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso was fifth, for the sixth time this season.
In the first session Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne was the early pacesetter, before Rosberg got things properly started with a lap of 1:37.671 five minutes into the session. That was soon eclipsed by Hamilton, who went six hundredths of a second quicker than his team-mate. Bottas slotted into third place ahead of team-mate Felipe Massa, with Alonso sixth.
That order remained intact until the end of the 18-minute segment. Further back the drop zone was shaping up in largely predictable fashion, and before the final runs the final six places were occupied by Caterhams, Marussias, but also the Force India of Sergio Perez and the Lotus of Romain Grosjean.
In the final-run shake-up Perez comfortably moved up to P13. Grosjean, though, was not so fortunate. The Lotus driver, complaining of “no traction, no grip on the option tyre”, was eliminated in 18th place. Also out were team-mate Pastor Maldonado (P17), Marcus Ericsson, Jules Bianchi, Kamui Kobayashi and Max Chilton.
It was a close-run thing for the Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel in the opening segment. Vettel claimed his Q2 berth with a time of 1:35.517 that was good enough for P14, while Ricciardo went through a place behind.
In the second session, the first series of runs saw Rosberg claim top spot ahead of Hamilton, with Bottas once again third ahead of Alonso and Massa.
In the drop zone at this point were Ricciardo and Vettel, the Red Bulls again appearing to struggle. Ricciardo eventually eased into the top-10 shoot-out in P7 with a lap of 1:34.466. Vettel, though, scraped through in 10th place, just two tenths of second clear of 11th-placed Jean-Eric Vergne, who outqualified 13th-placed team-mate Daniil Kvyat by a tenth of a second.
Out went 12th-placed Perez, Nico Hulkenberg in P14 and then the Saubers of Adrian Sutil and Esteban Gutierrez.
In the final session, it was Rosberg who drew first blood, the German ending the opening runs in provisional pole position, with a lap of 1:32.629, just under three tenths of a second clear of Hamilton. Bottas was again third – just under four tenths down on Hamilton – with Massa fourth ahead of Alonso, Magnussen and seventh-placed Ricciardo. Button was eighth ahead of Vettel, while Kimi Raikkonen did not emerge from the Ferrari garage during the first part of the final 12-minute session.
In the end Rosberg landed his eighth pole position of the season comfortably. The German set a personal best in the tricky first sector and then lit up the timing screens with session-best times in S2 and S3 to secure a lap time of 1:32.506. Hamilton had no response and the title leader finished two tenths down on his team-mate.
Williams locked out row two, with Bottas ahead of Massa, while Alonso was fifth. Ricciardo will line up sixth for Red Bull Racing ahead of the McLarens of Magnussen and Button, while row five will see Vettel start ahead of Raikkonen whose sole lap, a 1:34.548, was only good enough for 10th.
2014 Japanese Grand Prix – Qualifying Result
1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:33.671 1:32.950 1:32.506 13
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:33.611 1:32.982 1:32.703 13
3 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:34.301 1:33.443 1:33.128 16
4 Felipe Massa Williams 1:34.483 1:33.551 1:33.527 16
5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:34.497 1:33.675 1:33.740 16
6 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:35.593 1:34.466 1:34.075 17
7 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 1:34.930 1:34.229 1:34.242 16
8 Jenson Button McLaren 1:35.150 1:34.648 1:34.317 17
9 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1:35.517 1:34.784 1:34.432 17
10 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:34.984 1:34.771 1:34.548 16
11 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:35.155 1:34.984 14
12 Sergio Perez Force India 1:35.439 1:35.089 13
13 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:35.210 1:35.092 13
14 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:35.000 1:35.099 13
15 Adrian Sutil Sauber 1:35.736 1:35.364 14
16 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:35.308 1:35.681 14
17 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:35.917 9
18 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:35.984 10
19 Marcus Ericsson Caterham 1:36.813 6
20 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:36.943 8
21 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham 1:37.015 9
22 Max Chilton Marussia 1:37.481 8eom
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Rosberg tops FP3 in Japan as Hamilton crashes
Hamilton crashes as Rosberg fastest in FP3 on Saturday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image Hamilton still fast enough for P2 ahead of Alonso, while Vettel and Raikkonen also hit trouble
Suzuka, 4 Oct 2014: Nico Rosberg went quickest in the final practice session ahead of qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix, while championship leading team-mate Lewis Hamilton crashed out.
After being second best to Hamilton in the first part of the hour-long session, run on hard compound Pirelli tyres, Rosberg jumped to the top of the timeseheet with his first run on the option medium tyres.
Hamilton left the Mercedes garage for his run, but as he wound up for a flying lap the Briton went wide in Turn One, ran over a kerb and ended up going straight on across the gravel trap into the barriers. The impact was not heavy but the front-left wheel of his car was torn off, leaving his team with much work to get through before qualifying.
Rosberg ended the session in P1. Hamilton’s best hard-tyre time, just under a second down on his team-mate’s soft-tyre best, was still good enough for second place. Fernando Alonso was third with a lap 1.2s down on Rosberg’s.
Fourth place went to Williams’ Felipe Massa, with team-mate Valtteri Bottas rounding out the top five.
Hamilton wasn’t the only driver to miss out on the option tyre runs at the end of the session. Midway through Sebastian Vettel, fresh from announcing that he will leave Red Bull Racing at the end of the 2014 season, reported that he was having problems with his RB10. He was told to box and then race engineer Guillaume ‘Rocky’ Rocquelin informed the driver that the problem was worse than first suspected and that it would need a “deeper look”. Vettel completed just six laps in the session and finished 15th.
Kimi Raikkonen, too, was in trouble. Just before the switch to the option tyres the Finn was on the radio saying he was down on power. He was told to return to the pits where Ferrari later reported they would be doing a precautionary engine change.
2014 Japanese Grand Prix – Free Practice 3 Times
1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:33.228 14
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:34.210 0.982 10
3 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:34.439 1.211 12
4 Felipe Massa Williams 1:34.564 1.336 12
5 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:35.061 1.833 16
6 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:35.086 1.858 13
7 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 1:35.251 2.023 16
8 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:35.494 2.266 8
9 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:35.538 2.310 17
10 Jenson Button McLaren 1:35.549 2.321 16
11 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:35.732 2.504 15
12 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:35.995 2.767 5
13 Sergio Perez Force India 1:36.365 3.137 8
14 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:36.407 3.179 22
15 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1:36.460 3.232 6
16 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:36.558 3.330 19
17 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:36.617 3.389 12
18 Adrian Sutil Sauber 1:36.626 3.398 20
19 Marcus Ericsson Caterham 1:37.367 4.139 12
20 Max Chilton Marussia 1:37.883 4.655 17
21 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:38.102 4.874 15
22 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham 1:38.784 5.556 12eom
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Nico Rosberg quickest in Friday practice; Hamilton run restricted by electronics problem
From left; Rosberg, Alonso and Hamilton at Thursday’s press conference in Monza. An FIA image Nico Rosberg was quickest in the Friday afternoon practice session at Monza as team-mate Lewis Hamilton was restricted to Mercedes’ garage for just over an hour with electronics problems.
Rosberg set the pace at 1:26.225 on the medium Pirelli tyre, just before the hour mark in the 90-minute session. Until that point there had been no sign of his title rival tem-mate but soon after Rosberg’s quickest run Hamilton was clambering into his repaired W05 and was on track. In the end he got as close as P2, with a lap just 0.061 adrift of the German but it was Rosberg who took the afternoon spoils.
Kimi Raikkonen followed up a good morning session performance, in which he finished, with third in the afternoon, just ahead of team-mate Fernando Alonso. The lead Ferrari finished the session, just a tenth down on Rosberg and just over two tenths clear of his team-mate.
In the opening phases of the session, Rosberg was quickest on the hard compound Pirelli, with a time of 1:26.786s. The German’s time was just thousandths of a second clear of Alonso, with the Italian seeming to indulge in a little low-fuel showboating in front of its home fans.
Third fastest on the medium tyre was Jenson Button, the McLaren driver finishing just four hundredths ahead of team-mate Kevin Magnussen. Fifth was Sebastian Vettel. Team-mate Daniel Ricciardo found it hard to bounce back after power unit problems in the morning but at least made into the top 10 just before the medium-tyre runs began.
Force India’s Sergio Perez was the first to bolt on a set of this weekend’s option tyres but it was Rosberg who quickly rose to the top again, the German posting a lap of 1:26.225 to annex P1, ahead of Valtteri Bottas who were finally beginning to show their hand after a quiet morning session saw the Finn finish 12thahead of team-mate Felipe Massa.
Bottas was soon displaced by Alonso, however, and then by the Spaniard’s team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, who got closest to Rosberg with a time of 1m26.331s, just a tenth off the German’s best. At the hour mark that left the order as Rosberg, Raikkonen, Alonso, Bottas, Button and Vettel. Seventh was Magnussen, ahead of Massa, Ricciardo and Perez.
That was the cue for Hamilton to finally clamber into his Mercedes and head out on track for his first run, on the hard tyre compound.
His first effort saw him rise to P12 with a time of 1:27.352 and he was quickly on the radio reporting “a lot of understeer”. He made his way back to the pit lane for a change and emerged on medium tyres. He immediately vaulted to P2, just six hundredths of a second adrift of his team-mate with a lap of 1:26.286.
Behind them the order remained the same as had filled the top 10 after 60 minutes, with only Perez moving, the Mexican dropping out of the top 10 as Hamilton rose through the order.
2014 Italian Grand Prix – Free Practice 2 Times
1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:26.225 41
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:26.286 0.061 16
3 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:26.331 0.106 31
4 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:26.565 0.340 26
5 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:26.758 0.533 34
6 Jenson Button McLaren 1:26.762 0.537 34
7 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1:26.762 0.537 27
8 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 1:26.881 0.656 44
9 Felipe Massa Williams 1:26.935 0.710 33
10 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:26.992 0.767 37
11 Sergio Perez Force India 1:27.079 0.854 42
12 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:27.227 1.002 39
13 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:27.476 1.251 37
14 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:27.840 1.615 33
15 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:27.929 1.704 33
16 Adrian Sutil Sauber 1:28.029 1.804 35
17 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:28.659 2.434 34
18 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:28.700 2.475 42
19 Max Chilton Marussia 1:28.786 2.561 29
20 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:29.085 2.860 29
21 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham 1:29.178 2.953 32
22 Marcus Ericsson Caterham 1:29.275 3.050 37eom
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Ricciardo takes third win as Mercedes drivers, Rosberg, Hamilton clash
Daniel Ricciardo took his third win of the season as a second-lap collision involving Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton badly compromised Mercedes’ race. Rosberg suffered front wing damage but eventually fought his way back to second place but Hamilton, who sustained a puncture in the incident, dropped to the back of the field and finally retired on lap 39.
Valtteri Bottas claimed his fourth podium finish of the season with third place ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, who took his best result of the season so far.
Before the start, Fernando Alonso’s afternoon was already going badly. The Ferrari driver’s car was still on jacks as the parade lap began and though he finally got going, members of his crew were still on the grid inside the 15-second cut-off point before the formation lap. It would later earn him a five-second stop-go penalty.
At the start Hamilton passed the slow-starting Rosberg and stole into the lead on the run up to La Source. Vettel too made a good start and passed his fellow German around the outside. Vettel then attempted to overtake Hamilton into Les Combes but outbraked himself, ran wide and rejoined behind Rosberg.
The drama wasn’t over, however. On the following lap Rosberg attempted a pass on his team-mate at Les Combes, but as Hamilton shut the door the pair collided, the right side of Rosberg’s front wing clipping the rear left-tyre of Hamilton’s car.
The Briton immediately swerved off track with a puncture while Rosberg shipped heavy front-end damage. Hamilton limped back to the pits for a new wheel, but while Rosberg reported much damage he was told to stay out and see how matters developed.
Behind the front two, Ricciardo was on the move, passing Alonso at Les Combes. He was soon on Vettel’s tail and overtook his team-mate when the champion ran wide at Pouhon. The Australian then set off after Rosberg who appeared to be suffering badly due to the front wing damage. Ricciardo closed to within a second and Mercedes took the decision to pit the leader for a new wing and medium tyres. The Red Bull driver assumed the lead.
Valtteri Bottas too was making a move. The Finn passed Alonso for third on lap eight, overtaking the Ferrari under DRS on the Kemmel Straight.
Rosberg was soon in trouble again. On lap 10 he picked up some debris on the track while racing down the Kemmel Straight. The debris became entangled in the aerial on the nose cone of his car and fluttered dangerously around his steering wheel.
Alonso, meanwhile, was handed a five-second stop-go penalty by the stewards, which he elected to serve during the first round of stops.
That round of stops was completed by the end of lap 15. Ricciardo, on softs, still led, with Kimi Raikkonen now second ahead of Vettel. Rosberg, who took on medium tyres during his stop, was now fourth ahead of Bottas, Magnussen and Alonso. Hamilton was now 16th and some 16 seconds adrift of Sauber’s Adrian Sutil.
On lap 16 Rosberg attempted to pass Vettel for third place but ran wide under braking and the error allowed Bottas to close and eventually pass the Mercedes driver under DRS on the following lap as the pair raced down the long Kemmel Straight.
Rosberg then reported that he was getting significant vibration from the tyre he had lit up attempting the pass on Vettel and he was forced to pit again on lap 19, taking on more medium rubber. He rejoined in 11th place but was soon up to ninth behind Sergio Perez.
Raikkonen made his second stop from second place on lap 21, taking on medium tyres. Vettel took his set of mediums on lap 22 and rejoined in P8. Ricciardo pitted from the lead on lap 27, taking on medium tyres, which he would race to the flag. Bottas now assumed the lead, having stopped just once, ahead of Rosberg who had made two stops and carved his way through the pack.
Bottas pitted on the very next lap, which promoted Rosberg back to the lead he had lost on lap eight. The German, on 10-lap-old medium tyres, would need to stop again, though with Bottas rejoining in fifth and new third-place man Raikkonen also possibly requiring another stop, Rosberg was told he was a “safe second”.
On lap 31, Bottas passed Vettel for fourth place and seemed set to secure his podium place as both Vettel and third-placed Raikkonen looked set to take on fresh tyres, whereas Bottas was on a two-stop plan.
With 10 laps to go Rosberg and Vettel made their stops, with both taking on soft tyres, aimed at utilising the tyre’s better pace to see what they could achieve against the two-stoppers on ageing prime tyres.
Rosberg rejoined in fourth and quickly dismissed Bottas and Raikkonen, but now the German was 22 seconds down on Ricciardo. That was simply too big a gap to make up to the Australian and the Mercedes driver settled in the end for his safe second place.
Behind him Raikkonen defied expectation, the Finn attempting to cling on to third on the set on prime tyres he had taken on at the end of lap 21. It was a brave choice but ultimately one that failed as Bottas, breezed past the Ferrari on the Kemmel Straight four laps from home.
With Raikkonen secure in fourth, a furious battle developed for fifth. Magnussen held fifth but a train was building up behind him, featuring Alonso, Button and the hard-charging Vettel.
A titanic battle ensued, with at times, the drivers racing four abreast on the run to Les Combes. It was Vetttel who came out on top, thanks to fresher tyres. Magnussen was sixth ahead of Button and Alonso. It wasn’t without a price though and Magnussen was placed under investigation after the race for his driving during the period.
Ahead, though, Ricciardo took a calm and controlled third career win, to leave him on 156 points, just 35 behind championship contender Hamilton, who stays on 191 points. Rosberg, meanwhile, moves to 220 points and a healthy title lead as the championship heads towards Monza.
2014 Belgian Grand Prix – Race Result
1 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 44 Winner 5 25
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 44 +3.3 secs 1 18
3 Valtteri Bottas Williams 44 +28.0 secs 6 15
4 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 44 +36.8 secs 8 12
5 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 44 +52.1 secs 3 10
6 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 44 +54.2 secs 7 8
7 Jenson Button McLaren 44 +54.5 secs 10 6
8 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 44 +61.1 secs 4 4
9 Sergio Perez Force India 44 +64.2 secs 13 2
10 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 44 +65.3 secs 11 1
11 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 44 +65.6 secs 18
12 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 44 +71.9 secs 12
13 Felipe Massa Williams 44 +75.9 secs 9
14 Adrian Sutil Sauber 44 +82.4 secs 14
15 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 44 +90.8 secs 20
16 Max Chilton Marussia 43 +1 Lap 19
17 Marcus Ericsson Caterham 43 +1 Lap 22
18 Jules Bianchi Marussia 39 +5 Laps 16
Ret Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 38 +6 Laps 2
Ret Romain Grosjean Lotus 33 +11 Laps 15
Ret Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1 +43 Laps 17
Ret Andre Lotterer Caterham 1 +43 Laps 21eom/FIA release
Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull Racing team celebrates after winning the Belgian GP on Sunday. A Pirelli Motorsport image -
It’s one of the most special tracks: Nico Rosberg after taking pole
DRIVERS
1 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)
2 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
3 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)
TV UNILATERAL
Nico, many congratulations, your first Spa pole. Typical Spa conditions of course today, tell us how special the feeling is right now?
Nico ROSBERG: Yeah, it’s awesome definitely at this track. It’s one of the most special tracks of the year, so to be in front here is great. Not quite as difficult out there as on some other occasions as the conditions were pretty much always intermediates, just varying slightly, so that made it a bit easier today. But still, it’s always difficult on this track in the wet, so I’m really, really happy. The car was handling well and together with my engineers we fine-tuned it perfectly now in qualifying and really got there in the end. So, in the end I was really feeling comfortable and able to push, so fantastic. But it’s only qualifying, so still a long race tomorrow but of course, very happy.
In terms of the detail, the first sector was always particularly strong for you throughout this qualifying session, why is that?
NR: I’m not sure, it’s Eau Rouge mainly the first sector you know. I was feeling good through there, really going for it and maybe that’s where the time was done. I haven’t looked.
Very well done. Coming to you Lewis, you were right in the hunt all the way through qualifying but it seemed, if anything, Q3 wasn’t quite as comfortable for you from the outset as the previous sessions had been, why was that?
Lewis HAMILTON: I had a glazed front-right or front-left brake, so the car was pulling to the left or to the right and there was nothing I could do on the out laps to try to get rid of that, so I was struggling under the braking. I had to bring the braking point a little bit further back and I was losing massive amounts out of particularly turn one.
Before that it looked like you were enjoying yourself out there, though. How much can you enjoy driving in conditions like these?
LH: It’s more fun in the dry but it’s still a huge challenge and as Nico said the conditions were quite good so…
Coming to you Sebastian, you were a winner here last year for Red Bull Racing. Your feelings on this result and what you can do from here tomorrow?
Sebastian VETTEL: Well, I think it would be nice to be a bit further up but obviously the gap is quite big. I think it was the best we could do for today. I think it was a tricky qualifying, especially Q2 looked very tight for us. I tried to stay out on the same set of tyres. It started to rain heavier, so I was quite confident that the track won’t get quicker and I wanted to save that extra set for Q3. It was quite tight. I got the lap in in the end because the circuit did pick up and in Q3 I was able to use both sets of tyres. It was obviously very tight behind the Mercedes. It was tricky out there, especially on low downforce, especially through Eau Rouge, so I had a couple of moments. But it was a good challenge and for sure happy with third.
Coming back to you Nico. You’ve never been on the podium before in Spa either. Clearly a big fight in prospect tomorrow in what promises to be, at the moment anyway, a dry race with Lewis and Sebastian. Your thoughts on tomorrow’s grand prix?
NR: Again, we have a great car here. We’re leading the way and that’s so cool to see that, definitely, that the team is doing such a great job. Just keeping it going all the time, staying ahead and keeping that gap. That’s nice to see. So yeah, definitely a really good chance tomorrow. I need to get a good start and from there I’m looking forward to it.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Nico, one of the things that was noticeable from the outset of this session – obviously it was very wet, had been very wet before the start of the session – was the performance difference between the Mercedes and the rest, right from the outset of Q1. You’ve been quick obviously all season but was this about downforce? Was there any specific reason in your mind why you had such a big advantage all the way through?
NR: I have really no idea. It was amazing to see that, how quick our car is. That was really great. Obviously then it was just Lewis I had to focus on, and that makes it a bit easier too –when there’s not a whole bunch, just one guy. Yeah, but really impressive car.
Q: Lewis, you’ve got to go back to Canada in June for the last time you were this far up the grid. It’s been a difficult period of time for you on Saturday afternoons. So, although I’m sure you’re disappointed today, nevertheless this gives you the kind of platform you’ve been looking for on Sunday to challenge, right?
LH: I’m not disappointed today actually. If you look at the previous years, P2 is the best place to start here so I feel quite blessed that this is the case. I started on pole here last year and Sebastian flew past me down the top straight, so I think it gives you the most opportunity here at the start. And I’m just happy to be up here. I was nervous going into qualifying, not knowing if the car was going to make it through it, and grateful for all the hard work the team put in to make sure we have no problems. It’s a great feeling to be back up here.
Q: Sebastian, you mentioned driving this circuit, in these conditions, with low downforce and it did seem that Red Bull had decided to run quite low levels of downforce, obviously thinking ahead to tomorrow’s grand prix. Is that the case?
SV: Yep!
Q: And how did that feel? A gamble clearly…
SV: It was very tricky in the wet. We knew it would be even trickier obviously when qualifying is wet, qualifying was wet so we can confirm it was trickier – but the reason behind it is fairly simple: we know that we are down on power, obviously Mercedes can run a lot more wing level and they have a very strong car this year, you have to admit, so they have a lot of downforce but they can still take that wing onto the straights. If we do that I think we are similar in the corners but quite a long way off on the straights and therefore vulnerable in the race. So, I think that’s the reasoning behind it, and in the wet probably it hurt us a bit more, but hopefully tomorrow we’ll be closer in terms of race pace and closer to them than in the last couple of races.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Angelique Belokopytov – AutoDigest) Sebastian, you are a four time champion and this year you’ve never won a pole so how long can you, a champion, live with that?
SV: As long as I have to, I guess. I’m trying very hard so it’s not like I’m deciding consciously not to qualify on pole. Obviously these guys are doing a very good job from the drivers’ point of view, their team is very strong so that is what makes them very difficult to beat. Obviously we’ve been on the other side for quite a while but that’s the name of the game. Obviously my season wasn’t the way I was hoping for but there are still some races to come. I think we did the maximum today so I’m hoping for a strong result tomorrow.
Q: (Vladimir Rogovets – Sb Belarus) Nico, to your left is one champion, to your right is a second champion but today you have pole position. How do you feel here between two champions?
NR: I feel very good but not because it’s Lewis and Sebastian. To me they’re competitors like all the others: great drivers. I’m just happy to be first; first is the best position for tomorrow’s race.
Q: (Paulo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Nico, this morning the Williams were pretty fast and many people were expecting them to be a challenge in the dry. Do you think that having a wet qualifying helped you a little bit to keep them away or you just were hiding a little bit this morning?
NR: I think even in the wet we would have been strong. Maybe the others would have been a little bit closer. It’s very difficult to say who exactly, I’m not too sure about that but for sure it helped us that it was wet because in the wet, clearly the gap was a lot bigger and our car was really dominant.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – Universo OnLine) Lewis, you had a problem with your brakes today. In German qualifying you also had the same; you had a problem with the engine in other races; a lot of problems. How can you understand it, so many difficulties that you’ve had?
LH: I don’t really know. Today, this is a circuit where – as on all circuits – you need to have confidence in the brakes. You saw a couple of times in Q3 when I was just going straight on everywhere because the left brake wasn’t working and then for some reason – I don’t really know why – it went into glazing but yeah, I’ve had some good experiences and bad experiences but it’s OK. Who knows, it might be a blessing in disguise.
Q: (Sven Heidinger – Sport Woche) Lewis, do you fear that the issue with the brakes will appear again tomorrow or was it a one-off? What do you think?
LH: Well, when it glazes, it’s sometimes very hard to recover, especially in the wet. You have to put the brake balance forwards but whilst you’re trying to clear that, you’re also overheating the rears so it’s really not that easy to always clear but in the evening they’re able to scrub it and get rid of the glazing. I think it goes shiny and then you lose that bite so hopefully over the evening we will lose that and in the dry tomorrow it shouldn’t be a problem.
eom
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Rosberg fastest in opening practice for Belgian Grand Prix
Championship leader sets pace ahead of Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso third.
Following its traditional summer break Formula One action resumed today at Spa-Francorchamps, with Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg setting the early weekend pace in the first practice session ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix.
The championship leader ended the opening session with a best lap of 1:51.577, outpacing team-mate Lewis Hamilton by 0.097s.
Mercedes-powered cars dominated proceedings, with just the Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen and the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo figuring in a top 10 otherwise solely populated by cars using Mercedes power units.
Alonso finished the session in third place, just two tenths down on Rosberg’s table–topping time. He was followed by the McLaren-Mercedes of Jenson Button, with Spa specialist Räikkönen, a four-time Belgian Grand Prix winner, slotting into fourth place.
Sergio Pérez posted a useful fifth-fastest time for Force India, while Kevin Magnussen was sixth, though the Dane was over half a second down on McLaren team-mate Button.
Nico Hulkenberg was eighth fastest in the sister Force India car ahead of Ricciardo. The Australian’s team-mate Sebastian Vettel had a troubled session. The German reported gearbox problems, ran wide at Pouhon and then was forced to retire from the session with exhaust failure. The team later reported that he would miss FP2 as a result of the issues.
Valtteri Bottas was the only Williams driver to finish inside the top 10, seven tenths quicker than team-mate Felipe Massa.
Further back, Alexander Rossi drove the session for Marussia, at the end of a confusing 24 hours for the team. Yesterday, the team reported that the American racer would drive for the whole weekend in place of regular racer Max Chilton due to “contractual issues” with the British driver, a decision confirmed by the race stewards.
On Friday morning, however, the team, again with the permission of race stewards, reversed its decision and reinstated Chilton to his race seat, with Rossi confined to an FP1 outing. The US driver finished the session in 20thplace, 5.6s down on Rosberg.
Behind him, making his first grand prix weekend appearance was three-time Le Mans winner and 2012 World Endurance champion Andre Lotterer.
The German, who races for Audi Sport Team Joest in the WEC, is racing this weekend for Caterham, replacing regular driver Kamui Kobayashi. He finished the session in 21st place ahead of team-mate Marcus Ericsson.
2014 Belgian Grand Prix – Free Practice 1 Times
1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:51.577 25
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:51.674 0.097 24
3 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:51.805 0.228 16
4 Jenson Button McLaren 1:52.404 0.827 21
5 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:52.818 1.241 17
6 Sergio Perez Force India 1:52.903 1.326 24
7 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 1:52.922 1.345 23
8 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:52.937 1.360 22
9 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:52.972 1.395 19
10 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:53.172 1.595 20
11 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1:53.369 1.792 11
12 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:53.594 2.017 21
13 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:53.597 2.020 20
14 Adrian Sutil Sauber 1:53.703 2.126 14
15 Felipe Massa Williams 1:53.968 2.391 20
16 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:54.189 2.612 20
17 Giedo van der Garde Sauber 1:54.335 2.758 16
18 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:55.336 3.759 21
19 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:55.782 4.205 19
20 Alexander Rossi Marussia 1:57.232 5.655 20
21 Andre Lotterer Caterham 1:57.886 6.309 24
22 Marcus Ericsson Caterham 1:57.977 6.400 24 -
Never believe what the newspapers are writing, quips Nico Rosberg after taking pole at Hungarian GP
Vettel, P2, Left, and Bottas, right, P3, flank Roseberg after he took pole at the Hungary GP qualifying on Saturday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image DRIVERS
1 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)
2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)
3 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Williams)
TV UNILATERAL
Congratulations Nico. It was a dramatic qualifying session wasn’t it, what with the rain, going off at the first corner etc. What was it like from the cockpit?
Nico ROSBERG: Yeah, quali three was really a big challenge, because the track was just changing all the time in the beginning and especially starting the lap with that first set of options, I was the first one to arrive in the first corner. It was just difficult to judge: how much risk can I take, how late can I brake? It was very, very wet, so I did take it a bit easy and managed to avoid crashing. For Kevin? I guess… It was just massively difficult down there and unpredictable. That can happen. From then on it was easier. It just started drying again and especially my last lap, I really managed to nail it.
And a really big margin as well. Well done. Sebastian, at one point it looked as though you nearly had him, you looked as though you were nearly going to be on pole. Where has the speed come from this weekend?
Sebastian VETTEL: I think probably the nature of the track suits us a bit more – less straights. I think historically we’ve always had a competitive car around here. It seems that we are a little bit closer but obviously Nico’s final lap was very good so the gap was again quite big – bigger than we were hoping for, because as you mentioned if we get everything perfect and Nico maybe has a bit of a wobble, we can have a crack, but it didn’t happen. They did a god job. Obviously Q3 was a mixed bag, it could have been anything, so therefore with the more dry conditions at the end to get second was the optimum.
Well done, thank you. Valtteri, once again in the top three. You weren’t expecting to be quite so quick at this circuit. Is this a bit of a surprise? Well done by the way.
Valtteri BOTTAS: Thank you, yeah. I think maybe a little bit of a surprise. We knew that Red Bull are going to be really quick here and also Ferrari and obviously Mercedes like always. Like Seb said the nature of the track in theory is not the best for us, but we’ve been able to work well as a team to bring some updates, which really worked well. Obviously we’re still missing some grip compared to some other cars but today was, I think, a really good day from us. Third and sixth, we have a good chance also here to get some really good points.
Now Nico, tomorrow in the race itself, there’s the possibility of rain again, your main championship rival and team-mate starts right at the back, what are your thoughts?
NR: Yeah, that’s been a pity for the team. Not a good thing definitely and we need to keep on working on that. That’s reliability. Also, I would be prefer to be out there battling with Lewis. That would give me the maximum adrenalin rush. Like this… of course, I’m very, very happy but it wasn’t a gloves off battle with Lewis and that takes away a little bit of the ecstatic happiness. But anyway, tomorrow’s still going to be a long race and a challenging race, especially with the weather coming, so still all to play for.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Nico, yesterday you said you were a bit surprised you were so quick, and you needed to find the time. Did the track come to you or did you managed to find the time, basically, through adjustments, modifications to the car…
NR: That was two opposing statements there… ‘you were quick but you needed to find the time…’
That’s what you said… you were surprised you were so quick but you still needed to find the time. This is a quote!
NR: Never believe what the newspapers are writing!
This is from your own press release…
NR: Oh, OK, never believe what the press officers are writing! No. I’ve been surprised that we’ve been able to be so quick this weekend. I think our engine is definitely very, very strong and here the engine doesn’t come into play so much, so maybe the gap would be a little bit smaller but in fact it’s as big as anywhere really here and that’s been great to see. Really cool. It just goes to show how good our car is also.
Q: Did you change much overnight?
NR: It’s been an ongoing process, yeah. I mean, with FRIC not being on the car it’s still finding my way and finding our way because it does impact the car a lot, especially on a track like here in Budapest. A lot of long corners and fast, flowing corners – but really got there and I’m pleased with where we are now.
Q: Sebastian, tomorrow, can you take the fight to Mercedes? I guess that’s the question everyone wants to know.
SV: It depends. I think we are here to fight, we want to do that. If it rains, I think we definitely have a better chance than in normal, standard dry conditions but even then, I think we were closer this weekend. Long run pace, yeah, looked a lot better on Friday compared to them. Obviously hard to judge how much they were sandbagging or running different modes on Friday. So, it should be closer than in the last couple of races, definitely. I think we can have a good fight with the Williams, which seems to be out of reach the last couple of races.
Q: So the question is to Valtteri, can you be second? Can you even be first?
VB: I think, y’know, if nothing special is going to happen, first is really difficult. Still Mercedes is ahead – but you never know. We need to aim for that, always, and aiming for that we can get good results. Obviously here, tomorrow, it’s going to be a really close fight, like Seb said, with Red Bull and us. So we need to see how the pace is. If it’s enough, keeping them behind, at least one of them, that would be good.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto-Motor) Sebastian, I think it’s fair to say that you looked convincingly quicker than Daniel throughout the weekend here. Is it because the track suits you or have you found something in the car or are you getting more comfortable with it?
SV: I don’t think I was that much quicker, I think it was fairly close all qualifying and practice as well. Since yesterday afternoon the car seemed to be coming my way a little bit and naturally then you pick up some pace. We didn’t have anything new on the car compared to last week in Hockenheim – it’s only one week ago – so I think probably the conditions, tyres seemed to help me maybe a little bit to pick up some pace.
Q: (Peter Vamosi – Vas Nepe Kiadoi) Valtteri, what do you think right now halfway through the season, you are fifth in the championship? Is there more, can you fight against Mr Vettel and Alonso?
VB: Well, we’re always aiming for more. I think there’s still a long way to go and double points in the last race so a lot more is possible. I think personally, in the drivers’ points, I think it would be good to aim to be third. I think it is possible this year with the car we have and if we keep improving like we’ve done so far, so that should be the aim.
Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, is it a big help to you to have a cleaner side at the start?
VB: Yeah, this season many times, I’ve been on the dirty side so it is always better to be on the clean side and we’ve normally had some really good race starts and hopefully we’ll have a good one tomorrow as well, so we will see. It’s quite a long run to the first corner, so the start will be very important.
Q: (Graham Keilloh – F1 Plus) Sebastian, towards the end of Q3, to what extent was the rain that we’d had still making a difference? If it was making a difference, was it helping you get closer to Nico or further away?
SV: I think the first run – obviously we saw Kevin lost it into turn one – was affected by the track being damp, first couple of corners, but I think the last two runs, everyone had no problem, it was completely dry.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – Universo On Line) Nico, the fact that your teammate is at the back of the grid, does that change anything for you in the race, start in a different way, maybe new goals because it will be harder for him?
NR: Well, it makes it easier of course, because he’s my competitor number one, so I will play it even more safe and just really try and avoid any unnecessary things happening and make sure to get as many points as possible because it’s really a free opportunity tomorrow.
Q: (Viktor Bodnar – Magyar Szo) Nico, can you imagine how you would feel yourself if you were in Lewis’s place with this series of bad luck?
NR: Well, it’s massively disappointing when the car breaks down. I had it two races ago at Silverstone in the lead that the car broke down. It’s tough, it definitely is tough because it’s not something that you can control, you know, so that makes it really difficult..
Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto-Motor) Nico, it’s been anticipated on this track the ban on FRIC would have a greater effect since the corners are a bit longer and the track is bumpier. Have you felt that that was the case, this is why Red Bull was a little bit closer?
NR: For sure it had a big effect, yes, but I think it affected everybody, because everybody had the FRIC system in one way or another and so it seems that we’ve held on to our advantage and I’m very very happy to see that because it wasn’t sure how it was going to go, if some teams might benefit more than others. What was sure was that we had a good system so we were very confident ours was really good but it seems that we’ve held on which is great.
Q: (Peter Vamosi – Vas Nepe Kiadoi) To all drivers: next year, the Hungaroring will have its thirtieth Formula One race here. If you could change something on the track, corners, facilities, whatever, what would you do?
NR: Well, it’s a fantastic race to come to here you know, the fans are so excited and also it’s very international, there’s a lot of Finnish fans, also a lot of German fans, so for me it’s great. Yeah, it’s always nice to come here. What would we..? I don’t know, it’s difficult to say what to change because it’s a great track, it’s very challenging, it’s like a little street circuit but as a real track. It’s very tough, so I wouldn’t change much, I’d keep it like it is.
SV: Since there’s large interest I would probably put more grandstands next to the track so that some of the people don’t have to stand all the time. Other than that, I wouldn’t change anything.
VB: Yeah, facilities and everything are really nice, lot of fans, lot of support so that is good but I have to say that as our car is quite slick in the straights, that this year I would change the track a bit, bit longer straight. Seb, do you agree, for next year?
SV: No, I’d rather go free beer for your fellow countrymen!
Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas) I would like to know, Sebastian and Valtteri, do you feel as well this impact without FRIC that Nico was talking about?
SV: Obviously I think some people were more advanced than others. For us, it didn’t make a big big difference. We had something but yeah, I think we’re more or less as competitive as we were before so it didn’t change much.
VB: No big difference, no, and we’ve improved since last weekend for sure, with the current suspension, but I don’t think it’s the key point of the season.
Q: It’s always said to be very difficult to overtake here; is it any easier with this generation of cars or is it still very difficult?
SV: In a Williams, I guess it’s fantastic down the straights, you know, you’re so quick but it depends. I think it’s always been difficult and it will be difficult tomorrow.
