INDIA in F1

Tag: Nico Rosberg

  • All about Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix

    Budapest, 23 July 2014: Round 11 of the 2014 Formula One World Championship brings us to Budapest for the Hungarian Grand Prix, held at the Hungaroring.

    The Mercedes AMG Petronas is sitting pretty with a gigantic lead of 178 points in the Constructor’s Championship with a kitty of 366 while teammates Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton are on a close fight. Rosberg is leading the battle with 190 points from the 10 races at the mid-way point in the 19-race season. He won four times and finished 2nd five times, with his only retirement at the British GP to lead his teammate by 14 points in the Driver’s Championship. The German got married on July 11 and is in seventh heaven. He signed a new-multi-year contract with Mercedes and extended the celebrations of German World Cup victory with a win at home in the German Grand Prix last week.

    British driver Lewis Hamilton on the other hand has 176 points and is ahead of third-placed  Daniel Ricciardo (106) of Red Bull by 70 points. He has one more victory than Rosberg, at five wins, but he failed to finish twice; at the season opener in Australia and then at the Canadian Grand Prix. He came second twice and was third at the German Grand Prix last week as Valtteri Bottas stuck on to take his Williams to a second place on the podium for the second successive week.

    But the former World Champion is eagerly waiting to strike back. He is full of praise for the team and feels that the team has done a great job in putting both the cars on the podium once again.

    Lewis Hamilton: “I was very proud that we could put both cars on the podium for Mercedes-Benz in Germany in front of all the Mercedes employees there last weekend. From a personal point of view, I couldn’t be too ecstatic about the race because it was a tough weekend for me and ultimately I lost more points to Nico in the Championship battle.

    “But I had great fun out there and did as good a job as I could. To get the car from right at the back to the podium was quite an achievement for everyone involved and I’m grateful that we could limit the damage after qualifying. The Hungarian Grand Prix is always a special one for me, with four pole positions and four wins from my seven races there so far – including my first victory for Mercedes last season.

    “I don’t really have any secrets there – I’ve just been very fortunate over the years and it’s a circuit I really enjoy. It’s one where you can really attack, which works for an attacking driver like myself, so perhaps it suits my driving style a little bit more than some others. I’ve always had great support there from the fans too, so I’m looking forward to it. I’m doing absolutely everything I can to get back on level terms with Nico in the title battle – I can’t focus more or work harder than I am doing right now. This Championship is proving a big challenge for me but that’s how I love it – and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

    German Nico Rosberg is flying and looks forward to the Hungarian Grand Prix with confidence:
    “It was an amazing feeling to take a home victory for myself and Mercedes-Benz at Hockenheim. That race and Monaco are the ones I really want to win, so I came into the weekend hoping for a good result and it worked out perfectly. My Silver Arrow was so dominant and I have to thank the team for this fantastic car. So many positive things have been happening for me in the last few weeks.

    “Getting married was definitely the best feeling, then with the new contract, the World Cup for Germany and the weekend at Hockenheim. It’s been a very special time for me. Now we head to Hungary, which is always a really fun weekend in a lot of different ways.

    “Budapest is a really cool city, with a lot of nice things to do in the evening with all the restaurants on the river. I often have friends come to this race as they really enjoy the place – although, of course, while they’re out partying on the Saturday night, I’ll focusing and preparing for the race! We’ve had some great after-race parties on the Sunday night in Hungary before, as it’s the last one before the summer break. Hopefully we can give everyone back at the factories and here at the circuit something to really cheer about as a reward for all their hard work before they go on holiday!

    Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, is also on a high:
    “Our performance at the last race in Germany was very satisfying indeed. So many of our board members, colleagues and friends from Stuttgart were there in Hockenheim for the weekend so the pressure was on. We’ve performed well at the other big races for the team in Malaysia and Britain, but this was the pinnacle for us as a home race.

    “As our thoughts now turn swiftly to the next race in Hungary, it’s important to recognise the hard work put in by everyone at our factories in Brackley and Brixworth. It’s a tight turnaround between the two races and this will be the final trip before the summer break, so we are pushing flat out to make sure we wrap up the first part of the season on a high. It has been a very busy year so far and another strong result would be the right reward for everyone involved before taking a well-earned rest. We had a spectacular race in Hockenheim and Budapest also has real potential to deliver an exciting Sunday afternoon, although overtaking is much more challenging there. the Hungaroring has always seen fantastic levels of support and we are looking forward to putting on a good show for the fans.

    Paddy Lowe, Executive Director (Technical) 
    Germany proved to be a busy weekend for the team from start to finish – both in the garage and off track as the home race for Mercedes-Benz. The big talking point going into the weekend was, of course, the demise of FRIC. Much was made of its potential impact on the relative performance of the teams, but as we saw from the first sessions on Friday this did not come to fruition. Lewis’ incident during qualifying came as a big shock. The damage to the car left us with some difficult decisions to make and, in the end, changes to the gearbox meant a 5-place penalty dropped Lewis even further down the grid. Lewis then produced a superb recovery drive from the back of the grid to claim a fine podium finish. Nico, meanwhile, built on a strong qualifying position with a perfectly judged race performance to take a well-earned home win. We now move on to Hungary, which will be another interesting challenge. It’s usually very hot in Budapest, which will be a consideration in terms of car setup. Overtaking is also notoriously tough around the Hungaroring circuit – with a high emphasis placed on a good qualifying result. Lewis has a fantastic record at this particular venue, with four pole positions and four wins from his seven races here. Nico, by contrast, has had a tough time in Hungary in previous years. However, judging by his performance in Germany last weekend we should be set for another fascinating battle between the two drivers. As a team, we will approach this race as we would any other as we look to cap off a strong start to the season with an equally strong result heading into the summer break.

    Hungaroring: The Inside Line 

    Lewis 

    The weather is usually fantastic in Hungary and the circuit is quite an old-school layout, so it’s got plenty of great characteristics. It definitely suits my ‘aggressive’ driving style – as I think a lot of people like to call it. You start the lap with DRS across the pit straight – which is actually quite short compared to a lot of other tracks. You’re then late on the brakes into the right-hander of Turn One, ideally hitting the apex right in the middle, then hard on the power and opening the DRS once again on exit.

    You have to brake really deep into the left-handed Turn Two and really hug the apex, with a good line crucial to allow you to go flat-out through the right-hander at Turn Three – using all of the kerb on exit. It’s really hard to see the apex at Turn Four, which arrives very quickly and is another really fast corner. Turn Five is then a bit slower – heading back to the right and with a bumpy surface on exit which can easily lead to oversteer moments.

    A good run through the Turn Six / Seven chicane needs you to take all the available kerb through the first part and then get hard on the power out of the second – leading into a really nice left-right-left-right sequence at Turns Eight, Nine, 10 and 11. You have to be really patient through here, as a good rhythm is important.

    Finally, you’re into the last sector – beginning with Turn 12. There is a lot of grip on the way into this corner, which requires minimum kerb contact on entry but maximum on exit. You need patience once more through Turn 13, which you almost have to make into a ‘vee’ for the best line, and again through the final corner, Turn 14, which is crucial for a good run down the straight.

    Nico 

    The Hungaroring is quite a unique circuit as it is very small and narrow – almost like a street circuit, but in the form of a permanent race track. It’s really twisty, with very few straights and the left-right-left-right nature meaning you barely get any time to relax. You’re always in action, so it’s very tough on the driver. Luckily, I enjoy those sorts of challenges as it’s where you can really make a difference as a driver. You also have to really nail some of the kerbs to get the line just right, otherwise you’ll lose the rhythm and lose a lot of speed.

    Budapest as a venue is also quite tough on the driver physically, as it can get very hot. Again, the lack of straights also mean you have very little time to take a breather and get some cool air rushing around you. You’re always tensed up in the cockpit, fighting all the corners, so it is pretty demanding from that perspective.

    The key corners around the circuit are Turn One, which is the best place to overtake after the longest DRS straight on the track, and then I would say Turn Five. This is around the back of the circuit and comes after the very fast Turn Four – sweeping up and right for quite a long time. It’s easy to get this one wrong and you really have to hook your inside tyre into the little ditch on the inside of the apex to make it work best, so it’s tricky but a lot of fun.

    On the Pit Wall 

    Circuit Layout

    The Hungaroring is a highly technical circuit which requires a very different driving style – beyond the standard procedure of taking a late apexes and managing traction on exit. Through many of the corners, the fastest line may require drivers to hold minimum speed – a technique which suits some more than others. This will also play to the strengths of some cars more than others, with those that can sustain extended periods of lateral loading coming to the fore. It’s a track at which getting everything spot on is extremely difficult, with rhythm playing an important role – much as it does in Monaco, although not to the same extent.

    Overtaking

    Overtaking is notoriously difficult at the Hungaroring. The start / finish straight is not particularly long, while the second DRS zone between Turns One and Two is more of a kink – offering equally scare opportunities for passing manoeuvres. Qualifying is therefore crucial, with races often defined by the starting grid. That said, Lewis pulled off two fantastic overtaking manoeuvres in 2013 to take an impressive victory. There were done through corners where the opposition would never have expected to be passed – proving that with the right level of bravery, it can be done…

    Safety Cars

    Safety car probability is surprising low here given the narrow nature of the circuit. There are, however, very few gravel run-off areas, with tarmac preferred through most corners – which is undoubtedly a contributing factor.

    Tyres

    Budapest has historically seen the softest allocation of tyre compounds, the soft and Supersoft, however Pirelli have remained consistent with their choice of Soft and Medium, as 2013. This is a contrast to Germany, where we had the more aggressive choice of the Supersoft and Soft. The Hungaroring track surface is not overly abrasive, with one stop strategies having been deployed on occasion in the past. However, temperatures frequently reach levels sufficient to introduce three stop strategies – which have been a far more frequent occurrence.

    Climate

    There have been wet sessions every now and then during Hungarian Grands Prix weekends, but these are few and far between. 2011 saw a wet race and P2 was damp in 2012, but 2013 was a completely dry event. When it does rain in Budapest it rains very heavily indeed, but generally speaking the weather is relatively easy predict. It lies at the upper end of the range in terms of heat, with temperatures rising as high as 45 degrees – similar to the peak levels seen in Austria two races ago.

    Double-header

    Combining with Germany to form the first pair of back-to-back races since Malaysia and Bahrain way back in March / April, Budapest throws the teams back into a situation where preparation time is scarce. Whereas there has been plenty of time to prepare in advance of the more recent races, some resource has also been put into preparations for both Hockenheim and Budapest with the truncated timescale in mind – the priority being to ensure that data is not lacking by the time the teams arrive at the second event.

    Anniversaries 

    Mercedes-Benz Heritage 

    21 / 22 July 1934 – 80 Years Ago:
    In the ‘Kilometres Across Germany’ endurance event, Mercedes-Benz drivers claim a total of 26 gold, three silver and three bronze medals in the individual and team rankings. The 1.5-litre Sports Saloon, the chassis of which forms the basis for the 150 Sports Roadster presented at the start of 1935, has its first competitive outing.

    25/26 July 1964 – 50 Years Ago:
    Robert Crevits and Gustave Gosselin drive a Mercedes-Benz 300 SE to victory in the 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium. The Belgian team sets an average speed of 164.875 km/h.

    On-Track 

    28 July 2013 – One Year Ago:
    Lewis Hamilton takes his first victory for MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS from pole position at the Hungaroring circuit.

    Spotlight 

    120 Years Ago – The First Motor Race
    On 22 July 1894, just eight years after the automobile’s invention, a ground-breaking city-to-city motoring competition entitled ‘Le Petit Journal Concours des Voitures sans Chevaux’ (or ‘Le Petit Journal Competition for Horseless Carriages’) would mark the very first foray into motorsport for two great marques that later re-wrote motorsport history: Daimler and Benz.

    Held in France – at the time considered the most advanced motorised nation – the event was organised by national newspaper ‘Le Petit Journal’ to boost circulation and stimulate interest in motoring. Despite organisers stopping short of classing the event as a race, this 127 km test of pioneering machinery is widely regarded as the world’s first competitive motor race: offering prizes to the top finishers utilising eligible machinery (defined as not requiring a travelling mechanic or technical assistant such as an engine stoker). Although earlier competitions had been held for automobiles powered by steam, the 1894 event was the first to attract a full field of vehicles; thereby acquiring its prestigious standing in motoring history.

    The race itself was preceded by four days of vehicle exhibition and qualifying events, comprising interwoven routes staged around the city of Paris to determine worthy entrants for the main event. Over 100 entries were submitted ranging from established manufacturers such as Peugeot to amateur enthusiasts, with 21 vehicles eventually taking to the start line: 13 of which were powered by internal combustion engines. With both Daimler and Benz represented, the event was to prove a landmark occasion in the history of both marques.

    While the sole Benz entry was classified in the results – placing 14th at the hands of Emile Roger – it was a Panhard-Levassor which claimed equal first prize, powered by a twin cylinder, 30-degree vee petrol engine produced under licence from Gottlieb Daimler. Although the car was not the first to cross the finish line, it shared the ‘5,000 francs du Petit Journal’ with the Peugeot brothers on the basis of the vehicles being those which came “closest to the ideal” and were “easy to use”.

    It was from these humble beginnings – a seven-hour journey averaging speeds of marginally less than 20 km/h – that the success story of Mercedes-Benz in motorsport finds its roots, as both Daimler and Benz went on to play leading roles in the formative years of auto racing history from the late 1800s into the early 1900s.

    Niki Lauda, Lukas Pdolski, Dr. Dieter Zetsche with other team members ahead of German GP. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image
    Niki Lauda, Lukas Pdolski, Dr. Dieter Zetsche with other team members ahead of German GP. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image


    eom/Mercedes AMG Petronas release with inputs from INDIAinF1 Spl correspondent

  • Rosberg takes home victory as Bottas takes 2nd keeping Hamilton at bay

    Hockenheimring, 20 July 2014: Mercedes AMG Petronas driver Nico Rosberg cruised to a first home win in the German Grand Prix, finishing 20 seconds clear of Williams’ Valtteri Bottas, as Lewis Hamilton recovered from a 20th-place start to finish in the race in third position. in the Formula One (F1) World Championship at Hockenheim on Sunday.

    Behind the podium finishers Sebastian Vettel finished fourth for Red Bull Racing, while Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso won an enthrallin

    Nico Rosberg celebrates on the podium after winning the German GP on Sunday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image
    Nico Rosberg celebrates on the podium after winning the German GP on Sunday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image

    g battle with Daniel Ricciardo in the second Red Bull to take fifth place.

    There was drama as soon as the lights went out at the start. While Rosberg and Bottas got away well, McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen, who’d made a good start, collided with the Williams of Felipe Massa and the Brazilian’s car was flipped upside down as the pair slid into the gravel trap at turn one. The Williams came to rest right side up and Massa was quickly out of the car. The accident ruled him out of the race however. Magnussen was able to continue, though he had to pit for repairs and the Dane rejoined at the back of the field.

    The incident disadvantaged Ricciardo who had to take evasive action and he dropped back to 15th. Vettel steered clear of the chaos, however, and rose to third as the safety car was deployed.

    When the racing resumed Rosberg held his lead from Bottas, with Vettel third ahead of Alonso. Nico Hulkenberg was in fifth, while Jenson Button had risen to sixth from 11th on the grid.

    The first stint was largely about Hamilton’s charge through the pack. By lap eight he was up to 12th behind Ricciardo who was also making progress. Hamilton was, however, now almost 18 seconds down on his front-running team-mate and he continued to lose time as he battled with Ricciardo. The Red Bull driver made it past Jean-Eric Vergne and Kimi Raikkonen but while Hamilton got past the Frenchman he briefly became stuck behind the Finn.

    Now 25 seconds down on Rosberg, Hamilton had to move decisively and he did so on lap 13. Pulling alongside Raikkonen, Hamilton braked late into the hairpin. The Mercedes and Ferrari made contact but Hamilton made is past and with Ricciardo avoiding trouble, the Briton passed the Red Bull into the bargain. The move elevated him to seventh.

    Rosberg, meanwhile, had made his first stop and as the bulk of the field, who had started on supersoft tyres, headed for pit lane, Hamilton, who had started on soft tyres, rose to second, 7.7s behind his team-mate. Bottas then retook second on lap 20 with Hamilton under instruction not to resist the Finn.

    Hamilton, targeting a two-stop race, finally made his first stop on lap 27, taking on another set of soft tyres. He resumed in eighth place. At the front, Rosberg was now 13 seconds ahead of Bottas, with Vettel third, a further eight seconds back. Alonso held fourth ahead of Hulkenberg and Button. Ricciardo was once again in front of Hamilton.

    Hamilton, on fresh tyres, passed Ricciardo for P7 on lap 29 but then tried to overtake Button. He misread the pace of the McLaren, however and hit the sidepod of Button’s car. It damaged Hamilton’s front wing but the Mercedes driver carried on and then made a clean pass on his former team-mate on the following lap. He found a way past Hulkenberg on lap 33 for fifth.

    His two-stop plan appeared to be working but by lap 42 the Mercedes driver was complaining that his tyres were wearing too fast to make it to the end of his planned long stint and his team switched him to a three-stop programme, bolting on supersoft tyres on lap 43.

    On lap 50, Adrian Sutil spun in the final corner and his car stalled almost in the middle of track. It seemed set for a safety car and Mercedes, perhaps anticipating it, brought Hamilton in for his final set of tyres, more supersofts. With the trackside marshals able to remove the Sauber, the safety car didn’t appear, and the Mercedes driver, who rejoined behind Alonso and ahead of Vettel, faced a long stint on the quick but fragile tyres.

    It didn’t seem to hurt Hamilton, however, and he passed Alonso for P3 on lap 56 to sit just over seven seconds behind Bottas.

    Alonso, meanwhile, made his third and final stop, for supersofts, with 11 laps to go. He rejoined in P7 behind the Red Bulls of Vettel and Ricciardo and the McLaren of Button but with fresher, quicker tyres.

    Ahead Hamilton was chewing through the gap to Bottas with the deficit reduced to just four seconds by lap 58. On the following lap the Briton took 1.7 seconds out of the Finn to set up a move.

    Behind them a great battle developed between Alonso and Ricciardo, with duo tussling hard for P6. Despite Ricciardo’s best efforts he couldn’t resist indefinitely and eventually the Ferrari driver muscled past at the hairpin. He ran deep, however, and offered Ricciardo a way back in. The Australian pushed hard to recover the position but Alonso held on. With Vettel now 7.6s ahead and out of reach fourth was the best Alonso could do. It was by a tiny margin, however. Ricciardo battled to the end and when the duo took the flag there were just hundredths of a second separating the pair.

    At the front Rosberg took a comfortable fourth win of the season but behind him Hamilton could find no way past the calm and collected Bottas, who took his third podium finish in a row.

    With Vettel fourth for Red Bull and Alonso and Ricciardo taking P5 and P6 respectively, seventh place was taken by Hulkenberg. Button was eighth, ahead of team-mate Magnussen and the final points position.

    Rosberg’s win leaves him on 190 points with Hamilton now 14 points back. Ricciardo lies third with 106 points, nine clear of Alonso, who is six ahead of Vettel.

    2014 German Grand Prix – Race Result
    1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 67 1:33:42.914 1 25
    2 Valtteri Bottas Williams 67 +20.7 secs 2 18
    3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 67 +22.5 secs 20 15
    4 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 67 +44.0 secs 6 12
    5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 67 +52.4 secs 7 10
    6 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 67 +52.5 secs 5 8
    7 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 67 +64.1 secs 9 6
    8 Jenson Button McLaren 67 +84.7 secs 11 4
    9 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 66 +1 Lap 4 2
    10 Sergio Perez Force India 66 +1 Lap 10 1
    11 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 66 +1 Lap 12
    12 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 66 +1 Lap 18
    13 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 66 +1 Lap 13
    14 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 66 +1 Lap 16
    15 Jules Bianchi Marussia 66 +1 Lap 17
    16 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham 65 +2 Laps 19
    17 Max Chilton Marussia 65 +2 Laps 21
    18 Marcus Ericsson Caterham 65 +2 Laps 22
    Ret Adrian Sutil Sauber 47 Spin 15
    Ret Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 44 +23 Laps 8
    Ret Romain Grosjean Lotus 26 +41 Laps 14
    Ret Felipe Massa Williams 0 Accident 3

    eom/press release

  • Getting married, pole and now the win, have made the last few days special and enjoyable: Rosberg

    DRIVERS

    1 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

    2 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Williams)

    3 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by Kai Ebel)

    Nico, how sweet is the taste of the home victory champagne?

    Nico ROSBERG: It’s fantastic. It’s an amazing feeling for me to win here at home. A very, special day for me. Thank you for all your support here this weekend.

    Valtteri, three time on the podium now but how hot was the breath of this guy [Hamilton] on your neck?

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, I feel really happy again being third time in a row on the podium. These guys were too quick today but really happy that we at least managed to keep one of them behind. It was not easy, it required all the info from the engineers, what to do with the engine modes, and from my side pushing hard but I really want to say thanks to all the fans. I also see many Finnish flags here so, thanks Finland.

    Lewis, lots of

    Nico Rosberg celebrates after winning the German GP on Sunday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image.
    Nico Rosberg celebrates after winning the German GP on Sunday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image.

    fans in for you here. King of overtaking, 17 places, fastest lap, damaged front wing, so how much racing fun was that for you as a racer?

    Lewis HAMILTON: I had great fun. It was great to see how many fans we had here today, thank you so much for the support. I did as good as I could today. It was very hard to get through the pack safely. I had a little bit of a collision with Jenson. I honestly thought he was opening the door to let me past, he’s been a bit like that in the past race for example, so my bad on judgment there. It’s very hard to overtake at the end, they were so fast on the straights but I’m very happy I got some points today.

    Thanks Lewis. Coming back to you Nico. Lots of points for you but not much time to  celebrate as the next race is coming up next week already.

    NR: Yeah, well definitely we’ll be celebrating a little bit tonight, I hope you [the fans] will as well, it would be great to continue the soccer world championship spirit today a little bit. I look forward to the next race in Hungary. With the car that we have at the moment… I’m very, very thankful to Mercedes for the car that they’ve built us, it’s really a pleasure at the moment. Hungary will be good.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: So Nico, your fourth win this year, I think your first on home soil – and which of the great things that have happened to you this week has given you the best feeling?

    NR: That’s getting married. That’s definitely the case. That was the best feeling. But of course everything has been special. Really fortunate, just had a great… many positive things happening in the two weeks, or week and a half. Been really enjoyable, and also this weekend with pole and the win. Just awesome. Very, very special day today.

    Q: Valtteri, something of a defensive master class at the end, defending from Lewis in the final laps. Tell us a little bit about what was going through your mind, the way you positioned the car in those final laps, particularly given the state of the tyres after a very long stint.

    VB: Yes, big enough the last stint. I was already close with Lewis but he stopped and at that point there was still twenty or so laps to go. I knew it was going to be really close in the end. With a new set of tyres, 20 laps to go, he can make up the pit loss, and he did and he was riding my tail the last few laps. For me it was just really, really important to always get a good exit for the DRS straights, so out of Turn One and out of Turns Two-Three, to get as good an exit as possible and brake always as late as possible for the hairpin at the end. Also from the team, we were communicating and I got all the support from the engineers to get the right engine modes for defending – so thanks for that.

    Q: Lewis, from 20th on the grid to third at the end and so much to deal with, so many changes as well, you were on a change of strategy at the end there where you were going to do two very attacking stints on the super-soft of 13 laps. They obviously changed that after the Sutil spin, brought you in a bit earlier, so you had to do a bit longer final stint. I wonder though how much the damage of the front wing in the Jenson Button incident hurt your chances of doing more than third today.

    LH: I couldn’t tell you. The car was a little bit different but nonetheless to still get some points today, I’m grateful and very happy with the car today that Mercedes provided us with and congratulations to Nico. It’s fantastic for him on his home soil and also for Mercedes-Benz. So I’m glad I could add some points today.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Leonid Novozhilov – F1 Life) Valtteri, is second place today the maximum for you, is second place the maximum for your team or can you do more?

    VB: We always aim for more but for now we need to be happy with these points. Of course we were unlucky with Felipe again, we didn’t get both cars in a good position but I think today was the maximum result. We did everything perfectly and managed to keep Lewis behind in the  end which got us an extra few points but in the future, we are definitely aiming for more and this is not the maximum.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, your target for this year was a podium; now you’ve got a hat-trick of them. How surprised are you with this success, because it’s not so usual for Finnish drivers to get three podiums in a row?

    VB: OK…

    NR: I got three in a row.

    VB: Yeah, of course I feel really lucky also to be part of this. Last year we could not have expected to be three times in a row on the podium but we now… This is the package we have and it’s all down to hard work and we need to always keep aiming for more, like I said before. Of course, it feels really good to be (on the podium) for a third time in a row but I think we’re aiming for more than that now. We know Budapest might be a bit difficult for us but hopefully we get some updates.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Lewis, do you see the glass of your race more half full or half empty?

    LH: Well, I don’t really know how to answer that really. I came from last, so to get on the podium is quite an achievement, so perhaps half full.

    Q: (Barna Zsoldos – Nemzeti Sport) Lewis, you’ve got an incredible record in Hungary – seven races, four wins. What is your secret there and what are your feelings in general about next week’s race?

    LH: I don’t really have any secrets there, just been very… If I’ve ever had any… Just been fortunate in that race, great support there as usual with the fans and a circuit I really enjoy. It’s a circuit where you can really attack, it works for an attacking driver like myself so perhaps it suits my driving style a little bit more than some others, maybe.

    Q: (Udo Doering – Darmstaedter Echo) Nico, are you a little bit surprised to win so clearly and when you saw the car of Sutil standing on the track, did you fear another safety car?

    NR: Yeah, definitely I’m a bit surprised because in qualifying the Williams were quite close so didn’t really expect to have such a big advantage in the race. And yes, I definitely got a bit worried when I saw Sutil’s car out there because I was sure there was going to be a safety car and that would have obviously made it a lot more difficult.

    eom/FIA pess release of the transcript

  • Rosberg wins German GP to extend championship lead; Bottas holds back Hamilton for a second place

     

    Rosberg on way to his first victory at the German GP on Sunday 20 July 2014. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image
    Rosberg on way to his first victory at the German GP on Sunday 20 July 2014. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image

    Hockenheim, 20 July 2014: A cool and composed race by Valtteri Bottas in a Williams denied three extra points and a second place for former World Champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes AMG Petronas, who stormed from 20th on the grid to a stunning third place, but was looking for a second to chase and narrow the championship lead of his teammate, Nico Roseberg, who cruised to his first race win on the home turf winning the German Grand Prix, the 10th round of the Formula One World Championship here on Sunday.

    The facile win for the German saw him take a 13-point lead in the championship with 190 points and Hamilton on 176 points is second ahead of Daniel Ricciardo (106) of Red Bull in third place. Ricciardo’s overtaking spree saw him finish sixth today. His teammate and reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel on the other Red Bull was fourth ahead of Fernando Alonso in a Ferrari.

    Sahara Force India once again had a double points finish with Nico Hulkenberg taking a well-deserved seventh place, after starting from P9, while teammate Sergio Perez managed to get the last point in tenth place.

    Jenson Button of McLaren was 8th and his teammate finished on 9th to garner 6 points for the team.

    ends

     

  • Hamilton crashes out in qualies; Roseberg rules the roost, again

    DRIVERS

    1 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

    2 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Williams)

    3 – Felipe MASSA (Williams)

    TV UNILATERAL

    Nico, congratulations. Pole for your home grand prix and what a week it’s been for you: Germany win the World Cup, you get a new contract, and you get married, and now you’ve got pole for you home grand prix?

    Nico ROSBERG: Thank you very much, yes. For now it’s been going really, really well. It’s great, home race here and to be on pole is fantastic. Of course I would have preferred if it was an open fight with Lewis. A little bit less happy as a result because Lewis didn’t have a shot at it in the end. But all in all, still a fantastic day up to now, but no points for today. [The} important [part] is just tomorrow, still a long way to go but it’s still a good start.

    Very well done. Valtteri, it looked like quite a calm session; you worked your way through Q1 to Q2 to Q3 in a very methodical way. You looked fairly untroubled but do you think you could have got a bit closer to Nico or even challenged him?

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, I must say we must again be really happy with the result we got today as a team, second and third, so well done to everyone, but I think Mercedes is still ahead. The lap I had in the end was no mistakes and a really nice, so I really I felt I got everything out of the car today.

    Very well done. Felipe, Williams once again up towards the front in qualifying. What do you put this performance down to and where do you feel you lost out to Valtteri today?

    Felipe MASSA: Yeah, for sure I think I was struggling to put the lap together, so I had some movement from the tyres and I was not able to have a perfect car – just to put all the sectors together. I was able to do one sector better in one way, the other sector better in the other way. The car was not 100 per cent perfect in terms of set-up to put the perfect lap and Valtteri did really a very good lap. But anyway I’m still quite happy with the result and I’m quite happy with our car and for sure in the race the conditions are completely different, the feeling of the car as well is different, so let’s try to a very good job tomorrow as well.

    Coming back to you Nico. What have you heard from the team about Lewis’ situation and also what are your thoughts about the race tomorrow, particularly with these incredibly high temperatures we’re experiencing here in Hockenheim?

    NR: I don’t any details about the other car. I just knew it didn’t apply to my car, so from that point of view I was comfortable that I could keep on pushing. For tomorrow, it’s supposed to be a bit colder, which will make it easier on the tyres, because the tyres are very, very soft so degradation is high. And of course the weather could play a role, so just need to take it as it comes.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Nico, firstly in Q1, a bit of a scare at the start. You seemed to go off the road a couple of times and with about five minutes to go after the red flag stoppage you went out on a set of super-softs, which is very unusual for you. Obviously you were feeling the pressure at that point. And also could you clear up, you mentioned before Lewis’ situation didn’t apply to you – that’s because I understand you run two different types of brakes between you. Maybe you could explain a little bit about that.

    NR: Yeah, so quali one, I had problem with my brakes to start off in qualifying because we changed them for qualifying. It didn’t feel good, the whole of qualifying really I was struggling with that. Sort of found my way then – but it was especially difficult in the beginning in quali one, really difficult. And then, yeah, brakes, we run two different brakes between us. So, the problem that he had didn’t apply to my car as a result.

    Q: It was a disc failure?

    NR: I’m not sure of the details.

    Q: Valtteri, a general question – just to sum up your feelings how it feels at this early stage of your career to be running at the front all of the time.

    VB: I feel really happy to be part of this team as we are really on the right way and again, a strong result from us as a team and from me and Felipe. So, it’s good to be part of this. We are really focussing to get better and better. The race is tomorrow, there’s no points for today. We need to focus on that, again trying to do the perfect job if we can and get the maximum points available.

    Q: Felipe, Nico was saying earlier he thinks it’s going to be a little cooler tomorrow – which is obviously good news from the car and tyre point of view – but maybe you could put into words for us how you think these tyres are going to perform here tomorrow, what the challenges you think will be in tomorrow’s grand prix given the relative temperatures.

    FM: I think it will be a big challenge for everybody. So, we’re running super-soft and soft, definitely is not 100 per cent easy to keep the tyres in the good shape all the time, every lap, so the consistency… it’s not very easy to be there every lap, so maybe we will see more stops than at other races – I don’t know. Definitely having a little bit less temperature in the track will help a little bit, especially our cars so I hope this can be a good help for us tomorrow to make these tyres a little bit more consistent and trying to make the strategy the best way as well. But it’s always a big challenge tomorrow in the race.

    Q: Nico, you’re looking at the replay there of Lewis’ accident. Your thoughts?

    NR: I hadn’t seen it yet – but it looks pretty bad but I hear he’s OK and just a little bit bruised on the knees.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Graham Keilloh – F1 Plus) Nico, can you talk us through when you knew that Lewis was out of qualifying; do you then subsequently still push as much as you would have done if Lewis had been there or do you reign it back in to make sure you are getting laps in for the rest of the qualifying session?

    NR: No, it doesn’t change, it doesn’t change the way I approach it. I’m still flat out and pushing all the way through, definitely.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – Universo On-Line) To both Williams drivers: yesterday you were struggling a lot with the car and suddenly today you appear almost fighting for pole position. What’s the magic you did in the car from one day to the next?

    FM: Well, I don’t think we were struggling yesterday. Yesterday we were P6 in the session, so normally, even in the race, when we are starting at the front, we were top five, top six, so I don’t think we were struggling yesterday. Maybe in the first session everything was new for everybody, because there was a little change on the suspension for everybody but it was just something that you needed to get used to with the set-up but we were not struggling yesterday.

    VB: Yeah, I agree. We knew that after Friday there was nothing really to worry about it. We knew that we had work to do to improve the car which we managed to do, improve the balance, but I think maybe sometimes some other teams are more focusing on qualifying laps in practice rather than just testing.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Nico, I would love to say that this is the first time in F1  history that there is an all-Finnish front row. Do you agree?

    NR: Yes, I agree!

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Nico, in the last two races, Lewis has always been starting quite behind you but he’s always managed to catch up pretty quickly. This time he’s starting 15th. Is this a track where you think he can catch up as quickly as he could in Zeltweg and Silverstone or could you have more advantage here, looking at how far he is behind or maybe allow you to drive another kind of race, not so full attack all the time?

    NR: For sure, I still expect him to come through the field quickly. I don’t know. It’s difficult to predict. I need to do my own race, I need to push anyways from the front, I need to go for it and try and pull a gap and then see where I am with strategy and everything.

    eom

    Nico Rosberg, centre, takes pole position for the German GP on Sunday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image
    Nico Rosberg, centre, takes pole position for the German GP on Sunday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image

  • Rosberg tops timesheet in the opening Practice Session: German Grand Prix

    Nico Rosberg topped the timesheet in the opening practice session of the German Grand Prix weekend, the German beating Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton by just 0.065s.

    Rosberg’s time of 1:19.131 beat his title rival team-mate’s best lap by six hundredths of a second as Hamilton frequently aborted quick laps as he worked through his morning programme, according to FIA.

    Hamilton left, Nico Rosberg at Hockenheim on Friday. An Mercedes AMG Petronas image
    Hamilton left, Nico Rosberg at Hockenheim on Friday. An Mercedes AMG Petronas image

    Behind the Mercedes pair, Fernando Alonso was third-fastest for Ferrari, the Spaniard finishing just under three tenths of a second adrift of Hamilton.

    Fourth place went to Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo who was over half a second down on Rosberg’s time. Jenson Button was fifth, with team-mate Kevin Magnussen seventh as McLaren continued the good form they showed in Silverstone a fortnight ago.

    Splitting the McLarens was Sebastian Vettel in the second Red Bull. The 2013 German Grand Prix winner finished the opening session four tenths of a second behind his team-mate and almost a full second behind compatriot Rosberg.

    With Magnussen in seventh, eighth place went to Kimi Raikkonen, back at the wheel of his Ferrari after he was forced to sit out last week’s Silverstone test in the wake of a heavy accident at the British Grand Prix. The final two top-10 places went to Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat and Sauber’s Adrian Sutil.

    Elsewhere, Williams development driver Susie Wolff made a second and far more successful FP1 appearance for the Grove team.

    At Silverstone the Scot’s grand prix weekend debut lasted just four laps before an oil pressure problem sidelined her and early on at Hockenheim it seemed as if she was destined for more heartbreak as an issue on her installation lap forced her back to the pits.

    The problem was rectified, however, and she was able to complete a total of 22 laps, with a best time of 1:20.76. That left her in P15, just 0.227s off the best time set by team-mate Felipe Massa.

    2014 German Grand Prix – Free Practice One
    1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:19.131 29
    2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:19.196 0.065 25
    3 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:19.423 0.292 21
    4 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:19.697 0.566 27
    5 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:19.833 0.702 24
    6 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:20.097 0.966 28
    7 Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 1:20.105 0.974 32
    8 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:20.210 1.079 21
    9 Daniil Kvyat STR-Renault 1:20.337 1.206 28
    10 Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 1:20.505 1.374 18
    11 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1:20.542 1.411 19
    12 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Renault 1:20.586 1.455 23
    13 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1:20.592 1.461 22
    14 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1:20.598 1.467 24
    15 Susie Wolff Williams-Mercedes 1:20.769 1.638 22
    16 Giedo van der Garde Sauber-Ferrari 1:20.782 1.651 23
    17 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1:21.603 2.472 20
    18 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 1:21.854 2.723 30
    19 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 1:22.572 3.441 31
    20 Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 1:22.982 3.851 24
    21 Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 1:23.256 4.125 35
    22 Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 1:23.299 4.168 22

    eom

  • Rosberg pips Hamilton to extend championship lead; Maiden podium for Bottas

    Spielberg, 22 June 2014: Mercedes AMG Petronas driver Nico Rosberg took his third win of the season at the Austrian Grand Prix ahead of Lewis Hamilton despite a determind charge by the Briton to second from ninth on the grid.

    The German’s win extends his World Drivers’ Championship leade over Hamilton to 29 points. Williams’ Valtteri Bottas claimed his first podium finish with third place ahead of pole winner Felipe Massa. Sahara Force India was once again in double points as Sergio Perez, who disappointed with an controversial last-lap clash in the last race, did a wonderful job finishing 6th after starting 16th while Nico Hulkenberg, lost a place to Daniel Ricciardo during the fag end, but managed to finish ninth.

    Hamilton *lef) had to be content with a second place as Rosberg extended his championship lead. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image
    Hamilton *lef) had to be content with a second place as Rosberg extended his championship lead. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image

    At the start, pole position man Felipe Massa made a solid getaway to hold the lead. Behind him Bottas lost P2 to Rosberg into Turn One but managed to wrestle back the advantage at the following corner. Behind them Hamilton made a storming start, climbing to fifth from ninth on the grid. He went one better in the final turn of lap one to pass Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and he then settled in behind team-mate Rosberg as the field crossed the line to begin lap two.

    Sebastian Vettel though was in trouble. At the start of lap two he slowed dramatically and reported that he had lost power. He pulled over and seemed set to stop but then mysteriously his RB10 seemed to right itself. He was told to ‘go racing’ by race engineer. The champion though was a lap down on the field and a significant recovery looked impossible. The Red Bull driver soldiered on at the back of the field, surviving a collision with Esteban Gutierrez along the way, until he was eventually told to retire his car midway through the race.

    Team-mate Daniel Ricciardo also had a rocky start. Pushed wide in turn two on the first lap he dropped from fifth on the grid to eighth. He was soon after informed that he should not use his overtake button for the whole race and hampered by power problems he was soon down to tenth.

    With the opening supersoft tyres being used by the bulk of the field graining badly, the first round of pit stops wasn’t long in coming. The main body of stops was triggered by Jean-Eric Vergne on lap eight, the Toro Rosso swapping the option tyres for prime softs. He was followed a lap later by Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg and on the following lap by Kevin Magnussen, Daniil Kvyat and Ricciardo.

    Rosberg pitted from third place on lap 11, allowing Hamilton to fly past. Hamilton couldn’t find the pace necessaryon his own in-laps and stop, however, and when he emerged after his own stop on lap 13 he found himself just behind Rosberg.

    Leader Massa, meanwhile, was readying himself for his tyre change on lap 14. His stop was far from perfect however and when the Brazilian emerged he found himself behind Rosberg and was then quickly passed by Hamilton.

    Bottas’s stop on lap 15 was much quicker, however, and the Finn was able to split the leading Mercedes after taking on soft tyres. The order on lap 16, then, was Sergio Perez, who had started on softs and had yet to pit, followed by Rosberg, Bottas, Hamilton, Massa and McLaren’s Jenson Button, who had also started on the soft tyre from 11th on the grid.

    On lap 27 Rosberg passed Perez for the lead, the Mexican ceding the position without much of a fight having been told by his pit wall that the race would come back him as his strategy played out later on. Bottas too sneaked through but Hamilton had to wait until the next tour before he could pass the Force India. The delay allowed Rosberg to pop in a fastest lap. Hamilton responded with his own but the gap had by now drifted to 2.4 seconds.

    Perez eventually made his first stop on lap 29, tajking on a second set of softs before rejoining in seventh position.

    At the front the battle was hotting up again as Bottas and Hamilton closed in on Rosberg, who made a small mistake. The Williams driver got to within a second of the leading Mercedes, with Hamilton in close attendance, but Rosberg soon responded and the gap widened to 1.1s.

    Hamilton made his second stop in lap 39, taking on a final set of softs and rejoining in fifth. Rosberg though kept going for another lap and following a three-second stop he retained his advantage over Bottas and Hamilton. When Bottas pitted on lap 41 his relatively tardy 3.4s stop allowed Hamilton to move ahead and claim second.

    Massa made his final stop on lap 43, switching to soft tyres in 3.4s. The Brazilian then unfortunately found himself behind Sergio Perez, who was set for a longer stint on his second set of soft tyres.

    On the road the leader was Alonso and the Ferrari driver continued until lap 47 when he took on his final set of soft tyres. He emerged in sixth place behind Massa. At the front, Rosberg led by 1.6s from Hamilton, with Bottas a further 5.7s behind.

    The question now was whether Perez in P4 and Button in P7 behind Alonso could make any impact once they made their final stop for supersoft tyres?

    Unfortunately for Force India, the answer was not much. Perez took on the option tyre on lap 55 and rejoined in eighth position, five seconds behind McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen. The Mexican had enough pace in hand to pass Magnussen for sixth place on lap 66 but with a 13-second deficit to Alonso and just laps left sixth was the best Perez could do. Button, meanwhile made his stop on lap 58 but lodged behind tenth-placed Raikkonen in the closing stages the McLaren driver failed to make a significant move.

    At the front the battle for the lead finally flared in the final three laps, with Hamilton attempting to get inside DRS range of his team-mate. With a lap left and with Hamilton just 1.1s behind his team-mate both drivers were told they could use all the tools at their disposal. As the pair went through turn three Rosberg lit up his brakes. Hamilton saw an opportunity but he too erred in the corner and the chance was gone. Rosberg hung on to claim his third win of the season. The win means he stretches his championship lead over Hamilton to 29 points.

    With Hamilton second, Bottas took his first podium finish with third ahead of Massa and Alonso. Perez held onto sixth ahead of Magnussen but Ricciardo made and exdellent last-lap pass on Hulkenberg to steal eighth. The final points position went to Raikkonen who easily kept Button at bay.

    2014 Austrian Grand Prix – Race Result
    1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 71 1:27:54.976 3 25
    2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 71 +1.9 secs 9 18
    3 Valtteri Bottas Williams 71 +8.1 secs 2 15
    4 Felipe Massa Williams 71 +17.3 secs 1 12
    5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 71 +18.5 secs 4 10
    6 Sergio Perez Force India 71 +28.5 secs 15 8
    7 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 71 +32.0 secs 6 6
    8 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 71 +43.5 secs 5 4
    9 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 71 +44.1 secs 10 2
    10 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 71 +47.7 secs 8 1
    11 Jenson Button McLaren 71 +50.9 secs 11
    12 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 70 +1 Lap 13
    13 Adrian Sutil Sauber 70 +1 Lap 16
    14 Romain Grosjean Lotus 70 +1 Lap 22
    15 Jules Bianchi Marussia 69 +2 Laps 18
    16 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham 69 +2 Laps 19
    17 Max Chilton Marussia 69 +2 Laps 21
    18 Marcus Ericsson Caterham 69 +2 Laps 20
    19 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 69 +2 Laps 17
    Ret Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 59 +12 Laps 14
    Ret 1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 34 +37 Laps 12
    Ret 26 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 24 +47 Laps 7
    eom/FIA press release

  • Its great to get one more one-two result for Mercedes: Nico Rosberg

    Mercedes team members pat Nico rosber after he won the Austrian GP on Sunday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas team image
    Mercedes team members pat Nico rosber after he won the Austrian GP on Sunday. A Mercedes
    AMG Petronas team image

    DRIVERS

    1 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

    2 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

    3 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Williams)

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by Mark Webber)

    Another dominant one-two victory for Mercedes, so Nico what a very, very special for you again. Three now in the season. You capitalised on a very, very good qualifying and now another victory. Run us through it. Lot of control on the brakes by the sound of it, managing issues at the end there?

    Nico ROSBERG: Yeah, it wasn’t the easiest of races – trying to manage certain things that were a bit on the limit on the car. But in the end I had a very, very fast car again, so it was fantastic to win today. It’s great also to get a one-two here in Austria and it’s great to come back here to Austria. I mean Austria for sure deserves a race. The fans have been amazing, the atmosphere has been spectacular this weekend, so thank you very much for that and yeah it’s been awesome.

    Lewis, over to you mate. Well done. A good recovery after a tough qualifying. In terms of… mega first lap, right on Nico at the start there after the first lap. In terms of pit stops, are you happy with your positioning because I’m a bit worried about how much time you’re losing in the pits. The guys… good stops for Nico but are you happy with the positioning on that? Also at the end of the race did you have to manage any issues and could you fight Nico?

    Lewis HAMILTON: I don’t know. I have to have a look at the feedback and just see what the team say about the stops. Maybe my positioning is not right, you know obviously in those situations you’re just pushing. But the guys have done a fantastic job. As Nico said, to get another one-two here is just incredible. This track has been fantastic and the fans have been insane this weekend, so thank you all for the support.

    Congratulations Valtteri – first podium. It’s an incredible feeling up here isn’t it? Run us through the race. Obviously starting on the front row. Obviously these guys have a lot of big experience on the big occasions to close a race out but you really drove a clean race. Run us through it, are you happy with it?

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Thanks Mark. Really, really happy. Difficult to put into words really. Just really thankful to the team for giving me this car. It’s been a long way for us since last year, I mean, and many, many years at Williams and now it’s so much better. The race was exactly what we needed at this point – clean, nice, everything went like planned really. The car was good for the podium this time and I’m just so happy.

    Well done, and big points for Williams, which is fantastic. Final one for you Nico. A 29-point lead, off to Silverstone, a track that you know well; a track that I tried to catch you on in the last few laps last year but you’ve had a couple of good wins there and you’re very strong at Silverstone, Lewis’ home track, so the battle continues. Looking forward to that race; home race obviously for Mercedes as well. So how’s the feeling for that one?

    NR: Yeah, for sure, looking forward to the next one; home race, so it would be awesome to do another one-two there, that would be great to give something back to all of our colleagues back in the factory. So I’m looking forward to that.

    Q: Nico, congratulations, Mercedes sixth one-two finish of this season, your third victory and you’ve now extended your championship lead, as we’ve heard, to 29 points. Clearly strategy was an important part of the story today – but did the race turn out as you had expected it to when you were sitting on the grid?

    NR: To be honest yes it did. Pretty much exactly like we were trying to make it work. OK, I thought I would get Valtteri at the start and I did – but then they’re quick on the straights and he just went flying straight by me again, which was not good. But I knew pre-race that even if I am third after the start, the chances are still very good to make it and win the race because we have just a little bit more pace and less tyre degradation than the Williams – we expected to have less at least – so we could go aggressive on the stops and that’s what we did and it really worked out well and so I’m, yeah, extremely happy with that result. Also, great to extend the championship lead, which was really my goal coming into Austria.

    Q: Lewis, obviously the platform for your result today was that stunning start, off the grid from ninth into fifth on that opening lap. Tell us about that and then also about how you made your way through the field. Clearly that second round of stops was important for getting in front of Valtteri.

    LH: Yep, it was a good start. We’ve been working very hard on our starts throughout the year and the team have done a great job to help out with that, and yeah, so I got one of the best starts I’ve ever had really and positioned the car in the correct places. It would have been great if I’d started where perhaps I should have started this weekend – but damage limitation. To get from ninth to second and be pressuring Nico at the end of the race really shows the pace that I had this weekend.

    Q: Valtteri, your best-ever grand prix finish to follow up your best-ever qualifying performance yesterday – you’re starting to really make your mark on the sport. I guess the decisive moment for you was the first round of stops with Felipe and getting ahead.

    VB: Yeah, I think overall the best-ever weekend. So, really happy. Really happy for us as a team. We were really strong the whole weekend and that’s down to all the hard work. Of course it was a good track for us. You never know what’s going to happen in the next race but overall we are making progress. Step-by-step we are getting there, getting closer to the positions where we belong. I’m really happy. The race today: it was really nice to have a really nice, clean race. Good points for the team. We’ve had some issues lately, been a lot of talk, not maximising car we had but I think today we showed what we can do.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Question for Nico and Lewis: can you tell us more about the final five laps, about the chance to overtake Nico for Lewis and the chance to finish first for Nico?

    NR: Well, I generally felt comfortable in the last few laps. I thought that I could keep a nice gap and just on the last lap my tyres dropped away a little bit but as soon as they got past the first couple of hairpins, I knew that I was going to be fine so it wasn’t as close as maybe some other races have been recently.

    LH: There wasn’t an opportunity to overtake.

    Q: (Livio Oricchi – Universo On-line) For Nico and Lewis: 29 points difference between both of you. It means that in one race, it is not possible to change the lead. It means that Nico would be the leader of the championship. What’s your analysis of this Nico and you also Lewis?

    NR: Well 29 points, yeah, for sure it’s a nice gap but it’s still so early in the season. I really like to concentrate on each weekend and keep on trying to make the most of them and enjoying the moment, also with the car that we have. It’s so great to come to the next race at Silverstone, our home race, with the best, knowing that if I do a good job I can do pole and win the race. So I’m more taking it step-by-step and every weekend my aim is to extend the championship lead which I managed to do this weekend.

    LH: Well, Nico’s done a great job. He’s finished every race and fortunately hasn’t had any car problems so it’s inevitable.

    Q: (Kate Walker – crash.net) Lewis, after one your stops – and I can’t remember which one – we actually saw some flames coming out of your front right. To what extent was the braking problems that you suffered hampering your ability to really take the fight to Nico in the final laps? I know he had issues too.

    LH: Yeah, I think it was probably the same for both of us, maybe, I don’t know. I need to check later but it was constantly an issue during the race. Obviously I was following people all the time so that’s not always the best but I was being told to back off quite a lot, unfortunately. The last couple of laps I tried to eke it up a little bit more but still I had to be cautious, but I’m just grateful I finished. I didn’t finish the last race, that’s really got to be goal for the next few races, trying to actually finish.

    Q: (Chris Medland – crash.net) Question for you, too, Lewis, about the pit stops. You lost 1.9s across the two stops to Nico, very evenly split in each stop. Is that frustrating, because for a long time you were running about 1.9s behind Nico at the end and did the team tell you the reasons for it?

    LH: They haven’t yet. I didn’t even know I lost that much time, they didn’t feel that fast. Could be my positioning. I don’t know. I’ll obviously investigate… obviously it is frustrating when you lose time because you’re constantly doing everything you can to gain a tenth here, a tenth there, so when you lose quite a chunk… two seconds over two pit stops it’s tough but the guys… at least we haven’t really made any mistakes. If we step back a little bit and look, we’ve had so many one-twos this is just incredible this year so I’m hoping in the future we won’t have those problems.

    Q: (Barna Zsoldos – Nemzeti Sport) Valtteri, do you think with a slightly different strategy the win could have been possible today because your pace was quite strong and you were simply undercut by first Nico and then Lewis at both pit stops?

    VB: Yeah, it’s a difficult one. We need to always – like we always do – we need to analyse if there’s anything we could have done better. It’s difficult to say. Today it was difficult to know the real difference between the option and prime because the prime tyre has been taking quite a long time to warm up so we really thought it would be really difficult to undercut because it takes many laps to warm up and get a good pace after the supersoft tyre. Yeah, we need to analyse, it’s difficult to say. Yeah, too early to say. For the moment, I’m really happy with what we’ve done as a team, third and fourth. Obviously we always aim for better.

    Q: (Peter Vamosi – Vas Nepe Kiadoi) Nico, if you will win the championship this year, will you let grow a moustache like your father?

    NR: Maybe. Yup.

    Q: (Istvan Janos Simon – Auto Magazine Hungary) Lewis, you seem to have a brake problem; this problem is coming back since Montreal or maybe even before. You’ve had this problem during this race. What can you do against these troubles, to get over it finally? What can you do together with the team?

    LH: I don’t know. Going into the race I wasn’t aware that we had a brake problem, so it was news to me when we started to… when they started to speak to me about it. We had the problem in the last race but the last race was the rears and in this race it was the fronts, a little bit different perhaps. I’ll be guessing what’s gone wrong but it didn’t look like it was the same as Nico; maybe it was, I don’t know. I think they said maybe it was. We just need to make improvements.

    Q: (Eli Shaouly – Automagazin Israel) Question to Valtteri and Nico: yesterday at Williams you looked in a way pretty sure you wouldn’t win the race and Nico, you were pretty sure that you would win the race in yesterday’s conference. What made you so confident in the result?

    NR: Because generally I still believe that we have the fastest car and we had very good long run pace on Friday, that’s the race practice. We were quick there and I didn’t get the best out of it in qualifying, so I was pretty confident that the chance would be very good. Of course, you never know how to overtake and things like that, but it all worked out well.

    VB: Yeah, I agree really. I think that from all the data that we had from practice we knew that in the race it’s going to be difficult and overall Mercedes have still got the quickest car but we really nailed it yesterday so we knew that maybe Sunday could be difficult but actually it was a bit better than I expected. We were really close to them on pace.

    Q: Was that because it was 14 degrees warmer today than it was on Friday, do you think?

    VB: Difficult to say that was the factor or not, I don’t know what Mercedes did just before qualifying with the car set-up. I don’t know. It’s difficult to say; we need to analyse.

    eom

  • Victorious start for Nico Rosberg, Mercedes; Vettel, Hamilton retire

    Melbourne, 16 March 2014: The MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team today entered the new era of Formula One with a composed victory for Nico Rosberg from P3 on the grid at the Australian Grand Prix.

    • Nico claimed first place off the line and led every lap of the race to win by 24 seconds at the chequered flag
    • He made two pit stops on laps 12 and 38, running a tyre strategy of option/option/prime, and set the fastest lap on lap 19
    • Lewis was forced to retire his car after two laps owing to a misfiring cylinder, which had cost engine power since the start
    • Nico’s win marks the 100th F1 victory for a Mercedes-Benz engine, with the first achieved by Juan Manuel Fangio in 1954.

    Nico Rosberg laid down a marker for Mercedes with an emphatic yet controlled victory at the Australian Grand Prix, the German finishing 24 seconds ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo and third–placed Kevin Magnussen of McLaren, both of whom scored their first podium finish.

    A visibly pleased Nico Rosberg said after the race: “That was an incredible day for us. To start the season with a win is unbelievable and I have to say a big thank you to everybody who was involved in building our car over the winter. I always dreamed of having such a strong Silver Arrow and now it seems we are there. In the race, everything went perfectly for me. My start was great and I was able to push from there until the end, with our fuel consumption well under control. However, despite our success today, we also know that there is still some work to do. We saw over the weekend that reliability is still a concern and it prevented us from having a strong two-car finish. We have two weeks to improve that. I am very much looking forward to Malaysia and I would love to race again tomorrow!”

    It had been Rosberg’s team-mate Lewis Hamilton with the advantage at the start, however. The 2008 champion had taken his 32nd career pole on Saturday, with Ricciardo on the front row ahead of third-placed Rosberg.

    At the start, though, Hamilton got away badly, allowing Rosberg to power through to take the lead ahead of Ricciardo who held second position from Hamilton and McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen. Behind them Nico Hulkenberg rose to fifth from seventh on the grid as Fernando Alonso became embroiled in a battle for sixth place with Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne. Out of the race though were Caterham’s Kamui Kobayashi and Williams’ Felipe Massa, the pair colliding into turn one.

    Hamilton was soon experiencing more difficulties. He slipped from third to fifth, as first Magnussen swept past and then Hulkenberg stole through to claim fourth. The Mercedes driver’s day then went from bad to worse as he was told to retire by his pit wall. He eventually pulled into pit lane on lap five to bow out of the race.

    Defending world champion Sebastian Vettel was also in trouble. After an aborted start due to a problem with Max Chilton’s Marussia, Vettel complained of a lack of boost from his power unit on the second formation lap and the situation didn’t improve in the early laps of the race. The Red Bull Racing driver then pitted on lap five from P16 for checks but failed to emerge.

    On track, Rosberg had eked out a six-second gap to Ricciardo by lap 10, with Magnussen a further half second down on the Red Bull Racing driver. Hulkenberg was fourth, just 0.3s ahead of Alonso, with Williams’ Valtteri Bottas sixth.

    Bottas’ battle with Alonso wouldn’t last, however. On lap 11 the Finn clipped a wall with his rear right wheel, which quickly detached from his car. The debris from the incident then led to the safety car being deployed on lap 12. Rosberg took the opportunity to pit, taking on another set of soft tyres, He was followed immediately by Ricciardo, Magnussen, Hulkenberg and Alonso, all taking soft tyres again.

    The safety car left the track at the end of lap 15 and Rosberg comfortably held his lead from Ricciardo and soon began setting fastest laps again. By lap 20 the Mercedes driver had rebuilt a lead of 4.4s over the Australian, with Magnussen safe in third, four seconds ahead of Hulkenberg, who was backing up those behind him.

    Bottas, meanwhile, was mounting a comeback. After limping back to the pits for a new wheel following his brush with the wall, the Williams driver rejoined in 17th position. He was soon scything through the field, however, and by lap 28 he was back up to eighth place and pressuring Kimi Raikkonen.

    Jenson Button initiated the next round of stops on lap 33 taking on medium tyres and he was followed by Hulkenberg and Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne.

    Hukenberg’s stop gave the Alonso the opportunity to increase his pace prior to his own second stop and at the end of lap 35 the Ferrari driver came in for a set of medium. He rejoined just ahead of Hulkenberg and though the Force India driver battled hard to reclaim the position Alonso’s defence was robust enough hold on.

    Alonso, however, wasn’t the major beneficiary of the second round of stops. Button had used an early first stop to vault to sixth from the edge of the top 10 and did so again with his second stop, the ‘undercut’ giving him the pace to steal ahead of both Hulkenberg and Alonso and claim fourth place.

    Rosberg was the last of the front runners to pit but after he switched to the medium Pirelli tyres on lap 48 he rejoined with a 16-second lead over Ricciardo, who was slowly falling into the clutches of third-placed Magnussen, the gap between the RB10 and MP4-29 down to 1.2s by lap 42.

    Button, meanwhile, was chasing down his team-mate, with Alonso fifth. Behind the Ferrari, Hulkenberg was being reeled in by seventh-placed Vergne, while Bottas was now up to eighth ahead of Raikkonen and 10th-placed Kvyat. The Williams driver eventually passed Vergne on lap 47 when the Frenchman got on the dirt in the final corner and momentarily slid sideways.

    At the front Rosberg was comfortably strolling towards the chequered flag but Ricciardo was now struggling. The Red Bull Racing driver’s pace began to flag and Magnussen closed in.

    The Dane probed and prodded but could find no way past the home hero and the podium order remained the same as Rosberg powered across the line to claim his fourth career victory and his first since last year’s British Grand Prix.

    Magnussen’s team-mate Button finished fourth, ahead of Alonso. Williams had plenty to celebrate as Bottas claimed sixth place, the Finn having completed a lap-52 move past Hulkenberg. The Force India man was seventh, ahead of Raikkonen, Vergne and Toro Rosso rookie Daniil Kvyat.

    2014 Australian Grand Prix – Race Result
    1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 58 Winner 25
    2 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 58 +24.5 secs 18
    3 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 58 +26.7 secs 15
    4 Jenson Button McLaren 58 +30.0 secs 12
    5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 58 +35.2 secs 10
    6 Valtteri Bottas Williams 58 +47.6 secs 8
    7 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 58 +50.7 secs 6
    8 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 58 +57.6 secs 4
    9 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso58 +60.4 secs 2
    10 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 58 +63.5 secs 1
    11 Sergio Perez Force India 58 +85.9 secs
    12 Adrian Sutil Sauber 57 +1 Lap
    13 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 57 +1 Lap
    14 Max Chilton Marussia 56 +2 Laps
    Ret Jules Bianchi Marussia 50 +8 Laps
    Ret Romain Grosjean Lotus 44 +14 Laps
    Ret Pastor Maldonado Lotus 30 +28 Laps
    Ret Marcus Ericsson Caterham 28 +30 Laps
    Ret Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 4 +54 Laps
    Ret Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 3 +55 Laps
    Ret Felipe Massa Williams 0 +58 Laps
    Ret Kamui Kobayashi Caterham 0 +58 Laps

    eom

    Nico Rosberg with the Trophy after winning the Australian GP. A Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team photo
    Nico Rosberg with the Trophy after winning the Australian GP. A Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team photo