INDIA in F1

Tag: Red Bull

  • I am able to find the limits when conditions are edgy: Hamilton

    DRIVERS

    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
    2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)
    3 – Mark WEBBER (Red Bull Racing)

    TV UNILATERAL

    Lewis, it was all about timing today and your timing was absolutely perfect.

    Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, it was. It was obviously a good job by the team. I was so surprised when I crossed the line. When I started the lap, it looked like, on the board… I saw on the screen that I was about seventh or eighth and I thought ‘Oh my God’, especially as it was raining more. I went wide in turn one and the dash display is usually telling you whether you’re up or down and it said I was three seconds down and then five seconds and six seconds, so I didn’t understand what was happening in the lap but I just kept pushing. I could see I was catching Sebastian towards the end but what a blessing, I feel so fortunate to be up here.

    Particularly the middle sector seemed to be strong. So clearly through the Mercedes and yourself are well hooked up. How do you explain that?

    LH: I think generally I feel quite comfortable in changing conditions and I feel I’m able to find the limits when the conditions are really on the edge. And in the middle I pushed quite a lot in the middle sector particularly as I thought I was down three seconds, so I was really caning it. But, yeah, the car’s feeling good.

    Sebastian, today was obviously also keeping your nerve. What were you thinking about the closing stages? Were you thinking that there is as much to lose here as there is to gain?

    Sebastian VETTEL: No, there’s always something to gain. Yeah, it wasn’t clear that the first lap we did in Q3 wasthe lap, on intermediate tyres. Obviously we all went out for the start with slicks tyres. It was quite entertaining because it started to rain pretty heavily. Then on intermediates, as I said, it wasn’t clear because in the beginning it looked like there was more and more rain coming, so we were all rushing to get a lap in. But then it stopped raining and the circuit came back very quickly ands the last lap turned out to be the fastest lap, with the circuit drying. It’s difficult to know how fast you can go. Obviously I saw Lewis catching up in the last lap and I thought I could have gone a bit quicker here or quicker there. In the end it was quite close I think across the line. In these conditions anything can happen. A shame to miss pole, once again. I’m quite happy today. The boys did a very good job changing tyres from slicks to intermediates and got us an extra lap. Unfortunately the circuit wasn’t ready but all in all I think a good day for the team, so let’s see what happens tomorrow. We expect similar conditions to today, rain, dry and a bit of everything, so we’ll see.

    And Mark, your final qualifying session in a Formula One car at this Spa-Francorchamps circuit and it delivered its usual mixture of conditions. How was your session?

    Mark WEBBER: Yeah, difficult for all of us to make the right calls. But in the end I think we got most things right. It’s very easy to look stupid in those conditions, from a team side, from a driver’s side, making the right calls. In the end, we got most things OK I’d say. It’s a little bit bizarre with the DRS on or off in the session, actually in Q3. It’s available in the first part of quali but not at the end, but it’s the same for everyone, so it’s a very, very difficult thing, as Lewis has touched on, to know where you are, how the track’s moving around so much. It was quite a ballsy thing for me to go slow in the middle lap know if the track’s going to be better on the last lap, to save the tyres, because they’re struggling quite a bit in those conditions, on the inters. In the end, it wasn’t too bad a lap and it was quite tight obviously. So, yeah, pretty happy to be right up there for tomorrow’s race.

    Back to you Lewis. Obviously it’s not been the easiest weekend so far from the looks of things as far as practice has been concerned for you and the Mercedes team. Tell us about the race tomorrow. You’re obviously starting from where you want to be, but can you keep these two guys behind you?

    LH: I think this weekend they’ve both shown that they have incredible pace this weekend. But I’m hoping that whatever the conditions are tomorrow we can try to fight it out with them. The guys have done a fantastic job in bringing a good package here. I generally feel we’re quite close. I still feel the Red Bull is generally a little bit ahead of us in performance and that’s why results like this today feel even better because it feels like we extracted more than what the car can actually do, so I’m really happy with it.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Lewis, second race in a row now that in the closing stages of a Saturday afternoon you’ve spoiled Sebastian’s day. It’s becoming a bit of a habit and you two are having quite a duel at the moment.

    LH: I’m trying to catch him up. He’s obviously had incredible success over the last few years so I’m trying my best to battle with hum and I hope that we can do that in the race tomorrow whatever the conditions are. I just feel grateful for the way the year has turned out and that we can be so competitive and really try to challenge the Red Bulls. It’s a huge accomplishment by the team.

    Tell us about communication on a day like this. You were saying just a moment ago that you weren’t really quite sure what was going in the first part of the lap, obviously the times were all over the place, but in terms of the way the team communicates. We saw people making mistakes in Q1 and Q2, very easy to make mistakes and communication clearly critical to that.

    LH: Yeah, everyone is on edge and communication is key for all the teams. So they’re asking me what the track is like at certain points of the circuit and of course they need to be on it to make sure we get out at the right time. We nearly go pushed out of Q2, which I really wouldn’t have been happy with…

    Two one hundredths of a second.

    LH: Yeah, by the grace of God we got through. And then at the end, I didn’t know that I was going to be one of the last ones across the line. I just kept pushing and at the end of the day it was a good job by the team, particularly when the moment counted.

    Sebastian, as we were saying, Lewis and Mercedes coming on strong at the moment.

    SV: Yeah, surely. Obviously in qualifying they have been quite strong in the first part of the season and they keep doing it. I think today you have to look from a different point of view. In these conditions anything can happen. Lewis had quite and impressive middle sector. He was right behind me. Maybe it helped a little bit to know how fast he could go here and there. I checked in my mirrors and thought I could have gone quicker here, quicker there because he was closing up. But I’m very happy with the result. As I said, in these conditions anything is possible. Mark touched on it – it’s very easy to do the wrong calls and you’re out. So, overall, a good result and everything is possible tomorrow, condition-wise we expect the same as today.

    You obviously looked very comfortable yesterday, apart from the puncture obviously in practice two and again this morning, the Red Bull looked well balanced, quick on the circuit. There was a sign in Q2 when you just waited and went out and did that one run that there seemed to be quite a lot of confidence as far as you were concerned about the session.

    SV: Yeah, well confidence in the weather let’s say, mostly. It was supposed not to rain. I said OK there’s no point in going out, let’s wait, because the circuit will improve, which is what we did in the end. My first lap was not fantastic so I did another lap. I think we did the right thing there. Fortunately it didn’t rain. Obviously when it starts raining and you haven’t gone out you look really stupid. I think we trust the guys on the pit wall to judge the weather and the situation. Obviously, Q3 was different. The boys were quite in a hurry when we came back in to change tyres and go back out. But for Q2 I think it was the right call.

    Mark, we mentioned before that this is your last run in F1 quali at Spa-Francorchamps. Tell us about your relationship with this circuit, what you feel today and what you feel about this place.

    MW: It’s a sensational circuit. Compared to the ones that have been attempted to be designed of late obviously they’re nothing like this track. It’s a beautiful circuit to drive on, all the guys love coming here, the teams, the engineers. Even the cars I think in a bizarre way know they’re here in terms of Eau Rouge and Blanchimont. You know, La Source is very tight and then 10 seconds later you’re through Eau Rouge so it’s a great mixture. I won the Formulas Ford race here in 1996 so it’s a beautiful circuit to drive on in any category and yeah, looking forward to bringing the Porsche here next year.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Oana Popoiu – F1 Zone) Lewis, Toto Wolff said that Mercedes should start focusing on next year’s car. What are your thoughts about that, especially now when you are in front of Red Bull?

    LH: I think there’s several different people that have different opinions about it but I feel quite relaxed and comfortable with the people who are at the top who are going to make that decision. I don’t feel that next year is compromised at all or this year just yet. I think it’s trying to find a real fine balance. Of course we want to have the best shot possible next year but of course all of a sudden we’re competing as well as we are now so it’s striking a fine balance, but I think they’ll do a good job of that.

    Q: (Graham Keilloh – F1 Plus) Lewis, do you think if it hadn’t rained in qualifying that Mercedes had the pace to contend for pole position?

    LH: I would be guessing but my guess would be maybe not. The Red Bull was looking particularly quick and also the Ferrari was looking quite quick in the dry conditions, so I’m not necessarily sure that we had the pace to be as fast everyone today. But who knows, it’s just a guess.

    Q: (Simon Cass – Daily Mail) Lewis, you said coming into the second half of the season that you’ve never felt better. Is it fair to say that you’ve never been driving any better or certainly as well as you have been at the moment?

    LH: It feels like I’m driving the best but I feel like I’ve been driving well for quite some time and just sometimes circumstances don’t allow you to really show that. But I really feel that I’m getting everything out of the car, I’m getting everything out of every opportunity that I have. I know there’s a lot of pressure for everyone but I feel in a good place. And yeah, absolutely, I can’t remember the last time I crossed the line and had such a good feeling, particularly as I was looking for the TV screens and I just couldn’t beli… I could see the team was cheering so I couldn’t believe that. It’s just crazy to think that this is my 31st pole and it still feels like it’s the first one. It’s just an incredible feeling and I’m very grateful to be here today, as I said.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Lewis, yesterday you said on the radio that the car was all over the place and even today in the morning you had some problems, and now you are on pole position. I think Nico had quite a good long stint yesterday, how confident are you in the long stints of the Mercedes and the race pace, and would you prefer wet or dry in that respect?

    LH: I feel that the long pace is not bad. I think we… again, over the evening, last night we made some decent changes, but going into qualifying we made some better ones. Qualifying was more about just being there at the right time  and you never know when you’re going to be in the right position and I just happened to be one of the last ones coming across the line and that’s when the track would be at its best. But I think Nico proved that the long run was good and I think I had a few good laps as well but the Red Bulls are still pretty quick. I think it’s going to be close but I hear it’s going to rain pretty heavily tomorrow.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and National Speedsport News) Mark, it’s very easy for anybody to look silly out there, make a stupid mistake. How much more chancy is a session in the wet compared to a session in the dry when there are far fewer variables?

    MW: Yeah, emotionally it is a bit more of a roller-coaster, particularly when you’ve got… really it’s the conditions changing so much. In our industry and in Formula One we like to control as much as we can, obviously, and the plan into a normal dry qualifying session is obviously very regimented, very organized  and the fine tuning is incredibly precise. When it’s like that, obviously you have to make decisions on the bounce, the driver’s got to be very interactive with the pit wall, the pit wall has got to make the decisions with the boys so yeah, there is just, by circumstance, more emotion and the timing is a bit more – well, a lot more critical and that’s what makes people a bit more squeakier, let’s say, in terms of pressure. As I say, it’s easy to get it wrong.

    Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, we saw today that it was very easy to make mistakes. Ferrari looked like they made mistakes at the end so they are quite far behind, while you and Mercedes did everything perfectly. How easy is it for you mentally to get in the car and know that you can trust completely what’s going to happen on the pit wall?

    SV: I don’t think you are in any doubt – at least for myself – in doubt of what the team does. Obviously  in terms of which tyres to use and when etc is largely depending on us inside the car, but I think, as Mark touched on, obviously in these conditions it’s a lot trickier to get it right, not just for the team, also for the driver because it’s so much easier to make a mistake. In the end, I think all three of us had very good laps at the end, on the lap where it mattered most. But for sure, compared to the dry, I think it’s much harder to nail that one where you don’t have room for error and it’s so much easier to make a mistake, go wide, lose the car, lose time so yeah, if I look back to the lap I had now, obviously, there’s room for improvement but many times I was quite close to lose the car. It doesn’t mean that I had to go off and crash the car but lose the car, lose time. That’s why,  in the rain, in the wet, in these mixed conditions, there’s a chance for everybody to over-perform, but there’s also the chance to get it wrong. It doesn’t take much and you are somewhere at the back.

    Q: (Leonid Novozhilov – F1Life) Lewis, what were you feeling in your last qualifying lap?

    LH: This one just now? Again, it didn’t feel spectacular. As I said, I went wide in turn one and my dashboard was really confusing me in terms of whether I was up or down on my previous lap, but I just kept pushing and particularly the first corner and the last two corners were terrible. I thought that the lap wasn’t that great but…

    SV: You thought I was on a cool-down lap which is why…

    LH: I was catching him…

    SV: …so much that I will just take it easy.

     

    Ends

    Hamilton (centre) takes the pole at Spa on Saturday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas photo
    Hamilton (centre) takes the pole at Spa on Saturday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas photo

  • F1 2013 mid-season review

    As the motorsport calendar reaches its mid-point, FIA.com takes a look at the championships in a mid-season review. Today it’s the turn of Formula One.

    The first half of the 2013 Formula One season was dominated by talk of tyres. But with teams now on top of the new Pirelli constructions, the run to the chequered flag in Interlagos promises to provide dramatic racing between the grid’s top talents.

    Despite Red Bull’s strong lead in the constructors’ standings, the 2013 season has not been an easy one for the team. During the Malaysian Grand Prix, in-house politics were brought dramatically to the fore when Sebastian Vettel ignored team orders and overtook teammate Mark Webber for the win. And the team’s usual strategy of taking advantage of Vettel’s qualifying pace to put the German on pole with a view to securing a lights-to-flag win has not paid off this season, thanks in no small part to Mercedes’ Saturday dominance.

    Lewis Hamilton was roundly criticised for his decision to move from McLaren to the Silver Arrows this season, but the Briton has secured four poles, one victory, and three podium finishes, while teammate Nico Rosberg has three poles and two wins to his name. Those seven combined pole positions have proved to be a thorn in Red Bull’s side, and now that the Mercedes appears to have overcome its severe degradation issues the Brackley racers are in a strong position to remain in the fight during the nine races to come.

    But Red Bull are not an easy team to beat; they have proved themselves capable of both impressive car development and consistency where it matters – on track. Their 69 point lead in the constructors’ standings is not unassailable, but it does give the team a strong advantage heading into the second half of the season.

    Lotus started 2013 on a high, with a win for Kimi Raikkonen in Melbourne. But that early strong form has not led to further victories for the Finn or for the team, with Raikkonen collecting five second-place finishes while teammate Romain Grosjean has two third-places to his name. While Lotus have been in the fight at every race, thanks partly to a car that has run well on the 2013 tyres whatever their specification, the E21 has not had the outright pace in qualifying to make Sundays easy for the team.

    It has proved to be a disappointing year for Ferrari, even though the team are third in the constructors’ standings, with Fernando Alonso third in the drivers’. The F138 proved itself to be an early-season race winner, with victories in China and Spain, but poor qualifying results have hampered the team’s efforts to challenge Red Bull and Mercedes for wins since the European season began in earnest. Alonso should never be discounted from a title challenge, but the Spanish racer’s growing frustration is causing public ructions within the team. On the other side of the garage, Felipe Massa’s season has been moving in a downward trajectory after a strong start that saw the Brazilian outqualify his teammate on a regular basis.

    One of the biggest surprisesof the season was McLaren’s dramatic slump in form, with the usual front-runners finding themselves struggling in the mid-field. Thanks to a mid-summer improvement, the Woking racers left Budapest only two points shy of technology customers Force India in the constructors’ standings. Based on recent performances, the second half of the season should see McLaren back in the fight nearer the front, with Jenson Button predicting a podium finish in Spa.

    Force India have had an impressive season, building a car that far outshines the team’s resources – humble, compared to many of their rivals. Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta have both delivered on track, regularly finishing in the points and establishing Force India as the strongest of the mid-field contenders. The similarly budgeted Sauber have had a far more challenging year, arriving in Melbourne with a car that struggled with rear-end stability and two drivers new to the team. Nico Hulkenberg has done his best with the equipment at his disposal, securing the team’s seven points, while teammate Esteban Gutierrez has acquitted himself well for a rookie.

    Toro Rosso are not  a team fighting for titles and wins, although the Firenza-based team has shown significant progress this season, thanks in no small part to strong qualifying performances from Daniel Ricciardo and impressive race drives from Jean-Eric Vergne. The Toro Rosso battle has been between two teammates fighting it out for the chance to replace the departing Webber at Red Bull, and while Ricciardo is the top pick from the junior team, Raikkonen is also on the radar.

    Further down the grid, it has been a disappointing season for Williams, who brought home their first point of the year from Budapest. The car lacks downforce and has proved challenging enough for both Pastor Maldonado and Valtteri Bottas to drive that the Grove racers undertook a mid-season overhaul of their technical team. It may be too late for a 2013 turnaround, however.

    Marussia and Caterham continue their battle for 10th, with Marussia overhauling their rivals in the standings for the first time since the two teams joined the fray in 2010. Both teams started the 2013 with new driver line-ups, and Marussia’s rookie pairing of Jules Bianchi and Charles Pic were treated to a more stable car to drive than rivals Giedo van der Garde and Charles Pic. By the Bahrain Grand Prix, Caterham’s struggles were such that the team drafted in ex-driver Heikki Kovalainen to advise on improvements.

    While the first half of the season was dominated by the tyres, the second half promises much in the way of close racing and a thrilling fight to the finish in Interlagos.

    ends

  • It’s an incredible feeling: Hamilton

    FIA transcript of the DRIVERS press conference after the race at the Hungarian GP on Sunday 28 July 2013:

    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
    2 – Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Lotus)
    3 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)

    PODIUM INTERVIEW  (Conducted by Martin Brundle)

    Q: Lewis, when we spoke last night you didn’t believe you could be on pole position and you gave yourself no chance of winning today’s race. How on Earth does it feel now?

    Lewis HAMILTON: It’s an incredible feeling. I really have to say a big thank you to all the fans today for turning up. It was great to see their support. And my team: they just did an incredible job. We studied a lot last night. We were hoping the tyres were going to work for us. We had no idea it was going to go that well — but the last 20 laps was just managing the tyres and cruising.

    Q: Well you got a great start but there were two key moments where you overtook Jenson, so you didn’t lose any time behind him down into turn one and then that turn three pass on Mark Webber, that was just incredible.

    LH: Yeah, I think you could tell I was hungry for it today. I was just going all-out. I needed to get past those people and usually I get stuck in traffic, generally in my races, and today I wasn’t having it. I was going for every move I had.

    Q: Incredible support here for you as always Kimi. P2 on the podium, you really had to work hard for that today.

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Yeah, obviously I keep making my life difficult on Saturdays so then we pay a price but I had a good car and we managed to do two stops so that was the only way really to jump people. In the end it was a bit tight with Seb but in the end it paid off for us and we gained some points in the Championship. So that’s good.

    Q: You made the last set of tyres last 33 laps which is quite spectacular today in these conditions. Surely you thought he was going to have a great chance to pass you towards the end but you just seemed to park your car in the middle of the track and make it so difficult.

    KR: Yeah, I mean I knew it was going to be a bit tight but I felt that the tyres were good still in the last ten laps. So maybe last two laps they drop off quite badly but I didn’t really have any doubts that I couldn’t keep him behind. I had good speed through the last sector so I knew that in the first corner they will not have a chance. Obviously you take a chance always when you make so many laps with a set of tyres – but like I said, the team worked well, everything worked well for us and unfortunately yesterday wasn’t an easy day so otherwise we could probably have fight for a win. But anyhow, we are here.

    Q: Satisfied you take a few points off the World Championship leader?

    KR: Yeah, it’s better than nothing.

    Q: Sebastian, only third but the fans seem pretty happy with that. How do you feel about it?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Well, it was not the best race. The start was difficult but was able to defend second and then Lewis pulled in, we thought we had a little bit more on the soft but the rear tyres seemed to fall apart pretty quickly and then I lost a bit, came out behind Jenson which was crucial and struggled to get past, damaged my front wing which didn’t help, after that managed to get past. It was a long time but lost a bit of speed and basically tried to hang in there, tried to fight back. Very close with Kimi in the end but as he mentioned, he was very quick through the last two corners and then I couldn’t really get him on the straight. So yeah, I did all we could but surely wanted a little bit more today.

    Q: You felt Kimi didn’t leave you enough room at turn four towards the end of the race. You felt that was a bit too close?

    SV: Yeah, I told him but he was laughing only. It was fine. Obviously in the heat of the moment it was quite tight getting into there, I tried to prepare the next corner but nearly lost the car. That’s racing.

    Q: Lewis, two very quick questions. Does this put your World Championship crusade very much back on course and how does this race today compare with your other victories?

    LH: I think this is probably one of the most important grand prix wins of my career. To move to a new team and to win for Mercedes-Benz is just a real privilege. The guys have done an exceptional job, I’m so glad I could be a part of the team and I really couldn’t be happier. I hope there’s many more to come.

    Q: And this year’s World Championship? Surely you’ve still got a chance of it, you’ve got to work hard.

    LH: We’ve got to work hard, you never know how the tyres are going to last elsewhere but if we come here and make our tyres last then we should be able to do it anywhere. So, fingers crossed.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Lewis, congratulations. You weren’t too optimistic yesterday but a lot of factors obviously worked well for you today: good start, getting the traffic right as well and some great overtaking manoeuvres. Tell us about them.

    LH: It’s been a great weekend, really a great weekend. Really didn’t expect it coming in. It’s probably been one of the toughest weeks for me. Obviously we hadn’t had the test, we didn’t do the test, we were on the back foot when we came in. Really wasn’t even expecting to be on pole. Really surprised with that and then yeah, at the start of the race the pace was OK. I think maybe Sebastian perhaps was just as quick or a little bit quicker but fortunately he was behind and my tyres went off just maybe a lap or two before his. I think I called the pitstop just right – the first one – and after that it was just managing the gap. I had to make sure I got past people. I normally get held up in my… I thought when I came behind Jenson I thought it was just my luck because that’s what usually happens. But I got past him and was surprised to see Sebastian and the others get stuck behind him as well. I guess he did me a favour there. But I think generally we had the pace on everyone today. I know I was really controlling the pace, particularly through the second, third and last stint, particularly on the last stint. This is just down to an exceptional job from the team. We came here with upgrades and constantly doing work to try and understand these tyres. I think today we bolted them on and they just worked for us. I really was not inspecting it.

    Q: Kimi, that was a robust defence at the end of the race. I’m not certain if it was a good job interview for joining Red Bull Racing for next year but tell us about it.

    KR: Obviously I don’t have anything for next year so I mean it does matter what happens on a race circuit for that matter. I knew that my tyres are pretty OK and I was good through the last sector so I was pretty sure there was no chance to try to overtake me into the first corner but then obviously turn two was a bit more tricky for me all race. He got a good run, Sebastian once before and then second time and I defended. Maybe I’m over a bit on the right and it’s a bit tight but then I kept him behind and that was the only time he had a good run on me. In there it is very difficult to overtake because it is so narrow on top of the hill. After that I had no issues. That was the only part of the circuit that I really had some problems with the tyres. But it was good work for the team, the car was working well but unfortunately I keep making Saturdays… after Saturdays making the race a bit difficult for myself. Hopefully we can fix that a little bit and be a bit more on the front at the beginning of the race.

    Q: Sebastian a little bit of trouble behind traffic during the race itself. What do you feel about third place?

    SV: Generally happy. Not the best circuit to be stuck in traffic because it’s quite difficult to overtake. I think we had not enough speed on the straights to put people under enough pressure so yeah, obviously got stuck behind Jenson for a long time. Damaged my front wing as well which dropped us back and after that obviously it was about the fight back as much as we could. In the middle of the race I didn’t know where I was. I just tried to hang in there and try to come back as much as we can. In the end obviously quite close with Kimi. We were faster, I had fresher tyres but as I said, no way past. Once I was pretty close up the hill. I think I didn’t have enough room on the outside but it’s pretty difficult to judge. Obviously I couldn’t go around the outside and pass him but I was trying to maybe put him under pressure for the next couple of corners and try to create my chance but yeah, was not a decent gap anyways. So, I tried, didn’t work, we have to be happy with third. The car was good all weekend, there wasn’t much missing. But as I said, I should have done a better job with Jenson in the beginning and especially not damaged my front wing – and then it could have been a different race. But would, could, should. In the end I think we’re happy with third.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Abhishek Tackle – Midday) Lewis,  track temperatures were in their fifties today; would you say you’ve turned the corner with your tyre wear issues and how much of that was work going on back at the factory, and how much of that was the new tyres, new constructions?

    LH: I think it was a bit of both. As I said, coming into the weekend, we are making improvement but not big enough to make the difference it did today so I’m assuming that a large part of that was the tyres. I really wasn’t expecting it. Our long runs didn’t look that great in P2 but I got the balance just spot on today with the front wing and yeah, if we can be quick  here in a race with these track temperatures then I’m very hopeful that we can be competitive everywhere else, so this could be a really good… could be a good turning point for us.

    Q: (Leonid Novozhilov – F1 Life) Lewis, which of the ingredients made the difference in your success today?

    LH: Teamwork, absolutely teamwork. The guys have just been phenomenal all year with the work they do in the garage, preparation of the car, the reliability has been exceptional – obviously not for Nico today – and the team’s in the position where it’s beginning to develop the car still through the season. At this point of the year, last year, they said they weren’t anywhere near making improvements so it’s good to see that. I think hopefully I’m a part of that as well. I feel like I really earned my keep today so I’m really happy for that.

    Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Sebastian, we have heard you complaining a bit over the radio two laps from the end when you thought that Kimi didn’t leave you enough room in turn four. Was it serious?

    SV: In the heat of the moment, for sure, obviously it’s narrow there. As I said before, it was clear… or it was to me at that stage that I didn’t find a way past around the outside. First of all, Kimi is not an idiot and secondly, it’s a narrow part of the track so it was clear but I was pushing very hard, trying to create a chance, put him under pressure and as I said, it was clear I didn’t pass him there, but maybe two corners later or something. Yeah, I was not too happy but as I said, it was quite hot this afternoon, I was pushing very hard and it was quite narrow and I was a little bit on the dirt, turning in. You feel that you have to say something so that’s what I said.

    Q: (Kate Walker – GP Week) Sebastian, three weeks ago in Germany, I asked you if you would relish the challenge of having Kimi as your teammate next year and you said you would enjoy having such a competitive teammate. I was wondering if your opinion had changed, now that you had finished behind him.

    SV: There have been races where I have finished behind him, especially in the beginning  of my career – I finished nearly every race behind him. And there are races where I’ve finished ahead of him so that doesn’t really matter. As I said, I think he’s one of the drivers I get along most with. He’s been very honest all the time which I appreciate a lot. I think at the end of the day we’re a group of 20, 22 guys; some of them you like, others you don’t. I think at the end of the day you have to beat everyone. Obviously we enjoy it a lot more as well if you’re fighting other drivers in similar cars, meaning with similar pace, because it’s kind of boring when you’re only fighting your teammate. I think this is something we all enjoy.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Sebastian, at Nurburgring, after your battle with Kimi, you said that one day you will feel as angry as Kimi felt that day. Do you feel angry now?

    SV: I don’t think it was really really angry but obviously it was a battle for the win so I was happy that I succeeded. Today was for second, but still, you know, second is better than third. I’m not entirely happy with my race because I think the car was probably a little bit better than where we finished today but as I described, with the race that I had, I think P3 is what we have to be happy with. It’s not a disaster. We were still on the podium which is nice, a lot of people here which is still very special so I think we have to keep our feet on the ground. I’ve always said that there will be days when there will be people ahead of us and there will be days when we will be ahead of them so it’s just life.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Lewis, do you think that with nine races to go it’s possible to fight for the championship?

    LH: I think it’s too early to… still far too early to… of course, when you have a win like this, you get excited and you think anything is possible and obviously today shows that anything is possible but I think it’s still too early for us to say whether or not we can challenge these guys. I know the guys are working hard so that we can close the gap and I hope today is the first step in doing so but we’ve got a lot of tough races coming up. I just hope that that’s not the last time my tyres work for me.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, do you think that today there is some complaint about the strategy because as you said before, you were twice stuck behind McLaren when you came out of the pits?

    SV: Usually in the past it was not a bad thing when you came out behind a McLaren but this year’s a bit different. Yeah, I’m not blaming the team. I think it’s pretty easy (to see) what happened. In the first stint I lost more time on the way to the pits, because the tyres were falling apart (more) than they expected, probably around 1.5s. If you take those away, I come out ahead of him, so I think in terms of strategy they did the right call. Second time round, I think he was on a very used set of soft tyres which was going away quickly and I found my way past pretty quickly as well, so I’m not blaming them. If there’s anything to blame, today, then it’s me because I damaged my wing which wasn’t the best thing.

    Q: (Michael Neudecker – Sud Deutsche Zeitung) To all three of you: how did the high temperatures today affect you, your performance?

    LH: Physically it was quite easy, to be honest. I wasn’t on the ragged edge the whole way. Particularly the last twenty laps I was able to really chill, I was drinking a lot and just trying to bring it home, look after the car and the tyres, yeah, for the first time  ever that I can remember my tyres not being a problem. I think this track has always been good to me. I hope there’s many more like this.

    KR: Obviously I was bit out of tyres at the end because we did a run with a set of tyres but apart from that it was OK. It was a bit hot but as normal as any hot race. No problem.

    SV: Yeah, it was pretty hot, especially, obviously, towards the end of the race when the drink is not cool any more, it’s more like tea, which isn’t the nicest to cool down. But yeah, I think we were probably in a bit of a different situation to Lewis, still fighting towards the end, I was pushing very hard. Every time you get close, you lose some grip. I was struggling to get past, didn’t succeed but yeah, it’s not the only hot race we have during the season.

    Q: (Anthony Rowlinson – F1 Racing) Lewis, does it feel different winning for Mercedes than it did for McLaren?

    LH: I think it feels different. It always feels like it’s the first time, that’s for sure, when you win. I remember the first time I won it was exceptional, an exceptional feeling and today it was a really calming, relaxing feeling when I came across the line. I really wasn’t expecting it. As I said yesterday, I talked it down a lot because I really was expecting a real tough race today, I  thought we were going to fall behind. The experiences I had at McLaren were some of my greatest but I think this is one of the highlights of my career up to now. Moving to a new team and a team that was struggling massively last year and to finally get a win with them after the first nine or ten races is a great feeling.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, now you’ve got some feeling with the new tyres, do you think you have the right package to win in Spa?

    KR: I don’t know. It’s a different circuit. I have no idea. Last year we were not very strong there. I think we know the reasons and for sure our car is better this year but is it good enough for fighting for a win? We will see in Spa in one month.

    Q: (Peter Vamosi – Vas Nepe) Kimi, you are now second in the championship. What does this mean now, at this time, for you and for the next four weeks? Will you go to Enstone and help to develop the car or just have fun and holiday?

    KR: I don’t design the car so there’s not much use for me there. Everybody has to be off work in a week’s time so there’s nothing happening at any of the factories, at least, that’s how it should be. I will do something and see what happens at the next race in four weeks.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Sebastian, if, at the end of the first bend you were first in the race after the start, the story of this race might have been different. And Lewis, I would also like to hear your opinion about that.

    SV: Well I wasn’t so, hard to… If. If. If I was sick today I wouldn’t race so… I think Lewis did a great job today, a good lap yesterday and deserved to win today no doubt. I think we had a bit stronger pace than what we probably had towards the end of the race, but I didn’t do the best job either. I damaged my front wing, I got stuck behind Jenson, didn’t find a way past unlike Lewis so yeah, there are things that I could have done better but it’s hard to say where we could have been without those two things. I think it would have been close. Obviously he had track position, overtaking is difficult, maybe we would have been a bit closer, maybe with strategy we could have found a way past, I don’t know. But in the end, as I said, it wasn’t the case.

    LH: It’s nothing I really want to think about. I got into turn one first, that’s the most important thing. I think if Sebastian was out in the lead it would have been hard to have kept a hold of him but I think generally my second and third and fourth stints were pretty strong. I think I would hopefully have had as good a pace as he would have had so I think it could have been a close race.

    Q: (Gabor Joo – Index)  Kimi, last year you finished second, this year you finished second as well. Are you satisfied with the progress Lotus is making in terms of car development?

    KR: Obviously we always hope for more, myself and the team hopes for more. I think we’ve made progress, for sure.  Now we have tyres that are a little bit different and I wasn’t so happy with how things ran on Friday and yesterday – more happy in qualifying than the whole weekend before that but still not ideal and in the race we usually run better than in qualifying. I was happy with the car in the race but obviously when you start from such a bad starting place it’s difficult to make big progress on this kind of circuit but I managed to do two stops and we’re still pretty competitive so we’re happy how we’ve done but we’re here to try to win races and if we keep finishing second and third like we’ve done many times this year, it’s probably not enough for the championship but the best thing today when we finished second we gained a few points on Sebastian, so it’s better than nothing but with a win it would have been a much bigger difference.

    Q: (Sarah Holt – CNN.com) Lewis, tyre problems cost you your first chance of a win for Mercedes at Silverstone and it’s ironic that now, because of that, the tyres have been changed and here we have them, you’ve got your first win, so does this make up for everything that happened in Britain and if the tyres now suit you, it could have ironically set you up for the rest of the season?

    LH: Well thank you. Yeah, yeah, you can’t really make up for Silverstone.  That was my home Grand Prix, we were in a good position to have won that so I don’t know when I will ever get a chance to win at Silverstone again in front of my home crowd. But this is definitely a great feeling to finally get the win. I’ve been on pole position for the last three races, it’s good to finally not lose position and just stay and be able to hold it and maintain position throughout the race, it’s a good feeling. I came here saying and praying that when we put on these tyres that they would come towards us more than away from us and it seems like they’ve done that: 52/55 degrees track temperatures today, one of the hottest races I think I can remember doing and for a team that really struggles with tyre degradation today was a walk in the park. I’m really baffled… I used all the technique I could possibly use to look after the tyres which I’m sure everyone is doing, but it worked today. I really really hope that when we go to the next race it happens, that we’re able to do the same.

    Q: (Geza Suranyi – Heves Megyei Hirlap) Lewis, you said that this circuit is a classic, so as a four time winner of the Hungarian Grand Prix, perhaps it’s about time to name a corner after you. Which corner would you chose?

    LH: I’d forgotten that it’s four times here. That’s incredible, absolutely incredible, I’m so happy with that. I love it here: the weather’s great, the fans, we have such a great turnout, they have beautiful women here, great food, I really can’t say more about it. A great track. If I was to chose a corner, I would say turn two.

    Ends

  • Hamilton’s 1st win for Mercedes; Raikkonen pips Vettel for 2nd

    Budapest, 28 July 2013: Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton took a convincing first win of the season at the Hungarian Grand Prix ahead of Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen and Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel. Hamilton’s fourth career victory at the Hungaroring puts him level with Michael Schumacher for most wins at the Budapest track.

    “This is probably one of the most important grand prix wins of my career,” said Hamilton after finishing almost 11 seconds ahead of Raikkonen. “To move to a new team and to win for Mercedes-Benz is just a real privilege. I’m so glad I could be a part of the team and I really couldn’t be happier. I hope there’s many more to come.”

    Hamilton made a good start from pole position and with Vettel making a slower getaway on the dirty side of the track, the Mercedes driver comfortably held his lead into the first corner. Vettel retained his P2 starting position despite a strong challenge from Lotus’ Romain Grosjean and the trio began to build a gap to the chasing pack, an FIA release said.

    Hamilton after winning the Hungarian GP on Sunday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas photo
    Hamilton after winning the Hungarian GP on Sunday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas photo

    Behind them Mark Webber made a good start for Red Bull Racing to rise from P10 on the grid to seventh by the end of lap two. With everyone in front of him starting on soft tyres and set to stop earlier, Webber, who started on medium tyres, had the opportunity to do a long first stint. When the front runners pitted for their own sets of medium rubber, Webber assumed the lead and in clear air began to make up time.

    Hamilton was the first to stop on lap nine and emerged behind Jenson Button, who had also started on the medium tyre and was working his way through a long first stint. The Mercedes driver quickly passed his former team-mate but Vettel had no such luck. After his first stop on lap 11, the German also rejoined behind Button but for the next 13 laps he could find no way past and lost precious time behind the slower McLaren. Vettel attempted a bold move on lap 17 but it only resulted in a minor collision that damaged his front wing and which compromised his pace. The Red Bull driver eventually found a way past, but by that time Hamilton had opened up a significant gap and the battle for P1 was done.

    “Coming out behind Jenson was crucial and I struggled to get past,” said Vettel. “I damaged my front wing, which didn’t help. After that I managed to get past. It was a long time. I lost a bit of speed and basically tried to hang in there, tried to fight back.”

    The race then settled into a battle of competing strategies with positions changing hands according to starting tyre choice. While the bulk of the front-runners cycled through their mid-race stints without issues, Grosjean hit trouble.

    After pressuring Vettel hard in the early stages of the race, the Frenchman found himself behind Button and in passing made contact with the McLaren, a clash that saw both being investigated by the stewards after the race. After his second stop Grosjean then found himself behind Ferrari’s Felipe Massa. He passed the Brazilian but did so off the track and was soon handed a drive-through penalty by the stewards. The punishment lost him valuable time and he dropped down the field to eventually finish sixth.

    In the final stint, it was Raikkonen and Webber who profited most. The Finn took on a final set of mediums on lap 42 and clung on until the end, despite the close attentions of Vettel who pushed hard in the final 10 laps to chase down the Lotus driver.

    “I knew it was going to be a bit tight but I felt that the tyres were good in the last ten laps,” said Raikkonen. “Maybe in the last two laps they dropped off quite badly but I didn’t really have any doubts that I could keep him [Vettel] behind. I had good speed through the last sector, so I knew that in the first corner he would not have a chance. Obviously you take a chance when you make so many laps with a set of tyres – but like I said, the team worked well, everything worked well for us.”

    Webber, meanwhile was on a charge of his own. He took on a mandatory set of softs on lap 59 and emerged in fourth place. At times running almost two seconds a lap quicker than his team-mate he closed rapidly but then his times dropped away and he settled for fourth.

    Fernando Alonso finished where he started, in fifth. With Grosjean, seventh was left to Button who finished ahead of Massa. The final points positions went to Sergio Perez and Pastor Maldonado.

    Vettel’s third place means he maintains control of the Drivers’ Championship standings. He now has 172 points, with Raikkonen in second place with 134. Alonso is third on 133, while Hamilton’s win gives him a total of 124 points and fourth place.

    In the Constructors’ battle, Red Bull Racing marginally increase their grip on the top of the standing, adding two points to the 67-point advantage they enjoyed over Mercedes before the start of the weekend. The Austrian team now has 277 points, Mercedes 208 and Ferrari 194. Lotus are fourth 11 points further back.

    2013 Hungarian Grand Prix result

    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:42:29.445 25
    2 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus +10.9 secs            18
    3 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing +12.4 secs 15
    4 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing +18.0 secs 12
    5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari +31.4 secs 10
    6 Romain Grosjean Lotus +32.2 secs 8
    7 Jenson Button McLaren +53.8 secs 6
    8 Felipe Massa Ferrari +56.4 secs 4
    9 Sergio Pérez McLaren +1 Lap 2
    10 Pastor Maldonado Williams +1 Lap 1
    11 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber +1 Lap
    12 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso +1 Lap
    13 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso +1 Lap
    14 Giedo van der Garde Caterham +2 Laps
    15 Charles Pic Caterham +2 Laps
    16 Jules Bianchi Marussia +3 Laps
    17 Max Chilton Marussia +3 Laps
    18 Paul di Resta Force India Hydraulics
    19 Nico Rosberg Mercedes +6 Laps
    Ret Valtteri Bottas Williams+28 Laps
    Ret Esteban Gutiérrez Sauber +42 Laps
    Ret Adrian Sutil Force India Hydraulics

    ends

  • Hamilton takes pole; Grosjean favourite from P3

    Hungaroring, 27 July 2013: Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton claimed his third pole position in a row and his fourth of the season to edge out the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel by less than four hundredths of a second in a tense qualifying session ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix.

    Red Bull Racing driver Vettel looked set for his own fourth pole of the season after setting an early Q3 benchmark of 1:19.506, eight tenths ahead of Hamilton’s first timed lap of the segment. The championship leader looked to be even more secure when, with his final run, he managed to shave another tenth off his best time, FIA said.

    Hamilton and Mercedes have dominated over a single lap at recent races, and it was not different in Budapest. A superb first sector saw the three-time Hungarian GP winner running three tenths quicker than the Red Bull Racing driver and though he lost time in the middle sector it was a strong enough foundation to allow the Briton to cross the line in P1.

    Afterwards, Hamilton said he had been sure Vettel would be at the head of field.

    “I was surprised when I came across the line and they said I’d got pole,” he admitted. “I had been expecting Sebastian to get it as he’d shown some serious pace. I didn’t even feel that I’d done that great a lap, so I was very surprised.”

    Vettel, meanwhile, felt there “had not been much missing” from his lap and professed himself confident of a good race from P2 on the grid.

    “I think Lewis did a good job,” he said. “I put a strong lap in. I had two sets of new tyres and I was pretty happy with both laps. Maybe on the second try I was losing out a little bit in the middle sector. Maybe I wasn’t aggressive enough there. I would have loved to have been a little bit faster and been on pole but I think it puts us in a great place for tomorrow.”

    Romain Grosjean took third place for Lotus, out-qualifying sixth-placed team-mate Kimi Raikkonen for just the second time this year. Hamilton’s team-mate Nico Rosberg was fourth, with Fernando Alonso fifth for Ferrari ahead of Raikkonen and the second Ferrari of Felipe Massa.

    Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo enjoyed another good qualifying session and will line up eighth on the grid. Afterwards he said he had got the maximum from his STR8.

    “It was good to get into Q3 again,” he said. “We seem to make a habit of finding a little bit extra for qualifying, although ideally, I’d like to be on the pace right from Friday and chip away at the lap times within the top ten. I think we got the most out of the car this afternoon. I was happy with the way I drove and I am pleased with my form at the moment.”

    Behind him, McLaren’s Sergio Perez recovered from a FP3 crash that left his crew building his car around him at the start of qualifying to claim ninth.

    For Mark Webber, though, it was a frustrating session. A soon as he took to the track for the first time in Q1, the Red Bull Racing driver was told he had a KERS failure. He made it through to the second phase of the session in P13 and dug deep in Q2 to claim P8 and a spot in the top-10 shootout. However, on his first run in the final segment, he encountered another problem and abandoned his run. He failed to emerge from the garage again and will line up tenth.

    “That was a massively disappointing qualifying session,” said Webber. “Obviously we had a lot of issues with the car and we left a lot of lap time in the garage, with items which weren’t working on the car at their optimum. We had no KERS, and a basic gearbox setting that we couldn’t get out of, which cost a lot of lap time.”

    Elsewhere there were few surprises, save for the Q1 exit of Paul Di Resta. The Scot will line up 18th and afterwards said he had no explanation for his lack of pace.

    “A tough session and I am a bit confused as to why we struggled so much on the soft tyre,” he said. “Throughout all the sessions we’ve looked more competitive on the softs, but in Q1 they just didn’t switch on. We’ve given ourselves a lot of work to do tomorrow, but we will go away and come back refreshed and ready to fight.”

    2013 Hungarian Grand Prix Qualifying result

    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:19.388
    2 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1:19.426
    3 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:19.595
    4 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:19.720
    5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:19.791
    6 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 1:19.851
    7 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:19.929
    8 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:20.641
    9 Sergio Pérez McLaren 1:22.398
    10 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing no time
    11 Adrian Sutil Force India 1:20.569
    12 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber 1:20.580
    13 Jenson Button McLaren 1:20.777
    14 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:21.029
    15 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:21.133
    16 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:21.219
    17 Esteban Gutiérrez Sauber 1:21.724
    18 Paul di Resta Force India 1:22.043
    19 Charles Pic Caterham 1:23.007
    20 Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1:23.333
    21 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:23.787
    |22 Max Chilton Marussia 1:23.997

    ends

  • Vettel fastest in both Free Practice sessions

    Hungaroring, 26 July 2013: Having been fastest in FP1, Red Bull Racing continued that form into the afternoon with Sebastian Vettel again going quickest, though this time by a much smaller margin over team-mate Mark Webber ahead of the 10th race of the season at the Hungaroring circuit here on Friday.

    Romain Grosjean was third fastest for Lotus, ahead of the Ferrari’s of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa. Behind them the Mercedes pair of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were sixth and seventh, Kimi Räikkönen was eighth quickest in the second Lotus. Jenson Button was ninth for McLaren and Adrian Sutil rounded out the top-ten for Force India, an FIA release said.

    Vettel’s time of 1:21.264 was set at the half-hour mark. He was already P1 at that point, having been the quickest man in the opening exchanges on the medium tyre. Having changed to the soft compound he improved by 1.2 seconds, setting his fastest time on his first flying lap with the yellow-banded tyre. Webber slotted into P2 a lap later.

    The final hour of Friday practice was dominated by long runs, with drivers conducting race simulations. With track temperatures above 40°C tyre performance fell off quickly and no one threatened to match Vettel’s headline time. The circuit remained slippery and, as had been the case in the morning, many drivers struggled with grip, sliding over the kerbs and into the run-off areas.

    Hungarian Grand Prix Free Practice 2 results

    1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1:21.264
    2 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 1:21.308 +0.044
    3 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:21.417 +0.153
    4 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:21.426 +0.162
    5 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:21.544 +0.280
    6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:21.802 +0.538
    7 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:21.991 +0.727
    8 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 1:22.011 +0.747
    9 Jenson Button McLaren 1:22.180 +0.916
    10 Adrian Sutil Force India 1:22.304 +1.040
    11 Paul di Resta Force India 1:22.526 +1.262
    12 Sergio Pérez McLaren 1:22.529 +1.265
    13 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:22.781 +1.517
    14 Esteban Gutiérrez Sauber 1:22.837 +1.573
    15 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber 1:22.841 +1.577
    16 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:23.369 +2.105
    17 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:23.411 +2.147
    18 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:23.646 +2.382
    19 Charles Pic Caterham 1:24.325 +3.061
    20 Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1:25.065 +3.801
    21 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:25.143 +3.879
    22 Max Chilton Marussia 1:26.647 +5.383

     

    ends

    File photo of Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull. Photo courtesy FIA.
    File photo of Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull. Photo courtesy FIA.

  • I’m not a title contender at the moment: Hamilton

    DRIVERS – Esteban GUTIERREZ (Sauber), Paul DI RESTA (Force India), Valtteri BOTTAS (Williams), Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes), Kimi RAIKKONEN (Lotus), Pastor MALDONADO (Williams)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Good afternoon. We’ll start with Lewis Hamilton. As a three-time winner here and a two-time pole-sitter, I think the heat is on, literally, here this weekend for you to try to make it four wins. Forty degrees ambient expected on Sunday, how much is that going to be a disadvantage to you and Mercedes?

    Lewis HAMILTON: It’s good to see everyone again. It’s going to be tough this weekend definitely – the conditions will not help. Plus, we haven’t driven the tyres as everyone else has. We’ve got a bit of catching up to do, but that’s what we do best and we just have to work as hard as we can this weekend to try to understand the tyres and put ourselves in the best position possible. We have a lot of work to do to continue to improve our race pace, but I anticipate it will be a difficult weekend.

    Do you think you are at more of a disadvantage, are you worse off, or is every team in the same boat with the temperatures this weekend?

    LH: I’m sure everyone is going to have to open up their cars, so everyone in in the same boat in terms of car packaging and the heat that the cars are absorbing. Tyre-wise, of course there are teams that will deal with it slightly better than us, just naturally, and there are some people that will deal with it the same as us.

    Nine races into your Mercedes career and we’re almost at the half-way point of the season. Do you see still yourself as a championship contender?

    LH: I don’t really look at myself as a championship contender at the moment. Of course, we’re fourth, we’re second as a team in the Constructors’ Championship, so… just at the beginning of the season everyone was writing me off and then all of a sudden they changed their opinions and we’ve had some really good results. That’s just due to all the hard work the team are putting in and we’re not giving up. We’re going to keep pushing. We hope that we’re going to get some wins in the future races coming. It’s going to be tough but I’m really happy with how the season has gone so far, especially compared to where the team was last year, it’s a massive step.

    Let’s turn to Pastor Maldonado next. Can we start with a comment about Williams’ appointment in the last few days of Pat Symonds, who comes in as technical director. From a driver’s perspective, how welcome is that and how necessary do you think it was that the team have a new technical director and new leadership in that part of the company?

    Pastor MALDONADO: We had a hard beginning to the season with the car, fighting a lot to improve and develop the conditions and the performance. It’s quite tough for us, still. We try to put everything together in the past races. Some races we were a bit better, some others not. Especially the consistency and the race pace is quite good on our car, just missing a lot of performance in quali which is penalising us a lot. Starting from the back is not the best for us. Yeah, I think we need some change. The way, how we’ve been working, trying to improve out performance was not the best and for sure any change in a good way is very welcome.

    What about yourself at the moment? I think ‘silly season’ is very much upon us, a few rumours in the press about your future career. Did you take much notice of that? Can it be a destabilising factor for a driver?

    PM: No, I’m still full focused on the season. I think we can still improve. We are a strong team. Last year we were fighting for good places, sometimes even fighting for the podium and this year, some years you miss the pace. We just need to be together as a team, work harder than before, try to fix the problem and to be there again. I think we have all the tools to become again very competitive.

    Thanks Pastor. Esteban, let’s turn to you next. Looking at the championship table, you’re the leading rookie, how do you assess your performance in the first half of your first Formula One season?

    Esteban GUTIERREZ: It’s been very challenging. Obviously I’m not completely happy with how the first part of the season went. But again, being a rookie I’ve been focusing a lot on gaining a lot of experience to improve every part I can. I think what matters is the second half of the season, Everything will be judged on how the second half goes and I’m full focused on what is happening from now own.

    What areas have you been focusing on most? Where do you think improvements need to be made?

    EG: I think qualifying can be improved a lot. There’s obviously a lot of variable playing into account on performance, sometimes different car set-ups, different things, trying to experiment with new things. Obviously this puts the situation a little bit more difficult. The team’s situation is not the best. We were expecting a lot better performance from the car. But we are close as a team and we are working ourselves to get all these things right.

    Q: Because of that situation you mentioned with the team, do you feel you haven’t had the full opportunity to show exactly what you can do?

    EG: Well, definitely it’s affecting that, but as I said the second part of the season there is a good chance to show what is really our performance, our capabilities and obviously to put everything together, to reflect everything in the results.

    Q: Valtteri, if we could turn to you, the other rookie amongst us this afternoon. Did you feel you’ve had the opportunity to fully show your ability behind the wheel or is the performance of the car not helping you?

    Valtteri BOTTAS: I think for sure it’s not helping. Also we expected a much better start for the season. If you would be consistently fighting in the top ten, everyone would see maybe a bit more of what you can do. It’s not easy but I’m trying my best and I think still improving a lot all the time. I think the first half of the season hasn’t been too bad for me. Of course when I look back there’s always things you could have done better. You learn all the time, that’s how it is.

    Q: With Pat Symonds arrival, is it too much to expect results will turn around this year, very quickly? As a driver is that something you will be looking for?

    VB: Of course you would hope so but I think the fact is it’s not a quick fix. It’s still going to take time and we need to keep working on the areas where we need to improve and I think it’s more about the future, not necessarily the end of the year. Of course we try to improve. Any improvement would be nice because it’s so close at the moment. For me it’s a positive thing. It was good to work with Mike before but I think at this stage maybe we just need some new ideas and new opinions.

    Q: Paul, a change to the tyres again this weekend. 2012 construction, 2013 compounds, you had a chance to drive with them at Silverstone. Force India, some say, might be disadvantaged by these tyr

    Paul di Resta of Sahara Force India (left) with an engineer at Nurburgring on Thursday. An FIA photo
    Paul di Resta of Sahara Force India (left) with an engineer at Nurburgring on Thursday. An FIA photo

    e changes. How fearful are you that this could be proved true?

    Paul DI RESTA: It’s a hard one. Obviously we got a little bit of an impression at Silverstone but I think it was directed to enable Pirelli to understand their tyre more, that they’re bringing for the rest of the season. Tomorrow’s going to be busy, it’s the first time that we get to try some setup things and actually understand them but yes, we did have a good idea of where the tyres were working and how to use them over a race distance. That’s not to say that this won’t continue and, on the flip side, it may suit the car better. It’s completely unknown. All we can do is do what we can and the team is working hard to try and score some points because we missed them in the Nürburgring.

    Q: In terms of this season, it’s been a successful season for yourself and for Force India but with resources tight at the team and the concentration having to come on 2014 eventually. As a driver, how difficult is that balancing act going to be? I’m sure you want to fully focus on 2013 and not so much on 2014 at the moment.

    PDR: It’s certainly a harder balance this year, I think, with the new regs for next year. I think everybody at the factory is probably focussed on next year whereas we as a race team are focussed on this year. Just a lot of racing, a lot of points and a lot of laps that we need to be on top of our game. Ultimately where we reward ourselves, this will help the team next year in terms of Constructors’ position. That’s why I think everybody here is trying to stay on top of McLaren if we can. We can’t underestimate what they are and what they do. Up until the last weekend of racing we were having a damn good season and there’s no reason why we can’t get our elbows out and fight even harder.

    Q: Kimi, like Lewis you’ve had plenty of success in Hungary. I think one more podium and you equal the record for the most about of podiums for a driver here. With the high temperatures, does that play into your hands a little bit on Sunday? If we go on the form of Germany, we assume it should do.

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: I think we’ve always been a bit more happy when it’s more warm. Now it’s a bit difficult to say with the new – or different – tyres than we raced at the beginning of the year but last year helped us and the tyres should be a mix of this year and last year so let’s hope that it works well for us.

    Q: You didn’t go to Silverstone. Did you think twice that maybe you should?

    KR: No. The decision was made with the team that there was not really so much… it was better for the team to put a young driver in it because we were not allowed to do any changes as a race driver, so with that sort of rules you don’t really learn much. We would only have had one set of tyres or so, and so it was overall better for the team to use our test drivers.

    Q: Red Bull? Lotus? Maybe somewhere else? It’s silly season and you seem to be, you appear to be if the stories are true, very much a man in demand.  When you look at next season and where you may or may not be driving, what are the factors that go through your mind in helping you make that decision?

    KR: There’s not really one thing. I think there is going to be an overall package and whatever feels right for me. Whatever the decision will be it might feel stupid to somebody else but then it might feel right for me. I have no idea what will happen. We have to wait and see what will come but hopefully whatever it will be, it will be the right choice.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Gerhard Potochnik – Kleine Zeitung) We are talking about the future; a few days ago Red Bull and Bernie Ecclestone announced that there would be an Austrian Grand Prix next July. Can you tell us your thoughts about this?

    KR: I was there maybe two years ago or something the last time. It looks slightly different. The circuit is exactly the same, I think. It’s a nice place to go, I think. It’s not a very difficult circuit because it hasn’t got many corners, but it usually produces very good racing because of the layout of the straights and the tight corners. I’m more than happy to go back there.

    Q: Paul, a new venue on the calendar, does that excite you?

    PdiR:  A new event, yeah. I’ve never been there so I don’t know what to expect but it looks a very good track from what Kimi said.

    EG: It looks interesting, obviously another track, hard to know what to expect but it’s always interesting to go to a new place.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, if it’s really going to be 40 degrees for the race, is that really going to be too hot for you and your car? Is it a big risk for your record of finishing races?

    KR: It’s the same for everybody, obviously. It will be a bit more tricky for cars and everything, brakes, everything for the drivers, but it’s not the first time that it will be hot when we are racing. If it’s going to be that hot we will see what happens. It was meant to be hot today and it was raining. Things change quickly.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action/National Speedsport News) Kimi,  following on from the earlier question about Red Bull; you don’t like to do PR, Red Bull likes its drivers to do a lot of PR. How much PR work would you put up with if it means you have a winning car?

    KR: Obviously you can’t have a guarantee what will happen next year with any team or any cars. There are a lot of rumours about PR days but we have ten and some other teams have a hundred. I’ve been in most of the top teams and I know exactly how it goes and if you count things that you do during the week and during a weekend and you put everything together, everybody has a different way of counting the days. I’m sure it’s not – at least in my knowledge – the difference between the teams is in days and it’s not a deciding factor.

    Q: (Michael Noir Trawniczek – Rally and More) Kimi, when you are chosing the package and the right team, what sort of questions do you ask, how technical is it, do you visit the factory, things like that? How do you make your choice?

    KR: I think it’s like I said earlier, it’s a combination of things and it has to be right on racing and outside of racing. Basically everything just has to feel right and I think in the end it comes down to whatever I think is the right choice and there will be no guarantee that the choice will be the good one in the long run but I’m fine with it, whatever the outcome will be; you live with the choices.

    Q: Is any choice for next year complicated by the fact that the engine regulations, the rule regulations have changed quite drastically? 

    KR: Obviously it would be much easier for everybody to more or less get an idea what will happen next year without those big changes but that’s how it is. It really depends on whether one engine manufacturer gets it right and one wrong, then it might be a long season for some teams and an easier one for others but I don’t know. You hear rumours but that’s all I know about it.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Lewis, your team didn’t take part in the Silverstone test; how does it affect your team and you and Nico from a driver’s point of view? 

    LH: To be honest, it doesn’t really faze me. I think it would have definitely helped if we were there and we have an understanding of how to set up the car with the new tyres and to see what kind of characteristics they have and how they behave on long runs and all those kind of things but we will try and find that out this weekend. At the end of the day, it is what it is and we will just try to do the best with what we’ve got. It’s a great team, I have no doubt that we will make up for the lost time.

    Q:  (Ian Parkes – Press Association) Gentlemen, you may have seen the story last week that Sauber are due to fast track a young Russian by the name of Sergey Sirotkin into Formula One. If he is on the grid at the start of next season, and he gains the necessary super licence, he will be 18-years old. Is 18 too young to be racing a Formula One car?

    PM: It’s a difficult one because I don’t know the driver very well. It’s difficult to say.  I think it’s more up to the team and not to us.

    VB: Yeah, I don’t really know the background of this driver so it’s difficult to say.

    PdiR: It’s unfair to say anything. I don’t think anybody knows too much about him because he’s not been in racing cars too long.

    Q: But is 18 too young to be a Formula One driver, if you take away the individual concerned?

    PdiR: You can never say never, can you? People surprise you with what they’re doing. If that’s a decision I’m sure there’s a reason behind it.

    LH: I wasn’t ready at 18. I was pretty good at 18, so…

    KR: I’m sure there will be and has also been an 18-year old, I guess. For sure they will take him if they feel it’s the right thing, so I don’t see that age will be the problem. It’s about experience and that. He might be ready, he might not. Time will tell.

    Q: He might need a good teammate to look after him, Esteban.

    EG: Well, very difficult to judge. What Kimi said comes down to experience, results. I think all of that should be taken into account.

    Q: (Jose Maria Moreira – Organizacion Editorial Mexicana) Esteban, will Sergey Sirotkin and the Russian  backers affect your future at Sauber?

    EG: Well, that doesn’t really make a difference to my current season so to be honest, my focus is here, it’s on this season and I know very well what I have with the team, what has been my path with them over the last few years and what we’re looking into in the future.

    Q: (Gergely Denes – F1-Live.hu) Kimi, last week there was some Twitter  chat between Lewis and your team, a photo postcard of you and Roscoe, Lewis’s dog. Are you aware of that and what is your opinion of it?

    KR: It’s the first I’ve heard of it. I don’t have a Twitter account, I don’t have any other things. I don’t really have a comment.

    Q: You weren’t the man putting #where’sRoscoe on the side of the car?

    KR: (Sighs and points to the team’s PR man)

    Q: (Peter Vamosi – Vas Népe ) Lewis, what is the difference between Nico Rosberg as a teammate in GP2 and Formula One?

    LH: I wasn’t his teammate in GP2. I was his teammate in go-karts. It was more fun when we were in go-karts,  that’s about it. We’re both older and wiser and yeah, we don’t play as many games and kid games and all the silly things you do as a kid. He’s more competitive now than he was back then.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Lewis, if Kimi goes to Red Bull, would he be an even harder competitor for you than he is now?

    LH:  I think Kimi will always be one of the hardest competitors here. He’s a fantastic driver, he’s got great experience and he’s constantly proving his abilities and I think whatever car you put him in he’s going to be a fighting force in the field and of course he’s doing a great job at Lotus, they’ve done a great job this year and over the last couple of years. I think whatever he decides either way, he will have a strong car and I just hope that we’re competing with them.

    Q: (Joo Gabor – Index) Kimi, we can divide your Formula One career into two; which one have you enjoyed most, the first one to 2009 or the second one now?

    KR: I don’t really count it as two. I did something else that I wanted to do between them and then obviously I wanted to race again. It hasn’t really changed much. Obviously the team’s different but I’ve been in different teams in the past and every team has a good side and some things that you are probably finding not that much fun. Obviously when you have decent results you have more fun that if you have bad years. I would say that is very similar, more or less the same people, same stuff. I have no real difference between earlier teams and how it is now.

    Ends

  • It’s incredible to finally win in Germany: Vettel

    DRIVERS

    1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)

    2 – Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Lotus)

    3 – Romain GROSJEAN (Lotus)

    PODIUM INTERVIEW  (Conducted by Kai Ebel)

    Q: Sebastian, tell the world how sweet a taste is this home victory?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, it’s unbelievable. I’m very, very happy, an unbelievable race. Kimi was pushing very, very hard in the end and obviously they tried to do something different with different compound tyres. I think we had a very solid, very controlled race but I was pushing, I think, every single lap, except the laps behind the Safety Car. Very happy with the result and incredible to finally win in Germany.

    Q: At the closing stages of the race you felt the warm breath of this guy [Räikkönen] in your neck so what do you think about driving with this guy next year together in one team?

    SV: Well, I don’t know. I think first of all I enjoy today and, yeah, I could feel him coming and more and more pressure but yeah, I obviously had a couple of laps where it was quite close with Romain as well who tried to push very hard. In the middle of the race we lost KERS for a couple of laps so it was very difficult – but fortunately the system recovered and yeah, it’s very useful to defend properly. Very happy that the race ended after 60 laps and not 61 or 62.

    Q: Kimi, was it better for you that the radio had some problems and you couldn’t understand the guy from the pit wall?

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: No actually – I could hear them but they couldn’t hear me. I think it only worked in one part of the circuit and unfortunately today there was quite a lot to discuss and it didn’t work. So, not the ideal but we managed to do pretty well and obviously we want to win but today we didn’t have the speed. The race should have been a bit longer, maybe then we could have had a good chance – but we scored good points for two cars and we are getting back where we should be. So in the end not ideal but pretty OK for us.

    Q: Romain, how good is it being back on the podium, even if it is now the third position and not the second if that could been?

    Romain GROSJEAN: It’s good, it’s a good result for the team. We had a very strong race, which is good. Very good first stint. I thought I would have had a chance at one stage on Seb but the Red Bull was quick today. And then at the end we choose different strategy with the team. I think that was the right things to do – just put one car on one tyres and the other one on the other one, and it appears the Option for Kimi was quicker. So, yeah, I think it was good to play a little bit, the team, and then I’m very happy to be back on the podium. I think we’ve deserved it for a little while but now it’s reality.

    [Question in German]

    SV: Obviously I felt the push from the crowd and yeah, obviously, I tried to focus the last couple of laps, knew it would be very close with Kimi once he gets past Romain, so yeah, incredibly tough, I was pushing every single lap as hard as I could and Lotus was incredibly quick today, looking after their tyres probably a little bit better than other people. But yeah, all in all, fantastic. Compliments to the team, three great stops we had. Very, very happy with the day.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Sebastian, many congratulations. That was a tremendously entertaining race to watch for anybody who loves the sport. You were obviously made to work pretty hard for it. Your fourth win of the season [and the] 30th of your career. Clearly, the defining thing is that it’s meant so much to you for such a long time and you’ve achieved so much in 26 years but just put into words what it means to finally win your home grand prix.

    SV: Definitely a great relief. Very happy with how the day went. To be honest, for sure, there are a lot of expectations. Especially when you have a good car and for a couple of years you’ve had a good run, when you come to home soil people expect you to win. I think the whole team, including myself, we never ever let that get to our head but it just feels very, very sweet now to have succeeded after a couple of tries. Sometimes we were close. I think we had good races in the past in Germany as well, finished on the podium, which was a great experience but today, to win here, yeah. Both tracks, Hockenheim and Nürburgring mean a lot to me. To race in Germany I think is a privilege. To have the ability to have a home grand prix. Great relief, very happy, special day for sure. I think it take some little while to sink in but yeah, just incredibly proud today. The team did a fantastic job for strategy and for the pit stops. On the track it was so difficult. I pushed every single lap but it’s so tough when you’re on the edge and you know that you can’t go over the tyres too much because then you will not reach the end of the stint. Equally, passing people, you know that you have to get through traffic as quick as you can, so not an easy race. The Safety Car didn’t help us. We had a little bit of a cushion but Lotus was incredibly quick today and gave us definitely a big run for our money. I’m just very happy that it worked out. Last but not least our compliments to Pirelli. They did a very, very good job within a couple of days to react and bring a different rear tyre to this event. I think we didn’t have any failures throughout the whole weekend. Compliments to them. They had a lot of criteria after the last race but it looked like they made up for it this race and hopefully for the next races we continue to have racing like that.

    Q: Kimi, moving to you. Obviously Lotus were in a strong position. They could make a tactical gamble, put Red Bull on the back foot. From your point of view, you got through, Romain let you through towards the end. But was there a scenario where you could have won this race today?

    KR: Obviously not, because we didn’t win it. I was stuck behind the Mercedes after the first stop for a little while until I got past them. It cost me some time. After the Safety Car we were pretty OK and the cars, three of us, had similar speed and it’s very difficult to overtake anybody. I could run longer and we had a think about it, if we can try to run until the end but we had a massive problem with the radio. I could hear them but they could only hear me between two corners. So I’m wondering if we should have done it, take a gamble and try to go to the end because the tyres were pretty OK, my speed was pretty OK so it was hard to know what happens in the next ten laps. We decided to come in and put the soft tyres. We had good speed. Obviously I got some help from Romain to get past but that was… we would have had a big fight, anyhow. I could have probably passed him in a normal situation but obviously it would have cost me a lot of time. And as a team we try to win and I caught up with Seb but, like I said before, everybody was behind each other but we are too close on speeds and it’s so difficult to overtake then. We tried everything that we had and failed to win but I think for the team we did a good race and got both cars on the podium, so as a team we’re happy but obviously I lost some more points to Seb in the championship. We keep trying.

    Q: Romain, great to see you back here in the top three again. Fantastic first stint that really played you into contention for this grand prix. Tell us about your race, about how you felt and also a little bit of detail maybe about the radio traffic that was going on.

    RG: We had a good qualifying and the first stint has been amazing, seeing P1 on the board is always good. The car was working much better than what we thought on Option tyres. After the first pit stop Seb and myself were quite a long way ahead of everyone else and it was looking like we will try to see with strategy to adapt, to stop three stops depending on how we were going and then the Safety Car came. It made it easy for strategy but less good then for the traffic. Clearly then, as a team we had to put different eggs not in the same basket and change different strategy for Kimi and myself. It appears that Kimi’s one worked better but it could have been the opposite. So, it’s good to be back on the podium, good to score strong points. The summer is back on – which should help us to be more consistent at the front. But the first stint has been really good and finally getting car and tyres that work together, it’s nice.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Leonid Novozhilov – F1Life) Sebastian, what to you think about the weather today? Maybe the weather help you make a win, or no?

    SV: Well first of all it’s German weather. It’s always like this in Germany. I think we were just a little unlucky the last couple of years. I think it didn’t help us today. I think it made it a little bit more tricky. I think it helped probably Lotus a little bit. They were taking care of their tyres probably a little bit better than the rest of the field. By the looks of it they were very strong at the end of the stints – but I say that now, I don’t have a proper look. But in the end we won today so we had good speed – good enough to win the race so I’m very happy but I think we were a little bit stronger on Friday than today.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport)  Sebastian, when you came in for the third time, did you do it in order to cover Romain or did you come in anyway? Was it a plan to come in?

    SV: No, I don’t think it was the plan yet. Tyres were holding up OK and the gap to Romain was increasing a little bit again at that time. Just before the stop, a couple of laps, I lost KERS and I was able to switch it back on and pull away again. But obviously I think we try to cover him to make sure we stay ahead and we defend the lead because we saw that overtaking is quite tricky here. It’s possible: I went through traffic pretty quickly but obviously there was a big delta in speed, in pace at that time. So, yeah, in order to make sure we stay ahead, we try to cover him.

    Q: (Mark Ellerich – Sport1.de) How intense is the relief to get this done, with this win now? Did you have a plan to get it here in Germany, right now, this year?

    SV: Yeah, I made it in January! No, in the end it’s just another race and we try to prepare as much as we can for every race. Surely winning here is very special and tastes very very sweet, especially the way we won today with a lot of pressure from behind, but I think we did our homework – as much as we could – on Friday, the conditions changed a little bit and it was quite close today but we succeeded, that’s the most important thing. Very happy to take the win today and also it’s good to score some points.

    Q: (Kate Walker – GP Week) Sebastian, Kimi is one of the men on the short list to replace Webber as your teammate next season. In the closing stages of the race, we saw him giving you quite a bit of challenge. How do you feel about the prospect of being challenged by a fellow World Champion in equal equipment for an entire season rather than just a few laps? 

    SV: Well, I wouldn’t mind. I think he wasn’t nice today to me because of that but in the end of the day, to be completely straight, it’s not my decision. I think I have a good relationship with the team and to be honest, we spoke about that but not in detail yet. I think the team has no pressure to decide on anything, at least, that’s what they communicated with me. I think I get along fairly well with Kimi; we never had a problem on track, even if one day we might have and crash into each other which can happen, then I think we deal with it as grown-ups and talk about it and sort it out amongst ourselves, at least, I think that’s the relationship I have with him. I respect him a lot on and off track. But like I said, it’s not my decision.

    Q: (Kate Walker – GP Week) Would you be excited by the challenge?

    SV: Yeah, definitely. I think it’s strange in a way because I was looking up to Kimi when he was with McLaren for many years and trying to give Michael a very hard time but his McLaren broke down many times and now, since he’s come back, I’ve raced him again and I think there’s no doubt that when it comes to qualifying, to race, he does his job very well and gets the maximum out of the car, and that’s what – at the end of the day – is our job. He’s quite good at what he does. That’s my opinion.

    Q: Kimi, give you an opportunity to respond to that.

    KR: He seems to be a bit better. I don’t know what will happen in the future. Things will be decided at some point but until that happens there’s nothing to talk about. I would definitely tell if I know something just so that all these follow-up rumours and nonsense stops straight away. But right now, there’s absolutely nothing for next year and we will see. For sure, at some point, once we know we will tell but I don’t have any pressure to make any decision right now. Obviously I try to make the right decision for myself but it depends on many things; next year there are rule changes, everything else, so it can be a right or wrong decision. Whatever it will be, I will live with it and I’m fine with it. We will see when it comes.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, your best ever result in Germany. Does it taste any better than the previous ones or is it only victory that makes the difference? 

    KR: Obviously we are here to try and win races. We couldn’t today because we were not fast enough but for the team it was a good result after a couple of quite difficult races, so obviously for my championship it was not ideal, we lost some more points but it’s still a long season and if we keep putting ourselves in a position for at least fighting for first place then I think we can do it again but as I said, it’s good for the team and not so good for my championship.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Sebastian, your team was one of the teams that suggested to come back to 2012 tyres and it looked like your car behaved very well today. Is there any relationship between these two facts?

    SV: I think no. Whenever I opened my mouth, it was purely targeted at safety, because it can’t be the case that we go out and we have a race like at Silverstone. I  think in the end of the day, we step into the car, we want to race, race at the limit and we cannot drive into the unknown. All sorts of criteria I think was targeted at that and I think people forget that at the end of the day, you have to do your maths, you don’t have to be a genius. We are leading the team championship and the Drivers’ championship and if anything, we are the ones that have most to lose. Nevertheless, we pushed very hard, at least I did, from  the drivers’ point of view. I wasn’t shy of communicating as well. I think we are happier overall – all the drivers – with the tyres we raced this weekend. Whether it suits your car or not is secondary.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) And to Romain and Kimi, is the performance of your car also related to the new tyres?

    RG: I think when we tested it in Canada – well, personally, I quite liked them. They were more proper racing tyres with the different rear belt so I was sort of happy that they brought them here. I think the compounds – medium and soft – were better than hard and medium normally, so I am looking forward to using the full new tyres from Budapest onwards that I understood a little bit better last year than this year. The fronts are a bit strange sometimes but as Sebastian said I think the main thing was to have a safety issue. We all remember Felipe Massa in 2009 and we don’t want to see the same thing with a piece of tyre so we were glad and happy that Pirelli did something and well done to them because it wasn’t easy.

    KR: First of all, I don’t think it’s a 2012 tyre. The front tyre is exactly the same as all year. The rear belt is different but it’s not the construction of 2012. We tried these tyres in Montreal and they were fine. It’s not a very big difference to what we ran before so for us, I don’t think it made any difference. They felt a little bit better tyre in Montreal. I think the biggest difference is on high downforce circuits but the weather is hot so that’s probably what made the bigger difference for us.

    Q: Heikki Kulta (Turun Sanomat) Sebastian, Kimi has been chasing you for victory quite a few times. What this the tightest of them all or was Bahrain last year even tighter?

    SV: It was a different race. I think Bahrain was tighter because he was right behind for more than a couple of laps. Obviously I had Romain pushing very hard before Kimi pushed at the end of the stint,  because he came through, past Romain and he was a little bit quicker at the end. Yeah, but both races, in terms of race pace, were very even and if the cars are nearly the same pace then it’s very tricky and very difficult to overtake, so obviously if you’re ahead, it’s your advantage but I’m sure that one day it will be the other way round and I will probably hate it as much as Kimi does right now.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, how confident are you about the next race because they will change the tyres again and they will be even more similar than 2012 tyres?

    SV: First of all, I think we have to wait now. I think there’s a test at Silverstone where race drivers are allowed to test and so we have a tyre test you can say, for at least a day and get a little bit more of an idea, and then I think Pirelli will make up their mind and decide to get together with the FIA – whether the teams like it or not, it doesn’t matter. So I think at this point we don’t know which tyres we are probably running in Hungary. The most important thing is that we learn the lesson from previous races, especially Silverstone, so for here, I think nothing happened which is good but it’s good to have another proper look, especially around Silverstone and then decide for the remainder of the season.

    Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Kimi, during the last laps, did you  think about the opportunity of being with Red Bull and if that had an effect on your mood during the fight?

    KR: Absolutely not. I try to win and it doesn’t matter if it’s a teammate or some other team. As long as we give ourselves a chance, I try to make it happen and obviously if there is a good chance to try to overtake I will try it but we never got that close so there was nothing to do really.

    Q: (Oana Popoiu – F1Zone.Net) Romain, for the second race in a row, you were told you to let Kimi pass. Do you think you have any chance to fight for wins when you’re ahead of Kimi? 

    RG: When the opportunity comes, yes. Today, as I said, we didn’t put our eggs in the same basket and Kimi was quicker and might have gained on Sebastian but it didn’t work. I think it was the right thing to do. It is important for a team to score points and try to get the win. Without the safety car it would have been a different story, but we all got together and that was it.

    Q: (Jan Kotulla – Mannheimer Morgen) Sebastian, what about the support from the tribunes today?

    SV: Yeah, it was great to receive so much support. I think it’s unique for Germany to have a situation where the Grand Prix is coming and you have two drivers able to win the race. Obviously Michael was in a good position for many years so I think we are in a lucky position anyway, but I think it was exceptional this year with Nico winning in Monaco and at Silverstone last week. Yeah, I think it was great and nice to see, especially round turn seven where, for the second time around Nurburgring, there were a  lot of people and guests and friends from Red Bull. They put a big banner up on the formation lap and also on the in lap so it was very special and I enjoyed every second, for sure, especially after the chequered flag.

     Q: (Jan Kotulla – Mannheimer Morgen) And to all of you, have you see the movie Rush and what’s your opinion about the movie?

    SV: I haven’t seen it. I went to bed, so sorry Niki, he was very kind and invited me. I thought it was smarter to go to bed. So I have to wait.

    RG: I needed to sleep too so I went to bed as well.

    KR: No.

    ends

    File photo of Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull. Photo courtesy FIA.
    File photo of Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull. Photo courtesy FIA.

     

  • Vettel keeps Kimi at bay to take first win at home

    Nurburgring, 7 July 2013: Red Bull Racing driver Sebastian Vettel has extended his championship lead with a hard-fought victory at the German Grand Prix, adopting a three-stop strategy with one stint on the P Zero Yellow tyre at the start of the race followed by three longer stints on the P Zero White medium tyre.

    Thus the German won at home for the first time with Kimi Raikkonen’s Lotus pushing him during the last couple of laps. It is Vettel’s 30th GP win.

    Meanwhile, Sahara Force India failed to finish in points and the German GP halted a strong streak of performances by the Indian outfit. Paul Di Resta was overtaken by his former teammate Nico Hulkenberg in the fag end as he could only finish 11th. Sutil finished 13th.

    Paul said: “It’s not been the easiest of weekends for us, but in the final part of the race it looked like we were on course to score some points. In the end we just ran out of tyres during the last couple of laps, but it was always going to be risky with our two-stop strategy, especially as we had to pit under the safety car. There were times in the race when the car was working well, but I really struggled with the first set of mediums and was not happy with the balance. Things improved quite a bit for the final stint, but by then we were out of position. It’s a bit gutting to miss out on points so we need to unleash our potential and get back to our usual form in Hungary.”
    “It turned out to be quite a disappointing race and for whatever reason we’ve just not had the pace this weekend,” said Adrian Suitl. “I struggled a lot with the tyres and had to convert from a two-stop race to a three-stop race, which was not our plan. I also lost some time at my final pit stop and after that the points were just too far away.”
     Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal, was disappointed with the end of the points streak. “It’s disappointing to end our run of points finishes, but Paul came very close to picking up the final point today. Ultimately his two-stop strategy wasn’t quite enough to fend off our competitors in the final few laps, but we came close to pulling it off. Adrian’s race was also decided by tyre wear because we had to switch him to a three-stop strategy mid-way through the race. Overall we were missing some performance and didn’t have the pace to make the strategy work. Both Paul and Adrian were unable to pass the Williams of Maldonado after the safety car, which compromised the strategy. With three weeks until the next race and a young driver test before that, we will work hard to ensure we can recapture the form we’ve shown earlier in the season,” he felt.
    Pirelli adds:

    The championship leader started from second on the grid and made an excellent start to take the lead at the first corner. There were several strategies at work right from the beginning, with both Ferraris starting on the medium compound tyre, as well as the McLaren of Jenson Button and the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg. From 11th, Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) was also one of the seven drivers to start on the medium tyre.

    A safety car with 36 laps to go prompted most drivers to make their second stops, with the final stops coming in the closing stages of the race. As different drivers were using varied strategies, the podium was only settled in the final laps. Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen completed a long middle stint to lead the race, before pitting for soft tyres with 11 laps to go. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Button also completed the race on the soft tyre. The top five finishers all used a three-stop strategy, with Button the highest-placed two-stopper in sixth.

    Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery said: “This had all the ingredients for a brilliantly strategic race from the beginning, with some drivers starting on the medium tyre in order to go longer in the first stint than the cars on the soft tyre. For many teams, this was almost a qualifying tyre – which gave the tactics an interesting edge. There were different strategies in play, which meant that the finish was extremely close. Overall performance and durability of our tyres were in line with our expectations while thermal degradation was perhaps a little higher than expected today, due to the high track temperatures, but wear was as we predicted. It would certainly have been possible to complete the race with two pit stops, as many of the competitors showed. However, the safety car slightly altered things. Last but certainly not least I would like to thank our staff at the factory in Izmit in Turkey who have worked tirelessly after Silverstone to produce the required amount of new rear tyres, and our logistics team who made sure that the tyres were here on Tuesday. It was a big team effort, for which I would like to thank everyone.”

    ends

    From left: Kimi Raikkonen (2nd), Red Bull engineer, Sebastian Vettel (German GP winner) and third placed Romain Grosjean also of Lotus on podium on Sunday. A Pirelli photo
    From left: Kimi Raikkonen (2nd), Red Bull engineer, Sebastian Vettel (German GP winner) and third placed Romain Grosjean also of Lotus on podium on Sunday. A Pirelli photo

  • Hamilton pushes Vettel aside for pole position

    Nurburgring, 6 July 2013: Lewis Hamilton produced a last-minute surprise at the Nürburgring as the Mercedes AMG Petronas driver overcame a poor practice form to take top spot in the qualifying for the German GP here on Saturday.

    Lewis Hamilton will start from the front of the Nürburgring grid thanks to a last-gasp lap that snatched

    Hamilton at Nurburgring on Saturday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team photo
    Hamilton at Nurburgring on Saturday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team photo

    pole position away from home favourite Sebastian Vettel.

    As has been the case right through the first half of the 2013 F1 season, pole position for the German Grand Prix was a battle-royal between Mercedes and Red Bull Racing. At the last Hamilton grabbed pole from Vettel by a tenth of a second, with Mark Webber a further tenth back. The two teams looked strong throughout the hour and provided the only runners capable of making it out of Q1 on the much-slower medium compound Pirelli.

    With Germany hosting the ninth round of the 2013 F1 World Championship, the list of pole position winners now has a pleasing symmetry to it, with Hamilton joining team-mate Nico Rosberg and Vettel on three poles each. However, the Briton had looked a long-shot at the start of the session, having endured a rough FP2 and FP3 in which he struggled to get his car to perform.

    “We were miles off!” he said in the post-qualifying FIA press conference. “I was a good eight-tenths of a second off, I wasn’t comfortable with the car at all. We went back into the truck and we just worked hard, tried to analyse everything and made lots and lots of changes. I just hoped that it would work and fortunately the car was beneath me and I was able to put in the times we did.”

    Despite failing to secure top spot in front of a partisan audience at his home grand prix, Vettel did not look too disconsolate.

    “It looks like we are much closer to them here than we were in Silverstone so I think we’ve made some progress and have all confidence for tomorrow,” he said. “We had a good run yesterday, looking at the race. I think we did our homework and now, obviously, it’s up to us.”

    In the opening session the drivers from Williams, Caterham and Marussia were eliminated without fanfare. Q2 offered up a lot more excitement. As the clock wound down, Rosberg remained in the garage, apparently confident that his earlier lap of 1:30.326 would beat the cut-off but in the closing stages, with the chequered flag flying and the track improving, McLaren’s Jenson Button pushed Rosberg out to 11th, posting a time of 1:30.269.

    It was a major blow to Rosberg who would have been readying himself for a tilt at a fourth pole of the season. “I was really shocked when I saw the times falling in Q2 today and realised that I was in P11,” he said. “I didn’t see it coming and we just underestimated how much the track would ramp up in terms of grip and lap time. I could have been on the front row today.”

    Eliminated with Rosberg were the Force Indias of Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil, McLaren’s Sergio Pérez, Esteban Guiterrez for Sauber and Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne.

    The drivers making it through to Q3 had a difficult choice to make: run or not run? While pole position would be set on the soft tyre, practice demonstrated that the medium compound was by far the stronger race tyre. Many cars kept their options open by doing outlaps but in the end only six cars continued on to set times on the soft tyre. Behind the top three Kimi Räikkönen took fourth, only hundredths of a second ahead of team-mate Romain Grosjean, and Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo qualified sixth for the second weekend in a row.

    As the end of the session approached, Ferrari decided to set lap times on the medium tyre, with Felipe Massa beating out team-mate Fernando Alonso by less than a tenth. They will line up seventh and eight. Behind them McLaren’s Jenson Button did not set a time and will start ninth, with Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg alongside in tenth.

    2013 German Grand Prix qualifying times

    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:29.398
    2 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1:29.501
    3 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 1:29.608
    4 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 1:29.892
    5 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:29.959
    6 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:30.528
    7 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:31.126
    8 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:31.209
    9 Jenson Button McLaren No time
    10 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber No time

    11 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:30.326
    12 Paul di Resta Force India 1:30.697
    13 Sergio Pérez McLaren 1:30.933
    14 Esteban Gutiérrez Sauber 1:31.010
    15 Adrian Sutil Force India 1:31.010
    16 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:31.104

    17 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:31.693
    18 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:31.707
    19 Charles Pic Caterham 1:32.937
    20 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:33.063
    21 Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1:33.734
    22 Max Chilton Marussia 1:34.098

    ends