INDIA in F1

Tag: Valtteri Bottas

  • The buzz is missing at Silverstone: Hamilton

    The buzz is missing at Silverstone: Hamilton

    DRIVERS
    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
    2 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)
    3 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)
    TRACK INTERVIEWS
    (Conducted by Jenson Button) 
     
    Q: Lewis, not the easiest route to that pole position but an amazing couple of laps there in Q3?
    Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, ultimately, obviously there is a relatively big gap between us and third place, but it doesn’t matter. At the end of the day Valtteri is pushing me right to the limit and he’d been doing such a fantastic job all weekend and I made some changes going into qualifying and it was worse, so it was a real struggle out there. This track is just awesome because, as you know, with a gust of wind, you have a head wind, a tail wind, a cross wind in different parts of the circuit. It’s like juggling balls whilst you’re on a moving plate, at high speed. Then, obviously we had that spin. Qualifying is a lot about confidence building, as you know, and damn, I had that spin. I was already down, I was struggling through the first section every lap and I don’t know how but with some deep breaths I managed to compose myself and Q3 started off the right way. It still wasn’t perfect the first laps but still a really clean lap and the second one even better. It never gets old for sure.
     
    Q: I bet. As you can see this is quite an unusual British Grand Prix. I know how you love the fans, it really does lift you here. Have you got a message for the guys who aren’t able to be here today?
    LH: Yeah, honestly… look, you see them [the grandstands], all empty here. Normally you have the sirens going off, you see the flags everywhere, you see smoke and the atmosphere here is buzzing normally. You normally get out of the car and there is a different energy, so we definitely miss them. But hopefully they are happy with that turnaround back home and I again just want to say a huge thank you to the team, the guys at the factory, not far away from here, who are constantly working tirelessly to push us forwards, develop and we’re continuing to do so and I’m really proud to be a part of it.
     
    Q: Valtteri, it was looking so strong through Q1, Q2 and this guy, after a spin, was just, just able to pip you in Q3? 
    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, it was a pretty good qualifying in Q3 really. I felt really comfortable with the car and with both tyre compounds and I was really just waiting for Q3 to get everything right. But by the time of Q3 I started to drift a bit more with the rear end than I was hoping. I don’t really know, Lewis found more than me, so ultimately he did a really good job today. It’s disappointing and I need to look into it. 
     
    Q: Looking to tomorrow, it looks like it’s a two-horse race tomorrow, you guys are so far in front of the rest. Are you able to do anything with the strategy, to find a different way to the finish line to challenge Lewis?
    VB: I think my long run performance this weekend has been really good and I believe there will be opportunities and Lewis last year managed to win it from second place with a different strategy to me, so yeah, everything is still wide open and no doubt the guys will try to mix it up behind so we will see.
     
    Q: Max, it must be really tricky after a session like that. You’ve got the maximum out of the car and you’re a second behind the guys in front pretty much. What can you take from this qualifying session?
    Max VERSTAPPEN: Well, I think the lap itself at the end of Q3 was pretty good, but you could see of course very early onwards in qualifying they were just way too fast, like they have been the last few races. You just have to accept that. You try to do the best we can and that’s P3 for us. So I’m pretty pleased with that. Also, after Hungary, to come back and be P3 in qualifying I think is a good start. In the race, you know, again, it’s different. Automatically you’re a little bit closer in the race. I don’t say I’m going to fight them but at least you have a fighting chance starting third.
     
    Q: We know you’re going to fight them, Max. How is the car around here. We all know Silverstone is a very open track, very windy today. Does that have a big effect on what the car is doing?
    MV: With these new type of cars from the last few years they are very sensitive to wind because they are that big and that wide. And especially here in Silverstone, you could really feel, like yesterday, for example, it was really tricky in the low-speed corners and today the wind changes and it becomes a completely different car. Luckily, in the right way, because today it was a lot more fun to drive. But yes, it is very sensitive.
     
    PRESS CONFERENCE
     
    Q: Lewis, pole number 91 was certainly a very good one. What were your expectations going into Q3. Did you think a 24.3 was possible? 
    LH: Well, honestly I don’t really know what the previous records are or laps that we have done in previous years here. I don’t really look at that. It’s not really necessarily the number I’m looking at. What matter is what the position is. I don’t even really look at the time when I come across the line. I’m generally just trying to make sure that I’m up on my previous best time. But it’s pretty incredible the performance here this weekend. This track is really one of the best tracks in the world, especially when the wind is right, like today, and the temperatures are just right. It’s so fast and flowing. The speed that we’re able to carry through Maggotts and Becketts is… I remember when I did my first test here I never would have thought that one day we would be doing the speeds we are at some stage. And then secondly, this team is remarkable and I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who continues to do a great job back at the factory and also here during the weekends, because bit by bit we continue to step forwards. We’re still powering ahead, we’re not resting on the performance that we have, we’re trying to push the boundaries and the limits and that’s the most impressive thing I think about this team.
     
    Q: Awesome in Q3 Lewis, bit of a wake-up call for you in Q2. Just talk us through that incident down at Luffield?
    LH: Yeah, it really wasn’t a nice qualifying session for me. We’d made some big changes overnight, we went out in FP3 and the car was actually feeling… night and day difference probably for everyone with the wind change, and the track temperature change… and the car was feeling pretty good but the easy thing is to stay where you are and just leave it and hope for the best but we’re always, as I said, looking to move forwards and so made a couple of subtle changes and it was worse and you’re stuck with that once the qualifying starts. So, I had this inconsistency with the balance of the car and I was struggling and obviously I got into Q2, had that big snap and spin – which is my first spin in some time. Luckily the tyres were fine. We came in, I got to go back out on another fresh set, which was fine, but then it’s just really trying to recompose yourself and get yourself back in line because it’s really just building blocks when you go through qualifying. And that was probably the hardest turnaround, I would say, knowing that Valtteri had just been putting in quick lap after quick lap. So to go into Q3 with a kind of fresh reset mentally, and putting in those two laps, yeah, I feel great. But Valtteri’s been pushing me all weekend. He’s incredibly quick here, so I think I had a tenth-and-a-half advantage to him after the first lap and I knew that he would pick up some pace in that second run, so the pressure was still on to go out and do better. So, really grateful. While we really, really missed the roar of the fans and the energy of the fans here this weekend, hopefully back home they enjoyed that today.
     
    VB: As Lewis says, it was quick lap after quick lap from you but you talked earlier about the rear end causing you a few problems in Q3. Can you talk to us a little bit more about that? Where was it causing you problems?
    VB: It was a pretty smooth session otherwise. Had some really clean laps and could really build on lap by lap. The car was feeling pretty good, just the balance of the car throughout the qualifying was drifting a bit more towards oversteer. I don’t know if the track temp was getting higher or what was it but on both runs in Q3 I really struggled to attack the slow speed corners as I did before – and the same in Turn 12 – Turn 13. I started to struggle with the rear end – just a bit snappy. And at the same time Lewis obviously had a perfect lap in the end – or at least near to perfection. It was a pretty impressive lap time and I just couldn’t quite match it with the balance I had but otherwise it was OK. Obviously a bit disappointed being second, as it was a strong session otherwise – but yeah, that’s the usual. It is tomorrow that counts but at this point really thankful the car is so strong. It’s amazing and the team is doing such a great job with it and it’s a pleasure to drive.
     
    Q: Max, talk us through your session and how good your lap was in Q3. And then just tell us, are you surprised or not by the gap to Lewis Hamilton. One Second.
    MV: No, I’m not surprised. We are clearly still learning about the car, trying to improve it. But I think overall the qualifying itself was pretty OK. I mean, I was pretty much all the time in third. There’s not much more I think I could do. I think also my final lap in Q3 was pretty good. I had a bit of a moment out of the last corner but… it’s just a big gap and just tried to do the best we can and for us, that’s third at the moment. So we did that. Yeah, it’s a better position than seventh, let’s say that, to start the race.
     
    Q: Can you take the fight to Mercedes tomorrow?
    MV: Normally not, but we just hope to have a clean start and from there onwards I just try to do the best I can in the car and if that’s try to follow them a bit, we can be happy with that and score some points.
     
    VIDEO CONFERENCE
     
    Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Question to both of the Mercedes drivers please. It looked like you struggled quite a lot yesterday in practice, obviously it was very, very hot and windy but in a different direction. Was that cured by the changing conditions today, particularly the lower temperatures, or was it just significant set-up gains that you guys found overnight? Thank you.
    LH: I think it was probably a mixture of both. I think really fantastic work by the engineers overnight just analysing where we were and how to perfect the balance of the car. Part of it was that, and then I think today, just being 10°C cooler – or whatever it is – and the wind being in a slightly different direction, really shifted things I think for us. And the hotter it got for us yesterday, it got generally worse for us. We have understood that overnight and we corrected that today.
     
    Anything to add to that Valtteri?
    VB: No, that’s all.
     
    Q: (Christian Menath – motorsport-magazin.com) Question for both Mercedes drivers. Do you expect to be allowed to use different race strategies to race each other tomorrow?
    LH: Honestly, I think it’s the same as always. We have a philosophy and an approach as a team and we just continue to… we don’t change things unnecessarily. So, I don’t think that there will be any difference here. Also, it’s not really of a benefit. Today it is quite clear which strategy on tracks like this, just like last year. Actually, it was a little bit less clear, I think perhaps, than last year but it’s generally pretty straightforward, so it’s unlikely we’re going to change anything.
     
    Q: Valtteri, what do you have to do to beat the guy on your left?
    VB: For sure we’ll try everything. It’s still very close between us in the championship points, so of course I’m going to do everything I can and of course will look overnight with the engineers what we can do and if there’s anything different I can do. But yes, we have a certain philosophy and usually the car ahead can kind of choose the strategy a bit more, as a bit of a priority, which is fair enough. That’s how it goes – but you never know. We saw a pretty different race from mine and Lewis’ side last year. So, we’ll see.
     
    Q: (Scott Mitchell – The Race) Max, Christian Horner was telling us yesterday that the team made a big effort to try and understand the data gained from Hungary and putting it into action here. Do you feel that the car is more well sorted than it was in Hungary, and now it’s just a question of pace or are you still struggling to find exactly where the balance is?
    MV: I think, yeah, compared to Hungary it’s for sure better. Hungary was not really good. Of course, there are still things that need to be improved and we are working on it, but I think it’s now just purely working on balance as well, yeah, finding more performance in that. We do understand where it’s coming from; now it’s just time, of course, to put different parts onto the car and make it faster.
     
    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lewis, you usually used to have 140,000 people coming here to watch you race at Silverstone and cheer you on. How much of a motivating factor would it be to deliver that win to them watching at home tomorrow, particularly given everything that’s going on in the world at the moment? And secondly, is there any sort of movement on your new Mercedes contract?
    LH: To the second part, no, there’s no discussion at all, nothing decided. Yeah, obviously with the… I kept it in mind. Normally when I approach this weekend there this much much different feeling, I think it’s part excitement and also nerves when you come to this race, knowing how many people do come. And that nervousness is just really through just wanting to excel and deliver for everybody, because you go on a pretty incredible journey together. And so I try to keep that in mind still this weekend; whilst I didn’t have that same feeling coming, knowing that no-one’s going to be here, and I just really tried to remember how… reminisce the last years and try and somehow get that energy and utilise it today which is not so easy but I do, as I said, I hope… I can’t imagine how many people watching and if it’s the same energy-wise back home where they are, if it’s the same as it is when we’re at the track. But I hope this gives some people some hope.
     
    Q: (Edd Straw – The Race) Max, obviously last year Red Bull had some struggles at the start of the season but the upgrades introduced, Canada through to France, that sort of time, really switched on the car and got it going. Do you think something similar can happen this year in terms of relatively small changes, with time can really unlock the potential? Do you think there’s a slightly wider ranging problem that will take a little bit longer to sort out and make the car both have the performance and the consistency that you need?
    MV: I didn’t think, yeah, for sure we can improve the car quite a bit, but the problem is that the gap is so big to the guys ahead that it will be very hard to close so yeah, I believe the guys are working flat out of course to improve the car, so I’m confident they can do that but of course also the others are not standing still so yeah, we have a lot of hard work in front of us but let’s see what we can do.
     
    Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) To Max: looking at what we saw in practice yesterday when it was very, very hot and you were able to get close to the Mercedes’ times on the long runs, and then there’s a big gap today when the temperature comes down, do you think that Red Bull is closer to Mercedes when the temperatures are higher?
    MV: Oh yeah, but we would still be quite a few tenths down. I don’t think the warm weather makes such a big difference. If it would have been 35 degrees today I would still be third, so it wouldn’t… it would have helped me maybe a little bit but not that much.
     
    Q: (Scott Mitchell – The Race) To all three: obviously Nico Hulkenberg is back on the grid, very last minute. He is basically three Grand Prix weekends and three pre-season test days behind you guys so I guess he’s physically going through what you went through on the first day of Barcelona testing, except he hasn’t spent the last few months physically preparing for that. How difficult do you think he’ll find it in the Grand Prix with I guess, mainly on his neck, how big a challenge do you think it is?
    LH: Definitely not the best one to come to, your first practice, your first race for the neck. Copse is flat out so it’s a pretty intense combination of corners so I wouldn’t be surprised if this morning he woke up with quite a few bruises and sore but he’s generally always been really in good shape. I saw him walking in, he looked like he never left. But think it’s even more so, it’s probably the prep is a big part, your understanding of the car, that’s probably the biggest part. When you don’t know the car, you don’t know the tools you have or the simulations that the team uses. I can’t even tell you how far behind he is with that. But he is a great driver but if anyone can do it. It will be him, for sure.
    MV: I could see after the first practice his neck was hanging to one side. He has quite a long neck so that is also… that’s not nice to have in F1. It’s tough, because I spoke to him about it  back in the day when he was still in F1 fulltime. He didn’t enjoy that. It’s tough, you can train as much as you want; the first time you go in an F1 car with these speeds, especially around here, you will be sore. You can train every day with your neck but the first time it’s always going to be sore so I’m 100 per cent sure of course, when he woke up today he felt it. But anyway, it doesn’t matter to him anyway, he’s happy to be here and he should be here anyway because I think he still deserves his spot on the grid.
    VB: Yeah, I’m sure he will be sore and as you said, he’s probably not been prepared, physically, to drive a Formula 1 like we all did for the first race but I think he’s done really good, I think it’s a big challenge for him, with such short notice, he was setting some good lap times but obviously big experience from the past. I hope he has a good race tomorrow.

  • Mercedes’ Hamilton sets blistering pace to take British GP pole

    Mercedes’ Hamilton sets blistering pace to take British GP pole

    Silverstone, 1 August 2020: Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton set a blistering pace at Silverstone to take the seventh British Grand Prix pole position of his career with a new track record time of 1:24.303. Valtteri Bottas will line up alongside his Mercedes team-mate on the front row, while Max Verstappen qualified in third place for Red Bull Racing, a full second behind Hamilton. 

    Botta held sway early in the sesson, with the Finn taking control of Q1, two hundredths of a second clear of Verstappen, with Hamilton third and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in fourth place. Friday afternoon’s fastest man, Lance Stroll of Racing Point, slotted into fifth place ahead of Red Bull’s Alex Albon who set an opening time of 1:26.565 as he attempted to recover from missin out on the second half of FP2 following a crash and most of FP3 as a electrical issue with his RB16 left him stranded in the team’s garage. 

    After making a mistake on his first run, Hamilton improved on his next and he rose above Verstappen with a lap of 1:25.900. That wasn’t enough to dislodge Bottas, though, as the Finn had also improved to 1:25.801. 

    With three minutes left in the session the men in danger in the drop zone were Haas’ Kevin Magnussen in P16 followed by the Alfa Romeo cars of Kimi Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi, the Williams of Nicholas Latifi and the second Haas of Romain Grosjean. 

    Giovinazzi was able to leapfrog Räikkönen to take P17 and Latifi dropped to the foot of the order when he spun off at Luffield, but none of the bottom five was able to escape elimination. 

    It was a different story further up, as behind the pace-setting Mercedes drivers, Verstappen and Stroll, Nico Hulkenberg put in a good lap in the second Racing Point to climb to P5 ahead of AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly and Renault’s Esteban Ocon. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel made a late jump up the order, too, claiming P8 ahead of team-mate Charles Leclerc. That meant that Albon progressed to Q2 in P10, ahead of Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren’s Carlos Sainz, Williams’ George Russell, the second AlphaTauri of Daniil Kvyat and the second McLaren of Lando Norris. 

    At the start of Q2 Mercedes, Red Bull, Racing Point all sent their drivers out on medium tyres, with Leclerc also opting for the yellow-banded compound. Bottas led the way in the opening runs by beating his 2019 pole time with a new track marker of 1:25.015. 

    Hamilton, though, made a mistake on his first flying lap and spun at Luffield. The incident resulted in gravel being spread across the track and the red flags were soon displayed so that the surface could be cleared. 

    Under the red flags Bottas headed the order in front of Verstappen and Leclerc. Ocon was fourth ahead of Sainz, Norris and Vettel. Strolll was eighth and Alex ninth ahead of Hulkenberg. In the drop zone were Russell, Hamilton, Ricciardo, Gasly and Kvyat, with the latter three being unable to set a time due to Hamilton’s spin. 

    Hamilton was the first out on track for the final runs and he claimed P2 with a medium-tyre time of 1:25.347, pushing him safely through to Q3. Albon, though, was in trouble. On track on softs for his final run of the session, he couldn’t find the time required and his lap of 1:26.545 was only good enough for 12thplace and he was eliminated along with P11 driver Gasly, 13th-placed Hulkenberg, Kvyat and Russell. 

    Both Mercedes drivers backed out of their final lap on softs, as did third-placed Verstappen and they, along with Leclerc and Stroll, will start the race on medium tyres. Sainz made it through to Q3 in fourth place ahead of Leclerc, Ocon and Ricciardo. Norris went through in eighth ahead of Vettel and Leclerc. 

    In Q3, Hamilton set blistering pace to take control of qualifying for the first time and the Briton powered past his team-mate’s earlier track record to claim P1 with a lap of 1:24.616. Verstappen slotted into third place behind Bottas with a time of 1:25.763 and that left him two tenths of a second clear of Stroll in fourth. Leclerc’s first run netted him fifth place ahead of team-mate Vettel, Norris, Sainz and the Renaults of Ocon and Ricciardo. 

    Bottas managed to exactly match his team-mate’s opening time in the final runs but there was simply not stopping Hamilton as he found even more time to claim his seventh Silverstone pole position with a time of 1:24.303. Verstappen took P3 behind Bottas thanks to an improvement of four tenths of a second to 1:25.325, while Leclerc was left with fourth place ahead of Norris, with Stroll in sixth. Leclerc was set to be investigated after the session for a possible unsafe release in front of the Canadian Racing Point driver. Sainz qualified in P7, with Ricciardo and Ocon in eighth and ninth respectively. The final top 10 place was taken by Sebastian Vettel. 

    2020 FIA Formula 1 British Grand Prix – Qualifying
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:24.303 6 251.564
    2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:24.616 0.313 6 250.633
    3 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:25.325 1.022 6 248.550
    4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:25.427 1.124 6 248.254
    5 Lando Norris McLaren/Renault 1:25.782 1.479 6 247.226
    6 Lance Stroll Racing Point/Mercedes 1:25.839 1.536 6 247.062
    7 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren/Renault 1:25.965 1.662 6 246.700
    8 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1:26.009 1.706 6 246.574
    9 Esteban Ocon Renault 1:26.209 1.906 6 246.002
    10 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:26.339 2.036 6 245.631
    11 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:26.501 1.486 4 245.171
    12 Alexander Albon Red Bull/Honda 1:26.545 1.530 6 245.047
    13 Nico Hülkenberg Racing Point/Mercedes 1:26.566 1.551 6 244.987
    14 Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri/Honda 1:26.744 1.729 4 244.484
    15 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:27.092 2.077 6 243.508
    16 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:27.158 1.357 9 243.323
    17 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:27.164 1.363 9 243.306
    18 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:27.366 1.565 9 242.744
    19 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 1:27.643 1.842 9 241.977
    20 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:27.705 1.904 7 241.806

  • Facile win for Hamilton; Verstappen staves off Bottas challenge for second

    Facile win for Hamilton; Verstappen staves off Bottas challenge for second

    Budapest, 19 July 2020: Lewis Hamilton took a dominant and record-equalling eighth Hungarian Grand Prix with the Briton untroubled after starting from pole position in the third round of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship here on Sunday. Hamilton crossed the line almost nine seconds ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen to match Michael Schumacher’s single event win record. 

    Verstappen made a fantastic recovery to second place after almost exiting the race before it event started. The Red Bull slid off track on his lap to the grid and hit the barriers, breaking his front wing and damaging his front left suspension. 

    However, brilliant work by his crew on the grid to repair the damage meant Verstappen was alble to start and after a lightning start he rose to third and then claimed second place in the first round of pit stops. 

    The race start was incident-packed as eventual third-place finisher Valtteri Bottas made a tentative start that initially carried a suspicion of a jump start and dropped back. Verstappen, though, made a brilliant start and as Hamilton led away Verstappen powered through from P7 on the grid to challenge Racing Point’s Lance Stroll. The Canadian held his line through Turn 3, however, and Verstappen settled into P3 ahead of the Ferraris of Vettel and Leclerc. 

    The situation changed rapidly, though. Both Haas drivers pitted before the start of the race to change tyres, with Kvyat joining them at the end of lap one. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Bottas, who replays later showed was stationary when the lights went out, then pitted at the end of lap two to take on dry tyres. Vettel also pitted but his stop was a troubled on as a stream of cars came into pit lane and the Ferrari crew failed to find a gap into which he could be released. Vettel lost a large amount of time and dropped back from fourth. 

    Hamilton, too, pitted for medium tyres, which promoted Verstappen to the lead. 

    It was a brief spell at the top, though, as Verstappen also headed for the pit lane to shed his intermediate tyres. He took medium tyres and rejoined in P2. 

    After 12 laps Hamilton led Verstappen by a whopping 9.4 seconds with the prescient Magnussen in third place ahead of Stroll and Bottas who had charged through the pack. The second Haas of Romain Grosjean was in sixth place ahead of Leclerc. 

    Behind them Alex Albon had muscled his way through from 13thon the grid to ninth place behind Vettel and when the German locked up at Turn 12 and drifted wide, Albon  breezed past to take P8. He then closed up on Leclerc and the two began a tough tussle for seventh place, with Vettel soon joining the contest.

    Albon  made a couple of moves that were sternly rebuffed by Leclerc but at the end of lap 17 he made a better exit out of the final corner and got close enough to launch a brave move down the inside into Turn 1. Leclerc moved to resist but Albon  was already alongside and out of the corner he drew away from the Ferrari and settled into seventh place. Vettel then also got past Leclerc who was struggling on soft tyres. 

    At the front, Hamilton was fully in control and on lap 24 he held a 12-second advantage over Verstappen, who was also comfortable in P2, 15.5s ahead of Stroll. Bottas now held fourth place ahead of Magnussen, with Grosjean in sixth ahead of Albon  who was three seconds behind. 

    By lap 28 that gap had narrowed to just 0.7s and on the following lap he closed up on the pit straight and powered past the Haas through Turn 1 to move to P6. The next target, 7.7s seconds up the road, was Magnussen.

    At the end of lap 30, Vettel made his second stop of the race from P9, taking on hard tyres and after dropping to P11 he soon began setting fastest laps as he tried to close the gap to McLaren’s Carlos Sainz. 

    Bottas then made his second stop at the end of lap 33 and he took on a set of mediums as the forecast rain stayed away. Albon  then made his second stop at the end of lap 35 and the crew got him away from the pit box with a set of hard tyres onboard in a solid 2.7s. He rejoined in P10. 

    The pit window was now firmly open and Stroll headed in for mediums and then Verstappen made his second stop, taking on hard tyres in a fantastic 2.0s stop. Hamilton then pitted for medium tyres. He rejoined in the lead ahead of Verstappen while Bottas, who had successfully undercut Stroll, was now third and well clear of the Racing Point. 

    The Finn now pushed hard on his new tyres and he quickly began to reel in Verstappen. On lap 40 he was 5.3 seconds behind the Red Bull man and by lap 45 the Finn was just 1.3s behind the Dutchman. Behind them Vettel had risen to fifth after his early second stop but Albon  was closing in and lapping quicker than the Ferrari. 

    With five laps left, Albon  found himself 1.1s behind Vettel, while Bottas had closed to just four seconds behind Verstappen. And Albon  claimed P5 when Vettel ran wide into Turn 2 on the following lap. 

    On lap 69, Bottas closed to within a second of Verstappen. At the end of the lap Verstappen made a good exit from the final Turn and that left him with a gap of almost eight tenths to Bottas, and that was enough to keep Bottas at bay for the final lap. 

    Ahead, Hamilton claimed his eighth Hungarian Grand Prix victory with a new race lap record of 1:16.627. Verstappen then crossed the line to take a brilliant second place, with Bottas third. Stroll scored his best result since the 2019 German Grand Prix with fourth and Albon  finished in a superb fifth place after starting 13th on the grid. 

    Behind Albon , Vettel took sixth for Ferrari ahead of the second Racing Point of Sergio Pérez. Daniel Ricciardo enjoyed a good race to P8 ahead of Kevin Magnussen and the final point on offer went to McLaren’s Carlos Sainz.

    2020 FIA Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix – Race 
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 70 1:36’12.473 
    2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 70 1:36’21.175 8.702
    3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 70 1:36’21.925 9.452
    4 Lance Stroll Racing Point/Mercedes 70 1:37’10.052 57.579
    5 Albon ander Albon Red Bull/Honda 70 1:37’30.789 1’18.316
    6 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 69 1:36’17.961 1 Lap
    7 Sergio Pérez Racing Point/Mercedes 69 1:36’19.099 1 Lap
    8 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 69 1:36’20.049 1 Lap
    9 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 69 1:36’32.396 1 Lap
    10 Carlos Sainz McLaren/Renault 69 1:36’34.468 1 Lap
    11 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 69 1:36’52.962 1 Lap
    12 Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri/Honda 69 1:36’57.822 1 Lap
    13 Lando Norris McLaren/Renault 69 1:36’58.561 1 Lap
    14 Esteban Ocon Renault 69 1:36’59.437 1 Lap
    15 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 69 1:37’04.897 1 Lap
    16 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 69 1:37’06.078 1 Lap
    17 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 69 1:37’26.709 1 Lap
    18 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 69 1:37’27.844 1 Lap
    19 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 65 1:37’02.721 5 Laps
    Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 15 22’50.273 Power Unit

  • It’s quite humbling to be honest, says Hamilton

    It’s quite humbling to be honest, says Hamilton

    DRIVERS
    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
    2 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)
    3 – Lance STROLL (Racing Point)

    TRACK INTERVIEWS
    (Conducted by Paul Di Resta) 
     
    Q: Lewis you had a pretty dominant pole position last weekend in Austria and you’ve come here and, it’s just flashed up on the screen, you’ve scored your 90th pole position in F1. What does that mean?
    Lewis HAMILTON: Crazy. I have to pinch myself. It just doesn’t register. It’s quite humbling to be honest. I gess to work with an incredible group of people, without whom I wouldn’t be able to have the opportunity to do so. So massively thankful to the everyone back home and the guys here who do such an amazing job. And Valtteri doesn’t make it easy for me at all. It requires absolute perfection when it comes to doing laps and qualifying like that is one of the things I enjoy doing most.
     
    Q: Watching onboard the car looks on rails. You’re connected with aren’t you?
    LH: I’m definitely connected with it. She’s definitely not on rails. I’m sure it looks like that compared to some other people but it was nicely hooked up today and not far off the rails.
     
    Q: You’re going for your eighth win at a single event to match Michael Schumacher. You must be pretty confident you can achieve that given where you’re starting? 
    LH: Oh man, it’s a long run down to Turn 1 so nothing is a given here. We’ve just got to do the work this evening and ultimately I’ve got to deliver on the start tomorrow. It is quite a long race and we don’t know what this weather is going to do fort us tomorrow but for sure I’ll have my head down and I’ll be focusing as hard as I can to bring home a 1-2 for the team.
     
    Q: Valtteri, all the way to the end there, you just out missed by a tenth but I guess you must be pretty happy to qualify on the front row?
    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, of course, I knew, I saw in FP3 that it was going to be a close battle with Lewis at least and I think as a team we were again on a really strong level and pretty far from other teams, which is good for us. My laps were OK. At the end the Q3 lap was actually really good but I just couldn’t go faster and Lewis did a great job today to get the pole, as always. It’s going to be a bit of a drag race between us into Turn 1 so I look forward to that.
     
    Q: You’re still the championship leader and you’re alongside him and the run to Turn 1 is important. Is that your best tactic tomorrow, to get a clean run to Turn 1?
    VB: Yeah, of course, if you look at the points it’s a good situation but what I need is to win races to maintain that. That’s going to be the only goal tomorrow and I’m sure the first lap will be interesting.
     
    Q: Lance, congratulations. The car has looked very good this weekend. I guess you must be pretty delighted with where you are. You’ve showed signs this year of being up the front, it’s not worked out, but you got the job done today?
    Lance STROLL: Yeah, thank you. Very happy at the moment. That car was really strong all the way through qualifying throughout the whole weekend really. We’ve had the pace and it was just about piecing it together during that qualifying session. So, really great job by all the guys. I’m really pleased with the session and now sights set on tomorrow and I’m going to try to grab some big points.
     
    Q: I got a bit nervous in Q2 when you went back out on a set of mediums. You must have as well as the times were pretty closed.
    LS: For sure, it was a gamble, no doubt. It was a gamble but that’s going to put us in a good position tomorrow, so I’m really happy that I got through on the mediums and my lap at the end really felt like it was spot on, so it always feels great when you put it together at the end qualifying.
     
    PRESS CONFERENCE
     
    Q: Lewis, congratulations. What a Q3 session for you. 1.1 seconds faster than last year’s pole. How did that final lap feel? 
    LH: It felt great. In general, qualifying altogether felt really solid. The team have done an incredible job. Valtteri and I, we owe it really to this great group of people back at the factory and here who are just constantly pushing the bar higher. I’m really proud to work with them and to get to drive a car like this around the track is really awesome. Turn 11 was really flat for us today, which is quite insane, the speeds we go through there. It’s quite impressive to see how far the technology has advanced. Valtteri did a great job today, applying a lot of pressure, but Hungary has always been a good hunting ground for me. But I’m aware that qualifying isn’t everything here and it’s a long race and a long run down to Turn 1. I want to say a big congrats to Lance as well, it’s awesome to have the three Mercedes up here.
     
    Q: Lewis, where are the gains from last year, where does the lap feel differently particularly?
    LH: The high speed particularly is quite a lot different, so Turn 4, Turn 8 and particularly Turn 11. But it’s a little bit everywhere I would say. The efficiency of the car through the low and medium-speed corners is definitely better than last year but the high speed particularly, as I was saying, you can nearly take it flat, whereas before it was a little lift.
     
    Q: Valtteri, great lap and so close to Lewis at the end. Little bit of frustration from you, how do you feel? 
    VB: Yeah, for sure. I saw in practice that it was going to be a close battle between us in qualifying and practice three didn’t feel too bad. To be honest in the beginning of the qualifying until the end of Q3 I was struggling in the first sector mainly, so Turn 1 braking, I wasn’t so comfortable there, so I lost a little bit of time. Turn 2 also, I struggled a little bit with snappiness from the rear end of the car. I think when the track improved the car was starting to come together and at the end I have to say the lap was pretty good actually, so I thought I might have a chance with that lap really, but Lewis was just a tenth or under quicker so ultimately he did a better job in qualifying and that’s why he’s on pole.
     
    Q: How’s the long run pace of the car?
    VB: I think it’s pretty strong from the small amount of data we managed to gather in practice one. Of course we missed a lot of the running practice two so a lot of question marks there but I think overall the package we have should be good in the race as well.
     
    Q: Lance, a fantastic qualifying session for you and the team. Can we start talking about your expectations coming into the session. What were you expecting?
    LS: I gotta say well done to the whole team for bringing this package to Hungary. I think we have been very competitive from FP1, right from the first lap. The car has come such a long way from where we were this time last year. We has a 17.5 in qualifying last year. Of course there are some track differences this year and all, but we improved more than three seconds from our qualifying time last year, which is really good. So hats off to them. They’ve been working extremely hard at developing this car and brining this package to the first race. So really happy. My qualifying overall was really good. My expectations? I didn’t really have too many expectations coming into qualifying. I knew there were a few things I had to work on going into qualifying. I wasn’t really piecing it together during free practice and throughout qualifying I was improving a few corners and then at the end on the last lap I pieced it all together and it was really a good lap. I’m really pleased. Qualifying is always fun when you nail it at the end and that’s what happened today.
     
    VIDEO CONFERENCE
     
    Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC) Lewis, is this the best car you’ve ever driven, and can you give some insight into how the team do it. How do they keep producing these incredible cars, year after year, moving forward in this way?
    LH: I don’t really remember driving the last car [to Valtteri] Do you remember driving the last car? Ultimately, it is an evolution of last year’s car so, without doubt it is a better can than last year. We go through a whole season and during the season Valtteri and I work closely together to point out the issues and the limitations with these cars and we work closely with our engineers to advance it and, with the designers, we have quite a lot of meetings back at the factory together to make sure we leave no stone unturned. There’s no big-headedness or ignorance between any of the engineers and between us. There’s just a real transparent discussion and no idea is too big or bold. We just continuous push at that. I think we continue to inspire each other and then the guys back at the factory are hungry. They want to break down… continue to raise the bar, and they are the best at what they do. It’s impressive to see each year. There’s an incredible amount of confidence that I have in them, naturally from these years, and I think we go from strength to strength as our relationship grows, as our understanding of each other, as how we work, continues to improve.
     
    Q: Lewis, can I just throw that question to Valtteri as well. How do Mercedes keep doing it?
    VB: I think Lewis really answered it very well. Working very united and so many talented people. And when the team works very synchronised, the results are going to be good. Obviously it comes also from the top, how the team is led. Different people in the correct positions makes a big difference. I think as a team I can see everyone just peaking, weekend after weekend, year after year, which is really enjoyable and really impressive to be part of.
     
    Q: (Christian Menath – motorsport-magazin.com) Question for Lance – actually two questions. Your qualifying records haven’t been great the last years but every single time the car is good it seems like you come alive as well. Do you have an explanation for that? And secondly, it seems like you’re in a league of your own as Racing Points. Do you expect to be allowed to race each other tomorrow?
    LS: Yeah, I mean, I’ve driven a pretty bad car the first couple of years in F1 and it didn’t give me a lot of confidence. So I struggled as a driver to drive around some of the limitations. Last year, as well. Last year was a big learning year for me. I learned a lot about myself and about my strengths and my weaknesses. And I just worked on them over the course of last season and coming into this season. And that ultimately leads to better results and better qualifyings. So yeah, that pretty much sums it up. I think it’s just been some hard work away from the track and just learning on my end of what I’ve got to do better and how I can be better, how I can get more out of myself. So, that’s really been most of it. And then yeah, in terms of where we stand relative to the others. Like I said earlier, big hats off to everyone at the team, everyone at the factory for designing this car and yeah, we’ve come such a long way from where we were last year, that it’s really amazing and it’s really a lot of fun to drive this car, I must say. It’s a whole different experience to last year’s car. It puts a big smile on my face, for sure. Doing a quali lap around here, when the balance is right and you’re driving. It’s coming together, it’s a real flow and it was a lot of fun out there today.
     
    Q: And Lance, part two of that question. Will you be allowed to race your team-mate tomorrow?
    LS: Yes. He’s starting fourth? Yeah, I guess so. Everyone’s entitled to race out there. I hope we get to race hard. He’s going to fight for the podium, I’m going to fight for the podium. Haven’t been on the podium in, it’s been like, two or three years, so I’m hoping we can have a good start and a good race. It’s been a while since I stood on a podium. I could do that again one of these days, that was nice.
     
    Q: (Edd Straw – The Race) Question for Lewis and Valtteri. How much of a shock is it to see how much Red Bull are struggling, and to look at the timesheets and see Max Verstappen 1.4s down, given they were expected to give you a bit more of a fight this weekend?
    LH: I didn’t know that was the case. That is a really big gap. Definitely wasn’t expecting them to be as off as they have been this weekend – because this has been a… you saw the pace of them last year. This is not a power circuit, it is more about the car, the mechanical grip and aero package. We would have definitely thought that they would have… I thought they had a better package than today’s results show. I don’t know if they’ve all had great laps or not but still, either way, that’s a big, big gap.
     
    Valtteri?
    VB: Very surprising for sure. I was expecting them to be maybe potentially closer here than in Austria. Also, I don’t know the details about how their session went. Was it nothing clean or was their other issues? But the whole weekend they’ve not really been that close – so yeah, just surprising. Obviously I don’t know the details why.
     
    Q: (Luke Smith – Autosport) Question for Lance, congratulations on a really good result. You said about you drove poor cars in the early part of your career and I guess every F1 driver wants to be in the best-possible machinery to really prove what they can do, particularly on a weekend when there’s been a lot of discussion about what Racing Point’s line-up will look like in 2021, how big of a statement is this for you to have made, qualifying so highly and being in the mix for a podium tomorrow?
    LS: I’m not too bothered about that. I’m just happy for myself and for my team for everyone that works so hard, week-in, week-out to achieve the best possible result. The rest is just kind of irrelevant. I’m just happy about the result today and we’ll see what the future holds. Not sure.
     
    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines/Racefans.net) To both Mercedes drivers: when you have a dominant car as you currently have, which makes it a lot easier to pull out top drawer performances, does this in any way devalue your ability and in turn, does it in any way affect your market value?
    VB: I’m not really a professional of market values and I don’t really think about those things. I just want to drive the car as fast as I can and I want to achieve my goals. Obviously the goal for me today was to be on pole position; I missed it by a tenth or less so I didn’t reach my goal, but that’s my (unclear) I just think about that really, nothing else, but I wouldn’t see why it would devalue Lewis’s pole today or my P2. Obviously, yes, we have a gap to the other teams but I think between me and Lewis we are really pushing each other to the next level as well and with the fine details, we are both able to find all the time session by session. For sure that helps, you know. I don’t think about that really.
    LH: I think, at the end of the day, we perform at the highest level that there is here in Formula 1. We still go out there and it’s not that easy for us, it’s just a different platform of course, if our car handles perhaps better than some people’s. But we’re not just drivers, the drivers work with our brands and our image helps also bring in funds which enables us to do what we do. We’ve got a great marketing team, we’ve got a fantastic sponsorship team, we’ve got the best in every department, basically, and without having the best in every department, we probably wouldn’t be where we are today so no, I don’t think it devalues us, I think it strengthens us as a team.


    Q: And Lewis, how good was what you did behind the wheel today? You’ve had a lot of pole positions, this was number 90 but was this one of your better ones?
    LH: Honestly, I don’t remember all the laps I’ve done. Every time we go into qualifying, I’m always trying to raise the bar. Obviously Valtteri gets faster and faster as the years go on and the challenge gets tougher and tougher so I have to remain focused, I have to continue to pull out the best laps I could possibly deliver in order to stay ahead of him because he’s driving exceptionally well. Obviously the rain hit qualifying, the last one was I think… those are the days that you can really show your capabilities. I think today was a solid lap, absolutely very very happy with how qualifying went and obviously it’s very close. There’s always improvements that you can make; it’s very very surreal to have the… it doesn’t seem real to have 90 poles.
     
    Q: (Abhishek Takle – Mid-day) To Lewis and Valtteri: Mercedes have proven their dominance at two different types of circuit. Do you see the title battle staying out as a fight between you two now, especially given that you’re going to have fewer races this season than you normally would, which gives your rivals less time to make up any ground on you?
    LH:  Whatever the case, it’s intense. We are performing at the absolute maximum of our capabilities, we’re really right on the ragged edge. Yes we’ve got a fast car but we’re on the ragged edge of that and we’re throwing that thing round. We’d like to believe that anyone else can do it so that’s what we’re going to continue to do. It’s very close between us. The great thing about Valtteri and I as team partners, we really help push the team together in the same direction. Valtteri is not asking for one thing and I’m asking for another; there’s great harmony within the team because of the respect that we have and that just adds a bonus to our working environment.
    VB: Yeah, I think the question for now, of course we’ve seen… we’ve performed really well on two different types of tracks. Obviously it’s still early days in the season but of course we’re going to be in a strong position and we look at the situation, I think the main (fight for the) title is going to be between me and Lewis but yeah, I think we need to just really focus on our performance and of course you never know, some teams might improve more and so we just keep pushing and we’ll see but for now it looks like that.


    Q: Valtteri, how exciting is it for you that it might be a two horse race between you and Lewis?
    VB: Well, I’m excited. I can’t wait to have more races and race and improve and get good results and whether it’s just the title fight between one driver one car, it’s how it is. If it’s more, that’s also fine.
     
    Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) To both Mercedes drivers: how close do you expect Racing Point to get to you in the race, especially considering how quick that car looks as they came through the field at the last race?
    LH: It’s impressive to see them improving and getting on top of the car. It’s incredible to see them on the second row. It’s great to have a mix-up, a little bit more of a mix-up. They’ve shown great performance in the last two races so I’m really excited for them, happy for the drivers and looking forward to seeing what they can do. Fight them as hard as we can tomorrow. We are racing together so expect them to be on form.


    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lewis, I know you’ve sort of spoken about the 90 poles but it’s now 22 more than any other driver managed. More than Schumacher, 25 more than Senna. It’s a staggering number in many ways. Can you tell us more what it means to you?
    LH: You know I’m not one for numbers. As I said, when I was driving into the pit lane and I saw 90 up there, I completely forgot that I even had 89 before and I don’t really know where the second person is so but of course I’ve been living my dream since I’ve been in Formula 1 and today it just doesn’t seem real. But what I have to continue to remind myself is that every single weekend I still have to deliver, I cannot just show up and they won’t climb on their own. I have to come here and do the due diligence, I have to do the homework, I have to continue to push the engineers, in the tyre department, in the engine department, the vehicle dynamics, all over and really try and extract the maximum from them, because otherwise this guy’s going to catch up. Obviously he’s right next to me so yeah, I think that’s the thing that makes me most happy is that coming into a weekend, not always delivering one hundred percent which it needs, one hundred percent to beat Valtteri. It’s incredible.

  • Bottas tops FP3; Sergio Perez third fastest

    Bottas tops FP3; Sergio Perez third fastest

    Budapest, 18 July 2020: Valtteri Bottas topped the final practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix, edging out team-mate Lewis Hamilton by four-hundredths of a second and beating third-placed Sergio Pérez of Racing Point by just under two-tenths of a second as Mercedes-powered cars took the top three spots in FP3, ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, the third round of the FIA Formula 1 world championship here. 

    A busy opening phase, in which teams attempted to make up for the time lost in a wet FP2 yesterday afternoon, saw top spot swap hands regularly with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in P1 early on thanks to a soft-tyre lap of 1:17.639.

    Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen then moved ahead with a lap of 1:17.033 set on the medium tyres but Bottas and Hamilton took over with Styria winner Hamilton going quickest with a lap of 1:16.472. 

    Pushing to match the pace of the Mercedes pair, Verstappen then spun in Turn 12, though he was able to quickly regain control and he managed to avoid damage. Hamilton too went wide at the tricky corner and has his time deleted. 

    When the move was made to new softs for qualifying runs it was Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc who made the first move and the Monegasque racer took top spot with a lap of 1:15.781 in a much more competitive looking Ferrari.

    Bottas then moved backl to P1 with a good lap of 1:15.437 and after Hamilton was forced to abandon his first attempt and then failed to make significant improvements on his next run, the Finn’s lap remained the benchmark until the chequered flag. H

    Sergio Perez put his Racing Point third, which shunted Leclerc to fourth,  but the Ferrari driver’s pace was good enough to allow him to split the Racing Points, with Lance Stroll fifth at the flag. Verstappen finished sixth, though the Red Bull driver ended the session 0.647 off Bottas’ pace. 

    Lando Norris was seventh for McLaren ahead of Vettel and Pierre Gasly, while Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the top 10.

    2020 FIA Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix – Free Practice 3
    1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:15.437 18 209.069
    2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:15.479 0.042 20 208.953
    3 Sergio Pérez Racing Point/Mercedes 1:15.598 0.161 16 208.624
    4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:15.781 0.344 19 208.120
    5 Lance Stroll Racing Point/Mercedes 1:16.033 0.596 15 207.430
    6 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:16.084 0.647 18 207.291
    7 Lando Norris McLaren/Renault 1:16.193 0.756 18 206.995
    8 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:16.351 0.914 18 206.567
    9 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:16.453 1.016 20 206.291
    10 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1:16.508 1.071 14 206.143
    11 Carlos Sainz McLaren/Renault 1:16.545 1.108 21 206.043
    12 Alexander Albon Red Bull/Honda 1:16.582 1.145 19 205.943
    13 Esteban Ocon Renault 1:16.706 1.269 20 205.611
    14 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:16.847 1.410 23 205.233
    15 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 1:16.866 1.429 15 205.183
    16 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:17.086 1.649 14 204.597
    17 Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri/Honda 1:17.292 1.855 15 204.052
    18 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:17.496 2.059 20 203.515
    19 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:17.527 2.090 25 203.433
    20 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:17.650 2.213 17 203.111

  • Vettel sets fastest time in FP2, ahead of Bottas

    Vettel sets fastest time in FP2, ahead of Bottas

    Budapest, 17 July 2020: Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time of a wet second practice at the Hungaroring, beating Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas by just under three-tenths of a second in a session that saw only 13 drivers set a time, 

    After an overcast opening session in the morning, a steady rain began to fall in the run-up to the afternoon session and with no sign of improvement on the immediate horizon, the first third of the session was quiet as teams stayed in their garages. 

    Sergio Pérez was the first man to set a time, just before the half hour mark, and the Mexican slotted into P1 with a lap of 1:43.862s set on extreme wet tyres.

    He was joined on the track shortly afterwards by team-mate Lance Stroll who lowered the benchmark to 1:42.380. That remained the top time for a long spell but eventually Vettel eclipsed the time with a lap of 1m41.564s, also on the extreme wets. He then chipped away at the time to lower it 1:40.464s at the one-hour mark. It would remain the target for the rest of the session. 

    Bottas joined the action just after the hour and he immediately moved into second place. The Finn later tried intermediate tyres but did not improve.

    The championship leader’s team-mate Lewis Hamilton took to the track shortly after Bottas emerged, but the Styrian Grand Prix winner put in just a single installation lap on inters and did not set a time.

    Third place in the session wen to McLaren’s Carlos Sainz took the placing in the last third of the session. Stroll and Pérez finished fourth and fifth, ahead of AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, who had missed the morning session due to a suspected power unit issue.

    Red Bull’s Max Verstappen made a late run on wets to take P7 with the Dutchman setting a time of 1:42.820s. Haas’ Romain Grosjean and Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen were eighth and ninth respectively and the top 10 order was completed by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc The remaining drivers to set times were Antonio Giovinazzi, Lando Norris and Daniil Kvyat.

    2020 FIA Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
    1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:40.464 12 156.987
    2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:40.736 0.272 5 156.563
    3 Carlos Sainz McLaren/Renault 1:41.784 1.320 6 154.951
    4 Lance Stroll Racing Point/Mercedes 1:42.380 1.916 6 154.049
    5 Sergio Pérez Racing Point/Mercedes 1:42.470 2.006 5 153.914
    6 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:42.588 2.124 7 153.737
    7 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:42.820 2.356 4 153.390
    8 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 1:43.335 2.871 6 152.625
    9 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:43.471 3.007 16 152.425
    10 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:43.725 3.261 10 152.052
    11 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:44.411 3.947 9 151.053
    12 Lando Norris McLaren/Renault 1:46.000 5.536 5 148.788
    13 Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri/Honda 1:47.422 6.958 7 146.819
    14 Esteban Ocon Renault 1 
    15 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1 
    16 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1 
    17 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 2 
    18 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 2 
    19 Alexander Albon Red Bull/Honda 3 
    20 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1 

  • I love back-to-back races, says Hamilton

    I love back-to-back races, says Hamilton

    Spielberg, 12 July 2020: The top-3 drivers who attended the FIA Sunday press conference are:

    1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes); 2 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes); 3 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)

    TRACK INTERVIEWS (Conducted by Martin Brundle ) 

    Q: Lewis, congratulations, normal service resumes: pole position, victory. You had it covered today.

    Lewis HAMILTON: Firstly, I just want to say a big thank you to my team and everyone back at the factory. This has been… what a weird year it is but it is great to be back up here and to be driving and to be driving with this kind of performance. The team did a fantastic job with the strategy and then it was just for me to keep it together, stay off the kerbs and bring it home. 

    Q: You didn’t quite get the point for fastest lap, that went to Carlos Sainz in the McLaren on a fresh set of tyres, but you had to look after the car a little bit through the race did you? 

    LH: Yeah, well I tried to get the fastest lap but of course on 40 lap-old mediums I wasn’t going to get it over someone on new, fresh tyres. But that’s OK, I’m so grateful to be back in first place and honestly it feels like a long time coming, obviously since the last race last year, and to come back this weekend after a difficult weekend last week, this is a great, great step forwards. 

    Q: It was certainly a champion’s drive and we get to race again just next weekend don’t we?

    LH: I love this. I love back-to-backs. Can we just go back-to-back all year long. I might need a holiday in between though!

    Q: Valtteri, you’re still leading the world championship, that’s the good news, but Lewis had the pace today. 

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, Lewis started from the pole, he had a good start, so he could really control the race and there was not so much happening as last weekend. But from my side, I think today was damage limitation, so still got good points, still leading, so it’s not too bad. Yesterday was not ideal so that’s why no 25 points today.

    Q: A good fight with Max. You got past him, he got past you, but eventually you got the job done in the end. Exciting at Turn 4 there?

    VB: Yeah, it was a good battle with him. Obviously I think I had quite a bit more pace than him at the end as we extended the first stint, but yeah racing closely is always good fun.

    Q: So you can leave Austria and head to Hungary very satisfied?

    VB: Could have been more satisfied but it’s been a not bad first couple of races so looking forward to next week.

    Q: Great drive Max, you tried your best to split the Mercedes and gave it everything you had.

    Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, I tried but we’re just a bit too slow, so I pushed as hard as I could and also when Valtteri was trying to pass me I tried to make it a bit difficult. I knew he was going to get by one lap later but it was at least fun because the rest of the race was pretty boring. A podium is good but still a lot of work to do. 

    Q: You got points on the board. Can you find any speed between now and next weekend? Have you got any goodies, any presents coming in the car? 

    MV:I don’t know yet. We’ll look into it and then we’ll see next week. 

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Lewis, many congratulations. It’s been a pretty dominant couple of days for you with that pole position yesterday and the win today. Now, races are never as easy as they look, or are they? Were there any concerns for you today? 

    LH: Thank you. It’s never easy. It was a challenge this weekend, especially with the Red Bulls really picking up their pace on Friday and we obviously had some sort of issue that we were able to rectify from Friday afternoon. Nothing major. And also, the team did a fantastic job over the week to improve on some of the issues we had in the last race. Today, being able to attack a little bit more and really utilise the car… I think the Red Bulls…. well Max, was quite quick today, so it just shows that they’re definitely not a pushover. I think they’ve done a fantastic job so we’ve got to stay on our toes. We’ve got to go to places like Hungary, where the shorter Red Bull is usually very, very strong. Otherwise, it’s been a great two days and a great way to bounce back from a difficult weekend in the first weekend, where Valtteri was incredibly strong and just a big, big thank you to everyone back at the factory and everyone here who has stayed. The team has stayed all week and been in every single day, not leaving a stone unturned, so that’s a huge confidence boost. 

    Q: Valtteri, P4 on the grid to P2 at the flag. You mentioned damage limitation earlier. How was the performance of the car?

    VB: I think the performance of the car was great, obviously yesterday as well I should have been stronger. There was obviously some things affecting the performance but even from my side the lap was not that clean and I should have been at least P2, so that’s why in some things I’m going to have a look in the mirror why today was a bit more difficult and could have been possibly a good battle with Lewis. But I think, from where I started and how the race went, I think it felt like I and us as a team, we could really maximise everything, so being able to, as a team, get the first 1-2 of the year, only the second race, is obviously really impressive. Like Lewis said, I’m just really thankful for everyone. It’s a privilege to drive for this team. But, of course, I’m not 100 per cent happy because I didn’t win. That’s how it goes as a driver but Lewis did a great job this weekend and… yeah… still points-wise it’s still early days and everything is looking good, so that’s why I can’t wait for the future. 

    Q: Max, you were carrying some front wing damage for a large proportion of that race. How much was that compromising the performance of the car?

    MV: I don’t know, I didn’t look in the data. I was just pushing as hard as I could to try and stay with them, y’know? But clearly, it’s still not good enough. The gaps, compared to the guys behind were massive. I was a bit shocked. I tried everything I could but it’s still not enough. So, we’ve still got some work to do but to bounce back from zero points last week to a podium now is a good start – but I think, as a team, we want to win and we want to fight for the Championship and if you want to fight for the Championship of course you need to win races, so yeah, we need to look into it. I think we were losing quite a bit on the straight as well. So it’s a bit of both at the moment. Just need to keep on working harder to try and close the gap. 

    VIDEO CONFERENCE

    Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Lewis, how much was the gearbox issue over the kerbs, how much did that affect you again today and did you have to drive within yourself as a result – or were you able to push flat-out throughout?

    LH: No, it wasn’t a problem today. The guys did a great job during the week, understanding what the issue was. It was nothing particularly major but of course it could have had quite large consequences, so, they did a great job to rectify it and we haven’t really heard them mention it since we started the weekend. So, we were able to drive as normal today. 

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – The Race) Max, you said you haven’t dived into the data. Can you just talk a little bit through how the car was changing and handling through the race. Heard you talking about some traction issues or driveability issues at times. How was the car for you as the race developed?

    MV: It was OK. Of course when the tyres are dropping off automatically you struggle a little more with the balance but there was nothing like dramatic, just the last 10-12 laps I started to struggle with the tyres but that’s it. 

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Max, we heard you querying the timing of your pitstop, and then you seemed to run out of tyres towards the end. Do you believe that was the decisive factor?

    MV: No, we were just too slow so we can do whatever we want: pitting early, late or the same, I don’t think it’s going to change the end result. So, at the time I thought we were pitting a bit early, and I knew of course that towards the end of the race I was going to run out of tyres but yeah, it is what it is. I said also on the radio at one point, never mind, just get on with the job.

    Q: (Mark Hughes – The Race) Question for Max. In the initial part of the race it looked like you were hanging on to Lewis reasonably well but then they seemed to step it up. Is that a problem that you had or do you think that they just had performance in hand?

    MV: No, I think it’s more just Lewis pace-managing. Of course, he knows my lap times, that the gap is not closing or growing. I’m just doing my laps. There’s always a bit of margin but if I would push more, Lewis would push more, so yeah. You could see once you have to push a bit more and you have the tyres to do so, then I’m just a bit too slow. 

    Q: Max, how confident are you that you’re going to be more competitive in Hungary next weekend?

    MV: Well, we’ll just find out, don’t we! Honestly, at the moment I’m not really… I don’t know. That’s the simple answer: I don’t know. But I hope it’s going to be a bit better. 

    Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC) Valtteri, we know all athletes have strong self-confidence, but when Lewis has a weekend like he has this weekend and a performance on Saturday like he did, how hard is it to keep that belief that you can beat him to the Championship?

    VB: I think in any sport, and especially in Formula 1 – it’s quite a special sport, it’s quite easy to doubt yourself – but for the moment I have no reason to. Obviously over the years you find the right tools, how to find your confidence and the trust in yourself and what you are doing. I have no reason to doubt any of my ability or skills. I know Lewis had a strong weekend. He did a good job. Also, based on last weekend, I know what I’m capable of. So, I really feel many improvements in my driving since last year – so that’s why I’m confident it’s going to be a good battle for the Championship this year. So, I’m not going to let one weekend, even multiple weekends, drag me down. I’ve learned that. Just going to focus on the job and improving myself as we go. 

    Q: (Mathias Brunner – Speedweek.com) For Max: how and when did the damage to the front wing happen, and how much of a difference did that make to the balance of the car? 

    MV: I didn’t know that. They just suddenly told me that I had damage to the front wing, so honestly I don’t think it was doing that much. It’s of course not ideal but I also realised that my rear end plates were also falling off, like a few bits. I don’t know, the balance is just fine but it’s just not fast enough over a lap so we just need to work on a bit of power on the straights and a bit more grip. 

    Q: But was the front wing damage as bad as Spain 2018; do you remember that? 

    MV: Yeah, that was not so lovely. It was fine, yeah, there is a bit of the endplate missing but honestly they told me that I suddenly had wing damage and honestly, while driving, it felt alright.

    Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Max, you said that you were shocked by the gap to the guys behind. Now that includes your teammate so I just wondered how costly was it today, not having Alex up there with you, particularly when it looked like Mercedes were waiting to play the threat of the undercut against you with Valtteri? 

    MV: No, it wouldn’t have mattered, at the end. No. I don’t think so. It’s of course nicer, also for himself, to be up there but I don’t think today it would have mattered like last year, for example, in Hungary or whatever. 

    Q: (Mark Hughes – The Race) Valtteri, when you came out after your stop, much newer tyres than Max, you were catching immediately but then it seemed to stabilise and it looked as though it wasn’t going to happen and then you seemed to get a second wind. What was going on there? 

    VB: Yeah, initially it was good. I think why the lap time stabilised, I don’t know if it was shown on TV but I went through quite a bit of traffic, there were many backmarkers and there was actually some of them, it was pretty shocking that sometimes I spent more than a lap with them having blue flags and just not moving away. They were racing each other in front of me and not really caring that they had blue flags so I hope that will be looked into so I think that’s why I lost quite a bit of momentum that time and then finally got again through pretty good free air and managed to find the rhythm again and really then it was pretty consistent and the car felt good and the pace was good so I think that was it. 

    Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC) Lewis, we saw you do a black power salute, both stand on the car after the race and on the podium. There was another anti-racism protest before the race, it looked a bit messier than last week with not everybody there. Have you thought about how you’re going to continue this push through the rest of the year and how are you going to bring the rest of the Formula One drivers along with you? 

    LH: Well, we’re learning along the way. I think this weekend the drivers spoke after the drivers’ briefing about what we intended to do. The question was how long do we… some people were asking how do we have to continue to do this? Some felt like they’d… one was enough last week and I just had to encourage them that racism is here, going to be here for probably longer than our time here and people of colour who are subject to racism don’t have time to take a moment to protest and that be it. We’ve got to continue to push for equality and really to raise awareness of it so I don’t really know what else we can do moving forward but for me to have Valtteri and my team also lining and acknowledging and kneeling before the start of the race I think was really huge and I’m incredibly grateful for their understanding and this contribution to it. I think we’ve really got to think as a sport what we can do because of course those are nice signs but passion is needed, it needs taking. It’s great to… as I said before… to see Chase being so kind as to donate $1m and it’s great to see the FIA to step up and also give me a $1m but if you don’t know the problem then you can’t fix it and you know $1m doesn’t really go that far so a lot of work needs to go on with Formula 1, the FIA do really need to be a part of it and I think the drivers need to be a part of it also as we have great voices and platforms. For me, as a team, we’re keeping the car black all year long so it is… we’re going to be fighting and pushing for it all year and me personally, I think this is going to be a lifelong thing for me. 

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – The Race) For all three: we’re obviously all done with the double header at the same track, the first time that’s happened in F1 history. Just wanted to know what your take is from it. Were you surprised that it was exactly the same format two weekends in a row? Do you think there was a missed opportunity not to try something different and do you think that when we do it at Silverstone, just simply changing one of the step of tyre compounds, is really going to shake things up one weekend to the next? 

    MV: Well, yeah, I didn’t really do a race last week so for me this was basically the first race. It was fine. Mixing tyre compounds? Well, you can only really, on most of the tracks, go harder because they don’t really allow you to go softer because then probably you end up blistering and stuff and you don’t want to go with even harder tyres so… I don’t know. I don’t really think there’s a lot of option to play with because simply I don’t think they allow us to use softer tyres for safety reasons. I don’t know really what you can do. Yeah, they stopped about the reverse grid but yeah, it would have been a bit weird to know that if you retire in the first race as I had, then you start from pole in the second. I don’t know what you can do and I honestly think it’s fine. It’s more important that we are racing. 

    LH: I’ve not watched the races so it’s difficult to have the same perspective as you will because we’re in this bubble, it’s a bit of a different viewpoint. I definitely think we should be trying to be more creative maybe, but I don’t know what that is, I don’t have the answers for it but just shifting a tyre is not going to make any difference, literally no difference really for us. It’s a question of format: if you’re going to do back-to-back, it’s a shame we can’t reverse the circuit and go the other way but obviously that was never in the game plan when designing these circuits so… Reverse of grid? I think it would just be mayhem, if you put us all… if we qualified at the front and then you put us last it would be a bit of a difficult one and we would probably just end up not trying to qualify for the front so, it is a difficult one. I wonder if there are other series that are doing anything different that we could look into. We have these two races in Silverstone and we could definitely do something to spice it up, particularly for the second one I think. 

    VB: I think we saw two different races even though it is the same place. Obviously the weather played a part and mixed things up a bit yesterday and it was a completely different kind of race weekend even though it was the same format, the same track. I think that’s the beauty of the sport, there are always so many unknowns and so many things that can happen, so for me it’s not really a big issue. But, yes, I agree with Lewis, I think we could be creative, it just needs to be done in the right way. I don’t know what’s the right way but I know Silverstone has lots of track layout options but who knows. 

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines/racefans.net) – To all three, based on what Lewis said and the conversation you’ve just had. Lewis you said during the podium interview you love racing, double-header bring it on etc. How many races in a row do you think your system could take? We’ve got another one coming up next weekend. How many in a row do you think we can handle? 

    LH: Me, as a driver, I feel that we can do a lot of back-to-back races, the three days in between are definitely enough. So, in this kind of season I think it’s fine, but it’s not just about me, it’s about a large group of people who are on the road constantly and are going to be away from their families even longer. It’s such a challenging time to have to stay in your bubble and not see people. I think it’s really going to be heavy for our team members. I know they love racing but they do have families they would love to see, so I really hope things in the world get a bit better for us. But I think we will manage. I don’t there is anything currently that we can’t achieve if we all pull together. 

    VB:I really have the same feeling as Lewis. From a drivers’ point of view we are really committed to this sport, like any team member is, and we just love racing, so it’s hard to put a hard limit from a driver’s point of view. At least we are in Europe so travelling distances arte pretty easy so that makes things easier, so triple-headers I don’t really see them as an issue, even if there will be many of them. But, for sure, there are many team members who have families, small kids at home, and it’s not fair to be such a long time away from their family. But it is how it is. 

    MV: I agree with Lewis and Valtteri. It’s good that it’s all in Europe at the moment as that makes travelling a bit easier. But I do think that after here or four weeks it’s good to go home and have a bit of time off. Not only for the driver but especially for the mechanics, you know, with a family. Otherwise they could file for divorce and you don’t want that to happen! It’s good to visit family and friends and that it’s not only F1 in your head. Sometimes you need to relax and think about other stuff, because F1 is not everything. It’s part of your life but there are also other things you have to do.

    Q: Are you going to squeeze in a sim race on that weekend off between Hungary and…?

    MV: No! I did it a bit too much, so I’m on a break, a long break hopefully!

  • Verstappen fastest in FP2 ahead of Bottas: Styrian GP

    Verstappen fastest in FP2 ahead of Bottas: Styrian GP

    Spielberg, 10 July 2020: Max Verstappen edged Valtteri Bottas to the quickest time of the second practice session ahead of Sunday’s Styrian Grand Prix with the Red Bull driver beating the winner of last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix by just over four-hundredths of a second. There was trouble though for Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo, who crashed out early in the session. 

    The Australian brought out the red flags just 13 minutes into the session when he crashed heavily in Turn 9. Ricciardo lost the rear-end of his Renault as he turned in and the back end of his car immediately snapped out to sending him spinning backwards through the gravel trap and into the barriers. 

    The session was halted for 15 minutes while his car was recovered and as the mid-point of the session approached teams began to switch to soft tyres for qualifying simulations. 

    Racing Point drivers Sergio Pérez and Lance Stroll initially led the way before Bottas jumped to the top of the timesheet with a lap of 1:03.703. Verstappen though was in irresistible form and he eventually took the spot with a lap 0.043 seconds quicker than the Finn with Perez and Stroll in third and fourth places respectively. Sergio Perez said: “It’s been a promising day. We’ve been chipping away and learning about our car, and that’s been positive so far – exploring where we can make improvements and find performance. It’s very close among the top teams, but we’ve shown that both cars are in the mix for points, just like we were last weekend. Obviously, there are signs of wet weather tomorrow so let’s wait and see what happens in Qualifying.”

    It was a less successful day for Bottas’ team-mate Lewis Hamilton. The Briton looked uncomfortable during his qualifying simulations and he finished the session in sixth place behind McLaren’s Carlos Sainz. 

    Alex Albon ended the session in seventh place for Red Bull, though he had two spins during the session, at Turn 3 and Turn 8, while Lando Norris took eighth in the sister McLaren ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in ninth. Esteban Ocon rounded out the top 10 for Renault.

    2020 FIA Formula 1 Styrian Grand Prix – Free Practice 2 
    1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 03.660 27 244.184
    2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:03.703 0.043 36 244.019
    3 Sergio Pérez Racing Point/Mercedes 1:03.877 0.217 43 243.355
    4 Lance Stroll Racing Point/Mercedes 1:04.241 0.581 43 241.976
    5 Carlos Sainz McLaren/Renault 1:04.333 0.673 45 241.630
    6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:04.348 0.688 27 241.573
    7 Alexander Albon Red Bull/Honda 1:04.437 0.777 29 241.240
    8 Lando Norris McLaren/Renault 1:04.541 0.881 31 240.851
    9 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:04.706 1.046 35 240.237
    10 Esteban Ocon Renault 1:04.746 1.086 32 240.088
    11 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:04.757 1.097 37 240.048
    12 Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri/Honda 1:05.050 1.390 34 238.966
    13 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:05.152 1.492 23 238.592
    14 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:05.365 1.705 36 237.815
    15 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:05.588 1.928 34 237.006
    16 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:05.613 1.953 40 236.916
    17 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:05.655 1.995 49 236.764
    18 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:05.790 2.130 36 236.279
    19 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 1:06.096 2.436 38 235.185
    20 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 2 

  • No better way to start the season, says a delighted Bottas

    No better way to start the season, says a delighted Bottas

    DRIVERS
    1 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)
    2 – Charles LECLERC (Ferrari)
    3 – Lando NORRIS (McLaren)

    TRACK INTERVIEWS
    (Conducted by Jenson Button) 

    Q: Valtteri, wow! I mean the pressure on you through that race. One safety car, fair enough, but two and the tyre changes for people behind you, but you held it together man. Congratulations. 
    Valtteri BOTTAS: Thank you, yeah. There was definitely quite a bit of pressure all through the race. I mean one safety car was still OK, but with the last safety car, I was like: ‘Come on, again?’ There were so many chances to get the lead if I made even a small mistake. He was really quick today, but I managed to keep it together and I could really control the race from my side and obviously no better way to start the season. 

    Q: Yeah, it’s such an important way to start the season. Having Lewis bearing down on you for most of that race must have been so, so tough. Especially because you had warnings from the team over sensor issues. We saw so many failures out there, I think because of the gearbox, that must have added even more pressure?
    VB: Yeah, we had to manage the car quite a lot, so couldn’t really use4 all the kerbs and at some point I was slightly worried that everything would be OK, but I’m glad, both of the cars managed to finish and in the teams standings we’re leading and that’s a very good sign.
    Congratulations on an epic win.

    Q: Charles, I bet you didn’t expect that result today? 
    Charles LECLERC: I did  not expect it either. A huge surprise but a good one. I think we did everything perfect today to finish second. We had a little bit of luck obviously, with Lewis’ penalty and some crashes here and there but it’s part of the race too and yeah, that was the goal – to take every opportunity we had, even though we didn’t have the pace to finish where we were I think. But P2 – I’m extremely satisfied. There’s still a lot of work to do. We are still far away, we are not where we want to be, but anything is possible, so we need to keep the mental strong, all the team work as a team and I’m pretty sure we will come back where want, but it will take time. 

    Q: You still made the moves count when you had to out there. You were making some great moves in the race. Every time there was an opportunity you seemed to take it and when you are in the position you are, you really have to. 
    CL: Yeah, I wanted to be very aggressive because at every safety car I was seeing I was really struggling on exit of Turn 1 all the way to Turn 3 and I knew that there was no opportunity for me here but I knew that my opportunity would come if someone would do a mistake and Lando slowed down a little bit with Sergio at one point and I went for it. And the other one with Sergio also was pretty tough but I really enjoyed it. 

    Q: Where is Lando? I really want to give you a hug now mate, but I can’t. No words. Awesome. A fantastic race. You guys were always near the front but you got there in the end, you got that first podium. How does it feel? 
    Lando NORRIS: I don’t know, I’m speechless I think. The were a few points during the race where I thought I kind of fudged it up quite a bit. I dropped to fifth with a few laps to go. Carlos was almost getting past me, but I didn’t give up and I managed to get past Pérez and I ended up on the podium! It was a long race but I kept going, I kept trying to give it my all. A pretty cool last few laps having to push as much as I can, and you can tell, I’m a bit out of breath. I’m so happy and proud of the team. Considering where we were a few years ago, to last year, to now, I think is a pretty cool achievement and I’m proud to be part of it all. 

    Q: As you should be. Obviously when you lose your rhythm around here it’s very tricky and as you said you almost got passed by Carlos but then you came back so strong and then you attacked Checo. Very aggressive but it had to be done I guess t6o get within the five-second limit of Lewis. And also you must have a message for this team that has produced this great car for you this weekend? 
    LN:The last few laps… when I had to get past Checo, I just knew he had a five-second penalty but nothing more than that. I always seemed to struggle when I was close to the cars ahead, I always seemed more vulnerable to the guys behind. So I knew… not just because of Lewis, because I didn’t know at that time, but I knew I had to try to get past him and then there was the Lewis penalty that came up and then I had to turn it up a little bit and start pushing. Like you said, it’s a lot about rhythm here and I had three really tough laps, locking up, and it was going downhill quite quickly but I recovered well I think and I’m here so I’m happy. 

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Valtteri, many congratulations. You led every lap but it looked far from easy. Just talk us through it? 
    VB: Well, winning a Formula 1 Grand Prix is never easy but today definitely come easy at all. In the first stint Lewis lost a bit of time getting through the Red Bulls, so there was quite a bit of margin. So the first stint actually wasn’t that bad, because I had a decent gap, so I could really control and really make sure we could get to the target stop lap. And I tried to do the right things with the tyres and maintaining the car. The second stint, there was never like massive pressure because I was in front and I could really make sure that we could make it to the end. But there were all these variables in the race. We had some issues with some sensors that were getting damaged by the vibration of the pretty harsh kerbs here, so I had to avoid kerbing. So that costs quite a bit of lap time. And whe4n you’re in the lead, safety car after another, and by the last one I was like “come on”, because in the lead you just want things to be constant and trouble free. So there were many variables. I managed to dodge many bullets today and get the win. 

    Q: And the re-starts each time, you nailed them? 
    VB: Yeah, I think I’m starting to master the re-starts on this track soon, because we had so many today. But you always try to do something different each time., I think the last one was a bit on the limit with safety car line one, crossing with the safety car, but otherwise they were good. 

    Q: Charles, after you day yesterday when you qualified seventh, I guess you must be very pleased today?
    CL: Well I’m extremely happy. It feels like a victory today. We have been struggling from the beginning of the weekend. We’ve had luck in this race with the various safety cars, crashes, penalties but in the end we stayed on track. I gave my maximum and I think we managed the race perfectly with the package we have for the moment and to have a P2, a second place, with the performance we had all weekend, we made the best out of it and I’m extremely happy about our result because the performance is not where we want to be. 

    Q: And was the car much more competitive today than it was over one lap yesterday?
    CL: No. No, unfortunately not. We are quick around the corners but we struggle, so we will have a new package in Hungary to try to fix a little bit more this issue. But we will see. It has been a very, very difficult race today, struggling to overtake and every time someone was making a mistake then I was being very aggressive to try to take the opportunity, which I did, and I’m very happy again to be P2. 

    Q: Well done, Lando, coming to you. Your first podium in Formula 1. You’ve had a few minutes now to digest it all. What are your emotions now. 
    LN: I don’t know… I need to get another one of these (masks). This one is full of champagne, which I’m very happy to say, but it’s like suction, I can’t breathe in it! I’m realty struggling. Cheers. Sorry. I’m just so happy. I was very happy after yesterday. I think we overachieved. We didn’t overachieve but we just maximised everything we had. We just did better than we thought we were going to do because we knew Ferrari were strong and the Racing Points were strong and we knew they were going to be strong today, which they were compared to us. I think today’s race highlighted that we had to keep on pushing through the whole race. Obviously it’s nice when you have a car which is compared to last year more competitive and you can be there or thereabouts on safety car re-starts and so on. I’m so happy, because it very easily could have been the opposite of the result I have right now. I almost got back down to sixth after Charles passed me and it was kind of going downhill and I was all over the place, locking up, going wide, but I knew I had good pace in the car so I had to get my head down and try to get past Perez when he got a five second penalty and yeah, I was fairly aggressive with my overtake but I had to be at that point and then Lewis had a five-second and I only managed to get him on the final lap of the race. I think it was 5.8 onto the final lap and I managed to get it down to 4.8, so I wasn’t in the position I was in and if I didn’t put in the fastest lap of the race, which I’m very proud of, I wouldn’t be here. I just want to say big thanks to the team. I’m probably rambling on a lot but I’m just super happy. 

    VIDEO CONFERENCE

    Q: (Edd Straw – The Race) Question to Valtteri. When you had the instruction to back off a bit and keep off the kerbs, how difficult was it to adapt your style while still maintaining the pace, while driving effectively a narrower track – especially knowing you had Lewis behind you and unsure about much he was moderating his speed and keeping off the kerbs when there was a race-win at stake?
    VB: Initially it was a tricky one because I was watching in the mirrors and I could see Lewis still pushing pretty hard and making use of all the track – but obviously you want to prioritise the reliability. It took a couple of laps to really optimise the new way of driving and avoiding the kerbs. At least… the kerbs here, the more you go onto them, the vibration just kind of ramps up. So you get a feel what is still OK and what is too much. There’s only a few places where you really need to take care, so after one or two laps, we got used to it. In the end, when I tried for the fastest lap, I think a couple of laps to go, I still was off the kerbs. It didn’t feel right but I had to do it. 

    Q: (Laurence Edmondson – ESPN) Question for Valtteri. You had a problem in FP2 with the gearbox – was that the same issue that emerged in the race. And then also, were there any calls from the team to stop the racing at the front between you and Lewis – and where you aware that you were actually backing him off the podium at the end, when he caught up with you and obviously had the five seconds penalty?
    VB: At any point, there was no call from the team that we would stop racing each other but I got the message that Lewis also has to avoid the kerbs, so in that sense we were in the same boat. For me, the whole race was… I could really control and make sure we get safely to the end with a good amount of tyres left and so on. There was no massive trouble at any point. I got the message that he’s got a five second penalty but there was a double yellow, so obviously you have to slow down quite a bit so then I feel like some drivers maybe slow down a bit less so they could catch-up. At the same time, we were still not using the kerbs. So, I tried to compromise making sure I really get to the flag and win the race, not risk too much, but also I tried to go as fast as I could within those limits. It’s not really my fault that he got the five seconds penalty. 

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Question for Valtteri, slightly off-topic compared to what the other guys are taking about. I want to talk about pancakes. I’ve noticed on your social media that you’ve been having pancakes on Sundays. Is that the new replacement for porridge. Is it a lucky little thing you’ve got going on – you seem to be doing quite well for it?
    VB: You know the porridge is hidden in the pancakes. I still use the power of porridge but in the pancakes. My girlfriend always makes them on Sunday. We use oats in them – it’s kind of porridge as well. On top of that, I have a bit of porridge before the race. So, that’s the best thing to have. Lots of power. 

    Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC) Question for Charles. Charles, you took a couple of wins last and had some really good drives. Where would you rate this one in comparison to those. And also, you trailed Pérez and Lando for much of the race. What made the difference in the closing laps – because obviously you and Lando both had new tyres then as well. 
    CL: I would rate this one probably as one of my best races since I arrived in Formula 1 because I really didn’t do many mistakes. I’m extremely happy with the performance, also with the strategy, with our choices. It’s not been easy because in the first part of the race the race was actually pretty boring for us but I really pushed to stay focussed and yeah, we were doing some quite good lap times. We were extracting the maximum out of the car and it paid off at the end, so that was great. And towards the end of the race, it was very tricky because Lando had the new tyres too and I was struggling a lot at the restarts to stay behind them, until Turn Four and then, in all the high speed, we were very quick but in the whole first sector we were struggling a lot. I was just waiting for an opportunity, which I had when Lando tried to overtake Sergio but then I think while he lost a little bit of time, I just went for it and then the same for Sergio a few laps later. I saw an opportunity and I just went for it. 

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Question for Lando. I think I’m right in saying you’re the third youngest podium finisher of all time in Formula 1, youngest British driver to finish on the podium. Can you just explain a little bit about what that means – particularly from the British perspective, beating the likes of Lewis Hamilton and the rest to be the youngest driver to ever finish on the podium.
    LN: I don’t know. I don’t have a great answer for it. I think… yeah… just being on the podium no matter what other scenario there is, unless it’s probably the youngest-ever winner or something like that, then I think I’m just very happy to be on the podium in the first place but for something to come along with it such as what you just mentioned, it’s an added bonus – but it’s not like I’ve gone out of my way to beat these records or anything. I think it’s really a bonus that comes along with hard work and getting the podium in the first place. So, yeah, it’s an extra, and it’s nice to know something’s written down and there’s a little extra that goes along with my first podium but I’m… yes… at the end of the day it’s not the sole objective for why I’m here in Formula 1. It’s not just to break records, it’s to try to win races in the first place and try to do well. It’s a nice record to have, I’m proud of it but I’m happier to just be on the podium, rather than breaking any record.

    Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) All three of you. You all had great races but it’s the first race that we’ve had without spectators and also with these special conditions. I just wondered if you could say how it felt racing without the crowd and how hard it was to restrain yourselves afterwards given the necessary self-distancing?
    VB: During racing, no difference. Obviously you are fully focussed on your race and the driving. 
    LN: Do you not ever see the crowds?
    VB: Not really! So yeah, during the race your full focus is on the thing. So, no difference but I have to say, what I’ve really enjoyed in the normal F1 is before the race, when we do the drivers’ parade, really seeing the support to all the drivers, seeing the spectators, all the fans, all the flags of different nationalities. It really brings a nice atmosphere before the race, as well as after the race, especially if you have a good result like I had today, it would be nice to share it with that atmosphere that we, for sure, are lacking a little bit now, and to celebrate with the spectators. But, I know there are many loyal fans to me watching at home and I know the most important people to me, my family, they’re watching, they’re supporting and they’re living in the moment with me. But no doubt we’re lacking a bit of atmosphere – but it is what it is. Better to be racing like this than not racing at all – I’m sure we’re still making many people happy that are able to watch the racing. But like post-race, all the procedures, how it goes. I think we’re all still learning but I think, I have to say, FIA, FOM, F1 has done a really nice job with setting everything up, and all the teams as well. It feels very pretty bullet-proof, nicely organised, pretty clear and everything – so we all feel the risk of anyone really getting ill is very minimal. That’s good. I think everyone in our team, we feel very safe racing here.
    Charles?
    CL: It’s very strange. We are lacking the passion of the fan, which is why I love the sport so much, to see the passion of people that are watching you. I actually look in the grandstands during the race. Obviously not today because there was not much to look at – but yeah, I miss this. But, as Valtteri said, it’s better to race like this than nothing, so very happy to have been back on track and hopefully the fans enjoyed it from home, and hopefully once it’s safe to do so, they’ll be able to come back. It will definitely be better. And also, as Valtteri said again, the podium, normally there’s cheers, people yelling, this time it was not that way, but it’s like this for now and it’s the best we can do.  
    LN: I agree with both them really. I think we can all be happy we’re here racing and procedures that are put in place are pretty bulletproof like he said but it’s a bit different for me. These guys are used to being on the podium quite a bit, for me it’s my first time and I think it’s something that makes it so special is always having the crowds there, celebrating there with you, whether they are always your fans or not. It just makes up the atmosphere so much and it adds a lot of excitement and so on, so for me to be here now, there’s no fans to share with and so on, makes it a bit more difficult and it’s still enjoyable but it’s hard to share it as much. I don’t know, like they said, we’re all happy we’re here racing. I think it’s that better than we’re here and there’s no fans rather than nothing at all but hopefully in the future, not too long, we can have the fans back in.

    Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-Magazin.com) Question for Valtteri: you were talking a bit about the last lap. That must have been a pretty strange feeling because in the end you’re fighting or you’re helping your biggest competitor for the championship by risking your own result when you go that fast. How strange was that situation and was it ever considered to swap this position? 
    VB: It didn’t feel strange to me, these kind of situations, sometimes in racing, you just get into these situations and you have to deal with them and I was just trying to calculate the risk. I really wanted to win the race, obviously, and think about the points for the team but with the circumstances and the issue we had with reliability concerns obviously you don’t want to take too much risk by trying to find two tenths every lap by hammering the kerbs and then I get a DNF on the last lap, that would not be ideal so I tried to do the best I could really and there wasn’t for sure no discussion, at least, that I know about swapping position and in that way securing more points or anything. I don’t know, I wouldn’t think so. 

    Q: (Chris Medland – Racer) Couple of questions for Lando: would you just explain what you were told on that final lap, obviously setting fastest lap? Did the team just say give it everything or were you given a target? What instruction did you get? And secondly, you started third and were fighting near the front on the fringe of the podium, could you notice a difference in your own personal confidence racing with these at the front throughout? 
    LN: I think the last few laps were… it was kind of difficult because initially I only knew about Sergio having the penalty and I was P4 at that point I think, or P5 and obviously I still wanted P4 and I had pace and he was on the outside so I initially had to judge what risk I would take to try and get past him or whether I would hold position and I would just get the position freely through his penalty but I had much better pace and Carlos was right behind me so Carlos would have gone for every move he could have done, just like he did. So I knew I had to get past him but at that point I still didn’t know about Lewis having the penalty either so I was happy to get past him in the first place and I had clean air which was good for me and I could start putting down some decent laps and start catching Charles a little bit but he was still too far ahead to really catch. And then I think it was with three laps to go that I got told that Lewis had the five second penalty and yeah, we used the rest of our engine modes and obviously I pushed it a bit more in terms of track limits and using the kerbs, because like Valtteri said, it’s quite harsh on the car and when you can, you don’t need to take the risks and you may be backing off a little bit but we didn’t really have any concerns so while I was told I could get on with it and really push it and I took the risks that I needed to but yeah, on the final lap I managed to close in, I don’t know what it was, over a second and a bit on Lewis so that was a key. I got the podium on the final lap of the race. If I was any further back or I didn’t put in as good as a lap, I wouldn’t be here so thankfully we have the car which was quick enough, that I was able to close that… because you know, if it was this time last year I wouldn’t have had the car capable of doing so so it shows our improvement as a team and improvement to the upgrades and development over the winter. 

    Q: And Lando, how were confidence levels out there? 
    LN: It’s cool to be able to race at the front, especially off the grid. I was a little bit nervous, I’m not going to lie. All of my practice starts went pretty terribly. I hit anti-stall on every single one actually so I was dreading it, kind of, but I knew Max was on the medium so I knew I had a good chance against him and looking back at last year we were the best starters of the whole grid. I was confident, still, at the same time but lacking a bit of confidence in myself and not making sure I hit anti-stall again and yeah, I had a good start compared to Max and similar to Valtteri, I think. So it was high enough, I had confidence in what I needed to do and achieve and racing with these guys, but at the same time we knew from the very beginning who we were really racing against, even though it ended up as it did I think we definitely weren’t as quick as the Ferrari or the Racing Point today so… We managed to beat three of them, two Racing Points and one of the Ferraris, so I’m very happy with that. 

    Q: (Mark Hughes – The Race) Valtteri, I just wanted to ask you about the end of that first stint. The safety car came out (lap 26), what sort of shape were you in at that point because Lewis was pulling… How far away were you from your planned stop and what shape were you in with tyres? 
    VB: Ah yes, we stopped at that point, yes. Actually we were not that far from stopping, I think, less than ten laps from the planned stop lap so just about to try and lift the pace. Obviously with the big gap I had at the beginning I could really manage the first stint and make sure that… but from my point of view, the best thing to do for me to win the race was to go as long as possible, so I tried to manage quite a lot in the beginning and middle of the stint and towards the end I would have slept. I would have had a bit more margin to raise the pace so everything was pretty much under control, like I felt really towards the end of the race but just (unclear) every single safety car there’s always a risk. You only need one lock-up or a poor restart and you can lose everything. But at that point, yeah, everything was still OK. 

    Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Charles, you were behind Seb in the opening practice sessions and then got ahead through qualifying and then obviously in the race today. Was there anything particularly that you changed across the weekend? 
    CL: No, to be honest on Friday I haven’t been driving well but I was just driving, I was not very happy with the car either but the driving was not well, where I wanted it to be, so I was quite hard after Friday, and then I was quite a lot happier with both the car and my driving on Saturday morning and put everything together in qualifying so I was happy with this. And then the same for the race pace on Friday afternoon, which was pretty bad, actually very bad on my side and Seb’s one was quite a lot better so I worked hard but I drove a lot better today so yeah, there’s quite a bit on driving from Friday to Saturday but also on the car so we just put everything together for Saturday. 

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Got a bit of a food theme thing going on here. Lando, a picture of the salmon, couldn’t do it this time round due to social distancing and all that. … with the photo? 
    LN: Ah. Yet to be decided. We definitely have to do something but it’s obviously got to be within a few rules. Maybe some photoshop will come into it and make it look like something but we’re not going to do the same as last year, we’re thinking of something new, because I definitely want to share this salmon with the team and remember it so that’s the reason I always do it. We can always look back at it and remember the good moments. Something is going to be happening but not decided on what it’s going to be yet. 

  • Bottas wins season opener; McLaren’s Lando Norris gets first podium

    Bottas wins season opener; McLaren’s Lando Norris gets first podium

    Spielberg, 5 July 2020: Valtteri Bottas took his first win of the 2020 season at the end of a dramatic race that saw just 11 cars take the chequered flag in the Austrian Grand Prix, the first round of the FIA F1 World Championship here on Sunday.

    Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was a surprise second and McLaren’s Lando Norris took his first podium finish with third place on a day that saw both Red Bulls fail to finish their home race and Lewis Hamilton drops to fourth due to a late-race penalty for colliding with Alex Albon. 

    When the lights went out at the start, polesitter Bottas got away well ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who started on the front row after Hamilton was handed a three-place grid drop for ignoring yellow flags in qualifying. 

    Verstappen was put under immediate pressure by Norris but managed to hold his starting spot. The McLaren driver duly slotted into third place ahead of Albon and Hamilton. 

    Albon began to apply pressure on Norris and on lap three the Red Bull man powered past the McLaren in Turn 4 to seize third place. On the next lap Hamilton also passed Norris on the following lap to continue his fight back from his grid penalty. 

    Albon spent the next part of the race defending hard as Hamilton applied pressure but on lap nine there was little the Thai driver could do as Hamilton got close in Turn 3 and then powered past on the run down to Turn 4. 

    Red Bull’s race got worse on lap 11 when Verstappen suddenly slowed dramatically into Turn 1. He managed to limp back to the pits at the end of lap 13 but despite attempts to correct the issue he was eventually forced to retire from the race. 

    His exit promoted Hamilton to P2, seven seconds behind his race-leading team-mate and Albon returned to third place, 3.8s ahead of Norris and Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez. 

    On lap 18, Daniel Ricciardo’s Renault was the next casualty. The Australian slowed and he trundled slowly to the pit lane where he eventually retired. Lance Stroll was suffering running slowly with what appeared to be power unit issues and he too was forced to exit the race at the end of lap 21.

    At the front Bottas now had a five-second lead over Hamilton, with Albon a further 11 seconds behind in third. Norris was now fourth ahead of Perez and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was sixth ahead of the second McLaren of Carlos Sainz. 

    On lap 27 the Safety Car was deployed when Kevin Magnussen beached his Haas at Turn 3. The incident was the cue for the entire field to pit for news tyres. All except Perez opted for hard compound Pirelli tyres, with the Mexican instead fitting a set of mediums. As a result of the mass stop the order at the top remained unchanged, though the gaps closed. 

    The race went green again on lap 30 and Bottas held his advantage over Hamilton, with Albon looking secure in third ahead of Perez’s Racing Point. 

    On lap 52 the safety car made its second appearance of the afternoon when George Russell’s Williams expired. Alex took the opportunity to pit, taking on soft tyres, and he emerged in P4 behind Perez. 

    When racing resumed on lap 55 Albon was quickly on the hunt and when Perez locked up into Turn 3, Alex dived down the inside and re-took third place. The safety car immediately called back to action, though, when Kimi Räikkönen lost his front right tyre on the entry to Turn 10 and he was forced to park his Alfa Romeo on the pit straight. 

    When the SC left the track for the final time on lap 61 Albon quickly closed on Hamilton and, seeing a chance, attacked the Mercedes around the outside of Turn 4. 

    It looked as though the move would stick but on exit there was contact and the Red Bull spun into the gravel trap. Albon resumed in last place but on lap 69 his RB16 lost power and he was forced to pull over and retire.  

    Bottas went on to take his first win of the new season ahead of Hamilton, but the champion was handed a five-second time penalty as he crossed the line for the collision with Alex and so Leclerc moved to second place and Norris grabbed his first F1 podium finish. Hamilton finished fourth ahead of Sainz and Perez. Pierre Gasly grabbed AlphaTauri’s first points with seventh place, while Esteban Ocon eighth for Renault. Antonio Giovinazzi finished ninth for Alfa Romeo with Vettel taking the final point on a day when just 11 cars took the chequered flag. 

    2020 FIA Formula One Austrian Grand Prix – Race
    1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 71 1:30’55.739 
    2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 71 1:30’58.439 2.700
    3 Lando Norris McLaren/Renault 71 1:31’01.230 5.491
    4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 71 1:31’01.428 5.689
    5 Carlos Sainz McLaren/Renault 71 1:31’04.642 8.903
    6 Sergio Pérez Racing Point/Mercedes 71 1:31’10.831 15.092
    7 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 71 1:31’12.421 16.682
    8 Esteban Ocon Renault 71 1:31’13.195 17.456
    9 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 71 1:31’16.885 21.146
    10 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 71 1:31’20.284 24.545
    11 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 71 1:31’27.389 31.650
    12 Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri/Honda 69 Not running
    13 Alexander Albon Red Bull/Honda 67 Not running
    7 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 53 Wheel
    8 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 49 Brakes
       George Russell Williams/Mercedes 49 Fuel pressure
       Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 24 Brakes
       Lance Stroll Racing Point/Mercedes 20 Retirement
       Daniel Ricciardo Renault 17 Overheating
       Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 11 Hydraulics