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Tag: Valtteri Bottas
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Hamilton dedicates win to `Harry’; Mercedes finish 1-2 in all five races thus far
Lewis Hamilton celebrates after winning the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday. An FIA image Barcelona, 12 May 2019: Lewis Hamilton moved back to the top of the FIA Formula 1 Drivers’ World Championship standings as he beat team-mate Valtteri Bottas. Mercedes finished one-two in all the five races this season. Max Verstappen finished third for Red Bull Racing, ahead of the Ferrari cars of Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc in the Spanish Grand Prix, the fifth round of the 21-round Formula One World Championship here on Sunday.
Lewis Hamilton
It’s been an incredible day for the team. We’ve brought an upgrade here and everyone worked so hard to make that possible. I’m very proud of everyone back at the factory and thankful for all their hard work. The guys here at the track are all performing at an extremely high level as well, thank you all. When the lights went out, my initial getaway was quite good and we were very close all the way down into Turn 1. I think the Ferrari was alongside us at one point too, so it was a great battle and also a decisive moment in the race. After that I just had to keep my head down and focus on trying to deliver each lap. I want to dedicate this win to Harry, a young kid who sent me a message today. He was my inspiration out there. He could’ve chosen any other driver, so for him in the most difficult of days to send a message like that is really humbling and much appreciated. I’m sending you love, Harry.Five-year-old Harry Shaw was diagnosed with cancer in August 2018. His parents have set up the fundraising page to inform about his case and raise money to fight children’s cancer.
When the lights went out at the start, it was Hamilton who made the best start and on the long run down to Turn 1 he tucked in on the inside of pole sitter Valtteri Bottas, who later complained of clutch problems on his getaway.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel had also made a good start and he tried to pass both Mercedes around the outside into the first turn. It was a risky, late-braking move and attempting to keep control Vettel locked up briefly.
As Vettel got a poor exit from the corner, Verstappen pounced, passing the Ferrari in Turn 3 to take third place behind new leader Hamilton and Bottas.
Behind the front four Pierre Gasly in the second Red Bull was battling hard with the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and also coming under pressure from Haas’ Romain Grosjean. Gasly managed to defend well, though, and he kept P6 as the field crossed the line to start lap two.
Vettel, hampered by a flat spot sustained in his first-lap lock up and Leclerc quickly closed the gap to his team-mate. Vettel sensibly moved aside at the start of lap 12 and let his team-mate through.
At the end of lap 19, Vettel finally opted to shed his damaged tyres and pitted for a set of new medium tyres. Verstappen was next in and at the end of lap 20 he pitted for soft tyres.
Vettel quickly began to close up on Leclerc, who had pitted for hard tyres. The German was clearly quicker on his medium tyres than his young team-mate racing on hard tyres and soon after the halfway point Leclerc returned Vettel’s earlier favour by backing off into Turn 4 to let the German through to fourth place.
Vettel then attempted to close the gap to Verstappen and though the Ferrari driver cut the deficit by a few seconds, on lap 40 he again made his way to the pit lane. He took on a set of mediums at the end of the lap and was soon back up to fifth.
Verstappen was next to make his second stop and at the end of lap 43 he took on medium tyres. He emerged behind Leclerc and quickly began to close up behind the Ferrari driver as ahead Bottas pitted for soft tyres.
On lap 45, though, the Safety Car was brought into play when McLaren’s Lando Norris and Racing Point’s Lance Stroll collided, with both being forced to stop.
Both Hamilton and Leclerc elected to pit while the race was neutralised, with the Ferrari driver taking on medium tyres and the Mercedes driver fitting softs. Behind the Safety Car the order was Hamilton followed by Bottas, Max, the Ferraris of Vettel and Leclerc, while Gasly still held sixth.
When the SC left the track Hamilton set blistering pace on the restart to set the fastest lap of the race and to keep Bottas at bay. Verstappen also gradually eked out a gap to Vettel.
Fifteen laps later Hamilton crossed the line to take the 76thwin of his career with Bottas then taking the flag to continue Mercedes’s perfect start to the season.
Verstappen too his 24thcareer podium with third placed ahead of Vettel and Leclerc while Gasly finished as he started, in sixth place. Kevin Magnussen was seventh for Haas ahead of home hero Carlos Sainz. Daniil Kvyat took two points for Toro Rosso with ninth place but despite putting enormous pressure on Romain Grosjean in the closing laps, Alex Albon couldn’t make it two Toros in the points and Haas driver Grosjean managed to cling on to tenth place at the flag.
2019 FIA Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix – Race
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 4.074
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull 7.679
4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 9.167
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 13.361
6 Pierre Gasly Red Bull 19.576
7 Kevin Magnussen Haas 28.159
8 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren 32.342
9 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 33.056
10 Romain Grosjean Haas 34.641
11 Alex Albon Toro Rosso 35.445
12 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 36.758
13 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 39.241
14 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 41.803
15 Sergio Perez Racing Point 46.877
16 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 47.691
17 George Russell Williams 1 Lap
18 Robert Kubica Williams 1 LapDNF: Lance Stroll Racing Point, Lando Norris McLaren
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Bottas pips Hamilton for Spanish GP pole; Vettel P3
Valtteri Bottas takes pole in the 2019 Spanish Grand Prix on Saturday. LAT Images/Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport Barcelona, 11 May 2019: Formula 1 World Championship leader Valtteri Bottas beat Mercedes team-mate and defending champion Lewis Hamilton by more than six-tenths of a second at to claim pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix, his third in a row so far this season. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was third quickest in the session ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
In the opening session, Vettel and Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc set the early pace before Verstappen moved to the top of the order with a time of 1:17.244.
Bottas then moved to the top of the order with a lap of 1:17.175 to hold top spot ahead of Verstappen until the chequered flag, with Hamilton third ahead of Leclerc and Vettel.
In danger, as the final runs began was Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi in P16, followed by team-mate Kimi Räikkönen and the Williams cars of George Russell and Robert Kubica. Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg had not set a time after an early off at Turn 4 that damaged his front wing and which kept him out of action until the final runs.
Even when he did manage to get in a lap, Hulkenberg failed to find the pace necessary to make it through to Q2. To compound his disappointment, he was edged out of the session by team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, with the gap between the Renault drivers standing at just 0.019s. Eliminated behind Hulkenberg were 17th-placed Lance Stroll of Racing Point, Giovinazzi, Russell and Kubica.
In Q2 it was Hamilton who initially stretched away from the chasing pack, with the Mercedes driver posting a lap of 1:16.038. That put him a little over two-tenths of a second ahead of Bottas, with Vettel third.
Verstappen slotted into fourth place with a time of 1:16.726, just 0.059s behind Vettel, while the Dutchman’s Red Bull team-mate Pierre Gasly put in a good opener of 1:17.275 to claim the fifth spot ahead of Haas’ Romain Grosjean and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
In advance of the final runs, the drop zone candidates were Toro Rosso’s Alexander Albon, Racing Point’s Sergio Perez, McLaren’s Lando Norris, the second Toro of Daniil Kvyat and Alfa Romeo’s Räikkönen.
Only Kvyat was able to find enough to escape elimination, with the Russian posting a good lap of 1:17.243 to climb to P8 in front of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Renault’s Ricciardo.
Kvyat’s rise meant a drop-zone spot opened up and it was filled by local hero Carlos Sainz. The McLaren driver exited in P13 behind Norris and Albon and but ahead of Räikkönen and Perez.
At the top in Q2, Bottas was in imperious form, with the Finn edging past Hamilton’s lap with a time of 1:15.924. The defending champion was second ahead of the Ferraris of Vettel and Leclerc with Verstappen in P5 ahead of Galsy.
And Bottas was able to extract even more from his car in the final session. Hamilton was first across the line but the defending champion’s lap was a scruffy on and he stopped the clock at 1:16.040. Bottas, though, was flying and he crossed the line a massive six-tenths of a second clear of Hamilton, with Vettel third ahead of Verstappen and Gasly.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was forced to sit out the first runs as his team worked on the floor of his car. It might have been expected that the Monegasque driver would find his way into the top four, but Leclerc wasn’t able to find the pace and despite two attempts he was unable to beat Verstappen’s time.
The Ferrari driver’s 1:16.588 was good enough to split the Red Bulls, however, and Gasly ended the session in P6. He will line up ahead of Grosjean, with Magnussen eighth ahead of Kvyat and Ricciardo.
2019 Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes F1 W10 EQ Power+ Mercedes 1:15.406
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:16.040 0.634
3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:16.272 0.866
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:16.357 0.951
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:16.588 1.182
6 Pierre Gasly Red Bull 1:16.708 1.302
7 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:16.911 1.505
8 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:16.922 1.516
9 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:17.573 2.167
10 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1:18.106 2.700
11 Lando Norris McLaren 1:17.338 1.932
12 Alex Albon Toro Rosso 1:17.445 2.039
13 Carlos Sainz McLaren 1:17.599 2.193
14 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 1:17.788 2.382
15 Sergio Perez Racing Point 1:17.886 2.480
16 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:18.404 2.998
17 Lance Stroll Racing Point 1:18.471 3.065
18 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 1:18.664 3.258
19 George Russell Williams 1:19.072 3.666
20 Robert Kubica Williams 1:20.254 4.848. -
Bottas sets pace in FP2 as Mercedes pulls away from Ferrari: Spanish GP
Bottas tops FP2 in Barcelona on Friday ahead of the Spanish GP. An FIA image Barcelone, 10 May 2019: After finishing fastest in the first practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix, Valtteri Bottas again set the pace in the afternoon, outpacing team-mate Lewis Hamilton by 0.049s as Mercedes pulled away from Ferrari in FP2 of the Spanish Grand Prix, the fifth round of the Formula One World championship here on Friday.
Valtteri Bottas: “It’s always an interesting day when you’re bringing new parts to the car to get a feel for it and see if they bring the performance they should. The car felt really good today, completely different to how it was in winter testing, and it seems like our cornering performance has improved. The balance around the lap is also better, so it looks like we’ve taken the right direction since the winter. Today was good, but it’s only Friday and Ferrari are very close. It feels like we’ve made a good step forward, but we need to wait and see what tomorrow holds.”
Charles Leclerc was third for the Scuderia, three-tenths of a second behind Bottas.
Bottas went a tenth quicker than Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in the opening practice session but in the afternoon both Bottas and Hamilton opened a healthy gap to the Italian squad during the performance runs.
Vettel and Leclerc were the first to move to the soft tyres and low fuel. They traded times across their runs with the young Monegasque eventually edging his four-time champion team-mate by 0.088s.
It was all in vain, however, as when the Mercedes drivers bolted on soft tyres halfway through the session they quickly outstripped their rivals. Hamilton was initially quickest with a lap of 1m17.410s, but Bottas who looks the more comfortable of the pair at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya beat that with a time of 1:17.284. Hamilton shaved a little over seven-hundredths of a second of his time with his next run but it wasn’t enough to dislodge the Finn from the top spot.
After a morning troubled by an oil leak that forced Red Bull Racing to make a precautionary engine change, Max Verstappen reclaimed his customary placing behind the silver and red cars His fifth-place time was 0.750s off Bottas’s pace.
Verstappen’s woes weren’t done, however, and after reporting a loss of power he returned to the Red Bull after completing just 15 laps. He returned to the action late in the session, and in all posted 30 laps.
Haas’s Romain Grosjean had profited best from Verstappen’s morning P12 to take fifth in FP1 and he continued to set the midfield pace in the second session, beating Pierre Gasly in the second Red Bull and finishing just over a tenth off Verstappen. Gasly was left with seventh place, two tenths off his team-mate.
Kevin Magnussen also finished two tenths behind his team-mate to put the second Haas eighth. The Dane was well clear of McLaren’s home hero Carlos Sainz who finished the day with the best time of 1:18.658, 1.374 off Bottas and three tenths behind Magnussen. Daniil Kvyat Scuderia rounde3d out the top 10 for Toro Rosso 1.4s behind Bottas.
2019 Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 35 1:17.284
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 35 1:17.333 0.049
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 42 1:17.585 0.301
4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 41 1:17.673 0.389
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 30 1:18.035 0.751
6 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:18.153 0.869
7 Pierre Gasly Red Bull Racing 34 1:18.238 0.954
8 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:18.355 1.071
9 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren 45 1:18.658 1.374
10 Daniil Kvyat Scuderia Toro Rosso 40 1:18.722 1.438
11 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo Racing 30 1:18.727 1.443
12 Alex Albon Scuderia Toro Rosso 44 1:18.779 1.495
13 Lance Stroll Racing Point-Mercedes RP19 33 1:18.839 1.555
14 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 43 1:18.861 1.577
15 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 40 1:18.934 1.650
16 Lando Norris McLaren 43 1:19.041 1.757
17 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing 37 1:19.427 2.143
18 Sergio Perez Racing Point 40 1:19.448 2.164
19 George Russell Williams 38 1:20.191 2.907
20 Robert Kubica Williams 23 1:20.781 3.497 -
Valtteri made no mistakes and drove a fantastic race, says Hamilton
Transcript of the Post-race Press Conference at Baku on Sunday:
DRIVERS
1 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes)
2 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
3 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)
TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Paul Di Resta)
Q: Valtteri, an absolutely perfect day you’ve had. Lights out to flag, a bit of pressure from Lewis, but controlled and payback from last year and that win that went away?
Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, indeed. It was actually a tough race, even though maybe not much happening at the front Obviously Lewis was putting pressure all the time, so I could not do any mistake. But honestly, everything was under control so I’m happy to see the chequered flag and get this first place.
Q: You’re the calmest person I’ve seen. Back in control of this championship as well. You’ve had a very good start to the year. It’s all about keeping the momentum up. There’s no better guy than Lewis putting the pressure on, but to get that job done, what does that mean going away from this grand prix, back to Europe?
VB: It obviously means a lot. It’s incredible as a team on which kind of level we are performing now. I already said to the guys I’m so proud to be part of that. We’re all performing really, really well. For me as well, it’s only my fifth win, so of course it feels good and it carries on well.
Q: I hope you can enjoy your Sunday night; you certainly deserve it after this weekend. Lewis, your team-mate did a solid job all weekend, he just pipped you in qualifying but you never let him out of your sights today and you were fighting all the way to the end.
Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, congratulations to Valtteri, he drove a fantastic race. He made no mistakes and truly deserved the win. It was all lost in qualifying, so there’s really not much more for me to say. But it’s a great result for the team. Honestly, this is the best start to a season we’ve ever had.
Q: I want to pick up on the team. Four one-two finishes. How much credit do you owe to these guys year after year after year to give you a car to do a solid job like that?
LH: It’s a team effort. Everyone back at the factory has been working non-stop every year. Every year they come back more hungry for success and it’s a true testament to strength and depth within the team. So really proud of everyone and really great to be a part of it. It was a really great race. For once we’ve been able to push the whole way. It’s pretty cool.
Q: Sebastian, P3 at the end after qualifying. It looked like you struggled in the first stint, regained a lot of strength mid-race and you were able to put the pressure on Mercedes.
Sebastian VETTEL: I don’t know. You’re right. The first stint was really poor. I really struggled to initially get the tyres to work. I think they were too cold and I damaged them, and by the time they were hot they were damaged, so it was never really working. I was really uncomfortable, inconsistent, just couldn’t get a feel and confidence with the car, so that’s not usually so good around here. After that, I was surprised. I was already looking forward to a difficult stint on the medium tyres, but no problem to switch them on and they lasted until the end no problem. So much happier, much more confidence and I think we had some pace to at least go with them, sometimes put a bit of pressure. We obviously had to keep and eye on Max behind. With some of the overtaken, lapped cars he was getting a bit closer but in the end we had enough pace on the medium tyre to react, to keep him behind. It was crucial to keep that third, good for Charles to get that fastest lap at the end, to snatch it away from the Mercedes boys. Still plenty of work for us to do, obviously we are not quite where we want to be. But at this point we just need to maximise what we can.
Q: And I guess looking forward to a more familiar track, Barcelona, where you had such a strong winter and it looked like you guys were going to be the benchmark this year?
SV: I hope so. Obviously the last four races, on average, we were not quite there, so I think we are not the favourites going to Barcelona. But the team is in good spirits. We have another couple of stuff getting on the car, so we need to chase them down. We are looking to hopefully a smooth weekend. Our first four weekends haven’t been that smooth. But it will be crucial to catch them and turn things around.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Valtteri, you said in China that the start of the race cost you the race there, but you looked determined to make sure that didn’t happen today?
VB: Yeah, honestly I could have done a better job at the start today. I think I was a little bit on the cautious side. I didn’t want to get the wheel spin started, so I was rather smooth on getting on power, not to kind of mess it up. But Lewis had a good start, so that’s why he was on the inside and we were pretty much side by side actually through Turn 1, so I was just carrying the speed on the outside, and same thing in Turn 2, leaving enough space. It was nice and fair and I was obviously pleased to keep the first place.
Q: That was the start, but then at the end you also came under pressure from Lewis as well. How tough was that pressure and were you two racing right to the flag?
VB: Yeah, you know, it was a pretty long stint, the second one. So you can sometimes play a little bit, when you push more, when sometimes you try to save the tyres a bit more, because it’s always a bit unknown how the tyres are going to behave when they are coming towards the end of their life. At times I could really notice Lewis trying really hard to catch me and he was really close at times, like in the end. So I had to really respond and push as well. The main thing for I was focusing on was just purely my own driving, not falling for the silly mistakes. I managed to keep it together, so for this I’m really happy.
Q: Well done today. Lewis, we’ll start at the start as well. Just how close was it between you and Valtteri and how tough is it to judge how hard to push against your team-mate?
LH: It’s always difficult to judge. But Valtteri did an exceptional job all weekend and today he was very fair in giving space and after that he was faultless. So today he truly deserved the win. It was a great race. It was really cool that we could push as hard as we could all the way to the end. It was great that the team allowed us to do that. Also just the team’s performance throughout the whole weekend, the engineers, everyone back at the factory who are just constantly delivering 100%. This is truly the strongest season we’ve ever started with but really deservingly in the sense of just how hard everyone has worked in the delivery, so really proud to be a part of it and this is a really great result for everyone.
Q: You mentioned the start to the season. That’s four straight 1-2s. Is this also the best form as a team you’ve produced in the time that you’ve been there?
LH: I think so, yeah, definitely. Valtteri’s really, clearly stepped up this year and is really happy in the car and really delivering and driving fantastically, so it’s going to take some really great performances from both of us to out-perform each other. And that’s how it should be. Hopefully at some stage Ferrari will be in the mix with us. I think this weekend, I do think they had the performance to be on the front row with both of their cars. From our data we saw that Seb didn’t get a tow, for example, which is worth four or five tenths or something, so he probably would have been on pole had he got that tow and the race would have been maybe more exciting. So, again, it takes one hundred per cent deliver throughout the weekend, which we, I think, were as close to that as possible. They’re going to have to pick it up if they want to fight us.
Q: Seb, moving on to you, Lewis says that Ferrari will have to pick it up if they want to fight Mercedes. How well did your race go today and how close to the maximum did you get out of your car?
SV: Well, he’s right. We need to pick it up obviously. We saw in the first stint that we really struggled to follow. I was really quite… yeah it was difficult to find a rhythm, difficult to extract grip from the tyres. After the stop it was a lot better. I expected it to be a tough and long afternoon but after that the car was quite good and I was able to push and I think we stayed with them, and with the blue flags maybe in the end we weren’t particularly lucky, the places around the track, I saw Lewis had some quite good tows with lapped cars here and there – but what goes around, comes around. I think overall the second stint was better for us than the first one. We lost, I think, all the potential to put pressure at the beginning of the race. But they were very strong and did absolutely right be pulling a gap. After that for us I think it was just to try and put them under some sort of pressure and bring it home.
Q: You’re clearly close to Mercedes, based on the finishing positions here. What do you think is going to be key to breaking this run of form that Mercedes has shown?
SV: Well, we need stronger pace, simple as that. We need to be faster. I’m convinced we’ve been, partly this weekend, looking very strong but overall not strong enough. So, it seems that for us it’s more of a conscious effort to get the car in the right window, whereas maybe for them it seems to click a little bit easier. Especially a place like around here, you need the confidence in the car. I’m not yet there. I can feel that I’m not driving at my best because simply the car does not answer or does not respond the way I like. And then I think it’s unnatural. I think everybody’s been there. I think all drivers know that sort of feeling: when it’s not there, then your judgement is normally right, to not go there because you end-up losing the car. So, yeah, I seem to be more sensitive at the first races than at the test. The test was really good but that’s a long time ago now. We need to look forward and improve the way we handle things, the way we work to just get faster. That’s it.
Q: Valtteri, returning to you, Championship leader heading back for the European season – just how much confidence do you take from this start to the season?
VB: Confidence is good. I’m happy to just carry on. Obviously, yeah, it’s been a good start personally for me for the season, it’s a long season ahead. I do realise that. But something I’m really proud of is the level at which the team is performing. It’s, for me, incredible. We need to be really, really proud of that – but not think about it too much. Just keep doing what we’re doing and the list of things that we can do better as a team is still long. So we need to focus on that. So let’s keep going.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Lewis, it was fine margins between you and Valtteri today. I think you lost a bit of time the way the VSC ended and then Valtteri got the tow just as you were closing in on the last lap from the Williams. Do you think it was fine margins that made the difference today? And Valtteri, what was the feeling when you saw you had a slower car up ahead to get DRS from on that last lap?
LH: Yeah, I think ultimately Valtteri did a better job in qualifying on that last lap, which put him in the position to be able to fight and then fine margin at the start, which… yeah, I’ll have to work on. And then I lost two-and-a-half seconds, or whatever it is, under the VSC, so had to regain that and, with only nine laps to go, that was not so easy. So, that was my fault and something I’ll work on. There’s somethings I can fix on the dash to make sure that doesn’t happen again. But, nonetheless, it was a great result for the team.
And Valtteri, your thoughts when you got traffic towards the end of the race.
VB: Yeah, there was some traffic, obviously you lose time mostly – but sometimes actually you can gain from it, like here if you can get a nice tow on the straight and get the DRS. It’s always a very welcome bonus when Lewis is putting pressure behind! It’s not always it works for you. Sometimes he gains from it. So that’s how it goes. Yeah.
Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Just to the two Mercedes drivers — we saw Toto deliver a radio message in the final laps. I was just wondering what the rules of engagement were for you two in the closing laps of today’s race.
LH: It wasn’t a message to us. We were allowed to fight to the end.
VB: Yup.
Q: (Christian Nimmervoll – motorsport-total.com) Lewis, with hindsight probably that first lap fight with Valtteri was the defining moment of that race. Do you think you could have pushed a bit harder or been a bit more aggressive if it was another driver than Valtteri, your teammate?
LH: Definitely. Most definitely. It’s very very difficult — ultimately you always have to remember when you’re in a team as big as this that you are only one, and there are so many people that depend on us, so selfishly I could have for sure pushed a lot harder and Valtteri would have lost position, maybe I would have gained position, most likely he would have got overtaken by a Ferrari or something like that, so we have to work together. So whilst I wanted to overtake him, I had to be cautious at the same time, to give him space so that we would block the front row and stay there. Ultimately I lost out in that, but that’s a sacrifice you have to sometimes make in order for the team to win. I think if it was a Ferrari there it would have been a lot different. And that will be how it continues for the rest of the year — I think Valtteri and I have always had a lot of respect for each other, and we continue to do so. I think you can see that. That’s how we deal with it — we discuss it before the race, we agree as gentlemen, and we stick to it.
Q: (Luis Vasconselos – Formula Press) For Valtteri, when you were speaking to di Resta before the podium you said it was tough but you had it under control all the way. Did it get too close for comfort on the two laps that Lewis had DRS?
VB: Yeah, sure, I didn’t want him to get DRS, that was not planned. He had a very good middle sector that lap and managed to close and here even if you’re like 1.2, 1.3 behind exiting from Turn 16 then you’re gaining time before the DRS detection. I wanted to keep him out from DRS, so it was my bad. But he was pushing hard, so that’s how it goes.
Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Seb, the feeling for you and Charles earlier in the weekend was that the team had made a step here, that the upgrades were working as you liked, and it just seemed like the circumstances of the weekend just sort of went away from you. Do you still retain that positivity from earlier in the weekend or do you feel like there is a sort of similar amount of work to do as before?
SV: Well, absolutely I think it was a step forward with our car, but I think more of a dominating factor is just the way we seem to be able to get on top of or into these tyres. I think there’s a lot of performance in that. The struggle we had here in those low speed corners is less of an aero problem, more of a mechanical grip issue. So a lot of homework for us, obviously, in the last couple of weeks, but I’m sure that once we get everything together the car is strong, and then we will be much more in the fight. At this stage, obviously, averaging the first four races we were just not quick enough.
Q: (Luis Vasconselos – Formula Press) For the two Mercedes drivers — in the last two years your cars were called ‘divas’, but you’ve won on the first four very different tracks. Is this car the most complete one?
LH: I mean, it’s an evolution of the last couple of years cars, so it should be better, and it is in many ways. I would say it’s more our understanding of the procedures that we have to implement that allow us to deliver more from it. I think we’re able to extract a bit more from the car itself, and that’s just from diligence, due diligence we’ve done so much better through testing in our understanding and analysis. Everyone’s just taken a step forward and it’s great to see.
VB: It always can be better! For sure it’s maybe not still the easiest car to get to work, but once it works it’s quick, so something similar we’ve seen before and in the end, like Lewis said, it is an evolution from years before. There’s obviously work to do, but I think this year so far, the four races we’ve had, it’s not only the car. It’s all the areas the team is working on, how well we are performing in all the other areas than just the car. I think that’s maybe been the biggest thing so far this year.
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Bottas on pole in Baku thriller ahead of Hamilton; Leclerc and Kubica crash out
Valtteri Bottas takes pole in the Baku qualifier on Saturday. An FIA image Baku (Azerbaijan), 27 April 2019: Valtteri Bottas took his second pole position of the 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship at the end of a marathon, incident-packed qualifying session that saw two red flag periods for separate crashes involving Robert Kubica and pole position contender Charles Leclerc at Azerbaijan Grand Prix here on Saturday.
Bottas made the best of a tight final run in Q3, maximising a good two to edge team-mate Lewis Hamilton by just 0.059s, with Sebastian Vettel third ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen.
In Q1, Vettel led the early exchanges, setting a time of 1:42.348. His Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc, who had held sway in every practice session, soon bypassed that and his lap of 1:41.426, established a tough benchmark.
Verstappen, meanwhile, suffered a lock-up into Turn 7 on his opening run and his first lap left him in down in P12. On an improving track he was left vulnerable and he returned to the pit lane for a fresh set of tyres and prepared for another attempt.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was also having difficulty finding the sweet spot with tyres and after overcooking his entry to Turn 3 he was forced to take the escape road. He too would require more laps to make his way through to Q2, but eventually climbed to third place above Verstappen.
Pierre Gasly then provided proof of the rapid track evolution. The Frenchman who is facing a pit lane starting after being penalised for a missing a call to the weighbridge in FP2, set the quickest first sector on his second run. Then, benefiting from a tow provided by Racing Point’s Lance Stroll, he crossed the line in just 1:41.335 to claim a top spot he held until the chequered flag.
With Gasly first ahead of Bottas, Hamilton and Verstappen, and with the chequered flag out, there was drama at the end of the session. Williams’ Robert Kubica crashed heavily on the outside of Turn 8. The Pole clipped the barrier on the inside of the corner and was then pitched across the narrow track at high speed, hitting the opposite wall.
The session was red-flagged, and out went 16th-placed Stroll, followed by Haas’ Romain Grosjean, Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg, Williams’ George Russell and, in P20, the unfortunate Kubica.
At the top, with Gasly first ahead of Leclerc, Hamilton and Max, fifth place went McLaren’s Carlos Sainz, with Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas sixth ahead of Vettel and Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi.
Also through to Q2 were Toro Rosso’s Albon Albon in ninth, followed by Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez, the second Toro of Daniil Kvyat, McLaren’s Lando Norris, Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo.
After a lengthy delay to repair the barriers, Verstappen went quickest with an opening lap of 1:41.388. Team-mate Gasly, with a pit lane start in prospect, sat out the session.
Ferrari’s driver, meanwhile, took to the track on medium tyres and the choice bit Leclerc hard.
On his second run, the Monegasque driver carried too much speed into Turn 8 on tyres not yet in the window. He locked up, straight-lined the corner, and hit the barriers in the same spot as Kubica. The session was again immediately red-flagged.
Another lengthy delay followed. On the resumption, Vettel, who had dropped to P12 just ahead of the red flag, was first out on track, this time on soft tyres. The German vaulted up the order and a second flyer eventually netted him P5 ahead of Leclerc, Räikkönen, Norris, Kvyat and Giovinazzi. Eliminated at this stage were Sainz, Ricciardo, Albon, Magnussen and Gasly.
The finale of the marathon session proved to be thrilling. Verstappen was first out on track at the start of the segment and took provisional pole with a lap of 1:41.447. That was quickly bypassed by Hamilton, with the champion posting a lap of 1:40.703 to take provisional pole ahead of Vettel and Bottas.
As other peeled off track for new tyres and a second run, Verstappen without a fresh set available, stayed on track for a second flying lap and the Dutchman jumped to the front row with an lap of 1:41.069.
Vettel was first out in the final runs, prioritising good tyre temperature over gambling on a tow, and in the end it cost the Ferrari driver.
Vettel failed to match Hamilton’s opening run time and after crossing the line in P2 then had to watch as Bottas jumped ahead to claim pole position with a time of 1:40.495, just 0.059s ahead of Hamilton, who made mistakes in the opening two corners of his lap.
The second runs dropped Verstappen to fourth place. He will start alongside Vettel and ahead of Pérez. Sixth place went to Kyat, with Norris in seventh ahead of the Alfa Romeos of Giovinazzi and Räikkönen. Leclerc qualified in P10 but will move up one place on the grid as Giovinazzi is set for a 10-place grid penalty.
2019 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:40.495
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:40.554 0.059
3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:40.797 0.302
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:41.069 0.574
5 Sergio Perez Racing Point 1:41.593 1.098
6 Daniil Kvyat Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:41.681 1.186
7 Lando Norris McLaren 1:41.886 1.391
8 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 1:42.424 1.929
9 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 1:43.068 2.573
10 Charles Leclerc Ferrari
11 Carlos Sainz McLaren 1:42.398 1.903
12 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1:42.477 1.982
13 Alex Albon Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:42.494 1.999
14 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:42.699 2.204
15 Pierre Gasly Red Bull
16 Lance Stroll Racing Point 1:42.630 2.135
17 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:43.407 2.912
18 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:43.427 2.932
19 George Russell Williams 1:45.062 4.567
20 Robert Kubica Williams 1:45.455 4.960 -
Bottas takes pole ahead of Hamilton: Chinese GP
Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas (centre) takes pole ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton (left) and Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari on Saturday. An FIA image Shanghai, 13 April 2019: Finland’s Valtteri Bottas will line up for Formula 1’s 1000thgrand prix in pole position after he beat Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton by the narrow margin of 0.023s in the Chinese Grand Prix, the third round of the FIA Formula One World Championship here on Saturday. The pole is the seventh of Bottas’ career and the 59thfront-row lockout for Mercedes.
Behind the Silver Arrows, Ferrari annexed row two with Sebastian Vettel in third place, 0.017s ahead of team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Bottas was to the fore early in Q1, and the Finn claimed top spot thanks to a lap of 1:32.658. That left him almost half a second clear of team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who ran wide exiting the final corner. Max Verstappen put in a lap 1:33.274 to take P3 ahead of Vettel and Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg. The top five would sit out the final runs.
Eliminated at the end of the segment were Racing Point’s Lance Stroll in P16 with the Canadian exiting ahead of the Williams cars of George Russell and Robert Kubica. Also out was Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi who failed to set a time in Q1.
Bottas held P1 through the final runs, but Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc who caught traffic on his first run and lay in 10thahead of the final laps, vaulted to P2 with a second effort drop Verstappen to fourth place.
Bottas once again stamped his authority on the session setting a benchmark of 1:31.728 in the first runs of Q2. Vettel got closest to him, though the German was half a second back ahead of Leclerc, Verstappen and Hamilton, who once again made a mistake on his lap.
Mercedes opted to run again at the end of the session with Bottas bolting on a set of soft tyres, but Hamilton opted instead for mediums and it was he who topped the session, the Briton posting a time of 1:31.637 to finish a tenth ahead of Bottas lap.
Bottas returned to the top of the order in the first runs of Q3, but only just. The Finn edged team-mate Hamilton by just 0.007 to take provisional pole, with Vettel third.
Verstappen put in a good lap of 1:32.089 to sit in fourth ahead of Leclerc, and the second Red Bull of Pierre Gasly.
There was disappointment for the Red Bulls in the final runs though. Held up through the final corners during their out laps, neither Max nor Pierre was able to get across the line in time to complete a final flying lap, a situation that infuriated the Dutchman.
The traffic problems allowed Leclerc to jump to P4 with his final run to sit alongside Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel, who narrowly squeezed past Verstappen at the end of the out laps and managed to get across the line in time to complete a final lap.
Leclerc’s move up the order handed Ferrari ownership of row two with Red Bull set to start from row three tomorrow, ahead of the Renaults of Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg and the Haas cars of Magnussen and Grosjean.
At the top of the order Hamilton couldn’t find the pace to oust Bottas from P1 and thanks to a marginal improvement the Finn took his seventh career pole by 0.023s.
2019 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:31.547
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:31.570 0.023
3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:31.848 0.301
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:31.865 0.318
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:32.089 0.542
6 Pierre Gasly Red Bull 1:32.930 1.383
7 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1:32.958 1.411
8 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:32.962 1.415
9 Kevin Magnussen Haas
10 Romain Grosjean Haas
11 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:33.236 1.689
12 Sergio Perez Racing Point 1:33.299 1.752
13 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 1:33.419 1.872
14 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren 1:33.523 1.976
15 Lando Norris McLaren 1:33.967 2.420
16 Lance Stroll Racing Point 1:34.292 2.745
17 George Russell Williams 1:35.253 3.706
18 Robert Kubica Williams 1:35.281 3.734
19 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo
20 Alex Albon Toro Rosso -
It is my best race ever, I need to enjoy today says, Valtteri Bottas
Valtteri Bootas (centre) and Lewis Hamilton (left) at the Press Conference along with Max Verstappen on Sunday. An FIA image Melbourne, 17 March 2019: Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes AMG Petronas team who won the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday along with teammate Lewis Hamilton who finished second ahead of Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing attended the FIA post-race Press Conference.
The track interviews are done by former F1 driver Martin Brundle. Transcript:
Q: Valtteri, the race of your life?
Valtteri BOTTAS: I think so! I don’t know what just happened.
Q: What a perfect start, to get away.
VB: I don’t know what to say. It was definitely my best race ever. I don’t know what happened. I felt so good and everything was under control. The car was so good today. So truly enjoyable. I need to enjoy today.
Q: You made it a one-horse race. Twenty-six world championship points with the fastest lap. You were determined to have that fastest lap.
VB: Yeah, definitely. It’s a new rule for this year. As I had really strong pace I wanted to go for that in the end and it’s always a bit risky with worn tyres but it was worth it. I’m just so happy and I can’t wait for the next race.
Q: A one-two for the team, congratulations Lewis, second place, but maybe a bit of a frustrating day for you?
Lewis HAMILTON: No it’s been a good weekend for the team, so I have to be happy for everyone and a really fantastic job from everyone. Valtteri drove an incredible race today, so he truly deserved it. We’ve just got some work to do. Still, it’s a great, great start to the year, more than we could have hoped as a team.
Q: Max launched an attack on you at the end. Did you have it covered?
LH: Yeah, no problem at all.
Q: Any idea where the pace may have gone to?
LH: I do have some ideas, but I’ll wait until I sit with my engineers to go over it. Naturally, position at the start was a little bit frustrating, especially when you have a good weekend up to that point but that’s how the game goes and I’ll just train and work hard to try and improve the next time.
Podium place for Max Verstappen. You had an interesting afternoon.
Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, I had to overtake Seb to get onto the podium, which is not easy around here, so I was happy to pull that move off, and also challenging Lewis for second, so, yeah, pretty pleased with that.
You had the Ferraris covered. You had a little trip across the grass, probably took you back from behind Lewis. But you were still coming at him.
MV: Yeah, it was unfortunate but I don’t think it would have changed the end result.
So, reasonably happy with today?
MV: Of course. To start the season on the podium, challenging the Mercedes car ahead, I think that’s a very positive start for us. Also a big well done to the team, after the difficult Friday we had. And also big thanks to Honda, also their first podium in the V6 era, so very happy for them.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Well Valtteri you said on the podium that you had porridge for breakfast but was there any indication in practice that you were going to be able to unlock that sort of performance from the car?
VB: Well, first of all, as a team, in practice we saw that we were strong, both in short runs and long runs, but obviously it’s impossible to draw a proper conclusion but we saw the raw pace yesterday in qualifying, as a team, with a good margin to Ferrari, and today race pace was strong – much stronger than we expected coming into this weekend. That’s obviously good news. It shows that we have definitely done all the right things between the testing in terms of direction with the car. Also, for myself, it was definitely the best race I’ve had in my life. Obviously, the key thing for me was the race start, to get to the lead and then being at the front I could show strong pace and I could pull a gap. I think in the first stop I could also…. I stopped a bit later so I was a good tyre in the end. Just the car was feeling so good today, it was truly enjoyable.
Q: Well, many congratulations. Lewis, it all seemed to slip away from you at the start. Tell us about that moment?
LH: I don’t really remember much of it, honestly, it was quite a long time ago really. I don’t know, maybe I got wheelspin. It doesn’t really matter, Valtteri got a better start. Once we got to the first corner, we held position, we had the front row still. And Valtteri did an exceptional job throughout the race, so congratulations to him and after that it was just about bringing the car home.
Q: You talked on the radio about maybe some tyres issues. Did that play out?
LH: No, not really. I wasn’t entirely happy with the balance I had but it wasn’t the end of the world. It wasn’t a problem for me to finish second.
Q: Thanks. Coming to you Max: If we had said to you before this race that you would finish 35 seconds ahead of the lead Ferrari, what would you have said?
MV: I would tell you ‘we will find out on Sunday’. Winter testing doesn’t really show the true picture, as you can see this weekend. We had a good car. In the start, stayed out of trouble. It was just very hard to stay close to Seb, as my tyres were overheating very quickly. I just did my own pace, a manageable pace, and we could extend our stint a little bit and then when we did the pit stop afterwards we had a bit fresher tyres than Lewis and Seb ahead. I managed to get by Seb, which is not easy around this track, because it’s just so hard to follow. But very happy to get to third. Trying to challenge for second was a very positive feeling, especially after my Friday. At the end we couldn’t pull it off, but in general I’m juts very happy to be on the podium. I think we managed to turn it around in a very positive way after Friday and for Honda to have their first podium in the V6 era is a great start, so big congrats to them.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: Question for Max. How did you find the Honda engine after your first race with it – and do you think you’ll be capable enough to compete for top spot?
MV: Well, I think in terms of speed we had throughout the race, it was again a very good step forward to last year. If I just compare top speeds against the other two top teams, so I’m very pleased for that. Also, in general, the engine has been performing really well, without any issues. So, that is also very important. I guess time will tell if we can fight for top spot.
Q: Max, obviously the performance of the Red Bull Honda package, evidenced by the fact you finished third – but how encouraging was it that you were not only able to finish third on the road but were able to push Lewis and show performance all the way to the end. It didn’t look like you were having to manage the package at all towards the end.
MV: No, we didn’t. Well… you always have to manage the tyres because as soon as you get close to the car ahead they overheat, the tyres. In general, just very pleased, because I could at least have a go at it, in terms of top speed. Good progress, and there are a lot of positive things coming as well, and so far we have been working really well together. Very pleased with that. I think Valtteri was very far ahead still. It was a good result today, but we have to work hard to, of course, improve.
Q: Congratulations Valtteri. For the first time in six years, a Finnish driver is leading the championship. How does it feel to be first time there as a leader?
VB: Congrats to you as well! Thank you. Obviously, I don’t think I was ever leading a championship. Obviously I know it’s only the first race of the year. I’m not so good with the numbers of the days and statistics but all I can say is that I’m really pleased with the way the season has started. First of all for us as a team, we have such a strong package going forwards and then, for myself, after quite a tricky last year, to have started the season like this. It’s very good and I look forward to the next race.
Q: For everyone, how was it with the new aero package, following cars this weekend? In a race you find out more…
MV: Ask Valtteri how it was following!
LH: No different.
No different to previous seasons?
LH: No.
You were pretty close to Lewis at the end there Max…
MV: Yeah, I had no chance to get by. It is still very hard. The only positive thing what we improved is the DRS effect. So, as soon as it opens, it’s a lot more powerful than last year but following is still a lot of turbulence.
Anything to add Valtteri, when you were coming through traffic…
VB: It was quite… I didn’t get close enough to traffic ahead to really see a difference.
Q: Valtteri, you drove the perfect race and your pitcrew was perfect as well. How does that make you feel when you know how much everyone in the team is giving?
VB: It means a lot. It is teamwork and nothing comes for free. Or by one person’s efforts. We’ve all worked for this result we’ve got now as a team together, over the past years and over the winter, and over the weekend. I’m very proud of every single person here in the team at this race weekend but also at the factory. There’s many hidden heroes in Brackley and in Brixworth. Just want to say a massive thanks to them and I really know how much they work and how much it means.
Q: Valtteri, was there any moment during the race that you had a flashback to Russia last year and you thought maybe someone might come on the radio and say ‘slow down’?
VB: No, I didn’t think of that, actually, and there would be no reason to think about that. We are all starting a new season with zero points, we are here to fight, both me and Lewis will want to fight this season, for sure, against each other and against everyone and we are still one team so no point in thinking about those kind of things.
Q: Valtteri, you said yesterday that you approached the weekend differently, started from zero. Can you explain how your preparation was different from last year, for instance?
VB: Yeah, for sure every year you learn as a person, you learn about yourself, what works for you, what doesn’t work for you in terms of preparation and what preparation includes: how you rest, how you spend your free time, how you do the training, how much training, what kind, all those kind of things, travel plans, all sorts. So just trying to optimise everything for this year, try to maximise every single thing that is possible. I don’t know, it’s quite difficult to explain what’s been going on here last winter, inside of my head and definitely something changed in terms of the way I feel about things in life in general and in racing, but that’s all in my thoughts. I felt good in the car today and yesterday. That’s all that matters.
Q: Max, I want to ask about your mindset and the first race without Daniel. Does it change not having to look sidewards and being able to focus on yourself and not focus as much on internals and have a weekend purely about your performance? Did it feel different today without Daniel?
MV: Well, I always focused on myself so it’s not like something changes, from my side. No.
Q: Lewis, can you tell us something about (how much) wheelspin you had, wheelspin at the start?
LH: Yeah, probably too engaged with the clutch, probably, but I don’t really know because I won’t know ‘til I go back, but ultimately I didn’t do a good enough job.
Q: Lewis, the build-up to this race has been very much about your team versus Ferrari, and many people in the room have written about that. Did we have it wrong? And you just fought off a Red Bull; is this now a three way fight for the championship between those three teams?
LH: I don’t know if you wrote it wrong. It was supposed to be a three-way fight… I thought it was going to be a three-way fight so maybe you did write it wrong.
Q: You really seemed to care about the fastest lap point at the end of the race. Would you say it will be a big deal during the season and will you be ready to take a lot of risks to get it?
VB: Yeah, obviously it’s a point and if you get three of those or more it’s going to make a big difference at the end of the year. You never know. One point can make a difference in the end. For sure we’re willing to risk but still knowing that if you’re about to get 20 or 18 points or 15, whatever, they are still more important than getting one extra so you need to calculate the risk but today was worth it, within a stop for an extra set of tyres for it, but with the worn tyres I went for a quick lap and it was worth it.
I just want to say, again, thank-you Charlie and I want to say that this win is for Charlie and all his work for Formula One. He’s done a massive amount and it means a lot to all of us drivers.
LH: It’s 21 points so we’re going to fight for them.
MV: There are 21 possible points you can get so it can help but like Valtteri said, at the end of the day it’s most important to score 25 or 18, 15, 10. Try to go for one more and then it goes wrong, it can happen sometimes but anyway, I think in some situations like today, I was pushing anyway to try and get Lewis so it happened that I was doing, at that time, the fastest lap. It’s nice if it happens.
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Valtteri Bottas takes a dominant victory in season opener at Melbourne; Hami 2nd: F1
Valtteri Bottas wins at Albert Park on Sunday. An FIA image Melbourne, 17 March 2019: Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas took a dominant Australian Grand Prix victory, finishing 20 seconds ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton and claiming the bonus point on offer for fastest at Melbourne’s Albert Park circuit in the season opener of the Formula One World Championship here on Sunday. Max Verstappen, meanwhile, got Red Bull Racing’s Honda-powered era off to a good start by handing the Japanese manufacturer its first podium finish since 2008 as he claimed third place beind the Mercedes duo.
At the start, Bottas made a good start from the front row and managed to get past pole position man Hamilton in Turn 1 to take the lead. Max, meanwhile, held fourth place behind Vettel as the field streamed through the opening sector.
There was trouble though for Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo. The Aussie took an inside line from P12 on the grid but was squeezed by Racing Point’s Sergio Perez. Ricciardo went on the grass, hit a hummock and dislodged his front wing. He pitted for a new nose and wing. The Australian later retired on lap 29.
After taking the lead, Bottas then began to consolidate it, opening up a 3.5s gap to Hamilton by lap 12 of the 58 and a 7.2s lead to Vettel.
The German Ferrari driver was the first of the leaders to pit at the end of lap 14, taking on medium tyres. He was followed on the next lap by Hamilton who made the same compound choice. Bottas, Verstappen and Leclerc continued to stayed out, however, and by lap 21 Bottas held a 14s advantage over Verstappen who was 10.3s clear of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Bottas eventually made his stop for medium tyres on lap 23. That handed the lead to Verstappen, with the Mercedes driver rejoining seven seconds behind the Red Bull and three seconds ahead of Leclerc.
Verstappen was next in, at the end of lap 25, and a good stop of 2.3s saw him take on mediums and rejoin in P5 behind Vettel. Leclerc, though, still needed to make his stop for new tyres.
The Monegasque drivers finally stopped for hard tyres on lap 28, leaving Bottas to lead Hamilton by 15s with Vettel third ahead of Verstappen.
That order wouldn’t last long, however. After the stops, Verstappen found himself just half a second behind Vettel and on lap 30 he attacked. The Red Bull driver couldn’t make the move stick into Turn 1 but he then pulled alongside the German on the next straight and, thanks to fresher tyres, rounded the Ferrari through Turn 3 to slot into a podium position.
Verstappen then tries to close on Hamilton but the Briton was able to respond and with Bottas in control at the front, the leading order settled.
There was a flurry of action in the closing laps as Verstappen tried to steal fastest lap and the point on offer for the marker from Bottas. The Finn wasn’t to be denied however, and on lap 57 he punched in a 1:25.580 to take the bonus point.
At the end of the next tour he took the fourth win of his career ahead of Hamilton and Verstappen. Fourth place went to Vettel, with Leclerc settling for fifthKevin Magnussen took sixth place for Haas ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen and Stroll held onto ninth ahead of the final points score, Kvyat.
2019 Formula One Australian Grand Prix – Race
1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes –
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 20.886
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull 22.520
4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 57.109
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 58.230
6 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1’27.156
7 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1 lap
8 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 1 lap
9 Lance Stroll Racing Point Mercedes 1 lap
10 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1 lap
11 Pierre Gasly Red Bull 1 lap
12 Lando Norris McLaren 1 lap
13 Sergio Perez Racing Point 1 lap
14 Alex Albon Toro Rosso 1 lap
15 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 1 lap
16 George Russell Williams 2 laps
17 Robert Kubica Williams 3 laps
Romain Grosjean Haas
Daniel Ricciardo Renault
Carlos Sainz McLaren -
It’s quite an emotional qualifying because it’s the last time in this car, says poleman Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes (centre) addressing the press conference after taking pole. An FIA image Abu Dhabi: The top-three drivers including poleman attended the FIA post-qualifying press conference on Saturday at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Transcript:
(Track Interviews conducted by David Coulthard)
Q: Lewis, absolutely fantastic. Epic qualifying session, you’ve topped and tailed the season with pole positions. The fans are happy, you’re happy…
Lewis HAMILTON: I’m so grateful for all the support that we have here. It’s quite an emotional qualifying for me because it’s the last time I’m going to be qualifying in this car. I know you guys watch it, but the emotional rollercoaster I’ve gone through with this car… I’m probably the closest to this car than I’ve been in any car, you know, emotionally attached. It’s not always been easy; it’s been a struggle with here. But it has been a real privilege to work with her this year and I’m just so grateful to the team, to everyone for putting it together, to my guys, these mechanics who have been me for what is it, the last three years or whatever it may be, for their diligence, the guys back at the factory, I’m really just so grateful for everyone. And today it was just so much fun. To go out there and be able to express yourself and to push the car the way you want, there’s no better feeling. And to come back and see the reception from the fans – I really of appreciate it.
Q: You obviously have an affinity with this car. Will you get to keep one at the end of the season or do they go into the museum? Do you keep a collection?
LH: That’s confidential. I’d have to kill you if I told you. You know what, I’m just happy… I think this car will be in the history museum of Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart on the road of evolution where they will have all the greats that have driven with them in the past. I’ll get to see this whenever I want when I go to Germany. I haven’t got enough space for this in my house, anyway, it wouldn’t fit in my apartment.
Q: Very quickly, of all the poles this year, how did that rate? We saw you, on the second last run, you had a little bit of movement from the car, but on that final lap were you happy, or do you feel you left a little bit behind?
LH: No, honestly there was… I never say there is a perfect lap. The first lap wasn’t spectacular. There were some excursions and a bit of movement on the rear end. That last one, it started off quite calm and then just got more and more aggressive as I went through. And the last sector, as you see, the last sector was the killer for me. That’s where I really was able to make a difference. So I actually came around, I think, four tenths up. That’s not easy to do from one lap to another, so I’m pretty grateful for that. Valtteri did a great job and I know Seb was pushing really hard, so it’s been a real privilege working with, and racing against, these guys this year.
Q: Congratulations on your pole position? Valtteri, you pushed him hard, only a couple of tenths in the end in it. Frustrated or happy to start the last grand prix of the season from the front row?
Valtteri BOTTAS: Well, for sure I was aiming for the pole. I had a good result here last year but couldn’t repeat that. Personally, P2 wasn’t what I was expecting but for us, even though we have secured the Constructors’ title, we can still perform at a very high level as a team. Being one-two for the final race is good.
Q: You know you were actually up on Lewis at the end of the second sector, so it was that final sector. Where was the time lost in that?
VB: Yeah, I think I lost a little bit of time in Turn 17-18, it’s just very difficult to get it perfectly right. But he was performing well. It was tough to beat his time. There was a possibility for that but he did a better job on the lap.
Q: Well done. Sebastian, you’re still smiling, so that’s good. In the end the Mercedes was just too strong a package on this race track. Did you expect it to be a little bit closer or did you have the signs already in free practice?
Sebastian VETTEL: I don’t know, to be honest. I enjoyed the session. In Q1 I thought it was rally tight, so I thought maybe we would have a word to say. In Q2 I thought Lewis put a really strong lap in on the harder tyres, and I thought ‘whoa, this is going to be difficult’. But then the first run in Q3 I rally had a good lap and it was very close again, but they must have had still some push in for the last run. I did improve, I think the track ramped up, but not enough to be a threat. But for tomorrow I’m quite confident and I think it is going to be a long race, so yeah, it’s going to be a fun race.
Q: It was great when I was talking with Valtteri, I could see you were talking with Lewis, Lewis has just gone and shaken hands with your mechanics – it’s been a tough rivalry but there has been respect throughout?
SV: Yeah, obviously one thing happens on track but off track I don’t see the reason why you can’t talk to each other or joke with each other. I enjoyed it, obviously it didn’t go my way; I guess he enjoyed it a little but more. Looking forward to getting in the car for the last time this year and challenging these guys and yeah, we’ll give it everything we have.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Starting on pole position for the fourth time here in Abu Dhabi, the 11th pole of 2018, the 83rd pole of his career and his 52nd pole in the last 100 races, Lewis Hamilton. Many congratulations Lewis, how did that one stack up with that long list I’ve just read out?
LH: Wow! It was a great qualifying session. It was a lot of fun. Obviously, going into it, feeling relatively emotional being that I was going to be stepping into this car for qualifying. It’s just been such a journey this year. So many things have happened, so many trials and tribulations along the way and it’s been a real privilege working with these guys. The actually qualifying session went quite smoothly. I think, collectively, as a team, we’ve done a really good job this weekend in getting the car into the right window – and obviously, it was still quite close at the end – but the difficult thing was trying to improve on… it’s always difficult to improve on your last lap, particularly because your first lap, your banker lap, is pretty good but I managed to increase the gap on that section, knowing these guys would also do the same. I saw Valtteri was obviously quite close. He was improving throughout the qualifying session, so he did a great job – but what a great way to end the season, with a one-two qualifying session. So really proud of everyone at Mercedes and, those numbers that you mentioned, I couldn’t have done that without everyone at Mercedes. The support, since I was 13, has been incredible. So, just proud to be a part of the machine.
Q: Valtteri, coming on to you. Just quite simply, where do you feel it slipped away, the time?
VB: I think, first of all, Lewis had quite a nice lap, so congrats for that. My first run, I could feel that there was plenty I could improve, and the gap was smaller between us in the first run. The second run, I think there was definitely some track improvement. We both managed to find some time but he just got a more complete lap in the end. I think what maybe hurt me a little bit was that there was a couple of runs in the qualifying that I didn’t really get a good lap out of the ultra tyre in Q2, some other runs, I really struggled with some things on the car. But then, yeah, happy to have decent runs in Q3. That way we could secure a well-earned one-two for the team.
Q: Sebastian, how surprised are you by the pace of the Mercedes around here?
SV: Not surprised. I think they looked very competitive all weekend, so, I don’t know, qualifying, it’s been a bit up and down. Q1 looked very good for us. Q2 then probably was realistic. I think Lewis had a very strong lap on the ultrasoft. So, I think we tried everything and gave it everything we had. After the first run didn’t look stupid at all. Was very close, half-a-tenth, I thought, was in reach but then the second run, obviously, I crossed the line and… yeah… I was quite happy with the lap but it wasn’t enough and obviously dropped back to third. I guess there first run was probably not as strong as ours. The track did improve but it’s a long lap, so there’s a lot of lap-time to be found if everything works out. As I said, I was happy with our session. I think happy that we were able to get a strong lap in Q2, which is important for tomorrow’s race. Would have liked to have been in the front row. It’s not the case but yeah, I said to the guys after the qualifying that we will fight as hard as we can tomorrow. I think, come race day, anything can happen. We’ve got good speeds in the straights. We are lacking a little bit of downforce in the last sector, I guess, so let’s see what we can do – but surely it’s going to be a long race.
Questions from the floor:
Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Lewis, with pole and victory and Brazil and pole here, it’s very good form after wrapping up the title. When you won the title early in 2015 and 2017 you didn’t have that afterward. Was it important for you at all to maintain that level after winning the title this year? And is anything different, compared to previous seasons to allow you to stay at that level?
LH: Not really.
SV: You’re older. Wiser.
LH: Older. Wiser! I don’t know. I don’t think it ‘cos I couldn’t do it in the past, just didn’t do the job. I think this year it was being in a different place in my life. I do want to continue to push the limits, push the boundaries and I wanted to finish the season on a solid high if I can. So that I can really continue to keep that foundation as strong as it has been this year so I can use that to start on next year. I think in the past it was still good. It was no biggie that I didn’t win after I won the Championship but I’m definitely happy with how it’s going this year and there’s still a long race tomorrow., so still got a lot of work to do but really happy with today.
Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-Magazin.com) Two questions for you Seb. In Q2, you did the second run on the ultrasoft as well, so did you know you can improve somewhere, was it a big risk for you at that time? And the second one, yesterday, you weren’t that confident for the race pace. Today, you look a bit happier with race pace. Is it just the top speed advantage that makes you more confident for tomorrow?
SV: There’s a lot of questions in there! I think the car felt a bit better today. Probably the track came towards us as well. Usually throughout qualifying the track improves and you start to feel happier with the car. So I think we estimated the right direction and were able to follow the trend. I think yesterday we tried everything and obviously for us the hypersoft didn’t last so long, so we were quite confident that it’s not the race tyre, not the tyre we want to start the race on. Other people obviously had the same opinion and I knew in the second run that I had some lap-time to gain. I was held-up a little bit in traffic on the first lap and I knew it will be tight but I really wanted to start on that tyre. That’s why I was able, or was happy to take that risk.
Q: (Rene Oudman – RacingNews365.com) Question to all three. The Red Bulls will only start in the third row – but we’ve seen in recent races that their race pace is pretty good. How would you guys rate their chances for tomorrow?
LH: Yeah, they’ll be strong tomorrow. They always are in the race. We’ve seen a pattern show over the year where they’re quick in early practice and then, when we get to qualifying, they can’t keep up, or they struggle to keep up with the pace that we end up delivering, and then in the race, they come back. So it’s evident that they’re probably better than all of us at looking after their tyres and operating where they don’t have to manage the same as everyone else, whatever that’s down to, downforce, whatever it may be. So I’m sure they’ll be strong tomorrow – but it’s not that easy a circuit to overtake. And you know the Ferraris are very strong on the straight, so for them to propel past a Ferrari, I’m sure will not be easy but yeah, you’ve seen them up until now, so I hope they have a strong finish to the year and I hope it’s relatively close between us all.
Valtteri, anything to add?
VB: Nothing to add, no.
Sebastian? They’ll be starting closest to you…
SV: Yeah. Obviously!
Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Couple of questions; first one’s to Lewis: what is it, 52 poles now in a hundred races; you’ve won 50 races out of 99; phenomenal achievement, what do you put that success down to? Where do you think it’s going to stop and question to the other two, how do you stop him? How do you stop Lewis from steamrollering through these statistics?
LH: I put it down to teamwork. I think it’s definitely a little bit difficult for all you and everyone watching to see everything that’s going on in the background but just the other day I was sitting in the office here, I think on Friday, sitting just talking to a couple of individuals who are not usually here but are up-to-date with next year’s car. So we sit and have this in-depth conversation and it’s inspiring… they are so smart, incredibly intelligent and they think on a completely different wavelength to the normal person. And the things that they have to take into account when building a car and I think over the years I’ve been getting more and more involved in that as I understand it more and try to… You know ultimately I want to make sure, through our debriefs, they’ve not misinterpreted something. For example, I know what I need in this car to make it faster and I’ve got to make sure that I communicate that with them so that they go and build and find that performance. And for next year’s car, I have an idea, for example, where the weak spot will be with these new rule changes as do they, so just working closely, communication and we’re all of us constantly working so closely together, really elevating each other and I think this year, if you look at the team’s performance on the race weekend, that our mechanics, our engineers, strategists, we’ve all raised our game. We’ve been better than… you know it’s never ever been perfect, neither of us as drivers, but collectively, as a team, I think we’ve really continued to elevate ourselves which is again, inspiring for me and that encourages me to go out there and not want to let them down. So I’m confident; as long as Mercedes don’t change their approach, don’t change their desire to win… some teams decide to veer off and do some other business venture and lose a bit of focus on the main ultimate goal; as long as they don’t do that, I believe that we’ll be able to stay on this path and continue to fight at the top. But Ferrari have been doing an amazing job this year so we cannot take anything for granted, we’ve got to keep the hammer down, keep pushing as they will be. See how close they are right now and look at Valtteri, he’s been driving exceptionally well all year. I know next year again, the third year with the team, he will be even quicker so we will have to rediscover new skills for next year.
Q: And Valtteri, how are you going to stop him?
VB: Obviously Lewis has had great numbers in his career. It is really impressive. I think that happens when you’re enjoying it and you always find new skills from yourself and you’re still hungry to develop. It’s for every sport, individual, it’s the same. For me, my target next year is to be better. My target next week is to be better than this week so I will continue my work with the team together and try to be a better driver. Of course I want to be ahead of him many more times than I’ve been in the last two years but it’s going to be hard work, I know but I’m willing to work hard and as Lewis said, we have a great team around us and the team spirit is amazing so the amount of strength I’m getting from the team has been amazing and that’s going to help me also next year.
SV: Well, I think Lewis summed it up fairly well, I think mentioning the word teamwork, I think that’s what it’s about. Obviously what you look at in terms of when you look in qualifying or the race, then obviously we are the ones driving the car and we are alone driving the car and when we cross the line you look at us first but there’s a lot of people behind to make sure that you do cross the line and if they do their job really really well and work together then you have a high chance of finishing higher up. So I think it’s needless to say that Lewis had an incredible run in the last five years but I think since the day he joined Formula One until now, to be honest… you mentioned that it’s the fifth consecutive front-row lock-out for Mercedes here – did you say that? – so it also proves that they’re doing a really good job as a team. I think for us, it’s not that easy because the challenge to beat such a strong team is difficult but that’s our target. I think we know where we want to go. A lot of work ahead of us, I think a lot of lessons to be learned again this year. Ultimately, I think we have 21 races, with the 21st coming tomorrow and in summary, we haven’t been strong enough this year to take the challenge until the last race, the last lap, so I think we need to look at ourselves. I think we have the people, we have the resources so it’s more getting the maximum out of our package, improving the work inside our team and making sure that we come up with a stronger package, a stronger team for the future.
Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, what do you think? Is tomorrow the last chance to have the first ever Finnish one-two as you two are still in the top teams?
VB: Yeah, for sure it’s… you never know, Sauber might be the best next year. Who knows? I don’t know, time will show, obviously. We’ve seen many many mixed races, conditions in the last few years and it can always happen but I just focus on my race and it can always happen but I just focus on my race, try to win it and then we see.
Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Sebastian, you talked this year about the benefit that Ferrari has found Friday to Saturday with the work that the guys have done on the simulator, working through things back at base. Obviously, for next year, both of those main guys, Kvyat and Giovinazzi, step into F1 race seats so need replacing. How important is it to have the right guys on the simulator and do you think that Ferrari have made more of that sort of benefit this season?
SV: Personally, I’m not a fan of the simulator because it’s just not fun. But you get the point, it is very important, it is an important tool. Based on our findings last night, we changed the car for today, both of us did and it was better and we were happier. It’s not the first time that this has happened so we’re extremely thankful for the guys, taking in the time because it’s not the nicest job on Friday night, especially when you’re young, but it’s important, it all adds up and again, Lewis summed it up fairly well when he mentioned the word teamwork and that’s what it is. Everybody plays his part and in the end we have the honour to have the steering wheel in our hands and drive the machine that we all try to create and reach out with performance. For next year, it’s true, we take a step but I think we will find people that fit in very well and very quickly so I’m confident we will have a strong team on that front as well next year.
Ends
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Valtteri Bottas fastest in FP2; edges out FP1’s topper Max Verstappen
Bottas tops FP2. An FIA image Abu Dhabi, 23 Nov 2018: Last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix winner Valtteri Bottas hit the top of the timesheets at the Yas Marina Circuit, edging FP1’s quickest man, Max Verstappen by just four hundredths of a second, with Daniel Ricciardo third in the second Red Bull.
Bottas set the pace in the opening part of the session, using ultrasoft tyres to hold top spot just over two-tenths of a second ahead of Verstappen, who also ran on ultrasofts.
Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen was the first to make the move to hypersoft tyres for a qualifying simulation and the switch immediately vaulted him to the top of the order with a time of 1:37.461. He was followed by team-mate Sebastian Vettel who took second place behind the Finn.
Bottas was winding up for his run, however, and the Mercedes man reclaimed top spot with a lap of 1:37.236s. Five-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton looked like eclipsing his team-mate but an imperfect final sector meant his qualifying sim yielded a time of 1:37.443.
The two-tenths of a second gap allowed both Red Bulls to slot between the Mercedes cars, with Verstappen beating Ricciardo to P2 by 0.148s.
With Hamilton ahead of the two Ferraris at the end of the session, best of the rest honours went to Haas’ Romain Grosjean. The Frenchman finished the 90 minutes with the best time of 1:38.060, eight-tenths of a second off Bottas’ pace. Nico Hulkenberg took eighth place for Renault, with the German being the last min within a second of Bottas’ best time.
Ninth place in the session went to Kevin Magnussen in the second Haas. The Dane finished 1.082 off the pace with Racing Point Force India’s Esteban Ocon just eight-hundredths of a second further back in 10th place.
2018 Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 37 1:37.236
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull 32 1:37.280 0.044
3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 31 1:37.428 0.192
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 35 1:37.443 0.207
5 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 40 1:37.461 0.225
6 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 39 1:37.569 0.333
7 Romain Grosjean Haas 30 1:38.060 0.824
8 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 36 1:38.230 0.994
9 Kevin Magnussen Haas 30 1:38.318 1.082
10 Esteban Ocon Force India 33 1:38.402 1.166
11 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 32 1:38.506 1.270
12 Carlos Sainz Jr. Renault 37 1:38.511 1.275
13 Fernando Alonso McLaren 35 1:38.725 1.489
14 Sergio Perez Force India 31 1:38.806 1.570
15 Charles Leclerc Sauber 33 1:38.831 1.595
16 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 35 1:38.957 1.721
17 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 36 1:39.502 2.266
18 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 18 1:39.938 2.702
19 Lance Stroll Williams 33 1:40.046 2.810
20 Sergey Sirotkin Williams 39 1:40.935 3.699
