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Tag: Vettel
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Vettel tops final free practice in Singapore
Red Bull Racing continued to dominate preparations for the Singapore GP as Sebastian Vettel finished the weekend’s final practice session at the top of the timesheet.
The championship leader didn’t have it all his own way, however, as the commanding one-second gap on single lap pace he enjoyed yesterday was narrowed to just two tenths as Romain Grosjean mounted a challenge for Lotus. Mercedes too closed in, with Nico Rosberg finishing third, half a second down on Vettel’s time. Mark Webber was fourth in the second Red Bull, an FIA release said.
German Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing in Singapore on Saturday. An FIA photo The session developed in predictable fashion with the backmarkers first out on the medium tyre while the front runners held station in the garages.
Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo set the early benchmark at 1:48.001 but as the 20-minute mark passed Lewis Hamilton brushed that time aside with a lap of 1:46.514.
The Red Bull drivers were winding up, however, and at the halfway point Webber soon took over with a lap of 1:46.220, almost three tenths clear of the Mercedes. Vettel then moved into P2, seven hundredths behind his team-mate as the medium tyre exploration edged to a finish.
The field retired to the garages to make final changes for their qualifying simulations on the supersoft tyre and the first man out on that compound was Grosjean.
On the medium, the Frenchman had been sitting in P4, with a time of 1:46.616, but with the supersoft onboard he went over two seconds quicker to claim top spot.
It didn’t last long, as Vettel powered through. The gap though was marginal, with just 0.191 seconds separating the two. Rosberg then took P3. Webber should have got closer but his run on the red-banded tyre was hampered by traffic.
With Webber fourth, Hamilton took fifth place ahead of Fernando Alonso, whose post-Monza suggestion that Ferrari might struggle on the high-downforce, low-speed street circuit played out as predicted. Sergio Perez was seventh for McLaren, with Nico Hulkenberg an eye-catching eighth for Sauber. The top 10 order was rounded out by McLaren’s Jenson Button and the second Ferrari of Felipe Massa.
2013 Singapore Grand Prix Free Practice Three result
1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1:44.173
2 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:44.364 +0.191
3 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:44.741 +0.568
4 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 1:44.906 +0.733
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:44.921 +0.748
6 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:45.257 +1.084
7 Sergio Pérez McLaren 1:45.500 +1.327
8 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber 1:45.876 +1.703
9 Jenson Button McLaren 1:45.890 +1.717
10 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:45.935 +1.762
11 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:46.084 +1.911
12 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 1:46.147 +1.974
13 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:46.338 +2.165
14 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:46.358 +2.185
15 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:46.660 +2.487
16 Paul di Resta Force India 1:46.879 +2.706
17 Esteban Gutiérrez Sauber 1:46.893 +2.720
18 Adrian Sutil Force India 1:47.249 +3.076
19 Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1:48.931 +4.758
20 Charles Pic Caterham 1:49.037 +4.864
21 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:49.182 +5.009
22 Max Chilton Marussia 1:49.982 +5.809 -
A fantastic race and we beat the red guys: Sebastian Vettel
DRIVERS
1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)
2 – Fernando ALONSO (Ferrari)
3 – Mark WEBBER (Red Bull Racing)
PODIUM INTERVIEW (Conducted by John Surtees and Jean Alesi)
Q: Sebastian, you won your first grand prix, here at Monza, in an Italian team. So, it’s very special coming back for you, isn’t it?
Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, definitely. A fantastic race – but you can hear the difference, obviously, when you don’t win here in a red suit, you get a lot of that but in the end it’s very nice because it means you’ve done very good and beat the red guys. So we are very proud of that. Great job by the whole team today, very good job by Renault. Usually this is one of the toughest tracks we go to but this year the car’s been absolutely fantastic, the race has been incredible. I think for both of us towards the end we were struggling a little bit with the gearbox so we had to pace ourselves but obviously for me it was not that bad because I had a little bit of a cushion but very great to win here, to see all the fans coming, it’s the best podium of the season so very proud to be up here.
Q: It’s important that they come and the emotion is all about Italy, isn’t it?
SV: Yeah, for sure.
…Fernando did a very good drive and kept you honourable, so that was fantastic.
SV: Yeah, definitely. Most people, you can see are dressed in red – but there’s a lot of blue caps as well and I’m sure those guys are very happy. Thank you.
Q: Fernando, you must explain how was the overtaking in the beginning of the race for you.
Fernando ALONSO: It was difficult obviously. The car was OK and we overtook Nico [Hülkenberg] but then we had to overtake Mark and Felipe later on. And then with Sebastian we were not able to close to the gap so we were fighting with Mark until the end. Second place is good, to have this podium ceremony that is the most spectacular podium of the year for sure and hopefully next one, next year, we come back here but in the top place.
Q: And Fernando, when you make the pass, the whole public jump on the grandstand, it was amazing. Inside the car, how it was? It was very close.
FA: It was close. Obviously we have to risk. There is nothing now to lose for us. We are second in the championship and we have to take some risk. We did it and that’s OK.
Q: You understand Ferrari love you? You have to love Ferrari, we are all behind you…
FA: Ah, of course. I always said the same thing, big thanks to the team for everything they do for me and huge support from all the fans from all Italy. Some people still try to create some tension between team and driver but here is the better symbol: zero tension and we fight for the championship always.
Q: Mark, you had to fight very hard to be on the podium. From the middle of the race you had… it looked like from outside you had better speed, compared to the beginning. Can you explain how it was at the beginning of the grand prix?
Mark WEBBER: Yeah, I felt a little bit better on the tyre at the end of the race. The hard tyre was not quite as comfortable for me but I felt very, very good at the end. So it was a good battle with Fernando. Great team result. Thank you to Monza, last time here in Formula One, so thank you very much. See you next time.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Well done Sebastian, your third win here but tell us the problems you had with the gearbox – you said between fifteen and ten laps from the end. Was it getting worse or was it just one problem?
SV: In the end we finished the race so it was not a disaster. I think yeah, the heartbeat was a bit higher in the car and also at the pitwall because we didn’t know what’s going on. Fortunately, as I said, we didn’t have any big issues. Just the last ten, fifteen laps, tried to pace myself a little bit more and control the gaps. Obviously it was good to have these ten seconds on hand, so I didn’t have to push that much and also I didn’t have to squeeze it all out of the tyres even though I stopped a couple of laps earlier than Fernando. So that was positive. But yeah, we didn’t know how bad the problem is. We’ll probably know better once we strip the car next week and have a look inside the gearbox. We’ll probably know for both cars, I think, how close it was.
Q: Fernando, were you happy with that second place? Was that as much as you could have achieved today?
FA: Yes, very happy. I think the weekend we took the maximum from the car. Practice were OK and we learnt some good information Friday. Saturday it was very good, both cars in the top five. I think the last time was Malaysia this year, so very, very long time, so we were very, very happy. Today, being in the podium again, it’s a fantastic feeling here in Monza. The fourth year that I drove for Ferrari, the four times that I was in the podium and every year is something amazing, something unique again, to be there in that moment. And we did the maximum and nearly a perfect weekend. We didn’t close the gap in the championship, which is obviously the goal every weekend but y’know, when Sebastian and Red Bull dominate Friday, Saturday and Sunday and they win the race we have to congratulate them. They were the best all through the weekend and we need to do hopefully a better job next time but from what we had this weekend I think we did the maximum. So we are extremely happy.
Q: Mark, you’ve had your best finishing position here and finally experienced a Monza podium – but at the same time, tell us about the start, tell us why you pulled off at the end.
MW: Yeah, very happy to be on the podium here at Monza. It’s one of the most famous ones in the world, up there with Monte Carlo and a few other signature events but yeah, brilliant to experience that, even though the atmosphere I was not completely a fan of, to be honest. Sebastian won the race and the atmosphere is not completely correct but anyway… that’s their choice. It was good to have a clean weekend from start to finish and then fight for top positions, which was certainly the case today. The start was pretty good but both Sebastian and I, I think, compared to the Ferraris were not as strong off the line. Felipe had a good one so he had to go to the other side. Seb gave me enough room up the inside. I thought he was going to go straight. He was very deep on the brakes but just managed to pull it up, so then we settled into the first part of the race. I was not super-happy on the hard tyre but anyway that’s the way it was. Fernando was into the rhythm a little bit quicker, we had a good little battle in the second chicane and then after that really just trying to managed the pace on the rear tyres to when we were going to stop to try to pass Felipe – which I was very, very happy with, the in-lap. And also the whole thing went well in terms of for the line, pitstop, exit, out-lap. We executed that as a team effort: driver, pitcrew, and got the job done against Felipe. And then actually it was a good battle with Fernando on the other tyre. Tried everything but yeah, as Seb touched on, we had to nurse the gearbox a little bit but in the end second was the maximum, we got third but we pushed Fernando all the way. It’s always a good battle racing Fernando, you have to be very accurate. We pushed as hard as we could and I’m satisfied with today’s result.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Adrian Huber Rodriguez – Agencia EFE) Fernando, is the only way for you to win this championship is for Sebastian to lose it?
FA: Well, I think we need to be realistic about the championship now there’s a very big gap. We don’t have enough races and probably we don’t have the speed right now to win some consecutive races and hope to reduce the gap just by pace. We need to be lucky and we need to have some DNFs from Sebastian or something to win the championship. With the races left and the points disadvantage, it’s hard but in a way, it was exactly the same last year. We could only lose the championship, with 41 points advantage in front of Sebastian after the Monza race. It was difficult for him to catch up and so it was maybe up to us. We didn’t complete the job and we had a DNF in Suzuka and some other problems. There’s still a long way to go; we will try until the last race to be as good as we can and score as many points as possible and then in Brazil we will see how many points we have compared to him.
Q: (Adrian Huber Rodriguez – Agencia EFE) And yesterday, there was so much talk and so much written as to whether you had said this or said that. Did you feel today that the fans spoke out for you? They cheered you; do you feel much better today than yesterday?
FA: Concerning yesterday, it’s the third or fourth consecutive race that some people have tried to create some tension between the team and the drivers. Then we come to the press conference, we explain everything but obviously this doesn’t sell so many newspapers – normality. Every time I leave an airport, the hotel, home, everywhere – here in Italy there’s huge support, huge love from them and me to them as well and to the team and we keep repeating this and we saw today on the podium maybe not many of them read the newspapers in the morning, luckily.
Q: (Jaime Rodriguez – El Mundo) Fernando, can you explain the overtaking manoeuvre on Mark, maybe the most spectacular in the whole race?
FA: I tried a lap before but I was not close enough in turn four, in the second chicane, and then we were very close in the first chicane on that lap. Mark had a little slower exit in the first chicane so I used all the KERS on that straight hoping that with the KERS plus the slipstream it will be enough to pass, but it was not enough so that we arrived side by side. At one point, I thought ‘well, I will miss the second chicane and I will give the place back’ but at the last moment I get the grip, we were very close to touching each other but again we come back to the point that it’s not the same fighting with an experienced and respectful driver compared to some others with whom you would never try that move, with whom we’ve had some incidents already.
Q: (Cesare Manucci – Autosprint) Sebastian, in parc ferme you changed gears five, six and seven I think, because you already had a warning of the same problems with the transmission that you had during the race, or was it a completely different problem, or just to be more safe for the race?
SV: We already saw something on Friday, obviously something similar but Friday to Saturday we changed the gearbox and then I think in the race it was a surprise. We were obviously aware of the Friday problem but we didn’t see anything before that. There’s not much you can do; obviously once you start the car there’s nothing you can change so in the end, I think we were lucky or in a comfortable position to have a little bit of a gap especially towards the end. I don’t know what they saw on the pit wall in terms of data, if the problem got worse and worse and worse or stabilised, but obviously I tried to save the car, save the engine and gearbox as much as I can. In the end, I still have to go full power on the straights; basically try to short shift and save the car a little bit.
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, does it hurt to see the people against you on the podium?
SV: About the general atmosphere, fortunately I had an experience in 2008 which blew me away completely when we won here in an Italian team with a Ferrari engine so the atmosphere was fantastic. When we won here in 2011 and this year… 2011 was a surprise, this year I think it was kind of expected. I said on the radio on the in lap that the more booing we get, the better we have done today. It’s normal. I don’t blame the people to be honest, I think their love of Ferrari is in their genes. It’s something very special. Obviously Fernando is in a great position on the podium, whereas if you’re dressed in any other colour it’s not the same, but still, it’s a fantastic race, a fantastic podium here.
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, I think the only hard moment was at the start when you locked up the front tyres a bit. How was it after that, please?
SV: Our start was difficult, as I mentioned. I didn’t get off the line that well, couldn’t see Mark so tried to give him enough room and then tried to brake late, probably a little bit too late, locked the front right and then had lots of vibrations after that because I had a flat spot on the front right tyre. Fortunately we weren’t front limited on this circuit, so the front tyre was not a big issue, so I tried to look after the rears after that and we still got far enough to make the one stop work.
Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and National Speedsport News) Mark, can you describe your side of when Alonso passed you and how badly did that damaged wing affect your race?
MW: I think that I braked pretty deep into there, so did Fernando. It was early in the race, we were still to get a feel for where everything is. Obviously as Fernando touched on, it’s very easy to go straight there and not make the entry to the chicane. I was also mindful of the fact that I wanted to make the entry to the chicane as well but when Fernando then got pretty much level on the outside of three, the chess match is over, basically, so you then obviously have to concede and look to take the fight to another part of the race. The wing, I think, wasn’t too bad. I think we’ve had quite a few little snags on the front wings this season but that seemed to be OK. It wouldn’t have helped; I don’t think we had the best balance in the first ten, 15 laps because of that. As the race went on towards the end, it might not have been too bad to help the stint but I couldn’t go anywhere against that with Felipe and at the end of the stop the guys might have tweaked it up a little bit, but in general, not a big difference. I was concerned that the wing might have been more damaged when I saw it go and also on the back straight on the way to the Parabolica I thought I saw Fernando’s left rear – just an illusion maybe – but I saw the tyre about to go down but it didn’t, it stayed up and in the end we both survived.
Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) Sebastian, Adrian Newey in Spa said that Monza wouldn’t be a positive track for Red Bull, but looking at the dominance here, maybe he was wrong. What happened, how were you able to change the situation?
SV: I think he was as surprised as we were. Just on the way up to the podium, he said ‘I thought that it was going to be damage limitation this weekend.’ I said to him ‘well, if damage limitation is like that, I want to have a lot of damage for the rest of the season.’ It was very unexpected. Already the pace on Friday surprised us. From a balance point of view, I was very happy with the car, similar to two years ago. So obviously we’ve been very competitive in Canada, very competitive in Spa on medium downforce tracks. This one was a little bit unknown. We haven’t been the fastest down the straights again, but fast enough, somewhere in the mid-field which is enough to use the strengths that we have through the corners, despite running as little wing as we can afford.
Q: (Carlos Miguel – La Gaceta) Fernando, what do you expect for Singapore, because in theory it is very good for your car. Do you believe Red Bull is now at the level of 2011?
FA: Yeah, we will see. Obviously we were expecting a lot from Monza and it was a very good Monza. It’s true that we didn’t win the race because Red Bull and Sebastian did an even better job and they were very very good but in our level of competitiveness that we had this year, Monza is one of the best weekends, as we expected before. We came from Silverstone, from Nurburgring, from Hungary where we had Red Bull in front of us, Lotus in front of us, Mercedes in front of us and some other cars sometimes, so here in Monza we were able to beat all those cars and fight for the wins, so if we can repeat this good performance in Singapore, we hope so but this will be the real test for us. We made some changes in the car, they seemed to be positive in Spa, seem to be good and positive in Monza, but when we reach the maximum level of downforce in Singapore, like we had in Hungary, we need to check. If we still have Mercedes in front, Lotus in front and some other teams, we will be more or less the same as in Hungary and we don’t want to be. I think we prepare the car and we prepare everything to make a step forward and in Singapore hopefully we can see it.
The level of domination? Well, I think as Sebastian touched on before as well, already in Canada, Spa, Monza are very unique tracks in terms of level of downforce. They were quick in Spa so more or less… we saw it in Canada so Spa was not a surprise and here in Monza also they performed really well. I think it’s more tight this year than 2011 and also there are more teams in the battle. There is not only Red Bull who can be on pole position etc; there is Mercedes who have done many pole positions this year etc, so many races are coming with many interesting combinations of performance so what we have to do is try to be close to the top in all track characteristics.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Sebastian, you said some minutes ago that the car reminded you of the 2011 car here. It means a very dominant car as we already saw in Spa – Francorchamps, you have 53 points advantage over Alonso. What do you predict for the rest of the season? You are very close to being World Champion for the fourth consecutive time?
SV: I’m trying not to think about it too much. I think that when I spoke about the fact that it was similar to 2011 I was speaking about the experience here in Monza because usually… you know, 2009, 2010, 2012 it was very tricky for us here. Obviously this year was similar to 2011 when the car just seemed to be very well balanced in the corners, I felt very good through all the medium speed and the chicanes. It’s not as simple as you think. People say ‘at Monza, you just need horsepower, little wing on the car’ but in fact if the car doesn’t feel right and doesn’t allow you to play, you lose a lot of lap time, just because you are not comfortable. The cars are sliding more than the rest of the year because you run less downforce so you need to be happy with that and accept that. We have a car this year that was similar in 2011 in that regard and allowed myself to play and still to feel comfortable, even though the car was loose. Other than that, I think I tend to agree with Fernando. Obviously the last two races have been very good for us but overall this year, I think it’s been very close. Yesterday was the first pole position we got in real dry dry conditions, if you don’t consider Melbourne because it was a little bit damp and drying up in Q3. So on that front, we seem to have made progress and in the race it has stood out this year that we have had a very very strong race car. Together with Ferrari, I think on average we have been the fastest in the race.
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, during the race we heard a little message radioed by you that you were complaining about the rear light on the Vettel car. I would like to know how disturbing, how annoying it was for you during the race?
SV: Me?
FA: Was the question for me? Well, it was…
SV: Will you listen now? You complained about the red light?
FA: Yeah, yeah. It was disturbing a little bit. Obviously it’s a very strong light with no rain.
SV: It’s worse in here.
FA: Sebastian is not used to having a car in front so he doesn’t know how it feels to have a red light on but when you are behind, a little bit close, it’s always flashing and sometimes you just have to touch one button because that’s the red light or something that you press by mistake, if he could switch, but he didn’t. So the whole race I had it flashing in my eyes.
SV: I was trying to get away so it wasn’t disturbing you so much.
FA: You didn’t…
Ends
From left: Alonso (2nd), Christian Horner (Red Bull), Vettel and Webber (3rd) on the the Podum at Monza on Sunday. An FIA photo -
Facile victory for Vettel at Monza; Alonso second, Webber third
Monza, 8 Sept 2013: Sebastian Vettel took a controlled Italian Grand Prix victory ahead of Fernando Alonso and third-placed Mark Webber, despite late-race gearbox troubles that forced the Red Bull Racing driver to drop his pace in the closing stages.Starting from pole position, Vettel held his lead into turn one despite close attention from team-mate Mark Webber, who started second. As Vettel protected his lead, however, Webber was forced to back off and that allowed fourth-on-the grid Felipe Massa to steal P2 as the field swept towards the Curva Grande, an FIA release said.
File photo of Vettel courtesy FIA photo gallery Behind them, though, there were incidents. A good start saw Kimi Raikkonen close on Sergio Perez but under braking the Finn collided with the rear of the Mexican’s McLaren in turn one. Perez continued but Raikkonen’s was forced to pit for a new front wing. The accident defined the Lotus man’s race and he spent the next 52 laps battling through the midfield to eventually finish 11th.
Force India’s Paul Di Resta also ran into trouble, slamming into the back of Romain Grosjean’s Lotus as the field entered the Roggia chicane. The Lotus driver continued on but Di Resta’s front left wheel was torn off and his race ended there.
Ahead, Alonso slotted into fourth behind Webber and on the third lap, the Ferrari driver made a brave move at the second chicane and passed the Red Bull. Alonso soon reeled in team-mate Massa and on lap eight he breezed passed Massa into the Rettifilo.
That leading order held until the first, and for many, only pit stop. Vettel and Webber both dived in on lap 23 for hard Pirelli tyres and Alonso swept into the lead.
It didn’t last long. The Ferrari’s pace was never a match for the Red Bull’s and when the Spaniard made his stop for hard tyres on lap 27, Vettel flew into the lead again. When Alonso rejoined, the gap to the Red Bull driver was more than 10 seconds and the race was largely run.
Webber, meanwhile, gained in the tyre switches. Massa stopped on lap 24 but when he exited pit lane he found the Red Bull alongside and Webber held a tough line into the first corner to take third place.
He set off in pursuit of Alonso and soon closed to within half a second of the Ferrari and for a while it looked like the race might turn into a Red Bull one-two.
But first Webber’s engineer told him to short shift second and third gears and then Vettel was given the same message. The duo duly moderated their pace and the order held until the flag.
Afterwards, Vettel admitted that while the issue had not been serious, it had caused nervous moments in the final quarter of the race.
“In the end we finished the race so it was not a disaster,” said Vettel of the gearbox issue. “I think the heartbeat was a bit higher in the car and also at the pit wall because we didn’t know what’s going on. Fortunately, as I said, we didn’t have any big issues. Just the last ten, fifteen laps, I tried to pace myself a little bit more and control the gaps.”
Alonso, meanwhile, said that his second place was the best possible with the car at his disposal.
“I’m very happy,” he said. “I think this weekend we took the maximum from the car. The car was OK and we overtook Nico [Rosberg] but then we had to overtake Mark and Felipe. With Sebastian we were not able to close to the gap, so we were fighting with Mark until the end. Second place is good to have [and] this podium ceremony is the most spectacular podium of the year. Hopefully next year, we’ll come back here but in the top place.”
Behind fourth-placed Felipe Massa, Nico Hulkenberg took an excellent fifth place for Sauber. After a successful 2012 in which it landed three podium finishes, the Swiss outfit has struggled with an uncompetitive car throughout this season, but on Saturday Hulkenberg took a shock third place on the grid to give his team hope of its best result of the year.
And the German didn’t disappoint. Despite losing two places at the start, any expected further drop failed to materialise and Hulkenberg matched the pace of those around him to take 10 points, three more than the team has managed in the whole of the season so far.
Behind him Nico Rosberg finished sixth for Mercedes, ahead of Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo and eighth-placed finisher Grosjean.
It was Lewis Hamilton who made the most significant moves in the closing stages. The Mercedes driver made a relatively early pit stop on lap 13 to shed his starting hard tyres and then cycled through two sets of mediums as he attempted to use their better pace to work his way up the order.
The tactic worked and in the closing laps he leaped from 12th place to ninth, passing Raikkonen, Pérez and McLaren’s Jenson Button, leaving Button to take the final point on offer.
Vettel 32nd career win means he extends his lead over Alonso at the top of the drivers’ championship leaderboard to 53 points. The German now has 222 points, Alonso 169. Hamilton lies third with 141. In the Constructors’ title fight, Red Bull Racing now have 352 points. Ferrari move back into second with 248 and Mercedes are third with 245.
Italian Grand Prix 2013 – Race result
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 53 1:18:33.352 25
2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 53 +5.4 secs 18
3. Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 53 +6.3 secs 15
4. Felipe Massa Ferrari 53 +9.3 secs 12
5. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 53 +10.3 secs 10
6. Nico Rosberg Mercedes +10.9 secs 8
7. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 53 +32.3 secs 6
8. Romain Grosjean Lotus 53 +33.1 secs 4
9. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 53 +33.5 secs 2
10. Jenson Button McLaren 53 +38.3 secs
11. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 53 +38.6 secs
12. Sergio Perez McLaren 53 +39.7 secs
13. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 53 +40.8 secs
14. Pastor Maldonado Williams 53 +49.0 secs
15. Valtteri Bottas Williams 53 +56.8 secs
16. Adrian Sutil Force India 52 +1 Lap
17. Charles Pic Caterham 52 +1 Lap
18. Giedo van der Garde Caterham 52 +1 Lap
19. Jules Bianchi Marussia 52 +1 Lap
20. Max Chilton Marussia 52 +1 Lap
Ret Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 14 Transmission
Ret Paul di Resta Force India 0 Accidentends
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Bulls seal front row; Pleasant surprise for Hulkenberg, Sauber
Title leader in control ahead of team-mate Webber as Hülkenberg grabs surprise third for Sauber on Italian GP grid.
Photo by Sauber team Monza, 7 Sept 2013: Sebastian Vettel claimed his fourth pole position of the season with a convincing march to the front of the Monza grid ahead of Red Bull Racing team-mate Mark Webber and surprise third-fastest man Nico Hulkenberg of Sauber.
“Generally this weekend, the car [has been] fantastic,” said Vettel. “I think better than what we could expect. We had very strong pace yesterday and we were able to take that into the qualifying today. I had two good runs. In the end I think it’s a bit of a surprise to have both cars on the front row at a place where historically we’ve had bad years. This year it seems to work well and hopefully we’ll have a good race from where we start tomorrow.”
After finishing Friday’s opening practice fourth quickest, Vettel then rose to the top and has been the undisputed fastest man at Monza in each of the subsequent session. He completed Friday afternoon’s practice at the top of the timesheet by a margin of six tenths of a second and then on Saturday morning finished final practice ahead of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso by almost three tenths of a second. It was no surprise to see the defending champion carry that dominance through to qualifying.
Vettel powered through Q1 in P1, a segment in which only he, Webber, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Alonso had the luxury of using just the hard tyre. At the back of the field, the Marussia and Caterhams departed in order, with Jules Bianchi beating team-mate Max Chilton to 21st and Giedo van der Garde taking 19th ahead of Charles Pic. Williams’ Valtteri Bottas and Sauber’s Esteban Gutiérrez also left the stage at this point.
It was better news for the remaining Sauber driver. Hülkenberg was enjoying his afternoon at the high-speed circuit and breeze through to Q2 in tenth place. It was a sign of further strong pace to come.
Q2 saw Vettel on top again, the German slotting into P1 with his first timed lap of the segment and then bettering it by three tenths to ease through to the final top-10 shoot-out with a time of 1:23.977.
The session was far less comfortable for others. The Lotus cars of Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean were eliminated in P11 and P13 respectively, split by Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton. The Briton’s final run was investigated by the stewards, Force India’s Adrian Sutil suspected of blocking the Briton. Sutil was duly penalized, given a three-place grid drop for tomorrow’s race, though Hamilton later stated he was off the pace regardless.
“I just didn’t get a lap together in Q2 today and it’s hugely disappointing, not just for me, but also for the team and I can only apologise to them as we had a quick car today,” he said. “I came off at Parabolica on my first run which damaged the car and it was a downward spiral from there really.”
The final segment then seemed to be all about the margin by which Vettel would claim pole. In the end, untroubled as he was in his march to the front of the grid, the gap wasn’t as great as expected as Webber put up a solid challenge to finish just two tenths adrift of the champion.
“I’m pretty happy with my laps,” said Webber of sealing Red Bull Racing’s first front-row lockout since the opening race of the season. “Jean-Eric [Vergne] went off in the Parabolica, in the last corner, so I didn’t know if he’d dropped a wheel or if he was continuing on the circuit, so I couldn’t really see with the dust. Then when I got further round I could see he was in the gravel. So a little bit of a tricky finish to the lap but overall it wouldn’t have been enough to get Seb, he did a very good lap.”
Hülkenberg, meanwhile, took his best grid position since he claimed pole position for Williams in a rain-hit 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying.
“I didn’t expect it, especially after a very difficult Friday,” he said, referring to gearbox issues that ended his FP1 session early. “The guys have done a fantastic job to turn the car around and give me such a competitive car today. The car just got better and better, I think with the track improvement and with the right decision to fuel for one timed lap. A burning lap which made this nice surprise happen.”
Behind the Sauber driver, Felipe Massa will line up fourth for Ferrari, ahead of team-mate Fernando Alonso. Nico Rosberg will line up behind Alonso at the back of row three, while row four will see Daniel Ricciardo start from seventh position, ahead of McLaren’s Sergio Pérez. Jenson Button will line up in ninth place in the second McLaren, ahead of Toro Rosso’s Vergne, whose Parabolica error on his final lap cost him valuable time.
Italian Grand Prix Qualifying times
1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1:23.755
2 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 1:23.968
3 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber 1:24.065
4 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:24.132
5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:24.142
6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:24.192
7 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:24.209
8 Sergio Pérez McLaren 1:24.502
9 Jenson Button McLaren 1:24.515
10 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:28.05011 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 1:24.610
12 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:24.803
13 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:24.848
14 Adrian Sutil Force India 1:24.932
15 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:25.011
16 Paul di Resta Force India 1:25.07717 Esteban Gutiérrez Sauber 1:25.226
18 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:25.291
19 Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1:26.406
20 Charles Pic Caterham 1:26.563
21 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:27.085
22 Max Chilton Marussia 1:27.480ends
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I wish Nico stays third, for him and for Sauber… and it would do me no harm; But I have to be ahead of him: Vettel
DRIVERS
1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)
2 – Mark WEBBER (Red Bull Racing)
3 – Nico HULKENBERG (Sauber)
TV UNILATERAL
Sebastian, you’ve got a long history here, how much do you love this place?
Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, it’s a special track for sure. It’s always nice to come back here. Obviously the memories of 2008 are great. I had another victory in 2011 but I think the first victory is always special. Today I think, or generally this weekend, the car was fantastic so far. I think better than what we could expect. We had a very strong pace yesterday and we were able to take that into the qualifying today. I had two good runs in the end. In the end I think it’s a bit of a surprise to have both cars on the front row at a place where historically we’ve had bad years. Yeah, this year it seems to work well and hopefully we’ll have a good race from where we start tomorrow.
You mentioned historically. How much has the team targeted the performance here?
SV: Well we do target to have the optimum every year. Obviously, some years we were closer and other years we were quite far away. It seems that this year we’re obviously in a very strong position. We’re able to match other cars down the straight and we know that in corners we have a strong car. It’s a nice place, a nice track, very challenging to get the lap right, because you have low downforce on the car, so the car is very light, sliding a little bit here and there. It doesn’t cost us as much probably as in other places but yeah obviously if you try too often to go over the limit there is a big penalty, so, yeah, I think it was a tough session but we managed to get through and get a great result.
Mark, your best qualifying position here and presumably you’re looking to follow it up with a good result as well, your best result here?
Mark WEBBER: Yeah, exactly. I said to the boys before the session I was looking for a quali PB. It hasn’t been the best track for me, so as your say it’s a nice step towards a very, very good result tomorrow. I’m happy with qualifying, to be up there. It took the old boy a little bit of while to be ready for Q1 but I got there in end, in the sessions where it counted. Actually pretty happy with my laps. Jean-Eric [Vergne] went off in the Parabolica, in the last corner, so I didn’t know if he’d dropped a wheel or if he was continuing on the circuit, so I couldn’t really see with the dust. Obviously then when I got further round I could see he was in the gravel. So a little bit of a tricky finish to the lap but overall it wouldn’t have been enough to get Seb, he did a very good lap. We have a few different people up here as well with us, which is good. It was a bit of a mixed-up session and that can happen at Monza, it’s not an easy track to get right. Looking forward to the race tomorrow.
This is you last European Grand Prix. Is that an emotional moment for you?
MW: Not really. I think Brazil will probably be a little bit more emotional of course, but if I’ve got the tissues out then I’ve made the wrong decision. It’s good that I still enjoy my driving. I’m not too uncompetitive. Just look for a clean weekend and get some very good results in the future in the coming races and that’s got to be my goal. I’m not retiring. I’m stopping from Formula One but of course there’s a lot of people that can come and watch me in the Porsche next year at Le Mans and some other races.
Thanks very much. Nico, where did that come from?
Nico HULKENBERG: I don’t know either. Really a nice surprise to ourselves. I didn’t expect it, especially after a very difficult Friday. Yesterday we struggled a lot with the car, we were trying some different bits and bobs, but the guys have done a fantastic job to turn the car around and give me such a competitive car today. It was just that Q1, Q2, Q3 the car just got better and better, I think with the track improvement and with the right decision just to go for one timed lap, fuelled for one timed lap, was the right call. Yeah a burning lap which made this nice surprise happen.
Of course it’s a good circuit for Sauber. They finished second here last year, so what are your hopes for tomorrow?
NH: Yeah, last year is a very different year. Obviously Sauber was very competitive very often last year in races. This year we have been struggling more, we’ve had a more difficult year, let’s put it this way. So I hope that the long run pace is good. From what I could see yesterday it should be all right. I don’t think we can challenge these guys but definitely points are now the target.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Sebastian, your third pole position here and 40th in your career. Tell us about the importance of pole position here. Is it an important pole?
SV: I think pole is always important. It’s the best place to start the race from on Sunday. Especially here, I think it’s important to manage to qualify in the top group, we know the first two chicanes are quite tricky. So, I’m looking forward to start the race from pole tomorrow, focus on the start and then we’ll see where we get. But it’s a long race, we’ve seen in the past that there’s a lot of things that can happen. A good example of how quickly things can change last year, I think Sergio [Pérez] had a fantastic race and coming through with an opposite strategy so yeah, race pace is very important but surely today we did our homework with qualifying, P1 and P2.
Q: Mark, yesterday we saw a margin of six-tenths of a second. We saw a margin of six-tenths again this morning. Do you feel that you’ve got some of that back?
MW: To Seb? Yeah, the lap time looks like it. It’s down to two. It’s not quite there but it was still a session which I was pretty happy with because to qualify in second position is good. Seb’s strong here, quick in Monza. He’s not slow here so it’s not… it’s a bit of an opposite circuit for me so certainly happy to have a PB in quali and I’ll do my best tomorrow. The car’s
[INAUDIBLE – MIXED IN RADIO CHATTER]but in general looking forward towards the race tomorrow. The big clutch behaving itself in a good fashion, hopefully it should be OK, then we’re going to get a good start to the race in terms of the first few laps and settle in for the afternoon.
Q: Nico, possibility of showers tomorrow. What would you like?
NH: I think I’d like it to stay dry to be honest. I think that would be the easier option but we’ll take it as it comes. We haven’t run in wet or inter conditions so it will be new to everyone. Obviously more challenging but I’m open-minded.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Complimenti Sebastian; are you happy to have the first Ferrari engine in Nico Hulkenberg’s car than one of the works cars? How important is it not to have the Ferrari there?
SV: I think today it was obviously all about preparing for the race, getting the best position. As I said, in this regard we got our job done but the main job comes up tomorrow so we will see. The races are long, a lot of things can happen so I don’t know. I think Felipe is P4 so I think Ferrari was strong in every race this year in terms of race pace so they will be strong tomorrow as well. I think their long run looked quite competitive; I don’t know what they have done exactly in terms of fuel loads but I’m sure they have the pace and the ability to come through. Equally, I wish that Nico stays there, first of all for him and for his team, to have a strong result and secondly, obviously, it would do me no harm in terms of the championship. But first of all, I have to finish in front of him.
Q: (Vincent Marre – Sport Zeitung) To both Red Bull drivers: what is your strategy tomorrow for the start, as Nico is quite close to you?
SV: I think the usual: accelerate as quick as we can, try to get a good start. Partly it’s in our hands, literally, with the clutch and then our feet, but also it depends on how well we set up the start, how accurate we are. I think we’ve worked a lot in the past, we’ve had some very good starts, we’ve had some not so good starts. You never know what you get, but we’re both, I think, hoping for the best launch.
Q: Mark, have you solved the problem with the clutch, do you feel you’re on top of it?
MW: (I’m) The wrong guy to ask. But anyway, there’s always a guy third on the grid, it’s Nico or whoever. We can’t start one and two and then have a fifty meter gap. He’s third because he did a good job. Nico or someone else, it doesn’t matter. We focus on ourselves really. That’s it.
Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Serra) Sebastian, there was a strange phrase by Fernando on the radio and it seemed to be against the team. Do you believe he’s getting nervous and nervous in the fight against you?
SV: Today? I don’t know, I don’t know. I don’t what they… Maybe they had a problem. Obviously they were quite competitive this morning in the beginning of qualifying, I think it was very close at the end of qualifying to be fair. Obviously I fortunately had a bit of a gap but I think everyone behind Nico was quite close to each other. I don’t know, maybe they had some problem.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Nico, the drivers’ market is very sensitive at this moment, especially concerning the teammate of Alonso. You have put in a greater performance then Ferrari; do you think it can influence Ferrari’s decision to take you?
NH: I can only influence it by performing very well and obviously today’s result is not the worst. For me it’s just important to focus on my competitiveness and my performance and that will make the rest easier but probably the timing is not the worst at this moment.
Sebastian Vettel on his way to pole position at Monza. Photo by Pirelli Ends
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We were afraid of rain, but it passed the circuit: Vettel
DRIVERS
1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)
2 – Fernando ALONSO (Ferrari)
3 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)PODIUM INTERVIEW (Conducted by David Coulthard)
Q: Sebastian, your 31st Grand Prix victory, you’re now just one behind the man who finished in second place. That looked pretty easy for you today.
Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, it was fantastic race for us. From start to finish really very good tactics. Obviously it helped the first lap to have the tow off Lewis through Eau Rouge and then I was flying. Once I passed him we had incredible pace and really could control the race until the end. We were a bit afraid of the rain coming towards the end but I think it just passed the circuit. Great race. Thank you to the team, thanks to Renault. All the guys have been working very hard and… yeah, fantastic result, can’t be any better.
Q: You passed a milestone today if you’re into statistics. You seem to like to get the fastest lap towards the end of these grand prix but you’ve now led well over 2000 laps in your grand prix career. Were you aware of that one?
SV: Now I am. Thank You! Yeah, incredible. We are a bit confused down here because the crowd is booing and cheering and booing and we don’t understand why.
We’re not going to highlight why that is at the moment.
[note: the drivers were unable to see a protest taking place around and above the podium]
Q: Fernando, this must feel like a victory today. You’ve never won around the Belgian Grand Prix circuit, which is surprising given that you’ve got 32 victories in your career but that was typical attacking stuff from ninth place.
Fernando ALONSO: Yeah, we had to recover some places. We were not OK yesterday and everything went OK from the start and then the car has the speed to overtake some cars and it was a little bit boring. After we get the second place we are nowhere near Sebastian and not a big threat from behind.
Q: Looking ahead to Monza, you must feel pretty much buoyed for Ferrari, going to what is the home grand prix for the Ferrari team.
FA: Yeah, definitely it’s an important weekend for us, for the team. Last year we were very close to repeat the victory that we get also in 2010, so we arrive fully motivated again and in Monza we would like to give some smiles and some satisfaction to the tifosi and we will try our best.
Q: Lewis, that’s your 54th podium, that equals you with Niki Lauda who is one of the senior management at the Mercedes grand prix team. Does that statistic mean anything to you and what do these points mean for you this afternoon?
Lewis HAMILTON: We had a tough race, these guys were a little bit faster than us but the team did a great job throughout the weekend and I’m really happy with the results. Of course to be put in the same sentence as someone as legendary as Niki is a real privilege. I’m happy with the result we had, I’m glad to see so many great fans here this weekend. They made the weekend.
Q: Once again we heard you on the team radio saying you were taking absolutely everything out of the car and the tyres. You went off into the summer break as the victor, you’ve come on a roll of four pole positions. Looking ahead to the next grand prix, what do you think you’ve learnt from this Belgian race.
LH: I came in this weekend and when we started I felt that we perhaps didn’t have as good a package as these two here. I think we’ll go away after this weekend, we’ll try and see if we can improve for Monza. But definitely when we get to Singapore, I think we’ll have a much better chance there.
[Sebastian] I believe your points lead is extended to the largest ever margin you’ve had. You must feel good looking to the second half of this season.
SV: Yeah. Obviously winning helps. Just really controlled. The car was much better than I think we expected going into the race. So we had a bit of pace on hand to control the race. I really enjoyed that a lot. I think the guys on the pit wall as well, it was not as stressed as at other times. Fortunately there was no rain, so in terms of critical calls there were none to make. It was a very good afternoon for us and obviously looking forward to Monza where we don’t expect, maybe, to be that strong but let’s see.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Sebastian, your 31st career victory – two less than Fernando – and your fifth this season. Clearly the decisive moment was the opening lap of the race. Tell us about that and how it set you up for the rest of the afternoon.
SV: Yeah, obviously very difficult around here to plan your start because first of all you need to have a good launch off the line and then there’s a long straight coming. A bit like Korea. I tried my best to line up behind Lewis and basically benefit from a massive tow through Eau Rouge. I think especially in the opening lap when the tyres are not yet completely there and the fuel tank is full, Obviously the cars are quite heavy up the hill and produce a lot of drag and I was able, in the tow, to make up a lot of speed and when I got side by side I had a lot of advantage over Lewis and was able to get straight ahead. So, yeah, it worked very well, what I was trying to, let’s say, plan at the exit of turn two. And after that I just tried to settle into the rhythm. I tried to open a gap to be flexible at the first stop and yeah, until the end we had incredible pace. We didn’t expect that. We knew, probably, going in that, in the dry, we should be able to beat Mercedes on the track but we knew other cars – Lotus, Ferrari – they looked very competitive in the dry, so in that regard yeah, we had massive pace and could control the race until the end.
Q: You’ve increased your championship lead as well, now over Fernando, almost two race wins clear. How are you feeling about it at this stage?
SV: For sure a positive message today but I’m honestly more happy to win the race today: it’s a fantastic track and especially when the car works well, you don’t want the race to stop. The car is getting lighter and lighter and I was very comfortable at the end on the Primes. The car, as I said, was just a pleasure to drive. You don’t… I didn’t think about the championship or points. Obviously I know the higher up you finish the better it is: ideally ahead of everyone else, which worked today. But yeah, such a great circuit. We’ve had good races here in the past so it’s nice to have another one, another great memory today. So, that’s what honestly I was focussing on most. For sure, regarding the championship, it’s a bonus.
Q: Fernando, obviously for you also the start was pretty decisive. Ninth on the grid, up to fifth on the opening lap. You passed Rosberg, Webber, Button, Hamilton to come through to second place. That’s quite a recovery from what must have been a very disappointing qualifying performance yesterday.
FA: Yeah, I think the weekend was more or less good for us with recovering some feelings that we lost in July with the car especially. We were a little bit more competitive – or we felt a little bit more competitive this weekend. Not for sure maybe for pole position but to be in the first four or five positions on the grid, maybe that was possible but yesterday I think were extremely unlucky with the situation in Q3 with weather and the track: where we were, in the place we were, at the time we were was wrong. So, unfortunately some times in these changeable conditions you are lucky, sometimes unlucky. I remember Malaysia very well in Q3, we were in the right place in the right moment and we were second and third of the grid. Yesterday was a little bit the opposite. So we had to plan a perfect race from the start to the pace of the car, to the strategy and everything worked fine and we could recover some places and extremely important for the championship also to get some good points again after three races not so good.
Q: Lewis touched on it yesterday in the press conference here, that throughout the practice and qualifying as well the Ferrari looked quite quick and looked like it had taken a step forward. Do you feel that over the course of this weekend? Is that giving you encouragement? Obviously we’re going to some very different kinds of circuits in the next few weeks but are you taking encouragement from this weekend?
FA: I’m happy. I’m happy with the feeling that I had this weekend. I’m happy with the parts that we brought here, seems that they are working fine. We need to take things very carefully because, as you say, this is a very specific circuit and we are not first and second in any practice or any qualifying or any race. We are ninth and tenth in quali and now we are second and seventh in the race. At the moment it is still work to do.
Q: Lewis, great getaway from pole into the first corner but describe the remainder of that first part of that first lap from your perspective.
LH: It was not particularly exciting or anything. It was pretty straightforward. Half-decent start and I felt like I got a good exit out of turn one but these guys… Sebastian just caught me massively, particularly through Eau Rouge. There was no defending really. I could only move once, so I moved once and just had to watch him glide by. After that it was very, very difficult to hold onto him. And also when Fernando came by, particularly down the straights, he was just pulling away.
Q: At one point on the radio you were saying “I’m getting everything I can out of the car.” Obviously finishing around 27 seconds behind at the end of the race. Is that a concern for you, given the way you translated pole to victory before the summer break?
LH: Not really. I think every year you come here – here and Monza – you come with a new package, new front and particularly rear wing and sometimes you hit the nail on the head and sometimes you don’t. I think we’ve done a decent job but obviously these guys have done a slightly better job. Whether or not we can make an adjustment before the next race, we’ll wait and see but I think more importantly we’ll be back to being very competitive – or more competitive when we get to Singapore.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Oana Popoiu – F1 Zone) Fernando, definitely a good race for you, starting from P9 but is it also good for your championship, as Vettel finished ahead of you?
FA: I think it’s good; obviously we lost an extra seven points but when they are dominating the weekend, when they do everything better than us and they win the race, they deserve the win and we need to aim for maximum points. Weekends like this one we need to extract the maximum from the car. That is what we did this weekend, all we could in qualifying, all we could in the race. In the race, once we were second we were two to four tenths slower per lap. When you are the second fastest, you deserve to finish second. So we just need to congratulate Sebastian, Red Bull and try to get better for Monza, but in terms of the championship, as I said, we came from two fifth places in Hockenheim and Hungary, with a little bit of a not good feeling and not good performance from the car and today I think we recovered some of the optimism that we lost and I think it was a good weekend for the championship in terms of feeling and in terms of points as well.
Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Sebastian, Kimi is now 63 points behind you. Do you think he’s out of this championship?
SV: No, there’s more than 63 points you can score before the end of the season. I don’t know what happened to him. It’s obviously a shame for him but these things can happen. I had a technical failure in Silverstone, we lost the race. It hurts but equally you have so many races that all of us we have these kind of things happening; surely the cars are – in terms of generation – at their end and it’s not a completely new car if you look at the previous years but still we are pushing. The cars are on the limit and you try to get everything out of them. Things that are built on the limit can also break.
Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, do you feel you are like in the situation of two years ago when you won the championship quite early in Japan? Do you think it’s going smoothly and you are relaxed with the situation around you?
SV: Well, I… maybe you have a different memory but what I remember from 2011 is that we had a fantastic season but we were working very hard, step by step, race by race and surely not working towards a certain race to seal the championship with a couple of races to go. I wasn’t relaxed at that time, I was as nervous as I am today, hopefully. Therefore, as I said, it’s really step by step and not trying to be too smart, too clever and think too far ahead.
Q: (Andy Young – Richland F1) Fernando, once again you were fast in the race but not so much in qualifying. Do you think this could affect your championship chances against Sebastian?
FA: Well, we need to improve the qualifying performance but to be honest, I’m doing what I can. I’m 8-3 against my teammate, I think. Yesterday was about qualifying but I was 0.6s quicker than my teammate, so in a way, it’s not that the races are good and the qualifyings are bad, it’s just the way it is and we are extracting the maximum from the car all the time. In the races there are more aspects, not pure performance of the car. There is the strategy, the management of the tyres, the characteristics of the cars and on that aspect, I think we are very strong. In the pure performance of the car, we are maybe lacking some performance compared to the others but as I said, I’m extremely happy with the performance we are achieving on Saturday and also on Sunday and the championship is open and we have the best example last year. I was leading with 41 points ahead of Sebastian after the Monza race and I arrived in Texas 15 points behind, so things can change very quickly. Our hopes are to keep developing, to keep improving performance and try to repeat what happened last year the other way around.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Lewis, after being on pole position, is this more of less what you expected in the race or did you expect to be closer to Red Bull?
LH: I think yesterday I said that I don’t think we generally have the same pace as these guys, or at least, not necessarily the Ferraris but more so the Red Bulls. But they were both too fast for us today. It’s the best we could have done. Yesterday, the weather helped us to get up to where we were. At the end of the day, we just need to work a little bit harder. I think we can do a better job, hopefully for Monza.
Q: (Jerome Pugmeister – Associated Press) Fernando, you said the team’s recovered some of its optimism. How far can that optimism take you; do you still believe you can mount a genuine title challenge with eight races left?
FA: Yeah, yeah. I think we cannot forget that in the first five races we were a very competitive team. We won two of the five races and we were in a position to fight for the podium all the time. At that point, we were a very few points behind the leader. Then there were some races in the championship where we went backwards in terms of a step in the car and we lost direction a little bit. We understood the problem, we analysed everything and all the things that we are now bringing to the races are delivering what we expected, finally, so this gives us the possibility to get our good form back but we still have to recover some of the gap, to fight for pole positions etc but the championship is very long, and as I said before, the example is what happened to us last year. If you have a competitive car and you win four or five consecutive races like Sebastian did last year in India, Japan, Singapore etc, you recover very quickly. If we are in the position to do that, we will find out very soon.
Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Sebastian, I think unusually for Red Bull, your car was set up for quite a high top speed. Was it because you have taken into consideration that you expected to do some overtaking during the race, and how well does that look for Monza, with reasonably low downforce? You were very quick here.
SV: Well, ideally we try to set up our car to the optimum. I think we were maybe more competitive than we expected. Whether that’s us over-performing or the others under-performing, I’m not entirely sure to be honest. So in that regard, it’s always nice to have speed on the straights if you have to overtake, then it’s obviously easier to get yourself side-by-side with the other car and to lose something more under braking, whereas if you’re limited by straightline speed it’s very difficult to pass. We’ve had some bad experiences around here so maybe this year we were a little bit on the higher side in terms of speed. For Monza, I don’t know actually. It’s very difficult to predict. We had painful years in a way, where we just get hammered down the straights and we’ve had years where the loss down the straight was limited, so we could come back in the corners and for sure, if you look back the 2011 experience was great in that regard. How it turns out to be this year it’s difficult to say. I think we can be quite confident. We had a good race in Canada, we had a very good race here which are both medium downforce type of tracks, so I hope that our low downforce package goes in the same direction.
Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Sebastian, when you attacked Lewis did you have some KERS left for it and then obviously to Lewis, did you have some KERS to defend yourself or was everything gone after the start?
SV: I had some left.
LH: I had some left but he was catching me so I didn’t use the rest of it, I saved it for the rest of the lap.
Ends
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Vettel cruises to victory; Kimi’s 27-race points-run ends
Spa Francorchamps, 25 Aug 2013: Sebastian Vettel took a comfortable Belgian Grand Prix win to extend his lead in the Drivers’ Championship to 46 points over Fernando Alonso, who finished second for Ferrari at Spa-Francorchamps ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.
On Saturday, Hamilton had narrowly beaten Vettel to pole position but after the race start Vettel exacted revenge using the tow from the Mercedes to breeze past the Briton on the long Kemmel Straight.
From there the German and his Red Bull Racing RB9 were flawless. Vettel only briefly ceded the lead to Jenson Button during his first stop on lap 14 but after passing the McLaren driver, who had yet to pit, at the end of the same lap, he seized total control, eventually finishing 16.8 seconds clear of Alonso.
“It was fantastic race for us,” he said afterwards. “From start to finish [we had] really good tactics. Obviously it helped the first lap to have the tow off Lewis through Eau Rouge and then I was flying. Once I
File photo of Vettel by Red Bull Racing team. passed him we had incredible pace and really could control the race until the end.
“We were a bit afraid of the rain coming towards the end but I think it just passed the circuit. A great race and a fantastic result. Can’t be any better.”
Alonso’s race was more eventful – at least through the first half. After a rain-disrupted qualifying, the Spaniard was left to line up ninth on the grid. He didn’t stay there long after the race start. Making a good getaway, the Ferrari driver took a tight line through La Source and the move paid off, boosting him to fifth as the field powered through Eau Rouge.
On lap four he muscled past Button to claim P4 and then raced past Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg two laps later to move into a podium position.
After his first stop Alonso rejoined behind Hamilton but after the Mercedes driver erred at La Source on lap 15 Alonso used his better pace through Eau Rouge to set up a passing move under DRS on the Kemmel Straight. Hamilton attempted to respond but Alonso rebuffed the challenge.
Armed with greater pace on the day, the Ferrari driver was soon building a gap, which, by the time of the chequered flag, had stretched to almost 11 seconds.
“We had to recover some places [at the start],” said Alonso. “We were not OK yesterday but everything went OK from the start and then the car has the speed to overtake some cars and it was a little bit boring. After we got the second place we were nowhere near Sebastian and not a big threat from behind.”
It was left to Rosberg and Mark Webber to conduct perhaps the closest front-of-order battle of the second half of the race.
The Red Bull Racing driver made a poor start and dropped from third to sixth by the time the field was flying through Radillon. He passed Button for fifth position in the opening laps and set about chasing down Rosberg.
The Mercedes driver was no easy target, however, and though the gap sank as low as half a second at some points during the race, Webber could not find a way past the German and finished fifth.
Button finished sixth, holding his starting position thanks to a considered drive.
In front of Button on the grid was Paul Di Resta, who had claimed fifth place thanks to a clever bit of strategy in the wet final qualifying session.
Luck deserted him in the race however and after a poor start he went backwards until he was eventually dumped out in a collision with Williams’ Pastor Maldonado, who collided with Adrian Sutil at the final chicane before being pitched into Di Resta’s path. Maldonado carried on after pitting for repairs but Di Resta’s race was over, his Force India missing its rear left wheel and rear wing.
Felipe Massa finished seventh for Ferrari, with Romain Grosjean eighth, ahead of Sutil. The final points place went to Daniel Ricciardo, who climbed from 19th on the grid to claim tenth at the end thanks to a good strategy that saw him take on medium tyres on lap 33 with the result that good pace at the end allowed him to pass Sergio Perez with four laps to go.
2013 Belgian Grand Prix – Result
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1:23:42.196 25
2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari +16.8 secs 18
3. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +27.7 secs 15
4. Nico Rosberg Mercedes +29.8 secs 12
5. Mark Webber Red Bull Racing +33.8 secs 10
6. Jenson Button McLaren +40.7 secs 8
7. Felipe Massa Ferrari +53.9 secs 6
8. Romain Grosjean Lotus +55.8 secs 4
9. Adrian Sutil Force India +69.5 secs 12 2
10. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso +73.4 secs 1
11. Sergio Perez McLaren +81.9 secs
12. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso +86.7 secs
13. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +88.2 secs
14. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber + secs
15. Valtteri Bottas Williams + secs
16. Giedo van der Garde Caterham +1 Lap
17. Pastor Maldonado Williams +1 Lap
18. Jules Bianchi Marussia +1 Lap
19. Max Chilton Marussia 42 +2 Laps
Ret Paul di Resta Force India +18 Laps
Ret Kimi Räikkönen Lotus +19 Laps
Ret Charles Pic Caterham +36 Lapsends
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I am able to find the limits when conditions are edgy: Hamilton
DRIVERS
1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)
3 – Mark WEBBER (Red Bull Racing)TV UNILATERAL
Lewis, it was all about timing today and your timing was absolutely perfect.
Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, it was. It was obviously a good job by the team. I was so surprised when I crossed the line. When I started the lap, it looked like, on the board… I saw on the screen that I was about seventh or eighth and I thought ‘Oh my God’, especially as it was raining more. I went wide in turn one and the dash display is usually telling you whether you’re up or down and it said I was three seconds down and then five seconds and six seconds, so I didn’t understand what was happening in the lap but I just kept pushing. I could see I was catching Sebastian towards the end but what a blessing, I feel so fortunate to be up here.
Particularly the middle sector seemed to be strong. So clearly through the Mercedes and yourself are well hooked up. How do you explain that?
LH: I think generally I feel quite comfortable in changing conditions and I feel I’m able to find the limits when the conditions are really on the edge. And in the middle I pushed quite a lot in the middle sector particularly as I thought I was down three seconds, so I was really caning it. But, yeah, the car’s feeling good.
Sebastian, today was obviously also keeping your nerve. What were you thinking about the closing stages? Were you thinking that there is as much to lose here as there is to gain?
Sebastian VETTEL: No, there’s always something to gain. Yeah, it wasn’t clear that the first lap we did in Q3 wasthe lap, on intermediate tyres. Obviously we all went out for the start with slicks tyres. It was quite entertaining because it started to rain pretty heavily. Then on intermediates, as I said, it wasn’t clear because in the beginning it looked like there was more and more rain coming, so we were all rushing to get a lap in. But then it stopped raining and the circuit came back very quickly ands the last lap turned out to be the fastest lap, with the circuit drying. It’s difficult to know how fast you can go. Obviously I saw Lewis catching up in the last lap and I thought I could have gone a bit quicker here or quicker there. In the end it was quite close I think across the line. In these conditions anything can happen. A shame to miss pole, once again. I’m quite happy today. The boys did a very good job changing tyres from slicks to intermediates and got us an extra lap. Unfortunately the circuit wasn’t ready but all in all I think a good day for the team, so let’s see what happens tomorrow. We expect similar conditions to today, rain, dry and a bit of everything, so we’ll see.
And Mark, your final qualifying session in a Formula One car at this Spa-Francorchamps circuit and it delivered its usual mixture of conditions. How was your session?
Mark WEBBER: Yeah, difficult for all of us to make the right calls. But in the end I think we got most things right. It’s very easy to look stupid in those conditions, from a team side, from a driver’s side, making the right calls. In the end, we got most things OK I’d say. It’s a little bit bizarre with the DRS on or off in the session, actually in Q3. It’s available in the first part of quali but not at the end, but it’s the same for everyone, so it’s a very, very difficult thing, as Lewis has touched on, to know where you are, how the track’s moving around so much. It was quite a ballsy thing for me to go slow in the middle lap know if the track’s going to be better on the last lap, to save the tyres, because they’re struggling quite a bit in those conditions, on the inters. In the end, it wasn’t too bad a lap and it was quite tight obviously. So, yeah, pretty happy to be right up there for tomorrow’s race.
Back to you Lewis. Obviously it’s not been the easiest weekend so far from the looks of things as far as practice has been concerned for you and the Mercedes team. Tell us about the race tomorrow. You’re obviously starting from where you want to be, but can you keep these two guys behind you?
LH: I think this weekend they’ve both shown that they have incredible pace this weekend. But I’m hoping that whatever the conditions are tomorrow we can try to fight it out with them. The guys have done a fantastic job in bringing a good package here. I generally feel we’re quite close. I still feel the Red Bull is generally a little bit ahead of us in performance and that’s why results like this today feel even better because it feels like we extracted more than what the car can actually do, so I’m really happy with it.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Lewis, second race in a row now that in the closing stages of a Saturday afternoon you’ve spoiled Sebastian’s day. It’s becoming a bit of a habit and you two are having quite a duel at the moment.
LH: I’m trying to catch him up. He’s obviously had incredible success over the last few years so I’m trying my best to battle with hum and I hope that we can do that in the race tomorrow whatever the conditions are. I just feel grateful for the way the year has turned out and that we can be so competitive and really try to challenge the Red Bulls. It’s a huge accomplishment by the team.
Tell us about communication on a day like this. You were saying just a moment ago that you weren’t really quite sure what was going in the first part of the lap, obviously the times were all over the place, but in terms of the way the team communicates. We saw people making mistakes in Q1 and Q2, very easy to make mistakes and communication clearly critical to that.
LH: Yeah, everyone is on edge and communication is key for all the teams. So they’re asking me what the track is like at certain points of the circuit and of course they need to be on it to make sure we get out at the right time. We nearly go pushed out of Q2, which I really wouldn’t have been happy with…
Two one hundredths of a second.
LH: Yeah, by the grace of God we got through. And then at the end, I didn’t know that I was going to be one of the last ones across the line. I just kept pushing and at the end of the day it was a good job by the team, particularly when the moment counted.
Sebastian, as we were saying, Lewis and Mercedes coming on strong at the moment.
SV: Yeah, surely. Obviously in qualifying they have been quite strong in the first part of the season and they keep doing it. I think today you have to look from a different point of view. In these conditions anything can happen. Lewis had quite and impressive middle sector. He was right behind me. Maybe it helped a little bit to know how fast he could go here and there. I checked in my mirrors and thought I could have gone quicker here, quicker there because he was closing up. But I’m very happy with the result. As I said, in these conditions anything is possible. Mark touched on it – it’s very easy to do the wrong calls and you’re out. So, overall, a good result and everything is possible tomorrow, condition-wise we expect the same as today.
You obviously looked very comfortable yesterday, apart from the puncture obviously in practice two and again this morning, the Red Bull looked well balanced, quick on the circuit. There was a sign in Q2 when you just waited and went out and did that one run that there seemed to be quite a lot of confidence as far as you were concerned about the session.
SV: Yeah, well confidence in the weather let’s say, mostly. It was supposed not to rain. I said OK there’s no point in going out, let’s wait, because the circuit will improve, which is what we did in the end. My first lap was not fantastic so I did another lap. I think we did the right thing there. Fortunately it didn’t rain. Obviously when it starts raining and you haven’t gone out you look really stupid. I think we trust the guys on the pit wall to judge the weather and the situation. Obviously, Q3 was different. The boys were quite in a hurry when we came back in to change tyres and go back out. But for Q2 I think it was the right call.
Mark, we mentioned before that this is your last run in F1 quali at Spa-Francorchamps. Tell us about your relationship with this circuit, what you feel today and what you feel about this place.
MW: It’s a sensational circuit. Compared to the ones that have been attempted to be designed of late obviously they’re nothing like this track. It’s a beautiful circuit to drive on, all the guys love coming here, the teams, the engineers. Even the cars I think in a bizarre way know they’re here in terms of Eau Rouge and Blanchimont. You know, La Source is very tight and then 10 seconds later you’re through Eau Rouge so it’s a great mixture. I won the Formulas Ford race here in 1996 so it’s a beautiful circuit to drive on in any category and yeah, looking forward to bringing the Porsche here next year.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Oana Popoiu – F1 Zone) Lewis, Toto Wolff said that Mercedes should start focusing on next year’s car. What are your thoughts about that, especially now when you are in front of Red Bull?
LH: I think there’s several different people that have different opinions about it but I feel quite relaxed and comfortable with the people who are at the top who are going to make that decision. I don’t feel that next year is compromised at all or this year just yet. I think it’s trying to find a real fine balance. Of course we want to have the best shot possible next year but of course all of a sudden we’re competing as well as we are now so it’s striking a fine balance, but I think they’ll do a good job of that.
Q: (Graham Keilloh – F1 Plus) Lewis, do you think if it hadn’t rained in qualifying that Mercedes had the pace to contend for pole position?
LH: I would be guessing but my guess would be maybe not. The Red Bull was looking particularly quick and also the Ferrari was looking quite quick in the dry conditions, so I’m not necessarily sure that we had the pace to be as fast everyone today. But who knows, it’s just a guess.
Q: (Simon Cass – Daily Mail) Lewis, you said coming into the second half of the season that you’ve never felt better. Is it fair to say that you’ve never been driving any better or certainly as well as you have been at the moment?
LH: It feels like I’m driving the best but I feel like I’ve been driving well for quite some time and just sometimes circumstances don’t allow you to really show that. But I really feel that I’m getting everything out of the car, I’m getting everything out of every opportunity that I have. I know there’s a lot of pressure for everyone but I feel in a good place. And yeah, absolutely, I can’t remember the last time I crossed the line and had such a good feeling, particularly as I was looking for the TV screens and I just couldn’t beli… I could see the team was cheering so I couldn’t believe that. It’s just crazy to think that this is my 31st pole and it still feels like it’s the first one. It’s just an incredible feeling and I’m very grateful to be here today, as I said.
Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Lewis, yesterday you said on the radio that the car was all over the place and even today in the morning you had some problems, and now you are on pole position. I think Nico had quite a good long stint yesterday, how confident are you in the long stints of the Mercedes and the race pace, and would you prefer wet or dry in that respect?
LH: I feel that the long pace is not bad. I think we… again, over the evening, last night we made some decent changes, but going into qualifying we made some better ones. Qualifying was more about just being there at the right time and you never know when you’re going to be in the right position and I just happened to be one of the last ones coming across the line and that’s when the track would be at its best. But I think Nico proved that the long run was good and I think I had a few good laps as well but the Red Bulls are still pretty quick. I think it’s going to be close but I hear it’s going to rain pretty heavily tomorrow.
Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and National Speedsport News) Mark, it’s very easy for anybody to look silly out there, make a stupid mistake. How much more chancy is a session in the wet compared to a session in the dry when there are far fewer variables?
MW: Yeah, emotionally it is a bit more of a roller-coaster, particularly when you’ve got… really it’s the conditions changing so much. In our industry and in Formula One we like to control as much as we can, obviously, and the plan into a normal dry qualifying session is obviously very regimented, very organized and the fine tuning is incredibly precise. When it’s like that, obviously you have to make decisions on the bounce, the driver’s got to be very interactive with the pit wall, the pit wall has got to make the decisions with the boys so yeah, there is just, by circumstance, more emotion and the timing is a bit more – well, a lot more critical and that’s what makes people a bit more squeakier, let’s say, in terms of pressure. As I say, it’s easy to get it wrong.
Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, we saw today that it was very easy to make mistakes. Ferrari looked like they made mistakes at the end so they are quite far behind, while you and Mercedes did everything perfectly. How easy is it for you mentally to get in the car and know that you can trust completely what’s going to happen on the pit wall?
SV: I don’t think you are in any doubt – at least for myself – in doubt of what the team does. Obviously in terms of which tyres to use and when etc is largely depending on us inside the car, but I think, as Mark touched on, obviously in these conditions it’s a lot trickier to get it right, not just for the team, also for the driver because it’s so much easier to make a mistake. In the end, I think all three of us had very good laps at the end, on the lap where it mattered most. But for sure, compared to the dry, I think it’s much harder to nail that one where you don’t have room for error and it’s so much easier to make a mistake, go wide, lose the car, lose time so yeah, if I look back to the lap I had now, obviously, there’s room for improvement but many times I was quite close to lose the car. It doesn’t mean that I had to go off and crash the car but lose the car, lose time. That’s why, in the rain, in the wet, in these mixed conditions, there’s a chance for everybody to over-perform, but there’s also the chance to get it wrong. It doesn’t take much and you are somewhere at the back.
Q: (Leonid Novozhilov – F1Life) Lewis, what were you feeling in your last qualifying lap?
LH: This one just now? Again, it didn’t feel spectacular. As I said, I went wide in turn one and my dashboard was really confusing me in terms of whether I was up or down on my previous lap, but I just kept pushing and particularly the first corner and the last two corners were terrible. I thought that the lap wasn’t that great but…
SV: You thought I was on a cool-down lap which is why…
LH: I was catching him…
SV: …so much that I will just take it easy.
Ends
Hamilton (centre) takes the pole at Spa on Saturday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas photo -
Hamilton takes pole at Spa
Spa, 24 Aug 2013: Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes AMG Petronas took the pole position ahead of Red Bull’s duo championship leader Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber for the Belgian Grand Prix FIA Formula One World Championship on Sunday at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.
Lewis Hamilton took pole for Mercedes in a dramatic, rain-swept qualifying session at Spa-Francorchamps.
Four drivers held pole position in the last few seconds of qualifying for tomorrow’s Belgian Grand Prix. With spray flying up from the wet track, Nico Rosberg’s stellar effort for Mercedes gave him a provisional pole but team-mate Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull Racing’s Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel had made it across the line just before the chequered flag appeared, giving the huge Spa-Francorchamps crowd an exciting two minutes, waiting to see if they could knock the Monaco and Silverstone winner off top spot.
Conditions possibly improved in those last two minutes, though any gain was marginal. Webber crossed the line first and took P1. He held it for seconds only, however, as Vettel blasted through and took a tenth out of his time. For the briefest instant it was the Red Bull 1-2 that practice pace had suggested – but then Hamilton arrived to take his fifth pole of the season and fourth in succession. His time of 2:01.012 was two-tenths of a second better than Vettel had managed.
“I feel I’m able to find the limits when the conditions are really on the edge,” said a jubilant Hamilton. “I pushed quite a lot in the middle sector particularly as I thought I was down three seconds, so I was really caning it.”
At the start of Q3, there was a degree of chaos with most of the field going out on Option tyres. With drops of rain already falling, it was a gamble – and one that failed to pay off with the slick runners all returning to the pits at the end of their out lap. “It was quite entertaining because it started to rain pretty heavily,” observed Vettel.
The one exception was Paul di Resta. Starting the session on intermediates he had the track to himself and took P1 by default. With the possibility of conditions worsening, he had an excellent chance of repeating Giancarlo Fisichella’s 2009 feat and taking a Force India pole at Spa – but the rain receded and he had to settle for fifth position.
Behind Di Resta, Jenson Button took sixth for McLaren, ahead of Lotus’s Romain Grosjean and Kimi Räikkönen who took seventh and eighth, while row five was an all-Ferrari affair with Fernando Alonso ninth and Felipe Massa tenth.
Qualifying had taken place in mixed conditions from the start: rain began to fall a few minutes before Q1 began. It was no surprise, though, as the radar had been showing the weather on its way for some time. It meant the session began on intermediate tyres but when the rain ceased partway through the 20minutes, the track began to dry quickly. Backmarkers with nothing to lose took a risk and ventured out on dry tyres. It paid dividends for the Marussia pair of Max Chilton and Jules Bianchi who qualified for their first Q2. Caterham’s Giedo van der Garde also made the cut. Eliminated were the Williams of Pastor Maldonado and Valtteri Bottas, Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo from Toro Rosso, Sauber’s Esteban Gutiérrez and Caterham’s Charles Pic.
Q2 was dry and saw the times drop by over ten seconds. With three drivers out of position and unlikely to challenge for a place in Q3, the battle was essentially between 13 cars competing for ten places. In a hard-fought battle the drivers to drop out were Nico Hülkenberg for Sauber in 11th, Force India’s Adrian Sutil in 12th and McLaren’s Sergio Pérez 13th. They were joined by Van der Garde 14th, Bianchi 15th and Chilton 16th, each of the latter three enjoying a career-best qualifying position.
His teammate, Nico Rosberg qualified in fourth positions after an eventful wet-dry qualifying session. Stats by Mercedes team:
- Lewis took the team’s eighth pole position in the past nine races and his fourth consecutive pole this afternoon
- Nico qualified fourth and was fastest of all until the dying moments of the qualifying session
- Four Mercedes-Benz powered cars qualified in the top six and it was the third Mercedes pole in five years at Spa
- Weather forecasts currently predict similar mixed weather conditions for tomorrow afternoon’s race
DriversNo.Chassis No.Qualifying 1Qualifying 2Qualifying 3Lewis Hamilton10F1 W04 / 042:00.368P21:49.067P102:01.012P1Nico Rosberg9F1 W04 / 032:01.099P41:48.552P32:02.251P4WeatherDrying track in Q1; dry track in Q2; wet track in Q3TemperaturesAir: 20-21 °CTrack: 20-24 °CLewis Hamilton
A fourth pole in a row just feels fantastic! The team did a great job to get the timing at the end of Q3 absolutely perfect and I was in exactly the right track position. I was so surprised when I came across the line to hear I was P1. I went wide in the first corner and I thought I was down on time from the read-out on my steering wheel. I just kept pushing and did a strong middle sector, then I could see I was catching Sebastian towards the end so it was a great feeling. I hope we can try and fight it out tomorrow, whatever the conditions. The Red Bulls are still ahead of us in terms of performance so results like this feel even more special because I know I’ve got the absolute maximum out of myself and out of the car.Nico Rosberg
It was a very difficult qualifying session and unfortunately luck wasn’t on my side today. When I took the chequered flag, I was quickest at that time, but the track quicker and quicker for the guys who had got the extra lap and eventually ended up in the top three positions, so I must be happy with fourth place on the grid. Our car seems pretty good in all conditions here this weekend which makes me hopeful of a strong race performance tomorrow afternoon.Ross Brawn
It was obviously a very tricky session for everybody this afternoon and we were far from perfect but we did enough things right to get the job done. In the closing seconds of Q3, track position was critical and Lewis – running last on the road on the final lap – did a great job with the opportunity he had. We were not sure how it would turn out as DRS had been disabled for that final lap, then we saw his time in the second sector and started to get excited. Nico didn’t get the extra lap but he was fastest of all when his session ended and it’s a fantastic team result to have two cars starting in the top four after such a mixed qualifying. We are expecting similar conditions tomorrow so we will have a good chance of success. But we will have to run a smart race and make the right decisions to do achieve it.Toto Wolff
That was a very tough qualifying session and another one where it was easier to get things wrong than right. It was very close indeed for Lewis in Q2 when he made it through by just two-hundredths of a second and that showed how challenging the entire hour was in terms of tactics and strategy. It was crucial to get on track at the right time and our result in Q3 was a great team performance. Both drivers produced special laps: Nico was top of the timesheets when he took the chequered flag and then Lewis delivered another of his magic laps, especially in the middle sector. Our engineers have clearly found a good set-up for these mixed conditions and we are expecting more of the same kind of weather tomorrow.2013 Belgian Grand Prix qualifying times
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 2:01.012
2 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 2:01.200
3 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 2:01.325
4 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 2:02.251
5 Paul di Resta Force India 2:02.332
6 Jenson Button McLaren 2:03.075
7 Romain Grosjean Lotus 2:03.081
8 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 2:03.390
9 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 2:03.482
10 Felipe Massa Ferrari 2:04.05911 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber 1:49.088
12 Adrian Sutil Force India 1:49.103
13 Sergio Pérez McLaren 1:49.304
14 Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1:52.036
15 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:52.563
16 Max Chilton Marussia 1:52.76217 Pastor Maldonado Williams 2:03.072
18 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 2:03.300
19 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 2:03.317
20 Valtteri Bottas Williams 2:03.432
21 Esteban Gutiérrez Sauber 2:04.324
22 Charles Pic Caterham 2:07.384ends
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Jules Bianchi confident and pleased with Marussia
DRIVERS – Jules BIANCHI (Marussia), Charles PIC (Caterham), Giedo VAN DER GARDE (Caterham), Jean-Eric VERGNE (Toro Rosso), Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing), Romain GROSJEAN (Lotus)
PRESS CONFERENCE
Jules, can we start with you? Ten races into your Formula One career you’ve got some solid results. Do you feel you’re established as an F1 driver now?
Jules BIANCHI: Obviously the first part of the season has been really good for me and the team. The second part a bit more difficult. Now we’re going into the last part and I feel confident. I was really happy with the first result we had but we still need to push and improve.
What do you feel is the right move for you? I know the Marussia team are keen to keep you for next season. Do you think the right move for you is to stay there or are you looking beyond?
JB: Well, I think the right move is first of all to think about this year, finish the season and let my manager and Ferrari see what we can do and they will decide and they will a good call but for sure I’m happy and pleased with Marussia.
Giedo, moving to you now. A bit of a tough start to the year but things have really seemed to turn around recently, particularly in the last race. What was the secret of that turnaround?
Giedo VAN DER GARDE: I think it’s a lot to do with the workload. I’ve been working really hard. Of course, it’s for rookies not easy to come in. I think Jules was a little bit better than me at the beginning. But it went better and better and you see a good direction going, especially the last race, it was going really well. Happy with the team, happy with the performance and we keep on pushing like this.
And your own thoughts about next year?
GVDG: Next year is still far away. I still want to focus on the next following races, do well, maximise myself. I think the new tyres are helping me a little bit, with my style of driving, so then we’ll see where it ends up.
Moving to you Sebastian, I was going to ask you about highlights of the season but I see you’ve gone out and got a few highlights of your own, under your cap, you’re hiding it now. You obviously have a comfortable lead in the championship but after the performance of Hamilton [in Hungary] and with Mercedes winning three of the last five are you beginning to feel less comfortable?
Sebastian VETTEL: I think we had a great first part of the season. Very good results, unfortunately one DNF, but all in all I think we can be very happy with the first half. Now entering the second half and looking at the calendar I think it will be very busy for all of us but I think we have the same reason to be confident as we had starting the season. I think we have a great car, a great team, a strong package, which hopefully is good enough to fight for victories in the next couple of races.
Obviously things are hotting up in the search for your new team-mate – lots of discussions going on. What, to you… what do you feel would be the ideal characteristics of the person sitting in the car on the other side of the garage next season?
SV: At the end of the day I think it doesn’t really matter too much. I think ideally you would like someone who is competitive, as competitive as you are, so that we are pushing each other. You don’t have to be best friends with whoever is racing next to you. At the end of the day you have to work for the team. I think that’s one of the most important bits, so you work in the same direction and hopefully ensure that the car gets faster, you pull in the same direction in terms of car development. I think that’s the most important thing. Whether you like each or not is not that important. If it’s the case, then probably it’s a bonus, but I don’t think it’s absolutely necessary.
Romain, first of all congratulations from all of us on the birth of your son. How does it feel?
Romain GROSJEAN: It feels like good entertainment, the best thing ever in the world.
Will it change the way you drive?
RG I think I have a different mind from the past. I have been trying to progress a lot. It may not change lap times but I’m still trying to improve myself.
Twenty-three points in the last two grand prix, your best form of the season. What’s brought that about?
RG: We had a decent run since Bahrain, where we found out what I didn’t like on the car at the start of the season. In Silverstone we had a little bad luck. I had a bad Monaco, that was myself, but then I think I was getting better and better and we had in the last two races fights for victory, which is always good. The car was performing well in quali and the race, so happy with that, happy with the progress we are doing and the updates that being brought by the team. Just trying to do my best and giving 100 per cent every time.
You’ve had a clean sheet in race starts this season but obviously coming back here everyone remembers 12 months ago, what do think about that now?
RG: Well, as I say, a different state of mind and I think I’ve progressed a lot and worked on that and I think the 2013 starts prove that I did my duties. No, I’ll keep pushing and trying to do my best in every circumstance. When every eye is on you, it’s easier for the others to play with that. But I’m here today to give my best, trying to win races, what I’ve been trying to do in the last two grand prix and it’s getting close and closer, which is good. So I’ll keep progressing, keep working and keep doing the same things and I’ll keep doing clean starts.
Q: Jean-Eric, moving to you, we saw the interview you gave to L’Équipe just before the summer break. Perhaps you could spell out for us the situation as you see it between yourself, Toro Rosso, Red Bull and the future?
Jean-Eric VERGNE: The situation is pretty clear. I don’t have much to say. There have been absolutely no [statements] from Red Bull Racing or Toro Rosso. I’m happy where I am. I try to focus 100 per cent on my season and all the races that are going on for the rest of the year. Therefore I don’t want to think too much about next year.
Q: There was a quote from Franz Tost saying you are secure at Toro Rosso for next year, you didn’t have to worry about your future.
JEV: Yeah, absolutely I’m not worried. Of course as a driver I wish I could have a car to win races but I will be more than happy to stay in Toro Rosso. It’s a good team. It’s a team building up, just getting better and better. We have a new factory, a lot of good people coming in and I would be more than happy to stay in Toro Rosso next year. Nothing else to say really.
Q: Give us your thoughts on this race. Obviously a lot of support coming across the border from France, obviously always a very special feeling as well, racing on this historic track – a track on which Toro Rosso have done reasonably well in the past, certainly in qualifying.
JEV: First of all I love this track. I’ve always loved racing here. For some reason I realise I’ve had quite a decent car here with Toro Rosso. Especially this year I hope will be even better than the other ones. We are aiming for a good weekend, scoring some good points and ending all the bad results we’ve had recently.
Q: Charles, how do you feel about what you’ve been able to do so far this season?
Charles PIC: I think it was a good first half of the season for us. The two first races were difficult and for sure we were not at the pace we wanted to be but I think all the team, including the driver, made a good job and progressed race after race to become stronger and stronger after races. We finished in Budapest, I think our highest level of the season. So I think that is quite positive. Still not where we want to be so we need to continue like that and push it forward. But I think it was a good progression.
Q: This is the time of year where teams and the drivers and their managers are all thinking about the jigsaw puzzle which is who drives where in 2014. What are your feelings? Would you like to stay where you are? Do you see a move? What are you thinking?
CP: My job is to try to get 100 per cent out of my car every weekend. So I will be focussed on this for the next races and I will let my management do the rest.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Julien Febreau – Canal Plus) Question to all of you except Romain Grosjean: do you feel ready to be a father?
SV: Oof. I don’t know. Maybe. Obviously Romain is a father, so maybe he can comment on what made him think he’s ready or not. I think in the best case it doesn’t take too long to get the job done! I think in that case we are all ready!
JEV: Well, following what Seb says, I will be ready to do the job but not the rest.
GvdG: I think when Seb does one he will have a nice boy or girl with the same hair. Just kidding. I don’t know. First of all, I’ve been with my girlfriend for quite a long time. We’re getting married this year and after that we will see what comes. I think we’ll wait for a few more years.
SV: We are still in free practice!
JB: I think it’s the same (for me); I don’t feel ready at the moment but I’m practising!
CP: For myself at the moment I’m focusing on racing and my season and after that we will see.
Q: (Pierre van Vliet – F1i.com) Jean-Eric, do you still believe that you have a chance for the Red Bull drive next year?
JEV: It’s a difficult question. Obviously I don’t know much more than you. I don’t want to think too much about it so it’s difficult for me to answer this question but I still believe in our chances to have a good car next year, whether Red Bull or Toro Rosso but if I’m at Toro Rosso I’m sure we will have a good car. I don’t have much else to say.
Q: (Kate Walker – GP Week) Sebastian, I’ve been bothering you for the past few races asking about the prospect of racing against Kimi in the same car and you were quite positive and enthusiastic about the challenge. How does it feel now that you know that prospective challenge has been taken away and that you might be racing somebody entirely different? Are you looking forward to it?
SV: Well, first of all, I didn’t know how realistic it was or not. Obviously I’ve learned similar to most of us from the press that as it looks, it’s not the case (that Kimi will be my teammate). For sure I’m talking with the team, but as I’ve said many times, it’s not my decision and also I don’t want to get too involved. As I’ve said, I think Kimi would have been nice in many ways. Now it’s not happening so it doesn’t make much sense to talk about that but who knows? He’s still young, I’m still young so I don’t know. A lot of things can still happen. Never say never but probably for next year it’s not going to happen.
Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Sebastian, after Hamilton’s win in Budapest, do you now see him as your most dangerous rival for the remainder of the season?
SV: Well, I think he’s one of them. Obviously, like I said, we had a good first half of the season. We can be very happy with that. We just need to go step by step, race by race and then not get distracted by too many things happening around the outside, outside of the team. I think Mercedes has been very competitive, not just Lewis, also Nico who has won two races already this year. We know that they are very quick in qualifying. Hungary, in a way, for the first time – not really the first time – they had the ability, let’s say, to show their speed in the race as well but really since Monaco, in a way, they’ve been competitive in the races. As I said, Nico won the race at Silverstone. Lewis was in the lead when he had the tyre failure. Surely, the last couple of races they were most competitive but then I think Lotus has always been there scoring points with Kimi. Romain is fighting his way back. Ferrari, I think, has a little bit of a low at the moment but still they’ve got good points so I think all of these teams and the drivers, you still have to keep them in mind but as I said, for us it’s not that important to pick one particular driver or person or team. As I said, first of all we have to get our own stuff sorted and then we will see what happens.
Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, there are rumours about Kimi that he might go back to Ferrari. Do you think that he and Fernando could be a more threatening couple for you, or would you prefer him to stay at Lotus?
SV: I don’t know. I get along quite well with Kimi so I would be happy in a way if he finds a spot where he’s happy. I think he has a good seat at the moment with Lotus but if he can improve then I would be happy for him. I think Kimi is very straightforward, you don’t get any bullshit with him and politics so in that regard I don’t know how realistic it is for him to return to Ferrari. Obviously he has been there and then Fernando came and Kimi left to go rallying. I think he’s very uncomplicated.
Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto-Motor) Jules, can you make it clear if you running for the Ferrari seat, and what other options are there for you apart from Marussia?
JB: Well, obviously I don’t know. Actually I am just focused 100 percent on my season and I just let my manager decide it for me. I think it’s not the moment to look at that, but for sure I will be ready if Ferrari call me, but for the moment I feel good at Marussia.
Q: (Luke Smith – NBC Sports) Romain, there are rumours of Kimi Raikkonen leaving the team at the end of the season; do you enjoy the prospect of potentially leading Lotus next season, in potentially a World Championship-leading car?
RG: Well, I always say that losing Kimi would be a loss for the team, he’s very good, he’s a World Champion, it’s good to have him as a teammate. We push each other to the limit but if he leaves then we still have to do the job and to try to win races and score a lot of points. So at the moment I think we have a good way of working together but yeah, if he leaves then I would be more than happy to get the deal and try to keep Lotus where it is or still improve.
Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and National Speedsport News) Sebastian, we’re at Spa, a track you guys all love and we’re going to Suzuka, a track you all love. What is your most memorable race at Suzuka and why?
SV: So you’re not… you don’t want to talk about Spa? Correct. Nice introduction though! Looking back to Suzuka, I think I’ve had fantastic races there. I’ve been very lucky. I think the last four years I’ve always been on the podium: won three out of four races there so yeah, I really like the circuit, it’s fantastic. The first sector is great, similar to here: you have some corners which are very similar. I think we all enjoy the fact that when we get to challenge ourselves, not only ourselves but also the cars, and really get the cars to their limit and feel, once or twice, on these special types of circuits, what the cars can do and the corner speeds we have just through the first sector at Suzuka is very impressive. I enjoy that a lot, to feel the speed, to really get that sensation. It’s just a great level of satisfaction and that’s why it’s like a drug, you want more and more every lap and if you have a great car which fortunately I had the last couple of years, then it’s just great to go for another lap and another lap. I think the best memory I have is winning the championship there in 2011, even though I didn’t win the race but still it was a great experience, a crazy day and crazy karaoke at night after that.
Q: (Marc Priestley – F1Times.com) For anybody who has been to do a track walk today; you will have noticed that the first few grid slots have had some drainage channels cut into the track surface. Has there been talk amongst your teams, firstly about the different strategies for the start procedures and secondly about the possibility of even doing practice starts at some point over the Grand Prix weekend before we get to Sunday?
RG: Well, we noticed it while doing the track walk but we haven’t spoken with the start guy yet. It’s true that it looks different when you do the walk but I think the first eleven grid positions are more or less the same so there is no disadvantage; the advantage will be more with the eleventh, twelfth positions if there could be any problems, but I think from the first few rows, it should be the same for everyone.
JEV: Actually, we had a meeting just before the press conference and we were discussing it. I think we will probably bring it up during the drivers’ briefing or team managers’ briefing to try and ask if we can have a practice start to see if there is a difference or not.
SV: Yeah, we’ve noticed it, we’ve talked about it, we don’t know the difference because we’ve never had starts on that kind of surface. I don’t expect it to be a big difference. Obviously I think we are not allowed – at the moment, at least – doing any practice starts. Maybe that will change, to have a look for all the teams. If it’s wet, it’s better, if it’s wet for all of us for sure, but I think that’s the reason why they did it. Like I said, no experience so we don’t know.
GvdG: I think we are at an advantage then.
Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Romain, talking about Kimi, one thing that his manager said is that it depends a lot on Lotus whether he can stay or not, from what Lotus can offer technically and also financially. I think this is also something that interests you; have you spoken with Boullier and with Lopez, what do you know about next year? Do you feel secure about this?
RG: Well, I was a bit busy the last few weeks to be honest. I didn’t have much time to make phone calls. I feel very happy with the team. It’s no secret that I would like to stay there. I think we are on a good progression. There’s a lot of talk about Kimi but to be honest, at the moment I am just trying to focus on the way back and having the races that we’ve had in the last two Grands Prix and doing a good job.
Q: (Andy Young – Richland F1) Question for the back row: it’s forecast to rain on Sunday, are you hopeful that it does and therefore gives you a chance to maybe get a point or a decent result?
JB: Well, obviously when it’s raining I think it’s better for us because it’s like kind of crazy races so we have more chance to finish in the front but it’s also a chance for us to be out of the track, so it’s not easy. I would like to have some rain on Sunday.
CP: I think, as Jules said, each time you have changing conditions, for us it’s good because it means that if you take the right decisions you can take advantage from it and try to get a finishing position that you are not able to get without changing conditions. I think it’s good but then after it’s the same for everybody so you still have to take the right decision and a better one than the one (driver) you are fighting against.
GvdG: I think it’s a good opportunity for us. I think it’s always nice here in the rain. I think our car performs quite well in the rain and with that, a lot of things can happen in the race so we will see. I think it would be nice for us to have a little rain, a little luck here and there. Hopefully we can get back our tenth place in the team championship.
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, yesterday Alonso tweeted impressive numbers about his training during the summer break. Could you tell us what you did during the break?
SV: What did I do? Holiday, so rest a little bit and for sure, you use the time to… soon enough, hopefully, get back into rhythm and train. I didn’t log every kilometer that I did on the bike or run or swim so I don’t know what he did. I know that he’s quite active on Twitter but I’m not following him. I don’t have the… I don’t know if you actually need the application or not on your phone or if you… I don’t know, if you have to subscribe. I don’t know. I’m not a member, I’m not part of that exclusive club but yeah, I think he’s pretty fit, no doubt, so I’m sure he was training pretty hard.
Ends
