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Tag: Vettel
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Charles Leclerc leads Ferrari 1-2 in FP3: Mexican GP
Charles Leclerc tops FP3 in Mexico on Saturday morning. An FIA image Mexico City, 26 Oct 2019: Charles Leclerc went quickest in the final practice session for the Mexican Grand Prix, with the Monegasque driver beating team-mate Sebastian Vettel by just 0.027s at the end of a late chase for top spot following a wet start to the session.
Heavy overnight rain left the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez track surface too damp for slick tyres and the early part of the session saw the few teams that took to the track run cautiously on green-banded intermediate tyres.
Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen led the way in the first half-hour, the Dutchman posting a time of 1:26.118 that left him four-tenths clear of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.
With a little over 13 minutes left in the session, Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen bolted on a set of soft tyres and when the Finn immediately went more than four seconds quicker than Verstappen it sparked a furious final 10 minutes of action as teams attempted to learn as much as possible in the short time available.
The top spot was traded among Bottas, on medium compound Pirellis, Verstappen, the second Red Bull of Alex Albon and McLaren’s Carlos Sainz, all on softs, before Bottas moved further ahead.
The Finn moved to soft tyres and with a little over two minutes left on the clock he took P1 with a lap of 1:16.259. Hamilton couldn’t match that with his run on softs, with the Briton putting in a slight scruffy lap to cross the line over a tenth behind his team-mate.
It was left to Leclerc and Vettel to lead the way and as the chequered flag was shown Leclerc took top spot with a time of 1:16.145, just under three-hundredths of a second ahead of Vettel.
Their times shuffled Bottas and Hamilton to third and fourth places respectively, while Sainz took fifth place for McLaren.
Neither Red Bull driver found space for a clean run in the final minutes of the session, with Verstappen coming across a slow Alfa Romeo on his run and Albon being slowed by Williams’ Robert Kubica. Verstappen thus had to settle for sixth place, almost eight tenths of a second off Leclerc, while Albon finished eighth.
The Red Bulls were split by the Toro Rosso of Pierre Gasly. The Frenchman sat out the bulk of the session with illness but he went out on track in the final minutes to post a time of 1:17.090 to edge Albon by 0.004s.
Lando Norris was ninth in the second McLaren, 1.001s off the pace and the final top 10 position was taken by Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez.
Down at Renault technical problems prevented Daniel Ricciardo from taking part, while team-mate Nico Hulkenberg completed a single installation lap. The team reported “pollution of one of the cooling systems, which requires careful cleaning not to damage any component”.
2019 FIA Formula One Mexican Grand Prix – Free Practice 3
1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 14 1:16.145
2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 11 1:16.172 0.027
3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 18 1:16.259 0.114
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 16 1:16.381 0.236
5 Carlos Sainz McLaren 14 1:16.638 0.493
6 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 12 1:16.903 0.758
7 Pierre Gasly Scuderia Toro Rosso 10 1:17.090 0.945
8 Alex Albon Red Bull Racing 19 1:17.094 0.949
9 Lando Norris McLaren 11 1:17.146 1.001
10 Sergio Perez Racing Point 10 1:17.207 1.062
11 Daniil Kvyat Scuderia Toro Rosso 14 1:17.529 1.384
12 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo Racing 19 1:17.740 1.595
13 Lance Stroll Racing Point 8 1:17.866 1.721
14 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing 8 1:17.881 1.736
15 Kevin Magnussen Haas 12 1:18.132 1.987
16 Romain Grosjean Haas 14 1:18.527 2.382
17 George Russell Williams 13 1:20.965 4.820
18 Robert Kubica Williams 13 1:22.002 5.857
19 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1 -
Vettel sets the pace in FP2 ahead of Verstappen
Vettel tops FP2 on Friday. Photo by Abhishek Aggarwal Mexico City, 25 Oct 2019: Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel led the way in second practice for the Mexican Grand prix edging Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen by 0.115s. Charles Leclerc was third 0.465s off the pace of his Ferrari team-mate on Friday.
In the opening phase of the 90-minute session, run on medium tyres, Vettel went quickest with a best time of 1:17.960, over two tenths of a second clear of Leclerc. The session was red-flagged was red-flagged after just a quarter of an hour, however, thanks to Red Bull Racing’s Alex Albon crashing out in Turn 7.
The Thai driver lost control on entry and slid wide across the run-off area. He hit the barriers hard with the right side of his car, causing substantial damage.
When the action resumed Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas slotted in from third to fifth respectively before Leclerc and Vettel moved to soft compound Pirellis for their qualifying simulations.
Leclerc initially went quickest with a lap of 1:17.072s but Vettel cleared that mark with ease, going quicker in all three sectors to post a table-topping time of 1:16.607. Verstappen then stole second place with his best time of 1:16.722.
Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas was fourth fastest in the session, 0.614s off the pace and was 0.349s quicker than team-mate Lewis Hamilton who finished in fifth place.
Best of the rest in the session was Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat with the Russian claiming sixth place close to the end of the session. His lap of 1:17.747 put him over two tenths of a second ahead of seventh-placed team-mate Pierre Gasly.
McLaren’s Carlos Sainz set the eighth-fastest time, almost two tenths faster than Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg and Lando Norris rounded out the top 10 in the second McLaren, 1.742s off the pace.
2019 FIA Formula One Mexican Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:16.607
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 37 1:16.722 0.115
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 34 1:17.072 0.465
4 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 39 1:17.221 0.614
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 35 1:17.570 0.963
6 Daniil Kvyat Scuderia Toro Rosso 40 1:17.747 01.140
7 Pierre Gasly Scuderia Toro Rosso 39 1:18.003 01.396
8 Carlos Sainz McLaren 38 1:18.079 01.472
9 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 23 1:18.261 01.654
10 Lando Norris McLaren 36 1:18.349 01.742
11 Lance Stroll Racing Point 38 1:18.362 01.755
12 Sergio Perez Racing Point 34 1:18.366 01.759
13 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 34 1:18.380 01.773
14 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo Racing 37 1:18.681 02.074
15 Romain Grosjean Haas 37 1:18.766 02.159
16 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing 46 1:18.889 02.282
17 Kevin Magnussen Haas 37 1:19.306 02.699
18 George Russell Williams 36 1:19.968 03.361
19 Robert Kubica Williams 37 1:20.180 03.573
20 Alex Albon Red Bull Racing 5 1:21.665 05.058 -
Vettel takes pole ahead of Leclerc; Hamilton P4
Sebastian Vettel, centre, flanked by teammate Charles Leclerc, left, and Valtteri Bottas after taking pole on Sunday. An FIA image Suzuka, 13 Oct 2019: Sebastian Vettel claimed the 57thpole position of his career as Ferrari locked out the front row at Suzuka in a delayed qualifying session for the Japanese Grand Prix. Mercedes will start from row two, with Valtteri Bottas third ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
The arrived of Typoon Hagibis yesterday caused the cancellation of all track action at the Mie Prefecture track and qualifying got underway on Sunday morning.
The first segment began in disjointed fashion with two red flags in quick succession. First Williams’ Robert Kubica went onto the gras at Turn 18 and slid off into the barriers and then, after an eight-minutes halt, Haas’ Kevin Magnussen did almost the same. The Dane got out of shape on the exit of the final chicane and then simply spun out in Turn 18 before slapping the barriers with both end of his car. Magnussen managed to keep his Haas going, however, and limped to the pits, though he was not seen for the rest of the session.
When the green lights went on again the segment was straightforward for the front runners. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc led the way ahead of Hamilton and Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen. However, eliminated at the end of the session were Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo in 16thplace, followed by Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez, Williams’ George Russell and the unfortunate Magnussen and Kubica.
The second session saw Vettel set the early pace with a lap of 1:28.174, though that was soon beaten by Hamilton who set a time of 1:27.826.
The kept the title leader on top until the late in the session when Bottas jumped ahead of his team-mate with an improved lap of 1:27.688. Red Bull’s Alex also improved on his final run of the session, gaining almost seven tenths of a second over his first attempt to steal P3 with a lap of 1:28.156. Ferrari, meanwhile, chose to skip the final runs and Q2 ended with Vettel fourth ahead of Leclerc with Verstappen. Behind the Dutchman, McLaren’s Lando Norris made it into Q3 ahead of team-mate Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly and the Haas of Romain Grosjean.
Eliminated at the end of Q2 were 11th-placed Alfa Romeo driver Antonio Giovinazzi, followed by Racing Point’s Lance Stroll, the second Alfa of Kimi Räikkönen, the second Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat and Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg.
It was Vettel, though, who rose up through the ranks to claim pole position. The German set blistering pace to set a outright track record of 1:27.064, almost two tenths of a second quicker than team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Behind the Ferrari front row lockout Mercedes seized row two with Bottas ahead of Hamilton. Red Bull locked out row three, with Verstappen and Albon posting identical times of 1:27.851, with the Dutchman only securing P5 by virtue of setting the time first. It was impressive performance from Albon on his first F1 weekend at Suzuka. Behind the Red Bulls, McLaren took row four with Carlos Sainz ahead of Lando Norris, while Pierre Gasly was ninth for Toro Rosso ahead of Haas’ Romain Grosjean.
2019 FIA Formula One Japanese Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:27.064 6 240.113
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:27.253 0.189 6 239.592
3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:27.293 0.229 6 239.483
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:27.302 0.238 6 239.458
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:27.851 0.787 6 237.962
6 Alexander Albon Red Bull/Honda 1:27.851 0.787 6 237.962
7 Carlos Sainz JrMcLaren/Renault 1:28.304 1.240 6 236.741
8 Lando Norris McLaren/Renault 1:28.464 1.400 6 236.313
9 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso/Honda 1:28.836 1.772 6 235.323
10 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 1:29.341 2.277 3 233.993
11 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:29.254 1.566 6 234.221
12 Lance Stroll Racing Point/Mercedes 1:29.345 1.657 6 233.982
13 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:29.358 1.670 6 233.948
14 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso/Honda 1:29.563 1.875 6 233.413
15 Nico Hülkenberg Renault 1:30.112 2.424 4 231.991
16 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1:29.822 1.417 8 232.740
17 Sergio Pérez Racing Point/Mercedes 1:30.344 1.939 9 231.395
18 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:30.364 1.959 10 231.344
– Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 2
– Robert Kubica Williams/Mercedes 1 . -
Safety first forces Saturday cancellation and team reps agree
TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Guenther STEINER (Haas), Mattia BINOTTO (Ferrari), Toyoharu TANABE (Honda), Cyril ABITEBOUL (Renault), Frédéric VASSEUR (Alfa Romeo)
Q: Tomorrow’s programme has been called due to the typhoon. Can we get your thoughts on that decision and could you explains how it has affected your programme today. Perhaps we can start with Fred?
Frédéric VASSEUR: I think that it’s safety first and probably it makes no sense to ask the spectators to come on track and then to be in a big mess. In terms of schedule and programme for the team. We already thought about this yesterday evening honestly. OK, it will change the programme but I think we can afford the weekend with two free practices. Perhaps it will be a good exercise for the future.
Q: Thank you. Cyril?
Cyril ABITEBOUL: Well, nothing really to add. It has happened before and it will happen in the future. There is enough time on Sunday to conduct both qualifying and the race. I think maybe it will give us an impression of Formula E, maybe a little bit, so not a bad thing. That’s for my neighbor on the left, and on the right.
Q: Tanabe-san?
Toyoharu TANABE: First, I’m sorry to the fans willing to be here Saturday, but in terms of our programme we will just prepare for the qualifying and the race this afternoon and then maybe analyse the data and then ready for the qualifying on Sunday and the race.
Q: Mattia?
Mattia BINOTTO: I would join certainly his comment, as first I think it’s a shame for the fans but it’s a fully respectable decision, safety is first. In terms of programmes, certainly it’s a lot more intense now. We are certainly skipping one session, which is FP3. Qualifying may be occurring on Sunday morning. But it means that today it will be a lot more intense. We’ve got, eventually, more tyres to be used – the ones from FP3. We need to set up the car for the Quali on Sunday morning. There’s just a session less. Things are more complicated but certainly a great challenge but I’m pretty sure it should be a good show and spectacle on Sunday.
Q: Guenther?
Guenther STEINER: Nothing to add from a sporting side. I think it was the right decision from the organisers, safety is first, and the rest is set.
Q: Thank you gentlemen. Tanabe-san, if I could come back to you, please? It’s always special to race here at Suzuka and Honda has a good chance of getting a good result this weekend. How exciting is it to be in that situation?
TT: Yes, it is a very special race. The Japanese Grand Prix is our home race, and then the Suzuka circuit is owned by Honda. All Japanese fans are willing it to have a good result from Honda-powered cars. On the other hand, it’s kind of pressure for us, but fans give us more power. In terms of the weekend preparation, the setting is the same as the other races. So, we just set up the PU accordingly and do our best.
Q: Can we get a word too on the performance of Naoki Yamamoto this morning in the Toro Rosso. He was only one tenth slower than Dany Kvyat. How would you assess his performance today?
TT: Considering it’s his first run on a grand prix weekend I think he did a good job. Comparing the lap time against Dany is a bit difficult because they are doing different strategy in the practice. But he did a decent job for the team to set up the car in the first session of the weekend and then his run today will definitely encourage Japanese young drivers. So, thank you Toro Rosso and Red Bull and it’s good for the Japanese fans as well.
Q: Thank you. Fred, coming back to you: there are five races left this year, so when you look back at this season, has it been a success?
FV: It was a really up and down season. We had the first four or five races where we scored a lot of points and then we had a bad momentum around Monaco and Barcelona and then we went back. The last four races were very difficult. It’s up and down. But let’s see in the last five if it’s up and hopefully the last five will be OK.
Q: What can you do to level out the performances?
FV: It’s small things and small details honestly. If you compare with Sochi that we were, with Antonio, we were P13 in Quali but we were two tenths off compared to P7 in Q2 and it’s very, very tight and for small details sometimes you can be completely out of the classification but we have to take care when you are doing the analysis. But it’s true also that we made too many mistakes over the last three or four weekends – teams, drivers, everyone in the same basket – but at the end of the day we have to wake up a little bit and to come back to the pace and top score points in the last four events.
Q: And how has the experience of Kimi Räikkönen helped the team?
FV: He’s staying calm. He’s not a big nervous. I think it’s good also for us to stay focused on the real issue and not to start to try to go in every single direction. We know what did wrong on the last two or three events and I hope that we will be able to correct it for Suzuka and the next ones, and that’s it.
Q: Guenther, if we could come to you now please. In Russia, Kevin Magnussen scored his first points since the German Grand Prix. What aero was he running on his car that weekend and is that the direction going forward?
Guenther STEINER: I don’t know what aero he was running because we are mixing it up a little bit. There is no definitive spec what we could call it. It’s a hybrid, we call it and, going forward, in the moment we are on a very similar spec like we had in Russia. Going forward, we test a few things and I cannot tell you what we do in the next race because we just try to get better and get a better understanding so we are not in this position next year. But, I mean, it seemed to be working a little bit better in Russia. So, let’s hope we can find a few more points on our way to the end of the season.
Q: Knowing what you know now, what would you have done differently with the development of this year’s car?
GS: A lot. It’s like… I don’t want to go into the specifics of technical stuff but we should have listened a little bit more to the drivers when they gave their opinion about what the car is doing and whatnot. And sometimes listen more to drivers than look at numbers. That’s what we have to learn out of this. And now I think we need to get what drivers say correlated with what the numbers say and get an understanding so we can move forward. As I said, we would have done a lot different from Barcelona onwards.
Q: Cyril, tell us about the progress with your car, particularly this weekend, and what feedback you’ve had from your drivers about the new front wing?
Cyril ABITEBOUL: It’s as always when you bring this type of parts, in particular with these current regulations, it’s a very sensitive part. I think everyone here would say the same thing. So, it always takes a little bit of time to understand properly, to measure, we’ve done a number of back-to-back tests. The guys are currently looking at the data at the factory – and also listening to drivers, Guenther, we are also doing that – and no, there is nothing really bad but I think there is more to come in pace and in balance in particular. But this is a very complex area of development of the car. It’s highly loaded so it creates some instability. It’s complex.
Q: Can you tell us any more about what the drivers were saying about the car this morning?
CA: I don’t want to go into specifics but I think the balance was not exactly where it was supposed to be, so we need to review that in particular, make sure that the data do back up what they were experiencing on track. And if that does, we’ll be making some set-up change in FP2 to see if we can indeed get it to work a bit better.
Q: OK, and looking a bit further ahead, it looks like you won’t be supplying any customer teams in 2021. How will that impact on your power unit development?
CA: In particular for next year there is no impact because the engine for next year is done, it’s on the dyno already, you know that it’s a long lead-time development, so nothing is going to impact what we are doing for 2020. It’s going to impact what we could be doing for 2021 on the basis that, when you have multiple customers, in particular the way that Renault is doing it, we always try to satisfy everyone to take on board all the comments in terms of installation, and so on and so forth, so that will be one less distraction. We will be able to focus on ourselves and just on ourselves. And that’s it. From an economic perspective, there is absolutely no impact and nothing in it, because we sell, more or less, at a cost. Due to the price cap limitation. So, frankly, it’s nothing, that it’s good news, because, you know, it’s always satisfying to see your product being used by multiple teams but in terms of what we need to achieve and deliver for Renault it has absolutely no impact.
Q: Mattia, we understood from Charles yesterday that you spoke to both drivers in Maranello last week. How confident are you that another situation like the one we saw in Russia won’t arise again?
Mattia BINOTTO: First, it’s not the first time we are speaking in Maranello. It’s true that I met both of them this week, they were in Maranello for some activities: simulator etc., I think we had positive, constructive, honest, fair, transparent discussions with both of them, individuals. I think what happened in Sochi, nothing really bad but certainly something that needs to be improved and addressed and I think it’s only an opportunity of lesson learned and trying to do better in the future. But how much I’m confident it will not happen, I’m not at all. I think these are both very good drivers. They are all going for a single objective which is winning themselves but I think what again is more important is that at least we between us we’ve got clarity and fairness and I think that’s key.
Q: You say they’re both very competitive drivers. What have you learnt about Sebastian and Charles over the last two grand prix weekends?
MB: I think that they are both performing very well and, as I’ve often said this season, it’s somehow a luxury for a team principal having this situation. I’m very pleased for the racing performance of Sebastian, as I am for the one of Charles since, let’s say, the start of the season and his progresses. What I’ve learned, that we’ve got a very competitive line-up. But I don’t think I learned it. It’s not a surprise, it’s something on which we’re simply happy.
Q: And what about this weekend. How’s your car performing and what do you make of the pace of the Mercedes this morning in FP1?
MB: It’s only FP1, very difficult normally to judge. We cannot neglect that we set the four poles in the last four grands prix but we’ve seen as well that our competitors have brought some upgrades here. The Red Bull and the Honda will be very competitive this weekend as well. The weekend will be shortened because of tomorrow. Sunday morning the conditions can be very difficult for everybody after, let me say, the bad weather of tomorrow. So, I think it will be a difficult and challenging weekend for everybody. More important that we are focused on ourselves. We’ve got some homework after FP1 certainly to do. A few balance issues to be addressed. Again, I think the benchmark are still the cars which are ahead in the Championship and we are still the challengers but I’m pretty sure we can be competitive and this is our objective.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Eric Bielderman – L’Equipe) To all managers: would you regard this afternoon’s FP2 as a potential qualification session due to the fact that Sunday morning, with the wind, it might not be possible… there is a slight chance it might not be possible to run the qualification process?
GS: I wouldn’t say a qualification but I think a lot of us will try to put in a fast time to prevent… if qualifying is cancelled on Sunday morning, they are discussing it now, we need to look at the weather. But for sure, we have got more tyres available as well because we are not running tomorrow so it’s a judgement for everybody to do, to see if they can do a good lap but I think it will be quite interesting as Mattia said before, this afternoon, with not having FP3, there will be a lot of running out there this afternoon so hopefully we have got an interesting programme going.
MB: Not much more to add. I think the answer was completely clear. I don’t think the main objective of this afternoon will be to set the best lap time. The main activity, certainly, will be to address any set-up issues that we got in the morning, making sure that we are ready for Sunday because still, I think, the most likely will be to have qualifying on Sunday morning and then the race in the afternoon. But no doubt, if we can, we will try to do at least a good lap, just in case.
TT: In terms of a PU settings point of view, we just set up our PU for the qualifying and the race this afternoon and we will see. I hope the typhoon goes very quick after landing on the Japan island.
CA: Yeah, it’s going to be a bit of a balancing exercise because we still need to prepare the race and particularly, in our case, because of the development parts, we still need to understand (them) a bit better and look at that but in parallel, we will keep that in the back of our minds. As far as we are concerned, we have elected to stay with our Friday engine, which is down on power because it’s an engine which we were using initially at the start of the season, so it’s costing a little bit but on balance we still believe that Sunday will be decent enough so that qualifying can be run so we prefer to stay with that plan.
FV: Not much to add that I think at the end it will be a mix between FP2 and FP3 and in case of non-quali on Sunday, I hope that we won’t take the race number for Antonio!
Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action, Speedsport) Fred, when will the team decide who Kimi’s team-mate will be next year?
FV: We will take the decision quite soon but honestly, if you have a look at the last event I think that Antonio is doing a very strong job, that he was matching Kimi in the last six or seven qualifyings in a row. He was in front in Sochi. OK, the first lap was not a good one for us but he’s doing the job and he’s improving step-by-step but this morning we had an issue on the car and he was not able to show the pace but he’s doing the job, he’s improving and I’m very confident with Antonio.
Q: (Kate Walker – Financial Times) I have a two-part question for Mattia: first off, I was wondering if you could talk us through the progress on the 2021 rules from the perspective of Ferrari and secondly, what is your current position on the use of the veto?
MB: 2021, there will be a meeting with the FIA and F1 next week on the 16th which I think will be very important because that’s the last one, altogether, before the end of the month when there will be a new vote. I think there are still a lot of open points and discussions are still ongoing so how will be the conclusion of all these discussions, it is very difficult to say at the moment. There are various interests between teams, between the teams and the F1 and the teams and the FIA. But certainly, as Ferrari, we are intending to play our role, we believe as Ferrari because of what Ferrari represents for F1, we’ve got a voice, an important voice in the discussions but no doubt that there’s still a lot of points to be addressed. In terms of the veto – you mentioned the veto – as I said I think last time in Sochi that will really be a shame. I don’t think that should be the case at all. I think we’ve got a good and open discussion with the stakeholders at the moment and I’m as well somehow hopeful that we can find the right compromise at the end.
Q: (Julien Billiotte – AutoHebdo) Gunther, you’ve been summoned to the FIA stewards for what you said over the radio in Sochi. Are you surprised, are you upset, do you believe you have a strong defence case?
GS: I don’t know what they’ve got to say. I’m going to see them in five minutes, I will be leaving here early actually, because the two dates clashed. I don’t know what they’re going to tell me. You read the same as I read so I don’t know any more information than that. I can tell you something a little bit later but I hope I don’t get a penalty for leaving the press conference early!
Q: (Martin Moravec – dpa) Mattia, when you look at this intense rivalry between Sebastian and Charles, do you fear that at some point you could lose control of your drivers?
MB: No, no I don’t think there is the risk of losing control because there is a difference between not managing drivers and at least having the intent to manage them. There is always a solution which is not manage them, maybe someone may do so, I think our intention is to try to manage the situation to the benefit of the team and secondly to the benefit, overall, as well, of the drivers. We may do a few things that can be addressed or improved and I think that is what we are building and trying to do for the future.
Ends
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Hamilton heads Mercedes one-two at Sochi
Hamilton takes the chequered flag at Sochi. An FIA image Sochi, 29 Sept 2019: Mercedes maintained its perfect record at the Russian Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton taking the team’ sixth win in Sochi overall and his fourth ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas as Ferrari’s challenge was undone by a DNF for Sebastian Vettel and a safety car period that dropped Charles Leclerc to third place at the flag.
At the start of the race Vettel made a superb start form third on the grid and was past front-row starter Hamilton before they reached Turn 1. Vettel then got a tow from pole-sitting team-mate Leclerc and stole the lead through Turn 2.
Further back, though, there was a collision involving Haas’ Romain Grosjean, Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi and Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo. The incident resulted in Grosjean exiting the race, while both Ricciardo and Giovinazzi required pit stops for repairs.
The collision brought out the Safety Car and under the caution, Vettel led Leclerc with Hamilton in third place ahead of Carlos Sainz who had passed Bottas at the start.
When the Safety Car left the track Vettel held his advantage over his team-mate, a situation that appeared to cause some friction, as Leclerc had apparently expected the German to allow him to retake the lead after affording Vettel a tow after the start. Leclerc was eventually told that the pass would take place later in the race, information that seemed to mollify the fiery Ferrari youngster.
Leclerc was the first of the leading pack to pit, with the Monegasque driver stopping for medium tyres on lap 22. He rejoined in fourth place behind Bottas (who had earlier got back past Sainz) and then began to set fastest laps.
Despite complaining of fading rear tyres Vettel stayed out until lap 26 and when he finally dived into the pits to take on medium tyres the lead changed hands as promised, with Leclerc flying past to take the lead.
Vettel’s time in action after his stop was brief. By the time he reached Turn 15 of his first lap out from the pits his Ferrari had given up and an engine issue saw him pull over at the side of the track.
That brought out the Virtual Safety Car and then when Williams’ George Russell crashed out under the caution, the physical SC was deployed.
When the order shook out, Mercedes had profited hugely. The free stop and pace under the VSC allowed both Hamilton and Bottas to jump ahead of Leclerc, with Hamilton now leading. Leclerc was now third ahead of Max Verstappen who had climbed from ninth on the grid. Sainz was fifth ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, McLaren’s Lando Norris, Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez and Lance Stroll and the second Red Bull of Alex Albon who had made it into the points after a pit lane start.
Albon then began an impressive march forward, starting after the re-start when he passed Stroll and Pérez on in the space of two laps before bypassing Norris on lap 34 to to claim P7.
Albon then began to hunt down Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and at the end of lap 42 he launched a late-braking attack into Turn 13 that worked perfectly. With P6 claimed he next set off after Sainz who was on the medium tyre.
And the Thai racer capped a brilliant afternoon with an equally brilliant move past Sainz at the start of lap 49. He pulled alongside the Spaniard on the sweep through Turn 3 and then powered past on the entry to the next corner to seal fifth place.
And that was how the order remained until the chequered flag. Leclerc pushed hard to get past Bottas, but the Finn resisted the pressure and after 53 laps Hamilton crossed the line to take his ninth win of the season and the bonus point for posting the fastest lap on lap 51. Bottas was second ahead of Leclerc while Verstappen and Albon took fourth and fifth places respectively.
Sainz took sixth place for McLaren ahead of Pérez. Norris added to a positive result for McLaren with eighth place, while Magnussen managed to hold on to P9 despite incurring a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage earlier in the race. The final point on offer went to Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg.
2012 FIA Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix – Race
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 53 1:33’38.992
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 53 1:33’42.821 3.829
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 53 1:33’44.204 5.212
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 53 1:33’53.202 14.210
5 Alexander Albon Red Bull/Honda 53 1:34’17.340 38.348
6 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren/Renault 53 1:34’24.881 45.889
7 Sergio Pérez Racing Point/Mercedes 53 1:34’27.720 48.728
8 Lando Norris McLaren/Renault 53 1:34’36.741 57.749
9 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 53 1:34’37.771 58.779
10 Nico Hülkenberg Renault 53 1:34’38.833 59.841
11 Lance Stroll Racing Point/Mercedes 53 1:34’39.813 1:00.821
12 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso/Honda 53 1:34’41.488 1:02.496
13 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 53 1:34’47.902 1:08.910
14 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso/Honda 53 1:34’49.068 1:10.076
15 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 53 1:34’52.338 1:13.346
Robert Kubica Williams/Mercedes 28 51:42.308
George Russell Williams/Mercedes 27 48’58.002
Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 26 45’29.330
Daniel Ricciardo Renault 24 43’41.568
Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 0 -
The car felt amazing, says poleman Charles Leclerc
Charles Leclerc (centre) at the FIA Press Conference after taking pole on Saturday. An FIA image DRIVERS
1 – Charles LECLERC (Ferrari)
2 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
3 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Jenson Button)Q: Charles, all I can say is, wow! What a dominant performance. All of the way through practice, yesterday, today, qualifying – you really are on a role.
Charles LECLERC: Yeah, the car felt amazing. It definitely feels great to be back on pole. I don’t know if it’s the best track to start on pole. The straight is very long after the start. Tomorrow the start will be very important as always, but here probably even more, because of the straight length.Q: It’s still the best place to be in. The last person to score four [consecutive] pole positions for Ferrari was Michael Schumacher. That must make you feel pretty special?
CL: Yeah it definitely feels very, very special, but I don’t really want to think about those kind of stats for now. I just want to focus on the job. There’s still a long way to go until tomorrow. It’s definitely a good start, we’ve been competitive all weekend long and the race simulation seems positive too, so it’s looking good for tomorrow.Q: Congratulations. Lewis, I must say, all the way through qualifying, obviously the Ferraris have had the upper hand, but as always you pulled the lap out there at the end and got the best out of the car?
Lewis HAMILTON: I’ll tell you, it was a tough qualifying session, because these guys have some crazy speeds on the straights. They go to another level, you know. That whole party mode you talked about us having, they have something else beyond that – jet mode! Nonetheless, I gave it absolutely everything I had at the end and the team did such a great job to just tinker and push forwards. I’m so glad it came together. I wasn’t expecting to get on the front row for sure, so I’m really, really happy with it nonetheless.Q: And the great thing for you guys also is that you have the medium tyres for the start of the race. It looks like you knew they would be quick in qualifying so you’ve gone for a slightly different strategy for the race.
LH: Yeah, well we know that they are on a slightly lower drag level this weekend plus they have that power, so we’ve got to try something. You’ve seen the last couple of races we’ve been behind all the way, so we’re fortunate enough to opt for another strategy and I think the team have done a really good job with putting us in that position. It’s a long way down to Turn 1, so it’s not always the best for starts on the harder tyre, but I’m going to try to two the hell out of Charles if I get the chance. But it’s going to be hard because they get good starts as well.Q: Sebastian, not the easiest qualifying I’m sure. Q1 was pretty tricky: one little mistake and all hell broke loose after that. But, P3, you’ve got the run down to Turn 1 and I’m sure that after the last race, with the strategy and winning that race, there are still a lot of opportunities tomorrow?
Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, definitely. Obviously I’m not entirely happy, I think I couldn’t extract the absolute maximum from the car. As you said, it was a bit disruptive in Q1 but by the time we got to Q3 I thought it was OK. You spoke about Turn 1, it’s a long way, obviously we’ll see. We’re on different tyres strategies compared to the Mercs, so I think the race will be decided tomorrow. The speed is there so let’s keep it up.Q: As you said, there’s a long straight down to Turn 2. You guys are pretty quick in a straight line too. For us it’s going to be great watching, but it’s going to be pretty crazy for you guys into Turn 2?
SV: Yeah, first you need a good start; then you worry about the rest, sort of thing. Let’s see. Obviously there’s potentially an advantage if you are behind but I guess if you are behind you always tend to say that, so let’s see what happens.PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Charles, you got progressively quicker as the session went on. Where were you finding the time?
CL: I don’t think I had any clean laps before the one of Q3. The first lap of Q3 felt very good. The second lap: very good until Turn 16, where I lost rears, and I lost a little bit of lap time. But overall the car was just coming together. The balance was better and better. I was adjusting a little bit the aero balance and I just felt more and more confident.Q: And what about your confidence for tomorrow’s race – the long run pace of your car?
CL: I believe that the long run pace yesterday was extremely positive, I think probably the most positive of the whole season, so this is looking good. But it’s going to be an interesting race. I mean, Mercedes are starting on the medium, so I think the strategy will play a role. I think we did the right choice to start on the soft, but we will see tomorrow.Q: Good luck with that and well done today. Lewis, if we could come on to you. You sounded very happy at the end of the session, happy to split the Ferraris for the second week in a row. How good was your lap?
LH: Pretty decent. It was a pretty good lap. Honestly, it was a really good lap. Last time, Singapore felt like a really good lap as well, it’s just… I was just saying to Charles out there that already by Turn 1 we were already three tenths down or something like that, so it’s very, very hard. But nonetheless I pushed, we pushed, as hard as we could and I was really, really happy with the lap. It all came together. That last one was the best of the weekend – as it should be – and no mistakes or anything like that, so I really feel like I got everything and maybe a little bit more from the car to split the Ferraris once again, which is not an easy task.Q: Charles thinks it’s going to be a strategic battle tomorrow. Do you feel the same way?
LH: Yeah. Yeah, definitely. I think the team did a great job to put us on the mediums and naturally from the two tyres there’s obviously a delta and the softer the tyre the better the start. So it will be a little bit tough off the start tomorrow. But even if we were in the lead, if we were on pole for example, they are just so fast on the straights by the time we get to Turn 1, which is the little kink, they blast past us with the jet fuel or whatever it is. So, yeah, it is about strategy, which is why we are on a different tyre and I hope that we can utilise that and keep the pressure on. If you’ve seen the couple of races we’ve had we’ve been right with them but I’m hoping tomorrow we can really give them a good fight.Q: Sebastian, coming to you, it seemed a good opening lap of Q3 for you but then it seems to slip away on that second lap. Is that a fair assessment?
SV: Not really. I was quite happy in general. Obviously a bit disruptive with Q1 where we got a bit unfortunate with yellow flags and stuff. I thought by the time we got to Q3 that was fine. I think overall I was pretty happy with the car. I just felt that there was more in the car that, yeah, I couldn’t get to. Nevertheless, I think tomorrow is a long race. I think we have good pace for the race. It will be very interesting with the Mercedes on different tyres to start with, so let’s see what happens.QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Lewis, how important was it to be on the first row for tomorrow’s race? And would it be crucial to be at the second corner first, before the Ferraris to avoid what happened last week in Singapore?
LH: Time will tell. But, of course, if I’m able to try and somehow keep Seb behind, and there’s only one car ahead, for example, that changes things on top. So, naturally we’re going to push as hard as we can but it’s going to be very, very hard. Down to Turn One it’s a long drag – but I’m sure we’ll have a good battle, one way or another.Q: (Christian Menath – motorsport-magazin.com) Question for all three of you. You all sounded pretty confident that you’re on the right tyre, even though you have different ones. Can you explain why you are confident this is the right tyre you’re starting on? Do you think this has to do with the car that the tyre suits better to your car – or is it only strategic reasons?
CL: On our side I think the start is very important here and we thought that the benefits of starting on Soft was big. And then there was not much difference, in terms of degradation, from the Soft to the Medium. So, yeah, we thought it was worth it to make it our start tyre.
LH: I just wanted to be on something different.Is that what it now takes to beat these guys? You’ve got to roll the dice?
LH: I don’t know. I haven’t beaten them for a while! So I can’t tell you. I’ll tell you at the end of tomorrow.Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) To all three. Charles, this is your fourth pole in a row. You were asked downstairs, you’re the first person to do that for Ferrari since Michael, which is obviously pretty special. Are you on a roll at the moment in qualifying where you feel like you can’t do anything wrong, and everything comes together. And to Lewis and Seb, you’ve both had massive success in Formula One, been on this sort of run – what does it do for you as a driver when you have this sort of succession of poles?
CL: Of course I felt confident going into qualifying but at the end anything… I mean at one point it’s going to end, so whether it’s now or later, I don’t know. So, the only thing I’m trying to do is focus on myself, try to have exactly the same procedure as I’ve had since the last four races and not… yeah, I definitely don’t come in the car thinking it will be easy and that it will come together alone. I just try to keep working as I did in the last few races, and then hopefully the lap time comes.Lewis, how does it feel? The importance of momentum, invincibility when you’re on a roll?
LH: I don’t know – I’ve never felt invincible. Of course, when you get on a roll, it doesn’t really make… from my experience, it’s nice, for sure but it doesn’t make a difference. So if it’s separated: one pole; one second; one pole, it doesn’t make any difference to me. But he’s stealing all the poles right now, so it’s going to be very, very hard to beat their poles when they’re so fast on the straights but we’re working at it.SV: I don’t know – it’s been a while for me! Yeah, I think you take every session separately, so you’re not really trying to look back. I think it’s just about nailing every session.
Q: (Dzhastina Golopolosova – The Paddock Magazine) Question to Charles. Mercedes dominated here for five years and today you showed that you can break this trend. What do you think about tomorrow?
CL: For now… I mean the race it tomorrow. It will be very important to stay in front, and they were also strong in the race pace, as they’ve always been since the beginning of the season, so, it obviously feels good to be on pole here. I think Singapore was a big surprise for everyone, for us to be in front and here, I think we felt we had our chances, considering how quick we were in Singapore. Yeah, I mean it feels good to break that but we need to finish the job tomorrow.Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Charles, Jenson already mentioned the record that you equalled today with Michael Schumacher but I want to consider with you that there was this past 19 years from that and there are some other guys, for example Seb, who are with you that couldn’t do that. So how is your feeling, to think that today is an historical day not only for you but for Ferrari?
CL: As I said, it feels good but it doesn’t change my approach to the other weekends and as Seb and Lewis said, every time you go into a session, you take it just normally, without thinking about the others, the last poles I’ve had. So yeah, obviously it feels great but I don’t want to think about these things and I just want to focus on the job ahead.Q: (Giusto Ferronato – La Gazzetta dello Sport) For both Ferrari drivers: in Italy probably now many people are thinking that you have found the solution to win all the races. Is this correct or they are too optimistic?
CL: I think we need to keep our feet on the ground. Obviously at the moment we are in a good momentum, we are having really good performances but at the end it doesn’t change… Mercedes are still quite ahead in the overall championship, which at the end is what matters the most. I think we need to keep our heads down, keep working. Of course at the moment it seems that it’s working our way but I will not say it will be like this for the rest of the season, so we need to keep working.
SV: Not much to add so maybe too optimistic. I think we need to wait until tomorrow. I think at the last race obviously it was difficult to pass. I think Mercedes was faster than us in the race so we will see what happens tomorrow with different strategy.Q: Sebastian, is this the best Ferrari you’ve driven?
SV: I think the car got a lot better since the beginning of the year when we started to really struggle. Obviously we had a bit of a high at winter testing. I think we understood what it takes and I think the step in Singapore in particular seemed to help us and allowed us to make another step forward. But I think the ’17 car out of the box was probably the best so far.Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Sebastian, have you looked at all the data with Charles on the exercise of pole and have you found where he is better than you since the return of the summer?
SV: Well, obviously in qualifying here and there. I think we didn’t have the best sessions on my side. I think obviously today Charles was faster so it’s pretty easy to see where he’s faster but it’s a little bit here and there. I don’t think there’s any pattern standing out, saying that he’s always faster in the same type of corner. As I said, obviously the last couple of races was closer than maybe it looked on the result so we will see what happens tomorrow. Usually come race day I’m getting more and more confident in the car and pace has never been a problem in the race so we will see what happens.Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Lewis, you’ve mentioned the deficit you’ve got at the moment to Ferrari and where you feel that deficit is so how deep are you having to dig inside yourself for a lap like this? You had a big gap to Valtteri today for example and you said your Singapore lap was also very good.
LH: Yeah. Honestly I feel like that maybe the last couple of laps have felt worthy, like pole-worthy in terms of how this has come together and optimising within the car. Naturally obviously they are faster than us and Charles has done a good job but I mean in terms of being as close to the limit as possible and yeah, I think I’ve just been getting more and more comfortable with the car, I think in this second half of the season, a little bit more comfortable with it, even though we’ve lost a little performance compared to them but there’s still work to do collectively, in all of us, including myself so we just keep working on that. Please don’t write that the wrong way, pole-worthy, I was meaning in terms of what do you… putting the perfect lap together, I feel like each time I’m getting as close to that as possible and then you finish the lap and it’s quite a long way off pole but it feels like quite an achievement to get in between the two Ferraris who have a bit of a delta to us at the moment.Ends
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Sebastian Vettel wins Singapore GP as Ferrari scores 1-2; Max Verstappen takes third
Sebastian Vettel after taking the Singapore GP win on Sunday. An FIA image Singapore, 22 Sept 2019: Sebastian Vettel scored his first Formula 1 victory in over a year, pitting ahead of race-leading Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc to vault to the front and eventually claim his 53rdcareer race win at the Singapore Grand Prix.
The seeds of Vettel’s fifth win at the Marina Bay Street Circuit were sown at the end of the first stint. Rather than race leader Leclerc first, Ferrari opted to bring third-placed Vettel in for hard tyres on lap 19 and with the undercut working, the German was able to leapfrog both second-placed Lewis Hamilton and Leclerc during a round of stops that saw Mercedes leave Hamilton on track until lap 26.
With the race lead his, Vettel then successfully navigated three safety car periods to take his first win since last year’s Belgian Grand Prix.
At the race start the top six got away in grid order with pole sitter Leclerc of leading from Hamilton, Vettel and fourth-placed Max Verstappen. Valtteri Bottas was fifth in the second Mercedes, with Red Bull’s Alex Albon in sixth.
Behind them Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg clashed with McLaren’s Carlos Sainz and they both dropped to the rear of the field. That allowed Lando Norris in the second McLaren to slip through to seventh place ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi, Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Toro Rosso’s 10th-placed Pierre Gasly.
The first stint then became a game of tyre management as the leaders preserved their starting softs in order to go deep enough into the race to clear the midfield should they pit.
Vettel was the first to make the move, with the German pitting on lap 19,m along with Verstappen. Leclerc was next in but after his stop he emerged behind team-mate Vettel, much to his dismay.
At the front, Hamilton now led the race. Despite admitting that his tyres were “not great’ the Briton stayed out until lap 26. And when he rejoined he did so behind Max.
The race was now led by Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi with Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly in P2 ahead of Ricciardo, all of whom needed to stop. Vettel soon made his way past all three and on lap 30 he assumed the lead of the race. Leclerc and Verstappen followed suit and as the order settled Vettel led his team-mate by six seconds, with Verstappen three seconds further back in third place. Hamilton was now fourth.
The race was neutralised on lap 35 when Haas’ Romain Grosjean made a mess of an ambitious overtake of Williams’ George Russell into Turn 8 and ended up pitching the young Briton into the wall.
The SC left the track at the end of lap 40 and when racing resumed, Vettel held his lead ahead of an unchanged top 10. The green flags lasted just three laps, however. On lap 44, Sergio Pérez was told to stop his car and the Racing Point driver pulled over at the side of the track, leading to a second Safety Car deployment.
The SC stayed on track until the end of lap 47 and when the action resumed it was again a clean re-start but within three laps the pace car was back on track as Kvyat collided with Räikkönen in Turn 1 and both arrowed off into the run-off area.
This time the cautionary period was shorter and on lap 51 the race got going once more. Vettel again controlled the re-start well and over the final 10 laps slowly began to edge away from his team-mate to eventually take his 53rdcareer victory and his first win since Belgium last year ahead of Leclerc. And Verstappen. Hamilton was left with fourth place ahead of Bottas, and Albon took P6 for the second race in a row.
Behind the Thai driver Norris was seventh for McLaren ahead of Gasly. Ninth place was taken by Hulkenberg and the final point on offer went to Alfa Romeo’s Giovinazzi.
2019 FIA Formula One Singapore Grand Prix – Race
1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 2.641
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 3.821
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 4.608
5 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 6.119
6 Alex Albon Red Bull Racing 11.663
7 Lando Norris McLaren 14.769
8 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 15.547
9 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 16.718
10 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing 17.855
11 Romain Grosjean Haas 35.436
12 Carlos Sainz McLaren 35.974
13 Lance Stroll Racing Point 36.419
14 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 37.660
15 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 38.178
16 Robert Kubica Williams 47.024
17 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:26.522
Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo Racing
Sergio Perez Racing Point
George Russell Williams -
Charles Leclerc dedicates maiden F1 victory to Anthoine Hubert: Belgian GP
Charles Leclerc dedicates his first Formula One victory to his friend Anthoine Hubert who died on Saturday in an F2 accident. An FIA image Spa, 1 Sept 2019: Charles Leclerc took an emotional first Formula One win at Spa-Francorchamps and immediately dedicated his maiden victory to childhood racing rival Anthoine Hubert who tragically lost his life in a crash in Saturday’s FIA Formula 2 race at the Ardennes circuit.
“On the one hand, I’ve got a dream since being as a child that has been realised. But on the other hand, it has been a very difficult weekend since yesterday,” he said after defying late pressure from championship leader to take the win.
“We have lost a friend first of all. It is very difficult in these situations, so I would like to dedicate my first win to him. We have grown up together – my first ever race I have done it with Anthoine and there was Esteban [Ocon] – and just shame what happened yesterday. I can’t enjoy fully my first victory but it will definitely be a memory I will keep forever.”
Leclerc’s victory was scored from the second pole position of his career and the Monegasque driver kept his advantage at the race start to lead ahead of team-mate Sebastian Vettel, Hamilton, and Bottas.
There was drama behind the leaders through, with Max Verstappen’s race-ending within moments of the red lights going out to signal the start. The Dutchman’s start from P5 on the grid was not ideal and he was immediately passed by a number of cars.
Verstappen responded by taking a tight line down the inside into the La Source hairpin. As he approached the corner, though, he hit Kimi Räikkönen’s Alfa Romeo pitching the Finn into the air.
Verstappen’s car was also damaged in the incident and though the Red Bull driver attempted to carry on, his suspension broke as he exited Eau Rouge and he crashed out of the race.
The incident brought out the safety car and as the field formed up behind the course car, Leclerc led ahead of Vettel with Hamilton third ahead of Valtteri Bottas and McLaren’s Lando Norris who had profited from the turn one incident to climb from 11thon the grid.
Vettel was the first of the frontrunners to pit, with the German taking on medium tyres on lap 15. He rejoined in fifth place and was soon setting purple times as the new front three of Leclerc, Hamilton and Bottas continued to circulate.
Race leader Leclerc made his sole stop on lap 21, but he rejoined behind team-mate Vettel and after Hamilton and Bottas had made their visits to pit lane, the German emerged as the new race leader, two seconds clear of the younger Ferrari driver.
Vettel’s lead didn’t last long, however. Leclerc quickly closed the gap and on lap 25 Vettel was told to let his team-mate past. At the start of the next tour he obliged, drifting off the racing line on the run down to Eau Rouge to let his young team-mate re-take the lead. The German then came under heavy pressure from Hamilton. He defended well for a number of laps but on lap 31 he Hamilton got close enough and passed
Further back, new Red Bull recruit Alex Albon began to make moves forward after his sole pits to swap opening medium tyres for new softs. The Thai driver, who has started from 17thon the grid emerged in P15 began to power through the pack. On lap 30 he moved into the points when he passed Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly with a good move into Les Combes and he then made a good move down the inside of Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo on the run towards Pouhon to claim an eighth place on lap 33.
The second Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat was the next target and on lap 38 Albon powered past the Russian on the run down the Kemmel Straight.
He now set off in pursuit of sixth-placed Perez, though the Mexican driver was nine seconds up the road. That was no deterrent, however, and by lap 42 he had reduced the deficit to the Racing Point to just two seconds.
And in a frenetic final two laps, the Red Bull driver continued his rise. At the start of lap 44, McLaren’s Lando Norris, who had been running fifth stopped just beyond the start-finish straight and then with pace in hand Albon made his move on Perez on the long run to Les Combes. It was a brave one too, with the new recruit putting a wheel into the dirt on the right side of the track as the Mexican tried to defend.
There was no denying the Red Bull’s pace, however, and as Leclerc crossed the line to take his first Grand Prix victory ahead of Hamilton, Bottas, and Vettel, Albon powered towards his best-ever F1 finish.
Behind the Red Bull, Perez clung on to sixth ahead of Kvyat and Hulkenberg took eighth place ahead of the second Toro Rosso of Pierre Gasly. The final point on offer went to Racing Point’s Lance Stroll.
2019 FIA Formula One Belgian Grand Prix – Race
1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari –
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 0.981
3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 12.585
4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 26.422
5 Alex Albon Red Bull Racing 1’21.325
6 Sergio Perez Racing Point 1’24.448
7 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1’29.657
8 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1’46.639
9 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 1’49.168
10 Lance Stroll Racing Point 1’49.838
11 Lando Norris McLaren
12 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1 lap
13 Romain Grosjean Haas 1 lap
14 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1 lap
15 George Russell Williams 1 lap
16 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo Racing 1 lap
17 Robert Kubica Williams 1 lap
18 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing
19 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren
20 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing -
P3 was terrible and it was painful: Hamilton
DRIVERS
1 – Charles LECLERC (Ferrari)
2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)
3 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Timo Glock)
Q: Well done for today. You seemed to be totally in control of the weekend so far and you got a really good lap in. How did it feel like in qualifying for you?
Charles LECLERC: It felt good. Obviously the first sector was not exactly what I wanted, especially in the first corner, we had to go very slow to prepare the lap because there was a lot of traffic. I struggled for that a bit, but after that from the second corner onwards then we were very strong and it felt amazing.
Q: It seemed like you were the only guy who stayed out of trouble on the out laps, because everyone struggled to find a clean spot, but you managed it really well, or not?
CL: Yeah, that’s what I asked actually when I was in the garage – to not really care about the slipstream, it was just too much of a mess to prepare the tyres and the lap overall, so ~I wanted to be alone and yeah, it worked out, so I’m happy.
Q: Good feeling for tomorrow for the race?
CL: Yeah, we were struggling a little bit more during the race pace yesterday, so we need to work on that. But, yeah, looking at the pace today I’m pretty sure we will be strong.
Q: Seb, well done today, P2. I think when I saw you in the middle of the same like Charles, you struggled on the out lap to get the tyres into the right window. Was that the key problem today?
Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, I mean in the end it’s good that we secured the first row. To fight for pole, I was sort of in the queue; it doesn’t help, but no excuses. We look forward to the race tomorrow. I think we have good pace in the car, so hopefully, we can show it also over, what is it 44 laps?
Q: But you didn’t seem that happen on the long-run pace yesterday. Do you think tomorrow it’s going to be OK when it’s a lot cooler?
SV: Yeah, I think it should be better. The car was better today, so we’ll see. Obviously temperatures should drop overnight, which makes a difference, but it’s the same for everyone.
Q: Thanks. Lewis, first of all, I think we need to talk about your mechanics. They did an awesome job.
Lewis HAMILTON: Absolutely. P3 was a terrible session for me. Of course, it’s painful because you know how many people work so hard to build those parts and then you know how hard the guys work to put the car together and I knew that was going to be a tough challenge. But my guys are just faultless, they always work and give 110% and I’m so grateful for that. After that I was really just trying to pay them back with a good qualifying session. Considering I missed P3 and a lot of P1 actually I’m really grateful I’m up here.
Q: You were nearly crashing, I think even Valtteri on the out lap, because it was a mess as well. Was it for you hard to get the tyres in as well, because everyone seemed to be affected by that?
LH: Yeah, that was a bit slow. Obviously he was trying to keep the tow of the car in front, so I was trying to hold behind him and everyone was behind me, so it’s really tricky. But nonetheless Ferrari have done a great job today, Charles did an exceptional job and I hope we can bring the fight to them in the race tomorrow.
Q: I think your long-run pace was very good yesterday and there is a chance for you on the long straight to attack the Ferraris straight away. Are you happy that it’s going to be 10 degrees cooler tomorrow? Is that helping you out?
LH: I don’t know, I’d have to ask my engineers. Either way I’m going to give it everything and hopefully give these guys a good race.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Charles, many congratulations, you dominated all three segments of qualifying. Can you tell us how it feels to be on pole by seven tenths of a second?
CL: It obviously feels amazing. It was very tricky, especially in Q3 I struggled quite a lot, the start of the lap was always very, very messy, because there was quite a lot of traffic with all the cars around but in the end I managed to do the full lap correctly and I’m very happy. I definitely did not expect to be that much ahead, but very happy with my lap anyway.
Q: Well, came close to winning in Bahrain earlier this year, so given your level of dominance so far this weekend how confident are you for tomorrow?
CL: I don’t know. I think we have been quick since FP1 but once we did the race simulations in FP2 we weren’t as quick, so I think it’s not going to be easy tomorrow. We will try to give everything. The gap is quite big today but it doesn’t mean it will be like that tomorrow, so we will working hard to improve on the race run we did yesterday and we will see.
Q: Well done again. Sebastian, you said on your cool-down lap “what a mess”. Can you just describe the session and particularly Q3 from your point of view?
SV: Uhh, messy! I think I was getting into a sort of a rhythm, maybe it took a little bit longer for me today to really get a hold of the car but it felt quite good. But then in Q3 it was quite messy, with everybody trying to get a tow and a lot of queuing for the last corner, which made it very tricky and, yeah, obviously the tyres then are not where they were probably supposed to be and being further back it I think it wasn’t ideal. Anyways, Charles did a better job today, also with that, so now looking forward to tomorrow. I felt the car was quite good, which is the most important thing so let’s see tomorrow with the change in ambient conditions, in track conditions, what the race is going to be like.
Q: Thank you and good luck tomorrow. Lewis, it’s been an impressive comeback by you and the team after your crash in final practice. First of all, any lasting physical effects from that crash and how was the car in qualifying?
LH: Firstly, it’s been an interesting weekend so far. We struggled obviously a little bit in the first session with some problems and then, yeah, I made a big mistake this morning with the change we made and it just didn’t feel great out there and obviously I had that incident. But the guys did an incredible job, incredibly diligent, to perfection – taking the car apart and rebuilding it. There’s so much pressure on those guys through the weekend and naturally I don’t ever want to put them in that position, but I think they relished the challenge and so really proud of them. So going into this session I was just hoping that I’ve got the car in the right place and ultimately hoping I can pay them back with a good qualifying session and I think today was really smooth and I think the team did an amazing job in terms of where they put us out there. It was a little bit tricky when everyone was slowing down but nonetheless, congratulations to Charles, he’s been so quick all weekend. But I think in the long run we can at least give them a bit of a challenge tomorrow. I think a bit of the straight speed, which is where generally all the speed is, it’s usually not there so much in the race, so hopefully we’ll be there or thereabout with them tomorrow and can put in maybe some interesting strategies, we’ll see.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Christian Menath – motorsport-magazin.com) Question for you Seb. You said you didn’t get into the rhythm very fast; it took a bit of time for you. Do you have an explanation for that – because yesterday it looked like you lost quite a lot time on the straights?
SV: No, not really. I don’t think we lost time on the straights. I think nothing out of the ordinary, so… No, I think it was quite tricky to get the car where I wanted it to be for one lap, and it was better in qualifying. I struggled a bit yesterday afternoon, this morning, but, as I said, by qualifying it was fine and then obviously towards the last part of quali it was a bit messy again, not ideal preparing the lap, so yeah, I’m not happy with the final attempt, it wasn’t clean. So, yeah, I’m not worried, I think pace-wise it was looking quite good and let’s see what we get tomorrow. Obviously a big change in terms of temps. Let’s see how we adapt.
Q: (Erik Bielderman – L’Equipe) Lewis, when you don’t claim the pole position, like today, do you head into the Sunday’s race in a more excited mood because of the challenge that awaits you?
LH: When you’re on pole, you’re always the happiest, naturally – but nonetheless, yeah, I’m happy that we have a fight. I think we knew that coming here, that it was going to be challenging. We didn’t know where the Red Bulls or Ferraris would be but we knew the Ferraris would be extremely quick given that they’ve been fastest on all the straights throughout the year. That’s a big gap: seven-tenths is a huge margin but nonetheless I think in the race trim it looked like it was a lot closer. So yeah, I’m excited that I’m in a position where hopefully I can try and battle these guys tomorrow. That makes it more fun for us, for me – and for the fans, hopefully.
Q: (Godina Zsolt – F1Valag.hu) Charles, congratulations, you said a few weeks ago that Sebastian is doing a better job in terms of tyre management. Were you able to work on that this weekend, and don’t you think that this could be the key to win this race tomorrow?
CL: Well, I’ve been analysing quite a lot Hungary. Actually, maybe it looked worse than it actually was but there’s definitely some work to do on my side on this. So, we’ll see if tomorrow it pays off. I changed a few things – very small things – but details always makes the difference at this level. So, yeah, we’ll see tomorrow if it’s any better.
Q: (Jerome Pugmire – AP) Question for Charles. Obviously you’ve come close to winning in Bahrain and also in Austria. Bahrain was nothing to do with you. What have you taken from those two races; those two close calls that you can perhaps take into tomorrow to give you a bit more of an edge?
CL: I mean obviously Bahrain was nothing to do with me, so not much to take from there. Austria, I think there were lessons learnt but I think I already showed it after in Silverstone, as I already speak about the aggressivity (sic) level I had with my opponents – but apart from this, nothing. I guess, at first it feels a bit weird when you are coming to Formula 1 and you do your first laps in the lead. So, the more laps I am in the lead, the more comfortable I am. And this feels good.
Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Possibly to all of you. When you were queuing up in your out-laps, what was more important for a perfect lap afterwards: to get a good tow or to have the tyres in the window? And was it possible at all to achieve both targets?
LH: On the perfect scenario you got the tow and the tyres in the window. In Q3 I don’t think so, no because everyone was backing up. Obviously we had that really slow section with Hülkenberg, I think it was, and then Valtteri and myself and then again in the next one, everyone again was backing up into the last one, so I think the second one was a little bit of a better position, a chance, but still, it’s very, very tricky. I don’t think they were both… they were optimum for all of us.
Q: Charles, how was it for you?
CL: Yeah, at first I really targeted the perfect slipstream for the first run in Q3 but after that I really felt that the tyres weren’t ready for Turn One and I actually lost quite a bit of time. So then, for the second run in Q3, I just asked the team to send me whenever the car was ready, to be alone and to try to do the job alone, without slipstreams, which I think, yeah, in my opinion, on my car, it felt better to have the tyres in the right window than having the slipstream. So, we went as soon as possible – but obviously we found anyway some cars in front.
Q: Seb?
SV: Well, obviously it was more important to get the tyres in the right position for me. Or in the right place. I was, on both laps, too close to the cars in front and the tyres not right to start the lap with. So yeah, it was a lose-lose. The straights were good – but I was too close and lost quite a lot, I think also in Sector Two.
Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Lewis, coming here, obviously Mercedes has the upgraded engine across for you and Valtteri and the customer cars. Two out of six of those cars have now had failures: Pérez’s car on fire and then Robert’s in the Williams in the qualifying. For you, going into tomorrow, does that present any concerns or do you just trust your team to analyse it and make whatever countermeasures they need to make.
LH: I don’t know the details of why the engines have gone, so I have nothing to worry about currently because I don’t know anything about it really. I’m sure, when I get back, I’m sure they’re trying to analyse it and they’ll give us a bit of an idea – but still, I’ve just got to keep my head down and do what I do and what will be will be. There’s not much I can do about it, so there’s no point worrying about it.
Q: (Luke Smith – crash.net) Charles, you spoke earlier in the season about your need to focus on qualifying and the build-up through all three sessions. I guess a third pole of the season proves your strategy is working; a sixth race in a row you’ve out-qualified your team-mate as well. Do you feel that you’ve cracked the code to F1 qualifying now?
CL: I’ve done some changes on qualifying and yeah, I definitely feel the difference, and feel it’s going the good way. As I said in Hungary, now I need to focus a little bit on the race because in some races I haven’t been as good as I wanted to. So, now I’m trying to focus on that, to rebalance a little bit and we’ll see how it goes.
Q: (Viktor Bognar – Magyar Szo) In the past weeks, in the mainstream media and social media it’s all about burning the rainforest and efforts of the global climate change. Do you think that Formula One should or could do something more to raise awareness to this problem? And do you agree with the way how Formula One promotes efficiency and sustainability at the moment?
SV: I think it’s a very important subject. I feel that Formula One has a wordwide operating platform and should do a lot more. I don’t think that just promoting the efficiency of our engines is enough plus I think unfortunately a large part of our technology inside the car will not go onto the road so you can argue about the necessity. So I think – not just on track but also off track – I think Formula One could do a lot more and should set an example because I think it is a very serious matter and serious subject.
CL: OK, to be honest it’s only my second season in Formula One. I’m not completely aware about how everything works on the engine so maybe I need a bit more experience to understand all of this.
LH: I’ve been here for a long time. I don’t really know what their current plans are but I think they are working towards a goal in trying to improve the carbon footprint that we have as a sport. But I think up until now the job we’ve done in the sport – they haven’t done anything, particularly I think when Bernie was in place, there wasn’t a lot being done then. So we are in the position where we are now, beginning to shift. If you look at the V8s and the V10s, we are now using a third less fuel than we used to use in a race distance, so that’s already a step forward but there is absolutely more that we can do. Also, on things like the amount of plastic that’s used throughout the weekend – I’ve got three bottles right here. I’m not opening them, but someone will drink these and that becomes waste so I think the amount of waste that comes out of a race weekend, also through all these weekends, we can do a lot about that and so I’m trying to encourage Ross and his team to make a change. And as a team, I’m pushing Mercedes to be the leaders in that, so hopefully soon you’re going to see some positive changes from our side.
Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Lewis, we very rarely see mistakes from you. Can you put your finger on what happened there? Was it a loss of concentration? Can you figure out what happened, you made that mistake?
LH: You’re looking way too deep into it, man. Shit happens. I’m only human. I think my track record has been pretty good but it sometimes happens and yes, it’s frustrating and it never feels good, whether it’s in your first year or if it’s in your 13th year whatever, it doesn’t really make any difference but you can always learn from it. So there’s always a silver lining, there’s always an opportunity to pick yourself up, to rebuild and there’s always an experience with your guys and I think today was a massive challenge for the team. I think they did an exceptional job and I’m really happy, generally, with the job that I did in qualifying, so collectively it’s a positive. But I go in the back of the garage and I see my broken parts and I’m like ‘oh my baby’ but they’ll fix it, they’ll fix those parts hopefully or maybe I’ll have to put them up in Toto’s office or something and sign it and say sorry.
Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsportmagazin.com) This queuing thing in Q3 seems to be a bigger topic this season. There were quite a few occasions now where things happened like this. Do you think you need some stricter rules, what is allowed there? At some point it looked a bit ridiculous when other cars were on their fast lap and came and they were queuing up, five, six, seven cars whatever.
SV: I’m not in favour of any more rules. I think we have too many anyway.
CL: I didn’t personally feel that it was worse than last year, at least. I felt that last year was as bad, actually. Everyone is trying to have a tow, which is normal but yeah, I agree with Seb also. I don’t think it should be another rule written in the book for this particular case.
LH: I don’t remember ever going that slow before last year.
SV: I think what should change, actually, what we should take from this – seriously – is that tyre-wise we shouldn’t be so much on the limit so obviously you’re fighting for a tow and so on but you’re also fighting to get into the optimum window which years ago it wasn’t that critical, whereas now it is. So you’re fighting for the best spot on the track which will hit the climb or the peak next week in Monza for finding the right tow because it does make a difference but it has also been part of those type of track, let’s say. But I feel if we had better tyres we could play with probably a bit more speed and so on.
LH: I agree with Seb. Every weekend they put the pressures up so high it’s crazy, which again makes it a little bit harder for us but the tyres are so hard so getting them working, and they’re talking about taking blankets off for the future, we’ll never get temperature in the tyres if they do that. I think this year is definitely the slowest we’ve been. Today felt a little bit dangerous at one point because we were going round turn 15 on the kerb and there was a car coming and I couldn’t move, go on the grass. I was stuck behind Valtteri and I think the next… Hulkenberg or whatever. I can imagine if I was on a lap and I was coming round that everyone was crawling around at five miles an hour it would be a bit of a worry and a bit of a distraction so I’m not really sure what we can do to stop it from happening but maybe we have to be on the pit speed limiter or something like that. You shouldn’t be able to go five miles an hour or two or whatever we were doing because we were literally going as slow as possible to let people past. I did it in Austria, I think, to let everyone by because I was the first car out there and the tow is so strong this year with this car. They talk about the front wing being easier to follow, it’s just caused a lot more drag. This is a draggier car this year so the slipstream is even more powerful or the tow is more powerful than we’ve ever experienced.
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Charles Leclerc tops FP2 ahead of Vettel
Charles Leclerc topped the timesheet in the second free practice session for the Belgian Grand Prix, eclipsing Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel by more than six tenths of a second and running more than eight tenths quicker than the third placed Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas.
After being edged out of P1 by Vettel in the morning session Leclerc quickly moved to the top of the order in the afternoon, going quickest in the early phases run on medium-tyres.
Vettel was the first to move to soft tyres and attempt a performance run and while the German’s time of 1:44.753 briefly gave him P1, Leclerc soon bypassed that benchmark with an impressive lap of 1:44.123 that put him 0.630 clear of his team-mate.
Vettel went for another attempt but a flawed first sector put paid to his chance of overhauling his younger team-mate.
Bottas got closest to the pacesetting Ferraris and the Finn’s best time of 1:44.969 saw him finish a little over two tenths of a second behind Vettel, but 0.846s off Leclerc. Championship leader Lewis Hamilton ended up in fourth sport a little under five hundredths of a second behind his team-mate.
Sergio Pérez looked like continuing Racing Point’s positive start to the weekend as he rose from P9 in the morning session to P5 in the second session, posting a good time of 1:45.117 to finish as the last man within a second of Leclerc. However, after 25 laps of the circuit in total Pérez’s session ended in smokey fashion as he suffered what looked like a power unit issue.
Sixth place went to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. After finishing third in the morning, the Dutchman was strangely off the pace in the second session and ended up 1.271s behind Leclerc as he complained of power delivery issues.
Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen took seventh place with a time of 1:45.708, though the Finn was just over two hundredths of a second quicker than Lance Stroll in the second Racing Point.
Daniel Ricciardo finished ninth for Renault and 10thplace in the session went to new Red Bull Racing recruit Alex Albon who finished 1.648 off Leclerc’s pace and four tenths adrift of Red Bull team-mate Verstappen.
2019 FIA Formula One Belgian Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 28 1:44.123
2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 30 1:44.753 0.630
3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 28 1:44.969 0.846
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 26 1:45.015 0.892
5 Sergio Perez Racing Point 25 1:45.117 0.994
6 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 20 1:45.394 1.271
7 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 25 1:45.708 1.585
8 Lance Stroll Racing Point 21 1:45.732 1.609
9 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 26 1:45.735 1.612
10 Alex Albon Red Bull Racing 21 1:45.771 1.648
11 Carlos Sainz McLaren 28 1:45.999 1.876
12 Romain Grosjean Haas 21 1:46.120 1.997
13 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 26 1:46.209 2.086
14 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 24 1:46.214 2.091
15 Lando Norris McLaren 29 1:46.258 2.135
16 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 24 1:46.328 2.205
17 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 28 1:46.374 2.251
18 Kevin Magnussen Haas 21 1:46.399 2.276
19 George Russell Williams 30 1:47.887 3.764
20 Robert Kubica Williams 32 1:48.331 4.208
