INDIA in F1

Tag: Vettel

  • I have got Senna’s design on the back of my helmet and I am happy to be here, says Hamilton

    I have got Senna’s design on the back of my helmet and I am happy to be here, says Hamilton

    Lewis Hamilton (centre) at the Saturday Press Conference. An FIA image

    Sao Paulo, 10 Nov 2018: Lewis Hamilton who won the 100th pole for Mercedes AMG Petronas team edging Sebastian Vettel of  Ferrari and third-placed teammate Valtteri Bottas attended the Saturday FIA press conference after the qualification. The Track Interviews were conducted by former Force India F1 driver Paul Di Resta.

    Q: Lewis, another pole position, your 10th pole position of the year. What have you got to say?

    Lewis Hamilton: That was a tough qualifying session. Obviously, the weather was going up and down and we didn’t really know what to expect. Obviously, Ferrari are incredibly quick this weekend a lot of work went on in the background with my engineers to make sure we got the car to be in the best place we could. I’m just really happy to be here in Brazil, you know, knowing I’ve got Senna’s design on the back of my helmet, so I mean… I didn’t know I had the pole, the last lap wasn’t that great if I’m honest, I had a bit of understeer in a few places but I was so grateful when I heard I got pole.

    Q: This place means so much to you. You can see the tribute you do to Ayrton every year and the Brazilian fans love you as well?

    LH: I just appreciate so much the love that I get here. It’s been a crazy journey with the Brazilian fans. Obviously, the first year I came here I was fighting against Felipe and I was almost the enemy when I left but over the years it’s really grown to I think adore each other. There’s a huge amount of respect I have for them and I love the country so it works hand in hand.

    Q: What can we expect tomorrow. Obviously, Ferrari are doing a different tyres strategy. I think you guys were going to do it but the rain compromised Q2, can you still dominate this race?

    LH: I don’t know, we’ll see. You’ve seen how quick the Ferrari’s are. I mean, they had a lot more blistering yesterday than we did on the supersoft tyre. I don’t know if it’s correct but we wanted to be on the soft and things kind of swung us the wrong way. Right or wrong we will see tomorrow but hopefully still, with the choice we have, I’ll make the best of it.

    Q: Enjoy tonight, at least you’ve got that four-metre head start tomorrow. Sebastian, coming very close there – P2. A different tyre strategy as we just discussed with Lewis. Are you happy with today?

    Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, I think it was good fun. In the end I had a tiny lock-up in Turn 8. I got a good start to the second attempt in Q3 and I thought I’d go for it, but it was a little bit too much, so I lost some time and didn’t improve. It was very close, so it was a fun session.

    Q: I don’t know if you are aware but you have been called to the stewards for the scale incident. What do you have to say about that?

    SV: I think it’s better if I don’t say anything… They shouldn’t call us, because when the conditions are changing like that I think it’s unfair if somebody gets called in and yeah, I wanted them to hurry up.

    Q: How difficult is it for a driver and an engineer to read the conditions when it’s coming like that. Is it more the driver’s feel or do you have to stick to the weather systems on the computer?

    SV: It’s a difficult one. Inside the garage we don’t really see much, you can’t see out. You have to trust the laps you did before. You have to trust the communication you are having with the pit wall on the conditions, what you see other cars are doing. But when it’s like this it can be anything, so I think in the end we all got lucky that we got more or less the same conditions for everyone, so as long as that’s the case then it’s fine.

    Q: Well, I hope you put on a good show like you did in Mexico, show that fighting spirit. Valtteri, third today, not far away, but I guess you can’t be happy with that?

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, not far away but here the margins are small. I knew this weekend I did have the pace to be on pole. I think it was there for me to grab but I couldn’t take it today. I was more than two tenths up in the second run but lost everything in the last corner on the back straight without any tow, so it was quite disappointing.

    Q: When you see the rain falling what do you feel as a driver? Do you keep pushing or is there a bit of trepidation?

    VB: Yeah, it really depends on the situation but once the rain really started to come down luckily we already had a good lap on the board, so there was no need to take risks. But sometimes you need to go for it and try.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Lewis, that looked like an exciting session in tricky conditions. Just what were the conditions like?

    LH: Well, the track was actually really good. There’s a lot of grip here and it’s a fantastic circuit. They don’t generally make circuits like this anymore. You’ve got the different… it’s quite hilly, but it’s a real challenge, even though it’s quite short. It’s very technical – but the grip felt quite good and obviously, the rain was popping in every now and then – but it was just spitting. It was difficult to really tell whether it was going to be slippery in the next corner or not – because when you’re travelling at the speeds we go at, on your visor, because you’re driving through all the rain, it looks like it’s raining more than it is. So, that was definitely tricky – but I think everyone did quite a good job with it – and luckily it held off so we could push at the end when the track was good.

    Q: You mentioned the speeds you’re doing here at Interlagos. Valtteri’s pole position last year was a new track record – you have taken more than a second off that time. Just how quick does it feel around here now?

    LH: With the new tyres, with the soft tyres, supersoft tyres and the updates that we have to our car… it’s a smaller circuit, shorter circuit, so therefore the difference usually… for example our car is a lot quicker than it was last year at this point – but it doesn’t show as much. At other circuits it’s three seconds-plus. Around here a second is still quite a lot. So, it does feel great though, around here. Into Six and Seven it’s a little lift through there basically and flat though… there’s no other corners where you’re flat out, or anything like that but you definitely do feel… the grip is what you feel, it’s just amazing. It’s better than ever.

    Q: Sebastian, coming onto you, less than a tenth of a second behind pole position. How are you feeling after that session?

    SV: Pretty good. I think it was fun. I think the track was good, as Lewis said, and obviously very close. I had a good start to my final attempt but yeah, tried a little bit too hard probably, going into Turn Eight in the middle sector and locked the front and then lost a little bit the rhythm. Tried something special in the last corner, didn’t work so… yeah. All in all pretty happy. I think we got the car where it is happiest, and the balance was good in qualifying throughout, so we’ll see. We’ll start with a different tyre tomorrow. Maybe that can make a difference.

    Q: Just to elaborate on that point about the tyres, do you think that’ll be the crucial point in the race?

    SV: Hmmm… might be. I mean, I think it’s the tyre that probably most of us probably wanted to start on but then with the conditions it was a bit tricky. Yeah, in the end it wasn’t really wet but there was some rain around the track, so yeah, happy that we got it done and now we start with a different tyre, so let’s see.

    Q: Valtteri, fastest in Q2, you’re less than a tenth off pole position but starting third tomorrow. Just sum-up the session for us.

    VB: I think the gap is a bit more than one-tenth but obviously, it’s a bit disappointing one red car got in-between us and the pace I had this weekend so far felt like I could definitely fight for the pole position, and I think it was there for me to grab it. But in the second run I was more than two-tenths up on my best lap but somehow Turn 12, just lost a little bit and then I think I was the first car out in the last run so I had no tow on the back straight and just kept losing time on the uphill. And I saw that it was not going to be an improvement, so for sure that’s disappointing but yeah, it was a strong qualifying for us as a team and another great pole for Lewis – but yeah, I think for tomorrow, we’ll see how our decision to go with the supersoft is going to… what’s going to happen.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Seb, could you just talk through the weighbridge incident please, just from your perspective – and are you now worried about getting a grid penalty for tomorrow’s race?

    SV: No, I don’t want to talk through. I think it’s pretty clear what happened, so. I think we do qualifying, we should talk about qualifying.

    Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-Magazin.com) Lewis, there was a situation between you and Sergey in Q2, I think. Can you talk us through that situation? It looked pretty scary from outside.

    LH: Yeah, basically everyone was on an ‘out’ lap – me, Sergey and everyone in front of me – and when you’re on your ‘out’ lap, towards the end of the lap Valtteri was up ahead of me so he was backing off to get his gap so I had to make sure I kept a gap with him. As far as I was aware, no one behind was on a lap so I was making sure I had the gap but then all of a sudden, out of the last corner – sorry, out of turn 11 – I saw a car coming at high speed so I was like ‘oh my God, is that someone on a lap?’ so I went to move to the left and that’s where he decided to go but he wasn’t on a lap, so I don’t really know what his thinking was really, with it, because respectfully, between all the drivers, we all do respect… you know, I could have easily tried to overtake Valtteri or Valtteri whoever was in front of him. We all know to keep our space by that point so it was generally quite a disrespectful move in the sense of where it was dangerous between us both because I was not expecting it to happen that way, and so I was actually trying to get out of his way but he ended up going inside but then he got to the corner and then slowed up to  utilise the gap but then also I don’t know whether to slow my lap up or not. It was kind of strange. It was completely unnecessary because we had a space behind, behind him there was a bit of a space so ultimately his lap and my lap weren’t great from that so hopefully he can learn from it.

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Valtteri, you talked about having a moment at turn 12, what happened on the lap? The car snap away or was it just not as quick?

    VB: No, I didn’t really have a moment, I just lost a few hundredths there, I think. I think at the beginning of the lap it was getting very good, then the middle of the lap was average and lost a tiny bit in the last corner, but the main time loss, I think it was more than a tenth,  was just up the hill, just losing time on the straight. No drama, but definitely not a perfect lap but I think with a perfect lap pole would have been possible.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt –  Auto Motor und Sport) Seb, in Q2 you were almost as fast as the Mercedes on the soft tyre, so the harder tyre, have you been surprised that there wasn’t a bigger gap with the supersoft?

    MS: Yes, the lap felt really good, the tyre felt really good. You go into the weekend, you have an estimation of what’s the difference between the tyres and then you do your Friday running and you might correct it but I was definitely surprised, the tyre felt really good. I don’t think it was much slower. Yeah, but it didn’t feel… usually we were expecting something like three or four tenths but it felt really good. I was surprised when I crossed the line in Q2 because I also kept some margin for the rain so could have gone faster on that tyre easily. So if it’s that good tomorrow, then happy days!

    Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-Magazin.com) You’re starting on different tyre compounds. Lewis has been quite outspoken in Austin, I think, when you started on the harder compound, that it was quite a disadvantage there. What do you expect just from starting on different tyre compounds?

    LH: I was told that there’s not a huge difference, but there’s always a difference of some sort. It will definitely be a little bit interesting. It’s not a massive run down to turn one but Ferrari are very good at their starts in general normally. However, we are actually quite even in terms of the overall year performance with Ferrari. We’re actually quite equal with them, so we’ve both had a similar amount of good starts so I’m excited to just have a battle, you know.  But making that tyre last I think is going to be the interesting scenario but it is what it is. We’ll give it all we can tomorrow.

    SV: Again, we have an estimation of what the penalty might be with the harder compound at the start but it’s a very short way to turn one so we’ll see. I have quite good memories from P2, starting P2 here so we will see. I think it depends a lot more on the job that you do at the start, to get everything right then a little bit of difference on the tyres.

    Q: Are there similar grip levels on both sides of the track?

    SV: I think so. The last years it was pretty even so, yeah. Usually the right side or the odd side here is a bit cleaner but I’m sure that with the other races across the weekend it should be fine, there should be plenty of rubber.

    VB: Nothing to add.

    Ends

  • Max Verstappen heads Red Bull Racing’s one-two

    Mexico City, 26 Oct 2018: Max Verstappen headed a Red Bull Racing one-two in the opening practice session for Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix, with the 2017 race winner here beating out team-mate Daniel Ricciardo by almost half a second in the 19th round to the Formula One World Championship here on Friday.

    Verstappen and Ricciardo set their quickest times on Pirelli’s hypersoft tyres and while both Mercedes and Ferrari ran on the pink-banded tyre during the 90-minute session, they posted their best laps on the ultrasoft tyres as they minimised running on the softest tyre in Pirelli’s range.

    As such, championship leader Lewis Hamilton, who can seal the title with a seventh-placed finish on Sunday, ended the session in fifth place, with team-mate Valtteri Bottas sixth ahead of the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen.

    Verstappen seized control of the session with a lap of 1:18.588, with Ricciardo just a tenth behind his team-mate. Hamilton then moved into top spot with this best lap on hypesoft tyres, three tenths ahead of the Red Bull drivers’ early pace, but in the second half of running Red Bull again bolted on the pink-banded tyres and after exchanging improvements, Verstappen eventually stepped up the pace and set a time of 1:16.596. Ricciardo also found more improivement but in the end couldn’t get close to his team-mate’s pace and ended the session 0.483 behind the Dutchman.

    Third place in the session went to Renault’s Carlos Sainz with a lap of 1:17.926, some 1.2s behind Verstappen. The Spaniard’s team-mate Nico Hulkenberg was next on the timesheet, a tenth off Sainz.

    With fifth to eighth occupied by Mercedes and Ferrari, ninth place went to  Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley. The New Zealander, who was running with the upgraded front wing and floor trialled last weekend on team-mate Pierre Gasly’s car, set a best time of 1:19.024 to finish 2.368s off Verstappen’s pace.

    Force India tester Nicholas Latifi, standing in for Racing Point Force India regular Esteban Ocon rounded out the top ten, finishing four hundredths of a second ahead of local hero Sergio Pérez in the second Racing Point Force India.

    Twelfth place was taken by future Sauber driver Antonio Giovinazzi who was in Charles Leclerc’s car for the session. The Italian driver finished 2.478s off P1 but 1500ths of a second ahead of Haas’ Romain Grosjean.

    The final stand-in driver of the day was Lando Norris who took P15 in Fernando Alonso’s McLaren, behind Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson but ahead of McLaren team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne.

    At the bottom of the order, Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly did not set a time. His car required an engine change, with Honda reverting to a pre-Russia spec which the manufacturer deem better for the conditions in Mexico City.

    2018 Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix – Free Practice 1
    1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 19 1:16.656
    2 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 19 1:17.139 0.483
    3 Carlos Sainz Renault 20 1:17.926 1.270
    4 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 21 1:18.028 1.372
    5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 23 1:18.075 1.419
    6 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 27 1:18.322 1.666
    7 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 17 1:18.746 2.090
    8 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 22 1:18.936 2.280
    9 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 29 1:19.024 2.368
    10 Nicholas Latifi Force India 23 1:19.078 2.422
    11 Sergio Perez Force India 29 1:19.124 2.468
    12 Antonion Giovinazzi Sauber 25 1:19.134 2.478
    13 Romain Grosjean Haas 26 1:19.276 2.620
    14 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 28 1:19.312 2.656
    15 Lando Norris McLaren 23 1:19.646 2.990
    16 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 29 1:19.716 3.060
    17 Kevin Magnussen Haas 28 1:19.853 3.197
    18 Sergey Sirotkin Williams 30 1:19.899 3.243
    19 Lance Stroll Williams 26 1:20.142 3.486
    20 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 2

  • Raikkonen redeems himself with a brilliant win after 5 years; Hamilton wait for title stretched

    Raikkonen redeems himself with a brilliant win after 5 years; Hamilton wait for title stretched

    Kimi Raikkonen after winning the US GP ahead of Max Verstappen at Austin on Sunday. An FIA image

    Austin, 21 Oct 2018: A stunning opening move catapulted Kimi Räikkönen to his brilliant first win in five years as he carefully managed his drive to the flag ahead of Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, as Sebastian Vettel clawed his way back from a first lap spin to take fourth place in the United State Grand Prix, the 18th round of the Formula One World Championship at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA) on Sunday. Defending champion who was well-placed to seal the championship here, became a victim of not only his mistake but a strategy that ended up inferior and had to wait for at least the next GP at Mexico next Sunday. He is now 69 points ahead of title rival Sebastian Vettal of Ferrari with 75 points available in the last three GP of the 2018 season.

    Starting from second on the grid Ferrari’s Räikkönen stole the lead from pole sitter Hamilton into Turn 1 at the start and thereafter balanced pace and race management over a one-stop strategy to hold a narrow lead over Verstappen and Hamilton on the final third of the race. Both attempted to pressurise the Finn but Räikkönen was faultless in the closing stages as he marched to his first victory since the 2013 Australian Grand Prix 113 races ago.

    At the start, Räikkönen got the jump on Hamilton and stole the lead as the field made its way through Turn 1. Behind them Daniel Ricciardo held P4 behind Valtteri Bottas but later in the lap was attacked by fifth-on-the-grid Sebastian Vettel. The German got a run on the Red Bull driver into Turn 12 and took the position, but his exit was poor and Ricciardo got a shot at reclaiming fourth as they went into Turn 13. Vettel took a wide line, pushing Ricciardo to the outside of the asphalt. The Australian tried to remain inside the track limits but they banged wheels and Vettel was sent into a spin. The Ferrari driver dropped to P15, but Ricciardo was able to hold fourth place.

    Further back, Verstappen was on a charge. After starting from P18 he was 14th by the end of the opening lap, and over the following eight laps rose to fifth place, just under seven seconds behind Red Bull team-mate Ricciardo.

    That would become fourth on lap nine. As Ricciardo exited Turn 1 at the start of the lap, he suddenly slowed. The Australian pulled over at the side of the track and stopped, a suspected battery issue ending his race.

    The stoppage, at the edge of the track, led to the Virtual Safety Car being deployed and Mercedes took the opportunity to pit Hamilton from P2 on lap 11. The Briton took on soft tyres and emerged just ahead of Verstappen. Hamilton then moved back into second place when Bottas let him past on lap 13.

    Vettel, meanwhile, had clawed his way back into contention and by lap 15 had made his way to fifth place, 21.5s behind his race-leading team-mate and 9.0s behind Verstappen.

    Ahead and armed with new soft tyres, Hamilton began to quickly close on Räikkönen and on lap 17 he was just 2.4s behind the Finn. However, over the next half dozen laps, Räikkönen defended brilliantly to keep Hamilton at bay, but more importantly he slowed Hamilton’s progress and allowed Vettel to close on the leading pack. When Räikkönen finally surrendered on lap 21 and dived for the pits to shed his starting ultrasofts, Vettel was 12s off new P1 man Hamilton, though he required a pit stop.

    Verstappen was next into the pits, taking on soft tyres on lap 22. That put Vettel into second place, but the German was beginning to struggle on his starting supersofts. As such, Räikkönen quickly moved past his team-mate to regain second place and a lap later Verstappen swept past Vettel as the Ferrari man was called to the pits for new tyres. The German took on soft tyres in his stop and rejoined in fifth place. Hamilton now led ahead of Räikkönen, Verstappen, Bottas and Vettel.

    Räikkönen’s race then switched to attack mode as he began to edge towards Hamilton and between lap 30 and 33 he turned a 16.3s deficit to the title leader into a 13.7s gap. Verstappen also began to close in on Räikkönen and on lap 35 he was just 3.9s behind the Finn.

    Hamilton’s times continued to drop and at the end of lap 37 he dived towards the pits and took on another set of soft tyres. Räikkönen now led again, with Verstappen now in P2 ahead of Bottas. Hamilton rejoined in fourth place ahead of Vettel.

    Hamilton was soon setting fastest laps and on lap 41 Bottas slowed and moved aside to allow the Briton to sweep past into third place. He was now just under nine seconds behind Verstappen, who was now just 2.3s behind Räikkönen.

    At the front Räikkönen was now attempting to control the gaps, saving tyres and fuel. With five laps remaining, though, the gaps were tight. The Finn was just 1.1s ahead of Verstappen, but the Dutchman was having to keep a close eye on his mirrors, as Hamilton was now inside DRS range. Behind them Vettel was still fifth and could not find a way past Bottas. Hamilton now knew that if he passed Verstappen to take P2 then he would be champion.

    He saw a chance to do that on the penultimate lap. Verstappen made a mistake  and went wide into Turn 12. Hamilton pounced and the pair battled furiously through the following corners. Verstappen held firm and when Hamilton ran out of grip in Turn 18 and went wide, Verstappen was assured of second. Behind them, on the same lap, Vettel made his move on Bottas, passing the Finn under DRS as the lap started.

    Räikkönen then duly took his first win in 113 races, ahead of Verstappen, hamilton and Vettel. Bottas finished fifth ahead of the Renaults of Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz. However, while eighth and ninth places were initially taken by Force India’s Esteban Ocon and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, both were later disqualified, Ocon for a fuel flow irregularity on the opening lap of the race and Magnussen for using more than the permitted 105kg of fuel across the duration of the race.

    The disqualifications meant that Sergio Pérez in the second Force India was promoted to P8, Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley moved to P9 and the final points position was inherited by Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson.

    Hamilton’s third place, allied to Vettel’s fourth, means that the title battle continues to the next round in Mexico, with Hamilton taking a 70-point lead to the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in a week’s time.

    2018 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix – Race
    1 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari –
    2 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1.281
    3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 2.342
    4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 18.222
    5 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 24.744
    6 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:27.210
    7 Carlos Sainz Renault 1:34.994
    8 Esteban Ocon Force India 1:39.288
    9 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:40.657
    10 Sergio Perez Force India 1:41.080
    11 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 1L
    12 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1L
    13 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 1L
    14 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 1L
    15 Sergey Sirotkin Williams 1L
    16 Lance Stroll Williams 2L
    Charles Leclerc Sauber
    Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing
    France Romain Grosjean Haas
    Spain Fernando Alonso McLaren

  • Vettel quickest in FP3 but hit by 3-place grid penalty for Sunday

    Vettel quickest in FP3 but hit by 3-place grid penalty for Sunday

    Vettel on way to the fastest time in FP 3 at Austin on Saturday afternoon (midnight India time). An FIA image

    Austin, 20 Oct 2018: Sebastian Vettel set the quickest time of the final practice session for the United States Grand Prix, outpacing Ferrari team-mate Kimi Räikkönen by less than a tenth of a second as championship leader Lewis Hamilton finished third in the FP3 of the US GP, the 18th round of the FIA Formula One World Championship.

    On Friday, Vettel’s hopes of maintaining a fragile title challenge were hit when he incurred a three-place grid penalty for failing to slow sufficiently during a red flag period, but he bounced back this morning as F1’s teams finally got some dry running at the Circuit of the Americas.

    Ferrari focused its attention on the ultrasoft tyre during the one-hour session and after the early pace was set by Räikkönen with a time of 1:34.419, Vettel took over at the top of the timesheet with a time of 1:33.797, displacing Räikkönen who dropped to P2 with a lap of 1:33.843.

    Of the likely front runners, Ferrari were alone in running the ultrasofts in the early part of the session, with both Mercedes and Red Bull concentrating on longer runs on the supersoft compound.

    It meant that Hamilton was a late adopter of the ultrasoft tyres and after a scruffy opening flyer on the purple-banded tyre, the Briton later jumped to third place with the best time of 1:33.870. The lap left him just 0.073 behind Vettel.

    Valtteri Bottas was fourth overall with a time of 1:34.556, some 0.759s off Vettel’s pace. The Finn avoided the ultrasofts throughout the session however and set his best time on the red-banded supersoft tyre.

    Behind Bottas were the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo. The pair both focused on supersoft running early in the session but moved to ultrasofts with a little over 20 minutes remaining. Verstappen’s best time on the compound was 1:34.703, 0.906 adrift of Vettel’s P1 time.

    Ricciardo might have eclipsed his team-mate’s time and the Australian was a couple of tenths up on his team-mate after the first two sectors of his run, but he was forced to back out of the lap when yellow flags were shown when Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley spun in Turn 19.

    Sauber’s Charles Leclerc finished as best-of-the-rest in P7 with a time of 1:35.365, 1.568s off Vettel, while Racing Point Force India’s Sergio Perez was eighth with a time of 1:35.411. Ninth place went to Renault’s Carlos Sainz, while Haas’ Romain Grosjean was tenth with a time of 1:35.468, 1.671 off the pace.

    2018 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix– Free Practice 3
    1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:33.797 20
    2 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:33.843 0.046 21
    3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:33.870 0.073 23
    4 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:34.556 0.759 21
    5 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:34.703 0.906 21
    6 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:34.910 1.113 20
    7 Charles Leclerc Sauber 1:35.365 1.568 21
    8 Sergio Perez Racing Point Force India 1:35.411 1.614 21
    9 Carlos Sainz Renault 1:35.450 1.653 21
    10 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:35.468 1.671 19
    11 Esteban Ocon Racing Point Force India 1:35.562 1.765 22
    12 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso1:35.713 1.916 27
    13 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:35.770 1.973 19
    14 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:35.882 2.085 19
    15 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:36.000 2.203 21
    16 Lance Stroll Williams 1:36.188 2.391 21
    17 Sergey Sirotkin Williams 1:36.193 2.396 20
    18 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 1:36.302 2.505 23
    19 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 1:36.330 2.533 26
    20 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:36.332 2.535 20

  • Hamilton takes pole; Vettel to start on P9: Japanese GP

    Hamilton takes pole; Vettel to start on P9: Japanese GP

    Hamilton (centre) takes pole at Suzuka on Saturday. An FIA image

    Suzuka, 6 Oct 2018: Mercedes Lewis Hamilton took his eighth pole position of the season at Suzuka and the 80th of his career, while title rival Sebastian Vettel faces a ninth-place race start after a troubled final segment of qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix, the 17th round of the FIA Formula One World Championship here on Sunday.

    Valtteri Bottas will start alongside Hamilton in the second Mercedes, while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen with start at the front of row three, alongside the second Ferrari of Kimi Räikkönen.

    Vettel established an early benchmark in Q1 with a lap of 1:29.049, more than half a second clear of Ferrari team-mate Kimi Räikkönen. Hamilton soon bypassed Vettel to take P1, however, with a lap of 1:28.702 that left him 0.347 ahead of the Ferrari man.

    Vettel then had a spin at the hairpin, but there was worse to come for Marcus Ericsson who lost control of his Sauber in Turn 7 and hit the barriers hard. Ericsson was soon out of his car but the red flags were immediately shown.

    In the final runs of Q1, Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly made the biggest jump, climbing from P15 to P10 at the end of the session. It was a necessary improvement, as Williams’ Lance Stroll put in a good final lap to jump to 15th place with a time well clear of Gasly’s best time from before the final laps.

    Stroll’s escape from the drop zone meant that Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg was eliminated in P16 ahead of Williams’ Sergey Sirotkin, the McLarens of Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne and the unfortunate Ericsson.

    In Q2, Mercedes both Hamilton and Bottas out on soft tyres, and this time it was Bottas who set the pace, the Finn topping the timesheet at the end of the session with a lap of 1:27.987, three hundredths of a second ahead of Hamilton.

    Further back there was trouble for Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian began his opening run but experienced a power loss and quickly returned to the pits.

    With the covers going back on his car in the final minutes of the session, it looked like his team had solved the issue, but rain was already falling on track and as conditions worsened Ricciardo’s hopes of getting in a lap dwindled. He was ruled out in P15 with no time on the board in Q2.

    Also ruled out at the end of Q2 were 11th-placed Leclerc, Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, Renault’s Carlos Sainz and Stroll.

    In Q3 it was Ferrari’s turn to encounter trouble. Rain was expected, but it didn’t arrive soon enough for the Italian and they sent Räikkönen and Vettel out on intermediate tyres at the start of the session. Both were forced to lap and pit for slick tyres, putting them out of sequence to the other front runners.

    Hamilton staked a claim to pole position with a time of 1:27.760, more than two tenths ahead of Bottas, while Verstappen slotted into third place on the timesheet. Räikkönen managed to sneak in a lap to take fourth place, but Vettel made a mistake on his opening lap and was forced to try again. By the time he was ready for a hot lap rain was falling and his chance was gone. He ended the session in P9 between the Force Indias of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez.

    With the conditions growing steadily worse, the session was effectively over and after the clock had counted down to the flag, Hamilton duly took his 80th career pole position ahead of Bottas, Verstappen and Räikkönen. Grosjean was fifth for Haas, while Brendon Hartley scored his best ever qualifying result with sixth place, just ahead of Toro Rosso team-mate Gasly.

    2018 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix – Qualifying
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:27.760
    2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:28.059 0.299
    3 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:29.057 1.297
    4 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:29.521 1.761
    5 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:29.761 2.001
    6 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 1:30.023 2.263
    7 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 1:30.093 2.333
    8 Esteban Ocon Racing Point Force India 1:30.126 2.366
    9 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:32.192 4.432
    10 Sergio Perez Racing Point Force India 1:37.229 9.469
    11 Charles Leclerc Sauber 1:29.864 2.104
    12 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:30.226 2.466
    13 Carlos Sainz Renault 1:30.490 2.730
    14 Lance Stroll Williams 1:30.714 2.954
    15 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing
    16 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:30.361 2.601
    17 Sergey Sirotkin Williams 1:30.372 2.612
    18 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:30.573 2.813
    19 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 1:31.041 3.281
    20 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:31.213 3.453.

     

  • Hamilton stuns Vettel with a fantastic drive in Ferrari’s home race: Italian GP

    Monza, 2 Sept 2018: Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton took a sensational 68th career win at Monza, beating Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen after starting third in the Heinekan Italian GP of the Formula One World Championship on Sunday.

    Räikkönen was forced to settle for second place ahead of the second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas after being passed by Hamilton nine laps from the flag. Vettel finished fourth after dropping to the back of the field following a coming together with title rival Hamilton on the opening lap of the race.

    At the start, pole position man Kimi Räikkonen held his advantage to take the lead through the opening two turns. Behind him, though, Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel, who started from P2, was being pressured by title rival Lewis Hamilton and there was brief contact in Turn 1.

    Hamilton continued to press and launched an attack around the outside of Vettel’s Ferrari into the second chicane. There was minimal room for manoeuvre and the pair collided, with Vettel being sent into a spin.

    Hamilton was able to continue in second place ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who had muscled his way past the second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas as the start, but Vettel dropped to the back of the field.

    At the back of the order there was also a collision at the start between Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson and Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley. The New Zealander suffered a blown tyres and he was forced to pull over at the side of the track.

    That brought out the safety car and under the caution Vettel pitted for soft tyres.

    Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo also pitted, taking on supersofts, and the pair were soon making their way through the field, with Ricciardo initially to the fore.

    When the Safety Car left the track, Hamilton made the most of the re-start and passed Räikkönen into Turn 1. The Mercedes’ driver’s hold on the lead was brief, however, as Räikkönen fought back in the second chicane and muscled his way back to the front.

    In the midfield, Vettel passed Ricciardo at the start of lap nine and by lap 17 he had hauled himself up to ninth place, but he was now 27.3s behind leading team-mate Räikkönen

    Räikkönen made his sole stop, for soft tyres, on lap 20. Mercedes feinted a stop on the following lap but with his pace good Hamilton was told to stay out.

    Behind them, Ricciardo’s race came to an end on lap 24 when smoke began to pour from the rear of his Red Bull. The Australian quickly pulled over and retired, his latest spec Renault engine appearing to let him down.

    Ahead, Hamilton made his stop on lap 28, taking on soft tyres, but he emerged behind Räikkönen. Bottas was yet to pit, however, and as Hamilton rejoined over two seconds behind Räikkönen, Bottas was told to keep his fellow Finn behind him.

    Bottas finally made his pit stop at the end of lap 35. He took on soft tyres and emerged some 3.5s behind Verstappen. Räikkönen now led again but with worn tyres that were beginning to cause the Finn problems. Hamilton, just half a second behind the Ferrari driver, was on much fresher rubber and began to exert heavy pressure.

    Vettel, meanwhile, was busy making his way back towards the leaders after a second pit stop, for supersoft tyres, and on lap 39 he claimed fifth place. He was now 13.4s behind Bottas with 14 laps to go and lapping much quicker than the Mercedes man who was battling to get past Verstappen.

    At the front, Hamilton made the decisive move on lap 45. He tucked in behind the Finn on the pit straight and then darted around the outside of the Finn’s Ferrari into Turn 1 to take a lead he would not relinquish.

    Behind Räikkönen, third-placed Verstappen Max was now coming under pressure from Bottas. The Finn went to pass in Turn 1 but Verstappen took a very wide line and there was contact, with Bottas being forced to cut the chicane.

    The incident was placed under investigation and Max was subsequently handed a five-second time penalty for causing the collision.

    After Hamilton took his 68th career win ahead of Räikkönen, Verstappen crossed the line in third, but with Bottas and Vettel within five seconds of the Dutchman, the Red Bull man was classified in fifth place, from where he started the race.

    Romain Grosjean took sixth place for Haas, while Racing Point Force India took their second double points finish in a row, with Esteban Ocon seventh and Sergio Pérez eighth. Ninth place was taken by Renault’s Carlos Sainz and the final point on offer went to Williams’ Lance Stroll.

    2018 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix – Race 
    1 Lewis Hamilton  Mercedes –
    2 Kimi Raikkonen  Ferrari 8.705
    3 Valtteri Bottas  Mercedes 14.066
    4 Sebastian Vettel  Ferrari 16.151
    5 Max Verstappen  Red Bull Racing 18.208
    6 Romain Grosjean  Haas 56.320
    7 Esteban Ocon  Force India 57.761
    8 Sergio Perez  Force India 58.678
    9 Carlos Sainz Renault 1:18.140
    10 Lance Stroll  Williams 1 lap
    11 Sergey Sirotkin  Williams 1 lap
    12 Charles Leclerc  Sauber 1 lap
    13 Stoffel Vandoorne  McLaren 1 lap
    14 Nico Hulkenberg  Renault 1 lap
    15 Pierre Gasly  Toro Rosso 1 lap
    16 Marcus Ericsson  Sauber 1 lap
    17 Kevin Magnussen  Haas 1 lap
    Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull Racing 30 laps
    Fernando Alonso  McLaren 44 laps
    Brendon Hartley  Toro Rosso

  • Kimi sets a blistering lap to take Monza pole ahead of Vettel, and Hamilton

    Kimi sets a blistering lap to take Monza pole ahead of Vettel, and Hamilton

    Kimi Raikkonen takes pole at Monza on 1st Sept 2018. An FIA image

    Monza, 1 Sept 2018: Kimi Räikkönen edged team-mate Sebastian Vettel to head a front-row lock-out for Ferrari in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton finishing third ahead of Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

    Räikkönen, whose last pole came at the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix, set a time of 1:19.119 to not only take his 18th career pole position but also to shatter the Monza lap record set 14 years ago by Juan Pablo Montoya.

    The Finn set the early pace in Q1 with a time of 1:20.937, almost six tenths of a second clear of team-mate Vettel. The Ferraris were then split by Hamilton, who posted a time of 1:21.321.

    Vettel though then moved to the front with a time of 1:20.758 and on a second attempt worked his way down to a time of 1:20.542 to head the session, in front of Räikkönen who also made an improvement and Hamilton.

    Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo, who is facing a series of PU-related penalties for tomorrow’s race, completed just a single late run in the session, but it was enough to see the Australian through to Q2 in fourth place ahead of the second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas and Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen.

    At the other end of the order, in the drop zone as the session drew to a close were Williams’ Lance Stroll, McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne, the twin Toro Rossos of Brendon Hartley and Pierre Gasly and Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg, who is also facing engine-related penalties tomorrow.

    And it was the Renault driver who managed to drag himself furthest up the order with a time good enough for 10th. Gasly and Stroll also hauled themselves out of danger with the Toro Rosso driver finishing in P12, four thousandths of a second ahead of the Williams man.

    Racing Point Force India’s Sergio Perez was eliminated in P16 ahead of Sauber’s Charles Leclerc, Hartley, the second Sauber of Marcus Ericsson and McLaren’s Vandoorne.

    At the start of Q2 is was Hamilton who set the early pace, the Briton becoming the first man to break into the 1m19s bracket with a lap of 1:19.798. Räikkönen slotted into P2, four tenths behind.

    Vettel, though, was again running faster than both and the German drew a huge cheer from the partisan crowd when he jumped to the top of the order with a first run time of 1:19.785, edging Hamilton by just over a hundredth of a second. Behind them, Bottas slotted into fourth ahead of Verstappen, Ocon, Renault’s Carlos Sainz, the Haas cars of Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen and the Toro Rosso of Gasly.

    Vettel tightened his hold on top spot with his second run, this time lapping in 1:19.629 to make it into Q3 0.169s ahead of Hamilton, with Räikkönen third ahead of Verstappen who edged Bottas by just under a tenths of a second.

    Lance Stroll put in a good lap to make it into Q3 in P8, the first time he had appeared in Q3 since the Italian GP of 2017.

    Pierre Gasly, too, delivered an excellent final lap of the segment to make it through in P10.

    That meant that eliminated in 11th place was Magnussen, with Sirtoking exiting in P12 ahead of McLaren’s Fernando Alonso. Hulkenberg and Ricciardo failed to set times and were eliminated in P4 and P15 respectively.

    Vettel stranglehold on top spot ended in the first run of Q3 however. The German crossed the line in 1:19.497. Räikkonen was right behind him on track, however, and he edged past the German by four hundredths of a second. Hamilton though was running even faster and he claimed provisional pole with a time of 1:19.390.

    There was no stopping Ferrari on home soil, however, though it wasn’t Vettel who made jumped to the top, but Räikkonen.

    As Vettel dropped a wheel into the dirt on his lap, the Finn delivered a note-perfect performance on his final lap to shatter Juan Pablo Montoya’s absolute lap record for Monza of 1:19.525 set in 2004. Räikkönen’s pole, his first since Monaco 2017, was achieved with a lap of 1:19.199.

    Vettel completed a Ferrari front-row lock-out with his final lap of 1:19.280 while Mercedes will start from row two with Hamilton third ahead of Bottas. Verstappen took fifth place for Red Bull Racing ahead of Grosjean, Sainz, Ocon, Gasly and Stroll.

     

  • Sergio Perez happy with the outcome for Force India

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Romain, welcome to Monza, but I would like to take back to last weekend in Spa where you scored for the fourth time in the last five races. It seems that you’re getting some momentum now in that Haas car, so I just wanted to ask what has changed and why are you happier with it now?

    Romain GROSJEAN: Good afternoon. I think the car has been quick since Melbourne to be fair. In the first part of the season I made some mistake that I shouldn’t have done and I got some bad luck as well – there were plenty of times where we could have been in the points. Recently the run is going well and I’m hoping that continues, but to be fair the car has been fast since race one. I think the first races were up and down and they shouldn’t have been that way.

    Q: Thank you. Sergio, if we could come to you now, please. You were instrumental in saving Force India, so tell us what the result at Spa last weekend meant to you and how it will likely impact on your future with the team?

    Sergio PÉREZ: It was great to see everyone so happy after the tension that we had, not knowing what was going on with all the jobs, including mine and so on. So it was great to get that kind of result for the team. It just shows the potential my team has and I was very proud of that performance. In terms of my position it doesn’t change. I’ve got a contract and I keep performing and I keep delivering at my best. I try to score as many points as possible for the team, to try to get us further up on the grid. It doesn’t change from that perspective.

    Q: Thank you and good luck for the weekend. Kimi, coming to you, a man who is seeking his 100th podium in Formula 1 this weekend. A lot of the tifosi here at Monza will be wondering what you’re doing next year, so the inevitable question: when will know more about your future?

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: I don’t know. At some point, that’s for sure. Probably you can expect anything in here, that’s what I’ve learned over the past, so yeah, we’ll see, I don’t know.

    Q: Do you want to come back for more, Kimi? Are you still enjoying the challenge of Formula 1?

    KR: I enjoy the racing; I don’t think that’s a secret. The rest not, but that’s part of the job. Do I want to race? Yes, otherwise I wouldn’t be here today. I don’t see that’s suddenly going to disappear. Who know, it might be, but I doubt it. Like I said, I don’t know, so we’ll see what happens.

    Q: Thank you Kimi, good luck this weekend. Sebastian, thanks for waiting, coming to you now. Spa was a dominant performance by you and Ferrari last weekend. Do you think that pace will translate to Monza this weekend, given the high-speed nature of the track?

    Sebastian VETTEL: I don’t know. I think in the end it was less dominant than you might think. In the end, we did well, and it’s good to see that we are able to improve our car. We had some bits and a new engine. So we’ll see. Monza in many ways is a bit similar to Spa, but then again obviously if you look at the track and the actual corners, not just the straights, it’s quite a bit different. We see in the past, I remember some good races here with great podiums but for sure we want more than a podium, but I think we will see what we get starting tomorrow and getting into the rhythm for the weekend.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Frédéric Ferret – l’Equipe) A question for Kimi and Sebastian. Can you tell us the feeling to be a Ferrari driver at Monza. And another question for Seb, what is the feeling when you win in Monza, even not for Ferrari?

    KR: Obviously the driving doesn’t change. It’s our home grand prix, so it’s more busy. We have a lot, a lot of support, a lot of tifosi here, so that obviously makes it a lot different. But if you purely talk pure driving, racing, it’s the same job than any other place. It just happens to be our home race. Obviously it’s an important race for us, for the team, as any race, but it’s for sure special. You feel it straight away when you come here, today or yesterday, in the show in Milan, it’s great. Hopefully we get a strong result from the team not just for us but for all the fans and tifosi.

    Sebastian winning here at Monza? Of course it’s 10 years since your first ever F1 victory?

    SV: Yeah, it depends which colour, or which engine you have in the back. I mean the first win was overwhelming in many regards. I didn’t realise at the time that I was obviously racing for an Italian team and had a Ferrari engine in the back, so I guess it was sort of OK for the crowd and they were happy too. I thought they were happy because it was me and it was a good race. But then two or three years after I won again in a different colour, they weren’t very happy, so I was wondering a bit what’s going on, because I hadn’t done anything wrong, quite the opposite. The story of Monza is in the heart of Italy and where all the tifosi are. I think the last podiums I had, in the right colour, were quite amazing and obviously it’s definitely something I want to achieve, to win here with Ferrari. Others have done it before me and I want to join them.

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Romain, Guenther told us earlier that both you guys will have the new floor, after changing last weekend. Can you just explain what the difference was last weekend between then and how you came to the decision to have it on your car here?

    RG: Yeah, so last weekend we both had the update on the car and we were not very competitive on Friday, so on Friday night we decided to revert one car to the old spec, just to see the difference and to try to understand and gather a lot of data, which we did. The guys went to the factory and discussed with the aerodynamic department and it was clear that the new package is a good step in a good direction and that we should run it. It does require a bit of adjusting in the set-up, which Kevin did over the weekend using it and which now we know, so I think now we are going to use that new package which should be more competitive.

    Q: (Adrian Rodriguez Huber – Agencia EFE) A question for Checo. After all this emotional rollercoaster, what do you expect this weekend here?

    SP: Yeah, I think we have a competitive car, we proved that in Belgium. We are coming to a similar track in terms of what you run around here, so I think we should be quite competitive, and the aim is still the same – to try to be the best of the rest and I think we have a good chance of doing that again.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, your greatest feeling here, is it pole in 2006, as you have not won here?

    KR: Hard to say. I don’t think it’s been very good over the years, but I always enjoy coming here. First of all, it’s a nice, great circuit, it has a lot of history. It’s close by from home, so easy to come. I had some good races here for sure, not perfect. I’ve been on the podium with Ferrari once or twice. That’s been good. Not exactly what we wanted but important, so yeah…

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, Racefans.net) Kimi, you’ve always struck us, over the last 18 years or whatever you’ve been in F1, as a very private individual, yet you recently authorized a biography. I’ve read some excerpts that have been translated and it seems to be fairly open about your lifestyle etc. Why are you willing to open yourself to the world like that?

    KR: Probably you had a wrong translation. What about that? No, how is it secret, because I lived through it and there have been an awful lot of stories about it, a lot of things. I don’t know how you think it’s such a secret. I don’t think… it’s something that I decided to do. It’s just a short story until now, it’s not such a big thing in my view. Like I said, I lived through it and it just happens to be now it’s in a book. Probably most of the things a lot of people know, maybe not all, but I don’t feel that there is something different in my view, but obviously probably for you guys it is different

    Q: (Daniel Horvath – Racingline.hu) Kimi, as the oldest driver on the grid, what’s your personal feeling, how long can you perform at this level?

    KR: Hard to know. I don’t feel that I drive any differently than 10 years ago. I think I drive pretty well, in my books at least, and that’s enough for me. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t feel I can drive as well as I feel that I should. That my tool to measure and decide when it’s enough. Who knows. I don’t know. Maybe I wake up one morning and I just don’t know how to go fast any more. I don’t think there is a time. It’s more feelings and how do you feel yourself doing it – good or bad. People always say that the speed will disappear but until this day I feel that it hasn’t disappeared for me. But maybe there is a morning you wake up and it’s just not there anymore. It could be like that but I don’t think you just put a date, you just turn this old or that and it’s just not there. If you have it, you have it and if not… that’s it.

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Seb, do you feel any greater pressure performing in front of the Ferrari fans and how important do you think a win here would be in terms of your championship chances and the momentum that a victory in front of the Ferrari fans would bring?

    SV: I don’t know. If you win you score more points than others, that always helps. You don’t have to be a genius to make that out. Obviously here for us it’s a different story, so I think it’s a bit isolated from the rest of the year in terms of how special it is for the whole team. There are a lot of friends, a lot of family from all the guys here. We are in Italy, in the home country of Ferrari and I think everybody, not just us drivers, not only the Ferrari drivers, everybody can feel and sense that there is something special going on and I think we have probably the two most special seats this weekend but there are a lot of seats and there will be a lot of people, so to be honesty, looking forward to it. Yesterday was a great way to start the weekend, with the event we had in the city and there were a lot of people and to see how excited they are is definitely different than any other race where I thought people were already excited, but they’re more excited here. So looking forward to getting out in the car and just to look for the same sort of satisfaction and feeling we had last weekend. The car is performing so we hope it stays that way and to make it even better.

    Q: (Fulvio Solms – Corriere dello Sport) A question for Sebastian. Why after your victory in Belgian nobody in your team, neither you nor anybody else, remembers so big a figure like Sergio Marchionne?

    SV: I don’t think that’s fair from you to say. One is the comments we give in the press but we are aware just how big he has been, not just for our team, but for the whole group behind and obviously knowing him he was a big supporter of Ferrari, of racing, and he was interested in going ahead and at some point you have to let things rest and look forward and I think that’s probably the way he wanted it to be and it’s probably a sign of respect, that you’re not trying to dig something up and especially in times like now, let things rest.

    Q: (Alessandro Sala – Tercer Equipo) Question for the men in red, the first one to Sebastian. If this year you should be World Champion, we should read next year ‘my five titles’ biography? And for Kimi, both Ferraris first row, at the beginning of the first variante, which should be your move if you are side-by-side with Sebastian?
    SV:     I’m not planning to write a book. I’m not sure I can compete with Kimi. I haven’t read it because it’s in Finnish but… yeah… I mean. If that would be an idea for the headline, obviously that would be great if it happens to be like that but there’s a lot of would and should and could. So, not interested at that point. Yeah, as I said, I don’t think my book is as exciting. Maybe need to wait more years.
    KR: I don’t know. We’ll see. Obviously our aim is to be with both cars in the front and then see how it plays out – but obviously we know what we can do. We can race each other and we always try to beat each other but to be fair at the same time. I don’t see anything different on that

    Q: (Giles Richards – The Guardian) Sebastian, given the advantage you enjoyed at Spa, is it something you think Mercedes can come back from – or do you think you’re going to hold that power advantage to the end of the season?
    SV:     Well, first of all, I find it quite nice that we get put in this position. I think people forget that maybe for the last five years, Mercedes has been absolutely dominant, especially in terms of power unit, and obviously, it’s nice from them to put us in that position because it means they believe they are not the strongest any more. So, it’s good to be up there with them and be a match but I don’t think we can take anything for granted. I don’t think we are anywhere near in the place they have been in the last years. So, I think we have to work hard to make things happen, and we are determined to work hard this weekend to put ourselves in the same position again, that we have a great pace in the weekend and especially in the race on Sunday.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globoesporte.com) To Sebastian and Kimi, it’s more or less in the line of your last answer, Maurizio Arrivabene said that it’s very important for Ferrari to push Mercedes, they are not used to it over the last four years at least – but it’s also true that many people believe you have the best car, and many Italians say Ferrari has a great chance of being World Champion this year. If you go outside you hear this from many Italians. You feel this pressure that will exist?

    SV: Not really. We know our car best and I think we have a lot of people on board telling us how good our car is on which point of the track, at which point of the year, similar to other teams. I think we know what’s going on. We know we have a great car. I think we have a good car that seems to have worked so far on more or less every track. Some better, some a little but worse but I think we are aware we have a good package but we cannot rest on that. I think we need to make it happen. Kimi and myself in the car, all the engineering crew at the track, everybody back in Maranello to try to put everything together. So, I don’t think you can compare to maybe the position other people have been in years ago. It doesn’t matter, I’m also not keen to compare because we’re looking forwards and we want to do our thing. As I said, looking forward to getting in the car. It’s a great feeling when you step inside the car and you know that you can fight for first position, for the podium, for victory on Sunday. That’s what you want as a driver but for the rest I think it’s healthy not to overthink.

    KR: I don’t think there’s any more pressure. I think all the pressure is that we want to do well: ourselves; our team. So that’s normal pressure that we put unto ourselves and something that we want to achieve. So, I don’t know. Is our package best? One weekend yes, next might not be. It’s that close that small differences will dictate who’s fastest over that weekend or the race on Sundays. If you don’t get everything right, you might not win. So, it’s very close. Certain conditions; certain circuits, one is a bit better for one team and the next one for the other team. We’re talking small differences in the end result. So, we can only do our best and see what happens, where we end up on Sunday.

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Question for the two Ferrari drivers. Everyone’s talking about the engine improvement this year but it has been a collective growth from the team. Maybe not necessarily from last year but especially if you look back to 2016 when there wasn’t the progression from ’15 to ’16. So if you look at the work from 2016, how much has the team changed? Is it as much down to the way the team has reworked its structure as well as obviously improvements on the engine side.

    SV: Well, I think 2016 was a key year for us. Obviously it wasn’t great in terms of performance, especially after ’15, we finished second in the Constructors’, you naturally want to be closer, a lot closer and we were not. We lost a place. But I think in terms of setting ourselves up for the future ’16 was the most important year so far – at least since I’m with the team. Obviously ’17 we had a rule change that helped us to use that restructuring in general that’s been going on. I think we, since then, have been able to improve on all fronts. Whether it’s the car, the development throughout the season to keep the pace up; whether it’s engine power and its components. So, I think things are going in the right direction but I think the opponent that we had years ago was very , very strong, still is very, very strong but y’know it’s good to see we are getting stronger and, in some areas, maybe caught up. In some other areas maybe have a little bit of an edge. In the end that’s where we want to be – and beyond that. I think that’s our ambition: to be up there and to be at least on the level so we can fight for it and to keep that level throughout the year, and if there’s a gap then to increase that gap. I think that things are looking in the right way but saying that, we still have a lot of things that we can improve, and still have potential that can be unleashed, a lot of processes that I think can be improved, so we have to work and focus on those and go step-by-step.

    Kimi anything to add?

    KR: No.

    Q: (Jonathan McEvoy – Daily Mail) To Seb. Lewis made some remarks after the last race about that he couldn’t explain how fast your … how fast you were. Would you… I mean presumably you take this opportunity to say that everything in the Ferrari is above board and legal and b) does that give us a glimpse into Lewis’ mindset that he’s not quite sure how to deal with the Ferrari and the strength of it at the moment?

    SV: I don’t know. I think you need to ask him but I think he said in the press conference something with tricks – but then I think he said quite many times as well that he doesn’t want it to be interpreted in the wrong way and I think – maybe he did – I’m not so sure but  for all us, in terms of is the car legal or not, there’s the FIA responsible for it and I think we have several checks throughout the weekend to prove that. So as long as I don’t hear anything from that front then I believe it’s fine. Same for the others. So, as I said, maybe it’s more a question for him. And for us, it’s to keep out head down. If there’s something like momentum, then to use that momentum to make sure we go forwards.

    Q: (Ian Parkes – New York Times) Question to Seb and Kimi. Given the performance in Belgium from Ferrari, and given the comments that emanated from both Mercedes and Lewis post-race, do you think you have Mercedes worried for the first time in five seasons, for the rest of this season. And, if so, how can you play on that and make it to your advantage.

    SV: To be very honest with you, I don’t feel anything related to Mercedes. I feel Ferrari, and especially this weekend – and that’s what I want to enjoy. I don’t know in which state or mind they are. I think, y’know, we are obviously up against the best if you fight for the front positions. And Mercedes have proven to be the best over the last years. I think they have been for many reasons. What we want to do, obviously, is to beat them – so we need to be better than them. I think that’s what we need to focus on. In which shape they are, and so on, I think it’s more for them to answer. As I said, this weekend, I don’t feel anything with Mercedes. I feel Ferrari – so looking forwards to that.

    Kimi, anything to add?

    KR: No.

    Do you feel you’ve got Mercedes rattled?

    KR: I don’t know. You need to talk to them. Obviously, I don’t know. I’m not really interested in what their thoughts are. We do our stuff and try to do the best that we can and obviously improve and go forwards.

    Q: (Alessandro Bucci – ItaliaRacing.net) A question for each driver. Which is, or which are, your favourite Italian Grands Prix during your career.

    RG: I haven’t had really any good ones here! I try to remind… 2009: no. Where did we end up in ’12 and ’13? ’12 I didn’t race. ’13 I can’t remember. We were not very fast on low downforce. ’14 I’m not talking about… no, nothing outstanding here.

    SP: For me it was a great race 2012. Making it into the podium. Into the last laps, beating both Ferraris to the podium was a great race that I definitely remember well. Obviously the podium here is very special. It’s a nice experience. The atmosphere from the tifosi was very special, definitely. My biggest memory was 2012.

    KR: I enjoyed going to Imola also. Good racing. I don’t know. I’ve never had very good races at either places but that was a really nice circuit to race. It’s close by. I call it an Italian Grand Prix. Here, not one that would probably be better than the others. Some decent, let’s say.

    Seb, how about you?

    SV: Personal one, obviously 2008. I don’t think that… well, we’ll see, maybe there is a chance that something better comes up but when it comes to my racing here, I think 2008, the first win ever, it always stands out to be something special. The way it happened as well. Then in memory, or what I’ve heard about I think the ’88 Grand Prix will never be beaten in terms of importance for this country, for the tifosi, for racing here. And I remember, was there a race with three cars finishing close to each other? Was it the tightest finish? Five cars? That must have been a great race. I wasn’t there, obviously. By a long way! None of us what – but I think that must have been a great race to watch and follow. And then, as I said, the ’88, what it meant, obviously for Ferrari.

    Q: (Barbara Premoli – Motorinolimits.com) Question for Kimi. I know you won’t answer me –but I need only to see your expression. In Monza, we have always had a big announcement. So, we have to expect something? Lift the cap! Look at me.

    KR: Better glasses maybe? You need to talk to the team. It’s not up to me. That’s about it. Not my decision in the end.

    PART TWO: DRIVERS – Nico HULKENBERG (Renault) , Charles LECLERC (Alfa Romeo Sauber), Esteban OCON (Racing Point Force India), Sergey SIROTKIN (Williams)

    Q: Nico, can we start with you please and take a look back at last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix and what happened at the start, specifically talking about the halo because opinion was divided about that prior to the start of the season, even among the drivers? Has your accident with Charles Leclerc changed your mind about the halo?

    Nico HULKENBERG: For sure. I think it’s proven pretty useful and a good device. Obviously we can only speculate what would have happened without it but it looked pretty clear from the point that the tyre marks were obviously all over the halo and from that point of view it’s done a very good job, to keep the head safe.

    Q: And looking ahead to this weekend, Nico, you’re carrying a ten place grid penalty but what do you think you can do in the Renault?

    NH: Yeah, it’s obviously not going to be an easy weekend, carrying that penalty. Monza, perhaps a difficult track for us but it is what it is. We approach this weekend open-minded and want to deliver a good weekend and specially have a good race on Sunday, regardless of where we start or how difficult it seems. It’s always fun to race around here so just look forward to getting back in the car tomorrow and start this weekend.

    Q: Charles, what was your over-riding emotion after the race on Sunday?

    Charles LECLERC: The frustration to have not finished the race, to be honest. I was just very frustrated because obviously in the last few races we have been quite unlucky. Then looking back at the images (of the accident) we can’t know what will have happened without it (the halo) but obviously I was quite happy to have it over my head and as Nico said, I think it deserves to be in Formula One now, whether it looks good or bad, I don’t think that matters any more.

    Q: And we’re at Monza, last European race of the year. There’s quite a lot of talk about next season. Just wondering if there’s any movement on what you’ll be doing in 2019?

    CL: For now, not really. For now, I didn’t have any information so I’m just waiting and hopefully I’ll be able to say soon.

    Q: Esteban, a lot of chat about 2019 this afternoon, so Spa last weekend was a spectacular result for you. Just talk us through your emotions after the race and how you feel it’s going to impact on your job prospects going forward?

    Esteban OCON: Well, thank you very much, first of all. Of course it was a fantastic weekend and a fantastic qualifying, obviously. After tough time, we are back in a great way. It brings joy to everyone in the team, the mechanics, the engineers, everybody was pushing hard and had tough times but that’s totally behind, everyone’s happy now and of course then the cherry on the cake, the fifth and sixth in the race. A good start from me as well and a good result in the end with 18 points and we couldn’t come back in a better way and start in a better way.

    Q: Sergey, if there are changes at Force India in 2019, there’s a chance they might affect Williams as well so what can you tell us about your job prospects going forward?

    Sergey SIROTKIN: Obviously I can follow on the changes that could probably happen. I’m afraid I don’t know much more than what I can read on the websites but in terms of myself, I think – I’ve said this a couple of times already – I think I quite clearly really know my position in the team. I think I’m quite happy with the job I’m doing for them. They know my position, they know what they can get from me so if you want a concrete answer I’m afraid not right now,  right here, but if I have any worries, I’m afraid (inaudible)

    Q: But it felt good to run in the points for the first time last weekend though?

    SS: It’s been good to run in the points but the best thing is that finally we have the pace to be fighting, not just me running there because of whatever happened, but because we had the pace for it. It has been a very good weekend. I think we can take a lot of positives from there.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, RaceFans.net) Nico, if we go back to Spa last year you are quoted as saying that you are totally anti the halo, not only because it looks stupid but the likelihood is minimal that an accident will happen in which a halo is actually helpful. Do you still agree with that statement?

    NH: I think… whilst I am still not a big fan of halo and the device, I have to see the facts and admit that it does bring something to Formula One, especially the safety that we appreciate in the car. Yeah, divided, mixed feelings about it still but it’s not down to me anyway. It is what it is.

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Esteban, the result last weekend, the performance in qualifying and the race, did that do anything for you in terms of settling you down for your short term future or are you now more confident about what’s going to happen to you between now and the end of this season, let alone 2019?

    EO: Well, I hope it does definitely help. As a driver, the only talk you can do is on the track anyway, so that’s what I’m trying to do at the moment but yeah, still no news, only rumours and talk so as soon as I know more, I will let you know.

    Q: (Daniel Majer – Origo.hu) Obviously Monza is all about speed and you were not racing under the V10 regulations but at that time, speed records were broken here. If you would chose just for this particular Grand Prix to switch to cars that are much faster in a straightline, would you do that or are the current ones OK?

    SS: Honestly, I didn’t know the cars and how they’ve been in those times but I think this year’s cars are quite quick in a straightline. Obviously they’re missing a lot of engine sound but from the pure speed-wise I don’t think they’re any slower than what they’ve been in whatever year you say with the V10s. So yeah, I wish I could try them a couple of times, but if I would swap them for the weekend I’m not sure.

    EO: For sure, the sound was amazing back in the days of the V10s, V12s, also V8s were very nice but the cars we are running now, they are breaking all the track records so I think they’re quick enough, 1000 horsepower, amazing speed, so yeah, it’s quite enough.

    CL: I think in the same way as Esteban. I think a bit more sound would be nice but again, I’m extremely happy about driving these cars. As you said, we’ve broken quite a lot of records this year; I think it’s one of the fastest cars – probably the fastest car – in F1’s history so very happy to be in this.

    NH: Yeah, nothing more to add. Mid-2000s, V10s?

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Charles, as an Alfa Romeo driver and member of the Ferrari Academy, what is your feeling driving in Monza this weekend?

    CL: It’s absolutely amazing. Also in the past few years, Monza has always been a track where I’ve always had a lot of support, first being part of the Ferrari Academy  of course and yeah, also this year arriving at the track this morning, you can really see that with the return of Alfa Romeo, an Italian brand, that there’s a lot of interest in us and a lot of people are here for us which is great to see. I actually had more support this morning here than I had the Thursday in Monaco so it feels a little bit like a home race and it definitely gives a big boost to the whole team.

    Q: (Fulvio Solms – Corriera dello Sport) Charles, you have a strong Italian side and spent so much time in this country. So which are your best and your worst memories of your Italian period?

    CL: My best memory, it’s probably my first ever car win that I’ve had in Italy, in Monza actually, here, in 2014. I can remember I had quite tough first races in car racing and finally I could manage to win my first race here in Monza, so that’s probably my best memory. My worst memory? I don’t have much, to be honest. Probably when my tyre went flat on the motorway next to Maranello, that wasn’t a great memory.

    Q: (Joe van Burik – Autocar NL) Charles, following the halo debate that’s gone on after Spa, I was wondering to get your thoughts if you’re more aware of driver safety in F1 following the accident of your friend Jules Bianchi?

    CL: Obviously it has been a big shock when I… when we all lost Jules. It was very sudden. I don’t really get the question. Can you repeat it? What do you want me to…?

    Q: (Joe van Burik – Autocar NL) Just wondering if you’re more aware of safety maybe added by the halo device, following that accident?

    CL: Speaking for Jules, it wouldn’t have helped anything because the cause was not… it was just a shock and the shock was too big. Then I believe that in certain circumstances it can help. If it helped or not at Spa I have no idea but in some circumstances it can help so I think it’s a good thing to have.

    Q: (Daniel Horvath – Racingline.hu) Charles, what about your future, when can we expect some news?

    CL: I have no news for now. As I said earlier I’m just waiting for some information and as soon as I know, I will let you know but for now I don’t know.

    Q: (Alex Roos – L’Equipe) Esteban, can you explain why Monza is a special GP and how it’s different from the other ones?

    EO: I think for a few reasons it’s the temple of speed so the speeds we are achieving are massive. Racing is good because of the long straight, the slipstream. We run low downforce and yeah, it makes great racing overall so that’s the technical part. And then the atmosphere is just very much different to anywhere and the tifosi are amazing fans and they give us a lot of support and they are here, then they are massively here, waiting for us when we arrive at the entrance. It’s such a happy and joyous… everyone’s happy to be here and you don’t live those moments at a Grand Prix everywhere like that and it’s very special.

    Q: (Barbara Premoli – Motorinolimits.com) Charles, can you explain to normal people like us how your body and mind reacts to a big shunt like the one we saw in Spa last week?

    CL: To be honest, I think it looked a lot bigger on TV than it actually was. I felt, obviously, Fernando going over me but it was not like it was a big big shock. So yeah, the only thing I had in my mind is that I was just hoping for some miracle that the car was not damaged enough to go back to the pits but obviously when I looked in the mirrors again I saw that everything was gone so I couldn’t… I just found a way to stop the car and that’s it. But yeah, the images look very spectacular but from inside the car it was not such a big shunt.

  • Vettel quickest in FP3; Late crash for local hero, Vandoorne

    Vettel quickest in FP3; Late crash for local hero, Vandoorne

    Vettel quickest in FP3 on Saturday. An FIA image

    Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel topped the timesheet in final practice for the Belgian Grand Prix, finishing just six hundredths of a second ahead of team-mate Kimi Räikkönen in a session that was interrupted by a late crash for local hero Stoffel Vandoorne.

    The McLaren driver was on the hot lap of his qualifying simulation when he came across the slower Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas at the Raidillon corner. As Bottas took a wide line as he moved onto the Kemmel Straight, just as Vandoorne moved to pass the Mercedes around the outside. Vandoorne was pushed off track and immediately spun. He ended up against the barriers on the right side of the track, facing the wrong way, and the session was red-flagged.

    Bottas was quickly on the radio to explain that he had been unaware of the McLaren’s approach and the matter was set to be investigated after the session.

    Kimi Räikkönen set the early pace in the hour-long session, using supersoft tyres to set a time of 1:43.425. Vettel might have beaten that with his first run but the German lost time behind the slower Renault of Nico Hulkenberg.

    Räikkönen then held away until the Ferrari and Mercedes drivers went out on fresh sets of supersoft tyres.

    Raikkonen improved to initially hold the top spot with 20 minutes left on the clock as team-mate Vettel slotted into second place just 0.033s adrift of the Finn. Hamilton took third place.

    Vettel went for a second hot lap on the run and moved to top spot with a time of 1:42.661. Raikkonen followed suit but could only make a marginal improvement and he finished the session in second place, 0.063 behind the German.

    Those runs were then followed by Vandoorne’s crash. Following the resultant red flag period just two minutes of running remained and a queue of cars formed at the end of the pit lane. In the rush to take to track Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly spun at the pit exit but the Frenchman was able to recover and continue.

    Only a handful of drivers were able to make it across the line for a push lap before the chequered flag fell, ensuring that the top four order remained the same. Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen, m,ade an improvement to 1:44.048 but stayed fifth.

    The Dutchman’s team-mate, Daniel Ricciardo, was sixth fastest, while Sauber’s Charles Leclerc took seventh place ahead of Racing Point Force India’s Sergio Perez, Hulkenberg and the second Racing Point car of Esteban Ocon.

    2018 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix – Free Practice 3 
    1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 13 1:42.661
    2 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 15 1:42.724 0.063
    3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 10 1:42.798 0.137
    4 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 13 1:43.464 0.803
    5 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 10 1:44.048 1.387
    6 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 13 1:44.479 1.818
    7 Charles Leclerc Sauber 12 1:44.963 2.302
    8 Sergio Perez Force India 10 1:45.341 2.680
    9 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 17 1:45.464 2.803
    10 Esteban Ocon Force India 13 1:45.485 2.824
    11 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 11 1:45.536 2.875
    12 Romain Grosjean Haas 12 1:45.814 3.153
    13 Carlos Sainz Renault 13 1:45.925 3.264
    14 Kevin Magnussen Haas 12 1:46.087 3.426
    15 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 16 1:46.182 3.521
    16 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 17 1:46.259 3.598
    17 Lance Stroll Williams 10 1:46.502 3.841
    18 Sergey Sirotkin Williams 11 1:46.630 3.969
    19 Fernando Alonso McLaren 16 1:46.942 4.281
    20 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 14 1:47.061 4.400

  • No time to rest, we have to come back strong after summer break, feels Hamilton

    Budapest, 29 July 2018: Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) who won the Hungarian GP, the 12th round of the Formula One World Championship, says he has no time to rest during the summer break at the post-event Press Conference he attended along with second-placed Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) and Kimi Raikkonen on Sunday.

    Interviews: (Conducted by Paul Di Resta)

    Q: Lewis, an absolutely spectacular job. Completely done today. Fifty per cent of the job done yesterday and the finishing touches into that. 

    Lewis HAMILTON: What a beautiful day. What a great crowd we’ve had and really an amazing job from the team. We came here knowing that the Ferraris would be real quick this weekend but to come out with these points we’ll definitely take as a bonus for us, so we deserve the holiday that’s coming.

    Q: I can see how drained you are. How physical was it out there under the sun?

    LH: I was sweating. You know. It was so hot. Physical but I was obviously able to manage the pace. I think it’s the last part here that really kills me, when I go and celebrate with my team, but a big thank you to everyone back at the factory.

    Q: How do you look back on the first part of the season as we go into the summer break and you get some time to lie on the beach on the back of these last five grands prix on six weekends.

    LH: I’m not really the lay down on the beach kind of type, I’ll be doing activities, training and getting ready for the second half, but really happy with how strong it’s come the last couple of races and as I said, so grateful for all the hard work and the continued efforts of the team, so they all deserve the break and I hope they keep pushing, we;’ve got to come strong in the next half.

    Q: Sebastian, I think that’s the best you could have hoped for today wasn’t it, getting up to P2. You almost jumped Bottas in the pit stop but I think Carlos Sainz held you up a little and a bit of a tricky pit stop?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, I don’t know, I think something was stuck at the rear but it was tough race. We were a little bit out of position for the speed that we had. I think we could go with Lewis today in terms of race pace. I had a good start on the harder tyre, which was good, and I was in third. Then I think we did well. I think then it was a bit tricky knowing when to come in. And then obviously we had a little bit of an issue at the pit stop, as you mentioned, and we came out behind Valtteri and then I realised right away I couldn’t get him because his tyres were still too fresh, so I was sitting back and waiting and trying to line everything up for the last 10 laps and it worked. His tyres were getting worse and worse and I knew obviously how long those yellow tyres last from the first stint that I had, so I was quite confident I could get him at the end. Obviously P2 is not what we really wanted this weekend but I think it’s the maximum we could get today.

    Q: Did you think you were clear after you had made that contact down at Turn 2 at the end?

    SV: I was surprised to be honest. I was already ahead and I was just trying to brake so that I covered the inside line and not running too deep. Then I got a hit from behind, so I wasn’t sure what was going on. Then I was looking in the mirrors and I saw that Valtteri was there with Kimi and obviously after that I was clear and I was lucky nothing was broken and we could carry on.

    Q: Kimi, a very strong end to that grand prix. I think you tried a different strategy and I guess you can be quite happy for Ferrari to get two cars on the podium?

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Yeah, I think it was the best that we could hope today. Far from ideal start. I think we need to improve those a bit to give us a bit more easier. We catch up with Bottas after the first stop but there was not chance to overtake at that point, so our option was to stop again and try again and at least we got one place back. Far from ideal. I think we had pretty good speed today but what can you do? Sometimes it’s like that, but we take the points and go for the next one.

    Q: And great to have this little man standing behind you. He looks happy?

    KR: Yeah, he’s always happy, so that’s nice.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Péter Vámosi – Racingline.hu) A question for Lewis. Two years ago you mentioned Budapest as your top three cities that you like in the world – Tokyo and New York were maybe also there. What exactly is the order? And will you stay here a little bit and maybe doing another bicycle trip again in Budapest and check out some architecture and some buildings?

    LH: You want to know what the order of my favourite cities are? I think it was New York, Tokyo, here, London, I think that’s about really. I don’t plan on staying. The weather is great and the city just seems to get nicer and nicer every time I come. But now it’s holiday, I’m going to meet my mum and my sister and niece and nephew tonight and I’ll spend the next four or five days with them. It’s not too often I get to do family holidays so that’s something I’m looking forward to. But I’ll always have a chance to come back to Budapest. I’ve got some friends here. I spent some time already in the city away from the race. It’s very cool, because it’s still very young as well. They’ve got a lot of new buildings going up with the great old architecture they have there. It feels like it’s growing as well in terms of how young it is, so very cool.

    Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globoesporte.com) A question for Lewis. You said that Friday is normally different to Sunday. But on Friday you didn’t use the blankets on your rear tyres. You get out from the pits very slowly, I believe not to heat the rear tyres…

    LH: I didn’t use what?

    The electrical blanket on your rear tyres.

    LH: When

    Friday. We saw it on the TV.

    LH: We always use blankets.

    Also leaving the pits very slow…

    LH: You can’t drive these tyres from stone cold. Just so you know. So they are always in the blankets but they might take them out earlier than..

    Where I want to arrive is that you have many problems with the ultrasoft tyres. The first stint you were on ultrasoft, the track was 59 degrees, 35 the air, and you had incredible performance, everything exactly the opposite to Friday. Can you make a comment; you changed the car, you understood what was going wrong?

    LH: Well, from Friday to Saturday I made a big car change. The balance that I steered towards, I made a big change in P1, because I was uncomfortable with the balance. It’s difficult to make change in P1 because you have to wait for the track to come to you rather than chase the set-up. I straight away made a big change and I tried to pursue that direction but by the time I got to the end of P2 I realised it wasn’t the right direction so I had to pull back and go another way. We had a bit of running in P3 but the car still wasn’t perfect. And then it rained. I didn’t make any changes but I knew that Valtteri had had good P2 running and we weren’t too far off in the direction that we ended. All the learning you do on a Friday, it wasn’t perfect, the way you drive, the way you use the tyres, then you come back on Sunday and you have to bring you’re ‘a-game’. Friday is not usually the day I bring my ‘a-game’. In terms of the tyres, the ultrasoft lasted a lot better than I thought today. I did struggle in P2 but, as I said, I was on a different set-up. The long run was quite good and then we went to the soft and I struggled, as where in P2 I was really good on the soft. So it was completely different. I struggled at the beginning and then we got through some traffic and then I moved a lot of switches around and eventually was able to balance the car and then it was OK. After that I was able to do some decent times and pull the gap. I knew that at some point I’d need to pull the gap to these while they were still behind Valtteri. I knew the strategy that Valtteri was on it was highly unlikely that he was going to make it last and when I pulled away from the grid I knew that Sebastian had been on the soft tyre. We knew that it would also make it very difficult to win, even for me, so that’s why the gap was really important. I definitely don’t think the team expected me to be able to eke out my first stint to lap 30 or whatever it was. I think they were a little bit too optimistic I would say on the other side to make those tyres go that far. Even for me towards the end of my stint my tyres were on the way out. I probably could have done another 10 laps or 15 laps on them before they were completely dead. Their pace was obviously good but fortunately I’d done enough by then.

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) For Lewis and Sebastian. At the beginning of the race on alternative tyre strategies, it looked like at one point the race might be swinging more towards Seb, especially when Valtteri pitted and Seb looked like he was going to jump him. So obviously the race went in a different direction. Could I get your comment on how the race changed and also how it impacts the momentum of your respective championship campaigns.

    LH: The tyres converge. If you draw a line of the tyre life you’ve got the ultrasoft which starts quickest and it drops off at a certain point and there’s a crossover between the soft and the ultrasoft and then there’s the medium which is way off, it’s a terrible tyre. So past, kind of like, I think somewhere around lap eight, the soft tyres going to be faster than the ultrasoft – but I was able to… I was taking it quite easy on my tyres at the beginning. I was able to get that gap to Valtteri. I think it was to something like eight seconds. By the time he had pitted, and Sebastian had got clean air, then I was able to react to the times that he was putting in. So we were matching times, which, as I said, the team and we definitely didn’t expect. Because, as I said, there’s usually that crossover – but I was able to match his times for a good period of time and that’s really what made the race. In terms of how it affects our championship, I mean, last year, I don’t know if we were leading at this point of last year, but last year I think we had… maybe we felt like we were a little bit stronger than we were compared to this year. This year we all know that Ferrari really do have the upper hand pace-wise but I think all around, performance-wise, in terms of strategy and… y’know, because to win a championship is not just about speed, it’s about how you manage things, the strategy calls you make, mistakes, all these different things all weigh up. I think, as a whole, we have hopefully done a slightly better job up until now. So, we’ve got work to do, we’ve got things to improve, we’ve got performance to bring moving forwards. We’ve got to try and catch them – but we’ve got to continue to keep rising with all the other elements, which allows us to beat the Ferraris when they don’t bring their A game.

    Sebastian?

    SV: Yeah. In the first stint, I had a good start, obviously. We knew we had to try to do something different today. I think, as it turned out, probably Valtteri was taking it too easy and obviously, Lewis was able to pull away comfortably. Then, I think, looking back, despite the hot temperatures and so on, I think the ultrasoft worked probably better than we all expected. Obviously we tried to do something different with the soft and yeah, the fact that the ultrasoft lasted very well in the beginning, like Lewis’ pace showed, and also at the end for me, the tyres felt like new once I was ahead of Valtteri, even though I spent so many laps in traffic, showed that I think the ultrasoft worked better. So, that didn’t help to close the gap but I think we did what we could. We effectively passed Valtteri for P2 but then I think I got a bit unlucky with the traffic and lost a couple of seconds, and then obviously we had that little issue at the pitstop, so we ended up coming out behind – and then it was a different race. For sure we knew from the start that qualifying, where we qualified, we tried to do something different, I was happy to do that and I think the pace showed today that we were good. I think if you compare the stint on the soft to the other cars, obviously we were different fuel loads and mirrored strategy but was very good. So, I don’t know. As we’ve seen this year the pendulum seems to swing once this side, once that side, obviously y’know if it’s like this, consistency is the key. Scoring points. I didn’t do myself a favour last week but I think it’s part of racing. Stuff happens. Compared to last year, we lost the championship I think because our car wasn’t quick enough to be a match in the final part of the season, despite what happened with the DNFs. So I hope that this year, and I think this year has shown so far that our car is more efficient, our car is stronger and still has a lot of potential to unleash – so I’m quite confident with what’s sitting in the pipeline that we can improve . So, we’ll see. Should be an exciting second part of the year.

    Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, this is your ninth podium in Hungary. That’s more than you have anywhere else. Does that mean that you have more good races here than anywhere else?

    KR: I don’t know. It doesn’t really feel like a very good race here, being in third place. I think we had very good speed but obviously what happened yesterday and after the start, we never really were able to use our speed when we were on our own, catching-up. But, y’know, apart from that, you are kind of offset in the position and you know you are going to get stuck once you catch up with them. Obviously it worked out kind of OK because we were both… at the beginning I was giving a bit of a hard time for Valtteri and then Seb obviously, so they never had freedom to slow down and take care of their tyres. And there have been some issues and it paid off, so we both gained one place. But yeah, apart from that it was fun to push because the tyres, at least on my side because I stopped twice, they lasted well and I was able to go full speed. So that was fun. But the end result, doesn’t really feel like a happy finish but y’know, as a team we scored decent points and I think we have a few things to improve and I’m sure we have all the speed to be higher up – but we need to tidy up a few things. I think which way you look it depends if it’s good or bad. I don’t think it’s a disaster but it could be better, for sure.

    Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Sebastian, you had well over a pitstop’s advantage over Valtteri for the best part of ten laps – but you delayed the pitstop, presumably because you were worried about the ultras. Did you wait too long? Was that a mistake. And for Lewis, how to you feel about going into the gap with more than a win’s advantage?

    SV: Well, obviously something didn’t go as we planned. It was good that we were faster on an older tyre than Valtteri and pulled a gap. Then I think it’s a bit difficult to foresee the traffic and – knowing how well you go through traffic or not – and in that case I lost quite a lot. So that was one. Then the pitstop, as I explained, but yeah, I think looking back at the race, Lewis’ stint in the first part of the race with the ultrasofts, as I said, Lewis mentioned a crossover close to ten laps. I think the ultrasoft was a lot stronger in the race than it was on Friday, and then what we expected going on. You soft-of know but you don’t know. Obviously Lewis’ information, they don’t call us and say ‘our tyres still look good – you can come in earlier.’ That’s not how it works. And obviously the worst that can happen is that you come in earlier, you gain the position and then you fall apart at the end. You don’t want to do that. I think what we did was OK. But then, as it turned out, with the circumstances and so on, we obviously lost out and we came out behind. Surely, that didn’t help. I think without that it would have been a much more relaxed last part of the race, probably hunting down Lewis, but with the gap that he had, I think it would have been difficult to catch – and then it’s a completely different story, especially around here to overtake. So I think we could have done the catching bit but not really the overtake, so, in the end it doesn’t change much to the final result. Just that it was a bit more work than coming out ahead.

    LH: Well, as I said, I really could only have dreamed that we would be in the position that we are in right now, considering all factors and based on our pure performance, where we stand compared to the Ferraris. Really happy, going into the break, particularly with back-to-back wins. I think that boost will last a long time for our team and it’s encouraging for everyone so I’m excited for the break. I think everyone has worked so hard; even for you guys, travelling around the world, it’s tough on everyone so it’s probably going to be good to be able to spend time with family and friends and back off and then the second half is always exciting, it’s always intense, particularly when we go to the long long hauls. Second half is usually… it gets a bit better on our side so we will go and prepare and make sure we come back even stronger.

    Q: (Rebecca Clancy – The Times) What are your plans for the summer break? Will it be a break, will you be working, will it be holiday?

    KR: I go home with family, come back for Wednesday for testing, after that, go back home again so I pretty much spend the first week flying back and forwards between Hungary and Switzerland and then after that obviously we have some time to spend with the family so that’s nice. I don’t know. In the end, it’s not very long to be honest, it’s couple of weeks at most and unfortunately it doesn’t feel like a holiday when we have things coming up so it’s not like it’s just relaxing completely. It’s nice to have a break but I think also for the teams and for all the mechanics it’s been a pretty tough last month, month and half so it’s nice for them and important for them to get some free time and relax.

    SV: If you were a man, I would have said none of your business but you’re a lady so I will be polite.

    LH: Did you say an old lady?

    SV: No, I said if you were a man I would said it was none of your business but since you’re a lady I will answer your question. Not very spectacular, I will just be home to be honest. Obviously I think we do enough of travelling in planes so I can’t be arsed to go on a plane, I’m pretty much happy to sit in one place and just enjoy. I think we’ve had an amazing summer so far, I hope it doesn’t swing yet because now’s the time for us when we have a bit of time off. I think other than day trips on the bicycle or – I don’t know – doing something boring like fishing or.. I don’t know, it will be quite boring and I’m happy with that.

    LH: Same kind of thing as every year. Obviously my life’s a little bit different, I don’t have a wife and kids and that so I’m still in a fun period! I will spend time with my… I am an uncle so I will spend some time with my Mum, my sister and kids which is always great. Then my best friend’s got a stag so that’s going to be interesting and then yeah, I haven’t decided where I’m going for the last part of it. Then my cousin’s getting married so I’ve got a couple of people getting married and stuff so I’m sure there’ll be some partying, I’m sure there will be some relaxing but most importantly I think it’s about re-energizing yourself but the way I do that is activities so I will be trying to be active, training and just gathering a lot of energy. I probably will travel a bit because I like travelling, while I can, until I’m anchored down.

    Q: (Peter Varkas – Auto Motor) Sebastian, could you please give us your perspective of the crash with Valtteri? Did you think you have left him enough room, was he too aggressive in the braking and afterwards did you feel something wrong with the car because it seems you lost some parts?

    SV: Yeah, I wasn’t sure.  Obviously I felt all of a sudden that I got hit from behind. I think for him there wasn’t really anywhere to go, I was ahead and then when you are so close to another car, I think he… I don’t blame him, I think he had no grip, obviously when you’re so close it’s very difficult to stop the car and I think he locked up and we made contact. For me, I realised straight away that I had a much better run, my rears were in better shape, I got the inside track out of turn one and I had DRS so I was quite comfortable into turn two and knowing that I’d got him and I wanted to make sure that I don’t overshoot the braking but as I said, as soon as I hit the brakes and a little bit later, about when I turned in, I felt the contact from behind. I checked in the mirrors, I saw he was there and then obviously I was lucky that I could catch the car and also lucky with the contact that I didn’t get a puncture, so the team told me straight away that the tyres look fine. Then I had a feel but the car was fine until the end.

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lewis, given that this is a Ferrari track and traditionally you’re pretty strong in the second half of the season, do you feel like you’ve got a couple of fingers on this World Championship?

    LH: Absolutely not. No, I think it’s far too early and you’ve seen the ups and downs we’ve had from this year, you’ve been ahead by some points and behind some points, ahead by a… But we have learned a lot. I don’t believe there’s ever a moment that you’ve got your hands on the title or the trophy. We’ve got a long long way still to go and there’s still nine or ten races… is it nine races? So a lot can happen moving forwards but what’s really important is that we continue to keep up the pressure and keep working as we have done until now. There’s nothing we really need to alter. I think our work ethic has been very strong and the  team morale is better than ever and the spirit is better than ever. We’ve just got to keep it up because as I said, we came here, we came to the last race, they kind of blew us away a little bit in qualifying, they would have done here had it been dry so we welcome the wet races, that’s for sure. But yeah, I’m not really certain what to expect. We’ve got Singapore coming up; Singapore’s another weak circuit for us so there are a few good ones and a few not so good ones ahead. It’s important to capitalise on those difficult weekends such as this and I think that’s really been a key strength of ours this year, we generally have come away with really good points at circuits which have generally been our weaker races but then we really need to capitalise on the races that we’re really strong at like Silverstone for example which we did.

    Q: (Heikki  Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, did it make it special for you that Robin was able to see the race and the podium from such a close range?

    KR: Obviously it was nice for him. You need to ask from him! Obviously we didn’t have the full family here, the little one, the smallest one is at home but we will go back there and he’s at an age that he will remember so it’s nice obviously for him, but let’s hope he doesn’t get too excited and wants to go go-karting. It’s not the best idea right now!

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