1 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red
Bull Racing)
2 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)
3 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
TV UNILATERAL
Daniel, your first Formula One pole and what a place to do it.
Daniel RICCIARDO: Yeah, definitely a special place. I knew coming into the
weekend we’d have a shot at it and it looked good from Thursday. Yeah, I
sort of had it in my mind the whole time coming into the weekend. I think
also, after Barcelona I felt like… the last few races I feel like I’ve been
driving well but haven’t go maximum reward, so I came into this weekend with
a lot of a confidence and a lot of belief that I could be in this position
now and yeah, I’m very happy to have fulfilled that. It feels good, I’ve
always enjoyed this place, obviously the car is good, we’ve got a good
package behind us now and it’s nice to be able to make the most out of it.
Very well done. Nico, first time since 2012 no Mercedes on pole position
here in Monaco. Red Bull and Daniel clearly pushed you very hard today, you
brushed a barrier during Q2, but where did it get away from you today when
it really counted at the end?
Nico ROSBERG: I don’t think it really went away from me; it never was with
me, because Daniel was just quick today and yeah, so they got a
well-deserved pole and that’s it. I just wasn’t quick enough.
Thanks very much. Lewis, there’s obviously a story behind your qualifying
today: the engine problem at the beginning of Q3 and dramatically being
wheeled back into your garage. How much did that upset your rhythm? On your
final run there you were on target for pole but the final sector was just no
quite there.
Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, it was a difficult qualifying; I don't really know
what to say at the moment. The good thing is that I did get out to do a lap
at least. It wasn’t as bad as some of the races have been in that respect,
with the engine problems. I’m grateful to be up in third. Obviously pole was
there for the taking I think, but nonetheless I will do what I can in the
race tomorrow to salvage what I can from today’s result.
Thanks you for that. Coming back to our pole sitter, Daniel Ricciardo. You
did your Q2 run on the supersoft tyre, so tactically and strategically Red
Bull are trying something here, it means you’ll be able to run a longer
first stint in the grand prix tomorrow than either of the gentlemen either
side of you. Your thoughts on that; the part you played in that decision and
what it will do for you.
DR: Yeah, we’ll see tomorrow if it works. The plan was to go out on the
ultrasoft in the first run in Q2 and at least try and do a good enough lap
with that and then we had the time on our side and we thought ‘let’s try and
see what a supersoft can do’. We just feel maybe it opens up a few more
options for the race tomorrow. Yeah, we did a good lap on that, and then
yeah it sort of set us up well for Q3, knowing that I had the ultrasoft and
that step in grip and I think I was able to maximise that and do that lap,
so let’s see. I think today were sitting pretty and hopefully it turns in
our favour tomorrow.
PRESS CONFERENCE
We’ll start with our polesitter Daniel Ricciardo, just to say it once again.
Do you think you’ll be able to sleep tonight and how much would a win mean
to you, particularly after what happened two weeks ago in Spain?
DR: Yeah, I’ll certainly be able to sleep tonight, I think. I’ll probably
sleep easier knowing that I achieved what I set out to do. The whole week
has been a lot of anticipation, a lot of excitement, so obviously the race
now is hopefully the more controlled part, but anyways it’s cool to get my
first pole. Monaco has always been a good track for me in previous
categories. I’ve always loved it here. It’s a good day. I’m going to enjoy
it while I can and 24 hours from now I’ll hopefully be back here.
Okay, very well done. Nico, famously you’ve won here for the last three
years running. You didn’t know that Daniel had done that Q2 time on the
supersoft until you sat down next to him before the press conference. Now
that you’ve had a few minutes to think about that, how do you see tomorrow’s
grand prix unfolding and what do you think he’s got up his sleeve.
NR: Yeah, I was very surprised by his time in the first part of Q3. I though
I was looking good with my time but then I looked on the board and he was
three tenths up the road, so I knew that was going to be difficult to reach.
I gave it everything anyways but it wasn’t quite enough. For tomorrow? I
don’t know. I have more grip at the start, maybe that can help me hopefully.
Because I experienced that in China, starting with stiffer tyres, or harder
tyres than everybody else – that was not good. Who knows, maybe that can
play in my favour. And if not; strategy-wise no idea. Let’s see, we’re fine
with our strategy for sure.
Thanks a lot. Coming back to you Lewis, you mentioned briefly in the
unilateral about your engine situation. Do you know the problem was? Is
there still in your mind a lingering question about it for the race or did
they get across to you that they think it’s going to be fine, that they
fixed it?
LH: I don’t know what the problem was, so I honestly can’t comment.
Be that as it may, what do you think you can achieve tomorrow?
LH: If the car keeps going I will be fighting as hard as I can with these
guys. You can’t overtake here so… Daniel’s on a potentially better strategy
than we will be on but, you know, hopefully it rains! That would be pretty
amazing.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Daniel, considering that the last race has
been won by your team-mate, a new guy who has just been promoted to Red Bull
just before that, how important was it for you personally to make you mark
now and get your first pole position exactly in that moment.
DR: I think every race I’m treating as as-important as the other. I think
from the start of the season, obviously I started off with Dany as my
team-mate and wanted to make my mark. I think the whole season I’ve been
qualifying really well and I feel I’ve been maximising everything. The race,
let’s say didn’t turn into my favour in Spain but obviously I wanted to
bounce-back – not that I feel it’s anything I did – but bounce back and have
a good weekend here. I’ve always said it: this is a real circuit; it’s a
drivers’ circuit and, like any in Formula One, sure, you need a car to help
you out – and I’ve got that, I’ve definitely got that here – but that extra
bit of confidence and commitment I think goes a long way. From Thursday I’ve
felt good in the car. Little tweaks throughout the weekend and I think it’s
brought us to this pole position. So it’s definitely a nice feeling.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – globoesporte.com) To Lewis. It’s not very clear, when
you came to the pits your time has any relation with the problem you had?
The time you registered, it has some limiation or not?
LH: In Q3? No, I had one lap to do it. Makes a big difference when you have
a banker lap and work on it. I only had one lap so it was inevitable that
I’d get P3.
Q: (Ralf Bach – Autobild) A question to Daniel. What was the main reason for
the pole: the engine update, the chassis itself or the big Australian balls?
DR: Big Australian balls!
Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Just continuing that theme Daniel – kind of –
you’ve been saying for a while now that you felt very confident of Monaco –
dare I say the ‘W’ word? – and that was the package you had then. You have a
package now, Renault have brought forward this upgrade for Monaco, how
different, how much better is the package, compared with, say, two races
ago? And b) What is the most enjoyable part of the circuit on that lap from
your point of view?
DR: Enjoyable part of the circuit, I’ll start with that. I’ve always loved
Turn 12, 13, 14. Tabac and the Swimming Pool. It’s fun. It’s got really
really nice flow, skip across the kerbs. It’s cool. Even the second part
now, 15 and 16, it’s a little bit more open and I think probably it’s grown
on me over the weekend, it’s quite fun, you can carry a lot of speed through
there. So, yeah , the last sector is what I enjoy the most. As for… yeah, I
think the car has been working well from the start of the season. I think
it’s getting better and better, which is really nice. Had the update here
from the power unit. That was working well, I think. You can just feel it
pulls a little bit more, so in some practice sessions we didn’t run, let’s
say, full power, so it was more like the older spec and you can feel it pull
a bit more, up the hill for example out of Turn One. So it’ll be interesting
when we get to longer straights, Canada the next one, and Max will have it
in there as well, so it’ll be interesting to see where we stand there.
Q: (Barna Zsoldos – Nemzeti Sports) To the Mercedes drivers, after the
winter testing you expected Ferrari will be your main rival. It is a
surprise or a shock that Red Bull is so fast now?
NR: They’ve done a very good job in recent races. They’ve progressed very
quickly and now another big step with the engine. We always expected them to
be a tough competitor but we did see Ferrari as our closest competitors and
now we need to question that. Of course Monaco is a very unique track, so
let’s not come to any conclusions here – but for sure it’s them, Ferrari and
us. We all seem to be very close here and hopefully the next race we’ll be a
bit further ahead again.
Any thoughts Lewis?
LH: Same as Nico.
Q: (Christopher Joseph – Chicane) Lewis, obviously a very frustrating day
today. Tomorrow very crucial race for you in terms of the season. How will
you balance control and aggression considering you need to score lots of
points?
LH: Today was the crucial day so… tomorrow’s just another day. What will be,
will be. I will do whatever I can. There’s many races still ahead. I don’t
really expect too much from tomorrow. I’m going in with the goal, of course,
of trying to overtake the two cars in front – but we shall see.
Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Daniel, you had the speed on
whatever tyre anyway, so this Q2 on the supersoft, do you see it as a risk
or a joker? Why did you go offset to somebody you could have beaten anyway?
DR: I think we feel it’s not going to change too much off the start and then
it just opens up… as we saw Q2, my lap was quicker on the supersoft than on
the ultrasoft, so I don’t think there’s that much difference in the tyre.
The pure performance. I mean sure, there’s a few tenths, but I don’t think
as much as what we thought coming into the weekend. And then I think
obviously it should have a little bit better tyre life. It just opens up
maybe a few more windows in the race, and here it’s so important obviously
to come out and be in clean air and not come out in traffic, so it could
just open up a bigger window for us tomorrow and give us a bit more freedom
when to pit.
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Lewis, you said before that
you needed to try to overtake the two cars in front of you. After what
happened in Spain, do you think that that can affect your approach at the
start tomorrow or not?
LH: I don’t think so but there’s very little room into turn one anyway so I
doubt that there’s going to be much room there. I think it’s more the
long-term game, it’s a long race, so I’ll try and do the best I can with the
time that I have.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) To Lewis and Nico, what is the
meaning of another team fighting with Mercedes, considering that for the
last two years and a half we didn’t have it, if Red Bull confirms (it is
competitive) from the next races ahead?
LH: What does it mean? Means we have a race. I think it’s great for the
sport.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte.com) For you, in terms of the two
Mercedes?
LH: It’s even better, because obviously that could enable the gap between
the two of us. I look at it as a positive.
NR: Same, good battle, that’s it.
Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Lewis, just to draw a line under your
problems today, the car was presumably was perfect in Q2, sitting in the
garage, and then you drove out and the car just stopped? What actually
happened?
LH: Yeah, I was just accelerating and then I had a loss of power all the way
down the pit lane and I didn’t know if it would come back. They asked me to
make an adjustment on the switches, which I did, but it was just not idling.
Once I stopped, it wouldn’t idle very well, it was hiccupping all the time
so I had to switch off, I obviously lost my first run. I’d already done
three warm-up laps to get in sync with everyone else, so by the time I
pushed, my tyres perhaps weren’t as good as the fresh tyres that they had
had and then as I say, the banker lap is always super helpful in Q3, I did
the best I could on that lap. Obviously I will go back and see if I could
have done any better but anyways, it is what it is, as I said.
Q: (Christopher Joseph – Chicane) Daniel, obviously a career objective
achieved today, highly emotion, highly elated, tomorrow how are you going to
manage your emotions during this race?
DR: No different. I think winning a race is a bit more than getting a pole.
I’ve experienced that a few times a few years ago. I feel it’s been a long
time coming, this, so it’s just more...I feel it should have come sooner but
obviously I’m happy that I’ve done it but yeah, no other feelings or
anything. Coming into the race, it’s just carry the confidence from the
weekend into tomorrow and execute a good start and then pick a good window
to pit in.
Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas) We saw wonderful laps, incredible laps today
and in these days but I would like to ask Nico, we saw you so aggressively
and nearly flying. Do you have time to enjoy these laps or under pressure
you don’t have any time to feel what you are doing?
NR: Well, for sure, this is probably the most enjoyable qualifying in the
whole season because the track is just thrilling, and to be on the edge with
the most grip you have in the weekend with the most power, the most fuel,
it’s really exciting.
DR: I can’t speak highly enough about driving an F1 car around here. The
faster the better in a way. Sure, it can be a bit of a blur but we’re in
control and yeah, it’s like the closer you get to the barriers, the more you
want to keep pushing the limits then every time you think you’re going to
touch but you don’t the next time you go now, I’m going to get closer, a bit
closer so it’s fun. For sure the reason why we do it I think is to have this
adrenalin that we have around here. |