1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
2 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)
3 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)
TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Paul Di Resta)
Q: Lewis, I can see how much that one means to you. From a driving point of
view that was exactly what you had to do to go out there and win it. You
fought all the way the very end to get that one done. How do you feel?
Lewis HAMILTON: Tired, which is how it should be, but I feel really grateful
for the day and for the team for continuing to believe in me and continuing
to push to the limits and to take a risk and a chance on me. We’ve been
together for seven years and it never gets old, it always feels brand new.
It feels like a new win for us. If it wasn’t for these boys here and all the
guys back at the factory this wouldn’t be even possible and I’m just
grateful to be a part of it. Yeah, for a race to be able to push like that,
I’m telling you now it was on the limit all the way.
Q: The gap was there to take that chance, to roll the dice and try something
on strategy, but you had a bit of management in there with brakes, because
you had nearly got Max before. Was it always going to be on edge to get that
pass done?
LH: Honestly, we’ve had brake problems all weekend, having like separation
of the front temperatures and glazing, and I was a bit worried. We made some
changes and it still didn’t make a difference and naturally we get into the
race and we have this problem, so I was doing a lot of lift and coast and
not even touching the brake for half the lap. Now of course in the big stops
you had to lose it. I was just trying to save as much as I could for that
time when I do get a chance. It was very, very difficult to get by, defence
was great, they were quite quick on the straights. But honestly I didn’t
know if I could catch that 19-second gap because there is a big... my tyres
were going to drop off and all these different things are going through your
mind, but like the team said, you just keep your head down, so I did and
kept pushing and pushing and the gap closed and closed and closed. The laps
were like qualifying laps every lap. So my hat off to the team and I think
if Niki was here today he’d take his hat off.
Q: I think everybody would. That’s seven wins in Hungary and a nice way to
sign off for the summer break. Enjoy your rest. Max, I know you’re not going
to be very happy with what happened but they had the chance to do what they
did. You were not fortunately in that position (sic) but I guess you’ve got
to be satisfied and Driver of the Day to say that.
Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, we were just not fast enough. I tried everything I
could on that hard tyre to stay alive but unfortunately it was just not
enough. But still, second and fastest lap, I think a good weekend overall
for us. Of course congrats to Lewis for the win. He was pushing me very
hard, so I like that. Today we didn’t win but again, like I said, it was a
good day, a good weekend for us.
Q: What was missing today? That’s four very good races but the one we all
thought you would get the job done, these guys came out very strong.
MV: Just lacking a bit of grip I guess. We tried the one stop, of course
they had the opportunity to do a two and today that worked out well.
Q: Sebastian, right at the very end of the grand prix. I know these guys had
a lonely race at the front but always satisfying to pass your team-mate, you
did something different on strategy, and to sign off what is going to be a
difficult break for you guys to bounce back?
Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, I mean obviously I was sitting in P4 and had nothing
to lose so we stayed out very long in the first stint and then just hoped
that the soft would last until the end, and it did. I think it was the
fastest tyre at the end so we were able to close the gap. We had one
opportunity, which I took, so happy to get some champagne now and to cool
down. Yeah, we couldn’t go the pace with these two; that was quite clear the
whole weekend, so lots of work ahead of us. I think it’s good now for
everyone to get a break, the guys have been working very, very hard. We need
maybe to charge our batteries and then the battle continues. There will be
tracks that we will be better for us but still, overall we need to get
stronger.
Q: With Spa and Monza coming up after the summer break you guys have got to
be favourites for that with your straight-line speed.
SV: Yeah, I don’t know what other people will do in terms of updates on
power unit and the engine side, so we’ll see. Obviously on paper they look
better of for us. But yeah, still we know we have margin with the car. As
you said it will be a busy break for us. I don’t think anyone’s mind can
rest in the two weeks, so maybe we come up with some good ideas for the
second half.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Max coming to you, great performance by you all weekend and so much
rested on that strategic call. Were you tempted to pit as well?
MV: It wouldn’t have made sense because I would have been behind then so
then you know the race is lost anyway. So the only option was for me to
continue and that’s what we did. Of course at one point I started to run out
of tyres, I think trying to keep up with Lewis’ pace on those medium tyres,
trying to keep it within a second was almost impossible. And of course you
can see it coming, so for me it was not a big disappointment once he passed
me, it was just a normal thing to happen. Anyway, we have to be realistic
and he was just clearly faster today. Always I was struggling a little bit
more for grip than him. He could keep the pressure on. Of course when you
are in second you can gamble to do a two-stop. For me it was always about
trying to cover him or stay ahead. With the two-stop, worst case scenario is
you stay second and best case you overtake me and that’s what they did
today. Yeah, then we pitted at the end as well. Of course happy to then do
that fastest lap. It’s still one point and hopefully at the end of the year
it will matter. Let’s see.
Q: And when you were on the same tyres compound how much did you relish that
battle with Lewis?
MV: So, I think on the first tyre he never really had a shot. We were still
competitive in the last sector and then when we got on the hard tyre… also
with the traffic, because of that he had a few goes at me because I couldn’t
do my normal lines in the last few corners and he caught up with that. And
then with the defending, I tried to do it as good as I could. Luckily I
could stay ahead and then he had to manage his brakes and engine a bit but
you could see clearly once that was sorted he closed the gap again. If he
had stayed on that one stop I think I could have kept him behind. But once
he was on the medium you know it’s going to be really hard.
Q: Sebastian, strategy played a significant part in your race as well. How
tough was it to get the distance on that first set of medium tyres?
SV: Very tough. I think they were in very poor condition at the end. I was
happy we tried. Obviously we tried to hang in there. I think we stayed out
another 10 or 15 laps after Charles pitted, just to try to do something
different, maybe hope for a safety car, but to be honest by then obviously
the top two were sort of gone anyways. It was really for the sake of trying
something different, which looked very distant to ideal when we had the stop
and I came out but then I just tried everything I had and got one chance in
the end. In the end it’s not a big deal, third or fourth for the team, it’s
still the same. The big picture for today is that we were not quick enough
and not able to follow them right from two laps into the race.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Christian Menath – motorsport-magazin.com) Max, usually Red Bull is
quite good on race pace and not so good on qualifying pace. Do you have an
explanation why it was the other way round this weekend? Was it becauswe of
the Friday, which was a little bit weird?
MV: No, I think then you can see how much margin they have when they really
need to push. I think Lewis today was on fire as well, but then you see,
once he really has to go for it you can see that that car is still the
dominant car, it’s as simple as that. Whereas in some races it’s not as
necessary. Of course they had their issues in Austria with overheating so
you can’t push. Of course in Hockenheim it was tricky conditions as well so
you can’t really drive to the limit of the car. But here today I think he
had to go for it flat out, because I was also pushing flat out and then you
can see what they are capable of as a team.
Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriera della Sera) Sebastian, given the hotter
temperature did you expect from your car. Is it now a step back in the
performances?
SV: No, I think the temperatures were fine. It was quite warm, the track was
near 50 degrees as well so I don’t think so. I think we saw our limits
yesterday. We got a confirmation today, so I don’t think it’s a step back,
we had some bits, it was a small step forward but what it shows is that it’s
not enough. It’s important that the mood inside the team remains positive,
which is the case. I think everybody knows what we are lacking. Obviously we
are very competitive on the straights – yesterday 6 or 7kph faster at the
end of the straight compared to Red Bull and also Mercedes – but obviously
we are losing quite a lot in the corners. There were some tracks where
efficiency is more important, this is a track where inefficiency pays off,
so whatever you have in terms of downforce is positive. That’s where we are
lacking performance and in the race I think it shows even more because you
are sliding and then I think we are going through the tyres faster. So not
to our advantage. We have seen that as well in recent weeks, so in a way not
a surprise but as I said we need to keep our head down and do the work.
Q: Thank you Sebastian. Lewis, thank you for joining us. Can you just give
us your thoughts when you were 19 seconds behind with 20 laps to go?
LH: Well, firstly, Max really drove a sensational race today, as he has done
particularly the last few races. When I was behind him on the hard tyre it
didn’t look like he had particularly good pace – maybe he was managing to
get to the end - but I had a lot of grip and I was thinking ‘I can
definitely make this tyre go to the end’, because the first one I got to go
quite far. But the team said we were going to a two-stop and I was thinking
‘how is this going to work out, I’m going to come out quite far behind’. But
you have to put complete faith in your team because they have different
viewpoint to you, so we did the stop and I came out on the mediums and I
thought ‘Jeez, I don’t know if these are going to go the distance at the
speed I am going to have to go’. Also Max turned up the engine mode and they
started doing mid-19s. I started thinking ‘I don’t know if I’m close this
gap’. I think the trajectory, they said I was going to catch him with nine
laps to go and then that changed super quickly and went to last lap. So
after that I had to put all doubt and all question marks out of my mind and
go for the best laps I could do every single lap and consistency and not
drop any time whatsoever. I had one of the most consistent period of laps
that I’d had. I don’t know if he had traffic or mistakes or whatever but the
gap started to chop down quite quickly. I think with four or five laps to go
I had him four seconds ahead and I could see him in my sights, so maybe he’s
struggling with his tyres. So after that I was like ‘OK, we’ve got a serious
race on here’. It felt like the steepest wall to climb when you come out
that far behind but the team had relaxed faith that we would do it and I’m
grateful for their hard work and the decision.
Q: (Stuart Codling – F1 Racing) Question for Max. You said just now that we
saw how much margin Mercedes have. That notwithstanding, you had a brilliant
race today. How much confidence does that give you, that you can come back
after the summer break and take the fight to Mercedes?
MV: I think there are a few tracks coming up that are maybe not as ideal for
us – but of course we know we have some updates coming soon to the car and
the engine, so hopefully that will again bring us closer. We’ll find out
then.
Q: (Giles Richards – The Guardian) Congratulations Lewis, after what
happened in Germany, does this feel like a redemptive special win for you
and for Mercedes, to come back so strongly?
LH: I generally don’t like to look at redemption, if that’s the right word.
Naturally, you know I don’t really make a lot of mistakes and I think the
last one was definitely a massive off-weekend for me, and so this weekend,
these two weeks, the team have been really great and supportive and taking
off the workload, allowing me to recover and really just giving me the best
support group possible to take any extra pressure off. Coming to this
weekend, I felt I was back on it. Qualifying didn’t go the way I’d planned
and I’d hoped. Then today, once I got into second, I was like ‘OK, game on’.
And I could keep up with Max, no problems. So I was like, ‘we’ve got an
actual real race on here. How is it going to play out? I don’t know. We’re
going to have to figure it out as we go along.’ And obviously we both know
where we’re going to strategy-wise. Yeah. I truly believed I could get by
him at some stage but we’re also fighting at different points in the
Championship. I think if we were level on points today would have been an
even more aggressive battle, I would say, in the wheel-to-wheels that we did
have but obviously we didn’t need to take extra risks today. So, I think Max
was really fair and great with where he positioned his car. I just always
made sure I gave extra space, just in case. But, of course, going into the
break, this is a great, great uplift for the team, particularly after a
difficult weekend for us all in the last one. So all the guys back at the
factory, a big, big thank you, and the guys here with the strategy. They’re
very, very calm when they talk about the strategy like that today. “No, no,
truly believed you could do it.” For sure they were nervous as hell that it
wasn't going to work. I think collectively we made it happen, so it’s good.
Q: (Luke Smith – crash.net) Lewis, congratulations. We saw that battle you
had with Max through the middle of the race. Could you talk us through that?
How much do you enjoy these wheel-to-wheel fights with Max? And how nice is
it that he’s stepped up and Red Bull have stepped up this year, so you’re
fighting with him on a regular basis?
LH: Yeah. It’s really fantastic to see Red Bull’s progress. Obviously we’re
in a period of time, particularly this track has been a track that they’ve
always been particularly fast in, in previous years and it’s really awesome
for Honda as well, to see their progression. They’ve got a lot of power in
that engine. So, don’t for one second think when get the… I think we all get
it… the timings where we all layout… the Red Bull were quicker than us on a
single lap this weekend and we thought we were relatively level in the race
but we were just able to keep up with them and match their times. I think
it’s going to continue for the races to come. Even the faster circuits, the
engine’s going to be great in Monza, so hopefully we’ll see this battle
continue for the rest of the season. And, fingers crossed, Ferrari also will
take a step back towards us at some point over the next races. But going
into the break, this is awesome.
Q: (Vladimir Rogovets – Sb Belarus) Thank you very much guys for a very good
job, for very nice race. I am really happy to be here. My question to Max.
How do you feel close with nine championship titles.
MV: I don’t know what to say! I have none! I don’t know what to comment on
this! I still have a few years, hopefully in F1, so hopefully one day I can
add one. Yeah. That’s it, I think.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – F1.com) Max, at the beginning you were only two-tenths
on average slower than Lewis. Then from lap 61, 62, 63 more than 2s. So the
tyre disappeared completely? And Sebastian, in spite of what you said to us,
that you didn’t expect much from the team here, before coming – did you
expect more than sixty seconds the difference between you and the winner?
MV: Yeah. I think it’s quite normal. Lewis was on a medium tyre, pushing
flat out of course to catch up, and I was on a hard tyre trying to go flat
out but trying to keep the gap but yeah, I was always trying to keep it
within a second because then I knew, OK, we can get to the end but at one
point the tyres were gone. I started losing one and a half second a lap and
then at one point two seconds, and it was just sliding and you feel the
rubber is gone, so there isn’t much you can do. It’s quite normal when you
have to push that hard on the tyre quite late in the race, where you
normally don’t want to push as hard on the tyre. So I guess it’s a normal
progression of the tyre drop off.
Sebastian?
SV: I think some tracks you know maybe suit you, some maybe less. Despite
that I think I was fairly open-minded and you know, you don’t want to accept
that. So I tried everything to prove the opposite. But looking now, after
yesterday, we simply didn’t have the pace of those two in particular. So
there’s obviously work for us to be done. We have room to improve, in the
corners is where we’re lacking. With that obviously comes the advantage on
the straight, one goes with the other. But, for sure, if we could make a
trade, then we would go for it. We’ve been adding small bits to the car this
weekend. They were working but obviously not big enough to really get close
on a track like this. There might be tracks coming up next, especially with
Spa and Monza that might be better for us – but in the end our ambition is
to really force things to happen, be in control of the race. Where we are
now, we’re quite far away from that. So, yeah, I think the spirit is good
though. The team is willing to give everything they have, continue to give
everything they have. And that’s all we can do right now.
Q: (Tom Jackson – City Press) Question for all three of you. The lack of
meaningful running we saw on Friday afternoon went some way to us seeing the
variation in strategy that we did today that allowed you to put on fresh
tyres and go for the win and things like that. Would you, in the future, be
happy to have less running earlier in the weekend, as drivers getting less
track time, if it meant we got more unpredictability later on Sunday?
LH: I never really thought of it. I mean, if it can help with racing, sure.
I think this weekend, not many people… I don’t think the Red Bulls did a
long run, we did a long run in P1. I think one of few that did. I don’t know
how much difference that made. It’s just that we did have an understanding
of how far we thought we could take the tyres but somehow the other teams
are able to do something similar with their strategies. But yeah… do you
think it would make a difference.
SV: No, I actually like driving, so it would be quite bad to get rid of
some. I don't think it’s a lot of driving anyway. We do a lot of races but
overall I don’t think we drive very much. So, it would be a pity, I think.
If you want to address the racing then there’s other things to focus on
other than adding or taking away a practice session.
LH: It definitely does help when you go into a race and you don’t know how
far the tyre’s going to go. That is quite… I think that is not a bad thing
and I think that can add to the spectacle. If you put on a medium tyre or a
hard tyre and don’t know how far it’s going to go, none of us do, it
definitely makes it more questionable, the strategy. So, I understand what
you’re saying but we’ve got more, bigger problems, fish to fry, the way the
car’s designed and things like that for the future.
Max, your thoughts.
MV: I think anyway, this year already quite often you go into the race on a
tyre you haven’t driven on in practice – because you only select one. I
think it’s not bad. I like also sometimes the challenge of not knowing
what’s happening. I mean, the problem is most of the time, you put that tyre
on, if the balance is bad it’s hard to pass, for the guy behind. So it’s
more about the following where we need to work on. If the guy behind is
faster, he should be able to get by. So that’s all in relation to the tyres
as well. Sometimes, of course, on purpose we don’t select the hardest
compound more than once because that’s mandatory. Because you know if you
stick it on, even without any knowledge, you can stay ahead and just get to
the end.
Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lewis, lots will be made of the strategy decisions
today and obviously while you say it was a great call but Max earlier said
that you were on fire today so how highly do you rate your individual
performance over those last 20 laps or so?
LH: Well, it was definitely a really good day today. I think today was
clearly… once we got up to second I knew that me and Max were going to have
a good race. Did I know I was going to get by? Honestly I was able to keep
up with him, I was able to hold on to him within the two second gap and I
was just trying to see whether I could make my tyres go longer than him and
just kind of really studying him, I guess, really from behind, seeing how
that was going. And then he started to drop off a cliff a little bit at the
end and it’s really all about trying to make sure you’re in the right place
at the right time. It’s not easy to follow, two seconds behind and obviously
I had the brake problem as well, so I had to change my driving style quite a
bit to enable this brake to go down in temperature so it meant doing a lot
less braking and I had much much shorter bursts of braking and then in a lot
of other places, half the lap I wasn’t really touching the brakes. So it
really changes the balance of the car as well. I’m really glad of how I was
able to delegate and work through that and collectively with the team, they
did a really exceptional job. It will be interesting when we go back and
talk about the two stop because today, this morning, we talked about the
strategy and they said two stop was not going to happen and even when we
called to do a two stop, I was like Jeez, I don’t know how this is going to
work. A gamble’s always a good thing, it felt like a big gamble for us but
at the time I felt like I had the pace on Max, I think, as I said, because I
don’t know if he was backing off, or he was just controlling the pace but I
felt like OK, I’m going to have a few attempts at trying to pass him but at
some stage the tyres are going to go off, so I don’t know how many attempts
that will be. I really don’t know how long I made those mediums go but I
think it was just a collectively… a really bold, risky strategy call and
then just doing the job. At the end of the day, I had to do those laps to
chew out the gap that he had on me so I think collectively, as a team, we
did a really exceptional job.
Q: (Péter Vámosi – Racing Line) Sebastian, you will become a father again,
and with maximum respect to your personal life, can you tell us if you’re
waiting (inaudible) girl and if a boy, will you be happy if he would chose
your job as a racing car driver?
SV: Well, I don’t like to talk about my private life so thank you, but I
think we will leave it there.
Q: (Dániel Májer – GP Hirek.hu) Now the summer break has started, the first
part of the season is over so could you please rate your own performance
from one to ten, one is the worst, ten is the best and explain briefly why
you give yourself that mark?
SV: Five, not happy with the first half. I think I struggled here and there
to really get on top of the car. I think we’ve been trying a lot of things
so fair enough. Obviously we wanted to squeeze out more so you’re always
looking for more but I feel I can do a better job in the second half. And
five is my number, so take five.
LH: So that’s the first half of the season, yeah? I’d say like 8.9, 8.8.
SV: Go ten, man. Go for it, who cares?
LH: If it wasn’t for the last one, the last race, it would be a little bit
higher. I think the good thing is always to score yourself a little bit
lower so you’ve more to work on. For sure, it’s been the best start of the
season that I think we’ve ever had as a team and I think it’s one of the
best seasons that I’ve had personally to start off, but there are areas that
we can continue to work on. That’s the great thing about this sport, you
know, no matter how many years and days you race there are always areas you
can improve on. So let’s see if we can try and up that into the nines or try
to get to the tens in the second half of the season.
MV: I don’t rate myself in numbers.
SV: What do you do instead? Letters? Or…
MV: No, I hate putting a number on it because it reminds me of school as
well, which is not that long ago. I’m always quite critical and I think it
always can be better. I’ll never be satisfied. I think it’s been very
positive and I’ve had good results but there are always things to work on.
SV: … a number man!
MV: No I don’t.
SV: We did it.
MV: Yeah, I know but… I don’t know, I think it’s… First of all, I cannot
rate myself like that.
LH: Why not, you’ve done a good job man?
MV: I know, but… I don’t know. I find it a bit weird to say an eight or…
Q: Lewis, how would you rate Max if you gave him a number?
LH: I don’t remember all the races that you’ve done other than the last
three or four. You could say he’s in the high nines over the last few races
but I can’t remember how it went before.
MV: I’ve had a lot of fourths, P3 and then three times fourth. P5, P3… too
many P3, P4.
LH: It’s easier to rate yourself because you often remember how many
mistakes you’ve made, when you’ve done good, when you’ve kind of been under
par and he’ll know whether he’s been on par or below par. I think today he
drove exceptionally as he has particularly in the past three or four races
so if that continues he’s going to continue to operate in the high nines
towards tens.
MV: Nobody’s perfect. No, it’s never perfect…
LH: It’s like an impossible number to get.
MV: 9.9?
LH: It’s a hard one to get to.
Q: (Dániel Horváth – The Paddock Magazine) Lewis and Max, Fernando Alonso
praised your performance on social media. It seems he enjoyed the battle as
well. Would you like to see him back in Formula One and race against him
again?
LH: Well, firstly that’s really awesome that he’s supportive… I was just
actually watching some of the restarts, the starts of previous years and
watching him from his Renault days and I remember just before I even got to
Formula One watching how amazing their starts were. I don’t know how old
Fernando is now but he’s always going to be a great driver. If he can get a
good seat, he’s always welcome here to battle with us. It doesn’t make a
difference, really, necessarily for me. I’m here to fight whoever’s here.
MV: Yeah, I think it was a bit of a shame that I never had an opportunity to
fight against him in F1 so yeah…
LH: Could be a good team-mate for you.
MV: Fernando? Well, you have experience with it, I don’t know. Well...
SV: He could be your father!
MV: Yeah, it’s close! Yeah, I know. As a young father. How old is he? 36?
38! OK, well 17 is possible to be a father.
SV: Talking with experience?
MV: I don’t know. At least I don’t know.
LH: How old are you now?
MV: 21. Many years, plenty of years…
LH: Jeez. I like being in this room because I’m not the oldest!
MV: 34?
LH: I’m 34, yeah, nearly 35.
SV: I’ll tell you, the day we get beat by somebody who’s born in 2000 and
upwards. We will know it’s time…
MV: I’m not that young!
Q: Sebastian, final thoughts on Fernando? Would you like to see him back?
SV: I don’t mind. I don’t know why… I don’t think he never really liked me.
I don’t think we really had a… I don’t mind him. I respect him for what he
achieved and for what he can do on track. I don’t know. I guess he’s bored
if he has time to write these things. So bring him back, I don’t mind.
MV: Maybe as a social media manager. To me, he’s always been very nice and
good. I like that he is also now looking into other opportunities for
racing. He just loves racing and he wants to win, he wants to be
competitive. It’s good to see.
LH: The sport needs the best drivers in the best seats and there is still at
least a seat available that’s good enough for winning and he’s good enough
for winning so it wouldn’t be such a bad…
MV: Maybe he could speak to Toto.
LH: Valtteri’s great; Valtteri’s been winning. You’re the one with the extra
seat, I would say.
MV: I didn’t say that.
SV: I’m not sure… |