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1 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red
Bull Racing)
2 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)
3 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)
PODIUM INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Jean Alesi)
Daniel, what a race. I’ve been really suffering in the last laps with you.
Tell us about this first win.
Daniel RICCIARDO: Yeah, I’m still a bit in shock. Thanks everyone. This is
ridiculous! Lots of Aussie flags, that’s nice. The race really came to life
in the last 15 to 20 laps. We saw Hamilton had a problem and then we saw
Rosberg was slow on the straights. I was really struggling to get past
Perez. They had a pretty good car on the straights and he was holding me off
well in the corners. We finally got a run out of the last chicane and made a
nice move into turn and then set my sights on Nico and then a couple of laps
to go just found myself in the right spot to get the DRS. It’s just an
amazing feeling right now, I’m really grateful for this. Thanks everyone.
Nico, at the start and the beginning of the race it looked like you really
had the speed and then you were fighting a lot with your team-mate. Tell us
about the beginning.
Nico ROSBERG: Yeah it was a big battle all the way. Already on the start I
didn’t have the best getaway but I got better through turn one, so I managed
to keep the lead through turn one and from then on it was a big battle all
the way through. Managed to stay ahead until the second pit stop and we had
a problem in the pit stop and I think that’s the main thing. I dropped
behind as a result. From then on I didn’t really know what was going on
because I lost a lot of power so very slow down the straights, so just
trying to hang on, trying to put qualifying laps all the time but it didn’t
quite work out against Ricciardo, against Daniel.
Sebastian, when Mark Webber left you had such a nice guy coming in your
team. What did you think?
Sebastian VETTEL: Well, he’s still a nice guy! Congratulations to him, first
of all, it’s his day. Obviously, as he touched on, the race really came
alive towards the end, it came to us. Obviously a big help from Mercedes
this weekend, unlike all the other weekends, but we were there to
capitalise. It was difficult for us all the time, being stuck behind the
Force Indias. First I was stuck behind Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel was stuck
behind Perez. We were just not quick enough down the straights. We just
lacked power. It obviously didn’t help our strategy. Still, it’s a very
positive day, Daniel’s first win here, a first win for Renault in this new
era of engines. They had a very good comeback but as we saw there is still
plenty of work ahead of us as the Mercedes were quite a bit quicker than us
down the straights but all in all a very good day and once again congrats to
Daniel.
Daniel, now we go to a new track. It’s going to be let’s say your home
track, so what do you expect on this new circuit and are you happy?
DR: Yeah, very excited for the next race, it’s going to be a home race for
Red Bull and if Seb and I can stand on the podium again I think it will be
awesome. It’ll be great, they’ve done a lot of work there at the track. I
think the facilities are going to be awesome. Yeah, it’s just a couple of
weeks away and I’m sure it’s going to be a great weekend.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Daniel you started and you’ve just joined a very exclusive club of men
who’ve won a Formula One grand prix. How does that feel?
DR: Yeah, really nice. It’s still a bit surreal but yeah, just realty cool.
It’s not that we were leading the whole race, so it’s not that I had time to
understand that I was going to win, it all happened in the last few laps, so
I think that’s why it’s still taking a while to comprehend in my head. But
really nice, a really good feeling. The race came to life at the end.
Mercedes had their issues and it enable us to close on them. We had a good
fight with Perez and we were really struggling to pass them. They had, as we
know, a really strong car down the straight and it was doing a good job
through the corners as well to keep me behind. But then out of the last
chicane I got a really good run on him and made the move stick in turns one
and two. I was close to overshooting it, dropped a couple of wheels in the
grass but it was fine and then Nico in the closing stages. Really, really
nice. I wasn’t sure if the two drivers on the last lap were OK, so I just
wanted to make sure they were cool before we got celebrating, but I believe
they’re fine so really, really happy with the result.
Very, very well done. Nico, as Daniel was just saying, Mercedes had some
issues today. Your team-mate retired, so you’ve extended your championship
lead to, I believe, 22 points. But you had quite a bit to deal with judging
by the way your pace dropped off very suddenly; brake issues we heard, also
managing fuel. How hard was that for you?
NR: What happened was that I lost the ERS and when you lose ERS then it
doesn’t harvest anymore and then all the braking on the rear is being done
by the brakes and then the rear brakes overheated. So it was one problem and
then the next problem happened. That just made it massively difficult. I
needed to cool the brakes a lot, I lost a lot of power on the straights. At
the same time, taking those things into consideration, I was just pushing
flat out, qualifying laps, one after another and managing to stay ahead of
that pack behind me until two laps from the end. From that point of view it
was a very good result and lots of points. Congratulations of course also to
Daniel. Fantastic to get the first win. That’s great for him. Not great for
me but anyways! We need to keep pushing of course; some reliability problems
and we need to make sure that we’re bulletproof.
Sebastian, you said on the radio that you wanted to try something on the
strategy. You were getting a bit frustrated, not surprisingly, behind the
Force Indias. Tell us about that and also your view of the accident at the
end. We’ve just replayed it here and they missed you by 1.5 metres maybe.
SV: Yeah, as I said obviously from lap 20 onwards probably, I don’t know,
after the first stop, a couple of laps to go until I caught Nico, the first
Force India, basically my race was over. I couldn't get past. As we saw,
until the end there was no way to get past for us down the straights. The
Mercedes-powered cars were just too quick. Equally we were in trouble
defending to the Williams behind. Basically I was asking to do something
with strategy, which I think was possible. On the pit wall they have a much
better overview but in my case they didn’t really help me to create
something different and to use the pace we clearly had. So in the end I
pitted and also lost a position to Daniel. At the very end I was lucky to
capitalise on Perez’s brake problems, which allowed me to be much closer
down the straights and finally make a move stick. But I think you could see
even with DRS open and hi, DRS closed, as soon as I pulled out of the tow he
was actually gaining down the straights so… It’s what we’re fighting but I
got past him and then into turn one I saw they were very close to each other
and I saw something white coming in the mirror and at the last second I
reacted and opened the car, basically turned right and Felipe was in the air
flying past. Kind of surreal but quite lucky that he didn’t hit me in that
instance and I saw him just in time.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Mike Doodson – Auto Action) You mentioned the mistake that Pérez made
Daniel – but you were pretty close to him, you must have been planning
something. Were there points on the circuit where you felt you could have
got past him, in spite of his greater top speed? And were you planning
something pretty quickly after what in fact happened?
DR: To be honest I was trying the whole time I was behind him. I was looking
for opportunities and, as I said, he was driving well and wasn’t making any
mistakes and realistically I needed a bit of a mistake from him because they
were just getting off the corner so well. But then I think, yeah, he got
quite close to Nico and perhaps just overshot the braking a little bit in
the last chicane. I managed to just stay with him on the exit, get the tow
and use the DRS. I knew we were strong braking into Turn One, we were really
quick into there so, yeah, once I had the outside line free I just basically
went in and made it work. Yeah, that was the place I wanted to do it – but
as I said, I was trying all the time and it was just then that the
opportunity came – but I wasn’t really holding back!
Q: (Christopher Joseph – Chicane) Daniel, I spoke with Alan Jones once and
he said he had to acquire a meaner attitude when he left Australia to race
in Europe and in Formula One. What is it you think you’ve acquired this
season that’s enabled you to achieve this victory?
DR: I think it’s confidence and the more time I spend here, the more
comfortable I feel – here being Formula One – and the environment. In any
sport a lot of it comes down to belief. If you truly believe in something
then you tend to make it work. So, yeah, just a couple of things this year.
I knew I’d have a great team behind me and I believed with that I’d be able
to get some great results. It’s really nice to have the first victory. Yeah.
Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Were you expecting it to arrive
so early at this point in the season – and also, today has been a pretty
much big day for Red Bull as it’s been revealed Adrian Newey’s going to sign
for the next few years, even if his involvement is going to be less present
in Formula One.
DR: I think it surprised us, yes, because the pace Mercedes has had all
year. As we saw they… Obviously I’m still going to take the victory, don’t
get wrong but they had their issues today which allowed us to really make an
attack but it’s nice that we capitalised on that. I think it would have been
disappointing if they had their issues and they were able to still get the
best of us. At least we capitalised when we could. It’s nice, the news with
Adrian. He’s a good guy, so let’s try and keep this momentum going. We know
we’ve still got some work to do but really happy for the team today, it’s
really big points for us in the Constructors’ as well. Let’s enjoy the
moment.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – Universo Online) To Sebastian and to Daniel. Now that
Adrian Newey will continue in Red Bull, the previous time it happened you
extended your contract Sebastian. Will it interfere in your future in the
team? And you, Daniel, as a rising star, if it also influence your decision?
DR: I think I’m still in the very early stage of my Red Bull Racing career.
I’m more than happy where I am now, so I’m more than happy where I am now
and obviously it’s very good news that he stays. I’ve only just started
working with Adrian. We know that the car is strong. We’ve got a few other
areas we can work on but it’s good news, so… yeah… I can’t see any change
happening soon!
Sebastian?
SV: Well, I think my contract’s still long enough. I think the only focus is
on trying to catch the Mercedes. As Daniel touched on, we know we have a
very competitive car but not yet a very competitive package to match them
and to beat them regularly. Today, I think we got lucky. Obviously it feels
great and it’s a great reward for the whole team after such a painful winter
and a very difficult start to the season with a lot of problems, to get both
cars on the podium and to beat at least one of the Mercedes, I think that’s
a very, very positive day for us. I’m looking short-term if you ask me about
the future right now.
Q: (Chris Medland – Crash.net) Nico, is the emotion for you concern that Red
Bull are closing in, is it disappointment at the lost win or is it a
positive feeling with the points gained over Lewis today?
NR: Not positive in the end, the overwhelming feeling. It was a very, very
difficult day out there today and then to come home second – and I didn’t
even know that I was second, I only found out afterwards – so that was
positive. And extended the Championship lead, which is important, of course,
and yes, we are fully aware that Red Bull is still an amazingly strong team
and pushing like crazy to catch us. We are well aware of that and we are
always concerned and always making sure that our drive remains exactly the
same as it was last year when we were half-a-second behind them. We’re
really pushing to even extend the gap. We’re trying to, yeah.
Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and National Speedsport News) Daniel, you’ve
joined your three fellow countrymen as a Grand Prix winner. What does that
mean to you as an Australian, to join those guys and to win for your
country?
DR: Yeah, it’s awesome. It’s still sinking in a bit. I’m just really pleased
that I was able to – as I said – to really capitalise today on the
opportunity. I could see it in front, when Nico was there and Perez was in
between us. I was – like – if we can just get Perez, I think we’ll be able
to make a charge on Nico. Really pleased. Yeah. It’s going to take a little
bit to sink in but OK, so very proud, great to hear the Aussie anthem. It’s
been a few years since I won a race, I think 2011, Monaco in World Series or
something, so like three years, it’s a long time, standing on a top step.
It’s a feeling I missed a lot.
Q: (Massimo Lopez Pegna – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Nico, this is the first
time this year that Mercedes has lost a Grand Prix; especially for you, how
disappointed is it to lose on what was basically the last lap?
NR: Well, I didn’t know at the time, so at the time, I was actually more
pleased... because I saw this huge train of cars behind me and I was pleased
that I was managing to stay ahead and OK, one guy got by but I still managed
to hold on but then in hindsight, of course, having lost the win, that’s
very very disappointing, definitely, and also disappointing for us as a
team. We have such speed and such a great car, to not win the race and even
just finish with one car and come second is hugely disappointing for us,
definitely. Our ambition is to finish one-two so we need to make sure that
we get back there again next race in Austria.
Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Nico, what problem was more
difficult to handle: the one that you have lost power or the subsequent
brake problems?
NR: Well, the power, once I re-sorted my braking points and everything -
because I arrived with so much less speed – so once I sorted out those out,
then the power one was actually OK but the brakes, that was more difficult
because I also had to run the brake balance forwards, very very far forwards
just to use the front much more, so it was just much more difficult with
front locking, and to find my way with that. And at the same time I had to
do qualifying laps and with the brake balance, I was using the front tyres
much too much so that was very challenging.
Q: (Chris Medland – crash.net) Daniel, you said earlier in the season that
your first goal was to tick off your first win. You’ve done that; if you
could think ahead, what becomes your next goal now from this point?
DR: I think I’ll just enjoy this for now and not look too far ahead. I think
this is definitely a moment I should embrace. I’m actually supposed to fly
back tonight but I don’t know if I want to spend (the night of) my first
victory on a plane so I will see what happens.
Q: (Sean Gregory – Globe and Mail) Daniel, I was wondering what it feels
like to deliver a home town – home country I guess – Grand Prix for your
race engineer, Gavin (Ward).
DR: Yeah, it’s really cool. I called him down after we did the podium
celebration, I called him down underneath the podium to pour some champagne
over him. Gav, my performance engineer is a fellow Canadian, so it’s really
nice to give him this one here. |
