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1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
2 – Valtteri BOTTAS (Williams)
3 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)
PODIUM INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by David Coulthard)
Lewis, congratulations. Your adoring fans. Your emotions must be running
high right now. Your fifth win of the season. That equals your 2008 World
Championship year. Now 27 grand prix victories, equalling Jackie Stewart.
There’s only other Englishman in front of you with more wins – Nigel
Mansell. So tell us about the emotions of today?
Lewis HAMILTON: It’s very mixed at the moment, but just to see the support
we have here… I could see everyone cheering us on through the whole race.
We’ve got the greatest fans here. And today, just arriving today, it’s you
guys that really spurred me on so thanks very much.
Well it was a fantastic drive. You never want a competitor to drop out, but
of course the battle is very hot between you and your team-mate Nico, so
what was the emotion when you saw him have the issue?
LH: At the beginning… he got quite a good gap at the beginning and I really
just tried to look after the tyres. After that I utilised the tyres, was
catching and we came out on the harder tyres and I was catching him at a
second a lap at the time. I couldn’t believe I had that kind of pace. You
never want to see a team-mate fall behind, we wanted to really work and get
those one-twos, but at the end of the day I really needed this result so I’m
very grateful for it.
It was a great result. If I can move along to another man who has had a
fantastic result. Third in Austria, second here at the British Grand Prix –
you must be looking forward to Germany?
Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, we are on the right way. Like I said on the team
radio: one step more to go. The team has done such a good job. You see how
quick the car is. It was behaving really well, it was really a pleasure to
drive it. Still Mercedes is in front, but we are on the right way.
Any scares out there this afternoon or was it running like clockwork? You
did some great passes.
VB: Yeah, there was some good stuff going on. I really enjoyed it. The plan
was to come as high as possible, as high as the pace of the car is giving
the possibility. I think as a team we made the most out of it. I have to say
I feel sorry for Felipe, his 200th grand prix, a shame it ended like this.
If I can just come across to Daniel Ricciardo. Congratulations on your third
place. Australians have a good record around here?
Daniel RICCIARDO: Yeah, they do! Obviously Mark enjoyed this track a lot, so
it’s nice to be up here on the podium. It’s been a good circuit to me in the
past, so really, really happy. We just held on at the end. I think one more
lap would have been tough, Jenson was coming, but really happy with the
podium.
If I can just come back across to Lewis…
LH: Where’s the gold trophy, man? This thing’s falling to pieces, look!
You might want to speak to the sponsor. Lewis, do you know the points
situation now at the end of race nine?
LH: I assume we’re four points behind now. I think this weekend really just
showed that, for one, you never give up. Yesterday wasn’t a case of giving
up, I didn’t think I could do the lap, I was really shocked that the last
sector was so fast. But coming here today I had my family with, just
focused, the support from the fans, as I said, just spurred me on, and I
really couldn't have done it without them.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Lewis, many, many congratulations. Over the radio at the end of the race you
said to the crew “I’m sorry about yesterday”. I guess your spirits were so
down yesterday; they must be soaring now. But the race really was about the
offset you had to Nico Rosberg and you were catching him in the middle stint
of the race. Do you believe that without his problem you would have been
able to pass him and how do you feel right now?
LH: Yesterday was a really difficult day. Obviously you never think
situations like that would come up the way they did and I really felt… I
went away feeling terrible for the fans. They all turned up and there’s so
much support here, I felt that I had let them down, not only them but the
team and myself. Coming back today, trying to turn that serious emptiness
and negativity into a positive today was really my priority. The support has
been incredible this weekend. Just thinking of the history of this circuit,
the great drivers that have won in the past… leading last year and not being
able to see it through. It’s been since… 2008 since I had the win and I just
feel very, very grateful for the opportunity. I honestly feel that I had the
pace today. I was catching Nico in the first stint. I was able to extend my
first stint longer than ever before. I was feeling pretty comfortable. Of
course, you never want a team-mate to fall away, to win like that. I was
looking forward to a wheel-to-wheel battle but I’m sure we’ll get many in
the future.
Well done. Coming to you Valtteri. From 14th on the grid to second at the
finish, which is your best ever result in Formula One and your second
consecutive podium, so brilliant effort. You did a one-stop strategy, which
is a talking point, but surely the overtakes in the opening stint, there
were so many of them – around the outside, around the inside – just tell us
about your race?
VB: Yeah we knew that this race could be good fun. We knew that we had a
quick car. Maybe it was a bit surprisingly quick today, but since the first
stint the pace was good, since the first lap. I was able to go through the
field quite well. Of course, sometimes it needed a bit of risk, because it’s
really important to get through quickly and not get stuck behind people, but
I really managed to get well in position, where the pace of the car was. I’m
just really, really happy with what we’ve been doing as a team. Again, the
race pace shows we are really doing the right things and I’m very happy to
be part of this.
Well done. Completing a very happy podium is Daniel Ricciardo, in third
place. For you strategy was the key as well. Like Valtteri you did one stop,
you did something different, both you and your team-mate taking the hard
tyre early on. Was the tyre deg much lighter than you expected today, was it
a race where expectations were changing as the race went on?
DR: Pretty much. We chose to restart on the prime. It didn’t seem like the
best thing to do at first because we were really slow at the restart.
Valtteri and Fernando got past me pretty easily and pulled away and I was
coming on the radio basically saying “let’s see if we can try something a
little bit different” as we didn’t really have the pace as we hoped, as we
expected today. Once we came in for the option, we just ran and pushed
pretty much for the whole stint. I didn’t intend on doing a one-stop when I
started on that tyre but laps ticked off and we were still able to keep the
pace. The team said “do you think you could do another 15-20 laps” and I was
like “at the moment, yeah, I think we can”, so we stayed out and just held
on at the end. It was awesome. I think all three of us had a bit of
redemption on our plate today. It was a pretty dismal Saturday for us. I
think we’re all pretty happy. This is definitely one of my best podiums this
year.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Ian Parkes – PA) Lewis, not very often this season you’ve had family
with you: you’ve pretty much kept yourself to yourself at various races but
this weekend you’ve had your brother, your Dad, they were here today
supporting you. They’ve said on TV how down in the dumps you were last
night. How much help did they give you last night after what happened
yesterday?
LH: My family have been incredible. Last night, my Mum, my Dad, spent a lot
of time with my Dad last night just talking it out. And my brother. And
today I just said I needed them here today. Y’know? I just really wanted
that support. I do come to the races on my own and I do generally do it on
my own. I have my trainer with me. But I thought this weekend it would be
nice to have them. At least today, as yesterday was such a difficult day.
Q: (Sean McGreevy – CSMA magazine) Lewis, would you consider this one of
your great, greatest, great wins and how does it compare to 2008?)
LH: It doesn’t compare to 2008. It’s a different time, it’s a different
experience. It’s still as special. Obviously 2008 was a much trickier race
in a sense of being a completely wet track, everyone aquaplaning. Everyone
being in the rain, everyone being soaking wet, it’s a different kind of
experience that one. Today, I felt I earned it today. From the start some
good manoeuvres and I really felt that I had the pace on Nico, I really was
hunting him down like never before. I really was happy with the balance that
I managed to get, even though I didn’t do the long run in P2. To say this is
up there with all the greats… it’s my home grand prix, it’s my second win
here and I’m very privileged to have even just had one, so I feel very
humble to be up here today.
Q: (Julian Harris – City AM) Lewis, do you think this can be a turning point
for you? Nico was up here yesterday saying that he thought he had the
momentum at the moment – but he also said momentum comes and goes. Can this
give you the confidence and maybe even the peace of mind to push on and get
the momentum back in your favour.
LH: I came into this weekend saying it would great to really have that. I
thought maybe the fans could be the wind in my sails to really change the
direction and get the momentum. Obviously I’ve got the win today. I’ve got
the points back. I’ve been chasing all year really, since I lost the points
at the first race, and then I was chasing again after the previous DNF. It’s
been very, very difficult. I was speaking last night, just comparing it to
how difficult it is psychologically, it’s got to be something similar to the
tennis players when they’re two sets down. It’s so hard to get your mind in
gear, to get yourself back and not lose points from then on. And so the
pressure is high but I really feel that now we’re back, kind of close and
with the pace that I had today, I really feel that I can… just got to
refocus for the next part of the season.
Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / National Speedsport News) Daniel, what was
your mindset last night and this morning, knowing that you’re so far back
and, often in races, when you start that that far back, like these two guys,
you’re not going to finish in the top three?
DR: Mindset was just… yeah… like it always is I guess when you’re out of
position, just go for it, try and do something a bit different. Not much to
lose. I knew we were a better car than eighth on the grid, so… yeah… I was a
bit surprised during the first stint, even though we were on a different
tyre, I was surprised not to be as quick. We didn’t have much pace, so then
it was ‘let’s try something different and make something work.’ Yeah, I was
very hungry today. I like to think I always am but today I was pretty jacked
up. So it’s nice to be up here.
Q: (Nick Skeens – The Independent) Lewis, today Niki Lauda said he thought
in some ways yesterday was a good thing because it gave you a motivation and
a hunger that perhaps you would not have had. Would you agree with that?
LH: No. I feel like I like I’ve… we’ve had four wins, now five wins, but
I’ve had the four wins and I think my hunger is on a par with any other year
that I’ve ever raced in – but yesterday was a real kick in the balls. I
really had to pick up, pull up my socks and get on it if I want to win this
world championship, and I can’t have situations like yesterday. The last two
races I’ve easily had the pace to be pole position and I’ve not put it
there. I’ve put it much further back, made it much harder for myself but now
I’m going to try to rectify that for the future.
Q: (Mike Doodson – GPweek) Lewis, you’re obviously very happy with the gold
trophy [present on the platform]– but you seem to have been a bit unhappy
with the sponsor’s trophy. Did I hear you say it fell to bits on the podium?
And how did you come to get this one between the podium and here?
LH: Well, yeah! This one’s a lot nicer. I mean, growing up watching Formula
One, you see trophies like this. Real trophies, y’know? And the trophies
that we have nowadays, whilst it’s a real privilege being on top of the
podium, my one fell to pieces! The bottom fell off the one we just had. It’s
plastic, it must cost ten pounds! It’s so bad. I might just get the plaque,
which is probably the most expensive part of the trophy I think. Back in the
day they really, really made the trophies. And this is the special thing
about being on the podium and winning. These trophies mean – for me, I don’t
know how it is for the other drivers – but this is what we have to show for
our lifetime achievements. I hope we can get some better ones moving
forwards.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – Universo Online) Valtteri, Friday morning you didn’t
went to the track. Saturday morning also, only qualifying. You didn’t have
miles in the track. Where you surprised at the beginning of the race when
you started overtaking everyone with the performance of the car?
VB: Yeah, definitely. Our prediction was Mercedes is going to be strong and
also Red Bull, we thought, would be here a bit quicker than us in the race
and Ferrari to be really close to our pace. So, we definitely knew that the
position we were starting wasn’t going to be that easy to get into good
points and we were not really thinking about the podium, we were just
thinking about getting in the points and, yeah, definitely it was a positive
surprise in the beginning of the race. The tyre life wasn’t really a
limitation so we could do the strategy. Well, I have to say the strategy
guys did a really good job today. We actually switched the strategy during
the running as we saw the tyre wear was so low. Positive surprise. Really
happy.
Q: (Jussi Jäkälä - YLE) Valtteri, two podiums in a row. Does this show you
and the team have learnt your lesson, how to score podiums. And is this
maybe the start of a catch-up battle?
VB: Well, we are definitely a stronger team than we were in, let’s say
Melbourne, or the first few races. Difficult to compare even to last year or
two years before. I think we are really getting stronger all the time. It’s
not going to be easy to be on the podium in every race as I think this
season is going to be quite a bit race-by-race but we are definitely on the
right way and really happy to be part of this. Myself, I have been improving
also all the time. Every race I aim to be a better driver and as a team we
aim to be a stronger team every single race – and that’s what we’ve been
doing.
Q: (Haoran Zhou – F1 Express) Lewis, obviously the celebration after the
race has been extraordinary. You managed to do a doughnut despite the strict
restrictions on the engine and gearbox and you were singing – I’m not sure
if you were singing or not but you obviously were feeling on top of the
world. Can you share your emotions on the slowing down lap with us?
LH: Yeah, it’s so difficult to really explain the feelings. When you feel
like the world is crumbling beneath you, somehow with your family and
friends, they help pull you through and also the fans. Yesterday, after
qualifying, it looked so hard to... I really was almost speechless when I
spoke to them, and it was no one else’s fault but mine. I was just so
disappointed in myself. And then to get that result today, to really climb
through... the team have just done an incredible job. Even coming into this
weekend, the developments and improvements to our car, the balance. My
engineers, who work so close to me, regardless of how well we do, they’re so
supportive and having that good team of people round you really makes a
difference. I did the doughnuts... yeah, I hope it doesn’t do anything to
our gearbox but I know how much the fans love it here and so it was really
important to try and do at least one but fingers crossed, it should be OK.
Q: (Rosanna Tennant – Pole Position) Lewis, as media, we like to speculate
on upcoming races as to who might win and who won’t win. Are you looking
ahead, thinking next race Nico is going to have the home advantage,
obviously Hungary was good for you last year? Do you look ahead through the
season like that, blocking it out and perhaps where you might be stronger
and work out the points?
LH: I don’t. You look at the schedule and you see what tracks you know that
suit you. Just going into Germany, to Hockenheim, I know whilst it’s Nico’s
home Grand Prix, he doesn’t have even one eighth of the support us Brits get
here. The fans are unlike anywhere else so I’m not worried in that sense.
It’s a track where I won before, in 2008 I think it was. It’s a good track
for me, so I think... I’m gonna use the pace that I have, because I have the
pace. I’ve just got to put the damn laps together and when I do, then I
think the opportunities will come in front of me.
Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Association) Daniel, you’ve obviously become one of
the most likeable guys in F1 I think it’s fair to say, but in denying -
there’s that big beaming smile, thank you – but in denying JB’s (Button’s)
long overdue podium here, do you perhaps feel like a bit of a villain for
once?
DR: It did cross my mind a little bit. I was thinking... especially in the
last few laps, he was catching me pretty quickly at the end. I had sort of
stabilised the gap a bit and then with four laps to go, I think my options
were really suffering and he was coming, so I was thinking, yeah, probably
for once I’ve got a lot of people booing me and cheering on the local lad
but obviously for me it was good. I think for him as well; they haven’t had
a great season so a fourth is – yeah, it’s not a podium, but he’d still be
fairly pleased with that result so hopefully we’re all happy.
Q: (Kate Walker – crash.net) For all three of you, and it goes along the
lines of momentum but not championship momentum. Obviously we had a fairly
long delay after all you guys all made mega starts on the first lap. When
you’ve got that one hour delay, what are you thinking? Are you worried that
you’re going to lose the momentum that you picked up? What’s going on in
your heads?
LH: Yeah, I think it’s... We work very hard, I’m sure everyone is working so
hard in preparation. You get in the car, do the start, you really gain the
momentum and then the race stops and we had quite a long break. I went back
to my room just relaxing, drinking, making sure I was having plenty of
fluids and trying not to think of anything else. Yeah, it wasn’t alcohol. It
isn’t easy but I managed to get back and start where I finished.
VB: Yeah, it’s not easy, you know. There’s a break and you need to keep your
focus in the race. You can’t really start to think about other things than
the race so you just need to keep thinking about... forward: the restart,
how to get your tyres warm, brakes warm, everything. You can always speak
with the engineer. You just really wait, let the time go and all the time
keep focused for the next moment.
DR: It’s tricky when you don’t know how long the break’s going to be. The
race was at one today, so you do all your preparation to sort of peak at one
o’clock in terms of your energy and your focus so you get the race started
and you feel your adrenalin and everything is where it needs to be and then
it comes back down and I think the limbo of not really knowing when we were
going to start again, it’s like do I still keep a high level of intensity or
do I go and relax? When do I start to then warm up again? It’s a little bit
tricky but at the same time it’s the same for everyone. It does break a
little bit of momentum, I guess, but then it’s up to us and our trainers how
we get it back and make sure we’re switched on for the restart.
Q: (Paul Turner – South Wales Evening Post) Lewis, this victory, is this
going to help you mentally for the next race or is it back to square one at
the next race, you have to start again and plan all over again?
LH: I think this is now, kind of... we’ll draw a line under that last nine
races and now it’s attack mode, start again and now, utilising that pace and
utilising the car’s pace. There are still some things we need to improve on.
I wasn’t too worried about the time lost in the pit stop today as I knew the
next one would be better. I’d been working on my position so I didn’t lose
time in that but qualifying really – just getting myself back to my normal
qualifying mode and that, I think, will be good.
Q: (Rosanna Tennant – Pole Position) Daniel, we were talking about what you
do before the restart; can you explain what you do with your trainer and the
tennis balls?
DR: We sort of change it a lot but it’s more to get the hand-eye
co-ordination going. I guess everyone does something a bit different.
Sometimes we use tennis balls just to get my hand-eye co-ordination switched
on and make sure my reactions are there. We do some different drills with
that. It depends as well on what... I don’t have a ritual routine as such
but it depends on what I feel like doing before the race, but that’s
something. |
