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1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)
3 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)
PODIUM INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Eddie Jordan)
Lewis, did or dream or think this would be the result today?
Lewis HAMILTON: Of course, I was dreaming it last night but you never really
think it’s going to happen. I just want to say a huge thanks to my team.
What they’ve done this year is absolutely incredible and to be able to
arrive here knowing that we have a car we can fight with, and just the
feeling I had through the race, it’s… I couldn't do it without them. Thank
you guys.
We know you’ve won seven races this year but the talking point is how big a
pressure was on you in that last pit stop? That’s what we wanted to know.
LH: Ah, it wasn’t that bad.
Well you sounded totally paranoid up there I have to tell you!
LH: No, I think at the time it was just not really knowing what the
situation was. I knew I had a big gap but if a safety car comes out, what
does that mean, but then when I came in and knew that I had to fight the
guys on a long, long, run-down tyre, I knew that we would have chance to get
by, so I felt kind of comfortable.
Well, we’ll come back to you because we have lots more questions but ladies
and gentlemen, Sebastian Vettel, four times world champion, his best result
of the year! Sebastian, what is it with Singapore and you? You seem to be a
night raider or something like that. Every time there’s a night race you do
remarkably well. Obviously on the podium again this year.
Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, kid did well! It’s a circuit that I really enjoy, I
really like. The atmosphere is great. You know, on the drivers’ parade there
are already so many people in for the race. It’s great. It’s a tough one,
it’s two hours and again we went to the full two hours. I had a good start,
got past Daniel and then I think we had a decent race. We played a little
bit with strategy and then the safety car came in the worst possible moment
for us. So we tried to obviously stay out with the last set of tyres and
make them work, which was very, very much borderline. I had a lot of
pressure from Daniel and also from Fernando behind, but very happy obviously
to make it P2.
A lot of red faces up here – the dehydration, the heat, the temperature. A
huge race here is it? Is it very, very difficult?
SV: Yeah, it’s quite hot. The cars are sliding a lot, so you have to focus
quite hard. It’s definitely a race we all enjoy as drivers because it’s such
a big challenge and to stand up here and get a cool glass or bottle of
champagne is quite nice.
Well, your best race of the season, your best result and we know what you’ve
done here before. Now, ladies and gentlemen, the pride of Australia, Daniel
Ricciardo! Almost like a home race really?
Daniel RICCIARDO: Yeah, feels like a home race. Singapore to Perth is pretty
much as close as Melbourne to Perth, so for West Australia it’s like another
home race.
I need to ask you the question: do you think that when Fernando gave up the
place to Sebastian, do you think he should have given up the place to you?
DR: To be honest, I’ll have to have a look. Obviously he went off, that was
clear. I knew he would give it back to Seb [but] whether he had to give it
back to me, I’ll have a look at that. I was just sort of focused on
regrouping from the start really. To get on the podium I guess is not a bad
result, good for the team and at least we’ve got some Aussie flags.
We see a lot of Aussie flag, you’re the pride of Australia. Lewis, things
have changed, really, haven’t they, for you?
LH: Absolutely.
Big smile on your face.
LH: Yeah, I was so excited to have… I was looking for that clean weekend and
this has been it. It’s been fantastic. It’s not perfect for the team because
Nico didn’t finish and we’re always striving to get both cars finishing 1-2.
I don’t think anyone has finished one-two before and that was our goal. So
there are things we can still work on. I also want to say a big thanks to
all the fans. Incredible support today, so thank you guys.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Lewis, your second victory in Singapore, your seventh of the season and a
very popular win, it would seem, with the crowd – but there was clearly a
tense moment for you after the safety car when you knew you had to stop
again and it was clear the four or five cars behind you didn’t – but the
strategy team stayed calm, you stayed calm and you’re now leading the
Drivers’ Championship. Just tell us about the rollercoaster of emotions and
the way you feel leaving Singapore tonight.
LH: Coming here and to the last six races with a great race in Monza,
knowing that we had a car to compete here, obviously yesterday in qualifying
it was very close between everyone so I didn’t really know what to expect
today – but got off cleanly. Of course it would have been a hardcore race if
Nico was in the race with me as the car was feeling very good and we would
have been very strong. But, yeah, later on in the race, I think for me I was
a bit unaware of what I needed to do. That second-to-last stint, I extended
it as long as I could and then they said “we need 27s.” And that was still
six seconds I needed more, and my tyres were dropping off, so I didn’t
really understand why. And I was also nervous that, if the Safety Car came
out, would that cause me big problems? So anyway, fortunately we got to
where I needed to go and we pitted. I came out, and I saw Sebastian going
past but straight away I knew they would be on… they were obviously doing a
two-stop, I would have good pace. So, took it easy the first lap. It was
actually a bit of a tight gap, maybe I should have overtaken him somewhere
else but fortunately Sebastian was very fair and I got by. After that it was
quite straightforward. Amazing job from the team and the guys back at the
factory. The car was really spectacular in the race.
Q: Sebastian, clearly the start was decisive for you. A fantastic initial
getaway up into second place, you got the place back from Fernando. You were
also a little bit sceptical when it came to the strategy, saying “that’s not
my plan,” to go to the finish. So, tell us about the thinking at that point
and how the race played out from your mind.
SV: As you mentioned, the start obviously was good for me. Quite weird to
stop with no car ahead but not being on the first row. But it helped,
obviously, because I had no car in front and I could get side by side and
get straight into second place. After that I think we had a good race. Not
ideal, in terms of timing with the safety car. Obviously, before that we
lost a position to Fernando because we stopped too late – but we decided to
go on the primes and we were hoping for no safety car to come out, which
came out, so not ideal! But yeah, after that, obviously after the restart,
we knew it was difficult with 27 seconds to make up on older tyres than
everyone behind – it’s probably impossible. So, obviously to get the best
result we knew we have to get to the end. I wasn’t very confident that we
can do it, simply because of the wear we had the sets before. Obviously for
one lap I was in the lead. As Lewis touched on, the overtaking manoeuvre, I
wasn’t quite sure what he was doing. I thought that I give him all the space
to pass me on the inside for the next corner but it seemed like he couldn’t
wait to get back in the lead. It was quite tight but I saw him, obviously,
so I had to back-off and let him through. There was no point fighting him at
that stage because I didn’t have the tyres to match him. Nevertheless, to
finish P2 obviously was the best we could do. We had the oldest set of tyres
in the last stint, so it was quite tricky managing those to the finish line
with not much tread left. Obviously very good result for the team.
Q: Daniel, I guess the opposite for you. Not a great initial getaway, you
lost the initiative to Sebastian there, which is why you finished behind him
in the end. Tell us whether you expected the attack from Alonso at the end
because obviously he had pitted under the safety car, was on much fresher
tyres than you . Were you surprised the attack didn’t come? What was going
through your mind?
DR: Yeah, I think the closing stages, I could see after the restart for the
safety car, he wasn’t attacking as much as I thought with a new set of
primes, so I thought he was holding back and was going to make a late charge
at the end. I think we all just piled up. I caught the back of Sebastian, he
caught the back of me and we were all in a train and not really any real
opportunities arose for any of us. So, it was what it was. I probably did
expect him to come on a get stronger at the end but I think once you start
following and trying to get the pedal down a bit harder to set up a pass,
then you start hurting the rears and you all fall into each others’ pace.
The start initially wasn’t too bad but just before Turn One we had a bit of
an issue and I think we lost a bit of power. Whether we could have held on
or not… who knows? But then yeah, Fernando went wide and then gave the place
back to Seb and the race from there was fairly straightforward. Encountered
a few other issues and bits and pieces here and there – so we’ll have to
look into that. See how much it cost us in the end. But obviously it was
nice to get on the back of Seb and try to put him under a bit of pressure
but I think for all of us here it was follow-the-leader a bit and not much
else to do.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Lennart Wermke – Bild) Lewis, is there anyone you dedicate your victory
to?
LH: I’ve not really thought of it. There are only a few of the race wins
which I’ve really dedicated to anyone. Maybe to my fans, I think. I met a
couple of really special people last week – they’ll know who they are – and
just generally to all the fans. They’re sending me messages and all that,
really just saying that we win or we lose together and also being here with
all the British flags, it lifts you up so much that probably they don’t even
realise, so this is for them.
Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and National Speedsport News) Daniel, you were
on the radio during the race saying that you were losing power and I believe
gears. What was happening and was the team able to help you correct those
matters?
DR: Yeah, we had quite a bit going on during the race so yeah, power was
coming and going and from the safety car onwards it was pretty consistently
down on power and basically, coming up through gears, I would get a bit of
power and then it would drop and then it would come again. So we definitely
had a few issues and we tried fixing them but to be honest we didn’t quite
clear it all up. I guess it did cost us a bit today but obviously we still
got it to the end but obviously we will definitely look at what the cause
was and if we can fix it. Normally, if we have those glitches after a couple
of laps we clear it but this one pretty much carried through all race. I
guess I was a bit frustrated, bit concerned as well that we wouldn’t get it
to the flag but luckily it held on and as I said, we’ll just look at it and
I’m sure we’ll fix it for Japan.
Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) To Seb and Daniel, what was the
plan to have the harder tyre, the prime tyre, in the third stint rather than
at the end, because at that moment, I don’t think you could know that the
safety car would come out?
SB: I guess in my case Fernando undercut us, it was quite obvious, and then
I think it was pretty pointless to do the same as him so we tried to do
opposite and then get him back obviously, in the last stint of the race, I
think that was the plan. With hindsight, we should have obviously stopped
earlier, tyres were at the end of their wear life anyway so I think that was
the plan. It was obviously high risk because of the safety car. In the end,
we got lucky because the tyres held up but at that stage it didn’t look like
it.
Q: (Don Kennedy – Hawke’s Bay Today) Lewis, you said on the podium that
Mercedes were hoping for a one-two finish but in terms of the championship,
can you say, in all honesty, that you’re sorry that Nico didn’t finish?
LH: Well, of course the points are something... I came here hoping to really
gain those seven points and anything more than that was just a bonus, so
today, of course, those extra points are a huge help. That’s several DNFs
we’ve had now on either car and we want to continue getting those one-twos
still. I know that the team will not be 100 percent happy today because we
want to win collectively, we want to get those one-twos, we want to be the
dominant team all together, so by not getting that result, they’ll be going
back to the drawing board trying to figure out what happened. They’re
constantly coming up to things and perhaps other people are starting to be a
bit more reliable than us so that’s an area that we can still definitely
improve on. |
