FORMULA 1 - 2014

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HAMILTON: I MADE A MISTAKE WHEN I DECIDED NOT TO DO THE LAP

Lewis Hamilton is doing himself no favours in his quest for a second Formula 1 world title, with another slip up in Qualifying, the latest one at the British Grand Prix where a miscalculation on his final run saw him drop from top of the timing screens to sixth, from where he will start his home race.

Two weeks earlier he spun out while on a flying lap during qualifying in Austria, perhaps trying too hard, but at Silverstone he simply didn’t try at all in the late stages of Q3 when those around him put the pedal to the metal – and just about all improved on their final run, including his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg.

It was a disconsolate and obviously angry Hamilton who emerged from his Mercedes in parc ferme, and his explanation to journalists suggesting that not even he understands why he aborted his final run which cost him an almost certain front row, if not pole position start in front of his home crowd.

Hamilton said afterwards, “I don’t know, I don’t have much of an answer, I just decided not to do the lap. I don’t have anything to say to you at the moment.”

Later he added, “I made a mistake today and pulled out of the lap when I should have kept going. It was a tough Qualifying with the changing conditions and we got through most of it really well, until the most important part.”

“It was my decision, a bad call, and that decided my Qualifying. I’m so sorry to have disappointed the fans here today as their support has been fantastic and I’ll do what I can to have a great race for them.”

Mercedes director Paddy Lowe disclosed, “He [Hamilton] felt the lap was worse. He bailed out, which was unfortunate, as a lot of time was found in sector three.”

Mercedes chief Niki Lauda confirmed Lowe’s explanation, “It was tricky in the end, we were both well in the lead, then we had to make a decision on whether we go out again. They both pushed to go out. Lewis thought the circuit was slower so he stopped, Nico kept going.”

“It was Lewis’ decision because he thought he cannot go quicker but Nico proved that you can go quicker and he was proved right. This time Nico was outstanding again to grab pole under these difficult conditions,” added Lauda.

Mercedes co-team boss Toto Wolff summed up his sentiments, “It’s very disappointing. There are so many errors you can do in that situation. I don’t think we’re hugely dominant. You saw yesterday that there is still an advantage but it’s a matter of time. We can’t keep ahead for the whole season.”

Rosberg will start from pole for the fourth time this season, matching Hamilton’s four top spot starts to date, while Hamilton will line-up in sixth. However if Austria a fortnight ago is anything to go by, Hamilton will pursue Rosberg relentlessly, with the added support of his home crowd willing him on to repeat his one and only British GP victory, which he scored in 2008, his championship winning year.

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MATTIACCI: RAIKKONEN WILL RETURN TO BEING A GREAT

Newly instated Ferrari team boss Marco Mattiacci insists that he is not afraid of making changes to put the legendary Maranello squad back on the track to victory, and is adamant that under pressure Kimi Raikkonen will rise to the top again.

His predecessor Stefano Domenicali has already gone, and the latest paddock report is that engine chief Luca Marmorini could be the next to pay the price for the fabled Italian marque’s poor start to the new V6 era.

“I will not name names,” Mattiacci was quoted by Autosprint at Silverstone, as he refused to rule out personnel changes. He insisted, however, that the struggling Kimi Raikkonen is safe despite being comprehensively out-performed by Fernando Alonso in the sister F14T

“Kimi is a great champion,” said Mattiacci, who already has the Finn under contract for 2015. “It makes no sense to talk about a problem of the individual, it is a problem of the team as a whole. He will return to being a great.”

In other areas, however, Mattiacci said Ferrari need to “change the mentality” and “take more risks”.

Leading that charge, he said, will be technical boss James Allison, who made his name by producing innovative Lotus cars on a much smaller budget.

“He’s my right arm,” smiled Mattiacci. Siding so strongly with Allison appears to have marginalised Ferrari’s other technical chief, Pat Fry.

But he said that Ferrari’s current problems date back to choices made in “past years” – including the once troubled wind tunnel, and not focusing strongly enough on computer simulation.

The biggest issue is the V6 turbo power unit said Mattiacci, “If Williams is so strong today, the predominant factor is the engine. And I do not think Red Bull is in a crisis. Give me time to work, he rounded off.”

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KOLLES: CATERHAM WOULD HAVE COLLAPSED

Caterham would not be at Silverstone if not for the team’s mysterious new owners claims Colin Kolles, well-known in the Formula 1 paddock for leading backmarker teams including Midland, Spyker and HRT.

Now he has been brought in as an ‘advisor’ by Caterham’s new Swiss-Middle Eastern owners, and he promptly installed the former Minardi driver Christijan Albers as team boss.

Apart from that, almost nothing is known about who Malaysian aviation entrepreneur Tony Fernandes sold the Leafield-based team to.

“I suppose you probably know as much about the overall management structure and the investor as I do,” Gerry Hughes, Caterham’s track boss, admitted to reporters at Silverstone.

Mystery and scepticism therefore abounds, but German-based Romanian Kolles – earlier linked with the potential new Formula 1 entrant Forza Rossa – insists Caterham’s owners should be applauded.

“I did not expect to return to Formula 1 in this way,” he is quoted by Speed Week. “We have been working for quite a while on various projects, and then the Caterham plans suddenly took shape. But if we had not come, Caterham would not be at Silverstone.”

“We have saved this team and done Tony Fernandes a big favour. We have made sure he can leave Formula 1 with his head high, as without us, the racing team would have collapsed before Silverstone,” Kolles revealed.

As for the investors, Kolles said there are no plans for enlightenment, “They will remain invisible.”

“In recent years I have had so many problems with investors who meddled too much — at Midland, Spyker, Force India and most recently the Carabante family at HRT.

“This time we have people who leave those at the front to do the work, while the investors stay in the background. The names would not tell you anything,” Kolles insisted. “They are Dubai and Kuwait nationals from Switzerland.”

New boss Albers, meanwhile, told the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf that he cannot rule out making changes at Caterham.

But “Let us first see how this weekend goes,” he said, amid speculation Kamui Kobayashi or Marcus Ericsson’s place might be taken by Albers’ talented Dutch countryman Robin Frijns.

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BUTTON PRETTY IN PINK FOR FATHER JOHN

Jenson Button, wearing a bright pink helmet in tribute to his late father John Button, had a solid first day of practice for his home grand prix where he is hoping to finish on the podium for the first time, as fourth place is the best he has managed in 14 Formula 1 races at Silverstone.

His Dad, John Button was a popular figure in the F1 paddock, and when he donned his familiar pink shirt more often than not his son ended up on the podium – hence the pink shirted tribute during the British Grand Prix weekend.

However on track pink is no guarantee to lift Button’s fortunes, although he ended day one seventh fastest he was 1.7 seconds down on the top time, and the prospect of a podium on Sunday is a distant dream for the Briton.

Button summed up his day, “Our car felt okay today, but we’re still trying to find the right balance in the high-speed sections. We’re struggling with understeer, trying to get more front-end from the car.”

“It’s tough out there because it’s so windy. This year’s cars have less downforce than before, which makes the wings very important. When they’re affected massively by the wind, it makes it difficult to get any productive back-to-back results during testing.”

“Hopefully, we can put on a great show for all the fans this weekend. It’s fantastic to be out on the circuit for the first day of the British Grand Prix. To be here on a sunny day, and with a full house, makes it even better, too,” said Button.

In the build-up to the race Button explained the reasoing behind the tribute to his father, “”This race is going to be a special one for me because it was always such an important race for my dad. I’ll be wearing a special pink helmet for the race weekend, and I’m hoping people will enter into the spirit of supporting the #pinkforpapa effort to wear something pink on Sunday to honour his memory.”

“He won’t be there this year, but he’ll always be with us in spirit – I hope he brings me some extra luck on Sunday,” added the 2009 F1 world champion.

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Maldonado excluded from qualifying

Pastor Maldonado will start the British GP from the back of the grid after he was excluded from qualifying.

The Lotus driver posted the 15th best time in qualifying, but a technical inspection later found that he did not have enough fuel to provide a sample.

Scrutineering of the Venezuelan's E22 found that he was in breach of Article 6.6.2 of the FIA Formula 1 Technical Regulations which requires each car to be able to provide one litre of fuel as a sample at any point during a race.

The stewards excluded him from qualifying and also sent him to the back of the grid.

"The competitor is allowed to start the race from the back of the grid in front of any cars that failed to set a time within 107 per cent of the fastest time in Q1."

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Williams: We got our timing wrong

Williams Head of Performance Engineering Rob Smedley has held his hand up after things went horribly wrong for the team in qualifying at Silverstone.

After the highs of Austria where Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas locked out the front row of the grid with the latter finishing P3, it was time for some lows at their home race, the British GP.

Both Massa and Bottas were knocked out in Q1 as the team failed to read the weather and track right during the closing stages of the session.

"We have a good car so it's very disappointing to be in 17th and 18th," Smedley said. "We were trying to mark the people on track but our timings were wrong. We didn't see the rain coming as quickly as it did, but that's not an excuse, it's an error which we can't make again. How we recover tomorrow is important now and getting into the points is still our goal, as we have the car for it and we need to try and get as many points as we can over our closest Championship rivals."

Bottas, though, remains hopeful that they can scrape into the top 10 on Sunday.

"The whole session was unbelievable. We left it too late to go out on the dry tyre so we didn't get the run in as it started to rain again," the Finn said.

"Truthfully we were unlucky it started to rain. We had the pace to get to Q3 so we missed a good opportunity. It's a long race tomorrow and we have a good car so we can still get back into the points, but again the weather will play its part."

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Seb happy to chance his arm

A poor qualifying session turned into a brilliant one for Sebastian Vettel at Silverstone after a late gamble.

The Red Bull driver looked set to start Sunday's British Grand Prix in P10 after he opted not to set a lap in wet conditions in the first eight minutes of Q3, but he went out for an exploratory lap just before the chequered flag came out.

With the track dry in certain section, he had one last go and managed to get P2 behind Mercedes' Nico Rosberg.

"At [the] start of Q3, we went out [as] one of the last cars and on my out lap it started to rain so I got that last wet sector to start the lap. There was no point [continuing] and so I aborted the lap, [it was] impossible to set a decent time on slicks," the German said.

"Back in the garage we were waiting and we said we might as well go out, so we went out on dry tyres and we were one of the first to go out. It was difficult to believe on the out lap it would be dry enough, but it's a funny place.

"[it was] a weird session - a lot of rain, no rain, fine rain, drizzling - England is the only country [where] you get these conditions, it's difficult to know what is coming."

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Bernie 'looking' into buying F1

Bernie Ecclestone could one day be back in charge of Formula 1 after revealing that he's "looking" into buying the sport.

The 83-year-old built Formula 1 into what it is today before selling it to private equity firm CVC.

Despite the sale, Ecclestone remained the man in charge until he was forced to step down earlier this year in the build-up to his bribery trial in Germany.

However, he may one day be back in power after revealing that he has held talks with CVC's Donald Mackenzie.

"I have spoken to Donald Mackenzie and I am looking at it," Ecclestone told the Daily Express.

"It is possible, although one or two other companies are interested and I would not enter an auction. Age does not make it impossible. I feel no different to how I did 40 years ago.

"I have a contract with the company, not the shareholders. I have seen some rubbish about being pushed out but there is no-one lined up to take over."

And although praising CVC for all they have done for Formula 1, the F1 supremo says if he bought back the business he would not run it like a public company.

"Our company has been a very good investment for CVC and it would be a very good investment for me or anyone who owned it," he said.

"You can make money from it, so it would not be a problem for me to find financial backers. I run it now, but it wouldn't make any difference. It just means I would have to buy the shares. I think the company is a good solid business and a good investment.

"The past couple of years we have been running the business as if CVC were going to float the company.

"So we have run it like a public company, which has limitations. If I bought it I wouldn't think of that. I have always been used to doing things on the spot and, with a public company, it is always about board decisions.

"It can be restrictive, although I must say CVC have been super, they don't tell me how to run it. They have been super-supportive with all my troubles."

Ecclestone's future, though, is still up in the air pending the outcome of his bribery trial.

He added: "I have two jobs now. One the day job and the other, what I hope is a part-time job in Munich.

"I know that the prisons are full of people who say they are innocent and this is why I am attending in Germany every week because I know I am innocent and I want to clear my name.

"I don't know what the outcome will be but there is no point in worrying. I would rather that bad things don't happen, I would like to think that I can continue to do what I do as long as I am capable.

"Getting locked up would concern me much more than losing control of F1."

[Pedro2486]

Calling it. Hamilton is cracking. That is all.

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Calling it. Hamilton is cracking. That is all.

+1

Hamilton needs to pause and reflect back to the young guy he was in 2008, humble and himself. He's too busy trying to be someone else, a gangsta rapper type guy and he's talent is paying for it. Rosberg will win the WDC IMO

[Pedro2486]

+1

Hamilton needs to pause and reflect back to the young guy he was in 2008, humble and himself. He's too busy trying to be someone else, a gangsta rapper type guy and he's talent is paying for it. Rosberg will win the WDC IMO

Definitely. He had more focus and maturity as a younger driver than the #YOLO #Swag "mr awesome" he is trying to be now. He needs to step back, take a deep breath and think. It seems to be a trend among younger good drivers that after winning for a while they lose touch with themselves and turn into petulant children

[potpest]

Calling it. Hamilton is cracking. That is all.

I Disagree, he's had a recent run of bad luck. I don't think he has lost focus; certainly proved that today, would have won that without rosberg having to retire.

It's been a fantastic season so far; only going to get better after today's game changer.

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BRITISH GRAND PRIX: HAMILTON WINS AND RE-IGNITES TITLE RACE

Britain’s Lewis Hamilton won his home grand prix for the second time in his career as team-mate and championship rival Nico Rosberg exited the race with gearbox trouble. Williams’ Valtteri Bottas took his second podium finish in a row, with second place.

Hamilton said afterwards, “It’s very mixed emotions at the moment. But we have the greatest fans here. It was you guys who spurred me on. At the beginning I allowed him to get a good gap and look after the tyres. But we came out on the harder tyre and could not believe that I had that kind of pace. I don’t want to see a team-mate fail, I want a one-two, but I really needed this result.”

Bottas scored his best ever F1 result with second place after starting 14th on the grid, he never put a foot wrong all afternoon and dispatched some of the sport’s top names with ease, in a car which was clearly handy around the former WWII airfield.

The young Finn, a candidate for drive of the day, said, “We’re going in the right way and the team has done a good job. It is pleasure to drive the car. I really enjoyed it. As a team we made the most out of it. I feel sorry for Felipe in his 200th grand prix.”

Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo finished third after switching to a one-stop strategy late in a race that was red-flagged for an hour due to an accident involving Kimi Raikkonen just after the start.

The Australian, also a nominee for that imaginary drive of the day award, drove a well calculated race and delivered a master class on tyre conservation. He said of his afternoon’s graft, “It’s nice to be on the podium and this is a good circuit for me. Just one more lap might have been different , Jenson was coming but I was able to hold on for the podium.”

Fourth place went to McLaren’s Jenson Button, the McLaren driver finishing ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso who provided thrilling entertainment in the final third of the race as they battled tooth and nail for position.

Nico Rosberg lead after the first start

Button observed afterwards, “0.8 seconds is not a lot. I gave it my all. It’s difficult when the race engineer says give it your all but you have to save fuel too. But it’s not so bad finishing fourth – so we should be pleased. It’s a step forward and we should enjoy the points.

“I did not make it difficult for Lewis. You have to be careful in that situation or you’d lose time. I said before if I did not win I hoped it would be Lewis. I’m just disappointed I was not up there with him,” mused Button.

When the lights went out for the start, pole position man Rosberg held his lead but second-placed Sebastian Vettel got away poorly. He dropped back to fifth place as McLaren’s Jenson Button moved to second and Kevin Magnussen, in the second McLaren charged through from fifth to third. Hamilton was on the move as well. He made a good start from sixth place on the grid and passed Vettel, the pair banging wheels as the Mercedes driver claimed fourth spot.

Behind the leaders, though, the collisions were more serious. Kimi Raikkonen was forced wide at the start of the Wellington Straight and went off track. The Ferrari driver attempted to rejoin but hit a bump on the edge of the circuit. That sent him into a violent spin and he hit the barriers hard before being flung back on track. Felipe Massa tried to take avoiding action but he collided with the spinning Ferrari.

Massa was able to crawl back to the pits but the damage was too severe for the Brazilian to continue – a disappointing end to the Brazilian’s 200th grand prix.

Raikkonen, meanwhile, was helped from his car but limped away to the medical car. It was later reported by Ferrari that the Finn had suffered some bruising to his an ankle and knee but was otherwise unhurt.

The incident naturally brought out the red flags and there was a one-hour delay until the action resumed again, behind the Safety Car.

On the new grid, which mirrored the order at the last point available, Rosberg line up ahead of Button, Magnussen and Hamilton. Vettel was now fifth, ahead of Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg. Ricciardo would restart seventh, ahead of Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat. Bottas, in the second Williams, had climbed from 14th on the grid to ninth.

When the Safety Car left the circuit at the restart, Rosberg made the perfect getaway, building a large gap to Button behind as the it headed for the pit lane. Hamilton, though, was determined not to be left behind and on lap three he forced an error from Magnussen at Copse and stole third place. He soon went one step further, muscling past Button at Brooklands on the following lap to take second place, five seconds behind his team-mate.

Alonso was also on the move. Having switched to the Medium tyre from his starting set of hard compound Pirellis during the red flag period, he was soon making his way through the pack from 13th place. In a startling spell of action he dismissed Esteban Gutierrez, Adrian Sutil, Jules Bianchi, Daniil Kvyat, Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg to climb to seventh.

However, his race was somewhat compromised soon after when he received a five-second penalty for being out of position on the grid at the original start, the Ferrari driver having overshot his grid slot.

Bottas was also on an incredible charge. The sole Williams took the restart in 14th place but by lap 17 he’d scythed his way through the pack to reach third position, powering past Button around the outside of the high-speed Stowe corner.

At the front Hamilton closed to within three seconds of leader Rosberg before the German made his first stop on lap 19, taking on used Medium tyres. That let Hamilton through to the lead. Rosberg rejoined in second place, ahead of Bottas, Button, Alonso, Magnussen and Vettel.

Pastor Maldonado versus Esteban Gutierrez

Hamilton chose to stay out, too, waiting until lap 25 to make his stop. He took on Hard tyres but it was a slow stop and he lost time to his team-mate. Rosberg swept back into the lead, with the gap again up to five seconds.

The gap was erased a few laps later, however. Just after his pit stop Rosberg complained of a problem downshifting. The issues seemed to subside but on lap 29 he was back on the radio, reporting a problem with upshifting. He slowed gradually and Hamilton flashed past into the lead. Rosberg attempted a reset but he ground to a halt at turn 13.

Elsewhere, Alonso made his first pit stop, taking on more Medium tyres and serving his five-second penalty. He rejoined in ninth place.

The top-five order, on lap 31 was Hamilton, Bottas, Vettel, Ricciardo and Button. Bottas made his sole pit stop on lap 32, and rejoined in third behind Vettel, who needed another stop.

Vettel made that pit stop at the end of lap 34, rejoining behind Button in fifth place, ahead of Alonso. The Ferrari driver piled on the pressure and stole the position through Copse on lap 35.

Sebastian Vettel versus Fernando Alonso was riveting stuff

The pair would spend the rest of the race in a thrilling dogfight, Alonso defending with everything at his disposal as Vettel pushed hard to force an error. Much of the battle was fought on the radio, with both drivers complaining vociferously that the other had exceeded the track limits on numerous occasions.

Vettel, though eventually won out, passing Alonso in a heart-in-the-mouth move along the pit straight and through Copse, just inches separating the combatants. Once past, Vettel stretched away, taking fifth place ahead of the furious Spaniard. All riveting stuff for fans from two mighty competitors in what was the battle of the day, if not the battle of the season thus far.

At the front Hamilton continued to open the gap to second-placed Bottas. Prior to his final stop on lap 41 the gap stood at 41 seconds, comfortable enough for the Mercedes driver to make his stop, take on a final set of Hard tyres and rejoin in the lead, ahead of one-stopping Bottas.

Third was Ricciardo. The Red Bull Racing driver was on a set of ageing Medium tyres but in a good position and with 15 laps to go and 18 seconds in hand over Jenson Button, who was on fresher tyres, he opted to try to make it to the chequered flag.

Inevitably, the gap began to come down as Button closed in. By lap 47 it was down to seven seconds and by the final lap it was down to 1.8s as Ricciardo struggled to keep his 36-lap old tyres alive. The Australian managed it, finishing just eight tenths ahead of the hard-charging Button.

At the front though, Hamilton’s win was comfortable, the Briton taking the chequered flag for his second British Grand Prix win, ahead of Bottas, who took his second podium finish in a row.

With Button fourth and Vettel in fifth ahead of Alonso, the remaining points positions went to Magnussen in seventh, Hulkenberg, Kvyat and Vergne.

1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes

2 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes

3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-Renault

4 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes

5 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault

6 Fernando Alonso Ferrari

7 Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes

8 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes

9 Daniil Kvyat STR-Renault

10 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Renault

11 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes

12 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault

13 Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari

14 Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari

15 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault

16 Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari

17 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault

Ret Nico Rosberg Mercedes

Ret Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault

Ret Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari

Ret Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes

Ret Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari

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BOTTAS: REALLY HAPPY WITH WHAT WE’RE DOING AS A TEAM

With two podiums in two races Williams driver Valtteri Bottas has found a fine run of form and made the most of it at the British Grand Prix where he finished second, after starting 14th on the grid, thus scoring his best place finish in his F1 career. The Finn spoke to the media afterwards.

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 [are] 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.

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.

Friday morning you sat out FP1. Saturday morning also, only Qualifying. You didn’t have miles on 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 that Mercedes [were] 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.

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.

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?

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.

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RICCIARDO: ONE MORE LAP WOULD HAVE BEEN TOUGH

Daniel Ricciardo continued his impressive run in his first season as a Red Bull driver by delivering a masterclass in tyre conservation as he powered to third place in the British Grand Prix. He spoke after his afternoon of hard graft at Silverstone;

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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GUTIERREZ PENALISED FOR CRASHING INTO MALDONADO

Sauber driver Esteban Gutierrez received a three-place grid penalty for the German Grand Prix after crashing into the Lotus of Pastor Maldonado at Silverstone, in an incident which brought back memories of their unsavoury clash at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The two made contact at Club Corner while battling it out. Gutierrez appeared to over-cook it on the brakes and punted Maldonado’s Lotus into the air.

Gutierrez was forced to retire a few laps later, and Maldonado was classified 17th, last of the cars running at the end of the race. Afterwards the FIA stewards at Silverstone adjudged that Gutierrez was “predominantly at fault” for the incident.

Gutierrez explained his version of the incident, “When I tried to overtake him in turn 16 he braked and did not leave me enough space. I was already beside him and could not avoid a collision with him.”

Esteban Gutierrez and Pastor Maldonado collided in Bahrain

Maldonado said, “There was contact from Esteban Gutierrez, the result of which I’m told looked spectacular, but in the car it was over very quickly and we kept on racing. We’re not sure if this added to the cause of my retirement, certainly the rear wing was moving about more than normal so we don’t know yet what other damage there was.”

At the Bahrain Grand Prix, in April, Maldonado was handed a five-place grid penalty and given three penalty points on his Super-Licence for causing the crash which launched and flipped the Sauber of Gutierrez.

Maldonado ran into the side of the Sauber at Turn 1 at Sakhir circuit,moments after rejoining the track from the pit lane. The contact resulted in the Mexican’s car being tipped into a spectacular roll.

Gutierrez was able to climb from his cockpit, while Maldonado continued with damage, but a lengthy Safety Car period was needed to recover the stricken Sauber and clear the debris on the night.

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HAMILTON: I REALLY NEEDED THIS RESULT SO I’M VERY GRATEFUL FOR IT

Prior to the British Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton lamented about how Lady Luck had abandoned him of late, but at his home race she made amends as the Briton turned a below par Qualifying into victory while his teammate, and chief title rival, Nico Rosberg retired from a race for the first time this season, and with that unexpected turn, the title race was narrowed down to four points. Hamilton spoke about one of the most important victories of his stellar Formula 1 career.

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 one 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.

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.

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 me, just focused, the support from the fans, as I said, just spurred me on, and I really couldn’t have done it without them.

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.

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…I 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.

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.

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.

Today Niki Lauda said that he thought that 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Is this victory 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.

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FERRARI: A RACE OF MIXED FORTUNES

There were mixed fortunes for Scuderia Ferrari at a classic British Grand Prix, with Kimi Raikkonen going out on the opening lap but Fernando Alonso fighting his way up from 16th on the grid to sixth at the flag.

Fernando lined up on the grid with his car too far forward and that would later cost him a 5 second penalty. Coming onto the Wellington Straight for the first time, Kimi ran wide while fighting Gutierrez and as he tried to rejoin the track a bump spun him round into the barriers.

The car came back across the track and he was hit by Felipe Massa before ending in the tyre wall on the other side. The man from Espoo took a hard knock on the ankle and also has pain in a knee. He will now have to rest but he will be back in time for the next round in Germany.

At the restart, Alonso put on a show flying up from eleventh to fifth, before being chased down by Vettel who had just come back on track after his tyre change. In the end, the German made the most of his fresher rubber to pass the Ferrari man whose Mediums were well worn.

Marco Mattiacci: “The most important news right now is that Kimi is alright, even though the impact with the barriers was a heavy one. He has some bruising and will now be resting to be in shape for the next race. Given the outcome of Qualifying, we knew that we faced an uphill struggle in the race, but that we could count on having a race pace that would allow us to try and get back in the points. On this front, Fernando lived up to our expectations, pulling off some memorable overtaking moves. I think that, with fewer problems and without the penalty for his start position, he could have got better than sixth. His great climb up the order was yet more proof of his extremely aggressive mentality, which is exactly what we must demonstrate for the rest of the season.”

Fernando Alonso: “I think today’s race was very spectacular, certainly for us it was extremely hectic, first with Kimi’s retirement and then with the penalty for being out of position at the start. Then there were also my duels with Button and Vettel. When Sebastian came up behind me I was saving fuel and battery power and had a problem with the rear wing so I knew that sooner or later he would have overtaken me. I think that both Red Bulls deserved to finish ahead of us, because they were quicker. Now we must analyse our performance and try to improve for the next round in Germany: if we want to make up ground in the Constructors’ Championship, we must try and do our utmost at the track, working on strategy, set-up and especially we must try and be more astute than the others, when it comes to grabbing any opportunity to score points.”

Kimi Raikkonen: “Unfortunately, my race today ended on the first lap, after I had managed to get away well, making up enough ground to be fighting for eleventh place. At turn 5, I went off the track and while trying to get back on, I must have hit a kerb. I then lost control of the car and ended in the barriers. It’s a real shame because yesterday, the feeling I had on track had improved and I was determined to do my utmost to bring home some points. I am really very disappointed with how things went today, but now I want to put this incident behind me and just concentrate on the next race in Germany.”

Pat Fry: “As we were starting from sixteenth and eighteenth places, we opted to start on the Hard compound and go for a more aggressive strategy. The aim was to have a short first stint before switching to the softer and faster tyre for the rest of the race. Kimi got a great start, making up several places in just a few corners but unfortunately his accident put an end to it all. Fortunately, he is OK, with no serious injuries and that’s the most important thing. After the race was stopped, we discussed things with Fernando and decided to fit the Mediums to the end of the race, with a one-stop strategy. Despite the difficulties he had to deal with, Fernando once again displayed his great talent, both on the offensive and the defensive. At some points in the race, there was clearly some frustration, which is completely understandable, because the entire team wants to give him and Kimi a more competitive car and for that reason, we will continue trying our hardest.”

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MCLAREN: IT’S CLEAR THAT WE’RE MAKING PROGRESS

McLaren team and drivers report on the British Grand Prix, Round 9 of the 2014 Formula 1 World Championship, at Silverstone;

Jenson Button: “Circuits with high-speed changes of direction aren’t really our car’s forte, so I think we can go away from Silverstone feeling encouraged by what we achieved this weekend. Specifically, it was great to have such a good fight with Fernando [Alonso], and it was encouraging to be able to pull away from him and Sebastian [Vettel] in the last stint. At the end, I crossed the line only 0.9 s behind Daniel [Ricciardo]; if there’d been just one more lap, I think I could have made it past. I got so close to a podium finish – and I think it would’ve been so great for the fans to see Lewis and me up there together. I’m sorry it didn’t quite happen, but I want to say a big thank-you to all the fans, and to my family, and last but not least to the entire McLaren team – everyone has been so supportive this weekend. Looking to the future, although today has seen us take another step forward, it’s apparent that we still have a lot of work to: for example, even though Williams started behind us [on the grid], they still beat us today. Nonetheless, we’re certainly not giving up. On the contrary, it’s important that we continue to work hard to develop this car, so as to score as many world championship points as we can this year and learn as much as we can for next year.”

Kevin Magnussen: “Today has been a good day for the team – we scored 18 points – so we should feel reasonably satisfied, because we’re continuing to improve. Also, the engineers and mechanics did a truly great job this weekend. Having said that, all the other teams are continuing to improve, too; so our challenge is really about making progress faster than the others do. My race went OK – we struggled a little on the Option [tyre], and we had much better pace on the Prime. It’s always frustrating when you slip back through the order a bit – but I made a really good start to be third initially, and after that I struggled to keep the Ferrari and Red Bull behind. So, as I say, I think we should be reasonably satisfied with seventh place. But I’m really pleased for Jenson, who was able to score a great fourth place for the team. Last but not least, I want to pay tribute to the Silverstone fans. It’s been fantastic racing in front of them all today, especially as so many of them are McLaren fans. I’d love to have finished a bit higher for you, guys, but I don’t think we had the pace today.”

Eric Boullier, Racing Director, McLaren Mercedes: “We’re satisfied that we were able to convert a good Qualifying performance yesterday [P3 and P5] into a decent race result today [P4 and P7]. In achieving that outcome, our engineers and mechanics here at Silverstone didn’t put a foot wrong, and they deserve great credit for getting the absolute maximum out of the package that they have at their disposal at the moment. Obviously, we’d like to have scored more points still, especially as Jenson missed achieving his first ever British Grand Prix podium finish by a whisker. Indeed, once Nico [Rosberg] had retired, we decided to target a third-place result for Jenson, but in the end it wasn’t quite possible. Nonetheless, he drove a superb race and richly deserved the 12 world championship points he scored here today. Kevin drove very well, too, making a storming start to be third into Turn One and ending up a solid seventh at the flag. We hadn’t expected to be competitive at this circuit, whose many fast corners we felt wouldn’t suit MP4-29’s aerodynamic envelope, so we’re pleased to have scored 18 points here. More broadly, as I’ve said before, it’s clear that we’re making progress, even if that progress is necessarily not as rapid as we’d ideally like it to be, and I’m confident that that progress will continue; we’re on-track. Last but not least, on behalf of all at McLaren, I want to say how relieved we all are to hear that our old friend Kimi [Raikkonen] is okay following his hefty lap-one shunt.”

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LOTUS: WE WEREN’T ABLE TO DELIVER THE PACE WE WANTED

Romain Grosjean came home twelfth whilst Pastor Maldonado was classified seventeenth in an eventful 2014 British Grand Prix at Silverstone. The race was red flagged after the first start and delayed whilst barriers were repaired, before a restart behind the Safety Car. Both cars ran a single pit stop strategy in the restarted race.

Romain started from P11 on the grid on new Medium compound tyres. He restarted the race on new Hard tyres before changing to new Mediums on lap 30.

Pastor started from twentieth position after a penalty for being unable to provide sufficient fuel for a sample post Qualifying. He started on new Medium compound tyres for the initial start as well as the restarted race, before changing to new Hard tyres on lap 26. He retired after completing 49 laps, with an exhaust problem.

Romain Grosjean: “It was a difficult first start to the race for me. I had a switch problem which meant limited power, but despite that we had a good first lap. I avoided the incident with Kimi, but my visor did get damaged by some debris. The restart went pretty well for me and the car felt alright. Towards the end of the race, on Medium tyres, our pace was much better. We came close to the points but we’d started the race from too far down the grid. I understood quite a lot from the car today which should assist us in making progress.”

Pastor Maldonado: “My first start felt good but after the restart we struggled for power so I wasn’t able to fight with the cars around me. I still pushed as best I could but making progress was difficult. There was contact from Esteban Gutierrez, the result of which I’m told looked spectacular, but in the car it was over very quickly and we kept on racing. We’re not sure if this added to the cause of my retirement, certainly the rear wing was moving about more than normal so we don’t know yet what other damage there was. Now I look forward to testing here on Tuesday.”

Federico Gastaldi, Deputy Team Principal: “Once more the team demonstrated great teamwork over a challenging weekend. Unfortunately we weren’t able to take advantage of what looks to be much more competitive damp weather performance as the weather was much better today. It was an eventful race and we’re thankful no-one was hurt in the incident at the start. Our performance was short of where we want it to be, but both drivers gave their all. As our local race, it was fantastic to see so many people from Enstone here and we thank them all for their ongoing hard work.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: “That was a tough race for us and we weren’t able to deliver the pace we want to see from the E22. Both drivers worked hard to deliver their best in the circumstances but it was difficult for them to move forwards. Romain had a tough start but looked much better at the end of the race. Pastor suffered from an exhaust problem at the end of his race so we’ll investigate the cause of that, especially as he was involved in contact with another car during the course of the race. We now look forward to two days of testing here in Silverstone where we have a lot of work to do.”

Simon Rebreyend, Renault Sport F1 track support leader: “It’s been a tough weekend and less than we hoped for on the team’s home track. Finishing with one car in twelfth is little reward for all the hard work going on behind the scenes at Enstone and Viry. Pastor retired close to the end due to an exhaust failure, which the team will look into next week. On our side we managed the power unit as best we could today but the starting positions were just too far back to be able to make an impression.”

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WILLIAMS: EVERYBODY IS PUSHING AND EVERYBODY IS MOTIVATED

Valtteri Bottas achieved his best ever race result and a second consecutive podium in an eventful British Grand Prix today.

Felipe Massa was forced to retire after getting caught in a multi-car accident at the start that red flagged the race for nearly an hour.

After initially moving from 14th to ninth before the restart, Valtteri continued to make great progress with a brilliant drive through the field into an eventual second position.

Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: “It’s a slightly mixed weekend. It’s a great result for Valtteri and he showed incredible race craft throughout the whole race. You couldn’t ask for anything more from the driver; he changed his race around with those overtakes in the first stint. It’s really disappointing for Felipe as we clearly have a great car and could have had a double podium, but he will rebuild and has the support to bounce back. Everybody is pushing and everybody is motivated in the team, and as a result we are moving forward and that is the main aim. I am really proud of everything that we have done and a big thank you to everyone at the team here and in Grove for all the hard work.”

Valtteri Bottas: “We knew that this race would be good fun. We knew we had a quick car and maybe it surprised us it was so quick. The first stint we went through the field fast and that needed a bit of risk. I am so happy for the team, they have worked on race pace and it shows. We were thinking about points today not the podium, and the strategy guys did a great job. I really felt for Felipe today in his 200th race, and it was so nice of him to come to the podium with the team; I really appreciated that. We are a stronger team than we were in the first few races and it won’t be easy to stay near the top but we are doing a great job of it at the moment.”

Felipe Massa: “It has been a really difficult weekend. It was a bad start but after that I could catch up everyone and pass cars in the first few corners. The car felt great. Then there was the accident. Kimi came across the track and I never really had a chance to miss him, and sadly the damage was too much to continue. Luckily I turned as it could have been a worse accident. I hope Kimi is ok but it’s a weekend to forget for me personally; not the 200th grand prix I had planned.”

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RED BULL: A GOOD RESULT FOR THE TEAM

Red Bull team and drivers report on the British Grand Prix, Round 9 of the 2014 Formula 1 World Championship, at Silverstone;

Daniel Ricciardo: “I feel good! This is the best third place I’ve ever got. I’m not normally ecstatic with a third but I really am today, obviously to redeem myself from yesterday and also the fact that I don’t think we had an awesome race car today, but we made it work. We used the cards that we had and played the game well, so I was really happy to make a one stop work. For the last two laps, I saw Jenson coming and thought I was probably going to be a bit vulnerable but we held on. The one stop wasn’t planned. We pitted quite early on the Prime because we were quite slow and it wasn’t working, so we came in for the Option and, at one point, my engineer pretty much said alright four laps to go on this tyre then let’s box. I said the pace seems OK, the tyres aren’t getting any worse and let’s try and stay out or at least think about keeping me out there and he said OK we’ll look at our options. Then, a few laps later he said do you think you can go to the end, there’s 15 or 20 laps to go, and I said, at the moment I think we can give it a crack. And so, yeah, we did and it paid off!”

Sebastian Vettel: “It felt very close with Fernando – maybe a bit too close! It got a bit silly when we both started to complain about the other going off track; I don’t think the people care too much if the car is a little bit to the left or the right. I got the message that I should respect the limits and that he was complaining, so I was doing the same thing. I’m not sure who won the list keeping. I think twice it was maybe a bit too harsh into Turn 6, but it was good to get the move at the end. I expected to get third today, the pace was there but the strategy wasn’t right. I’m looking forward to my home race in Germany; it’s always special to race there.”

Christian Horner, Team Principal: “After the initial delay we elected to change both drivers onto the harder tyre for the restart, which we believed would give us more strategic options. We decided to pit relatively early to try and get the undercut on the McLaren cars ahead and, whilst that was successful with both the cars, unfortunately it put us out of the range of a one stop with Sebastian. After we pitted him for the second time, he dropped behind Fernando and then had an enthralling battle with him, finally making a great move to get the pass. However it cost him a great deal of time to be able to catch the cars ahead, so fifth was the maximum we could achieve with Sebastian today. Daniel stopped slightly later for the first stop, which bought the possibility of a one stop into play and he was able to conserve his tyres extremely well to make it work. So it was great for Daniel at our second home race to get a podium today.”

Thierry Salvi, Renault: “It’s a good result for the team today. Each race we push forward to get more and more performance from our Power Unit, and need to maintain or better this kind of result. Daniel had a different strategy to Seb and managed his tyres very well. Even though one stop was a gamble it was eventually the right choice. Seb had a difficult start and lost a couple of places and then had to work very hard to come back to the front. His overtaking move on Alonso was just fantastic. In the end I think he deserved more than fifth place but two cars in the top five is a result we’ll take at this point in the season.”

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SAUBER: WE COULD MAKE THE HARD TYRES WORK PROPERLY

Adrian Sutil and Esteban Gutiérrez were able to make up positions during the start of the British Grand Prix in Silverstone. After one lap the race had to be suspended due to a crash. Following the restart both Sauber F1 Team drivers were in 11th (Sutil) and 12th (Gutiérrez) until Esteban’s race was over on lap ten due to an accident. Sutil was quite competitive during the first half of the race, but lost positions during the second part, as he could not get the tyres to work. He finished 13th.

Esteban Gutiérrez “I had a good race start. After the restart I was fighting with Pastor (Maldonado). When I tried to overtake him in turn 16 he braked and did not leave me enough space. I was already beside him and could not avoid a collision with him. I feel very sorry for the team, as this is not the way a race should end. However, we have to look forward to the next races.”

Adrian Sutil “The race was relatively unspectacular for me. It took a few laps to overtake Jules (Bianchi), but afterwards I was able to constantly improve my lap times. We decided to go with a one-stop strategy. After the pit stop I could not get the hard tyres to work and was not fast enough anymore. Unfortunately I was rarely able to attack and had to defend most of the time.”

Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: “The team worked well during the weekend. In qualifying, which took place in changing weather conditions, everything was done right, however, we were not able to exploit our full potential. In the race it was obvious what our problem was. We were not able to make the hard tyres work properly. In the first part of the race our lap times were competitive. We will now have two days of testing in Silverstone this week, and we will work on further improving the competitiveness of the C33.”

Giampaolo Dall’Ara, Head of Track Engineering: “Both our drivers made good starts and were able to gain positions. After the re-start we lost time behind a slower car before we were able to overtake. From this moment on the performance was quite good, and it looked as if we were able to match the performance of some of our competitors. But then we lost Esteban’s car due to an incident. With Adrian we changed to the hard compound. From this moment on we lost competitiveness, because we were not able to make theses tyres work, which had an immediate influence on our performance and cost us a couple of positions. Overall, we were not fast enough to make it into the points.”

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MARUSSIA: A POSITIVE WEEKEND

After a fantastic result in Qualifying yesterday, the Marussia F1 Team experienced a rather more sobering race in today’s 2014 Formula 1 Santander British Grand Prix, albeit that they ended the day with Jules Bianchi in P14 and Max Chilton in P16.

The 52 lap race got off to a troubled start when Kimi Raikonnen had a huge crash on the exit of Turn 5 during the opening lap. A loose tyre released under impact bounced onto Max’s car, resulting in significant front end damage but thankfully with Max himself unscathed.

Max pitted for a new front wing and for further damage inspection as the race was red flagged, a move which ultimately cost him a drive through penalty. From his position in the pits, Max was forced to restart the race from the pit lane after the pack had passed through, the team having effected repairs to his car. His team-mate Jules Bianchi, who was too far ahead on the opening lap to be caught up in the melee, restarted the race from 10th position.

At the end of lap 2 following the restart, Max pitted for his drive through penalty and from then on had a lonely race at the back of the field. Nonetheless, he pushed hard and delivered impressive lap times, to eat away at the gap between him and the Caterhams ahead, which was subsequently reduced to just Kobayashi following a problem for Ericsson.

Jules drove a determined race, holding off the faster cars behind him for a good portion of the first stint before they were able to pass and demonstrating the improving pace of his MR03. He ended the race in P14 after Maldonado ahead was forced to retire and Max made it a two-car finish on home asphalt in P16.

Jules Bianchi #17: “From 10th place at the restart I had a very enjoyable opening stint after the restart. I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold off the faster cars behind me but it was a good test of our pace as to how long I could keep them behind for and this was a fun part of the race for me. After that I just had to push as hard as I could to stay with the pack in case any opportunity arose. What we did see today is that all we need is just a few more tenths a lap to allow us to keep pace with the Lotus and Sauber cars, so we have to focus now on finding that extra time.”

Max Chilton #4: “After yesterday’s Qualifying performance we were hopeful that we could have a good race today and we certainly didn’t anticipate the course of events that we did encounter. That was a scary moment when I was hit by the flying tyre. I was very lucky in one respect but massively unlucky given the damage to my car. I came into the pits because I needed a new front wing and for the team to take a look around the car, but of course by then the race had been red flagged. The team did a good job to repair the car from the pit lane and from then it was a tough race, with me pushing as hard as I could. I was happy to overtake Kobayashi so that I could then work away at closing the gap to him to unlap myself. I’m pleased we got both cars to the finish at our home race. We were hoping for more but with the circumstances we had it’s a good result.”

John Booth, Team Principal: “A very eventful first lap today and luckily the only damage as far as our team was concerned was damage to Max’s car rather than himself, so he was extremely lucky in this respect. We called Max in soon after the incident due to the need to change his front wing and check his front suspension, which the wheel had hit. Later in the lap we received the red flag notification but due to a radio issue we weren’t able to get the message through to Max to go straight to the grid. Consequently we incurred a hefty penalty, not just that of the drive through but also going down a lap on the Safety Car restart. From this point Max did well to stay focused and try to catch the cars in front in order to put himself in a position of being able to take advantage of any safety car, should it enable him to un lap himself. His pace was good and overall, despite the disappointment of his finishing position, he has been pleased with the performance of the car in the race. Jules had a very good opening stint, battling hard with the cars behind. Some were clearly quicker than us but he showed good racecraft in keeping them behind. At the point at which they broke through, as Caterham were so far behind it was more about minimising the gap to the Sauber and Lotus cars in front. Unfortunately we weren’t quite quick enough so we turn our attentions now to the test this week. One day is devoted to Pirelli testing but we hope the day we will devote to set-up work will bring us some more performance ahead of Germany.”

Claudio Albertini, Head of Customer Teams Power Unit Operations, Scuderia Ferrari: “It’s been a very busy weekend for the whole team, marked by the best performance in Qualifying in our short history thanks to Jules’ 12th and Max’s 13th places. Also the result of the race can be considered in a positive way; 14th and 16th places are in line with the potential of our package currently in a race characterised by several crashes and withdrawals. From the point of view of reliability, not everything went as it should this weekend, especially on Friday and Saturday. We are very sorry for the gearbox problem that occurred during FP3 on Max’s car, which prevented him maximising the best grid position of his career that he had deservedly achieved in front of the British fans. Today, the situation was much better but it is clear that we must work hard to raise our standards on this front in order to place the team in a position to be able to exploit its full planned programme for the weekend. The next two testing days, which will take place here on Tuesday and Wednesday, will be therefore very important especially reliability-wise.”

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FORCE INDIA: WE WERE EXPECTING MORE FROM THE RACE

Sahara Force India scored four points at Silverstone as Nico Hulkenberg finished the British Grand Prix in eighth place. Sergio Perez ended the race in eleventh place as he recovered from being tapped into a spin on the opening lap of the race;

Nico Hulkenberg “It was quite a tricky afternoon. My start was not great; I lost a couple of places, and after that we didn’t seem to have the pace to fight for big points. I was struggling with the balance, which may have been related to the wind because it was very gusty out there. I had some good battles, especially in the early laps, but we were just missing the performance to really fight today. It’s good to score points, but starting fourth we were hoping for more. We now need to regroup and come back stronger for my home race in Germany.”

Sergio Perez “We can’t really judge what our real pace was because the contact with Vergne at the start compromised our race. We dropped down to last and from down there it was very difficult to salvage something from this race. I struggled with the prime tyre early in the race, which would have been the best time to make up the ground I had lost. The car felt a lot better on the options, after our pit-stop, but our final stint was not enough to get back into the points. It was a real disappointment after the good qualifying position we had yesterday and I feel that we deserved some points from this weekend. We need to focus on the next race in Germany and I believe Hockenheim will be more suited to our car.”

Dr Vijay Mallya, Team Principal & Managing Director: “After such a strong Qualifying performance, we were naturally expecting more from today’s race. While circumstances played into our hands yesterday, today we were not so fortunate with Checo’s race heavily compromised by the contact with the Toro Rosso on lap one. The windy conditions also returned, which appeared to have an impact on our performance. On the positive side we continued our run of points finishes with Nico adding another four points to our tally. It means that Nico and the team have scored in every race this season. As we near the halfway point of the season the battle in the championship is closer than ever so it’s important that we respond with a stronger showing in Germany in a couple of weeks’ time.”