FORMULA 1 - 2016

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PIRELLI SHOW-OFF ENTIRE RANGE OF 2017 F1 TYRES

The entire range of new P Zero tyres in wider 2017 size is being presented in the Yas Marina paddock at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, together with a first look at the new tread pattern for the Cinturato intermediate and wet tyres.

The front tyre has grown wider by 60mm, going from 245 to 305mm. The rear tyre grows by 80mm, from 325 to 405mm. As a result, the 2017 tyres are around 25% wider than the current tyres. This applies to the intermediate and full wet tyres as well as the slicks.

The new 2017 slick tyre measurements are:

• 305/670-13 at the front
• 405/670-13 at the back

The Cinturato intermediate tyres will have a diameter of 675mm, while the Cinturato full wet tyres will have a diameter of 680mm.

The rim size remains unchanged at 13-inch.

Thanks to a change in FIA sporting regulations, development of the new 2017 tyres has taken place over 10 sessions, making a combined total of 24 cumulative days of running.

The test programme using individual mule cars began in early August, with the latest test concluding last week at Abu Dhabi with Ferrari. On the Tuesday after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (November 29) the three mule cars from Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull will all be seen on track together for the first time.

The three teams have each provided a modified 2015 car that has been adapted according to specific technical directives from the FIA in order to simulate next year’s regulations, with more downforce, a wider track and wider tyres.

Each car has so far completed seven days of running (as detailed in the test calendar) with the work equally split on slick tyres in all the different compounds as well as intermediate and wet tyres.

The November 29 test day at Abu Dhabi will be the eighth day of running for each of the three teams, making up a cumulative total of 24 days that completes this year’s development programme agreed by the teams, the FIA and Pirelli.

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Bite-size tech: Ferrari SF16-H build-up

A picture, as they say, is worth a thousand words and if this one could speak maybe it would have several volumes.

We may be at the end of the season but it is always nice to take the time to look at these kind of images not only because we may have missed something but also because it can prepare us for what is to come.

The SF16-H's floor left unmounted gives us plenty of detail to chew on but it's the items in the foreground that are most useful in discerning how it'll differ from its 2017 counterpart.

The splitter (along with the plank) which is partially hidden by the car stand will be 100mm shorter next year, which will not only have various aerodynamic effects but also have an impact on how ballast is placed within it.

You'll note that just to the splitter's right we find the internal crossbow that the team use to place weights within to achieve the car's measured minimum weight, which is at one of the lowest points of the car, improving its overall centre of gravity.

The multi element bargeboards that can be seen here will also change dramatically next year as the regulations once again permit much larger surfaces, like the ones we saw before 2009.

These should help to protect the floor and sidepods more effectively from the wake that is shed from the front tyre, which will be 25 percent wider itself, and will undoubtedly be an area of intense development throughout the season.

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Hockenheim boss confirms no F1 German GP in 2017

Hockenheim boss Georg Seiler has confirmed that there will be no German GP at the venue next season after negotiations with Bernie Ecclestone failed to produce an agreement.

The news means that there will be just 20 races on next year’s schedule, with Hungary likely to move to Germany’s July 30th date (see separate story).

“There was no offer that would have excluded all economic risks,” Hockenheim executive director Seiler told AutoBild. “But just that was always our prerequisite. A pity, but not a surprise considering that the date was subject to confirmation and no deal between F1 and the Hockenheimring was put in place.”

Ecclestone had already made it clear that the event was in trouble.

“I don’t know how we could ever save that race,” he told Motorsport.com in Brazil. “It’s commercial. What is incredible is that we’ve had all the German World Champions, they [Mercedes] have won the constructors’ championship, and will win the drivers’ championship for sure, and there’s no interest in Germany.

Ecclestone stated that Hockenheim’s offer was not enough.

“They’re saying, or I think they’re saying, ‘We’d be prepared to continue with the same terms and conditions that we’ve had for the last two or three years,’ which are no good for us," said Ecclestone. "We tried to keep them alive, but they’ve run out of tablets.”

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Vettel texted Verstappen after Brazilian GP

Sebastian Vettel texted Max Verstappen to clear the air after their latest clash at the Brazilian Grand Prix – as well as gauge his feelings on Formula 1’s current wet tyres.

Vettel was angry after the Interlagos event when he claimed that Verstappen pushing him wide at Juncao in their fight for position was ‘not correct’.

But speaking ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Verstappen revealed that his Ferrari rival had been in touch after the race – although it was not just to talk about their incident.

“He sent me a text after the race – but that was mainly about the tyres!” he said. “We are racing drivers and I think he quickly realised afterwards that he couldn’t hold me behind anyway.

“If we were fighting a lot, maybe he could complain a bit more. But it was a very fair move. In Turn 4, he tried to do the same to me but I quickly realised what he was going to do to me so I backed off and I stayed behind.

“So I did the same to him – and overtook him. We were next to each other and he kept going around the outside. At one point I can’t do more because I am on the inside where it is more slippery. And we didn’t really touch.”

When asked if he felt his stunning charge through the field had proven his critics wrong, he said: “I always thought it [my driving] is fine, in general.

“I am always focusing on myself, trying to do the best possible result and race, and that is how it goes. I don’t care about other opinions.”

     

Beating Vettel

Verstappen heads into the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix five points behind Vettel in their battle for fourth place in the drivers’ championship.

When asked if it mattered for him if he managed to overhaul the German, he said: “To be honest, it would be nice to be ahead but the first four races I was not in a Red Bull car, so you always lose points already. I can be happy already to be that close.

“If I finish fourth in the championship it is a bonus, but if I finish fifth that is fine as well because at the end of the day it doesn’t make a massive difference. I'm only here to finish first, second I don’t care.”

Wet tyre improvements

Regarding Vettel’s messages regarding tyres, Verstappen agreed that improvements could be made – but reckoned it was hard for him to deliver a definitive verdict because he had only ever driven Pirelli wets.

“I think there can be some improvements done, for me it is difficult for me to judge that because I haven’t driven other wet tyres on an F1 car

“For sure it was hard with the standing water but I am sure Pirelli is doing everything they can to give us the best tyres. We have to speak to them and try to work together to get a better tyre.”

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What makes an F1 twilight race so challenging?

Nico Rosberg previews the last race of the 2016 F1 season, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit, together with Chief Race Engineer Andrew Shovlin.

 

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Synergy – Jenson Button & Fernando Alonso On Teamwork At McLaren-Honda

Racing isn’t just about what happens on track, and it is the tremendous work that goes on behind the scenes which often goes unnoticed. Mobil 1 The Grid caught up McLaren-Honda’s Simon Roberts, Tom Stallard and drivers Jenson Button & Fernando Alonso, to find out more about what it takes to create and maintain a perfect team harmony.

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RED BULL AND TAG HEUER EXTEND ENGINE DEAL

Former world champions Red Bull will race with TAG Heuer-branded engines until at least the end of the 2018 Formula 1 season, both sides announced on Friday.

The power units are supplied by Renault, which has its own works team and will also provide engines to Red Bull-owned Toro Rosso next year.

Red Bull’s relationship with Renault hit the rocks after the French manufacturer started the new V6 turbo hybrid era in 2014 with an uncompetitive and unreliable unit.

Luxury watch brand TAG Heuer, who had been long-term partners to McLaren, switched to Red Bull this year with their name on the engine instead of Renault.

Renault has made big steps since then, and Red Bull are the only team other than dominant world champions Mercedes to have won races this season. They are also sure to finish the year second overall.

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WEHRLEIN CONFIRMS SAUBER TALKS BUT NO DEAL YET

Amid reports that Felipe Nasr has lost backing from Banco do Brasil, and thus little chance of being retained by Sauber for 2017, Pascal Wehrlein has emerged as a candidate for the drive with the Swiss team.

Wehrlien is managed by Mercedes, thus a deal with Sauber appeared unlikely as the team is a Ferrari powered team.

The highly rated German rookie was asked by reporters if talks with Sauber and his minders were happening, he replied, “Yes”

And added, “I was surprised, but in the end not too much because Manor and Sauber are the only two teams with a seat left for next year. Of course it could be a possibility for next year but nothing is done for next year, nothing is signed. There are just these two options.”

“I have to wait and see what will be decided. Mercedes is talking for me, talking about next year and for my future. So I am waiting, I’m driving, I’m doing my best here and focusing on that. Everything else I will try not to focus on and try to do 100% here.”

There are mounting fears that Manor are financially unstable as they have dropped to the foot of the constructors’ championship standings which will hit them hard financially.

Asked which team will be the better option for him, Wehrlein said, “I think both could be a very good option. It’s difficult to say, next year has new regulations and everything is new so in terms of performance I don’t know where would be the better place.”

“Both options could be interesting and nice but in the end there’s normally always one better option. Normally you don’t have two similar or equal options, so I think if there are two, Mercedes will decide which is the better one,” added the German.

Meanwhile Nasr’s future looks bleak as his long time backers, Banco do Brasil, are making big cut backs and closing branches and retrenching staff. Formula 1 sponsorship is a luxury which the company can no longer justify.

Only three Formula 1 seats remain to be confirmed for 2017, one at Sauber and two with Manor.

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BUTTON REVEALS HELMET FOR SPECIAL OCCASION

Jenson Button is resigned to the fact that he will racing his final grand prix in Abu Dhabi this weekend, and for the special occasion he has devised a special edition helmet

The 2009 Formula 1 World Champion posted the news on his Instagram: “I go into this Grand Prix with the mindset that it’s my last race in F1 so I thought I’d bring back some memories from my World Championship winning year with a little hint of Pink for papa. I think it looks absolutely awesome, hope you guys do too.”

The helmet is reminiscent to the one he wore during his championship winning year with Brawn GP.

It also features prominently the following quote. “We arrive into F1 with dreams and leave with memories.”

Buttonwill line-up on the F1 grid for the 305th time on Sunday in Abu Dhabi.

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Toro Rosso tweaks suspension after wheel rim failures

Toro Rosso has made a number of modifications to its car – including its rear suspension – in a bid to eradicate the wheel rim failures that have hit its running in recent grands prix.

Daniil Kvyat and Carlos Sainz were confined to the garage for much of second practice at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after it suffered two left rear failures in the practice sessions.

The latest incidents come after a spate of similiar incidents that began at the United States Grand Prix last month.

The team has not yet got a conclusive answer as to why it has suddenly began to suffer the problems, but is hoping that tweaks to its car can help it complete this weekend without further issue.

However, it is understood the team is unsure if the rim failures are being caused by the components themselves, or because the rims are being snagged on suspension or another part of the wheel set-up.

Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost confirmed, however, that both its drivers would be back in action in Saturday’s final free practice session.

Kvyat, who suffered the Abu Dhabi failures in first and second free practice, admitted on Friday night that a complete answer to the situation would not be easy to find.

“I think it’s going to take a long time. We just need to understand,” he said. “I’m confident the guys will learn everything. It’s going to be a longer evening that usual, but of course these things require investigations.

“We don’t want these things to happen any more. It’s cost us a full Friday. I didn’t do anything today. We’ll do our best to be in the correct window, just go out and hope the issue will be fixed.

"There’s nothing I can do from my side. I’m fully in the hands of the team at this stage.”

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ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING: HAMILTON UNTOUCHABLE

Lewis Hamilton signaled his intent with a commanding performance during qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where he out-qualified his Mercedes teammate and title rival Nico Rosberg by three tenths of a second and set himself up in the best possible way for a vital victory.

The reigning F1 World Champion was untouchable throughout the session, run in the Abu Dhabi dusk, which started with him drilling home the advantage, over his title rival, in Q1 when he ended up a second quicker than anyone else.

Hamilton was not always the fastest through the first sector, but he owned the second sector and was simply mega in the final third of the lap, as he powered to his fourth top spot in a row and the 61st pole position start of his career.

He said afterwards, “It was strange coming here this weekend as it was the last practices and qualifying with this car, it’s been incredible. It’s been such a privilege driving this car.”

“I wouldn’t have had the 61 poles I have now if it wasn’t for everyone at the factory, so thanks to them. First sector, I knew I had pace so I didn’t overcook into Turn 1 and on the rest of the lap I had it under control,” added Hamilton.

Rosberg chased his teammate throughout the session and in the end will be relieved to start the race on the front row. After all he needs only to finish on the podium, on race day, to claim his first world title. Thus it was another case of job done for him on the night.

“I have come here to try and be on pole and try and win the race tomorrow,” said Rosberg. “I am not ecstatic by today, Lewis was just that bit quicker but there are still opportunities tomorrow and I’ll go for the win.

“Adrenaline is always there in qualifying for sure. I was feeling good out there and had a good balance. As qualifying went on I was feeling better and better and got a good lap but in the end, not quite good enough.”

The much anticipated Red Bull ‘spanner-in-the-works’ simply did not materialise, although Daniel Ricciardo did qualify third, he was half a second off Rosberg’s pace and over three quarters of a second down on Hamilton’s best – the Silver Arrows have had the ability all season to crank out a few more horses when required.

Nevertheless, the Australian will start the race with the Pirelli supersofts, as Red Bull opted to run both their drivers on the tyre in Q2 as opposed to the faster but less durable ultrasofts, which may well provide the drama in the race.

Ricciardo said, “We’ve got to try something. It seems to be a bit of a trend this year, if we’re in a position to qualify on a different tyre we’re try and see if it gives us an opportunity.”

“I was pretty slow starting the qualifying session but Q3, when it matters, I put in some good times. Third was the target, hopefully we can be somewhere up here [on the podium] tomorrow,” added the Red Bull driver.

Sebastian Vettel ended the morning FP3 session fastest, but that form did not carry over for him as he could only mange fifth when it mattered, while his teammate Kimi Raikkonen was fourth fastest, thus ending the season having out-qualified the German 11 to 10.

Max Verstappen looked good for a top three time early in the session, his supersoft time was only half a second off the top time in Q2 set with ultrasofts. But he did not manage to hook it all up in his final run of Q3 and aborted the lap. He was sixth fastest.

As has become the custom of late, Force India were best of the rest with Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez set to start from seventh and eighth on the grid.

Fernando Alonso was ninth quickest in the McLaren, ahead of Felipe Massa in the Williams who will start his final grand prix from tenth.

McLaren’s Jenson Button, who is also expected to retire from F1 after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, will line-up 12th on the grid for his final race.

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ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX: TEAMS REPORT FROM QUALIFYING

Teams and drivers report from qualifying day for the 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit.

Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton, 1st: “It’s been an awesome weekend so far. It’s rare that you end almost every session on top, so I’m very, very happy, with that. It’ s down to the hard work done by the mechanics and the engineers to get the car where I need it, so I’m grateful to them for that, as always. I felt so great out there tonight. It’s really sad that this is the last Qualifying session we’re going to do in this car! It’s a dream for any driver to have something this good to drive. I’ ve been doing my practice starts from the pole slot all weekend as I wasn’t planning on being anywhere else for tomorrow. I came here knowing that was a big part of what I needed this weekend and, now I’ve got that, I can focus on the race. Getting away in front will be the next important step. You need a big pace delta to overtake here, so the start will be crucial. Tonight, though, I need to look at strategy and how things need to work for me to get the win. At the moment, my pace is that little bit better. But I can’t control what happens behind me. All I can do is focus on my own race. You never know what might get thrown into the mix, so I’m just hoping my car is as beautiful as it has been so far this weekend and aiming for the win.”

Nico Rosberg, 2nd: “I came here to be on pole, so I’m not ecstatic today. I was feeling good in the car today and put in some good laps at the end. But Lewis did a great job and was just a few tenths quicker. I’ m still in a good position to win the race and I want to end the season on a high. There are a few opportunities tomorrow, so I look forward to an exciting battle. The Yas Marina Circuit is a great track and I’m feeling very good before the last race of the year. I am proud and happy about how this season has gone for me until now. Tonight I will relax a bit with Vivian and some friends and come back tomorrow in top shape.”

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: “No matter what it looks like from the outside, a 1-2 lockout in qualifying is never easy to achieve. So it’s a great result for the team to see this car take the front row in its final ever race weekend before it heads to the museum. It was also a great driving demonstration from our boys this evening. Lewis was on his own level all the way through, setting the benchmark in Q1 and never headed after that. As for Nico, he did exactly what he needed to do tonight, and could perhaps have been a little bit closer without a couple of errors on his lap. But it sets up the perfect scenario for tomorrow’s race – and we have Red Bull running the alternative tyre strategy, too, which could add a little bit of spice to the race. They will be looking to put us under pressure with that move and we’ll see how things play out. As for us, we will be going racing just the same way as we have done all year. The boys are free to race, like they always have been, and we will stay true to our values and principles that have served us so well in the past three seasons. It’s going to be a thrilling showdown to a fantastic season.”

Paddy Lowe, Executive Director (Technical): “A terrifically exciting session! We’re very conscious that the whole world is watching the duel between Nico and Lewis and we are delighted to have given them both the platform they needed to put on a great spectacle this evening. Qualifying is hugely important at this circuit and, for the race tomorrow, it could even make the difference between winning a Championship and just missing out. Fortunately, from a team perspective, everything went according to plan, with both drivers able to complete their laps without any issues. We saw incredible pace from both of them at the end to secure a front row lockout. Round one of the battle this weekend has gone to Lewis, so congratulations to him for putting his car in the best possible position with an extraordinary lap. He didn’t put a foot wrong all evening. For Nico, Q1 didn’t go according to plan – but he pulled it back and was right on the pace when it mattered. We look forward to seeing how their battle unfolds tomorrow. Of course, this was the final Qualifying session of the year, so we must be extremely proud to come away with such a result. Qualifying is the ultimate measure of the pace of a car, so congratulations to the team at Brackley, Brixworth and Stuttgart for ending the season with such a large performance margin to the rest of the field.”

Red Bull

Daniel Ricciardo, 3rd: “I’m definitely pleased I got the third place I was after. It feels really good. This morning was hard, I did a run quite early and I was nearly a second off Max so it didn’t look good on paper but the track warmed up so much that we didn’t really know what to expect coming into quali. Q1 was a little bit slow but then I picked it up and Q3 was solid enough so I was happy. We’ll see about the strategy. It’s just nice to do something different to Mercedes. We know on the same equipment they’re probably going to be quicker so we feel it should make us go a little bit longer at the start and then perhaps we can bring the race back to us towards the end when our tyres might be a bit different. For tomorrow of course I wish I was in their position, obviously they’ve both got a little bit more pressure than us this weekend, which I’m kind of envious about. But if the win is there for me tomorrow then I’ll go for it and there will be no holding back. You always have this level of respect as they’re fighting for the title, but if they leave the door open and I think I can pass, then I won’t make it easy for them and let them sail into the sunset.”

Max Verstappen, 6th: “I’m pretty disappointed with sixth today. Qualifying up until Q3 went very well, we had no issues and didn’t touch the car. In my last run I was pushing hard and a few tenths up but I locked up into turn 11, if not for that I feel I would have been around P3. It was a bit unfortunate as my pace was there and the car felt good. It would have been great to be a bit higher on the grid as the tyre strategy means that by starting on the supersoft we need a really strong start and to be careful with the cars behind. We should be able to stay out a bit longer, the tyre seems to work well in the higher temperatures so this suits the start of the race. The pace has been there all weekend so I am definitely aiming to go forward tomorrow and work my way to the guys up front. I will put today behind me and focus on having a strong race and closing the season with another successful result.”

Christian Horner, Team Principal: “A great final lap by Daniel to find that half a tenth to move himself ahead of Kimi to get the best seat for tomorrow’s start. It was a shame for Max because he was up on his lap but when he arrived at turn 11 he just lost the front axle and therefore the time that he had found was gone. Nonetheless starting third and sixth on the grid here for what’s bound to be an exciting start tomorrow is not a bad place to be. Strategically we’ve chosen to start on the supersoft tyre believing it to be a little bit more robust than the ultrasoft which again brings another dimension to the race. Hopefully if we can get a good start then we should be in good shape with those tyres.”

Sauber

Marcus Ericsson, 22nd: “A disappointing qualifying for me. The car has been difficult to drive throughout the weekend, especially on the ultrasoft tyres. We were already struggling to find a good feel on them yesterday in the practice sessions. We knew that it would not be an easy qualifying. On my last lap in Q1 it was a shame that I pushed a bit over the limit and locked up the tyres into Turn 17. I lost all my lap time there. When it comes to tomorrow, the long-run pace was looking encouraging compared to the short-runs, so I am still optimistic that we can be stronger in the race.”

Felipe Nasr, 19th: “I felt that I extracted the maximum out of the car today. Although it was not enough to make it into Q2. I had a clean lap on my second set of ultrasoft tyres, so putting in a decent lap time. It was positive that we were able to make the tyres work better than on my first set. Besides that, I again had a misfire on my quick lap. Thinking about tomorrow, we need to make sure that we maintain our tenth position in the championship. This is our clear objective.”

Haas

Romain Grosjean, 14th: “I’m disappointed with that qualifying session. Clearly, we were hoping for a bit better. We had a lot of problems yesterday and we were still hoping that we’d made the right decisions. We did as much as we could, but we need to get more understanding of the tyres. I think we’re spending too much energy just to get all four corners working. It’s the same for everyone, so that’s where we need to focus. We’ve seen that when we get things right, like in Brazil, we’re very fast. When we’re not, we’re usually around 14th and 15th. That’s the number one priority for now. For the race tomorrow, I’ve got no idea what to think. I didn’t get to do any long runs. It’ll be interesting to see how it goes.”

Esteban Gutierrez, 13th: “It’s been quite a tricky day, starting with FP3 conditions where it was pretty hot. Obviously, it was important to understand how the conditions would change the balance of the car going into qualifying with it going into the night and temperatures dropping. I feel very grateful to have achieved this result for my team. My group of mechanics and engineers having been giving it their best efforts even though it’s quite an emotional weekend for all of us being our last race together. They deserve to have my best, and I’ll give them the best of my focus, attitude and performance.”

Guenther Steiner, Team Principal: “It was an average day. I think for the last qualifying session of the season we did a decent job. Two weeks ago in Brazil it was better, but still, we are in a position to get into the points tomorrow. That would be a nice finish to our first season together. There’s some work ahead of us and we will try to get it done.”

Ferrari

Kimi Raikkonen, 4th: “It was a pretty good qualifying, the car has behaved well all day. Today we went a lot faster than we had been in practice, we did our best and it was almost enough for third place, but my last lap was not perfect in some places. It’s hard to say if we’ll be able to fight with the Mercedes tomorrow: usually in race conditions we are a bit closer, but I’m sure they will also be very strong. Tomorrow we can only do our best, we’ll try to make a good start and then we’ll see.”

Sebastian Vettel, 5th: “I’m not really happy with the result. I was struggling a bit with the balance of the car to start with. In the end it was good, but then in the last lap I had a bit of a messy last sector. I saw a bit of smoke from Verstappen ahead, enough to lose a bit of concentration. After this morning we were expecting a bit more, not really to fight the Mercedes, but to beat Red Bulls. I don’t think we were any slower, but we didn’t get the lap together when it mattered, probably we were a bit on the aggressive side trying to anticipate the track conditions. For tomorrow it should be positive, for tonight it was a bit too much. Otherwise the car feels good, we managed to improve it today. Mercedes are a bit far away, but we hope to get ahead and be in front of Red Bulls tomorrow. We are on the softer compound, which should give us an advantage off the line and for the first lap.”

Williams

Felipe Massa, 10th: “It definitely was not a very easy qualifying today, but I was happy with the result. To be honest, I wasn’t happy with the tyres but I just tried my hardest to set a good lap. I had a very good time in Q2, which was important. I definitely expected a bit more from my lap in Q3, but maybe I didn’t have as much grip in the tyres as Q2. We’re not far from where we expected to be and we will see what we can do compared to the other cars.”

Valtteri Bottas, 11th: “Obviously I would have liked to have been in Q3, but for some reason I couldn’t get any extra grip from the ultrasoft tyre compared to the supersoft. The car felt very good with the supersoft tyre, but I don’t feel like we got the most out of the qualifying tyre. However, tomorrow is a different game. P11 gives me a free choice of tyres for the race, so that can open up opportunities. Lately, Force India have been finishing races ahead of us so it would be nice to end the season with a good result for the whole team and for Felipe. There’s obviously a title battle on the line up at the front, so that could create quite an exciting race ahead.”

Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: “Felipe was more comfortable on the ultrasoft tyre than Valtteri today. It’s a shame Felipe wasn’t able to repeat his Q2 time to get himself into ninth rather than 10th. In Valtteri’s case, he just couldn’t get the qualifying tyre working. So, we’re 10th and 11th and that’s not where we want to be, but we won’t give up. We will keep pushing and do what we can. We’re in a position to get some points tomorrow and finish the season on an upward trajectory.”

Force India

Nico Hulkenberg, 7th: “I’m very happy and I think seventh place was probably the maximum result for us today. I’m pleased with my laps, especially considering the lack of running I have had this weekend, sitting out FP1 and missing half of final practice. Going into qualifying I thought it was going to be quite difficult, but we made good progress with the car during the session and I had the confidence to really push on all of my laps. Hopefully we can deliver more of the same tomorrow to end the season and my time with Force India in style. The cars ahead in the top six may be just out of reach, but we will give it a go and see where we end up.”

Sergio Perez, 8th: “I am pleased with the result for the team, locking down the fourth row of the grid, but I am not very happy with my performance because I know I could have done better. I had a bit of understeer on my last lap so I tried to change my lines to counter it, but it didn’t really work. I could have been in P7 with a perfect lap, but with Nico just ahead it’s still a great result for the team. I am looking forward to our last race as teammates and beating the cars around us to finish the season on a high note. I want to outscore our rivals because finishing fourth in the championship is a really important objective for us.”

Otmar Szafnauer, Chief Operating Officer: “To end the final qualifying session of the year with both cars inside the top eight is an excellent effort by the entire team. The car has been competitive in all the sessions, but it’s been a challenging day with Nico losing quite a lot of track time in final practice. Despite this, he was able to secure seventh place on the grid. Sergio was matching him lap for lap and ended the session just one hundredth shy to lock out the fourth row of the grid. Looking ahead to the race, we’re well placed to bring home a strong result to sign off what has been the most successful season in the team’s history.”

Toro Rosso

Daniil Kvyat, 17th: “After all the problems we’ve been struggling with this weekend, today’s result is actually the maximum we could achieve, at least from my side – I don’t think I could’ve done a better lap to be honest. We’ve had very little track time during the practice sessions, so it was difficult to go into qualifying without many laps under my belt… I’m happy with the recovery and we still have a chance to fight tomorrow, when I will try and do a clean race and see where we end up. We’re also going blind into the race, as we didn’t complete any long runs, but we will keep fighting until the end, that’s for sure!”

Carlos Sainz, 21st: “Honestly, it’s being a very tough last two days here in Abu Dhabi, which is a bit painful as I really wanted to finish the season with a clean weekend and enjoy myself. The team has struggled to solve the problem regarding the rear of the car and, because of this, we haven’t had much track time unfortunately. We’re working hard and every time we do a change on the car it seems to be positive – the team has done a great job since yesterday. Obviously, this has conditioned our set-up and we’ve not had much time to develop it or get used to the track – something which is not ideal when you’re preparing for a race. Tomorrow we are starting from very back on the grid but let’s see what we can do – I will definitely try and enjoy it, hope for no reliability concerns and follow a good strategy. Let’s go for it!”

Jody Egginton, Head of Vehicle Performance: “Following the issue we suffered yesterday, the race team and factory staff have worked hard overnight to find a solution, which has allowed us to conduct some running in FP3 and follow this up with a full Q1 programme. Clearly, the lack of running has limited the opportunities for the drivers to get comfortable with the car and evolve the set-up during this event. This has resulted in both cars not getting through to Q2. It is disappointing, as we know that under normal circumstances the team, drivers and car are capable of much more. Qualifying itself was straight forward operationally, but with the lack of performance running conducted by both drivers and as a result of the delta to our immediate competitors being greater than normal, we elected to make three runs. This was meant to provide both drivers with the maximum opportunity with a package which has not been optimised so far this event. Regardless of the lack of running, both drivers approached qualifying fully committed and extracted as much performance as possible from their cars. We now shift our focus to the race and will try to take any opportunity which comes our way to improve our race position… we have nothing to lose!”

McLaren

Fernando Alonso, 9th: “I think we have to be happy today: it was definitely a good quali for us. The conditions are always difficult here, because you practice in hot conditions, then head into qualifying when the track conditions are much cooler. That means you need to anticipate what’s going to happen, and make set-up changes a little blindly as you don’t really know how the conditions are going to change. Happily, our car felt competitive, and making it into Q3 and finishing 9th in the final qualifying session of the season is extremely positive. We capitalised the performance of the car today and we got everything we possibly could out of it. There are no big threats from behind us in terms of the championship, and it’ll be hard tomorrow to finish higher than the position we’re already in, so let’s just enjoy this final race and hopefully finish on a high by scoring some good points.”

Jenson Button, 12th: “It was good fun out there this evening – I enjoyed it. As the track cooled down, we needed to balance the car up with more front-end grip, but didn’t have anything left in the car, so the resulting understeer cost me a little bit of time. To be fair, however, 12th position isn’t a bad place to be for tomorrow: we get to run new tyres. With these tyre regulations, it’s often better to start outside the top 10 in order to best free up the strategy for the race. And I’d definitely rather have a good race tomorrow than a good qualifying today. None of the compounds last for long around here, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens tomorrow – points are definitely possible.”

Eric Boullier, Racing Director: “Both drivers did a very good job in qualifying this evening, optimising all the available performance their cars had to offer. The result – P9 for Fernando and P12 for Jenson – provides a good platform from which both of them will be able to aim for points-scoring finishes tomorrow. In particular, it would be very nice if Jenson scores in what may or may not end up being his last Grand Prix – and the fact that he’ll have a free hand as regards tyre choice will assist him we hope.”

Yusuke Hasegawa, Honda R&D Co Ltd Head of F1 Project & Executive Chief Engineer: “McLaren-Honda was able to make the most of the last qualifying session of the 2016 season today, with Fernando reaching Q3 and finishing P9, and Jenson in P12, a good position to start with fresh tyres in tomorrow’s race. Both drivers were happy with the car’s balance and performance as well as their laps in each of the sessions, and are looking forward to tomorrow’s race, which is very encouraging for the team. This afternoon’s FP3 was also a busy session, and the team did a superb and professional job of setting up the car for qualifying. We think that our race pace is again good here so we are hoping for a successful end-of-year race tomorrow.”

Renault

Kevin Magnussen, 18th: “We’ve been lacking pace so far here in Abu Dhabi and that was the same for qualifying today ; it just hasn’t been my weekend. We had three runs planned but I was called into the weighbridge so that didn’t help. Hopefully we can have a good race, as a lot more can happen and we’ll be looking for every opportunity to fight our way forward”

Jolyon Palmer, 15th: “I’m really happy with how we’ve been going ; I’ve been in Q2 at every race I’ve qualified for after the Malaysia GP now so it’s been a strong run for us including today. Yas Marina isn’t the easiest of tracks for us but I did a really good lap in Q1 and managed to beat Wehrlein in Q2, so fifteenth is probably as good as it can get. I think our race pace is a bit stronger, so we should be able to move forward. If something kicks off at the start and we make up some places then we have the pace to stay up there.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: “Today was a similar story to what we’ve seen at a number of recent races ; we didn’t quite get the optimum out of the car however this didn’t impact greatly on our grid position. Jolyon made a small mistake on his second Q2 run, however a perfect lap would only have put him nearer to the car ahead, not in front of it. Kevin struggled to unlock the pace when needed and grappled with some front wheel lock-ups on his second Q1 run so missed out on Q2. The data points to a two-stop strategy as the norm with the majority of racing taking place on Pirelli’s soft compound. There’s still a bit of movement around those two aspects and we have seen in the past that track position can be important here as the car in front can be difficult to pass.”

Manor

Pascal Wehrlein, 16th: “My fifth time in Q2 this year and that’s a really special way to finish in the last qualifying of the year! In Q2 I only had one set of Ultrasoft tyres so my second run was the limit and it wasn’t possible to improve any more. But I think we have to be happy with P16 and my thanks to the team because together we’ve done a really great job so far this weekend. I like the track but I don’t think it’s our best one, so we’re really pushing hard to end the season in a positive way. Well, who knows. We’re in front of Sauber and our pace looks really strong, so you never know what might be possible and what might happen in front of us. I think we should dream big and push for points. Why not? Brazil was a tough day for us, so I would love to put the smile back on everyone’s faces.”

Esteban Ocon, 20th: “Yes, my qualifying was a disaster. Free practice looked positive this morning and we were ahead, but as soon as we put the Ultrasoft on I was standing still and my team mate and everyone else was improving. There was nothing more in terms of pace on that tyre for me. I was losing speed and we have to look at what the problem was because for sure, there was one. It’s a great track, which I enjoy, and up until qualifying the signs are all good in terms of our performance. I’m starting at a disadvantage in terms of grid position, but if we can get a good start – and we know we can – then I hope we can recover some places and have a good race.”

Dave Ryan, Racing Director: “The first thing I’d like to say today is what a fantastic job the whole team has done so far this weekend and in the couple of weeks since that very disappointing day in Brazil. We could have been forgiven for letting our heads drop and writing off the season there and then, but instead, we’ve dusted ourselves off and decided to throw everything we have at the finale. Even though it’s only Saturday, I think everyone should be very proud of themselves. Which brings me to our drivers: both of them. Pascal did an excellent job to get us into Q2 for the fifth time this season and was clearly enjoying himself out there. His two runs were flawless and everything seemed to go right for him. With Esteban, he had a slightly interrupted FP3 this morning and then, for reasons we need to establish, the Ultrasoft tyre was just not working for him. Nonetheless, we have good pace here – both drivers have demonstrated that – and I’m sure we’ll see a great fight from them tomorrow.”

Pirelli

Paul Hembery, Motorsport Director: “Track and air temperatures fell throughout the session, and we were also a full 11 degrees cooler on track than the FP3 session earlier in the day. In these unique conditions the ultrasoft came into its own, but there was an interesting variation in strategy from Red Bull, which has opted to start the race on the supersoft. How these different tactics play out will be a key aspect of the race and potentially the championship outcome tomorrow.”

[MIKA27]

Button says decision not to race in F1 in 2017 was made too early

Jenson Button has admitted his decision not to race in Formula 1 in 2017 was made too early, affecting his mindset, even though he is happy with the decision.

The 36-year-old chose to step down from a race seat in 2017 during the August break, with a public announcement made at the Italian Grand Prix in September.

Since the August break, Button's form has been patchy and while there have been strong qualifying performances at Spa and Sepang, he has only scored points twice in eight races compared to team-mate Fernando Alonso's five and has been eliminated in Q1 three times.

"I still feel August is quite early, personally," said Button when asked about the timing of his announcement.

"When a driver decides he is going to leave or retire from the sport, you should try and do it as late as possible.

"I did it way too early. I think the mindset definitely changes, which is a shame.

"I didn't think it would, but it definitely does."

Button will start his 305th grand prix, and possibly his last if he does not return to a race seat in 2018, in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

He stressed that he does not see this as the last race before retirement, stressing that he intends to keep racing until he's 70.

"Tomorrow is a big day, but I don't go into the last race saying 'I can't wait until it's over'.

"I go into the last race excited, knowing that I'm going to have a great race and I will give it my all as I do every grand prix.

"I'm definitely not retiring. I'll be working here with the team next year, I'll be racing in other things and in the future I will be driving until I'm 70-odd years old.

"I'm not retiring until then - it's just whether I get paid to do it or not, that's the only difference."

Button also said that he's more concerned about enjoying the race than his result.

"That's what I'm looking forward to, a good race [but] to be fair it doesn't matter where I finish.

"It's more about the fight and having fun out there."

[MIKA27]

Massa given Brazilian GP car by Williams as leaving gift

Felipe Massa has been given his Brazilian Grand Prix car by the Williams team as a leaving gift, ahead of his Formula 1 retirement.

The 11-time F1 race winner joined Williams in 2014, following stints at Sauber and Ferrari. At the Italian GP earlier in the year he announced his retirement from F1 at the end of this season.

He will compete in his final race at today’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit and will line up 10th on the grid.

Team members, friends and family and fellow drivers gathered at the track on Saturday night for a farewell party to celebrate his 15-year career in F1.

Tributes to the Brazilian driver were given, with Williams deputy team principal Claire Williams thanking Massa for his contribution to the Grove-based outfit.

She also presented Massa with several gifts to mark his retirement, including a cartoon of his time in the series.

Williams also said the team was giving Massa the chassis he drove at this year’s Brazilian GP, which featured Massa branding and the phrase ‘Obrigado’ – meaning “thank you” in Portuguese – on the rear wing.

His final F1 race today in Abu Dhabi will be his 250th grand prix start.

[MIKA27]

Sebastian Vettel says Max Verstappen's lock-up cost him a shot at third place

Sebastian Vettel feels he could have secured third on Sunday's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix grid, but a mistake by Max Verstappen ahead of him caused him to lose some rhythm and the tenth he needed to slot in behind the Mercedes cars.

Vettel qualified just +0.072 slower than Daniel Ricciardo in third, but an incredibly tight fight behind Mercedes meant those few hundredths cost him two positions, dropping him to fifth behind Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.

"He [Verstappen] went off, I saw some smoke, I got past him," he explained.

"I don't think he was in the way, but I lost a little bit the rhythm and the last sector wasn't as tidy as it should've been. Otherwise I think we would have gone to P3."

Verstappen alluded to the lock-up and believes he too had the pace to be third on the grid.

"I’m pretty disappointed with sixth today," said Verstappen. "Qualifying up until Q3 went very well, we had no issues and didn’t touch the car.

"In my last run I was pushing hard and a few tenths up but I locked up into turn 11, if not for that I feel I would have been around P3. It was a bit unfortunate as my pace was there and the car felt good."

[skalls]

Lewis finished the race and season on the wambulance.  Didn't really like his slowing down purposefully to cause something to happen behind him, but racing's racing.

Nico did a fantastic job hanging on and doing enough to win the title.  Were there 22 races I don't think he wins the title though...

Vettel's attitude this year kind of annoyed me but man he was on a rocket ship today.  I think he burned his tires up getting beyond Verstappen.  

Overall a fun season with far more fun races to watch than 2015.  Looking forward to the new cars next year.  And thanks again Mika27 for keeping this post updated throughout the year.

[Baldy]

Racing karma this season.  Nico had the more reliable car this year but it wasn't always so.  Hamilton partied a little too much after the summer break after catching Rosberg before the summer break. Today's race really showed how much faster Mercedes' pace vs the rest of the field.  Next year will be interesting as RB and maybe Ferrari should be closer.  So long Jensen Button and thanks for the memories.

[ErikB]

Great season . Thanks Mika


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[RijkdeGooier]

Crazy season. 

Best drivers Hamilton and mad Max. 

Another great drive from Max after spinning  

Looking forward to next year to see if RB and Ferrari can compete. 

[MIKA27]

7 hours ago, skalls said:

Lewis finished the race and season on the wambulance.  Didn't really like his slowing down purposefully to cause something to happen behind him, but racing's racing.

Nico did a fantastic job hanging on and doing enough to win the title.  Were there 22 races I don't think he wins the title though...

Vettel's attitude this year kind of annoyed me but man he was on a rocket ship today.  I think he burned his tires up getting beyond Verstappen.  

Overall a fun season with far more fun races to watch than 2015.  Looking forward to the new cars next year.  And thanks again Mika27 for keeping this post updated throughout the year.

Mate Lewis can say all he likes about being better but this just showed he didn't want to race, just played dirty instead of racing it out and being humble about it. 

Well deserved by Nico, I am so happy he won and was great to see Ferrari on the podium. I wish the Mercedes camp were as happy together as Verstappen and Ricciardo, it's so good to see as it isn't very common. 

You guys are welcome as far as the thread is concerned, THANK YOU for posting and reading also.

Unsure about weather or not to take a break from this myself for next year, it's a very long year and whilst it is a matter of copying and pasting articles, the majority I read each article before posting, often correcting grammar (Publication or not some journalists seriously make massive mistakes). The daily upkeep takes it out of you. 

I am really looking forward to next season and have an inkling that it won't be an all Mercedes dominated sport moving forward, RBR for example will make huge inroads with Adrian Newey, watch and see. 

[MIKA27]

NICO ROSBERG 2016 FORMULA 1 WORLD CHAMPION

Nico Rosberg did all he needed to do to become the the 2016 Formula 1 World Champion by finishing second in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, behind his title rival and Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton in a tense season finale at Yas Marina Circuit.

It was no walk in the park for Rosberg as he was made to toil hard for the coveted accolade, and endured a thrilling final half dozen laps as Hamilton backed him into the clutches of Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen who were in pursuit.

From the start Rosberg managed to get a good start and was tucked under Hamilton’s wing as the pair took control of the race in the early stages. The stalemate carried on until just before mid-race, after the leaders had pitted Hamilton emerged ahead of Verstappen who had recovered from a first turn spin, but Roberg was stuck behind the Red Bull driver.

He chased Verstappen doggedly, and was told to get past him. When he attacked, the Dutch teenager was not easy game and made the Mercedes driver work hard for the position. The pair went wheel to wheel in breath taking fashion, but Rosberg got by and powered into the distance.

With about a dozen laps to go it was a stalemate between Hamilton and Rosberg, upon which the reigning world champion played his final card which was to back the world champion elect into the hard pursuing pair of Vettel and Verstappen.

By controlling the pace Hamilton managed to slow Rosberg enough for Vettel to get really close. Mercedes technical chief came on the radio urging Hamilton to speed up to win the race. He refused.

Vettel made a couple of lunges on a track that is almost impossible to overtake, but Rosberg kept his nerve  and held firm top cross the line tucked under Hamilton’s rear wing, second place was more than enough for him to clinch his first Formula 1 World Championship title.

Rosberg told Sky Sport: “An unbelievable feeling because the race was so horribly intense. When I was told it was critical to get by, wow, and to take on Max of all people.”

“It is impossible to explain the intensity. A really horrible feeling out there. This is the world championship we were talking about, with those two behind.”

“Lewis was trying to back me into everyone else. He did it really, really well and I was stuck. Vettel coming up behind with all the grip was horrendous.”

The anguish turned to rampant joy and celebration as he crossed the finish line less than half a second behind Hamilton, with the red Ferrari filling his mirrors, to  hang on to second place and do exactly what was required to be the sport’s new World Champion.

Keke Rosberg, his father and 1982 Formula 1 World Champion, was not present at the track but was in Abu Dhabi watching on TV and will for sure be celebrating with his son on the night.

“I haven’t seen my dad yet, I hope he is OK,” added Rosberg.

Rosberg said on the podium: “Unreal. I am very, very proud. I have done the same feat as my dad achieved. He will be here in half an hour and I am so excited to see him.”

“I also want to say congrats to Lewis, you did a great season, a great competitor always and it’s always tough to beat you. Mercedes, put the music on – I’m coming down in a second,” added the 2016 F1 World Champion.

His wife Vivian endured the stress from the Mercedes pit garage and could not watch the final lap, before bursting into celebration as her husband did the business.

She told reporters, “It’s just unbelievable – he’s dreamt of this since he was a little boy. He’s worked so hard and he deserves this. Around 15 of his friends are here and he doesn’t know – we’re going to have a big, surprise party.”

“Unbelievable, unbelievable. A moment like this is filled with emotions in general. I didn’t enjoy those last few laps!” added the wife of F1’s 33rd World Champion.

[MIKA27]

ROSBERG: TONIGHT IS GOING TO GO ABSOLUTELY NUTS

After years of playing second fiddle to Lewis Hamilton throughout his career, Nico Rosberg has been crowned 2016 Formula 1 World Champion after an intriguing duel with his nemesis in the decisive season finale Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where he finished second and with it did enough to seal the world championship title which his father – Keke Rosberg – also won back in 1982.

Here is the Mercedes driver’s take on what must be one of the greatest moments of his life, whereupon he has etched his names among the greats of Formula 1 by becoming its 33rd world champion.

Obviously a critical point in the race for you was the overtake on Max Verstappen. You were told by your engineer it was critical to pass him and it was very, very close. A heart in the mouth moment for you?
NR: For sure. The feelings out there in that battle with Max… unreal, really unreal. I hope I don’t experience that again any time soon. And the same again at the end, you know: pressure on from behind, Lewis driving slow at the front. It was a tough one.

You’ve had your emotions and your whole psychology so locked down, you’ve talked about going one race at a time. Now it’s all over, what was it like? Really, on the inside, mentally?
NR: It’s crazy. The thing is it was so intense – the race – it’s still going to take some time I think to settle it and come out because it was really intense out there and so tough in the end. Those last couple of laps with those two guys behind. If I dropped being them it’s over so not enjoyable.

Now that you’ve won this championship, can you convey to your fans, who was driving you, who was pushing you, who was giving you the energy and the strength to get through this season and win this championship?
NR: It’s everybody who’s supporting me in the world. It’s all the people watching on TV who support me, all the people who come to the races, even this weekend, a lot of Germans out there and from the whole world, supporting me through the whole weekend. That’s really, really special. It’s a special feeling, a very unique feeling. I’m very thankful to all of them. And then of course the people closer to me. It’s my whole team, which is my racing family. I joined Mercedes in 2010 and it was a rough ride initially and now it’s come good in the last years and now it’s come good for me today – and that’s very, very special also. So, big thanks to my racing family, to Mercedes, to my family, to all of my team around me, working around me. Everybody has there part in this. It’s such a long way to get to today, really. My go-karting engineer from when I was ten was writing me last night, memories from ten years old, fighting for the French championship, stories of motivation he was sending me yesterday, so it’s just all the way from there, every year it builds up to this success today. Even all those people through my career. I had a lot of important mentors in that sense. All the way through. If this is the moment to mention them, I will. It’s Serge Dino in go-karting, then in cars it was Team Rosberg and Peter Sieber and Erich Baumgärtner in Formula 3. Arno Zensen, Team Rosberg. After that came GP2 where it’s Nicolas Todt, Fred Vasseur, big thanks to them for getting me into F1, and Steve Marcel who unfortunately passed away. After that F1, Williams, Frank Williams, Sam Michael, Patrick Head, to get me into F1. And after that, what come after that? The people that took me to Mercedes, that was Norbert Haug and Ross Brawn, Nick Fry, thanks to all of you to get me into Mercedes. That was the beginning of the story, and then of course Toto, massive thanks to Toto and Paddy and Niki for continuing it on and taking me to where I am today.

On Thursday Lewis said that the last night of 2014 was awful for him and he didn’t sleep. How was that weekend for you and how did you live with all that pressure?
NR: If it’s OK maybe you can understand that maybe I wasn’t completely transparent the whole weekend. Of course I need to protect myself a little bit also from your world which is pretty intense, the world media world. So yes it was a very, very tough weekend for me. Many moments not so enjoyable of course, like especially the race, for example. Very, very tough with Verstappen in the beginning there and then in the end of course. Not nice!

Germany right now is celebrating their new champion, but how much glory of that achievement will you give to your Finnish side and your Finnish father?
NR: Two Rosbergs are World Champions now! That’s just a statistic for you – if I got my statistics right, so that’s quite a nice new one. What was the question? Sorry. I have a Finnish passport as well, so I would love to know that everybody in Finland that was supporting me is also very very happy. That would be great and thanks for all your support back in Finland. Of course a part of me is Finnish and always will be and I’m very proud of that.

Lewis said he was leading the race, he had the right to conduct the pace of the race…
NR: That’s a pretty simple discussion. You can understand the team’s perspective and you can understand Lewis’s perspective so there’s no… that’s it.

Did you sleep last night?
NR: I managed to get a few hours in, yeah. I didn’t know what to expect but it worked out OK, yes.

And where have you been hiding your family, your parents?
NR: My wife is right there and my daughter is back in the hotel.

And what about your Mum and Dad?
NR: Mum was in the garage just now and Dad, well, he’s going to be here as well.

Where have they been?
NR: I’ve no idea. They’re here now, they were hiding.

Have they been hiding then? Did you not want them around? How did it work?
NR: I hope my Dad survived that race actually. I haven’t seen him yet. I’m sure it was pretty intense for him so I hope he’s OK and I can’t wait to see him in a while, because I’ve only seen my Mum for now so I don’t know where he is.

So was he hiding from you?
NR: No, no, they were not here. They just came now, after the race.

Do you think that one of your biggest achievements if not your biggest achievement this year was your mental strength, your focus? You don’t seem to have been distracted by pretty much almost anything this season, even when there were incidents earlier in the season you seem to have managed to keep your focus. Would you say that’s your biggest achievement alongside your title?
NR: For sure it’s a key ingredient, yeah, to why I’m here now. It’s continual, yeah, it’s just my approach that I’ve taken from myself. Everybody does his own way; for me that feels best and I’ve really learned to focus hard. It takes a lot of sacrifice also to stay so focused during a whole year. For sure that helped, yeah.

Your father’s obviously been in the background. He hasn’t been seen in the last few days but hasn’t been seen either for the last few months. What’s been the level of involvement with your father? Are there any words of wisdom or has he really been at arm’s length over the few weeks and months and days as well?
NR: Every Saturday night I get a message from him and most of the time it’s like ‘pedal to the metal tomorrow, full stop, exclamation mark.’ So that’s his words of advice every weekend. But my Dad and my Mum both have such a big part in this, my Mum on the private side of course and my Dad for the career steps and all the support all the way. It was massive. I think it’s been good how’s he’s let me get on with it and taken a step back. I think it’s been very very good and it’s worked well for us and for me, it feels right, so I’m very very thankful for that. It’s his way of stepping back a bit for sure.

What will change in your life after winning today?
NR: OK, that’s a question. I’m sure it’s going to be pretty crazy now for the next few days but I look forward to all that, it’s going to be special. Tonight is going to go absolutely nuts, I mean tonight is going to be insane. I think I’m going to be not available for a few days after that and… I don’t know.

Sometimes attack is the best form of defence; once you realised what games Lewis was playing, did you ever think about attacking him or vice versa, in the end, using Sebastian Vettel to put pressure on him, by letting Vettel past?
NR: Lewis was using all his skill to do it perfectly, so there was absolutely no way for me to manage to get by, so of course I thought about it but it was just pointless so there was no way. He did it in a very good way, in a perfect way.

You had a really strong inter last season, you won here 12 months ago and you won the last few races and the last six pole positions of the season. How important was that strong inter-season after a difficult earlier time in the year, to building to this season? Did it play a part, was it important to have a good winter?
NR: For sure that was a big turning point, it was Austin, because Austin was a horrible experience for me and I really spent two days just on my own thinking and I said I didn’t ever want to experience that again and then I went and won the next seven races on the trot, so for sure it was a big moment for me and one of the key moments for being here today.

Do you think you can use number one next year or are you going to carry on with the family number six?
NR: I have no idea. I love number six of course, my Dad won the World Championship with number six as well, so it’s a very lucky number for us. Don’t know, that’s it.

What’s the flight home going to be like and what do you have planned for the off-season?
NR: I’m going to Malaysia for Petronas to celebrate there with them, so that’s the first flight and then I just want to spend as much time with my family as possible. But it’s going to be completely crazy, it’s going to go all over the place now but that’s a part of it and I look forward to that. I’m making the most of this moment.

Do you think, sometimes, in Italian? Which is the first language that you think in your mind and which is the most beautiful place that you have (visited) in Italy? Third question is – and then I stop for the rest of the season – if you think that becoming the number one can change you, you can race next year more relaxed to achieve even more than this season?
NR: Well, you will see in videos afterwards that my first celebration dance with my family was actually ‘campione del mondo’ just now down in the garage because all my friends are Italian. I love the culture and thank you for all the support as well, from Italy, that’s amazing to see so many people supporting me in Monza, so very special. Yeah, so big connection from me to Italy. Ah, for sure I’ll do a better performance than today or yesterday because it’s just difficult with the pressure on like that, it definitely is more difficult.

 

You beat Lewis and he’s considered one of the best in the history of Formula One and the numbers prove that. What does this mean for you, also considering the history you have with him?
NR: Yeah, for sure, it feels like I’ve been racing him for ever and always he’s just managed to edge me out and get the title even when we were small in go-karts. And he’s just an amazing driver and of course one of the best in history so it’s unbelievably special to beat him because the level is so high and that makes this even more… for sure, so much more satisfying for me because the benchmark is so… and I took the World Championship away from him which is a phenomenal feeling. It’s been a great year as well, for sure he drove at an extremely high level, he’s done some incredible racing so he’s been a very very tough competitor and I don’t know how many points we are apart at the end, you know, five points, which is unbelievable. With the same car.

Given the circumstances and the pressure you were under, do you consider that pass on Max that you did, wheel-to-wheel going through two corners together, one of the best of your career?
NR: Yeah, for sure, yeah, it was great, definitely a great one. Fair play to him, also. He went full-on aggressive of course, he didn’t given an inch, as usual but fair play, we didn’t collide and I got by, so that felt amazingly good. It was an awesome feeling at the time, really, very relieving and so intense, unbelievably intense really, in the car. I’ve never felt something like that in the car before.

Alain Prost was saying that you haven’t been given the credit you deserve as a driver. Do you agree with that and think that now you will be seen in a different light?
NR: I don’t drive for credit, I drive to win the World Championship and I have achieved that and it was my childhood dream to win the World Championship and that’s done and that’s what I’m excited about and I look forward to celebrating with all the people who have been supporting me.

What did Mr Ecclestone say to you?
NR: He didn’t have much time to talk, he was up in the air before he could say something. Thank you very much, thanks for this year, thank you.

[OZCUBAN]

15 minutes ago, MIKA27 said:

Unsure about weather or not to take a break from this myself for next year, it's a very long year and whilst it is a matter of copying and pasting articles, the majority I read each article before posting, often correcting grammar (Publication or not some journalists seriously make massive mistakes). The daily upkeep takes it out of you. 

Sure you will 

[OZCUBAN]

Seriously though always a good read and thanks for putting in the time ,well he company's time 

still well done one of the most successful threads ever cheers mate 

[MIKA27]

HAMILTON: NICO DROVE WELL TO NOT MAKE MISTAKES

Lewis Hamilton did all he needed in his long shot effort to win the 2016 Formula 1 World Championship by powering to victory at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, in the end he was five points shy of retaining the title despite trying every trick in the book in the final laps of the final race of the season.

He spoke after an exciting and decisive race at Yas Marina Circuit.

A strong end to your season. Fairly straightforward grand prix for you really until the final laps when obviously… you were saying in the press conference earlier in the weekend that it was difficult to back the pack up but tell us your thinking in the final part of the grand prix?
Lewis Hamilton: Yeah, obviously happy with the win, it was relatively easy to get the win in the end. Great job by the team throughout the weekend and through the year so big thank you to everyone there. I knew being in the lead I knew I was losing the world championship, I was hoping that Sebastian… I heard the pace he was on and I knew I could do that pace exactly, so I was hoping that he would close up, but I guess he said his tyres were going off towards the end and Nico drove well to not make mistakes.

How do you feel then about the season, looking back?
LH: Good. I did everything that I could, particularly towards the end and obviously Nico had a very, very clean year without any real issues to be honest and that’s why we sit in this position right now. But he did a fantastic job, so big congratulations to him, it’s a great feeling to win the world championship and I look forward to fighting with him next year.

This season you took your fans and everyone on quite a rollercoaster of a ride. For the millions of fans that watched you along the way, you had some incredible drives and you also achieved quite a few goals, with that are your able to take those positives heading into the off-season?
LH: Most definitely. There have been a lot of great things that have happened this year. One in particular is the bond and relationship I have with my mechanics and engineers – my new mechanics – that joined my side of the garage. They did a fantastic job all year long. I think the working relationship has been better than ever, particularly going through all those experiences. There’s that and I was generally quickest most of the year, so it’s definitely been a positive, a lot of positives to take from it. So I take that into next season.

How much was [it] annoying [you] the box asking you to improve your pace and aren’t you afraid that the relationship with the team now is a little bit more cold?
LH: Not really. I don’t know why they didn’t just let us just race. There was never a moment where I felt I was going to lose the race. It’s a shame that they wouldn’t but it’s quite clear their thought process and yeah I mean I don’t really have much to say.

You said there was never a moment you were afraid of losing the race but you probably knew Sebastian was on different tyres, were you not afraid that maybe it could catch you out with his tyre advantage?
LH: There was never a moment that I felt that I was risk, so no.

To follow up on that, do you find it an inconvenience… do you find it a bit annoying that you receive instructions like that a few laps from the end when you’re under intense pressure in a title race? Could you do without that?
LH: Not really – because it wasn’t really intense to be honest. It was pretty chilled at the end. There was not much… maybe intense for you but it wasn’t intense for me. No. For me it’s… I’m in a position where I’ve obviously had a lot of points lost during the season so for me, I’m out there fighting and I generally never try to do anything to harm the team or the brand or anything like that. But we’ve won the Constructors’ Championship so it was down to me and Nico today. And however, they still felt they needed to make comments and so… well, y’know, we’ll discuss it afterwards as we always do as a team and pull back in. But we can’t let that overshadow the fact that Nico’s just won a Championship and the team has dominated all year long, we’d had more wins than any other team I think in the past maybe. So, we cannot ignore that fact that it’s been an incredibly successful year.

When you realised that Nico had difficulties to overtake Max, did you think maybe you have more chance to win the Championship?
LH: Not really. I think that that point I didn’t really know… I didn’t have a lot of information from the team in terms of what I was supposed to do so I pushed a little bit, got a little bit of a gap. I was obviously just take care of my race – but I didn’t know if I needed a ten second lead or less. So, I just tried to look after my tyres and get to my target, which I did. And then I saw that Nico had passed and picked up his pace which was good, and at that point I tried to pick up my pace also.

Do you really think it’s fair to slow down the race on purpose only to push you team colleague into troubles. Only in terms of being fair.
LH: I don’t think I did anything dangerous today. So, I don’t feel I did anything unfair. We’re fighting for a championship, I was in the lead, I control the pace. That’s the rules.